High school was over and now the next step was to go to college. Russell wasn’t big on college.  He didn’t like the college scene idea, among other things.   I talked to Seth a bit I talked to him till I was blue in the face to get him to head for college, to become an engineer since math seemed to be his passion.  He didn’t really want to go but he went anyways, taking College Chemistry and English. He took a CLEP test for American History and passed that, too.

But he wasn’t happy.

He didn’t think he wanted to become an engineer and sit at a desk all day long.  He wanted to work in the outdoors.  He didn’t want to get a degree, spending thousands of dollars, only to find out that he really didn’t want the job anyways.

So guess what?

I had to learn to keep my opinions to myself and to trust that God could and would lead my son. That maybe, just maybe there were other options than just this one.  I had to learn that it’s not all about mom and dad, but kids have thoughts, too.  I had to learn to let go and let him make some of his own decisions.  I had to learn to trust that the Lord would lead Seth just as He promised in His Word to do.

The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD… Psalms 37:23

I am a big advocate of entrepreneurship. My father was an entrepreneur for most of his life and I guess it’s rubbed off. I love, love home businesses and I read a lot of articles on the subject. It’s just something in my blood.

Russell was also raised with that mentality. He’s been self-employed almost all his working years.  That’s another reason why he hasn’t promoted college to our children.

So for the last 5 years Seth has been a migrant worker :), working in Ohio in the metal roofing business, working in Canada in construction, minnowing, and commercial ice fishing, and working for us in our home business Sunny Day Books.

He’s been able to experience a wide variety of jobs, seeing what he enjoys or doesn’t.

Since we also have rental properties, our kids have been able to see how they work and what kinds of jobs its entails- like collecting rent, repairs, advertising and selecting tenants, etc.  We love the business and the boys have seen that it works well for us, so they all want to eventually have their own.

Now Seth will be the first one.

He has taken his first step towards his goal of having rental properties.

He purchased his first mobile home at an auction for $600 and then paid an additional $350 for back taxes still owing.

Pretty good deal, I think.

He’s been faithfully saving up his money for this, so everything will be free and clear. No mortgage payments or loans.  Isn’t that awesome?

His new project – a 1979 14×65 trailer.

The kitchen was in pretty good condition, the appliances were new & the bottom cabinets had been replaced with something sturdier than the normal stock cabinetry that comes with mobiles.

View into the living room. There had been a commercial air conditioning pack on the roof – therefore the roof patch. This will have to be fixed.  

Bedroom

Bathroom that needs some new paint. 

This goes to show you that not all paint choices are good. Or carpet choices, for that matter. Through the doorway was another bathroom at one time but all the fixtures were removed to make an office(?).  Seth will be changing it back to a bathroom.

Seth has purchased the property.  Now he’s in the process of drawing plot plans and digging perc holes.  Coming up will be a septic system and then moving the home onto the lot.

Then comes:

• setting up the foundation
• putting in the utilities (water, electric, gas)
• underskirting
• replacing the bathroom that was removed
• fixing the ceiling where the a/c was
• installing new carpet
• and many other little things here and there

In about 2 months he’ll have his first little money maker ready to go.

I’m really excited for him and I have to admit, as a mother, I’m pretty happy to see that he’ll have made a step towards something long-term for his future.

And it’s pretty nice that it’s right here locally.  He’s been traveling so much I was getting worried that Canada might end up with another resident.

If you can believe it, he’s already gone – him and Wesley left last night for a deer hunt. (What?!)

Because of my curious nature, Serenity took lots of pictures of her time away and I just have to share  some of them with you.

(Serenity on the right & her friend Loretta on the left.)

One of the families back there grow flowers in their greenhouse for market and sells them right there, too.  We’re not talking a little operation – at least to my eyes, it looks quite large.  They must work very hard.  So for all you entrepreneurial spirited people or flower lovers, you’ll really enjoy this.

What a gorgeous setting.

They have the perfect “billboard” for what they sell.

People must drive by and say, “I want my yard to look like that.”  Especially if you’re from Arizona. Not that I would feel that way or anything!

Have a look at the greenhouses.

I don’t know what kind of plants these are, but they each have their own little water drip.

Far away shot of these same plants.

Inside…

The greenhouse all started when the husband of the house decided it would be cheaper to buy his wife a greenhouse for growing her flowers than for her to buy them at the nursery.

Then because of some circumstances (excommunication from the church), the husband lost his customers from the business he had been operating.

…and that’s when Amherst Greenhouses was born.

I love seeing behind the scenes and hearing how people started their home business.  Are you that way, too?

That can become a little bit of a problem for me because I start dreaming of what our family could do.

But I do love reading about these kinds of stories.

Have you ever started a home business?  How did it go for you?  Share in the comments below.

What’s happening today at the greenhouse?

Thousands of bulbs will be planted for the winter in the next month.

Two more greenhouses are fixing to be added.