Category: Thoughts

Posted in Faith, life, Religion, Thoughts, Uncategorized

Discouragement: Choosing to Be a Joseph or a Murmuring Israelite

Posted on by katherinebrianneparilli

If I were to write a poem right now the title would probably be discouragement. It would certainly sum up the mood of the day. Not only for me, but for my business as well.

Here we are, nearly a month into Quarter 4 and after weeks of pushing myself to the breaking, I made 3 whole sells on Etsy for $18 dollars. I know what you are thinking, how will I ever manage to spend so much money. A new car, a house, a vacation, or all of the above? Ha ha, it really is enough to take the wind right out of one’s sales.

I know that I have a way to go to develop really good designing skills, but even though I did not expect a rush on my products, I had hoped that at least 1 or 2 of my designs might get a couple of sales. I was sure that some, like my Turkey’s protesting Against Thanksgiving and insisting that you should play Sudoku instead was not only colorful but humorous as well.

Sadly, even though my Mother helped me to purchase a mockup to give it more appeal, it has gone over as well as bag of potatoes filled with bricks.

If that were not discouraging enough, in a few days we have to move from our temporary rental, and we still have to find a new place to move too. And between the holidays and the arrival of the winter birds there is a good chance that we could find ourselves on the street.

It is hard to believe that when we put our home on the market almost 1 year ago, there were multiple homes in our price range. Even more amazing, it is hard to believe that at the time, interest rates were low enough that we could get a house for $300,000 and it would have cost less per month than the house we were living in. Why at the time we put our house for sell, there was a 4/3 manufactured home on 3 acres for $180,000 that we were hoping to get once the house sold.

But fast forward a couple of months to when our house finally sold, and it was as if a vacuum had come along and sucked up every descent price home and then spit out a bunch of higher priced fixer uppers. Almost overnight anything that was descent disappeared from our price range or shot up in price along with the interest rates. Before we sold there were dozens of halfway descent places under $250,000 and even some under the 180,000 mark. Then our house sold and their were only a handful of fixer uppers remained. It has been six months since we sold our home and 4 since we had to move out into one temporary rental after another, and the market has become even bleaker. Now, with the our down payment dwindling and the competition for housing rising, it seems as if it will not be long before my mother, sister, and I shall soon be homeless.

As each day brings us closer and closer to this possibility, I find myself pondering the story of the Israelite and their years of wandering in the wilderness. From the day beginning, as we moved from our house to house with the remains of my beloved father and a few weeks later placed the remains of our sweet pup Happy by his side, I was reminded of how all through their wilderness wanderings they had carried the remains of Joseph.

Continue reading “Discouragement: Choosing to Be a Joseph or a Murmuring Israelite” →
Posted in life, Thoughts, Trying to build a business, Uncategorized

Start Building Your Media Following Now

Posted on by katherinebrianneparilli

Maybe you happened upon a video about how someone who opened an Etsy shop and a year later they had made over $60,000 in sales, how using Canva and Printify you could design t-shirts to sell on Etsy, or a video using Etsy as a side hustle to make extra cash, and you said to yourself, I would like to do that some day. Well if your are thinking about starting an Etsy shop, even casually thinking about starting one, I would recommend that you start building your media presence today.

You do not have to sit down and map out your business strategy or even know the name of your future shop. What matters is that you are starting the process of building a loyal audience who eventually some will also become loyal customers.

Just look at some of the homesteading channels like Arms Family Homestead and Lumnah Acres. Well neither of these channels has an Etsy shop, their path to success highlights the importance of building an audience as early as you can. Both of these channels started off by showcasing a portion of their daily life on the homestead. They made videos introducing us to their farm animals, showing them working in their garden, mowing their lawns, doing various building and repair projects, etc.

Eventually, as their audience grew, they would occasionally design a few hats, mugs, t-shirts, and sweaters that they sold to make some extra cash. But now that both channels have grown immensely, they have harnessed the power of having a big audience to create their own shops on much bigger scale. In the past couple of years, Arms Family Homestead transformed a portion of their barn into a work/storage area where they could store supplies so they could make and sell their own t-shirts, hats, etc that displayed some of their most beloved animals. Recently, Lumnah acres also set up their own website and began selling selling a handful of merch items such as a sticker, some pencils, and a couple of T-shirts along with their main draw, coffee. And thanks to the power of their 345,000 plus subscriber base, their 3 different brands of coffee debut was a success and quickly sold out multiple times. Because they had already built a loyal audience by the time that they opened their shops, it did not matter that there were only a few colors and items to chose from as their audience was excited to get a Rufus t-shirt or a bag of Lumnah coffee.

Continue reading “Start Building Your Media Following Now” →
Posted in life, Thoughts, Trying to build a business

Quarter 4 is Here: What Will it Bring

Posted on by katherinebrianneparilli

It is officially the beginning of quarter 4. It would be great if that meant that an instant switch would flip and sales would dramatically improve. Unfortunately that is not the case. If there will be a real pick up, it probably will not happen for a few more weeks. Hopefully, even though the sales are not to expect to reach full swing until November, this month will prove to be better than last months single sale.

Thankfully today I did make a sale, but it was only for $3. So only getting 1 sale would be a real kick in the budget under normal circumstances. But since this is my first real shot at making some meaningful q4 or quarter 4 sales, I have been putting every ounce of spare energy that I have into stream lining production so I can make and list as many items as possible. I figured if I could just cut down the time to create the listing pictures by 1/3, that would at least mean an extra 1-2 products a week, and on a really good week an extra 3-4.

If I can get an extra 5-10 sales over this time last year, the effort would stand a chance of paying for itself and maybe a few other items. But with each listing costing $0.20 each, I really need those extra sales to cover the cost. Twenty cents might not be much to some, but twenty cents here and another there can quickly add up to a couple of extra bucks. And when you have almost nothing, it does not take long to become a really big deal.

Besides worry about not being able to make enough sales to at least break even and maybe purchase a couple of small items to improve my shop for next year, I would also feel really discourages as I have put a whole lot of energy into this project. And I have been working extra hard to get as much done as I can before my health crashes. Even now the muscles of my head are getting so tight that I cannot relax them. I would love to be in bed, but my the extra work has brought back my queasy stomach so it is harder to get a good night sleep.

But all of it would be worth it if my shop would start to make that turn towards profitability. It does not have to make a big bump, even though I would love it if it did, but at least if it could make a big enough turn that where there was zero sales I made 3-4, where I made 1 I now got 4-6, and instead of 8 being my best month it was now 16-20 that would be some type of measurable improvement. One that would at least allow me to cover all my etsy fees including ads, and probably even 1 or 2 other expenses.

Yes I would like more, but even that small boost in sales would give some meaning to what I was doing, and some hope that after a much needed break, my next effort will take me closer to my first major goal of earning enough to cover all of my business expenses. And give me some hope that some day soon I might actually be able to earn enough to pay my bills and some occasional wants. And at least be able to hold up my head knowing that after years of struggling, I had finally reaped the reward of some time of measurable success.

If you are thinking about starting your own Etsy journey, click this link to get 40 free etsy listings. https://etsy.me/3MhfyfA

Click here, if you would like to check out my Etsy shop. Where you will find a variety of fun items such as this fall inspired puzzle of Turkey’s demanding Thanksgiving be switched to Happy Sudoku day.

Posted in life, My Etsy journedy, Thoughts, Trying to build a business, Uncategorized

Preparing for Quarter 4

Posted on by katherinebrianneparilli

The past few days I have been dedicating every ounce of spare energy that I had to preparing for my first real shot at the potential excitement of quarter 4. While my shop was opened last year, I only had about 40 digital coloring and activity packs in my shop. It was not until the end of December before I added my first POD product which was way too late to have a real shot at getting a slice of the quarter 4 sales.

Under normal circumstances, quarter 4 brings in the biggest number of sales. From what some people have said in their Etsy videos about this time of the year, they make as much and sometimes more in this quarter than they do all year long.

But as we know this is not a normal year. Finances are tight, and rising food and gas prices have taken a huge chunk out of people’s budget. So how big and exciting this quarter four will be is uncertain. And considering my past history with poor timing, such as starting a You Tube channel just before ad apocalypse and its financial impact on small channels, I do not hold much hope of seeing a dramatic rise in sales.

Continue reading “Preparing for Quarter 4” →
Posted in life, Medical, My Etsy journedy, Thoughts, Trying to build a business, Uncategorized

Enduring the Hidden Drop of the Etsy Roller Coaster

Posted on by katherinebrianneparilli

I have been trying all morning to create a post about the struggle of trying to build an Etsy shop while dealing with poor health and a slumping economy. There is so much I could say now that I have passed the 1st year mark with my shop about the importance of listening to old adage of if it is not broke don’t fix it, the importance of listening your body and knowing when to give your body the rest it needs, accepting that not everyone will be an overnight success, and more.

But today my brain is just to tired to focus. As much as I would love to write an article saying that if you just think positive there is delay or disaster that will stress you. But that is not true.

Like it or not there are days that you will wake up and say to yourself, what am I doing? Why am I even trying when nothing I do work? And you will be tempted to give up. And strangely enough, some of those days might come the day after you make a sale.

Sure there are going to be many great days when your mind will be full of hopes and dreams. Dreams that are bolstered by the remission of your symptoms and encouraged by a few sales. Like a well designed roller-coaster, there will be a period of steady climb with only a few mild dips that are perfect for lulling you into a false sense of confidence before a blind turn reveals a stomach shattering dip.

With a new high of 8 sales, July was one of those months. Finally after months of getting only with 1 sale and only 3 months where I got 2 or 3 sales, my slow but steady work was starting to paying off. With a few sales now behind me, and more than a hundred and fifty listings, my business was on the cusp of taking off as each new listing, sale, and the occasional review only adding to the growing momentum. With each sale I was calculating the conversion ratio to estimate what my sales would look like if I got x amount of visits and how may visits it would take to pass the next mile marker of 10 sales per month.

After such an exciting month I was eager to see the progress that August would bring. Now that I had close to 160 listings, 30 sales, and 2 reviews, surely I was set to see my biggest month ever with 9, 10, or even 11 plus sales. And from the amount of traffic, which was 4 times the amount of my normal traffic, it seemed like that hope was going to become a reality. Day by day I eagerly looked at my inbox hoping to receive a message from Etsy letting me know that this massive (at least for me), influx of traffic had converted into sales. Morning after morning I woke up filled with hope, eager to see how much money I had made overnight, only to be met with disappointment.

Continue reading “Enduring the Hidden Drop of the Etsy Roller Coaster” →
Posted in Bible, Bible Puzzles, Faith, Find the Difference, Fun Puzzles, life, Thoughts, Videos

Sabbath Afternoon Fun: Find 7 Differences 1 John 4:11-12 and Happy’s Alter Call

Posted on by katherinebrianneparilli

Happy Sabbath everyone. Once again I find myself so grateful for the gift of the Sabbath. This week we made the third move to a temporary rental since moving out of our home while also having to make a trip to the doctor the day before and on moving day, on top of our search for permanent home.

While after all the craziness of this past week and the exhaustion of moving, I am so grateful for the opportunity to pull aside from the stress of searching for a home, of rushing to the doctors, shopping, etc., the past few weeks there has been a deep shadow cast upon our Sabbath joy due to the passing of our beloved dog Happy.

Within a few wees of my father’s death, Happy had become gravely ill. for 3 years he fought valiantly. Our loves and prayers giving him the courage to fight a little bit longer. But the dreaded day finally came when as much as he loved us, the pain was too great, and his hold on life to weak for him to continue fighting. And God in His mercy said it was time for Happy’s battle to come to an end.

But oh how empty the house feels without him. Starting Friday afternoon I miss his impatient demands to receive his weekly bath before Sabbath arrives so that he would be ready and waiting for the Sabbath. His love of the word of God always inspired me to seek to draw closer to Jesus. During his final weeks of battle, the word of God had been his comfort. There were nights that the only way he found rest was for me to put a sermon on the TV.

A few weeks before he passed, we were watching a sermon by Doug Batchelor talking about how now is the time to make a choice to stand firm for God. Then he made a call where he asked those who wanted to stand up for Jesus to stand up. Something caught my eyes, and I turned to see Happy, who had been resting quietly on the sofa, standing up with pride, facing the TV. There was a huge smile of joy on his face, as he answered that call and weak as he was becoming, used his strength to stand up and in his sweet doggy way, stand up for Jesus.

Happy had reached the point where he was so weak that my aunt was able to put a purse on him and he did not have the energy to move or even whimper, yet he used what strength he had to proudly stand up and face the TV with a giant smile on his face when he heard the call who was wiling to stand up for Jesus.

As I tearfully remember how much he loved God, my heart aches. I remember how much he trusted God and His word so that even though he was trembling in fear from the constant booming of the fireworks, when I put on some hymns and told him that they attracted God’s angels, and God promised that His angels would take care of us, he would look around, smile, and within a few minutes he would be fast asleep.

He was such an inspiration to us. Time after time we would see the way our dear little bundle of fur showed his love for and trust in his Creator, and it filled our hearts with longing. to him, Sabbath was an extra special day because not only would he hear the hymns and sermons that he loved, but he knew that the God whom he loved, would draw near to us and him in a special way. And unless one of us was extremely sick, he wanted to be bathed and waiting for that longed for visit by his Friend.

I do not know if our precious pets will be raised when Jesus come or if they will be given back to us in Heaven or when the earth is made new, but seeing how deeply Happy loved Jesus, how his face lit up with joy as he stood up immediately after Pastor Batchelor made his call to stand up for Jesus, it would not surprise me. It is true that God did not die for our pets, because they are not guilty of sin the way we are. But when I consider the deep trust in God’s promise to send his angels to protect his people, that was so strong that his trembling form was able to sleep even while the fireworks loudly boomed around him, I cannot help but wonder if one day our joy will be increased to see our little dog smiling up at his best Friend and beloved Creator for whom he had been so proud to declare that no matter the cost, he was willing to stand up for.

I hope that you have a happy Sabbath. And that today, like my precious Happy, you will answer the call that no matter the cost, you will stand up for Jesus.

Posted in life, Thoughts, Uncategorized

Tired in Bone

Posted on by katherinebrianneparilli

Tired in bone is definitely the sentiment of the day. After weeks of pushing our bodies to the breaking point as we struggled to move all of our belongings into storage, my body is desperate to curl up in a ball and not move for at least a month. The problem is that in spite of the deep fatigue, the barrage of problems has not given us a break.

For the first few days after moving I was in so much pain that I could not bare to move. The effort to stand or sit nearly caused me to scream from the intense pain. But before I could recuperate from that misery before our little dog Happy became so ill that we had to rush him to the emergency vet. Not only was he not eating, but he his temperature had spiked to 104.5 and his sugar was back up into the 400’s. We arrived at the emergency vet by 6PM and did not get home until nearly 3AM.

But worse than the exhaustion of a night of almost no sleep, was the fact that we had to leave Happy at the clinic because he had bacterial hepatitis and the doctor was not sure if he would make it. For the next 2 days we were constantly gathering in prayer, pleading with God for Happy’s life. Thankfully he pulled through and they sent us home with antibiotic and told us to visit his vet the next day to have him tested for Cushings disease.

Long story short we were relieved to learn it was Cushings because the alternative C word was not what we wanted to hear. The good news was in a few days with a few pills Happy would be feeling more like his old self. And the cloud that had hung over our head was ready to evaporate and we could get back to the important business of finding a place to live.

Last week was a very scary week for Happy as he spent the whole week fighting for his life. But praise the Lord who answered our prayer and granted us more time with our precious bundle of fluff.

Nope, two pills later and we were rushing Happy to the vet due to an adrenal crisis. Not only was this bad news because Happy was once again fighting for his life, but it meant that there is a high likely hood that Happy has the big C, and no one knows how long he has.

His condition was so bad that the vet warned us that he might not survive the night, but if he did he needed to come back early in the morning so she could continue the fight for his life. Needless to say any thought of moving was moved to the background as we once again gathered in prayer for our little pup.

The funny thing was, that while the vet felt Happy had a high chance of not making it through the night, the moment I saw him I had peace that he was going to make it through the night. But even with that peace, I knew that the danger was far from over. So at every change we prayed that if it was for God’s glory, that he would bring Happy through the crisis.

The next day was hard. Once more we had to leave Happy at the vet and spend the day waiting to find out if Happy was going to survive. The good news is that to the vet’s surprise, Happy made it. With a smile she declared it a miracle, telling us that she really thought he was so bad that he was not going to make it. With joy I declared that we had been praying for him.

Happy is not out of the woods completely. He is still a rather sick pup. His liver enzymes were through the roof thanks to the hepatitis, and he is on prednisone to help with his reaction to the cushing meds. And the growing concern that he has cancer is still hanging over his head. But he is hungry again, his fever is down, and he is walking, all things which were not true this time last week. We do not know how long he has, but thankfully the Lord heard our prayer and granted us the precious gift of more time.

Now that the stress of moving out and Happy’s life hanging in the balance has subsided, our energy has dissipated. And like the poem, we find ourselves tired in bone and tired in spirit. And for some much needed rest we plead so that we can get the energy to pick up and continue the seemingly impossible task of finding a place to live.

Posted in Dog, life, Thoughts, Videos

Happy and Grandpa Having Fun My First Attempt at Making a YouTube Short

Posted on by katherinebrianneparilli

I was watching a video about increasing Etsy sales, and someone mentioned that they used Youtube shorts to help advertise their items. I had already been mulling the idea of making a short, and decided that now was the time to learn. Since I had absolutely no idea how to make one, I decided to make a few practice videos using some of Happy’s old footage to see how it works.

I found an old video of my father playing with Happy. The video is short, but dear to my heart as at it is one of the last clips of my father sitting up looking energetic and so Happy. Sadly, after he fell and broke two of his ribs his health was never the same. Thankfully we got a few more years with him, but every time that I see a clip like this I long for those hard, but comforting days when I had all my loved ones close. And I cannot help but long for the day when we will all be together again. That feeling has definitely been heightened after a tough week where it seems like everything that can go wrong, is going wrong and many things have happened to create a great uncertainty about the future.

Yet even in all this God has been gracious and granted us comfort. I can watch this video with tears in my heart because I miss my father, yet I can also have great joy as with deep longing I look forward to the happiness of the resurrection morning when Jesus will call my father and so many other loved ones from their resting place. With a great shout He will call his sleeping servants from their dusty beds, transformed into his pure image, never again to come under the dominion of pain, suffering, sickness, or death. Oh how I long for that hour when the dead in Christ shall rise first and then we who are alive shall join them.

Oh how I desire to be part of that rejoicing throng. How I pray that I will let the Lord cut, prune, and weed out every sin from my heart so that I will hear the blessing, “Well done my good and faithful servant” and my heart will leap with joy to know that I have been counted worthy to sing the song of the Lamb, and spend the rest of eternity thanking my Savior for his unbelievable sacrifice so that my sins, the sins of my loved ones, and all who desire could be washed cleaned. So that we could once again walk the streets of gold, eat from the tree of life, and have an endless lifetime to make and enjoy more memories with our loved ones.

I hope that as you watch this short little clip of my father and Happy playing together that you will not only recollect some of your dearest memories, but that the prayer of your heart would be to except God’s great gift and that nothing this world offer would stand between you and becoming a part of that rejoicing throng.

Posted in Bible Puzzles, Faith, Find the Difference, Fun Puzzles, life, Thoughts

Sabbath Afternoon Fun: Find 3 Difference Romans 5:6-8

Posted on by katherinebrianneparilli

I hope that you are having a Sabbath afternoon. And that you are enjoying this chance to learn better how to keep your heart rested in the promises of God. I know how hard this lesson is to learn, but before the last great battle we must learn this lesson fully if we hope to stand. Yet learning this much needed lesson is painful.

Currently God is teaching our family this lesson. Between the death of my father and the change in the economy our house became too expensive for our tiny budget to support so we had to sell the house. In the months leading up to our home going up for sell the market was full of good homes at a price we could handle. But within days of our house going on the market most of the homes were gone. But every so often a seemingly good home would appear. But as soon as our house sold and we could finally put in a bid, the competition became so fierce that there were times I found a potential home in the morning and before I could show my mother and sister a few hours later, it was sold.

Over and over we would call about a home to find out it was already pending, or after a few days of discussion and prayer we would decide that it was time to call the realtor to see the home, and it was gone. The first few times we were not worried, but after days turned into weeks, and the time to move drew dangerously near, we began to worry. Finally we decided that we would have to put our house hunting on hold and find a place to rent. But to our dismay we found out that even though we will have the money to rent a home for a year while looking for a new house, because our income is too low, we cannot find a home to rent.

Now we are only days away from having to leave our home, and we still have no place to move too and no idea where we are going to put our belongings or how we will move them since none of us have the health or strength needed to move hundred of boxes or heavy furniture. It is a very unnerving position to be in. One that I would not wish upon another. Living on the street is hard for someone in good health, but for a diabetic dog who requires refrigerated insulin and three sickly women, it is a potential death sentence.

I wish that we could say that we have reached this point without questioning or murmuring. Our trust in God so complete that like Peter we can fall into a sleep so deep that even the glory of an angel in our room cannot wake us. But that would be a commandment breaking stretch. At times our blood pressure has reached dangerous levels, our nerves have gotten so taunt that we had to apologize for our tense and irritated words, and at moments the fear has become so strong that we could not help but with tears wonder if God had abandoned us.

Yet at the same time, after gathering in prayer to ask for God’s strength and help, peace filled our hearts. While we were worried, our trust in God outweighed that fear to the point that smiles replaced tears as our minds were pointed to all the ways that God had helped us in the past. Promises from God’s word were recalled to our minds and as our trembling hands reached out to grasp them, He made us stronger.

At this moment we cannot fully say where God is leading us or why He has chosen to take us down this frightful path, we have no clue if we will have another roof to go to when we leave this home or if the car will become our new home, but we can say that God has been faithful to His word and is holding our hand. Here and there doing little things to prove that He taking care of us and to help strengthen our trust in Him.

It is my hope that for whatever future test God is preparing us for, we will prove faithful. That in some way this test of our faith, of painful muscle building, will not only draw us closer, but will in some way become such a testimony to others that it will help others to find the courage to stand firm and bring others to the Lord.

As you enjoy today’s find the difference verse about God’s love for sinful man, it is my prayer that God will help you to hide this verse in your heart. So when your test of faith comes, you will have the words of love and hope that you will need to help encourage your faith and to be a light to your feet keeping them from falling off the narrow path that leads to light.

Posted in Fun Puzzles, Thoughts, Uncategorized, Word Searches

19 Sales and Learning the Lesson to Leave Well Enough Alone

Posted on by katherinebrianneparilli

Ten months into my Etsy journey and I have made 19 hard earned sales. For months at a time it seems like there is an unwritten rule that I can only make 1 sale a month, no matter how many visitors come to my shop. Then, thankfully, there is a month like this one, where I get a slight boost and make 3 sales, and then back to crickets for weeks.

So, after listening to some You Tube videos, I have been trying to work on improving SEO and making a few changes to some of my pictures that I felt could use a better background. I still have a long way to go to make the needed improvements. But one lesson that I quickly learned, thanks in part to some mistakes that I have made in the past on KDP, is that the saying leave well enough alone or if its not broke, don’t fix it, is a very important saying for your Etsy shop.

If a listing is doing well, don’t tamper with it. After making a couple of changes to a listing that was doing fairly well, and experiencing a sudden slow down (you think I would have learned my lesson from KDP), I heard some very valuable advice from an Etsy youtuber. If you want to see if you can improve it, and there is another category that it can go under, make a copy, change the first picture, and make one or two tweaks so you know if the changes you made improved your listing or hurt it. Kind of like an A B testing at the optometrist office where the doctor ask if you see better with A or B or they are both about the same.

For now, since I do not get many sales, if my listing recently had a sale or two, I leave well enough alone and give that listing a chance. That way I do not sabotage a listing that might have taken off, but thanks to my tweaking instead ends up sinking like a lead balloon. Instead, if I want to make changes, I will see if I can add it to another category and make a change or two and hope and pray that at last one of my listing will take off and I can stop spending months wondering who wrote the invisible rule that I can only get 1 sale a month even if if it is only for$2

If by any chance you are looking for some fun word games, then you might enjoy my Fun Word Games Digital Download Activity Pack, Word Search Puzzles, DecoderRing, Word Scrambles, Alphabet Soup, Zigzag Puzzles, Anagrams, pack.