Roxie Happy New Year Southern Merc Fans! We hope you had a wonderful Christmas and are enjoying a fresh start on a new season of life! I am sorry it has been so long since I have put the pen to paper (or rather my fingers to the keyboard!). I wanted to take a minute to share my thoughts with you about how we ended 2018 and where we hope we are headed in the New Year!
2018 started out with a bang, full of hope, and a renewed sense of spirit. We hit the road March through May and enjoyed getting to see so many of you, old friends and new!
2018 started out with a bang, full of hope, and a renewed sense of spirit. We hit the road March through May and enjoyed getting to see so many of you, old friends and new!
 Spring Garden Stroll at the Historic Hay House in Macon, GA. |  Cottontails Village in downtown Birmingham, AL. |  Vintage Market Days of Greater Atlanta, at The Gwinnett County Fair Grounds. |
We also had a busy spring welcoming two new babies to our Southern Mercantile fold! Katelyn blessed us with little Lainey Kate in March and sweet Perry Jacob arrived to Jorjanne in June! These little angels have been such a blessing to all of us, bringing so much joy and fun!
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I wish I had a year's worth of bragging, good news, and joyous occasions to share with you, but while reflecting on 2018, I have realized it was a really hard year! Towards the end of the summer my year took a downward spiral and I had a hard time coming back. Growing this online busines and sustaining our brick and mortar store in Ocilla has been quite a tall task! Money is always tight (or non-existant), there never seem to be enough hours in the day, and the stress of my day to day life really got to me last year.
On top of other tensions that were already building in my life, our building took a hard hit during hurricane Michael. The storm was to hit in the night which made me incredibly nervous. We already had a few bad leaks, so we prepared as much as we could by putting out plastic and extra buckets, just in case something bad happened during the storm.
On top of other tensions that were already building in my life, our building took a hard hit during hurricane Michael. The storm was to hit in the night which made me incredibly nervous. We already had a few bad leaks, so we prepared as much as we could by putting out plastic and extra buckets, just in case something bad happened during the storm.
 | Matt and I even had sleeping bags ready in the vault that was part of the old bank. We prepared to spend the night, to keep an eye on things. We boarded up the windows best we could and headed home to have supper and a moments rest before a long night. At about 7:00 that evening we decided to go back down and check on things. The rain had started but wasn't too bad yet. When I unlocked the upstairs door I could already hear the terrible sound of rain pouring in. I had a sweet friend with me and we ran upstairs as fast as we could only to find that the roof had already been peeled back and water was pouring in. It was so bad that there were a few spots that we could see the night sky. |
Meanwhile, Matt was checking downstairs and discovering all the water that was pouring into our shop from the upstairs. The night that followed was one of the most aweful and most torturous times of my life. We called for back up just to help try to get things under control. My parents, sweet neighbors, and Tara and Phillip ran to our aid, bringing tarps, kiddie pools and head lamps. They helped hang tarps to try to direct the water into trash cans and kiddie pools. For over an hour they helped empty buckets, mop up water and try to gain some sort of control over the elements before the storm hit its peak. To these people I will be forever grateful, and I know there are many others that would have helped, had it not been too dangerous to leave home.
As the storm worsened Matt and I sent everyone home, except my sweet Dad that insisted on staying with us. He manned the downstairs trying to move buckets and save merchandise. Matt and I manned the upstairs trying bale water as fast as we could. The short version of the story is, we baled water for eight hours. The power went out at 10 so we baled in the dark. We tried so hard but the water was relentless and we quickly started to lose the battle. I have never felt so helpless in all of my life. Around 1:00 or 2:00 a.m., Mom, Tara and Phillip came back to help us and I have never been so relieved and overjoyed to see three people. The six of us worked until 3:00 am, or a little after, just trying to empty buckets enough to be able to leave. Over the next two days we spent countless hours cleaning, dumping, drying, calling repair men and insurance agents. When it was all said and done, we lost a large portion of our roof and two upstairs windows. We were only without power at the building for about 18 hours, and about 24 hours at home.
I didn't want the blog to become so much about the hurricane, but is was such a traumatic experience for me, I have realized that it really affected me more that I thought it did at the time. Even though it was so hard, I do know that we were truly blessed throughout the whole situation. I know that what we had to deal with was nothing compared to the folks that lost entire homes, entire crops, and entire businesses. I know that the Lord was with us through the whole process because I know that my tired body could not have done what we did for so many hours without His strength. We had countless friends and neighbors show up over the coming days to help and check on us. Jorjanne's husband, Chris, brought a freezer truck from their farm to help us save most of our food supply for The Cafe. It really could have been so much worse, and I am truly thankful for the help and support of our community. This is such a perfect example of one of the joys of small town living!
We powered through Christmas with a spectacular Christmas Open House at our shop and two successful Christmas shows. Thanks to all of you that shopped and visited with us during the Christmas season. You don't know how much we needed your love and support this year!
As the storm worsened Matt and I sent everyone home, except my sweet Dad that insisted on staying with us. He manned the downstairs trying to move buckets and save merchandise. Matt and I manned the upstairs trying bale water as fast as we could. The short version of the story is, we baled water for eight hours. The power went out at 10 so we baled in the dark. We tried so hard but the water was relentless and we quickly started to lose the battle. I have never felt so helpless in all of my life. Around 1:00 or 2:00 a.m., Mom, Tara and Phillip came back to help us and I have never been so relieved and overjoyed to see three people. The six of us worked until 3:00 am, or a little after, just trying to empty buckets enough to be able to leave. Over the next two days we spent countless hours cleaning, dumping, drying, calling repair men and insurance agents. When it was all said and done, we lost a large portion of our roof and two upstairs windows. We were only without power at the building for about 18 hours, and about 24 hours at home.
I didn't want the blog to become so much about the hurricane, but is was such a traumatic experience for me, I have realized that it really affected me more that I thought it did at the time. Even though it was so hard, I do know that we were truly blessed throughout the whole situation. I know that what we had to deal with was nothing compared to the folks that lost entire homes, entire crops, and entire businesses. I know that the Lord was with us through the whole process because I know that my tired body could not have done what we did for so many hours without His strength. We had countless friends and neighbors show up over the coming days to help and check on us. Jorjanne's husband, Chris, brought a freezer truck from their farm to help us save most of our food supply for The Cafe. It really could have been so much worse, and I am truly thankful for the help and support of our community. This is such a perfect example of one of the joys of small town living!
We powered through Christmas with a spectacular Christmas Open House at our shop and two successful Christmas shows. Thanks to all of you that shopped and visited with us during the Christmas season. You don't know how much we needed your love and support this year!
Christmas Village in Birmingham, AL
 Display window at our shop in Ocilla, GA. |  Entrance to our shop in Ocilla, GA |
Even in the midst, of trials and uncertainties, I always find comfort in knowing that the Lord is with me and He has written every page of my book already. I know that the trials in my life have only made me stronger and have given me more of the tools that I need to be able to help other people. I know that there will be an end to these trials and that there is always a mountain top after climbing out of a valley, even if you don't get to stay there long!
As we now roll into the end of January, I am determined to get out of my funk and leave 2018 behind me! The girls and I have taken the last few weeks to rest, catch up on some things that we got behind on, and try to get ready for a great new year! We have been working on some beautiful new products for the store and a fun blog schedule of great new tips and recipes. We are finalizing the dates and plans for our Spring travel schedule and we hope you will make plans to come see us while we are on the road! We are determined to make 2019 the best year yet for The Southern Mercantile and we hope you'll come along for the ride!
As we now roll into the end of January, I am determined to get out of my funk and leave 2018 behind me! The girls and I have taken the last few weeks to rest, catch up on some things that we got behind on, and try to get ready for a great new year! We have been working on some beautiful new products for the store and a fun blog schedule of great new tips and recipes. We are finalizing the dates and plans for our Spring travel schedule and we hope you will make plans to come see us while we are on the road! We are determined to make 2019 the best year yet for The Southern Mercantile and we hope you'll come along for the ride!
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