Inspire, Summer 2006

Inspire 23 How do you juggle running a business and taking care of a family? I feel as though with one child and staying at home, I have a fairly easy task to handle. With that said, I try to take housecleaning tasks and split them up between several days. For instance, Thursdays are my laundry days and Wednesdays I vacuum. Also, recently I have found that it helps tremendously if I plan out the meals we will have for upcoming weeks and do the shopping beforehand. This makes meal time less stressful for me. Since I am pregnant, I have developed a habit of napping with Carter during the afternoons. Chad likes to take about an hour each evening to spend some one-on-one time with Carter — usually it is while I am preparing dinner. Thinking about my day ahead of time and what I would like to accomplish during the day also helps. I make a list of the things I would like to get done, and then there are things that I always plan to do, such as spend time with Carter and think through how the day might play out. I take this same strategy for the work that I have to get done for the business. You seem to juggle your roles well. It must help you find balance, right? We try to keep in mind what is really important to us and what goals we have for our lives. Besides spending time with God and making our church family a priority, we desire to enjoy the time that God has given us with each other. We decided before we were even married that we wanted one of us to stay home with our children. Logically that person is me, and I LOVE it! Purposefully training our children is a high priority to us. Whenever we have a decision to make regarding the business, working on the house, etc., we have to think if it is going to conflict with any of these priorities. If it will, we simply say “no” or choose not to spend our time doing it. We control the volume of business and therefore can say “no” to business commitment that would interfere with our family life, and we have said “no” on several occasions. This business is not meant to support our lifestyle, but rather be a fun hobby that provides a nice little profit and offers a way to get to know our community. How did HGTV learn about The Ambler House? Our local chamber of commerce was contacted by HGTV, and they referred us. We then corresponded with HGTV via phone and e-mail about the history of our home, and soon HGTV decided they wanted to have us on their “If Walls Could Talk” show! During part of the taping, I wore my CU T-shirt! To learn more about the Foerchs and The Ambler House, visit their Web site at www.theamblerhouse.com . Whenever we have a decision to make regarding the business, working on the house, etc., we have to think if it is going to conflict with any of these priorities. If it will, we simply say “no” or choose not to spend our time doing it.