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two weeks in

Today, it’s been two weeks since Mack’s “official” first day in the McGowan Images office “full time”. I’m not just over-using quotation marks because I don’t know the rules of grammar… I know the rules. The thing is, “official” and “full time” aren’t really the right words to use.

We celebrated Jan. 5, and marked it on the calendar, because it was Mack’s first day without another job to go back to. But just because he’s had another job doesn’t mean he hasn’t been working full time. Since I quit my “real” job in August 2009, we’ve both been putting in 8-10 hour days with McGowan Images most of the time. Mack just had to start his days at about 5 p.m.

And since the first of November, Mack’s been here in our office 2-3 days a week, trying to ease the transition.

Now, for the first time in our lives, neither of us has a regularly scheduled paycheck. Neither of us has a commute. We walk across our property about 25 feet to get to our office. It’s scary and exhilarating and wonderful. We’ve worked so hard for this, and we’re so excited we can hardly stand it.

People keep saying, “You’re going to work together full time?!?!?!” like it’s a terrible decision. People say we’ll kill each other, that we can’t spend that much time together and have our marriage survive.

To them, I say… we’ve been doing it! Building this business has taken TIME, above everything else, and that means we’ve spent 8 hours a day working together on it, even when we had other jobs. It means 14 hour wedding days. It means feeling like we’re attached at the hip. And you know what? We kind of love it.

We’re honest enough with each other to be able to say when we need space. When he starts annoying me, I can say, “You’re breathing too loud, I need to go outside with the baby for a while.” And he’s cool with that. When I’m annoying him, he can say, “You’re humming off-key, I need to go mow the lawn or something.” And I’m cool with that.

Since we’re only two weeks in, I can’t act like some sort of expert on working with your spouse. We still have kinks to work out, and like anything else, this will grow and change over time. But for these last two weeks, I’ve been taking notes on the things I LOVE about our new arrangement, and whenever it gets hard, I think I’ll just focus on these.

  • It’s wonderful to have a constant lunch date.
  • I love that someone reminds me to take my allergy medicine in the morning.
  • It feels less silly to work all day in your pjs when someone’s working next to you, in THEIR pjs.
  • When the baby is being needy, we can take turns.
  • I don’t have to wait until 5 p.m. to make decisions anymore. When something comes up, we can talk about it RIGHT THEN.
  • When I come across a picture I’m super excited about, there’s someone to show. Dorothy doesn’t yet get really excited about a perfectly nailed exposure. J
  • I’m getting to listen to new music, because we take turns playing DJ, and Mack always has new stuff to share.
  • He makes me more efficient. I won’t waste time on gossip blogs if I could get caught doing it.
  • Hugs, whenever I want them. I’m a big fan of hugs.

I’m sure the list will grow. That’s how we work. Life might not be perfect… we may not have it all figured out… but the list of reasons why it’s awesome just keeps getting longer!

Ooooh yeah… afternoon naps should also have been listed as a huge plus. 🙂

  1. Liesa says:

    Mmm. I love this. I think this blog totally embodies what you two are all about. Rob’s always wanted to work for himself, and not another boss, and this will come true next week! His dream is for neither of us to have a boss one day. I know I love him for a reason! 🙂

  2. Courtney says:

    Oh I’m so jealous! I would love to have my future hubs as an everyday lunch date and to just be able to spend more time with him in general. Maybe someday 🙂

  3. Ambo says:

    Love blogs like this. So blessed to have such an amazing positive couple around us. Love you guys!

  4. Melissa Owens Reasoner says:

    My husband and I have been working together full time at our own business for almost two years and we love working together! It is so worth it! 🙂

  5. annie says:

    I heart MI.

  6. Nicole says:

    It’s so great that you two get to spend so much time together doing something you both love doing. And I bet Dot is thrilled to have both of her parents around each day. 🙂

  7. Bethe says:

    Will said he looked over at one point during our reception, and you two were kissing. He said it made it so much more fun that you two enjoy yourselves… congrats on finally being “full time” together!

  8. Lauren says:

    Trent and I worked together for 2 years (in close quarters) and he still decided he wanted to marry me. It can be done! Brush them haters off when they doubt you!

  9. Lacey Walters says:

    Congrats to you both both!!! You are enjoying each other and just as important you have a job that you love and an art and talent everyone can enjoy!!!!!

  10. Debbie says:

    Cole and I started working together long before we started dating and continued all the way through our first year of marriage. Although circumstances have changed now, I absolutely loved getting to work alongside my best friend everyday, we really helped each other out to make a good team. Cherish the time you get to spend together but also make sure to make time for yourselves. We went from seeing each other 24/7 to only seeing each other half a week which is definitely hard but like they say, absence truly makes the heart grow fonder! SO happy that you guys are doing what you love and getting to do it together. You make an amazing team!

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