Well guys, we did a thing.

Dan and I have this habit of doing everything at once all the time. For example, the week that I graduated from college we also got a puppy and moved to Maine and both got new jobs . Then two years after that we bought a house, got married and had a baby. The next year we renovated the house, sold it, bought another house, Dan got another job and we got pregnant again. Then Dan got another job, we renovated the entire house, and had another baby. Then we refinanced the house and lived in it while the entire main floor was torn apart and rebuilt. That was really fun.

The past year has felt kind of quiet compared to that giant shit show so we decided, let’s do something stressful!

So we bought a business in the middle of a pandemic.

I know, we have issues.

But here we are, and here’s our little store: North Yarmouth Variety. It’s a small variety store, gas station and takeout restaurant in North Yarmouth, Maine. A place that absolutely nobody has ever heard of unless you live in North Yarmouth, Maine.

We purchased the business from the Dan’s former employer (shout out to my parents for being early investors!), and we’ve got big plans but over the long haul.

For now, we’re running the place as is – it has a LOT of regulars and we don’t want to ruin what they’ve got going. So we’re just meeting people, taking notes, sampling pizza and slowly starting to work in some of our new ideas. And by slowly, I mean Dan already purchased and set up a smoker out back so…smoked meats, coming right up!

Eventually we plan to upgrade the gas pumps, add some electric charging stations (because climate change), re-pave the parking lot, add online ordering, bring in some craft beers, Dan-ify the menu…you get the idea. But since we’re already homeschooling and working from home and trying not to die of COVID-19 it feels like we should just, you know, try to take it slow.

HAHAHAHAH ask me how that’s going next week.

Anyway, if you’re looking for me, I’ll be here, stuck in my house with my kids 24/7, writing ads and serving snacks and reminiscing about the days when Dan used to come home after work. Dan will be tossing pizza dough and swearing at Quickbooks and wondering why our lawn still hasn’t been mowed.

If this isn’t the American Dream, I don’t know what is.