First of all, THANK YOU for allowing us to serve you these last 10 years. It has been our privilege to create beautiful spaces you love!
In June of 2010, as the job market was dwindling and the economy was tanking. Phillips Tile & Stone was born. Trevor had his first project the very weekend I was a matron of honor in a dear friend’s wedding. Her anniversary helps me remember the exact day otherwise we might not have remembered. So thanks for getting married Jason and Alisha! Love you guys! Happy 10 year wedded anniversary to you both, too!
We’ve slowly grown over the years. I guess you could say we learned about business as we were in business. Our logo was created 3 years later in 2013 by a sweet woman from our church. The Versailles tile pattern used on there was intentional as it was Michelle’s first Mother’s Day gift from Trevor. When we celebrated 5 years as a company, we were pleasantly shocked! To us, 5 years was huge! At year 7 Michelle finally sat down, with a newborn baby in her arms and created a website. All the while Trevor was hustling at creating masterpieces for our wonderful clients. In year 9 we become an LLC and officially added Michelle as a co-owner, another exciting milestone. We are so thankful for the business owners, home owners, fellow craftsman, designers, friends and family we’ve been able to assist along the way. It’s an honor we hold very dearly. Never in our dreams would we have imagined this would be how we put food on the table but we are loving the adventure!
To celebrate, we are having a giveaway on our business Instagram AND Facebook accounts! We hope you join in on the fun. If you haven’t figured this out yet, we appreciate you all so much!
Here is our Facebook post to enter!
Here is the Instagram post to enter! ((This giveaway is closed))
Mother’s Day is this coming Sunday. It’s possible to make this day special no matter the situation you find yourself in. If you are looking for inspiration keep reading. I’m all about finding ways to make celebrating easy but look exceptional. One way I’ve found to do that is Charcuterie Board Meals. My family loves charcuterie board dinners. Or lunches. You could even make a dessert style charcuterie board! Let your imagination soar as you make your grocery list and tailor it to your taste buds. Here are a few ideas to add to your grocery list.
Cured meats. (my family loves roast beef, summer sausage and pepperoni)
Cheese. (We are simple, Colby Cheese for the win! And lots of it!)
Olives.
Nuts.
Dried Fruit.
Crackers or baguette bread. (At least 2 types of crackers)
Jelly, honey, mustard or jam.
Pickles
Cookies or chocolate pieces
Guacamole, salsa and pita chips
Hard boiled eggs
There are so many ways you could enjoy this easy meal, too. Outside on the patio, on a hike, as a picnic. It’s very transportable. Be sure to include the kids in the making and clean up process. Enjoy and Happy Mother’s Day!
Easter is my very favorite holiday, so I am preparing to celebrate Easter in my house come rain or shine! I’m determined, with a little bit of planning ahead, we can make this an enjoyable Easter. We’ve already dyed the Easter eggs. My husband came home to glitter all over the kitchen table. He said something about never using glitter again…we’ll see about that, but I’m in agreement with him. The glitter was probably a bad idea that seemed great at the time. It’s too bad I didn’t grab a picture of the glorious art and science projects our kids were doing while coloring eggs.
Come Sunday, you have two options as I see it. You can do away with the fancy dress clothes. Or wear them! You do you! I’m excited to dress my kids and I in our very BEST and comfiest clothes and Sunday morning we’re having cinnamon rolls. I’m actually really excited for this slow Easter morning. In Easter’s past, we have been involved in some sort of an Easter program. Which would mean we’d be up before the sun rose and tired after church. This Sunday, let’s all enjoy the slow morning. I’ll make cinnamon rolls and scrambled cheesy eggs for my family while I brew myself some coffee. Our church is having a wonderful service online. We’d love to have you “join us” in attending the service!
We’ll have an Easter egg hunt in our backyard and wave at the neighbors. We’ll have the crockpot simmering as we plan on enjoying each other’s company. It will be an Easter I’ll never forget.
If you’ve never had resurrection rolls, these are an easy treat that I’ve been making since childhood. They are gooey, easy and so good. Just grab marshmallows, butter, sugar, cinnamon and crescent roll dough at your weekly store grocery shopping trip.
Our world is under different circumstances with the closings of schools and businesses due to the Corona Virus. If you find yourself suddenly quarantined at home with your kiddos and have no clue what to do, keep reading. My hope is to provide you some resources from a work from home, homeschooling mama. Our kids ages are 8, 6, 4, 2 and a newborn. Here are some easy, cheap or free activities that my kids truly enjoy. I’m hoping they add some sanity to your new homeschooling life as well. It really is a privilege to be at home with your kids!
The thing about homeschooling your kids, is you are simply passing along the information you know, to your kids.
I don’t want to overwhelm you with suggestions so hopefully this gets you started in a good direction. These are all REAL suggestions our kids enjoy. I hope it helps you as you make the most of this extra time together! No, it’s not always easy. However, it’s always worth it and your kids will never forget this extra time with you.
From the business owning, homeschooling family that thinks YOU CAN do this!
Did you know we collaborate with some of the best designers and builders in Omaha? Our goal is to make the design and construction process as easy as possible for our customers. We’ve built this business from the ground up and I feel as though we’re just getting started!
Would you please vote for Phillips Tile & Stone LLC? Winning a business grant like this would only help us hire more talent and serve our customers better! Which is what we strive to do daily.
One more plug, WE ARE HIRING!!! Phillips Tile & Stone is expanding and we are hiring additional craftsmen for our company. Please email PhillipsTile.Stone@Yahoo.com for more information.
February. The month of love. You might be considering what to get that special person in your life. I recommend grilling a good steak at home and cuddling on the couch afterwards eating brownies and ice cream, but Valentine’s Day inspiration isn’t my intention for this blog post. I wanted to give February a different spin and offer some ways to show your house some love! Soon it will be spring and we will want to be outside as much as possible. Let’s take advantage of this indoor time period and show our homes some lovin’.
1. Clean the Fridge (and the Freezer, Too)
You’re about to have all sorts of fun produce to load up in your fridge, so take this time to clean out your frig and make it shine again. Think of the grapes, watermelons, lettuce that will soon take over your frig space! Plus ice cream and ice pops in the freezer. Make things easier for ‘Future You’ and make the space now. Pull out all of the drawers and racks and wash them. Clean the inside with a de-greaser or scouring pad to get rid of sticky residue. Replace that old box of baking soda with a fresh one and don’t forget to vacuum the condenser coils on the back! Your fresh veggies will thank you!
2. The Oven
If you can’t see thorough your oven window or if you’re getting used to that smell of food burning every time you preheat, then it’s time to clean your oven! If you have an oven with an auto-clean cycle, it’s important to wipe out any big spills first to prevent flare ups. For manual cleaning, try using a natural paste of baking soda, water and liquid dish soap instead of harsh chemicals. Be sure to wipe up grease and grime spills as soon as it happens instead of letting it sit inside your oven and get harder as time goes on. Clean that thing now and it’ll be pristine and sparkly when you are ready to fire it up again.
4. Carpet and Rugs
Carpets accumulate a lot of dust, dirt and even fungi over time, all of which are unsightly, unhygienic and can be potential health hazards. Up to 80% of carpet dirt is loose and on the surface, and can be removed with regular vacuuming. Kinda makes you want to vacuum right now, right? Let’s further extend the life and appearance of your carpets as well as banish those really stubborn bugs and stains with regular deep cleaning. It’s well worth renting steam-cleaning equipment or hiring a professional carpet cleaning company to do the job.
4.Windows Inside and Out
Clean, clear windows make any room feel lighter and cleaner simply by letting more light in, and the more natural light you get, the less electricity you use! How’s that for a fun fact? Not to mention, the lighter the room, the lighter your mood! When cleaning your windows, wipe the inside up and down, and the outside left to right. If you end up with streaks, you’ll know which side they’re on. Don’t forget to wash screens and sills/tracks. Are your window coverings drab? Just run them through an air-fluff cycle in the dryer with a damp towel (to attract the dust) for 15 minutes, and rehang immediately. For a quick, complete wipe-down of your window blinds, shut the blinds and wipe with a microfiber cloth. Then close the blinds in the opposite direction and wipe other side. Tada! A little cleaning makes a huge difference.
I’m all about a little bit of daily progress. Cleaning these areas will also help get rid of germs that might be lurking around from the January we just finished. I think it’s totally necessary to show our homes some love. What other areas will you be cleaning this month?
“Never allow waiting to become a habit – live your dreams and take risks, life is happening now.” – Paulo Coelho
We are rooting for you! May 2020 be a productive year for us all. Now let’s get to work!
From the Phillips Tile & Stone Team
2020
It’s a fun time to reflect on 2019, here were our most ‘liked’ Top Nine pictures on Instagram. Here’s to more blue prints, more happy commercial and residential clients, more social media involvement, more employee hires and more Husker wins!
As always, we are thankful for YOU! Thanks for making Phillips Tile & Stone LLC possible by spreading the word. Happy New Year!
It seems my Christmas card list of those dear to us grows every year, I decided to try something a little different and write our Christmas letter here! We hope this ‘letter’ finds you in good spirits and continuing thankfulness all throughout the year.
Do any of you come up with a word to refer back to throughout the year? I knew this year would be a year of healing and slow progress, so the word I decided to use was ‘simplicity’. I do think you’ll find how simplicity was woven throughout our year, and I’m more than ok with that because I know, just as a seed germinates, more was happening than meets the eye.
Our kids are growing and shaping into people with their own interests and it’s so fun to watch. Collectively they enjoy art, music, sports and family vacations. We are pushing through the school year with home education and finding a rhythm for accomplishing all that needs to get done and when to rest. A few highlights for school this year are: music lessons, math (they all seem to get the love for math from their daddy) and they also won a trophy (for most original business idea, two years in a row now) at the business fair they participate in. It’s been fun to let them explore their entreprenueral interests.
Meeting the Husker baseball players and dreaming of football!
The business sign the kids made.
At the business fair.
Winning their second trophy for Most Original Business Idea.
Elias pitched for his team this year.
They wanted to have a lemonade stand ALL summer!
Phillips Tile & Stone LLC continues to grow and spread. We are thankful to have such amazing clients that help by sharing this company name through word of mouth. Our love for our city of Omaha grows every year, too. This really is the land of opportunity. We’ve come across some great mentors this year that have encouraged us in different areas and we’ve hired a few phenomenally skilled workers. Business owning is an adventure, we thank God for this opportunity.
So very thankful. 9 years! Phillips Tile & Stone LLC. We create beautiful spaces you love.
We continue to enjoy spending our time serving at our local church. I think I’ve heard all of our kids say at different times how they enjoy going to church. We hope their desire to learn and love God grows with them!
Our family vacations this year were mainly camping at Nebraska State Parks. We did make it up to Minnesota to visit my (Michelle’s) brother and his family, our time spent on the beautiful lakes in Minnesota are always a highlight of our summers. In our 10 years of marriage, trips that include just the two of us are very few and far between. So when a sweet friend gifted us a hotel stay we gladly set off on a long weekend together…sans kids and had a great time! We also celebrated our 10 year anniversary! Every milestone deserves to be celebrated, and we did celebrate but rather with our word ‘simplicity’ in mind. Guess what- it was memorable and enjoyable thus proving that a little creativity in planning for activities is the way to go!
Our getaway to KC
Platte River State Park
10 year anniversary
Minnesota beaches
the girl cousins
some of the boy cousins…
Our most exciting news of 2019 was announcing my pregnancy. This came as a bit of a surprise and we are so excited at the thought of having our very own rainbow baby. Our miscarriage last November was hard. Loss is hard. But even in the middle of grief and saddness, we saw God working and His finger print was all throughout that journey. Lord willing this babe will join our family in March of 2020.
This year we’ve walked with friends and family that have experienced grief of the greatest levels. We’ve learned, on a deeper level, what it means to be content. We’ve seen prayer requests come answered and all these circumstances have strengthened our faith. Life is not always smooth sailing but we known we can rely on an unchanging God. We are so thankful for His faithfulness! We are grateful for the HOPE our great God brings even when life isn’t as you had pictured.
We hope, this Christmas, that you’ll find JOY in an unwavering God. Thank you for being our client and our friend. Serving your home or business with design and construction services truly brings us great satisfaction! Have a very Merry Christmas and a beautiful New Year! We look forward to serving you and yours in 2020.
Trevor & Michelle Phillips plus the kiddos
And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. Luke 2:7
As Thanksgiving Day gets closer, I think it fills the heart to stop and consider all the people, things and circumstances we have to be grateful for. I’ve learned in my own life, when we stop and take time to be grateful, our mindset changes. One way I started purposefully putting gratefulness into practice is actually quite simple. I use the notes part of my iPhone and everyday (or everyday I remember!) I enter three NEW things I’m thankful for. This is something I’ve been doing for a few months so my list is long and only continues to grow. As I come up with three new things daily I’m thankful for, my mindset shifts to being grateful for everything that is in my life. A few items on my list look like this….
– A reliable, paid off vehicle
-fresh vegetables to eat
-children
-freedom to worship God
-hot coffee
-warm clothing
-art
-great clients
You get the idea. The crazy part is, everyday, your thankful list will look a little bit different. It will reflect how a portion of your day has already gone. For example, say you went to the DMV that morning, and the lines were low. I would be thankful for just that, “Short lines at the DMV!” It’s not rocket science, but there really IS something to be thankful for in everyday. Once we unlock our eyes to see this simple truth, our mind does a shift and realizes we really do have so much to be thankful for and it was right in front of us all along.
We hope you and yours have a very Happy and Healthy Thanksgiving Day!
