“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.” – Thornton Wilder

The “thankful tree” is a November tradition that I adore.

A few of my favorites…

(our family of 5)

(my grandparents)

(my friends)

Allie is thankful for "me mommy and daddy" - she is 1/8 pirate

Caroline is thankful for "clam chowder" - she is 1/8 whoever came up with clam chowder

"my cat" is interesting to me since we do not have a cat

I am grateful for so many things – 3 super cool brothers, parents and in-laws that accept and love us, really great friends (quality not quantity), the amazing US troops and their families that I think of numerous times each day, great books that I choose over sleep, living in the country, Tracy Chapman songs, my little business that allows me to “meet” new people every single day, my grandmother (she’s a rockstar!) watching my 2-year-old so I can grocery shop alone each week (get crazy, Jacque!), dishwashers, washing machines, early morning running friends, Nutella, elastic waist pants during the holidays (and lots of other days), coffee coffee coffee, and so much more.  But, most of all, I am grateful for this guy and these 3 little ladies.  Love, love, love, and love.

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.  ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

XOXO,

Jacque

Reasons #1, #2, and #3

Allie – Loving 1st grade and making me sad every single day at how quickly she is growing up.  But, we are delighted that she maintains her amazing imagination and sense of adventure.

Caroline – Loving preschool 3 days a week.  Loves coloring pictures, crumpling them up in envelopes, and delivering them to all her favorite peeps.

Jane – She is so 2.  Sometimes naughty but always hilarious.  Missed her sisters terribly when school started but has now realized that being in charge isn’t all bad.

Reason #4 – We are building a house!  So exciting and so time consuming.  But, no complaints here.  We are grateful beyond belief.

Reason #5 – So very busy with The Silver Maple!  Every day I get the opportunity to ”meet” new people from around the world and hear their “story”.  It has been such an amazing experience for me!

Conclusion:

I have 5  WONDERFUL reasons for being a blogging loser.  So there.

I adore this phrase.  It is framed and hanging in my family room and I love looking at it throughout the day.  I love the simplicity of the words and I love how it applies to everything in life.  And, most of all, I love the history behind it.  As a fan of all things vintage, I always want to know the story behind an antique teapot, an antique bench, or, in this case,  a phrase dating back to the early 1930’s…

In the Spring of 1939, with war against Germany all but inevitable, the British Government’s Ministry of Information commissioned a series of propaganda posters to be distributed throughout the country at the onset of hostilities. It was feared that in the early months of the war Britain would be subjected to gas attacks, heavy bombing raids and even invasion. The posters were intended to offer the public reassurance in the dark days which lay ahead.

It’s a credit to the nameless artists that, long after the war was won, people everywhere are still finding reassurance in their distinctive and handsome design, and the very special ‘attitude of mind’ they managed to convey.

~Primary source of information: Lewis, R M, ‘Undergraduate Thesis: The planning, design and reception of British home front propaganda posters of the Second World War’: Written April 1997. Accessed April 2007. www.ww2poster.co.uk/research_project/ugrad/index.htm

This is my grandmother that we call Nanny.  And she, of course, is my daughter’s great-grandmother, that they call Great-Nanny.  She teaches us to always be kind, to work hard, and to live well.

Nanny comes to my house one morning a week to stay with my girls while I go grocery shopping.  It’s lovely.  The time alone is lovely.  The time getting stuff done is lovely.  But, the most lovely part is coming home and seeing my grandmother pushing my 2-year old on the swing, playing sidewalk chalk with my 4-year old, or pointing out birds to my 6-year old.  I want my daughters to know just how lucky they are to have this special time wtih their Great-Grandmother, and I know they will.

Nanny also helped me plant and grow my first garden last year.  And, she was kind enough to not appear bothered by the weeds and uneven rows that were never in her gardens.  Working in the garden with my grandmother while my daughters were running around playing was most definitely a “moment”.  I think the pride and excitement really shines through in this picture of Caroline:

I especially love this picture below because it is my youngest, Virginia Jane, with her Great-Nanny on Mother’s Day this year.  What makes it even better is that they are in the middle of an iris flower garden planted by MY Great-Grandmother.  That’s right, these iris go back four generations from Jane!

My Great-Grandmother, the sweet woman that planted these beautiful flowers, was named Irene.  My Nanny’s name is Lila Irene.  My Mother’s name is Virginia Irene.  My name is Jacquelyn Irene.  And my oldest daughter’s name is Allie Irene.  I LOVE THAT!  No pressure, Allie.

Isn’t it great when the perfect person shows up in your life at the perfect time?

A  few months ago, as I was struggling to navigate my way through design ideas, supply selection, website creation, marketing plans, etc, I was admittedly feeling a bit overwhelmed some days. Then, my path crossed with Andrea of Running Chics. She is the co-owner of a fabulously fabulous website, www.runningchics.com, that sells awesome and adorable fitness apparel. I contacted her via e-mail completely out of the blue because I knew we obviously both loved running and we were both in web-based business ventures. Not only was I pleasantly suprised to get a speedy response, I was absolutely floored by her enthusiasm, her encouragement, her ideas, and her overall support of what I was doing.  Serious kindness.  I am so very thankful that Andrea showed up in my life.

Here’s two ”little running chics” and their proud Mama…

I get the pleasure of driving by this billboard numerous times each day.

Isn’t it great?

This billboard reminds me just how much of an impact we can make when we “choose kindness”.

People we love, people we don’t, people we know, people we don’t.

People we encounter at work, on the phone, in the grocery store, on the street, at the post office, in our car.

I love this billboard and the wonderful reminder it gives me every day that kindness really does count.

Desiderata is Latin for “Things to be Desired.” Desiderata is a poem written by Max Ehrmann, a poet and lawyer from Terre Haute, Indiana, who lived from 1872 to 1945.

I was introduced to Desiderata just a few years ago via the wonderful and amazing monthly book club that I am fortunate enough to be a part of. Tracy had wanted to share the poem with us, because her sister had recently shared it with her, and she was moved by it. Conincidentally, one of our other members, Anita, was quite familiar with Desiderata as she grew up near a home that had a wooden entrance across their driveway that read “Desiderata”. How neat is that?  We all loved the poem and hung on every word as Tracy read it aloud. We then agreed, although we can’t honestly think of a reason that a book club actually needs a name, that our book club’s name was Desiderata.

I love that the poem was written in the early 1920’s but every bit of it is still relevant today.  Here it is:

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

- Max Ehrmann

To create an online store, you obviously have to have an assortment of photos to showcase your work.  Thus,  once I had completed all of my late night online courses and had practiced, practiced, practiced, then practiced some more, I was finally ready to really have fun.  I had the wonderfully amazing experience of choosing who I would create a necklace for as a complete surprise to them. It was so easy for me to decide who I wanted the recipients to be – friends and family were obvious choices – I am blessed with some really great family and friends.  But there were three others that I have never met, yet they have made a huge impact on my life.  So, I excitedly created them and then had them photographed by my oh-so-talented cousin, Tara, and modeled by my oh-so-beautiful sister-in-law, Leslie,  and my oh-so-beautiful niece,  Samantha.  Did I mention that I was blessed with really great family?  I was so giddy with excitment to give these special gifts to my favorite strangers that I couldn’t even wait to mail them out until my website went live, as I had planned. I just wanted them to have it in their hot little hands, know that they have made a positive impact in my life, and to love it.

I chose Tricia at http://enduranceisntonlyphysical.blogspot.com because she inspires me so very much with the genuine, real-life stories of her journey with fitness.  The ups and downs.  The struggles.  The sweet success.  Her sincere kindness exudes even through her blog.  I was so darn excited to get her necklace to her that I couldn’t wait for her to get home from vacation to get it; I mailed it to her while she was on vacation!  Her necklace is a combination of the three most important things in her life: her darling son, her marriage, and her running.

I chose Shawni at http://71toes.blogspot.com because she inspires me so much as a mother and a wife.  She has five children, the youngest of which has Bardet-Biedl Syndrome.  Her family does such an amazing job of prioritizing what’s most important in life, creating an unbelievably strong family unit, and giving back in so many ways.  I have gotten many, many great family ideas from her.  Each year she has a mantra word, and in 2010, it is “focus”.  So, I created this necklace with her monogram and her mantra:

I choose Melanie at http://www.tallmomontherun.com because she is a rockstar.  Her enthusiam is contagious, even through her writing.  You can tell she has a love for life and is living it to it’s fullest.  She is juggling a busy life – husband, children, career, running, etc – with grace and smiles.  This is the necklace that I designed especially for her:

It was my absolute pleasure to present these three deserving and inspiring women with these necklaces made especially for them.  And, the correspondence between us since then has been even more inspiring.  These women are special.  These women are kind.  These women are genuine.  And, I’m so glad they are my friends.

PS – Some of you may be wondering why I did not include Tara from http://taralovestorun.blogspot.com in the post above.  That’s because I am happy to say that she is not a stranger.  She is a friend from high school and her little sister  is about to marry my little brother this summer.  Here’s the necklace I made for Tara’s sister and my soon-to-be sister-in-law.  Is this getting confusing?

Back to Tara… Tara is an absolute inspiration to me with her dedication to higher and higher levels of fitness.  And, she is running her first marathon next month in Fort Collins.  I am so darn proud of her and was thrilled to surprise her with this necklace:

Wow, that was long.  Apparently bloggy bloggerton is learning to get her blog on!

Life is a fascinating journey.  Isn’t it great when sometimes things happen at just the right time and you know it’s just as it should be?

First let me say that I count my blessings each and every day - three darling and delightful daughters, a husband that I adore.  I am a lucky woman and I know it.

But, here’s my story…

In a former life, I was an accountant for a big fancy CPA firm, an auditor for a big city bank, then in medical sales calling on pediatric offices.  As my dear friend, Gabrielle, and I like to say – “we used to be fabulous”.

Now, I’m a different type of fabulous.  My husband and I left the city life and now live on a farm in a rural community.  As he says, “we gave up city lights for campfires and crickets”.  As with everything – pros and cons.  When we moved, I left my career and now stay home full-time with my children – wiping hineys, kissing boo-boos, reading Brown Bear, listening to that annoying Yo Gabba Gabba, getting lots of hugs – I love it!  I also do a whole lot of accounting work for a business that is open 365 days a year – so staying busy is never a problem.  But, despite all the noise, the activity, and the constant fun of having three young children, some days can feel a little lonely - a little isolated.  Each and every day I am thankful for the ability to jump online and “interact” with amazing bloggers all over the world.  I have been inspired, educated, motivated, touched, and entertained by bloggers.  For that, I am forever grateful.

During one of our late night chats, red wine in hand, I told my husband I thought I needed a hobby outside of running.  Something completely out of my box.  Keep in mind that I have the brain of an accountant; we aren’t known for our creativity.  So, I decided to take a sharp turn and start creating jewelry.  Special jewelry.  Jewelry that didn’t look like other jewelry.  And, jewelry that meant something special.  Oh, the fun I have had in learning something completely foreign to me!  Late-night online classes, several hammered thumbs, lots of trial and error, and many hours of practice - and here I am.

This little venture has been an amazing blessing to me.  At the perfect time in my life.  I am doing something that is all my own and something that I absolutely love.  My daughters love it too and are always anxious to see what I made; it’s so darn sweet.   And, I am meeting new and wonderful people from around the world each and every day.  Runners.  Mommys.  Aunts.  New brides.  Friends looking to congratulate another friend.  Husbands looking for a special gift for their wife.  It’s so friggin awesome! 

I love the journey!

It has been a looooong winter. But, it’s finally here. We are so very happy to be back outside. Here’s a few signs that spring has sprung…

Lots of bouquets for Mommy. Weeds, flowers, twigs - it's all beautiful to Caroline.

Outdoor adventures with Daddy.

Painting your little sisters' toenails.

Gourmet campfire cookin'

Lots and lots of popsicles

Blowing bubbles while still in your jammies

First spring birthday...

second spring birthday...

third spring birthday.

Here’s to a sensational spring season!