Living a Dream

Ok cupcake, where is your Diva?

My inner Darling Diva was chattin with Ms. Julie's Darling Diva, the other day and it came to us.   

If you keep hushing the inner Darling Diva inside of you...she'll stop showing up and will leave your butt in that stuffy, dead-pan, annoyingly straight-laced little world you've gotten yourself into.  

Did ya know that little bit of Juicy information? 

Gotta tell ya babycakes, it seems I have stuffed my inner Darling Diva, over the winter and holy moly...she nearly left me!  Thank the good Lord above that another Darling Diva gave me some heads up and a solid kick in the tush! (Thank you Darling Diva T!)

"Just who is this inner Diva?!"  I hear you ask.   Oh and you know I love it when you ask.  Your inner Darling Diva is that Juicy Gal that makes just about everything you do, feel Free and Fun!   

She's the luscious part deep inside of you that breaks out laughing with bursts of belly giggles!   

Your Diva, is the girl that knows exactly what color dress to wear that will absolutely KNOCK HIS SOCKS OFF when you enter the room.   Or she knows Darling Divas who will tell her which dress is THAT good!

She's the part of you that loves glitter and tiaras...flashy pink boas and fabulously sexy shoes  (aka: strappy...open-toed, higher than high-heeled...thrill him in a minute, with your sexy-mile-long-legs...kinda shoe!  Yeah baby, we're talking DIVA!).

Just a dream in your heart?

  There was a girl who lived inside of a small square room.   She had everything she needed, all the time.  Food, clothing, water, books, etc.  But there was a pretty little window in her room.  And every day the girl would stare out the window into a beautiful garden of stunning flowers, ivy, grass and tall trees.  It was a square garden that was much larger than her room. She would say, "One day I will enter that garden and smell those roses and the lilies and feel the green grass in my toes...."   Every day, her heart longed to live outside of her little room and her passion grew to live in and tend to the garden just outside.

One day, the girl opened the window and heard a voice. It was the voice of the Father calling to her to come into the garden. She wasn't afraid of the voice, her heart recognized it and felt courage in every word He spoke.  Bravely she climbed onto the window sile and jumped into the garden.  And there she stood in amazement at the feel of the green grass beneath her and the smell of the lilacs nearby.   She spun in circles and laughed and jumped and said, "Oh thank you Father for giving me this garden to live in!  I knew it would be amazing.  Thank you for calling me to come out.  Thank you!"

And then she heard her Father in heaven chuckle.  "My daughter," He said, "Did you really think you were meant to live in the little room?  My plans for you are wider than you could even imagine and bigger than you could ever dream.   Child, turn around and open the gate at the front of the garden."

Slowly she turned around and saw a small picket fenced gate and archway.   It was pure white and morning glories had swept their way over and under the arch and they swayed in the breeze, in such a way, as to invite one to "Enter This Way". With hesitation and wonder, she carefully opened the gate and walked beneath the arch.   What she saw was unimaginable to her.   Garden upon garden...trees of every color and size...roses the size of which she had never seen...flowers and moss on every corner.   There were streams and benches for sitting with friends for long talks.  Gazebos and winding staircases.  Birds sang louder and bolder.   Deer stood within reach.   

And the girl stood in amazement.

Then the Father in all of His massive love said, "This child is what I made for you to live in and tend to...THIS is my plan for YOU."

What are the dreams in your heart.  The things we have always wanted to do and be and see and feel are the dreams we have either done something with or are still waiting to take a hold of.   What I am coming to discover is this...whatever we can dream up...its only a fraction of what GOD has in store for any one of us who would like to take his invitation and climb into his plan.   He put out the invite...we get to accept or decline.  Your dreams to make a difference in this life are very real.  I say...accept that invite!

Life Lesson - if you love him, give him a kiss goodbye

Nearly 5 years ago now a phone call brought my family to their knees.   My childhood friend from so many years that he seemed more like family than friend - had been killed instantly in a motorcycle accident.     Perhaps you might think that this was the life lesson - that life is precious and that life is valuable.   But no.   While that is completely true, something else rings in my ears as a reminder - today it struck me again.

It was after the funeral, we sat together with the family and friends gathered.  Through the grief and elements that help people to move on, we were told the story of what had happened the morning we all lost a friend.  

As many couples do, a small argument had lingered overnight about something that seemed very unimportant after all is said and done.   In the early hours of dawn, the husband (our friend) went to say good-bye to his wife, who still lay in bed that morning, he leaned in to kiss her.   In her stubborn state, as we wives can do oh-so-well, she rolled away from his touch and pointedly decided that her irritation would remain the center of focus.   We'll never know what his thoughts were at that moment.   And nothing more was ever said to each other.   He walked outside, started his motorcycle and started off to work.   Only a few blocks from home...an automobile pulled out in front of him in such a way that took his life instantly.

I don't even want to breathe as I write this.   I want to hug and squeeze my husband and children.   I want to say, please don't let anything stand in the way of your goodness as you leave each other.   

Perhaps this life lesson is hard to hear.   But it holds wisdom.   And where wisdom goes, I want to follow.

(with heart)

Don't you DARE give up on the Dreams...

I have been a big dreamer for years now.   My inspirations have come from small and large places.  I have hoped that somewhere there would be a moment when I could say I am doing something with my bigger dreams.   Doing exactly what I am meant to be doing, what God designed for Jenn.   I have dreamed that my life would be, could be...simply should be more than a tiny speck on this earth.  

As time marches forward...I sometimes find myself wondering if the biggest of my personal dreams will come true.   Will I truly do all that I am meant to do or will I somehow be swallowed up by taking care of my family, the duties of work, household and friends.   Will I be too old to reach for the ultimate dreams?

Then today, I found this link.   And suddenly, I saw my dreams again...only this time, I found myself in a puddle of giant tears, wide grin on my face and I couldn't help but clap wildly in deep inspiration of one woman's dream...after 47 years, finally coming true.   What if she had given up and said..."I'm too old for this"?  

Delicious dreamers, don't you DARE give up on your dreams!

Click Here and DREAM!

With my love...my heart and my dreams held up even higher!
Juicy Dreaming Diva Jenn

With childhood memories comes a certain sweetness...

You can't really duplicate it today...well perhaps they could but it would require a bunch of artists with a great deal of patience...the way they used to create the magic of cartoons...where everything has such fluid, individual movement.   I doubt it will ever come around again.

I miss that.   Simplicity.  Diligence on one project...like this:

My sister sent this scrumptious little cartoon to me and I found myself parked in front of  YouTube.com  for the next hour with my sons.

Me, remembering how great it was to see these sweet innocent flicks.

My boys, learning to love the sound of the wolf growling,  "Let me in!  Or I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in!"

We've watched it so often that Baby Jack now walks into the office and simply says..."Momma, da wof..see da wof"?   I can't resist...mama continues to give in again..."Sure Jack, we'll watch the wolf." And then I pretend it is about him, for him, not me.

Secretly, I am sucked in when the little pigs run for the brick house, "hurry!" I say. And its all over, my cover is blown...my boys laugh and we all rush to watch it one more time.

(remembering, living and loving)

Oh yes...January is now gone for a long time.

I am one of those people.  You know the ones that hate the color gray.  Loathe a day when the clouds hang in the air but nothing happens...no rain, no snow, no sleet...just looming there with nothing to show but more gray.    And inevitably, that makes me hate January.  

Oh I want to like January very much.  I really do.  But I can't.   And I try every single year to get into January's claim of a fresh start a new leap on life...{sigh}...I can't do it.   January is gray and tortures me with loads of gray as if to say..."just taste it again and see if you'll like it this time."  But I've tried it all.   And there is only one very solid part of January that I have to like.   And that is, January always leads me to February.

So when the calendar turns its page I can't help but want to scream THANK YOU! 

This particular January has been rough.  And I mean that.   Our whole family has been sick with flu bug after flu bug.  Even now I am hacking and sneezing my way through this little blip on my blog.   And this all comes from January...so you can see that it is lingering still. 

Want to know what I miss the most?   I miss contact with my friends on the web.  You know who you are.   (Dear Laney, I owe you a sweet email in reply...so when you read this, know that I got your precious note in January...but I was so bogged down in my hate of January...that I didn't even respond.   Sorry babycakes.   I am still here!)

Friends of the web world, where are you these days?   Can you pop in and tell me if you hate January as much as I do?  Or have you found a remedy for the blues it causes?   What makes you smile in February?

This is what I am looking forward to as February passes by....

My home as the days get warmer and its ok to play outdoors again...

My family in the sunshine...in short sleeves and no jackets!

Bare feet in the grass....

Fun in the pool...

And the ease of knowing...January is still very far away.

(feeling tired of snow...puffy jackets...gray days and flu bugs)

In love with love...80's style

Do you remember...what it felt like to be a teenager, fully in love with love?  I was a kid when this song came out but babycakes...there is NOTHING like this one song to take my whole heart and make it spill tears from one mere video.   Tell me you remember this...

(Choked up now...)  Someone tell me, how did she know what his face looked like?  Oh my word, I know, I know...I KNOW...but I can not help it.  I still get chills when she touches his lips and he then grabs her hands.   It's just beautiful ...and I fully admit I am a card carrying member of the "Schmoopy Fan Club".   {Sigh....sigh....yes, sigh}

(Still in love with LOVE...)

Up, up and Away...

Autumn in New York is brilliant.  Each tree seems to boasts its own rich color combination in every shade of the best of sunsets glorious color palette.  To know that we have lived this particular adventure means much more than just a brisk ride among the clouds...it whispers in my heart every time I see the photos, "...we have lived deeply...profoundly...exuberantly."   That means more to a dreaming girl than much of anything else.    For when I am very old...and feeble, I will look back and say just that once more.  "We did indeed live...deeply, profoundly and exuberantly."  And that will make me smile.

Welcome to a little bit of our wedding anniversary adventure!

Somehow, as I watched the balloon fill with the hot air, I felt like I may just run to the car and lock myself inside.  The fear of letting a simple balloon and basket carry me into the sky, took my courage and tested it to the core.   Can you see how very small the basket really is?

Mr. G...my tough warrior of a man didn't flinch.   And I like to think that it was his confident grin that gave me just the right amount of courage to step inside of the brown wicker basket and take a giant leap of faith in God and all of His plans for my evening.  It was really...God.

 

(Where we took off from)
This precious little place is called, "Sprout Creek Farm".  It is filled with every imaginable farming tool, animal and garden pleasure known to me thus far in my life.  Run by a group of sweet, talented and very hard working Catholic Nuns, it has a very special way of making each visitor feel as if they perhaps own a bit of the land.  The cheeses that come from their store alone, will bring us running back again and again.

After floating very aimlessly, for no less than an hour...our Captain found a perfect farm to cushion our landing.   It really was just this beautiful...in every way.

When the winds pick up the balloon, it can be a bit of a monster to contain.  Mr. G helped the men bring it under control again.

And there we are...the Dreaming Diva is, "Safely on the Ground" but with a completely changed heart.   You see, now I'd go up in a itty-bitty basket under a balloon covering again, any day, any time, any place...with one condition...Mr. G would still have to be my traveling companion.

(Still feeling so grateful for the romantic adventure of a lifetime!)

There is someone that I'd like you to meet!

I've talked about him perhaps a trillion times on this blog.  And for a while now, I've been hoping beyond hope, that he'll do what he has said he'd like to do.  That being, "Starting his own blog".

Two days ago, Mr. G did it!  He opened up this blog and posted his first article. 

 Babycakes, I will tell you...I love his blog name, as it perfectly suits him.   He called it, "In my humble but accurate opinion".   If you know this quirky, very opinionated man, you'll agree, he couldn't have said it better.  If you don't know him, you'll soon discover why the title should be his...and it's not because he is humble in spirit.  No, not quite.  {grinning}

If you're thinking that perhaps he will write like me...you'd be mistaken.  He doesn't like sugar-coating things much.  He'd rather just tell you like it is...with his own distinctive New Yorker voice.   More than likely, you won't agree with him at all times.  But he has entered this blog world anyway!

So, come on blogger friends...go over there and give him the warmest welcome!  Give him something to look for in his comment box.  Welcome my guy to the internet!

 (feeling so happy to introduce Mr. G to my dear Juicy friends)

P.S.  That photo was taken only days before his spinal fusion surgery.  I never wrote about it but Mr. G aka my Mr. Big, surprised me with a magnificant first time Hot-Air Balloon ride over the autumn foliage of our fair valley.   He did it to celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary and to make sure that ...should anything have happened to him in surgery...there would be a "Big" memory to last me a lifetime.   As usual with him, I was blown away by his creative...elaborate, adventurous gift and will always remember how amazing it was to feel the air...and silently glide through the air toward an unknown destination, with Mr. G's hand around my waist.   It truly is remarkable, how much that actually resembles my relationship with him.    

Thank you my dearhearted man for continuous adventures...I love them so much!

And thank you Father God for allowing my husband to come through the surgery with great success...forever I am grateful!

One whole day...of Happy Birthday!

Today I turned 38 years old.  Wow.  38?  Really?  

Man did I have a great day.   From the time I woke up to this very moment, I celebrated.   I have a whole lot to be grateful for.  So much.

And as I close my eyes tonight...I will hold it all close to my heart.   I thank my Father in heaven for loving me so much that He saw fit to give me yet another birthday....another year of goodness and of hard lessons learned.  I will thank Him for my sweet boys...all three, individually wonderful in their own way.   I will tell Him how grateful I am for the greatest love of my life in my precious husband and best friend, Mr. G.    And I will thank Him for the friends and sweet family that took the time today to make me feel like a princess.

I am truly honored.  Truly blessed.   And so glad to say I lived my birthday "out loud"!

(feeling totally full...in spirit)

Why Smittens kinda freak me out!

I am still laughing my butt off (only figuratively I can assure you!).   I bumped into this blog post last night.   Here's what Kelly, the writer had found:

 

There is such a thing as too much love

Want to thoroughly creep out your loved one this Christmas? Get him or her a set of Smittens!

I would seriously barf all over anyone who ever tried to give this to me. Did you notice that there are even two different sized loner mittens for the lady's tiny hands and the man's big hands? Somehow that makes it even more "eww" to me.

And then our dialogue began like this:

Juicy Jenn October 26, 2008 11:41 PM  

Oh I am dying of laughter here! TOOOOO FUNNY! And perfectly written up. Well done!

Kelly October 27, 2008 11:24 AM  

juicy jenn - glad you thought it was funny! Some people I showed this to thought I was crazy for thinking it was creepy!

Juicy Jenn October 27, 2008 11:39 AM  

Kelly, well actually...you're not crazy for being creeped out. I imagined holding my husbands hand in the gloves and then something comes toward us...at a high rate of speed. I can't get my freakin hand out of the glove in time to seperate from him, so we both get clobbered!

See? You're not wacky.

(Had to share!  I just HAD TO! Tell me you're bustin up too!)