Author: Jennifer

The Other Day: A List

The other day someone asked me to tell them something they didn’t know (about me). Those sort of conversations leave me, well, a bit perplexed. I’m not one to share on the spot. I like to mull things over, to decide what I shall and shall-not share, what is important and not. Needless to say I froze, I couldn’t think of anything witty only that I don’t like these kinds of questions. (I’m rolling my own eyes!) So I came up with, “I hate the smell of cheese but I love to eat it.” Are you kidding me? I let myself down with that! In an effort to counter that question in the future I’ve come up with a short list about myself. Feast thine eyes upon this glorious site.

I adore gaudy Christmas lights. I drink coffee but hate the taste. I believe that art and music are education. I feel in color. Flowers are totally bitch’n, even if they eventually die. I believe in rights equality. I don’t like cooked fruit (though I’m learning to like it). I am a sensitive (I see ghosts from time to time). I love the smell of cut lumber, clean children, fall, grapefruit and my house. I prefer mountains over the ocean any day. I pick at my fingernails when I’m stressed (or bored). I drink a smoothie almost every morning for breakfast. I play Lego video games. I am learning to make peace with myself and others. I’m not a pet person, but I think I’m falling for my kids’ cat. I used to enjoy a good storm, now I have kids to protect and a house to pay for. I am one creative mother-trucker! I am emotional, moody and sometimes cranky. One last thing … I love list making. Go Lists!!
The Stats:
My favorite color is black.
I have two children and one cat.
I live in Kansas City (Missouri).
I drive a Subaru and I love it.
My husbands name is Mark and he IS the bomb.
My favorite food is pizza or chocolate. (It’s really not fair for me to choose.)
I am 43 almost 44, naturally blonde, tall, hazel eyes and a Libra.

BAM! Now it’s your turn -J

MIY: Taco Seasoning

Taco Seasoning in jar with lid

Have you ever ran out of something, went to the store to pick it up and it not be there?

 

My family likes a very specific brand of taco seasoning. So when I made the trip (on three different shopping weeks) to get more I only found an empty shelf. Shaking my head, I walked away. Feeling not so happy that other’s had beat me to the coveted taco seasoning I decided to take matters into my own hands. I figured I could compare the ingredients on the jar and make this little guy myself. After a short search, there are thousands upon thousands of taco seasoning recipes out there, I found one that matched most of the ingredients on the jar. The below recipe I tweeked a bit and came up with a goodie.

Taco Seasoning Closeup

This has allowed me to take out all the yuck as well as control salt. I’ve been making this taco seasoning now for over a year and have had no complaints. Serving it not only to my family, but friends and coworkers. This is a keeper!

 

Taco Seasoning
Serves 2
Tastes like Spanish Gardens taco seasoning, but cheaper!
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Total Time
10 min
Total Time
10 min
What you need
  1. 5 Tbsp + 1 tsp Chili Powder
  2. 1 tsp Garlic Powder
  3. 1 tsp Onion Powder
  4. 2 tsp Paprika (I like to use Smoked Paprika)
  5. 2 tsp Ground Black Pepper
  6. 2 tsp Cocoa Powder
  7. 2 tsp Ground Coriander
  8. 4 tsp Sea Salt (I cut it down to 3 tsp and used Himalayan.)
  9. 4 tsp Dried Oregano, ground (I used dried Oregano, not ground.)
  10. 6 tsp Ground Cumin
Instructions
  1. Place the above ingredients in a clean jar with a tight lid. Give it a couple swirls and allow to mingle for 24 hours before using.
Notes
  1. 2 Tablespoons per 1 pound meat.
Adapted from Vegan In The Freezer
Adapted from Vegan In The Freezer
Honor Your Vision https://honoryourvision.com/

Good luck and let me know what you think.

Three Principles

I’ve had a hard time coming up with what next. There’s so many things I want to talk about, so many things I want to share, I just got stuck. I don’t like getting stuck. I did’t know where to start, nothing really spoke to me.

So where’s a crazy gal to go for what’s next? I turned to my journals, of which there are many. I carry a journal with me every day. I design rooms and sketch clothing, I write down inspirational quotes, make lists, create recipes and jot down notes from books and articles I’ve read, business ventures, and craft ideas. It’s a journal there’s a lot of ‘stuff’ in there.

Of course there are a couple of themes. Even from the beginning of my adult journaling two very strong ideas stood out; spirituality and health (physical/mental). I even found the entry where I first noted Honor Your Vision, which by the way was in 2006. I also noticed practically immediately my notes starting to take a positive spin. They spoke of Power, Beauty, Intelligence, and of Now, not waiting. Funny how things fall into place even without knowing it’s happening. The rough idea of HYV has been with me for several years. It’s just taken me some time to decide that I am a bolt of lightening and I am worthy. (So are you!)

I asked Mark if he thought sharing my ‘stuck-ness’ would be a good idea and he said (and I’m paraphrasing), “It doesn’t matter. HYV is about what ever you want it to be about. If you want to share a recipe for taco seasoning, then do it. BUT, do it! Do not overthink this.” I’m going to share my taco seasoning recipe once I figure out how to get a picture loaded to this thing. I’m not techie sorta gal, more the creative type. 

I’ve decided the plan moving forward is to discuss three main topics. Now don’t go all, are you kidding me? More of that crap? No, I tell you. Not more of that. Nothing I do is more of the same. I work hard at putting a sparkly-unicorn-rainbow-tiger-glittering-lighteningbolt spin on things. Take a gander at the definition of the three HYV Principles.

  1. Eat Clean Daily – This doesn’t mean that every meal everyday is clean, it doesn’t mean that you cannot have a glass of wine or the third cinnamon roll at breakfast. It DOES mean that we will make the conscious decision to eat a healthy diet on a daily basis. Eat whatever it is we want to eat, just be mindful of the food we’re putting into our body. Remember that food is fuel. Our bodies cannot continue to house our souls if its falling apart around us. Your body is a temple in which your soul resides.
  2. Celebrate Daily – This principle most decidedly does not mean to throw a grand party everyday. If you have wanted to start a project, then start it, work on it daily until its completed. Celebrate the finished project. Do something that feeds your spirit. Try something new. We need to celebrate ourselves everyday by doing something that makes us happy. Express ourselves the way we where made to – through emotion.
  3. Move Daily – To move daily does not mean that we will punish ourselves with painful workouts. It doesn’t even mean that we will workout. Move Daily silly refers to moving our bodies. Whether this is taking the stairs at work or parking furthest from the door at the grocery store – just make an effort to move the body. If you enjoy the gym then go and love your body while moving it. Dance! Play (outside) with your children! Go for a walk! The point is to move and breath deeply.

Your body is a Temple and Your are the Goddess that lives in it. Honor that Goddess by feeding it, moving and celebrating it. Your are a sparkly ray of beauty – Honor Your Vision!

Peace out my sparkly beauties! – J

Ode to the list …

Oh how I love thee.

Ima list maker! I make lists. Lists of lists. Fancy lists on fancy paper and creative lists with colorful pens. I rewrite lists after I’ve marked through a couple of items, I will even rewrite a list if I don’t like my handwriting. Lists sorted by numbers, sorted by letter, lists in paragraph form. I love me some lists! So in honor of my love for lists I thought I’d start us off with a little ditty about things I want to conquer. My Conquer List is something like a bucket list, just not about things I want to do prior to death. We’re talking about living here, honoring your vision, not waiting! In an effort to keep things fluid I will update this regularly with start, progress and finish dates.

Jennifer’s Conquer List

PERSONAL:

  1. Begin a yoga practice
  2. Maintain a yoga practice
  3. Develop a daily meditation practice
  4. Maintain a daily meditation practice
  5. Feng Shui the entire house
  6. Smudge the entire house, regularly
  7. Take a selfie every day for a month
  8. Attend a yoga/health retreat
  9. Attend a crafting retreat
  10. Start my right shoulder/arm sleeve tattoo
  11. Finish my back tattoo
  12. Kick caffeine to the curb, for good

BUSINESS:

  1. Become a meditation instructor
  2. Become a yoga instructor
  3. Become a life(style) coach
  4. Take HYV from a crazy idea to a full-fledged business
  5. Support my family with HYV income
  6. Attend a blogging conference
  7. Speak at a blogging/health conference
  8. Host a webinar
  9. Build (and pay) a team of 3 to support HYV as a business
  10. Help 10 people achieve a life goal
  11. Create a HYV YouTube channel
  12. Have an article published
  13. Create a HYV meditation for beginners course
  14. Create a HYV yoga for beginners course

I’d love to check out your Conquer List. So let me know what you’ve been waiting on, we can check these babies off one by one.

Good Vibes my Sparkly Unicorns!

-J

So what’s this all about anyway?

I’ve been tweeting out inspirational quotes for HYV for over a year now. During this time curious onlookers have asked what exactly is Honor Your Vision and what is my vision.

To answer the first question; HYV is about not waiting. Yes, I. Just. Said. That. HYV is about not waiting. Not waiting on whatever it is you’re waiting on to move your life forward. We are worth what ever it is we want RIGHT now.

I waited, on imaginary things. Some special dollar amount to start my family (FYI, there is NEVER enough money, so just do it.) I’ve waited on wearing a specific size – to loose 25, 30, 100 pounds before I find my mate (Let you in on a little secret here; if someone doesn’t love you as you are, they don’t love you at all. YOU ARE PERFECT so just do that to.) Not imaginary? Because sharing is caring; I’ve been at a store, in the check out lane and put my things down and walked away, because I was so ashamed of how I looked, what size I was buying and what that cashier was supposedly thinking about me. The hell you say? Oh yeah, at different stores (one of them was food related) on a couple different occasions. Back to imaginary. What about waiting on the perfect time for said thing to begin? Done that as well. There is no magical ‘perfect time’. There is just time and it is now (just do that). The key is to behave as if you have what you’ve been waiting on. I’m asking for a bit of trust here, but, if you believe, truly believe, not sorta-kinda believe, but believe with every fiber of your being; whatever you are waiting on WILL make itself known to you. Are you familiar with the Law of Attraction? You may have heard about a book, “The Secret”. This book discusses the Law of Attraction or better put the Power of Attraction. The fact of the matter is, “What you think about you bring about.” You must see it, feel it, believe it, recognize it as true and act as if it is already true. It’s an easy read and for those of us who cannot bring ourselves to pick up a book there’s a movie (a doc-u-men-tary, you will survive this). So there are no reasons you cannot spend time learning about the Law of Attraction. You may think it bit woo woo, but give it a try. You may surprise yourself with how easy it is.

The question of what my vision was, was a tuff one. I thought my vision needed to be singular, and concise. So I pondered on it. I didn’t put it off mind you, I just couldn’t come up with one idea. That’s when I realized that one’s vision for oneself needn’t be singular but it be grand and fluid. There are very few things in our lives that remain static. In my high school World History class I was taught that if a society didn’t progress it died out. This is true for all entities. If we stop learning we will become lazy and eventually so comfortable in our self that little by little we die out.

I believed that when the universe was ready she would show me my vision, my purpose. I forgot that I needed to remind the universe from time to time. I needed to think about it – keep it forefront. I actually thought it would magically pop into my consciousness and I’d just “know”. Not so. You may ask the universe a question but you must also actively seek the answer.

My vision is to be Happy, Healthy, and Wealthy in life and to share it with my family and those who are interested in honoring their vision. Why do I capitalize each point? Because these three items are incredibly important to me and deserve their own moment.

I commit to myself to become Happy. I will work daily to bring happiness into my life and to those around me. I commit to be Healthy. I will work daily to make good choices for myself in the fuel I put into my body and the exercise I do to keep it strong. I also commit to being Wealthy. I will work daily to bring wealth (abundance) into my life and to those around me. 

I know that I cannot force my vision on others. So I will do my best to help those who are interested and to appreciate those who choose not.

It’s important that we share our experiences with other people. Your story will heal you and your story will heal somebody else. When you tell your story, you free yourself and give other people permission to acknowledge their own story. Iyanla Vanzant

 

-J

My Story

Hi there, my name is Jennifer and this is my story.

I have spent my adult life trying to figure out where I fit in. For as long as I can remember I’ve wanted to own and operate a business; mostly a fashion design empire. However with my inability to love and believe in myself (who would take style advise from a fat gal? – times have changed), I allowed myself to hide. I succumbed to doubt. I allowed myself to be put down. I punished myself for not looking like what I thought my target client wanted me to look like. I gave up on my dream and pathetically faded away.

I am a creative type with a strong personality, I am passionate and I care. I have made many mistakes as I am not perfect. I will not let my past stop me from fulfilling my desires. I will listen to those who criticize me but will not allow them to hinder my progress. The one true thing I know is that I am beautiful, I am powerful and I am intelligent. I have decided to stop waiting on this, that, and the next thing and get moving on whatever makes my soul sing. I believe that everyone has the beauty and power to live their life as they wish. Right. Now. I am out of excuses as to why I haven’t made the Cookie Fairy into a profitable cookie business, why I haven’t opened Parts + Labor, a brick and mortar for local crafts people, why I haven’t started an interior design firm, why I haven’t, why I haven’t, done any-damn-thing but think about doing it and not do it. I am done. If I CAN dream it I CAN do it! And I WILL. Thank you very much.

I have wrote and rewrote this post countless times. On more than one occasion had someone ask ‘when are we going to see something from HYV?’ or ‘what is HYV exactly?’ (I’ll explain HYV a little later. I’ve got to keep you wanting more!). To tell the truth I was so scared of putting myself out there, of really putting myself out there, that I stalled (again). My husband said I’m overthinking it and would you just put something out. To get started on it and tweak it as I go. Soooooo that’s what Ima’ gonna do. Put it out there. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go have a nervous breakdown.

Love – J