Happy and Merry

Friends. I have been MIA since November. My apologies. I always hated following a blog where the writer would just go missing after a few months of good content, and here I did it to you. My apologies.

I have been honestly crazy busy — I launched a new business — eek! Can you hear my excitement? It has been a dream of mine to own my own company and do something to help others. And here I am!

INTRODUCING: Health and Wellness with Jessica Lorello. I offer group sessions for new and expecting mothers where we talk about all of the things no one talks about! For instance, FMLA — who teaches you to complete that paperwork? Childcare — how do you know what you are looking for in a daycare, stay at home nanny, or even what it takes to be a stay at home parent? We talk about the differences between doctors, doulas, certified nurse midwives, nurse practitioners, etc. We talk about your rights in the hospital and how to keep hospital costs down, different types of birthing strategies, navigating your insurance, navigating tough conversations with your partner, and there is even a session just for dads. I wish I had something like this when I was pregnant with my first baby.

Along with prenatal education, I have a group session for postpartum women and women entering the 4th trimester. Both are very informative to that new mother navigating their way through life with a newborn.

I also offer 1:1 coaching/mentoring for college students and recently graduated college students who might be having a tough time. You know when you receive your first paycheck out of college and you blow it all on one night at the bar? Yeah, I can help with that. Or now you work 8-5 with a 30 minute commute each way, how are you suppose to wake up so early? How are you suppose to have time to do anything fun? Yeah, I can help with that too. Is your college student struggling to have a consistent schedule day to day? Are they partying too much or are they just not communicating with you? Maybe their eating habits are not positively contributing to their learning.. I can help. Finances and time management seem to be the most difficult for college students and recent graduates, hire me and I can help.

Visit my website: http://www.wellnessbyjlo.com — sign up for a service. I assure you that you will not be disappointed. I am beyond passionate about this and I am excited to work with all of you. We all have hard times, and while it might be hard to ask for help, it is okay. I am giving you the okay. IT IS OKAY TO ASK FOR HELP.

In advance, I want to thank you all for your support. This has been a long process to get to this place and the support I have received has been unbelievable. Thank you.

I will see you soon!

xo, Jessica

Hostess with the Most-ess

I love hosting people at my house. Did I say LOVE… I LOVE hosting people at my house. I love everything that goes into it: cleaning, prepping a menu, grocery shopping, planning fun things for everyone to do together, researching new fun places.. ALL OF IT! I love it.

Not only do I love the planning, but I love the hustle and bustle of people in my home, good conversations, kids playing, blankets and people snuggled on couches, fire pits, smore’s, games, memories being made, good food, candles, joy.. pure joy.

I grew up with friends always at my house, my cousins were always at my house, people were always in and out, and it was fun. I want that for my kids, and I want that for my family. I want people to just stop by because they were in the area and thought about us, then they end up staying for dinner and maybe dinner happens in the driveway because the kids are outside playing and the adults get to have nice conversations. I want people to come over and we all do something fun, did I mention that I love having people over?

When I was little my mom, my sister, and I would go to our very best friend’s house (they only lived 5 blocks away) and my mom and my friends mom would do some kind of craft or make pasta or something else that I don’t remember because I was too busy playing with all the kids on the block riding bikes, playing school or office, or house with our babies. It was so much fun! That is what I want for my family.

It’s interesting that those types of relationships don’t exist much anymore, the just stopping in to say hello relationships. Everything seems to be planned, and we are always calling ahead to triple check that it’s okay that we go to someone’s house.. I don’t quite understand that. Mainly because well..  I love when people come over.

How about we stop worrying about is our house a mess… do we have enough food.. does everyone have enough time.. are they going to mad that we stopped by… I don’t have anything to bring.. all the things, stop worrying about them. Just stop by, I promise they will be glad you did. Make the memories. Enjoy the  moments. Let time slow down. Enjoy each others company. You won’t regret it. These are the things we are made for.

This weekend we will have 7 adults and 3 children in my home and I COULD NOT BE MORE EXCITED! The hustle and bustle of people I care about and conversations about life are going to be overflowing. The best part is everyone will walk away with a memory and valuable time spent together no matter if the food was good or if the house was clean. That is what fills my cup.

My cup overflows with JOY.

xo, Jessica

The kindness station

The kindness news station.. would you watch it? Think about CNN but like all the kindness and happy things happening in the world. Would you honestly watch it? I would.

You know what’s funny… most people I asked this question to said no. Why? Why wouldn’t you want to watch the joy and beauty in the world? The answer I got from people: “because I would be too emotional watching all the nice things, plus it would probably get old.” WHAT?! Really? The kind, beautiful, amazing things happening in the world would get old? What about CNN, BBC, or any news station for that matter… does that terrible information ever get old? But you still watch it!

We spend so much time watching and hearing about the tragedies in the world we have become immune to them. We don’t cry about sad things anymore, we don’t have reactions the same way because we see it all the time. But the fear you can see in someone when you mentions a Kindness News Station is unreal. Why are we afraid of kindness?

Kindness isn’t easy for us, we have to think about it. And then we have to think about not getting recognition for being kind because everyone always wants recognition. How about just be kind? Just be kind to everyone, not just the people you know, but everyone. You don’t know everyone’s story, you literally see people for minutes, sometimes seconds in their day — they have a whole life span of stories that contribute to the kind of person they are — who are you to judge? You are not there to judge. You are there to be kind. Just be kind.

Kindness has 2 sides, the giver and the receiver. The giver of kindness has it’s own challenges, but the receiver of kindness actually has to be open to receiving. What if they are not open to the receipt of kindness? What then!? It doesn’t matter. As the giver of kindness, you are doing it because you want to be kind. Not because the person asked for it, or because they need it. You gave out kindness because you wanted to. But also, we need to open ourselves up to acknowledge and accept kindness no matter how big or small. Don’t fear kindness, allow people to show you the beauty in the world.

The other day I was in the grocery store with my kids. This mother and her 2 kids were following us very closely and I kept wondering what they were doing. I will admit I was wondering in a very negative way saying things in my head like “what is your problem? stop following me and my kids!” About 5 minutes into them following us, her daughter came up to my daughter and said, “I like your unicorn jacket. Where did you get it?” Then the mom chimed in and said, “Sorry, she really liked the jacket and I am trying to teach her how to speak up for herself.” Man did I feel like dirt on the floor. The mom was just trying to teach her daughter how to be kind and I was annoyed. My daughter was so happy and proud that some other little girl liked her unicorn jacket and the girls were able to have a kind conversation about the jacket. I want to be like that mom. I want to teach my daughter kindness. I want to teach her how to give kindness and how to receive it. What a world that would be…

We are in the season of thankfulness. But what if we were in the season of kindness as well. Turn your kindness into someone’s thankful. Be so kind that they are thankful for you that day, then just maybe, they will be kind enough to someone else to be that someone else’s thankful.

Create your own Kindness News Station. Be your own news reporter. What would you report for the day?

be kind.

xo,

Jessica

Simplify with Gabby

Friends/Readers/Followers, meet my dear friend Gabby. Gabby and I met when I was working at a gym teaching postnatal fitness. She had just had her youngest son who was 5 weeks early. In this particular class, I would set up stations around the room for the participants to complete different exercises while I kept the babies happy off to the side of the room. I knew Gabby and I were going to be friends when she came in to the class from this initial interaction… I introduced myself, she introduced herself and introduced me to her son, then continued to say that she would prefer I not take him out of the car seat since it was flu season and he was premature.

A momma speaking truth and not feeling shame to protect her baby – that’s a momma I want to hang with! Gabby and I have stayed friends even though we don’t live in the same town and I value her friendship so much! Gabby is real, she is raw, she is a giver, an advocate, passionate, loving, caring, thoughtful, smart, talented, she is definitely not afraid to get dirty, she is practical, she’s an adventurer, and she listens. This is a friend you want!

I asked Gabby to write something in relation to the mission of the honest truth blog, whatever was speaking to her at the moment, and she wrote about simplification. it seems so simple, but there are so many places/ways to simplify that we often over look. Read below about Gabby’s experience and feel free to comment with your simplification ideas/techniques!

xo, Jessica

“Simplify”

Every New Year’s Eve for the past 9 years my family has gathered with 5 other families to ring in another year of life, love and community. After we put all the kids in bed, the adults gather to share their highs, lows and either a goal or word for the coming year. We’re super cool, I promise 🙂

For 2019, my goal was “intentionality” and my word was “simplify”.

For me, these two things go hand in hand. I want to take the time to enjoy this stage of life with my boys, I want to make space for my husband and I want to be able to look back and not feel like I was sinking through toddler-hood. In order to do this, I needed to simplify my life and be very intentional with my time and energy (because let’s face it, waking up at the crack of dawn ready to roll does not give one endless amounts of energy).

Emily Ley wrote in A Simplified Life that “when we pare down life to its simplest parts, we’re left with room to enjoy each other, to rest, and truly savor life with all our hearts, minds and spirits.”

When I started thinking about my goal and word for the year, I had to really think about what I wanted for myself and my life for this year. Nine months into the year, it’s still a work in progress, but this is what I’ve discovered… I want to remember this time with my boys. I want to not spend all my time cooking, cleaning and keeping our home “functional” but also need it to be “functional”…I use that word loosely as it changes based on my mood, anxiety levels and schedule for the coming days!

So if those are the things that I want, how do I make this work? Our house cannot be a disaster zone and I need time and space for myself to reclaim energy and balance. These may not be issues for you, but for me, I function best in that space.

I’m still tweaking what works for me/my family as we go, but so far, this is what I’ve found…

• Declutter your inbox and social media and set time limits…I unfriended and unfollowed people I don’t know, don’t bring me joy, or haven’t spoken to in over 5 years. I took a couple of days to work my way through the thousands of emails hanging out in my inbox and made folders for events/topics that are important so that I can reference them quickly. I also took advantage of the Screen Time limits on my phone. It doesn’t completely stop me from aimlessly scrolling Insta, but it definitely makes me think twice about my time and I feel better when feeding my brain with interesting new things rather than other people’s pointless musings.
• Early this spring I took part in Emily Ley’s Ruthless Declutter Challenge (after quoting her above and then noting this, I feel like I look like a huge EL fan but I have to admit, a friend recommended her challenge and I just read her book, so no worries, I haven’t gone full happy stripe just yet). Over the course of a month, I went room by room in our house and got rid of all the things that were broken, excessive, didn’t fit, etc. I took 3 separate loads of stuff to Goodwill and it felt so good. I didn’t have to worry about the boys pulling out clothes that didn’t fit and the battle to have them change into something that did, I could open our cabinets without water bottles falling out, and I knew where things were that I previously could not locate.
• Meal prep…I need to be much better about this, but I find that our days go much smoother and I feel less stressed when I have our fruit and veggies chopped and ready to go for the day. I can then pull them out to throw in a smoothie, into a pan or straight on a plate saving me precious time during that awful 4-6pm time frame when everyone is starving and needs all the attention! Some days I prep them first thing in the morning while making breakfast, or if I’m really on my game, on Sundays for the bulk of the week.
• Shoes by the door. This is my most recent adjustment to our life. I’m working on making the change to no shoes on in the house…we have wood floors, I feel like I sweep ALL.THE.TIME so I’m hoping this will help, and it’s just less germy. I bought a big basket from HomeGoods, all the shoes will slowly find their way in to it and there will hopefully be less searching, less throwing shoes back to their rooms, less grime all over and less sweeping! Once can hope.
• This is a shellfish adjustment, but when I looked back over the last couple of years, I realized that I had read less than 3 books (for me, not the kids) in the past 4 years. For me, that’s ridiculous! I LOVE reading. It gives my introvert-self life. In order to pour into my family, I needed to get back to doing things for myself as well. I set another goal to read at least 12 books this year. I’m at 13 and it’s September. I feel better, I feel like I’m using my time wisely.

None of these things are completely life altering, but they are little things that I have chosen to try out. Small changes that make me feel more together and less stressed so that I can focus in on my family and remember this precious time. Now, real truth…have I been totally successful in all these things? Absolutely not. I still could put more effort into relationship with my husband and time with my boys. I decluttered my email and social media but still struggle with spending too much time on Insta/Facebook and have let my emails pile up again. I did declutter all the rooms in our house except two, life got busy and I never got back to those last two rooms. I meal prep when I can and our shoes will probably still be all over the house because I have a 2 and 4 yr old and that’s just life.  These are small things that help when I can make it happen. Do I stress when one of my systems doesn’t work quite right, sure, it’s part of my type A, enneagram 8, Myers’s Briggs J personality. But am I trying? Absolutely. Do my boys care if I’m not successful at being 100% intentional or simplify all the things…not one bit. They care if I have time to sit down and play trucks with them, run through a sprinkler or sing Blippi songs. And those are the little things I want to remember. I care and try to make things better for my family, but not at the cost of being with my family.

How have you simplified your life? What tools, tricks, tips can you share with us that might be helpful? What does intentionality mean for you? I’d love to hear what each of you are doing to be more intentional with your families and how you are simplifying your life.

 

The funny thing about social media

You know the funny thing about social media? One day I could post a sweet picture of my kids and get 100+ likes, and the very next day post something new happening with my blog and only get 2-3 likes. (those 2-3 likes are also people like my mother in law, sister in law, and mom — thanks for the support family!) Isn’t that interesting? Now I don’t know the answer here… is that people are just overwhelmed with the amount of content on the internet to read? I know my blog is not a cute picture of kids, but it is still good content (I think at least).. you just have to read it, you can’t just scroll through passively and like it. 

I have a friend who works in media marketing, and he said if he wants people to really stop and look at something he puts up a picture of kids or dogs. People seem to love kids or dogs. I don’t know why I am so surprised by this, but I am…

If you read my blog, or any blog/news source for that matter, and your brain starts to hurt, you should explore that a little bit. You should explore the questions and thoughts that come from reading all the material. You know how when you do a new workout, and the next day your muscles are sore.. think about your brain that way. It’s learning new things everyday, some things are worth your time and keeping them stored and others are not. You get to sift through those thoughts and decide what to keep and what to trash. 

So why do people ignore social media postings about my blog? I don’t know.. If you are afraid to click and possibly learn something new, I challenge you. CLICK THE LINK! LEARN SOMETHING NEW! If you are just not clicking because you are rolling your eyes that I have started a blog and you are mad/angry/scared that I am talking about these real raw emotions about things that are happening in our world daily to people you and I both know… then I challenge you to explore those feelings. Did you want to start a blog but you didn’t? (You should totally do it if you want to by the way.) Are you scared/mad/afraid because you want to do more but you don’t know how, and I took the leap? (You should take the leap too! Trust me, I have no clue what I am doing, I am just doing something because it feels good.) Maybe you just don’t like me or what I have to say.. and that is fine too. All I have to say to that is thank you for reading and taking the time to challenge yourself. 

It always feels better to support people in their endeavors. In the end we want everyone to be successful, right? We do not want to wish bad upon anyone. Everyone deserves a chance. 

Support your sistas in whatever they are doing.

xo, jessica

The adult toddler.

Your adult toddler here. cheers.

I had the sweetest conversation with my 4 year old the other day. She wanted to know the stages of life, so I said, “First you’re a baby, then a toddler, then a school age kid, then a teenager, then an adult.” She said, “I can’t wait to go to kindergarten!”, and I asked, “What is mommy?” There was a long pause and she looked at me and said, “a adult toddler.” I laughed, and then I thought about it, I do feel like an adult toddler! 

As a 30 something year old I feel like I am learning about life all over again through the eyes of my children. They bring me new perspective each and every day. Some days I feel like I want to throw a tantrum, and some days I feel like I want to run and play in the dirt without a care in the world. Sometimes I feel sassy, and sometimes I just ask why. Lots and lots of why. Never to really get an answer, and only to continue to ask why. I often want to go to bed at 730PM and not wake up until 6AM, and I never want to eat my vegetables. (Cereal every meal would be my jam.)

I am re-learning how to manage my emotions because after becoming a parent and turning 30, I have new emotions I have never had to manage before. I am learning how to communicate all over again, to my children, to people in my life, and to my husband. We all evolve and change over time, and sometimes you just need to re-calibrate, and that is where I am. Re calibrating. Very much like an adult toddler would. 

I am not an all know-er — I am a learner, which is probably why I am feeling like I am back in a toddler state. Learning new things as I am getting older and figuring out this new life as parents. Figuring out how to be married as parents. Figuring out how to be me as a parent. I guess my next stage would be a school age kid! Perhaps my 40s will be all about being a school aged kid all over again! 

Thank you for the perspective sweet daughter of mine. You are right. I am an adult toddler. 

xo, jessica 

A little Fergie Fitness!

“My body stay vicious
I be up in the gym just working on my fitness” -Fergie

I hope as you read this blog post you respect how much I like a good workout and being physically/mentally/spiritually healthy. If at any point you want to start your journey of a healthier you or a healthy lifestyle, reach out and I would be glad to help you. There are so many options – it really just takes commitment from you. 

My work out life is ever evolving… in high school I was on the high school soccer and cheerleading team so between games and practice, I didn’t need to workout. In college, I thought I didn’t need to workout because, well, see the previous comment about high school, and the “freshman 15” came real quick so I had to do something about it. Cue my late nights at the gym on the elliptical for 30-40 minutes. Then my junior year of college I decided I was going to run a half marathon, cue half marathon training and my love for running. Post college work 8-5pm life meant early morning boot camps with my friends in the apartment complex I was living in. Graduate school meant midday workouts at the campus gym and the discovery of indoor spin classes. Post graduate school work 8-5pm life meant early workouts at the on campus gym with the hubs, and if we couldn’t make it in the morning we’d go in the afternoon. Work 8-5pm life plus a baby meant buying a treadmill and working out with the hubs in our basement every morning before the baby woke up, baby monitor in hand. Second baby comes along and we are floundering for runs, gym time, who’s workout is a priority… you get the picture. 

It is so tough! Working out, staying motivated. But here’s the beauty, you don’t have to stick to one thing all the time. You can evolve just as your schedule and responsibilities evolve. 

It is important to me to get a sweaty calorie burning workout in at least 5 days a week. It makes me feel good, and I like feeling good. (Who doesn’t?) I like working out with my husband. I don’t like having to take the kids with me. And my fitness goal this year was to be stronger. [Like I want to be able to do 4 push ups on my feet, not my knees, chest all the way to the floor and back up. That’s pretty strong for me and if I can make that happen I will be so thrilled.] So, we workout at home in the mornings before the kids get up for 25 minutes. [Sometimes my early riser child wakes up and we put him in the stroller with some cereal and he is content for 25 minutes while we renew our spirit.] It’s a priority for us, we make it a priority because we like how we feel. Is a 5AM alarm fun? Absolutely not, but working out, showering, and drinking coffee with my husband before the kids wake up is totally worth it. I also love that 5AM alarm because that workout allows me to be my best self during the day not to mention all the health benefits of staying active and feeling strong. 

Working out doesn’t mean going to the gym, it doesn’t mean following a work out video, it doesn’t have to mean getting up at 5AM. It will evolve and change as your life changes and as you find things you like to do. Don’t get stuck in a rut with fitness or you will get bored and then you won’t be motivated to do it. 

Share your workout/fitness preference below. If you need some guidance as to how to fit fitness into your already jam packed schedule – reach out! If you need some advice on what workouts are best for you – reach out! Lucky for you I am a certified fitness instructor [because that’s how important I think fitness is to your health] and am able to help you through some options. 

The honest truth: 5AM get out of bed doesn’t always happen. Sometimes it’s 530AM, sometimes it’s 6AM, sometimes I just lay there because I’m so tired after being awake with the kids all night. Give yourself grace – hear me here – GRACE, not an EXCUSE! Don’t beat yourself up. 

Cheers to a healthier you. 

Xo – Jessica

Blog life.

When I first talked about starting this blog, EVERYONE asked, “what is your purpose behind it?” My answer was vague it was like “I feel like I have a lot to say to women and to people about how to live their best life.” I didn’t want anything, but people kept pressing, “But don’t you want something from it?” Honestly, I didn’t and I don’t. I want people to read it and think about the topics in their own way, apply it to their own life, and hopefully it makes a positive difference in their day to day. Writing is such a healthy outlet for me, and lucky for you all, I have a lot on my mind. 

Earlyyyy on in my development of the blog, I think I said things like “I would love to get 1000 blog followers within the first year, and if I get a speaking engagement out of it along the way that would be great.” Which for people who need a true purpose or a true definite attainable goal, this works. 1000 followers in one year and a speaking engagement is the goal. I am typically that person, the person who needs goals to check off the list, but with this, I am new, and I really don’t know what I am doing other than sharing my perspective and my life with you. But somehow it is okay, and I don’t feel like I need the check box to check. I am comfortable writing and being in this space. I am hopeful that wherever I am suppose to go on this blogging journey with happen as long as I continue sharing truth and being honest.

About 2 weeks ago, I turned to my husband and said, “I think I am going to quit blogging.” He was stunned and said, “I thought you loved it.” I said, “I do love it but I feel like I am not reaching anyone.” And he came back with the truth I needed to hear, “But I thought you weren’t writing for everyone else, I thought you were writing for you?” You are right love — I am writing for me, and for you, and whoever wants to read. I enjoy filling this space with experiences, thoughts, perspectives, and stories of truth. I enjoy sharing with you. I enjoy this whole process. So thank you for being here with me, the journey will continue. 

If you feel so inclined, share my blog with people you think need to hear these words. Maybe share your favorite post with your friends. If you have thoughts on something you would like to hear about please feel free to reach out: thehonesttruthbyjlo@gmail.com you know I am always up for new and exciting topics. And if you need someone for a speaking engagement, here I am. But above all that, thank you for reading. Thank you for being here. Thank you for challenging yourself to think through a new lens. I love writing. I love blogging. So I will be here a while.

The sun never sets on blog life.. corny? Probably, but that’s me! 

xo, Jessica

Balance

Balance — I wish this is something I could give you all the answers about. But I have come to the conclusion that there is no answer. Balance is how you interpret it. Do you feel like you are balancing all the things in your life well? Then you are. GO YOU! Do you feel like you are not balancing well? The reality is you are probably balancing it GREAT but it feels overwhelming and stressful so there is no peace to the day to day balance. 

I will share with you a little bit about how I balance, and to be completely honest, I don’t always do a good job of it. 

I have a list of priorities and it goes something like this: Husband, Kids, Job, House, Family, Friends, Self, Spiritual, Financial. I think of these things like plates and I am balancing all of these plates at one time, CRAZY I know. Ideally I would like to be able to juggle all of these plates at the same level all the time. But for me that is just not possible, in this season in my life, I am just catching the plates before they fall, putting them back up, and then moving on to the next plate. I will tell you this is not a way to be, but it’s my season, and it is working in my life balance right now. It can be exhausting, however, I try to not look at it like that. 

This past week for instance: Elizabeth was having some behavior issues (the kid plate is falling!) so I had to stop and rethink what she needed and how to address the behavior issues. Jorge is starting back with his extreme tantrums (other kid plate falling) so I had to stop and think through what he needed. Kid plate back up and we’re good for a little bit. My friends had some big things happen in their life (friend plate!) this week so I stopped and wrote some letters and mailed them off. Earlier in the week I hit a wall (the self plate is crassshhhiiinnngggg) I couldn’t hold my head up anymore, so I laid down for 20 minutes and it was just what I needed to lift the self plate back up for a little while. We’ve had some HUGE expenses lately (financial plate falling) so I have had to be very intentional about grocery shopping and what we are buying and why. Where is all the money going?!

Do you get the picture? It’s an ever changing ever evolving thing. There is never a “balance” it’s just a matter of how you choose to manage your balance. What is your balance? Where are you choosing to spend your time? What are your plates you are juggling?

Your seasons will change. Embrace where you are. 

xo, jessica

My people.

This post will make me cry (and I don’t cry) because I cannot tell you how unbelievably blessed I am with the best community of friends. They ground me, they challenge me, they love me, they talk real talk, they care, they are thoughtful, they are beautiful, they are smart, they are fun, they make me laugh like big belly laughs, they hug me, they know when I am sad, they know what I need sometimes more than I do, they are my people, and I love them so much. My people are all over, and while that makes staying in touch sometimes challenging, I am very grateful for each one of them. 

Some of my people I have known since I was a baby, some since high school, some since college, some since graduate school, and some since becoming a mother.. I value all of these relationships more than I could ever express to all of them. (Cue me crying..)

Starting this month, I want to share some of the stories of my people with you. I want you to know that you are not alone. You may not resonate with anything I have to say, but maybe you are able to resonate with someone from my community. I want you to connect. I want you to feel supported. I want you to read the stories of my people with an open heart. Most of these people have never had to think deeply about these topics before, much less write about it for an audience. So give them grace and love. 

I did not give, and I will not give anyone a topic to write about, all I have said to these people is to write something within the mission of Truth By Jlo. (they are blog readers and advocates so they are familiar with the mission of Truth By Jlo) I ask that they send me a draft and I read it, send it back with some deeper questions and revisions, and then publish. This is truly their voice and their story. 

I am so excited to share my people with you. I love them. I value them. I think they are pretty awesome. I hope you love them just as much as I do. 

Find your people. Love them. Care for them. Squeeze them. Hold them tight. 

xo, Jessica