Moving in Cyberspace

I moved.  I moved my blog.  That's an easy thing to do logistically speaking, but in cyberspace that translates to you not finding me.  So this is me reminding you that you can find me at the address below and be sure to subscribe while you're there so you don't miss a single post.

Jen's Walls Talk

I look forward to seeing you there.

Make it a beautiful day, friends.

-Jennille

Because 10 is Less Than 50

We finished our #Whole30 body-food-mind reset this week.  Whoo hoo!  Then there were donuts at work yesterday...and I didn't need one.  It's good.  I feel good.  As a result of continued working out, eating well, and supplementing well, I ended up losing 5 pounds by the end of the month.   

If you know me live and in person, then you know I'm not severely overweight.  Other than when I was pregnant with my kiddos, I have never gained a significant amount of extra weight.  I tell you this not to brag, but to shift your thinking a bit.  It has been my practice for the few times I have gained some extra weight to address the issue before I get to an extra 10 pounds.  Why?  Because 10 is less than 50.  It's a whole lot easier to address the issue when it's smaller than wait until you have a bigger problem...and more side effects.

The same concept applies to a lot of areas of our lives: personal finance, marriage, conflict at work, organizing/decluttering, and the list goes on.  Why do we wait until it hurts really badly before we address the problems? We don't have to. Just so you know.

As a disclaimer, I am speaking to a normal, otherwise healthy person.  There are some medical conditions or medicines that can cause weight gain, and under those conditions, we just have to do the best we can to feel as best as we can.

What issues do you need to address?  

Make it a beautiful day, friends.

Very soon you'll read these posts on my website.  Stay tuned!  

Why Shout?

From time to time you see me give a shout out to someone.  It might be someone who has helped me. It might be someone who has inspired me.  Maybe it's someone who shall not be named because they've insulted, hurt, or attacked me.  I strive to not live in negative land as I grow myself and my business, but life happens sometimes and I want to vent...  Nevertheless, life goes on, business grows and I am much happier living in the place of gratefulness and empowering.

For you my reader, I want to talk about this for a minute.  I want you to understand that when I give a shout out, it's not because the recipient has asked me to.  None of the lovely people I have highlighted on here have ever asked me to post something about them. (In all reality, I'm sure that sounds really scary and vain to ask someone to write about you.) Because it would be weird and because I am truly grateful for the help offered to me, whether I paid for it or not, I like to further offer thanks by letting others know what an awesome job someone has done for me in whatever arena it is that they have assisted me in.

So thank you to each of you that have inspired me, encouraged me, challenged me, helped me, fixed my mistakes, or just given me something to write about.  Some of you may not have known it was you I was writing about.  Not everyone is okay with living a bit in the public eye, and that's fine, too. I respect your privacy by not putting your name out there, but I'm still thankful for you.

For those of you reading posts with a link to a business, I hope you take the opportunity to visit those websites.  These people are awesome.  I wouldn't put it out there if they weren't.

Who do you have to be thankful for in your journey?  Tell them today.  Share it with someone else.

Make it a beautiful day, friends.

Very soon you'll be able to find my blog at www.JensWallsTalk.com.  I'm not done yet and may be jumping the gun by putting this out there.  I just want you to know where to find me.  See you soon!

...AAAAND  HAPPY 250TH BLOG POST TO ME!:0D 

Do the Right Thing?

Martin Luther King, Jr. is credited with saying,

"The time is always right to do what is right."

...as Mr. King knew, it's not always easy, though.  Just like every other action we have, there are consequences when we face a moral dilemma type of situation.  I had one of those this week.  I can't share what happened, but I knew if I took action, it would directly affect someone else's life, and maybe not in a way they would enjoy or appreciate.

The problem with the world we live in is that it's broken.  The father of lies is a master of deception. I struggled with doing the right thing because I heard a voice in my head telling me that I would be causing some very unfortunate consequences for someone else because of me taking the initiative to call this person out on their actions.  Did you get that?  I was feeling guilty for calling someone out on a illegal action because I knew they would get in trouble.  I was feeling guilty for the other person's actions.  And then I realized that I didn't make them do what they did.  That was all on them. It was their choice.  Not mine.  But it did cause me to have to make a choice of my own: whether or not to tell the truth.

I was at peace with the choice I made...but I kept hearing those little lies nagging me in the back of my mind.  Then I read my devotions the next morning and this was the verse,

"The LORD detests lying lips, but He delights in men who are truthful." Proverbs 12:22

God is good.  This devotional is on a schedule and He planned it for that day after my situation occurred.  This verse affirmed to me again that I had done the right thing...because the time is always right to do the right thing. 

I am not infallible, friends.  I am not perfect.  I mess up plenty.  Believe me.  This time I made the right choice.

Make it a beautiful day, friends.

Next week you might see my blog in a different location.  (Remember that change I was talking about?)  I'll keep you posted.  

Call for Backup!

I'm in the process of rebuilding my website...basically from scratch.  I thought it was pretty good the last go round--until I had a professional web designer look at it for me and give me some feedback.  I was swiftly reminded that I don't know what I don't know.  

As I evaluate and re-evaluate and process and reprocess what it is that I want my professional website to say to my clients, it would be very easy to get lost in the minutia that is the psychology of selling and dispersing information online.  It's no wonder companies spend thousands and thousands of dollars to build websites.  It's madness!  But I don't have thousands and thousands of dollars to spend (yet) and I don't believe in going into debt, so I'm finding a way to make it work.  I'm asking for help.

I know a lot of business people.  Many of my friends are entrepreneurial.  It's pretty cool, actually. So I looked at who did the website for the successful dentist, the exploding headband company, the jammin' custom jump rope maker, and you know what I found?  It was all the same person.  So I called him.  He was gracious enough to acknowledge my budget restrictions and meet me where I was at.  A consult became the plan to head my internet ship on the right current.  A consult he did and a website to rebuild, I have.

Want this for your wall?  Get it here.

I am under no illusions that having a great website automatically makes a great business, but it is often the very first interaction people have with a business in this digital age we live in.  So where am I going with all this rambling about ineffective web presence and business friends?  I simply want to remind you that it's okay to admit when you don't know something.  Even someone like me (who appears to know a bit about everything) is at a loss sometimes.  Call for reinforcements.  You may just end up better in the end...in fact, I'm sure you will.

Make it a beautiful day, friends.

When you're done learning your lesson for today, and you realize you are ready for a better and more effective web presence, check out this guy.  Justin Farr is really creative and smart...and very patient with those of us that insist on doing it ourselves.  He does an even more amazing job when you let him do what he does best.

Change...

Change is coming.  It's inevitable.  I'm not talking about today's presidential inauguration, though I'm glad for change in that arena (and that's all I have to say about that for the time being).  I'm actually doing a big change up on my blog.  

I've been blogging since January 1, 2015, in this particular space.  I'm not ready to spill all the details yet, and, quite frankly, some of them aren't ready yet.  Keep your eyes peeled for some fun new things to be featured in this blog space.  

No need to fret.  I'll still be posting regularly.  I'll still be sharing snippets of wisdom and inspiration I've gleaned from living my life and seeing the wonderful, crazy, silly folk around me.  Things will just be...a little different.

Stay tuned, and in the meantime...

Make it a beautiful day, friends.

Catch up with me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  See you soon!

Color Makes it Better

I've mentioned before that we got a screaming deal on a fixer upper 4 years ago.  With the skills of my uber-handy hubby, we have made great strides since we've lived here.  The kitchen was remodeled and the basement finished before we even moved in, but in the fashion of a true fixer upper, we are still working on many projects.  We live in it and have to work around that tiny little fact.  We are also paying cash for any renovations we've done, so many things are still in progress...my master bedroom included.

If you have ever visited my website, then you know that I do color consulting and specialty painting on the side of my day job.  I love it.  It's one of my creative outlets, but you know how the cobbler's kids go barefoot?  Combined with mommy-puts-herself-last syndrome...well, that may be why I have no color on my bedroom walls, in addition, the paying cash for each remodel project slows down this project because this room needs entirely new drywall.  You get it.  It's a process (and also confirmation that we will never buy another fixer upper that we have to live in while we fix it up!).

Get this little art gallery for your little artist here.

I need a band-aid for the issue.  My room feels blah and incomplete.  It doesn't feel like the sanctuary or retreat, like I would like it to.  It was actually hubby's idea, but we're going to paint that room because it's not the next project on the list, and we need it to feel better.  No, I don't think the room has feelings.  Let me rephrase that: we need to feel better when we are in our room, and mismatched colors (it was two rooms made into one) don't give that vibe very well.  Color changes the way our environment feels.  I believe that, and that why I do what I do.  A little color change can make everything feel better, but don't do it wrong because that can open a whole other can of worms...

Sometimes the answer to a solution is very simple.  What are you trying to over complicate today?

Make it a beautiful day, friends.

You can see my color choices if you pop over to Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.  Jen's Walls Talk.  Do yours?