Friendship is...

When you are away and you just know they are loving on your kids like their own. 

When you stop by for something quick and you spend hours talking and laughing. 

When you don't have dinner together weekly you miss them. 

When you have about a dozen inside jokes that no one else understands. 

When the sound of their laugh brings the biggest smile to your face. 

When you can ask for prayer and know they'll pray with and for you. 

This is a friendship that makes me want to be a better friend. A friendship that has taught me how to laugh, love, and serve. 

We are so blessed to have these friends in our life for so many reasons. They have taught us to be a better family. 

Thank you for always being there for us. For always helping us out. Know how much we appreciate you.  

Do you have a friendship like this with someone? If so, you are so blessed! If not; BE a friend like this. I encourage you to start a weekly something with someone you live near. Game night, coffee, dinner. Be a friend for your neighbor. Joyfully serve them. 

I miss my girls so much. I'm flying at about 35,000 feet on my 5th plane ride in 3 days and have one more flight to go tonight before I will be able to squeeze the 3 Spry girls. I'm so thankful that even when I'm unable to physically take care of my children, we have loving friends who willingly open their home and their doors to our girls. 

Feeling blessed tonight. 

XO

Jari

Scentsy Spirit!

What an amazing day! Being in a room filled with almost 1000 Scentsy Family members is such an incredible thing when Scentsy Spirit is oozing out of every one of us!

Spring Sprint Toronto was a happening place. We had almost 80 members of our group there so it was a no brained about which location of the 31 sites for Sprint we were going to choose. 

We had the honor of spending all day with our fast growing group up here. We met so many new faces and hugged the necks off everyone. High fives and 'wahoos' were in abundance!

My favorite part was connecting with and hearing the stories of these people. (Photo of about half of us there)

People I now call family. They inspire me to be a better leader. They (along with ALL of our Scentsy group) motivate me to be brave. To listen. To cheer. To have fun. To share. To bless. 

I feel so blessed to have spent the day with them. This joy will carry me through until I see a big chunk of our group again in July!

 I truly wish we could have went to every single Sprint. Hundreds of our group was spread throughout the country getting pumped, new ideas, new products and building relationships. A few of our girls are speaking and I am so proud of them. 

I'm boarding an airplane in snowy Buffalo NY, with a notebook and pen. Nothing but ideas, inspiration, and joy filling my head and heart. 

Scentsy Spirit!!

XO

Jari

Happy Friday + Happy to be Here

This is the 3rd day in a row that my main squeeze and I were up traveling well before the sun made it's appearance for the day. 

Every year, Joel and I travel to a mini family reunion with Scentsy and this year we decided to fly up to Toronto to surprise our group of consultants! They have well surpassed 200 this past month and over 80 of them will be at this mini reunion. For us, that is a BIG family reunion! We've been asked what we're going to do while we're there and every time my answer is simple. 

"We're going there to simply give high fives and hugs!" 

Seriously, I have the best job ever!!!!!

Details about our trip so far?

Day 1: up at 4:15am to travel to Bozeman and hang out with my friend Kay while Joel worked his job. Then an afternoon tax appointment. 

Evening drive to Butte to catch a little snooze before an early flight out. (Notice temperature at the continental divide above! Burr!)

Day 2: up at 4:00am and off to the airport. It was soooo cold outside. So cold in fact that our 6:35am flight was cancelled because air temp was -33 F and they couldn't use de-icer until it was at least -26 F which they weren't expecting until around 11am.  We rerouted and got a flight early the next morning out of Missoula. 

Day 3: this was our earliest morning. Up at 3:30am and out the door at 4:00 am. This is our bright eyes and not so bright eyed photo... Happy to be on the jet plane. 

Three air legs and we arrived in Buffalo NY around 3pm.... We were hungry!

What better thing to eat than hot wings at the bar that created them 50 years ago?! We loved hot wings so we found the Anchor Bar and downed a couple dozen little spicy wingers! Then off to the border. 

(I love my travel buddy!)

When you are in Canada and you see a Tim Horton's, you stop! Donuts and coffee were the perfect dessert for our early night in. 

We have just been laying in bed, watching the Olympics and dozing on and off. I woke up just in time to watch the lighting of the flame and wanted to share our last few days with you. But now it's time for me to go back to bed... Because I'm full of Scentsy Spirit and EXCITED to be with our group tomorrow!!!!!

Want to follow the rest of our trip? Follow me on Instagram to catch a glimpse into our weekend!

Want to know what's interesting? The last Winter Olympics in 2010, we were in Vancouver BC watching from a condo downtown while soaking in the real atmosphere with our family. This year, we are also watching from a Canadian perspective in a hotel in Toronto. I love how patriotic our friends are here. I do miss seeing some USA coverage though. But fun that two Olympics in a row we are watching from this beautiful country. 

XO

Jari

Mamas, Date Your Daughters

Joel and I have been more intentional with spending quality one on one time with each of the big girls. Since Avin Janes arrived on the scene just over a year ago, we have been consumed by her: diapering, toddling, cuddling, watching her every move so we never miss a 'first.' 

I realize this can be a lot for the big girls because they've only ever known life as a family of 4. We felt it very important to make sure we were spending more time 'dating' our older daughters. 

I'm very thankful to this season of life. So much adjusting... Yet so much joy. 

Last Saturday, Alyn and I got our 'Griz' on and drove to town to cheer on our University of Montana Lady Griz! 

I wish I would've taken more photos of every detail so I can start using up my Project Life stash I've been collecting, but our hands were overflowing with all the concession stand goodies! When you're by yourself with your mom, you get to eat more than you can carry back to the seat in your own. 

Honestly, the game wasn't special. We go to Griz games often. 

It was the conversation on the way to town, the wandering through the stadium to find our seats (obviously neither of us had ever paid much attention to the map before!), the snacking, the giggles from watching our coach go crazy wild, her hand on my knee (I don't think she even realized she did that... But I noticed every second). 

Mamas, date your daughters. I wish I would have all along but I know starting now, at ages 10 and 8, we have many dates to learn about each other and help mold our daughters into the women they were made to be. 

What is your favorite mom/daughter date? Where do you go? What do you do? Let's start a list here to help each other get more ideas. 

XO

Jari

Weekly Recap

I realize that it's been a week and that I am so inconsistent. It seems that whenever I desire and say I'll be consistently writing here; I end up with nothing to share. So I'm taking the pressure off and in return, hoping I'll be inspired to share daily. 

Tonight I'm sharing little snippets of our week. A week of sniffles, snuffles, hugs and snuggles. 

Saturday night was mostly snuggles. This little peanut wasn't feeling well. So her and I stayed home from church on Sunday praised and worshipped from home. 

This was our Monday & Tuesday & Wednesday & Thursday & today. 

On Tuesday I took all the girls into the doctor just to make sure it was something viral. I'm happy I did because little Avin had an ear infection. No wonder we couldn't get her to smile. 

The big girls just have a severe case of congestion, sore throat, itchy eyes, drippy noses and headaches. Sweet things. I played mega mom this whole week: scooping ice cream, homemade chicken noodle soup, Popsicle serving, back rubbing, book reading, Kleenex hunting, Scentsy wax changing, Vicks rubbing, and eye drop squeezing mom. 

I'm ready for this to leave our house. But I'm happy for the small break from our busy life. Time to slow down and just care for each other. 

But again, I should really shower sometime and leave this casa for an hour or two. It'd do this mama good :)

I should've just named this post The Nap Diaries! 

XO

Jari

Raising the Standard

For far too long I've been living a mediocre life. Dabbling here and there with a lot of things but never actually focusing on anything for long enough to make good habits, rituals or routines. 

It's time to raise my standards. 

I'm not talking about HUGE things in life. Just the bitty things. 

Obviously (through lack of commitment here) I struggle with consistency. I've known this forever. But I've never had my eyes completely opened to it as they are at this moment.  

It's the small, every day things that I somehow disregard that really turns a home into a battlefield of the mind and heart. 

A couple weeks ago, I found myself struggling with caring for a family, leading  a growing organization, educating children, loving on a growing toddler, managing a home, and working on building relationships with people. It all seemed to hit me like a ton of bricks. I'm trying too much. Too hard. And in all actuality I can never do enough. Not on my own. 

Even though I feel overwhelmed, I'm so grateful for life I'm living right now. And I desire to give more right now. 

More time. 

More commitment. 

More energy. 

More thanks. 

More love. 

In everything. 

From the piles of dishes to mountains of laundry. (<--- I did catch up for one day!)

The never ending piles in EVERY room in our house. (The cobwebs hanging from a light as I gave a tour of our very much lived in home) 

The unmade beds. The dusty tv and piano. And the spotted shower doors. 

To the reports that are 2 weeks behind and the taxes due by next Friday. The 'can't step a foot inside' office and never ending to do list. The calls that are still to be returned and the mounds of emails. 

From the bible study that waits to be studied to the pile of books that beg to be read. The chipped fingernail polish and new board game waiting to be used. 

I love everything on my to do list. It reminds me how blessed we are in this very moment. I'm grateful for the growing list of duties and responsibilities. 

Tonight I will rest well. Tomorrow is a new day. To start fresh. To accomplish more. To be brave. To not be the best, but do my best. To lead well to love. 

I feel relieved. And refreshed. In this very moment. I find peace with Christ. And I want to glorify Him in all things. So I... Do.  To teach my girls how to live. Live well. Love well. 

That's what it's about right? Progress. 

(Just a cute photo because no post she be photo less!) 

XO

Jari

Clothing Swap 101

Hosting a clothing swap is super simple, fun and such a gift to so many women!

About 3 weeks before the swap, I started getting the word out to some friends about the swap and asked them to go through their closet to find gently used clothing, jewelry, hats and accessories. 

Anything you haven't worn in one year, add it to your pile to swap. Even if you still like it! If you never wear it, pass it on to another gal who will show it off in public! :)

A few days before the event, I posted on Facebook to help get the word out and reminded girls of the swap. I also sent out a few texts to some friends who I really wanted to come so I could pick through their clothes! Ha! Sneaky eh?

Each swapper attending was asked to bring an appetizer or dessert to share. This really made hosting the swap stress free for me. There were so many varieties of deliciousness in the kitchen but I think the donut holes were the biggest hit! Donut holes and wine... Girlfriends and guilt free shopping... Does it get any better than that?

Party start time was 6pm. When the swappers arrive, we had them place their goods in a 'somewhat' controlled manner out on the table. They were not allowed to look at the other articles laying out. Then to the kitchen they went... snacking, drinking and laughing. 

At 7:29pm, I explained quickly where they could try on the clothes... bathrooms and bedrooms (all of which were not super clean... oops! - REALITY!) This is when I closed the curtains to the outside. We all stood around the tables and did a countdown....

"10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-SWAP!"

I may, or may not have thrown an elbow or two to get to these shoes!

We had girls chatting, laughing, trying clothes on right and left... it was so much FUN!

We had grandma's, moms and college girls here. What a blessing it was when you saw almost every person walk away with a bag FULL of 'new to them' clothing & goodies.

When all was said and done... we had 8 BIG trash bags FILLED to the max with leftover clothing. This week I had the privilege of donating them to our local Teen Challenge Thrift Store on behalf of all the swappers!

What do you think!? Would you be willing to host a clothing swap?!? If you do, let me know how it goes!

For an added bonus if extra fun, have your friends bring fingernail polish and treat each other to a new polish job! 

We have already planned our next date - March 1st (if you're local!) for a HOME GOODS SWAP! (think decorations, dishes, throw pillows etc!) Mark your calendars!

XO.

Jari