Transparency..

You know what’s fun to look at, Instagram! I haven’t been on it in a while and I just spent way too much time on there. I recently read an article about how people actually stress about posting that perfect insta pic. The article touched on how we only seem to want to show our best selves and kind of hide our worst selves. I’m not saying that everyone does this. However, most of the pics I’ve seen on Instagram and Facebook seem to be pretty flattering. Yay, me, I have attractive friends! But I thought to myself what if I did a small series of insta-opposites? Instead of my best pics, some of my most real pics. Leave it to Little Sis to capture it!

Instead of picture 1 you see picture 2

Can we be bold enough to be transparent?

I believe that when we are, we can experience more real relationships and we are free to be who we really are. Like me, I’m a nose-picking people lover. (I’ll hand sanitize before touching you if it will make you feel better!)I want the best for others and try to encourage people toward their best selves while allowing them to be fully themselves. You are perfect exactly how you are and you are a wonderful human being. When you believe that, it will never matter what image the camera caught.

MS

Living in Joy

2015 has been a good year. I enjoyed some great times. I’ve learned some profound things. I’ve accomplished some goals and set some other goals in motion. I was blessed to have not lost any loved ones this year and my family and I are all in good health. We are still believing God to bless and heal some things, yet we know He is able.

My prayer for myself is to continue to learn how to speak and think life into every situation. This may seem like an easy task, but I’ll confess that as positive and faith-filled as I am, I still find that I struggle with choosing thoughts and words that reflect my inheritance. Renewing the mind is a practice. Be encouraged if this too is your struggle.  The good news is the more you practice, the better you get at it, and I’m getting better at it daily.

My prayer for my family is that they stay in good health and prosper even as their souls prospers. My prayer for you is the same. I want to finish this year with thoughts of gratitude.

I know who I am
Once I was nameless, alone and (He) found me
(He) formed my knees to bend
(He) called me beloved
I am perfection

All my failures won’t condemn me
Or leave me paralyzed and bound
And when I’m at my worst
(His) love, it finds me first

For I am such a (wo)man
Seized by the power of a great perfection
No matter where I am
Peace spreads below me in every direction                                                           (Run In The Night, Jars of Clay)

May peace spread below you in every direction, may you live in joy, and have a happy new year full of delights.

MS-Shekinah

Master Tonic

It’s that time of year when people just can’t seem to help sneezing in your face. Or worst yet, that cough without the cover, you know the one that to them is innocent because they KNOW they’re not contagious, but HELLO, I don’t know that! Well anyway, one of the best ways that little sis and I fight the heebeegeebees is with the MASTER TONIC!

Here are the ingredients:

• Apple Cider Vinegar
• Garlic
• Onions
• Horseradish
• Jalapeno Peppers
• Ginger

Master tonic works! Feel a little cold coming on? Master tonic will knock it right out! Master Tonic also has claims of curing almost anything, yet I’ll let that be up to you. It is not for the faint of heart as we usually make ours with a tiny bit of ghost pepper as well and we leave the seeds in the jalapenos. Some people like the taste but our kids hate it! Whenever they feel a bit sick, they’re asking, yes I said “asking” for tonic.

I’ve been making this for years, and we swear by it in this house. It was slow going to get my sis and the rest of my family on board, but all it took was for the entire house to be sick and then EVERYBODY wanted some tonic.

A fantastic blog about master tonic can be found here. Chrystal Johnson has a beautiful blog entitled Happy Mothering that goes into detail about all the good stuff that Master Tonic can do, and she gives excellent instructions on how to make it properly.

Give it a try. It’s just a natural way to stay away from the drugs during the cold season.

MS

POSHMARK!

This is just a quick post to tell you that if we have convinced you to open a Poshmark account please use this code: BSQHB or HPJGY

If you use either code, you and we will both get $10 worth of purchase credit!

NOW, GO FORTH AND POSH!!!!!! (@sjml214  or @jewelinem)

Check out Poshmark’s blog here.

MS

Tis the season…(MS*)

We are so excited about Christmas! I mean we start decorating our homes the day after Thanksgiving. In fact, my husband and son wanted to put up decorations on Thanksgiving, but I begged them to at least let one holiday be over before we charged on to the next one.

As you may have read in our other blogs, December can be an especially difficult month for us as it brings up some painful memories. However, we make it a point to forge on and celebrate because we know that is what Big Sis would have done.

I do have a small internal conflict. Maybe you’ve felt this way too. I don’t know about you, but my coins haven’t been stretching very far lately. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very blessed, and we genuinely don’t want for anything. When it comes to gift giving, it is my desire to give my loved ones the world. I know that gift giving is just a small portion of Christmas. Many would even say that my priorities are out of place if I choose to be conflicted about gift giving. The truth is I would just love to bless the people I love, and I don’t quite have the resources to do it like I really want to.

I’ve been creative throughout the years…I’ve made blankets, and cookies, and cakes. I’ve started shopping in July and held things until Dec. I stopped doing that after Big Sis passed for obvious reasons. Now, when I find something in July that I want to give, I give it in July.

I guess, I just need to settle down and let go. The gifts I give come from love and that’s all that matters.

What about you? Tell us how you plan your holidays.

*Middle Sis Contribution

Holiday Sparkle…

So I’ve probably mentioned too many times that Little sis, and I (and mom) are on Poshmark. We’ve taken our Poshmark obsession to the next level when Little sis showed her awesome event planning skills and planned and executed a meet up for people on Poshmark that live in the Chicagoland area.

SHAMELESS PLUG: If you’re not on Poshmark, get on the bus! You can find really great deals, and you can sell your own clothes and accessories on there as well. In fact, we’re doing pretty good on Poshmark, otherwise, it wouldn’t be on our brains so much!

NO, this blog will not always be about Poshmark. Yet, Poshmark is a huge part of our lives and business so we’ll discuss it often.

Posh is fun for us and we make money in the process. It combines many of our passions into one. We love fashion, shopping, and of course, last evening proves we like to break away from our routine of hiding behind the computer and come out into the real world.

We met many wonderful, beautiful women with our same passions and just got to unwind a bit before the holidays.

In fact, Little Sis is already planning the next one……

Check us out in the Poshmark app:@sjml214 or @jewelinem or @njeweline

Big Sister…..

So today is the 6th anniversary of Big Sister’s passing. Because she exists, we are middle and little. We can’t be middle sister and little sister without her whether she here in body or spirit.

In January of 2010, I wrote this tribute to her on my old blog My Life in the Sonshine…..I’d like to share a portion of it with you here.

Here we sit in 2010, and I haven’t said “Goodbye” to 2009 or the whole last decade for that matter.

I lost many people over the past ten years, mainly my sister.

I think that’s the reason I hadn’t quite said “Goodbye.” It’s almost like if I did for sure, I would leave her in the last decade not being able to take her with me.

In a few words, Nina was a beautiful, sweet, generous spirit with an appetite for the different, and she was a true sun/Son seeker. The latter part of her life was spent looking for and defining her purpose, and it was tragically cut short by an unexpected cancer diagnosis and quick demise. My last post was in June right before my son was born and at that point we were very sure that she would beat the illness. And she did spiritually, but alas, not physically. I’m proud of my sister for her courage and her fight. I miss her, and nothing can replace her or her love. But in remembering about her right before her illness, I remember us both “soul seeking”. Looking for our purpose and how we could serve the Son better. I believe that she now is serving the Son at His side and, for now, that is her destiny. It is all of our destinies sooner or later. But I do believe that I’m called to live and serve Him here.

We love her and miss her terribly, and to honor her, we try to use this time during the holidays to do things like she would have done like celebrate.