About

jodi 1115We all have stuff we “have” to do.  Right?

You know…. that work stuff….  chores ….  pay bills…

But in between, we all have some very precious time to do the stuff we “choose” to do.

This blog is about all that stuff… the things I love to do…. when I get to choose what I want to do…

For me sometimes…. for others sometimes…

But mostly just because I can…. and I want to….. and I love to….

And isn’t that what life is really all about?    The stuff you get to do when you don’t have to do something.   The choices you make and the things you do when you can do whatever you want.

For me – it’s about being creative and positive and joyful.

It’s baking and cooking and feeding people.  Have you ever seen sweeter smiles than those when people are biting into a freshly baked gooey chocolate chip cookie or heavenly light and crispy cinnamon chip scone?

It’s the joy in the journey of learning watercolor painting and other art mediums for this 50+ year old non-artsy student of life with absolutely zero education or experience in art.

It’s crafting things from old junk and a warm heart to create special, personalized gifts that are treasures to those who receive them.

It’s about photographing food in the most mouth-watering ways that make people want to cook or bake or EAT! … or capturing the glow of an Autumn sunset or the smile in a child’s eyes through the lens of my camera.

It’s words – writing them and reading them.  Painting pictures with words that conjure up feelings of warmth and nostalgia and joy and love.  Creating sentences with words that make people think about things differently.  Writing from the perspective of our four-legged furry adopted son, Charlie – a dog with brown eyes and a white-tipped tail who loves food, cats, chipmunks, and toy donuts, and whose best friends are Mike the UPS Man, Cliff the Mailman, and ANYONE who delivers pizza to the house.

It’s enjoying good food and good drinks with those I love.

It’s meeting new people and exploring new places.

So how do you categorize such a wild and varied blog?
It’s simply…. the creative life in between.

Me?
I’m Jodi.

Wife to the guy that captured my heart at 16, married me when I was 19, and still tells me he loves me every day 36 years later.

Mom to two of the most amazing young men in the entire world and mother-in-law to two of the sweetest, most beautiful (inside and out) young ladies any mom could wish for her sons to find.

Gushing Grandma to the two most beautiful baby girls in the entire universe.

Full-time (and then some) Executive Assistant to the CEO of an amazing company where I get to be part of creating and providing risk mitigation solutions that help companies  choose the best people for their teams.

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you find something here that makes your heart smile.

Cheers and Hugs,
Jodi

Blogging since  5/17/2014

 

186 thoughts on “About”

  2. The moment I met you, I thought, wow, such a beautiful lady. When our table was short a chair you knelt down at the table lol and I was amazed at your fun, loving personality! I look forward to seeing all your beautiful, natural pictures and all the beautiful cards you create! Hugs, Lauren ❤

    Like

    Reply

  4. Pingback: It’s My 100th Post! How Long is a Jiffy? | life in between

    • Hi C.E. – yep that’s my front porch 🙂 I found your blog by reading through Storytime with John’s recent Q&A Post and thought I’d enjoy connecting. What a talented young man he is – eh? Thanks for stopping by. Look forward to getting to know you.

      Like

      Reply

  7. Love your front porch look…it’s a great photograph. Yes, John is quite the talented young man. And only a blogger for 5 months. Isn’t it great how connections are made through blogging! So nice to meet you. Christine

    Like

    Reply

    • Thanks Christine. It seems we have something else in common as you were a Nurse Practitioner. My full time job is in hospice and home health, so I am in the healthcare industry. I am not a clinician, but certainly have a patient for the post-acute care part of our healthcare system.

      Like

      Reply

      • Hi again Jodi. I just wanted you to know that I nominated you for the One Lovely Blog Award. In reading your posts, I found that you had been nominated for this award before. I think you might not be accepting this kind of an award, but I wanted you to know that I think you have One Lovely blog! I know there are too many rules to accept this award and you are a very busy blogger, photographer, etc. If you haven’t yet read my post Thank You! One Lovely Blog Award 11/4/14, please do to get the gist of it.

        Like

      • Thank you so much, Christine. I truly appreciate. It is such a lovely gesture. At first I wasn’t sure how I felt about these, but I am coming around 🙂 Whatever the case, it means more than you can know that you mentioned me and thought of me when considering One Lovely Blog. I completely enjoy yours and appreciate your friendship!

        Liked by 1 person

  8. It looks as if we do have “healthcare” in common. I retired last year from UC San Diego Outpatient Psychiatry Dept. And in the past I’ve been a nurse manager for an Inpatient Geriatric Psych Unit. I also had patients in assisted living facilities. Some of the clients were quite old and probably close to Palliative or Hospice care. Years ago I did some Psychiatric Home Health work and actually loved it.Your Director of Corporate Communications job sounds very interesting. I’d love to hear more about what you do in that role.

    Like

    Reply

  9. Pingback: Sally’s Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread (and why I bake) | life in between

    • You make me smile. Thank you. I hope you do too. And guess what? The choice is yours! 🙂 Secret is that it is what you make it. All days, weeks, months aren’t perfect, but important thing is to realize that. When I want to be angry at my hubby for something stupid, I try to stop and think – how would I feel if he wasn’t here tomorrow – and it completely changes your perspective!

      Like

      Reply

  11. Jodi, well done on this blogging thing! Plus an enormous ‘thank you’ for deciding to follow Learning from Dogs. I am reciprocating! 😉 If at any time you want to post a guest post over on LfD please feel welcome.

    Like

    Reply

  14. Hi Jodi! I just discovered your lovely blog this morning. It’s such fun to find another kindred spirit! I’m looking forward to reading more! Happy Autumn days! ♡

    Like

    Reply

  16. Hi Jodi! I just found your blog — so cheerful and fun! There’s a lovely welcoming feeling here, like walking into a kitchen full of freshly baked cookies. 🙂 I’ve added it to a list of positive blogs I keep on my own site.

    Like

    Reply

  17. Well, hello there Jodi! I so appreciate your visit to my little corner of the blogosphere and for your followship! It would seem we have a lot in common, actually – Similar age and marriage length, 2 amazing kids, now grown and flown from the nest. Hubby and I celebrate our 30th next year – I can’t believe where the time has gone! What a cheery, happy little blog you have here – I am happy to follow you – I look forward to seeing you pop up in my reader! Happy blogging – Mother Hen

    Like

    Reply

  21. Pingback: The truth revealed – my imperfect life | life in between

  25. Hello Jodi…

    Here’s a little New Years message from Türkiye to say “thank you”. I appreciate your recent ‘follow’, knowing how many interesting and entertaining blogs there are out there.

    Blogging since June 2013, my little corner of the world tries to offer an eclectic smattering of posts, from basic amateur photography, to sharing my travel adventures over the decades, as well as day-to-day happenings here on our fruit farm in southern Turkey. I also throw in a few of my observations on life and lighter-hearted stuff for good measure.

    You are more than welcome to have a look around, stay a while and have a trawl through my collection. There are plenty of categories within the drop-down menus to help in said digging process. Of course, if you have any comments, suggestions or concerns, feel free to let me know – I’m not easily offended 🙂

    Hope you have a great day and even better 2015…

    UNCLE SPIKE
    uncle.spikes.adventures1@gmail.com

    Like

    Reply

  26. Happen to notice your Blog here and glad I did. I live here in Reading, PA USA and love to snoop around abandonded places and Historic area’s with my now Nikon D7000 camera. Best wishes to you.

    Like

    Reply

  27. Discord or calm

    Are we in the land of discord or calm?
    What are the creatures behind my palm?
    what are the eyes in the wall?
    Tell me the reason for the fall.
    What is the congregation of voices saying?
    What foundation are the hands laying?
    What is the opposite of woeful pride?
    What is on the other side?

    Like

    Reply

  29. Hello Jodi,

    this is such a wonderful corner. I love what you are sharing with us. I do love cooking and photography too and, when I retire, my pipe-dream is to move to Florida – but that won’t happen for a while. So for now I’ll just enjoy the seasons with you if you don’t mind having me around 🙂

    Happy blogging

    Cristina

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Hi KB – yes it is my front porch, and I kinda love it too. In fact, today my son and I just put all of our patio furniture back out on the side and back porch too as yesterday was the first day of Spring, and I am very ready. I love outdoor porch space and we have porches on three of the four sides of our house 🙂 Thanks for visiting and commenting! I look forward to getting to know you.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    • Hi Cecile – what a kind comment! You made my day! 🙂 I’m a completely self-taught amateur who got my first camera a little over a year ago and just has fun exploring the possibilities.

      Like

      Reply

  33. It is our honor to tell you that you made The Swim Team for the ‘April Showers’ challenge over at The Paper Plunge!   We are so grateful that you shared your creation with us, and hope you will continue to play with us in our weekly challenges!

 Please reach out to me at lesliemahon63@yahoo.com for the code for our badge!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  38. Hi Jodi, thank you for visiting the Art Prescription!! I love the post Charlie wrote. Adorable. Looks like you have a full and satisfying life. Me too, and blogging and meeting others is rewarding. Cheers, Beverly Dyer

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      • Oh yes indeeeeed!!!!

        I think WP is too big for it’s britches in terms of technology sometimes. They host thousands upon thousands of sites. Logic suggests there will be glitches, errors along the way. But I still prefer the .com side over self-hosting…

        Liked by 1 person

      • No offense taken, silly girl! The self-hosting demands more tech savvy than some folks want to deal with, I can easily do it but have had host issues and got tired of crappy built plugins that seize the site up, and more fun stuff. Blah… Let the folks at WP.com handle that.

        Like

  46. Hi!

    I love following your blog & I’m not sure if this is your kind of thing but I have nominated you for The Liebster Award! If you want to read more about it & participate, I wrote about it (& linked to your blog) in the post below:

    http://mrsdessertmonster.com/2016/01/30/liebster-award/

    I totally understand if ‘award posts’ are not your thing – I just love the community & getting to know each other aspects!

    Thanks for doing what you do!

    -Gina

    Like

    Reply

  47. Pingback: Blogroll – My Daily Cuppa Island – TheTurtleWay

  48. Pingback: Spring Splashing | life in between

  50. Pingback: Looking back…. looking forward | life in between

I love hearing from you - hope you'll drop me a line