Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Ranch Girl Jams went to Dallas

Last weekend I attended the Jamberry International Conference. I'm a consultant and I love it! I can finally have cute nails. When you grow up on a ranch, it's hard to have cute nails. In  college, my roommates gave me a gift card for acrylic nails for Christmas and I had them done the night before I went home. The next morning I broke 3 picking up the bales of hay feeding the cattle.


Then my friend Jodi came along and gave me a sample of a new product she was excited about and selling. I tried it and loved it and it lasted longer than 4 hours the next morning. So she was my dealer (for Jams- a.k.a. Jamberry) until January when I jumped in.

I love the product but I also love the company and love that I am a small business owner. Yes I have parties- mostly online to my friends who live hours or states away and I sell a product. But I realized this weekend that my product is a lifestyle product. Jodi went with me to Dallas and she's all about encouraging women to be healthy and supportive of the healthy lifestyle- her jam business is about running.

So this weekend was the international conference. I was able to meet people that I'd only heard about in passing. I hung out with some cool chics who are part of the legacy of the business and who until this weekend, honestly I thought was just some cool ladies who loved style, had similar interests and were just like me- then I saw their names on the Founders Circle Wall and when you said they were your team leader it was like I knew a rock star. To me they will be just be Bethany and Elizabeth not "OH MY GOSH YOU ARE {insert name here}!!!!

I saw the business side of the company. They brought in author's and experts in the field- outside of the nail business- to give us knowledge on building our businesses and marketing ourselves and our businesses. It could be applied to selling nail products, computer software or even cattle or crops direct marketed to the public. It was just amazing!

But here's what I really walked away with... I saw women coming
together to build each other up and encourage each other not tear them down. As I said my friend Jodi was with me- when we showed up she really was the only person I really knew, I knew by acquaintance a few others. In Jodi, I knew I had my friend. And as she says we are Ying and Yang. I'll talk to anyone or jump up to have my picture taken with someone walking by. She conquers the small talk that I struggle at.  But we were there to bridge our weaknesses and be a team. I learned that I can ride a bull  (very slowly)when I don't have people around to judge me. And that friends can be reach out to you and ask how they can be supportive of trying to eat better and make better choices without feeling like you are being pressured. I have several people who are supportive of me but it took a specific sentence spoken in trust for me to finally get it.

And then I finished the weekend feeling excited for what is to come both in my personal life, career life and my Ranch Girl Jams life. I am a very blessed person. I always have been but when your view of yourself shifts you discover a new part of you.

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

This Crazy Life I Live

My friend Dana is home for a couple weeks- she and her family live in the UAE and they teach but get to come home for some time during the summer. While she's been home we have had some great conversations that I've really missed over the last two years. The kind that you just can't get with a friend through text messages, Facebook and such. The good kind that come with face to face, heart felt conversations.

I have those conversations with some of my friends- it's nice because we can walk, go to coffee, travel or just hang out at a house and have real conversations about our fears, our joys and the things we struggle with and we get encouragement and friends who are willing to stop in the middle of a sidewalk- circle up and pray for one's family or come with them and sit with them during an orientation for a big step in a new journey. There's never dumb questions or tearing each other down because we need to feel better.

Looking back on the previous post- which I can't believe was last year- I've journeyed a little and started to accomplish my list. I've pruned some people from my life because I don't need to feed my own negativity or fear- I do that just fine on my own. I've crossed things off my bucket list. I've prayed for friends who have lost loved ones and been reminded how life is fragile and fleeting.  I've conquered challenges, had my pride hurt but worked through it and had to accept some truths in my life that have then allowed me to see a window that is giving me hope and peace.

I've thought over the last six months how blessed I am. I have a wonderful job and I get to work with amazing people who humbly work 365 days a year to feed and clothe the world. I have amazing friends who encourage and build me up but also call me on my crap. I have two good, solid small groups that I have learned a lot about myself and my walk with God. And I have friends who I've never met in person but only through social media that inspire me and challenge me to rediscover my passions- reading, my faith, service.

It all comes down to something I read last month in my book club. If you are going to speak the truth in love- it will hurt both the speaker and the listener. If you don't hurt to speak the truth but you are going to find joy in it then it's not being done in love. I've had some honest and frank conversations the past six months- some spoken in love and those are the ones being taken to heart.

We all face challenges in our lives- it's how we face our challenges that speaks volumes on who we are and what we believe in.