Into a new love for life...

It's been SO long since my last post...New Year, new YOU, right!?

So many people try and improve themselves day after day....as do I.....I try and become someone I want to be, someone who is more patient, more tolerant, more loving.  Learning as much as I can from others who inspire me, and more about things I don't know about, (which is a LOT, it seems!) and that's what I have been doing.....learning, educating, and trying to spend more time with myself.  It hasn't been easy, not knowing why I need to do this, or why I WANT to, so I have just BEEN doing it, having faith in myself, knowing that it's necessary.

2013 was the TOUGHEST year yet....no lie.  Started the year with a HUGE HUGE blow to my family, and ended with so many deaths of my close friends......it really sent me into a tailspin.  Depression, sadness, anger.....and not understanding why so many amazing people had to leave our lives.  It was literally one after another.......one beautiful soul left this Earth after another.....people who taught me so many lessons, listened, talked and understood ME.  The REAL me.  Not the person I USED to be, but the person I have become.  The person who wants to be the best ME I can be.  The emotional, loving woman, that I have chosen to be.
I chose to be HAPPY this year.  No matter WHAT happens, what life throws into my path, no matter what issues get in the way.......I CHOOSE HAPPINESS.  Period.

I can feel the Universe pushing me to where I want to be in the future, the near future......traveling to live someplace not HERE, someplace warm, inviting, and loving.  Someplace where I can breathe.....live my life, and love WHERE I am.  I don't know where that place is YET, but it's coming, and very soon.

As far as my career, I'm staying with Scentsy.  I choose Scentsy, choose for this amazing company to be where I stay.....I love what I do, and don't want that part to change in my life, however, that part is changing too......I'm struggling in that aspect.....it's been tougher to make a living, and bring the money in to pay bills.  In sales, that is normal, however, I can't rely on it anymore.  SO, I've changed my view on it......I'm GOING to make this work for ME.....somehow (and I haven't gotten that far yet.....) I will find a way to book parties, bring my love of Scentsy into other's lives, and share the beautiful products with them!  For now, I've hit a wall, and am breaking it down......brick by brick.  I won't stop now.



I'm not a quitter, and never have been.  I'm a fighter.....I've fought my way through life so far, and I'm not weak......so I won't stop now!  I have amazing friends who I call FAMILY, and have the amazing support and love of the extraordinary people I work with.  Disappointing them, and myself, won't happen.

SO this is where my year starts.......choosing HAPPINESS......choosing MOVEMENT........choosing EDUCATION........choosing LOVE in my world, that will come from all around me.

How will you CHOSE to live this year.....and for years to come?  Will you CHOOSE to live, or just "go with the flow" and let LIFE choose your path?
Give me your feedback.....leave a comment.....find me on Facebook.....do whatever it takes.......just DON'T GIVE UP!  WE got this!

Peace~Love~Success,

Jilly

Gearing up......and SO pumped up, I could just PEE!

 Being totally serious....(okay, I'm trying my HARDEST to say that with a straight face) I'm getting ALL geared up to head to Indianapolis, Indiana for our Scentsy Family Reunion!  OH EMMMM GEEEEE!  I can't WAIT to get there!  Thousands of Scentsy Family Consultants are heading there too.  From ALL over the country and beyond, to ALL be together and CELEBRATE, LEARN and INSPIRE each other for our businesses.  Shit.  That reminds me.  I need to get my laundry done.  Dammit.  I hate laundry.

Anyways, packing my stuff (after I wash it, of course!) and preparing to see my mostest favoritest people in the world (besides Tyler, Mike and Jack!) and spend the week with them!!  EEEEKKKK!  I seriously am gonna EXPLODE with excitement!

So here's what the plan is.......

Day one (Tuesday)--Arrive in INDY!  My Jenny (that's what her nickname is)--Jenny Cottrell is picking me up at the airport in Ohio....why?  Because it's our plan, geesh, don't be picking me apart YET!  We will head into Indy, and get settled and ready to REGISTER on Tuesday night.  After registration, I am heading over to The Hard Rock Cafe to meet our group for a TEAM DINNER!  WOOT!  I always look forward to seeing everyone, and laughing my ASS off with them!  Our group is pretty freaking amazing, if I do say so myself!  We have the rest of the night free, and I'm hoping to see some others after that.

Day Two (Wednesday)--Scentsy 5k--okay, before you get some unreasonable vision of me, I won't be running the 5k.  I WILL however, be WALKING it, MAYBE.  That begins at 8am.  Yikes!

The day, after the 5K I have free.  Everyone other than Directors, Star Directors, and SuperStar Directors have to register on Wednesday.  THEN.....THEN.......Wait for it.......wait forrrrr ittt.....HEIDI'S BIRTHDAY BASH!!!  Heidi Thompson, the Co-CEO of Scentsy Family, Inc, is having her birthday celebration, and is SHARING the fun with US!  Not with EVERYONE, although, I'm sure she would LIKE to share it with everyone, there are only a few thousand of us who are going.....by a few thousand, I mean only a portion of the THOUSANDS of consultants going.  Okay, here's the kicker.......make sure you're sitting down for this one....hold on tight.......it's awesome.....KELLY CLARKSON is playing a concert to celebrate Heidi's BIRTHDAY BASH!!  OMG OMG OMG!!  I love Kelly!!  She's an amazing inspiration and example of the saying, "DREAMS DO COME TRUE!"  She had a dream, and she WENT FOR IT!!  That is what it's all about!  So we get to see her play!  I haven't been so excited about a concert since.....since......ha!  Since I saw Pat Benatar play a few years ago!  So, as you can imagine, I'm extremely freaking excited about this!!  So we all get to celebrate Heidi's birthday until around 9:30 pm.  After that, who knows, I'm SURE we can all find SOMETHING to do.  (Insert evil laugh here).

  

Day Three (Thursday)--Heading over to Lucas Memorial Stadium for General Session 1. This is when we get some MIND BLOWING TRAINING to help with our businesses. Not just our businesses, ourselves too. Dr. Brené Brown will be speaking to us! Don't know who SHE is? Well, go find out, cuz I just don't have TIME to explain how FREAKING AWESOME she is!



Then LUNCH, then another General Session (2) then FREE NIGHT! WOOT!

Day Four (Friday)--is always SUPER magical! General Session (3) and more education, learning, laughter and FUN!! We have another AMAZING guest speaker!! Daniel H. Pink is a KICK ASS author! How crazy is it that we get to learn from ALL of these amazing people!? EEEEEKKKKK!!!
Then LUNCH and then General Session (4) which is where, LAST YEAR, we heard from Orville Thompson, Heidi Thompson, Chuck Thompson, some wonderful people from Corporate, and some AWESOME consultants! After that, we have time to head back to our hotels, shower, eat, and head back to Lucas Stadium for AWARDS NIGHT! This year, I get to attend the AWARDS RECEPTION after Awards night and I AM FREAKING ECSTATIC about it!!!

Oh, waitttttttttt a minute.......back the TRUCK UP!!  I forgot the BESTEST part!  MARY CHRISTENSEN is going to be there too, to teach us some AMAZING things!  Holy CRAP I'm excited about that one too!!! 

So, when we first started making plans for Reunion, CLEARLY one of the first things you think of is...."Who am I going to room with?"  I mean, you don't wanna room with someone you don't get along with.  Duh.  You don't wanna room with someone who never sleeps, because then you are SCREWED!  You want to room with someone who is FUN, RESPECTFUL, and LIKE-MINDED, right!?  Well, I got lucky and have TWO of those people.....actually FOUR people who are "roomies".  Edie Anne and I decided a LONG time ago that we would bunk together at the JW MARRIOTT.  She had already reserved a few rooms, and we both decided that we would room together.  Shawnie and her hubby are taking one of the rooms, and Edie and I in the other.  Well, then things got down to the wire, and we added Karen, and Holly to our room list.  We had to, THEY ARE FUN, and SWEET, and AMAZING women, and why not!?  I mean, we, selfishly decided in the beginning that it would just be US.  Her and I.  Period.  Then, we thought twice.  Two more?  ABSOLUTELY!!  Give more than you take.  That's what it's all about.  We want them to have a great time, and we want to make SURE they do.  It will be amazing, and fun, and I'm SURE a bucket FULL of laughs.  SO that's the plan.  

I know that, knowing Edie, we will be posting videos, and blogs and photos while we are at Scentsy Family Reunion 2013.....so keep an eye out. Only 18 days until all of the FUN STARTS! WOOT! Hang on tight.......we are beginning to gear up for the RACE TO INDY!!!!

What does "Friend" mean to you......is everyone's definition different?

F.R.I.E.N.D.S.
Fight for you
Respect you
Include you
Encourage you
Need you
Deserve you
Stand by you.

Tonight this is something that CLEARLY I need to blog about.......oh don't you get me wrong here, it's not just so-called "Friends" who need to KNOW and understand what the word means......and HOW to respect boundaries.

Listen, when you have friends, HEAR what they say to you.  Listen when they tell you something.  Respect what they need, and want from you, don't listen, and then do what YOU want to, because you want to.  How is that being a friend?  

When you have a friend who NEEDS you......you know, because they are fighting a fight, or feeling alone, lost or just plain SAD, be there for them.  Without having to be asked......just because you know, if that's how YOU felt, you would want a friend there with you.  If you have friends, you are LOYAL to those friends.  You don't pick a situation and decide you won't stick up for your friend, just because it makes you feel uncomfortable.  Loyalty.....ask yourself, are you a loyal friend?  Are your friends LOYAL to you?  Can you stick up for someone you care about, to someone else that you care about, and know that you are doing the right thing, even if it makes you feel like you are in the middle?  I know, without a doubt, that I can.  I stick up for people, friends or not, because right is right.  Period.  

Now apparently there aren't a lot of people around my area, who know what this all means.  No, I'm so not kidding here......sad, isn't it?  Sad that these people....are calling themselves "Friends" to SOMEONE........someplace, but you know they can never really BE a friend....I mean, how COULD they be someone's friend if they can't even listen when you tell them what you need and expect from them?  When they are SO self-centered that they only care about what is good for THEM at that very moment in time?

I don't want people around me like that.  I don't allow people in my life like that.  I NEED people around me who are GOOD people, who RESPECT each other, and who LISTEN to what their friends need......even if it's not convenient at that very moment.  Is that too much to ASK for??

I do have people around me who love me, and respect me.  I have a LOT of friends who do.  Some who live near, and some who live far, and believe me, I am SUPER blessed to have them ALL in my life.  

BEING a friend to someone, know that you are DESERVING of friendship also.....if they are a TRUE friend, it won't be HARD to do this for them.

I'm an adult here, and I know what I want out of life.  I know what I need to do to get there, and even with life's twists and turns, mistakes and screw-ups, I have goals, I won't stop until I reach them.  Never. However, I will NOT stomp on ANYONE along the way.  Not a friend, not family, not ANYONE, as long as I know they are a FRIEND.  

I love enjoying time outside...

    I haven't written in a few days.....not because I didn't have TIME, but because when things bother me, I tend to say......um.....not so NICE things.....so instead, I am practicing patience and trying to learn how to vent properly.  Why are you laughing?  I'm serious.  I know who I am.  I know how I react.  I don't have patience for stupid people, or mean people, or entitled people.  I try and surround myself with positive, motivated, happy people.  Not vindictive, unhappy, mean, untrustworthy folks.  It won't work for me.  I don't want it to.  SO, instead of writing about how some people are liars, and false friends, I refrained from writing totally for a few days.  I'm proud of me.  *Smile*

    Today was a new day......as it always is.  Today my goal was to spend time outdoors, and take in the sun.  Especially since it's been raining for days on end.  I love vitamin D.  I truly love being in the sun.  You could go so far as to say that I actually worship the sun, in some silly way.  So that's exactly what I did.  Mike and I took a ride on his motorcycle and went to the airport on Plum Island, in Newburyport, MA.  They had a remote control airplane show.....ya, it sounds really lame, right?  Nope.  You're wrong, just like I was.  It was really cool actually!  The remotes are HUGE!  I mean MUCKA HUGE!  I took a few pictures...

How COOL is this!?

CLEARLY this is my FAVORITE!

    They SOUNDED like jets......they all had smokers, so they left trails, and they were just really fun to watch! Why did I not KNOW about how FAST some of these things move?  Some of them can go up to 200 MPH!  No lie!  Amazing!  It was my magical part of the daytime hours.....and then...

    Nighttime came......and it's HOCKEY NIGHT!  Bruins are in the series with the Blackhawks.  Tonight we WON!  THAT was CLEARLY my MAGICAL moment tonight.  Yup.  All around good day.  Even in the worst times of our lives, we can find something NEW and FUN, and magical moments happen, if you allow them to!

XO Jilly

My "WHY"...

So I've already told you what I do for work, besides being a single Mom.....which is CLEARLY more challenging than any job.  EVER.  Especially if you have a teenager.  A boy teenager.  Things can get a little stressful, however, I take that all in stride and have the up most confidence in how I raised my son, so I'm not truly WORRIED.

Let's get down to business, Scentsy Family.  Direct Sales.  It's a business.  It's NOT some sort of pyramid scheme, it's NOT something that you have to dish out money for, it's NOT one of those things that you have to be at the top of the ladder to MAKE MONEY.  No lie.  Believe me, as you get to know me through this blog, you will understand that I don't lie.  I'm just to capable of it, plus it pisses me off.  So when I say "No lie", I mean it.

I joined Scentsy in the spur of the moment....no research (except for what I read on the website) and honestly had never even laid eyes on one.

I knew it was a "Wickless Candle" however, I didn't know what that meant.  I was, at that point, a "Yankee" addict, and had over 30 candles in my VERY small condo.  Yup.  Addict.  So I wasn't "Sold" on the whole "Scentsy" thing.  Until......the UPS guy showed up.....I opened the box.....put the light bulb in, put the dish on top, broke off one cube of wax, and plugged it in.....THEN I was sold.  In love.  That was IT for me.  I threw away 30 candles.  JUST LIKE THAT!  Dumped those UGLY, dangerous ickky things right into the trash.  They had marked my walls FULL of soot, my ceiling looked NASTY, and I don't want to even IMAGINE what the inside of my lungs looked like after washing and re-painting everything.  Yuck.  The Scentsy warmer, was SO different.  It was BEAUTIFUL to look at.....it wasn't HOT, it wasn't going to make nasty marks on my walls or ceilings, it was just what I was looking for, without knowing I was looking.

From there, it's been an amazing experience for me.  I mean, I had worked for other DS companies before, for years, but NEVER had as much fun, and unbelievable experiences as I have had with Scentsy.  I have an amazing team, who you have heard me mention before.  I mean, there really isn't a way to put into words how inspiring they ALL are.  Everyone has a story, and some are truly heartbreaking.  Some are "normal" and just want to own their own businesses, but every single one of them, has a "WHY".  Your "WHY" is why you joined, why you want to keep going with your business, and WHY you will become successful!  You will, in the future, hear me talk about their whys.....but I truly only know MINE.

My "why" started when I ordered my "starter kit"......and when I opened that box.....smelled all of the wax samples that come with the kit, and started thinking about HOW I would do this.  HOW could I become successful at selling a product that I love, and help others to understand how awesome it truly is.

The only way, as far as I'm concerned, is to show people my passion for Scentsy.  MY why comes into play, yes, however, I don't tell my story, to everyone I meet.  Although I do tell my story on my website, and I do periodically update it....but I always ask myself, "Why do I stay with Scentsy?  Why do I love it SO much?"  I could sit here and tell you all of my reasons, but ONE is a huge thing to me.  One reason is why I stay, and one of the most important reasons why I stay.  Family.  I could go into all of the reasons why I need a sense of "Family" in my life.  Or why I don't have a big family.  It's Tyler, my Dad, his wife, Donna, my boyfriend, Mike, and his son Jack.  That's my family.  BUT, now that I have Scentsy, I have extended family ALL over the world.  Yes, I said WORLD!  When stuff happens, and I'm soooooo stressed out, like I want to punch something, my Scentsy family is ALWAYS there to help lift me up, and make things seem so much easier.  I can pick up the phone, call ANY of them, and know that no matter what, they will listen, or offer advice, if that's what I need.  I do the same for them too, that's what family IS.  Unconditional.  Love.  AMAZING people, HUGE opportunities.  I can't, nor will I EVER turn my back on Scentsy.  Ever.  I am where I'm supposed to be.  I love what I do, and love who I do it WITH.  Scentsy rocks....and so do all of the people within Scentsy.  If there was ever any doubt.....on if YOU could become successful doing Scentsy, now you know.....the answer to that is NO.  :)

Okay, I could go ON AND ON AND ON about Scensty and why I love it SO much, but I will save that for another day......today, I am grateful for my life, my job, and my Scentsy Family.  <3

Read a little about my story here......

Not Every Day Is A Good Day.......

Today was just one of those days for me.  I was grouchy....and everything got under my skin.  

Facebook.  Man, that stupid website is the root of all evil.  For real.  Almost every post today, that I saw, was bitchy.  Why don't people THINK before putting some stuff out there?  Oh, don't get me wrong here, I am totally guilty of it too.....but, seriously, WHY would you post mean things about others??  That kind of stuff really just sets me off.  

I suppose there are good things about Facebook......besides the obvious.  I have re-connected with SO many people who I would have never heard from, other than maybe an email, or something like that.  I do acquire some business from being on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.  I have formed MANY friendships with my Scentsy Family from being on Facebook......so, I suppose I should probably NOT say that it's the root of ALL evil......maybe just sets a platform for people who ARE to be heard.  Yuck!

Today was just one of those days, it's raining outside, gloomy, and sets the tone for a sad day.  I cried most of the morning, while drinking coffee.....while trying to get work done.  I did make a ton of phone calls, and clearly wasn't crying on those.  I visited with a friend today, who I haven't seen in a while.  That was the highlight of my day.  Dealing with crossing off one problem after another on my "Bitch Do" list.....and trying to smile through the tears.  

Today was just one of those days.....and tomorrow is a NEW day.....I will put forth effort to make it a GOOD one.  Good days make for GOOD blog posts, right!?  :)

XO

~Jilly

A Truly Magical Day....

Today, my son Graduated from Newburyport High School.....I can't even tell you how HAPPY I am that there is no need for him to ever enter that building again.  THIS gives me PURE JOY!

Beyond that.....(that is a story that will be told in it's own time) with all of the tragedies that have taken place that I spoke about with you, in my very first blog post, I have seen huge clarity in where I need my life to go from here.  What is it that they say?  Death can bring a birth, so to speak?  There is the beginning stages of talking as far as moving on......so many details to work out at this point, but I know the wheels are in motion, and that is always a great thing.

Mike and I went for a motorcycle ride today.....which is ALWAYS a perfect place to clear our heads, and enjoy each others company.

Newburyport is really a beautiful area....and it seems like we never really take a look around to enjoy the beauty of it all.  Today, I did.  I soaked all the "good" in as I rode on the back of the bike.....and just took a deep breath every once in a while...to remind me that I could.

Here is a picture of some of the scenes around here.....

Amazing, isn't it?  I suppose I really DO need to take some time and enjoy the view some more. Therapy for the soul.

We hiked locally today too.....here's a photo from the top.....

The closer to Heaven I am, the more peaceful I feel......<3

Today was great.....perfect weather.....amazing company....laughter and smiles.....that's what life's all about, isn't it?  Enjoy the life you have.....as they say, it's much too short, not to.

XO
~Jilly