Just a little creative end-of-year self-examination. No big deal.

Hello faithful followers!  It's been a long, long time since I've blogged.  The last six months of this year have been so busy and exciting and at times, heart-breaking and painful.  In the last six months, I've experienced the loss of a few people I love dearly, incredible growth professionally and personally, an absolutely debilitating, yet spiritually enlightening back injury, and then even more growth spiritually and emotionally.  It takes my breath away what happens when I just get the heck out of the way and let the universe work through me.  Sometimes, literally takes my breath away!  There were points when my back injury caused me so much pain people had to remind me to BREATHE!  Starting in January, I'll be taking Katy Bowman's 16 week "Master Your Health" course.  At the end of the online course I'll be flying to California for a week to become certified as a Restorative Exercise Therapy practitioner, and I am EXTREMELY excited about it!  I follow Katy's blog, and she posted a list of questions that encourage you to realistically examine 2011.  I decided to re-post it here in order to 1) engage in some end-of-year self-examination 2) it will help me to let you in on what's been going on in my life this year and, 3) encourage you to do the same.  I love this time of year because no matter how aware I am of my accomplishments and obstacles throughout the year, it's a time to see it all at once, and let it all go to prepare for the year to come.  It's so exciting and exhilarating to see how far I've come, and know that the next year will be even better, come what may.  Thanks for reading my blog, and I hope to post here more consistently throughout 2012.  I love this blog because I feel it's a very unique way to be of service and share my journey with the world.  Sending love, light, and hugs,  Jacqueline

Happy New Year! :)

Completing & Remembering 2011 
1. What was your biggest triumph in 2011?
Being 100% true to myself in all things.

2. What was the smartest decision you made in 2011?
There were a few: Following my heart and taking risks at work; becoming certified as a life coach; being completely honest with my friends and mentors; attending Alanon regularly; going to Urgent Care when it got real bad; loving people and myself with my whole heart. 

3. What one word best sums up and describes your 2011 experience?
Growth!  I am a very different woman than I was in 2010.  Very different. In a good way.

4. What was the greatest lesson  you learned in 2011? That I really can follow my heart and trust the universe and myself and GET OUT OF THE WAY and let life happen!

5. What was the most loving service that you performed in 2011?  Allowing people to help me.  

6. What is your biggest piece of “unfinished business” in 2011? Unfinished business...quitting smoking.  It'll happen.

7. What  are you most happy about completing in 2011? My coaching certification.  

8. Who were the three people with the greatest impact on your life in 2011? Three is not enough.  Linda, Lynn, Gayle, Emily, my mom, David, and Marcy.

9. What is the biggest risk you took in 2011? 
Putting myself out there to take on new things at work; really listening to my gut and doing what I felt was right with my health.

10. What was your biggest surprise in 2011?
I can handle really intense pain!

11. What important  relationship improved most in 2011? My relationship with the universe and myself.  I am a pretty amazing person.

12. What compliment would you have liked to received but didn’t? A marriage proposal!

13. What compliment would you have liked to have given but didn’t? There are people from my past that I have realized this year made a huge impact on my life in general just by loving me.  I am not sure where they are today, but if I could find them, I'd like to tell them what a difference they have made in my life.  

14. What else do you need to do or say to be complete with 2011?
Dear 2011,

Thank you.  I needed that.

Love, Jacqueline

Creating 2012 
1. What would you like to be your biggest  triumph in 2012? Continuing to be honest with myself and others; make taking care of my body a priority; establishing a thriving coaching business; meeting my beloved and starting our spiritual journey together; and loving with total abandon.

2. What advice would you like to give yourself in 2012?  This too shall pass.

3. What major effort are you planning to improve your results in 2012? Taking Katy's course, continuing to take risks and grow spiritually, attending Joyce Rennolds Speaker Workshop and scripting classes, scripting every day, trusting life and going with the flow, getting out and meeting more people!

4. What would you be most happy about completing in 2012? Katy's course and Joyce's Speaker Workshop.

5. What major indulgence are you willing to experience in 2012?
Buying new furniture and decorating my new 3 bedroom condo I'm moving into in February.  Traveling outside of the US. And inside the US. :)

6. What would you most like to change about your health in 2012? I'd like for my back to be totally healed, easily and effortlessly (I must be very careful how I speak about these things!), to quit smoking, cut out gluten, and eat as close to "whole" foods as possible, and stretch and exercise every day. I'd also like to be more conscious of my thoughts, as they do affect my body and physical health. 

7. What are you looking forward to learning  in 2012? I am so excited to learn more about my body and how to help others become more healthy and aligned; to learn more about myself and life and how things work; and how to have a healthy, happy, satisfying relationship with a wonderful man.

8. What do you think your biggest  risk will be in 2012? Flying to California to work with people I've never met before, loving with abandon, learning how to have a healthy, happy, satisfying relationship with a wonderful man!

9. What  are you most committed to changing and improving in 2012? 
My physical and spiritual health.

10. What is one as yet undeveloped talent you are willing to explore in 2012? Public speaking and coaching.

11. What brings you joy and health and how are you going to have more of that in 2012? Being completely honest; surrounding myself with joyful, healthy, positive, uplifting, like minded people, prayer and meditation, spending time relaxing and laughing with my friends, walking, playing with my dog, being of service to others, writing, being kind and gentle with myself, exercise and yoga, attending services at Spiritual Life Center of Atlanta, scripting, scripting, scripting!

12. Who or what, other than yourself, are you most committed to loving and serving in 2012? Anyone who asks.

13. What one word would you like to have as your theme in 2012? 
Magnificent.

Now it’s your turn. Copy and paste this to your own blog, or somewhere you feel comfortable sharing it.  Feel free to send me an email with your answers at qualeen412@gmail.com.  I would love to hear them!  Thank you for being a part of my life!  I love you, and many bountiful blessings to you in the new year! 

{Questions Compliments of Robin Blanc Mascari. Please feel free to share! She loves hearing how these are used and what happens. rbmascari@mac.com  www.enlightenednetworking.com}

Where my inspiration comes from... (with an update... a link to the article I wrote about Arts in the Park!)

I just wanted to share some pictures of the weekend where my inspiration for the new theme for my blog comes from.  This is where it all started:

These are pictures from the driveway of the cabin we stayed in.  

Another shot from the driveway of the front of the cabin.  Shots from my bedroom, my bed, and the back porch.  *Sigh* it was heavenly.  Just Aska Bear.  That was a pun.  That's the name of the cabin, and also, an invitation to ask a bear how heavenly the cabin and surrounding forest are.  He'd agree.  Or, you can ask my pup.

He loved it there.  Sunday morning I let him out for a pee, and we didn't see him again for an hour.  

Then there was this:

The Arts in the Park Festival in Blue Ridge.  It was fantastic.  I wrote a whole article about it here.

 Then, (oh yes, there's more) there was this:

My beautiful console table that I finally got to bring home with me.  The last picture is where it is placed in my beautiful home.

And finally, there was this:

My first attempt at chocolate chip pancakes.  They got rave reviews.  Seriously, they were reviewed by a 6-year old, so I believe it.  Kids don't lie about chocolate chip pancakes.

Oh, two more things:

This was the sign on the GIRLS porta-potty at the festival.  I think we have shot ourselves in the foot with this whole feminism thing.  I was so confused about which one to use.  Someone finally explained it to me.  

And, really, the last thing:

Did someone say ghost tour?  I am SO in.  

Au revoir! Kisses.

New theme that makes me happy!

Hello all!  I am writing to tell you some exciting news about some changes I'm making to this blog.  As of this week, I will be doing an article a month, right here, on an artist. I wrote all about how I recently attended an arts festival up in Blue Ridge on my other blog, and I met so many wonderful artists that I want to get to know better, as well as support their art and their passion.  I have an interview today with one of the artists I met last weekend.  You are not going to BELIEVE this guy.  He makes sculptures out of barbed wire!  Amazing.  I am so excited to learn more about him and his craft.  So please, sign up to follow this blog, tell your friends, and check back often.  I'd love to get some attention for these inspiring artists.  They deserve it.  If you know of any artists, please send an email to jacqueline.saszi@gmail.com, and I will put them on my list.

Thanks for reading, and come back soon!
Jacqueline

Mr. Charley Parker Saszi

I figured I would entertain myself this evening.  I am exhausted.  I am finally completely moved into my new apartment (yay!)  and almost completely settled.  Moving is tiring.  And no matter what the circumstances, leaving a place I've spent time living in is always sad.

I was looking through pictures tonight while working on a blog I write for, and realized how many pictures I have of my dog, Mr. Charley Parker Saszi.  I adopted Charley during my short stint volunteering for a dog rescue.  He is (we think) a miniature pinscher/chihuahua mix.  He is also (we think) 9 years old.  He's precious.  When he's not snapping at me for trying to pick him up. Pretty soon here, he'll be living with me.  He's been living with my mom until I got my own place.  Now that my mom has fallen in love with him, she is asking for "joint custody".  This entails him spending part of his time at my house, and part of it at my mom's.  I know.  Don't judge me.

Hey, Charley, look at me...

"Oh no you did NOT just use a flash in my face."

"what?"

"I'm so done with you and your camera.  Where's that damn cat?  Take pictures of him."

Hi Stanley.  You're 17.  I love you.

"Hold on, now.  Maybe I can get used to this camera thing.  I mean, if that cat doesn't mind it..."

So, anyhoo.  That's my fun for tonight.  I hope you enjoyed it.  I am loving my new apartment.  I am loving my life.  I hope you are enjoying wherever you are tonight.  

Tootle-Loo!

Okay, I'm back. Let's talk.

So, at the end of February (where has the time gone?) I posted about some exciting things going on in my life.  And I am back now to fill in the blanks I left at that time. As I said, I have had my first acupuncture experience.  I have tons of friends who have sung the praises of acupuncture for years. I have never had occasion to need it, and with my addictive personality, and my penchant for being a bit of a hypochondriac, I made a commitment to myself to never partake unless absolutely necessary.  Well, it became necessary.  I have been seeing a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioner since I had some health issues come up last July.  His name is Dr. Chen, and I adore him.  The herbal remedies he's had me on, as well as his unending compassion and understanding have done wonders for my body.  I am eternally grateful to him.  The last time I saw him, I was complaining that my lower back was hurting.  He assured me that this was an unfortunate side effect of the digestive stuff we're working out, but that he could give me some acupuncture that would relieve it temporarily.

 I was at a crossroads.  Did I want to try acupuncture and possibly crave it obsessively from now until eternity?  Was it really necessary?  I weighed out the pros and cons, and decided to do it.  Needless to say, I will never have acupuncture again unless it is really necessary.  I am glad I did it, but OUCH.  It. hurt.  The placement and removal of the needles was exactly what you'd expect from a person inserting and removing needles from your skin.  Painful.  The in between time was fine, and the relief was incredible.  My lower back didn't hurt for days afterwards, so it did it's job.  I am not, however, addicted.  I hear from others who have had acupuncture that it didn't hurt them as much as it hurt me, but I have some clogged up energy, which is probably why it hurt so bad.  If you'd like to learn more about the history and principles of acupuncture, please look it up, it's all very interesting, and I highly recommend it as an alternative to taking beaucoup pills for pain relief that may cause other side effects or just plain old deal with the symptom, not the problem.  I just don't have the time to get into it here.  So that was my acupuncture experience.

Next, my job.  I love it.  Love it, love it, love it.  It's gets more interesting and fun every day.  I love my boss and the women and man I work with.  We have recently hired someone (aforementioned man.  Brave soul, he is. :)) to be a business development and marketing guru for our business.  We love all of our clients, and our clients love us, and what we have to offer is amazing, so we've decided to take it to the next level.  We've started sending out a monthly newsletter and made some other decisions and moves in that direction.   You can feel the excited energy in the office as these changes occur.  It's exhilarating!  It's definitely testing all of our levels of resilience.  But that's what we're all about, right?  If you've forgotten (shame on you!)  what it is that I do, check out our website here.  We're awesome.

I did not steal this picture from a website.  I actually took this picture in Blue Ridge.  Isn't is beautiful?

So, moving on to my blooming writing career.  Some of you may have noticed in my email signature that I'm calling myself a freelance writer these days.  That's because I am.  And, I can call myself whatever I want, thank you very much.  I've called myself much worse, so I'm happy with this title.  I do, however, want it to change to "published writer" very soon.  A friend of mine who owns a cabin rental company in the city of Blue Ridge, Georgia, has hired me to write for his website and blog.  The job entails me re-writing parts of his website, as well as going and staying in most of his cabins in order to write about them and the town on his website and blog.  I know, I have a rough life.   Here are some pictures I took during my last trip to Blue Ridge, inside the place I stayed in up there, the Blue Ridge Suite.  It's not a cabin, but a beautiful penthouse apartment in the heart of downtown.

 Once a month I get to drive the grueling 90 minute trek up to the North Georgia Mountains, stay in a luxury cabin for free, and traipse around the picturesque town of Blue Ridge doing whatever my heart desires.  How did this happen to me?  Oh yeah, I asked for and prayed for it to happen.  I took tiny little actions towards the fulfillment of this dream.  You can read more about that journey here.

 In doing so, I have fallen head over heels in love with Blue Ridge and the people of the small community.  I have found that I really like travel writing, and have drafted a letter to The Vacation Gals, writers for a travel blog that I really like.  Cross your fingers and pray for me!  I can't wait to see where this goes!  I must mention that this hasn't been easy.  CJ, my childhood friend and owner of the cabin rental company, Southern Comfort Cabin Rentals (SoCo Cabins for short), asked me to start looking into travel blogs and magazines ohhhhhh... about a month ago.  I did look into it, but that's where my action stopped... at looking.  I found myself paralyzed by fear and insecurity at the idea of actually submitting something I've written to any publication (does High Times have a travel section?!  Just kidding.  Don't tell me.)  and possibly being... (gasp, eyes tightly closed) rejected.  In the past, I have not handled rejection well.  I have come a long way since then, but the combined vulnerability of having anyone besides close friends and family critique my writing and then possibly not liking it scared the poop out of me.  I've known logically, all this time, that I just needed to do it; that rejection and failure are all just stops on the way to greatness, but the logic didn't help.  So, after a few weeks of feeling crappy about myself and comparing myself to every other writer out there (why could I compare myself?  Because they've actually taken the risk and submitted their work for publication!!) I decided to just do it.  So I've written a letter to the Vacation Gals, which at this very moment is being proofread, and then I will send it out.  And I can't wait to see what happens!  

And, finally, I have found my own apartment.  It's amazing.  It's in the bottom of this huge house in downtown Roswell, and I love it.  It's a tiny little one bedroom, but I don't care about how small it is.  It's mine.  All mine.  I'll be moving this weekend, so I'll definitely blog afterwards, because moves are rife with fun stories, and I'll post some pictures as well.

Thanks, blog.  I needed this.

Love,

Jacqueline