Remembering Our Summer Vacation to Washington DC

Remembering Our Summer Vacation to Washington DC

Jody Yarborough
Travel

Even though there has not been a lot of traveling for us in the last year and a half, it’s fun to look back at some of the wonderful vacations we have taken over the years. In fact, it almost makes it even more fun. After every vacation I have very good intentions of coming home and reflecting on the previous days’ adventures. But more often than not, I’m too exhausted, and then life and all its to-do lists keep me from actually following through. Thank goodness we have the pictures to remind us. Below are a few of my favorite snapshots from a trip we took to Washington DC in the summer of 2013. Although we did go by it, there are no photos of the White House in this collection. Rather, some moments that made this trip one of my top five vacations of all time. Enjoy!

My Southern Adventure: Moving to Aiken, South Carolina

My Southern Adventure: Moving to Aiken, South Carolina

Jody Yarborough
Remember When...

Now that I am solidly living in my middle life years, sometimes it is fun to think back and reflect on life choices I made when I was younger. The story I am thinking of today occurred when I was in my mid-20s and decided to move to Aiken, South Carolina. Looking back, I am not sure if it was my naive confidence or incredible luck (perhaps a mix of both) that made pivotal inflection points of that journey go in my favor. I know for sure that was it was one of the best life choices I have ever made, and it greatly influenced the direction my life would take.

At the time, I was a reporter for the Daily Citizen, a small rural newspaper in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. It was a great opportunity, but after a few months on the job, I realized my heart was not in reporting. I moved to Wisconsin from my home state of Washington specifically for that job and to be nearer to my extended family, but I didn't have anything keeping me there other than that. Between the reporting gig that was killing my soul and the harsh mid-west Winters that were killing my mood, when the option of moving to a warmer climate presented itself, I didn't hesitate.

Our Golden Retriever Alton Turns Eight Years Old

Our Golden Retriever Alton Turns Eight Years Old

Jody Yarborough
Tales of Tails

We celebrated a bittersweet occasion two days ago. Our golden retriever fur son, Alton, turned eight years old. Yes, on September 18, 2013, he came rolling into the world, and our world hasn't been the same since. If you want some backstory of how Alton came into our lives, check out this blog post. But for today's blog, I want to reflect on how much joy he has brought into our lives since the day he joined our family. Every day with him is precious and every holiday bittersweet because we are starting to see him age as most larger breed dogs do. Unlike all of the smaller dogs I've parented before, I remind myself the odds that Alton will be with us until he is 17 or 18 as they were, are unlikely. Knowing this, we fill our hearts with as much love, drool, and dog hair we possibly can.

Aside from his loving personality and easy-going nature, his size is the one thing that his dad and I still comment on to this day. As two Little People, we can't believe we own a dog who outweighs and outsizes us both. When Alton fully extends, he is taller than either of us! I remember when we picked Alton from the littermates who were remaining, I tried to consider size as a factor in choosing. I asked the owners where in the pecking order Alton was born. Then I tried to deduce his growth rate based on how big he was at just four weeks old. In retrospect, it was such a ridiculous speculative projection. She told me he was middle of the pack— not the biggest, but not the runt either. I fell in love with him so quickly I am sure she could have said he was Jabba the Hut, and I would have heard "just right."

Trying National Novel Writing Month in November (NaNoWriMo) to KickStart My Writing Ambitions

Trying National Novel Writing Month in November (NaNoWriMo) to KickStart My Writing Ambitions

Jody Yarborough
My Creative Life

Sometimes you just need something to help give you a boost for that big goal you simply cannot seem to get started. NaNoWriMo has been just such a thing for me in my writing journey.

What is NaNoWriMo, you ask? Well, it stands for National Novel Writing Month, and it is a nonprofit organization, primarily based online, that exists to support writers. They are most well-known for hosting a contest to see who can write 50,000 words on a fictional writing project in November.

Their mission states: NaNoWriMo is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that believes in the transformational power of creativity. We provide the structure, community, and encouragement to help people find their voices, achieve creative goals, and build new worlds—on and off the page.

Discovering More About My Ancestry By Doing an Ancestry DNA Test Kit

Discovering More About My Ancestry By Doing an Ancestry DNA Test Kit

Jody Yarborough
Life

A year or so before my Dad died in 2019, he gave me several copies of a document I would describe as a family tree scroll of my paternal side of my family. Going back three generations, it lays out on about a four-foot stretch of letter-sized paper taped together, the family relations of my grandfather and his father before that. My great-grandfather was born in Sweden in the early 1800s. Dad gave me the scrolls, I think, to start a dialogue and suggest we take a trip back to Sweden soon to visit the family homestead. Unfortunately, we didn't know that he would get diagnosed with cancer shortly after and then die. I mourn the trip that never happened.

I didn't look at the scrolls again until I took an Ancestry DNA kit. My step-mom had taken one a few years ago and said how cool it was to see what her genetics told her about her ancestral heritage. A few of my cousins and my sister have taken one as well. If you aren't familiar with how Ancestry DNA works, you submit a saliva sample for a fee of $99 (or less if you can catch a sale). They analyze it and list the results in a database that can match you up with other people who share your DNA who have also submitted samples.

The Story of How Drew Proposed

The Story of How Drew Proposed

Jody Yarborough
Love Actually

The first blog post I wrote for Jody Write Now is about Andrew and me getting married. I wrote it to memorialize that life milestone. I also wrote it to reflect on being a newlywed at that time. Going back and re-reading it today, 14 years later, I am reminded of that special time in my life. Now I want to tell the story of how Andrew proposed.

I'm somewhat of an enigma. I can be very progressive and non-conformist about some things, but I can also be very old-fashioned and traditional about others. My attitudes and feelings regarding all things marriage fall into the latter category, at least for myself. In other words, I know my way isn't right for everyone, but it is right for me.

Addressing My Low B-12 Issue

Addressing My Low B-12 Issue

Jody Yarborough
Health & Wellness

I was pretty fortunate during COVID that I did not have any significant health problems that required attention. But several months into the lockdown, my doctor let me know that I needed some routine lab work so she could refill my blood pressure prescription. It was during that regular check that she discovered my B-12 was low. So low, in fact, she asked me if I was a vegetarian. Although I did cut red meat out of my diet several years ago, I am not a vegetarian. It just got very uncomfortable for me to digest. So I eat pork, chicken, and turkey instead. She asked me to start taking B-12 supplements, and we would recheck my labs in a few weeks.

Let's be honest: left to my own devices, my diet would be one of a toddler with unlimited access to the snack bin. I love snacking. I love chocolate. I love finger foods. So, that combined with the fact that I don't take a daily vitamin, it doesn't surprise me that now that I'm in my mid-40s, my body finally waves the red flag.

Thankfully, after a few weeks of taking B-12, my labs returned to normal levels, so as long as I keep taking supplements, I should be fine long-term. But the whole experience got me thinking more seriously about what I'm eating, food portioning, protein consumptions, and implementing a vitamin routine in my daily life. And for someone who isn't exactly thrilled about change, these were some big steps to consider.

It's About Mindset, Not Positive Thinking

It's About Mindset, Not Positive Thinking

Jody Yarborough
Everything Else

So I wrote a few weeks ago about joining a Success Team. One of the things that Barbara Sher, founder of the Success Team model, would say when leading her groups was: "You aren't going to "positive attitude" your way through anything." O-Particularly a big goal or project, because they span too much time to expect that you will feel the same way for that long, positive or not. It is just not how human behavior works.

How liberating this is to hear! That I don't have to "be positive" as a precondition to achieving my goals, no matter what they are. Like right now, I am not particularly having the best day. I woke up with my eye being unhappy with me, the house is a mess, and I don't particularly feel like writing right now. But I committed myself to finish this blog post today. I think all too often, people get hung up on the idea that they have to have a certain mood, especially a good mood, to do the damn thing. When really, you just simply have to do the damn thing!

This is just one example of reframing-- confronting a problem or a challenge from a different perspective. There can be a.lot of power in strategically reframing how you think about something. Sometimes we humans are our own worst enemy. We over-analyze, second-guess, struggle with imposter syndrome, and self-esteem issues. These are just a few roadblocks that we put on our paths of progress.

Why I Have Limitations on How Much I Use Social Media

Why I Have Limitations on How Much I Use Social Media

Jody Yarborough
Health & Wellness

Explaining what happened with me and social media might be easiest put into relationship terms: initially, I dumped it; then we went on a break, and now we are talking again. And when I say social media, I am talking about Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. I cut some slack to LinkedIn, Twitch, TikTok, and YouTube because they have somewhat a niche purpose. Of the latter, the only one I use is YouTube-- even when I was on my social media break, mostly because I enjoy consuming vlogging content and I have my own channel.

Truth be told, I've attempted to write this blog post several times. In every attempt, I have struggled to know how to best articulate what I was thinking and feeling as I slowly realized that social media was becoming a detrimental part of my life. Or more simply, when I recognized that it took a lot more from me than it was giving me in return.

Of all the social media platforms I listed above, Facebook was the one on which I was most active. I have Twitter and Instagram accounts, but I wasn't very active on them even before the break-up. For many years I feel like Facebook had an appropriate priority in my life. I could have the app on my phone and still have the self-discipline to not have my phone glued to my hand. I liked Facebook, especially in its earlier years. Back when you had control over your newsfeed, conversations weren't polarizing, and manipulation by malicious third-party entities wasn't a problem. You know, back in the good 'ole days when all you had to worry about was being poked.

Joining a Barbara Sher Success Team

Joining a Barbara Sher Success Team

Jody Yarborough
Life

There are times in your life that are inflection points. Sometimes you live through them and you don’t realize they were inflection points until reflecting on the past. Sometimes you know when you are in them. You just feel it. I'm in one right now. And I wanted to share about it.

But first, a little backstory.

Four or five years ago, I came upon a book called Wishcraft by Barbara Sher. I am sure Amazon recommended it to me because I have a habit of collecting self-improvement books like my husband collects flashlights. Sad to say, though, that Wishcraft went by the wayside of 99% of the other self-improvement books I have bought over the years: half-read, unread, or donated without even cracking the spine. I did try reading Wishcraft, but for some reason, it just didn't resonate with me at the time. I donated it to Goodwill and didn't think about it again.

Remembering my Mom: She Also Loved Extra Cheese On Her Pizza

Remembering my Mom: She Also Loved Extra Cheese On Her Pizza

Jody Yarborough
Love Actually

It’s hard to explain exactly what 13 years feels like. You know how it is getting older: the days blur into weeks, and then into months, and finally into years. It feels so cliche to say, “time goes by so fast.” And yet it does, and it is. If someone had told me two, five or even 15 years ago that I would be parentless by the age of 43, I probably would have replied with a a certain amount of hubris, “no way!” Even though I’ve always known life to be inherently

Miss You Dad

Miss You Dad

Jody Yarborough
Love Actually

Well, not writing about my dad’s recent passing hasn’t made the grieving process any easier, so let’s give this a try. It’s been quite a few months. I had already been struggling to keep up with my creative goals, when on June 6, I got the call no one ever wants to get. Even though Dad had been weakened by the completion of his lung cancer treatments, we all expected a full recovery (doctors and himself included). So when he passed away in his sleep

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