Spon·ta·ne·i·ty

23 Tuesday Jul 2013

Tags

Freedom, Happiness, leisure, Life, Maui, spontaneous

Spontaneity is something that I have always loved the idea of and wanted to be, just saying the word in itself gets me excited, spontaneity. Living on a whim, redirecting because of a feeling or emotion, taking off at the drop of a dime…but no matter how much I love the idea of living this way if I’m being completely honest I’d have to say my quality or state of actually being “spontaneous” in my day to day life is about a two. Ok, maybe a one (really its a zero) because Monday through Friday I am the most vanilla and least spontaneous person you will probably ever meet. I love my routine, sticking to a schedule and planning my days ahead. Now don’t get me wrong we can make plans but it better be 24 hours in advance (at least) and I will most likely pass if it keeps me out past 10pm! See, like I said vanilla no rainbow jimmies, no waffle cone just plain ol boring vanilla.

However like with everything else in this life with one extreme comes the other so it would only make sense that my weekend self (Friday night to Sunday afternoon) likes to live life undetermined and much more spontaneously. I like to stop thinking about schedules, time or money and I like to just go off and do whatever it is I feel like doing. I like to jump in my car and drive or go for a walk until I find what I am looking for. I like to wake up on my days off at 6am (just because) and lay in bed thinking of all the amazing things I want to go and do. I love feeling the excitement of endless opportunity and the unknown.

So with all that being said this weekend was no different. I woke up at 5:30am on Saturday with thoughts of beaching, hiking, traveling, exploring or camping running through my head. Around 8am Colt got up and asked what his options were, a few hours later we were out the door.

…and we’re off, destination Hana! drive time 3 hours, purpose camping at 7 sacred pools, coolness factor it happened to be a full moon! Car packed, bags packed, dog packed…ready, set, gooo!

The road was so busy and so was the campground! This was the most construction, cars and groups I had ever experienced when driving up to Hana!

But even with all the unexpectedness we still made great time and we were chilling & grilling in no time.

Later we were joined by Anu and Joe who also decided very last minute to come up and join us!

We gave them lots of props for driving all the way to Hana on a moments notice but I think the full moon, the fire pit and the s’mores made it all worth it!

Sunday morning we woke up with the sun, it had rained pretty hard over night but it was so peaceful to listen to while we slept. The smell of rain and damp grass embodied us in the tented moonlight and it made the experience that much more memorable.

Once we were up Colt cooked breakfast for us all. He made bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches on a croissant and I’d have to say he gets the best breakfast for campers award because these were nothing shy of delicious!

Shortly after breakfast we cleaned up and hit the rode. We had a long trip back and a few more last minute pit stops on the way.

We have seen this sign for Thai food every single time we’ve been to Hana but not until recently had we paid it any mind and today it seemed to be screaming my name. We stopped by and I honestly felt like I had been time warped into the heart of Thailand! The restaurant Thai Food by Pranee, the sign, the people, the fresh made house specials they were all so perfect and lucky for me a lot closer than Thailand!

One of todays specials was the green chicken curry and we both loved it! It was so delicious and the closest taste to Thailand we have got since being back on the island. I am so happy we stopped to experience it!

After our Thai stop I wanted to photograph this sign (with my new Nikon) to canvas for the house! To me it is a great reflection of organized chaos and makes my wanderlust skyrocket.

I really just love it so much!

I photographed it from all angles since each side had a new variation of wonderful-ness!

After this stop Colt was on a mission to get home so I kept myself entertained.

WARNING objects in the mirror and in the car may appear closer or more naked then they really are;)

and last but not least for anyone who has ever been to Hana with Colt & I no trip would ever be complete without making a pit stop in Pāʻia at flatbreads! hmm hmm good!

As the week begins and it’s back to reality I cant help but think how thankful I am for my day to day life and my spontaneous weekends.

I am so blessed to live in such a beautiful place with a wonderful job and the best people surrounding me. I have Colt as my best friend, my husband, my life partner as well as my partner in crime. I love that we can do anything or nothing together and still be happy. I love that he loves me like no one else ever has. I love that our love is deep, real, fun, funny, passionate and supportive.

I love who we are, who we are becoming and that we love with a love that is more than love.

Until next time…love whenever possible, it is always possible….

Do you even Blog anymore?

07 Friday Jun 2013

Posted by Making Magic in Thoughts from Jenn

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Freedom, Happiness, Life, married life, self discovery

Was the question that came from my husband’s lips as we pulled up the drive from the gym at 6:30 a.m. and as his hazel green eyes stared at me waiting for an answer I couldn’t help but laugh. Looking confused he asked “well I mean I was just wondering because I thought you were going to start writing full time and get us free trips and cool stuff...” this sentence of course sent me into a fit of giggles, my husband he sure does make me laugh.

But all laughs aside his question did get me thinking and the short answer to his question is yes, I do still blog. The long answer is, not in the traditional way. I have been thinking about his question all day and it’s been bugging me because I really do LOVE writing, blogging, note booking or anything else that allows me to release some creative freedom. However, lately it seems I haven’t done a whole lot of it. As I continued to wonder why it suddenly hit me that the reason I wasn’t sitting down to blog about my life was because I have been too busy living it. I have actually been living so freely that instead of escaping to my blog I have been blogging out loud.

Rather than finding my freedom in blogging (as I have for the last year and a half) I have found my freedom in living. I have spent so much time doing the things that I love and have had less time to sit down and write about it. When I was working for corporate America the hour or two of freedom I got to myself per day I would spend blogging, I would come home or sit down on my lunch break and escape my reality. It was a time for me to connect with myself and the world and anyone else that wanted to listen because I didn’t have enough time to connect any other way. My blog in so many ways has been the only way I could slow down and reflect on everything that was spinning around me. It also allowed me to later go back and read about it from my own perspective and re-live it. I have spent many days and hours re-reading my blog from last year and re-living my wedding and all of the other countless adventures we have been on and I couldn’t be more thankful that I am able to do so.

Life recently has been simple. No drama, no bullshit, no doing things that don’t serve us, make us grow or make us happy. It has consisted of falling in love with each other again and again and living each day to fullest. We are living a life of gratitude and it seems to be blessing us daily. We have so much to be thankful for including our health, our job, our relationship, our love, our amazing family and best friends. We are building a brand new foundation as a married couple and it couldn’t be more exciting, which in turn reminds me, we have so much to be excited for but that’s for another day…

~ Appreciate the Moment ~

21 Thursday Feb 2013

Posted by Making Magic in Thoughts from Jenn

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Dreams, faith, fears, Freedom, goals, Happiness, health, healthy-living, jobs, Life, love, perspective, wife

As my final day of work as a Sales & Marketing Manager approaches (tomorrow is my official last day) I can’t help but feel overwhelmed with feelings of excitement, happiness, anxiety, nervousness, and panic. Last night while laying in bed Colt rolled over happily and exclaimed “only two days left babe.” As the statement hit my ears one half of me wanted to leap up and do backflips on the bed as this was one of the craziest most exciting decisions I have made thus far in my adult life while the other half wanted to run in the bathroom and throw up. I looked at him mute (frozen in fear) and half smiled, what was I doing?

It’s not the actual quitting of my job that freaks me out, I quit my sales and marketing job a year and a half ago with another company and not even two months later was offered this position. I know if I really wanted to I could get another job, any job, doing the same thing for another company or this company in another market, the scary part is I don’t want to. The even scarier (but exhilarating) part is the journey of recreation. The recreation to be anything I want to be, so as that realization sinks in instead of sitting here and dwelling on all the things that scare me about it (not having as much money, fear of failure, not knowing if I am making the right decision, putting all of our eggs in one basket (so not my style)) I instead decided to focus on all the things that excite me so here they are in no particular order.

What I am most looking forward to:

Time

I will be getting at least 4 hours of my time back per day! That’s 20 hours per week, 80 hours per month and 1,460 hours a year that were lost because I was required to work 10 hours a day (but only got paid for 8) plus another 2 hour’s for my commute (1 hour there and 1 hour back).

Being Colt’s Wife

Call me crazy but I am so excited to deep clean every inch of our house and my car, do our laundry, decorate and cook! I can’t wait to do all these things without half assing them because I am too tired, annoyed or don’t have the time. I look forward to learning lots of new recipes (so if you have some favorites please send them my way) and experimenting with healthy options for breakfast, lunches and dinners. I look forward to having dinner ready for my husband and spending more quality time together.

Eating dinner by 5pm

This alone makes me want to run and do side splits in the air. Knowing I will be able to eat dinner by 5 or 6pm on the majority of the nights is amazing. Right now I don’t get home until after 7pm so we aren’t eating dinner until 7:30 or 8pm! It sucks to eat that late and it’s totally messing with my fitness results.

Kailea Loves

Having more time to exercise with her, go on walks, play at the park and beach, play fetch and add to the quality of her life. I look forward to not having to leave her home alone for 8 hours a day and only getting to play with her for 3.

Enjoying Maui

Being able to walk down to the beach and watch a sunset with Colt, family and friends a few times a week (instead of seeing it set as I am racing the clock to get home). Being able to stop and appreciate all the beauty this island has to offer from sunrise to sunset to every beach, hike and activity in between.

Getting the opportunity to grow with my father in law’s business

I have been helping my father in law with all of his Quickbooks, admin and sales stuff for the last few weeks. It is so exciting to see the incline in growth just over this last year and how much potential his company has to be very successful. I am excited be a part of it and get to help when and where I can, not to mention how inspiring it is to watch Colt’s knowledge and passion grow for the business as he continues to grow under his father.

Flexibility

To be and do whatever I want. To be able to visit and spend more time with family and friends. To become a personal trainer, a yoga instructor, start my own run, be a full time blogger, a professional beach bum or a Maui mama! The flexibility to try everything and anything I have ever wanted to do but never had the guts to or didn’t know how to make it happen. Speaking of which I finally (after blogging for over a year) took the plunge and became the master of my own domain which means I am now the official owner of:

http://jenniferleestewart.com

I am very excited and look forward to taking my blogging to the next level as it is truly a passion of mine.

Being an overall better me

A better wife, daughter, sister, auntie, cousin, friend, partner, motivator, runner and influence. Leading by example to strengthen all my relationships and accepting people for who they are and continuing to build a foundation of strength and understanding from there.

So as I sit here smiling & focusing on all the exciting things that lie ahead my fears (even though they are trying like hell to creep in and bring me down) slowly start to fade away. I am writing myself a new life filled with simplicity, abundance, time, love, support, health, faith, family and positive prospective and I encourage you to join me on this journey and I appreciate your unconditional love along the way.

…until next time be happy for this moment, for this moment is your life…

“She took the leap and built her wings on the way down…”

12 Tuesday Feb 2013

Posted by Making Magic in Thoughts from Jenn

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

compromise, courage, Dreams, Freedom, goals, Life, Marriage, risks, unconventional

It seems to me that life will mercilessly dish out moments when you feel trapped in an airless room, with a sign persistently and aggravatingly blinking EXIT over a door that’s actually a brick wall. It’s a horrible feeling and the taunting of the “non-exit” EXIT sign only makes it worse. You stop and stare as you think “there has to be another way..”

…there has to be….

Awhile back someone had asked me if I was happy with my current job situation and although I felt like I should be happy (I have a great job) I knew the answer was no but at the time I was still too paralyzed with fear to say so. Fear of regret, fear of the unknown, fear of not knowing what I wanted to do… just fear. It consumed me so I just kept on doing what I knew I no longer wanted to do.

Today is the day that all changed, it was the day I took my life back. No more doing things that I don’t want to do everyday for countless hours of my life. No more sitting in an office staring at boxes for 10 hours a day wondering what the hell I was waiting for. No more wondering what would happen if I did get the courage to quit.

I just did it, I finally quit! My last day will be in 2 weeks from today. I can’t believe I actually did it. I have a “good” job most would say a great job but for me it wasn’t about that. Over the last few months I couldn’t help but feel like I have been wasting time. What was I doing? Where was I going? What was my future with this company? The answer came up just about as clear as the blinking sign over the brick wall which is why I knew it was time for a change.

Am I scared? …shitless, but I am free and there is nothing more amazing than that. Free to be anyone I want to be. Free to recreate me. Free to be a wife, a runner, a caretaker and hopefully one day soon a mama. Free to purse goals and dreams and new opportunities that I have only ever hoped would come true. Free to enjoy simplicity and time and best of all my husband in Maui.

Today I took my life back and I feel empowered. I set the universe in motion to pursue my positive and all the things I want out of a simpler but more fulfilling lifestyle. I closed one door and can’t wait to see the new ones open. I know everyone is going to have their own opinion on me quitting my job and quite frankly you are entitled to that, however I don’t really care. My husband supports me 100% and I honestly couldn’t ask for more than that. My parents, my sister, my current boss, my current partner in sales as well as my closest friends also support my decision and are beyond happy for me and I love each of them for that — and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

It’s time…freebirding…

Hippie Dippie (thoughts from my bed on a Sunday morning)

20 Sunday Jan 2013

Posted by Making Magic in Thoughts from Jenn

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Freedom, Happiness, love, Marriage, unconventional

I woke up this morning around 6:54am…on my own. My first immediate reaction before my brain could really even register what was going on was panic (what time was it and have I over slept) followed by a quick and sudden feeling of peace and comfort (ahh its Sunday) followed by a whole lot of feelings about how I felt about that. I rolled over and heard Kai sigh loudly (I had disturbed her spot of slumber which happens to be in my lower back). I snuggled up and kissed Colt gently on his cheek. He smiled as it silently woke him up, again I thought how nice it was to wake up on your own.

My point is I am woken up five if not six days a week at a ridiculous hour by the most annoying intruder which also happens to be my alarm clock. Every morning without fail it goes off (always way too early and loud) and to the sound of “time passing” tick tock, tick tock as if I’m not already vastly aware of how much time is being stolen from me. I turn back to Colt and I can feel my “hippie free bird” side coming out as I state “I have decided I am no longer a fan of morning intervention and I would be much happier if I could wake up on my own free will every day and I don’t mean sleeping until noon but maybe until 7am …at least” he smiles and mumbles something about how much he loves me as he drifts back off to sleep.

My mind is awake now and going back to sleep is a distant memory but my mood is light. I can’t help but feel the difference. It’s amazing how much easier it is to prepare for my day without fearing the sound of the dreaded alarm.

I know I have to get up and run and feed & walk the dog and do laundry and clean the house and I’d LOVE to make it to the beach before the pats game and before I have to go to work yet I still just lay here until Kai barks. I know she’s up now and hungry. I gladly get up and feed her, glance around the messy house and head back to bed. I crawl in and Colt smiles and says “I’m glad your back…”

I know my list of things will get done but for once I am not in a race against time. I smile and close my eyes, in that moment I am free (defeat at last)!

Chasing the Maui Son ✨

Tag Archives: Freedom

Spon·ta·ne·i·ty

Do you even Blog anymore?

~ Appreciate the Moment ~

“She took the leap and built her wings on the way down…”

Hippie Dippie (thoughts from my bed on a Sunday morning)