I wanted to feature a few things I have been enjoying lately. There’s always something about beauty essentials that make our beauty routines exciting! In my experience it seems hard to find the perfect fit or the best one that would work for you. Years of trying lots of new products, allergic reactions, money spent and amazing results have been worth it. Consistency is key so try the product you find and stick to it to see results before moving on to a new product.
The Laura Mercier Tinter Moisturizer that I use is in the shade : Bisque 3W1. This beautiful moisturizer has a lightweight consistency that is an essential 3 in 1 moisturizer, sunscreen and foundation! I love this product, I can’t believe it’s already been a year since I have been using this tinted moisturizer. This is a product that is a little but more in price but I would highly recommend it for that no make up, make up look.
The Ordinary has done it again! I have been using The Ordinary 100% Organic Cold Pressed Rose Hip Seed Oil for about a year now as well and this has been an amazing addition to my evening routine. This would be my last step in my evening routine to lock in the moisture, serums and eye creams. In the morning my skin feels suple and soft, feeling ready to conquer the new day! It doesn’t feel oily in the morning or heavy at all.
The PanOxyl PM Overnight Spot Patches have been such a game changer. I used to love picking on my pimples, and I sometimes still occasionally do since this has turned into a bad habit. Guess what? picking on your pimples actually make it worse, and spreads bacteria and takes it longer to heal when you do. I had some doubts with these pimple spot patches but wow, they work. What a great addition to my evening routine.
The hunt for dry shampoo is exhausting and frankly my least favorite because you never know the smell, the texture and everything else unless you’ve tried it. I have been struggling with hair loss in the past year or two due to hormonal changes, grief and stress. I am also used to washing my hair everyday due to the thinning and oiliness it brings when you don’t have enough hair. Washing your hair everyday is not good for your scalp or hair so I have been trying other dry shampoos but still they left me disappointed with terrible chemical smell, chunks of my hair falling out and more. Since I found Amika Perk Up dry Shampoo, that has changed tremendously for me. I love this brand and product. I simultaneously use their shampoo/conditioner as well.
The search for lightweight moisturizers is over. I have used the hydroboost from Neutrogena Hydro Boost Night Pressed Serum for years, during my day routine and night routine. I love the Neutrogena Hydro Boost but I wanted to dry something with a different ingredient and preferably one that did not have any fragrance. The Inkey List Omega Water Cream is a great alternative to this, love the packaging and I love that I don’t have to expose the whole product to the outside world which keeps the product fresh. This is my daily moisturizer and it’s lightweight, fragrance free and has niacinamide. I have been using this product for about 2 months now and so far I am loving it!
The products I have listed above are my current favorite go to’s for the winter and would love to hear if you have tried them as well. I picked these randomly from my routine so let me know if this helped you in any way!
I want to start by saying, sorry. I have been MIA for the past 10 months. I was completely locked out of my own http://www.jessthejoyfulsoul.com domain/website. I haven’t been the most proactive with keeping up with my website so I lost the rights to my domain because i forgot to pay for it, it’s been a struggle to retrieve the rights to my domain but finally, I am back!
I have some new ideas to spice things up for this website and I am excited to continue writing thoughts on my mind. I am a bit of a perfectionist so every time i publish or write on my website, it has to be perfect or somewhat relevant. I think I am going to be more open with what I write here instead of trying to post a perfect entry.
Thank you to everyone who has been keeping up with my journey here. Stay tuned for more 🙂
2020 has been an insane year, insane is an understatement and i don’t need to get into the details however i want to take this time to count my blessings, reflect on the good and give thanks with a grateful heart.
I am grateful for LIFE, YOUTH, FAMILY and HEALTH. Being able to live life, the gift of health and youth is important to appreciate and embrace. Showing up for yourself can be a challenge, some days are better than others. There were days when I just didn’t want to get out of bed because of the routine. It’s okay not to be okay and failure is essential for your growth but don’t settle in the comfort of your failures. Celebrating tiny victories and embracing your whole being is commendable There are a lot of people that are living much harder lives. I am blessed to have a roof over my head and have food on the table. I am grateful for the opportunity to work from home and keep my job throughout this pandemic. Mental health is important & I’m grateful for quiet time, journaling, yoga and intermittent fasting. It has been such a blessing to have my husband by my side through all this. I thank my Dad and brother, Kuya Luke for listening to me and the blessing of family. Grateful for my Stover in laws for showering us with love The gift of family & technology that we are able to Facetime and see them even when we can’t be with them during this time. Thankful to live in a beautiful place called Snowmass, and call home.
After a 5 month hiatus, I am “back”. I have taken this time to really dig deep into working on myself, working on enjoying my marriage, working on being better as a person. I am learning to appreciate things that used to be “normal” that is no longer normal due to the COVID. I have missed blogging and writing and I think that this is a great series to restart my blog. 2020 is almost over and I wanted to reminisce and reflect on what was “GOOD” in 2020.
Journey with me as I continue to blog about what i am grateful for this year. If you want to join me in this #GratefulSeries2020 I would love to read some stories, tag me on your posts on social media @athaliahlee or #TheGratefulSeries2020 , what are you grateful for this year?
It’s hard to find Philippine Mangoes where i live actually rare to find. We typically would have to go to Denver which is approx. a 3 1/2 hour drive. The Asian stores usually have this delicious sweet mangoes! However these are Mexican Mangoes they are still delicious. It has been a while since i have had mango float and decided it was time to make some since it’s summer! I used to eat this growing up. I am also allergic to mangoes but i will still eat it anyway! This is one of my favorite and perfect dessert for a hot summer day!
Ingredients: 5 Ripe Mangoes 2 Cans of Table Cream 2 Cans of Condensed Milk 1 box of Graham Crackers 2 Keebler Ready Crust .
Instructions:
☁️ Whip the table cream and then add the condensed milk . 🥭 Slice your mangoes into cubes . 👩🏻🍳Start layering on a glass container! My base were the crushed grahams then add the graham crackers. Pour the cream mixture and add the mangoes. Keep layering until you’re satisfied with it!
❄️Freeze overnight 🌼 Funny story about the Keebler Ready Crust, i actually had my husband go on a grocery run for these ingredients. He thought i was going to make a pie so he bought the ready crust! haha! It turned out perfectly since the crushed grahams made this crumbly!
Due to the COVID-19 we had to postpone our wedding in the Philippines, May 15, 2020 this was our Lee-Stover Wedding with our friends and family. Instead, I wanted to share our wedding journey here. #finaLEEfoundaSTOVER
It’s been quite the journey!
WARNING:This is going to be a long blog article. Please feel free to scroll down to see photos on our mountain wedding here.
Cody and I got married on top of Snowmass Mountain on a ski run on a Palindrome Day on February 2, 2020. (02-02-2020). As you may know it was Groundhog Day, Superbowl Sunday, and most importantly the Puppy Bowl. In additional to all that it was a beautiful blue bird day after days of cloudy and stormy weather in Snowmass. Some brides walk down the aisle, but i skied towards my groom.
For those who don’t know what palindrome means here’s a quick definition. This will be the only palindrome in this century. The last palindromic date occurred on 11-11-1111 about 908 years ago. The next palindrome is on 12-12-2121 and this would be 101 years later and then on 03/03/3030 which is another 908 years later.
Palindrome : pal·in·drome | \ ˈpa-lən-ˌdrōm \ a word, verse, or sentence (such as “Able was I ere I saw Elba”) or a number (such as 1881) that reads the same backward or forward (Merriam-Webster Source)
“According to a CNN report, the Solihull School Maths Department tweeted out another interesting fact about this Palindrome date, saying that 2 February 2020 is also a palindrome day of this year, since its 33 days into the new year, with 333 days to go.” (Source: The Quint)
I get really excited thinking about how special this day is and how especially on this day I tie the knot with the love of my life. I did not do any planning at all for this day, my groom did all the planning and delegated to his best man and friends. I was completely stress free! Can you imagine?! 🧡
Before we get to the best part hope you don’t mind journeying with me from the proposal to the palindromic wedding date.
The Proposal: (12- 31- 2018)
As I write this my husband and I have been married for about 3 months. We were together for about 3 and a half years before we got engaged. Engaged for about a year and 2 months. Cody proposed on New Year’s Eve on December 31, 2018. He has this weird thing with even numbers. He had his grandmother’s ring resized and hidden in my old guitar for the past 8 months. He waited until the end of the (2018) year to propose. Cody asked my dad and my brother for my hand in marriage on the morning he proposed. There is a video of them facetiming which was really cool for me to see after he proposed. Thank you, Greg for taking a video and sending this to us!
Video screenshot of Cody Facetiming with Dad and Kuya Luke
The morning of the proposal was just another normal day for me; except my Dad kept Facetiming me and calling me while I was at work. Mind you the time difference is 15 hours between Colorado and the Philippines. That means it was very late in the Philippines and my dad was still awake. It was very odd, he would ask me how I was doing and kept telling me to update him about my day. Even when I thought that was odd, it didn’t really bother me since at that time I just thought my dad was missing me.
Fast forward to when Cody proposed, we usually watch the fireworks at 10 PM in Snowmass for New Year’s. We drove up to one of the hills overlooking a beautiful view of the fireworks and of Snowmass. He was hugging me from behind keeping me warm as it was the middle of winter. He attempted to move away which I misinterpreted and asked him “Are you farting?” and after that comedic moment he got down on one knee and said my full name and asked me to marry him. Of course I said YES and started ugly crying but who cares it was so surreal.
A few of my favorites from our engagement photos were taken in the Fall of 2019. Photos by Tyler Gros
Photo by Tyler Gros
Photo by Tyler Gros
Photo by Tyler Gros
Photo by Tyler Gros
Photo by Tyler Gros
Our Engaged Life (January 2019-February 1, 2020)
We enjoyed the first 3 months of our engagement by not planning or worrying about the save the dates. We just wanted to enjoy each other’s company and let it sink in. 3 Months later, we started looking at wedding inspirations, our wedding party, bridesmaids, groomsman, ninongs and ninang (godparents), discussing our officiant, the photographer, the videographer, the theme, guest list, and pretty much the whole wedding process! I was excited and hyped!!! We were thrilled to put down our deposit and find the right suppliers for our wedding in the Philippines.
We made our rings from scratch out of gold and took us about 4 sessions since we had to learn and practice the process. This was one of my favorite moments from our year long engagement. It is definitely a special feeling to hammer, cut, stamp, and do the whole process; making this an even more meaningful process during our engagement. Cody said he didn’t want to just buy our rings but he wanted to make it.. how hilarious is that right? I felt like a real dwarf as I was making his ring. He said he had a hard time making mine since I have small tiny fingers.
Our wedding coordinator, Aiza de Leon-Ingles who owns “Not Just a Box of Events” and is also a dear friend of mine from college has been so helpful and has been planning our wedding with us from the start. Check them out: “Not Just a Box of Events” She and her team have been really helpful since day 1 even until now during the pandemic. We even went home to the Philippines last year to check out some venues, visit my family and do some wedding planning. We did it ALL! We got our venue, caterer, photographer, videographers, wedding attire and all our wedding suppliers were good to go. We had a great time with my dad and my brother when we went home April 2019.
Cody and I also attended a marriage counseling seminar in our local church in Snowmass. We were the only engaged couple and the rest were married. It was a very exciting process.
Who knew that there was going to be a volcanic eruption in Tagaytay, Philippines where our wedding venue was going to be and the COVID pandemic!
On January 12, 2020 there was a volcanic eruption of Taal Volcano which is where our wedding venue was. Thinking that we were just going to wait it out before we postponed or changed venues. It did get better as time went by but then the pandemic was starting during November 2019. At that time my dad kept us updated with the corona virus happenings in China. Slowly I was losing hope that May 15, 2020 wasn’t going to happen. I honestly had been feeling very uneasy planning our wedding as the date closed in because everything just started falling apart from there.
The Small Intimate Wedding: (02-02-2020)
My husband has always wanted a small intimate wedding in the mountains. He and I agreed that the wedding on February 2, 2020 was going to be intimate and on top of the mountain. I would have “my” big wedding with our family and friends in the Philippines. Our way of compromising for each other’s wedding.
This day started with waking up to a beautiful day blue bird day, not a cloud in the sky. I did my own hair and make up, wore my $32 white lace dress with ski pants and Cody’s brother surprised me with a beautiful customized flower crown by Modern West Floral Company Cody picked up our centerpiece that his mother had gifted to us from our local flower shop at Accent on Wildflowers in Snowmass. Our caterers were Slow Groovin’ Snowmass, delicious mac and cheese, smoked ribs, brisket, and some salad. Our friends helped us out with getting the food from the bottom of the mountain and bringing it all the way up to the Cabin where we celebrated.
Below is a photo of our small venue and our centerpiece, orange flowers of course, for those who know me with my orange obssession.
Orange Roses Centerpiece – Photo by David Matlock
Venue on mountain – Photo by David Matlock
We took another lift up to the tippy top of the mountain and skied over to the ski run, Sneaky’s. Cody’s brother and best man, Allen, officiated the ceremony for us. Cody and I forgot to put our rings on and I put the ring on his right finger instead of the left. haha!
Ski lift to the tippy top for the ceremony.
– Photo by David Matlock
– Photo by David Matlock
– Photo by David Matlock
exchanging of rings & vowsCody realizes that i put the ring on the wrong hand
Photo by Tyler GrosPhoto by Tyler Gros
Photo by David Matlock
Photo by David Matlock
Photo by David Matlock
Photo by Tyler GrosCelebrating with our friends! – Photo by Tyler GrosPhoto by David Matlock
Skiing down for the first time as Mr. & Mrs. Stover followed by our wedding party!
Photo by David MatlockPhoto by David MatlockPhoto by David MatlockPhoto by David MatlockPhoto by David Matlock
Photo by David Matlock
Photo by David Matlock
Photo by David Matlock
Photo by David Matlock
Photo by David Matlock
Photo by David Matlock
Photo by David Matlock
After our celebration at the Wine Cabin, we all skied down to Slow Groovin’ Restaurant where we had a table reserved for us by Steve, thanks again! It was also Superbowl Sunday so the restaurant was packed with people! I was being the JESSA you all know, I still had my whole get up and so did Cody. This second celebration we got to spend it with some other friends who were not able to join us on the mountain. Thank you again to all of our friends who came to congratulate us, celebrate with us, ski and party with us! We really appreciate the time you had set aside to come and witness our special day. We missed both of our families on this day but we were glad we had you guys.
As we were trying to leave for our small Honeymoon Night getaway to Aspen, we were about to leave the restaurant and suddenly EVERYONE cheered and clapped, we thought they were cheering because it was THE SUPERBOWL! Cody was so confused but they were actually cheering for us! It was an awesome experience. Cody’s brother, Allen and his friend generously gifted us a honeymoon night in a 1 Bedroom Suite at the Hotel Jerome, Aspen! The service the great and included breakfast as well! We stay there for one night and it was a memorable, perfect way to end the night.
We didn’t announce that we were postponing our wedding celebration in the Philippines until February 23, 2020. Now May 15, 2020 has passed and it could have been the day I walked down the aisle with my dad giving me away. Could have been the time we had both our families together and had a big celebration. Thank you to our understanding sponsors, guests, friends and families. We appreciate every single one of you. For now, I’ll be in lala land dreaming that someday this day will come. We haven’t picked another date yet. Looking forward to the day, this can all come true.
Check out all of the photos of our special day on my facebook :
For anyone who has lost their mothers recently, or passed away a long time ago, you’re not alone.
Mother’s Day is a difficult time of year for most of us who have lost our moms. I lost my mom from her battle with cancer in 2011. I was 17 years old when she passed away. She was such a joyful person, filled with love and generosity. For those who knew her, she was always the life of the party even amidst her battle with cancer. Losing her feels like it just happened yesterday and it may never go away. I learned to accept that it is the way it is and learned to grieve differently through time.
When one loses their mother, Mother’s Day is the time of year when people awkwardly don’t have a clue what to say if they know you’re without a mother. Sometimes it’s even more awkward when they greet you, and they don’t know your mother has passed away. This time of year is when I grieve her loss all over again and wish I could have another day to hug, kiss, and thank her. If only I could have another day where we could spend some time together, and ask her questions, because there is so much left to say!
I miss the little things, like being able to call her, bring her flowers, and a card on this special day. Yesterday, I felt my grief all over again while we were at the grocery store and I just started to tear up seeing everyone else buying flowers and cards for their moms. I told myself that it’s okay to grieve her loss during this time, especially since I don’t think this feeling will ever truly go away.
9 years have passed and it still feels like it was yesterday. It hurts to think about and the death of a loved one really changes you. May it be that your mother has lost her battle to cancer, or may have passed away from the COVID-19, or an accident or however she has left this earth, here are some ways I have learned to cope over the years:
Honor her life
This is the best time to remember her and honor her life. This holiday comes every year and it’s okay to cry but you also have this time to look through memories and choose to have love in your heart instead of bitterness. #RememberingMom is what I usually do and share all the memories and good things I can remember about my mom.
Greet your second moms and (if it applies) your mother in law
This is the perfect time to appreciate the moms who have been there for you after your mom has passed. I try to reach out to as many moms who have helped me cope with the loss of my mom. I thank them for being there for me and being a second mom. I honor them today as well because these ladies have helped shape me into the woman that I am now. This is new to me this year because I recently got married. I now have my mother in law to honor this year as well. She raised the man I love, and I feel really blessed to have been welcomed with open and loving arms.
It’s okay to cry, and feel down, but get back up!
For some who have recently lost their mother, it’s okay to cry. Cry until you get tired of crying. Even for those who have lost their moms a long time ago, it’s okay to cry and grieve, but get back up and choose to turn this day into a joyful day. I’m sure your mom wouldn’t want you crying over her death and being miserable about it during this day.
Honor your father on this day
If you have your father, honor him on this day. He may not be a mother but he tried to raise you the best way he could. He also lost a wife and a partner in life. Thank you, Dad for being there always. Thank you for being strong for us, for raising a teenage daughter the best way you knew how. It must have been hard for you but I want to honor you on this day as well. I love you Dad, you’re the best.
Here’s a suggestion for those who still have their mothers on mothers’ day. Please love them, don’t yell at them, be patient and loving. It’s our turn to be there for them. They’re not getting any younger. If you’re not on good terms with your mom and confrontation is scary, write them a letter, tell them how you feel, and most of all, apologize even when you think you’re in the right. Trust me you don’t want to have any regrets later in life do it before it is too late.
Write a letter to your mom or dad.
I have always been close to my parents and I suggest this to everyone. Write your parents a heartfelt letter/card, while thanking them and being open/vulnerable in this letter. This changes your relationship with them and even helps you set a different mindset towards them.
Mother’s Day for me won’t be the same again, but we can always change our perspective and choose to see the good things we have around us. Give yourself some credit though, because you got through this difficult life event and it has shaped you to be who you are now. This may be a hard time for some of us, but give yourself time to heal, choose to love, and choose to honor her life on this day.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the grandmas, titas, ninangs, momma, mommies, mothers out there!
Today is “Thankful Thursdays” at Jess The Joyful Soul!
I had a weird craving and decided to just go with it.
This was my first time making sushi and I had no clue how this was going to turn out, but it was a delicious meal that’s easy to make! My husband weirdly looked at me when i mentioned my weird craving. However, afterwards he gave this recipe an A for Again and he basically ate it all. I kind of improvised and used our left over Spam and thawed chicken we already had in the fridge. I kind of wished we had avocado but this was pretty good without it! I’m not a big fan of wasabi or anything spicy so we don’t have any of that lying around in the house, so my husband used Sriracha for his sushi roll instead.
Ingredients:
THE SUSHI RICE :
2 Cups : Jasmine Rice
2 1/2 Cup : Cold Water
1 Tablespoon: Salt
1/4 Cup : White Sugar
1/4 Cup : Rice Vinegar
1/4 Cup : White Vinegar
THE CHICKEN KATSU and SPAM:
1 Chicken Breast
1/2 Cup : Panko Bread Crumbs
1/4 Cup: Cornstarch
1 Egg
Spam
Salt & Pepper
Frying Oil
THE SAUCE:
2 Tablespoon : Crisp White Wine
1 Tablespoon : Mirin
Soy Sauce (Silver Swan or Kikkoman)
THE SUSHI ROLL:
Nori/Seaweed
Poppy Seeds
Spinach
Avocado (if you have it, we didn’t have this sadly)
Instructions :
The Sushi Rice:
Wash your rice in cold water; drain water and dry the rice for about 15 minutes.
In a medium size pot, add the washed rice and the cold water.
In high heat wait until the rice is boiling. After the rice boils, cover and lower the temperature to medium heat. Wait for about 10 minutes and set the temperature to low. Remove from the hot stove and let the rice sit for about 10 minutes.
In a small pot add the sugar, salt, rice vinegar and white vinegar, mix well.
Then in a separate bowl add the rice and then drizzle the vinegar mix from the small pot. Do not add all of the vinegar mix in, drizzle on the rice with the fold and cut method to mix it into the rice.
The Chicken Katsu
Slice the Spam into rectangles a.k.a “Spam Fries” cut
Slice Chicken in half and cut into strips and season with salt and pepper
Roll the chicken cut strips into cornstarch, then dip into beaten egg and then generously cover with Panko bread crumbs.
Fry them into medium high heat pan
Deep Fry Spam after cooking the chicken strips
The Sauce:
In a small pot, add mirin and white wine, reduce for about 10 minutes and let it boil.
Add soy sauce and bring to a boil and serve
Rolling the Sushi:
We don’t have the bamboo sushi rolling mat so we improvised and used a new sheet of non slip shelf liners as our base and on top of it, plastic wrap and we rolled out sushi this way.
This was an unexpectedly delicious meal! As some of you know, I love Spam, so we decided to add this into the sushi roll. Let me know if you tried this and tag us at #jessthejoyfulsoulkitchen or let us know what you think on the comments below.
We live in such an awesomely weird time. Maintaining a positive mindset amidst the chaos in the world is a challenge, but not impossible. Here are a few things you can do to stay positive, and keep a healthy mind. This is a list of things that have worked for me as I cope with this pandemic. I am blessed enough to be able to work from home and be on the road to self discovery. For others it may be harder to cope with isolation especially for those who struggle with depression. You need to change your mindset and it’s always easier said than done. It’s okay to fall apart but we have to stand back up again and keep fighting everyday. We can easily get bogged down by all the depressing news and media. I usually limit my news/media down to twice a week to filter out the rest of negativity this may bring. Let’s not be judgmental nor stagnant. Check-in with your friends and family often. Journey with me as we help each other and create a safe community.
1.Keep a Journal/Private Blog If You Prefer To Type
Writing and being honest about how you feel is important, especially for ones health. No one judges you when you’re trying to write down your feelings on a notebook or you can even create a private blog if you would rather type it out. This has helped me when I’m feeling overwhelmed. When you’re writing your journal I recommend starting with a positive quote for the day or verse for the day whichever works for you. This way you set you mind to start the day right! Law of attraction, I believe this to be true, words are very powerful! When I start my day I usually think of 3 things I am grateful for. Finding joy in the simplest of things.
2. Meditation and Work out at Home/Exercise
We tend to make excuses to not exercise or work out (which I am guilty of) because the gyms are closed or because we simply are not allowed to go out. There are so many other ways for you to work out in your own home. I usually go through Instagram and save home workouts or search them on Google or find easy home workouts on Youtube. Colorado has a more relaxed stay at home order and considers “Recreational Activities” essential. Being able to go outside, go for a run and hiking are accepted as long as we are “social distancing”. Meditation is also a great way to cope with anxiety. Studies have shown that meditation has benefits toward depression. Here’s a good read/source “When Science Meets Mindfulness”. Yoga is another one I highly recommend. My husband and I enjoy this acticity. We started learning this a about 3 years ago and shout out to “Yoga with Adriene”. She is our favorite yoga teacher on Youtube and her cute puppers Benji! I highly recommend her Youtube videos if you’re interested to start learning yoga.
3. Learn Something New and Commit to it!
This has been by far my favorite quarantine activity. I have learned to bake some awesome breads, pastries, cakes, and more. I am excited to share them on this blog soon. When I moved to the States I had no choice but to learn how to cook and even now I still enjoy learning to cook new dishes every now and then. If you have a significant other, try to cook a new dish together, if you’re by yourself, keep at it and in time you’ll get better. My husband and I have also been trying to learn a new language, Spanish. It’s been a fun activity to do together! Learning something new doesn’t have to be brutal, I love watching Youtube videos and learning new things there!
Here’s a few of my favorites:
Learn how to bake! I’ll start sharing some recipes I enjoy making as well! Cinnamon Rolls are my favorite, I’ll be sharing my recipe on this website soon.
Relearning the Guitar and pushing myself to learn how to write “happy” songs surprisingly this is harder to do than to writing sad/emo songs.
Join a free Science Class with Mark Rober on Youtube. My husband enjoys watching science related topics on Youtube.
My husband and I enjoy watching Destin Sandlin with Smarter Everyday. Listening to Podcasts from Destin Sandlin & Matt Whitman with No Dumb Questions their podcasts are free if you have an iPhone on the Podcast app! They share and talk about some really interesting topics.
Restarting my eating pattern called Intermittent Fasting (will blog about this one soon)
4. Declutter Your Room/Home: Spring Cleaning
This one by far has been the hardest one because i hoard clothing. I brought old clothes from back home in the Philippines from when I was in high school! Surprisingly they still fit me however this is the time to “Marie Kondo” your stuff and only keep the ones that bring you joy. Let them go even donate them if possible! There may be some things in your storage that you’ve never sorted through and you kept telling yourself you’ll do that soon when you have the time, well, GREAT NEWS, THIS IS THE BEST TIME TO DO THIS., heck this might be the only time you’ll get the chance to do it before more the distractions of normal life returns.
5. Be The Change You Wish to See In The World
You may think that it is very hard to help anyone right now since everyone is isolated at home. We also make excuses that we can’t help others when we can’t even help ourselves, this can apply, financially too. These are hard times for a lot of people. However, there are a lot of ways to help the people around you. We have volunteer programs in our valley where you can help do groceries for elderly people. You can even help out by simply reaching out to friends who you think need more attention especially if they are having a re hard time coping with isolation. You can also spend more time with your family if you’re staying in the same home as them, get to know them better, ask questions you’ve never asked. If you’re not with your family, call them more often, life’s too short, they’re getting older. Acquiring to go food for local essential workers can help out both local business and the workers get through these times. Lastly, be kind to one another and share love not hate.
I do have a few more ideas but I would say these would be my top 5 things I love doing while i’m stuck at home. It definitely feels like a long journey but like they say, it’s all about the journey, not the destination. So, let’s embrace the journey and whatever you may experiencing, keep in mind that this too shall pass.
It’s technically a play on words and my name is Jess but it’s supposed to be “just the joyful soul” but replaced “just” with “Jess” since it’s my name.
I have always associated myself to be a joyful and bubbly person. I know here are other people out there who can relate to my personality. I want to take this blog to places and help anyone with their struggles with relationships, heartaches, married/wife life, mental health and share a positive outlook on life. My purpose for this website is to create a safe community where anyone can share experiences, ask questions without any judgement. I will be discreet and promise to keep any topics/questions that want to remain anonymous.
I also want to share things i am passionate about on this website. However, I am open to any topic suggestions you might be interested in journeying with me.
Let’s bring smiles around the world, one person at a time.
Jess The Joyful Soul 