"Stay at home mom"
"Working mom" 
Anyone see the similarity in these descriptors? 
(Hint: Starts with "M" ends with "M")

Check out this wonderful read on this (for some bizarre reason?!) controversial topic: A Letter from a working Mother to a Stay-at-home-Mother and vice versa

In this issue, we discussed keeping teenagers safe. On that note, here's a brilliant new safety app you should check out!

"Kitestring is a new service that aims to make sure people get from point A to point B safely, notifying their emergency contacts if they don't.
It works like this: You tell Kitestring that you're in a dangerous place or situation, and give it a time frame of when to check in on you. If you don't reply back when it checks your status, it'll alert your emergency contacts with a custom message you set up." Elle Magazine

Good morning, beautiful neighbor!

If we were talking across a picket fence RIGHT THIS VERY MOMENT, you would be staring into the makeup-less eye sockets of a woman still in her favorite (stretched) Gillian O'Malley pajama's she bought off the clearance rack in Target two years ago and you would watch as she took occasional sips of her lukewarm, thrice-reheated coffee. This is my life, unfiltered. I am needing to take a shower and slip into a bathing suit (a end-of-season Lands End Super Slimmer that makes me instantly feel age 79 when I put it on)for my twin's swimming lessons at the Y. I am hearing my voice raise-even as I am really wanting to keep  it level-- as I tell them that, NO, they cannot have ANY MORE FOOD, kitchen closed, be thankful for the breakfast we had and you're not really hungry, just bored. I think to myself "Can I not just get ONE thing done (this post) in a morning? Is this too much to ask? How do other working-from-moms get anything done?".  Yes....this is my life this morning, unfiltered.

Filter-free. There are times (in personal relationships) that a filter is very, very necessary. There are other places where sharing the stuff--all of it--without any hue but stark reality is actually life-giving. This is what I love about the women of Neighborlies. Yes, we have our lovely Michelle sharing her gift of photography in many of our articles, but our words refuse to gloss over the grit and even the occasional glory of life lived this side of Heaven.  Even as we are preparing our next issue, stories are being put down on paper for the first time, bravely exposing weakness in order to infuse empathy and hope into the lives of a reader that might be walking through the same confusing place.  Sure, we enjoy exchanging thoughts and ideas on the trivial, but our mission remains to write about the real. We hope you have found this to be a place where you can relate and relax in the company of women who write on what really is.


If you are new to Neighborlies, here are JUST A VERY FEW of my favorites from past issues to get you started:

Jessica, The Hollow Space:
  Nyomi was born while I almost bled out on the table.  I woke up after surgery asking for my baby, finding out she would be my only one. My body didn't die, but part of my soul did.

Kristen, Tribe By Side
No longer did I need my friends for entertainment and to have a good time. Screw amusement; there is no diversion when your child will not forthelove just stop crying. Now I needed friends for survival and for sanity. I needed friends to speak the truth of Hope into my life and to pick up the slack that I just couldn’t handle on my own.

Heather, The Google Monster
Fear can be isolating or it can be shared... and like the monster that's just a shirt on a hanger, it's often gone once you shed some light on it.

Terri, Laying The Foundation
This Spring marks 15 years of doing life alone as a single mom.  That is a shocking number to me.

We love (like, really really!) to hear your story, your feedback, your thoughts. The give and take is what makes this community thrive and grow. Thank you so much for taking a moment to join me over coffee. Prayers for good day with enough unfiltered joy to get you through.

Jeane`

JM Cremp's. What a refreshing approach from a business that gets it right, celebrating family, and our rough and tumble boys (you can almost smell the dirt and day of sunshine in their messy hair). 

"Our motto is, 'Unplug and play,'" said Asplin, 36, who described himself as "an Atari kid" because of his focus on video games when he was a youngster. "We want to recapture the Norman Rockwellian boyhood experience, before TV and video games, when kids went outside and played and wore holes in their jeans building treehouses." 
Read full article. 
Visit store. 

Here's an easy weeknight recipe to add to your Spring rotation. Serve this over rice with a side of green beans or seasonal roasted asparagus. It's one of our favorites. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
½ cup flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons vinegar
1½ cups orange juice
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon dried basil
½ teaspoon ground ginger
1 can mandarin oranges, optional

Instructions:

1. Combine flour, salt and pepper in bag. Shake chicken pieces in flour until coated. Brown in butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
2. Combine sauce ingredients and add to skillet. Simmer 15-20 minutes or until tender and cooked through. The sauce will thicken slightly. If desired, add drained mandarin oranges and cook 5 more minutes.

Recipe Source: www.thisweekfordinner.com

Get ready to giggle uncontrollably at these amazing 'cell phone crashing' videos. 

One became owner and operator of a thriving coffee shop at age twenty-one. The other has grown her sign-painting business into a full-time family venture with her husband and three small children. These remarkably entrepreneurial women have more than their successful businesses in common--they share the same parents as well! We are excited to introduce you to Sara (owner of New Holland Coffee Shop) and Aimee (owner of Aimee Weaver Designs), two enterprising yet completely down-to-earth sisters. Read our exclusive interview and be inspired as you consider your own dreams!


Q: What was the dynamic between the two of you in your home growing up?

S: There are seven years between us, so I think our experiences are different growing up.
A: Yea, there was enough of an age difference we weren't fighting. Sara was the little sister that I always dreamed about having. I was over-the-moon when she was born.

Q:How was creativity and the pursuit of dreams encouraged in your home?

S: I feel like they encouraged us to do whatever we thought we were good at. You were more artistic, Aimee, so they encouraged that...
A: Our parents weren't that artistic, but they always had their own businesses and encouraged us to try something new and to use our talents to the best of our ability.
S: When I got this business they were my number one supporters. The moment I found out about it, I called dad and he was like "Of course!". It was almost like it was no question, if you wanted to try it, do it.
A: They were risk takers and that's how we were raised to be. If you really wanted something, you work hard to do it. They had and have such strong work ethic. Nothing was off limits as far as what we wanted to try. We definitely both got our work ethic and drive to succeed from our parents.

Q: Aimee, as you were watching Sara grow up, could you have imagined her in the role she is now in?

A: Sara was pretty shy and introverted during her teenage years especially, so I would not have seen her interacting so much with people, but she's changed a lot in her twenties and now this is the perfect job for her.

Q: What about you, Sara. What was it like watching your older sister grow into what she's doing now?

S: I think I always admired her, she always seemed like she had it together-
A: Well. Yea. Of course.
S: {Laughing} I was thirteen when she got married, that's a pretty impressionable age. Now she's doing what she's doing,  it makes total sense.

Q: How important has formal education been to your success? 

S: I did two years and got my Associates in Business at Harrisburg Area Community College and that was almost more of something to do in between. Since I was fourteen years old, it was my dream to own a cafe and I began working at a restaurant at age fifteen. I realized I didn't need to go to school for restaurant management (because I had experience), but could use the business knowledge. This is what I always wanted to do I just had figure out how to get here. I had a few helpful classes, but for what I am actually doing now, experience has been the most valuable learning.

A: I just took a year of business classes at a Harrisburg Area Community College. I used to work for my dad as an office manager, so I wanted to learn more. Even now, I am talking some specific online classes that are helping me in my specific line of business.

Q: You are both in different seasons of life, yet both dealing with very demanding jobs. How do you manage the stress?

S: We were just talking about this, because it's been a tough season for me and I find that if I can just talk to people and allow them help me, it...helps, yet it's hard for me to let people do this. My boyfriend Joel is there to support me and my parents are so helpful (they actually work for me!). So I guess I would say the best say to manage stress is just to let people help me.

A: We have a lot in common with this, and even though we are in different seasons of life--I have the kids and all that--it's very similar to what she is going through. We are able to help each other through issues, whether it’s personal or business. And we just really enjoy hanging out and spending time together.

S: Joel often says "Have you talked to Aimee, maybe she could help" and I know she could but I tell him "she's so busy too!". In the five years of doing this, I've come to realize how much I was resisting help at the beginning, but now I realize it IS a lot and I need help.

Q:When your dream was merely a thought, what was your biggest obstacle to achieving it?

A: For me, it (the growth of business) was so gradual. I first started doing it on the side, the kids were home and then my husband started helping me one day a week, moving part-time at his job. We did that for maybe a year. It came to a point we had to decide if we wanted to go all in. At that time I didn't have as much fear as he probably did. He's a cautious person and I like to jump into things a little more. For me the biggest fear was that I wouldn't enjoy it anymore and what if we do this and all of a sudden I hate it and it's all on me. This is supporting our family and that can be a weight on my shoulders. But we came to a point we decided we are going to enjoy this time where we are busy and will just take it one step at a time. And now we work together full-time at home on our business.

S: Right before this (coffee shop) was offered to me I went through a really frustrating time where I thought "I can't do this", because I was here and saw all that needed to happen. I thought there was no way I could do this for a long stretch of time. Yet it was a dream of mine and I felt it was almost something I had to do. I just thought it would be something I would do when I'm forty. I was actually actively pursing other things when they offered the coffee shop to me (at age twenty-one).

Q: What do you think is your sister’s greatest strength?

S: Aimee is great at bringing her ideas to life.  I see this happen not only with her work, but in other aspects of her life too.

A: Sara’s greatest strengths are that she is very dedicated to what she does, she works incredibly hard, she has a deep love for people, and is very compassionate. And she is just so much fun to be around. Everyone loves her.

Q: Favorite way to unwind at the end of a long day?

S: I usually end up wrapped in my coziest blanket, with a candle burning, and reading travel magazines or working on the Sunday Crossword Puzzle.  

A: I’m naturally an introvert and, because I am with my kids and husband all day long, I love to spend time by myself. Whether it’s reading a book or magazine, watching a show, shopping… I really enjoy and need quiet time to refresh myself. And typically that’s when I feel the most inspired and creative. That’s not to say that I don’t enjoy spending time with my family or friends (I do!), but when I need to unwind, I enjoy solitude.

Q: Who have you gained inspiration from as you pursued your individual dreams?

A: I’ve gotten a lot of inspiration from other women online who are in the business of creating things to sell like I am. Many of them are very generous in giving business advice on their blogs, which is so helpful. Some of my favorites are Lisa Leonard (www.lisaleonardonline.com), Marian Parsons (www.missmustardseed.com), Jeanne Oliver (www.jeanneoliverdesigns.com), and Emily of Jones Design Company (www.jonesdesigncompany.com).

S: My parents have definitely inspired me to pursue my dreams in business since I saw them work in small business while I was growing up. My customers also inspire me.  I am passionate about listening to people, and in my work I am able to hear stories of so many different people.  I feel honored to be able to be part of their lives in some small way.

You know it's cold outside....and inside...when you have to hang blankets over the doorways of your glass room to keep the rest of the house warm. This is how we've spent most of this Arctic winter...trapped in the rest of the house. 

Just this morning the temperature in the "sunroom" read 42 degrees. If we were blessed to have an outside temperature of 42 degrees anytime soon, we'd be pulling out the shorts and tank tops; but in here, 42 degrees feels like you'll freeze solid if you stand in one place for too long.

We've done a pretty good job of keeping a good attitude about it all...until we heard another storm is coming this weekend and we'll be trapped behind the blanket-curtains a little longer. 

Seriously, though.

Sigh...

I guess we'll make it. We always do. But this winter has been brutal for those of us on the East Coast. I am dreaming of the day that my windows will again be opened- welcoming the breeze that flows through...hoping that it is soon. Desperate, even. 

I stumbled upon a video this morning of a creative couple enjoying their glass room. Not going to lie, I'm a little jealous.

"I wonder if the sap is stirring yet,
If wintry birds are dreaming of a mate,
If frozen snowdrops feel as yet the sun
And crocus fires are kindling one by one:
Sing robin, sing:
I still am sore in doubt concerning Spring."
 Christina Rossetti 

Terri