brief update on the state of my being

Here’s a quick update from me (since I’ve had a few inquiring minds)

o   I am nearing the end of this tortuous semester

o   One week from today and I will be done

o   Tomorrow is my last class

o   Finals start Monday

o   I am on the B/C border in 3 classes due to the fact that I failed my last round of tests (yikes) but I am proud to say all the medicine I’m taking must be working—I did not freak out—did not have an emotional break-down—it did not, in any way affect me. So, that might be a little too much on the opposite side but hey, it’s just a grade;)

o   However, because they require us to keep a 3.0 or above, I’m going to have to work my hiney off to make sure those B’s don’t tip into C’s.  Nothing like a little weight on the shoulders

o   My sprained ankle healed up enough for me to start jogging but after about 3 days back into the grind, I tore my gastrocnemius (also known as the calf muscle) near its origin (because I overcompensated for my hurt ankle) and now I am motion-less again. I guess the universe does not want me to exercise in any way, shape, or form until the end of the semester.

o   I have returned to my ungodly consumption of Ben & Jerry’s

o   I registered for Summer and Fall classes today

o   Our Fall schedule will actually be lighter than our summer schedule

o   No, I am not going out of town for my upcoming break

o   Yes, I am going to sleep, play, and do whatever I want here in town for a few weeks

o   Yes, I will return your phone calls

o   My house has never been so dirty in years

o   Since I watched all of Mad Men and Downton Abbey, I have now moved on to Breaking Bad and The  Wire—I’ve only seen one episode of each due to my limited time but I am very excited about watching them over my break

o   What am I planning on doing next Thursday to celebrate the end of the semester?

Absolutely nothing.

I am going to turn my phone off, hop on my couch and sleep for a few days—I long for the day when I can get more than 5-6 hours of sleep.

o   It really is hard to believe a whole year has gone by since I started school

o   Yes, It’s been harder than I thought it would be

o   No, I don’t regret it

o   Yes, I still want to get my PhD

o   Yes, it’s still a beautiful world full of beautiful people and I’m glad I’m on this path

o   Sleep Tight!

happy birthday brian!

26 years ago today, my second little brother was born—
Brian Michael Nanney.

 I forget how much he weighed or how long he was but we were living in Bethesda, Maryland and I was the ripe age of 4 when we welcomed him into our family. 

My other brother was only 18 months old when he was born so we were a rather busy house-hold. My mom still vividly recalls the many times I carried my baby brother up and down the long flight of stairs we had in our house…and she said she never even considered that I might drop him (oh how things have changed).

 I was an automatic mama to my younger siblings. My mom stayed very very sick the entire length of all her pregnancies. All 9 months my mother hugged a toilet. And yet she did that 4 times. Bizarre.

But back to my brother…..

Brian was an extremely cute, (dare I say chubby?) child. He was all smiles, full of personality, and could out-eat any one of us. I remember when we would visit our relatives in Memphis that we always stopped by this one truck stop to eat—in Grenada. On several occasions, if we weren’t paying extra close attention, Brian would sneak over and hop in the lap of the truck drivers and eat their food as well.

Everyone has always loved Brian. Everyone. From old ladies to children, everyone has always been drawn to him. He’s one of those souls who has so much personality in his eyes alone that you can’t help but be charmed by him. And charming should be his first name I might add.

My brother is by far the funniest person I know. He has the quickest wit and thinks super-fast on his toes—something I’ve always been jealous of.

As he grew, he turned into our pickiest eater. If you ever wondered why my family was vegetarian growing up—you should ask Brian. Well, actually….he blames that on me. Since that fateful day when I told my brothers that the McDonalds hamburger they were eating came from a cow, Brian didn’t touch meat or ANY animal product for about the next 18 years. It wasn’t out of sensitivity to the cow either I might add—it was just about the grossest thing he had ever heard of.

One word that sums up my brother pretty well is quirky. I know you must be thinking that it would be hard to find someone quirkier than myself, but he gives me a good run for the money.

He hates tattoos, reading, and emo kids. He loves a good steak, polo shirts, and his gun.

He is a true southern gentleman. He’s always been proud to be a part of the status quo—(very unlike either of his sisters).

He has one of the biggest hearts on this planet--constantly giving of what he has.

He’s exceptionally smart with money. He’s been trading stocks since he was about 12. He is the first person on my “phone a friend” list.

He’s crazy smart even though he’s never read an entire book all the way through. The running joke in our family was that Brian was reading the autobiography of Payne Stewart….. for about 6 years….and he never finished the book.

I could go on and on but what I really wanted to say is….

I love my little brother very very much. And I cherish the relationship that I have with him today—there were years when our relationship was strained due to my lifestyle choices and I am beyond grateful that he and I are so close today. I admire the person he has become and hold him in the highest of regards. I know without a shadow of a doubt that he will be the most successful Nanney for years to come. He has always had that Midas touch.

Happy Happy Birthday B! I pray that this coming year will be your best yet. I pray that God will continue to bless you and keep you and that this year will be filled with even more grace and more peace and more abundance than the last.

I am so honored and humbled to be your big sister. You are a gift and a blessing to this world and I can’t imagine life without you.

I love you!

Jo

on getting and being gotten

I heard a friend of mine mention this subject last night and it made me start to think....and because i'm still thinking about it, i decided to blog about it. so here i go...my thoughts on "being gotten". 

How many times have you thought to yourself, “they just don’t get me.”? Whether you were referring to your parents, your partner, your best friend, your boss….whomever… it’s something that I think most of us have said at more than one time in our life. I know I have. (and sometimes still do).

Before I got sober it was a very common theme in my life—people just didn’t “get me”. They didn’t understand who I was or how I felt or why I was doing the things I was doing—they didn’t know what it was like to be ME. If they did, surely they would be more sympathetic, more tolerant, more “on my side”.

And then I got sober and it was kind of the same deal—they didn’t understand what I was going through, what it was like to be “sober”, what it was like to be an addict, what it was like to have my family, my job, my situation, my, my, my……

And then as I began growing as a human being—and making necessary changes in my life, I began to realize that it doesn’t matter…

It doesn’t matter who “gets” me or if anyone ever “truly” understands me. It doesn’t matter because today I “get” myself. I understand me. And I understand that it’s not all about me……….. that’s the real thing. Having the mentality of “being gotten” is exceptionally selfish and it also reinforces the role of a victim….it’s thinking of myself and how I want you to “get” me and blaming issues and things we don’t understand on the statement: “you just don’t get me”. And it also presumes the idea that you’re thinking about me and that you also want to “get” me. I bet you don’t. I bet you really didn’t want to ”get” half the people you worried about “getting” you.

When I gave up my right to “being gotten” things started changing….for the better.

I was more at peace, more tolerant, and more content…

And the main reason for that is because I became comfortable in my own skin….and I finally came to the conclusion that it doesn’t matter….it really doesn't.

You are who you are, and I am who I am….and If we can just remember that we’re here to love each other and be of maximum service to God and others—then I think we’ll all be “gotten” just fine.

When I gave up my right to be “gotten”, I embraced acceptance.

What about you?

Do you still need people to “get” you?

And if so, do you really “get” yourself?

(Oh the irony!)

I love when little lessons like this pop up and make me realize that it took my past to allow me to see and understand what I do today.

And the beauty is that I’ll always have these little learning lessons pop up because I’ll never be finished learning…I’ll never be at that place where there is nothing left to learn—because there always is.

I hope everyone enjoys their Sunday immensely.

Click here to see the 15 things you should give up to be happy.

(the title of this blog came from here)

“It is very easy to be tricked by the circumstances of the present moment. But, dear seeker, remember that everything changes! Life is an exercise not in adding, but in constantly letting go of what you know and who you think you are and to have the courage to become brand new. When we fixate on the past, we welcome it into our present moment, which keeps the past alive. When you give up the fight THAT is when you’ll take flight!”

- Jackson Kiddard, author & polymath.

a very nanney easter

Despite the fact that my sinus infection flared back up and I had to study all weekend, we managed to squeeze in most of our annual Easter routine….all except dying of the eggs and making our coconut lamb cake—so maybe it wasn’t our usual annual Easter but it was Easter none of the less and thankfully, Easter isn’t about any of those things.

to check out last years Easter montage, click here.

and click here to see what Easter means to me (also from last year). 

Happy Easter!

xoxo

Jen

hot cross buns

Upon walking into my parents’ home, the first thing my eye found was a box of hot cross buns on the counter.

It was odd for a few reasons—

One being the fact that my parents never buy processed food from the bakery section of the grocery store—as in, never.

The other being that I had no idea what a hot cross bun was but immediately knew that I’d played a nursery rhyme on the piano when I was little that was titled “hot cross buns”.

This led me to do two things:

1) eat a hot cross bun.

2) research about this funny, yet tasty, little pastry.

And here is what I found…

In many historically Christian countries, buns are traditionally eaten hot or toasted on Good Friday, with the cross standing as a symbol of the Crucifixion. They are believed by some to pre-date Christianity, although the first recorded use of the term "hot cross bun" was not until 1733.

It is believed that buns marked with a cross were eaten by Saxons in honour of the goddess Eostre (the cross is thought to have symbolized the four quarters of the moon);^[2] "Eostre" is probably the origin of the name "Easter". Others claim that the Greeks marked cakes with a cross, much earlier.

According to cookery writer Elizabeth David, Protestant English monarchs saw the buns as a dangerous hold-over of Catholic belief in England, being baked from the dough used in making the communion wafer. Protestant England attempted to ban the sale of the buns by bakers but they were too popular, and instead Elizabeth I passed a law permitting bakeries to sell them, but only at Easter and Christmas.

(that being copied and pasted directly from Wikipedia.com)

So that was my history lesson of the day…

And I must say, they are very yummy. Maybe next year I’ll attempt to make home-made hot cross buns.

Until then,

Happy Easter!