Jphant

Some of you may not know where the name Jphant came from.   A year after I graduated from college I worked on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship.  As a Recreation Specialist I did a lot of work with the kids and we had to come up with nicknames.  We had Prince Pierre, Flash Gordon, Monkey Maynard, Queen Jeneen, just to name a few.  We were trying to think of a name for me.  I reverted to my standard Jelly Bean Janelle but it just wasn't jiving with my roommate.   Out of nowhere she came up with the name Janellephant.  It stuck.  At first I didn't like the name but over time I really liked the way it sounded.  

Fast forward a few years later when I was dating (my now husband) Brad.   I told him my cruise ship nickname and he loved it.  He told his friends and now the nickname still exists.  It is mostly used for e-mails or fantasy football teams but now it will be a part of this blog.  

Why this blog?

I have been thinking about starting a new blog for a few weeks, or maybe months now.  I finally found some time to sit down and start.  Well, that might just be an excuse but here I am.  Now, my reasons for this writing blog.   I have a family blog that I have been happily and consistently keeping updated but I rarely share my own thoughts or feelings for a few reasons.  1. It's our family blog. 2. I am still not a very confident writer.  So this brings me to my next reason.   I have had a list of things that I wanted to do in my life.  I guess it's kind of like a bucket list.  It isn't a very serious bucket list because I made it sometime in college when I still knew very little about the harsh realities of the real world.  But here is what the list kind of looked like.  (If I went back and looked in my journal I could probably find it, but I'm a little afraid to look at that list for fear of reading other things or just reading how bad my writing was)

1. Get Married
2. Have kids
3. Run a Marathon
4. Finish a triathlon
5. Live in Australia (not just visit but live there for longer than a month)
6. Write a children's book.
7. Build a House

I knew #1 and #2 were a little out of my control (aside from my natural flirting I was so good at).  Running a marathon and finishing a triathlon seemed a little ridiculous.  Who runs 26.2 miles all in one day?  The thought of swimming in a triathlon was enough to make me panic.  Number 5.   It seemed a dream to me but it became a reality shortly after I graduated college.  It was one of the best experiences of my life.  (I'll save that for another post). 

In case you didn't know, I have finished 2 marathons, 2 half marathons and a handful of other running races.  I also finished my first triathlon the same summer I became pregnant with my first son.  I had signed up for the well known Danskin race and completed that one while I wanted to throw up from morning sickness.  Since then I have completed a handful more. 

So that leaves us with #6.  Writing a children's book.  I love kids!  I don't love writing.  I have never considered myself very good at writing but I take that as a challenge.  I can get better with practice and hopefully this blog will be a place where I can practice.  

Oh and #7....I have built a few houses out of Lincoln Logs.  Does that count?