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.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
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?
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?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)