Four years ago today, on January 18, 2007, I started blogging. It wasn’t this blog… it was one I started called Mama Doggy Love to chronicle my life as a mom to my two dogs. (That link will take you to a “private blog” message, by the way. Sorry! More on that later.) My first post wasn’t profound or really [...]

Take one community house with rustic charm… Add parents and a boyfriend who will help transform it from this… To this… Add a fire pit… A photo lounge… Friends and Family… And, of course, cake… (And camera-shy S’mores and Hot Mulled Apple Cider, too.) Thank you, Mom… Dad… and Brian… For everything. Always. I love you.

Thank you for every time you’ve been there for me. Thank you for every sacrifice you’ve ever made for your family. Thank you for all the little things you do for us; they really are big things when you think about it. Thank you for giving me the best possible example of what a marriage should look like. Thank you [...]

We’re T-minus 2 weeks until Ironman 70.3 Rhode Island. I’m hoping that if I tell myself I’m ready often enough, it will be true. You’re ready, Jane. You’re ready. You’re. Ready. This is a race I competed in last year. It was actually an amazing experience for me. But I also went into it with a lot of confidence… the [...]

My sister has been my best friend since the day I was born. We will always have each other’s backs. She has always been like my second mother, doting on me and making sure I was taken care of in any situation. Really, the only times we argued were when we were younger and I thought she was being too [...]

My nephew William turns 5 today. It seems we have gone from this: to this: in the blink of an eye. And on this, the 5th anniversary of William’s birth, I’d like to acknowledge once again, as I did last year, that it is Audrey’s 5th anniversary of becoming a mother, too. Here’s what I wrote… I always knew that [...]

On July 12, I competed in my first half-Ironman – the Amica Ironman 70.3 Rhode Island triathlon. It was a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike and a 13.1 mile run. My friend Pam Cotter at the Providence Journal asked me if I would write a guest post about my experience on her Projo.com fitness blog. I was more [...]

In a recent post, Liz from Mom-101 so eloquently wrote, “I live my life with one pinky toe in the past. I’m unapologetically nostalgic.” I’m glad to know I’m in good company. I definitely do not live in the past; rather, I find joy in remembering good times from my past… the people, places and things that have left lasting [...]

It occured to me recently that many friends and acquaintances around my age have very important, exciting dates to look forward to – namely, weddings or pregnancy due dates. It’s an odd feeling, around all of this, to have my own divorce date now set in stone. The specifics of my separation and divorce are known to a handful of [...]

My little nephew Henry, who has grown from this tiny little thing, in his Auntie Janie’s arms… into a happy, joyous bundle of love… turns one year old today. It seems like just yesterday I was tweeting about and excitedly announcing his arrival. But yesterday I was actually at the 140 Characters Conference in NYC with Audrey, where the organizer [...]