Life Lately… From My Kitchen Table
Well…It’s about time. Apparently, I blinked and an entire year disappeared.
I’ve had several of you ask, “Jayne… are you ever going to write another blog?”
Fair question. Life has just been wonderfully… full.
So today, I sat down at my kitchen table, and thought I’d simply catch you up.
No recipes today. Just life.
Let’s Start With the Question I Get the Most…
“How are you?”
I’m good. Really good. Not perfect.
But grateful.
If you’re newer here, you may not know that No Sugar Baker wasn’t born in a commercial kitchen. It wasn’t born in a bakery. It wasn’t born from a business plan.
It was born in two hospital beds.
The first came after my diabetes diagnosis when my blood sugar soared over 650 and I temporarily lost my eyesight. The second came after sepsis shock. Two cardiac arrests.
CPR. A ventilator. Doctors who weren’t sure I’d make it home.
Looking back now…
I realize something. I didn’t go searching for this next chapter of No Sugar Baker.
It found me.
Sometimes life has a funny way of doing that. Sometimes the storms aren’t there to stop you. Sometimes they’re there to clear your path.
Now…
Has that path been easy? Absolutely not.
There are still weekends where my body reminds me it’s been through a lot. Diabetes and sepsis don’t always send invitations before they decide to make an appearance, and stress certainly doesn’t help. But every Monday morning, I wake up, workout, thank God for another week, and say…
“Okay…
Let’s keep on keeping on.” And we do.
I’m still a lawyer, and I absolutely love what I do. Every day I have the privilege of working with incredible clients across the country—communities, hospitals, nonprofits, schools, law enforcement agencies, organizations that are changing lives in ways most people never see. Their work matters. Their missions matter. And I’m honored they trust me to help tell their stories.
No Sugar Baker may be my newest chapter, but being a lawyer will always be part of who I am.
The funny thing is…
Both are really about the same thing. Helping people. One just happens to involve a little more cheesecake.
The Hubs
Chris—better known around here as “The Hubs”—is still my favorite person.
He’s also still the calm to my tornado.
He’s the guy who quietly figures out the things I accidentally forget while I’m dreaming up the next crazy idea. He still rolls his eyes at every new product name I dream up! I honestly couldn’t do this without him.
We’re also counting down the days until hockey season. Around our house, hockey isn’t a sport. It’s a lifestyle. Chris proudly cheers for the Los Angeles Kings and has adopted the Tampa Bay Lightning. Margaret faithfully cheers for the Montreal Canadiens.
Me? The Lightning. The Minnesota Wild. And honestly…Any team Brent Burns happens to be playing for. I’ve been cheering for Burnzie since before most people knew who Burnzie was.
Margaret (My mom)
Margaret is spending the summer up north in Minnesota before she turns back into a Florida snowbird in a few weeks. She misses my dad every single day.
Truthfully…We all do.
One memory keeps finding its way back into my heart.
The day my dad passed away, he looked over at a picture of our beautiful goddaughter, Paris, smiled, and quietly said, “She gives me so much joy.”
We’ve never forgotten those words. Paris was born with an extra chromosome. She was also born with an extraordinary ability to make people smile.
And then she sings. Oh my goodness… She sings. If you’ve ever heard her sing Hallelujah, you’ll understand why it means so much to Margaret. Some songs don’t just fill a room. This weekend her singing filled an entire lake—just in David Jones style. Some songs heal hearts.
Em (Emily)
Em is doing wonderfully. She’s working hard in the Des Moines region while coaching a U16 volleyball team. Somewhere along the way she became this amazing woman that makes us ridiculously proud. She’s a bit of a spitfire and the Hubs laughs we know exactly where she gets that from……
We Won the Neighbor Lottery
One of the biggest surprises this year has been Z and Zae.
Our neighborhood kids. Or maybe…We’re their neighborhood adults.
Either way…Hide-and-seek has become serious business around here.
The Hubs claims he isn’t competitive. He’s lying.
I don’t claim anything. I’m in it to win it.
Those kids have brought so much laughter into our lives.
And honestly…Laughter is pretty good medicine.
Treasure Hunting
Most people assume I spend every free minute baking.
Not true.
If I disappear on a Saturday morning, there’s a very good chance I’m wandering through garage sales or thrift stores. I absolutely LOVE thrifting.
There is something about finding a hidden treasure for five dollars (who am I kidding, 5 cents is more my style) that gives me an honest-to-goodness giggle.
Chris just smiles. He’s accepted this as part of the marriage. And, Margaret just says keep shopping –she’s in charge of our No Sugar Baker storage area.
Team No Sugar Baker
One of the greatest blessings this past year hasn’t been a product.
It’s been people. We’ve added several consulting partners through JLA.
Our lead consultant, Kendra—or simply “Marney,” because everyone eventually gets a nickname around here—has become so much more than a consultant.
She’s become family. She’s smart. She’s steady. She’s funny.
She’s one of the biggest believers in No Sugar Baker.
And…Completely against her wishes…
She’s become the fan favorite among our collection of single guy friends.
Poor Marney. She came for consulting. She got a cheering section. And, we all know I think I’m the world’s best matchmaker. Actually, I have a very good success rate!
A Summer Highlight
One of the greatest joys this summer was volunteering at the Special Olympics USA Games in Minnesota. The Hubs was the public announcer for bocce ball—and he loved every minute of getting to know every athlete. Watching Chris experience it alongside me was something I’ll never forget. The bocce athletes absolutely stole his heart.
I kept watching him interact with everyone and thinking…
You know…He’d make one incredible Special Olympics coach.
I still think he would.
And No Sugar Baker?
Oh, friends…
We’re working. Really working.
Building a national food brand isn’t nearly as glamorous as people think.
It’s recipe testing. Meetings. Flights. Packaging. Phone calls.
A few disappointments. (Ok, more than anyone ever warned me about—everyone keeps telling me it’s a book some day!)
A whole lot of victories. Even more prayers.
This next chapter of No Sugar Baker wasn’t one we planned. But maybe it’s exactly the one God planned.
If these last few years have taught me anything, it’s this…
Life rarely unfolds the way we expect.
Thank goodness. Because if it had… No Sugar Baker never would have existed.
And neither would this amazing community that has laughed, cried, prayed, baked, and dreamed right alongside me.
For that… I’ll always be grateful.
So thanks for sticking around. Thanks for cheering us on.
Thanks for believing in a girl who decided two hospital beds weren’t going to be the end of her story. Turns out… They were just the beginning.
Until next time…Wear the heels. Go to a garage sale. Cheer loudly for your hockey team.
Eat dessert with people you love. Call your mom. Play Hide and Seek. Sing proudly.
And if life feels a little stormy right now…Hang in there.
Sometimes storms don’t come to destroy your path. Sometimes they come to clear it.
Love always,
Jayne 💗
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