Jamie Janosz

Renee Zellweger’s face was all over the internet this week. She had plastic surgery that took away her signature chubby cheeks and ruddy complexion. She is still attractive. The only problem is that she no longer looks like the actress who charmed us in Jerry Maguire and Bridget Jone’s Diary . She is too perfect. We liked the old-version of Rene, flaws and all. I remember having a similar reaction when Jennifer Grey had a nose job following her roles in Ferris Bueller and Dirty Dancing . Her new nose was lovely – but she no longer looked like the same woman. I would stare at her photo and think, “Really!? Wow. What a difference a nose can make!” It was almost like the original Jennifer had disappeared, replaced by this new version without her distinctive personality. As much as I am shocked at the tendency of the rich and famous to erase their flaws, I admit I have a few that I would not mind erasing as well. For many years, I battled with being much too thin. I wasn’t ...

A few years ago, McDonald’s created a promotional game targeted toward the reported millions of Americans who were playing the Facebook game FarmVille. The press release said, “Our mission is to connect the world through games by offering consumers meaningful experiences that enhance their game play. Tens of millions of people play FarmVille daily and this unique campaign with McDonald’s…further strengthens our commitment to delivering high quality in-game brand experiences.” Now, I must stop here and admit something. I was one of those millions. I once owned a farm on FarmVille. It started innocently enough. I was checking Facebook, and an update appeared on my wall. One of my friends had just expanded his farm. “What is that?” my daughter asked. “I don’t know,” I said. “Just a game some people play where you own a virtual farm.” “I want a farm,” she said. “Do it!” We made the fatal click. It started with a little patch of virtual land. I coul...

My friend and colleague, Kelli Worrall, has a beautiful blog titled This Odd House . It is a little bit about their beautiful Craftsman style home, but more about the people who live within it. Kelli tells the story of how they adopted their two children. She tells about growing up with parents suffering with disabilities. She writes about life and brokenness and hope with heartbreaking honesty.  This month, I have the joy of guesting on her blog. She is hosting a series about "waiting." The topic struck home because I am in that place. I am waiting and trying, desperately, to be patient. Lately, it feels like my life has been all about waiting. Our house has been up for sale for 90-plus days. We are waiting, hoping, praying for a buyer. About five years ago, we started to talk about moving from Indiana to Florida. The move could bring us closer to my husband’s brother and to my mom and her husband who had recently adopted the “snowbird” lifestyle. The decisi...