Brave Heart, Brave Soul. She who is brave is free.

“Fear is a reaction. Courage is a decision.” ~ Winston S. Churchill Life is full of ‘wait a minute vines’ as my daddy has always said. All you have to do is walk outside to learn this lesson. Just take a stroll down the street or around the corner and something or someone is bound to snag, grab or trip you up one way or another. Just making the choice to open your front door every morning is a chance. If my daddy has taught me anything in my near 45 years it’s this: inhale courage and exhale fear. My daddy was a lifetime soldier. He jumped out of planes with the 82nd Airborne. As a child I thought he had no fear. I watched him wear his uniform with pride. I was in aww of his wings. I loved when he walked out the door with his Green Beret on. In my eyes he's always been a man's man. My boys would tell you their Paw Paw is a bad ----. And though those aren't the words I'd chose, they are right..He really is. But he's also funny, kind, humble, loving and gracio...

Celebrating 21 Years as Mr. And Mrs. O "I wasn't looking when I met you. But you turned out to be everything I was looking for." ~ Unknown That's exactly how I feel about my hubby. I wasn't interested in a relationship, much less marriage when he came walking into my life wearing his boots, cowboy hat and wranglers. The night he pulled me out on to the dance floor, I was breathless. Johnny was everything I wanted and nothing I expected. He was a man's man, confident, and yet he was sweet and humble. That night some 23 years ago, my baby swept me off my feet and I have yet to land on them again. To think I was just 22 years old when I met Johnny. I was seriously a baby. When I think of today's standards, I was barely out of the cradle. To be honest I had no idea what I was doing whatsoever. All I knew was I loved the man standing in front of me and I wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of my life waking up beside him. I may have...

"Be a game changer. The world is full of game players." ~ Hugh Jackman What I know about the game of life is that it's mostly a hot mess. I mean an absolute hotter than all get out kind of hot mess. Way too many players and not enough game changers in my book. Standing on top of the winner's podium means nothing if you had to  cheat or find a loop hole around the rules to get there. Being a player in the game of life, not a game changer, well it just leaves you with the kind of hot mess our mama's warned us about. I'm talking the kind that pulls you under on a hot summer day  in a swamp full of gators and leaches. the kind of predicament that pretty much leaves you a hot, slimy, sweaty kind of mess with nothing to show for it but mud on your face. I don't know about you, but I've had my share of those kind of days, months and even years. Going back into that hot mess is nowhere in my vocabulary, that's for sure. You can call me late for lu...