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

"I chose you easy, but, not because I think it will always be easy, because with you I know that even on the dreadful, wretched, luckless days, when the troubles of the world are downpours of thick, clamoring, beating rain ~ you will laugh, take my hand, and whisper delightfully, Dance with me." ~ Beau Taplin/The Dance It's funny when I think of how Johnny and I met some 22 years ago. We were both so young, just getting out into the world, finding our footing. I was just out of college and he was a real country boy. He showed up for our first meeting in wranglers, boots and a black cowboy hat. I was absolutely smitten as he took my hand and led me out onto the dance floor. I was late, he was early but somehow our first meeting happened. We'd been talking on the phone for a month and had decided to take that fateful first step, meeting in person, for the first time in public, on a real date. I was beyond nervous, and so was this good looking American Indian, c...

"Watch yourself little girl. You're swimming in the deep end now." ~ Anonymous Learning to swim in the deep end of the ocean can be scary. The idea of not being able to touch the bottom while sharks are circling on all sides is simply terrifying. But sometimes life is just like this scenario. Life with all it's complicated lessons throws you in head first, no floaties and screams "SWIM!" My life so far, has been countless"SWIM" lessons. Not that I'm complaining or counting actually because I've definitely learned to swim without my floaties on more than once. As for the sharks, well they are another story all together. But this is the thing about those terrifying, jagged edged mouth full of teeth, ready to devour us whole sharks: if a difficult situation doesn't challenge you then it certainly won't change you. So the reality is those sharks circling us night and day, well they have a purpose. They teach us not only to tread ...