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

  Writing has been a large part of my journey. It's brought joy, happiness and healing. But all journeys come to an end. For me, the time for words is gone and the time for living in the moment is here.  Each of our individual journeys tells a story. Stories weaved from our experiences. You could call it a collective of our imperfections, deficiencies, success and triumphs. Our familiarity and shared circumstances, adventures and encounters connect us. And for the last 18 years I've shared many of mine here. Some good, a few bad and many in between. Each has given me the ability to work through my demons, shortcomings, fears and uneasiness. Every entry has led to this one…my last. Now, don’t get me wrong. It's not that I don't have more stories to tell or experiences to learn from. Indeed, I do. I've simply reached a place of quiet and still reflection. A time to recall the past and prepare for the future and ultimately decide what I’m leaving behind.  Words or acti...

“I would not wish for any other companion in the world but you. “~William Shakespeare Marriage like any other relationship takes work and lots and lots of it. Sometimes no matter how hard we try, or how many tears we cry over our marriages, they simply fall short and then apart. I know because mine did five years ago. Now I’m not gonna mince words or sugar coat things, life was off the rails in the wrong direction for a long time. Words were said, things were done, and hearts were broken. To tell the truth we didn’t much like each other either. The blame doesn’t matter. After 18 years of marriage, ours was failing. Did either one of us set out to harm the other? No, not at all. No one plans to intentionally hurt those they love, not unless they’re callous, heartless or cold-blooded that is. This is the thing about life though. It happens whether we like it or not. Prepared or caught off guard it can get sticky pretty quickly and end up downright muddled before we know it. An...

“Some journeys take us far from home. Some adventures lead us to our destiny.” ~ C.S. Lewis When I was in the third grade my mama and I began reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. It was the second  book in the Chronicles of Narnia series. Truthfully,  I was more than a little enthusiastic about the prospect of stepping into Lucy’s wardrobe. It was the summer of my eighth birthday to be precise. And it was the year I stepped into Aslan’s land, a place called Narnia. I held onto every word, every night as my mother read to me just before bed. Our adventures were never complete without a goodnight kiss and a promise there’d be more to come the following night. I’d drift off to the sound of mama's voice dreaming of brave knights, heroes and courage. I loved every minute of the C. S. Lewis' book series from the Magician's Nephew to The Last Battle... I  was fascinated. The artful and brilliant storytelling of C.S. Lewis captivated me. I imagin...

"Allow beauty to shatter you regularly. The loveliest people are the ones who have been burnt and broken and torn at the seams, yet still send out their open hearts into the world to mend with love again, and again, and again. You must allow yourself to feel your life while you're in it." ~ Victoria Erickson Our family just spent eight wonderful days inside the World known as Disney. I know what could we possibly do for eight days and why? Well, for us it's a feeling I can only describe as coming home. We're just Disney people. We were there for many different reasons but the biggest was to celebrate our youngest finishing high school. It's hard for me to believe Micah is 18, done with high school and heading out into the great big world in pursuit of his very own hopes and dreams. I mean I just closed my eyes for a moment, and suddenly both my little boys were men standing in front of me. It's bittersweet is what it is. With all the excitement l...

"I am learning everyday to allow the space between where I am and where I want to be, to inspire me and not terrify me." ` Mind Set on Greatness Have you seen the car ad where the guy's life GPS just keeps recalculating? Personally this ad, strikes a cord with me. Maybe it's because my life continually feels like it's constantly changing, adjusting, modifying itself and ultimately recalculating my path. This ad gets it right. Sometimes life takes a sudden, and very dramatically different turn from what we originally had planned. Truthfully my personal internal GPS has driven me all over the map through the years. I set off in life with a plan of my own but not everything lines up as perfectly as we want it to. "Life is funny isn't it? Just  when you think you've got it all figured out , just when you finally begin to plan something, get excited about it and feel like you know the direction you're heading in, the paths change, the signs c...

"The season has shifted and changed so I let go of what I am used to and walk bravely into the unknown because I know God is right beside me with each step." ~ A Modern Day Ruth It's hard to believe Johnny and I are looking at the beginning of a brand new season in our lives. We've been married nearly 21 years now, have raised two amazing kids, beat cancer and built a life together. After all the years of changing diapers, wiping faces, putting Joshua and Micah on the bus, helping with homework and watching them go from training wheels to driving cars of their own we're looking at life through the other side of the looking glass. Our once little boys are now grown men. One has already graduated and the other is soon to say goodbye to high school. College is not a hope anymore but a reality and the military is no longer a dream but a real possibility. The talk of first apartments and road trips without us have become the norm and just like that our boys ha...

“Sometimes you don’t realize the weight of something you’ve been carrying until you feel the weight of its release.” ~The Power of Positivity For years I told myself I was going to lose weight. I had very good intentions, believe me, but intentions aren’t actions. Intentions don’t produce results, hard work does. I had avoided the weight issue for years, slowing gaining more and more weight telling myself I would...eventually take it off. I was a mom, dong mom things. I didn’t have time for lipstick or fashion, heck I didn’t even have time for a shower some days. I had somehow lost myself and the woman I was before becoming a mom in the process. Andie Mitchell’s quote “we put our lives on layaway until we lose weight…and lose years not just waiting but hating ourselves too” honestly hits home for me. I was giving myself every excuse possible from still carrying baby weight, breast cancer, early menopause or simply stress. By 2013 I was at my heaviest, wearing a size 16 at ...

What is it about these restless, 2 AM and I'm still up, trying to wrestle Atlas for his tittle empty, desolate kind of nights? It seems no matter how hard we try, we can't shake 'em. Sleep just refuses to come our way once loneliness decides to set in. I know you know what I'm talking about because social media is often popping every night around this same time. It’s one of those you're up, down, tossing, turning, one more glass of water, fidgety, sleepless kind of nights that drain us. And between you and me, they're always the worst! Our mind runs away, haunting us until the sun comes up, then starts the repeat cycle all over again when the sun goes down. Unfortunately, loneliness is just one of those unavoidable emotions we all have to live through at some point or another. I'm certainly not a fan, nor am I an advocate but the hard knocks facts say, loneliness is part of the journey.  The songs says one is the loneliest number, but sometim...