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

Some people try and turn back their odometers, not me, I want people to know why I took this way. I’ve traveled a long way, and some of the roads weren’t paved.” ~ Unknown    From the day we’re born we’re aging. Every day we wake up, breathe and close our eyes again, we’re another day older. Time takes no prisoners. It simply marches on. And as much as we’d like to slow down the process sometimes, age is inevitable. While age is actually just a number. Seriously it is.  And yet, many of us dread each digit turning over.     I don't know about you, but I’ve found growing older isn’t something to be feared. We sure fight it enough though, don’t we? Wrinkles line our faces. Gray and silver hair become the norm and in time; if we’re not too absorbed with our youth, we become a little wiser. At least we hope we do anyway.     When we’re younger we tend to forget growing older is a gift not all accept or receive. By the time we’re noticing lines an...

“As a mom I go to bed every night promising myself that I will do better. Most days I stumble, some days I am down right ashamed of my behavior. I wish I was perfect for you, but I am human and sometimes I will fail. But I promise to never ever give up!” ~ Unknown Growing up an only child with a rather big imagination I kept my mama on her toes. I had dreams as big and wide as the open skies of Texas. By now I shouldn’t have to tell you my dreams were equally as big as my imagination. I’d spend hours dreaming up adventures in far off places, I spent most of my afternoons daydreaming about kings and queens,  knights, dragons, the Jedi and of course superheroes. I wanted to grow up and be a teacher, writer, singer, dancer and even a soldier like my daddy. Contrary to popular opinion at the height of the late 70's and early 80's becoming a mom was at the top of my list too. I told you I had dreams...big ones. Now I won’t candy coat the truth, life made a fairl...

"Life is a journey, not a competition." ~ Unknown As a little girl growing up in the 1970's and 80's I was surrounded by books, comics and my imagination. I'd spend hours outside running, jumping rope, climbing trees, crossing monkey bars, roller skating down the sidewalks and riding my bike anywhere I could. I loved to go berry picking, build forts and spend the weekends cooking out with our family and friends at the state parks. I loved skipping, fishing on the pier or out by the lake and roasting marshmallows every chance I got. I loved the long summer days we spent on the beach, the sand between my feet and the cool spring evenings we spent playing mini putt putt at the castle. I grew up an only child, this is a fact. So for me this meant I had to learn early on how to entertain myself and not get bored. Because of this I learned to use my imagination quite well and to explore and to take adventures within an adventure. I was the girl with wild ide...

Expectations can sure get us into a lot of trouble, can’t they? If you have any doubts, look no further than yours truly. I have spent most of my life expecting way too much and sorting out the consequences later. It’s not as if I don’t know what I’m setting myself up for, because I usually do, but for whatever inherent reason I still take that detour. I’m always full of good intentions. I set out with a decent enough plan, a highlighted map through the back roads, and yet somehow my navigation skills just don’t seem to add up most of the time. My own eagerness, expectancy, presumptions and conjecture seem to always land me in the deep end of the ocean. I should be used to it by now. I surely should have learned to keep an inflatable life vest in my back pocket, that’s for certain. Yet to my own surprise I’m usually flopping around, treading water, drowning in a sea of self-doubt. I’m a walking contradiction, a beautiful if not deafening complicated mess. I’m assuredly a complex, ...