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

"And she loved a little girl very, very much ---even more than she loved herself." ~ Unknown If you've ever truly spent any real time in the south then you know the apple never falls too far from the tree. Ask any southern woman including myself about her greatest attributes and she'll tell you flat out, "I got it from my Mama!" And nine times out of ten we'll be out spoken enough to let you know once we open our mouths it's our mama coming out too! It's just how it is around here. There's simply a particular way we do things not only in the south, but in Texas I suppose. It's just a given thing here when you drive someone home you wait around until they've not only unlocked but closed the door behind them before driving away. Truth be told we love our sweet tea, probably a little too much actually. We call all soda's coke and absolutely nobody eats 'till you say amen. We wave to strangers, we carry pocketbooks, an...

"I often miss the little girl whose dreams had no barriers...Who believed in a world where anything is possible with a heart that was full and unbroken." ~ Anonymous I don't know how things were when you were growing up or what you wanted to be or  even who you wanted to become. We're all so different with distinct ideas and dreams but we can probably agree on one thing, we saw the world through young, fresh, wide open, bold eyes.  I remember very clearly who I was as a child and who I wanted to be. Years later, the truth is life has turned me inside out and back again. Despite those disappointments I can still hear that same little girl inside me, yelling, "Hold on tight girl, we got this." Seriously, isn't it funny how we change and yet stay the same?  I am so much the little girl I once was and yet I have changed in more ways than I can count. The reality is I have grown through those changes and in growing I've become a much stronger, pa...

"Even though there are days I wish I could change some things that happened in the past, there's a reason the rear view mirror is so small and the windshield is so big, where you're headed is much more important than what you've left behind." ~ D.I. Quotes Three years ago this month my life changed. Actually my life went up in smoke. Uncontrollable flames reached epic heights and the smoke of what was left of my life up to that point billowed. I'm not talking some small campfire either, not even a bonfire. No, I'm talking about a raging, out of control wildfire, burning and destroying everything in it's path. This sweeping fire consumed everything, all of me, who I was and who I thought I should be. Three years later, the fire has been extinguished. Truth, for a time there I was fighting hot spots spontaneously re-igniting, area's of my life left unattended. I was lost, hurt, betrayed and abandoned. Night had fallen, the sky was black, I...

“If you live to a hundred I want to live to a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you.” ~ Winnie the Pooh. That’s exactly how I feel about my mama. My mom, she’s a creature of  grace and vast character and qualities, not perfect but beautifully humble. Her natural, unfiltered beauty is breathtaking. Her soul is gentle, full of unconditional love. My mama’s smile, literally lights up a room. She’s pure joy, speaking her mind but never in meanness. She’s sensitive and yet so much stronger than she knows herself. My mom, well she’s not just a special lady, she’s absolutely one of a kind. Loved and adored, she’s one of those people who simply knows no stranger. I couldn’t imagine not being her daughter, not being part of her life in the ways I have been blessed in. I love my mama. I couldn't see my life without her nor would I ever want to. I’ve been told through the years how strong I am, but the reality is I am only a strong woman because a strong woman raised m...