Love, Life and Everything

Jesus's true doctrine was LOVE.  Until we can truly love everyone without bias, without judgement, without hate, we are not truly Christian.  You people who passed that bill in Arizona can not hope to ever understand what true Christianity is!

In my writer's workshop, we were given the assignment to write about one person in our lives who was influential. I thought to myself "Oh this will be easy. I know exactly who I'll pick." But then I realized it's not all that cut and dry. That's because the people that I allowed to impact my life are so interwoven throughout my history and the lessons I needed to learn, and am still learning, that it's hard to tell where one ends and another begins. And that is why I could not choose just one, and even though it is difficult to narrow it down, two key people stand out as important in my most difficult life lesson, my late Aunt Kathi and my husband Brandon. Without one, I never would have been in a place in my life that would have allowed me to meet the other. And without either, I would not be where I am today.  Kathi: A woman who touched so many lives, in ways words can never begin to express. No words even exist that could come close to expressing...

I absolutely LOVED college, and if I could have afforded it, I would have stayed in college much longer than the 5 years it took me to get my degree.  There were so many, many courses I wanted to take just because they sounded interesting, but I couldn't take them because they had nothing to do with my chosen major and usually conflicted with the classes I was required to take. I have often expressed interest to my family that I want to go back to college to get my Masters, but what I really wanted to do was go back and take all those other courses that sounded very interesting.  I guess that's one of the problems with having so many interests.  I really don't know many people who are interested in art, physics, biology, writing, astronomy, algebra, etc., at the same time.  But I think I may have found a way to take some of those courses online for free!!  I'm so excited!!! I'll even get a certificate of completion.  There are even some courses that I cou...

My husband challenged me to look back at the last few years and to find all the ways I've been creative when I thought my creativity was taking a hiatus.  I accepted his challenge. For most of my teaching career, I was not given the advantage of having a set curriculum complete with books and materials, so I had to create my own custom lessons based on what I was trying to teach.  That is incredibly creative, but I had completely overlooked that, thinking that my busy, hectic teaching planning was getting in the way of my writing. I also found creativity is in my part-time fudge making job.  I mean really, what isn't creative when it comes to candy making? I also discovered that I actually enjoy cooking.  This all came about as a result of my pinterest obsession, but I finally discovered that I can make things that my husband will actually eat.  This takes a lot of creativity because he likes things with a lot of flavor and ias a result is a little particular ...

Sometimes, the "Daily Grind" gets in the way of things you set out to do.  Trying to survive, keep up with the "Jones'", get to the top of your career in an uncertain economy, dealing with the quirks that every day life throws at you, etc, tends to distract you from your dreams, goals, and other aspirations. This blog is a good example of that.  I had every intention of posting weekly, sometimes daily, but somehow, a little more than a year went by and I hardly even realized it.  Things got crazy for me, and now it's time for that to end. It's time to step back and reevaluate my life, my goals, my career and get back to what is really important to me.  I want to pursue my dream of becoming a novel writer, I want to go back to school and get my Master's Degree.  I want to be able to have more time for my family and friends without feeling tired and stressed all the time.  It's time to make that happen. As the New Year approaches, I am doing som...

If you ask me if I'm pro-choice or pro-life, I cannot give you a straight answer.  I don't think that women should be allowed to have an abortion just because they made a poor decision, however, I also feel that women should have the right to have one if it is necessary.  Perhaps my position can be better stated by the following story: Many years ago, a young mother of 2 was battling breast cancer.  Part of her treatment was to undergo intense radiation therapy.  Shortly after one of her treatments, she discovered her husband was having an affair.  She began divorce procedures.  Shortly after she had undergone all her radiation therapies, the doctors declared her cancer free.  She was extremely emaciated and very sick.  She continued to get sicker - she went to her doctor and discovered she was pregnant.  The doctor told her that in her poor health, the chances of her surviving this pregnancy were very, very slim, and the baby most likely w...

As a teacher I have learned some very important things that have helped me greatly in every aspect when dealing with other people. Everyone is unique.  Each person learns differently.  Each person feels emotions differently.  Each person processes energy differently.  Each person sees things differently.  Each person hears things differently.  Each person remembers things differently.  Everyone's brain is wired differently based on genetics and life experiences.  Everyone experiences the world in their own way.  Every thought, sight, sound, touch, emotion is processed through very unique brain systems.  The same thing that is seen by two people is not processed the same way, it is not remembered the same way, it is not interpreted the same way.  Ever.  One's person vision of romantic and happy roses may be another person's vision of death and sorrow simply because their experiences are different. Never assume that what you s...