"You can focus on what's wrong in your life,
or you can focus on what's right."
__Marianne Williamson
I think I must be like everybody else in the world who has good days and bad days. Most of the time I try to adopt the point of view from Marianne Williamson's quote - looking at the good days or at least the good parts of the day, and surely every day has some good parts. However, I wouldn't ever want to lead folks into thinking I'm Polly Positive or always full of sunshine or that I lead the perfect life. So, here are some things you should know.
I'm the lucky partner who gets to share my life with somebody I loved when I was a youngster and look forward to growing through old age with on this journey I'm taking through this world. Mike is the guy who thinks I'm a better person than I really am. He loves me in spite of my foibles and faults and I am grateful to have him by my side sharing this life's journey with me.
On New Year's Eve in 2009, I married my high school sweetheart. We had dated as teenagers and parted ways. We had each met and married others, raised families, and traveled on separate paths. After twenty years of marriage, that guy I'd married decided he was ready to move on to different pastures. I found myself at a crossroad wondering which path to take. Somehow I muddled through the next nine years raising two teenagers, trying to figure out who I was and who I wanted to become, and piecing that life together. I returned to college and earned my M.Ed. in Reading and earned a certification to teach English. I leapt into teaching middle school students reading and language arts. I moved from the community in which I'd been raised and began carving out a home twenty-five miles away from my parents and even further from my children. Then, one of my dearest friends since fifth grade and her husband told her newly-single-again brother-in-law, Mike, to give me a call. In a whirlwind, we began dating in mid-September and married at the end of the year. It gives me a thrill to think that all over the world folks are celebrating on my wedding anniversary!
I love my job! I cannot believe I get to spend every day sharing something I love with other folks. That something I love is learning. I've loved books and written words since I was a small child. I'm a firm believer that everybody is a reader - it just takes some folks a while to figure out what they enjoy reading about! I think my love of reading and the written word might have been passed along to my grandchildren because they love books almost more than they love toys with which to play.
I have two children whose lives I helped guide and mentor to adulthood. I am thankful for all the assistance, guidance, love, and nurturing that came our way as we muddled through my learning to be a parent and their learning to make their way in the world.
Bridgette is now the mother of three delightful, beautiful, and brilliant little girls (I might be a bit biased.) who keep her and her husband, Corey, on their toes parenting the three of them. She has her own monogramming, personalizing, and craft creation business (Goody Stuff) and Corey has his own lawn care business. Lillie is a long and lanky, sports-loving thirteen-year-old, basketball and softball player, an independent thinker, who is sassy beyond her years. Lydia is a prissy eleven-year-old, a music-lover, a chatter-box, who loves and nurtures others. Luci is a five-year-old bundle of energy and cheekiness who holds her own with the older girls, shares her sassy ideas, and may turn out to be the voice in he family. They couldn't be more of a blessing to our lives!
Bryan is the father of a rough-neck and a package of sweetness, both of whom are inquisitive, genius, little bundles of energy. (I'm their grandmother, of course I'm biased!) Bryan and his wife, Jessica, are discovering the world through their eyes and learning things they never dreamt as they show it to them. Bryan is an inventory manager with Winfield Solutions, a division of Land-O-Lakes and Jessica is a homemaker, elementary school supporter, family caretaker, and full-time mother. Harris seems to be a social animal. He loves baseball, reading, trucks, socializing, riding his bicycle, and playing outside. As SEC football fans, his parents had accepted that he might become a kicker for their college alma mater. However, with his stature, strength, speed, and determination, we think he might be more suited as a lineman. Linley is a busy little lady who loves her pink baby, being read to, exploring anything outdoors, and pushing buttons - on the phone, the remote, and any other kind of machine. We are grateful for the multitude of blessings they bring to our lives.
I am fortunate to have a couple of bonus children since Mike and I married.
Laura, her husband, Paul, and her children, Cassie and Evie, live about a half-hour from us and Mike loves time spent with them and learning about their busy lives. They are working on a fixer-upper that Laura recently bought and have done things together like installing new windows and laying new flooring. They own their own lawn-care business and are making the outdoor world more beautiful one lawn at a time. The girls are blossoming in school and growing like weeds as they make their way in the world. They sing in the school choir, play rec-league basketball, and help their parents.
Stephen is a doting father to his friendly, investigative, intelligent, bounding little fellows and little sunshine daughter. (Even as bonus grandmother I'm biased!) Stephen and his wife, Bonnie, have certainly embraced the change in their world that two boys and one little lady has introduced. They have their own livestock and pet feed and supply store (Bonnie's Barnyard) that they have built into a thriving business. Levi and Easton have added a new dimension to their world as they inject curiosity about everything around them and boundless energy in motion into their days. They love anything with wheels, tagging along with their dad to feed livestock and do farm chores, helping their mom greet store customers, and think their grandpa, Bay, is a playmate. Abby Lee is full of smiles and curiosity and has won all of our hearts with her sweet little cheeks. The blessings we enjoy by having them live next door are immeasurable!
I was lucky enough to have the best parents in the world. They guided me to legal age and often mentored me more-so as an adult than years ago when I was still a kid! I was the epitome of what is considered a daddy's girl following his footsteps on the farm and loving everything about it. I miss him daily and wish he was there for me to give a call and share anecdotes about family. Some of the most important things I learned from him is to think I can do anything I set my mind to do, to keep going even when you think you cannot go on, and to treat other people like I want to be treated.
We have worked together as a family and we have propped one another up over the years. We all feel fortunate to be where we are and to get to do what we do. Some of the times are better than we could even have imagined and some of the times are worse than we ever thought we could endure. In the end, we have one another and we are stronger and more knowledgeable each day than we were the one before. I am glad to have you share these snapshots of our lives and hope you feel like you are welcome here just like I hope folks who visit us face-to-face feel welcome, comfortable, and that their lives are enriched by being in our presence. So, anytime you want to check in, come on by and know that we live right here Out Of The Blue...
