RePost: Happily Ever After or Just Ever After

In honor of the Royal Wedding today I thought I would dig out this old post from April 2010 on Disney Princesses.  For most girls it's a childhood fairytale for an everyday girl to marry a Prince or to become a Princess.  Princess Diaries, Enchanted, Princess Bride, Ever After, The Prince and Me... princess movies are everywhere.  So in honor of the commoner who made it big here's to all the little girls, the little girls who've grown up, and those that never did, who dreamed that someday their prince would come:

Growing up 99% of children watch at least one Disney movie.  Okay, I am making that statistic up, but needless to say most kids have seen at least one Disney movie. Snow White, Mulan, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Hercules, Princess and the Frog... the list goes on.  And what do they all have in common?

Happily Ever After.

But is there really such a thing?  The quotes from my last post were meant to tie into this whole idea of a Happily Ever After.  Does it exist?  As a child raised on Disney I would like to think so.  But what happens after "Happily Ever After" rolls across the screen and the credits roll.  Does Cinderella take to the drastic change in lifestyle?  Does Ariel, who marries at the age of 16, ever regret her decision to leave all she's ever known?  Does the love Beauty has for the Beast still exist for the Prince that he is?  Questions, Questions...

Many of Disney's movies are based on other writings, often much darker, like the Ogre that is the Prince's mother in the tale of Sleeping Beatuy who's daughters name is L'Arore.  They have often prettied up the story, changing it to fit their mold.  From a historical standpoint Pocahontas is atrocious.  First, that isn't even her original name.  When she met John Smith she was about 10 years old.  They never married.  She married a dude named John Rolfe when she was 19.  

So what are we learning from disney?

Well apparently we are to marry the perfect man.  He is strong, smart, brave, he is wealthy and handsome.  He can dance, fight off evil dragons, captain a ship, and give a kiss that makes time seemingly stand still.  He can sing.  AND he just happens to be a prince.

I found this online and couldn't help but laugh.  And you know you have the song in your head now (provided you have seen Mulan). 

We are also learning that animals are our best friends.  They can dance with us, sing with us and make us a dress for pete's sake.  I mean.  Who needs real friends when you can have tons of creepy mice that talk and wear clothes be with you all day.  Not to mention if you wander around in the woods you might stumble onto a cute cottage with 7 little men with ridiculous names and horrendous cleaning skills that can take you in.  

If we were to live solely on what fairy tales tell us then all boys and girls would believe that "Glass slippers and pumpkin carriages are comfortable.  Swapping your voice and family for a pair of legs is a good deal.  Love transforms haughty beasts into Princes.  Pretty girls fall for hunchbacks.  Kissing a Princess with 100 years of morning breath is pleasant.  All boys grow up, stop fighting pirates and fall in love.  Gods give up their hard earned immortality for commoners.  Princesses fall for street urchins.  And that falling in love with an explorer does not risk a nasty smallpox infection." (I found this on a FB group and laughed out loud.)

Now don't get me wrong.  I love my Disney just as much as the next girl.  But has Disney put unrealistic expectations in the minds of little girls?  Unless you have a mental health issue or are Dr. Doolittle I highly doubt a talking animal will be your friend.  Is it even possible to find a good-looking, dancing, singing, strong, enemy-fighting man that believes what you do and has the same hopes for the future?  Every girls is looking for that happy ever after.  That perfect man.  Because thats what we think is out there for us.  But is it really?  Is there a Prince Perfect?

I am a firm believer that somewhere out there, there has to be a Prince Perfect-For-Me.  A girl's gotta have hope right?  Fun fact: I am 22 and have never dated.  Never had a boyfriend.  Never been on a date.  I'm not saying this to get sympathy I am simply saying this because it's tough out there for a Christian girl with traditional values to find that 'perfect' person.  But I have to believe that there is a bigger plan at work.  

I stumbled across this quote from the women who make up the Christian group Barlow Girl: "We believe that God has one perfect man already chosen for us; therefore we have no need to worry ourselves in searching for him. When the time is right, we know God will bring us together. In the mean time, we are not hiding in a closet avoiding all males, we are still living our lives, just without the pressure of having to have a boyfriend."

So back to the quotes on my last post.  We are all Cinderella.  We all have an inner beauty and must go out and find our happiness.  (Something that I have yet to put into action) {now in 2011 I think I'm beginning to start!}.  While perhaps a happily forever after doesn't exist, what about the now?  What about taking pictures of happy moments to make sure they are ever after?  It's hard to let go of that fairy tale.  We all want a happy ending with our own prince or princess.  So while Disney may give us unrealistic expectations, maybe those very expectations are actually Disney's way of giving us a gift.  A way to keep the kid inside of us alive.  That childlike wish, hope, faith, that someday our Prince (or Princess) will come.  That we will get our happily ever after before the credits roll and the storybook closes.

Side note:  I used to work at a video rental store and had a dad tell me he would not allow his children to watch Disney movies.  "Why?" I asked.  His response was that almost all Disney movies portray one of the parents dying, as already dead, or as absent.  Have you ever noticed that?  Cinderella, Snow White, Aladdin, Little Mermaid, 101 Dalmations, Pocahontas... crazy, right!?

Wordy Wednesday

It's Wednesday, Wednesday, gotta get down on Wednesday.  Everybody's looking forward to the weekend, weekend...  Oh Rebecca Black and you're song Friday... when will it go away?

It's Wednesday.  The middle, for many, of a busy week.  You may have already accomplished much this week, but may still have much to do.

Here, on Wednesdays I share a quote, lyric or passage that I have enjoyed.  Something short, and sweet.  So take a quick break and enjoy.  As Oprah's daily talk show is winding down I've found myself checking in on what the show is each day.  Recently she had on Chris Rock who had some pretty great things to say:

Being wealthy is not about having money, it's about having options.

Of the buffet that life is, try everything.  And if you don't like something, you don't like it because you tried it.  Not because you dismissed it.

You life can always be new.

Remember to live the best you can.  Love the most you can.  Tell the people that you love, you love them.  Take a break and soak up the sun.  

 Moments are precious, many things can wait... The Sunset Won't.

Don't Lose the Lesson

As a teacher, I know that in everything there is a lesson.  There is never anything that is done without some reasoning behind it.  I may let students get me off task, I may lecture all hour on the American Revolution, or show Remember the Titans in class.  There might be a day in which I scrap my lesson plan completely, and instead we talk about something else.

But in everything there is a lesson.

There are many things in life.  Things are easy to lose.  You can misplace them, break them, or lose interest.  Material things.  There are jobs, relationships and people.  All of which can be lost.

We can cease to hold onto something.  Be deprived of it.  It's hard when someone says there is a reason for everything.  For sometimes life seems unfair.  But in every loss there is a gain.

You lose an iPod but gain time to read that book that's been sitting on your shelf collecting dust.  You lose a job, but gain one that is a better fit, that you love even more.  You may lose a friendship, but learn a little bit more about yourself in the process.  You may lose hope, but realize how great life is when you see the light at the end of the tunnel.

You can't always win.  Or winning loses it's appeal.  You can't always get you want, or you lose the desire to work for things.  Sometimes it's the losing that leads us to the finding.  And it's the journey of the finding, the effort you put in, that matters.

You can't bring in a harvest without planting the seeds.  You can't plant the seeds without tilling the land.  You can't watch the crop grow without first watching it rain.

When you lose, don't lose the lesson.  Because it might just be one that you need to learn.

I Went to Church for a Song

Holy Week.  It's the one week of the year that seems to have a service of some sort all week long.  It doesn't, but it feels that way.  There's Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil and then Easter.  I like the Maundy Thursday service, so I went.

Good Friday is also a service I tend to like, but a friend was in from out of town and I had made plans to meet her fiance and a group of friends for dinner.  That was before I saw the program for the service.

This past summer I helped chaperone confirmation camp for a week.  We went to SC, the camp that I went to when I was younger so I was so excited.  This camp does something pretty amazing, the staff and counselors put on a Christ Hike.  See, the camp is set in a beautiful valley in the mid-West.  Trees, hills, mountains, pastures, creeks and a waterfall all in one location.  It's breathtaking.  So on the last night of the week, the entire camp walks through the valley stopping at various points along the way.  Each stop holds a piece of the story of Christ's life.  The staff brings to life the story of Christ in a way that is great for youth to see.  It becomes not just something you read about in the bible, or hear about at church, but something to experience.

Towards the end of the hike up on a hill the counselor who plays Christ is "crucified."  It is made to look like he is hanging on a cross (let's remember there are littler kids here too so it can't get too graphic).  The campers are all sitting in front of the cross, surrounded by extra staff members, chaperones that have come for the week, and people from various communities that come to see the Christ Hike (it's that amazing).  So the students are in the middle surrounded by a 'u' shape of adults.  There is silence for a few moments after Christ dies on the cross.  

And then... from somewhere in the 'u' a lone voice starts... Were you there when they crucified my Lord?  Then, because it's a song that most of the adults know, or can catch on to, voices join in.  Tenors, basses, altos, sopranos... all joined together... Were you there when they crucified my Lord?  Oh, sometimes, it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.  Were you there when they crucified my Lord?  The students are then encouraged to rise, and we walk down the hill, towards the pond, as the sun sets through the valley.  Students are handed an unlit candle, as the song is continued, and they circle the pond, creating a single line that hugs the water.  

It's amazing.  There are other verses that are sung, and it's really indescribable.  But this past year, for me, it was a moment.

So when I found out that song was to be sung at the Good Friday service?  Change of plans, that's where I went instead.   I went to church that night for a song.  


But left, really glad that I did.

Retail Therapy

It's instinct.  Women have been doing it for thousands of years.  In the Stone Age it was bronze metal working.  In classical antiquity it was marble anything.  In the middle ages it was... well really I have no idea.  But I know that for many women it's instinctual.  It's built into our psyche.  

When we are frustrated.  When we are sad.  When we are hurt.  We do it.  We indulge in retail therapy.  And it's not just for the lows.  When we overcome something.  When we reach a goal.  When we are celebrating.  We do it then too.

And this week... I am SO guilty.  Old Navy was having a sale, and I had a coupon so I indulged in an online purchase of some new clothes and a ring.  

Then I went to Kohl's to pick out a dress for a wedding I'm attending and left with a dress and a gorgeous new handbag.  But a handbag is a necessary item, right?  And they are useful.  And it's a great accessory.  And... and I wanted it.

Over the last few weeks I have been having an inner debate.  To nook or not to nook.  To iPad 2 or not to iPad 2.  Nook color or not to nook color.  Kindle?  Sony Reader?  On my iPod I've been getting free ebooks from Barnes and Noble.  I now am up to almost 80 books I think.  But it's hard to read a book on an iPod touch.  So I was debating between an nook or an iPad.  Oh what to do.

Well, then life happened and I needed some retail therapy.  So I went to Barnes and Noble and bought the nook.  And a cover.  Holy crap!

It took me a good half hour in the store to make the decision.  To decide 100%, or as close as I could get, and to choose a cover.  I'm sure my friend who I asked to come along was laughing at me.  But for me, it's hard to make bigger purchases.  Especially when my bank account is painfully low.  Painfully.  

So I bought it.  Set the bag on my desk, and left it there.  For hours.  I couldn't open it.  Because once I opened it, it was mine.  No going back.  Finally I had to just do it.  Holding it away from me, eyes almost closed like it was a dirty diaper or something that I didn't want to see or hold.  But I did it.  And I've used it a little.  I'm sure over time I will come to love it.  This weekend I need, well need/want, to go get another pair of sandals that I really like and some leggings.  More money.  

But, for now, it's the fact that in the last week I've dropped a large amount of money on retail therapy.  But it's therapy, right?  So it's beneficial?  That's what I'm telling myself.  

Because I LOVE the handbag.  I'm still waiting for my Old Navy package to arrive.  And I'm learning more about my nook every day.  I still haven't decided if the cover I got is for me.  But I apparently have 14 days to decide.  Which is awesome.  So hopefully, my indecisive mind can finally decide.

Have you ever indulged in retail therapy?  Could you afford it at the time?  What did you get?

Remember to live the best you can.  Love the most you can.  Tell the people that you love, you love them.  Take a break and soak up the sun.  

 Moments are precious, many things can wait... The Sunset Won't.

Wordy Wednesday

Wednesdays are busy.  So take a minute, take a breath, and read on:

Never set limitations on your dreams... 

daydreams were created because the night could not contain them.

-Tanekeya Word

You have brains in your head.  You have feet in your shoes.  

You can steer yourself any direction you choose.  

You're on your own.  And you know what you know. 

And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go... 

-Dr. Seuss

Remember to live the best you can.  Love the most you can.  Tell the people that you love, you love them.  Take a break and soak up the sun.  

 Moments are precious, many things can wait... The Sunset Won't.

The Anonymous Debate

20SB recently hosted a debate on pros and cons of blogging anonymously through a series of guest bloggers.  I was lucky enough to have the chance to be included last week (check it out here or read on). It's hard to know whether or not to blog anonymously.  Whether or not you want people to know who you are or not.  So it was fun to be a part of that discussion over at 20sb.
Here is that post:

Hello! My name is Heather. I’m 23. I live in the Midwest. I love to bake, eat chocolate, and read. If it’s possible to do all three at the same time, even better. I’m a teacher. And a blogger. Well, a semi-anonymous one.

Semi-anonymous? Is that even possible, you may ask?

I first started blogging because I enjoyed writing. I had a lot going on in my life and I felt I needed a space where I could put all that energy. Through my blog surfing I had come across several great blogs. I thought it would be great to carve out a little spot of the blogosphere for myself. I wasn’t looking for tons of followers or readers. I did it for me. Just for me.

When I first started blogging, I thought it would be simple. 
I would never post a picture of myself and never use my full name. I thought that’s all it would take and I’d be set. After a few months, I even got a separate email address that didn’t include my last name so people couldn’t figure me out.

The thing I didn’t realize is that when your fingers get flying on the keyboard, when you get wrapped up in what you are trying to say, it can be hard to edit yourself. It’s hard to put up that wall when you’re working diligently to tell a story. Not giving away your hometown, the name of your company, or the real names of friends–those are hard.

My blog, The Sunset Won’t, is not a place where I post inappropriate comments or stories. To be completely honest, there really aren’t that many events in my life that can be considered inappropriate. (I’m a pretty boring girl.) No, my corner of the blogosphere is somewhere that I can write about learning lessons and living life to the fullest. I blog about the twists my life has taken, things I want to work on, my faith, and even do reviews.

My biggest concern is this:
As I blog about these lessons, what would my administration think? What would my students think?Let me say again, it’s not that I’m trying to hide anything. There are just bad days that my students don’t need to know about, or family issues that my employers don’t need to read about.

It’s a tightrope, one that I walk every time my fingers hit the keyboard. With each key I hit I’m careful not to reveal too much. I try to balance that with being truthful. There are things on my blog that I don’t even talk about with people in my real life.
If I’m not honest, what’s the point in blogging?

I can count on two hands the number of people in my life who know that I blog. I think I started that way because I was nervous. Nervous of what people would think. Of my writing. Of me. But eventually I told someone… and they liked it. They were supportive. But they know that I am careful to reveal who I am to the world.

It’s a little bit like being Batman on the internet and Clark Kent in real life. (Except that I hate bats. And I’m not a boy.) So maybe I could be Sunset, controlling light, like Storm controls the weather.

And my real identity… well, that’s top secret.

Dream Jobs, That's All They'll Ever Be

I was reading B.A.R.E. the other day and B shared a post about dream jobs.  I thought about all of the jobs that I've dreamed of over the years.  The one that came true, and the ones that will never be.

1. Country Star
Could you imagine?  I can.  I imagined what songs I would sing, what the stage would look like, what kind of opening act I would have.  How I would close the show with an encore that brought out my opening acts to join me.  I imagined the name I would use, since I wouldn't want to use my real last name.

2. Bookstore/Cafe Owner
I love to read.  I enjoy baking.  I love to grab a book, a cup of tea or coffee and a treat and disappear into a book.  So I thought if I could own a bookstore that had a small bakery/cafe in it, that would be perfect. A customer could purchase a book, grab a coffee and a biscotti, walk over to a table outside or an overstuffed chair in the corner and enjoy.

3. Author
I love to read, and I enjoy writing.  I'm not the best at it.  But I love stories, the weaving of characters.  I think it would an amazing job to be able to write professionally.

4. Travel Channel Host (travel for young adults)
I enjoy traveling and am always jealous of the cool places that travel channel hosts get to visit.  The only bad part, I've never felt like they hit on the places I would go, and if they did, it was always way too expensive.  Something not feasible for young adults, who don't have a ton of cash.  So I would do it right.

5. Radio Host
There's a talk radio station where I live.  I always think about how great it would be to sit and talk for a few hours and get paid to do it.  To be on top of the latest news and gossip.  I also think being a radio DJ would great.  You get to play great music, give away stuff, go to concerts, meet artists.  I mean, awesome, for a person who loves music like I do.

6. Record Executive
Speaking of loving music, there are so many talented people and groups out there.  Groups that don't really get a chance, don't get the help they need, the guidance they need from a record label.  They aren't given the opportunity to become the full artist they could be, or they're never even heard at all.

7. Teacher
Ever since I was little I knew I wanted to be a teacher.  When I was in 5th grade, my teacher Mrs. Wilson gave me all her left over worksheets and her blue teacher notebook at the end of the year.  I was SO excited.  When I got to middle school I had a social studies teacher who was amazing.  He made class fun, and interesting, and it made me enjoy social studies.  And growing up, my dad was a huge history buff.  To spend time with him meant watching John Wayne movies, the History Channel, documentaries and the Military Channel.  Put all those things together and you get... what I went to school to be.  A social studies teacher.  Now, maybe someday soon I can get that classroom of my very own.

What was, or is, your dream job?  What is something you've always wanted to do?

Connected, We're All The Same

I was a guest blogger over at A Little Bit of Sunshine this week!  I always think it's so much fun to connect with other bloggers from all over the place.

When I look at the blogs I read, and where they originate from I find it kinda neat.  I read blogs from Virginia, Alaska, Illinois, even as far away as Kenya.  When I look at the people who read this blog, they are from the US, the Philippines, Australia, India, the UK, Russia, Germany, Denmark.  It's like a web of connections spanning the globe.

I find it amazing that people from around the world can connect so easily, so quickly.  And that we all have so much in common.  We are all people, trying to live life the best way we know how.  Trying to find meaning.  Purpose.

Trying to find hope in the darkness.  Love in the emptiness.  Peace in the storminess.  Joy in the craziness.

When students talk about other people like they are SO different from them, I remind them that we are all human.  It makes me think of a song by Ronnie Dunn that is new to country radio in the last month or so:

We all bleed red, we all taste rain, 

All fall down and lose our way.

We all say words, we regret

We all cry tears, we all bleed red.

Sometimes we're strong, sometimes we're weak

Sometimes we're hurt and it cuts deep

We live this life, breath to breath

We're all the same, we all bleed red.

We, you and I, the person sharing the elevator ride with you, the person in the car next to you, the woman in front of you at the grocery store, the family in the park, the child waiting for a school bus, we all, every one of us are the same.  At our core, we are all connected.

Remember to live the best you can.  Love the most you can.  Tell the people that you love, you love them.  Take a break and soak up the sun.  

 Moments are precious, many things can wait... The Sunset Won't.

Images found using Google Images search for "Global Connections" from Paper Castle Press; and "we're all the same."

Wordy Wednesday

Wednesday's are busy.  Full of activities.  It's the middle of a week.  A reminder of all that has been done, and all that is yet to do.

So here, at The Sunset Won't, on Wednesdays I share a quote, brief passage or song lyric that I like.  Today's quotes are from pictures I found on a few other blogs and tumblr sites.  Check them out if you have some time:

Love, Don't Love

Today is all about things I love... and don't love.  This idea came from Christy at 25 Before 25, definitely check it out.

I visited a bookstore going out of business where everything was 95% off.  I bought 12 books for less than $8, saving over $130.  Love.

It's a beautiful day outside and I am stuck inside at work.  Don't Love.


My cousin is getting married to an amazing lady.  I'm very happy for him and that she is becoming an official part of our family.  Love.

It's wedding season.  Which for many is great.  But for single ladies who are post-college age, it means the "why aren't you dating someone," "when are you getting married" questions.  Don't Love.


Spring has sprung.  That means no more snow (which I now consider a curse word if used after April 1st), green grass, flowers, showers and storms.  Love.

It's the time of year when teaching positions for the next year are posted.  That means hope that next year I'll have my very own classroom.  Love.

It's the time of year when teaching positions for the next year are posted.  This means tons of applications, waiting to hear back, hoping to hear back from anyone.  Don't Love.

School is almost out for the year.  That means a little time off in between this job and the summer one.  Love.


School is almost over which means not being in the classroom and seeing students everyday.  Don't love.  No wait, Love.  Well, maybe both.


What do you love or don't love?

Images found on Google Images from the following sources:

http://www.artsjournal.com/bookdaddy/2008/07/

http://www.adayforyouweddings.com/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/england/looknorthnecumbria/weather/calendar_competition/april/april_gallery_75.shtml

Broken Relationships

Being broken.  That's was the youth group I volunteer with talked about last week.  We asked students to share ways in which they are broken.  Broken body.  Broken spirit.  Broken relationships.  I began to look inward.  At the ways in which I'm broken.  So to get the ball rolling, I shared:

In college I had a best friend who was also a roommate for two years.  I had and have trouble trusting, and let her in.  There were three of us, the three musketeers.  We did a lot together.  In our senior year this friend started dating an older man.  At first, it was great.  She really liked the guy, and he seemed like a gem.

Long story short, the situation changed, and though I lived across the hall from her I went months without seeing here.  How that worked I still have no idea.

Months went by and we got in contact again.  Apologies were given, things were better.  She got engaged, I was asked to help plan the wedding and to be a bridesmaid.  Two days later, I was no longer in the wedding, planning the wedding, invited to the wedding, or being spoken to.  That day, the day she took back the offering was the one year anniversary of a personal loss.  I was emotional and needed a day.

This man, her fiancee, changed.  Changed himself, changed her, changed the relationship.  While I haven't seen him, or spoken to her in almost a year, I learn things from mutual friends.  It seems to me, an outsider, that something is off, and I am concerned.

But our friendship is broken.  Seemingly beyond repair.  What was, what am, I supposed to do?  I am a people pleaser, who finds it incredibly hard to stand my ground.  But on this, on this I am firm.  There are other things that happened that I feel warrant these emotions.  That warrant my desire of a sincere apology.  But, we will never have the same friendship we once had.

When you feel broken, broken beyond repair, broken to the core of a relationship, what do you do?  That I don't know.  That is something I am still learning.  But it is those moments that I remember that the healthy don't need a doctor.  It is the sick (Matt 9:12).  It is not the whole, perfect being who needs God, or faith or a higher power.  It is the broken.  So in these moments I pray for guidance, for peace, for an understanding, for the wisdom to know what to do next.

Because broken relationships cannot always be mended.  But if we are broken, we can be fixed.  We can be put back together.

Remember to live the best you can.  Love the most you can.  Tell the people that you love, you love them.  Take a break and soak up the sun.  

 Moments are precious, many things can wait... The Sunset Won't.

Guest Blogger: Katie from Finding The Thin Within

Today I welcome another guest blogger, Katie who writes about willingness at Finding the Thin Within.  I invite you to check out her blog when you get a chance.  It's all about weight loss and happy living.  But for toady, you don't have to go far to get a taste of her story.

Since I was a girl I’ve been the type of person who dreamt of wild escapades and fantastic adventures. I wanted to get out there and live, but until 8 months ago I had a dark cloud over my head holding me back, my weight. Tipping the scales at nearly 280 pounds, I could only explore life in my fantasies. I my mind I detailed an intricate bucket list with itineraries of trips and crazy stunts that only left me disappointed upon realizing that my situation prevented nearly everything I wanted to do beyond the couch. So I ate. I wore a hole in the midsection of the couch watching the travel and discovery channels. At least I got to see others enjoying their lives.

In July of 2010 I made the decision to change my life. I took charge and vowed to feel the exhilaration of bring my bucket list to life. I’ve lost 55 pounds, and while I still have ways to go, it’s amazing the kind of enthusiasm and zeal for life that can result from making positive changes. My body is strong, and I feel like I can do absolutely anything. My tangible bucket list now legitimately contains things like: complete a half-marathon (scheduled for late April of this year), ride horses again (I had them as a child), take an African safari, become a Zumba instructor, climb a mountain – all things I considered next to impossible only a year ago. My attitude has done a complete 180, and I’m ready to tackle any obstacle that stands between me and getting the most out of this life. We only to live once, so I intend to make it count!

Probably the biggest gift that my weight-loss has given me is what I believe to be my calling. I’ve always been a natural motivator and talented public speaker. Yes, I know – GASP – someone who actually wants to speak in front of large groups of people?!? But I love it. I live for it. The item at the top of my bucket list in capital letters is MAKE A DIFFERENCE, and this journey has given me that opportunity. I’ve already been privileged to work one-on-one with a few friends, coaching them as they start changing their unhealthy behaviors and begin to write their own stories. That brings me an immense amount of satisfaction, and I plan to grow and continue that initiative. I see now that I was meant to combine my love/talent for speaking with my personal weight-loss story to inspire others and motivate them to make positive change in their own lives. I can – and will – make a difference in this life, and to me that is the greatest way to live life to the fullest. 

Viva Las Vegas!

Viva Las Vegas!  That's where I was last week.  It was great.  It was warm.  And sunny. 

It was four friends, four days, and lot's of fun.  We hit several of the major attractions that Vegas has to offer.  We ate some great food.  We gambled some money.  

One of the best parts of Vegas?  People watching.  There are some hilarious people in Las Vegas.  Characters everywhere.

This week it's back to real life.  And you know what...

That's okay.

Remember to live the best you can.  Love the most you can.  Tell the people that you love, you love them.  Take a break and soak up the sun.  

 Moments are precious, many things can wait... The Sunset Won't.

Book Review: The Fire in Ember by DiAnn Mills

Returning a stolen heart was the right thing to do, or so Bert thought.  Being mistaken for a horse thief and being sentenced to hang was not part of the plan.  

Deputy John Timmons is the picture of responsibility.  He takes care of the family ranch, his brothers and his mom.  When he happens upon a hanging he thinks he's saving a young boy from a horrible fate.  It's not until he takes the boy home that he learns Bert is a girl.  

Cattle rustlers have moved into the area in northern Colorado where Bert becomes a prime suspect when she refuses to give her real name or what she's running from.  In Bert John sees a sweet spirit, or so he hopes.  Because how can he arrest the woman who has stolen his heart?

The twists and turns in the book, while sometimes predictable, was still a lovely story of trust.  Trusting in God, in love, in relationships and in yourself.  The story was an uplifting reminder of the power of love.  

The characters were interesting though some could have been fleshed out a little bit more.  The plot was interesting, though again a little predictable, it was still a classic story that is always good.

Overall I would recommend the book to someone looking for a good Christian romance novel.  It was a great nightstand read.  The book is accompanied by a group discussion guide.

Zondervan Publishing was gracious enough to provide me with a complimentary copy of this novel for review purposes.