Getting a dog???

So...You may consider getting a dog..........Remember it is FOREVER.........

Not just UNTIL he potties inside. 
Not just UNTIL he chews up your shoes. 
Not just UNTIL YOU get new carpet
Not just UNTIL she gets too big
Not just UNTIL you decide to have a baby
PETS ARE A LIFETIME COMMITMENT....AND worth SO much more than the effort you will put into them :)  

Happy Easter Scout

There is no "right" way. I know you know this, I see it on a daily basis. You push the limits, you ask for more than anyone can give, you dream so much bigger than anyone can imagine.  I remember that feeling.
What I want to tell you is that there is NO right way to feel or grow :)
In the meantime, know that you are a talented, brilliant human being, regardless of what anyone else thinks or what everyone else is doing. It can be a tough road when you're "getting bigger" but it is your road. Make the most of it.

I LOVE YOU, 
Mommy

Be Kind

I do not have the energy to wish you would die or hurt.

I will not use my time or breath to insult you. I am too busy teaching her to trust again and love.  We are ALL not terrible or mean. 

I do not want you to experience what you did to an animal. I am too busy trying to heal the emotional wounds of an abused or neglected animal.... Showing me those awful experiences won't happen ever again...

I will not give my energy to contribute to conversations that only speak of unethical ways of punishing you. My energy goes to solving the problem of abuse through education, awareness, kindness.

I will not keep you from being a good parent or seeing our child.  I WILL use my voice instead for the children in humane education courses and helping teachers learn how to help kids speak in safe environments about the animal abuse in their homes before the animal abuse turns to child abuse.

What I do want for you is for you to experience the process of acceptance, to acknowledge your actions, be accountable for your choices, and seek whatever help you need to deal anger.

I want for you to serve your time willingly, not make excuses, and recognize the redemption found in helping others in need.

I want you to heal whatever it is inside you that let you think it was acceptable to do what you did.

I want you to heal enough that you are able to give back the love she has given to Us and appreciate and accept that animals are far more amazing than we are.  Forgiveness is underrated and KINDNESS is everything.

Basically I want you to LOVE without conditions,

Laramie

Life, please slow down....

Life has been moving so quickly lately. A couple of days ago I drove by SMU. Classes were finishing for the day, and the sidewalks were busy with mostly fresh-faced students. It was in the middle of the campus that I had 'a moment.'

In the blink of an eye, it seemed, I was 32 What happened to my 20s and my teens? The college days? Where did they go?!

I'm not lamenting a lost decade, nothing like that. I have truly enjoyed almost every single moment in time. Lots of great memories. I don't wish to go back to them. I really like the 32 year old me me. A little more life experience under my belt. I'm more comfortable in my skin, and I'm having a ball! Seriously I am doing things I never imagined or ever thought I'd even want to do. I have met amazing new people and have made another set of friends I will have for a lifetime. But, every once in awhile they happen, the moments that make real the quick passing of time. Things that seem to have happened just yesterday, as I am recounting a story, actually happened more than a decade ago. I find myself saying, more and more, "That seems impossible."

I can remember, in my 20s, older people telling me/us to enjoy the time, for all it was worth, because it goes by so quickly. We shrugged it off. We had all the time in the world. Now, I see, I feel what they meant. I know it, from my own experience, to be true. The days, they pass by so fast. I only know that I want to be able to look back, another decade from now, and be able to say that, all in all, it was time well spent and I loved every moment of it! Just my thoughts! Live it up......Life passes so quickly~Do what makes you happy and enjoy everything..............Good and bad! 

I had a ridiculously productive day foday. it was nice…odd, but nice. Cleaning the house, loving the MOST AMAZING LITTLE BOY EVER, loving the dogs, AND LASTLY, cleaning up my cluttered desk in the media room...
Whatever. a place of order encourages ordered thinking!

I will cease and desist.

But i thought maybe i'd update you on what i've done because i would rather do anything but run, which is what i should be doing but instead i'm here.


i listened to the John Mayer station on pandora radio. do you know about pandora radio? i. it's awesome. you should go there. it's completely free and easy to use, I am a few years late but LOVE IT.....

And in the midst of this i decided that the soundtrack to my summer is going to be populated by boys who play guitar - PHILLIP PHILLIPS,  Greg Allman,  James Taylor,  john mayer, michael franti, with appearances by Bob Seager (how did i not know that i am in love with him?) and maybe some Dixie Chicks, just because girls are pretty great too. 

Pippa

I went to Heaven last today.
I'm not here to share the story of my death. 
I'm here to share the story of my life... 



Something happened in my life not too long ago, it was pretty terrible and I don't like to talk about it.  


After that happened, I knew I couldn't trust people much... so I laid on the side of the road waiting for someone to hit me, hoping I would fall asleep and die.
Even though I had laid in the same spot for a few weeks, and was pretty sure I was finally starving to death, almost certain I would never know love, Laramie came my way.  She pulled up and knew I needed her, sadly I couldn't tell her that it wouldn't be for long.  Laramie and her friend Laurie spent the weekend working with me and giving me the best food I have ever tasted.  They helped me drink water and showed me what love and hugs really feel like. On Friday the vet told them the chances of me being ok were slim, in my heart I was really hoping I would feel better too. Today things got worse.  Laramie took me to the vet again, she was scared but did not think I could tell.  Laurie cried.  
In the car,  she gently rubbed my head, silently praying she could fix me.
I wanted to stay with her forever, but I knew in my heart that I wasn't going to make it. But Laramie didn't know that yet... or she just refused to believe it, because she wasn't ready to let me go. When we got there, she talked to the vet.  They ran a few tests, snuggled with me and cried some too.....Then... she looked at me, and gave me the most awesome hug, a lovely kiss and told me that I mattered and I was loved. That's how I knew it was okay to go. I headed to heaven May 14, 2012 and it's even more amazing than you could ever imagine.  I feel good again, but I feel even better knowing that there is still kindness on Earth and even the smallest creatures can mean something to someone.


*Oh Sweet Pippa, my heart broke for you today, I can't believe humans can be so cruel and dogs like you can still smile and trust.  You are now an angel.  God is very lucky to have you  home..... I thank him for letting me show you love.  

Mama

I can’t describe a mother’s love. It would be like describing music to a deaf man or the perfect glass of wine to a Morman.  A mother’s love; it exists only in a dimension understood once you get there.

A mother’s love is uprooting her life from one side of the world and moving to another. A mother’s love is scouring a Target for the "Blue Batman" that was dropped.  A mother’s love is putting you in front of the mirror to show you how beautiful you are. A mother’s love is a bag in her purse because you throw up whenever you get nervous. A mother’s love is listening when the rest of the World won't. A mother’s love is calling you back after you hang up on her. A mother’s love is being sorry and being ashamed, because she didn’t live up to her own expectations. A mother’s love is – I’ll hold your hand no matter what.

A mother’s love is unconditional. It is loving your bad moods, your heart, your brain.

She loved me before she even knew me and – and long after she knew me too well. She loved me completely – even when she might not have liked me very much.

I know sometimes I can be ugly. I can be insensitive. I can be hurtful. I am this way because that is who I am.

I have never doubted your love, but I’m certain you may have doubted mine. I wonder if you think I’m grateful for you. I am – very much so.

I think we both think things could be better. I think we both wish it were different – sometimes. I want a fairytale – and you want it for me – we just sometimes draw different pictures of the happily ever after.

Three years ago I entered motherhood. I stare in disbelief at the boy we created.
Being a mother is a tremendous responsibility – to him – to the world. To give him the foundation for confidence, courage, respect, happiness. Arm him with some sort of beginning to take on the world, and build a strong and happy life for himself. I want for my child what any mother wants – a healthy laugh, happiness, a smile, eternal love.

On Mother’s Day, I don’t expect to be thanked. In fact, I use the day to remember what a privilege it is to be a mother. I am lucky to be able to look at my son and be filled with pride – in him and me.

But how do you thank the person without whom you wouldn’t be? How do you thank someone for air and breath and lungs and life? How do you thank someone for sleepless nights, for a lifetime of worry, for painful compromises, for never being first, for feeling the hurt every time you fall? How do you thank a person whose heart aches for you long after yours has skipped a beat?

A mother’s love …

There is no title so powerful, so important, so impactful, so innate – as mama.