Life ~ no rewind ...

NO skinny jeans ...

Oh Yeah!!! 

My booty doesn't fit into "skinny" anything!!!

Love my SPIN classes, squats, lunges and Brazilian Butt Lift classes!

I like big butts ~ and I cannot lie! 

Stay ... Gone

Stay Gone by Jimmy Wayne

The House That Built Me

Clarity

Clarity ~ clearness or lucidity as to perception or understanding; freedom from indistinctness or ambiguity.

A revelation unexpectedly unveiled ~ Clarity so profound it takes your breath away but is as gentle as a whisper to your soul ... these rare moments are priceless and defining ... a welcome rest to a heavy heart an awakening to a troubled spirit. 

THE 'ah ha' moment ~

All of the doubts and fears are lifted; the worry is removed and the tears are dried. The prayers you thought were unanswered because they weren't answered your way or you didn't understand ... prove to be blessings! 

When Pigs Fly ...

When Pigs Fly…."A Reminder to live your dreams, no matter how impossible they may seem!" 

A flying pig is a symbol of an impossible event coming to pass.  Possibly the first occurrence of a pig actually "flying" occurred in 1909 when the British aviation pioneer Lord Brabazon made the first live air cargo flight with a pig in a basket tied to a wing-strut of his airplane. Additionally, if enough thrust is applied, any pig is capable of ballistic flight.  

John Steinbeck's Pigasus was used as a personal stamp to symbolize Steinbeck as "earthbound but aspiring.... A lumbering soul but trying to fly...(with)...not enough wingspread but plenty of intention."

I LIVE life...

As Relay for Life approaches, I had someone ask me about walking the 'Survivor Lap’ … followed by: “... when do you actually become a [breast cancer] survivor?"

I gave the answer I'd been given: "5 years" ~ but that stuck in my head and I kept thinking "5 years ... that's the magic number, huh?? 5 years ..."

Actually, I was a survivor the day I was diagnosed and didn't die.

Living with Crohn's Disease for well over 1/2 my life, I have had to literally learn to live with it! Not just ‘it’ but the treatments and surgeries and medications and complications that goes along with it ~ diets, good days, bad days, blood transfusions, hospital stays ... whatever ... However, you're never classified as a 'survivor' of Crohn's. You're a person living with Crohn's.

It made the think even more about the "5 year" answer and, for me personally, I don't think that is correct.

I think I became a person 'living with a double mastectomy' but I am a survivor every day!

I don't have a magic number.

Both illnesses have been a war ~ a battle ~ and I fight parts of each every day. I see 'battle' scars when I look in the mirror on my breast and my stomach. I feel pains in places that, theoretically, I don't have (phantom pains is what it's called ~ nerve sensations that you can't touch or soothe). I cope with symptoms and weaknesses; my weight and energy goes up and down like a roller coaster!  Physically and emotionally, I will never be the person I was before either diagnoses. I see 'whole me' in my sleep and I cry for what I have lost ... But, I LIVE for what I have left!!!!

Yes, I am a survivor ... I am alive and I am thankful and blessed. My physical imperfections are tools being used to strengthen me, even in my weakness, and they allow me the opportunity to appreciate each day! To Smile! To Laugh! To Love! And, yes, to LIVE LIFE!!!

My first year @ Relay walking the lap was surreal for me, but I was surrounded by my friends that loved me and supported me ~ encouraged me and helped me heal!! So on this coming Friday night @ Relay, with a heart full of love,  a soul full of gratitude, and an uplifted spirit … my friends and my faith in my almighty God…  I will walk that "Survivor Lap' with an overwhelming sense of thankfulness knowing that I made it one more year!!! That I LIVED ONE MORE YEAR ... by accepting the gift of each day that lead me to it!!!