Just put on a little lipstick...

We grew up in a small town with a great big heart. The main reason for that big heart was because of our Henderson Mamas . It didn’t matter what day or time it was, if you were out of your house there was always a Mama looking out for you. In our group it was Doris, Judy, Ouida, Linda, Jackie, Dorothy, Reba, Lora, Jane, and Jeanne–and those were just the Mamas of girls!  When we were young, these ladies were our Brownie troop leaders, taught our bible classes, threw our birthday parties, watched our swim and tumbling lessons, and made our Halloween costumes. They also volunteered us to pick up cups and plates at every wedding shower, reception, or ladies day. We picked up a LOT of cups and plates through the years! What they may not have realized is that while we were picking up all those cups and plates, we were watching and hearing them giggle, talk, and share their lives. They taught us a very important lesson: they taught us what true friendships look like.  As we gr...

I grew up with these beautiful ladies in Henderson, TN, aka small town USA . We share so many memories of childhood, school, youth group and summer camp. We try to get together every month or so to catch up. It's wonderful to have such a fabulous group of supportive small town sisters to gather and do life with!  I also know it would would make Judy, Ouida and Reba happy to see us together! 

In June of 2017 Josh accepted a job in Kona Hawaii with Big Island Electric. They had a couple of big contracts that they needed someone with Josh's abilities to get completed. Josh and Chassi thought this over and decided this would be a good adventure for their family. One of Josh's favorite movies (and tattoos) is " Joe vs the Volcano ", so this seemed so appropriate. They sold most of their possessions and flew across the ocean to settle in the little community of Waimea . Waimea is on the big island of Hawaii, just up the mountain from Kona. Hawaii is the largest and least populated of the islands and also has the least number of "mainlanders" - that's what Hawaiians call us. They have mountains, ranches and active volcano and of course many beaches. When Josh and Chassi are not at school, and the girls are not in school, they are out visiting ranches, hiking, swimming and exploring.  Josh and Chassi have both expressed that this has been a b...

Has it really been over a year since I blogged? 2017 brought precious time with family and friends full of laughs, a few tears and of course change. Change seems to be the only constant in the world these days. I took a position in March of 2016 with a company that has a very important and noble mission to help and support patients through their last year of life. I had the privilege of working alongside some of the best palliative physicians, practitioners and support staff in the nation. It was a whirlwind year and along with my fabulous professional development team we on-boarded over 300 new employees, installed, activated and trained a new phone and documentation system, instituted monthly lunch and learns, and set up and offered continuing education for all employees. I have worked in very supportive high growth companies before and instituted these and additional programs, but this one brought with it some complicated challenges in culture. After a year I paused and evaluated...

If you know me, you know how much I love Google! This video shows 2017 in google search. This gives me hope that people in this world are still curious, they want to help others and they are ready to move forward to make this world a better place. #makeadifference