A scar is defined as a mark left on the skin or within a body where a wound, burn or sore has not healed completely…. It goes on to be defined as a lasting effect of grief, fear or other emotion left on a person’s character by a traumatic experience. When I was younger….late teens, I would hurt myself by cutting my arm. I honestly thought that things were that bad for me. High school was taking a toll on me, relationships were too much to deal with and things were going on that I just couldn’t get away from. I was a coward but I felt as if it was the only control I had over myself anymore. It ..read more

I saw a picture of that girl today. I saw her smile and I knew it wasn’t real. When I looked at the picture, I remembered all the times the girl cried. I remember how many times she fell and wouldn’t get back up. She would fall and stay there and wallow in her own self-pity. She would make excuses as to why she had to stay down. Why get up when she would just fall back down? Why get up when there was no one to lend a hand? Why get up if no one had even noticed she fell in the first place? Why get up if she wanted to stay down? That girl that suffered at the hands of men she was supposed to tr ..read more

A few months ago, I purchased the Beachbody on Demand. I’d been wanting to start working out more and I knew going to the gym was not an option. Let’s be real…who really has time to go to the gym 4 days a week and afford the price of a gym membership? Not me. I work full time Monday through Friday, I have 2 kids that I’m a full-time mommy to, I have my ABLA classes every Tuesday and not to mention we have two church small groups a week that we host! That’s a lot going on! Instead of just being like, “Ok. I don’t have time to work out. I’ll just settle for gaining weight,” I looked for a solut ..read more

All it took was one incident. One incident and Anthony and I decided it was time to put Tone in boxing. We had discussed it for a while but finally, it was time. One incident and I knew I wouldn’t always be around to protect my son. Almost two weeks ago, I picked up our kids and my son told me about what happened to him at recess. Not one, not two, not even three....but four students targeted my son. Two students punched him in his stomach, another student pulled his pants down and all four shoved him to the ground. Why? Because he was going to throw a frisbee instead of giving it to one of th ..read more

As Emma begins to get closer and closer to a teen, I can’t help but realize how mature she has gotten over these past few years. When I first found out I was having a girl, I was terrified. There is so much that girls go through in life and I wasn’t confident that I would be good for my daughter. Emma and I have always had a close relationship. She comes to me and talks about her crush, what fight she is currently having with her friends and things that concern her. It’s so different being a mom of a 11 year old girl than it was being a mom of a 5 year old girl. At 5 years old, she absolutely ..read more