When I first started blogging, I was "happily" married for 21 years. Then divorce happened. The ugliness of unfaithfulness sent me spinning into a life I hadn't anticipated. Being real here...divorce is ugly. PERIOD.  Flash forward a few years...I was at a place in my life where I discovered the Simone that I had never known. I found my voice and a place where I could finally smile again but I was lonely. I wanted to share my life with someone but not just any "someone" a God's gift to me "someone".  In all honesty, I kissed a few toads before I found my handsome prince. I became disillusioned and distrustful, thinking that there were no more good guys. The guys that I dated really had no clue who "Simone" was. They didn't know what put a smile on my face or what made me laugh or the silly side of me. They didn't really know how much I loved the feeling of holding hands and being told that I was beautiful. My J was that...

Our pastor has been doing a series the last several weeks on "Before You Say, "I Do", and it really has been a huge reminder of how much I love J and cherish the commitment that we've made together. The other night, I asked him, "Why did you marry me?" and it got me thinking that it would be great to share his response with you all. I twisted his arm asked ever so sweetly, if he'd do a guest post and here's my main man, my sweetheart, J. My beautiful wife has asked me to write a post on why I married her so let's see if I can flesh out what that "it" factor was which moved me to ask her to be my bride. The first thing I noticed about Simone was her positive view on life. She is a dreamer and believes she can accomplish anything she puts her mind to do.  This trait lifts me up and gives me hope and encouragement in a world that can sometimes squash my dreams. Simone is sophisticated and down to earth as well. I see this as a per...

That is the perfect picture of how it was being a twin. When something bad happened to one of us, then the other cried along. My poor parents....hearing babies cry in stereo. But there was also the joy of stereo laughter too. Lately, I've been thinking about my life and how it just hasn't happened the way I planned. When I was little, I had dreams of things that were outlandish now but so very real then. I didn't marry David Cassidy like I thought or Foster Sylvers. I didn't open a house for orphaned kids, old people and pets (although there is still time for that ;) My sis and I didn't take our love of singing on the road and become the next Christian recording artists. I didn't marry a rich man, although my J has millions of ways that he showers me with his love that makes it much better than marrying a "rich" man. I also didn't "plan" on having experienced divorce, moving out of California, missing my twin sister, having grey hai...