"I believe in you. You have a great destiny. You are meant for great things. And it s possible to live a wonderful, extraordinary life." That is the promise offered by bestselling author and illustrator James A. Owen in this remarkable and inspirational meditation. In Drawing Out the Dragons, James shares personal stories and the deep truths he learned while navigating past obstacles and adversity toward a life of lasting belief and joy. We all have a grand destiny, but sometimes we feel we lack the power to achieve it. But we always have the power to choose. Every drawing, every life, is nothing but a series of choices and actions. Make your lines. Make your choices. . . . What you create from there is entirely up to you. Drawing Out the Dragons has the power to uplift, inspire, and change your life.

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Sometimes in life, you get what you need just when you need it. For me, that was the case with Drawing Out the Dragons. I was chin deep in a depression that was threatening to swallow me whole and me, being me, posted about it on my blog. It wasn't much later that I received a Facebook message from someone reminding me that they'd sent me the pdfs of not only this book, but the other two in the series. Little did either of us realize, but I'd purchased the Kindle versions back in 2016 and forgotten all about it until I found my Kindle and they were right on top staring at me. Never one to ignore such blatant hints from the universe, I curled up at the park one day and started reading. I didn't stop until I'd finished this book.

Why? Because every page spoke to me on some level. James has been through some horrendous things, but it wasn't his difficulties that had me. After all, I've long said that everyone of us on this planet has a challenge or challenges to overcome. It was the ways in which James overcame them. He never quit. Here I was contemplating the value of my own life and James is screaming from the rooftops that it's okay and that no matter what, he isn't going to let me fall. Sometimes, when everything seems the darkest, all it takes is one person saying hey, I believe in you. Sometimes all it takes is seeing how someone else survived and thrived to make you sit up, take some deep breathes, and say, "Okay world, let's give this another shot."

Thank you, James...for reminding me that I can do this and like you say in the book, "Always, always ask for what you want. Because the Universe might surprise you — and give it to you.” I'm hoping to someday be able to ask for one of those Dragon pictures because I want it to serve as a reminder of what I can do in this world. 



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A joyful, inspirational guide to building the life you've always dreamed of, using the principles and creative process of an award-winning product designer.

     Life, just like a design problem, is full of constraints--time, money, age, location, and circumstances. You cannot have everything, and if you want more out of it, you have to be creative about how to make what you need and what you want co-exist. This requires design thinking. Design the Life You Love uses a simple but proven creative thinking and design process to give ordinary people new tools to think about life differently, and also includes fascinating examples from the world of art and design that relate to each step of the process, plus guided creative exercises. Turn constraints into opportunities with optimism and holistic thinking using four simple steps: taking the whole apart, forming a new point of view, putting it back together, and giving it form. The striking design and Ayse Birsel's hand-drawn art and type set off her brilliant, life-changing design process, empowering and inspiring readers to create a better life.

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I've had this book here for ages and am just writing this review. Why? Because I wanted to take my time really going through this book. The author suggests that you spend no more than 20 minutes at a time working through it and I found that to be perfect. It was just enough time to really get into the topic and at the same time not overwhelm myself with it.

As a lot of you know, my life has been pretty chaotic and this book is all about learning about yourself and building the kind of life that you love. The best parts? It's simple without being too simplistic and optimistic without feeling impossible. I love the little drawing throughout the book.

Bottom line? Go and pick this one up. Take your time working through it and I hope you love it as much as I do.



I received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, comments, and opinions are my own.

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You know that thing when you're in Walmart at noon before you discover you haven't brushed your teeth? Sarah Parshall Perry gets that. She also gets weird things showing up in her bed, her daughter asking for war paint, and her son crawling into a giant blue sock on Christmas morning. Mainly, she gets that conflicted feeling of finding her kids hanging out in the dogs' cages and happily realizing they have stopped getting into trouble for a minute.

According to Perry, "The hardest stuff is the quickest way to God," and readers get to watch the systematic destruction of her carefully planned life, laughing at her missteps, aching at her tragedies, and recognizing themselves along the way. A mother of three children, two of whom are on the autism spectrum, she has experienced plenty of ups and downs, but from the chaos of her "ordinary" life she pulls the universal truths of motherhood, addressing them with humor, poignancy, and a naked honesty that will make the reader think, "That sounds a lot like my crazy life. "Perry helps mothers realize they aren't alone, even if they've fallen off the straight and narrow of their intended path and are instead lying in the ditch next to it. Life's a mess. But as Perry reminds us, it's all for a purpose.

Perfect for mothers, this book will encourage, inspire, and enlighten.
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Let's face it. Motherhood is messy. We would all love to pretend that our homes our spotless, our children are always well behaved and dinner is always on the table right on time, but it's just not the case. Sarah shares her story of motherhood with tongue in cheek humor and a refreshing sense of transparency. While I don't have a child on the Autism scale, I do have a special needs kiddo and I remember the looks I would get in stores and such. Knowing that another parent has been there made me smile. Not everyone will relate to every part of this book, but if you're a mom, it's well worth the read!


I received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, comments, and opinions are my own.
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We live in a culture obsessed with celebrity. When we're not trying to make a name for ourselves, we're following the big names on Twitter, liking them on Facebook, and taking selfies with them if we are lucky enough to run into them in real life. We love winners and we want to be winners. But take it from a man who knows more famous people than most of us will ever meet--it's not who you know that's important, it's who you are inside.
With short, story-driven readings, Pat Williams draws from over fifty years of brushing shoulders with the greats, offering readers motivation to do their best, be themselves, and continually strive to be the people God made them to be. He shows that being a "winner" is more about character, attitudes, values, and faith than it is about coming out on top. Stories from legendary sports figures, leaders, and fascinating people from all walks of life help readers develop true character that speaks for itself.

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Have you ever really needed a book that you could put down at anytime and you knew it'd be right there waiting for you when you got back, sort of like an old friend? If this makes any sense to you, this is that book. Filled with short narratives from every type of celebrity imaginable, you can read one or you can read ten and when you come back, there is more waiting. This is one of those books that you're going to get from it what you put into it. It can be read casually and you'll just enjoy the stories. It can be read with some depth and you're going to take away a life lesson from each and every one. The author doesn't always tell you what the lesson is, but it is always there. For me, this came at just the right time and it's going into my "life lessons to access" bin of books that sits on top of my dresser. Few make it in but this one won't be going anywhere.



I received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review.  All thoughts, comments, and opinions are my own.

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Most married couples know how it goes. You start out in the throes of passionate romance only to have the fire cool over the years--especially when kids come along or life gets too busy. But keeping the romance alive is easier than most people think. Now the author of "Becoming Your Spouse's Better Half "shares the secrets of pursuing romance that won't quit.
With wit and wisdom, Rick Johnson shows men and women how to communicate effectively with their spouses, recapture the feeling of young love, incorporate romance and intimacy into everyday life, understand each other's unique sexual needs, and more. Anyone who has been married more than a couple of years will find useful insights and solid advice that will strengthen their marriage now and into the future.

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When I first chose to review this book, I honestly thought that it was going to be one filled with fun dates and things like that. Reading the book description now, I have no idea why I thought that! My guess is that it was late at night and I didn't thoroughly read what I was choosing. Silly me! That's okay because this book turned out to be a good choice anyway. Filled with sections on communication, love, romance, sex and even woundedness, this is a great book to remind all of us how to be better partners. The author writes in a style that it's like sitting down over a cup of coffee with a friend and just like that friend, you may not agree with every single thing, but you'll take away a lot and perhaps be a bit better for it.



I received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review.  All thoughts, comments, and opinions are my own.
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I've spent the past 30 hours wanting to write here, even needing to write here but not knowing what to say. I always find that to be such a sad irony; the girl who has a writer's soul not knowing what to write. I guess let's start with what the doctor said...

I broke it down for some friends like this:

1. It turns out that I'm brilliant. IQ testing, for what it's worth, put me at smarter than 90% of the people on the planet.
2. I have PTSD that mostly likely began when I was about 3 and has continued untreated well into adulthood. The other "traumas" that I have gone through have only made it worse and in part most likely led to...
3. What is most likely Bipolar II disorder. The testing that I did wasn't geared towards that but it did come up as a possibility and after discussing my symptoms that the testing didn't go over, he's pretty convinced.

So...now what? Now, I wait to hear back from my primary care doctor to see if they'll write me a prescription for a lithium based medication. I also have to call and set up a therapy schedule with a therapist who specializes in trauma therapy for women and children.

On paper, that's where I am right now. Inside my head, I'm so far from there. The stress and anxiety of yesterday has led to exhaustion and depression today. Add into that what one friend calls the "female chemical factory" that's going on inside of my body and I'm left wondering what the point of it all is.

I'd love to be able to say don't worry, I'll be fine, but the reality is..or at least the reality inside of my own head...I don't know. I don't know if I will ever be "fine" again. I look around and I see people smiling and laughing and so much of the time, it feels as if I don't even recognize those emotions. I put on a brilliant show, but deep down, I'm not sure what happy even is.

There are times..maybe too many times..that I sit and think about how I wish nobody really cared about me because then I could just vanish. Somehow, I could just cease to exist on this planet and the world would be such a better place. The oddest part? When I have those thoughts, I'm disconnected from them. There's no deep emotional well that they're coming from. If I were to say it out loud, it would be said in that same bored tone like, "Yeah, I should take the garbage out."

So I would love to say don't worry...because I'll be okay, but instead it's don't worry, you'll be okay. Who knows, maybe I will be too. After all, this is only 2/3 of my world...the rest of it is nothing like this...

For now though, I'm going to leave you with two posts..written by someone who has said and illustrated it so much better than I can right now. She's been there, so she understands...please go and read these and leave her your support.

Adventures in Depression Part I and Adventures in Depression Part II



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I haven't been posting here regularly for a while now. Usually I come back and I make some lame excuse or laugh off my absence. Today..Today, I'm going to tell you the truth of where I've been.

I've been right here. I've been sitting here, staring at this screen and wishing desperately for the knowledge of how to tell any of you who still read here that I'm not okay. I'm not fine. If I say those words, odds are that they're lies because while I so desperately want to be, I'm not fine and I'm not okay. I haven't been for a long time.

Oh sure, there are good days. Everyone has good days, even me. There have been days where I feel like I'm on top of the world and nothing can bring me back down. Those days are almost too good. They give me hope and for a brief shining moment, there's clarity.

Then, there are the bad days. Oh God, the bad days nearly kill me sometimes. Those are the days where I sit and cry because my life just feels impossible. Those are the days where I look down at my wrists and I think about how good it would actually feel to slice open that fragile skin. I don't want to die. It's not about death. It's about feeling something other than whatever is holding me down.

I met a boy not so long ago and he was wonderful. For the first time, perhaps ever, I opened myself up to him. I showed him the good days and I showed him pieces of the bad days. It was hard because I was so afraid that the "truths" of the bad days really were the truth. The voices that tell me that I'm useless, that I'm ugly, that I'm stupid, that I don't deserve happiness..I was so afraid that he would look at the real me and just confirm those things. He didn't, but he still broke my heart. You see, I showed him the real me and he said the real me doesn't exist.

Do I exist? That's such an awful question if you think about it. We all want to exist. We all want to be important in someone's world, don't we? To have someone say that you don't exist and then prove it by completely shutting you out of their world is just awful. It's been a couple of weeks and it still fills me with a horrible amount of sadness.

You see, I do exist but I exist within a world that not many people understand or even get to see. I live in a world where I may be on top of the world for a few days and then below the bottom of the ocean for a number after that. I ride a chemical and emotional roller coaster that makes no sense to many who haven't lived it themselves.

There are days when I don't want to get out of bed, where all I want to do is pull the covers up over me and pretend that I don't exist. It would be so much easier than trying to push through it. How do you explain to the people around you, the people who tell you how smart you are, that there are days where trying to think or put together coherent thought is like being in a smoke filled box where you can't see the walls and so you keep slamming into them as they move in closer and closer to you? That the very attempt at trying gives you awful headaches but you keep trying because you don't want anyone to see just how much you struggle with something that other times comes so easily? How do you explain that sometimes it's like there are two of you living inside your own head? There's the completely logical, rational, totally you girl..your true personality and spirit..but then there's this emotionally rabid creature that just reacts without reason. How do you explain that it's that second girl who desperately seeks out love and affection, even when it's not healthy? It's that girl who will crumple into a weeping pile over something said without any intent of harm or malice?

Those are the bad days, the days where I spend all day fighting myself until I'm an exhausted mess by the end of the day. Those are the days when I try to avoid people and yet everything within me screams to be with certain people. You see, I have what I call my safe zone..those people who have known me for ages and yet still accept me, even on the bad days when I know they don't understand what's happening with me. They're my 5 safe places. The irony is that I can't easily access any of them but they're the 5 that deep down I know that if things got bad enough, they'd be there.

It's not all bad days though. There are the way too good days too. The days where I wake up and I'm on top of the world, nothing can stop me and it's going to be amazing. Those are the days where I'm like a machine. I can accomplish amazing amounts of things and I'm happy, cheerful, bubbly and everyone loves me.

The problem with those? It's not normal or healthy either. A person cannot maintain that level of omgtheworldisawesomeandyesitalklikethisonthosedays. My brain moves at hyper sonic speeds and it's not unusual for me to have half a dozen things going on at once in it. I could be hearing a song, arguing with myself, thinking over some problem, sorting out a schedule and all this going on while I'm actively doing something else. Other times, my body is still as still can be because my brain is moving so fast that I don't need to move. For me, they can last no more than a few days and then the crash comes and I go through a series of bad days. Then, if I'm lucky, it balances out and I have
"normal" days for a little while before the whole cycle starts again.

You see, this isn't just depression. I've done depression and this is something more.  If I had my guess, it's Bipolar II disorder. My guess isn't good enough though, so I'm seeing a clinical psychologist next week. I need to know what's wrong with me and if it's even possible for me to live a normal life. I need to know if I can be just me without all of this holding me down and holding me back. I know that I will never get the boy back or help him to understand that I loved him enough to
show him the good and the bad, but maybe I can help other people understand what it's like to live with this by writing about it. It's a scary, scary place where so often I feel incredibly alone, so alone that I panic and will reach out to people who have no idea just how badly I need them to hold my hand and to tell me that it's going to be okay.

I'm just a girl, lost in her own world, who needs to know that even when she's "crazy", she's still loved.




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I'm down today and watching my behavior has reminded me that this post has been brewing for months and I haven't taken the time to write it. That happens to me quite a bit. I have all these great post ideas but then I start to feel down or overwhelmed and I let them go. It's something that I'm working on and that makes me feel better. The knowledge that I'm not letting life defeat me boosts me up. Isn't it funny how circular things can be?

Have you ever noticed that when you're down, you let things go and when you let things go, you feel more down? There's that circle again. I just want to let you know that you're not alone in this. This happens to most everyone at some point or another. Don't feel alone and don't beat yourself up over it.

I don't know if there have been studies but it has long been my opinion that a messy space is the sign of a messy mind. Not a dumb mind or a mind that doesn't work but a mind that is filled with chaos. When our minds are filled with chaos, they're not functioning at optimal levels. Things seem more overwhelming. We look around us at the clutter and the disorganization and we think, "Woah, I can't deal with this. I don't know what to do or where to start." Then, we leave the mess there and before we know it, the mess is even worse and now we're really freaking out.

Of course, there's that whole same side of the coin problem. For whatever reason, our space gets chaotic. It gets messy. It gets disorganized. We look at it and it smacks us in the face. We put ourselves in a negative mental space. We beat ourselves up for how it looks. We tell ourselves that "so and so" wouldn't have allowed this to happen. Guess what. We're not so and so. We're us. Nobody's life is as perfect on the inside as it looks from the outside.

I'm going to give you an example and I sure hope that she doesn't mind me using her. Some of you know, Leah from Mamavation.com and Bookieboo.com. For a while, on a fairly frequent basis, I was envious of her. Then, today, her wonderful hubby, Mark (MrBookieboo for those of you on Twitter), was showing pictures of the home office that they're re-organizing for her. I admit. I sighed longingly at the new pieces of furniture. I did. I desperately want some for my own space. Then, he showed a picture and in it, I could see her desk. Guess what, folks...it was just a normal, plain old desk and I seriously thought, "Wow, she has a plain old desk. She's not so different from me." Leah is fantastic but, and I hope I don't hurt her ego saying this, she's just like you and me. She has a house. She has kids. She has a wonderful hubby. She has a thriving site/business. She has all of that, but she has problems just like you and me and I would bet you, that sometimes she gets overwhelmed too.

We're all human. We all have bad days. What matters is how we deal with the bad days, the depression, the feeling overwhelmed, the chaotic brain problems and the chaotic space problems. So, how do we do it? We do it one thing at a time. Just like weight loss or any big project or journey, you start it one step at a time. Find one corner of one room and clear the space. Throw out the trash, donate the unwanted items and hold onto only the treasures. Keep that space just like that and each day, slowly expand out from that space. Before you know it, you'll have an entire room that when you walk into it, you'll smile. When you smile, your brain will release the "happy juice" and you'll relax. When your body relaxes, your mind will relax. For me, I start in my bedroom because what better place to relax in than the room you sleep in? Trust me, a chaotic bedroom will mess with your poor brain more than any other space. Clear that space, clear your mind and you will sleep so much better!

As for me, I'm off to spend just 10 minutes clearing a space. I'm putting the Hershey kisses away (no need to add to the chaotic body fat problem too!) and I'm going to make my bed a place that I want to curl up in tonight. Let me know what you do! Comments = love and support. If you leave a comment, it allows me to support you in your journey as well as gives me the support in mine.



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