Nature awakens in brilliant colors of autumn, making me wish winter would bid adieu.

Dreams become reality once the dreamer goes beyond imagining and acts them out.

Anyone who takes the time to be kind is beautiful.”from: “The Beauty of Ugh”

I live in two unique worlds, traveling between both with just the opening or closing of my eyes.

Our greatest duty to our children is to love them first. Secondly, it is to teach them. Not to frighten, force, or intimidate our children into submission, but to effectively teach them so that they...

Two powerful, little words I’ve learned to use when facing challenges, fears, and doubts—so what?

Sometimes giving up feels like the easiest thing to do. But then the easiest thing has never produced more than a garden full of weeds.

I’ll always want to be your friend, Annabelle. Do you want to be mine?”My head nodded like mad, ecstatic, all on its own. I disappeared among the shadows again and watched my new friend until...

I don’t believe that the course of anyone’s lifetime has ever been as unerring as that of the rising and setting sun, but I know many lives that have been just as inspiring.

Trying to change old habits is like fighting a war in your head—a draining and exhausting skirmish that makes you wonder at your chance of survival.

Yes, of course we could all use some help. There isn’t a person alive without a need. So don’t ask the silly question, just figure out how you’re going to help and do it!

Sometimes the difference between success and failure is simply the degree to which you crave one over the other.

It is a pleasurable thing to earn the admiration of others, but it is a far better feeling to honestly admire thyself.

You pierce me with a look, a word, a gesture. And yet those same weapons could shield me from hurt if you so choose.

Punishing a person for the wrongs of another makes about as much sense as throwing up to enjoy the meal a second time.

Fathers…Rise at dawn.Stand up strong.Fix and build.Plow the field.Carry the weight.Work ’til late.Encourage our dreams.Provide the means.Fight with might.Defend what’s right.Protect the home.Refuse to roam.Forge the way.Take time to play.Spoil our moms.Keep homelife calm.And all...

They think I’m a god,” he snapped.That was a pretty good argument.

I wonder at times if we’re not all blind. It just seems there are an abundance of books unread, paint strokes not admired, and performances unattended. So much attention painstakingly sought and not given.

Of course Derian will believe you. When does anything ever happen to you that isn’t unreal?”Knowing he was right, she shoved him off the log anyway.

Dare to imagine. Dare to be. Books are the seeds. Dreams are the soil. The fruit of the harvest, a world reborn.

Of Woman and Chocolate “Chocolate shares both the bitter and the sweet.Chocolate melts away all cares, coating the heart while smothering every last ache. Chocolate brings a smile to the lips on contact, leaving a dark...

The pleasures of being a novelist are many. But the greatest by far is the manner in which I live through my characters; experiencing every detail of their story as it unfolds gradually and personally...

Have you ever pondered the miracle of popcorn? It starts out as a tiny, little, compact kernel with magic trapped inside that when agitated, bursts to create something marvelously desirable. It’s sort of like those...

The actual secret to success: Be a better friend today than you were yesterday.

It’s been a harsh fight.You’ve been pummeled and knocked down. Your body aches, flesh torn and bruised. Your eyes can hardly see through a stream of blood. But you are cognizant and alive; therefore, you...

This day is the most recent set of events to define you. Every day changes your life. Every last one.

Love is years of devotion, sacrifice, commitment, loyalty, trust, faith, and friendship all wrapped up in one. True love does more than cause your heart to flutter. It upholds your heart when the infatuation no...

I have always felt that fear possesses such great power, enough to paralyze and quake an individual. Pondering this, I realized that the source of fear’s power comes from within me. So, I ask myself,...

Happiness isn’t reserved for privileged individuals. It is a state of mind that can neither be bought nor stolen nor traded; it is a liberty available to anyone.

No one is born a sprinter. We all learn to push ourselves up from the floor and then balance before taking that first, wobbly step. It is an individual choice where to go from there.

Is anything truly impossible? Or is it that the path to our goals appears too unclear to follow? It seems to me that if you seek hard enough, pray hard enough, you usually stumble across...

I want you.Eena thought the expression on his face—the look in his weary blue eyes—appeared strangely sincere. But there was one thing she had learned from all this: never trust a master of deceit.

Disappointment is really just a term for our refusal to look on the bright side.

You know those little moments when an unexpected act or a spoken word affects your heart with sweet, satiating intensity―a simple gesture that possesses deep, personal meaning beyond what anyone realizes? You know those tender...

Choose to be good and kind and tolerant regardless of the situation or who’s involved, because life is more a matter of developing character than of dishing out just rewards.

Write the ending first and then you’ll know before the opening sentence that it’s going to be a good book.

I’m generally quite happy until someone tells me I’m not. I don’t see how they know I’m not, but suddenly I feel less happy.

It seems there is more interest in sunsets than sunrises. Perhaps because innately we fear the dark.

If you plan to build walls around me, know this—I will walk through them.

Moms are life’s number one cheerleaders without uniforms.

Who told you it was too late? And more importantly, why did you choose to believe them?

The cup is both half full and half empty; it has never been one or the other. Stop obsessing over the trivial cup and drink the medicine you’ve been given.

You baffle me, addle me, drive me insane. You muddle, befuddle, and rattle my brain. My senses are mad, Skewed judgment to blame.You drive me half stark-raving bonkers!(But the truly crazy thing is how I...

There is strength in numbers, yes, but even more so in collective good will. For those endeavors are supported by mighty forces unseen.

If you avoid all of life’s abrasions you will never be polished enough to shine.

Derian is playing?” She groaned internally, knowing she should’ve guessed as much. This was starting to look like another setup.

Happiness depends upon two things—pleasing God, and then pleasing yourself.

Courage to me is doing something daring, no matter how afraid, insecure, intimidated, alone, unworthy, incapable, ridiculed or whatever other paralyzing emotion you might feel. Courage is taking action…..no matter what. So you’re afraid? Be...

A whiff of fresh mintthat tastes like strawberry pie.Your kisses tempt me.

World peace, true love, and happily-ever-afters amount to wasted wishes, failed endeavors, and most precious dreams.