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Our new normal

Today would be me and Joseph’s 11th anniversary. However, after a 1-year separation, as required in S.C., we divorced February 6, 2020. I left the marriage and refused to reconcile so we agreed on a divorce. We had a short 5-minute hearing at the family courthouse with a witness to verify that we haven’t lived under the same roof for a year and it was done.  We have a custody agreement that we wrote ourselves and mutually agree upon. No child support, no alimony. We’ve had 50/50 custody of the children throughout the whole process. We adjust days and times and we need and are flexible with the schedule. Joseph and I have a civil and amicable relationship. We took my name off the mortgage and he bought me out of my portion so my debt could be freed up for something else one day. So that was our last ”tie” connecting us besides the children. We answer the kids questions as honestly as we can, address behaviors and fears, and have adjusted the family dynamics. This is new to all ...
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30-Day Writing Challenge: 10 things that make you happy

Day #1: 10 things that make you happy. https://lifeentirely.wordpress.com   This list is recorded in no particular priority: 1) Finding a show on Netflix or Amazon Prime to binge watch 2) Spending hours in the sun at the beach or pool  3) Feeling sore after physical labor 4) Keeping the plants alive on my porch 5) Being completely alone in my apartment 6) A flavorful meal or coffee drink 7) When my kids get along with me and each other 8) Doing something new or going somewhere you've never been 9) Sex that you are still thinking about days later 10) Finding a used treasure or clearance item at a store What makes you happy? Day #2: Write something that someone told you about yourself that you never forgot
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In the day of a driver

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Well, as a Personal Vehicle Driver (PVD) for UPS, day-to-day its a roller coaster. The weather, the amount of stops, the number of dogs barking, conditions of the road, how packed the car is, etc.  So Day 5 was rough. I had the most stops I had ever had, 48 that day. I got hung up at a couple paces because I couldn't find house numbers on the house or mailbox. Why?? Some stops I had a difficult time locating the package in the car so that took up time. Then I felt like the order of the route was weird and GPS was having me retrace and backtrack a few times. Needless to say, it was almost 8:00pm when I got home Tuesday night. I don't even know how many miles I drove, but I put in almost 9 hours.  blocks of cotton after being harvested Then there are days like yesterday and today (Day 6 & 7) where I have 31 and 21 stops. Everything about the day was easy- packing the car, finding the packages, following the route, and finding the houses. It was beautiful weather, rode...
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UPS Peak Season PVD

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The last time I blogged it was about my horrible work conditions in the Beaufort County School District. My blog post was so poignant that the district asked me to remove it. It's okay, it had 106 views before I hide it and the intended audience was among those. I am writing about the new adventure I have in my life right now. After working for a temporary agency for a few months at different local businesses, I decided the apply for a PVD for UPS. I am already an Uber driver so I thought it would be very similar, just transporting packages instead of passengers. I went to an orientation, they did a vehicle inspection. Vehicle can't have logos or bumper stickers, can't be a "hoopty" car with rims and low suspension, has to be a 4-door sedan or SUV. They check your 3 year driving record and can't have any moving violations, they do a background check, and there is a 2-hour paid online training. The PVD rate this year is $21/hour plus mileage at .54 cents. M...
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Spanish Moss Trail

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It's ironic that what is liberating and freeing to one can be considered reckless and irresponsible by another. I have this Bucket List that I revise and edit as needed over the years. Here recently I feel an urgency to mark off as much as I can. I'd say this "mid-life reborn" phase I am in is responsible for my doing things I've wanted or missed out on. Living life to the fullest is my motto right now. Why should my happiness be sacrificed? Circumstances, finances and people prevent these items from ever getting off the paper list into reality. So my mindset has had a tremendous shift recently and I've never felt happier. Today I had the opportunity to mark a bullet off my list and I want to document it while the memory is still fresh in my mind. Last night I checked the weather to see if the weather would cooperate for walking the full length of the Spanish Moss Trail in one day. The weather showed no precipitation after 11am, high 67 degrees, and clo...
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Martyrdom

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The first time I heard about martyrs was when I learned about Joan of Arc. I think I watched this Hollywood version. During my college years, I remember reading, She Said Yes: The Unlikely Martyrdom of Cassie Bernell.  That is when I decided that is how I want to die. Not necessarily in a school shooting, but as a representative of Jesus Christ. Ever since that moment, I've had a peace that if I was ever given an ultimatum, I would gladly choose Christ. The Insanity of God movie  was introduced to me at a small group last year and then I participated in  the The Insanity of Obedience  by Nik Ripken book study in a connect group. You can read about my thoughts on the movie here . One day, I found a Hearts of Fire book in my Little Free Library in my front yard. This was before I left for my trip to China. I felt like the book had been planted there just for me! Rarely do I find a book in the LFL that I want to read so I snatched it out immediately...
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Let's be real

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I'm going to be real, which is what I typically try to be. Our happy family photos on facebook are leggit. Let's be honest, not every moment is pretty smiles though. Typically society filters and guards what we put out there for people to know and see.  Our family felt called to "go out the box" for Christmas this year. We sacrificed time with our extended family to go bless people we didn't know. Instead of buying gifts for people, we rented a hotel room and went to Greenville, SC for family-time and ministry. Our friend, Stephen Jeffrey, told us about Miracle Hill Ministries so we made that our mission for Christmas.  As we were driving up to the Marriott that we found on Hotwire.com for $70/night, there was a Walgreens on the corner. I said, "I like when I see a drug store close by."  Joseph thought I was joking, but I was serious. Little did I know how frequently we would be visiting it.   Our gift wrapping opportunity  at Greenville...
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