Family: I have two amazing sons—Kurt, 29, and Kyle, 24. Kurt owns La Belle Vie, a wholesale clothing company in Atlanta. Kyle is an electrical engineer for Chevron and lives in Australia and the U.S. bimonthly. They are polar opposites except for their support of their mama. They have been my greatest joys and blessings, and my biggest fans. I always feel blessed beyond measure when it comes to having two great sons. My parents are both in their 80s and living in southern Illinois. They helped nurture who I am, are supportive of everything I believe in, and have always been my best mentors in life.
Beauty secret/regimen: Exercise, supportive friends and family, and laughter.
Work: I have taught school for 34 years, 14 of them in the Mountain Home School District teaching second grade and fifth-grade math.
Makeup: I love my new BeautiControl skincare line and makeup! Thanks to Stacy White for hooking me up!
Salon: I love my new haircut by Sabrina at Salon Contrast.
Boutique: Gift-Tiques between Flippin and Cotter.
Place to lunch with girlfriends: Boating on the lake with my bestees Renae Shocke, Ann Qualls, Elaine Benefield, and Jeanette Byes, hanging out, catching up on life, painting our toenails.
Restaurant for an evening out: PJ’s.
Spot for a picnic: On Sand Island or in the Jasper area.
Body of water: Lake Norfork in my back yard.
Way to spend an evening: To have lots of friends on my back deck, a grill and a campfire, listening to music, laughing, and sharing life.
Outdoor activity: I love to spend time on the lake, work in my flower garden, or cycle through the countryside.
Way to relax: Sitting in the darkness with a few candles and the moonlight, listening to the whippoorwills sing.
Advice for younger women: Don’t wait until your 50s to figure out the two most important days in your life—the day you were born and the day you figure out why you were born.
Bedtime ritual: A glass of wine, the darkness of my backyard, and the nighttime sounds that come alive in my woods.
Favorite movie: Deep End of the Ocean.
Vacation: Lying on the beach listening to the ocean and the seagulls.
Way to celebrate a friend: I honor my friends with my time and a listening ear to hear what they need—a laugh, a hug, a good cry, or just my presence.
Way to be creative: Find others who are because I am not!
Way to volunteer: Listen to your heart and open your eyes. God gave us a purpose on this earth and we need a reason to be here and seriously consider what mark we can leave on others hearts and minds.
What I love about August/September: New beginnings with new kids at school, the beginning of cooler weather, and the beauty of nature in the fall.
10 things every woman should have:
1. A daily walk with God
2. A heart, and listening ears connected to that heart
3. Bravery to listen to your heartstrings
4. Compassion for others even if they are different than we are
5. Fun
6. Passion
7. As many people to love as your heart can hold
8. Time for yourself so you can renew your spirit and be the best you can be for yourself first and then others
9. The blessing of feeling loved for who you truly are
10. Strength to help others and to walk beside people who need us
11! A Purpose with a capital P
3 words that describe you: Compassionate, silly, and definitely unique.
Cause: One of the newest ways I have discovered to really get to know friends on a deeper level is to spend time working together on a heartfelt cause. Recently Renae Schocke, Ann Qualls, and a bunch of my friends from school and C3 Church renovated my friend Kelly Long’s home. Working alongside my friends gave me the opportunity to see the heart of each of them, their gifts and talents being given freely to someone who is dear to me. I realize now that no matter what life deals out to me in the future, they will all have my back. I feel so blessed to be given the chance to share Kelly and her family with other friends I love. Those few weeks, working side by side until all hours of the night, have bonded me to them forever.
Dream for the future: To live a long time so that I can see what the future has in store for me and the people I fiercely love. God has given me a new beginning thanks to my friend Kelly Long and her boys. Through her fight to beat cancer, she has opened my eyes to so many things God wanted me to see and do. My dream is that I will get many more years with her, and others I love, to grow old together.
What people might not know about you: I’m very sensitive and have very fragile feelings at times, although I come across as strong-willed and fiercely independent. I’m like March sometimes—I come in like a lion and, other times, I’m a lamb.
Motto: From Ralph Waldo Emerson—what lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside you. M! August/September 2014
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