A Winter's Evening Ramble on Love

As a young child I spent at least two thirds of my free time wiggling around on a church pew. I was the perfect picture of a pastor's granddaughter in my multi-layered poofy dresses with satin sashes, lace trimmed socks, gloves, hats and paten leather shoes. I didn't care ONE bit how I looked in those get ups...I was concerned with two things - the horrid discomfort of my stockings and how long I was gonna have to quietly sit still. Fastforward 30 years and I am still pretty much the same with the exception that I now CHOOSE to wear dresses. I often wondered then as I wonder now when I am logging hours of my day tackling daily tasks...why in the heck are we here and why do we do the silly things we do? Why is one shirt 50 dollars more than another because it has one small picture of a seagull or an eagle on it? Who decides the master value of 'things' and why in the world is so much value placed upon articles of clothing, vehicles, jewelry and other material objects? Why is the most highest of high and precious commodities NOT our health and well being? I learned quite young the value of health when my foot was crushed in an accident. It took all of about an hour for me to see that the simple act of walking FAR out weighed any other possession I had as soon as I lost my ability to mindlessly get up and make my way across a room. Even at that young age of 10 I questioned why I was put here on this beautiful place. I knew one thing for certain then and now - there is more to this experience than 'things' acquired. So far my question is being answered with one four letter word...LOVE. Love manifested through the self, through friendships, through romantic and platonic relationships and by caring for the body that houses my Soul- THAT is why I am here. I am here to be LOVE, to experience it and to give it freely as much as I can. I am here to soak up as much knowledge about being a human as my years are going to allow me and hope that those I meet along the path are better off for knowing me and I for knowing them. Yes....I still act like a child sometimes and twirl around in my dress all happy n' junk that for a few precious moments I don't have to sit still and be quite. Yes, I get caught up with the awe of bedazzled things. Alas, I take a deep breath...feel the Sun shine down on my face, give thanks for the clothes on my back, the shoes on my feet and continue to look for ways to spread more of the good stuff around that makes me shiny. Love will carry us through the thickets and the silver linings of life and bring us out on the other side. Love is the medicine for the Soul. May you always have enough of it to Sustain you...XOXO - The GFG

2013 in mah' Rearview

WOW! What a rollercoaster of a year! I mean...really y'all...it's been BUSY. I won't bore you to pieces with the details of wedding planning. Just please know that I've had my hands in more glitter THIS year than in all the previous years of my life and it has been positively fabulous. On the 5th of October my PC(Prince Charming)and I were married BY one of our best friends, surrounded with a wedding party of our best friends and family on the historic square of Covington, Ga where we live. I had a fairytale dress and my Gamerboy gave me away. We were blessed beyond all measure of space and time that day to have so many people we love show up for us and help make our day happen. #TWUWUV We spent our wedding night at the Evergreen Resort at Stone Mountain thanks to my PC's new friend helping us out. She landed us the nicest suite in the place! A BIG thanks to Paulette for that one :) IF you have not ever had the luxury of staying there....it is seriously like the resort from the movie 'Dirty Dancing'. We were treated like ROYALS for sho'. We left out the next day(with a short stop off to sign our marriage certificate because we were having so much fun in the photo booth at the reception that we FORGOT all about it)for our honeymoon in Savannah, Ga. THANKS to the generosity of our family(blood and chosen)and friends - we had a fully stocked honeymoon fund to spend the week in style...and BOY did we do JUST that! #lifestylesofthetemoporarilyrichandfamous The rest of the year has been spent full of 'firsts'. We've had our first Thanksgiving and now Christmas as 'The Coopers'. I am excitedly studying to become part of the natural health field and anxiously looking forward to doing some writing soon with my Good Health Fairy Lori. She is an angel sent here to me and all who cross her path. So...yeah...2014 is looking really bright as I sit here with my hot pink laptop typing away. I am, of course, still rocking right along on my gluten-free lifestyle. The holidays found a rogue cookie here and there and a few bites of other offenders but I escaped no worse for the wear. The next phase - successfully eliminating processed sugar- is going well. I sure am gonna miss that Agave in mah' coffee cup! Yet...my body will thank me for it by shining a little brighter each day. May 2014 SHINE for all of you loverlies...XOXO- The GFG