“When I think of my favorite and most memorable memories from college, a lot of things come to mind. Of course, the normal college experience is great. Being away from home and feeling like a real adult was awesome, but the traditions that my college had were probably the most memorable. As far as college traditions I would say there are too many to count but one of my most memorable is attending all of our football and basketball games as a purple poo. Getting to share school spirit with everyone every weekend whether it was in Stephenville or at an away game super far away. Going to games was always absolutely memorable! I also loved that we did an annual fall recruitment for my sorority Alpha Gamma Delta. For a week straight we stayed up late, decorating, singing, counting votes, and meeting new girls. At the conclusion of the recruitment we always ended up with the most recruits and it made it all worth it! We also did something called a yell contest. Each campus organization would have a chance to perform a yell and dance in front of a crowd of 1,000+ people during homecoming week and the best one would win. Our sorority won 3 out of 4 times during my time at college! Another memorable moment for me in college was getting close to my sorority members. While being away from home your “sisters” and advisors serve as your family. They help you grow as a person, and they definitely shaped you into the adult you’ll grow to be. Being in a sorority just ensures that you’ll have life long friends. I tried to be as involved as possible in college and strived hard to get to know everyone, not just a small circle of people. Even in high school, I tried to be involved in a little of everything. I was in dance, cheer, UIL, volleyball, softball, prom committee, student council, etc. What I’m getting to is I try to stay very involved! I try my best to do the same here in Grandview and feel it has really helped me cultivate relationships and build bonds with lots of families.”

I have a few family recipes that I will use fairly often. I have gained quite a few over the years. One thing I make is a cornbread dressing sauce. I basically have the recipe embedded in my memory because I make it so often. It is a traditional event that I make it on Thanksgiving for dinner every year. Last year, I added a bit more spice than I normally would do, but my kids said that it still came out great. I enjoyed making it. I also made a green bean casserole to go along with the rest of the Thanksgiving dinner for that night. I added cream of mushroom soup, and all in all it turned out very nice. The whole family enjoyed what I ended up cooking. The other family recipe that I use is one for potato chip cookies. It is pretty simple to make. It has got a nice sweet and salty flavor going on, because of the potato chips in there. It is probably the most interesting recipe that I have made, but I am glad that I have it in my book now. It was always my favorite of the recipes my grandmother had. She would normally make these for Thanksgiving, and I always asked for the recipe, but she never wrote it down. So one day, my aunt got the recipe for me, I have made it on many occasions, and I even made it on Thanksgiving this year to continue the tradition, even though it is a rather untraditional thing to do. But, the kids were happy to eat them, no matter the occasion. Kids are fine with anything sweet, so I guess that they didn’t mind it. I think that my cornbread dressing was the biggest hit, and the whole family liked it. Thanksgiving ended up being very nice. I enjoyed making the parts of the meal that I did, and despite how weird this year had ended up being, I was with my family, and I got to cook for them. I have always enjoyed cooking, and my family recipes are something that I cherish.

One of the worst phases in my life was when I tried to start my own company. Now, to be honest, it was a great learning experience and a great thing to just do for something in my life, but it was very stressful. When I tried to start my own company, we bought a warehouse in Arlington, Texas, but it was very run down. Right when we started the business, I just had my second kid and it was a lot of stress. I was working all day while trying to keep care of my children and I felt very pressured to do amazing. From working eight in the morning to almost nine at night was tiring. My husband tried to help with the kids as much as he could, but he was working two shifts and I never wanted to ask for help from my family because I wanted to do it on my own. We ended up selling the warehouse and not starting the company. But at the end of the day, it was a great learning experience.

Volleyball was a really fun and educational experience in my life. I didn't start playing for a team until I was a sophomore. My parents were very traditional and didn’t like us getting all bruised up playing a sport, but they let us try out. In my senior year in volleyball, the coach let two varsity girls coach the guys’ JV team. My sister and I were the coaches that year. It was fun using the drills and knowledge we gained to teach these newbies. They were really sweet and worked hard. Only made them run extra laps occasionally. It was an amazing experience and definitely one of my best times in high school. They ended up winning more games than the varsity team. We made some good friends along the way too. It was awesome to teach them and see their skills develop. Volleyball was a memorable phase in my highschool life because it brought me lots of good friends, fun, challenges, learning, responsibility, and bruises.

“ When I was a freshman in high school I had made the varsity basketball team and I was so glad that I made it because I worked very hard to get on varsity my whole life. I had been practicing basketball for years and had built up my skill level. My parents were very happy that I made varsity and congratulated me many times. That was the year the girls’ varsity basketball team made it all the way to the state championship game. The coach had put me in during the last quarter of the game and at that time we were winning the state championships game and for some reason, I decided to do something crazy. I had hiked the ball underneath my leg to one of my fellow teammates. I had done this crazy and very risky fancy basketball move while I was running down the court and it was in the last few minutes of the state championship game! I was so surprised that I did that! At the moment I was so scared because I wasn’t sure if the ball was going to the teammate I passed it to, but luckily the ball went directly to the other teammate that I was passing to. Then we scored a three-pointer off of the play and ended up winning the state championship game that year. When I looked at my coach I saw the look on his face was so surprised and so were the other girls on my team and on the opposing varsity team. I was for sure that my coach was going to kill me because I probably shouldn’t have tried something so risky. At the end of the game when the team got back in the locker room I got plenty of congratulations and “how did you do that” from every coach and teammate. My parents were also very surprised when I got home and they were so confused but happy at the same time. I am so glad that the pass that I hiked underneath my leg actually went to the girl I passed it to.”

This picture is from when I was a cheerleader for the Grandview high school football team

¨I think the craziest and most last-minute thing I have done is moving to Prague, Czech Republic to teach at an international Christian school. It was crazy to me because I found out about it and figured out I could move in June. Then I moved out there in August of 2018. And some people thought it was crazy for me to move across the world to a whole new country especially after losing my husband. I think it was something I needed to go do because it was a fresh start, I could learn to do things by myself and for myself. I could reset without being someone's wife, mom, or grandma. It was a really exciting experience I got to go see a country I have never been to before and got to meet lots of new people. I got to travel to so many places so many other new countries in Europe like Germany, Austria, Budapest, and England.

Teaching there was amazing. I taught third grade my two years teaching there, my first year I taught 7 amazing kids from all over the world with all different backgrounds. Then in my second year, I had a class of 13 kids. My second year ended sooner than it should have due to Coronavirus. I had contemplated for some time if I should stay in Prague or head home to Texas. I had to make a decision quickly because I had found out that the Czech Republic was closing their borders soon so I knew I probably needed to head home. I then started to look for plane tickets back home. Once I found a plane ticket I started packing, I had to leave a lot behind because I could only take home my suitcases so my roommate ended up keeping some of my stuff or we threw it out. I was actually the last flight out of the country before they closed the borders that very same night I left. I loved my time in Prague but I am glad to be back home and in the country.¨

My favorite thing to do is travel and vacation, but my favorite vacation would be when my husband Brian and I went for a week-long trip to Las Vegas. But after 2 days there I was done! I wanted to see something else, I was tired of seeing the slot machines and smelling all the cigarettes. And I said, “Okay I’m gonna go soak in that really nice bath.” And he said, “Well I'm going to go hit the high rollers room!” And I was just so annoyed with him because there were a million other things we could spend our money on. So he went down there and about 45 minutes later he came back up and he had won $3000 dollars and asked me, “Where do you want to go?” And I said, “I want to rent a car and get out of here.” So we rented a Corvette, which was really fun to drive, and we drove to Hoover Dam, and that was amazing. Then we went from there and drove through this beautiful desert to the Shelby Museum (a Mustang Museum). And then the next morning we woke up really early, and I never had any desire to go to California but we drove across the Mohombi desert to Las Angeles. And I had never seen the ocean before, other than our honeymoon which had been 10 years prior. So we got into Santa Monica right as the sun was coming up over the ocean and I had never seen anything like that before, it was absolutely beautiful and I was completely speechless. So we drove to a little breakfast place and got pancakes and waffles. We didn't have anywhere to stay so we bought a room at the first hotel we saw. We just started doing everything off of a whim, “You want to go to the beach?” “Yeah!” “You want to go for a hike? “Sure why not!” We stayed in Santa Monica for the next three days, drove back to Vegas, and caught our flight home just in time. It was the absolute best vacation and now my family and my family and I go to California all the time!

“I was working a late-night shift at a Texas Health Presbyterian facility. It was four o’clock in the morning and President George W. Bush had walked into the hospital as any other person would. All of the staff were a little tired since it was so early in the morning and we didn’t realize it was him at first. The president was a patient at the Presbyterian facility that I was working at. He was there for a major heart procedure. I was a little surprised when he walked in, but I was interested in meeting him. He was very excited to meet the staff at our Texas Health Presbyterian facility. He was a very nice man that was kind to everyone around him. President George Bush treated everyone who worked at the hospital very well. He also would not let the nurses or doctors touch him or do anything before he took an individual picture with each worker. Then after that, President George W. Bush also thanked us all for what we did in the hospital for other people. He was very humble and I expected him to act the complete opposite of what he did. I thought President George W. Bush might be demanding and maybe a little bit rude just because he was famous. It was cool to meet a president who had served two terms in office. I also met another celebrity, Emmitt Smith. He played on the Dallas Cowboys and the Arizona Cardinals. My husband Terry, my friend, her husband, and I were all going out to eat at a pretty nice restaurant. We were about to sit down when we saw Emmitt Smith wave us over to come to sit down with him. He was inviting all of us over to talk to him and his wife at the restaurant. He was also a very kind man and was excited to meet us. Emmitt Smith was also really funny. I thought it was weird for him to talk to us but overall meeting Emmitt Smith was really fun and exciting for the four of us.”

“Right after I had just graduated from high school at Grandview High School my dad and I were on the highway coming back from Burleson on the way to Grandview and we saw a DPS officer that had a guy pulled over on the side of the road. The guy he had pulled over tried to take the officer's gun and my dad and I pulled over to try to help the officer, which before I got out of my truck I didn't know the guy actually got the gun from the DPS officer. We saw the DPS officer get the gun back from the guy and he shot him in the chest and the face and ended up killing him, but he didn't really have a choice because the guy he had pulled over was literally trying to steal his gun so he could potentially harm him. We also had to go to court later to testify for the DPS officer and help him so that he wouldn't end up going to jail for shooting the guy. The only reason I stopped was because I knew who the DPS officer was because he lives in San Flat and he later ended up becoming a Texas Ranger. We were pretty ok friends, but we just pulled over because he was struggling with the guy that was trying to get his gun, and if my dad and I wouldn’t have pulled over then Lord knows what could’ve happened. Like the guy could’ve killed the DPS officer or harmed him, but the officer ended up killing the guy and it was a pretty dangerous situation to be in. This was before I became a probation officer and I didn’t know as much about arrest and criminals at the time.”

When my daughter, Olivia, was in pre-k she had twinkle toe shoes that lit up when she walked. One day the girls from her class were all in the restroom and there were no windows in there. Then the electricity went out in the building and it was pitch black in the restroom. All the little girls were screaming, and Olivia started stomping her feet so that her shoes would light up. She told the other little girls, just follow me I will get you out of here, I will keep you safe! She helped everyone get back to class, and was the hero!

I have a fear of heights. I do not like to be up too high. My family didn't really go on vacations, so we never did anything daring, or dangerous, even if my dad drove too fast my sisters and I were afraid. There was this one Fourth of July, for whatever reason, I don't know why, my dad decided we were going to watch the fireworks on the roof of the house. So he put a ladder up on the side of the house, and my whole family climbed up that ladder and sat on the roof and watched the fireworks. We lived about a mile away from Disneyland, so the fireworks were always, every single night of the year incredible. But on the Fourth of July, they were extra incredible. So here we were a little bitty wife, three little girls, and my dad up on top of our roof, and us girls had never climbed anything before. Well, my dad starts to get the ladder so we can get down and he knocks the ladder over. We were all on the roof, so the three of us all started to get scared and we are all crying. He had to go across the roof to where there is a fence and climb down the roof, then climb down the fence. He came around the house and set the ladder up. You know we were all convinced that we were going to die or spend the rest of our lives on that roof, but he rescued all of us. Now I don't know if that is what caused me to not like heights, but I don't like heights.

It was prom night in the year 1980 and there was a group of kids that were at the high school prom, unfortunately, they decided that the prom wasn't all that exciting so they left. As they left the school they decided that they were going to drive down 916 and as young kids are, they were goofing not paying attention to what was going on. As they were flying around the curves of the dark old country road all of the sudden to their surprise was a horse standing in the middle of the road. This all happened so fast that they didn't have time to react and yep, you're right, that's what happened. They hit the horse flew into the ditch and totaled the car. The entire outcome was not good. The horse had to be put down, the tow company had to pull the car out of the ditch and the parents of the four kids all had to be called. While all this was going on the police had to notify the horse's owner of what had happened. Now it was left up to the owner of the horse to choose the kids' fate, whether he wanted to press charges luckily for them he chose not to because it had already been rough enough on them. Mind you this happened in 1980, several years later I moved to Grandview, and I started attending the local church when one day I heard a gentleman speaking of an event that happened a while back. The more I listened the more intriguing the story became, and come to find out that one of the four kids that were involved in this incident is a relative, and yes I am related to one of the zebras that decided to skip the prom. Never knowing that I would hear of this incident again if this subject gets brought up to my relative, and you ask him what happened the night of your prom and still to this day he puts his head down and says if he had a chance to do it all over again he would have stayed at the boring prom.

My most memorable mom experience was the birth of each one of my children. My firstborn, Kaleb, was the longest labor and an emergency C-Section. When they finally handed him to me, he cried and he did not stop crying for at least a year. I joke with him now that he started making noises since the moment he was born and has not stopped yet. Everett, my second born, was a scheduled C-Section. The decision to do this was based on my doctor's recommendation for the baby's safety. The irony was that Everett ended up in the NICU for three days and I was not able to hold him for several hours. I remember telling Howdee (my husband) and a friend, that if they did not bring me my baby or give me an update I would get up and walk down the hallway to find him. The nurse was not happy about this, after all, I had just had major surgery. They soon brought me a wheelchair and took me to the NICU to visit him. I can remember reaching into the NICU incubator where he was lying and touching his little hand, wondering if he was ok. To this day, I wonder if I had chosen wrong. I often think Abigail, my third child, was a natural birth six years later. I remember it as clearly as the day she was born. Ten hours into labor I told my Dr. I am done doing this, let's do the C-Section. She looked at me, laughed, and said nope, I have already missed my Christmas party for this one and you are going to do it. Less than 24 hours later Abigail and I went home, and she was perfect. Abigail grew to be the healthiest baby of the three until she was a year old. She spent the next six ½ years sick at least once or twice a month. I was so used to her being ill that when she was four years old she ended up with a sore throat and severe neck pain and a fever of 106.7 within 24 hours. I took her to the ER, and they sent us home and told me to let it run its course. The following day she became listless and refused to eat or drink. I immediately loaded her up and went back to the ER. That was the scariest day of my life. As a mom there is nothing more frightening than a nurse telling you, I am sorry ma'am, but your daughter has sepsis, and I need you to hold it together and not cry. The next seven days in the hospital were exhausting. Needless to say, this was an experience I do not wish on anyone