In each of these events, I felt stopped in my tracks. But each time I have been able to find a way to get past it.

Sometimes, God will whisper to you. Sometimes He will just give you a short tap on the shoulder. Then He will hit you over the head with a 2 x 4.

God has been telling me for the past five years that my passion is for the airwaves. Radio. I love the vibration, the sound and the medium. I have never been happier doing anything than being on the air. It’s where I get my true joy.

So, I’m coming back on the air. I don’t know who my guests are yet. I don’t care. All I know is that I need to be on the radio, praising my Lord and giving my best talent to help others live their best lives.

And that’s that.

Tune in to The Best Life Barb Show every Wednesday night at 7:00 PM eastern. If you can’t listen, the show will be uploaded onto bestlifebarb.com.

all the BEST,

Best Life Barb

Instead, I’m going to write about what I’m NOT going to do.  It just makes more sense to me.

1.  I will not say I’m sorry for being myself.  You know how it is.  Someone doesn’t like what you say or how you said it, so you say…Oh I’m sorry I didn’t mean it.  Nope, I meant it.  I just had the guts to say it when most don’t.  I say what other people WANT to say. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.  In my world, I don’t like to have my feelings hurt so I don’t like to hurt other’s feelings.  BUT when you are speaking with someone~the real truth always follows the BUT in their statement.  Think about that one for a second, it will ring true.  So the truth is, I do like watching the Bachelor and sometimes my husband and I go to bed at 8:00 PM.  Once in a while, it’s 7:30 pm.  It’s not normal?  Well it’s normal for me.

2.  I won’t worry about how many likes I have on Facebook.  Without a doubt, I have been a grave disappointment to many of my friends on facebook.  The truth be known, I don’t even know half of my friends on facebook.  With that being said, when I decided to go off of facebook for a break, the rumor mill started churning.  The truth is, I get sick of my own posts sometimes.  It’s hard to be positive and uplifting 24/7.  I have to stop feeling that I owe 1700 + people a good time all the time.  NEWS FLASH:  I have bad days, too.  Mostly good, but some bad. If you don’t like me, that’s your problem, I like me.  I really, really like me.

3.  I’m not going to the gym.  Look, some people get a runners high.  I get my high from 5 Doublestuff Oreo cookies with a cold glass of milk.  I know I’m not a size 6.  Marilyn Monroe was a size 14 and she got along fine.  Okay, I’m not a size 14 either.  I don’t like to exercise.  Period.  So why pretend?  And what I weigh is none of your business.  I like being curvy.

4.  The next time I get offered a job, I’m going to think about it for at least a week.  You name it, I’ve done it.  From being a library assistant (are you kidding me?)  to selling timeshare, to being the president of a multi-million dollar corporation to being a radio host.  This year, I am really going to put some thought into my next venture and measure five times before I cut.

5.  I’m not going to be good to everyone else all the time. I am great at being a wife. A perfect mother.  A perfect friend. A perfect employee. I know just how to make the perfect meal, ask my husband.  My toilet bowl shines like a diamond ring.  When someone is sick, I make the chicken soup for who needs it.  This year I have decided that I need it.  If I treated myself as well as I treat the people in my life, I wouldn’t be writing about it in this blog.  I would be getting a facial or a mani/pedi.  I know I’m not perfect and don’t claim to be.  I do know that I’m a loving, valuable person that deserves the whole wide world.  But I’m not asking for it from anyone else, I’ll get it for myself. I love my husband, my family and my pets and now it’s time to nurture ME.

6.  The next time I get a speeding ticket I’m not going to try to talk my way out of it.  I’m just going to say thank you and smile and go on my way.

7.  I am going to stop watching the Kardashians.  At 55 years old, why I would be interested in what Kim and Kourtney are doing is beyond me!  I’m not going to record, DVR or read anything Kardashian this year!

8.  I will never put on a girdle again.  There were times in my life when it helped.  Call it a girdle, call it Spanx, call it control top pantyhose. It’s just not happening. Too many body parts are involved now.  My tummy tuck fund has been depleted and as of now I’m just going to have to love my tummy.  After all, I did have four kids!  So what if Rachael is 24….

9.  I’m not going to cry at work.  You know how it is.  You are having a really bad day.  And someone, could be anyone, just says the wrong thing at the wrong time.  You can feel the tears welling up and you hear that voice saying NO!! You can’t cry at work!! It’s not acceptable, you won’t be deemed credible once you cry!  But the tears spill down your face and with your black mascara framing your eyes, you could give Ozzy Ozbourne a run for his money.  Not this year!  I will bite my tongue, pinch myself, do anything but cry at work.

10.  I will never again pretend to be organized.  I am great at cooking dinner, washing clothes, even sewing a button on.  My problem, is that I can’t find the needle or the button.  My house looks great, but please don’t even TRY to open a closet without proper headgear on.

So thats it.  Some serious and some not so serious.  It’s the real Best Life Barb.  The truth is that I’m a work in progress.  The truth is, that no I’m not perfect and I don’t have every single thing I want.  I’m not even in the ballpark yet.  But I do love God and I love my husband and his family and mine. And I love our church family at Hope International in Groveland.  I am grateful for what I am and what I’m not.  And now I have a list of GOALS that I won’t do in 2012!  Bring it on, world!!!

all the BEST,

Best Life Barb

It is hard to believe that Christmas has come and gone.

My life has been incredibly busy and blessed.  I had one of the best Christmases ever.  The presents were great, but the meaning behind them was even better. Do you remember that my husband Randy bought me a Pandora bracelet for my birthday a month ago?  Well, I started off with three charms.  A lady bug, which symbolizes my late Mom.  A diamond cross, which symbolizes our love for God and a charm that says Together Forever.  I guess I don’t have to explain that one…LOL.

Being that I asked for more Pandora charms, I knew I would get a few, but I didn’t think I would get so many!  And with so much meaning behind each one.  Some are private, but I will let you know about a few of them later in this blog.

We spent Christmas Eve right where we belonged.  In church!  What a great time that was!  Our church family is so important to us.  They love us to life without gossip, without drama and without judgements.  Our church is not the church where everyone just talks about what people are wearing or who is doing what…none of the BS…our church welcomes us by name and says….We are so glad to see you!  We love you!

If you don’t have a church, please come to ours!  It’s Hope International Church in Groveland and we go to service at 8:30 am on Sundays.  If you like to sleep a little later, there is a 11:00 AM service.  Right now our Pastor is battling cancer, but we know he is already healed in the name of Jesus.  We love our Pastor Tony and Jodie and we pray for them every single day.

Okay back to Christmas Eve.  After we went to church, we stopped to see some family in Groveland.  My sister in law Pam is a real gem.  We had such a good time.  My other sister in law Marcia makes the very  best pork chops you ever wanted to eat, and she was gracious enough to feed us some leftovers.  It was delicious!  We were truly sad that we couldn’t spend Christmas Day with the whole family but we had made other plans with my kids.  We plan on bringing my kids there next year.  We promised!

When we got home, as family tradition holds true, we decided to open one present.  Well, one turned into two and two into three.  We laughed and loved the idea that we could do whatever we wanted. We had so much fun on Christmas Eve.  We were able to speak to our grandson Cameron and I was a hot mess.  It was especially hard this year to be away from Cameron, but I got through it with a lot of support from Randy.

Speaking of Randy! My wonderful, thoughtful caring husband was still (and still is) hurting from his fall from the ladder.  Four of his ribs are fractured and there is nothing that can be done.  But he is a real trooper and hopefully he will mend up soon.

We spent Christmas Day with my son Brodie and his fiance Sara.  I cooked a turkey and ham and we had all the trimmings.  Home made strawberry pie was dessert and it went fast.  After the kids left, we decided to go to Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

We had a blast!  We saw the Osborne Dancing light show and American Idol.  We went on the Movie Ride and attended Indiana Jones’ stunt show.  It wasn’t all that crowded, because we got there a little later on.  What a great memory it was.  Oh and speaking of memories!!!

Here are some of the new Pandora Charms I got:

A Bible – again our love for God and our church.

A football-  something we love to watch together.

A heart that say I Love you.

My favorite was the Angel holding a heart.  The Angel represents the angel that came to Randy on December 19th to give him the message to marry me.  When I saw the Angel charm, I busted out crying.  Its means the world to me.

Plus I got a few more that will stay private between my husband and I.

Ya know, I can’t tell everything!!!

all the BEST,

Best Life Barb

Far be it from me to complain that someone make a profit.  This is America, land of the brave and free and I’m all for free enterprise.

But it seems like every time I go into the grocery store, prices are just rising unbelievably.  $3.89 for a pound of butter?  Come on, are you kidding me?

For two small bags, one with only two items, it was over $25.

I know that we have a lot of problems in this country.  Unemployment is soaring, the economy sucks, health care~don’t get me started…but when it’s $4.00 for a pound of butter, this world is out of control.

Recently we have been listening to Dave Ramsey on the radio.  He is our new financial guru.  Check him out at www.daveramsey.com.  He has a mealtime makeover program that we just may be looking at joining.

$3.89 for four little sticks of butter? Sheesh!

I know it’s Christmas and I’m usually Mrs. Positive, but the grocery store blues have got me down.

Oh I think it’s time for Calgon to take me away.

all the BEST,

Best Life Barb

Of course I wanted Christmas lights up!  Our neighborhood is so Christmasy~I didn’t want to be the only house without lights, right?

Well last Saturday The Coomers had a plan.  We were going to put up some white icicle lights up and then later on go watch the Singing Christmas tree show at the First Baptist Church in Orlando.

We didn’t count on the fall.  Randy was just about done putting up the lights..only about three more feet!  I had just walked into the kitchen when I heard the thud then the groan.  I ran outside and there he was SPLAT on the concrete.

The ladder gave away and Randy fell hard on the concrete driveway.  He did manage to break his fall by hitting the car.  But he did hit that car hard.

I called 911.  I got a dish towel (why, I dont know!) The neighbor came over.  And there was my hot husband bleeding from a scratch on his head and elbow.  He knocked the wind out of himself and scared the heck out of me. 

The ambulance came in a few minutes and wanted him to go to the hospital…well of course you know that didn’t happen. 

We didn’t make the Singing Christmas trees but we didn’t have to go to the hospital, either.

My poor guy.  Sore ribs and all, the next day he put up the rest of those Christmas lights.  And I must say our lights look just great! 

He’s the best!

all the BEST,

Best Life Barb

These past two weeks have been…just wonderful!  Life has it’s ups and downs and the Lord knows that I’ve seen plenty of downs, but in the last two weeks, I have seen mostly UPS!

Getting to see our grandson Cameron was a big plus!  Cameron is three and talking up a storm.  At one point when we were sitting at a red light with Cameron in the car seat, he all of a sudden said, “Hi Barbara!”  I said, who’s Barbara?   He said you are my grandma, Mimi.  Oh what a kid!

Thanksgiving was spent at my son Brodie’s house.  His future wife Sara did a great job with the food and the company was fun.  We don’t spend enough time with Brodie and Sara, but we plan on spending a lot more time with them in the future.  They want to spend Christmas with us, too.

My birthday was such a great one this year!  My husband Randy got me a Pandora bracelet with three charms:  a ladybug (that signifies my Mom), a diamond cross (that signifies our love of God) AND a charm that says: together forever.  Awwww…besides that, I got that list of WHY he loves me, PLUS a dinner out, PLUS a beautiful card..PLUS…we’ll just stop at that one. 

Besides attending our wonderful church every Sunday, we also try to go to the couple’s events that they provide.  This year that included going to our very first prom!  We had so much fun!  We were finalists in the “Dating Game” and almost pulled off a win by competing in a Dance OFF!  We boogied on down against 30 year olds and certainly gave them a run for their money.  We also had such a nice dinner and a few romantic slow dances in between.

This weekend we are going to see the Singing Christmas trees.  AND our one year anniversary is coming up on Christmas Eve.  It’s been a year!  and God willing we shall have many more years of wedded bliss.

God has been so good to us. 

We have both of our families that we love so much ( a special shout out to sisters in law Stephanie and Pam for their loving support  AND son Randy Luke who really went out of his way to make my birthday special~~), PLUS our two dogs and three cats PLUS the love for our church family and our friends.  My cup runneth over…:)

I just can’t stop smiling.

all the BEST,

Best Life Barb

The List!

Pictures will surely follow!

all the BEST,

Best Life Barb