#ChallengeAccepted ….sort of. These days there aren’t many forces that stand between me and the goals I set for myself. As much as I am self-conscious or battle anxiety, I am entirely #unafraid in the ways that matter. I have been given the ultimate gift of NOT having to know #fear as a core part of my existence. But, as a woman, living with the certain knowledge that I have the freedoms, skills, and abilities to affect my own personal security, I know that I am in the tiny m

“Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.” ~John Wayne It’s late summer 2005. I’ve just returned from my first deployment in Iraq and transferred to Ft. Carson, Colorado. My family was stationed at the Air Force Academy and between work and school I spent most of my free time with them. For some unremembered reason I borrowed my father’s Suburban and travel trailer for a weekend of camping somewhere near Durango with my highschool friend John, his then-gir