A Little Red Paint Magic

So as I have stated in a previous blog I have been bitten by the craft bug. I have a desire to create and be creative. This week my Mother-in-law and I went to a Goodwill outlet here in Nashville. Instead of things being individually priced you pay by the pound...the more pounds you buy the cheaper things cost. So I found this very gold tri-fold picture frame. I am not much into anything gold. Just not my style, but I loved the frame's potential, the detail, and the fact it held several photographs! I am a bit of picture nut! I also thought this little gold frame would be a great way to start small with my new desire to be creative. Plus I was going to reduce, reuse, and recycle and that's always a pretty cool thing.

Here is a few before shots of the tacky gold frame I paid about 75 cents for at the Goodwill Outlet.

I really love the leaf details. Don't you?


Now for the transformation!

My Simple Supplies
Sandpaper
Spray Paint
Primer

First I removed all the glass from the frame and laid it aside for now. Then I lightly sanded the frame. Just enough so the paint would stick a little better. I added just a thin coat of gray primer, and lastly painted 3 light coats of red spray paint over the frame. Presto my new little red frame!


I cleaned the glass and added in a few of my own photos. We had our family pictures made back in April and I loved so many of them. Thanks Mrs. Kelli Trontell for the beautiful photographs. I have have been looking for a creative way to display several of them at one time, and I believe I found it with this sweet little red frame! Why red you ask? Well I just love bright bold colors!

Checkout the little details now! I was just so happy with my first project, and all it took was a little spray paint so easy!

This is finished product now to just find a place to display it at in my home. (the picture isn't that great! Sorry about that. I didn't think about the fact my kitchen is red, and red on red just didn't work to well.)

My Journey Through Grief

On March 17, 2010 my family lost someone we all held very dear to our hearts. Today on July 29, 2010 we would have been celebrating My Great Uncle Leo's ninetieth birthday. Losing him is something that shook my world even more than I would have expected. He was such an important force in my life, and I loved and valued him, and I think about him every single day.

Saying goodbye to someone you love is never an easy task. It fills our hearts with a deep sadness, and the loss changes our world forever. It even changes us. Grief is complicated and has a wide range of responses. Grief is mostly focused around the loss of someone with which you share a special bond. Particularly the emotional response. In my case, grief has been focused on the loss of my Great Uncle that stepped in and took interest in my life. Grief can also influence our physical. behavioral, social experiences, and even our spiritual life. Each individual's grief experience is as unique to them as finger prints. Everyone responds to loss in different ways. I want to share my story with you. It's a very personal journey, but I feel it's something that I need share.

This is my story and how I am dealing with missing someone I loved dearly. This is my grief journey and how my spiritual beliefs have allowed me to cope and move forward. This path is one that I am still on, and working though. I just took for granted that my Uncle Leo would always be apart of my world and that my children would grow up with his presence in much the same way that my brother and I had. I know now when I think about that it was a unrealistic hope, and I am thankful for the time my children did have with him. Now it is my responsibility to retell his stories and share new stories to keep his memory in our lives. I have discovered that on the grief path there is no magic formula, no short cut, no easy way out of the process. You must allow yourself time to grieve. Being sad does not make you a failure, nor does it make people or Christ love you any less. Being sad is simply an emotion in life that we feel and walk through. His loss created an emotional wound for me. The wound has been healing, and I believe the experience of grief is transforming in a positive way, but being transformed and changed is rarely a painless process. This particular loss has given me a new vision on my relationship with God and how I should treasure my relationships with the people that I love. Being unafraid to say I love you! God and my faith in Him has been a major healing guide in my personal grief process. My faith has also helped me in facing the reality of my loss and the hope in that this is not the end!!! My belief in Heaven and God is guiding me through the grief process thoughtfully and deliberately. God loves me and he will not forsake me. I have learned to express and release emotions and move forward. Understanding that suppressing grief and not allowing myself to walk through this mourning season with plenty of healing time, could lead to emotional torment and even depression. So allowing and expressing my emotions to God through prayer and allowing my family and friends to walk along side me in the healing process is vital and important to myself living a productive and joy filled life. The death of my Uncle caught me off guard, as did the feelings and emotions that came along with the loss. For instance, I did not fully understand the role he had played in my life and just how much I would think about him every day. Losing him back in March still makes my heartache. Being aware that it is normal to have waves of emotion pertaining to loss, even more so on days where missing the presence of my Uncle is stronger, like on important holidays, birthdays, and even the anniversary of his passing. I am accepting that many aspects of my life have changed. I still think I am finding my way through this first year of grief. Not only has it changed me, it's made me realize just how much God loves me and this amazing and beautiful gift he has given me called HOPE!!! It is extravagant love, time, and hope that heals all wounds!

I just wanted to say in closing that this was a very personal blog about grief and bereavement. Something very close to my heart that I just wanted to share with my readers. Thank you to all my family, friends, and church family for loving me even through all the tears, heartache, and change that has taken place in my life. You have all brought some joy into this season of mourning. Thank you!

Quotes and Scripture that helped me

Grief still has to be worked through.
It is like walking through water.
Sometimes there are little waves lapping about my feet.
Sometimes there is an enormous breaker that knocks me down.
Sometimes there is a sudden and fierce squall.
But I know that many waters cannot quench love,
neither can the floods drown it.
We are not good about admitting grief, we Americans.
It is embarrassing.
We turn away, afraid that it might happen to us.
But it is part of life, and it has to be gone through.

– Madeleine L’Engle


There’s music in a well-lived life,
and melodies remain
each time a loving memory
repeats the sweet refrain.
The song that lingers
in our hearts
becomes our legacy ~
its beauty gently echoing
through all eternity.
-Unknown

Blessed are those that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Matthew 5:4

Brothers we don't want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep: or to grieve
like the rest of men who have no hope 1 Thessalonians 4:13

Such hope never disappoints or deludes or shames us, for God's love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us. Romans 5:5

For I am persuaded beyond doubt that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things impending and threatening nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8: 38-39

The Love of a Granny Sadie!

One evening, I had this crazy ambition to attempt to make fresh fried corn, which, in my opinion, is pure bliss when it comes to the subject of foods. Corn is probably my favorite within the vegetable family. I can eat it just about any way you can imagine to prepare it. So, back to me deciding to make some. While I was in the process of cleaning and shucking the corn, my thoughts kept drifting towards Granny Sadie. Granny Sadie makes the very best fried corn on the face of the plant, that is one thing that I am absolutely sure of. Granny Sadie is one of the sweetest people I know. I am fortunate to have married her Grandson. She has made me feel like part of the family since I first walked though her door, and I am pretty sure that first time she tried to feed me something and it very well may have been her corn. Did I mention that she makes the very best fried corn? Her recipe is very simple, but I am yet to recreate the taste she achieves when cooking it. I think it's some sort of Granny magic secret she uses! What I have learned while attempting to cook her corn is just how pain-staking the process to prepare corn is. My hand was cramping after only cleaning three ears of the corn and I was only preparing six. Granny probably makes more along the lines of fifty or even a hundred at a time. Then it hit me how much love this woman pours into cooking her family a real home cooked meal. It also hit me that I should tell her a lot more often how much I appreciate all the little things (like making fried corn) she does for me. I can't really put into words how much this lady actually means to me. She is such a treasure in this family! My heart is eternally grateful for the love she has shown to me. She has always treated me like I am one of her own grandchildren! She is truly a special kind of wonderful!!! I love you Granny Sadie! Oh, and you make the best fried corn in all the universe!!!!

Granny Sadie with her Great Grandbaby Layla Copeland

Military Wives {America's Unseen Heroes}

What is it like for the wives left behind when the men they love go off to war? Who are these extraordinary women and what do they think about the lives they lead? I can only imagine that being the spouse of a soldier is hard, stressful, and sometimes lonely, which is why the Ladies that marry these men in U.S. military uniform are made of something special. These women are willing to put themselves aside to be what their soldier and families need, and most will tell you it is all worth it. They have an enduring strength, both physically and mentally, that is paired with courage, love and stability. Qualities that come in handy when their soldier comes up for deployment. Deployment means change and sacrifices for everyone involved. I would like to introduce two lovely women who are waiting on their soldiers to return home. Meet Mrs. Marcie Parsons and Mrs. Haley Parsons. If you noticed that their last names match, that is because these two young ladies are sister-in-laws. They married twin brothers SSg James Parsons and SSg Josh Parsons of 2/278th E-Troop out of Livingston, TN. Marcie and Haley said goodbye to their husbands when they where deployed from Livingston in December 2009, and then again from Mississippi February 9, 2010. Their expected return was sometime in December 2010, but the Ladies received some good news that they could be returning some three months earlier than first anticipated. These two military families are not only related, but they also choose to be neighbors, which has allowed Marcie and Haley to form a close and valued friendship while the brothers are overseas. Marcie and Haley both have said that their friendship has been a shining light of support over the past couple of months. These two young wives have showed a unique and rare heroism of their own the past couple of months and that heroism, united with that of their husbands', deserves to be noticed, applauded and appreciated. I just want to, once again, say thank you to these two American families who are making some tough sacrifices in-order to serve this beautiful nation of ours!

Both wives answered a few questions for me about their lives, families, and the men they both call heroes. There is no doubt both of these women are beaming with pride and nothing but love and admiration for the gentlemen they married. I chose a few of their interview questions to share with you all today. I hope you enjoy and learn from what these ladies had to say.

INTERVIEW WITH THE WIVES OF AN AMERICAN SOLDIER?



Question: You and your husband met how and when?
Marcie's Answer: We meet years ago back in 98 out in town. We were both taking different paths at that time and never really gave each other a 2nd look!! Funny how things worked out!!

Question: You and your husband met how and when? Did you know when you married him that he would be deployed?
Haley's Answer: Josh and I met in 2007. We were introduced in September, fell madly in love :), engaged the following May, and married on July 26, 2008; When Josh and I married I was aware that there was a chance that he would be deployed. We just weren't exactly sure when that would occur.

Question: How would you describe your husband to someone who didn't know him?
Marcie's Answer: Well,first I would say he is one of the Parsons twin! LOL Then I would say he is the love of my life and is the greatest daddy to our 2 kids that I could have ever asked for. He loves his family. He has served and still is serving his country! He is a hero and is loved by so many!!

Question: How do you stay busy while your solider is gone?
Haley's Answer: The way I have remained busy throughout this deployment is to 'create projects' ha-ha. I have helped my sister-in-law paint her entire house, put in a pool at my own, added decks on to the house, landscaped the yard, and the list goes on. Staying busy was definitely the key to getting through this. It truly has made the time pass so quickly while allowing me to feel a sense of accomplishment.

Question: What is the hardest challenge you face about being an American Soldier's wife?
Marcie's Answer: The hardest challenge would have to be not knowing if he will come home! The worrying! Making sure his son know who his daddy is while he is gone!

Question: Have you as a person changed because of your marriage to a soldier?
Haley's Answer: There are parts of myself that I think have changed due to being married to a soldier. I never fully understood before. Being married to a soldier, you realize just how much they really do sacrifice for their country, family, and other things. I had respect for the military before b/c I have family that has served, but now I have much more respect. I have became a more patient person during this deployment and have also realized that I am much stronger than I thought I ever was or could be

Question: What little things did you take for granted when he was home everyday that you will never take for granted again when he returns?
Marcie's Answer: Well I don't even know where to start!! The saying "You never know what you have got till it is gone" is so true!!
There is so much that you never think about when someone is around all the time! This has really showed me so much!!
I will never take for granted the way he helps me with the kids! The way he helped me clean the house, helped me cook just all the stuff like that.
And I will never and I mean never take for granted the love and the way he would smile at me and the way he would hold me! And there is this look that he would always do that I would give anything to see that look right now!! It's hard when not only is your husband is gone but when your best friend is gone! And to know that, that person may never come home again! :(

Question: What is the hardest challenge you face about being an American Soldier's wife?
Haley's Answer: The hardest challenge for me has been being "alone". Yes, I realize I've not been fully alone due to having family, friends, neighbors, etc. But all of those are not the same as having your husband here at home with you when everyone else isn't around. Not having him here to listen at the exact time something is wrong or even with something is wonderful to share, not having his shoulder to cry on, not having him to pick up after haha, etc, etc. Loneliness, by far, has been the most difficult for me.

Question: What do your children think about Daddy being a soldier? Do they grasp how important his job is?
Marcie's Answer: Haven being 10 now, she understand some of it but not all of it! Heath being 13months now, was only 7 months old when daddy left so really is still to young to understand it! Which can be a very good thing but also a bad thing!!

Question: What do you look forward to the most about his return?
Haley's Answer: I look forward to all the 'little things' when he returns. His voice (from somewhere other than through the headset), his smell, his hugs and kisses, his ability to make me feel 'secure'. I have missed him more than anyone could imagine and it's going to be so nice to finally have him home!

Question: Do you ladies have any advice or encouragement for other wives of soldiers?
Marcie's Answer: Stay strong! Keep praying! Never give up hope! And when he or she gets home don't ever take one day for granted!
Haley's Answer: Just take it one day at a time. Things will change constantly and you can't plan for anything. But you do learn to appreciate the time you have together. You learn to appreciate the little things. Have a positive attitude. Think of it all as an adventure rather than an inconvenience. Be patient and keep yourself BUSY!! Give your soldier support the best that you can. Being an Army wife is an honor and its something that you should be very grateful for. :)