Happy 4th of July Ya'll

I hope everyone had an amazing weekend.  I was able to spend the weekend with my parents and Sister in Georgia.  My parents will be moving to Tennessee in a month or so and this will probably be the last holiday they spend there.  So, it was nice to be together.  My son work in the emergency room, so getting off was not an option for him.  Plus, I secretly thing he was hoping someone would blow their finger off so he could assist in re-connecting it.  If you don't work in a hospital, you might not understand that it's the gross stuff that makes us happy.  Not that we want sick people, but it's a coping mechanism for us.

Anyway, Saturday sister and I ran around town shopping and gathering supplies so that I could teach her and Mama how to make wreaths.

Mama decided on an American themed one for her sister.  Mama and Daddy are going to North Carolina this week to visit family.  Retirement life is hard.

Sister loves burlap, so she tried this out.  She was not thrilled with it, so so gave it to a family friend of our back here in Tennessee.  Judy was more than happy to take it off her hands.

Sunday we went to church.  Mama, Daddy and Sister go to the sweetest little Baptist church.  There are probably 50 people that go there and the average age is 70.  They are the kindest people and my family is so blessed to have them as friends.  Mama and Daddy will really miss them when they make their final move.

We tried a great little restaurant in Roswell, GA call The Mill Kitchen & Bar.  It's very rustic, well industrial rustic.  Is that such a thing?  Well, it's super sweet inside and I could move right in.

The Mill Kitchen & Bar

I got french toast because it's my thing.  I love french toast and The Mill didn't disappoint.  You get 6 halves of sweet, but not too sweet, french toast.  I ordered a side of bacon it's it was equally as good.  The Mill is a farm to table type of place and use locally grown ingredients.  

(source)

When we went home and decided to do some more shopping.  The tax is lower in GA, so if I want to really shop, I'll go there.  Plus, I never buy clothes without Mama or Sisters approval.  Because I buy granny clothes, or so I've been told.  HA!

So, we went by the Container store.  If you haven't been there and have no will power, STAY AWAY!!!  I was pretty good because Sister was with me, but let me just tell you.  I could go in there and spend a paycheck.  I ended up getting exactly what I went in for, a pen/pencil storage container for all of my art pens/pencils.  Let's just say I have a few. HA!!  Oh, I also got a drink can storage thing for the refrigerator.  My son drink can Diet Dr. P and I had the boxes in the refrigerator.  It's an infection control thing.  FUN FUN FUN!!!

Sunday evening, Sister and I decided to head over to Kennesaw, GA for fireworks.  We arrived just in time for the fireworks and THANK YOU google maps for getting us out with no traffic.

I was so excited because I thought Fleetwood Mac was there, NO, it was a band that place Fleetwood Mac. HAHAH, They were pretty good.

However, the fireworks were right on and we enjoyed seeing them live and in person.

Monday we just cooked out and relaxed.  Sister's friend and aunt came over.  Aunt Peggy is from Charlotte, NC and is so funny.  She reminds me of a very young Marilyn Monroe.  She is a classic beauty and was just as sweet as she could be.

Monday evening I headed back to Tennessee.  My dear son didn't water my garden Sunday or Monday and it was very poor looking by the time I arrived Monday night.  My yellow squash might not make it.  NOT HAPPY!!

So, one thing I left out.  A family I've become close to that has no family around, had their second baby on Thursday night.  I spend a good part of the day in the room with them on Friday.  Little Ian is a preemie and having a little trouble gaining weight.  Please keep him in your prayers.  I'm taking them supper tonight and get to see my first little buddy Silas.  I just love that child like he were my own.

And tonight is my 2nd night of Ruth.  We are studying Ruth Chapter 2 and I adore this story.  More to come on that later.

Thanks again for dropping by while I share my life.  It's not exciting I'm sure, but I'm just trying to figure it out.

The women's group that I am apart of at church, is starting a study tonight on Ruth.  I decided to bible journal as we go through.  Tonight we are doing the introduction and chapter 1.

In chapter 1, Ruth and Naomi, her daughter-in-law struggle with a decision and so I journaled this.

I encourage you to read chapter 1 with us.  Tomorrow, I will come back with my notes and share them with you.  Whoever, you are. LOL

Traveling is another passion of mine.  I would leave tonight to go on a trip if I could.  But it will have to wait until this weekend.  I am heading to ATL for a weekend with the family.  Sister will be heading out of town for several months in August, so I want to spend as much time with her as possible.

So, what are your passions?  What do you like to do?

Coloring Cards

I love to color.  When I was little, people say that I would walk about with my baby dolls, coloring book and colors (crayons).  As long as I had those three things, life was good.

We have an amazing Christian Publishers Outlet store in my town.  They offer various classes, and this is how I got started in Bible Journals.  Since I took a class at this store, they offered us a 40% off discount and I was able to get some goodies.

These cards are sweet.  After my surgery several months ago, I colored these and sent them out as thank you cards.  It was nice to be able to create, but not have to think really hard about drawing and then coloring.

I love letter writing and think it's so sad that kids now days don't write letters.  Is it really a lost art?  How sad!!  Emails or texts have their place, but a nice card in the mailbox says so much more.

These cards were colored with my Prismacolor pencils.  The are great!!!  But I will come clean and say that my crayola pencils would be great too.  The Prismacolor are nice because they are softer and blend better.

A couple weeks ago, Sister and I were in the same Christian bookstore and I found a 48 pack of pens.  Fine tip, glitter, metallic and neon.  They are AMAZING!!!  The black smudge is the black pen!  Yes, I went around the edge and then used my finger to smudge it and wala.

I encourage you to step out and create a card for someone today or grab a piece of paper and pen and write someone a note.  Nothing fancy, just something that says, I'm thinking about you.  You might never know just how much it will touch someone.

USA Wreath

One of the things that relaxes me and I love, is crafting.  I see something at craft show and think, "I can make that".  Of course, most of the time I never do, but after Mama kept on and on about this wreath she wanted, I knew I needed to make it.

The great thing with crafting is you can normally always "make" it your own.  In this case, Mama wanted a Bandanna Wreath.  Everything I saw online was for the traditional bandannas, but I just couldn't find any.  Or should I say, I couldn't find enough of each color to make it.  So, I improvised and decided to do solid red, white and blue bandannas and then used fancy stars and a bow.

I think it turned out pretty good and I'm very happy with it.  I used a 18" wreath, but the tails of the bandanna loops were about 3", so the final wreath was about 24" on the outside.

Because the material is protected from the sun or weather, I suggest that you put it on the side door and not out in the elements.  Now that I see how easy they are to make, I guess I'll be heading to get the supplies to make me one.

Hi, My name is Melissa and I'm having a hard time finding my passion.  I call this blog Finding My Passion, because that is just what I am doing.  Are you having this issue?  More and more I hear ladies saying, who am I?  Well, on this journey, I'm trying to figure that out.  So, if you are interested to see my journey to find me, here is a little about myself....

I am a single mom of a 25 year old son.  I've been a single mom since he was 3 years old.  Yes, I've dated here and there....ok I've dated two guys..... but dating is scary.  I mean, you have to trust someone with your heart and that is not an easy thing to do.

My goal in creating this blog is finding things that I love to do and do them.  In some cases I might not even know I love to do them so pushing myself out of my box might be a challenge.  But something I need to do.  

I've really been thinking about this so here is a list of things that I love to do that might be my passion.  I will be going through this list and adding to the list.  I will be posting pictures and if I can figure it out maybe a video here and there.  

1.  Bible Journal - I LOVE to journal in my bible.  However, I find sitting on the couch watching Netflix.  Yes, I've already mastered the couch potato.  So, that doesn't make the list.  Here is a few pages I've done.



I have a hard time remembering scripture and where it is, but this has been a great way for me to get a visual on where scripture is and what it says.  It's also a great way to worship and pray because I'm totally focused on God.





2.  Pallet Art - I've done one, but I have two that I need to do.  I don't have a picture of the one I've done, so I'll share the one I'm doing.  It's really frustrating for me, but I love the end result.

3.  Pickin' - I love to go to "junk" stores and pick through their things and make new things out of them.  I love the big marque letters and got a GIANT "P" to go in the bathroom.  LOL  Not everyone gets it...P in the bathroom?

4.  Garden - Now that I am passionate about.  I planted my first garden three years ago and added to it this year.  I went from one raised bed to four.  This year I have butter lettuce, green peppers, Okra (purple and green), Cucumbers, yellow squash, zucchini, patty pan squash and because I am southern, tomatoes.

This was a couple of weeks ago, so just imagine this fully filled in. This is my first year doing lettuce and I haven't tried it yet.  I can't wait to pick some of that goodness.  I have squash and zucchini and I plan on cooking up tonight.  YUM!

So, as you can see this is something that I love.  I enjoy to get in the dirt and work it with my hands.  I love to pick the weeds out of it and see it grow.  It's a great payoff for the work done.

I also love to plant flowers and weed my flower beds.  Yes, I'm just weird that way.  But again, anytime you get your hands in the dirt pull weeds and plant flowers and see the beauty left behind, well, you just have to feel good about it.  

This is one of my flower beds that surrounded my pear tree.  A storm last spring took it out and I was NOT happy.  So, I tried to turn it into a fairy house which didn't work, so I have a outdoor chandler on the stump until I can figure that out.  I believe that I'm going to drill the inside of the stump out and fill it with dirt and plant some flowers in it.  Hmmmmm, just a thought.

5.  Bible Study - I am in an amazing women's group on Wednesday nights.  We will be starting the book of Ruth this week.  I love Ruth and Naomi's story.  I have been asked to start a breakoff group because we have so many ladies and started writing a bible study from John.  Digging into the word and finding the Hebrew words and the real meanings is something that I enjoy. So, that is an area to explore more.

6.  Travel - I would love nothing more than to live in a camper and travel the US.  My sister and I went to Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Idaho last summer.  Glacier National Park, Yellowstone, Estes Park, Little Big Horn, Mt. Rushmore are among the many places we visited and I loved.  I want to go back and hike the area and stay there for a while.  Two years ago, my sister and I went to Dominican Republic.  I was amazing.  The water was such a beautiful clear blue.  The people were beautiful.  I'd go back in a minute.  Of course, I have a job that requires me to actually come to work, so this will be a harder thing to do.

 These are just a few of the pictures from out trip through the wild wild west.

Since I remember, I've always wanted to visit Old Faithful.  That is one check off the bucket list.  It was so special to sit in the bright sun and watch what many have seen for years and years.

7.  Cooking/baking - I love the Food Network.  Because it's only me at home, I don't cook big meals.  This is something that I need to change.  Even though it's just me at home, I have to start cooking for myself and treating myself with respect.  I deserve that right?

Loaded biscuits and the Pioneer Woman's Mac & Cheese.  My son is a vegetarian, so I'm working on some good veggies dishes too.

I thought about cooking through the Martha Stewart Cooking School cookbook and then the Pioneer Woman came out with A Year of Holidays and thought that would be a good one too.  Hmmmm, decisions decisions.

As you can see I love lots of things, but I still feel lost in who I am and what I like.  Maybe I should have called this blog Couch to Life. LOL  So, here I go on this journey.  I hope you like the variety here and maybe sooner or later I'll find that one thing that really rings my bell.