Etsy, here I come!

I have been crafty and artsy lately! In fact, I am selling some of my art on Etsy. You should go check it out at https://www.etsy.com/shop/HollyMsippi?ref=shopinfo_shophome_leftnav! I, by no means, think that I'm a really great artist or that I could make a decent supplemental income from this. However, it's something that I'm enjoying, and I hope that someone else will enjoy it too.
Here is a sneek-peek at some of the art.

And the following is not for sale. I just wanted to show you something new I had been working on. I finally made some kitchen curtains. I think they look lovely! They definitely change the atmosphere of my kitchen, and I am so pleased!

While I’m actually blogging, let me tell you about my recent adventures. Last month, my sister, friends, and I went to audition for a movie that is being filmed here in MS (The Hollars). Here is a pic of me and Shanna (both of us have our hair cut short- don’t you love it?!).

No, we didn’t get to be in the movie. HOWEVER, I somehow made it to be an extra in Mississippi Snake Grabbers (CMT-Canada) which is a “reality” tv show filmed here in MS. My best friend Brittney talked me into going. We got all dolled up and bid on some bachelors for a charity auction. It was fun. You should look for me when the episode comes out, that is if you can get CMT (Canada).

New to Who

Around 3-4 months ago, I began watching a new tv series on Netflix. It's actually an old show that has been revamped, but it's totally new to me. And I instantly loved it! Why in the world had I not watched Doctor Who before then? Of course I went on benge watch all the episodes available. I'm still trying to catch up on the latest season which is not on Netflix. I have to research and record all the episodes on Directv, but I'm determined to do it before next month! I'm excited because on 11/23/13, Doctor Who celebrates it's 50th anniversary and we will get to see the 10th and 11th Doctors together in the same episode, "The Day of the Doctor". And I get to once again see my favorite Doctor, David Tennant. Can't you tell how nerdy this has made me? And I can't get enough. I never would have imagined myself liking, no loving, a tv show like this. I guess I am now a Whovian. In fact, my Halloween costume is the Tardis, and I bought a Tardis phone cover. Next, I'll probably get a sonic screwdriver. Anyway, I'm just excited to tell you about my new passion. The countdown begins to Season 8.

Hug a Teacher

About one year ago, I started on a path that would take me on a journey towards a different future. I was tired of my job and wanted out so badly. So, I enrolled in graduate night classes at my local university getting a degree in teaching. I worked hard and received my alternate route teacher's license. By the end of January, I was set to teach 7-12 grade English. I had a long wait before I actually got the teaching job. All summer long I put my applications and resumes out to schools and school districts; I covered all the surrounding areas. I had several interviews, but no offers. Finally, one week before school started back, I was offered a job. I want to be as tactful as I can so I will not say the name of the school or school district. Instead, I will give it an alias. Let's see... Hell. Yes, "hell" seems to be a very appropriate name. I'll stick with that. Now, I didn't know Hell was going to be that bad when I accepted the position. I was just so excited to leave my old job and start on a new journey. I was under the illusion that I was actually going to make a difference in other people's lives. Day one approaches: piece of cake. I went in, not too nice, not to mean. I sent several kids to the office from the start to show I meant business. Day two rolls around: The later in the day it got, the worse the kids got. I get to 7th period. What the heck happened? These quiet kids from the day before had turned into rotten little demons! Day three: Reality sinks in really fast. Many of these students are disrespectful, bullying, rude, careless, little monsters. I go home and have my first meltdown. Day four: Survival mode. Discuss with principal that I need help! Promises that they will help and have someone come in to observe and give feedback that will help. Seventh period rolls around-- a living nightmare. Students leave classroom, I immediately go into breakdown #2. Day 5-- get me outta here! Listen, I know that it is not easy for ANY first year teacher, but I knew that I did not want to put up with that crap all year long. I started questioning my mental health; I had so many insecurities about being able to do this thing called teaching; I was realizing the real obstacles that I was facing; I was fighting a spiritual battle inside the classroom against the darkness and Hell seemed like it was winning. There were so many obstacles that I was facing. By the end of week two, I had already tried to quit. Of course the warden tried talking me out of it. He needed his correctional officer, I mean teacher, there because he had seen "confidence" in me during my interview. If that is true, I promise I had none left. Finally, at week 5 I decided to call it quits and for real this time; no one could talk me out of it. I had prayed and prayed about it, and I felt at peace about my decision. I stayed until the end of week 7, and, boy, was that hard! I am trying to forget a lot of my experiences in Hell, but there are some things that I will never be able to forget.

I know that my experiences are very similar to what other teacher suffer through every day. Some have more tolerance than I do; some have caved in just as I did. It takes a special person to handle these students. So, please please hug a teacher today and tell them that you appreciate the hard work that they do. It really is a thankless job sometimes. You don't realize that some newbie teachers go home and work until midnight just preparing for the next day or grade papers all weekend. You don't realize the battles that they are facing in the classroom. You don't realize that they are not only teachers but also counselors, correctional officers, moms, dads, coaches, cheerleaders, etc. to these students and are expected to work miracles at some times. They deserve better paychecks and more respect. And they NEED your prayers and support.

Hug a teacher today and tell them that they are making a difference!

Baby Fever

I have been checking the news every hour for the past two weeks. Like millions of others, I've been waiting on the delivery of the Royal baby. I woke up extra early to watch the wedding live, and I wanted so badly to stay at home this morning and be glued to my tv watching everything unfold live. But a girl's gotta make a living somehow so I convinced myself that I can survive with knowing about the official birth a few minutes after I would have if I had been at home. You may call me crazy, but its such an exciting day! One to definitely blog about.

But I won't keep going on about my baby fever. I was planning on  sharing a couple of my latest craft/decorating projects. The first is one that I wrote about past month. I think it turned out pretty well. 

This is the finished project. I wasn't sure if I'd truly like that I used two different patterns, but It is growing on me. It's definitely not boring. 

It's definitely much better that the original tan suede fabric. And, trust me ladies and gentlemen, this picture doesn't even begin to truly show how ugly the color really was. This picture actually made it better. 

First, I had to remove the bottom part with a screwdriver. By far the easiest part! 

Now I was ready to deal with the fabric. 

I began to remove the fabric, but I had no idea how hard this was. There were soooo many staples in just a couple of square inches, and each were so stinking hard to remove. My hand was hurting so I stopped and asked myself if I really needed to do this step. 

I put the new fabric over the original to see if it would show through. Lucky for me, my beautiful fabric was thick enough so that I could just put it on top without removing the original. It saved me hours of precious time! 

The next step wasn't the most thrilling either. I had an electric staple gun (I strongly recommend this). I had no hand cramps whatsoever. I will say that it was somewhat hard making the staples stay since there was now another layer of fabric. But it worked out in the end. 

After securing the middles and working outward, I approached the corners with not so much enthusiasm. This was super hard stretching and shaping and reshaping and restretching. But when I finally got happy with the appearance, I would staple and take a break until I forgot how much I hated the corners. Once you get past this part, it's pretty much downhill from there. 

As close to perfect as I could get. 

And when you do this, you always need a supervisor. 

Ta-da! After I put the bottom on with the screws and screwdriver, I assembled the legs and back with the seat. And I had me instant happiness. 

Project 2: simply painting canvases. 

The white and black design is simply wallpaper placed and stapled onto the canvas and dried overnight. 

The letters and designs are stencils. I picked a Bible verse that has meant a lot in my life in the past few years. Cheap art!

Upcoming Project

I'm so excited about my new project! I feel like I haven't done anything really crafty in a while, so this has sparked something inside of me... Something that I repress too often. I feel like i should be Julia Sugarbaker from Designing Women. Ok, maybe I'm not as classy as Julia, but I can pass for a Mary Jo Shively. Anyway... So my dining/kitchen table has finally broken. I tried to be a man and fix it, but no matter what handyman skills I possess, this thing was doomed. But that's ok with me. Out with the old and in with the new! 

After researching cheap dining room tables that are semi-nice, I found one from Target that I like. (I'm gonna go ahead and use a plug for the Target Red card here. If you don't have one and you are a frequent shopper at Target, do yourself a favor and get one! Every time you use it on your purchases, you get 5% off plus you always get free shipping online. I saved $119 just on shipping!) I'm a little worried that when I actually get it, I may not like it. I hope that's not the case. I don't want it to look like fake wood or anything like those terrible bookshelves from Walmart. (You know what I'm talking about. We all have one.) There is one thing that I'm certain about though: the chair cushions that come with this dining room set are hideous! The table and chairs are painted black. I like this because it matches my decor. However, the cushions are a tan suede that stick out like a sore thumb. Why they put black and tan together, I will never understand. However, this is where my project comes into play. I am planning on... wait for it... reupholstering the cushions! This is my first attempt (and, depending upon my success, could be my last) at reupholstering furniture. I'm so stinking excited! 

A love story: So, I went to JoAnn's hoping to find the perfect fabric for my project. They had some nice fabric there, but I didn't find "the one". Thankfully, I called my sister to talk me out of buying one that I wasn't 100% in love with. She helped me realize that I don't need to settle on one when I can wait and find another that is perfect for me. Wait a minute... Was she really talking about fabric or about relationships? Hmm... Anyway, I went home and surfed the net. Found a website (www.warehousefabricsinc.com) that showed me some really great, cute fabrics. And then I saw it. It was "the one" I had been searching for the whole time. I fell in love. And then there was another. And another. And another... I hit the jackpot! I actually ended up buying two fabrics (not bad after considering getting four). My plan is to upholster two with one fabric and two with the other. I'll place them opposite each other at the table. And if its anything like the vision in my head, I'm going to be one happy woman. 

Here is a pic of the table and fabric below. Not very good quality, but I'll post the finished project when I'm done. Can't wait to show you!

Beware of the enemy

If there is something the Devil is really good at, it is perverting the things that are good and distorting them into something bad. I have really been meditating about the past couple of week's events. The one, in particular, that I am going to speak about is probably the most heated argument. It's pretty much on the decline as far as a "buzzing topic", but it still weighing on my mind. The event I am referring to is the statement by Chik-fil-a's CEO, Dan Cathy, and the support and opposition that arose from it.

I am the first to admit that I stand by Mr. Cathy's beliefs, for I share the same. But what I cannot get past is that some people are calling me, Mr. Cathy, and other's who believe the same thing "haters". Not once have I acted out of hatred towards those who believe the opposite as I do on this issue. Not once have I called any of them derogitory names or treated them with disgust as if they were lower than I am. I have not started a political debate with any of them in order to push my opinions on them as if they would miraculously turn to my side. I just don't get it. How am I a "hater" in their eyes? Just because I chose to eat at Chik-fil-a on Chik-fil-a Appreciation Day doesn't mean that I hate anyone. And just because I believe in the Bible and its teachings doesn't mean that I hate anyone either. Quite frankly, I'm appalled at how some people pointed at those who ate at Chik-fil-a and accused them of hating a specific group of people.

Even with all of this happening, I was doing fine with it until one of my own friends, not a close friend, mind you, but one that I counted as friend nonetheless, attacked me for eating there and supporting them. This is what brought the whole debate "home" for me. This is the point at which I knew I had to decide that I would rather stand by God's Word and take my stance than risk "offending" a friend because of their choice of lifestyle. These are the hardest times, it seems, when one has to stop worrying about offending anyone and cling to what is right, what is just, what is holy, and what is pure.

At first, I noticed that no one who opposed my opinion seemed to care about offending me. I also noticed that even after they did offend me, they didn't want anyone to offend them. I found this frustrating but tried to see it through their eyes. They thought of themselves as victims of a situation rather than contributors to a persecution. I'm sure they would try to argue the same against me, even though I never attacked anyone or voiced reproach.

So, I questioned myself about if it was wrong to state my beliefs, no matter how unpopular, if I was a Christian and it would ensure that the second party involved would atutomatically take it offensively since their views are not the same. Would it even be worth it in the end to state the Biblical truth when dealing with the people who are ready to pounce at your for doing so? I immediately thought of Jonah. God had told him to go to Ninevah, the capitol of Assyria, which was apparently a sinful city famous for the destruction of Babylon. God told him to "preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me." (Jonah 1:1)  The story goes that Jonah ran the opposite way from Ninevah probably because he was scared of those people and knowing that they could kill him if they were offended by God's message. Who wouldn't be offended though, right? Imagine an outsider coming in to share a message that you need to stop doing what you are doing and haven't considered wrong. I think people take criticism three ways: either they hate it and hate you back, they accept it but disregard it, or they evaluate it and try to make themselves better in light of the criticism. This is how we treat God when He shows us when we do wrong. We either hate that He has shown us our wrongdoings and hate Him, accept that what we are doing is wrong but choose to continue doing it anyway, or let it be an awakening for us and we choose to walk down the path that leads to Him. Fortunately for the Ninevites, they chose the latter decision. So, I take from this story that I should not be afraid to state God's truth to those who oppose me... especially since it means that maybe a few might find the path that leads to God.

So, in conclusion, I've come to realize how distorted Satan has made this whole situation. He has taken the belief of one man, which happens to be Biblically correct, and caused anger in so many people's hearts. Simply put, Satan is trying to make it seem that we, as Christians, hate others (LGBT) if we voice our opinion against same sex marriage. This is not true at all. I feel we truly are fighting a spiritual warfare here. I believe the enemy and his helpers are behind it all and trying to convince people with false ideas. There will never be world peace or collective love here on earth as long as the enemy and his helpers are roaming around. Thank God, His Son will return to take His followers to a place where peace and love are found for eternity.

This is what I believe. I'm sorry if it offends you. This doesn't mean I hate you.

10,000 REASONS

"You're rich in love, and You're slow to anger
Your name is great, and Your heart is kind
For all Your goodness I will keep on singing
Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find

[Chorus]
Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before, O my soul
I'll worship Your holy name"

--10,000 Reasons by Matt Redman

A lot has happened since now and the last blog. But I'm so excited that I had to make a new post just for this!

Yesterday, I filled out my application for Admissions for the Masters in Arts of Teaching to Belhaven University! I am so close to starting grad school! I have so many plans and dreams that I am now able to work on accomplishing! I feel like I'm now able to come out of the rut I was in and change my position in life! God is so Good! Looking back at this past year or so, He has replaced the burden in my heart with joy, the desperation with hope, the loneliness with a cornucopia of friendships, and many more blessings! A little over a year ago, I truly couldn’t imagine that I would be this happy! Thank God for his faithfulness, forgiveness, blessings, mercy, and love! There is 10,000 reasons my heart can find to praise Him!