Friday, June 29, 2012

BORN FREE

My Daughter is a professional photographer, and she likes to use some of my items as props! She used my back yard to do this photo shoot! In honor of July 4th, I had her do the one of the baby in front of the flag!! https://www.facebook.com/sofiathompson 





Saturday, June 23, 2012

Wall Of Old Light Fixtures!!

Ever wonder what to do with old light fixtures? Well....Today I went to visit one of my friends who lives in a beautiful old house. It was built in 1910. My favorite part was her work room!! It is super cute! I just had to share this wall of light fixtures!!! She attached them to the wall with a string going through the hole in the middle of the fixtures, and then hung from the nail! GREAT IDEA KAY!!!


Thursday, June 21, 2012

Keep your mind out of the "GUTTER!!

This was a FUN PROJECT!!  I tried to keep my mind out of the "GUTTER" but I just couldn't!! We have made several "Farm Tables" out of 100 year old reclaimed wood! I had a Face Book friend ask to make a 12' long farm table with a "gutter" in the middle, so she can put ice in it for dinner parties etc... We built the base out of Ceder post, then added a "gutter". Once the base and gutter was in place, we added the 100 year old "CHIPPY" wood for the top!! The legs go on last, we used the same cedar post for the legs! 






Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Stop Slammin' that door!

AHHH Childhood memories! "get in or out"..."Stop Slammin' that door" "Your lettin' in flies" "Were you born in a barn"? The "Dude" just installed an old squeaky screen door in my formal dining room!! LOVE IT!! I just stand there opening & closing it! On the other side of the door directly across the hall, is my half bath, and to the right is a door that leads to the garage!! The Buffet Table was made out of 100 year old wood, from an old house we got to strip! The legs are from the window frames!! The first picture is a little blurry...sorry! 







Saturday, June 16, 2012

What's "buggin" you?

You know, something is BUGGIN' me. Before I started "Dumpster Diva" I was in the direct sales field. I loved it and what the company stands for. It was a "Christian" based company, but not everyone who had an account was a "christian" I learned that first hand. Oh, you say don't judge? Well the Bible says Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them (Matthew 7:20) If you say you are a apple tree, and you have lemons growing, you are NOT an apple tree!! ANYWAY...during my 12 years with this company, I saw so many people who were threatened by others. It was a very CUT THROAT WORLD. When I started my own business, I brought a lot of what I learned in sales, marketing and decorating with me. I love to share ideas, and help others with their business.  As a director in the company, that was my JOB, to teach others how to do all of it! With that being said, as I have met many beautiful people, in the "JUNK" world, 99% of them are genuine and are ready to help. However, occasionally, there are some who want the SPOT LIGHT, and will STEP ON ANYONE to get it. What is wrong with people. Why don't this type of person see if they help others, it will come back, and on the other hand if they hurt others, that too will come back?  I'm not the sharpest tac in the box, but  to me that is a no brainer! I want to say to anyone who has been hurt by someone in this business, or in any other business, keep your head up, and keep being YOU! When someone is doing bad things at the expense of you, that person obviously has issues. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them who despitefully use you, and persecute you; (MATTHEW 5:44) That is some Great advise!!!! That is really all we can do. We cannot change others, but we can change any outcome with prayer! One more scripture to remember is...."No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their vindication is from Me," declares the LORD
 ( Isaiah 54:17) I'm glad I got that off my chest. So....What's Buggin' YOU? 

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Chapter 3

MOMMA & ME!!
 Well, now that you know a little about my childhood, let me tell you about my TEEN years.....LORD HAVE MERCY!!! I will not make excuses for my behavior, I could easily say it was all of my abusers fault. I must take responsibility for my own actions. After my momma and I were on our own, a few years were quite, and nice. We laughed a lot, and talked all the time. Those were some of the best years of my life! Once I turned about 15 and met a boy, he required all of my attention. Little did I know at the time, he was ABUSER #3.  He was very controlling,  and demanding. He was even physically abusive. Maybe I thought it was my destiny and I did not deserve anything better. I don't know why I allowed it, I guess I just wanted to be loved. At the age of 16, I had my first child. Her name is Sofia. I was determined to be a good mom to her. I finally had someone who would love me no matter what! I had her on June 21st 1985, she will be 27 years old in 8 days!! I know I made mistakes along the way, but I think she turned out to be a great woman, and a great mom to her children, Jaden, Gabriel, and Christian!! Ok, back to the story, After she was born, we broke up. During our break up, I met a guy named Javier. We were BEST FRIENDS! Nothing romantic about our relationship, just 2 people who needed a friend. One night we feel asleep, we woke up in the middle of the night, and I guess curiosity got the best of us. We ended up having sex. We both agreed that would never happen again, and we are just friends, and we wanted to keep it that way. About a month passed and guess what....I missed my period..... SERIOUSLY!!  I told him about it, he seemed happy, but nervous about it. It was no time, until he would not call me or answer any of my calls. Well, there goes that, 18years old 1 child and one on the way. Not long later, My Ex boyfriend (Sofia's dad) started coming around again, and I ended up marrying him. That lasted a whole 8 months. I made the decision to leave him, because I did not want Sofia and her sister Deja  being abused or seeing me be abused.  I had my 2nd daughter Deja on June 13th 1987, TODAY is her 25TH birthday! She turned out to be a great woman & Mom to her daughter Jalissa!   About 5 months of being alone, one day my phone rang. I was living in my momma's house, alone with my 2 daughters. I had the same phone # that we had all my life. Guess who was on the other line....YEP, JAVIER. I was like...what do you want, and why are you calling here. Little did I know, the whole time I was gone, he stayed in touch with my momma. He even went to her house and everything. He realized he made a mistake, but it was too late, I was already married.  She never told me because she was afraid that my ex would find out and kill me. LONG STORY SHORT...it took a while, but we got back together and got married a few years later. STILL HAPPILY MARRIED TODAY. HE IS STILL MY BEST FRIEND! He had a son from his ex and we raised him together his name is Ezekiel, and  We have a Son name James Gabriel he is 21 years old!! I am so proud to be His momma, he has grown up to be a hard working man, just like his dad! Javier adopted Sofia, and made her, his DAUGHTER!! About 18 years ago, we both gave our heart's and lives to God, and we serve Him every day. God has truly brought us through a lot!! We are proud grandparents of JADEN, GABRIEL, CHRISTIAN, JALISSA & JUDE.....
Momma went to be with the Lord on May 10TH 2011. She will always be with me, she was the BEST MOMMA EVER!

Javier, Me, James 

Jalissa & Deja 

Javier & HIS Daughter Sofia
Jaden, Sofia's daughter 7 years old


Gabriel Sofia's Son.. 4 years old


Christian Sofia's NEW son!! 11 days old today!



MY FAMILY! The Groom is Jason, Sofia's Husband!!






Tuesday, June 12, 2012

"PINSPIRED"

I know that if you are reading this you have seen the awesome CHIPPY TABLE on Pinterest! Today the "Dude" and I made our own version of it. Ours is not as long, as the one on Pinterest, but I LOVE MINE!!!

First we picked out some chippy wood we had in our garage. The legs are from a Window  Frame! 

Then we laid it all out! 100 Year old HOUSE wood!!

We used 2 different kind of saws

This one splits the wood to make it skinnier. I might try laying on it myself!!!

While we were putting it together, we made sure it was level!!

VOILA~

I added a few of my favorite things!!

This photo came from Pinterest!!!

Chapter 2

I had so many nice comments about chapter 1. A few on here and several on my FB page! Thank you all for your kind words. It is not hard to talk about, because God has healed the wounds. I hope that my story will help someone else to see that we can overcome. It is a choice to be a VICTIM or VICTORIOUS, I choose to be VICTORIOUS! In chapter 2 I will talk about something that may be disturbing to you, but it must be done. I am not sure why I feel the need to do this. Maybe someone reading this will find the strength to forgive something in their past. If that happens, I have done my part. I wish this kind of thing had never happened to anyone. I used to ask WHY LORD. Now I know there is a reason for everything. Maybe the reason is so I could be strong, and help others through it.

 As I told you in chapter 1, my grandma adopted me. She was actually my step-grandma, she was married to my grandpa who is my mothers dad. I was 5 years old when I was adopted. I think I must have been about 7  years old when my grandpa started molesting me. The first thing I remember was him telling me it was a secret and I would be in trouble if I tell anyone. He told me if I did not do what he wanted, that my grandma (momma) would be mad at me. As I was growing up, I remember her always saying how odd I was, because I never asked for anything, or when she bought me toys, I would never play with them. I know now, it was because I did not want to have to "pay" for it. He used things to try to bribe me. Now that I am an adult, I realize he was using my love for her to control me. When I was 11 my momma had a massive heart attack and died 3 times in one day. She was in a coma for several days, but after 18 days, she left the hospital. She lived, I believe for ME!! The abuse lasted until I was 12 years old. One day at school, we watched a film about a man who was abusing his daughter, the teacher spoke to the class after the film and said this was WRONG, and that the victim would NOT be in trouble. That night at home, I was pretty quiet, and thinking about how I could tell on him. I was still afraid she would be mad at me, but at the same time, I wanted this to stop. The next morning he took my momma to work like everyday, he told me to "be ready" when he got back home. Of course, I was never "ready" I hated him, and what he was doing, he had to force me every time. When he got back home I was, as always fully dressed, and sitting at the dining room table eating breakfast. When he walked in, he was telling me to hurry up and get done eating. Little did he know, I had a KNIFE under my leg. I jumped up and pointed it at him, and told him to leave me alone, and take me to school. I told him, I was going to tell momma what he was doing. I tried to pick up the phone, and he ripped it from the wall so I couldn't use it. I turned the tables on him, and said..."if you will take me to school, and promise to never touch or hurt me again, I will not tell on you". He took me to school, and as I was getting out of the car, he said "do you promise you are not going to tell?" I said "I promise". I LIED!!!! I went straight in and called my sister- in- law! She was my momma's oldest son's wife, who because I was adopted is my Brother!! He was also the pastor of our church. To make the long story short, I was removed from the home and investigation began. He got 10 years probation, for my life time of pain. He messed up, and went to prison several times, because he continued to find victims. My momma and I lived a very happy life when he was removed, and we got to move back in our home.

Again, I left out details to keep it short. Please rest assured, I have forgiven both him and my biological mother for the abuse. I realized a long time ago, I had to let go of the past to move on to the future. I learned  TEN 2 letter words.... IF IT IS TO BE IT IS UP TO ME!   I still live by this!!

Chapter 3 tomorrow!!!

Monday, June 11, 2012

CHAPTER 1

Good morning all~ I have had this post on my heart for a while now, and I think it is time to write! I hope to inspire someone, or make a difference in someone's life.  I just want you to know who I am! I believe that what happens in our life can and will determine who we are. I was born in Sherman TX to an unwed mother. I had 1 older brother and 1 little sister. As I was growing up, we moved a lot. I mostly remember Arkansas. We were very poor, never had any NEW clothes or furniture, just whatever we could get free or goodwill. My mother was very abusive, to us. I recall a day that I will never forget. My brother was teaching me the ABC's, when I would get to LMNOP, it was a tongue twister, and we laughed and laughed. My mother however, didn't think it was so funny. She knocked me off the stool and beat me telling me I was stupid, and she will not have a stupid child living with her. She told me if my grandparents did not want me, that she would send me to a foster home. Well, time passed, and one day at school, I looked up, and saw my grandma standing in my class room. I was excited to see her, and ran to her hugging her tight! She asked me if I wanted to go to her home in Texas. Of course, I wanted to go visit my grandma, who wouldn't?? I did not realize what was really happening. I remember my mother giving her a big black trash bag full of my clothes, and off we went. Once we got to my grandma's house, she started going through the bag, and crying because all I had was "rags" . I had on a pair of leotards and when she took them off of me to give me a bath, I had bruises all over my legs. She was very upset about that, and told me I would never have to worry about that again. She went shopping that day, and bought me all NEW CLOTHES, even 3 different colors of PJ'S!! As a few months passed, I started missing my brother and sister. I begged to go back home. Finally my mother agreed to let me come back. Once I was back home, and nothing had changed, beatings, and everything started all over, I realized that being at grandma's was much better! I am not sure how long I stayed, but soon, I went back to grandma's house, and that is where I grew up. She adopted me and now she is my MOMMA!!


There are many details, I am not writing, to keep it short,  I will write chapter 2 tomorrow....... 

I am sure that my "momma" saw something in me, that was more than I ever knew could be!
For now, Here is a photo of something that when I saw it, I looked beyond what it was, and saw what it could be!! It was an old lamp, I turned it into a BIRDBATH!!