20 Facts About Me

This is the second installment of the 31 blog challenge.

Fact #1

I’m married and have three grown children. My son Joshua is 28 years old, married and he’s given me my first grandchild, who is now 1 years old. My daughter Faith is 26 years old and is getting married in August, this year in 2019. My youngest child is Hannah, who is 23 years old.

Fact -#2

I’m a fine artist who works in many mediums such as acrylics, watercolors, cassein paint, oils, markers, pastels, charcoal, pen, pencil, photography and mixed medium. Some artists specialize in one or two things. I like the variety so I can work on whatever mood I’m in since they are handled differently. I’m more of a realist artist rather than an impressionist.

I’ve used this Canson Mixed Media Pad for above artwork. It works wonders for pen and watercolor due to the thickness of the pages. I did try drawing with markers on it and it can go through but just barely so you can get away with it. I invested in a Marker Pad that will be a better option.

Fact #3

I love to cook and bake. It all began when I was anticipating becoming a young bride and with housekeeping, along with cooking and baking, I was scared, wondering if I would be any good at it or would be able to keep up with the daily need of it. Of course my mother taught me the family recipes handed down from Sicily, Italy, but somehow there wasn’t enough variety to prevent it from becoming one big chore to be dreaded. So in anticipation, I discovered some cookbooks my mother had and started looking through them. I started reading the recipes, picturing how they would come out. Out of this fascination was born my love for exploring recipes which results in a vast collection of cookbooks and being a regular visitor to recipe sites. My husband teases me about never having made the same thing twice and he is only exaggerating a little bit.

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Fact #4

I love to travel and explore places whether through camping (which I was raised with), road trips and flying places with trepidation since I’ve never been comfortable on an airplane. Part of the reason I love exploring is for the opportunity to photograph beautiful settings for future paintings and drawings. My husband is the perfect traveling companion because he has the patience for me to take time to get those perfect shots, to the point of noticing things I may miss and stopping for me to get some of those shots. Now that I blog about travel, traveling has another exciting purpose for me.

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Fact#5

It doesn’t take long for people to figure out that I am an evangelical/born again believer in the Lord Jesus Christ who is my Savior. Because of His protection, I am alive and well today having endured two close calls, one of which you may read about here- https://www.dealingwithdailylifeissues.com/his-angels-watch-over-thee/ With him as my Lord and Savior, I don’t have to fear death, John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. and when life throws curve balls at me, I have His promise that He will always be there for me. Hebrews 13:5B I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

Fact#6

I find being a member of a church very rewarding. We are like a family. If one is going through a hard time, you can count on prayer backing and encouragement. Galatians 6:1-2 Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Fact#7

I was raised with dogs as pets and had my share of different kinds growing up. My favorite were our two German shepherds, Dino and Desi. Despite that I always had a desire to have a cat which was never going to happen since my mother hated cats. I eventually became a cat owner after I was married and have come to the conclusion that cats are a better fit for me with my busy life style due to their independence.

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Now that we are getting settled again, I can foresee being a cat owner in our future and look forward to it. As you can see in one of the pics above, cats love boxes instead of any toy you might buy unless it has Catnip in it or a toy they can chase.

Fact#8-10

I love being creative. As well as the fine arts, I enjoy making crafts and writing. I just love creating in many forms- painting, drawing, crafts, cooking, baking and writing. It’s an endless pastime that is very therapeutic and relaxing. When I travel, I love shooting photographs for the art in itself but mostly for material for future paintings and drawings.

Fact#11-12

I find games very fun and relaxing. For games on the PC, I love many kinds but I especially enjoy ones that have you exploring with gorgeous graphics called interactive fiction or graphic adventures. Parlor games are especially great while enjoying the company of family and/or friends. Recently, we played Scattergories , which ended up being quite a hit. Another favorite pastime is crossword puzzles. I used to devour the magazines but now you can play online.

Fact#13

I’m an avid reader. I remember well, when it all began. I was in grammar school and the teacher brought us into the makeshift school library that was the principal’s office. Books lined the walls all around. We were taught how to borrow books from the library. When my eyes landed on the Nancy Drew series, Bobbsey Twins and a long set of historical novels, I was hooked. From my first borrowed book, a bookworm landed in my lap and has remained there ever since. I devoured books like they were going out of style. By the time I reached 7th grade, I always had a book in my hand. My mother wasn’t used to this since my two older siblings did not read books like this. It appeared that I scared her. One day I was reading a mystery romance titled The Fatal Flower. I was so engrossed in the book, that my mother wanted to know what I was reading. Grabbing the book and spotting the word romance on the binder stating mystery romance, thinking it was a dirty book, she stated that I couldn’t read it and took it away. I very shortly grabbed another stack of paperback mystery romance novels about 8 inches high to read. We had a friend of the family who was a high school English teacher who came by the house frequently. He was visiting the day my mother spotted the next set of books. She promptly grabbed them and showed them to him and asked if I should be reading this stuff. His eyes bugged out at my love for reading and stated “Leave her alone. That’s great! Let her read!” From then on, she never bothered me again and got used to me always having my nose in a book. I still never found out how The Fatal Flower ended. Click here for reading options

Fact#14

Because of my love for cooking and baking and exploring recipes, I have an extensive collection of spices and extracts. If I had bought them all at once, it would have cost me hundreds of dollars. I bought them over time as recipes asked for them or as they needed replacing. I even had to have a special shelf built to hold them because they would get lost hiding behind one another in the cabinet that had me buying ones I already had.

Fact#15

Family time is of utmost importance to me. I’ve learned the hard way to treasure the time you have with family because things can change suddenly and you can end up with too many regrets later in life. Take time to smell the roses.

Fact#16

Although I like many foods and can probably not even count on one hand what I don’t like, my all time favorite is lobster with butter. I actually moan when I eat it.

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Fact#17

I work in the psychological field. I remember back as a teenager, I used to say that I’d like a job helping people where I would help them solve their problems or assist them in improving their quality of life. Didn’t realize I was describing a therapist/counselor. After getting my masters degree in counseling psychology, I became a therapist for a few years. Now I am an emergency services clinician which means I work on a crisis team doing psychological evaluations on individuals in crisis at different locations such as the hospital, our clinic, people’s homes and schools. After the evaluations, we figure out what services they need to alleviate their crisis. Philippians 2:3-5 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus. (NASB)

Fact#18

I have pet peeves like everyone else. I can pick 3 – long red lights, slow drivers and disrespect. When I say long red lights, I mean ones that I’ve actually timed that took two minutes to change or ones that were so long, I actually thought they were broken. By slow drivers, I mean people that crawl to the point that traffic is building up behind them or going below the speed limit. Any form of disrespect is uncalled for. It involves blatant disregard for another being. Romans 12:9-10 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. (NIV)

Fact#19

One of the most peaceful things is sitting outside or near an open window and listening to the birds chirping. Even if one lives on a busy street, you can still hear them and focus on them during lulls between cars no matter how small. It is so relaxing and can almost transport you to another world.

Fact#20

As a teenager, I remember telling my art teacher that my favorite colors were bright deep purple and hot pink. She commented that those were favorite colors of an artist. Most people would choose blue. Over the years, purple remained a favorite and it still does. My appreciation for other colors has broadened as an artist. The rich tones of green and many other colors that are needed and used in the development of a painting.

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