Oh, OOOPSSSS....I lost a month!

Good morning to you all, I hope this beautiful Saturday finds you happy and well. I cannot believe I have totally lost a month, omgness!! I was so proud of myself for at least updating my blog once a month, and here I go and mess that all up by completely losing a whole month....it has left me wondering where on earth the month of April went! I was incredibly busy....let's see, my daughter's birthday celebration, her boyfriend's police academy graduation celebration, an impromptu visit to my sister's.....LOL I did manage to get hats and journals created in my "spare" time, but unfortunately updating my blog fell off of my radar :( My apologies for that, still trying to do better at updating even though it seems life has a tendency to get in my way.


I have found that I am having a bit of struggle right now, and I can only attribute it to life's stressors. We are going on month 5 of my hubby being unemployed and it is incredibly frustrating to know that he is sending out a multitude of resume's and applying for jobs, and NOTHING is happening! :(  I have faith and I believe in the power of prayer, I continue to stay positive and try and keep him that way, but unfortunately I think the energy I am giving to him to keep him motivated and "up" is taking a little bit away from my "creativity", or maybe it's the fact that I'm having a hard time finding the spare energy necessary to work on my projects is a more appropriate way of explaining it. I want to, but I find I'm just so tired that I may work on something and then just lose the energy half way through. I am a very determined woman, however, and I WILL persevere! I KNOW that God has a plan and that the "right" job will come along for him when it is supposed to, I only wish it would HURRY UP already LOL :)


Now despite life's "bumps", do you ever just sit and wonder "Am I truly happy and at peace"? This exact question crossed my mind a couple of weeks ago, and I sat and truly thought about it. I can honestly say (despite my honey being jobless), that YES I am truly happy and at peace. Both of my kids are happy and healthy and have wonderful significant other's, and my honey and I are still "in love" going on 26 years now. How many people can say that? He is my soul mate and I can't imagine my life without him making me laugh at his antics or smile through tears of sadness, he makes fun of me when I cry while watching some of our television shows, but he wouldn't have me any other way. I took this as a very high compliment from him the other day.....we were watching Ghost Whisperer the other day, and he turned to me and said "you are like her (Melinda), you cry a lot". :) I don't know who the writers are on that show, but they did an amazing job and for my hubby to say that to me touched me because that means he notices that I'm a sensitive person that expresses herself through the emotion of tears whether they are happy or sad :) I have been told by a few friend's/family that my morning Facebook posts are very positive and they love that I am that way and they look forward to seeing them in everyday, this touches me beyond belief because if I can just touch one person's heart a day, maybe I have helped someone be happy or smile, that makes it all worth it!


I think I have probably "rambled" enough this morning, so you are probably wondering by now...come on, are there any pictures of hats and journals? YES there are!!! My Pirate Owl hat turned out so darn ADORABLE!!! Several of my children's hats this year were made without a pattern and just the inspiration of a picture to look at, and I'm truly proud of that accomplishment!

And here are pictures of the Journey Journals we have been creating! My daughter and Mom helped us create some of these journals too, so grateful for the additional help, it's always fun creating things together!

My sister in MD just received a nice size donation of yarn for The Journey Continues ~ A Division of Hats from the Heart, and the donations are so appreciated! Though the progress may seem slow to some in our east coast division, it is still progress! Each donation received goes toward making hats and journals for cancer patients, and each hat and journal made goes to someone battling this horrible disease. Do not be discouraged because progress is slow, be encouraged because progress is being made with every single hat made and every single journal created <3 Endless gratitude to Sherry and Donald Gross and Mary Fazenbaker for their generosity and kindness for the yarn donation, you make a difference in the world and to each patient we help!

I leave you with this thought.....we are all born with an unlimited supply of love, make a difference in someone's life today by sharing a smile, a hug, and kindness because we are all fighting a battle of some type! Until my next update, may the light of God's love touch your heart and soul and help you to Glow from Within......<3

Spring is here, and so is the heat.

Blessings to you on this very warm Sunday afternoon. I love Spring, but with it comes everything blooming (and allergies too) and days that are just too warm, too soon. It has been down right HOT for the last two days and I have had to break down and turn on the AC in the afternoons. I love being able to sit outside in the mornings while it is still cool, enjoying the hummingbirds getting their drink of nectar, and looking at the fabulous blooms of flowers and yes, even the Palo Verde tree's beautiful flowers. Even though my allergies are whoopin' on me, I am still thankful for every day and every blessing given to me! We had quite a scare at the beginning of last week with my MIL being hospitalized for a couple of days, I stayed home while my hubby went to Tucson to make sure the doctor's and nurses were taking good care of her. I'm happy to say that she is home and doing much better. I seem to always state somewhere in here to not take one single second for granted, we are here for a limited amount of time, make each second count! Let those you love know how very much you love them every day.

I must put a little reminder in here, that the photo's I share with you are made by hand by myself and other's for donation to cancer patients. We do not wish to come off as heartless, but we don't take requests for anything other than donation to cancer patients. Just wanted to put this out there again as I have been requested to make a hat which I must turn down, I simply just don't have the time to do it and do not wish to take away from the time I devote to Hats from the Heart/My Journey Journals.

I have many pictures to share with you as it has been a while since my last update (this is becoming the norm). I have so many projects going, I do like to stay busy, I'm running into myself coming and going at times. I have two baby blankets under way, a pair of wrist warmers half finished, and of course, the hats and journals that make this blog possible and make my life even better. I have a few pictures from The Journey Continues ~ A Division of Hats from the Heart, as my Sis is still hard at work creating Journey Journals and hats when she can. Here are a couple from her recent postings, we both work full time jobs, so sometimes time escapes us... :)

I just LOVE the flapper style hat, she did a fantastic job on it for her first crochet hat, and the journal leaves me speechless!! It is absolutely beautiful!!! We all have angels surrounding us all the time, I know them as my loved ones who have passed before me. I am blessed to be able to feel their presence at times and I'm grateful to them for allowing me this privilege.  One day (when I have time to do something for me again) I want to paint an angel picture for my home.

Now I will share with you the hats and journals that I have been working on in the past month. I feel like I'm not creating as much as I should be, but I will take it one day at a time and I know that I will create as many as the Lord wishes me to create. Please enjoy the following creations that have taken place in the past month.

I included two views of the Pac Man hat because it goes all the way around the hat. I am having a blast creating with the peacock feathers!! Much gratitude to a dear friend who I haven't met in person yet (hope to soon) Mo, who does AWESOME work raising and training Service Dogs! <3 I'm so blessed to have her and her hubby in my life!!

I have my next hat all picked out, I want to do a pirate owl hat....EEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPP!!!! :D I just whipped out three more Journey Journals, but you will have to wait for my next update on that one! I know that it hasn't been a really "newsy" update, but hopefully next update will have more news in it. I continue to work hard to try and get the children's hats and journey journals ready for shipment, I may postpone my shipment for a month simply because I don't feel there is enough right now. I must run along and cook dinner and finish my last load of laundry up until my next update, may the light of God's love touch your heart and soul and help you to.............Glow from Within <3

Lull's in creativity

Happy Saturday morning all! :)  I am hard at work on an Elmo hat this morning, but wanted to take a small break an update my blog, as I have been remiss in doing so AGAIN! Nope, you guessed it, I forgot to add the reminder to my phone LOL I have had a small "lull" in my creativity and I am determined to get it going again this weekend, I had a couple of great ideas yesterday, so I think maybe my small vacation from creativity is done, FINALLY!! I really dislike when my mind decides to take a creativity break like that, but I guess it is necessary sometimes in order to recharge.

A lot has been going on with our group Hats from the Heart/My Journey Journals, WE HAVE EXPANDED to the East Coast in Maryland! It all started because my Sis wanted me to facebook friend a friend of hers who is making hats for cancer patients (special requests right now) as well and she needed some encouragement. She is new to crocheting (and doing a FANTASTICALLY BEAUTIFUL job on every hat she makes), and like me, is critical of herself and her creations. In the midst of these "chat" conversations, God gave me the inspiration to open a chapter in Maryland that my Sis and Rebekah (my new friend) could operate and donate hats and journey journals there. So I spoke to my Sis and we agreed that this was an EXCELLENT idea!! So our Maryland chapter is known as "The Journey Continues ~ A Division of Hats from the Heart". I have added them to our page on facebook Hats from the Heart/My Journey Journals so they can post pictures of their creations and donations. This is EXCITING stuff!!! Rebekah's hats are simply beautiful and wonderful, and my Sis is even making some cool loom hats and crochet (waiting to see her first crochet hat) hats too (I'm so proud of her). My Sis makes some pretty fabulous Journey Journals, mine are so simple compared to hers!! We are making a difference one hat and one journal at a time! The following pictures are some hats and journals created by my Sis Vicky and my friend Rebekah for The Journey Continues, and a picture of the two lovely ladies!!

Now how AWESOME are those??? Pretty darn awesome if you ask me!! I also have pictures to share of some of my own creations and my older Sister's creations a little later.

This year has started out with a lot of people I know or friend's of friends passing to the other side. My heart felt prayers continue to go to them as they struggle with the loss of the physical presence of their loved ones. Most of us know that they are ALWAYS with us in spirit form, but it does not ease the pain of the physical loss much or make it any easier. Remember them always and look for the little signs that tell you they are near always. May you have peace and comfort knowing that they are waiting to welcome you home with open arms when it is your time. <3

My hubby is still in search of a job, there have been a couple of start and stops, but we will get there eventually when the time is right! This last job that he did a "training" day on and then the next day started to go to work, and if it had not been for the driver next to him blowing his horn (and his guardian angels), he would have been in a horrible accident and could have ended up killing the person on the motorcycle in front of him and himself because he fell asleep behind the wheel. I do not tell you this because I want sympathy or attention, I tell this because I want to make everyone that I can aware of how very short life is, and how we should love and appreciate everyone for the time they are here. I came very, very close to possibly losing my soul mate that night/morning and I'm so very grateful that it was NOT his time and God and his angels protected him and those around him from harm. Don't take for granted even one single precious moment, they can be lost in an instant!

Now here are a few photo's of hats and journals that I created, as well as, some loom hats my Sister created. I LOVE them all!!!

There you have it, all of our beautiful creations since my last update! Yes, even though I have creative "lulls", I still manage to have lots of pictures of what has been done! Maybe long periods between updates is a good thing?! LOL  Not in my mind, so I am still working on this little challenge of mine and I will work harder at getting updates to you more frequently!!! Please feel free to comment, share and visit us over on our facebook page Hats from the Heart/My Journey Journals so you don't miss a thing! Comments keep us encouraged and motivated ;) A HUGE shout out and THANK YOU to Sandy who ALWAYS comments on our posts, much love to you for keeping me motivated and encouraged even through my "lulls"!! Until my next update, may the light of God's love touch your heart and soul and help each one of you to...........Glow from Within <3