Family, Religion, Artist (duh), Humor, Sweet Tooth, and True Crime...

THIS IS ME...

DAY 1 - I am a happily married, almost 40 year old mother of two girls. I have lived in New England my entire life. I love watching the seasons change and the natural beauty that surrounds me. I live in a wooded area that is home to many wild animals. My family and I love to watch movies, play board and card games, hike, kayak and walk the beach and play in the ocean on our annual seaside vacation.

So here I am! Short hair and long...I go back and forth a lot. Here I am with an adorable skunk, I would have kept him too if they let me!

MY RELIGION...

Day 2 - I am a Christian. I was raised in an Assembly of God church and my father has been a minister since I was 10 years old. I had a fairly strict upbringing that sorta kept me out of trouble.

Jesus has always been there for me in my life and through many difficulties and I try my best to live a life that's pleasing to him, although I know I fail miserably every day. I currently attend a Lutheran church with my family. My husband was raised Catholic and this church was a good "middle ground" for us. I care more about my relationship with God than I do structured religion and I must admit I do struggle at times when too many of man's rules and traditions seem to get in the way. I feel God has blessed me with an artistic gift and it is only right that I use that gift and share it with others.

ARTIST

Day 3- I am an artist. Wow! Imagine that, an artist on an artist blog on an artist's website. I know, nothing eye opening here, but it took me quite a while to call myself an artist. Even now if someone asks me "are you an artist?" I will shrug and say "I guess so". I am slowly building more confidence as I slowly improve. I hope you will check out some of my first postings on instagram and/or facebook and let me know if you see any improvement, if you don't...tell me that too!

SENSE OF HUMOR

Day 4 - Who doesn't love to laugh? For those that know me well enough I have a goofy, sarcastic and sometimes demented sense of humor. I'm incredibly immature and I do try to hide this fact in public but there are times I can't help myself, especially if it will embarrass my kids! The disappointing fact is they don't really get embarrassed, so I just keep on trying. I will do just about anything for a laugh.

Like stick my face under one of those high powered hand dryers in a restroom so my kids can see my face ripple and contort in the breeze. I've been caught a few times by poor random women that were not expecting that sight as they entered the facilities! Have a funny story to share? Please leave it in the comments section and keep it PG since there are kids that subscribe to this blog.

SWEET TOOTH

Day 5 - I have a MAJOR sweet tooth. I'm surprised I still have teeth and that I am not a diabetic.

Chocolate is my all time favorite sweet, but lemon and orange flavors are high up there. I can't pass up a cheesecake. I will gorge on sweets until I feel sick and then take a day or two to recover and then I'm back at it again. I have a chocolate stash in my studio so I can indulge while I create. I'm also addicted to Diet Pepsi...cause I don't want the added calories?!? Makes sense right. No? Well it tastes sweeter to me so I drink it even though I know it's full of chemicals. Everyone has a vice right?

What gets you through your day as a pick me up?

TRUE CRIME

Day - 6 Okay, so far we have a female artist that loves her family, loves Jesus, has a messed up sense of humor, loves sweets and... is obsessed with true crime. I listen to true crime podcasts, watch true crime documentaries and read about true crime. It's not so much the blood, gore and violence. It's learning about the psychology behind what makes people do the things they do and the circumstances in life that can turn someone into a monster. The brain is a fascinating and sometimes scary place and this is another one of my guilty pleasures. What fascinates and terrorizes you at the same time?