How I found my purpose

One of the oldest memories I have as a child is playing with my Barbie house. I loved playing with Barbies and I played with them until I hit middle school and my parents forced me to get rid of them. My mom felt I was too old for them, and I kept a few Barbies but sold the rest of my stuff.  My favorite part of playing with them was arranging their house, and making furniture out of random stuff to use. I would even make my Barbie get divorced so I could create an apartment for one of them! My best friend said I always had the best looking Barbie houses she ever saw. I should have known at a young age I was meant to be an interior designer. 

When my parents got divorced, we moved to West Virginia and I was pretty was sad about it. I had no friends and I was in a strange state that I knew nothing about. So, as a coping mechanism, I would save my money and decorate my room. I found a neat record store that sold stuff I thought would look cool in my room like these candles that responded to black lights. I melted the candles on wine bottles so they would drip all down the sides and create a neat looking decorative item. I also put the inside of a highlighter into bottles full of water which created bright a colored liquid  that was also responsive to black light. I then replaced all my light bulbs in my room except the overhead one with black lights. I had an awesome room that I was proud of. I loved rearranging my furniture and changing it around. 

I don’t know if is she remembers, but my best friend was always rearranging her room too.  She would switch her and her brother’s room all the time. I liked helping her do it, I always thought it was fun. Looking back on these memories I realized I have always had a love for interior design, and redoing furniture. I started painting furniture when I was young, but never thought anything of it. 

After I had my daughter, we moved to a duplex in Killeen, Texas. When I went to sign the lease, my friend Kacey asked the landlords if we could paint, and they said sure! I couldn’t believe it, I was so happy. Kacey and I bought paint from home depot and I started to get to work, trying to make my rental our home. I did some pretty awesome stuff, and I wish I had more and better pictures of it. My friend Kacey is an amazing and creative artist. She can paint beautifully, build stuff, tile, almost anything. She helped inspire me to try new things and push my own creativity. 

I met my good friend and neighbor, Tameka at the bus stop on the first day of my son’s new school. She saw all the cool stuff I did in my house and wanted me to help her do her daughter’s room. She loved saving money and doing crafts and stuff, so we had fun doing it together. We did her room for something really cheap, I cannot remember how much. Maybe if she remembers she will leave a comment below on what it was. We made her a headboard, painted a desk, made her curtains, and some accessories. We both loved thrift stores, so we found most of the stuff for her daughter’s room there. I really miss my thrift store shopping buddy!  

I found a place in Coppers Cove, Texas that had booth spaces, and “A Little Love” was born. Mr. Glittered Barn invested in me, and gave me a few hundred dollars to buy the things I needed and get started. I was there for a few months, until we moved out of Texas. I also started doing custom decorating work during that time too. Mr. Glittered Barn and Tameka both believed in me. The Mr. was and still is one of my biggest supporters. He has always believed in me. 

2008 was the year I realized what I wanted to do in my life, and I started to think in the back of my head that I could do this, I could start my own business doing what I love and what I am good at. I am still working it all out, and figuring what the best fit for me is. But I know I love decorating and DIY projects!!