I am a strong woman of faith, who has had many struggles in my life; some physical, some emotional, and some spiritual. My husband and I are both survivors of child abuse. I was raped at the age of 11 by two men. I was gang raped in college by three college boys one in which I thought was my friend. These events caused me to suffer from Complex PTSD and depression.

The following blog is about how God has used these events to mold me into the strong woman that I am today. God has given me so much courage, strength and beauty from within, that He takes from my scars and uses them for His glory. Physical beauty fades but inner beauty shines forth!

I have been blessed with a wonderful husband who loves me for me and our three amazing children who bring such joy into my life every day! I have always dreamed of being an author or an editor for a magazine. I believe it is finally time for me to take that step of faith because God has given me so much inspiration that I feel compelled to share it with the world.**

My story starts on June 22nd, 1982 at 6:09pm in Springfield, Illinois at Sangamon County Hospital.**

I believe that we are all capable of anything we put our minds to. I have been through many struggles in my life, and have come out on top. Many times I was ready to quit, but I always thought of my family and friends, and how they were counting on me. Some of the things I have overcome include cancer (twice), and severe depression.

Telling my story has been very therapeutic for me, and has taught me so much about myself. I want to inspire others who read my blog to never give up on themselves no matter what their situation is.*

I am a daughter, sister, niece and a best friend. I am a charter member of the “sandwich generation” caring for my ageing parents and children. I am also a special needs teacher’s aide and an avid crafter.

Tammy’s Thrifty Treasures is my creative outlet in which I share my passion for creating with recycled materials. Through this blog I will share some of the creations that have come from many hours of work, trial and error. I will also be sharing my journey of being a care-giver to my parents and being a single parent to my son.

I hope you enjoy your visit here!

Copyright Tammy Preston Claims no credit for any images posted on this blog unless otherwise noted. Images on this blog are copyright to its respectful owners. If there is an image appearing on this blog that belongs to you and do not wish for it appear on this site, please E-mail with a link to said image and it will be promptly removed.

Hey! My name is Elene. I was born and raised in a small town in the state of Indiana. From a young age, I was always interested in drawing and art. I attended Ball State University and graduated with a degree in Graphic Design.

I’ve been doing creative work for over 15 years now. Many people have a hard time understanding how I can do both photography and graphic design at the same time. It’s not that difficult when you think about it – I’m always taking pictures of everything around me, so why not take pictures of things that will be useful to me later?

Tons of my friends ask me where my ideas come from, but it’s really pretty simple: just look around you! That is more than half the battle, especially for someone like me who is interested in everything.

Anyways, throughout my life I have struggled with depression, anxiety, stress, and being overweight. But through all of these struggles, I have learned valuable lessons about myself – lessons that are true no matter what kind of person you are or what your struggles may be.

I hope that my blog will inspire others to overcome their struggles as well! After all, anyone can do anything if they put their mind to it!

**June 6, 2015**

I write this to you on one of the worst days of my life. I’ve been battling depression for about 7 years now, and today is the first time I’ve really felt that it was winning. I am sitting in my apartment at 11:06pm on a Sunday night. I have no idea what to do with myself. I’m not even sure when I should get up tomorrow because all I can see is a never ending cycle of suffering and pain that has no end in sight.

*For the last two hours, I have been laying on my bed staring at the ceiling wondering what the hell happened to my life.*

My mind drifts back to March of 2014 when things were going great. My husband and I had just moved into our first home together as newlyweds. We had been married for a year, but we knew we wanted to spend the rest of our lives with each other before we got married, so we dated for three years before taking the plunge. It was an amazing day filled with so much love from family and friends that it almost made me cry (I did cry). We had an AMAZING honeymoon in Maui that lasted for two weeks, and we used this money as a down

There was a time in my life, when I was about 10. We lived in a small lower middle class neighborhood called kammanahalli in Bangalore. It was really close to my school and the subway station.

The house we lived in was just 1 bedroom with a kitchen and a drawing room. The drawing room had an extra place where we used to sleep (we couldn’t have guests over due to lack of space). The house we lived in was small but it was all I ever needed. I had good parents and friends, a good home and awesome teachers at school.

The most memorable thing that happened on this day, is when there was a short power cut during that time. And, instead of complaining about how dark the house was or how cold it felt (at night) my dad got out of his bed and came to me and told me ‘I would get the flashlight after the power comes back’ I remember how good I felt at that moment. It’s one of those moments I’ll never forget.*