Goodbye 2013…

I was planning to start from scratch on a very detailed and insightful post about lessons learned this year and new beginnings,but guess what? I got a little help! The daily prompt asked who would I choose to be next year..could be anyone even myself.While Beyonce’,Rihanna, and Jada Pinkett-Smith are all very tempting choices..I choose to be myself.Well, to clarify my new and improved self. I made this decision because I need a chance to be a better person.To live a life in a positive light,and covered by God’s grace.So, there are definitely some changes to be made if I can survive my apartment hunt that is (we’ll talk about it later) lol.I always make resolutions at the start of the year…I wonder what they were earlier this year? Well these goals for 2014 I will not forget.If I make the full-list now I will be over-whelmed by the extensive length of it.So how about goals for the first four months? Sounds perfect!

1. Let go & let God (no more stressing about the future or past)
2. Do something that’s intimidating fearlessly
3. Start my online or home bakery
4. Find a beautiful Jeep (I love riding high)
5. Start an emergency fund
6. Lose 30 pounds (perhaps more let me get that scale..)
7. Gain more self-confidence
8. Give to charity & volunteer
9. Take this blog to a new level
10. Find a job where my degree is not useless Lol
11. Kick ass on my student loans re-payment (screw you interest)
12. Be annoyingly happy
13. Take absolutely no day for granted

❤.There it is! Thirteen goals in no particular order all in need of being accomplished.Not too much or too complicated.No pressure(that was a lie) :P.I hope that all of your lists are short & sweet.Don’t forget to have fun while meeting you goals. #2014MyYear #13GoalsOnDeck #HashTagsOnABlog #IDoThis #StudentLoanDestroyer #READY

This Morning’s Breakfast..!

I must say this was yummy! This was the result from my first time making home-made waffles.Well, semi-homemade (box mix). This time I simply added water, cinnamon sugar , butter, and an egg white to  the batter,and used sliced bananas as topping! I was hoping adding the egg white would ensure a thin crisper waffle,not so much!So next time I make this meal I will be on a quest for thin,crisp,and flavorful waffles. Oh yeah the eggs & sausage was good too :).

Cuteness To Start Your Day..! :)

Doesn’t this just make you smile?

Bah Humbug!?

When I was a kid I loved Christmas! That’s why I always had my mom wrap my gifts a couple of weeks early, set them up so I could count them and try to guess what each one was.I think the largest amount of gifts I have ever received is forty (THANKS MOM). Lol, anyway that was years ago.Then one day my parents became interested in  becoming Jehovah’s Witnesses. At the time, they tried to explain to me what that meant..but all I heard was “We will no longer celebrate Christmas,birthdays,or Thanksgiving.” I was one horrified spoiled girl on that day. To say I was against it is an understatement..I was down right pissed. Luckily, they dropped their interests in time..celebrating birthdays and major holidays in grand fashion resumed until I moved out after high school. I thought the last of that Jehovah Witness talk in my life,boy was I wrong.

My last boyfriend was a Jehovah’s Witness. There was absolutely no pressure from him for me to become one,he knew a person had to make those choices alone.I became curious, no longer blinded by the promise of parties and material things, so I was able to explore.The reading materials basically said that these holidays are “of the world”,and God did not ask us to celebrate these man-made holidays.There were Bible verses listed to back up these statements. That stung! Then I thought about what these holidays mean for my family..Thanksgiving & Christmas are two times per year that I can almost guarantee a large amount of my family together and celebrating. I thought “Can this really be a bad thing? These are occasions to celebrate life”. This is my predicament: to celebrate or not to celebrate? It’s not about becoming a Jehovah’s Witness  really…it’s just about where I stand on this subject. If I decide to not celebrate holidays I will be the only person in my family not to do so. That will be weird,but if I make that choice so be it(yeah, I make it sound so easy). I’m glad I have you guys :]..it can be so hard to talk to people about Christianity especially other Christians lol! Some of us are afraid or ashamed to admit we have questions,others quickly label it as the Devil’s work.I believe that in order to grow you should ask questions,and grow with the answers. So I’ll be here Asking & Growing ❤.

Wealth Factors

Ok, I know on my previous post I promised to write a piece about how the book titled The Wealth Cure: Putting Money in Its Place could improve your relationship with that long green stuff..I mean money by the way lol, but after some thinking I discovered a bigger lesson from the book. When I checked that book out of my college library I was beyond stressed financially and looking for some relief. Money was a big mean annoying issue…the lack of it at least. I thought the book would offer money-saving tips and maybe even a few clues to becoming a millionaire one day. That would make any book a best seller right? Lol, but I gained something so much better from this reading. Just check out the review I put in my journal shortly after I finished the book. “I thought it was going to be filled with budget plans and money-making tips, but it’s so much more than that! It’s a book that makes you focus and define your true definition of happiness. I must say, smart phones, designer bags, and skinny jeans are no where in my definition. I crave experiences more than materials. The experience of seeing this world, making someone smile, spending time with someone you love, reading the Bible, going to church, and loving yourself no matter what. That was a glimpse of what true happiness should be through my eyes.” Yeah this book made quite on impact on me! Lol. One of the exercises in the book was to create a list called “Wealth Factors” to sum it up..it’s a list of things you can do to better yourself , your relationships, and ultimately your life. It may sound like an intimidating list to make..but have faith in yourself if you truly want to change your life, or even just few quirks it’s more than possible. Ok, once you make it KEEP IT! This is coming from the girl who lost her wealth factor list under her bed for a couple of months..:/ Lol. Hey! I found it..it’s wrinkled…but I can read it! :). A few of my top factors were to lose weight, become healthy, volunteer, travel the world, be less fearful, and to have less stress in my life. I wrote this list merely months ago and I have already volunteered at a food pantry and found ways to relax and reduce stress as for fear?? I have nothing to fear but fear itself! Lol, Ok too far? I’m working on it though…but the the other top factors..weight loss? Traveling around the world? Well I had 3 Snickers bars today-Oh the guilt. It’s not my fault no annoying brats oops I mean cute little trick or treaters knocked on my door on Halloween night. Plus..two of the candy bars were fun sized..do I get a pass? The traveling around the world part? Hmm I traveled around the corner from my job and found a beauty supply store and a Chipotle Lol (yeah downtown Chicago rocks). I’m not worried I am going to get it together. Be fit and healthy as I tear the city of Atlanta up with my best friends next summer! :D. That’s my current wealth factor status..What’s going to be on your list?

Happy Sunday!! <3.

Psalm 92
New International Version

Psalm 92

 

¹ It is good to praise the Lord
    and make music to your name, O Most High,
² proclaiming your love in the morning
    and your faithfulness at night,
³ to the music of the ten-stringed lyre
    and the melody of the harp.

⁴ For you make me glad by your deeds, Lord;
    I sing for joy at what your hands have done.
⁵ How great are your works, Lord,
    how profound your thoughts!
⁶ Senseless people do not know,
    fools do not understand,
⁷ that though the wicked spring up like grass
    and all evildoers flourish,
    they will be destroyed forever.

⁸ But you, Lord, are forever exalted.

⁹ For surely your enemies, Lord,
    surely your enemies will perish;
    all evildoers will be scattered.
¹⁰ You have exalted my horn^[b] like that of a wild ox;
    fine oils have been poured on me.
¹¹ My eyes have seen the defeat of my adversaries;
    my ears have heard the rout of my wicked foes.

¹² The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,
    they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;
¹³ planted in the house of the Lord,
    they will flourish in the courts of our God.
¹⁴ They will still bear fruit in old age,
    they will stay fresh and green,
¹⁵ proclaiming, “The Lord is upright;
    he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.”

*From- Biblegateway.com

Write It Out

Hello! It’s been way to long since I wrote something..my apologies! I love this space way too much to neglect it..so stick with me we’re going to go far kid ;]. Anyways..I been feelin’ some type of way. Just kidding I’m not going to be that vague lol. I have been feeling like I had way too many emotions bottled in, and that’s why I pulled out my lovely journal. I am a recovering serial journal keeper Lol…but, I plan on sticking with this journal until it’s filled up. After all writing is cathartic (even Oprah says so)! Most recently I made on entry based on faith and  releasing the past. Want to know one of my writing secrets?? Ok, I no longer date any of my journal entries. I just want to remember what I have felt, and how I have grown! Dates can cause you to measure your growth wrong..make you think you are growing too slow. Nonsense! You grow as a person every single day emotionally. I am currently working on a post about how to balance your relationship with money it will be featuring insight I gained by reading The Wealth Cure: Putting Money In Its Place by Hill Harper. Maybe you can stop by your local library or book store to pick it up. It’s a wonderful book! 🙂

Just To Check In…

Life can sometimes be so fast paced. Work, school, and social outings among other things can consume so much of our time. I can relate to trying to “keep up” in life! I have good news…I have a brand new job! It’s in the lively downtown area of Chicago. Every time I’m there I can feel the ambition running through my veins. The hope that one day I can be that independent girl living in a downtown apartment ..with a view of the lake :). This hope guides my steps on the way to work.  This is the busiest I have been since I graduated college, and I love every minute of it! Sitting still causes me to become bored. With that being said there needs to be a good amount of stillness in this life. I am working on slow down my pace to gain clarity, and take even more time to be thankful. Using this stillness to become more than a source of boredom, but a time of reflection. Lately, I have been feeling a little writer’s block, and maybe this will clear it up. This post was originally titled “Crooked Smile”. Based on a music video by J.Cole , but as I began to write the meaning of this post changed. I will definitely be adding the video to a previous post or creating a new post for it. Until then I wish you Stillness that offers whatever you need. ❤

Know Your Worth!

“The other day I watched a taping of Sharon Stone on The Queen Latifah Show, and she brought up an interesting point. She spoke about the idea of how our culture cultivates desperate women. This rang so true for me for we all have suffered at the hands of desperation, especially in our relationships with men. Many of us have been taught to believe that how people treat us is a direct reflection of our self-worth so we become desperate about our looks, desperate about whether he is being faithful, we become desperate about being good enough. My journey towards “womaning up” has taught me that how someone treats you is a direct reflection of who THEY are and that I have to be responsible in feeling good about myself in order to create good feeling experiences. Once I took on this responsibility for myself, I no longer carried the weight of desperation in needing to be good enough.

It’s time to woman up and be rid of desperation with knowing that being good enough gives us the power to stand alone and to also choose wisely the people we decide to love, without the influence of desperation.”

J

I had to re-post this status from Jada Pinkett Smith’s Facebook page. It’s right on time in my life. I have recently come to the conclusion that I have based my Self-worth on my relationships. Constantly asking myself am I good enough daughter, sister, cousin,  or friend? Sometimes, if these relationships are  distressed I feel this need to fix it. Unless, the trust is gone..then the relationships will most likely be forever changed (upcoming post about this statement.)  Either way, I carry other people’s views and opinions of me around..and boy are they heavy! I need to remember that I am my own person, and the opinions of others are not my definition. I am under no circumstances saying I don’t care about the people in life, and I’m going to start being a jerk! I’m saying that the only views of me that I’m going to worry about is God’s and my own. Before long, I may be a better woman for it. I am more that just a relative or a friend! I deserve to be loved for more than my  excelling at being either of those two things. I deserve to be loved simply because I am a person. Perhaps, everyone needs to hear that..so, YOU ARE LOVED SIMPLY FOR BEING YOU ❤! I have never lived like I did not care what others think of me…I feel capable and free! What do you think of yourself? Before you ask anybody how they would describe you..what do you think? If you have a satisfying answer..that is beautiful! If you do not..that’s also beautiful, and we have some work to do. In Jada’s post the word desperation stuck out to me. I went through phases of this in life…in school  at times for example. Needing that validation of being friends with certain people. For awhile I was friends with the people I considered cool, and it didn’t work out. They were cruel to people just because they could be. I couldn’t stand myself that way, so I went back to my friends whom I missed- the outsiders ;). That’s just one example for a thought someone’s approval or acceptance made me a better person. That has been the cycle of my life desperation for validation. Thank goodness, I interrupted the cycle by the time I got into serious romantic relationships. Notice, I said interrupted not ended the cycle. The interruption was caused by witnessing the dynamics of some romantic relationships  growing up. Seeing women be so hurt by the men in their lives, but never hurt enough to leave. Somewhere during these times I decided I would never let a guy make me or break me. To have my emotions  fluctuate based on some dude I was dating was unacceptable! So, eventually I was fine with being called the “Ice Queen”. Sure, I dated guys..but I never let anybody get too close. Until, someone melted me one day lol! You won’t believe what happened next…you know that unacceptable fluctuation of feelings based on guy I was dating. Lol, I know can’t believe that happened either. But now it’s just me again <3. It took a bit for me ship out the feelings of worthlessness..I mean the person I loved most..didn’t love me same anymore. Give me a break, if that doesn’t challenge your self-worth..what does?? Lol. I have ended my desperation for his validation, which allows me to discover my true SELF worth along the way :). Love Me Or Hate Me..You Won’t Make Me Or Break Me.

For The Love Of Music

I love music! Well…R & B, Pop, Country, Rock, and Hip Hop to be specific. My favorite travel accessory besides my cell phone is my tiny blue iPod Nano. Right now..It probably has about a thousand songs on it. I plan on adding more songs tonight! One other major source of amazing music is YouTube (If you are thinking “Duh!..YouTube is nothing new!”..your right). Lol, my point is I look up so many songs on that site and never save them. Sadly, if I was offered a million bucks..I probably couldn’t remember my account information. So, I need to get this music collection of mine larger and more organized. There are many artists that I love, but I doubt I have heard a whole album from half of them. Don’t judge me. It’s not my fault..blame television, radio, and the artists themselves! They along with other media outlets push the catchy, alluring, or addictive songs, that can make a person feel like that’s more than enough to be musically satisfied :). I have taken off the rose-colored ear buds..(yeah, I know…they are white whatever :P) and, it’s time to listen to more albums! So, I will be hunting for, listening, and reviewing albums on this site! I will also be posting about albums that I think are masterpieces. I wonder if anyone could possibly disagree?? We shall see. Now, for a new album…

** Any Album Suggestions?