Fabulous Finds Friday #13 Love Drop

About Love Drop

Drop and little love and be a blessing to Diomi and Nallee.

Fabulous Finds Friday at Lisa C Writes!

Word{ful} Wednesday #58

10 Things

1. These Moments: It's Two AM and I'm curled up on the couch typing away while Hubby sleeps peacefully by my side. And me giving him secret kisses every now and then. 
2. Taking the kids roller skating Monday night with Grandma, that was the fun part. Watching my baby girl fall and hurt herself, not the fun part. Running a bath for her filled with scented episome salt and seeing a smile on her face, priceless. 
3. I'm not even close to being done unpacking boxes but I'm as organized as any Mom would want to be when their child asks them where can they find their favorite toy.
4. Going to the movies Friday night and seeing Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol with Hubby. #moviesthatrock #can'twaittoseeitagain
5. Enjoying my new front loader washer and dryer. Laundry mountain doesn't seem all that bad these days.
6. The sugar rush we all got from eating holiday goodies Daddy got from customers who love him so. Dark and white covered strawberries. Chocolate covered pretzels. Shortbread chocolate icing covered cookies. Chocolate cookies. Oatmeal raisin cookies. mmm...mmm, sinful I tell ya!
7. Our Saturday night Flag party. Hubby and I represented with our Red White & Black (Trinidad) flag and danced until our feet (well, mine at least) hurt. We are seriously in the process of designing comfortable dancing shoes with heels. If you have suggestions please holla at ya girl. You have to be able to dance for a good four hours straight with the last thing being feet on your mind. 
8. I just saw that Jennifer Hudson commercial where she is singing side by side with herself. One is of her with her weight on and the new her without it. She has come a long way and looks great! I Believe In You and Me.
9. Watching The Secret Lives of Bees with my two oldest on Saturday afternoon. They love Mommy movie picks and vegging out on the couch in their pj's.
10. I hope you guys enjoyed your weekend. Sweet hugs and kisses to you.

For The Geek In Me

Earlier this year I decided to return to one of the things that I loved to do before my life was filled with the pitter patter of little feet and wet kisses. Reading books was something I had always loved to do and did it often. Books became a way for me to expand my imagination and develop my sense of creativity. As a child a book was sometimes all I had to the exposure of life in someone else's shoes. I read fiction and non, auto-biography's and memoir, history, poetry, religion, romance, classics, philosophy, to name a few. I wrote short stories, poetry, and romance. I remember building relationships with kids in highschool just because they liked to read as well. I was shy in school and one of my favorite places to go was the school library. 

I set my 2011 goal to originally read 5 then upped it to 7 and hit that goal earlier this month! So I'm raising the bar since I'll be starting in January not sometime in May like I did this year. My goal for 2012 will be 10, not nearly as much as some of my book club members who's goals are in the 20's, 30's, and 50's. 10 is my number and good enough for me.

Right now on this beautiful, quiet Saturday morning, I'm sitting in bed creating my list of books to read in 2012. I love online places like Goodreads and Shelfari that help me to keep my reading lists in order. Here is what I have so far, in no particular order and subject to be booted off the list if another book out ranks it:

1. Someone Knows My Name (Recommended by someone in my HS group)
2. Little Bee (Also recommended by someone in my HS group) 
3. The Help (Been hearing about it everywhere)
4. Time Travelers Wife (Because I enjoyed the movie so much). 
5. She Comes First: The Thinking Mans Guide To Pleasuring A Women (Recommended by Amazon)
6. The Alchemist (Recommended by Will Smith)
7. The Sexy Part of the Bible (Recommended by someone in my FB (facebook) book group)
8. The Dance of the Dissident Daughter: A Woman's Journey from Christian Tradition to the Sacred Feminine (Heard about it on a book review site. Can't remember which one)
9. Thong On Fire: An Urban Erotic Tale (Found in Barnes & Noble)
10. Commander In Chic: Every Woman's Guide to Managing Her Style Like a First Lady (Ebony Magazine Dec 2011/January 2012)

10 is my goal for 2012 and wish that I could do more because there are so many other books I'd love to read. I'll start here and see how it goes. 

What's on your reading list for 2012?

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Fabulous Finds Friday #12 Amore

Pour me a cup of Love!

Fabulous Finds Friday

Better Choices

Are you guys all ready for the holiday? If yes, good for you. Hopefully you'll use these last few days to take it easy with smooth sailing on your side. You get extra points for being an early bird. If not, well, what are you waiting for?? Procrastination is a bitch, ain't it? LOL. All you can do now is hope for the best and that everything will turn out ok. Hopefully you'll decide to do things differently next year and have that shopping done. I know how unsettling it can be when you have to rush things through simply because you put off some very important things sometime back and those things have caught with you now. When this happens to me the whole time I'm rushing to put things together I'm usually not the nicest person to deal with. I'm also not the nicest person to myself. This is obviously not one of my preferable ways to deal with these situations, however it's one that comes easily for me, and asking why, I've learned, is futile. Making better choices to deal with unpleasant situations adds much more value to our lives and how we get to enjoy that life. 

#betterchoices

Word{ful} Wednesdays #57

 "Her words were as soft as a rose petal and as gentle as the breeze on a hot summer day" ~ Lisa C 



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Pay It Forward

This morning I woke up early, got dressed, and headed to the cell phone repair store. My oldest son got to hang with me all by himself today and as usual, he enjoys that. I enjoy having the opportunity to spend individual time with my children as this is a rare occurrence having five of them to split my time up with.

I was headed to the cell phone repair store because my phone wasn't holding a charge anymore. No matter what charger I tried it would not charge. I spent way too many days rigging charges and avoiding going because being without my phone is, well, like the end of the world. Drastic? Yeah. Dramafied? Yeah that too but I need my phone. I finally gave in and they told me it would take ONE to TWO hours, perfect! I could live with that. I left my phone with them around noon and returned around 4:15 and they were closed!!! Really? This was Saturday and guess what? They were closed all day Sunday!!! Talk about heated! I was done. I was so prepared to write a nice Yelp review on this store and let them have it because they didn't call me when they were done. 

This I learned was to be a blessing in disguise. 

I got to spend this entire weekend unplugged from all things online. At the same time my laptop was acting up and Hubby had not hooked up our office as yet so I couldn't use my computer either. I managed. It's one thing to decide to unplug it's another to have no choice. I did get to do other things that needed my undivided attention and that made all the difference in the world. Turns out it's not the end of the world that I didn't have my phone. Yes, there were tons of messages on my phone, tons of text messages...69 to be exact. And, lets not forget about my email that's now over 1000 that I usually manage on my phone as soon as they come in. Granted that number was growing out of control before this happened and of course it just got worse. Major email deletion haul coming soon as well as taking a good look at the many different alerts I have coming to my phone and deciding what to and what not to keep.

On to my blessing  and someone else making a difference in my life...

While I was out I found a new thrift store while looking for a new beauty supply store. I lucked up and found this gem and was completely taken back by all they sell. I called Hubby and he met me up there right away and he found a gorgeous coat for our daughter. While I was standing in line a lady by the name of Davetta looked at me and said, "that's a beautiful coat are you going to buy it?" I said "yes", and she asked me, "if she could buy it for me?" "Buy it for me?" "Yes, I want to buy it for you and I want you to pick out anything else you want." Really?? With my mouth on the floor I mustered up the words, "ok...thank you but why?" She said she couldn't find anything for herself and wanted to bless someone. Wow!!!! Not only was I shocked by this experience while it was happening to me but just the night before I was watching t.v. and saw a commercial on 11 alive news where they were doing this very same thing for others. The commercial showed them in a store asking a customer how she planned on paying for her purchase. She planned on paying by credit and they told her they were going to buy everything in her cart for her. She was thrilled and so was I! Davetta says that she does this occasionally and picks random people to be a blessing to. We exchanged numbers because this is the kind of person I want in my life. One who is open to being a blessing in the lives of others just because.

I was grateful for this experience and after this happened to me I feel like it's my turn to do the same for someone else. It's sort of like paying it forward. I'm blessed therefore I will be a blessing and it doesn't have to happen in the order just the fact that it happens is all that matters. Imagine the smile on someone face at what a difference this can make in their lives especially during this time of year. 

Hubby and I introduced the movie Pay It Forward to our kids some years ago and the message they got from that movie was priceless and one that all of us can learn from. 

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Ouch!...Who Put That There?

Sometimes when things happen in ways that are not favorable, it's just a reminder that we are human ~ Lisa C

I hit my toe when I got out of bed this morning. Not literally, but it hurt like hell just the same. My attachment to something going the way I wanted it to go was lying on the floor next to my bed and when I got up...bam! Damn!! I spent all day thinking about how I reacted and wish I could have retracted my reaction. The best that I could offer to myself is to accept it, feel it, allow it, learn from it, and move on. Tomorrow is a new day. 

Just A Sweet Hello...

And A Toast!

My move is finally over and things went really well, I’m so happy about that. Sure, I have a little bruise here and there and yes, my body is aching…all over but I’m glad that part is over. Looking forward to making my first spa appointment very, very soon. My nails are in need of a mani as well. These things are to be expected but what was not to be expected is this beautiful weather Georgia has been having lately and how it has helped in our December move. So thankful for that! I’m also thankful for the help that I had through this move from a few of my lady friends, you know you who are. Even though your help has not been physical yet (*wink *wink), your emotional support has gotten me through. There is something special about being able to pick up the phone or email your girl and give her an earful about what’s going on with YOU and how she says just the words you needed to hear. Relationships like these take time to develop and it’s not always easy but it’s so worth the sweat! I love you Ladies.

My Husband is the MAN!!! On his few days off he worked, and worked to get us situated and make us as comfortable as he could in our new home. Many nights he slept for just a few hours before having to work a full day and when he got home he got straight to work again. Today was the first time him and I got to go to lunch together since last week and that’s way too long for us.

Let’s toast!! Thanks to everyone who has wished us well and all the support we’ve gotten and will continue to get, you guys are amazing!!! *Cheers!!!

Hugs n Kisses ~

And, The Winner Is...

@kellylynnprime Entry #9
Congratulation Kelly on winning the mini-facial Giveaway!!! I'm looking forward to hearing all about your spa experience!!!

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:9Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Thanks to everyone you entered in for a chance to win a mini-facial from Joi!!! 

You may not have won this time, but there will be other giveaways to enter coming soon!

*The results were selected by using Random.org. There were 13 comments but only 12 of those comments qualified to enter the giveaway. 

Fabulous Finds Friday #11...

Our beautiful new home! 

For weeks we searched and searched and searched to find a home that would be a good fit for our family. We would have the space we desired to have, we would have the privacy D and I desired to have, and we would all fall completely in love with it. I'm so happy to share  with you guys that our search is finally over and we begin our moving process today!! Whoot!!! Whoot!!!

Our kids are so excited and we are too! We took them to see it last night and they didn't want to leave, as we expected. But they are troopers and know that packing is in order first, then we move. I don't know about you but moving into a new is like having a baby. Yes, it may sound crazy but that's how it feels to me...#don'tjudgeme! It's brand new, exciting, and feels sooooo good! 

We are moving over the course of this weekend and into the beginning of next week so I'm going to be extremely busy with packing, organizing, etc. The good thing about it is we don't have to rush, we can take our time and do this stress-free. Unfortunately, I don't have many posts scheduled (oops) so I'll be posting when I can. Thanks to everyone who has been on this journey with us and have kept us in your loving thoughts, my family is grateful.

Oh, and I'm already planning our housewarming party!! I'm looking forward to celebrating our new home with our beautiful family and friends, can't wait. 

 Where should I register for my housewarming? 

Need suggestions!



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Join The Fight Against AIDS

December 1st was World AIDS Day and in an effort to help support the fight against AIDS many participated in events all across the globe. These events help to raise awareness and support for people living with HIV.

Many of us personally know someone living with this illness and many of us knew someone who, sadly, has passed away. There are ways to get involved to show your support that will make a difference in someone’s life. Click on the link to see which campaign is right for you.

Another way to join in and show your support is by creating your personal panel that will be included in the (2015) Quilt!

“1000 babies are born with HIV every day. By 2015 that number can be near zero. (RED) and ONE’s (2015) QUILT is a digital patchwork of photos and images mad by people all over the world who have pledged to join the fight for an AIDS Free Generation by 2015.” source

You can create your own panel here. It’s pretty easy, just follow the steps one at a time and that’s it! Let me know, by commenting, if you’re going to participate in this. I will post your panel on my blog as a featured post.

Share this panel!

 

Have an AMAZING DAY!!

 

Decorative Inspirations #6

I just absolutely love this idea!! Look at the detail in the furniture and to accent it with gorgeous rows of shoes, priceless! 

#decorativeinspirations

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A Gift From Me To You!

I hope your weekend was an enjoyable one!! This was probably the first time many of you got to relax after such a busy holiday. From visiting with family, to all that shopping some of you did on "Black Friday". And, let's not forget about all the food that may have thrown on a few extra pounds you now have to work on shedding. I know, I know, it happens to the best of us, so what are you going to do about it? I've got something I know you need and I'm excited to be able to give it to you! 

One of my readers will have the opportunity to win a prize that will help them to relax, be pampered, and remember what it feels like to not have care. Wouldn't that be nice? Yes, it would!!

Here's what you do:

You have to leave a comment telling me that you want the gift. That's it! Pretty simple, yes? 

By doing that you will receive one entry into the giveaway.

If you would like to earn additional entries here is what you would need to do:

• 1st - Subscribe to my blog via RSS or Email
• 2nd - Become one of my Google Friend Connect by "Joining This Site". (Scroll down to the bottom of my blog to find it).
• 3rd - Follow me on Twitter.
• 4th - Tweet this Giveaway Gift! "I just entered the Mini-Facial @lisacwrites giveaway!! Check it out http://bit.ly/sfqSZn

*Add a separate comment for each additional entry you make.


One of you lucky darlings will win a mini facial with one of my favorite Estheticians, Joi!! Joi has been doing my facials for a while now. I continue to go back because the service I get is exceptional!  

Joi offers facials, hair removal services, eyelash extensions, just to name a few. 

When I lay down on my back, close my eyes, and take a deep breath, I'm home. Home not as in a physical place, home as in my home within. I am at peace in her arms and for that time I'm cared for, loved, pampered, cherished, and adored. I feel confident in knowing she has her mind on my skin, what it needs, and how is she going to give it just that. I leave Joi feeling refreshed and so does my face. She gives me exactly what I need which makes me look forward to seeing her every month.

Anyone who lives in the US can enter to win.

Men, give this as a gift to that precious Lady in your life, your woman, Mom, Sister, Aunt, etc. Or, win it for yourself!! 

Ladies, win it for yourself!! 

If you are not a blogger leave your comment(s) along with your email address so that I have a way to get in touch with you.

Even if you live outside of Georgia, you may know someone who lives here who can benefit. Or, use it for yourself for when you are planing to visit.

It's a gift that can go wide and deep, give it as you please and enjoy your experience with Joi. She's looking forward to meeting you!

I will take the last entry December 12th, at 11:59 est. The winner will be announced on December 13th and will be chosen using Random.org.

Best wishes to you all ~

Fabulous Finds Friday #10 Me In Pink!

 

I found this little cutie waiting for me when I got to my hotel room on my birthday a few weeks ago. Thank you Hubby…you know how to pick them *wink *wink 

See more of my Fabulous Finds Friday!

Creating Lasting Love, Tip #5 Your Emotional You!

You ever get so emotionally distraught you don’t know which way you’re going? You don’t know what to do or who you can turn to?

This tip for creating lasting love involves your emotional wellbeing. How well have you been taking care of that aspect of who you are? This is a major area in relationships that if not attended to can greatly affect our sexual relations.

We all have problems and issues that come up ever so often. We all come from dysfunctional families in some kind of way. We all experience hurt, disappointment, and (my all time favorite), growing pains. These are all things that we have to take responsibility for whatever emotional scars they may have caused. Rather than trying to resolve them (some are unresolvable), we should learn to see how they have impacted our lives. When we see these things with clarity, they tend to become more manageable and acceptable.

Here are some suggestions for staying clear emotionally:

Keep a journal – Writing your thoughts and feelings down brings clarity. If you have trouble writing it down, record your thoughts and feelings on your phone or some sort of recording device. (Many smart phones have this ability). When you are done, revisit what you’ve written/recorded and see if clarity comes to you. 
I use both and one of my favorite apps is iJournal.

Read personal growth books – These books are written by people who have been there done that, they just might know what they are talking about and offer you some guidance.
I can’t tell you the number of personal growth books I have in my book case and other places in my house that I have turned to in time of confusion, and doubt.

Practice self-reflection through meditation – Being still and listening to what’s going on inside of you can bring you to a place of peace and comfort knowing that all is really well.  
I believe that when you pray, you are doing the talking and when you meditate, you are doing the listening. 

Have a solid friend whom you can turn to – Many times we just need someone we trust with ourselves to listen. A friend who can give you their ear, time, and create space for you to unload. A friend who will say, “now, there, there, honey, it will all be ok. Or for those of us who have the kind of friends that will, yank you up by the collar and say, "now you know it's time to get yo' shit together". Either way, they are there. 

If we are “off” emotionally, chances are we will feel sexually “off” as well. Be aware of the connection and keep yourself emotionally healthy.

Creating Lasting Love, Tip #5 Take Care of Your Emotional Health!

Read more, Creating Lasting Love Tips by Lisa C!


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