The Battle is NOT yours...

It's been a long time since I posted my last blog! So much has happened in my life in such a short period of time. I've been praying for God to order my steps and take over my life. I figured if I can't control and make sense of situations... surely He can. Ever since school didn't work out these past few semesters, I've handed my problems over to God. I will be starting school in January! I found an online English degree program... whoo hoo! But, all roller coasters have it's ups and downs.

I was kicked out my mom's house at the beginning of November; because she believes that it is my ex's responsibility for our son to see his side of the family and I believe that as his mother it is my responsibility as well. To say nicely, I told her it's that attitude that caused my brother and I not to know who our family was. My parent's family are pretty much in the same city and the little times we went to visit her side, we couldn't go across the tracks to see my dad's side! Crazy I know. I feel bad having to be re-introduced to my family every time I see them. Not knowing what it's like to spend the holidays with family. Worst of all, speaking to my grandmother and she had no idea who I was. That is a painful heartache I will NEVER forget! I want my son to know who his family is regardless of where his dad is. When it boils down to it, they are his blood relatives. She wanted me out the house, so I packed our things and went to dad's. After all "Stand for something or fall for nothing".

I got things going on track where my dad lives. I never really got a chance to know who my dad is. My parents divorced when I was 7. Apparently, my mom didn't let us talk to him or visit like we should have. Long story short, my brother and I grew up thinking that our dad didn't want to be there for us. As I get older I realize that our parents took their resentment out on us. It shouldn't be that way. Well, my step mother didn't want me coming in the first place. She feels that Americans are lazy and they are too easy on their children. She's Russian and I have no idea how they are raised. I don't want to be ignorant about it, but I've seen the movie Salt several times and I have formulated my own ridiculous idea lol. After a month, they sent me back to my mom's. I understand I am 24 and should've been working and blah blah blah, but you will never understand unless you've been in my shoes.

I had a very major surgery back in March 2012. It is now December and I'm just now getting close to fully healing. I was diagnosed with stage 3 Hidradenitis in 2006. It is a very rare, yet common disease that effects your sweat glands. I've had at least 7 major surgeries in all my personal areas.. and I'm still sexy! This last surgery was in my very private area. Luckily, I am cured of the disease and I have the scars to prove it. I haven't worked in over a year because I had a son November 2011 and I take care of him. Recovering from surgery kept me from doing a lot of things, like getting out the house! My mom kept me trapped in the house like Godzilla after it rampaged through New York. I was able to go to doctor's appointments and Wal Mart when asked. Talk about your Cabin Fever! I just prayed. Prayed, prayed, and prayed. While I was at my dad's I was able to drive and get a job. My mom realized that I am capable of picking my life back up. I got to spend a month with my dad which is more time than I've spent with him throughout these 17 years. Even though my son and I have had to move a few times, I'm ok. This battle isn't mine.

My situation shed light on others around me. The strength I have to keep my head held high and the peace I need to keep moving forward gives the ones around me strength to do the same. I figured I'd write a little blog to help those who are near and far. You never know what someone is going through, but I know a smile and reassurance will go a long way. Sometimes God puts us in situations to test our faith. He will never put more on us than we can bear!

God Bless!

When Life Hands You Lemons...

Everyone has his or her problems and we all encounter our share of bad days. We all know "life is what you make it" and blah blah blah. It's all about how you think when you are OUTSIDE the box. If you did not have what you have where you have it, how will you get it when it's not where you can see it?? You don't know what's out there if you never look!!

When life hands you lemons you can:
1. Throw them bitches back!
2. Man up and eat it through the tart face.
3. Put them in a face with flowers. Make them pretty.
4. Do the usual lemonade.
5. Be a rebel and garnish the vodka!
6. Grow a lemon tree with the seeds to make your own lemons.
7. Collect them in a box and hand them out to other people!
8. Get what you can from it and move on!

See there's a lot you can do with a lemon... even more options than what I listed. Depending on my mood I will probably do all 8, honestly I have. That's how I know! Just find what works for you... Don't be so hard on yourself because you think things aren't going how you want them to. We all have to do something we don't like to do. I know I want green grass, but I won't always want to keep it up; that's when you bring out the good ol' green paint cans! Nobody has to know it's brown underneath! Most people won't even notice it's not right. The ones that do say something... ummm unless they're going to mow it, water it, edge it up, and plant some new new then you don't owe them anything! Not even the simplest explanation or a passing glance.

I had to say something about this topic because too many of my facebook friends have statuses up airing dirty laundry! It's not about the situation; it's about how you handle it! If you really know then you know the battle is not yours.. Ha Hellooo!!

Presidential Debate for Birthday Party Host

*My take on how Day 1 of the actual debate that took place last night!!

There is a decision to be made of who will host America's next birthday for the next 4 years. A debate has taken place to see who is the RIGHT man for the job. #Day 1

Topic- Domestic Affairs

Obama (Current Host): "Over these past few years I have made some changes to the themes and party favors. I've focused on the most important- changing the cake recipe so that EVERYONE can enjoy the party and not have to sit out due to pre-existing conditions."

Romney (Challenger): "Obama used boxed yellow cake mix which costs $4.75 a box for just the contents of the box. Not including the icing and things. I'm not gonna do that! We need a more cost efficient ingredient."

Obama: "We're in the process of cultivating newer cooking techniques by growing some of our own ingredients, so we don't have to look overseas. We have our own land to farm on. I think we should cut out unnecessary spending, such as paying the cows to persuade everyone to eat chicken; and using those funds to get training set up to teach them how to work jobs we need now, such as eating nutritous grass in order to produce the finest milk."

Romney: "I agree we should cut the cost on unnecessary spending! Why not just cut China out all together and make ice cubes that the cows can use that allows them to eat and produce?! Obama has been hosting for 4 years and small businesses haven't been able to get what they need to transform grass into ice. I'm not gonna do that! We're gonna provide small businesses with equipment."

Obama: "In order to grow our party sizes for the future, we need to start focusing on the younger generations. Educate them on how to do jobs we already have, such as advertising and promotions. That way we can ensure we will be able to keep the parties continuing for many years to come. The older generations have worked hard and it's time for some of them to retire. I want to afford the less abled to their entitlement of cupcakes with sprinkles. No one should have to go hungry and unhappy because they weren't able to afford a whole cake with candles. The least we could do to help our guests is make sure they are fed and entertained."

Romney: "I'm not to fond of the ObamaBakery and I'm gonna close it down. Everyone should get a whole cake, if you can't afford it- borrow some pieces. We don't need to spend anymore money to bake cupcakes AND provide sprinkles. It took Obama $150 more to provide small baking pans for the cupcakes, not to include the sprinkles, which was an extra $35! If people want sprinkles they can go to Sam's Club."

Obama: "America THINK about it. Wouldn't it cost more money to provide small businesses with advanced equipment when we can use what we have. Why train people to create a concept to create fancy ice cubes. Do the math. That will take $2,000 plus another $5,000. Yes, it creates jobs, but what about the ones that need filling as we speak. The ObamaBakery provides sprinkles. If you go Sam's Club you will be paying $65 a bag per person!"

Romney: "I'm not gonna do that."

I've been Thinking

Right now, I think I've started a sEcOnd alphabet- beginning with AA. I'm a Gemini and my mind changes CONSTANTLY. One of myself is always seeing circumstances and ideas in a different perspective. It is so annoying housing group conferences in such a petite frame! Am I crazy, maybe, or so I've been called. But, not qualified for any institution. LOL!

School didn't work out for me this semester. I transferred last minute to a university and didn't qualify for financial aid due to past institutional credits. Tragic, I know. I was young and dumb- hadn't quite grasped the importance of education. No offense taken, there are many more other schools in the sea. I searched the great states of the U.S in hopes to find another school; found one in Texas. Texas from where I live is like a 15+ hour drive, so I thought "If I could find a curriculum like that closer to home... I'd be a happy camper". Later did I realize... my original school of choice offered the same thing! Ohhhh lol... the things we do when are minds are running only to soon realize it's just a treadmill. Quick glance to see if anyone noticed, to see if you still have your cool points.

We always lose cool points; do we ever gain them back??

The Beginning of my Journey

 

In every situation in life you either learn from it or you don't. Back in my younger days, I used to take life for what it was and nothing more. Blessed- nonetheless! The older I get, I realized things happen for a reason. It may not be your plan, but it's God's plan. September last year I was fortunate enough to move back in to my mom's house. Didn't want to; I'm 24 and that's not where I saw myself. It was a responsible choice to make, seeing that I was 7 months pregnant at the time. I was out of a job and single! It's all good. I enjoyed my pregnancy... NO MORNING SICKNESS at all; just craved Ruby Red Grapefruit Juice. I had a healthy baby boy at the end of November- he had an innate sleeping scheduled that was consistent! I got lucky, lol. Anyway, as months passed I began to lose friendships left and right. I didn't get out the house much because my mom didn't think my car was safe and equipped to drive her precious grandbaby around. It was too hot outside. Alabama has that humid heat and it can get pretty icky. I had issues with going back to work- should I or shouldn't I... that is the question. Any job I would get I knew that I wouldn't be able to spend as much time with my baby, especially since I wanted to start back school. I'd never see him. I didn't have any immediate bills- family helped with anything I needed for the baby. Still does. But, I'm the type that has to be doing something. I couldn't just sit around watching my son watching me. He'll pick up on the idea that he has to do nothing.

 I decided to start a cleaning business! Mom had a lady come out to clean the house every other week and I would talk to her as she cleaned. The hours sounded great and the job itself seemed flexible. I did all kinds of research on other prospering cleaning businesses and came up with a concept and put it in pursuit. I know that business isn't going to boom right off the bat, but at least it's up and running . In the meantime, I got tired of reading magazines about the same celebrities. Seems like the same articles just different magazine titles. I figured there was waaayyy more interesting: people, places, ideas, and things in my own back yard and beyond. I also began research on starting my own magazine. I love to read and write. I was going to school for Secondary Education- English/Language Arts, but I didn't want so much emphasis on the teaching portion; so, I switched it. Now it's English with a Teacher Certification track. I'm living out my dreams and ideas with my son by my side. I've recently added a restaurant to my repertoire! Details coming soon. I have more business ventures up my sleeves that will reveal themselves in due time. I have so many ideas! It would be a shame to not put them to use. 

I do not plan on getting any business loans! So far I haven't had to. I'm starting all my businesses from the ground up. So far everything is moving right along. Lots of prayer went into them. 

My First Issue of The Valley Mix

Official Website for: Mama's Sque@ky Cleaning & Services

Kids Counting Calories

After I graduated from high school, the school systems started transitioning to healthier eating habits; at least in Alabama! You could no longer get candy and soda from the snack machines and the menu got nastier. When I was growing up, I didn't see many huskies around! I was the last generation to grow up playing outside (80's Baby). We played outside from the morning until the streetlights came on! My how times have changed...

I think instead of making kids count calories, they should emphasize physical activity! Kids need a high caloric content because they GROW more than adults do. I played 2-3 sports at a time when I could. I know not everyone is afforded that, but outside time is pertinent. It doesn't take much to make a difference in the health and fitness of a child; and every little thing counts!

Just my opinion...

Welcome Fall

  Written By: Courtney Travis

A time for change is around the corner

When the summer says its goodbyes

The temperature gets cool

The air gets crisp

And smoke ascends to the skies

We welcome in the season of Fall

The leaves soon turn

And dance with a wisp

Swirling through the air

Alongside scents of pumpkin and apple

Mmmm, Oh my what a pair

It's a time to come together

With the family or with a book

Watch a game of football

And assign the baking cook

Pies, pies all around

The kitchen's a busy space

Sit at the table come November

Give thanks for mercy and grace

Remember

"Nature does not hurry, 

yet everything takes its place"