I like the peace on a Saturday or Sunday morning. The quietness. The lack of hustle and bustle. I like to ease into my day but, that doesn’t always happen on weekdays. Saturdays and Sundays I get to choose. I love a morning when the sun creeps into my room. Here at my new home, that is exactly how it seems to happen. I have shutters and the sun seeps through creating a patterns on the walls. But no matter the day, mornings are a blessing because they indicate we are still here on this side of the coin. Mornings are a blessing for many reasons and I am sure you can find some.
What happens to the leftover strawberries that didn’t make the cut to become chocolate covered strawberries? I find things to make with them. I freeze them for smoothies or fresh strawberry lemonade. I use them in oatmeal. But, this time I wanted to do something different. I made strawberry jam. I also want to make something else with the leftover strawberries and blog it next week.
So, I researched things to make with strawberries. I forgot to mention I have made a strawberry shortcake with pound cake (Sarah Lee’s), cool whip, and fresh strawberries. This came up in the search. But, I saw something I enjoy anyways and that was strawberry jam. It was the first video that popped up and it was simple! I like simple. I gave it a try and it turned out perfect. I didn’t have a lemon or lemon juice but it still turned out perfect.
You can also do this with ANY berry (blueberry, blackberries, and raspberries). The only challenge for me was stirring because of Rheumatoid Arthritis. It was harsh on my wrists. BUT, it’s something I would make again and I would make a bigger batch to give to family. It lasts six months.
Happy Valentine’s Day to you! It’s a snowy morning here in Memphis, TN. and according to our southern-ness it will be a week where we will be snowed it. If we were up North this would be a regular work and school week.
All this week I have experience “pleasant surprises” from financial blessings unrelated to my chocolate strawberry hustle this week to coming home and finding flowers with Valentine’s Day Wishes.
There has been hustle and bustle in between. There has been restlessness and wanting to get it all done in a day. What I needed was all of the pleasant surprises to remind to stop, look, listen, breathe, and appreciate the gifts or blessings life offers in the midst of being busy. Everyone has been saying you can’t unpack in a day. You can’t do all of the home improvements and decorating in a day. It’s going to take time, they say. Life is saying through pleasant surprise, “Here you go. Enjoy this moment and put that other stuff down for a while. Organize. Say no. Relax. Rest. Sleep. And at a decent hour.” Pleasant surprises say you are being supported as I saw others support my chocolate covered strawberries that have never purchased them before. When I saw the flowers it was saying to me, “You are being thought of.” I haven’t received a Valentine’s gift outside of family in seven years.
I hope you take the time to enjoy the pleasant surprises that arrive in your life. I mean to really slow down and savor them.
Good Morning friends! I have been busy busy as I closed on my home two weeks ago. It was indeed a rocky journey that finally ended with a blessing. The home that is now filled with boxes and bags that need to be unpacked, is a home that I grew up next to. It is the home of family friends.
So, I got a call in July with Mrs. Dorothy asking me if I wanted to buy their home. She was moving back home to get the help she needed from family to take care of her sister. I’d just finished working on my credit to get it in fair standing. I thought it would be difficult but, I had no idea the turmoil that would unfold for the both of us trying to get this house into my hands. I cried. I gave up several times verbally but, never gave up mentally. My faith was tested is an understatement. However, something inside of me kept saying “This is mine. This belongs to me.”
My anxiety reached new heights. My depression, new lows. Yet, I persevered. I let go when I needed to let go and I held on when I needed to hold on. AND I didn’t always get that right either! I had family and friends that encouraged me along the way. It seems as if they never gave up. They kept saying it’s yours. It’s going to be okay. It’s going to work out. It did. I couldn’t really celebrate on closing day because so many things had happened along the way I was bracing myself for another “We need this or that”.
While I was at the closing, the closing attorney asked if I would like a new Bible for my new home and I said yes. Also, I was gifted $100 that day. My realtor gave me a card at the end of my signing and when I opened it a $50 Home Depot card fell out. I was able to use this money to buy paint for my kitchen area, laundry room, hallway, and my daughter’s room. I am on a very tight budget and wanted to brighten up the home. It was truly a blessing. Plus, my brother painted it for me.
I will be blogging more about this journey soon. Until then, take care.
My word for February is FAITH. I feel that it’s not so much about me having it but, about me USING IT! Last month my word was QUIET. I learned to listen to people and to be quiet. I learned to be quiet about things that were out of my control. I simply prayed about it as the solution. I learned to be quiet when I wanted to convince a person they didn’t have to put up with what they were dealing with if they would set boundaries. I realize they have chosen to deal with it in their own way. It is what it is. Be quiet and pray about it, Nicole. I told myself. It’s not your circus and they are not your monkeys. You are not the Ring Master.
So, I got my word by listening to Spirit. You can get your word by sitting quiet, reflect, and listen. It will come to you. I thought quiet was strange but, I rolled with it. Accept the word that come to you and roll with it. Why faith for me? I know I don’t use it properly in all of the areas of life that I should. The type of manifestation I want to see in my life this year is going to require FAITH WITH WORKS. It’s going to require BIG RISK TAKING FAITH. It’s going to take DETAILED and STRATEGIC planning FAITH. I’m must adapt the JUST DO IT and YES, YOU CAN attitude this month. I know I will be glad I did in the end.
What’s your WORD? Think on it. Share with me if you so desire.
We’d like to think we are like the watch that takes a lick and keeps on ticking but, in reality that is not the case. Some times we can only take so many lickings before we need rest or restoration or something repaired and replaced. This morning I was suppose to have a breakfast date. It didn’t happen. I was not surprised. I was not surprised because I just had “that feeling.”
As I started to make breakfast at home, I thought about the live session Iyanla Vanzant had yesterday via Facebook. The part that came up was “Say Yes.” Of course saying yes to things going your way or well makes sense but, saying yes to things not going your way or things that do not make sense isn’t easy. And well, it doesn’t make sense either. I am familiar with this line of thinking. So, getting the toaster off the shelf, I said, “I don’t like being stood up or ghosted for breakfast this morning, but yes to it. Yes. I can remove him from the list of possibilities. I saw he had removed himself from my friend’s list. Welp. But…not. 😀 One thing about life, it goes on.
I took a lick. I stopped ticking but, shook myself and poof…ticking again. In life, in love, in dating, we take licks of various sizes, distances in drops, even spills and we continue to tick. Fascinating. Aren’t we.
I don’t know what you were thinking because well, I am not you. My first thoughts were: “Could not have been black people. They would have never made it to The Capitol. Dogs would have been unleashed. Children would have been trampled. They would have gunned us down in the name of “patriotism” and would have done so unapologetically.”
Then I was stunned for a few minutes. It changed as I remembered these are white people and only in America are they still standing. I could not believe my eyes. Only in America, are they underprepared for their own. Only in America will they cover up, uncover, cover up and uncover the facts about having the military on the steps for BLM protests but, NO ONE on the steps for this bunch. There were no reported threats but, the FBI comes back as says, “Oh, yes, there were.”
When I saw them beating the cops, I thought: “Blue Lives don’t matter to them today.” I felt the same sadness I feel for black men, children, and women who were murdered or beaten by cops. Do you know why? Because WRONG IS WRONG. But, to see them use the same hatred many white Americans use with minorities on each other was really something to witness. I mean as much as they harp on the delusional narrative of black on black crime, here they are for the entire world to see. THUGS. No, TERRORISTS. HOME GROWN AND HOME FED. The intent to Hang a VP, kill and torture politicians that were mostly white by whites was mind blowing. Civil War.
As a human being first and an American, I was disgusted. But as an African American, watching those people walk away. Go back to their hotels. Get on flights and go home. I felt like, “Oh, yeah. They are WHITE AMERICANS.” I almost forgot that’s how they were able to do this in the first place. If that is not privilege I don’t know what the hell is.
Time management. I know you have heard it as a student, employee, or employer. It’s your time and you decide what you want to do with it.
Do you want to achieve your dreams and goals? Use your time wisely.
Do you want to get more out of your day? Organize and Prioritize your day and the week on Sundays.
Say no to distractions and get back on track. Make it a habit of putting yourself on track each time you get off and remember if you derail the day, tomorrow is a NEW DAY! DO OVER!
If they ask you to do it today and you don’t have time, TELL THEM THE TRUTH. People expect you to drop what you are doing and put them at the top or add them to you’re already loaded day. It can wait along with their attitude if they get one! Also, explaining to them it will be best to ask and make arrangements with you ahead of time. Constant last minute requests wreck havoc on your day and mind. Tell them so.
Don’t overload yourself. You can’t do it all in one day. You can’t do a week or a month’s worth of activities in a day. BREAK IT DOWN and it will get done. It will get done properly and in order.
I have decided to start something I hope I can keep up and that is Art on Mondays. I will post a photo of my art and a link explaining the what it means to me. I will talk about the creation of the art, what I was thinking, feeling, or listening to keeping it under 5 minutes! I won’t post every Monday but, I hope to post at least twice a month.
Here is the link to this piece of work. Just click and the link will pop up! Enjoy!
You can write your goals, map out your plans, and dream about traveling the world. But unless you put some ACTION to your goals, it’s not going to happen. Create an action plan to each of your goals. How will you travel the world? How will you be healthier? How will you create a podcast? How will you be more active on your blog? It’s in the how!
I exercise better in the mornings but, I would rather watch CBS Morning News. It’s a 2 hour show and I am usually doing other work while it’s on. I also have my breakfast. It comes down to what am I committed to? I have three options: I can exercise before it comes on which will require me to get up earlier. I can take the first 30 minutes of the show to exercise since, there will be a recap anyways and I won’t miss much. I can exercise afterwards which means I would have to change my routine. I have options that require actions and commitment.
I have discovered that I need to “do” something thing different in order to achieve my goals. I have to make some CHANGES to my thinking and my routine. I have become comfortable in my routine. It has to change. Change is also an avenue to making achieving goals. Changing plans, changing actions, changing your mind about the direction your going in, changing your routine. What’s going to help you change what is not working or what may serve you better is the ability to ADJUST YOUR ATTITUDE. I have to adjust to the new routine for exercise and understand that this is better for me. I have to adjust my thinking that CBS Morning news is not more important than my opportunity to exercise.
Oh, and being a person with a illness, I have to remain flexible in my schedule. Some nights I may not get much sleep and that affects my plans. Some days, I may be in too much pain to exercise. Some days I may not be there mentally due to brain fog, anxiety, or depression or all three (quite the roller coaster). Some may have a family or work obligations that come up. So we all must have that FLEX in our plans and ADJUST. I like that: FLEX and ADJUST.
