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 Here's just a short list of things I came up with while brainstorming some inconsistencies in changes within our community. This is all just opinionated and on things that I don't think there has been widespread progress in. I'm not going to focus on what led to these issues in this blog post, but maybe in a separate post I'll go over what caused these issues or has contributed to it.  1.) Problematic Rap Lyrics: Since Gangsta Rap, rap lyrics have been under fire for a while for inciting violence, glamourizing crime, and popularizing wrong aspects of urban life. 2.) Lack of Community Leaders and Positive Influencers: Role models are hard to come by in our world, but it's extremely difficult for young people in the black community to find people to look up to that's not celebrities or athletes. Nothing's wrong with looking up to either one, but sometimes these role models aren't accessible for the youth and aren't in the communities directly making c

 Happy November readers! The year is coming to an end and it’s literally almost 2023! Where did the time go? I’ve been super busy in my personal life, but I’m not giving up on my blog space so here I am. I’m not going to defend nor deflect on the actions of Kanye or Kyrie, nor am I going to criticize the repercussions they’ve faced. I am going to say that I want for the black community to gain a focus on the progression of our community. Working on our education and our unity amongst our family and neighbors. Working on wholesome music that’s uplifting our youth and adults, muscling our minds to do better and think stronger. All the toxicity in our communities is hurting our people and it’s spreading to multiple areas of our lives. Having broken mentalities breaks our children down and stops us from giving them a bright future. Broken mentalities also make us think it’s okay to not stand with one another and lift each other up. We’re not going to be able to do better and get to new lev

 Avoidant attachment is one of the attachment styles that babies form based on their parents actions and responses to them in their early part of infant-hood. If you want more info on the other attachment styles, I have a blog post breaking those down. For today, I’m just going to discuss how my attachment style has been wrecking havoc on my adulthood and how I’m deciding to deal with it. As a kid, I wasn’t much of a social butterfly, I’d just keep to myself and keep a very small number of friends. Socializing  wasn’t my thing growing up and it still isn’t. I’m naturally a loner and enjoy being in my own head, probably more than I should. I grew up with two of my paternal aunts switching off raising me and one on my siblings. My relationship with my biological mom was pretty much non-existent and I didn’t care for a change in that at the time. I just grew up figuring, whatever my adulthood would entail wouldn’t be the journey she took or my dad. I was harsh, cold hearted, and closed mi

  So I don’t have too many recipes on here, but I was really excited about the results I got when I made a change to how I make my chicken and shrimp fettuccine.  It made me reminiscent of the taste of fettuccine when I go out to restaurants. Well, I’ll jump right to it!  Ingredients: Boneless Chicken Breasts Cooked or Raw Shrimp 1 lb Box of fettuccine pasta (serves about 8) 1 Carton of Heavy Cream Unsalted Butter Extra Virgin Olive Oil Your choice of seasoning  My choice of seasonings if you’re curious: Garlic Powder, Ranch Seasoning, Onion Powder, and  Lawrys Seasoning Salt Directions: 1.) Boil water  and then drop the fettuccine pasta into the pot stirring frequently until the pasta softens. Drain and just sit to the side.(leave a small amount of water so noodles don’t stick together). 2.)  Clean shrimp and chicken separately and place in two different pans. 3.) Season the shrimp with a seasoning of your choice and add your preferable amount of butter, stir frequently, letting the s

 With schools back in, a lot of parents have been buying supplies and clothes to prepare for the upcoming school year. However, pencils and glue sticks may not be as expensive as you think compared to these items. Here’s a list of school expenses that it wouldn’t hurt to be prepared for: 1.) School Pictures: If you have multiple kids in school, this easily adds up to a nice amount of money. Although they have a basic package, purchasing two or three will certainly add up. Not to mention most schools have fall, spring, and class pictures taken. By the end of the year, you’ll be surprised how much you spent on pictures alone. 2.) Field Trips: It’s free to sign for, but it’s not free for them to go. Field Trips are a fun interactive way for kids to experience what they’re learning about but it comes at a cost. Varying by location and gas spent, field trips end up costing parents significantly as well. 3.) Teacher Appreciation Day I know it’s optional to participate and there’s even the op

 Happy August, summer is slowly making its way out of here! I’m not too upset about that, it’s been quite a hot summer with heatwave after heatwave where I live. I’m glad we’ll be putting the heat behind us soon. The heat isn’t the only thing I’m leaving behind. I’m leaving behind the toxicity this summer brought with it. I’ve been challenged all summer with difficult relatives and had some of my closest relationships tested. Most did not stand the test of time unfortunately. It’s really not all that unfortunate though because it’s time to let these type of people out of life and possibly for good. Love isn’t tearing each other down, insults, and insinuations. Being there for a loved one isn’t being harsh in your treatment, conditional with your support, and argumentative. I’m burnt out emotionally from dealing with family members that don’t want me to win in life. As with most people, life has brung me many hardships but I’m fighting them as best as I can and trying to bring a better

 Hi readers, hope everyone is having a good summer and catching up on well needed rest while your kids are out of school for the summer. My summer has been flying by and busy. From swim lessons, to dance classes, entrepreneur camp, and gymnastics my kids schedule has been keeping me on the go. I decided to continue school for the summer semester and that’s been weighing me down mentally and draining me. The semester is almost over and I honestly haven’t been performing as well as I hoped. But I’m coming to terms with learning my limits and knowing the signs of mental exhaustion. I’ve been in school for over a year with no breaks in between so I feel pretty worn out and like I may have overwhelmed myself. I’m currently working towards being more persistent in knowing how to slow down and adjust my time management schedule. I guess I should throw in working on not overthinking every task every time. Hopefully, after this semester I’ll be back posting regularly and feel a bit more energiz

 Last year Juneteenth was recognized as a National holiday to celebrate the date that slavery was officially over. It’s been a big deal in some states while others haven’t been as educated on the origins of the special day. This year, has come with many commercial products pushing the newly celebrated holiday. However, this commercialization didn’t come without b[l]acklash. Some people felt highly offended to see money being made off a day that reminds some people of the terrible time slavery was tolerated in the country. Others were upset that black companies weren’t offered opportunities to sell products rather than white owned brands capitalizing off this opportunity. I just want to start by saying the concerns are valid about wanting more opportunities for those in the black community that are more directly affected by Juneteenth and also the concern about white companies gaining trademarks on black traumatizing historical events. I do feel disappointed however, that a holiday that

 No recent movements have been as controversial as the Black Lives Matter one in the last few years. From people taking to the streets to protest deaths like George Floyd to people figuring out the movement is led by Marxists. It’s caused people to question the authenticity of the movement and what they allegedly represent. Suspicions over misappropriation of funds have been in the headlines and more division within the black community has erupted from this, as well as division between the black community and other communities. The hashtag has been banned on certain platforms and the lives of blacks are still being threatened based on deep prejudices. There’s a misconception that the messiness surrounding the group Black Lives Matter equates to blacks not facing real threats to their lives from racial issues. Some people go as far as justifying blacks dying from racial issues due to black on black crime within urban America. What they fail to realize is that black on black crime isn’t

We are in the day of utilizing the internet for about 98%  of our entertainment needs. Many viewers flock to YouTube anticipating what their favorite influencers will share. And sure, I’ll admit it, some of these influencers are pure entertainment at its finest. However, some of them spew hateful propaganda and they have such strong followings. These minions then take these irrational ideas into society and spread them. This isn’t about one particular influencer, it’s about the general use of society’s influencers and the pedestal they have to use their platform’s irresponsibly. And how do we recognize if they’re using it irresponsibly? For one, if you’re creating division between other races of people or within races this could continue to fuel race crimes. A racially motivated shooting just took place yesterday in Buffalo, NY. I’m not saying influencers are responsible every time something happens in the world but some of them do help feed the minds of feeble followers when they’re c

 This post is personal and surely hits home for me. If you’re familiar with my other blogs, then you know that I’m a  step parent and I also have my own biological children. Blending my family has been pleasurable but it hasn’t come without bumps in the road. As much as I wish these bumps may come from actual issues my family are dealing with, they instead come from mainstream media’s influence over what people assume step parenting must be like. It’s assumed you’re a jealous, hateful person that wants to wreck havoc on the child’s relationship with their biological parent or you’re trying to steal the biological parent away from the child. I’m having to reset my thoughts and go back to the drawing board for ways to beat out propaganda. It’s important to me that I have a close knit family so it’s difficult when my role is pre-determined as a villain. The media doesn’t portray the step parent that’s supportive of the biological parents or the step parent that encourages the children to

 Happy May Everyone! I hope Spring has been kind to you thus far and your allergies haven’t been too harsh. For the month of May, I’ve decided to write about misconceptions of various topics that I feel are current. Today, I'm going to discuss Americans exercising their 1st amendment right and when that can become problematic. The 1st amendment is a part of the US constitution's Bill of Rights (Personal rights that citizens have): Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or  prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. What does this mean? This means that in the US, people are free to protest peacefully, practice their own religion, and have a right to not agree with the government. This is really different compared to some other countries, but in the US, citizens take these rights very serious. Th

 Hi Readers! I hope you’ve had a great April. The last month I’ve been overly consumed by my study obligations. School has been super demanding and caring for my children sucks the rest of my mental energy completely out. I’ve been rewarded greatly and breaking ground however. I was inducted into my school’s honors society this month and had all of my family and friends by my side. That felt amazing and I’ve been trying so long to successfully stay enrolled in school since graduating high school, but life kept getting in my way. It sure feels good to see it all working out in my favor despite the years it’s taken to find stability. God has been truly faithful to me and my loved ones and I couldn’t feel more blessed to have such great opportunities being extended to me. I’m learning a lot of new information these days on other cultures and how they differ from the stereotypical “American Way”. I’m gaining a greater respect for people differences and learning how to better raise my kids

 Happy March readers! It's warming up where I live, besides March's typical wind pattern. It's definitely kite season, but I won't get off topic about how I forget to buy/make my kids one every year. I've been venturing into the wasteful time pattern of skimming through many streaming sites, and I can't help but try to force myself to sit through new shows. My love for writing makes me a sucker for trying new shows to give unknown script writers a chance. If that opportunity falls upon me, I'd want the support, so I try to give it. I won't reference one particular show, but I do want to discuss how irrational some storylines have seemed to me. I know I've been out of high school for a while, but I'm still a millennium so I'm not that out of touch with my memories of high school. Despite this fact, I somehow still can't phantom some of the things I'm seeing on these shows, and I definitely can't get with the glamourization of these

  Today’s Other Heroes post will feature Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander. Sadie Turner Mossell has an amazing backstory. She’s apart of a long line of successful family members. She was born in Philadelphia in the year 1898. One of her grandfathers was a minister and she had an aunt that was a social worker and physician that helped create a nursing school and hospital at Tuskegee Institute (Alabama). She also has a famous uncle that was a painter. Her father was a lawyer (the first African American) to graduate from Penn’s Law School. Besides, having well established family members, Sadie also excelled in her academic career. After graduating high school in Washington (where she moved with her aunt and uncle) she went on to college back in Philadelphia, attending the University of Pennsylvania. Afterwards, she attended Penn for economics and got her PhD. It was hard for her to find a good job in Philadelphia so she moved again but to Durham, North Carolina. She worked for a black owned

       The Other Heroes is a short series I'll be writing for the rest of February. It'll be about important black figures that have made contributions to society. Last February, I challenged myself to explore less famous black writers from the past and this February I'm committing to learning about important black people that aren't as mainstream. The first person to kickstart my series is Dr. Charles R. Drew. Dr. Charles R. Drew was a physician. He was from DC and grew up playing sports. After graduating high school, he attended Amherst University with an athletic scholarship. After graduating college, he worked as a college biology professor for a while at Morgan State University in Baltimore (formerly Morgan College) before going to a medical school called McGill in Montreal, Canada. There he earned two degrees, Doctor of Medicine and Master of Surgery. During his residency he was able to learn about blood transfusions alongside Dr. John Beattie. It was around this

 Happy February! Another month into Winter, and another month closer to spring. I’ve been preoccupied with school and family so my blog has took a snag. I was looking into the topic of “toxic positivity” because it’s something I feel is becoming apart of the culture with everyone stressed over the current issues looming over the earth. But I’m taking a different direction because after my recent birthday, I’ve been on a mental exhaustion field trip. I’m burned out, many of my friends are burned out, my spouse is burned out. We’re all on a nonstop trial run of being millennials. Some of us are married, some parents, others dating with the intent to marry, some never wanting marry. We’re at the “prime” of our time and most pressured. We’re in the generation of being too young for the 80’s, nostalgic memories in the 90’s, thriving in the 2000’s. We evolved with the early workings of social media and dominated YouTube when it was user friendly. Back when instagram had little users, and twi

 I’m tremendously blessed to be celebrating another birthday. I’ve been going through a lot mentally and it’s been hard for me to deal with everything. From all the changes still going on in our world to the demands and commands of parenting, I’ve been pretty exhausted. I wasn’t sure how I wanted to celebrate my birthday at first. I thought maybe I’d do a family and friends dinner then a separate intimate dinner with my husband. However, with the short amount of workers at all the restaurants in my city, I didn’t think that was best. I hate when the quality of service doesn’t match the price of the food. In addition to that, a lot of people have been sick or scared of the newest variant of the virus. I opted for a stay at home celebration instead. My four year old daughter asked to plan a celebration with my husband and give me a day off ( I don’t know how kids come up with these things) We ended up decorating with some basic party supplies and grabbing Chinese food (my personal favori

 I’ve been in my first year of college since last summer. I’ve been tremendously blessed to receive a 4.0 for both of my semesters. My next semester is here and my newest assignments are awaiting my attention. A three week break was supposed to be just what I needed. I turned my laptop off and kept it closed. School was the last thing I wanted to think about. I wanted to be rejuvenated, prepared, and ready for take off. I’m dragging my book bag instead, sleep deprived, and mentally exhausted. I can do this though! I keep reassuring myself. A night of full rest, a good breakfast, and some encouraging scriptures will do me some good! Sometimes you just have to regroup and give it a go! I’m burned out now, but the results will be worth it in the end. Are you on the edge of burnout? Don’t let it get the best of you yet! Refresh yourself and give it a go!  Until Next Time, Dx3

  I've spent all morning thinking and writing out a grocery list. I've came up with what meals I want to make, what seasonings I'm out of, everyone's favorite snacks, juices, and my personal favorite, bottled water (I dehydrate easily). I finally manage to grab my toddler and her comfort blanket and we're on the way to the store. Alas, we arrived, and I get her into the shopping cart with a little resistance from her (she'd rather run free). I reach for my list just to discover I've left it right inside my house. Great! Oh well, a little improvisation will do just fine. I start shopping, recalling as much of my list as I can, and what I can't remember will be fine. I walk a little slowly. I need to focus on finding the best prices to not overspend and best food quality. With the shelves so empty from lack of products or lack of workers to stock products, it's extremely difficult to find all the ingredients. My daughter is humming "Wheels on the

 Happy January! This happens to be one of my favorite months considering the fact that my birthday is approaching quickly! That’s always exciting! In wake of the New Year, I’m going to be discussing goal setting. Some of you may be familiar with the acronym SMART, but if not it’s an easy way to make your goal setting more realistic. So many times we write down goals and never stick to them. It’s believed that this is because we don’t write down goals with enough detail. For example: lose weight. This gives you no type of extra  detail or information on how you want to do this or how much weight you want to lose. That makes it harder to stick to when you haven’t even outlined the specifics about your goal. An example using the acronym  may look like this. Example: I want to lose 5 pounds by walking 1 mile for 2 weeks. This example tells how many pounds, how long you want this to take, and what you will do to make it happen. I’ve been working on using this acronym for awhile on my person

 Seems like the year went by pretty quickly. I’m sure no one is complaining considering the fact that we were trying to get as far away from 2020 as possible. Who’d think new strains of the virus would still be lurking the Earth? Doesn’t seem like we’ll ever see the end of it. 2021 seemingly brung a quieter year concerning racism. Not as many racial protests, George Floyd trial brung solace for some, less Trump news in the US since Biden is in the chair, grocery store shelves are still empty, and no one went back to work judging by the ongoing open interviews and oversized “help wanted” signs. How are you holding up? Are you still experiencing financial hardship since the virus? I’m looking forward to the new year! I’m still pioneering through school and glad I’m getting closer to my goal of finishing. My kids are getting older and I’m excited to plan more adventures for us this year. I haven’t written out any goals yet, but it’s because I want to write out meaningful and measurable th