That's So Handy

If you're like me, one of the first things that you do when you wake up in the morning is check Facebook. It might not be the very first thing, but it's on the list. We all know the question asked right when you open the app: "What's on your mind?" I want you to think about what has been on your mind/ heart. The thing that you've been longing for but have used every excuse weighing on you as to why you can't have it. Imagine if you just went for it with no inhibitions; what's the worst that could happen? I didn't need to wait for 2020 in order to understand that life is unpredictable. But the year has still been an eye-opener to finally put some aspirations into action and prayerfully this will be the time that I stick to them. The time is now! All the gifts, all the dreams. Put it into action NOW! All the goals, work on them NOW! I have quite a few things that are in the works; one of them is creating a healthy lifestyle. Over the past few years, ...

For the past few years, I've been going back and forth, and back and forth with my hair; to keep it loc'd or to wear it out? That is the question.  I got my first perm during the summer before 6th grade, and it wasn't because I wanted to per se. It was because I was teased (no not by the neighborhood children, not even by kids at school, but by people at church). Before all of this, I had really long hair, natural hair before I even knew of the term. Saturday was the day set aside for washing, parting, oiling with Pink Lotion, and platting or twisting with ballies - the usual style for church and school the next week, except for the special styles that came for a holiday when my mom would say, "Don't let anyone touch your hair". Somehow though among my peers and the older youth, my hair was not "acceptable" and it needed to be permed. Once when my aunt came in from out of town, she ended up straightening my hair for the very first time. The next day ...

I grew up in a household where all of a sudden, we started boiling water and refrigerating it instead of filling our cups with faucet water. Not knowing the reason, sometimes I got lazy and would still just get water from the sink, but I could tell that there definitely was a difference in taste. Today, I live in an area where the hot water is cloudy and it makes me wonder if simply moving the spigot from one side to the other would make the cold water suddenly safe. So we followed a recommendation from a friend to buy a water filter. The thing is, we don't just use the water solely for drinking. A few years back, I started wondering about the negative affects of this water on our hair as we wash it, on our bodies as we shower and bathe in it, on our digestive system as we use it to cook. Having children, I wonder what influence it would have on them; on their functioning, on their skin, etc. I mean residing in one of the poorest counties in Maryland and one of the lowest counties ...

It is officially September 2020 which means it's my birthday month! As I approach 35, I've been noticing how paramount it is that I change my eating habits; not just for myself, but for others, including my family. I have always been pretty up and down about healthy eating; sometimes I go hard, making sure to log absolutely everything into MyFitnessPal, loading up on veggies and decreasing sweets and drinks other than water. Other times, I have no filter as to what I feed myself. As a child, I exercised all the time, and although working out has been sort of consistent into adulthood, I didn't always have a handle on coupling it with making the correct nutritional choices. Also, since my first born, I've used pregnancy as an excuse to eat whatever I want, when I want, and blamed it on "cravings". I gave birth over a month ago to my second child and although my appetite has increased tremendously due to breastfeeding, I haven't always gone for the healthier...