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As I sat at my desk contemplating what my blog post should be after such a long hiatus, I knew that I needed to post something about the climate in our country surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement. If you can’t tell by my posts on social media, I’m an advocate for Black Lives Matter, which was not always the case. I used to be one of those people that wanted the whole story. But a strengthened relationship with God is truly what I think changed my mind about it all. This is funny to me because it seems like a number of people who use this term “All Lives Matter” profess to be Christian’s themselves, while conveniently realizing they are acting much like the pharisees who killed Jesus, a man who only strove to do good. Jesus was a man of color who was killed by the people with legal and political power in his time. It was the law that said it was wrong of Jesus to heal on the sabbath. It was the law that said Jesus was wrong to say he was God’s son. It was the law that said Jesus was wrong for saving the life of the adulterous woman. And we as Christians read these verses and think of how awful the pharisees were to our savior, who was only trying to make the world a better place.
I think the issue comes in the word “matter,” because this word holds different weight to different people. For me, my husband matters to me more than a stranger. Because we use this word to describe what means the most to us, people don’t tend to understand it when it is applied to a larger group of strangers. For some, “matter” is a very passive word. Sure, it matters. For others, “matter” is a powerful word that had the power to lift someone up. You matter! For the current social majority, which is being phased out for a different social majority, the word “matter” doesn’t have a huge meaning. That’s why it is difficult for them to understand that all lives cannot possibly matter to them if segmented groups of people are treated differently for various reasons, consciously or unconsciously. WHAT LIVES DON’T SEEM TO MATTER
I could go on and on about the sectors of people whose lives don’t seem to matter to the social majority. You’d be reading for a lifetime. If I left out a marginalized group of people, it was either unintentional, or I’m not informed, so please feel free to leave some info in the comments. I hope this has brought some clarity to this phrase for you. The goal, one day, is for all lives to matter. But we have a long way to go before we realize that goal. Let’s work together to make it happen.
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Well.... long time, no see. I guess that makes sense?
I've been a super bad content creator since this quarantine started, and I really don't know why. I guess that I lost motivation to do a lot of things.
Nothing much has been going on with me. Here are some updates, I guess:
GIVE ME AN UPDATE IN THE COMMENTS. HOW HAVE YOU BEEN DOING DURING QUARANTINE?
So, for this product review, I will tell you what I think of the dog treats as far as being a dog mom goes. Then, I will tell you how Maisel, my Australian Kelpie/Pitbull mix liked them. THE DOG MOM PERSPECTIVE
MY DOG'S PERSPECTIVE
ABOUT OLD MOTHER HUBBARD PRODUCTS
Overall, I would say "yes" to giving a recommendation for these treats. Maisel always gets excited when I reach into the treat bags, and I just know your dog will too!
As a general rule, I try not to write too much about my job. I want to start off this post by saying how grateful that I am that I have a job and that I can work from home. I know there are a lot of people who were put out of work, or who are getting paid by their job, but were told not to work right now. I know that it must be challenging and scary. I just want to preface this post with that, because I know some might not understand where I'm coming from.
It all centered around leaving work and work and home at home, at least as much as possible. If I had a bad day at work, those feelings would stay in my office or in my car and I would have my home, a neutralizing place for me, to come back to. I have quickly learned that professional and personal aspects of my life are blending together a lot during this COVID-19 pandemic, and it isn't the best for my mental health, or for the mental health of others.
I found out from my best friend Jeremy that I'm not alone. He's in Atlanta, which is obviously a hotspot for the coronavirus since it is such a large place. He told me that he received a tip about how to kind of get ride of that extra energy floating around after working. He said you can get in your car and do whatever it is you do on your commute. For me, I listen to music or call my mom. You could stay parked and do this, or take a ride around the neighborhood.
​I realized on Tuesday that I didn’t have a blog post for this week. Amidst all of the craziness with COVID-19 (which has also consumed pretty much all of my life this past month), I knew I didn’t want to write about it again.
So, instead, I have decided to write a cheesy post about my anniversary, which is on March 18! By the time you’re reading this, it has likely passed. But, that doesn’t make these lessons any less impactful. Without further ado, here are some of the things I’ve learned as a young married woman after three years of marriage: 1: LIFE WOULDN’T BE THE SAME IF YOU AREN’T MARRIED TO YOUR BESTIE
2: LIFE OFTEN KICKS YOU WHEN YOU’RE DOWN
3: HARDLY ANYTHING IS WORTH GOING TO BED ANGRY ABOUT
4: IT CAN BE HARD TO SEE THINGS HAPPENING FOR OTHERS THAT YOU WANT FOR YOURSELVES, BUT PRESS ON
Those Chinese food and movie nights at the house, or that $5-a-ticket movie date. Those moments are special, so don’t take them for granted.
5: A GOD-CENTERED MARRIAGE IS SO VALUABLE
Even if you aren’t religious, taking time to humble yourself and realize the need for spiritual growth is so important. But I know that in our relationship, God has answered so many prayers, especially when we got to the point where we were making him a priority.
When I'm not creating content for my blog or our YouTube channel, I'm working full time on social media for my regular 9 to 5 job! I'm trying more and more to create content that I know other creators or just people who are interested can use in their everyday life. Almost everyone I know is on social media. I wanted to share some of the tools that I've found useful in growing my platform or just creating better content. 1. CANVA
2. FOLLOWING THE RIGHT PEOPLE/GROUPS
As a blogger, I tag almost every post on Twitter involving a blog post with some of the accounts that retweet bloggers for exposure. I'm also in a number of groups on Facebook where I share my content and also support other creators. 3. SCHEDULERS
For Instagram, I like to use this app called "Later." You can schedule to have a reminder sent to you. You can also pre-plan your captions as well! I love it, especially when I have a nice photo that I want to schedule for a later time. 4. PHOTO EDITING APP
​A few weeks ago, I woke up to a familiar nervousness that I had felt the year before around this time. As I woke up, I put on a nice outfit for work. I stopped for a splash of caffeine (and by that, I mean the Venti) at Starbucks on the way in.
I was in for a long morning of running around feeling a mix of franticness and nervousness. I was about to be face to face with the son of an American hero: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ​His eldest son, Martin Luther King III, came to the University to speak at our annual spring convocation, which is always dedicated to Black History Month. If you’ve been here a while, you’d know that I met Ruby Bridges last year.
​As an adult, King is living out the legacy of his father by acting as the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and by giving nonviolence training to various groups in the U.S. and in Bosnia-Herzegovina, India, Israel and Palestine, Kenya, and Sri Lanka.
​It was awe-inspiring to meet King in person. Growing up, I’d seen photos of his father circulating everywhere. When I saw him in person, it was like seeing what MLK Jr. would have looked like if his life wasn’t tragically ripped away from him.
Today, I wanted to share a bit about what I learned from King, and some of the things he said that really stuck with me: 1: GET INVOLVED
I was really involved in the community and on my campus while in college due to my involvement in a number of community service-minded organizations. I lost that after graduation and was content with doing nothing.
However, this opportunity, and things happening at my church, have taught me that being involved is important. God wouldn’t want me to stand idly by while help was needed. 2: REFUSE TO LEAVE THE WORLD UNTIL YOU’VE DONE SOMETHING GOOD​
3: INACTION IS PART OF THE PROBLEM
​When that happened, I called it out. I called the store after we left and told them what happened. They said they were going to speak with the woman. But I came to realize that I would be more than passionate if something bad had happened to my husband or his family members, especially if evidence pointed to the fact that it was only happening because their skin color is different to mine.
In truth, it is really hard for any of us to know what life is like in the shoes of another person. It is best to see what we can do to help, knowing that racism is absolutely wrong in the site of God and most people in the world today.
​I could probably write on this subject forever, but I was just so honored to meet them. For those that knew me before a few years ago, they likely see the photo I posted with him and roll their eyes. They only remember the times where I argued with them about a police shooting (which I would mostly retract today) and they find it hard to believe that life and God changed me.
I took photos with Bridges and King. I may have been a little struck by who they were, but what mattered to me was what they said and how they communicated it. And, how in a world filled with divisions, they still preach unity and peace. As a freelance writer, radio voiceover artist, photographer, and graphic designer, I can say that there is always someone, either a client or even a friend or family member, who ends up saying something that is offensive to the freelancing professional. In today’s article, I figured I would share some of these. If you’re a freelancer, I hope you can relate. If you’re not, please read these four points and try to avoid making these mistakes with your freelancer when you hire one. 1. NOT WANTING TO PAY FOR SERVICES/PRODUCTS
However, nothing is more frustrating as a freelancer when you get an invitation and someone was only inviting you to take photos for them. The best thing a friend or family member can do for a freelancer is support them.
Clients should never ask for discounts on work, especially if they don’t have a good working relationship established with the freelancer. When a client asks for a discount, even though they may just be trying to save some money in their budget, it comes off as devaluing my work as a freelancer! Also, please don’t tell me “you would be supporting my start-up” or “it is an event for charity,” especially if I know nothing about the charity. I say this because I work on a website for freelancing and have gotten messages like these from total strangers. This isn’t Becky from the Kiwanis club asking for help, this is someone from halfway around the world who could simply be scamming me. 2. TRYING TO CORRECT ME ON SOMETHING THAT ISN'T INCORRECT
“Grapes, bread, and milk are all great items to keep in your fridge.” The person told me I should have used “is” instead of “are.” They said that they would make the correction, so I did not fight them on it. It just never makes sense to me when people pay for a service, but then want to question stuff like this! 3. NOT BEING CLEAR OR PROVIDING LITTLE INFORMATION
I was under the impression from their messages that they hosted a blog that gave brides-to-be some ideas for their big day. When I turned in one of their articles, they asked me where the “call to action” was.
4. GETTING ANGRY AND LASHING OUT WHEN WE STAND UP FOR OURSELVES
I put my foot down. He actually went out of his way to contact the support team to change his rating on an order he had rated me 5-stars on because I stood up for myself and refused to continue to re-write his orders for him. I launched some pretty harsh emails at the support team for allowing him to do it, but they did not care. They cared more about getting their commission from my sales.
But seriously, don’t do this. It is super unprofessional. Freelancers work for themselves and their clients. They don’t have to put up with your BS! JANUARY 2019
FEBRUARY 2019
MARCH 2019
APRIL 2019
MAY 2019
JUNE 2019
JULY 2019
AUGUST 2019
SEPTEMBER 2019
OCTOBER 2019
NOVEMBER 2019
DECEMBER 2019
Now that Christmas has passed, many of us only have a few more days before we have to be back at work for the start of the year. Some of you may already have been to work! I work in education, so we take breaks at the end of each semester. I had the privilege of having nearly two weeks off of work, which means I've slept in a bit and had nearly no structure to my day for the past two weeks! That's all about to change on January the 2nd. So, to help myself and others, here is a guide to prepare to go back to work after New Years! GET BACK ON SCHEDULE
Additionally, follow through with much of your morning and afternoon routines. This means getting dressed, making and eating breakfast, and so on. This will put you back into the right mindset. GET ORGANIZED
PRIORITIZE
CLEAN UP YOUR DANG HOUSE
PICK OUT SOME OUTFITS
CONSIDER AUTOMATING SOME TASKS
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