Always a Bridesmaid...



You know the rest...

A Poet's In the Corner: Be Damned Unpretty...

He kept telling me I wasn't beautiful
Not that that's unusual
And even if the feeling wasn't mutual
It still felt brutal
He continued to be a co-conspirator, in wrecking my self esteem
Too bad every opportunity was led by me
And I could code his name so I don't deface his image
But he always ruined mine
I was like a pity f***
But was the cause of plenty inclines
And it started as a gamble
Which continued to dismantle
All the things that I thought were beautiful me
All the things that in absence led to deceiving
And I as I ran at a steady piace towards him
Through the brush
Leaving branches in my hair
And feeling crucified
I constantly sat on floors of bathrooms, thinking I'd want to die

And each friend plucked from God's good hands made me forget more and more of this man
And though my heart was empty
My body was strong
And my spirit was intuitive about things that were wrong
And I got a degree
"Look mom, no hands"
And I never failed to forget what I learned from this man
If you don't determine your own worth
Someone will do it for you,
For the rest of your life
So just drop the bullet, and pick up the mic
Poetry, it has healed many of my life's griefs
Without it, I have no idea where I would truly be

Write Byte: It'll always be about him in the end.

If I knew the color of love would be

Like cream in the sweetest coffee

If I knew the sound of love would be

Like sound waves between my shoulder blades

If I knew loves’ eye would

Twinkle like the eyes of a child

Then I would have never left love in the first place.

I’d love him until we both fell off the edge of the Earth

And would still love as I gasped and we fell

And in the ideal, as the angel’s claim their new angel

I would still love

And continue to shed the tears for the love lost forever.

I promise to never leave you ever again.

School Flash: The Effects of Racism on Education

This stack is much larger in real life, lol!

So I thought it would be interesting to share in short (because I've got to study!) the things I have found interesting during this my graduate courses throughout the semester.


A topic that I find near and dear to my heart is the effects of poverty on student education.  No, I did not grow up impoverished (and I'm well aware that was a blessing because my mother did), but I am one of the most empathetic people you have ever met.  I know it is simple to say that people can overcome their circumstances, but the simple answer to that is there is NOTHING simple about that.  Recognizing that your students have been affected by internalized racism and stereotypes, makes you that much more sensitive to their educational needs.


Read this passage written by my professor, and if you get a chance, check out the article:
As written by Dr. Christine Schwarz, Saint Joseph's University
"Related to this week's topic is this report of research explaining why African American babies have the highest infant mortality rate in the developed world.Kashef's article reveals what research has shown to be the case again and again, that the stress of racism causes even well-nourished, upper-class African American mothers to give birth to low-birthweight babies. A more recent report was aired nationally last Fall. "


Educate yourself, you'd be surprised what you can learn about life that you never would have known.

She Cooks: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies with Pecans



c/o allrecipes.com member PANTHERA

Hey there. This is a quick post.  After fiddling around with a recipe for oatmeal chocolate chip cookies during Christmas, I thought I would like to find a recipe that came out less dense and a little more chewy and fluffy.  After sitting around at 11 pm upset over some sad issues going on in my home, I thought it would cheer me up to bake.  Low and behold these delicious beauties adapted from this recipe for Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies.  I tend to read the reviews for suggestions and found by adding the extra 1/2 cup of flour and extra 1/2 tsp of baking soda suggested by allrecipes.com memeber Juliesam resulted in a delicious cookie that I quite prefer to the other recipe.  Check it out and see if you like it!  Next up is a delicious looking Chocolate Pudding Recipe I am dying to try later today. I'll try and let you know how it turns out!

Updates!

Happy New Year! Once again, I've taken quite a bit of a hiatus, but I won't apologize since breaks are needed.

I decided I would update everyone on what I've been doing, just in case you know what I'm doing if this happens again.

Life Update: I'm starting graduate school on Tuesday. I'm very excited! I've decided to get my Master's in Education and get certified in teaching! It took awhile to decide, especially after I got ill following graduation, but now that both feet are planted on the ground, I feel like I've mad a great decision that I will continue to be happy about.  I'm probably looking the most forward to my field experience where I'll get to observe in actual classrooms.  Hope to pick up some great pointers and work with some amazing high school science teachers!

Weight Loss & Exercise Update:  I've picked up quite a few pounds over the holidays.  Not that I haven't enjoyed myself, but I'm definitely feeling some tightness in my jeans again.  No worries though. I'm over being depressed about it and have picked up with my Zumba and Pilates class on Tuesdays, and hopefully I'll start working out at home again with some yoga and walking workouts.  I'm hoping to be down my first 10% by March 31, 2012.

Cooking Update: I've been quite the baker lately: I helped my honey make a red velvet cake for his catering event, and I've been baking up a storm at my house.  For Christmas and New Year's I made:  Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies with Walnuts, Peanut Butter Cup Cookies, and Chocolate Pecan Pie.  Not to mention the Brownies I have cooling in the kitchen- I know I'm definitely explaining those extra pounds.  But all these recipes came out amazing and if you can spare the calories-even if you can't, lol- I'd definitely give them a try.  And just as a tip, my stepkids love the Peanut Butter Cup Cookies so as long as your kids don't have nut allergies, they'll love to help eat and make those.

Hair Update:  This hair has been growing like weeds! When I get a chance, I will post a regimen update, but for the most part, things aren't out of the ordinary.  I started reintegrating shampoo every now and then and I found it didn't do much for my hair so I went back to ACV rinses as soon as I could get my hands on some ACV. I deep condition about once or twice a month, either using my hooded dryer or leaving it in overnight and rinsing in the morning.  I don't always use Yes To Carrots, but have found that I also enjoy Garnier's Pure  Clean Conditioner since it's silicone free and results in my hair having a coily-er texture (totally made that word up lol).  I've been doing mainly twist-outs with rollers on the ends but am DYING to color my hair red. Not just red, but obnoxious in your face red.  I would henna, but that looks like a mess I don't have the patience for just yet.

Well this was pretty long, but let's just say I'm enjoying myself and life.  I have been debating on adding some new features to the blog like occasional outfit posts, but I'll see what I get around too.  Hope your year has been amazing so far!

Smooches!

Happy New Year!

I hope you had a safe, happy, and healthy New Year.  Even with 5 days in, I can tell there will be many exciting things to come...

Stay tuned...