Adorable-Funny Marriage Proposal

Someone posted this on FB and this was too cute not to share:

Music I Like: Javier Colon edition

Many found out about this talented singer-songwriter earlier in the year when NBC's The Voice premiered on TV. I, however, have had the pleasure of listening to Javier since high school. I definitely remember going to a concert Mya was headlining for the sole reason that Javier was opening for her. While I'm sorry he is no longer doing R&B, I am thrilled that he won on The Voice and that he has an opportunity to shine. Javier's voice is so honest and clear and you can tell that the man loves his craft. That said, let me share a couple of my favorite songs by him:

In Your Hands

If I Never Get To Heaven

 Landslide (feat. Stevie Nicks)

Slow Motion

30 Day Challenge: Day 19 (Five Items You Lust After0)

I try to refrain from lusting but here are 5-ish things that I really want right now.

1 - Wheels

Now I could have said a car but their are actually 3 vehicles currently on my wishlist:

Ford F150

VW Eos

Pink and Black Kawasaki

I've been without wheels since August and these three vehicles are on my wish list. I have wanted a convertible since I was about 5 and my dad would give me his car mags to look through. The Eos has become my favorite in the last few years due to its hardtop nature and relatively affordable price. I love pickups hence the F150 and I have wanted to learn how to ride a bike since college. If ever I do get a bike, you best believe it will have the absolute SICKEST hot pink, black and white paint job.

2 - Louboutin Fifi 100m Pumps

I may only wear them occasionally but when I do I will wear the HELL out of these shoes. I was at an event for work last month and I saw a woman with the peep toe version of these beauties and I could not stop staring at her feet. I like shoes but these shoes are baaaaaaad in person, like baaaaaaaaaaaaad.

3 - Neo Colonial Home

Everybody wants a home of their own and if I had my choice of home I would choose a neo-colonial gem similar to this one here.  I like the columns and screened in porch that these homes usually have. I also appreciate the roominess, fireplaces and picket fences that accompany them (though I would want untreated wood, not white). In this dream house where people would live, I imagine having an insane kitchen and a bathroom oasis where I can zone out in my soaking tub or custom granite steam shower.

4 - Beagle

I think these dogs are the absolute cutest! I'm the dork who will probably name her Snoopy or Sir Barks-a-lot because I can. 

5 - More Passport Stamps

To date I have only visited 3 other countries and all have been in the western hemisphere; this needs to change. I want to see more of the word and have memorable experiences in places where English isn't the national language. I was to meet new people, try new cuisines, get clothes from random markets in who-knows-where. I want to travel all over the world so that when I'm old and grey I can look back with a lil gleam in my eye and remember all the good times I had getting out of my comfort zone.  

30 Day Challenge: Day 18 (A Problem You've Had)

I'm not the best with confrontation. I can argue the hell out of something but there are times when I'm bad with addressing a situation. Examples always help so I'll give you one.

About a month and a half ago, I started talking to Bill*. We met via a dating site I was using (I have since closed my account) and started texting and speaking on the phone after some time. Conversation was decent and we decided to go out on a date. For reasons outside of both of our control, the date we chose had to be pushed back due to an unexpected work event. In talking to Bill. I noted that he started calling me pet names and it made me super uncomfortable but I didn't know how to address it, so I didn't. Then he started to try and invite himself to my social events. The man started making inferences to marriage. And the cherry on top was him leaving me messages telling me he missed me.

For some people, this is a no brainer, just address it. For me, its hard because I will be uncomfortable for the sake of not hurting someone else. After counsel and thinking it over, I decided to write. Where I have verbal blocks at time, the written word is freedom to me. I don't intentionally offend but I can say things most clearly when I have the ability to write them out. So that's what I did - I wrote him and told him he made me uncomfortable and I would discontinue speaking with him if his behavior continued.

Guess what?

He apologized. Profusely. My confronting the issue led to some sort of resolution. This happened recently so we'll see if we can be friends, its still too soon to tell. No matter, I confronted an uncomfortable situation and I'm glad that I did.


*name obviously change to refrain from blowing ups spots

No Love, I Reserve The Right To Disagree and I Will Not Accept Your High 5

Every once and again you happen to have a day where some of your peeves decide to conference, converge and morph into an unholy Megazord of annoyance (a la Power Rangers). For me, yesterday was such a time as this.

Let me try to put this into lyrical form: 'Twas the night of my homegirl's birthday and all through the restaurant, the churchy people wouldn't stop talking about things that were inconsequential to humanity and tried putting words in my mouth.  Ok, that didn't quite rhyme but I think you get my point.

The topic of conversation was abstruse at best (something about the moral agency of celestial beings) and the parties were nice enough people. I would even say that I genuinely like and care for one of the people I was speaking with. My issue is this - I say what I mean to say and if I have not expressly stated something, it is probably not what I intended to say. I will rephrase: DO NOT PUT WORDS IN MY MOUTH. I made statement X, statement "whatever the hell you just said I said" is not applicable because I didn't say it. If I meant to say what you said that I said, guess what...I WOULD HAVE SAID THAT IN THE FIRST PLACE. I use the capitalization for emphasis as this irritates the crap outta me. I understand implications can be made from statements but I try to choose my words carefully, especially in debate, because I don't like room to be made for people to infer I meant something other than what I stated.

My second issue would be this...If you are at a point in a conversation, find yourself at an impasse and the person you are conversing with shares that you should agree to disagree (especially more than once), let it go. I myself have been guilty of this in the past and I pledged to myself last night that I would seriously ward off doing this as I know how being in such a situation made me feel. I think last night would have accounted for one of those times where folks could have benefited from having a personality overview of the other parties present. At the top of my list, under the subheading Things to Avoid, the line item may have read something like "Rarely changes mind especially in debate; refrain from pushing as it will result in her not wanting to converse with you".

If you take the above noted irritants and combine them with excessive distribution of high 5s and the highly churched, you have created a mental cocktail that I will likely pass on indulging in again. I love my Jesus  people but sometimes I don't like the real churched out ones because they have a cliche or bible verse for EVERYTHING, often misapplied. I'm far from being biblically literate (I'm such a bad PK lol) but I do know enough Bible and have a store of common sense that lets me deduce that a) this conversation has no bearing on my salvation or yours and b) there are some things that exist in such complexity that finite minds should limit their investigation of them. I'm ok with knowing the limits of my humanity and get that sometimes God doesn't tell us things (like a detailed breakdown of the history of non-earthly beings) cause it doesn't really affect us. Unfortunately, not everyone is in that boat and it causes debate and frustration across the board.

So no more Megazord for me, I will keep my opinions to myself no matter how illogical I find certain lines of conversation. It is so not worth the cerebral hangover I'm experiencing right now.

30 Day Challenge: Day 17 (Something You're Proud Of)

I think that when looking introspectively one should find plenty of things to be proud of. I can certainly look back over the course of my life and point out accomplishments that I take great pride in: winning a NSF award at 17, making nearly anything I've tried out for, having a unique profile that makes people want to make positions for me. In anything I can take extreme pride in, there is one thing that stands out for me: Faith.

Now, for me, this faith is twofold. The obvious would be faith in God; I love Him mucho much and have a sincere trust in Him. If you know me, that kind of goes without saying....BUT one thing I'm not sure if people know is that I have faith in myself.

This isn't about personal deification, cause I'm far from that mode of thinking. I, honest to God and hand to heart, believe in myself. I am confident in my abilities, my talents and my giftings. I believe in the dreams that God has etched in my heart and the vision entrusted to me. This doesn't mean that I don't question; questioning is healthy and needed. What I don't believe in is self doubt. I am not equipped nor inclined to do everything, no one is. However, the things that I do feel called to do, I do and I do them well. I thank God for confidence in Him which lends to confidence in me. These confidences allow me to dream and dare to do things that don't seem to make sense to anyone else. This is what I am most proud of in my life.

30 Day Challenge: Day 16 (Something You Always Think "What If" About)

While I have quite the imagination, its rooted firmly in wondering about the possibility of things in my present (or thinking about things of a random nature). I can say I'm honestly content with the choices I've made and I'm not secretly pining for an old relationship/job/whatever. I understand my life is as it should be and I can say I love who I am and sincerely appreciate my life. There are a few things I'm hopeful for in the future but I entrust what's to come in God's hands.