It Just Won't Stop

But I have to admit that something about snow covered trees is just magical. Even I can't take away from that.

I Tortured Myself For The Greater Good

The hubs loves metal. Why? I have no idea. It's very creepy. He blames it on being some of the bands/music he grew up to. Fine, I get it ... but it shouldn't have anything to do with me, ever.

Well, for an early birthday gift he asked for tickets to a Korn concert. And then he asked that I go with him. I didn't realize how crazy a request this was because I had no issue purchasing the ticket online. It wasn't until he told me last Saturday that he couldn't wait for Sunday that the dread starting setting in.

But it was a birthday gift so I had to suck it up, put my feelings aside and smile.

It didn't help that when we got to the concert the line was crazy long. Hello? Do you realize that it is -9 degrees out here?! Are you guys insane? It is brick city! It made matters worst when I realized that there were separate lines for men and women. Why did the men's line move so much quicker? Sean was already inside for ten minutes before I made it inside.

As soon as I walked in, I freaked. It was SO loud. Some crazy woman from the band called "In This Moment" was singing screaming. They call this music? What the hell?! I was pissed not happy.

Lucky for me, a woman who worked there felt my pain and gave me ear plugs. I almost felt like the biggest dork. These fans were so happy for this loud music and here I was with ear plugs. Oh well. I didn't have a headache the next day. Sean sure did, ha!

I politely {meaning I stood with my hands crossed and glared} listened to "In This Moment, "Sevendust", "Disturbed" and "Korn". I wanted to rip my ears out but they are still intact.

I even had to stand near the mosh pit because I actually paid more to stand instead of sit. How dumb.

When the concert was over and we were in our car, I said to Sean, "I don't care what day it is. Your birthday, your graduation, a promotion, whatever. I will never attend one of these concerts with you. Find a friend who likes this music because I will never do this with you ever again."

{you notice all the never & ever's. i was getting my point across}

And you know what he said, "Thanks so much for coming with me."

I'm still not going ever again. I would rather go to a Spice Girl concert before I do that again.

No pictures because I would rather forget.

Its been so cold....

that I don't want to blog.

I just want to stay in bed, under soft blankets, with the heat on full blast.

I keep thinking about all the blogs that I will have to catch up on when I decide it's warm enough to blog, and that made me sick. That might be another couple of months.

So, I am away from my warm bed, reading blogs, that way I don't have to use the next few months to catch up.

Talk about dedication.

Are You As Excited As I Am?

Well, you should be!

American Idol starts tonight!

The absolute best part about the beginning is that the hubs will always watch with me. This is when you can't tell between the good and bad singers. I mean sometimes you can but you shouldn't judge a book by its cover.

There is always that poor singer, who for some reason no one had the heart to tell them that they should not sing for anyone, ever.

Although, I can't watch a bad audition {meaning I close my eyes or I actually walk away because I feel embarrassed, like the person on the screen is me} the hubs loves to. When I say he loves to, I mean he laughs like someone is tickling him everywhere on his body for a hour.

Because he is laughing so hard, sometimes I giggle. But only because he is laughing so hard. Not because of the poor singer who truly believes in her heart that she is Whitney Houston.

I'm excited to see the chemistry between the new judges too. I was sure I wouldn't watch after Simon left BUT when they told me that Jenny from the Block would be one of the new judges I was like, OK maybe I would give it a chance. And then when they said Steven Tyler, the Steven Tyler from Aerosmith would be the judge, I was like, heck yeah! I'm in!


So for the next few weeks I will be closing my eyes AND ears, possibly giggling and for sure cheering for someone to become the next American Idol! I can't wait!

p.s. It's post like these that make me realize just what a huge dork I am. I hope it never changes.

fab picture found here

{Dinner} - Get Yo' Man Chicken

I love "Down Home with the Neelys" on the food network.

Lots of my friends have told me that I remind them of Gina. Not sure why but I guess it's the bubbly personality. Ha.

Anywho, when I saw this episode, I had to try the recipe. How do you go wrong with a recipe called "Get Yo' Man Chicken?

It was super delish to me but the recipe is not called "Get Yo' Woman Chicken". The hubs is not a big fan of rice so although he loved the sauce and how moist the chicken was, the rice found its way in the garbage. I don't think the sauce would taste good with anything but rice so I might not be cooking it again. Or maybe it will taste good with some type of pasta. Since we loved the sauce so much I think it will be worth it to try with pasta!

It was worth a shot but man am I glad that I already Got My Man! ;)

Dear Martin Luther King

I was inspired by you the very first time I learned who you were. I was intrigued by the fact that you had a dream and decided to share it with the world, even though you knew that so many would hate you for it.

I use to imagine having a dream that would change the world. I use to wonder, would I share it with millions, even if I believed I would be killed for it? Would I have the courage to stand in front of those who hated me, to stand up for what I believed in?

I always answered no. I was not strong enough. I couldn't be hated. I couldn't be killed.

As a young girl, I didn't realize that your dream made my world shine brighter. I was given the chance to live without hating the color of my skin. Given the chance to go to school with all races and never forced to sit at the back of the bus. I was given the chance to know that water fountains at school was for everyone.

Because of you, I can love my husband in broad daylight and he can love me in return. I can't imagine you not sharing your dream. If you hadn't, where would I be? Where would my hubby be? We wouldn't be together.

So now I answer yes. I am strong enough. I can be hated. I can be killed. If my dream could make this world a better place, it is my duty to share it.


Today, I am thankful for your dream, for your message, for your sacrifice. You did not die in vain.

Happy Birthday Mr. King. May your dream live on.

An award for me! :)

The lovely Jenni @ Story of My Life just gave me an award! I absolutely love her and her blog so to be given this award by her is amazing! So, thanks Jenni!


To accept this award, I must share 7 random facts about myself.

1.) 7 is my favorite number.

2.) I wore stilettos in snowstorms in college even though I feared I would fall face first into a snow bank. My sorority nicknamed me Stilettos in college because of this.

3.) 2 of my sisters and I have the same middle name. I never understood this so when I got married I made my maiden name my middle name.

4.) I have so many recipes I want to try, but I often forget the ingredients I need at the supermarket so I never get around to it.

5.) I wanted to go to the gym tonight but the hubs bribed me with KFC biscuits. I don't like KFC but I can't resist their biscuits. Strange, huh?

6.) I am addicted to Jersey Shore. Addicted.

7.) I have never shoveled a day in my life. I hope this never changes.

Here are the 7 fabulous bloggers that I am passing this stylish award to!

*Sommer @ A Mama With Flavor
*Ashley @ episodes of a mixed girl
*Mrs K @ Learn(ing) to Enjoy the Rain
*The Baby Plan
*Aly @ analyze this
*Brown Girl Blogs
*Marian @ Escaping the Single Life

I Hope My Future Child Has ....

his laugh.

his generosity.

his forgiving spirit.

his sense of humor.

his thoughtfulness.

his positivity.

his calm presence. his gorgeous eyes that change with the season. his long eyelashes. his imagination. his creativity. his responsibility. his confidence. his sensitivity. his dorkiness. his cute nose. his cleaning skills. his respectfulness. his athletic ability. his spontaneity. his personality.

If so, my child is going to be rocking.

**disclaimer: Sean was very awesome today hence this post of writing about how perfect he is. also, this post does not in any way mean that i have baby brain. just saying**

I have a new addiction.

His name is Dexter.

I started the first season yesterday. I think it is amazing television.

I don't think the hubs found it to be all that good because he slept during the 5 episodes I watched. How dare he?

I hope to watch 3 more episodes before going to bed tonight.

Is anyone else addicted?

I'm Going Natural

This does NOT mean I won't shave my legs or armpits again. Or that I will walk outside without wearing deodorant. Or that I will shower without soap. Gross.
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It was 8 weeks after my last perm and I stared into the mirror at my new growth. It was time for a relaxer but instead of reaching right away for the creamy crack, this time around I became curious. Curious about the new growth that I have been hiding for so many years.


I first relaxed my hair at 12 years old. It was done regardless of my mom's objection. See. My mom has never relaxed her hair. We refer to her hair as Virgin Hair. I wish I had listened to my mom.


Not that relaxing my hair ruined my hair because it didn't or hasn't. I wish I had listened to my mom because I am 28 years young and I have NO idea how to take care of my natural hair texture.


How can that be? How can this feeling of absolute dread be taking over me? It's because I have no idea what to expect. I have no idea what works for my natural hair and I am petrified of making mistakes. I am scared of spending tons of money to try out products to find out what will work on my hair.


It would be so much easier to reach for the creamy crack and perm my hair because I know what works for me. With my natural hair, I am a stranger in a foreign land. I don't know the language and that freaks me out.


It has been 5+ months since my last perm and I would like to say it has been freeing. It hasn't. I am scared. I want to chop off all my relaxed ends but I think that would be drastic and the next day I know for certain I would freak out.


I will trim my relaxed ends little by little until none of it remains and all that remains is my natural hair. It's a big journey for me and I figured I would share pictures of me relaxed in the last few years, as an ode to the old me.











My natural hair might be like this:


like this:


like this:


or completely not like any of the pictures above.

I just hope I embrace whatever it may be and never change my mind, no matter how difficult it might become.

Lucky for me, the hubs is so excited for this change that it is rubbing into me just a little more each day.

{images via}

Slow Your Roll Part 2

Slow Your Roll Part 1

As far as I can remember, my parents always told me to slow down.

Not because I moved too quickly, ate too quickly or walked too fast.

It was because I spoke way too fast.

My father understood because he also talks too fast. I got this incredible gene from him. Due to the fact that he is a public speaker, he had to teach himself to speak slowly.

In high school, my teachers would always interrupt me and say, "Faith, start from the beginning, but this time around try to keep it in mind to slow down."

The only issue with that was that I actually was thinking about talking slow, but when I was excited or nervous it always turned into a bunch of fkghiahgalgiojgh.

In college, my professors were kind not to interrupt me. They waited until I had finished and then my classmates would give me feedback. What do you think they said?

Yup, you're right! It was annoying to spend all my time on this presentation to be told that. And when I would ask, "any questions?" There was no question to be asked because they didn't really catch everything my presentation was on.

It also didn't help {well, it did help} that my sisters and friends started to keep my voice mails and will let me hear it. It would always surprise me that, that was me talking.

It was at that time I began to make a serious effort to talk slower.

Once I drilled it in my head, I would take a moment to think about what I wanted to say, would try to get a rhythm, then I would speak. This has worked because I don't get the "you talk too fast" nearly as much. Once in a while, but it is mostly when I am excited or heated.

So when the hubs first said to me, "Slow Your Roll". I was taken aback. It wasn't until he said, "Well, if you're talking all that fast garbage how in the world am I suppose to say anything? I don't even know what you're saying".

That I literally stopped talking.

All my life, if someone said, slow down, I would. I had to stop, think about what I wanted to say and then say it as slowly as possible.

In the heat of the moment, I would go back into my old ways and talk miles a minute.

Hubs did not realize the strength he would hold with just those three words.

So since I am not nearly as perfect as I hope to be, I still get angry and I say all the things that I am going to have to apologize for later, because ... well, I didn't really mean it. It was just the heat of the moment talking.

Lucky for me, Hubs can hardly understand what I am saying when I am pissed so he always has a question mark on his face. So when he says, "Slow Your Roll." I do. I stop.

I then begin to think about what I want to say. This is the stinky part. No one wants to say, "You annoy me to no ends, I would like nothing better than to punch you in the groin as hard as I possibly can", very slowly. It does not work as well as "IwouldlikenothingbetterthantopunchyouinthegroinashardasIpossibycan."

Well, since that is what I really want to say, I end up not saying it at all. It doesn't sound very nice when said slowly.

So the next time you're in the heat of the moment and you're about to say a few things that you are going to regret in the next few minutes, just imagine my husband saying to you, "Slow Your Roll."

I bet those words you want to say will stay where they ought to stay, in the back of your throat.

:)

My New Year Resolutions

I didn't do one last year because I thought to myself, "I don't follow them anyway".

Well, I learned that I do need to have them because it helps me to at least think about what I want to do. That in turn helps me get a few things done in the year. So here I go. A reborn believer in the New Year Resolution goals.

1. Most and foremost, I need to build a stronger relationship with God. I don't think I've ever used the term "most and foremost" in a sentence before.

2. Keep the communication doors open between the husband and I, to ensure that we always have a healthy and happy relationship.

3. Get back in shape (workout 4-5 days a week) and choose healthier foods to eat.

{I'm crying as I type this part, fyi, but I did manage to go to the gym last night and tonight AND I only had one two pieces of chocolate today! :)}

4. Go natural {I will explain this in detail in a future post!}

5. Pay off 2 credit cards, those suckers suck.

6. Be the best friend, wife, family, me I can possibly be.

{I am aware that my list is kinda short, but I am realistic enough to know that the shorter the list is, the more likely I am to complete at least 2 of them!}

Happy Blogiversary to Me!

Well, technically, it was yesterday ... but who's keeping count?
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When wedding planning ended, I was bored. Wedding planning consumed me. I thought about it everyday, at least 100 times a day. I dreamt about it. Sometimes they were amazing dreams about how gorgeous I looked and sometimes they were nightmares about me arriving to the church in my birthday suit. I woke up many times afraid of my wedding and annoyed that it had so much power.

Once it was over I felt relieved but I missed it. I wanted to do the fun parts all over again. I needed a new hobby because I didn't feel right logging into the wedding website, that honestly should have paid me for the amount of time I spent talking about it.

I was a hostess at this amazing wedding website and it took me months to finally give that status up. Once I did that I knew it was over. I had no reason to log on and stare at wedding dresses all day at work. No excuse.

What was going to be my new freaking hobby?

It was at that wedding website that I saw a forum post about blogging. This person was talking about how much fun it was and if we could share what our blogs were and she would follow.

I was curious and clicked on a few blogs and that was the beginning of a new addiction.

You mean to tell me that I could make a blog and talk about anything I wanted. ANYTHING?! Oh boy!

A few days later, my blog was born. I knew that I was going to talk about my life. It wasn't going to be just one topic because I am just not about one thing. But I wasn't exactly sure how it worked so not too long into it, I decided blogging wasn't for me.

I find that so surprising now.

{Insert picture that shows Faith with a surprised face}


One day, I had something to talk about. And soon one follower became 50 and so on. I now had to blog. People were following me and there was no way that I could leave them hanging. It didn't matter if it wasn't going to be an exciting post, I was going to blog because they found me interesting for some very odd reason.

I am so excited to be a part of this blogging world. It is such a release and it lets me get away to talk about my feelings and my everyday world. Even if that world isn't very exciting, it is my world.

I also know it is going to be amazing to look back and see just how much of my life has been documented in this blog.

I want to say a big thank you to my fabulous followers who have just been amazing. I love reading your comments and I love stalking following your lives.

I hope to continue blogging and following your lives for a long time to come! :)