Write It Up Wednesday

Hello All

I think being honest about your past helps you let things go and you can really make amends with the past. It has been my goal to make up with people who I’ve hurt and ones that I may have said something stupid to or about. I started reaching out to professionals I had said something about or had a struggling friendship with, but really valued their thoughts, advice, and their chats. This has been a cleansing process for me as well and it’s been super awesome just being able to know I did my part in asking for their forgiveness. I know everyone won’t be like “Oh girl it’s all good.” Some will never be able to be a friend, on their part, and some will never be able to want to be my friend, but I take solace and knowledge in my part of hoping to heal and their healing as well.

On another bright note, I have made some major decisions and improvements to my life choices. First and foremost, I was looking at a picture of my kids and fell in love all over again with them. I want to do and be better for them. Be more consistent with their schedules, learning, and just being with them more. I love my kids and they are my biggest “whys” in this life. So my first decision is to stop saying I’m trying and actually really try. Really try. I always say I am trying but nothing comes from the fruits of my labor and then I have to sit back and think did I put any labor into it? No, I don’t. I love to work and I love to make my kids happy, but more than anything, I want to make their life and childhood amazing.

I sat at my desk today and really got sad but determined. Not only do I want more for them, but to be successful in my own right, so I can devote time to other places. I know now what needs to be done and I am so excited for that, actually excited. So for “Write It Up Wednesday” my writings are going to be my goals, my decisions, and my accomplishments I am making happen by the end of this month and the beginning of next month. 

I hope you use Write It Up Wednesday to write down your goals, dreams, deadlines, etc. Happy Wednesday!!!

Happy Monday Morning

A Monday Morning Moment

This weekend has been really amazing and really stressful at the same time. I have been trying to get over something for a while, but haven’t been able to…simply because I don’t know how to get rid of things and just move on. I’ve been learning to, really I have.

My Monday Morning Moment has been a bit of a breakthrough on being able to let go of this hurt and pain. Not only have I learned how to put things in its place, but I have also found the courage and strength to let this go. 

One huge way of letting things go, is forgiveness. Forgive those that have hurt you and those that do things against you. Forgive them and let it be known inside you that you have forgiven them. Don’t seek revenge or seek them out in anger, which will only end up hurting you only and not them. Another way of letting things go is to write out a letter with all the pain, hurt, fury, anger, and frustrations that you wish to tell those people, let it all out. Then delete it or toss it out and let the peace run over you. Another thing to help is to pray. IF you don’t pray or believe in God, that is fine. But if you even just like to pray, do that. Ask for a calmness of spirit and a way to really forgive the people that have hurt you or done you wrong.

These are the things I did. I prayed, ask for a calmness of spirit, and got that. The pain still lingered, and I was angry that they had lied on me and other things. I was actually happy for their success and their direction, just not for the way they did things. I wrote out my letter, prayed to God, asked for forgiveness and to help with forgiving them, and then prayed about again. Last night, Sunday night, I prayed again because I let that hurt dwell on me. I asked a good friend for help and she gave me Colossians 13: 3-4, about forgiving others freely and clothing ourselves with love. It was like an eye opening A-ha moment and I had one!!!

I have love for them, regardless of what happened. If something happened to them, I would help; I know that inside me is a good person who loves all, continuously. I put them in the right place, I let go of the pain and listened to that scripture and it has stuck in my head in all things last night and for all things happening today. 

I hope that if someone is doing you wrong, you can freely forgive them, move onward in your life and be successful in just being you, being happy, and knowing that all things will happen the way they are meant to happen.

Keep on swimming....keep on swimming

Yes, we must keep on swimming! I have been talking about dreams and moving forward with them. On Friday I made the announcement about working as a travel agent and starting my wedding/event planning business. I am so beyond excited about moving forward with my dreams, goals, and inspirational times.

I have been so wrapped up into letting others destroy my dreams, my goals, and even just daily things that it’s been hard to come up from that cloud of despair. However, I have two lovely reasons to get out of that funk. Jazzy and Zeke have been amazing kids and a life joy that I couldn't and wouldn't even replace. I figured with focus, drive, ambition, and my own will everything will fall into place…especially with hard work.

I want to teach my kids that no matter what someone else says, we can always overcome and continue to fight. I want that deeply engraved into their little hearts and souls. I want them to be able to be happy at all times and enjoy their fails and successes.

When we teach our kids something, they do learn it, but they see us being their example first. I am going to make sure from here on out, that I am a proud and amazing example to my kids. I have been working on my dreams, my goals, and other things that I want to accomplish, writing down the deadlines, emailing people and literally putting my mind, heart, and soul into it. The fruitage of my hard work will come to surface and I do hope that you are here to enjoy it with us.

Oooh and I finally have a schedule for my blog. Wednesdays from here on out will be ramblings, things that I love to chat about (besides my kids) and inspirational moments, etc. I have some other ideas and structural design for my blog! I do hope you enjoy it!

Check out our Facebook page

Thanks,

Erika S.

Continue your dream...

Everyone is always saying how you should never let someone steal your joy or your happiness; I have come to realize that you should never let someone steal your dreams. People come into your life and you share your dreams with them and then you get someone who is always willing to tell you all the negative or that you will never do it or that you won’t get as far as you think. Those are the people who are there to steal your joy, your happiness, and your dreams. Don’t let them do that. 

This is something I have learned to work on and I am trying to make sure I don’t let anyone steal my dreams. I did that all my life, and I would see my dreams come true for someone else, and I would simply I’ve up on my dreams and desires and go into a self pity mode. I don’t want to always be giving up on myself because someone else does and doesn’t want to believe in me.

I have to believe in myself first and then be able to accomplish and do anything that I can, not only for myself, but for my kids as well. I want them to grow up with a confidence of self worth that I had to learn on my own and still struggle with today. 

Continue to shine on even with others turn off their lights and don’t want to turn them on. Be happy with you and be happy with your own accomplishments, no matter how small. Continue to dream and keep on working on your dreams. 

Making something

My weekend was amazing. The kids make my day and my life. They make me so happy. Sometimes I think what life would be like without kids. I think of the adventures, the movies I can watch, the travels, etc and then I always see myself looking down at my side and I see my twins. Life would be different without kids, but I wouldn’t want it any other way. I really love being around them and really love seeing them.

I am hoping to take them to the circus this weekend on Sunday. I love watching their expressions when they see the excitement of anything fun and fantastic. I think this would be something amazing for them to see and I would love love love to go. Hopefully, everything comes through and works out so I can.

I joined a blogging class this week and Tuesday was the first night and I learned a lot. I have a manual to go through and I am learning more and more about blogging. The class is four weeks long, every Tuesday in June. It talked about helping out other bloggers, monetizing your blog, and other great tips. So, I do plan on learning a lot with this course.

Nothing more amazing happened than me waking up and realizing I wanted to really do my passion. I love working this business of blogging, but I love another business even more. Actually two businesses are opening up for me, and I will be announcing them on Friday! Super excited about that!

I hope to keep getting more followers and people who comment on my blog, I would love it if you left a comment!

What makes a day perfect?

...I don't know about you, but my kids seem to do the trick! I tend to carry a lot of stress in my shoulders and my back. I don't have too many girlfriends and I don't gossip or do anything of that nature, I tend to keep to myself. I am very social, love being around people, but lately I have been so focused on my stress, it has been hard to be "me". 

Today I took a moment and stepped back from everything going on and realized that I missed not having too much stress, that I missed being stress free. I had a few things going on these past few months that cause this stress, but I soon noticed that no matter what I do, the bills will still b there, the worry, the stress...its not going any where.

So, in stepping back today, I had an amazing day with the twins. Even stressed out, I could have an amazing day with them. They literally light up my life with their ways. I enjoy everything about them. My blog post today is just ramblings from yesterday. I enjoyed their laughter, their jumping up and down, my daughters tumbling (cant wait for her tumbling/dance classes to start), my sons innocent smile and the way his eyes light up when he does smile, and my sons stutter (its amazingly cute). I enjoyed just being a mom today! We went swimming...correction, my kids went swimming. I dislike our new pool in our apartment community. They tore out a perfectly good one (9feet, I might add), to replace it with a 5 foot, freezing cold pool. They say its heated but its solar panel heated, meaning if it only gets to 70...then the pool is only at 60. It is the dumbest thing and the whole community hates it, except the UCCS students who now are residents there since UCCS master leased two buildings...oh, I digress.

So, back to being a mom...today was splendid and super amazing. There isn't hardly ever anything to do in Colorado Springs, you always have to go up to Denver. However, I was reminded that the Territory Days are going on this weekend and I am taking the twins shortly. This is a huge vendor event, from all types of vendors, DIY, jewelry, candles, makeup, food (my fav) and musicians of all types, bands in different locations to wow each type of Coloradoan, and loads of just fun! I can't wait to show you all some amazing pictures!

Today taught me a lot though...I cant control what others do (even though I try...it is a Swift woman thing) and I cant control the stress (a little though I can and I know it), what I can control is how I handle it. Something new I learned on my lovely journey!

A little bit more of change

What changes in our life as the days go by? Each person has their own story. For me, it’s been a roller coaster. From getting a product review (got the products in on Monday), watching the plants grow like crazy (we’ve loved that), honing down on my business plan, getting very specific about what I really want to do, and starting to sew (I made pillows!!). These things are so wonderful, little, yet exciting for me and the twins.

                So I started reaching out for products to review and I got one! I am so excited about that. It is a hair growth product for black girls or women of color and I have been using it since Monday on both me and my daughter’s hair. I can see the shine in her hair and I notice the strength of mine. I will be posting pictures and reviews on Mondays and this way I can have a diary of my journey with this.

  The next thing is super amazing! My baby sister, Megan, graduated from cosmetology school this past week. She is officially all done with school and can style, cut, color, do nails, etc. and she is really good at it. Next her state exams and then working for a salon or doing something of her own. I am so proud of her. My niece, Dichelle, graduated from Kindergarten to 1^st grade this week as well. She is officially out of school and a 1^st grader, I really can’t believe how much time flies.

                Our plants have grown amazingly well and they are so vibrant and beautiful and I love how the twins are taking so much time and effort into growing these two things. Taking the time to enjoy the process, to water them every day, and then to make sure they are outside all day to get the fresh air and the sun that is needed. I posted pictures below of our progress and how happy they are. 

 

                My business plans and life plans have changed a bit over the course of these past few months. I wanted to try and make some pillowcase dresses for my girl, Jazzy, and my nieces. I wanted to sell them online and really get them going…however, I will keep this as my hobby. Something I am really good at is finding things, it’s my niche. From finding wedding items to something someone wants, so I am researching and looking into being a personal assistant/concierge. This will allow me to be creative and to be with my kids a lot, still work from home, and still get paid. It’s all in the works and in my thought process.

                These are the small, yet major, changes and I love it! I went through a really bad few months and trusted a friend who I shouldn’t have and things got rough. However, the lessons I have learned and the growth from these few months has been really amazing and I wouldn’t change it for anything. I hope you take the steps to enjoy the changes and embrace them all.