Pretty in Pearls

Birthdays...Thanksgiving...Christmas These are always really hard times of the year and YES, sometimes I get jealous. I know you're wondering "well what in the heck do you get jealous about." Well, it's simple...when I hear someone say, "I called my mom today" or "I'm going shopping with my mom" that makes me a little jealous. Simple everyday things you get to do with your mother makes me miss my mother even more.   But, just because I get jealous for a split second doesn't mean I am not happy for my family and friends. It simply means you have something I long for. It means I miss my mom and it makes me sad when I am reminded that I will never have those moments with her again. Sometimes I think...man, life's really not fair. I am finally at the age where my mother is supposed to be my best friend, my go-to for anything, my sounding board, my shopping partner, constant contact, the glue to our family. But, instead it's just

Hey readers!!  Today's post is about another epiphany I had on yesterday. I love these moments because they are so much more memorable and it's the closure I get from all the moments I've said "I know I'm supposed to learn something from this storm."  Yesterday I had a learning experience.  Many of you know, if you've been following my blog, the last few months have been well...a roller coaster ride. So, here is one moment I never elaborated on. I guess I wasn't ready until now.  My 29th birthday was in August and my husband surprised me with a trip to Vegas. He knew I'd had a rough go at things and I really NEEDED that break. Our flight and hotel were paid in full and we were going to spend 4 nights and 5 days in Las Vegas. Boy was I excited! The night before our flight was scheduled to leave we stayed up all night packing, laughing and enjoying each other's company because the next day was my birthday and our flight left on MY BIR

I've had a blog on my heart and I have been going back and forth about how to word it. I don't ever want my blog to be one sided or for someone to feel like my blog is not for them. I understand everyone won't relate to every single post but I don't want to re-direct a reader from my blog either. So, I have decided to just go with it. This blog is about SUPPORT. Specifically, women supporting other women. Supporting each other and not making quick judgements and assumptions about someone you barely know. Over the years I have noticed that women find it really hard to support other women. When I see a female in a supervisor role, particularly for me, an African American female, instead of judging, turning my nose the other way, or jumping on the bandwagon with others that don't believe she is capable, I applaud her. I congratulate her. I let her success motivate me to do better. I SUPPORT HER. It's the crabs in a bucket mentality that I cannot understand. There

Welcome back readers! I'm just going to jump right in to this one. I can deal with many things as a woman, as a sister, as a daughter, and as a wife. I recently had an encounter where someone said something and their words were only meant for evil. At that moment I had to trust what God told me to do. Filled with anger I wanted to respond SO bad...with every fiber of my being I wanted to use my words to cause just as much pain that had been spewed our way. BUT, sometimes silence is golden. (This is one of those meaningless relationships I spoke of in my last blog but it is also one I can't avoid completely. It's complicated).  Instead of responding I was the "bigger person" and said very little. I realize eventually being the bigger person gets old and I am almost at my breaking point with taking the high road with this person. I know this because it took me a while to accept that I did the "right" thing in this instance. I now know when you'

Happy Sunday Readers, I am trying to get back into the groove of writing at least once a week but...the way my life set up! Hahaha...just kidding, but lately it has been quite difficult to get one blog a month in let alone one a week. To make up for my lack of posting today I have a very interesting topic about growth, friendship, and knowing when it's okay to walk away. So it is no secret, since I have mentioned it in my blog, that this year has been no picnic. But, earlier this month I was talking to my husband and he said, "you know, when everyone needs you they call you and you listen and help them through, but when you need them they are no where to be found...I guess it's because you don't really reach out." I was thinking maybe he is right, maybe I just don't reach out and say, "giiiirl I need to talk." BUT, I was also thinking that in some form I have mentioned in my blogs that this year has been a little rough...if my friends are actuall

Hey Ya'll!!! To start things off, I have had another hard couple of weeks. I just can't seem to catch a break this year...but as always I am still moving forward and trying not to look back. This year is not over and I still have some pretty awesome moments to look forward to. On a brighter note I turned 1 year older. :) I know everyone is waiting on an update with my weight and I am now FINALLY excited to share some results with you. I have struggled with seeing any results though everyone around me has been saying THEY see them. Lol...Remember, we are our own worse enemy sometimes.  This is no easy journey but it does get easier over time and I am so happy to have stuck with it.  There have been many days where I've had complete melt downs over what I can eat on-the-go and after searching for 30 minutes online for what I can eat at a restaurant I get there they tell me they have never heard of it (I still don't get that, Panera). Another example would be JUST YE

Hey Ya'll!! SO, I will begin by saying that my motivation to blog over the last few weeks has been really low. I have truly experienced every emotion possible...happiness, excitement, love, sadness, anger, confusion, and so on. When you experience a loss it can weigh heavily on you. I experienced 2 in one week. Many know about my MawMaw passing away but very few know about the loss I experienced at work. I have learned so much in the last 2 weeks and the main thing is NOTHING goes as planned when you're going through the storm, but, when you're faced with the unthinkable you rise to the occasion.     You are no different from me. We all go through tough times but in any situation you seek out your strength and pray for understanding. I knew that I was chosen to go through this experience and I know this was not just a learning moment for me but a teachable moment as well. I can't move forward without letting my readers know how strong they are; Trust that you are po

Happy Saturday Readers!!! Today I want to talk about SELF love. If you know me now you would NEVER know I struggled with self love growing up! Today I am told I am a diva, I am confident, and some may even say boojie. Lol...I promise if you get to know me you will see so much more; judging me by just looking at me is really your loss. I am going to be verrrry honest with you  about the old Lashonda....and I am going to be verrry honest with you later about the new Lashonda. As a young girl I was tiny, with big boobs (way bigger than anyone else my age), exotropia (when 1 or both eyes turn outward), and darker skin than everyone else. At that age I had no idea how beautiful I was and didn't even know where to start in learning how to love myself. I never let it show but my confidence and my self-esteem was pretty low; I compared myself to EVERYONE ELSE! Mistake #1! I can say I never struggled to have or make friends...popularity was never an issue for me. I had and still have

So, this means I am off to a good start…twice in one week. Haha! So, the last blog post was a cliffhanger, right? LOL It gave you just enough for me to decide what’s next. After writing that post I thought, “where do I go from here?” But I figured it out…so here goes!   All of my 28 years, 10 months and 25 days I have felt and probably been bigger than the average person or what society says is “normal”. My weight fluctuates often I have been a size 5 and I have been a size 16. At this point in my life I am the biggest I have ever been. If you have seen me lately then you know I am a little “THICKUMS” LOL. Over the last year I have told myself “start getting in shape, workout more, eat less, eat better, yadda yadda yadda.” I have started diets and stopped them no sooner than 1 week into it. I have said it ALL but the motivation wasn’t there. Losing weight didn’t become my reality until maybe a month ago when my NP looked at me and said “You need to lose 5

Hey readers! First I want to apologize! I haven't typed a blog in a while and I really have no excuse. I have been working, I have been living, I have been lazy, and I have had some major life changing events.  One of my best friends sent me a text message today and said "Hey what happened to your blogs? I really enjoyed those." It hit me that I was really on to something here....not only do people enjoy reading my blogs but they also get something from it. I realized that I get something from them as well. I get to share my stories and my knowledge with people that really care; if you didn't care you wouldn't read, right?  As I logged on today I noticed that my page has only 10 blogs but well over 1,000 views...that's pretty awesome to me because I didn't think anyone would read. LOL I have so much I want to share including a little piece of my REALITY!  Only a handful of people know about the journey I have started in my life and what trig

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!! It's a new year and this year is not just mine or yours...this year can be each and everyone of our year! I pray you had a great intro to 2015 and you plan to do something amazing throughout. I honestly feel that waiting until the new year to begin a "new you" is a cop out...every day you are alive is an opportunity to change your life! :) So if you missed it on January 1 as of today you still have 361 days left!  This week I saw something very amazing! I was sitting at work and a coworker and friend came into my office and handed me 2 pieces of paper. She said, "hey have you read this? Read it" and handed me the material. So, of course I took it, sat down at my desk and began to read it. It was a blog from someone who had been married for 36 years and it was she and her husband's Anniversary. She titled her post "36 things I know after 36 years of Marriage." For me this was absolutely amazing! It taught me something.