Tell Me Thursday
Jan 24, 2008 Tell Me Thursday
Welcome to Mom Unplugged. If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
I did not post a WW for this week but I would love to share a previously posted one. You can find it here.
Here is my Tell Me Thursday story.
The story behind this picture is that the deer live in a cemetery. The cemetery is in South Chicago and at one time a Forest Preserve was right across the street from it. The deer would wander into the cemetery from the Forest Preserve.
The folks of the cemetery decided to gate it off and some of the deer ended up becoming permanent residents of the cemetery. It is a small heard.
When you enter into the cemetery and drive near the deer they don’t even flinch. They are accustomed to the traffic on the streets immediately south and west of them so fear of roaring engines in not in their make up.
We were able to drive close to them and that is why we got such good picture. Well that and a good zoom lens doesn’t hurt.
It was a calming field trip for my clan. We sat and ate in the cemetery near the deer and my husband even got out to take a picture or two. We stayed for about an hour and then bid the beautiful and graceful creature adieu.
I can’t remember the name of the cemetery, but when I get it I will let you know. Just another Chicago visitors point of reference.
Tell Me Thursday
Jan 17, 2008 Tell Me Thursday
Tell Me Thursday is a great way to let your readers know about your Wordless Wednesday. Here’s my story for yesterday’s Wordless Wednesday :
Chicago is a great place to visit because it has some of the most awesome landmarks, parks, museums, and more. My favorites are Navy Pier, The Shedd Aquarium, Millineum Park, and Buckingham Fountain.
In the Winter time I love to visit the Griffith and Lincoln Conservatories. Why?
Because they are two of the warmest spots in the city. My WW picture was taken on Christmas day when we decided to go there for the day. As soon as you walk in you take off your coats because it is naturally warm.
No kidding!
The plants are are from all over the world and the temperatures in each room is anywhere from 60 to 100 degrees as a result of the level of humidity being emitted from the plants. There are palms, fruit trees, cactus, and more all growing in an environment conducive to the type of plants that are growing in each room.
Yesterday’s Wordless Wednesday photo was taken at the entrance of the fern room. The water fall is a stimulated one but beautiful all the same. It is about 90 to 100 degrees in the room and a wonderful reading spot in the cold winter months. There is also a pound filled with Japanese Koi fish that my youngest loves to look at.
I never knew so many different type of ferns existed until I visited the Griffith Conservatory for the first time in 2002. The education you receive while visiting is phenomenal and the weather inside is not half bad either.
So while it looked like I was in some sort of tropical paradise, I was still in Chicago. But you know, it is a paradise to me because it is my winter time escape.
Wordless Wednesday
Jan 16, 2008 Wordless Wednesday
Sunday Testimony: I Remember
Jan 13, 2008 Sunday Testimony
I love this song because I am forever reminded that God is the one who can turn it all around.
The Potter’s House (Tremaine Hawkins)
Verse 1:
In case you have fallen by the wayside of life;
dreams and visions shattered, You’re all broken inside.
You don’t have to stay in the shape that you’re in;
the potter wants to put you back together again,
oh, the potter wants to put you back together again.
Verse 2:
In case your situation has turned upside down,
and all that you’ve accomplished, is now on the ground.
You don’t have to stay in the shape that you’re in;
the potter wants to put you back together again,
oh, the potter wants to put you back together again.
Chorus:
You who are broken, stop by the potter’s house.
You who need mending, stop by the potter’s house;
give Him the fragments of your broken life,
my friend, the potter wants to put you back together again,
oh, the potter wants to put you back together again
Vamp:
Joy in the potter’s house.
Peace in the potter’s house.
Love in the potter’s house.
There is salvation in the potter’s house.
There is healing in the potter’s house.
There is deliverance in the potter’s house.
You’ll find everything you need in the potter’s house.
Ending:
The potter wants to put you back together again,
oh, the potter wants to put you back together again
What LaTara Means
Jan 13, 2008 Unplugged Authentcity
I found this on my friend Aurelia’s site. I love my name and think it is very unique so I thought finding out what others think would be interesting. In reading what was said about my name, I don’t quite agree with everything but some does fit me.
What LaTara Means |
 You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow. You are light hearted and accepting. You don’t get worked up easily. Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is. You are usually the best at everything … you strive for perfection.You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic “Type A” personality. You are a seeker. You often find yourself restless - and you have a lot of questions about life. You tend to travel often, to fairly random locations. You’re most comfortable when you’re far away from home. You are quite passionate and easily tempted. Your impulses sometimes get you into trouble. You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You’re always up to something. You have a ton of energy, and most people can’t handle you. You’re very intense. You definitely are a handful, and you’re likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun. |
Fab 4 List
Jan 10, 2008 Whatever
So I was tagged yet again. I love this because it helps me to create content for the blog. Hey and that keeps you coming back….RIGHT?
Ok so Alyssa over at Life From My Lifetop tagged me to share what I am calling my Fab 4 List. I have to list four of my favs in the following categories:
- 4 jobs I have had
- 4 Movies I could watch over and over again
- 4 places I have lived
- 4 favorite TV show
- 4 favorite foods
- 4 websites I visit everyday
- 4 places I would love to be
- 4 favorite colors
- 4 names I love but/could not use for my children
- and finally 4 people I am tagging
Ok so I bet you wanna know what my Fab 4s are, so let me share:
4 jobs I have had
- Day Care Owner
- Senior Member Services Rep for a Financial Institution
- Project Coordinator
- Customer Service Trainer
4 Movies I could watch over and over again
- Love and Basketball
- Cooley High
- Steel Magnolias
- The Five Heartbeats
4 places I have lived
- Los Angeles, CA
- Inglewood, CA
- Hawthorne, CA
- Chicago, IL
4 favorite TV shows
- Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
- ER
- Wife Swap
- Law and Order: SVU
4 favorite foods
- Homemade Mac and Cheese
- Dressing
- Corn Tortilla Soup
- Key Lime Pie
4 websites I visit everyday
4 places I would love to be
- The Bahamas
- Back in Los Angeles
- at the beach
- in my bathtub
4 favorite colors
- apple green
- butter yellow
- mocha
- maroon
4 names I love but would/could not use for my children
- Maxwell
- Tiara
- Chandra
- Joshua
4 people I am tagging
Authentic Insights From Mary J. Blige
Jan 10, 2008 Unplugged Authentcity
I am really excited to share this topic. I first spoke on it at the Synergized Woman week I coordinate yearly the first week in December. Well this past December I was approached by Dana Neal of ESSENCE of a Woman Events to be a guest speaker at the first annual Women In Need of a Breakthrough Conference. She wanted me to speak on the same topic.
I was not sure what God was going to do. When I speak I never am but I share my life with women and teens all the time. It is my ministry. It is my life.
So I hope you enjoy my speech on Authentic Insights from Mary J. Blige and The Word.
I Am Different: Not Weird
Jan 4, 2008 Whatever
So my friend Christina over at Surviving at Home tagged me to share 7 weird things about myself. Before I do that I need to share the rules first:
1. Link to the person?s blog who tagged you.
2. Post these rules on your blog.
3. List seven random and/or weird facts about yourself
4. Tag seven random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
5. Let each person know that they have been tagged by posting a comment on their blog
Now that we have the preliminaries out of the way, here are 7 weird things about me:
1. I sometimes find certain patterns make my skin crawl because they remind me of a bunch of bugs gathered together. Yuck! Just thinking about it is making me jump.
2. When I go to bed I want the covers to always stay neat. I wake up in the middle of the night to go the bathroom and will straighten the cover before getting back in the bed. I hate a messy bed. I want to sleep in comfort not in a tangled mess.
3. I don’t like my 4 year old to wear mismatched clothes in the house. It has to match in some way. He cannot wear a strip shirt with some printed sweats….No way. Even if we are only in the house.
4. I can watch I Love Lucy over and over again.
5. I think that Sean Connery is one sexy man. He could be a hundred years old and I would still love him.
6. I love the water and can’t swim a lick. Go figure!
7. I have a fixation with binder organization!
I could share more but I was asked to share only 7. I don’t have 7 folks to tag so for now I am going to tag:
More CBC with Tricia
Jan 4, 2008 Unplugged Authentcity
Ok I am really late with this one. Tricia over at Dragon Fly Dreams and I have been having a great time getting to know one another.
This week Tricia ask a question that I answer often and love education people about. Her question is:
Will you explain to me more about what a Vegan is and what it is all about?
Now she thought it was a silly question but it is not. It is silly when you don’t seek to understand something and make too many assumptions about something you really don’t know about.
So here is my answer:
A vegan is a person who refrains from all animal derived products. Now in my family and other vegan families honey is consumed because there is a huge misconception that bees are harmed during the harvesting process. Honey is very good for you and has many great health benefits so we eat it and use it for stuff like colds, face scrubs, etc. Plus bees are not animals they are insects…big difference.
I did not become a vegan because I am an animal activist. I became a vegan for dietary reasons.
For some being vegan is all about treating animals right. For me it is all about being as healthy as I can be. Can you be healthy and eat meat. I believe so; if it is the right kind of meat but even then you have to be careful how much meat you consume in a week because of how it digest in your body.
This year I am going to be adding more raw dishes to our family meals with the hopes of becoming even healthier.
I could go on forever but I won’t. I hope this helped you to understand a little more.
My question for you Tricia is:
What are your some of your goals for 2008?
All By Myself
Jan 2, 2008 Unplugged Authentcity
Here is another Unplugged Mom by my Guest Blogger, Darlene Hull. I would like to take the time to say thank you to Darlene for being my first Unplugged Mom Guest Blogger.
**********************************************
Part of my business consists in running workshops to help moms deal with mothering stress.
A feedback sheet from a recent workshop I led had this comment: ?It will be hard for me to get the help from other moms, as I find it hard not to be able to do it all?.
It never ceases to amaze me that today?s mom senses this need to be everything, all by herself. There is a feisty independent spirit reigning in each of us, and none of us moms is willing to show a weaker side, express the need for help, or look in any way inadequate to those around her.
I became a mother in a foreign country with few friends and no family support other than an amazing husband. Out of sheer desperation due to medical concerns, I needed to ask people for help. What I learned was that folks were delighted to be able to help me. It made both of us feel great.
None of us is good at everything. Every mom on the planet has areas of real weakness ? as well as real strength. And mothering was NEVER meant to be a ?go it alone? activity. God placed us in families, and placed those families in families. Today, however, many families consist of just a mom and her kids, and she?s trying to do it alone, often completely isolated from her own extended family.
I remember one time I was getting ready to have a bunch of young moms over for a Homeschooling meeting, and I was feeling frantic about getting the house all cleaned up. A wiser, older mom suggested that the kindest thing I could do for these moms was have them over when my house was a mess. It would help them feel more relaxed, and realize that we all struggle with keeping on top of things. That was very freeing advice I took to heart.
More recently a dear friend of mine, who?s going through some tough times in her family, was lamenting about her desire to finish painting her living room before Christmas, but knowing that it was not going to be possible. Now, I can?t paint my way out of a paper bag on the best of days, but I?m an amazing organizer/facilitator. I told her to leave it to me, and I got 4 great painting friends to come over and paint her house. It was all done in time for Christmas Eve, and everyone had such a great time. My friend was then able to really enjoy Christmas without the weight of unfinished work on her shoulders. What a gift that was to her!
It?s time to forget the whole independence thing, and bond together as moms sharing our weaknesses and strengths. I can add tons to your life, and you can add tons to mine, making both our lives richer and more satisfying for the sharing and caring that happens between us as we carry each others burdens. Shared struggles are halved struggles. Shared strengths are doubled strengths.
Shred the Supermom suit, and instead, opt for community mothering ? learning to share, support, receive, give, and grow. Your kids will love their new, more relaxed mom. I guarantee it!
About Darlene
Darlene Hull is an ordinary, imperfect, mom who came to her mothering role with NO natural skill or gifting. Having taught herself how to spend her whole day in her weaknesses instead of her strengths without going crazy, Darlene now helps other moms do the same.
Darlene is presently a happily married, homeschooling mom of two teenagers and can now manage her household with grace and humor. She is even able to keep up with the cleaning most days, though she tries not to overdo it!
Darlene is also a speaker, facilitator, coach, writer, and the creator of the Mom-Defrazzler.
To find out hoew you can be a Featured Unplugged Mom On the Net click here.
