Tis the Season to...Bake! Yum!

It's nearing Christmas and I'm in the mood to bake yummy desserts.  Yesterday, it was Cinnamon Sugar Butter Cookies (as the Mrs. Field's recipe calls them, but others mistake them for Snickerdoodles).  Today it's Apple Pie.  This weekend, I think I'll make Mexican Wedding Cookies for a potluck I'm going to as well as another apple pie (my coworkers killed the one I brought today).  :-)

For some reason, I've always loved baking.  It's something that I'm looking forward to doing w/ my kids.  I want to be the mom that ALWAYS has baked goods for the kids to come home to, for them to share w/ their friends who come to visit.  I want to be the mom that sits down w/ Little Dionna w/ milk, a cupcake and fruit (gotta encourage good habits) at the end of a school day and listens to her share everything that happened that day.  I want to be the mom that's at all of Little (enter Husband's name here)'s soccer/basketball/lacrosse games cheering on the sidelines and ready to provide a congratulatory or consoling hug afterwards.  I want to be a very hands on parent that doesn't pretend to have all of the answers, but is willing to experience new things with my kids, be their #1 fan, but still put the fear of God in them so that they don't act a fool.  :-)

Does anyone else ever think about the type of parent they'll be?  Or is it just me? 

Tis the Season to...Reflect

As the end of the year draws near, I'm beginning to reflect more and more on the things that happened, the things that stood out, my high points and the low points of 2011.

2009 started off good, but ended up being a disaster.

I spent 2010 working through the damage caused by Hurricane 2009.

It's wonderful to report that 2011 was the turnaround year.

I'm thankful for the new friendships I've formed this year with some pretty fantastic people.  After much prayer, I've gained clarity and truth with regards to lies I was believing about things that have happened in the past.  Furthermore, I've grown in leadership skills in ministry and at work.


2011 brought new visions, new relationships, new family members and new babies to spoil.  I've gained favor at work and I have a new perspective on my gifts and how God wants to use them.

The high points of 2011 involve a menagerie of events and experiences:

• Laser tag w/ 6 grown women who I have the privilege of doing ministry with
• Being at the hospital when my niece was born
• Singing He Loves Us at Jamfast (one of the few singing opportunities I had this year)
• Turning 27!!!! (You know I had to throw my favorite day of the year on there) :-)

The lowest point I can remember is being hurt by a friend, who thought he was being funny, saying some pretty unkind things to me.

Now, as I look forward to 2012, I can already tell it will be a year of celebration.  I'll be attending 4 (maybe 5) weddings (2 of which, I'm in).  Brooklyn will turn a year old in March.  And I have a feeling there will be several more exciting transitions happening in 2012 regarding work, friendships and music.  Stay tuned!

3 more weeks left of 2011.  Don't let them go without taking some time to think about all that you learned this year.

Gracias!!!!

Thanksgiving was yesterday and I'm enjoying my time w/ my family, good food and relaxation.

This year has been a whirlwind of a year w/ each month bringing some new surprise or development.  But, with all of the craziness that 2011 brought, I'm still grateful for a lot of things: (in no particular order)

My niece - She's the cutest, sweetest little thing and I'm going to enjoy being the aunt (slash god mommy) that spoils her and then sends her home to her parents.  When she gets older, I'm looking forward to baking w/ her, shopping w/ her and singing songs w/ her in the car.  Until then, I'll settle for lots of hugs and kisses and rounds of Itsy Bitsy Spider.

My family - The never cease to love and support each other.  It's an awesome example of unconditional love.

A job - In this economy, having a steady paycheck is definitely something to thank God for everyday.

A sense of purpose - I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have a clue about what I was put on this earth to do.  And even though I don't know all of The Plan, I'm grateful for what God has revealed to me so far.  It helps to guide my decisions and definitely keeps life interesting.

AWESOMAZING friends -  It's true that as we get older, we have fewer and fewer close friends.  The ones that I have are great!  I'm thankful for people are willing to listen, give advice, offer truth, laugh, eat and encourage.

Those are just a few things I'm grateful for this year.  And if the last few months are any indication of what's coming, then 2012 is going to be very exciting and there'll be plenty more to be thankful for. 

Tis the season...To Watch TV

Recently, I realized how much TV I actually watch right now.  The number of shows is pretty shameful.  So I won't go there.  But, I hope it suffices to say that it's too much and I should be doing other things with my time.

HOWEVER, because I've put in the time, I do feel fairly qualified to recommend some of the new shows that I'm watching.  So here goes:

Up All Night - I love Christina Applegate.  She and Mya Rudolph together are a treat.  It's really funny.  Wednesday nights on NBC.

New Girl - Not your average comedy and I think you'll need to be a certain type of person to like this one.  But I can't get enough.  Zooey Deschanel is this very quirky (okay, weird) girl living w/ 3 men, who love her and can't stand her all at the same time.  Most of the humor is in how they all interact w/ each other.  Give it a try.  Tuesday nights on FOX.

Last Man Standing - Tim Allen is back, y'all.  Now he's raising 3 years.  He's totally a man's man, working in a pretty male chauvanistic company.  But he's surrounded by women at home.  I don't think the show has found it's sweet spot completely yet.  But it's definitely getting there.  Tuesdays on ABC.

That's all for now.  If I give you any more, you might start to think that I'm a sad soul who has a flat screen square box as a bff.

Tis the Season

Hello November!

The hard part about committing to blog again is that I actually have to update the blog regularly.  LOL!  Okay.  Here we go.

It's the beginning of November and anyone who knows me well knows what I'm getting excited about...Christmas!  I LOVE the holiday.  I also love the season.  The weather gets chilly (off and on in LA), sweaters come out, holiday music begins to play, mugs of hot apple cider get passed around and trees and houses are decorated with sparkly, twinkly lights.  And people are friendlier too!  Imagine if people actually realized the true meaning for Christmas (i.e. Jesus).  It would be downright magical!

To be completely honest, in addition to being excited about celebrating Jesus' birth, I actually think the holiday season is romantic.  Imagine you are with the one you love (or are interested in).  You're having a great time (as usual).  But there's something about the atmosphere that charges the air more than normal.  As the 2 of you laugh and talk, you are both illuminated by the light that hundreds of colorful, tiny Christmas lights are giving off.  There's holiday music playing in the background - "This is Christmas" (by Plus One)..."Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire"..."The First Noel"..."Oh, Holy Night" (my personal favorite).  And, the icing on the cake????  A fire roaring in a fireplace nearby.  You can't tell me that's not romantic.  If you don't agree, you're dead inside.  LOL!

I LOVE the holidays!!!!!! :-)

Oh, Be Careful Little Mouth What You Say

"Oh, be careful little mouth what you say..."

I learned a lot of songs in church when I was younger.  Man, that one still rings true.  Be careful little eyes what you see.  Be careful little ears what you hear.  Be careful little mouth what you say.  I should have remembered that earlier this week when I whined that this would be the week from hell.

I came into this week knowing that I'd have 2 events at work that I was in charge of on Friday.  I knew that I was co-leading GIRL Talk on Friday night.  And I knew that I was leading our church's Harvest Festival tomorrow.  There was a lot of planning and running around left for the festival and just thinking about it all had me feeling overwhelmed.

"This is going to be the week from hell!" I groaned.

Wanna know what happened next?

I got sick.  On Tuesday I started coughing and I've been at it ever since.  This ain't no cold.  It feels like I felt when I had bronchitis in December.  Boo!

Who knows if I would have gotten sick if I hadn't said that.  What matters is how I respond.  No more whining and complaining for me.  God is still on the throne.  I'm still His child.  He's still taking care of me.  Nothing has changed in my life this weekend.  I still have to get up early tomorrow and work all day.  But I'll have a good attitude.  :-)

Getting Back on Track

Ever wonder why smart people do stupid things?

Yesterday I realized that I had made the same mistake that I made 3 years ago.  I got excited about a situation that wasn't what I thought it was.  I had gotten ahead of myself, ahead of the situation.

I don't get very outwardly excited about much.  It's one of the things about me that annoys my friends.  I don't show anger or engage in heated arguments.  I don't get giddy and jump up and down when I'm excited.  People hate that about me.  I'm not a fan of it either.  Over the last year or so, I've been working on that and showing more enthusiasm when other people share things with me.  I never want my friends to feel like I can't celebrate with them.  But for my stuff?  Ha!  I know better than that.

I learned a long time ago not to be too happy about the possibility of something happening.  More often than not, it doesn't work out and you're disappointed.  Who knows how I learned that.  But I did.  Somehow that logic spread to things that actually do happen in my life.  Something inside me says, "Don't get excited about that, Dionna.  It's not going to last."  My last long-term relationship, my album, the list goes on.  I learned how to not engage emotionally w/ even some of the good things that go on in my life (got really good at it, actually).

So, how did I mess around and get excited about something that hasn't even happened to me yet?  Must have let my guard down a little.  I don't want to become one of those cynical people who are skeptical about everything.  But I will be careful from now on.  It's important to watch and observe for awhile before engaging emotionally.  It's a very simple rule.  I'm not saying anybody else should live like this.  But it's how I plan on guarding my heart for the time being.

Hi !!!!

It's been over a year since my last post. As I read it I thought: "Wow! That was me?" Since then, I've changed a lot in small ways that are hard to point out, but are adding up.

These days, I'm surrounded by the world of Facebook, Twitter and other people's blogs. Doing all of this sharing has inspired me to write again. Uh oh! Look out world! You never know what I'm going to say these days. :-)

Update:

HOME: I'm living by myself now in a 1 bedroom apartment. I SOOOO enjoy the freedom of living on my own. I control the tv, the bills, the food, the mess. But this place is different from my last place. My apartment is on the 2nd floor and the door opens to the elements. So I can step out my front door and be outside overlooking the outdoor courtyard of the building. Because of this, I now have to be more concerned about critters and hot or cold air. Since the "hallway" is outdoor, it's not carpeted, which means you hear everything that goes by. I feel a lot less insulated and a lot more exposed in this place.

But I still enjoy living alone. I've always had roommates, so I wanted to try it out and I enjoy it. It does get lonely sometimes. But my life is busy enough that I can usually avoid that.

MUSIC: Music is still a HUGE part of my life and I'm still singing. But I haven't released my album yet. I feel really stupid about the project taking this long. But it definitely has been a learning process. You can actually purchase 3 of my songs on iTunes - Thirsty, Lord Come In and This is Who I Am. Enjoy!

I'm no longer singing regularly on my church's praise team, though. God moved me to focus on ministry to women and children. So these days I'm exploring what He wants me to do there. I miss singing regularly, though. It broke my heart to leave the team. But I still get to sing at Midweek from time to time

MUSIC I'M CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:
- Mandisa
- Sara Bareilles