#MusicMonday: B-b-beating hard times

This is my theme of the year! Little did I know that 2017 was going to be a year full of HUGE surprises. I’ve always been so focused on my career, even if it meant 60-70 hour weeks with a baby (and even working till 12am when I was in labor!). So when I found myself out of work I quickly had my horse blinders on trying to find another job in my field.

But, I wasn’t thinking outside of the box! I didn’t contemplate every option until God opened my eyes through an awesome little testimony you can read up on here. What is so great about this is God did bless us (just 2 days after we tithed, actually!) – and I am able to stay home with BabyCoolJ through at least the rest of 2017. Never knew I’d want to be a SAHM, but I am feeling very fortunate to do so – my toddler is so fun right now!

With my personality though, and career focused attitude, I can’t sit still long. Having a full calendar of playdates, mommy & me classes and Bible studies isn’t quite enough – so now that I have room to breath I am able to think outside of the box! And you bet I’m gonna b-b-beat these hard times!

Amerytina - Ruby Ribbon & Forever21+
Excuse the wrinkles – this was after lunch on a HOT day at the Alamo!

This weekend I hosted by first Ruby Ribbon trunk show. I’ve never been one to like this sorta thing, I always avoided parties and the such, and I remember being really jaded after going to a Mary Kay party in high school someone dragged me to. But I had an epiphany recently after chatting with a lot of network marketing friends – these products are better than what you find on the shelf. So while it may seem shady to some, you can’t deny how awesome something may be, especially after you try it for yourself.

My best-kept fashion (and confidence) secret has been Ruby Ribbon for more than a year. My mom introduced me to it, and while she never pushed me to get involved, I saw the potential and decided to join this weekend after hosting my first trunk show! I am actually really pumped about my new adventure and hoping to make it lucrative enough to stay home with BabyCoolJ into 2018 and beyond. (Join my private #DitchYourBra Facebook group here!)

Frolic Creative

And, because this girl is all about the (work) hustle, I also launched my own PR, marketing and social media consulting gig: Frolic Creative. I just can’t sit back and not to what I do best! I’ve added a few clients already and am having a blast donating my social media skills to Created Woman.

So, here’s to 2017 and to Run DMC…”Like the cream of the crop, like the crop of the cream B-b-beating hard times, that is my theme.”

 

40 gifts for his 40th!

40 gift ideas for his 40th Birthday

This post was updated in April 2018.

I discovered a few years ago what I always pretty much knew – gifts are my love language. The good thing is it is not just receiving (although I love that too!). I love to give – I find true joy in finding a thoughtful, perfect gift for those I love. So it was a super easy decision to give my husband 40 gifts for his big milestone of turning 40!

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Vacation mode starts now!

Blog (6)When I lost my job in March we quickly canceled our annual vacation, adjusted our spending and started living in survival mode. It was such a scary time until just this week.

I’ve taken on some consulting work, we’ve moved around a few things and we were blessed with some surprise funds. Now I finally feel like I can breathe again! And I am so excited about growing my business and spending at least the remainder of the year staying home with BabyCoolJ. Not to mention I can search for my dream job in the process! God is so good.

7290078While we would be packing right now for Mexico (oh, I’ll miss the white sand beach, unlimited drinks and food…not to mention hammocks!) we have found ourselves overly grateful for the gift of TIME. There is no measuring time with my 20-month-old!

But, now we get to plan for something else! Mi Amor’s birthday is the 25th, and while we won’t spend it with drinks at the beach, we may be enjoying drinks by the pool! We are taking a mini-getaway just down the road San Antonio so we can sleep in, relax and eat unapologetically. It will be an awesome few days!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI also planned something special for Mi Amor. Seeing that it’s his 40th, and my love language gifts, I made/bought/threw together 40 gifts! It was super challenging seeing that I had no money to spend, but with our blessing this week I’ve been able to pull a few last minute items together. I’ll share those 40 items in a blog post next week to help inspire others!

Have a beautiful weekend, everyone! I know I will – I’m kicking it off tonight with a girl’s night!

#MusicMonday: Yo, I’ll solve it

I love this lyric for a few reasons. While I know both men and women are problem solvers, I see this as a quote ending with “mom.”

Seriously, ladies, we can solve anything! As a girl growing up, I always felt invincible. I could do anything I wanted, solve any problem that came my way. I was strong and determined. Then, I became a mom.

Problem-solving has never looked so unglamorous, yet impressive. Like, last Monday, I stopped at Sprouts with BabyCoolJ and kept him in his stroller with a reusable bag strapped to the handlebar. There I go, filling it up while bribing my kiddo with snacks to keep his cool. Well, they had a few sales so I ended up filling up the bag, placing items under his seat, carrying 3 large pizzas and a box of something. After checking out, I carried four full bags (including the heavy reusable one) while pushing his stroller. Loaded him up, loaded the food, put the stroller away, then caught my breath.

Funny thing is it wasn’t THAT challenging, but just the same week I had a memory on Facebook that went like this: “Nothing like running through the rain in heels with bags filled with 15 bunches of bananas….and a Starbucks coffee.” And I remember how accomplished I felt! Nothing compares to my challenges in life now…just ask a mom of a 1-month-old! But no matter the season of life, girls can do anything.

Regardless if you’re a mom, married or single, I encourage you to remember that you can solve anything. YES, you can. So just do it. Get it, girl.

Celebrating moms

20170513_160256-01Yesterday, Mi Amor and I took BabyCoolJ to Little Land to have some fun and let out some much-needed energy. It was really empty, except for a large Latino family, and two other (white) dads with their kids. Mi Amor and I began chatting about culture, and where we grow up, and how they play such an influence on our lives. I’ve seen moms post that they are doing spa days, getaways and girls nights. Such a different world to what we grew up knowing. Moms, at least 3 generations, would gather together over large meals and celebrate with their full families. If we were back in our hometown, we would have 4 generations celebrating on my side, and 3 generations on my husband’s. It is a beautiful thing!

But, because I refuse to travel with a 20 month old, we will celebrate in our little family of 3. We will celebrate together, through the tantrums, fighting the naps and each and every “mama” and hug. (although, I could totally go for a spa day, too!)

My son is my world! I can’t believe how many memories and how much LOVE #babycoolj has filled me with, all in under 2 years! I cherish every moment, and I am grateful to God for the blessing it is to be this kiddo’s mama. And what a blessings moms are. Thank YOU for all you do. The sleepless nights, the selfless acts, sharing your food, your bed and all your space. Giving up your time, your body and your night outs. I never quite understood it, or appreciated my mom as much, as I do now that I am a mother. YOU all are amazing. 20170514_123615-01.jpeg

And, on the note of amazing, I have to add what an amazing God we have! Today our pastor preached about faith. It tied in so perfectly with what God told Mi Amor and me to do this week. Seriously, perfect timing. In fact, he shared the story of Isaac in Genesis, and how Abraham’s servant was told to go find him a wife. How perfect was it that he trusted in God when he met Rebekah (see verse 12), and that God provided such a clear message for him. He did that for us too, and he was showing us once again that we were to walk in faith. We closed it up with moms praying for our children, faithful prayers of who they will become and who they are created to be. Everyone else prayed for the mothers in the room. Perfect start to my Mother’s Day!

Be blessed everyone!

Walking out in faith: How radical obedience changed my life

Walking out in faith: How radical obedience changed my life

Heads up: This post was updated April, 2018. Some of the links on this page are affiliate links which means and you can read more about that here.

Y’all, something huge just happened last night!

So, let me preface this by saying I am currently reading What Happens When Women Say Yes to God by Lysa Terkeurst. I have faith and trust in Him, however I struggle with discerning on His vs. my thoughts/desires/ideas. Lots of crazy stuff enters my mind and I don’t know where it is coming from!

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#MusicMonday: dance it out

I slacked off a little today with finding the lyrics that spoke to my soul. Nothing like being exhausted from a super active toddler to keep me from getting stuff done! But then, in the midst of a tantrum, I remembered…turn on some music and dance!

I love reggae. The music just speaks to my soul. I spent a year in New Zealand right after college and learned about Katchafire there. I hadn’t really been exposed to much reggae at that point, but I loved Bob Marley and was a fan of popular reggae. In NZ, I didn’t have an opportunity to see Katchafire live, but I did get in a Black Seeds show.

I love these lyrics because they resonate so well with me. Ever feel like the world is crumbling around you, only to hear an awesome song that totally gets your heart pumping? Next time that happens, DANCE! Dancing brings joy to my heart, and even if you don’t care for it I bet it would totally brighten your mood. Why more offices don’t do this I will never understand – talk about a productivity and mood booster!

Curious what song we danced to? My kiddo is addicted to Itsy Bitsy Spider, and because mama loves reggae, we groove to the sounds ofBasho & Friend’s version. This is my favorite kid’s CD…win-win cause we’re both happy!

Review: Water Wipes

I love being a part of Influenster. It allows me to try real products in exchange for my honest review, all for free!

This time around, Influenster sent me a pack of Water Wipes. I really dig how great these wipes work! Here’s the lowdown:

BabyCoolJ loves to make a huge mess, he’s a 1.5-year-old toddler after all! These wipes arrived just in time as we had run out of what we usually use for meals and general icky cleanups. We currently use separate wipes for bottoms, as we purchase monthly Honest Bundles for diaper changes.

We quickly used the Water Wipes during mealtime to clean our kiddos sticky fingers and messy cheeks. Worked like a charm. I love how thick the wipes are, as they don’t easily rip apart and are soft to the touch.

The following day, we spent a few hours outside playing with sidewalk chalk. The water wipes quickly wiped away any chalk remnants, and it even helped with a basic removal of chalk from his clothes. Our current hand/face wipes tear easily and we have to use multiple for what Water Wipes could fix with 1 wipe.

According to the Water Wipes website, these wipes are:

• Chemical free

• Suitable from birth

• May help avoid the causes of diaper rash

• Awarded the National Eczema Association Seal of Acceptance

• Hypoallergenic

Overall, these are a great option and we will probably be making the switch.

Full disclosure: these were never used on any bottoms. My review is solely about fingers and faces!

#MusicMonday: take flight

I’ve always been a fan of #motivationalmonday – so much so that every time I manage a social media account I still create and share these graphics. It may be played out, but I love it. We can never get enough positivity in our lives, especially considering we’re inundated with such negative content, news and images.

I’ve created my own theme for my Monday posts – song lyrics. Music holds such a special place in my heart. I met my husband because of music (he used to be a hip-hop MC!). I was saved through music worship. Music brings back memories…can make my cry, brighten my day and even stops me in my tracks to dance. Even my toddler loves a good dance party! So I thought what better way for me to share my emotions – and a positive vibe – than through some lyrics.

I love the lyrics from Blackbird so much. So simple, but has a big impact. We can all relate to a time when we felt broken and defeated. If only it was simple enough in those moments to just learn to fly again. But I share this today because it can be that easy. I am a believer, so I know that through Christ I can learn to fly again when I feel broken.

2 Kings 20:5 says: “…Tell him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your ancestor David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will heal you…” (NLT). In the Gospel, there are more than 30 documented healings by Jesus. But the ultimate healing is Jesus rising from the dead and ascending to heaven. Y’all, we are saved by grace and healed through Jesus!

Whatever it is you believe in, I hope you find that inner strength to mend your broken wings. And, if prayer is what you want, feel free to leave it in the comments and I’ll happily pray for you.

Lisa in the sky with dandelions

Hi there! Welcome to my little space on the interwebs (I love that word). I am in a new season of life, in a life that is constantly changing, so I decided to start writing about a few of my favorite things: faith, being a wife and mama, music and some sprinkled in reviews.

I’ll start off with music, and the rest will totally fall into place. See, I’ve always loved music. Not in the kind of way my husband does, though. I can’t tell you the name of half the songs I listen to or know a lot of band/singers names. However, I can tell you how I feel when I hear a song. I naturally move along to most music, and music brings joy to my heart. I can even remember what was going on in my life with certain songs. (hello, international music and working at a club in the “Valley” in 2000!)

In 2008, after spending a year in New Zealand, I found myself back in the Valley trying to figure out life. I got a great job so I stuck around. They actually have a pretty great, lively music scene in the Valley, so I found myself out often catching a good show. That fall, I met my future husband. He was a hip-hop artist, and I became a quick fan of his music…not to be confused with a fan of HIM! We stayed acquaintances and eventually became friends before dating in 2010.

I share this because he represents music to me. Not only because of how we met but because it was our mutual love of music that brought us to the faith together. In 2011, we decided to visit a church. This mega-church had the best worship music, and we quickly fell in love with the idea of being regular attendees. In fact, we never missed a day other than when we went out of town.

In the fall of 2014, Mi Amor (aka husband) and I were married. It was the BEST DAY EVER, at least up until that point in our lives. We never knew what God had in store right around the corner! We purchased and built a home in December, and in January, we found out we were pregnant. For the sake of this blog, you’ll know our son as BabyCoolJ. Our lives have never been the same.

The one thing, outside of God, that has gotten us through it all, music. We have dance parties in our living room, BabyCoolJ begs for pandora instead of TV and musical instruments are spread throughout our house.

So, I’ve dedicated every Monday to another song lyric. I hope you’ll join me on the journey as I continue figuring out how to be a great wife and mama, all while groovin’ along.