Kim K broke the internet, again. She was nearly naked, but that wasn't what got the people talking. Kim Kardashian-West dressed as 2001 Aaliyah this weekend. People were outraged. No one said anything about her as Cher or Madonna, but this... It's COMPLETELY taboo for a white woman to dress like up as black woman, right? Are You That Somebody? "She just shouldn't do it" "She's not black" These seem like surface excuses without any real merit. Can we get just a little bit more dialogue please? If a legit offense has occurred can someone shed some light? Why the attacks? Is it becasue she's Kim? Is it because she's a Kardashian? She dressed up like another human being....... is this some type of Human Rights violation? If it is, A LOT of people have to answer for dressing up like......... Michael Joseph Jackson The king of pop truly is One In A Million. & yet no one said anything about Kourtney dressing as Michael. Actually, nobody ever says anything about people dressing up like Michael Jackson, Black or White. Did yall come for Beyonce when she dressed like Mike? Not because of her race, but because of her gender? "She shouldn't dress up like him because she is a woman!" "Women shouldn't dress up like men. Men shouldn't dress up like women." How ridiculous does that sound? Just about as ridiculous as the comments made towards Kim. Race & Gender are two entirely different topics..... absolutely. Ignorance however, does not discriminate. So why are we here? Ah. Here we go. Cultural Appropriation. Another one of those divisive topics. How serious of an issue is it? I could write a 4 Page Letter on the subject, but not today. What I do know is this, as a country, as a world, it seems like we go Back & Forth. We prevent our own progress by constantly throwing rocks at eachother. Maybe we should put down the sticks & stones & build something together, as opposed to tearing ourselves down. & If you just so happen to be one of those people throwing rocks @ Kim K, because she decided to pay tribute to Aaliyah, you should dust yourself off & Try Again.
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Event planning is intense. Hours of planning and dollars of items later, the event comes and goes swifter than eagles. We're left with memories. Memories that last a lifetime. Memories that make the stress of planning all worth it.
Here are our memories from this past weekend's 2nd Annual PG Palooza: Now, we are no experts in this field. In fact, I love the transparency we (PS Squared) share with one another about our meated financial decisions. It was easy to blame our lack of extra money on wedding planning, now that’s over—reality hit. “My” money is no longer “mine.” “My decisions” affect “us.” My $25 a week coffee addiction despite having free coffee at work, results in a $100 loss that, we as a couple, could be saving for our future. The "M" in Marriage doesn't stand for "my". Money is a sensitive subject. "My" money that I worked for? That I earned? That I clocked in & out for whilst finessing the bull? Yea "my" money is definitely mine. Share deez if you wanna share something. Hey, if that's how strongly you feel, I am not here to convince or persuade you otherwise. However, if you take a peek as we pull back the curtain, you might begin to see things differently. 1. Just because he's the man, he doesn't HAVE to take care of all the bills. It's 2017, forget the old-fashioned gender roles. I mean if you are not in support of your significant other making more money than you, go sit in a corner. I truly, sincerely believe if you want your spouse to make less than you, you're an idiot. Do you know how broke we would be if Maristela made less than me? If I make $75,000 and she stays at home. There is $75,000 in the home. If we both make $37,500, there is $75,000 in the home. If I make $25,000 and she makes $50,000, there is $75,000 in the home. 2. Allocate every dime you have. This is the key. Combine your overall income and break down your expenses. (This is Dave Ramsey's zero-based budget.) Start with your reoccurring bills, then your irregular bills and finally your other costs (groceries, clothes, health expenses, etc.). The rest will go to savings and your allowance. Make sure you equal to zero. This underlines your budgeting priorities. 3. God-willing, save. Let's be honest here, saving in our 20's is almost impossible. We have student loans, credit cards we got when we were in college, and car payments and house mortgages. HOWEVER, saving is important. Easier said than done, save before you give yourself an allowance. Prince and I save by teaming up with our family. We have a cash kitty. It's the next best thing since sliced bread. Monthly we pay Prince's sister $300 per kitty and 22 people participate. So, for 22 months, we pay $300 to eventually get our name pulled to get $6,600. It is amazing, because we have someone who holds us responsible for a savings "bill" basically. While 22 people is a LOT. Team up with 10 people you trust. Decide on January 1, the bucket will be $2,000 and every month have someone collect $200 from each person and draw a name for the next ten months. Thank me later! 4. Agree on an allowance: Who cares who makes more money? Remember the whole "my" is "we"; if you agree that you all can afford to spend $300 on discretionary items a month, each of you get $150 to do whatever with. Ladies, that means nails, hair, makeup, coffee, etc. Men, you can buy all the scratch-offs in the world, five haircuts, etc. But, when you've run out, you've run out. You also cannot criticize what the other uses their money on. This is an agreement on the first of every month. This eliminates disputes and allows for understanding and compromise. Do note, if you have a birthday party to attend to and you plan to spend $40 on Jamie's gift, $20 comes out of each of your allowance. The point is to be on level playing fields, no matter who brings in the most money. You are one! P.S. Be honest, be open and be loving. Prioritize necessity and split the rest evenly. That's fair and just.
Apparently my little alien baby is no longer alien looking, and now looks like his father. You're welcome. You're welcome that I carried him for 39 weeks, exhausted, big, and in pain. You're welcome for the sleepless nighttime feedings and diaper changes... and all for what? So he can look justtttt like his father. But he's a cute version of his father right? It's been 2 months since he's joined our family and we could not be happier. I mean, I don't want to jinx myself, but other than breastfeeding not being a success, this baby has been THE easiest baby ever. He still sleeps well at night only requiring me to get up twice per night (so awesome). He does, however, go through a lot of wet diapers. My recommendation for anyone about to become a parent, have a diaper raffle! You can do it as part of your baby shower. Basically, everyone that brings s pack of diapers gets entered into a raffle. Tip: request sizes 2 and up as babies outgrow newborns and size 1 pretty quick usually. Gryffin has been in size 2 for a couple weeks now and he is just now 2 months old. For the raffle, we did a gift card, I mean everyone likes to win money right? This is a very convenient way for people to help since a pack of diapers is under 10 bucks. This also is a huge help to the parents. Hopefully we won't have to spend a dime on diapers for a few more months. Gryff is also becoming a real person now, smiling at me and cooing... gosh those baby noises are the cutest. Honestly, most days I don't even feel like a have a newborn because he isn't high maintenance at all. Toddler update
Gabriel Giovanni... yep still the same. Still destroying my kitchen everyday and eating like a little monster. He's talking so much more now though! I'm sure only we can understand what he is trying to say most of the time, but it's so cool to watch your child become more vocal and to be able to communicate better. He's also going through this phase of playing with his brother where he tries to hit Jayden with any item in sight. My poor Jayden has been cracked in the head with hangers and light sabers a few times. It's not funny at all actually, and I blame his father because him and Jayden watch wrestling at night ( joking, I'm sure it's just a stage and we are handling it). What is funny, however, is the fact that he knows the theme songs for some of the wrestlers such as John Cena and Shinsuke Nakamora (don't ask me how I know these names) and breaks out singing them throughout the day. He also breaks out singing the Moana song and the rap song "whoooop theeeere it is" ( you know exactly what I'm talking about don't you? And probably sang it in your head)... I mean , he's a pretty diverse child if you ask me. And Jayden... Jayden is just Jayden. Just excelling at life, scoring in the 97th percentile and doing math problems that take me a while to solve in his head. He loves math and often asks for extra work at home, which makes me so proud. Who knows, maybe we will have an engineer in the family one day, in which case I'll be a stay-at-home grandma and watch his babies everyday. Well that is all for today as I have to go feed these children and keep the "mommy-ing" going... see you at the next update! We live in a world where more means better. More shoes, more clothes, more toys, more cars, more house = better. Right? This is ingrained in us by this materialistic society. Have you heard of the saying "The more you have, the more you want". So at what point do you have enough? At what point do you find happiness? In 20 years will you be happy that you have a closet full of clothes or will you even remember the 331 different toys you bought your kids? I'd rather remember an awesome trip to Disney world or a road trip from one coast to the other. So what's my point with all of this? Focusing less on "stuff" gives you more time for experiences. When it comes to parenting, we focus so much on our kids having the latest toys and electronics. For Christmas, parents go out and buy every single toy out there and literally drown the Christmas tree with gifts. Then, we post these pictures of the overwhelmed tree on Facebook. What are we trying to prove? The kids will play with the toys for the next 5 days and then forget about them in a cluttered playroom or bedroom. When Jayden was younger, this was us with a cluttered bedroom full of toys all over the floor. But the past few years I've purged of toys that don't get played with and focus on very few gifts for Christmas. And now we are down to just a few bins of toys sorted by categories, cars, action figures, dinosaurs, and books. Not only does this help me to not feel less anxious, but it also helps the kids keep their areas a little more neat and organized. This can also force us to be better parents. How? Because you have to spend more time with your kids. I hope that one day Jayden remembers the hours we spent playing with Pokémon cards... yea I'm a pro now (which by the way can help with math skills and reading skills for a young child). Or that he remembers our record of "how many times can we catch the football back and forth before we drop it" (currently at 54 passes back and forth). And I hope he remembers the victories that are to come from playing the memory game with his father who won't let him win. That time spent with us is what I hope he remembers. So I'm gonna keep focusing on more time and experiences, as hard as it can be. We all come home tired from work and most of us find it easier to come home and lounge it up while telling our kids to go to their room and play. But this era of them wanting to play with us and spend time with us doesn't last long. So I'm gonna try to take advantage of it while it's still here. maybe they'll be smarter for it, but if not, at least I hope they love me for it, and that they are happier because of it. Around 10:08 p.m. on October 1 in Las Vegas, a country music festival turned dark. A gunman opened fire injuring hundreds of people and killing over 50. The rest of the world woke up to tweets, texts, Facebook posts, snaps, IG posts saying “Prayers for Vegas” as the preliminary details were flooding in. Originally the death toll was at 20+, it has risen. With positive posts, come negative posts. Posts of uncertainty. Posts questioning God. One response I typically think of: “When God is working hard, so is Satan.” Pat gave me a different perspective. God was there at the Route 91 Harvest festival. He was there. He is everywhere. While 50+ have died. God’s grace saved the death toll from being any higher. Oh, God’s grace. “The largest mass shooting in U.S. history.” The devil did that, but what God did was so much greater. He placed people in the right places to carry bodies to safety. He moved people to help others get behind barriers, life-saving barriers. He sent first responders into the danger zone. (Thank you first responders! You are truly Heaven-sent.) He gave people the ability to perform life-saving surgeries. He's the reason some stopped to help those who'd been hit instead of running to save themselves. He is the reason. A life without God, we don't want to know it. Today, we hurt. We hurt for the victims. We hurt for the families. We hurt for the first responders. We hurt for the city of Las Vegas. Today, we also pray. We pray for the victims, their families, the first responders, the reporters on the ground who have to witness it all first hand, the city of Vegas, and for humanity. For those who question God at times like this, becuase without him, Satan would have accomplished so much more. If there's any bit of hope after a tragic shooting like the one in Vegas, it's Him. We'll look to the light on the darkest day.
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AuthorsJust four married friends here to discuss relationships, life-changing events, parent-hood, religion, race & trending topics. Archives
January 2018
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