My 2010 iTunes Rotation: The Albums

Because my opinion is indeed law, I've compiled the best list you could ever find to close out this year in music. I present to you, my top 10 albums. If you don't have 'em, cop 'em. If you don't like 'em, your taste is just not as spectacular.

Rather than writing a review, I figure I have enough memories for each album to let you know why I love these in this order.

10-- MIA's MAYA :: I love MIA. She's a revolution baby, and you can hear it in her sound and words. I used to run like hell on a treadmill to this CD. Most of you probably missed the release of MAYA this summer when you were too busy trying to cop Teflon Don the same week. It's cool, just know you missed more pistol music.

9-- Sade's Soldier of Love :: My mom loved the title song, I loved watching Julia dance to "Baby Father" with her fathers on her wedding day. Timeless music, still not better than Lover's Rock. When I was in Liberia I tried desperately to make a copy for my dad, a huge Sade fan. Weak ass internet, I wonder if he ever got one.

she's soo badddd

8--Rihanna's Loud :: I'm still loving this CD. The video for "What's My Name" inspired my pointy nails and desire to pick up and go to another continent. I wanna dance around in freedom. Don't ask how it's done all this for me, but Loud gave me a feeling. It's fun and feminine.

7-- Usher's Raymond v. Raymond:: The dance songs were all "my jam," and "Mars v. Venus" is number 3 on my itunes top played list. I remember just wanting a man to epitomize "Daddy's Home" for me... there are just too many reasons this CD is so super tight. Thank you for coming back URsher. "Yeah man..."

6-- B.o.B.'s The Adventures of Bobby Ray :: I fell in love with this CD after the free concert at Center Stage. And I fell in love with him maybe around the same time. His music is just so uptempo, and relatable, and I think that's what rap music is missing right now. "5th Dimension" was my favorite.

5-- The Dream's Love King:: I remember being tooooo nervous to interview The Dream at the Rose event over the summer. It happened so quickly. Bing, boom, more champagne for me please. But I've loved all three Dream albums and have the hardest time choosing a favorite. Too bad about Christina Milian, she was indeed a bad one.

er, she's so baddddddd!!!

4-- Kanye's Long Ass Title About a Fantasy:: That man Kanye is indeed a producer. The instrumentals were bananas. Then the masterpiece that was Selita Ebanks and her fall to earth. I mean there's too much to say about this album. What song didn't I love?


3-- Rick Ross's Teflon Don:: Ungh. I do indeed think this CD was better than Kanye's, simply because I have a crush on Rozay. When I saw him on the red carpet at Soul Train, I just wanted to rub his belly. I kept holding his hands like "pick me, pick me!" Anyway, production = crazy. Lots of quotable lyrics. Rick Ross is just such a boss, and yall know I love a boss man!!



2-- Erykah Badu's New Amerykah Part II (Return of the Ankh) :: The way I used to sing "Call Tyrone" when I was in third grade is the same way I sing "Get Munny" nowadays. I love her and everything about this CD. It's easy and strong. And that body was motivational in the video which might be why she dates the cream of the crop of rappers. Yes Erykah, do the damn thing.


1-- Big Boi's Sir Luscious Left Foot Son of Chico Dusty :: Hands down my number 1! The first photoshoot I ever had with Rolling Out was Big Boi, Cee Lo, and Big Gipp. Talk about a great way to experience some new amazing Atlanta music from an old favorite. The CD is so "Atlanta fast forward" to me. Like you could drop "85" with the Youngbloodz in the middle of the album and just ride out, but then there's so much new talent on there. The Jamie Foxx track made me want to do private dances in stilettos, so if you don't listen to any others, find that one! Big Boi crushed every other album this year. Period.

My boo Nicki Minaj didn't even make an honorable mention. That CD was so wack I don't know where to begin. I'm waiting for record labels to do better by their artists. Pink Friday was tragic and unfortunate.

I've got a whole mixtape list to share with you, but open your Christmas gifts. In the meantime, 'tis the season to be jammin to dope shit on my list.

World AIDS Day 2010

Sex is best when it's harmless.

The Tumblr Train

I've hopped on!

If you need me every second of the day, this is a quicker way to get me. It's totally me, just friskier.

Pink Pout Friday

Love her or hate her, SHE'S WORKING! Here's Nicki's shade, Pink 4 Friday.


Nicki Minaj's first album, Pink Friday, came out earlier this week, and the Nicki inspired MAC lipstick can be purchased to go with it for four Friday's, starting today.

I'm not sure yet if I'm going to buy it. It was sold out today, and although I love all things pink, it looks a little chalky. Since the pro store discount isn't applicable for this special edition, I would have to pay full price to have Nicki smack. Shoutout to sis Jules for hooking me up with MAC at the pro rate, I'm now super spoiled. Ladies, please hook me up with reviews if you've got some!

Hmmm... Lil' Kim used to be a MAC spokeswoman. Let's reflect on the days when she was too busy being the Queen Bee we loved to be releasing diss tracks.

Circa 2006.

A Limited Edition Lipstick personally designed by Nicki Minaj to celebrate the release of her debut album Pink Friday. Featuring a bright, creamy pink satin formula, Nicki's shade is only available online for four Fridays starting November 26, 2010, while supplies last. Pro discount not applicable.




Well, "Put ya number 2's in the air if ya did it on 'em."

Someone cop the lipstick and lemme know what the deal is!

Things I'm Loving Right Now: Muxo Bags

Camila Alves is one bad chick... and she designed the bag she's sporting in the picture. Besides being the Brazilian baby mama to Matthew McConaughey, the model keeps busy with Muxo, the handbag company she shares with her mom. The bag prices range from $200 to $2000, so it's not cheap to sport her imported leather, but you would surely make a statement!

My Cream Puff

I seh! Look at this fine fine man! And I was his favorite. Of course I knew him when he was gray and balding, but look at him. Something like a legend. That's my "cream puff."

God blessed us and our blessings are too plentiful to count. I knew him and loved him much. And he loved me too.

I didn't know all of my grandparents, only my mother's folks. And I often wonder which traits I got from whom. There's so much to be said about the Bernard's and Urey's, but this grandfather of mine ... I mean just look at him and see the pride on his brows!

I hope I have his strength and humility. My grandfather was a well respected businessman and supported his family the way a man should. These days it seems men don't understand their role as the patriarch of the family. Women do it all. And I do not ever intend to slight the strength of my nana, because those who know me know that I love my nana more than air (and that's not an understatement), but when I reflect on my grandfather, I think about the type of man I would want to be with forever as well as the type of woman I should become. His principles apply for all people. I live to make my cream puff proud of who I am.

Thanks for doting on me when I was born as I'm sure only you could do, and for loving the red velvet cake I made with baking powder instead of baking soda, and for taking me to my first dance when I was little, and for sending me to see Europe, and for my first gold jewelry, and for wearing the hell out of the GT apparel when I got admitted, and for sending me letters on the world's last typewriter, and for driver's education because American schools don't mandate it, and for being so overprotective because you didn't want ANYTHING to harm us ('the Liberian ocean water is treacherous!'), and for making me feel like a Liberian princess all the days we were together, but especially the summer I went home right after the fighting finished. Thanks for being my cream puff and all the other things you could be in between.



Cheers to the men who make their granddaughters feel like they deserve the world, and try their best to give it to them. I'm one of the lucky ones.

Things I'm Loving Right Now: Friday Night Lights by J Cole

I'm a mixtape girl. I don't like the music the labels choose to release. As soon as I listened to "Too Deep for the Intro" I was hooked on J Cole's art. Download it as soon as you can.

At my office we had a heated debate about which breakout rapper was better: J Cole or Wiz Khalifa. We were three against one in favor of Wiz. To me, J Cole is the better lyricist. Hands down, I want to listen to J Cole's words moreso than the weed man's Jay-Z. But as a total product, I'm more interested in Wiz. He has a signature sound, and seems more relatable as a talent. J Cole is signed to Roc Nation, which seems to be a golden ticket to a lasting career. I'm still straddling the fence on this situation.

Although J Cole is sexier, because I've never been into skinny guys, he seems to dislike weave wearing girls with acrylic nails. When I get an interview with him, I intend to get to the bottom of that. Compare the lyrical content for yourself.



J Cole -- Who Dat (not on mixtape)



vs. Wiz Khalifa -- Black and Yellow

Things I'm Loving Right Now: Ebony Magazine's Cover Fun

You know how much I love old Black Hollywood. Imagine how excited I was to see the new covers Ebony did to commemorate their 65 year anniversary! These are my favs.

Taraji Henson as Diahann Carroll

Nia Long as MY INSPIRATION Dorothy Dandridge


Jurnee Smollett as Lena Horne

John Legend as Duke Ellington

Regina King as Eartha Kitt

Usher as Sammy Davis Jr

I love magazines because they freeze time. On Ebony's website you can read digital copies of all their past issues. Cover interviews include anything from a post-Tyson Robin Givens to a pre-presidential Nelson Mandela. We've come a long way as people, and Ebony's beautiful documentation makes me proud.

Comfort is a Big Word

Why does every woman on the Oprah show say she got more comfortable with herself when she hit 40? The middle-aged women of the world love to make it seem like the 20s are a time of uncertainty and the 40s are truly the golden years. As you get older, you fall into your true self and then you quit wanting to save the world and just aim to save your sanity.

Well, I know a little of who I am, and I hope I'm always going to be a wild child.Part of wanting to be a public figure is being comfortable sharing my wild childness with you and hoping that you like her. Maybe Queen O and her guests are right. I guess I have to turn 40 in order to know what being 40's like, but me and my botox will take that next 40 like I'm doing this first 40... for every ounce that it's worth and in amazing shoes.

I feel blessed for every opportunity I'm given and every person in my life. Comfortable? Nah. I can't be comfortable until I'm where I want to be (of which I still don't know the location). When I am 40 however, I hope I'm not comfortable then either. I guess here's where we draw the line distinguishing 'comfortable with oneself' from 'comfortable with one's life.' I always thought they went together.

Whoopi Goldberg told Oprah she took the job at The View because no one was hiring her for movies. This seems crazy when you consider that she was at one point the highest paid actress in Hollywood. At age 52, when jobs aren't coming in, it's a no-brainer. You put comfort to the side and replace it with hunger. You reinvent yourself. You use your talents and seek opportunity. Most important, you run from the word 'comfortable.' Maybe Whoopi knows who she is at this point, but I bet she didn't know this would be what she would be doing. Not a bad gig at all, and I bet you comfort wouldn't have gotten her there.

Comfort scares me. I believe in evolution.

Love and Luck in Work

File this away in my passion corner. I think they call this venting.

I always take an extra 30 mins to get out of bed. I just need my sleep. As I wake, I'm planning my nap and meals for the day. Rarely do I ask myself 'what are you going to do to make this day count?'

Sure, I work damn hard to ensure that Plan A comes to fruition. I put in my hours at Rolling Out, and then put in my midnight hours at a second job to make the bills disappear. There is no Plan B. My dreams have to take off so I can live the fabulous life like Kimora Lee, and have the cultural influence of Oprah Winfrey, and have the quotable phrases like Coco Chanel, the totable babies like Angelina Jolie, and the arm candy boyfriends like Kim Kardashian.

But I'm only seeing the bread. I've got to learn to really mill the wheat in the fields before I can live the life of peace and prosperity meant for Archel Bernard.

You really don't get the life I want to live by falling in love with men. You fall in love with the vision and chase that bitch til it chases you.

I've learned the chase is overlooked. The effort that goes into the chase is sometimes mundane, and we've got to toil over those mountains. But the thing about the mountains is they don't disappear; the way I climb them shifts.

I was out on the purple carpet for the Soul Train Awards doing interviews, and I was out there in the cold in a little red dress. Chrisette Michelle comes up to me and rubs my arm to note my goosebumps. Yep, I was freezing out there. I talked to 40 or so celebrities and wannabe celebrities about superficial red carpet things in order to get my assignment done. Every now and again, however, my mind would wander to what life will be like when publicists beg me to book their artists on my show in my warm set. It's challenging to want. My dreams feel like teasers. I want to be there already, wherever there is.

Here's an image of me after the awards (clearly a cell phone pic). I tried to crop the boobs out, as my mom reads my blog periodically and hates to always be bombarded with titty, but I could only do so much. Shout out to Ulta for a $45, hour and a half wash and curl.

And then I realize this is all a warm up. That God doesn't place me anywhere to suffer. Only to thrive. I'm up next at bat, and up to bat again and again until His will is found and the universe is pleased.

I recently went to New York to visit my little brother as he tries to conquer the music world. Sidenote: the Bernard last name means 'dynasty' in many languages. As he showed me his apartment in Brooklyn's Crown Heights, I could feel the hunger for more than a fire escape that only seats one, as much as I could feel the pleasure with his grind. These days we're experiencing right now are good days. We're making great steps every hour. The steps are small, and most go unnoticed, but they stand as building blocks to help us acquire the payoff that's meant for us at the end when the fire escape becomes a patio overlooking the Mediterranean.

I don't envy anyone's happiness. I don't know what it took for them to reach their state. I know that I'm climbing away for mine. What AM I doing to make each day count? How can I be more quotable, or more fabulous? How can I draw this plush lifestyle? Such complex questions with such easy answers. I love this work. I love that I'm setting myself up to hit a homerun. I love that all the mountains are unclaimed gifts waiting for me and only me. When you work hard, you'll find out that you're really lucky. I'll simply be the luckiest talent I can be.

Are you happy now, baby? I am.
And the best is yet to come.

A little Miley for your day... PUSH PLAY! Every word captures the mood I'm in.

The Cleopatra Effect

"Only one image of Cleopatra survives—a barely visible profile on a coin— but we have numerous written descriptions. She had a long thin face and a somewhat pointed nose; her dominant features were her wonderfully large eyes. Her seductive power, however, did not lie in her looks—indeed many among the women of Alexandria were considered more beautiful than she. What she did have above all other women was the ability to distract a man. In reality, Cleopatra was physically unexceptional and had no political power, yet both Caesar and Antony, brave and clever men, saw none of this. What they saw was a woman who constantly transformed herself be- fore their eyes, a one-woman spectacle. Her dress and makeup changed from day to day, but always gave her a heightened, goddess-like appearance."
-The Art of Seduction by Robert Greene

I've got a thing for the women who draw men toward them like flies to light, because it never seems to be because they are so intensely beautiful. Women fail to realize that charm and mystery are more hypnotizing than a pretty face. While men are indeed visual beings, their desire for the chase overwhelms their desire for arm candy. Pretty women are plentiful, but a woman who owns her charm is indeed a rare commodity.

I picture Cleopatra as this bangin' bodied red bone woman (only because I'm red-boned). Full lips, blunt cut bangs one day, sick weave the next, Indian hair only. I literally picture a young Iman from "Remember the Time." I see her king trying to rule an empire but working hard to try and entertain her so she doesn't leave his side. Without Cleopatra, all the land of the world would have no meaning, all because she was just that chick. She's got this mentality that floats from Greece to Australia, while her man's just trying to keep up with Rome. Cleopatra doesn't need a companion, but because she is that extraordinary she maintains a loyal following of men in awe of her actions. Could a blank-minded, attractive woman ruin empires? Probably not. Why allow society to create boundaries for you, when freedom and personal evolution can grant you such power?

Law 25 -- Re-create Yourself:: Do not accept the roles that society foists on you. Re-create yourself by forging a new identity, one that commands attention and never bores the audience. Be the master of your own image rather than letting others define if for you. Incorporate dramatic devices into your public gestures and actions – your power will be enhanced and your character will seem larger than life.

Guesswork is the winning formula in everything. The Cowboys are using the same game plays, and the competition can defeat them because of their predictability. We cannot be standout women if people can anticipate our next steps. If you show people your spades, they will find a way to trump you.

Apply the Cleopatra effect in your life. You may surprise yourself.

Wet Wednesday

It's raining. I'd rather drip with gold.

If I make a million, I'll live in a studio, just so I can spend 750 on things that sparkle in the light.

Crucial Knockoffs!!

Yall remember these:


I've talked about these $3000 Swarovski Crystal encrusted Gianmarco Lorenzi pumps for about a year now. My spine tingles each time I see them. Now you can cop a hot knockoff. Thank me later.

One of my favorite blogs, 2bitchezdeep, put me on these $275 replicas with the same structure.They dropped the crystals and added the glitter, making these bad boys a bit more affordable for the Georgia Tech student who has experienced the new tuition increase. #badbitches go cop em please!

Angela, let me hold Fever's "Tiff" pump in black please!!

Monogamous Equations

"I don't think it's the nature of any man to be monogamous. Men are propelled by genetically ordained impulses over which they have no control to distribute their seed."
--Marlon Brando

See. This is why I cannot date. Men just want to have a lot of sex with no commitment, and I'm only game for half of that equation.

I'd rather make the same person eggs every morning for the rest of forever, than have to learn a new technique every week. I don't see the appeal anymore.

No. 33 Rule of a Gentleman

By now you know I love lists. I think this tidbit is great for all people, not just gentlemen.


I wonder what type of girlfriend I will be next time around. Women like me think they know it all, and love to pipe up when they can offer a little expertise. But time and place are key in relationships of all kinds, and correction is a certain pride killer when not approached with care. This is something I'm working on as I get older.

We should never be so proud of what we know that others are too closed off to learn it as well.

Food for thought.

What Blood Diamonds?

I love Naomi Campbell. I love her Russian boyfriend. And sue me, I love her in fur, pumping gas with no shirt on for Dennis Basso's collection of $30000- $60000 coats.


Random things I could do half naked in a fur coat:

• Deliver on a paper route by bike
• Deliver food. Something greasy like a pizza or Chinese
  
• Housework, Desperate Housewives style
• Move out of my apartment
• Cook spinach
• Go to my science lab and examine rocks
• Choose fruit at a farmer's market
• Paint a room
• Remove wallpaper
  
• Have sex
• Roll weed
• Play baseball
  

Many of these things I wouldn't even do regularly, but a fur coat and nothing else?!? Gotta break some rules there!

“I never diet. I smoke. I drink now and then. I never work out. I work very hard, and I am worth every cent.”
--Queen Nai

Naomi is always a reminder: Whatever you do, be the baddest one doing it.

STUPIDfly :: Jimmy Choo for Ugg

I used to think of Uggs as the "lazy girl shoe." They're $200 snow boots and I never saw anyone dressed up in them. The plain ones look exactly like they sound. Ugg. Yeah I don't want to wear those.

Fine Print: Only white girls used to wear them in high school and I never understood why they were so race specific!

But then I put them on and realized it's like carrying supersoft carpet under you all day. So now I'm rethinking the Ugg strategy. And with a Jimmy Choo design to spice things up, I'm ready to cop some.

Tell me whatchu think:


I'm all about the comfy chic, but for $600 - $800, how much is comfy chic worth to you?

STUPIDdope :: Kehinde Wiley

Thanks to my wonderful job at Rolling Out, I get to see a lot of really cool stuff around Atlanta. My most recent assignment at the High Museum was amazing because it put me on a hip hop painter that I'm sure to commission a painting from in about 15 years.

Kehinde Wiley is an American-born Nigerian artist whose work I am really loving right now. As a lover of fine arts, and a High Museum season ticket holder, "the Lebron James of the art world" was a truly exciting assignment to stumble on. You can catch a few of my favorites below. For more information, check out my article here.




I wonder if he paints women, however. I wouldn't mind being the first.
Until then, I can always appreciate a strong portrait of a black man.

You can be the king, but watch the queen conquer.

STUPIDfly :: Bury me in Bullets

I've always wanted another way to use bullets. Maybe the war baby inside of me longs to finally mix the pain with the pleasure, because I can't get enough of the bullet jewelry I've found making headlines this year. Let me put you on game.

Akawelle :: Aka --also known as; Wel'le --love

The Akawelle Necklace was designed by a Liberian teenager named Lovetta Conto for Strongheart Fellowship. You can read about her here as told to CNN's Inside Africa. All I know is I want one for graduation. Both pieces are made of one bullet shell. The same bullets that took my country to the ground can be my worn symbol of strength.

And it's pretty cute.
Throw it on a different chain and keep it forever. Conto's also made other high fashion pieces. This is my favorite.


Then there's the BulletGirl jewelry line whose pieces are absolute showstoppers.


Conto melts the bullets into metal and shapes them into different pieces, whereas BulletGirl will have you rockin' ammunition on your wrist.

BulletGirl jewelry can range anywhere from $100 to $3000, but it's a very edgy alternative to your standard Tiffany and Co. I'd get married to a princess cut set in a bullet shell if they make the band thinner, but that's just me.

#stupidfly

Passionately yours.

If I'm fake I ain't notice cuz my money aint!

Pursue Your Passion

Seems like I've been getting a lot of direction with this recently. Two artifacts have stuck in my mind most of all.

Pursue Your Passion:



Joel Osteen's Facebook Page:

“I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives”(John 12:24, NLT)

TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria

It’s good to be passionate about your dreams, but did you know a dream can actually become an idol? If it’s all you think about, and you’re not going to be happy unless it happens your way, that’s out of balance. The fact is, sometimes you have to release that dream back to the Father.

Sometimes we can get frustrated because we are trying to force things to happen on our timetable. Sometimes we hold on to things so tightly, but when we finally are willing to let them go, that’s when God can bring them to pass. If you’ll choose to release that frustration and not let it become the center of your attention, but instead, use that same time and energy to thank God that He’s directing your steps, you open the door for God to give you the desires of your heart.

We have to remember, God already knows what we want and what we need. He’s the One who put those desires in us. We shouldn’t be consumed by trying to make things happen. Instead, a greater act of faith is to be happy right where you are; to stay open and trust God because He has good plans in store for your future!

A PRAYER FOR TODAY

Father God, today I release my dreams, my desires, my “wants” like a seed falling to the ground. I know that You have a good plan for my future, and I trust You to bring it to pass in my life. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

— Joel & Victoria Osteen

Just thought I'd share with you. I haven't been in the writing mood recently, but I'm brimming with feelings and surely will be soon.

Passionately,
Me.

Exit Stage College

I was going through some faded pictures and I think the easiest way someone can gauge my changes is from the ways I've celebrated Halloween through college. As I'm graduating, and also looking for a new costume to wear this year, I thought I'd give my own little yearbook of pics. Enjoy throwback me, and encourage wholesome costumes for your daughters because they can't compete with this.
Really there's a point to all this, keep reading.

Freshman year: I was a schoolgirl. I didn't even know girls did Halloween in college until I saw them prancing about in their costumes on campus. They had these sexy costumes, meanwhile I wore stuff I put together from my closet. That Halloween was the first night I had alcohol that wasn't my mom's champagne toast for New Year's. I went to this frat where a boy I went to high school with was a pledge. Brian Tyson had to carry me out of the house because I had two jello shots and felt "weird."

Times have changed.

Sophomore year: I was an AASU snob and went to this super hot house party we had. No costume, I was social chair of the organization and was just feeling like I could come any kind of way. It was, after all, my party (lazy).

Junior year: I still thought girls made their sexy costumes, so I made an apron that said "Chef BoyarDO-ME" and wore this shaper under it. Brian drove me to this predominantly Spanish party which was kind of dull.

Brian was always a one man UN. Here I am with Soulja Girl, a boxer, and Tom Cruise from Risky Business.


My First Senior Year: I had been having car troubles all day but there was no way I was missing this Halloween. I had this amazing fake ID and had been clubbing hard all summer and fall. I had to get a Brazilian wax for this sailor costume because it was so little. We hit Velvet Room and it wasn't long before we were in someone's booth drinking Goose and Rose. I spent the night with this guy I had been talking to at that time, and I realized in his bathroom that I can't mix Goose and Rose ever, ever again.

The ATLPics show how into the club life I was. Wild.




My Second Senior Year: Don't judge me for the two and a half senior years, I was still finding myself. By this point however, the career college student thing was getting old and I had calmed down. I made my costume because I didn't want anyone else to have what I wore. I was decked out in pretty much all spandex, rhinestones on my face, and had a handy dandy whip. I called myself "your fantasy." My girls were kind of annoyed with the continual stings of my costume whip. How you think Toby felt? Of course, the only way to get me out the door at this point is with promises of VIP. We were at Life with a good friend, and that was all the partying I needed for the rest of the year.



My Last Semester: I don't know what to be! But you can visualize my transformation in college from being young, to searching for the party, to finding the party, to now leaving the party.

That's pretty much the way my time has evolved at Georgia Tech. I've learned from relationships with men, from friendships, from organizations, and faculty. I've changed my major and I've opened my mind to going after the career path I truly desire. I've opened my mouth to stand up for myself, to be who I want, and definitely to get what I want. In many ways I've shed my costumes and become confident enough to exit this stage of life, even if just to give everyone else hell as I attempt to run this media thing.

Really, how can you measure change? My hair has gotten a little longer, bank account a little bigger, focus a little more precise, shoe collection a little more stacked.

My grandparents have gotten a little sicker, my family a lot bigger, my friendships a lot closer, my weight a little up, but I've always been this bright-eyed girl looking for my piece of sweet potato pie in the sky. Am I closer to it or still a dreamer? Is anyone watching? Listening? Understanding?

If this is the end of my journalistic freshman year (as I'm coming close to the one year anniversary of sjbthewords.com) I wonder where I will be five years from now? Do you see how green I was as a freshman? The large growth I've experienced in five years gives me so much hope and excitement for what's to come. As I exit stage college, I know the Lord will let 'stage career' be just as much a blessing as the past years have been. You know I'm scared, but the beauty of faith is that I'm allowed to live in delight as He holds my problems in His capable hands.

I share those thoughts with you in hopes that you keep me in your prayers.

It's my time to be Pinky and the Brain and take over the world.

Ready for me??

And as far as this Halloween goes, ideas anyone?