night owl.

i felt inspired to post. nothing much to say but i just felt like writing. i thrive at night. i say its because its hereditary. my dad's side stays up until thee wee hours of the morning. i have been cursed/blessed with it. at night is where i do my most thinking, writing via blog or journal, design work [especially in college], talking to God, etc. i can do all these things because i am not bothered by anything or anyone. idk how i'm gonna survive when i work full-time. well i'll probally be too tired to stay after working 8-9 hours a day. but since i have no set schedule as of now, my body is doing its own thing. i think...im done rambling. i'm going finish up my last email and head to bed.

oh i checked my stats this week and i found out i have a couple readers in japan. keep hope alive my japanese readers, i am praying for you guys!

♥ A.Erika ♥

Tweet.Give.Meet.

That's what I did 3 days ago for the Atlanta Twestival. Twestival is the largest single day social media philanthropy effort put by various international cities to help local charies. Social media meets community service. Gotta love it!

I decided to join the planning committee seeing as though I love social media. I thought would be a great opportunity to meet with people who share my love of social media, want to give back to the community, and get advice about breaking into the social media industry.

It was a success! I made some great contacts, learned about an important cause I am interested in volunteering for [Nicholas House], and gained some sound advice. I am so glad to have participated in a such great event and I hope next year, its bigger and better.

Oh yea by the way, I have interview for a social media position I applied to about 3 weeks ago. Ironic how I help out with a social media event and the very next day, I get a request for an interview. God has his own way of putting you just the place he wants you. Claiming that I kill this interview because this agency has done AWESOME work and I would LOVE to be apart of the awesome-ness.


♥ A.Erika ♥

march madness/gladness

March Madness! March Gladness! I love the month of March just because of the March Madness! There is no time like it. When I was at RPI, I would hardly pay attention in class, watching various games on my laptop. Almost screaming out randoms outburst in class because of great plays. Nothing gets my blood pumping like a GREAT tourney game.

So for the month of March, my church decided to give classes on Wednesday instead of Wednesday night service. I was excited because they had a class about prepping for the job market. Seeing as though, i'm still actively seeking full-time employment, i figured this would be a great class to refresh some skills and learn some new info. Apparently there was not enough interest so I'm taking a class called building biblical wealth, and so far, its been A-MAZING.

One of my biggest goals in life is to leave a legacy to my generational tree, comparable to the Rockefellers, Kennedys, etc. One of the ways I want to build that legacy is having wealth. In order to build that, I must learn how to budget my money so I can create a habit of good spending habits. In turn, I can teach my kids, grandkids, and possibly my great-grandkids to great spending habits. One of the references the instructor used in class to help with budgeting is www.daveramsey.com. I would suggest all my readers, look at this site and get some help managing that budget. As much I would like to build a legacy, I wish the same for my readers.

♥ A.Erika ♥

radical love.

Last year my parents went through a class, along with other couples, called Radical Love. The purpose of the class was to teach them to become better spouses for one another. After the class finished, the couple continue to meet and include their families during the meetings. Of course, all the kids go play elsewhere but I, partly because I'm nosy, stay with the adults. I listen to hear how these couples are trying to keep their marriages going. I sit there admiring the support these couples have with each other. Holding each other accountable and also, being that helping hand when they are in need. I love that! I hope to have that connection with my friends and their spouses. Also, I hope to have that with my future husband's friends and their spouses as well. I know support systems help me even more now that i'm relationship. For me, its a sigh of relief when I reach out to my girls or my guys and they can identify what I'm going through. To me that says, they made it though so I can too.

Not gonna lie though, sometimes I feel a lil uncomfortable while they're talking about their personal issues but I've realized they want me to hear so I wont/ help prevent me from making the same mistakes they've made. Through these meetings, I am learning what it takes to be 1) a better woman and 2) a better wife for my husband. 

One thing my mom learned from the class and has imparted to me as i'm my relationship journey is "My spouse is not my problem." I think that statement is starting to click. I cannot worry about what my beau is doing and is not doing cuz that will drive me crazy. But trying to make sure "i'm a better me so me and you can be a better we". I know I've been struggling with some things lately and this meeting is kinda what I needed.

♥ A.Erika ♥

following my heart [part II]

So I decided to follow my heart. About 2 weeks ago, I went to new york city for an interview with a small media agency. The night before my interview, I had dinner with a friend just to catch up. We hadnt spoken in a couple years. We go wayyyy back like elementary school way back. young black woman doing her thing in the concrete jungle. When I was last in NYC, she extended an invitation for dinner but I didnt get a chance to meet up with her. So I promised next time, I was in the city we had to catch up. So we arranged our meeting. While waiting for her to arrive, I thought about how I could really see myself living in NYC. I've never really considered living there, partly due what I see with some of my family. Yet after talking to her I was assured that I could make it there. "girl if i can make it, then you can too." We even talked about living expenses, which was one of my biggest worries. Living in NYC is NO JOKE. She said its all about budgeting and sacrifices. After that, I was sold. It was really good catching up with her, seeing each other's progress in life from little fourth graders in Smoke Rise Elementary to young women trying to start their careers. Life comes full circle.

The interview went REALLY well. I felt like I really connected with the team and I felt like this is where I need to be. I was in there for about 2.5 hours and immediately after I walked out and said I need a drink but it was all worth it. I am so glad I insisted on going because its something I did. A risk I took. No matter the outcome, I did it for me and wont have any regrets about shoudda, woudda, coudda. That makes me happy inside. So now I must wait and continue to apply other places. But its hard applying to other places when your heart is elsewhere. I've done all I can do. Said my prayers and now I'm just waiting on the manifestation of it. This is the hardest part but I can see God working. He's putting all the pieces together. 

♥ A.Erika ♥