This week, I’m going to be spreading a little sparkle on other bloggers. Check them out, go read their Inspiration & Grab a Little Sparkle for your LIFE!
You need: Raw Beet (Washed not peeled) Fresh Ginger (Washed not peeled) Fresh Cut Pineapple (Peeled and cubed Celery (Washed and Trimmed) Cucumber (Washed not peeled) Juicer (We have had this for 4 years and have greatly enjoyed it) How To: Depending on how much you want to make, the amount can very. Cut every […]
All week, I’ll be sharing stories from either other bloggers or the latest in the News! This week is Sparkle week in which where I shed a little sparkle on others blogs or re-post posts in which I think are cool or maybe things you haven’t heard about yet or maybe you have.
Feel free to comment below on your thoughts about any one and don’t forget to check out all posts in their entirety as links will be provided! Blessings ~
Over the weekend at a performance in New York’s Central Park, multiple Grammy Award Winning Artist Stevie Wonder took a knee in solidarity with former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick at the 2017 Global Citizen Festival. He said, “Tonight, I’m taking a knee for America.” Wonder dropped to one knee first and then the other. “Not…
via Stevie Wonder Joins NFL Players In Taking A Knee — Praise 104.1
Roshonda N. Blackmon – Creator of JustsumInspiration, Author, Speaker & Encourager
Let’s Live Well, Laugh Loud & Love Hard!
Okay, so anyone that knows me (especially my sisters) know that I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE trying new things. I mean what’s the point of life, if you don’t take a risk and branch out from your comfort zone every now and again or in my case, ALL the time.
I mean, I’ve gotten so bad with it until when a new product comes out; the first thing my sisters ask me is “Have you tried that?” and 9 times out of 10 my answer will always be YES!! Now there are certain things that I won’t try such as squid, octopus or frog legs (I don’t care how much people say they taste like chicken) but everything else?? definitely stands a chance on Roshonda’s “Try This and That” highway. With all of that being said, it’s no wonder the next product I tried had to do with one of my favorite go-to drinks and that is tea. I absolutely love tea, as a matter of fact when our office staff did secret Santa last year, it was one of the items I put on my wish list.
I love trying out different types of teas – especially if they have an extra health benefit linked to them which is what made me fascinated about trying Your Tea. I stumbled upon the tea at my younger sisters house, curious about what was in the pretty pink box; she told me that it was called Tiny Tea, she purchased it awhile back to help detox her system. She said that it was really good and worked like a charm. So, instead of taking what she had; I opted for the tea samples in which came with her box in which she never used. When I say those teas tasted good, I mean they tasted so good…One was entitled “Gypsy Green” the other was “Black Honey Heaven” – OMGoodness! is all that I can say besides:
I had to find out more about this tea company and what I found out and came across was mind-blowing. According to their website Your Tea is a company that creates tea blends for modern health, from ancient wisdom. Based on TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine), Your Tea is also created by TCM Doctors as well, how cool is that!
They have teas that will balance your gut and also assist you with other problematic areas you may suffer from, such as:
Since I’ve always been attracted to things that provide mind, body and health. I decided to take a look around on the site and see what they had to offer and that’s when I came across one of their tea boxes called “The Mini Makeover”
The box contained a little sample of some of their most popular wellness teas such as, the Tiny Tea, Skin Magic, Anti-C and Happy Tea. Each tea provides a benefit that will help your body get out of neutral and into drive. Below is a little something about each of the ones I received:
Sounds good right?! As you can see from the description of each, all the teas help promote a healthy digestion in which will cause you to go (you know) much more regularly than every other day or week. If you are experiencing slow bowel movements, then your body just may need a big tea boost to your system. Okay, I know that was very uncomfortable – so, let’s move on – I’m sure you got the drift. Alongside the mini makeover, I also ordered the Choc Nirvana in which is a chocolate tea and let me just say YES, YES, YES – It really does taste like chocolate and when the ingredients contain such coco peels, caramel, chocolate and vanilla flavors – Just add a packet of stevia, sit back and wonder around chocolate heaven!
Since my order was $25.00 or more, I got an extra bonus. They sent me their proclaimed TEAFACE scrub for free.
This product is said to gently exfoliate, deeply nourish and revitalize the skin. It helps to heal scars, uneven skin tone and promises to leave you with a glowing complexion; the only thing I will say is that it is real tea granules to your face and while it felt a little funny, it really did leave my face smooth after one try. This is how it looked on my face…
I drank everything (except for the Happy Tea) within a couple of days and while you really need to order the full set of teas to really experience a huge difference, I feel as though I got off to a healthy start and will be ordering more tea – very soon. In the meantime, I know you’re saying “Okay, so what about this giveaway already!!” – so, because I love trying new things and love to share what I find to be truly good with my friends, I thought I would share with you (my friends) as well. So, if you would like to try out the Your Tea brand, then all you have to do is follow the instructions below:
Disclaimer: You must do number 1 and number 2 or 3 (following me on both sites is not necessary, just one will do) in order to be included in the giveaway!
And that’s it! Once you do, your name will be entered into the giveaway. I’ll be giving one lucky reader a $25.00 gift card to purchase your own Your Tea product. But you must hurry, the deadline to enter is next Wednesday 9/27/17 @ noon. Winner will be announced on Thursday 9/29/17 @ noon via FB, Instagram and the JustsumInspiration site!
Psst!, Over Here. Just in case you were wondering – I am not sponsored nor was I paid to give my opinion of this product. Everything said, is totally my opinion based off of my own personal purchase. I also was not promised or will not get anything in lieu to the giveaway being promoted. Funds for this giveaway are coming out of my own pocket. So, now that that’s all clear….Go Enter!!
Roshonda N. Blackmon – Creator of JustsumInspiration, Author, Speaker & Encourager
Let’s Live Well, Laugh Loud & Love Hard!
Early last week, I became annoyingly frustrated at my 13yr old daughter. Ever since she’s crossed over into “TEEN-VILLE” I’ve noticed her attitude has changed tremendously, every time I tell her what she’s going to do, the first thing that comes out of her mouth is “I Can’t Do That” or “Why??” or “That’s not for Me” or “Mama, but I” I mean don’t get me wrong, I understand when the crossover happens, everything goes haywire in their minds. Their bodies are changing, their attitudes are unbearable and their mindsets are totally different.
What happened to that 5Ib little cute baby I brought home from the hospital, the one that would stay seated when I said too and when I talked, she listened. The girl that once used to smile brightly and be grateful for everything she got, has now become the teenager whom gives me such looks as this one….
As mama used to say, “When children are young, they’re on your lap but when they get older, they’re on your heart.” and she couldn’t have been more right. So, while I gather my heart strings together, let’s move on shall we to what I really want to convey. Every parent glories in the fact when their child comes to them and asks for advice, at that particular time, that’s our moment to shine. It’s our moment to give our kids the good, solid knowledge and wisdom that we obtained over the years. However; once we give that information to them, it hurts when they don’t take the advice and decide to do it the way they had planned in their head all along.
This was the dilemma I faced with my daughter. She came telling me about the lockers at school and how they were hard to get into. The teacher showed them how to unlock them, but they only showed them one time. My daughter went on to explain how she has been having the hardest time getting into her locker, last year was easy because they had to bring their own locks but now the 8th grade halls are filled with lockers that already have pre-set locks on them. So, she was complaining about how she didn’t have anyone to help her with her combination. “Mom to the Rescue” I said – Why not ask your friends? “They’re all busy and I don’t want to bother them” (puzzled) but they’re your friends…., okay, well what about asking your teacher for help again and so forth and so on, each time I came up with a possible solution – she kept coming up with excuses as to why my plan wouldn’t work. The more scenarios I came up with the more she debunked them…
Finally she said, “I’m just going to carry my stuff around, It’s really no big deal” By this time I had gotten a little frustrated and just told her to do what she wanted to do. But at the same time, I thought – Okay, so why did you come to me again?
As I walked on the treadmill that morning – I began to think about the situation with my daughter and how it related to God. I began to wonder how God must feel when we come to him with an issue and he gives us a solution but we make excuses as to why his way wouldn’t work and why our way is better. And I’m sure like me, he wants to say – But, Would you just listen to me?
Shunning my daughter away after a failed success of listening etiquette, is exactly how God does us. When we refuse to listen to his way, he let’s us go to do it our way and when our way fails?, unlike our so-called friends whom shame us by saying such lines as “I told you so” or “See, you should have listened to me” or “You feel crazy now, don’t you” and in most cases, they wash their hands of you altogether – All because you didn’t “listen” to their instructions. But if you’ve suffered or paid the price for not listening to God (and I believe we all have) Get ready to be celebrated because God in all his mercy and grace doesn’t do us like that, he’s not the God that’s going to make you feel badder than what you already feel, instead he accepts us back with forgiving arms.
And that’s how I did my daughter when she came back to me that same day to apologize. Just as a good parent would do, God is available to give you his wisdom and instructions for you to have a good life, what seems like the right choice in our head at the moment; may not be the same way in which God would like for us to handle the situation. I promise and it’s not always popular – But getting advice from God is the best way, it may take you longer to get through it, but you can rest assured that the end result will be a “sweet success”
While I continue to work on my patience with my daughters up and down ways, God wants to know from you today “Would you just listen to Me?” – Are you listening?…
Roshonda N. Blackmon – Creator of JustsumInspiration, Author, Speaker & Encourager
Let’s Live Well, Laugh Loud & Love Hard!
I was talking with a friend recently and she began to discuss with me how her boss emails her on the weekends and this isn’t a once in a while occurrence – this is every single weekend, nonstop. As she began to describe the feelings of “job commitment” that comes over her when she taps the respond button, I began to think about how I too was in her same shoes and would answer all sorts of emails from work “on my weekends” and “days off” YES! you can say I was quite the committed employee. As someone whom wanted to always make a good impression with my boss; I later realized that I had taken on a whole lot more than I could chew.
Model employee you could say, but was that really coming across to my boss because I answered multiple emails on the weekends? Uhhh—–NO! One email answered at 10pm one night, changed my life forever. It was a night in which I had nothing to do and just happened to browse my work email (in which I had coming to my phone) and seen that my boss had emailed me to ask a question, to their surprise – I answered them back. “I wasn’t expecting you to answer this time of night?” they explained and I said “Oh, it was no problem.” While they assured me that answering emails after hours or on weekends was not necessary, I continued to do it and they soon took it as “This girl is available at all times” and used it to their advantage, not only them but multiple people after them. I had set myself up as the availability gal in which you could email at any time and get a response.
While this was fun and liberating at first, it soon became a nightmare. Suddenly I was getting emails at the most awkward times of the night or day. They usually trickled in during the time in which I was spending with family, friends or having a mental health day. What had I started!!, my life was beginning to turn into a 365, 7day a week, 24 hours a day job. I suddenly realized that I had no time for myself as I soon began going in to work on weekends, Sundays included and stay extra hours after work and to answer emails on top of all that —– My job seemed like it was becoming a never ending story. Once you put yourself out there to be the “IT” person – everything changes, including your personal life.
I abruptly decided one day to just shut down the email on my phone altogether. I also stopped going in on weekends and while I do have my current job email coming to my phone now, I only check it or respond when I feel it’s an emergency that needs to be handled right away. If not, then it can wait till Monday. You see?, I felt that if I answered emails on the weekends that it would make me a more valuable employee but what it made me was a robot. I never received any awards, recognition or cool points with the boss because I answered an email after hours or on weekends and my pay definitely didn’t change. So who was I really doing this for and why had I subjected myself to this task? Because I wanted to show my boss they could count on me – no matter what.
And while that’s all good, it wasn’t good for my health; sanity or livelihood – so something had to change and change FAST!
Do you feel obligated to answer work emails after hours or weekends? Well, if you’re feeling the pressure – Don’t worry, just take the necessary steps below:
Don’t get me wrong, we all work jobs in which we want to be relevant and deemed as a good employee but there has to be a line crossed somewhere. When we constantly say YES to everything our boss shoots our way, we put ourselves in position to not have feelings, a say or an opinion about anything. It’s okay to say NO sometimes. Especially if it’s going to interfere with your life outside of the workplace or office. They can’t fire you for saying NO.
You might want to see where your boss stands on how they want you to respond to emails during your off hours and is it a requirement. Personally, I used to have a boss that would send me emails after hours but only because if they didn’t do it right away, they would forget to and working at night was sort of their down time in which they used to respond to emails. So, get your bosses opinion on what they would like you to do concerning it. You may also want to let them know that your off hours and weekends are very busy. Express the fact that if they do send an email, you may not respond until the next workday. This will let your boss know your stance on after hour emails and that they should not expect a response.
Ever noticed how when you do something for a person one time – they tend to take advantage of you doing it that one time and consistently come back to you again and again expecting you to do the same thing? That’s how we can become when we give of ourselves more than we should. It’s okay to be nice and kind but at the end of the day, you’re required to perform your job duties (that’s what you get paid for) anything in over excess to that can lead people to expect more from you than you’re willing to give. Only give what you can afford to give away because your time is precious.
Whether it’s concerning work or anything else that may be pressing in your life. You must take care of yourself, including your sanity. I’ve been on jobs where I’ve over exhausted myself trying to prove or show how good of an employee I was and at the end of the day, I was the one with the swollen ankles, extreme headache and body aches. I was literally stressing myself out, while I made others feel comfy, cozy. Just as your boss needs their time, so do you. You’re no good to them, the business or organization if you’re spazzed out, stressed or in the hospital. Learn to turn off your email notifications from work or just don’t answer them at all. While that may be hard to do (because it was for me) you have to realize that you’re only one person and if something happens to you; will they come to your aide? No…(yes they’ll be concerned but the job must and always will go on, whether you’re there or not)
That’s sad to say, but in reality – we only get one life, one chance and one opportunity to make the best of it as much as possible and I can think of a million things for you to do besides answering that annoying email message from you know who. Life is short my friend and those after hour/weekend emails can wait…Life, unfortunately cannot.
Roshonda N. Blackmon – Creator of JustsumInspiration, Author, Speaker & Encourager
Let’s Live Well, Laugh Loud & Love Hard!
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