Hello,
I have decided to dedicate myself to post at least once a week on my blog. My post will include random thoughts, photos I have taken, religious quotes, inspirational thoughts, etc. But I will commit to at least one post a week.
Hope everyone is having a great day today and a see you soon
Yulanda
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Saturday, December 26, 2009
WOW..it has been a year since I last posted to my blog. That is not good. I have to get on here more often.
A lot has happened since I last posted. I will have to catch you up, but I will at a later post. NO for real I will.
I just want to say Happy Holidays to everyone. This holiday season is filled with more joy and peace in families. I think it has a lot to do with the economy. I believe it helped to put the real meaning of Christmas back to where it needs to be. Joy for live.
Okay, everyone..continue to enjoy your holiday season with your family and friends. Until next time, be safe.
Yulanda
A lot has happened since I last posted. I will have to catch you up, but I will at a later post. NO for real I will.
I just want to say Happy Holidays to everyone. This holiday season is filled with more joy and peace in families. I think it has a lot to do with the economy. I believe it helped to put the real meaning of Christmas back to where it needs to be. Joy for live.
Okay, everyone..continue to enjoy your holiday season with your family and friends. Until next time, be safe.
Yulanda
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
my birthday weekend
Hello Everyone,
My birthday weekend was very good. I was actually doing some wedding stuff this weekend.
Saturday:
I picked up James from the airport, we took some engagement photos out in Encanto Park. That is a beautiful park. Nice trees, ducks, train, a real nice family park. After our photo session, we went to look at some reception sites. Man of Man, this can get really stressful if you let it. We say 4 places, I believe, and fell in love with 1 of them.
Sunday:
We went to church. Service was good as always. If you are looking for a church either to visit while you are in town, or to find a church home, I pledge that you try Pilgrim's Rest Baptist Church (PRBC). After church we went to dinner while my son went to the Cardinals game. He was exausted to say the least. He was behind the Cardinals bench and then got to spend a little time with some of the players after the game. He said they are cool. I decided to go to Red Lobster for dinner (cheesy biscuits, salad, scallops and shrimp). Oh sorry, I guess I had a flash back. hahaha. After dinner we just came back to the house and watched some football, looked at literature from reception halls, looked at some catering menus and picked out favorite photos from the engagement session since we get a free 8x10. That's how they get you. Offer you a free photo knowing you are not going to get just that one that is free. I picked out like 20 photos that I like out of the 79 shots she took.
Monday:
Well Monday was a slow start. When I finally woke up fully and decided to get out of bed, James and I went to Cracker Barrel for brunch (one of his favorite restaurants). I also got a tire replaced and an wheel alignment. We finally got out of the house to handle business around 1:30. We went to a couple of places today as well. And out of these we liked 1. He really likes the one that we say and liked on Saturday the best though.
So to say the least, my birthday was a good one for me, because I have taken a mini step towards my big day and that makes me happy.
~Yulanda~
My birthday weekend was very good. I was actually doing some wedding stuff this weekend.
Saturday:
I picked up James from the airport, we took some engagement photos out in Encanto Park. That is a beautiful park. Nice trees, ducks, train, a real nice family park. After our photo session, we went to look at some reception sites. Man of Man, this can get really stressful if you let it. We say 4 places, I believe, and fell in love with 1 of them.
Sunday:
We went to church. Service was good as always. If you are looking for a church either to visit while you are in town, or to find a church home, I pledge that you try Pilgrim's Rest Baptist Church (PRBC). After church we went to dinner while my son went to the Cardinals game. He was exausted to say the least. He was behind the Cardinals bench and then got to spend a little time with some of the players after the game. He said they are cool. I decided to go to Red Lobster for dinner (cheesy biscuits, salad, scallops and shrimp). Oh sorry, I guess I had a flash back. hahaha. After dinner we just came back to the house and watched some football, looked at literature from reception halls, looked at some catering menus and picked out favorite photos from the engagement session since we get a free 8x10. That's how they get you. Offer you a free photo knowing you are not going to get just that one that is free. I picked out like 20 photos that I like out of the 79 shots she took.
Monday:
Well Monday was a slow start. When I finally woke up fully and decided to get out of bed, James and I went to Cracker Barrel for brunch (one of his favorite restaurants). I also got a tire replaced and an wheel alignment. We finally got out of the house to handle business around 1:30. We went to a couple of places today as well. And out of these we liked 1. He really likes the one that we say and liked on Saturday the best though.
So to say the least, my birthday was a good one for me, because I have taken a mini step towards my big day and that makes me happy.
~Yulanda~
Friday, November 28, 2008
Annointed Authors on Tour - Phoenix 2008
It was so exciting to be able to go to a book signing event since I moved here to Arizona. This is something that we used to do all the time when I lived back East.
Kendra Norman Bellamy, Michelle Stimpson, and Shewanda Riley graced us with their presence and provided great knowledge to aspiring writers.
This is very interesting though. Cooky and I went to a few book stores looking for Kendra's books and could not find ANY. After the event, We picked up Kendra and hung out for a little bit before dinner. We made the mistake of taking her to a bookstore.
Here is a copy of Kendra's post on her blog about or experience http://www.blessed2write.blogspot.com/: Go to her site to read the full article and comments.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Empty African American Fiction Shelves
This past weekend, I had a marvelous time during my first visit to Phoenix, AZ. I was there along with others of my Anointed Authors on Tour sisters, on the last stop of our 2008 tour. Almost everything about this tour stop was perfect. The weather was ideal (low 80's during the day, high 50's during the night). The hosting book clubs rolled out the red carpet, showered us with wonderful Arizona souvenirs, fed us well and provided us with limo escorts (two thumbs up to Girlfriend 2 Girlfriend Book Club and Shades of the Desert Book Club). I reconnected with two wonderful fans-turned-friends that I met three years ago in Baltimore, MD who have now moved to Phoenix (big shout out to Yulanda and Cooky). The community of readers came out and supported our appearances (not just in attendance, but they bought books).
So, there was very little that didn't go wonderfully under the Arizona sun. However, there was one thing that I found unnerving. Saturday afternoon, Yulanda and Cooky, came and picked me up from my hotel between functions and took me on a brief tour of the city. I'd been told earlier that AA books were difficult to find on bookshelves in Phoenix, but I wasn't prepared for what I saw. We stopped by a very busy area mall and strode inside the Borders Bookstore there. After browsing for quite some time, we finally located the African American section of the store. There was only one bookcase to embody that section and that bookcase only contained about four shelves. And on those shelves, there was one AA fiction title. One. O-N-E (big congrats to Jacquelin Thomas for being our sole representation).
Of course, with my sister-girls being the avid readers that they are, and me, being the avid writer that I am, we couldn't dare leave without confronting the store workers about their empty African American section. When asked why they didn't have more of our books, the worker replied, "Oh, we had some, but they just sell so quickly." My challenging response was, "So, if they sell so quickly, that means the demand is there. Why didn't you restock when you sold out?" His answer, "Because the publishers and distributors won't send us any more."
One of my sister-girls asked whether or not he'd placed an order for more books and he responded by saying, "We don't order books. The companies just send them to us. All the other companies for all the other books you see just sent us these books for the shelves, but none of the publishers for the African American titles will send us any." At that point, all the three of us could do was look at him. Apparently, we looked a whole lot dumber than we were for him to think we'd buy that. The publishers and distributors won't send any more? Are you kidding me? The publishers and distributors make their money by sending out the books and having them sold. Why would they not restock the shelves?
"Are you disappointed?" That was the question he asked with an almost sneering smile as we stared at him. At that point, leaving just seemed like the right thing to do.
What does it mean for African American writers when there are stores who won't stock our books? When the buying public has no option other than to go to the counter and order our books any time they want to get one, how many book sells do we lose? The thought is disheartening.
Barack Obama is president-elect, yes. He smashed a barrier that just a few years ago...just a few months ago...maybe even just a few weeks ago, seemed unbendable, let alone unbreakable. The bar has been raised and a new standard has been set. Somehow, as creators and supporters of African American literature, we have to find a way to overcome the obstacles that are set in place to limit our achievements as well.
We've come a long way, baby.....but the battle ain't over yet.
Posted by Kendra Norman-Bellamy at 10:39 AM 10 comments
Kendra Norman Bellamy, Michelle Stimpson, and Shewanda Riley graced us with their presence and provided great knowledge to aspiring writers.
This is very interesting though. Cooky and I went to a few book stores looking for Kendra's books and could not find ANY. After the event, We picked up Kendra and hung out for a little bit before dinner. We made the mistake of taking her to a bookstore.
Here is a copy of Kendra's post on her blog about or experience http://www.blessed2write.blogspot.com/: Go to her site to read the full article and comments.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Empty African American Fiction Shelves
This past weekend, I had a marvelous time during my first visit to Phoenix, AZ. I was there along with others of my Anointed Authors on Tour sisters, on the last stop of our 2008 tour. Almost everything about this tour stop was perfect. The weather was ideal (low 80's during the day, high 50's during the night). The hosting book clubs rolled out the red carpet, showered us with wonderful Arizona souvenirs, fed us well and provided us with limo escorts (two thumbs up to Girlfriend 2 Girlfriend Book Club and Shades of the Desert Book Club). I reconnected with two wonderful fans-turned-friends that I met three years ago in Baltimore, MD who have now moved to Phoenix (big shout out to Yulanda and Cooky). The community of readers came out and supported our appearances (not just in attendance, but they bought books).
So, there was very little that didn't go wonderfully under the Arizona sun. However, there was one thing that I found unnerving. Saturday afternoon, Yulanda and Cooky, came and picked me up from my hotel between functions and took me on a brief tour of the city. I'd been told earlier that AA books were difficult to find on bookshelves in Phoenix, but I wasn't prepared for what I saw. We stopped by a very busy area mall and strode inside the Borders Bookstore there. After browsing for quite some time, we finally located the African American section of the store. There was only one bookcase to embody that section and that bookcase only contained about four shelves. And on those shelves, there was one AA fiction title. One. O-N-E (big congrats to Jacquelin Thomas for being our sole representation).
Of course, with my sister-girls being the avid readers that they are, and me, being the avid writer that I am, we couldn't dare leave without confronting the store workers about their empty African American section. When asked why they didn't have more of our books, the worker replied, "Oh, we had some, but they just sell so quickly." My challenging response was, "So, if they sell so quickly, that means the demand is there. Why didn't you restock when you sold out?" His answer, "Because the publishers and distributors won't send us any more."
One of my sister-girls asked whether or not he'd placed an order for more books and he responded by saying, "We don't order books. The companies just send them to us. All the other companies for all the other books you see just sent us these books for the shelves, but none of the publishers for the African American titles will send us any." At that point, all the three of us could do was look at him. Apparently, we looked a whole lot dumber than we were for him to think we'd buy that. The publishers and distributors won't send any more? Are you kidding me? The publishers and distributors make their money by sending out the books and having them sold. Why would they not restock the shelves?
"Are you disappointed?" That was the question he asked with an almost sneering smile as we stared at him. At that point, leaving just seemed like the right thing to do.
What does it mean for African American writers when there are stores who won't stock our books? When the buying public has no option other than to go to the counter and order our books any time they want to get one, how many book sells do we lose? The thought is disheartening.
Barack Obama is president-elect, yes. He smashed a barrier that just a few years ago...just a few months ago...maybe even just a few weeks ago, seemed unbendable, let alone unbreakable. The bar has been raised and a new standard has been set. Somehow, as creators and supporters of African American literature, we have to find a way to overcome the obstacles that are set in place to limit our achievements as well.
We've come a long way, baby.....but the battle ain't over yet.
Posted by Kendra Norman-Bellamy at 10:39 AM 10 comments
Happy Thanksgiving
Hello to all of you that read my blog. I hope that you had a wonderful, safe, relaxing thanksgiving day. We all should be very thankful that we still have have the strength to be alive and enjoy this special day with our friends and families.
Food:
What did I do: Wow, I did not cook....my mom did. I woke up around 7:00 am, looked at the time and realized that it was not a work day so I went back to sleep. Guess when I woke up again...11:30 am. Thanks right, 11:30 am. I guess I was kind of tired there, you think. By this time my mom has already cooked the potato salad, the collard greens, the canned yams, and was preparing the stuffing (my favorite). Oh yeah the homemade macaroni and cheese was in the oven. Man o' man. We ATE some food!!! And watched football of course.
Football:
WHAT ABOUT THEM COWBOYS!!! That was a good game. They beat up on the Seattle Seahawks...Sorry Julie. And the Tennessee Titans came to play some football as well. Now I can not say that about the Arizona Cardinals though. Kurt Warner was not on his A game yesterday. He threw 4 interceptions. That game made Donovan McNabb look like the superstar that he has been for many years now. They scored like 2-3 touchdowns in the first quarter ( I don't feel like looking it up to be certain, but you get my drift). Westbrook came to play some football as well.
Well I am going to go to bed now. I have been doing some homework and now my head is hurting. But I am busting it out with the grades.
Good night and remember to be thankful for everything that we have each and every day. Do not sweat the small stuff...it ain't worth it.
-Yulanda
Food:
What did I do: Wow, I did not cook....my mom did. I woke up around 7:00 am, looked at the time and realized that it was not a work day so I went back to sleep. Guess when I woke up again...11:30 am. Thanks right, 11:30 am. I guess I was kind of tired there, you think. By this time my mom has already cooked the potato salad, the collard greens, the canned yams, and was preparing the stuffing (my favorite). Oh yeah the homemade macaroni and cheese was in the oven. Man o' man. We ATE some food!!! And watched football of course.
Football:
WHAT ABOUT THEM COWBOYS!!! That was a good game. They beat up on the Seattle Seahawks...Sorry Julie. And the Tennessee Titans came to play some football as well. Now I can not say that about the Arizona Cardinals though. Kurt Warner was not on his A game yesterday. He threw 4 interceptions. That game made Donovan McNabb look like the superstar that he has been for many years now. They scored like 2-3 touchdowns in the first quarter ( I don't feel like looking it up to be certain, but you get my drift). Westbrook came to play some football as well.
Well I am going to go to bed now. I have been doing some homework and now my head is hurting. But I am busting it out with the grades.
Good night and remember to be thankful for everything that we have each and every day. Do not sweat the small stuff...it ain't worth it.
-Yulanda
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Ahwatukee Bowl results
Well it saddens me to say that our season did not end in a win. We ended up loosing the game against DV. The first quarter showed some hope for the Pride. But the second quarter was a different story. DV got a good run and they continued to run with it.
All and all, I believe the boys had a great season playing together as some of them will be going off to college. Their biggest accomplishment was they all became to gel before the end of the season.
Next year will be very exciting!!!!!
GO PRIDE!!!!
All and all, I believe the boys had a great season playing together as some of them will be going off to college. Their biggest accomplishment was they all became to gel before the end of the season.
Next year will be very exciting!!!!!
GO PRIDE!!!!
Friday, November 7, 2008
Ahwatukee Bowl
Well well well. Today is going to be a great day in Ahwatukee. Almost as big as the historical election we just had on Tuesday. Well maybe not that big.
Tonight at 8:30 pm Mountain Pointe High School will be playing Desert Vista in the Ahwatukee bowl. It will be televised on ESPNU. This is going to be such an honor for alot, no all the players of both teams, especially the seniors. For some this will be the last time they are playing high school football.
Good Luck Pride!!!!!
Tonight at 8:30 pm Mountain Pointe High School will be playing Desert Vista in the Ahwatukee bowl. It will be televised on ESPNU. This is going to be such an honor for alot, no all the players of both teams, especially the seniors. For some this will be the last time they are playing high school football.
Good Luck Pride!!!!!
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