This is an interesting year for birthdays. All of my really close friends (and me) are turning 25!! Of course, I’m the last since my birthday is in December. June started the festivities with my best friend Philip. I call him my Twin because he’s the male version of me. His girlfriend thought of the idea to have a Surprise Party and teamed up with his two other best friends and me. The planning for it started all the way back in March. The best part was we had contacts from his high school days, his college days, and at his current job.
We finally decided on doing at a bowling alley. Everybody hid in the bar until he walked in. As shown in the video, he was really shocked! Following a game of bowling and libations, we surprised him with a party bus outside of a nearby bar, The Post. We then rode to his favorite bar, Woody’s and partied the night away. It was a bit complicated getting everyone back to the bus, but we didn’t have to leave anyone We got back to The Post in time to shake it for the last hour. The night was a complete success and I can’t wait until the next party!
I was actually looking for a different song that comes on my Pandora, but this one always makes me tingle. His voice is so pure, and that’s a true gift from God.
Right now, I’m the happiest I’ve been in a long time! I’ve been having a steady string of favor and blessings that have come my way.
Work: I was worried for a little while because some of my team members have been going out of their way to sabatoge my progress. Not explicitly telling my manager of the situation, I simply stated that I need to focus my knowledge and experience on another program. Last week, we planned an exit strategy from that project and directing me towards my official engineering assignments!
Church: I am really loving my church and my pastor. He recently celebrated his 15 Pastoral Anniversary and it has been such a blessing to see what he has done with families, ministry, and the community. The way that I got involved with the church was through their tutoring ministry, T.O.Y.S (Tutoring Our Youth for Success). Since joining in December, I’ve been a lot more involved with Bible Study, meeting more members, and even sang in the Women’s Choir for Mother’s Day!
NSBE: I’m officially the Programs Chair on the Region 4 Alumni Executive Board for the National Society of Black Engineers! I am the lead of the Programs Zone. My Program focus will be mainly on NSBEpreneur, Chapter Development, and Leadership and Personal Development. My Personal focus will be on unemployed Alumni support. I have a personal interest in that area and want to create an want the Alumni to serve as support for those going through recent graduation, layoffs, or entrepreneurship.
Toastmasters: I am really enjoying my local chapter at work. Toastmasters is a speaking organization to improve communication and leadership development. I am still pursuing my first certification for Competent Communication, but I was asked to be on the leadership board as the Vice President Education. It is the second highest ranking officer in the club, where my purpose is to get others excited and involved in the club. Personally, the best way to do that is by illustrating what made me come to my first meeting and stay!
Relationships: I’m finally out of an incredibly hurtful situation, and taking it slow towards the future. If nothing else, that gives me something to shout about everyday! I am very happy with my current situation. I believe that I have already experienced many of the characteristics that I like (and don’t like). The #1 must have is someone with a compatible personality – someone to rejoice in my happy times, and cheer me up when I’m feeling low. The #1 dislike is trying to convince someone else that your plan is correct with no room to compromise or have a friendly debate.
Everything is on the up-and-up and I’m really enjoying my life right now. BUT for every action, there is an equal and OPPOSITE reaction, which I am not excited about (Thanks Ike).
This year, I didn’t have a New Year Resolution, but I guess I’ve stumbled upon four ‘New Joints’. I have joined my Indy church, joined my local gym, joined the local Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. chapter, and joined the National Society of Black Engineers – Indianapolis Alumni Extension.
I’ve been tutoring at my church since early 2009. Once a week, after work, I tutor the kids in math (and read and play learning games with the 3 year olds!) Around Easter, the pastor had a 3 part bible study immediately following the tutoring hours and I was encouraged to stay. After staying for those, I was encouraged to come to Sunday service. Almost 9 months later, I walked that aisle. I’m really excited about my new members’ classes and reading the bible completely through in 1 year with this plan. The main thing I love about my church is that we are trying to encourage and uplift the community while sharing the joy of Jesus.
I also kinda fell into my gym. The girls and I love Zumbathere! I went to the competitor gym across the street and the Zumba was whack!! There was this old lady with no spirit and didn’t really show her love of instructing. Weeks later, I tried it out at my gym and it was AMAZING! Initially, we would only go about once a month. Then, after putting a greater focus on health, we started going more often. When proposed to join for about the 10th time, I had to do the math; each class is $10 and a monthly membership is $30. Also with the membership, I had full access to the gym, and all the classes they offer. Since, I joined, I have been going about 3 times a week and it’s been great!
I was initiated into my AKA chapter in 2007 and have been financially active since then. There are two chapters in Indy usually know as the big chapter and the little chapter. I went to the little chapter’s meeting early 2009 and I enjoyed that they were small, young, and ready to expand and help the city. I went to a meeting with the big chapter toward the end of 2009 and personally, they seemed older and had a greater focus on improving the chapter and organization. I went to the recent retreat for the little chapter where big things were proposed for this year and I wanted to be a part of it!
Of course, I have continued to be involved in NSBE, and was on the Fall Regional Conference Planning Committee, but I was not active in the local chapter. I planned my life and weekend around the chapter meeting to make sure that I could attend. At the meeting, we spoke about self-image and goals: what are they now, and how to improve them. My plan was centered around my expectation to tutor, teach, and assist others in mathematics. My full goals are still being finalized, but this was a great beginning. Also, I volunteered with the chapter at a Women In Engineering breakfast for 8th grade girls where I gave them insight on the true meaning of an engineer and how they can focus their high school and college careers on that path.
All of these New Joints have thus far been a great addition to my life. They attracted me because of their concern with people and the community. The plan now is to continue to grow, meet new people, and enhance my Indy experience.
Indianapolis hosted this year’s National Society of Black EngineersRegion 4Fall Regional Conference. I was on the Conference Planning Committee as the Transportation Coordinator! A few years ago, I was on the CPC as the Hospitality and Volunteer Coordinator. I decided to become involved in the planning this year because it is in my “home” city. I also knew this would be a great opportunity for my employer to directly participate.
There was some talk about planning tours for the conference, but never any set person to coordinate them. When I first contacted HR, they were excited about it. I went back to the CPC and told them the good news. There was also thought of having a tour to the Children’s Museum, the Crispus Attucks Museum, and one on the campus of IUPUI. At that point, I was in charge of organizing the transportation. I handled my part and decided to go with Ms. Mickey at Cavello Bus Lines (they were great).
However, funding for the buses was a different story. I was then put in charge of obtaining funding for the buses. Since I was the direct point of contact between the tours and the payment, I was then appointed to being the Tour Coordinator! After my roles were clearly defined, and buses were funded, the tours (company and IUPUI) were handled. I still maintained direct contact with my company because there was also planning of a facility tour and a hospitality suite. Those went very smoothly and I learned more about my job while hosting the tours and it was a lot of fun talking with the students.
The best part to me is helping others succeed. The first night of the conference, I noticed a high school student standing alone in the hallway and I walked her into one of the PCI workshops on colleges. She was a senior in high school and had still not applied to college. She was really excited about an HBCU out of state, and showed no emotion about attending any of the colleges in-state, and so I did my best to encourage her. There was another young lady that I met at the Career Fair that was getting really frustrated about not receiving an interview offer. I took her aside and did a mock career fair with her and highlighted some items that she should talk about on her resume like her 3.8 GPA! She ran up to me later that night and told me she had her interview and did well!
I just keep doing what I can to help others become successful and try to make it my personal mission to “Increase the number of culturally responsible Black Engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally, and positively impact the community.”
Friday, we had a game night with my ‘twin’ Philip and my girls Aja and Courtney. Philip has every single video game system and every component for them all. He even has the Playstation Move, which I never heard of <but that’s not saying much because I didn’t hear about Xbox Kinect until he told me>.
The Move didn’t seem too different from the concept of the Wii, but of course according to them, it shalt not compare. The Move just seems to require a lot more precision the the Wii, which really depends on the user if you like that or not. It had a really cool archery game on the Sports Champions game. We also had a BLAST with Def Jam Rap Star, which really does have it’s own online community. The video below describes the exact experience, although you may not quickly grab you a honey dip just cuz you think you rap well on the game. Of course, the game blanks out all of the “non-PC” curse words, but surprisingly, you get extra points if you actually say the words where they are supposed to go. Kanye’s Gold Digger was a personal fav! They also play the entire video for all of the songs while you rap.
We spent about 4 straight hours playing the Kinect! The system even reminded us that we may need to take a break lol. I can honestly say Dance Central is the best game EVER invented! They do indeed have ethnic songs like “Push It“, the old Rihanna “Pon da Replay“, the Delta theme “Drop It Like It’s Hot“, and a classic ethnic favorite “Poison“! My favorites to watch were Corbin cranking that Soulja Boy, and Courtney and Aja battling it out to “Dip It Low” <–the choreographer KILLS it on this link.
We played Kinect Adventures just to get warmed up, but it wasn’t anything too fantastic. We also played Fighters Uncaged, but we got bored doing the training before they put you in a real fight. It was extra tiring and all 5 of us had to rotate shifts just to get through it. We tried to set up Motion Sports to do football, but it took too long just trying to recognize Philip’s face in the dim light. That game got the quick eject and back to Dance Central. That was the only downside other than its ability to get hacked to use the motion technology on your computer or other systems.
DJ Hero will always have a special place in my heart, but Dance Central is THE ONE.
The way I see it, you aren’t taking full advantage of the glorious holiday if it doesn’t scare you. I actually love Halloween and love being scared. My friends and I went to three different parties in Indy. I was Elvis, duh! The first party was a fundraiser for the Fight for Life Foundation established by Wolverine and former Colts player Marlin Jackson. It was a lot of fun. They had a silent auction and a real auction where a Colts helmet autographed by Peyton Manning went for $2,200! The other two parties were downtown at the usual clubs. Not much was different from the norm, but there were some really great costumes that were there like Quailman and Patty Mayonaise, and the Green Monkeys from Legends of the Hidden Temple (equipped with pendants of life). Another night, we went to Necroplis Haunted House. It was really good and even had some of their actors coming to haunt you while you waited in the freezing cold. One downside was that the building was a warehouse that obviously never gets cleaned, so allergies were demolished!
The thing I was most excited about was going to see Saw VII aka Saw 3D: The Final Chapter!!! There were a lot of mixed reviews on the movie, but I think the negative opinions were from people that haven’t seen the entire series. Most folks that I know stopped watching after Saw II or Saw III. Higher into the series, the movie made for non-fans is Saw VI, the one that came out last Halloween. This one didn’t involve junkies or adulterers, but real life people that do real work, and have real lives. There is a side plot going on dealing with the detectives and police station trying to discover Jigsaw and his accomplices. That plot really ramps up after Saw III. That same plot comes full circle in Saw 3D, which is why fans LOVE it. This one had a bit more gore than others and I was really squirming in my seat. The 3D aspect was not overwhelming and not really needed, but it makes you feel like you are in the same room with the people, which I think is really the point (similar to Avatar). I love Halloween and like being scared, but I like to control my settings and when it happens. Don’t get too scared Halloweenies!
Okay, okay. There has been a little confusion and lots of questions about the first line of this blog [I'm single again, doosh.] compared to my recent ones. I was never really single. Corbin and I did need to take a little break away from each other to figure out a couple things. We really worked on not bringing negative things from our past into our present relationship. I never stopped thinking about him and read numerous sites trying to deal with it. However, it never quite felt like a break up. My favorite site (and the guiding tool for life) is Wikihow where I looked up How to Get Over a Break Up.
I tried all of these tips on different levels, but I wasn’t happy. I did a really good job with 3. Keep your space and 6. Talk to your friends. I talked to friends that were angry, friends that were concerned, friends that liked him, and friends that just listened. Many things have changed since those convos and I trust that I have made a great decision. Now comes when I need friends to support. I am happier than I have ever been and excited for the new life to come!
I had a date weekend with the boo! We’re still long distance and instead of driving the 4 hours, we sometimes meet in the middle. We’ve met in Fort Wayne, IN twice, but this time it was a city equally as ‘unique’, Dayton, OH. It was a 2 hour drive for me. I recommend it to anyone in a semi-long distance relationship and we highly recommend Priceline for hotels under $50 a night. We’ve had the best luck with 3 1/2 star rooms. The only difference between 3 and 3 1/2 is a flat-screen tv. I don’t like to spend much time in a hotel room when I visit a new city so I really don’t need anything spectacular.
The first night we got in and visited downtown Dayton for dinner at The Spaghetti Warehouse. We won’t be back there to eat. The best things about the place were the decorations and the train that had dining tables. The complimentary bread was bland, and the spaghetti AND meatballs weren’t seasoned at all. I had the lasagna and it was just a step above the spaghetti (bland.3). It really seemed like it was a local favorite though because there were a couple of large birthday parties while we were there. We also ate at The Waffle House (personal fav) and Chick-CanDoNoWrong-Fil-A.
We went to the movie theater Friday and Saturday to see Hereafter and Paranormal Activity 2. Hereafter was aight. I wasn’t a big fan of the ending, and the previews gave away a little too much information. It basically tells the entire plot and nothing in the movie really surprised me, so don’t watch the trailer… unless you don’t want to watch the movie. I really liked Paranormal Activity 2. I’m a huge fan of sequels especially when they connect in a great way to the original. The movie definitely connected to the original in a way that no one expected! Corbin hasn’t seen the original so I did have to fill him in on a couple details.
The other highlight of the weekend was the Majestic Nursery & Garden Corn Maze. It took us about 30 minutes to get there, but it was well worth it. It really gave us time to bond and I think it really help us understand our roles in our relationship. I let him take hold of the map and guide us through. I would give my opinion, but it was definitely a task for me to just follow him. The maze was a lot more difficult than we thought because we had the added task of finding 5 different scarecrows along the way. After about an hour, and much exercise, we found all 5 scarecrows, but only 4 of them had cards to prove it. :/ Corbin was the navigator keeping us on path, and I scoped out the scenery finding the scarecrows along the way. We made it to the end to get our surprise gift (see below) lol. I highly recommend taking a random vacation just to season your relationship or spice up your life! #spicegirls
We got back to The Post in time to shake it for the last hour. The night was a complete success and I can’t wait until the next party!
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