Payday Scam?!!

A couple of weeks ago, Rohan and I hit a financial snag and needed some emergency cash FAST! Breaking our savings is NEVER an option, so after a long thought, we decided to apply for a Payday loan. I know, I know...well we did but thought again, and cancelled it right away. Their interest rates are ridiculous! It was something like 608%! I'm pretty sure that isn't legal. Anyway, we cancelled it, thought No harm, no foul right? WRONG! They charged our account a $30 fee just for filling out an application, then today, I get a call from an attorney claiming that a suit has been filed against my husband's name and SS# by the lender for non-payment of the loan that was deposited in our account. I got so scared! I didn't know what to do. Then I decided to do some research, so I called the loan company, and they said they did not file this suit. I called the attorney back and he claimed that I must have called the wrong company and that this could be a case of ID fraud- someone else took out a loan with my husband's info and now we have to pay it back. He told me to make sure that my husband will be at our home address because detectives from our county will be coming to arrest him in 24 hours. I hung up the phone and tried to find out more information and I visited this website 800Notes.com. Apparently, this is very common when you apply for payday loans. These scam artists somehow get a hold of your information and try to extort as much money as they can from you. They all have thick foreign accents that you can barely understand and tell you some pretty serious crimes you've apparently committed. Rohan had supposedly violated some federal banking laws and committed check fraud. That last thing I did was call this scam artist again and got his bar number. I looked him up on the Florida Bar Association website and of course NOTHING! I called him, yet again, and gave him quite a piece of my mind. People work so hard for their money and these scumbags do anything they can to come take it from you. It's disgusting! Applying for a payday is very dangerous. I don't doubt one bit that these payday loan companies sell your personal information to these people. Never AGAIN!

Here is the scumbags' info:

Lender: Lendnet 101- Funding Guarantee
Phone #: 888-507-1740

Attorney: Sean White- US Legal Services
State Investigation Department - Jacksonville, FL
Bar # : 45389
Phone #: 904-900-8341

The Kiss

Boy: I want to kiss you. Can I?

Girl: If I say no, would that stop you?

Boy: From wanting to? No...

Girl: Buuuuuuutttttt...

Boy: ...but I'll try to control myself.

Girl: Huh!

Boy: So... can I?

Girl: This is the first time we've hung out. How do you know that if you kiss me, I won't turn into some psycho who becomes attached and expects more?

Boy: I don't. What I do know  is that I'm some psycho who really, really wants to kiss you.

Girl: Okay, what if...

[KISS]

Girl: I have to go!

Boy: What? Why? Are you telling me that I'm the only one who felt that?

Girl: Felt what? Like you just dies, but only for a minute? Like your entire body just floated above the earth? Like the most incredible electric shock just ran through you? Cause guess what! I have been feeling that since the first time we touched. I HAVE TO GO!

The Kiss
By: LeeAnn Alexander

I will always love you Ernest "Paa-Kwasi" Owusu-Ansah.

I have been seeing a therapist for about 7 months now and I have to say that without therapy, I would be a mess! I used to be embarrassed that I needed a therapist, mostly because it's not easy for me to ask for help. I hate it! I ultimately decided to get over myself and see someone for Riley's sake. I know I'm a wonderful mother, but I want to be the best I can be. I don't think that would be possible if I didn't feel my best. I mean how can I raise her to be a certain kind of person, when I don't even know who I am. I have to say I have come a long way in the last 7 months. Growing up, I had massive insecurity issues and no matter what I did, I just could not overcome them. I had always depended on others for my happiness and that led me to the a deep depression. I wasn't raised like your typical teenager. My mother was over-protective and shielded us from everything she possible could. This bruised us miserably, but she was never around to see that. I did a great deal of sneaking around and glad I did because if I hadn't I would have no idea what the world was really like. I had to find out the hard way, but I am all for experiencing to learn.

Even so, I still wouldn't change a thing about my past. I love the person I am today and my beloved brother, Ernest has a lot to do with that. Ernest committed suicide on May 24 and since that day, I have not been the same. Our family was beyond shocked. No one saw it coming and it made me realize a lot of things.

Most importantly...

1. That life is way too short to live in the past - I am learning slowly, but letting go has always been a challenge of mine. The past has always haunted me and I don't want that anymore. I am doing what I need to do you close any open chapters in my past and conclude any unfinished business I have.

2. That you cannot stress the little things- There are way more important things in life. Worrying whether your boyfriend is cheating, whether people like you, whether someone is talking shit about you, what anyone thinks of you (which seemed to have consumed my life before) is not important. What matters is what I think of myself and the rest just doesn't matter.

3. Ernest was secretly my best friend - my brother never liked to show his vulnerable side. If he was worried about something, no one would ever know. I guess that should've alarmed us. He was always smiling, happy or not.

Dangerously happy is what I call it now. He wanted everyone to think he was "hard", hood, gangster. I loved him more than he ever knew. Growing up, I desperately sought his approval...with everything. He was the only person I could relate to in my family. He knew more about me, growing up, than anyone else in my family. We had our moments, but I know he loved me, all of us. The only boy of my mother's 6 children. He was our commander, even when he moved some 8 hours away, to Lynchburg, VA. He was still the chief of this family. He protected us in a way that never made sense to anyone but him. He would have it otherwise, but still, we were very aware of the magnitude of his love.


 I will always love you Ernest "Paa-Kwasi" Owusu-Ansah. 

June 20, 1982 - May 24, 2011
Gone but never forgotten
May your soul rest in perfect peace.

Baby's First Holloween Re-Post 11.1.11

Halloween 2010 was Riley's first Halloween, but last year she was much too young to be dressed up and taken out. This year, my baby doll was an adorable Tinkerbell! I found this costume on Amazon.com

My sister-in-law's mother had a Halloween party of the kids the Saturday before the holiday and I decided to take Riley. I ordered this costume Wednesday of that week and paid 2-day shipping, only to receive the bloody costume Friday afternoon with NO WINGS! What is a fairy costume without wings. I contacted the seller but did not hear back in time, so consequently, I planned on returning the costume and just getting something from Party City. Let me just tell you how insane it was inside the store. You had to stand in line to look at the available costumes and choose, then stand in another line to get your costume, then another massive line to checkout!.I was livid! So I just decided to purchase some small angel wings and make that work. It was a bit awkward because the original Tinkerbell wings for this costume is velcro, but the angel wings I got had elastic bands that go around the arms. My munchkin looked darling! 

I was a chick from the 80's :) I found everything in my closet except the shirt, so I thought, hey 80's it is!

Android Blogger App Fail

So I made a couple of posts last week via my android Blogger App and they have been "publishing" for over a week now. Sigh... I have no idea why it is doing that, but I can't even view the posts on my phone while they're publishing. I guess I'm gonna have to attempt to re-post. Hope I remember everything!

Riley's First Steps

The most incredible thing just happened and  I had to come share! My baby just took her very first steps! I thought she was never gonna walk. The best part is how exciting it is for her. Every time she gets up to walk, her face lights up- it's as if she can't believe she's doing it. She just got up and took about 4 steps! Yesterday was her 13 month birthday and ironically, my mom told me that I walked exactly the date of my 13 month birthday. Like mother, like daughter?? Never been more true. She's a late bloomer just like me. She didn't crawl until she was 9 months, me 8 months, she didn't her her first tooth until she was 11 months, me first birthday. I started reading booked at 4 years old and fingers crossed that she takes after me with the brains too :)

It's been a while huh?

It has been forever since my last post and that is horrible on my part. I have had a difficult year- I lost my brother back in May and spent some time with my family in Connecticut. As you can imagine, Riley has grown since then.. haha. I will make a picture post soon. I wish I had been blogging, but I sort of went into hibernation after my brother's death. I think I'm ready to rejoin the world. It may be a slow process but one in progress, nonetheless. Feels good to be back. Sigh!

Watch Riley Grow

Riley's First 12 Weeks

Riley 4-7 Months

Riley's First 12 Weeks

Riley's First 12 Weeks

Riley 4-7 Months

Ugh! I hate SHAVING!

UGH!! Shaving has got to be one of the most annoying things to do as a female- we have to shave our legs, armpits, bikini, and thighs [YES! I get hair on my thighs]. Shaving takes forever for me in shower. Sure, there are other way of getting rid of all this unwanted hair, but waxing hurts! And using those creams, too tedious.

i have, however, found a way that makes shaving, well, easier and faster. I came across this method after my senior year of high school. I was getting ready to go meet a boy :) - pressed for times in the shower, I just started stroking the brush up AND down and within a few seconds, I was done!

This is how I did it:
Begin by stroking the razor up you leg as you would, conventionally, then, without lifting the razor off your skin, stroke it right back down, releasing the hairs you just shaved off.
Do this on the your whole leg without lifting the razor until you're finished- you can go as fast as you like.

This method works so fast because the hair never get stuck between the razor therefore eliminating the time spent washing the hairs out! It's faster, easier, and the best part is I don't burn anymore. You can do  this with any razor, but I'd recommend using one that has those massaging cushions around the blades, like Gillete.

Try it!

Cleaning the Bathtub is NOT fun.

I know they have all these new products that supposedly do the work for you, but really?? Were they serious with those things??? I used the scrubbing bubbles automatic shower cleaner for two years, and I was still scrubbing my shower every week. I don't know why I kept buying it, but I guess I was on auto too.

Being a new mom, and a nursing mom at that, I hardly EVER have time to clean. I stumbled on an easier way to clean my bath tub when my baby girl was about 3 weeks old. I drew a bath that I never got to take, forgot all about it overnight and the next morning, when I let the water out, my bath tub was sparkling clean!I had just cleaned bath tub by doing virtually nothing.

My days of bending over the tub to scrub away dirt mildew were over. This works with any kind of soap! I usually use a cap full of our laundry detergent and soak the tub overnight. The next morning I quickly run through the tub and tiles with our extendable car washing brush, while draining the water. It literally takes me 3 minutes to clean our tub! If you need to, add a little bleach and you're good to go.

Try it!

day four of LOVEeasy

Menu du Jour:

1. Ginger shot [elixir]
2. Lemonade [alkaline water, lemon, lime, ginger, agave, Himalayan salt]
3. Master Tonic
4. Veggie Vibe
5. Coconut Water
* Alkaline water - with meals [my new best friend]

I LOVE GINGER! I put ginger in EVERYTHING I make, so today, I was very happy. The elixir was delicious, and their lemonade is my absolute favorite drink [it has ginger, YAY!]. I think my stomach is getting smaller by the day because, as you guys may have noticed, I'm drinking less and less each day. This is great because when I resume with solids, it will help me with portion control.

I have yet to experience a major energy boost, but then again I wasn't really low on energy prior to this cleanse. I have been drinking these juices for a several months now, so it could just be that my body is energized to the max. Who knows?! All I'm sure of, is that I feel great!

day three of LOVEeasy

Menu du Jour:

1. Chlorophyll shot
2. Orange Juice
3. Young Love [cucumber, celery, spinach- yummy!]
4. Master Tonic [alkaline water, lemon, yacon syrup, Cayenne]
5. Veggie Vibe
6.Coconut Water
* Alkaline water - with meals [my new best friend]

Today was fairly smooth. I'm getting used to not having regular meals. After the chlorophyll elixir and OJ, I didn't go to the bathroom like the first two days. I obviously have nothing in my stomach so that's great. The Organic Avenue website states doing three days for their cleanses is viable. They suggest five, but three days is okay. I figure it's because that's all it takes. I mean I didn't eliminate today. I had a lot of gas, as I should with all these natural laxatives, but had nothing to else to get out. I will continue to do the five days, but the next cleanse I do, will be just three days.

day two of LOVEeasy

Menu du Jour:

1. Chlorophyll shot
2. Pear Juice
3. Veggie Vibrance
4. Cucumber Basil Soup
5. Creamy Dandelion
6.Green Mylk
* Alkaline water - with meals [my new best friend]

This morning I woke up pretty hungry around 11am. I downed a 32-oz bottle of Alkaline water first. Then I had my chlorophyll shot and 16-oz pear juice. That held me over until 5pm [the water helped a lot!]. I had The veggie vibe for lunch with about half a bottle of Alkaline water.

For dinner [around 8:30pm], I tried the cucumber basil soup for the first time. I don't want to say that I didn't like it because there was something there that I really liked. It has, coconut water, coconut meat, cucumber, avocado, basil, garlic, and Himalayan salt. The cucumber and basil immediately jump out screaming at you, duh!. I generally like those two ingredients, so I kept drinking. The coconut water was the next flavor I noticed. Organic Avenue uses Thai coconuts; the taste is significantly different from our coconuts in Ghana [which I love]. The Thai coconut water is too sweet for my liking. Although, it has plentiful benefits such as, 'carrying nutrients and oxygen to cells, raising your metabolism, promoting weight loss, boosting your immune system, detoxifying and fight viruses, cleansing your digestive tract, controlling diabetes, aiding your body in fighting viruses that cause the flu, herpes, and AIDS, and even balances your PH and reduces risk of cancer' [LINK Organic Avenue]. I attempted to finish the soup, but just couldn't do it. I got through to about half the bottle which is 8 oz.
The creamy dandelion wasn't as creamy as supposed. It contains, kale, dandelion, pine nuts, garlic, daikon, miso (soy bean paste, sweet rice), sesame oil, jalapeno, cilantro, dill, hemp seed, raisins, parsley, lemon, ginger, Himalayan Salt, and pepper. It was very flavorful; I loved it! Just not that creamy! Just like day one, I wasn't hungry enough to drink the green mylk, like the coconut mylk.

I like this cleanse very much. I have done some pill cleanses in the past and although they did clean out my system, they were not effective because while I was cleansing, I HAD to eat! Can't survive on just pills everyday. I was polluting my system with the crap I was cleansing to eliminate. I've also attempted the 10-day master cleanse TWICE and was impossible to get past day one! I had hunger pains, my mood swings were out of control, and I just couldn't handle it. This cleanse, however, has substance; it has variety, and most importantly, tastes great! I'm satisfied and make no sacrifices.

Sure, I get hungry. I'm getting cravings for things I don't even eat regularly [thanks to all the food commercials on T.V.]. All I do, is look at Jewel, and I'm reminded of why I started this cleanse. She was my ultimate inspiration. She reaps the benefits through my breast milk, therefore, a healthy life for me, means an even healthier life for her.

day one of LOVEeasy

Since loosing weight is not a primary goal on mine, I will not to weighing myself through this cleanse.
Here is the menu du jour:

1. Chlorophyll shot
2. Pear Juice
3. Veggie Vibrance
4. Sunflower Falafel w/ Tahini dressing
5. Sunflower Sprout Salad
6.Chocolate Mousse
7.Coconut Mylk
* Alkaline water - with meals

I started my morning with a 1-oz chlorophyll shot and a 16-oz pear juice at 10am. The chlorophyll shot was intense but quick and painless, and the taste quickly dissipated after I washed it down with alkaline water. Pear is my favorite fruit so the pear juice was amazing, pure and refreshing! I was satisfied with that for about 3 and a half hours.

For lunch, around 1:45pm, I had a 16-oz veggie vibrance juice with the falafel salad. The veggie vibe contains, carrot, cucumber, beet, celery, chard, spinach, ginger, parsley, and lemon. The beet and chard were the dominating flavors, in my opinion; takes some getting used to but was not bad tasting at all. The falafel salad was not what I was expecting at all. I had never had a falafel until today. It was really flavorful, even better with the Tahini dressing. Its contents include, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, almonds, olive oil, garlic, shallot, scallion, paprika, lemon, parsley, coriander, Himalayan salt, cayenne pepper, cumin, and black pepper.

Lunch kept me full for quite some time. I did not eat dinner until 7pm. I had the sunflower sprout salad. In it, we have, sunflower sprout of course, pine nuts, sesame seed, bell pepper, garlic, scallion, flax seed oil, lemon, Himalayan salt, pepper, and lecithin. It has a lot of flavor, which, again, was not expected. It was very well balanced and filled me up!

I did not eat the dessert, which was chocolate mousse [yum :)], until an hour after I have dinner. The ingredients include, alkaline water, almonds, coconut butter, cacao, dates, vanilla, Irish moss, soy lecithin, cacao nibs, and Himalayan salt. Now I'm not the biggest fan of chocolate, but this was amazing. The taste was real, pure, so innocent like the original cocoa seeds I grew up eating in Ghana. I loved it!

I feel great and eliminated 2 twice :p

my new year's resolution for 2011

I came up with my resolution just a couple of days ago. I know it's after the new year, but I figure as long as it's within the first month, you're good :). I've decided to cut out as much processed foods as I possibly can from my diet. A lot people wonder why they get so sick so often, not realizing that it's because we fill our bodies with artificial crap that were never meant to be there.

Most factory-produced foods have synthetic additives that do more harm than gunshots! It's not like we don't know there chemicals such as sodium nitrate, saccharin, olestra, etc. in the things we eat. We know all this because it says it right on the box. All these chemicals and food dyes are especially dangerous because everyone is led to believe that they're safe. They weaken our immune systems overtime and slowly deteriorate our organs. This makes us more susceptible to all sorts of diseases, hence the necessity for yearly flu shots and periodical vaccinations [which reminds me, I just found out that they have now combined the H1N1 with the regular flu shot into one injection, so now you must get the H1N1- which is a whole other topic, but just thought you guys would like to know]. Boy, I can go on for pages about nutrition, but let's get back to the topic at hand.

So, to kick off my organic diet, I will first be cleansing my system. For the next five days,

I will be on an a raw food and all-plant-based juice cleanse from Organic Avenue . This cleanse is called the LOVEeasy.

Organic Avenue is an NYC-based organic food and juice company that started in 2000. They produce a Live, Organic, Vegan, Experience- their famous L.O.V.E* signature. They currently have 3 stores in NYC and deliver to the tristate area. See their website for delivery zones and charges.

Their juices are cold-pressed and somewhat of an acquired taste. I know I had to get used to it. Their cleanses and products are also quite pricey, but the benefits far surpass the price you pay in value. I have grown to LOVE their juices! Even the one ones that I could barely smell, when I was first introduced to. They also have transition  plans for those who may not have the stomach to dive into their intense cleanses.

I will let you guys know how it goes!

New Year, new you? Really?!

Each new year, brings new goals and aspirations to many of you. Hence new year resolutions. My theory for the reason people wait for the start of a new year to make their lives better, is because it's much easier and a heck of a lot more accurate to measure your progress. This may well be far off, but it makes sense.

Ever since I was old enough to understand new year's resolutions, I have made and stuck to each and everyone of my resolutions! It started with 2004. At the turn of the new year, I vowed to pursue someone I had been crushing on for over a year. We'll call him Ronald. Bear in mind, I was in high school :p. My resolution that year was to get over my extremely shy self and work up the nerve to talk to him, before the year's end. Well, ladies and gentleman, I did just that! By June of that year, I had not only talked to him, but we began having regular phone conversations. This raised my very bruised self-confidence way up!

The start of 2005 speared the declaration of my independence. I went off to college and achieved financial sovereignty from my parents by the end of that year. It was the scariest and boldest move I'd ever made but the best one, nonetheless. 2006 was the year I cut out fast food; 2007 was our official engagement year. For 2008, I was determined to live in another NYC borough. I grew up in the Bronx and wanted a bit more culture, and I did. We moved to Astoria, Queens for about 7 months! In 2009, I vowed to finish school, also accomplished! My resolution for 2010 was to be the best mother I could be to my daughter, who was born later in the year.

So yeah, I agree, new year, new me! I've done more growing up in the last seven years than I think I'll ever do. This is my measure of success. What's yours?

Happy New Year everyone!