Hello 2015!

For so long I've planned and planned for the future. It all started to finally come together because 2014 was full of amazing surprises and milestones. If you follow me on Instagram or any of my other social media outlets, you've seen some of the awesome blessing that took place:

• We moved from our lovely 2 bedroom, 1 bath apartment of 4 years to a beautiful 3 bedroom, 2 bath condo.

 

• I went on a mini vaca with Lil Sis to LA....KID FREE

 

• JAM completed his first communion
• I said goodbye to Sue, my 1995 rust bucket Ford Explorer that transported us to this lovely city.
• I landed a new job!
• Mahal bought me a brand new car (Hello Kona!)
• We also celebrated 9 years of chaotic bliss

 

• I rode with JAM on his first "big kid" roller coaster (He couldn't get enough just like his mama)
•  JAM finally learned how to ride a two-wheeler
• Mahal surprised us with tickets to our first WWE Raw event! (I think I was fan-girling more than JAM hehe)

 

• JAM got his birthday wish and saw Jabbawockeez live at the Luxor.

 

• I GRADUATED COLLEGE!

After so many years of busting our butts, it felt nice for it all to fall into place a little. 2014 ended so beautifully and I can't wait to see what all these new beginnings develop into as we head into 2015! Happy new year!

What was the best part of your 2014?

Graduation Day!

Photo credit: Tonnya Norbury Photography

Today, I graduate from college! A lot has taken place in these short 26 years of my life, and if you are reading this it’s because you have played a significant role somewhere along the way, if not throughout the whole process. Without you, I probably wouldn’t have been able to walk across this stage. I bet most of you don’t even know how much of an impact you made throughout the years. You taught me how to work hard, you taught me how to say focused, and you taught me that nothing is ever handed to you. My mom and dad divorcing provided some struggles throughout my childhood years, but thanks to the amazing support of my friends, family, and the courage of my strong-willed single mother, I was able to make it through.

At the age of 17, I found out that I was expecting my first child, which started my adulthood chapter off with a bang. Many turned their back on me, many judged, and many even said I’d amount to nothing. My high school counselor didn’t even take me seriously when I met with him to figure out my college plans. However, you all still stuck by my side. My 18^th birthday party/ baby shower was definitely awkward for many that attended, including myself, but you still came. You supported me and reminded me that I was never alone. That day I promised that I will continue to reach for the stars and I did. Finally, all of my hard work paid off.

With your help and support, I graduated from high school and now I can proudly say that I am a college graduate as well. There were a lot of twists and turns along the way. I moved to a whole other state, I changed majors, and I even switched to a more expensive private school. It was scary and there were a lot of unknowns but thanks to your encouraging words and the grace of God I stand here in front of you tall and proud. I have officially earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Technical Management with a specialization in Business Information Systems from DeVry University. To some it’s just a piece of paper, but for me I’ve invested my blood, sweat and tears into my education. Not only did I show myself that I can do it, but I confidently know can provide an even better future for my family. From the bottom of my heart I thank you all. Thank you for being amazing role models. Thank you for being my shoulder to cry on and for letting me talk your ear off. Thank you for your guidance. Thank you for pushing me. Thank you for being my cheerleader. I can’t wait to see what this next chapter in my life holds. I FINALLY DID IT!!

Campus Childcare

I put off going to college for 2 years after graduating high school mainly because JAM was still a baby. Once we moved to Las Vegas, everything kind of fell into place where it allowed me to finally enroll in school. However, the only issue I had left was who was going to watch JAM? I had 3 family members that lived in Las Vegas as well, but they all worked or had kids of their own to juggle. I personally just didn't want to put him in a daycare or have a stranger babysit him where he'd just stay there and play all afternoon. That's when my cousin recommended a early childhood development center that her daughter was in. They offered a flexible schedule where I can pick him up and drop him off basically whenever I needed to, the kids learned through play but they had a structured curriculum and set of activities, which I loved, and the steps they took with security were great (cameras, locked doors with a pin code, etc.). JAM was so excited to go to school with his cousin so we signed him up and off to school the both of us went!

Initially this school was great. They had a window where I could peek into his classroom so once in awhile that's exactly what I'd do. There were quite a few kids in his class but they had 4 teachers in there to adjust to the ratio. If I didn't want to peek through the window I had the option to check out each classroom from the TV security screens they had in the lobby or I could just go into his class and join in on the fun. They helped with his potty training while he was there and they fed him lunch as well. Then after about a year of being there Mahal and I started to notice a few little things here and there. The main teacher would get a little too aggressive for my liking. She'd raised her voice or grab the kid's arm a little to tight if they were in trouble. Mahal noticed that the same teacher would use the same Kleenex to wipe all of the children's nose if it was runny (eww!). I popped in to have lunch with JAM one day so I was able to attend his "recess" and noticed that the play area was super small and the equipment they were playing on was not suitable for kids JAM's age. He'd sit on the slide and his feet were already on the bottom! I was told they provided snack and lunch. All they ate was fruit and those big bags of generic cereal! JAM even told me they wouldn't give him a drink unless he finished all of his snack as sometimes he didn't like the sour pineapple they fed him so he didn't get a drink. So, I asked if I could just pack him snack and lunch and opted to do that instead. I expressed my concerns to the staff up front, but I gradually started hunting for a new place to put JAM in.

Yea, he didn't like this snack very much (and he's not a picky eater).

I always saw the childcare at my college campus when I exited, but never gave it a second thought since #1 it said childcare (in my head childcare=daycare) and #2 it was a trailer looking establishment. Coming from Chicago, it's not as common to have classes in a portable trailer as it is in the West coast. I was desperate to find a new place for JAM so I went in to inquire about their program. The secretary up front was super nice, the prices were almost half of what I was paying at JAM's current developmental center, and the trailer was A LOT bigger than I thought inside. They had 2 classrooms: one for 2-3 year old and one for basically the 4-5 year olds until the 5 year olds transition into Kindergarten. I met the teacher that ran the class for 3 year olds and she explained the same thing as the last place: the kids learn through play, we have a very structured curriculum, blah blah blah. I expressed my concerns from the last location and she assured me that it wouldn't happen. It was really convenient to have JAM on campus and the childcare already looked better than his current location with what they had to offer so I signed him up.

Fast forward to when JAM had to finally leave the campus childcare for elementary school. Let me tell you, enrolling JAM in the campus childcare was probably the best decision I made for him.

• They limit the number of kids they take in and have a waiting list for those who want to enroll but can't at the moment. This helped keep the class number sizes reasonable instead of chaotic.
• The teachers are so kind and hands on and they truly care about the kids.
• They do have structured activities so the kids are actually learning something and not just playing.
• They're very big on sanitation.
• They're play area is HUGE in the back and they give so many options for the kids to play.
• When it was time for JAM to switch to the 4/5 classroom they informed me that he was ready and they let him visit the new room every day until it was time to fully switch to help make the transition less scary.
• They communicated anything and everything. If it was a little scratch that they had to tend to they'd write a note for me to sign and verify that I was aware of what happened, and if he bumped his head while playing or something I'd get a phone call in addition to the note.
• They made me feel so welcomed when I wanted to drop in. I even joined in on nap time between classes (whoops! haha).
• They held many events where families could attend.
• They had guest speaker come to introduce the kids to a variety of things (teeth brushing, careers, etc.)
• They'd visit the campus garden to help plant things or take "field trips" to the library and fire station on campus (I even had tons of fun visiting the fire station hehe).
• Most of the teachers had a teaching degree or were students from the college earning a teaching degree so they'd bring a lot of fresh, new ideas to do with the kids.

The list goes on and on but moral of the story, don't count your campus childcare out! They even accept the public at very reasonable prices. Anytime I had any questions or concerns, his teachers took the time to address it. They also held parent/teacher conferences to show JAM's progress. Basically, I was ALWAYS in the loop. The staff became family to us and we still make an effort to visit anytime we're on that side of town. Anything I did at home they reinforced at school. I told them what he was required to know to start Kindergarten and they worked that into his daily schedule so that he'd be ready. They also talked to him about what to expect when going to Kindergarten so again, it would be an easier transition. Granted that I was doing a lot with JAM at home, but by the time JAM "graduated" from the campus childcare he learned how to cope with his feelings and emotions instead of acting out, he learned how to share (which was hard for this only child of mine), he knew all his colors, he could count to 20, he knew the alphabet, he could write his own name, and when it came time to do his Kindergarten assessment he passed with flying colors.These guys were all around awesome and JAM made tons of friends that he continues to keep in contact with even though he's in 1st grade now. Now Mahal's sister is ready to take the same steps with her daughter. She's a college student like me and had the same concerns. I told her to definitely shop around. Look into local early childhood developmental centers, check out if the local elementary school has a preschool, don't count out your campus childcare, take tours, ask questions, observe, and choose which on is the best for you.

What is your criteria for choosing the right childcare for your children?

Fresh Start

I've been keeping things a little hush hush about new things that have been going on with Mahal and I because I was afraid to hear people's criticism and comments about it all. Now that everything is starting to unfold for the better I'm excited to share our "fresh start" moments. Due to certain financial circumstances, we usually buy our cars used through private owners. This is helpful since we never have a car note but of course the unknown about the car is always there. So, we usually end up fixing the cars we buy. I think since my grandparents gave me my first car when JAM was born in 2006 we haven't gone a year without fixing SOMETHING on one of our cars. With JAM's busy schedule and my school schedule, Mahal and I decided to buy a second car in February 2012 because sharing a car amongst the three of us started to become a hassle. We bought it from a local used car dealership this time around, but the car would be bought as is. Go figure not even 2 months later the issues began. We came to find out that there was multiple things that needed to be replaced including a new transmission. Lovely. Because of all the work that needed to be done we decided to baby the car as much as we could until Mahal got his income tax refund to fix the car. We started off the new year by finally fixing my car and we couldn't be happier. We had enough money to  buy a new bed too after sleeping on a 10 year old bed that caused so many back pain these last couple years. Things were slowly falling into place but there were a couple things that were still bothering us: work and school.

My baby, Emerald :)

Mahal is one of the most hardworking and dedicated people I know. Since finding a job locally in 2010, he has given the company 110%. Everyone around him thought that he deserved a raise to become full time, but certain circumstances on corporate's end prevented that from happening. He tried to be understanding since he hasn't been with the company for that long, but it became hard watching other co-workers get promoted when Mahal was putting in more work and effort than they were. Although the financial stability was great to have if he got promoted to full-time, that wasn't the thing we wanted the most. We were more concerned about him getting paid vacation time off. The company he works for is only closed on Sundays so unless his one off day a week is scheduled on a Saturday or unless there was a holiday that fell on a Monday, we would never be able to even take a weekend vacation somewhere because that's one less day Mahal didn't get paid and every paycheck counts nowadays. We haven't gotten the opportunity to visit Chicago since 2009 because of it and it's something we've been wanting to do. There was talk amongst the managers that he might get a promotion this summer, but there's always secret talk about Mahal getting promoted and I know he gets bummed when it never happens. I guess someone finally listened because Mahal just got promoted! I'm so proud of him and so excited because I know that it's something that he's been wanting for awhile. Now let's see if we can finally book this trip to Chicago so we can show JAM his hometown!

As far as my school progress has been going, a lot has changed. For those of you who didn't know, the medical field has always been a field I knew I wanted to work in since I was about 10 years old. I always dreamed about being a cardiothoracic surgeon, but once I graduated from high school I realized how expensive med school was, how long it was going to take, plus I gave birth to JAM. All those factors weren't what I was looking for so I found the next best thing, becoming a nurse practitioner. The first step to achieve that was to become a nurse so since moving to Las Vegas in 2008 that is what I've been pursuing. I was already knocking at the door of the nursing program when I realized that becoming an RN wasn't for me. Along with many other factors, I realized that I liked teaching the material, organizing study groups, creating projects about the material, etc. I honestly wasn't sure what else was out there for me because medicine was always in my face. I did some research and stumbled upon a business degree. It was something I never really explored, but my little sister was always amazed with this field. I looked into the different degrees and there was only ONE school in Las Vegas that offered the degree I was interested in. I set up a college visit and this school is AWESOME. The staff is soooo helpful and you can tell that they'll do whatever it takes to help you succeed in your desired field. They are a private school so the tuition was A LOT more expensive than what I was used to and the school runs a little differently that what I have been accustomed to, but it all looks like a great fit for me. I signed up for classes and just attended the school orientation this past weekend, and I'm so excited to have a fresh start at my new university! I admit, I'm honestly a little scared. I never thought I'd be the college student who'd change their major like a lot of classmates I know, but I'd rather change my major now than continue to do my first pick which I started to dread. My first day of class is a week from today and I can't wait to see where it takes me! You're looking at a student who is currently pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Technical Management with a specialization in Business Information Systems.

Change is always a scary thing, but sometimes it's something that is very necessary. I'm so happy that things are working out for us and that we're staying focused on the path we know we want to take. 2013 is looking so positive so I hope that it continues throughout the rest of the year. I can't wait to see where else this new year is planning on taking us. There's nothing like a fresh start to change the mood of things for the better.

How has your 2013 been going so far?