Chelle Ramsey's Blog, page 55

MONDAY MOTIVATIONAL MOMENT_RESPONSIBILITY

HEALTHY THINKING:

“Accept responsibility for your life. Know that it is you who will get you where you want to go, no one else.” – Les Brown

Oftentimes in life we point the finger and blame others for our failure to accomplish our goals. We have pity parties over our life circumstances, as though there is nothing we can do to change it. Regardless to what situation we encounter in life, we have to take on a certain amount of responsibility for getting there, and another portion for changing the circumstance.

Putting in the hard work is a requirement to success. No one is going to knock at your door and hand it to you. You must educate yourself on all areas that you are striving to excel in. Gaining an understanding of what is necessary to be done, and then putting in the work will take you a long way towards accomplishing your goals. Just do the work, one day at a time, one step at a time.

HEALTHY EATING:

Apricot-Nut Turkey-Salad Sandwiches
1 1/2 cups shredded cooked turkey or chicken breast (about 6 ounces) 1/4 cup thinly sliced celery 1/4 cup light mayonnaise 2 tablespoons chopped unsalted cashews 2 tablespoons chopped dried apricots 2 tablespoons chopped green onions 2 tablespoons raisins 2 tablespoons plain low-fat yogurt 1/8 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon black pepper 4 leaf lettuce leaves 8 (1-ounce) slices pumpernickel bread
Preparation:
Combine first 10 ingredients in a bowl. Place a lettuce leaf on each of 4 bread slices. Spread  1/2 cup turkey salad over lettuce; top with remaining bread slices. 
This recipe can be found on My Recipes. 

FASHION FRIDAY_THE PONCHO GIRL!

I'm celebrating Fashion Friday with a look at Ponchos! My girl Sonya` Phearz, as I call her, also known as The Poncho Girl, designs one-of-a kind ponchos. Spring is here and what better way than to add a little color to your day.

The best part about her designs is that you will not find another one just like yours. She makes no two alike, because they are hand designed. Check 'em out!Take a peek »

OPEN THE ENVELOPE_YOUR PERSONAL INVITATION

Characters talk to us quite often, jockeying for position in our heads to have their stories told. They pull and tug at our hearts until we get it just right on paper. They leave us with missed meals, sacrificed time with families, and many sleepless nights. But finally after months and months of carrying them around, and putting forth the labor, we birth our babies and we're ready to show them to the world. What happens next? It's time to put in the hard work...or shall I say, increasing the hard work. Because raising reader awareness begins long before the story is complete.

We meet and greet our readers on social media, radio and TV shows, libraries, bookstores, and in the elevators. Wherever we are we're talking about our babies as though they are the most beautiful and precious babies in the world. And to us they are. We want you to be inspired, entertained, moved, and fall in love with our babies the same way we have fallen in love with our precious ones. And yes, I am talking about our books...they are an extension of our families to a certain extent. (My husband would be looking at me like I was crazy if I said that to him). LOL!

So with all that I have said, I would like to invite you to a celebration of my baby. Here is your personal invitation to join me on Facebook for a chat with Tyora Moody, on my latest novel, BeJeweled: The Flight of an Angel. I want you, yes YOU, to click the link below and sign up to join me. Even for my shy friends, you can hang around and read comments and just click like if you want to. But I would love to have you there.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1404954466434448/?notif_t=plan_user_joined


If you enjoyed this post, I encourage you to share it with others by clicking the social media icon below. Thanks for dropping in and as always please leave a comment, because I just love chatting with you. You can link up with me online using the icons above.

Come check out my books, and learn more about the woman behind the blog at my website www.cmichelleramsey.com . Until the next time I'm just...
Writing My Dreamsby: Chelle Ramsey www.cmichelleramsey.com

WRITER WEDNESDAY_A LITTLE GOSSIP WITH YOUR DO?

 On today's Writer Wednesday I wanted to give you a peek into the beauty salon world at The House of BeJeweled. There's always something stirring up while the scissors are clipping, the combs are styling, and the dryers are humming.

On today's excerpt, Belinda, part of the dynamic duo gossip team known as B.A.D. shares a story, which has the other ladies in tears. But fellow stylist, Angel's personal life may just give the women something else to gossip about.  
Take a peek »

TALK ABOUT IT TUESDAY

This journey to becoming an author has been an interesting one. I would venture to say it has been like nothing else in my life. It is a labor of love and a passion that compels me to strive for excellence. However, as with anything we have to learn, we have to make our failures, and we have to dust ourselves off and try again.
 
The first two books that were published, my husband and I went with a small publishing company. How quickly disappointed we were to learn they would do nothing for us, except make the eBooks available on various sites. 
 
After talking with a few authors including, Chicki Brown, I soon learned that the services the company was providing, I could do myself. So off I set on my newest venture of becoming a published indie author. With little knowledge of the industry and equipped only with my gift of writing, I was ecstatic. I am always seeking to gain knowledge and always looking to improve, because as my husband says, "there's always room for improvement."
 
So here we were with a third novel, and this time we had it professionally edited...so we were growing in knowledge (still so much to learn). I was tweeting, googling, Facebooking, and doing everything else I could think to do, to improve my online social presence. I even hosted a FaceBook launch party.
 
On to my fourth book (the first in the series), and I'm still learning and growing, and pushing my little boundaries. This time around I had a small group of Beta readers, I integrated their feedback, did my own round of self-editing, and off to the editor's hands it went. While I waited on her, I was working with a book designer. This was another new change we implemented. No more doing our own book covers, we selected a professional book cover designer. We were pleased with the finished product as were the people, according to feedback on social media.
 
The next large change we are making this time is employing the assistance of Tywebbin Creations', Tyora Moody, to get us organized, focused, and ready to launch. Within collaborating with her, we were able to realize another dream, one that I will be announcing soon...but not quite yet. Yeah, I know, I know...I'm so wrong for that. But I promise to reveal it in time if you stay tuned.
 
I have been working for some time now on combining my website and my blog into one convenient site for all. I would love to invite you to check out my website, if you have not done so before now. Take a look around and become acquainted, because that's where Writing My Dreams plans to call home in the near future. It's still under construction now, and the changes that are coming are not visible to the public just yet. But it's my hope that you are in it with me for the long haul, and will follow me as I transition. All of you have been wonderful and such a blessing to me on this journey, and I want to continue it with you as I keep writing my dreams.
 
This entire venture is a brand new experience for us, but one we look forward to embarking on. Once again, we're ready, set and prepared to learn, grow, and stretch as much as we can and see where this journey leads us.

If you enjoyed this post, I encourage you to share it with others by clicking the social media icon below. Thanks for dropping in and as always please leave a comment, because I just love chatting with you. You can link up with me online using the icons above.

Come check out my books, and learn more about the woman behind the blog at my website www.cmichelleramsey.com . Until the next time I'm just...
Writing My Dreams,by: Chelle Ramsey www.cmichelleramsey.com

MOTIVATIONAL MONDAY MOMENT_WHAT ARE YOUR WORDS SAYING ABOUT YOU?

HEALTHY THINKING

Impatient, emotional,  controlling, hyper, unfocused...these are words that I have used to describe myself in the past. I recently had a conversation with the mother of one of my daughter's friends. As we were talking, I was explaining how my daughter could be emotional and if she felt offended sometimes she has a tendency to let you know how she feels (like her mother). She stopped me in my tracks and told me something that I have always known, but failed to apply.

She explained to me that I should stop speaking those negative words over myself and over my daughter's life. She told me to begin speaking positive words that define us. In other words call those things into existence that were not, as though they were. She pointed out how I needed to focus on the positive aspects of our personalities, rather than getting on myself and my daughter for the not so positive attributes.

This is something that I have always heard in the church, but I failed to apply it. We both began to focus on the positive attributes of my daughter. Then I began to speak the positive attributes of all the negative connotations I had placed on my daughter and myself. As the days have gone by, I have seen the change in both of us. I have begun to feel different about how I see us, and what I will accept. My thought pattern is changing and I am feeling more joy and peace.

This positive mindset and embracing the things that God says about us, rather than what the world says, does not happen overnight. However, as with anything, continual practice, and learning to align my thinking with what the word of God says, I know that He will continue to manifest those changes in both of us. (I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.) Psalm 139:14.

I know that He will continue to turn our hearts more like His daily. The more that I speak over my life what His word says about me, the more that I know it to be true, the more that I believe it to be true, the more I am that person.

What pit have you fallen into? Do you find yourself falling into despair or hopelessness? Do you wonder why you keep going in the same life circles and never growing? Analyze your thought process...maybe it's filled with negative energy. The words that you speak over your life will manifest. What will you allow your words to say about you?

HEALTHY EATING:
SLOPPY JOES IN SOFT CORN TORTILLAS

4 White Corn Tortillas
1 Pound of Ground Beef or Ground Turkey
1 Can Sloppy Joe Sauce (such as Hunt's) or 1 Package Sloppy Joe
1 Cup Shredded Sharp Cheddar

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Wrap all the tortillas lightly together in foil and place in oven for 5 minutes. In a medium skillet, brown ground beef or turkey. Add the sloppy-joe sauce (or seasoning, tomato paste, and water according to the label directions). Place 1 tortilla on each plate. Spoon the sloppy-joe mixture evenly onto each tortilla. Divide the cheddar evenly among the tortillas and fold them over. Serve with a green salad.

This recipe can be found on My Recipes.

If you enjoyed this post, I encourage you to share it with others by clicking the social media icon below. Thanks for dropping in and as always please leave a comment, because I just love chatting with you. You can link up with me online using the icons above.

Come check out my books, and learn more about the woman behind the blog at my website www.cmichelleramsey.com . Until the next time I'm just...
Writing My Dreams, by: Chelle Ramsey
www.cmichelleramsey.com

AUTHOR CRYSTAL MARABLE ON BOOK TOUR

Graceful Gabby Finds Love in Blue



About the BookGraceful Gabby is excited about her new room, but she's disappointed that everything in her new room is not "pinky" perfect. Come along with Graceful Gabby as she learns about the Fruit of the Spirit. With the help of her Grand Ma-Ma, Graceful Gabby learns to recognize and share the special gift of love with others and to appreciate the love of family.
 
About the Author
Crystal Marable has had a love for writing since she was a young teenager writing poetry and keeping a daily journal. She also has a heart and a desire to encourage and motivate girls to succeed in their lives. She encourages the development of positive thinking, positive knowing and positive doing. Crystal created the Graceful Girlz children's book series to inspire our next generation of girls to develop in integrity, character and self-esteem. Also, to teach Christian values that will last a lifetime and inspire them to live as girls of grace, continually growing into graceful young ladies. It is her vision that these books will inspire our girls to display in their own lives, as well as share with others, the Fruit of the Spirit that God gives us: love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, patience, goodness, faithfulness and self-control; changing the world by celebrating the gifts within.
Purchase the Book Online at:
Amazon.com
BarnesandNoble.com
Visit the author online at:
http://gracefulgirlz.com
View the blog tour schedule at: http://tywebbinvirtualevents.com/PZFpn

THROWBACK THURSDAY_2003

It's another throwback Thursday and we're rewinding the clock to 2003! It was another great year of music and fun.

Here's what was happening in 2003 in the U.S.

WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS: FLORIDA MARLINS

SUPERBOWL XXXVII CHAMPIONS: TAMPA BAY BUCANEERS

NBA CHAMPIONS: SAN ANTONIO SPURS


TOP 10 MOVIES OF THE YEAR:

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2. Finding Nemo3. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl4. The Matrix Reloaded5. Bruce Almighty6. X2: X-Men United7. Elf8. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines9. The Matrix Revolutions10. Cheaper By The Dozen
TOP 12 SONGS OF THE YEAR BY MONTH:
Lose Yourself - Eminem Bump, Bump, Bump - B2K featuring P. Diddy All I Have - Jennifer Lopez featuring L.L. Cool J In Da Club - 50 Cent Get Busy - Sean Paul 21 Questions - 50 Cent featuring Nate Dogg This Is The Night - Clay Aiken Crazy In Love - Beyonce featuring Jay-Z Shake Ya Tailfeather - Nelly/P. Diddy/Murphy Lee Baby Boy - Beyonce featuring Sean Paul Stand Up - Ludacris featuring Shawnna Hey Ya!- OutKast MOST HAPPENING NEWS OF 2003?

I said "I do," to the most fabulous man in the entire world and changed my last name to Mrs. Marvin Ramsey, Sr.
 

WRITER WEDNESDAY_MOTHERLY LOVE

Happy Writer's Wednesday everyone! I finished the edits on BeJeweled this weekend and submitted it for processing. I am so excited about this novel, as it is the first series that I have ever written. BeJeweled: The Flight of an Angel is the first book in this series.

THE HOUSE OF BEJEWELED– the place all divas go in the ATL for the hottest hair styles and even hotter gossip.  
OLIVIA – the owner of The House of BeJeweled hair and nail salon faces the challenge of inspiring the clientele while helping her team of talented stylists pick up the pieces of their broken lives. Paired with their constant drama, she must now fight to keep her heart protected from the one man who has always laid claim to it.

ANGEL – has put up with a lot from the man she loves.  Is his latest betrayal the last straw or can love conquer all? Beware the rage of a woman scorned.


Stop by for a visit and get your hair cut or colored at BeJeweled, where the scissors are sharp, but the tongues are sharper.

EXCERPT:

The door chimes rang out at The House of BeJeweled Salon, also simply known as BeJeweled. In walked a thick, mahogany colored woman of about 5’3”. Wearing a blue and white nylon jogging suit, and matching gym shoes, she appeared to be upset, if the scowl appearing on her face and tight frown lines around her mouth were any indicator.
Stopping momentarily to speak to Maya, the receptionist, the lady informed her that she was there to speak to one of BeJeweled’s top stylists, Kianna, and would keep it brief. The receptionist waved her on towards the hair section of the salon.
“Kianna, you got a minute?” the woman asked, hands in the pockets of her sweats, glaring at her former stylist.
“I’m with a client right now, Danielle. But if you want you can schedule an appointment at the reception desk.”
“I’m not here for an appointment. I need to talk to you.”
“Well, I’m kinda busy right now. Can you come back in about a couple of hours?” Kianna asked, waving her hands at her client’s head indicating she was in the middle of something.
“Uh-uh. I’ma say what I gotta say and then I’ll be out. Look, stay away from Tyrique,” Danielle commanded.
At 5’6, Kianna had the body of a video vixen, from her small waistline to her curvaceous hips. She was a beautiful girl whose 34 F sized breasts and large round behind attracted a lot of male attention, and often had women accusing her of trying to steal their men. Her warm amber skin color began to turn a shade of dark red at this latest accusation.
Kianna sucked her teeth and cocked her head to the side. Almond-shaped eyes the color of black marbles often had mirth playing around in them as a result of her flirtatious nature; but at the moment sparks of anger were shooting from them.
“Come on, boo, get outta here with that,” Kianna replied and twirled her fingers in a circle as she dismissed Danielle’s comments.
“He said you keep calling him, Kianna.”
“I have not called your man, Danielle.” Kianna stopped the sew-in she was doing on her client’s hair. “Look, let me explain something to you; I don’t need or want your man; so you need to go ahead on with that. While you standing up in here sweating me about Tyrique, you should be at home checking him. He’s the one that’s always calling me on my cell—”
“How he get your cell number, Kianna?”
“I don’t know! I guess he got it out your phone. How the hell am I supposed to know? That’s your issue not mine, but you don’t come up in my place of work and start thinking you gon’ check me, cuz your man sweating me!” Kianna had circled around her chair to confront Danielle.
No one had heard the door chiming again announcing the arrival of someone new. Dressed in an ankle length white coat, with a matching white beret on her head, she was always the personification of class. Her honey-colored face flushed with the chill of the late March morning air, and her almond-shaped, light brown eyes blazed with merriment. Taking her beret off her head, she ran her fingers through reddish-brown, curly shoulder-length hair to bring fluff back to it, where it had flattened beneath the beret. Her full plum colored lips pulled back revealing beautiful white teeth, and highlighting her high cheekbones as she shared a smile with everyone.
It took only a moment before she realized there was chaos and confusion in her shop. “Ladies! What is going on here?” came the soft-spoken, but forceful voice of Olivia Morris, the owner of The House of BeJeweled Salon, after clapping her hands to get everyone’s attention.
“What’s going on is Danielle was just leaving!” Kianna answered, never breaking eye-contact with her former client.
“Danielle, is there a problem that I can help you with?” Ms. Olivia turned to the young woman to ask.
Olivia had an innate ability to bring calm into any situation she was a part of. It was her God-given talent, one that she did not take lightly.
Standing between the two women, she felt the anger radiating off them as powerful as the sun’s beams shining down on a hot mid-July day.
“I just needed to speak with Kianna for a moment, Ms. Olivia. I’m not up in here trying to cause problems in your shop. She just better stay away from my man.”
Olivia turned soft, light brown eyes on Kianna willing her stylist to look her in the eye. “Kianna? What’s going on, sweetheart?”
“She’s accusing me of trying to get with her man, Ms. O. I’m not on that. I’m at work and she comes up in here with this drama. If I did call her man, which I didn’t, she don’t need to bring that up in here. She got my number, we can handle this outside the shop. I have a client that I need to be focused on, not her man who can’t seem to keep it in his pants.”
“Alright, that’s enough. I have to tell you both that I’m disappointed. You are two beautiful, strong, black women. I don’t expect you to be in here arguing, much less fighting, over a man. You’re both providing shameful entertainment at this moment.” Olivia’s voice had lowered as she spoke with the two ladies. A low buzz of disappointed, gossiping voices filled the background.
Everyone knew once Olivia stepped into the shop, nothing would come of the altercation between the two ladies.  If you enjoyed this post, I encourage you to share it with others by clicking the social media icon below. Thanks for dropping in and as always please leave a comment, because I just love chatting with you. You can link up with me online using the icons above.

Come check out my books, and learn more about the woman behind the blog at my website www.cmichelleramsey.com . Until the next time I'm just... Writing My Dreamsby: Chelle Ramsey
www.cmichelleramsey.com

BOOK SPOTLIGHT_TEARS FALL AT NIGHT

In the book spotlight today is Tears Fall At Night, Book 1 in the Praise Him Anyhow series by Author Vanessa Miller.

Life was good, God was blessing and the Marshall family was riding high, until Carmella Marshall’s husband, Nelson asks for a divorce and then moves in with his girlfriend—who also happens to be her twenty-three-year-old daughter’s best friend—her son gets arrested, her daughter drops out of college, the bills go unpaid, and then Carmella has a nervous breakdown.

The Marshalls have ups and downs like any other family. However, Carmella always thought that God would see them through anything. But when Nelson left and her life fell apart, she realized just how weak she could become, without the strength of God guiding her way. Through prayer, praise, and a love that bonds families together, Carmella renews her trust in the Lord and discovers a way to turn her life around.

In TEARS FALL AT NIGHT, the Marshalls discover that even when everything goes wrong, they can still lift their hands and praise God anyhow.
Take a peek »