Mimi – Page 30 – Unlikely Martha

Life

Chapter 39

Today is my birthday. My 39th to be exact, the very last one I will ever have in my 30s.

*lets that sink in*

I mean I still remember eating this cookie

No matter how real and unkind life can get, another year of life is the greatest accomplishment. Nothing is promised except birth and death and what we manage to do with the time in between, the dash as they call it, is truly what matters.

Seems like I’ve been in a space of trying to figure out the next steps in my “dash” for a while now and instead of rushing the process I’m learning to sit in it, learn the lessons and work toward my ultimate goals hoping God sees fit to put some of his super on my natural. I’m learning all those things we thought we would have figured out by age so and so was sheer foolishness.

I’m going into 39 doing the rest of the hard work in learning to love and deal with myself, faults and all, telling folks no a little more than the years before, drinking my water, unapologetically telling folks to worry about their gray hair and not mine, minding my business and trying to get that real glow up so I can roll into my 40s fresh faced, gray streaked and free if the good Lord sees fit.

ISSA CELEBRATION!!!!

The turn up commenced at midnight and shall conclude on Sunday at 11:59p.

Catch me in the Instagram streets. Have a great weekend y’all!

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Feature• Home

7 Easy Tips for Keeping Houseplants Alive

Before moving outside to prep my beds for gardening season I decided to add a few houseplants after gaining inspiration from a few of my IG faves Shavonda and Carmeon. They have nailed the “junaglow style” that is becoming quite popular (search the hashtag on Instagram) . As always, I’m somehow finding myself returning to my roots. As a child there were always large plants around as my aunt has quite the green thumb as did my mother. If you followed my garden last year, based on the number of tomatoes I had that wouldn’t stop growing along with the kale that still won’t quit, you know I also have a bit of a green thumb, and frankly my plants bring me joy.

I added these babies last year and taking care of them and watching them bloom is a satisfaction I can’t explain.

The open shelves in my kitchen needed a little love for the spring and what better way than with houseplants. I’m proud to say I rescued some from a dry death that was the clearance rack at Walmart. With a little water, some light and love they came right back. The others came from Lowes and Home Depot.

I hear people say they would love to add plants to their home but aren’t quite sure how to keep them alive. Here are a few tips and tricks I use to care for my plants

Let the plant tell you when it needs water | Overwatering is a real thing. Some plants don’t need as much water as others. I watch the leaves, when they start to droop I give them water. If the leaves aren’t an indicator, when the top layer of soil is dry stick your finger in and if it’s still dry about a fingertip length down add water. If you still feel like you can’t be trusted, look into getting a Water Wick plant. They are available at Lowes and Home Depot. They have two strings hanging out of the bottom, and you simply put water in the bottom of a planter and stick the plant inside. The water wick will suck in the water as the plant needs it. You will need to remember to refill the planter at least once a week.

Soak your plants when watering | When you decide it is time to water, give it a good soaking, don’t just water enough to wet the top. Give a deep soaking until the water runs through and out the bottom of the pot.

Add plant food | When a plant stops growing or the leaves start yellowing, add a little plant food. To keep it simple there are plant food stakes that you simply stick in the dirt and it will continuously feed the plant for months without you having to bother with it. Take the few minutes necessary to jot down the next date in which you’ll need to add more fertilizer or food at the time you feed it.

Read the instructions | Pay close attention to the care requirements for any plants you buy. Some need more light than others and no matter how pretty you think the plant is if it needs high light and you don’t have a window that is capable of supplying that leave it. Too much of or lack of light is just as important as water. If you don’t pay attention to the requirements the plant will die.

Only replant when necessary | It seems most houseplants have shallow roots and can live in the containers you bring them home in for some time. Just purchase a nice planter or basket to drop it in. When the plant seems to no longer be thriving despite proper light and watering it may be time to replant into something larger.

Ensure proper drainage | If your planter doesn’t have drainage holes when you replant, be sure to add some rocks to the bottom of the planter for proper drainage. One of the pots I’ve replanted in doesn’t have a drainage hole. I put larger rocks at the bottom to help pull the water away from the roots. I would recommend only using these types of planters when the plant doesn’t require a lot of water. This particular plant only requires watering every 2-3 weeks.

Consider buying plants with the same needs | Much like raising children and dealing with people certain types of plants need more attention than others. See “Read the instructions” above. If you don’t want to see about plants daily or every other day, buy plants that need the same care. I have a mix, because I have a passion for them. If you just want to water one specific day a week then be sure to only buy plants that require the same amount of care.

With these tips do you think you could add some plant babies to your home? Do you have a green thumb?

If you have a brown thumb and want houseplants. Here is a list of houseplants that are virtually impossible to kill. Like for real!

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Living

Funding Our Kids Dreams

This post was sponsored, and paid for by SunTrust. All opinions are my own.

You know you are totally and completely adulting when the conversation at brunch turns to how much money everyone is shelling out in extracurricular fees. From lessons, fees, leotards, instrument rentals, and travel expenses the tab for those of us with more than one child can be jaw dropping.

On a very rough estimate, I calculate between ballet, competition dance, track, music lessons, intensives and instrument rental fees we shell out close to $5,500 dollars a year on extracurricular activities. As with anything, it’s hard to swallow or think about the big number when like clockwork, you click the pay link or scribble down the auto draft date in your planner. It’s easy to downplay it as just $230 a month but over time those expenses start adding up. It’s not just extracurricular activities, it’s finding things to also do when you have the free time. If my kids want to go to a fine art gallery how can I say no to them?

It’s the spring that really hits us hard, especially after Christmas heading into competition and recital dance season. Outside of monthly tuition this season comes with competition dance and recital fees on top of travel expenses to dance competitions and track meets. New track shoes and shoes to go with dance costumes, tights and bun nets and the additional expenses just keep adding up. Staring an unexpected but not really unexpected $1000 in the eye has me really rethinking how we will budget in the future for these expenses…..or how we will engage the grandparents. We use a piece of software called Expensify to aid with this, as it allows us to keep track of all our household expenses, as well as any tax that may be due. You can read a review of Expensify on Trust Radius.

Youth activities are big business and come with healthy price tags especially for parents like us who believe in supporting the arts and exposing our children to activities that very well may pay for their college tuition in the future. According to a recent Suntrust survey, about 20% of parents in the U.S. spend more than $2,500 year with almost 40% spending more than $1,000 annually on sports, dance, arts and other extracurricular activities. We fall in the other 40% that spends over $2,500 a year.

FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS a year y’all, and that’s being conservative.

While we do a great job at budgeting for our monthly bills to include monthly lesson fees, we really haven’t taken a close look at how to budget for spring, including the miscellaneous expenses related to their extracurricular activities.

After completing this Suntrust budget worksheet I have come to the realization that we need to be setting aside nearly $420 a month to even out our yearly extracurricular expenses. Of that amount $230 would cover each month’s expenses and we would need to tuck away the difference to avoid coming up with such a large lump sum at the beginning of the year. I’ll admit it sounds painful but the realization is it will get paid, and I would rather put aside an extra $200 a month than have to produce $1000 after Christmas.

Six in one hand, a half a dozen in the other.

I’m glad I took the time to plan out how much we are spending and how much those extras add up. With anything, breaking it down into manageable pieces makes it easier to budget and plan. Looking at the extra $200 we would need to put away a month has me thinking of ways we can encourage entrepreneurship in our children challenging each to take ownership of their activities by attempting to raise $100 a month each, which mounts to just $25 a week, a little over $3 a day per child. A reasonably affordable option could be tennis lessons Boston. They are a fun way to engage your children in some healthy exercise. With lessons for child and adults there will be no shortage of fun for the whole family.

If you are going through the motions every month, paying for lessons and other expenses related to extracurricular activities I recommend you take out some time to look at some of the tips Suntrust offers on how to take the stress out of funding extracurricular activities. Carefully calculate those extra expenses to include gas money and take out dinner on those nights when you are just too tired to cook and you will be surprised at how much you are spending. Knowing is half the battle and by taking the time to understand how your money is being spent may help you devise a plan to off set some costs and properly save to support your child’s dreams.

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This post was sponsored, and paid for, by SunTrust. All opinions are my own.

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Living• Video• Vlog

Weekend Rewind + Vlog | Dance Competition and the Usual

From the day Addison was born it was understood that she would don a leotard, tights and ballet shoes as soon as a dance school would take her, simply because my mother did it for me. I fondly remember the day when the time came to purchase her first leotard, tights, ballet and tap shoes. I vividly recall wishing my mother was there to experience my girl going off to dance for the first time , instead I clung to my own memories of her and I heading to the dance studio in Georgetown with the large glass window every Saturday.

When I signed Addison up for dance and watched her week after week I started to think at some point she had a natural talent that the others in her class didn’t seem to have, but seeing as how every mother thinks their child is awesome I pushed it aside. Now, I’m pretty confident my child is well on her way to becoming an amazing dancer.

This weekend we traveled to her first dance competition of the season and as I watched her smile light up the stage and her facial expressions move the judges and the crowd it was evident she loves performing. As she hit every beat and step, at some point I felt like I wanted to cry. Being a mother is so hard, there are so many things to mess up and yet somehow when you see your child on stage exhibiting a talent they love, one in which you have poured money, time and dedication into, you feel like that is one thing you absolutely got right. I introduced her to dance not knowing that she would fall in love with it and be great at it. I simply did it because my own mother had done it for me, however I never really loved it.

Addison and I are on a different trajectory, from the moment she wakes up she is dancing, practicing her turns, and flips, often working my nerves because her jumps sound like the floor is caving in. I don’t have to push her, if anything I have to encourage her to allow her body to rest. Now comes the task of figuring out how to not just let her be average in this thing but seeking out vigorous Summer programs and auditions for her to attend outside of her dance school. Operation build a star is in full effect!

Outside of the dance competition we had a pretty normal weekend. You know cleaning, grocery shopping etc. My god brother’s birthday was on the 15th so we celebrated with cupcakes Saturday and had movie night. Thursday night, the Mr. and I fell off in the club with the millennials for his actual birthday celebration.

Let me tell you, partying during the week and having to wake up in the morning and do adult things like getting children off to school when you’ve had a drink or three is quite laborious. Nonetheless, we celebrated and had a great time.

Catch our full weekend on the vlog!

How was your weekend? Anything spectacular?

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