Catching Up & Supporting the Bellas

Whew, it has been a moment since I have blogged and what can I say life just rather took over.  However, I did want to check up on everyone see what is going on, as I know many of you are participating in the Money challenge wanted to see how you all were doing on that. I have gotten off track and not been able to get back on so I’ll be trying this again next year.  

In addition, I wanted to let you guys know about some major things that a few of my friends are doing.  They are on a #ExCUREsion to talk about their campaign #iHatecancer and they could use your support they are looking for sponsors and its simple donate $1.00 for 1 mile they have been on the road for 3 days now and have visited Memphis and St Louis and they are pushing on.  If you want a #iHateCancert-shirt they are available for $20.00 and 70% of the proceeds go to the American Cancer Society. Check out the BellaGyrls on facebook and on their blog.

Missy showing her support for the Bella's.

Jonathan & Sherbert Made the 4 Paws Newsletter

Check out team Jonathan & Sherbert... They made the 4 Paws for Print newsletter and they also made a donation back to the organization...

MY WILD CHILDREN!!

If your thinking about getting a service dog for your special needs child I strongly suggest 4 Paws for Ability as a matter of fact our family endorses them.

A Testimony of what it can mean:

This morning at I don't know what time my son made the attempt to elope from the house through the front door needless to say his service dog "Sherbert" went into alert mode barking loudly and strongly making sure an adult got up to see what was going on. I was able to move quick enough that my son never went outside he had just gotten the locks turned to open the door. When I saw a life saver she's that and much more.

Be Blessed,

Jonathan, Sherbert, & Missy

AUTISM RESOURCE: Big Red Safety Box

Are you the parent of a special needs child especially an autism child who elopes often well here is a great resource for you the Big Red Safety Box.  

I got mine two years ago and I will tell you it has been a lifesaver.  I have alarms on my son’s door, the front and back door, and most recently our services dog kennel.  There are also big red visual signs that say stop for you to place in areas that will help your child realize it is a bad situation.  There are also shoe ID tags for kids who may get away and you want people to be able to find you.  

If you’re not a special needs parent but want to help please check out this link on how you can make a donation that can help a family keep their love ones safe. 

You can get your application on May 17 be sure to sign up quickly as they don’t have many to give and you want to be ready to submit when it’s opened. If you miss the May 17 set do not worry they open application times often.

**If you want to simply purchase yours and not wait on the application deadline here's the link.**

Be Blessed,

Misherald "Missy", Jonathan "JB" & Sherbert "SB" Brown

Because Of Them We Can: A Powerful Movement

Eunique Jones Gibson is the mastermind behind the "Because of Them, We Can..." movement that has taken over Facebook as well as other social media sites. Many of us wake up every morning waiting on her to post the next photo of her project that was launched during Black History Month.  Her goal was simple to inspire and empower today's youth to be great and by connecting them with individuals of the past and presents who have set the trails for them to excel I'm not sure she realize exactly how quickly the project would catch on or how much of a impact she would make but now a days many of us oohh and ahh over her creation and have nagged her about publishing her pieces into a coffee book and needless to say she's trying to make that happen.

You can be of help to kick start this project off by helping her get the funds needed to establish a book that will be great Christmas gifts as well as gifts for any young child interested in history.

The book will feature all 365 images along with information about the individuals (or schools & organized featured).  The money raised will go towards Design & Layout, Copy editing  Printing & Delivery, expenses associated with completing the project, as well as fees associated with the Kick starter program.

~MB

Is Social Media Taking Over Your Life

Have you realized how much time you spend on social media sites and other things that keep you distract from really getting the things that really need to be done taken care of?  

There is an app on the Mac OS that can help you regain yourself control. The App is actual called Self Control.  The way this app works is it blocks distracting websites for a set time so if you find that you’re a Twitter addict or maybe spend way too much time on Facebook  and not getting what you need done to be successful in life you can set this application for up to four hours.  Your browser will act as if it is offline for that period when you try to go to that site.  The beautiful thing is no matter how many times you attempt to restart your computer or reboot your computer that time will not restart.  The great thing about this app is you have what is called a whitelist and a blacklist so that way you do not have to completely disable the internet you simply disabled what you need to stay away from to be focus.  This particular app is only for Mac users however, PC users can check out the Freedom app it is similar.

If you’re not to the point that you don’t need to disabled sites but maybe you want to take notice of how much time your spending where online then check out the app called Track Time it will audit how much time you spend on your computer as well as the different programs you use.  So if Firefox is where you do a lot of your other stuff (for instance I work in Google Chrome but I socialize in Firefox) this program would tell me how much time I spend where.  Track Time can be ran in the background, it will show you a timeline of your online life, and it is an effective wake up call to make you take notice of your online time.  Too bad this is only for Mac users and there is not a PC app out right now that is comparable.

Don't let social media take over your life unless that's what your paid for!

Truly Blessed,

Misherald "Missy", Jonathan "JB" & Sherbert "SD" Brown

2013 NFL Draft and A Little Advice To Our Big Dreamers

So I spent most of my weekend sitting at my desk listening to the NFL Draft on the ESPN website while I’m not a Gamecock fan even though I’m born and bred here out of South Carolina I was simply rooting for Marcus Lattimore if you’re not sure who he is check out his story.  I was also lurking trying to see whom my Tennessee Titans were picking and to see where my Tennessee Volunteer boys were going but one thing that one of the announcers said that stood out to me was:

ESPN reporter just said it best. The sports scholarship that these students’ sign are actually contracts. College sports is a business the sports department and school pays for text books, room, and board plus tuition and the kids pay with their sweat, blood and time. Always make sure your babies got a backup and not just a pipe dream.

And it really made me stop and think I mean really how many of our kids have these dreams of being some major league ball player whether it’s baseball, football or basketball and they make the mistake of filling their heads up with all this glitz and glamor from what they see in today’s world.  Parents as the first role models to our children it’s imperative that we set the motion that education is important and then allow for them to understand that while they may be good enough to make it that sometimes just being good enough isn’t enough.  Marcus was driven to succeed he was determine to make it and he was given his opportunity while we probably won’t see him play this season he’s got time to grow on the San Francisco 49ers squad and I’m sure we will be hearing more about his progress.  I am very proud of the way that the SEC situation went we had quite a few guys go to the majors and I am going to love seeing these guys excel in their game.

I can truly say we have some good role models in some good positions but even they are human and they make mistakes to.

Truly Blessed,

Missy B

BellaGyrls~ Keeping It Real

It’s not often you find a person who bares their selves to the world to simply help others but that’s what one of the BellaGyrl’s did today in her post on the BellaGyrl website.  Bellagyrl Tee wrote about rejection and low self-esteem.  I have to say that this is something that many females deal with but simply do not know how to express their selves or reach out for help to overcome the issue because they feel either it makes them weak or they will simply be rejected again.  

I love how the Bella’s take life issues and bring them to the table help people not just women but people everywhere overcome everyday issues and began to build better self-images without worrying but what others think.  The Bella’s have done a Fitness Program together right now they are doing a #iHateCancer campaign where 70% of their proceeds benefit the American Cancer Society. So as you can see they take consulting, branding and advertising to a completely new level while continuing to be the It Gyrls!

The Bella’s have an app on the IOS systems called BellaGyrls I believe that they recently or are in the process of launching the app on Google Play.  You can find them on Facebook, Pininterst, as well as Twitter.

April Check In

So let us do a check in.  Can you honestly look at your savings account and say that you have kept up with the 52-week challenge that started back in January.  I can say that I have gotten sidetracked with a small emergency that came up but I’m hoping to be back up and running soon because honestly that’s going to be my emergency money to start my nest egg off of.  I would suggest anyone who is able to and can stick to it to find somewhere to take Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. Many churches and other business holds them if you go onto his website and search you can find it.