HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!

Hi guys and gals,

As we embark on a new year, we often think about and create to-do lists of things we want to change and improve about ourselves and places we went to visit in the coming year. Although we have good intentions and mean well with these items of resolution we create, most of us never finish or follow through with them and half of us quit before January is even over. LOL

Let's try something new this year!! Let's remind ourselves of how blessed we are in the place we are right NOW in our lives! Let's be thankful for the car we have, the home we live in, the job we have, etc. Let's promise to be kind to other people and to make an effort to do something nice for someone at least once a day. Let's get off of ourselves...and focus on others in need around us.

To my Love Lounge friends and family and my loyal blog followers, I pray that you have a wonderful and enjoyable Holiday Season and a Happy New Year. I pray that you maintain positive vibes everyday and approach life with zeal. Lastly, I pray that you continue to seek a higher power because pursuit of it will ultimately open the door for the things you want in life for yourself and your family.

Remember....

Life is about choices. Enjoy your life and choose your destiny!!!

Signing off for 2015...ONWARD 2016!!!!!!!

Hugs & Kisses :-)
Lady Elle

Decisions, Decisions!

Hey guys and gals...what do you do when faced with a fork in the road of your life?

I am currently in a position where I have come to this fork career wise. I can either continue my education and the path towards Cybersecurity or I can complete my current degree (graduating next fall) and start my own business after graduation.

As with most choices in life, you have to consider the pros and cons. What throws salt in my game is that there are at least two new job opps at my current company. I want to graduate from my current position. However, if I do I will need to stay here a little longer. In a sense it will buy me time and I can pursue my BA in Cybersecurity. If I do not graduate from my position, I will finish out my Associates degree next year and pursue my business. 

The no brainer in the right person's mind is to go after the business and work for yourself!! YAHOO!!! That is me all day and I have a plan of action. The problem is the guilt and that I've spent the last 7 years in school pursuing a degree...any degree and finally settling upon Cybersecurity which kept me pretty interested. I have spent countless amounts of dollars on school, classes and books only now to decide that I want to start my own business, which is not in the cyber field by the way. 

I met a great group of women from the Women's Society of Cyberjutsu who has a boat load of activities for women to plan and take advantage of, to assist in their career paths. Cybersecurity is my niche!!! It is interesting and fun and exciting!! 

The other problem I am facing is that I am in my late 30's and I feel that where I want to be in the cyber field is going to take me a long time to get there. Most folks who are in the big leagues have started from the bottom as computer techs, where as my bottom only consists of Admin jobs. I would need to get this degree, a handful of certifications, and some experience under my belt in order to get through the door. On top of it all, I make pretty good money now and may have to take a major pay cut just to get into the field with NO experience. Hence the fork...

I am burned out from school and learning!!! I would need to study for the certifications like A+, Network +, Security +, CEH, CISSP and so on and so forth..lol..just talking about it is making me tired. :-)

I really need to think about this. I want my own business as I am tired of the regular 9 to 5. I need to pray on this. I believe sitting still for a period of time to meditate and wait for guidance is the only thing that will help me decide which road to choose. Wish me luck! How do you handle your forks in the road of life??

Until next time...

"Life is about choices. Enjoy life and choose your destiny!"

Lady Elle

Two Months Later...

I cannot believe it has been two months since I last posted!! Let me tell you the struggle it has been...

1. I have not been to church in 1 1/2 months (only because it seams like there is an event I need to     attend every weekend which has me spending the night out) I know...no excuse!! :-(

2. I have not tithed in just as long.

3. I have stopped taking care of myself and started eating everything under the sun

It's crazy!! I knew that I had veered off the road to the good life...everything else starts to go down hill when you do. You can tell the difference..SERIOUSLY!!! I re-read what I first posted in the blog and had an epiphany. Answer this question, why when we need God, we pray and fast and make all kinds of promises? As soon as He blesses us, as He did for me (paying my bills and my cruise off) we forget about Him? We stop praying. As soon as I paid the cruise off I celebrated with some wine and spirits..lol..The struggle is real let me tell you. :-)

It was two months later when I realized that I am on a different road. Not the road I started this blog on. Not that it was then that I had this realization...I just woke up at this point. So, lately I've been stressed, needing spending money for said cruise coming in two weeks. Car repairs have popped up, school payments are due...started being so stressed to the point where two days ago I started having mild chest pains and then a pulsating pressure in my left arm through my left hand. I knew I was stressed. What do I do, run to the Lord of course!!!

I said "Lord, I am too young to have a heart attack and I refuse to be stressed. I refuse for my hair to fall out and I refuse to live this stressful life because I want to do things my way. I now realize that I need you. I need your guidance, your opinion, your support...I need YOU!" At that moment I vowed that I needed to get out of the woods and get back on the road to the good life....that road to peace, love, spirituality and prosperity.

I started again yesterday reading the Bible for 20 minutes and trying to keep my heart and ears sensitive to the Holy Spirit's guidance. When I have my mini Bible study, I write down the message I received from what I've read. It helps that the type of Bible I have has notes from Joyce Meyer and it is called The Every Day Life Bible. It is awesome!! Also, the Lord made me draw a road in my notes and add myself as a stick person travelling this road. lol..He said that if I veer off of the road (doing things that are displeasing to Him), to move my stick man off of the road. Doing this will help me to stay focused and stay on the road. I know it may sound lame to you but I definitely believe that this will help. I mean look what happened!!! I closed my eyes one good time and here I am 2 months later with no growth from when I first started this walk.

Saying all this to say...don't just talk to God or whatever higher power you believe in when you need Him. It's when you do not need Him and you talk to Him your faith grows. Trust that He has your best interest in mind and you cannot go wrong communicating with Him on a daily basis. With that said, I will chat with you guys soon.

Until then...

"Life is about choices. Enjoy life and choose your destiny!"
Lady Elle

The Beginning of Something Good!

Hey guys!

So most of you know me as the owner and creator of The Love Lounge 101 website.(http://www.lovelounge101.com) I recently decided to make a right turn in the fork in the road of my life and am travelling a new road and I wanted to do something to share my experiences. 

I decided to start a new blog because, since walking this spiritual path I have received great blessings along the way. I wanted to document these blessings as confirmation to you all that if you do what is right and good, you too can be blessed. If you choose that narrow road of walking in love, praying, fasting, attending church, listening and following the Holy Spirit...you too will be blessed. I hope you enjoy my stories!!! :-)

"Life is about choices. Enjoy life and choose your destiny!"
Lady Elle

The beginning...

I am going to try and make a long story short...I wasn't living right and wasn't taking care of myself; mind, body and spirit. I had a revelation after the Lord told me one day back in October 2014 that he wanted me to stop drinking and driving. I didn't listen and was arrested for DUI...court case still pending at this point. Anyhoo...I hired a lawyer, spent money on alcohol classes and assessment. My license is suspended in Maryland for 90 days and I had no choice but to stay home in VA.

All things happen for a reason...

Although I work in VA and live in VA, I am limited to going to my cousins house who lives in VA. Also, if I want to go to an event in MD, I have to call someone to pick me up, my husband would drive, or I would drive to my cousin's house just to catch a ride with her. I really feel like I am in prison. lol Me sitting still and not travelling to the DMV area every weekend has put me in a different, yet better head space.

Since losing my favorite Uncle on April 19, 2014 I had started drinking everyday. One day the Lord spoke to me and told me that I needed to stop drinking else I am going to die. Just about 3 weeks ago, I decided to start and follow The Daniel Plan. It is a lifestyle change where you have to change your eating habits and any other habits you have.

As I began to change my eating habits and reading the book that came along with the Daniel Plan, I started reading the Bible everyday for 20 minutes a day. I started taking the Detox Trio. I started to go to church and actually became a member of a church. I signed up for 2 ministries and their monthly Virtuous Women meetings.

So fast forward...

Today I am about 8 pounds lighter. My blood pressure has dropped tremendously. I feel good about myself and I even look great. My attitude has changed. I pray more. I fasted for the first time. I am paying my tithes every week. I am on the road to continue to do the right things. I am on the road to continue my new walk with God and try to listen to his voice as he guides me on a day to day basis. I'm not perfect by no means!!! I mess up every once in a while and get right back up after falling. However, I am taking the steps that I deem necessary to the good life!

The blessings started flowing...

Now...you have a little history of why I decided to take this journey. From here on out, I will share with you my blessings and how I bless others. My goal is to try and meet the needs of people. I will first aim to be a blessing to at least one person a day. That may definitely change...we shall see. :-)

My first blessing: I keep a budget sheet of things I need to pay for and purchase per pay period. Last pay period I had a negative $43.00. This means that my bills and everything I needed to do for that week was more than my income. Two days before my pay date I received a check in the mail for $43.14!! God is good! I thanked Him.

My second blessing: This past weekend I was in Costco shopping and we all know that Costco doesn't provide bags for your groceries. Costco was packed that day as well. As I was at the check out counter I was looking in the bins and didn't see a box big enough for the crap in my shopping cart. So I shrugged and thought about how I was going to get all of my groceries upstairs to the 3rd floor of our apartment. Hubby wasn't there. As I approached my car, I noticed a box sitting on the ground by my trunk. I thought to myself that something must be wrong with it. The box was in excellent condition!! I took the box and was able to fill it with the groceries that needed to be refrigerated and was able to carry the box upstairs in one swoop. God is good!! It's just the little things. I thanked Him!

My third blessing: Back to my pay budget...I was at a negative $1951.00. Only because our cruise payment is due this Saturday and so many other things including school has been taking my money and of course my bills are over by $151.00. Hubby was in the same boat and he was just telling me that he didn't have it either and didn't know how we were going to get it. I told him don't worry we will get it. He asked how? I said it is going to fall out of the sky.

This time the Holy Spirit put on my heart that I should fast. So on Monday I decided to do a 12 hour fast while reading a financial prayer I found online. (Will find it and add link) It was supposed to be from 8am to 8pm. However, I didn't wake up in time to eat something before hand which meant that I hadn't eaten anything since about 11pm the night before. So the fast was from 11pm to 5pm the next day...so 18 hours. I only drank water, decaf green tea, and a smoothie filled with a bunch of healthy stuff. It was a good thing I worked from home that day as that was rough..lol.

Well, I went to work today and my boss pulled me into his office for my annual review. I received a $2000.00 pay raise and a $3000.00 bonus. Mind you, I've worked there for 4 years and every year the bonus has only been $1000.00. After 35% taxes guess how much I am getting back....$1950.00 Can you say GOD IS GOOD!!! LOL.. Cruise will be paid for and so will the rest of my bills. I thanked Him a million times over for this one. 

This blessing was a real test of my faith because I had to believe that God would show up for me and I had to let my faith take over and give all of the stress to him. Every time I got anxious about getting the money and as the date drew near, I would pray and say "Lord please don't let me stress about it, I am believing that you got my back."

So there you have it! I HAD to start this blog because I am sooooo amazed at how God works, I feel sooooo blessed daily and I also feel the need to bless other people. So tomorrow will be a new story.

Until then...