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What To Do When You Run Out Of Steam. . . .

June 22, 2013 By Michelle Matthews-Calloway Leave a Comment

This:

‘Nuff said.

I’ll be back next week – with some great news!

Join in the Fray: What do you do when you run out of steam?

Exciting News!

May 31, 2013 By Michelle Matthews-Calloway 2 Comments

This news isn’t exactly “new,” it’s actually right at two months old. I’ve been meaning to do an update post since the end of March discussing all the cool things that have been happening:

Serving as the guest speaker for the Alphanista.com Inner Circle monthly call
Being interviewed on Blog Talk Radio with Rikki R. Jones
Writing my first “featured” post (that means it was sponsored)
Took a blogging school course with Rosetta Thurman of Happy Black Woman (I wholeheartedly endorse and recommend her class!)
Was selected and participated in the Selah book launch with Pastor Joseph Iregbu
Got selected to participate on the It Takes A Village launch team for one of the cutest Swirl couples on the planet, budgeting gurus, podcasters and authors Derek and Carrie Olsen (check out their site for some fantastic freebies!)
Joined The Colored Water Fountain hosted by blogger L.C. Coleman of Colored Girl Confidential (she’s the one who created a piece of awesomeness called The Red Lipstick Manifesta)
Entertained some wonderful guest posts from leadership expert Bill Treasurer, Latin dating coach Miranda Santiago, interracial romance authors Cora Blu, Delaney Diamond, and Gynger Fyer, and the hilarious Gene-Leigh and Seth Wheeler (and even though we featured her in January, we also enjoyed a guest appearance from that Married Girl in a Weird World, Eugenia Berg)
Launched a new blog – For Church Girls
Submitted my dissertation for review – and had it returned for edits (~Le sigh)

AND, last but not least (drumroll, please):

I reached the goal of changing careers – and landed a new job as the Co-Editor of Acadiana LifeStyle Magazine!

Woot to the Woot, Woot, WOOT!

Yaaay Me!

I’ll have to do a separate post on the journey that led me to starting that new job on March 27. Suffice it to say I can truly attest to the old saying, “It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey.”

Any who, take a gander at the June cover:

The owner and publisher, Mr. Art Suberbielle and his gracious wife Connie are lovely people, as is my partner in crime, Co-Editor Barbara Gautreaux (send her an invitation to connect on LinkedIn or check her out on Pinterest), and the rest of the staff.

(I’ll also have to do a separate post on how I get paid to do what I love: Read, write, research, interview, and meet people)!

The past two months have been a BLAST! To think that tomorrow we hit the half-point of the year – wow . . . just . . . wow.

Who knows what the next six months will bring?

I don’t know about you, but I’m here for it!

Join in the Fray: What have YOU been up to for the past 60 days??? Spill it!

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Do You Know Where You’re Going To?

April 7, 2013 By Michelle Matthews-Calloway 2 Comments

Do you know where you’re going to?

Do you like the things that life is showing you?

Where are you going to?

Do you know?

~From The Theme from Mahogany, written by Michael Masser & Gerald Goffin

We’re bombarded with a multitude of things in any given day, you and I. World news, state and local news, job-related interactions with coworkers, the needs of friends and family. There’s the constant deluge from social media; Facebook and Twitter updates, blog posts; information received via radio, television, and the telephone.

Yes, all of that is a lot. An awful lot. We have to sift through it, use some and discard the rest. If you’re like me, you try to take the good and leave the bad alone. I don’t like clogging up my mind or my spirit with a lot of negativity or otherwise soul crushing things. Quite enough of that coming from life itself, without me deliberately ingesting it.

My plan is to become much more diligent about what I allow my eyes to see, and what I bother to read. I have a natural curiosity, and I love reading and learning new things, yet it’s time to become much more discriminating. Time is precious, and I want to spend it soaking up the good stuff – those things that will encourage, uplift and inspire me ~~not tick me off~~.

As I move into this next week, I’m determined to focus on where I’m going and what I’m doing. I like what life is showing me – those things that I’m able to accomplish with the help of God and by His grace. I know where I’m going, yet I’m open to the surprises that I know will pop up along the way.

I know where I’m going to – and I’m enjoying the trip.