[Health and Wellness]  [Women & Finance]  [Jobs & Careers]  [Books & Stuff]  [Inspiration Corner]

Featured Articles - January 2007

Health & Wellness

5 Ways to Celebrate Valentine’s Day A Little More Creatively
Starting 11 days from Valentine’s Day, give your love little gifts everyday. Dress up in your sexiest nightwear and prepare dinner together. Maybe you will make it through the entire meal. Maybe you won’t, but it will be fun finding out.  ~ Have a Valentine Scavenger hunt leaving gifts and notes of why you love your partner all over the house.  ~ Place signs and arrows on the walls around the house to create two different paths. Leave your love a note stating that if they chose the right path, you would be there at the end waiting. What your love doesn’t know is that both paths lead to the same place. When you are found, congratulate your love and let them know that no matter what path in life they choose, you will always be there.

Eagle Thoughts: "The Awesomeness of LOVE!"
"Love, a word that comes and goes, but few people really know what it means to really Love somebody…” (words from a song by Kirk Franklin)
My father, the late Bishop Jesse White, had a funny childhood statement about Love that said, “Love is a funny thing, shaped like a lizard.  It begins in your backbone and ends in your ‘gizzard’.”  I often asked dad what in Heaven’s name was a ‘gizzard’ (smile)!  I guess your gizzard is connected to your heart because if your Love is received, you feel good and if it is rejected, you feel terrible.

M.O.V.E. in 2007
We all begin our new year with new resolutions and exploration of things that we would like to change for the upcoming year. God has given us the opportunity to explore, adjust and modify things in our lives to make a meaningful impact on family, friends, communities and the world. I encourage each of you to M.O.V.E. in 2007 to be motivated, have a greater focus on others, demonstrate victory in every situation and be empowered in all aspects of your life.

Love The Skin You're In
As an Image/Fashion Consultant, I meet so many women who want to know how to take better care of their skin. Your face is the first thing a person notices when they look at you. Yes, clothes are just as important, but you must start at the top and work your way down. Many people think that as long as you have the right colors, then you are good to go. Well, I am here to tell you that statement is just not true!  Imagine baking a cake. You try to mix it up the best you can, but it still has lumps in it. You put it in the oven anyway, but once the cake is done, the lumps are still there. Therefore, when you put the frosting on, the cake looks like a bumpy road.

Women & Finance

Your Age And Your Finances
Managing your finances is a lifelong process. It usually begins with savings—ideally as a child. Once you have a regular income of your own and have started saving on a regular basis, you'll have to decide how to invest the money you are saving.  Investors in their twenties are often advised to put more of their savings in investments that have potential to grow. Even though these investments may carry more risk of loss, a younger person has time to potentially make up any losses they may experience early on.

Financially Fit And Sexy: What Your Creditors Don't Want You To Know
Who hasn’t heard of the financially wise mantra of “pay your bills on time,” “put money aside for a rainy day,” and “stick to a budget.” But for those folks who are already experiencing financial difficulty, these are lofty goals to build up to, as they have to climb out of the hole of financial debt that has accumulated.  Several changes during the past year have made getting back on your feet almost impossible. The minimums on credit cards have doubled, in most instances. Foreclosures have skyrocketed, and, not surprisingly, the bankruptcy law changes have confused everyone. 

Ask Tiffany's: 5 Things You Need To Ask Before You Say "I Do"
New Year’s and Valentine’s Day are the most popular days for “popping the question.” In fact, they are probably the most romantic days to ask the most romantic, life-changing question. A girl’s life is never the same if she says, “I do,” literally and metaphorically. But before you say those two most important words, there are a few questions you need to ask your husband to be.  This may all seem a little trivial or even petty, but the fact is, we see far too many women are discovering these facts after the wedding. It turns out, Mr. Right was Mr. Wrong. Don’t be afraid to ask the questions that could save you from heartache and even more importantly, from having a bright, secure future.

Faith Brings Prosperity In Business
In order to successfully run a business, you must have FAITH. God has an answer to every situation we may face during our journey towards our destiny. God’s instruction is practical and His plan is the foundation for a prosperous future. Please keep these pearls of wisdom in mind as you fully develop into the beautiful, virtuous and successful woman that you always knew you could be in this life.  #1 Create a sound business plan. Write down your goals and objectives. Keep abreast of your progress and capture all of your milestones. Always be prepared for opportunities to grow.

Jobs & Careers

Putting His Thinking Hat On Provided The Right Answers!
Running his own small engineering business had already brought David a small measure of success. And he had started the New Year determined that he would improve his company’s profitability by twenty per cent.  However, David was also aware that he spent too much of his time working in his business rather than on his business. He knew that if his company were to grow significantly, he needed impartial advice – and yet he didn’t feel that he had the time or the spare cash to hire management consultants.

The Case For Entrepreneurship
Have you ever dreamed of being your own boss? Do you have a great business idea that you would like to bring to fruition? There is no better time to start a business than now! 14 million U.S women own or run a business; women owned businesses employ a whopping 27.5 million people. According to The Center For Women’s Business Research, nearly half (46%) of all businesses are at least 50% owned by a woman or women. Women are taking risks and succeeding as entrepreneurs! 

Don't Let Conflict Get The Best Of You!
Ask most people if they enjoy conflict, and you will get a resounding “No!”  Conflict is usually viewed as a negative occurrence. Most people run away from it, some allow it to simmer in the back burner unnoticed, and others choose to wage wars over seemingly small matters because they have an “I’m always right” attitude.  The reason conflict is perceived as troublesome is because most of us don’t know how to deal with it effectively. Yet conflict can allow us to acknowledge that something is indeed wrong; that something is missing in what we are doing. Granted, that’s not always a gratifying feeling, but it is an important one.

Books & Stuff

Book Review: Broken Vows
There is never a dull moment in Broken Vows. It was a constant page-turner. Naiomi Pitre's writing abilities are undeniable. In her daring debut novel, Pitre collides head on with common taboos currently oppressing the African American community: lesbianism. 
During a critical separation of two weeks, Dominic and Yvonne Long both seek comfort in their own adulterous affairs. Yvonne’s insidious relationship with her female red-headed secretary forces her to undergo serious retrospection. Is she gay or bisexual?

Movie Review: The Pursuit of Happyness
Overview: This is a story that had to have been told. Will Smith played Chris Gardner, a salesman trying to provide for his family when he got a grimace of what the possibility of working as a stockbroker could bring. Chris struggled to make ends meet, his marriage fell apart and under no circumstances was he going to be separated from his son. After his wife left him and their son, he became homeless while still trying to sell portable bone density machines and working as an intern at a stock brokerage firm.

CD Review: Between Friends
Fans no longer have to wonder what Pop/R&B sensation Tamia has been up to because her new release, Between Friends, says it all! Teaming up with longtime friend and master storyteller, Shep Crawford, and the production expertise of Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, Tamia boldly resurfaces with REAL songs that prove true, tasteful music still exists.  Between Friends is an open book of emotions chronicling the beauty and frustrations of relationships. Lyrically, it is a step by step transition from being hopeful to angry to empowered!

Short Story Winner 2005/2006
Read the winning story, The Key, by author Thomas L. Banks.  "...they won’t pick on me anymore!” He reached for his backpack and prepared to leave (For a moment I was too shocked to move). Lately our neighborhood was getting a bad name. It wasn’t anything like the place I had come to know before. Familiar stores with their jobs began moving out to the shopping malls in the suburbs. Old business places were left vacant, boarded up.  Our clean streets and neat houses began to look run down."

Inspiration Corner

Walking Through Faith
Read our interview with Kermit McKelvy. 
Average Girl Magazine: Tell us about being a single father. What are some of the obstacles you face with regards to access and communicating with your children and building a solid relationship?  Kermit McKelvy: Communication is important, especially when it involves younger children. My children were 3 and 4 years old at the time of my divorce, and things are fine if you have a good relationship with your ex, but if not, it can be difficult to get access and to communicate. Certain topics can be controversial.

Walking Through Faith
Read our interview with Jeff Milbourne. 
Too often, we hear stories of fathers who have left their families behind and went on to start new lives for themselves, not caring what happened to those they left behind. Many of us know the pain of growing up without a father and never hearing the words, “I love you,” come from their lips. But not every man who is not living under the same roof as his children is a deadbeat father. There are fathers out there who are fighting for the right to be in the lives of their children.

Are You Afraid of Heights?
When I was younger, my name was “Wonder Woman.” Empowered by colorful UnderRoos, I was the DIVA of the Super Friends! I was invincible, and my mission each day was to save helpless crickets and roly pollies from utter demise. As a child, pain and fear seemed to be non-existent. I clearly remember scraping my knees and running into trees from pitiful attempts to fly through the air, which probably looked more like retarded ballet leaps. Regardless, I was unstoppable.