Lyss for President!

Vote Alyssa Jones for President! 

This one keeps us busy! Shout out to my husband, Alfonzo Jones II for helping her develop her campaign! This election year was interesting.  She had a $15 budget, they can’t hand out flyers or candy and she had to submit receipts and an expense report! She submitted her application Wednesday, was chosen as a candidate Friday, then comes home and tells us that she has to have her entire campaign developed and ready by Monday! What a whirlwind AND she has to be prepped and ready to give her campaign speech by this Friday! 

As a parent, you’ve got to be ready for whatever, whenever! Your original obligations don’t matter, you’ve got to fulfill previous commitments and you’ve got to come through for your child!  But we’ve got this!  Parenting can certainly test your limits, but after you’ve moved around meetings, made wal-mart trips to pickup supplies in between jobs, given the kid your phone so she can google campaign ideas while you work, then handed her off to her Dad (because he’s really the creative one) while you prepare dinner, you sit down to exhale for just a second, then you look up and see this ….

You’re one proud Momma! Every second of that drama was WORTH IT!  

I’ll be honest I was extremely frustrated with the Friday’s news that I had to make sure this campaign was complete by Monday, my weekend was JAM PACKED!  My first response was to freak out, but what would that accomplish?  Break downs are huge investments of energy and the work STILL has to be completed. So I took a deep breath, got myself together, developed a plan and began to execute! No break down required, I just needed a plan!

Second, I had to realize that I wasn’t alone, Everyone that knows me knows that I love my “Super Woman” Tee, but the super woman mentality needs to be checked often!  There was no need for me to add her project to my already insane “to do” list!  Her father was ready, able and willing, it was time to delegate!  As women we act like we get some sort of shiney metal for doing it ALL,  but why do it all yourself when you have help!  My hubby and I know our strengths.  I’m the organizer, he’s a great executioner.  I can organize the entire day, put all necesary materials in place, then TAG, YOU’RE IT BRO, and he takes it from there! 

Honestly, after dinner, when I saw they were ok, I went upstairs, nestled into my bed and caught up on Grey’s Anatomy!

Love you family!  You can manage this crazy life, without killing yourself in the process! Pursue Balance, Pursue Peace, Pursue YOU!  

I dedicate this post to My Life Partner, Mr. Alfonzo Jones II!  We’re always a work in progress, but we’re the Dream Team! #TEAMJones 

Sooo … The Truth Really Does Hurt! But You Can Take It!

Accepting criticism can go one of two ways. You can be offended and become insecure or you can take the punch and tell yourself, “this individual cared enough to tell me the truth” and proceed to immediately apply the information and make the corrections!

I recently had a friend criticize me constructively about this blog! I immediately withdrew and went blank. I sat down to write and had no words. I went into my feelings and was completely insecure. I was slowly allowing fear to control me!  

I stopped, took a deep breath and changed my lens! This guy cared enough about me to tell me the truth! It’s so easy to shower a person with praise, it takes strength to confront an individual with criticism! I chose to find value in his advice, I rejected fear and embraced change. It was an emotional roller coaster, but it was worth it! It’s a short term loss that will equal a long term win!

So thank you friend for caring and sharing! I value you more, because I know you’ll tell me the truth, even if it hurts! I know I’m better because of it!
I dedicate this post to Jared Roach!  Keep telling the truth and pushing me towards Greatness!  

What have you done for YOU?

I’m about to get real honest with you family! Today was a LONG day! After working two jobs and running behind the kids, I’m TIRED! I’ve had a taste for Bojangles chicken, french fries and a biscuit for the last TWO WEEKS! I’ve resisted the urge, but when I clocked out today, it was a done deal! I decided to treat myself to this yummy, crunchy, greasy, spicy goodness and it certainly made my day.  I even sent the kids upstairs to clean their rooms so that I could sit at my table in peace and eat it all by myself!  I don’t ask for much, and honestly I deserved this treat today!  You looking for the fries? Oh, I ate them on the way home, they didn’t make it to the photo shoot!  

My question to you, what have you done for YOU lately? Treat yourself, you deserve it!

I Finally Did It!

I’ve been putting off going to the gym for MONTHS! Exercise is always on my never ending “To Do” list. Today I woke up early and as I was planning how to use my extra time (study, get kids ready for school, bake, catch up on TV, blog post), I said to myself, “SELF, ENOUGH WITH THE EXCUSES, just do it!” There is always something on the list that was higher priority than exercise. I know that as the day flies by my chances of exercising diminish! 

I woke the kids up, Lyss was first, “Morning Lyss, wanna go for an early morning walk?” “Ok”, as she rolls over and goes back to sleep.  “Hi JJ, don’t you wanna get up and go walking with mommy?” “NO, I wanna stay sleep” he rolls over.  So I turn on the lights and say “ok JJ, Lyss and I are gonna go without you!” (I would never leave my 8 year old in the house unattended but I knew this would do the trick) He sits up and says, “Are you guys really gonna leave me?” I said “no silly, get up and get dressed.”  

FINALLY, we are all up and dressed, even got the puppy dressed and we were out the door!  I had to be persistent, there were many opportunites to say nevermind, but I pressed on.

After 5 minutes of walking, the kids were awake and alert and my little sleepy heads were having a blast.  We got home, washed up a bit and they were on the bus and off to school!  Then I showered and was off to work!

The morning walk was simple but profound!  I was so proud of myself!

Now it’s your turn!  What have you been putting off?  Get on it!  Enough with the excuses!

Always Make Time For Family

What a CRAZY weekend we’ve had, hubby and I knocked out 3 WEDDINGS (check out our FB page HeavenlySweetsBakery for pics) it was insane and we are TIRED but all of our brides were happy so it was totally worth it! HOWEVER, when we work like that, we are intentional about spending time with the kids! Asked them what they wanted to do and they chose frozen yogurt! Work/Life/Family is absolutely a balancing act. This family trip to sweet frog 🐸 did the trick! We sat, laughed, talked and took silly photos! Good Times. #Memories #WeRJones #COJ  

The people in this photo are my support system.  When I fail, or I’m tired and my friends and family are to busy, these three are ALWAYS in place.  I don’t take that lightly.  You can gain the entire world but what does it matter if you lose your family or miss those special moments during your pursuit.  Pursuing your dreams is important but NOT at the expense of your family!  As women, we are amazing multi taskers so we don’t have to choose between our careers and our family, but we do have to be intentional about balancing the two.  It doesn’t have to be much,  family time is simply disconnecting from your busy schedule for a few minutes to spend time with those you love.  I’m always telling you how much you matter. Well today I’m letting you know that they matter too and it’s important to stop often and make sure they know it!  

COJ 4 R Method – DO IT!

Happy Sunday!!! YOU DID IT! You survived last week! Proud of you Family! Today remember my “4 R” Method – use today to Relax and Refill so that tomorrow, you will be Refreshed and Ready! If you can’t do this today (Sundays just happen to be my day of choice) choose a day and make it happen! No excuses, YOU NEED THIS and YOU DESERVE IT! You should not continually try to operate on Empty! You’ve served everyone else faithfully this week, why not take a day to celebrate you? 

YOU MATTER! YOU ARE WORTH IT! YOU DESERVE IT! IF YOU DON’T CELEBRATE YOU, NO ONE ELSE WILL!  

Here is an article that may help! Enjoy! 
https://www.bustle.com/articles/122863-how-to-celebrate-yourself-because-you-deserve-it

It’s All Up To You!

You have the power, you control your time, your thoughts & your feelings. Find beauty in each day OR choose to create something beautiful. Happy Friday Family! ❤️ #COJ

Broken but Beautiful

So, I dropped my BRAND NEW phone yesterday and now my flawless apple screen is completely shattered. It literally just slipped out of my hand!

 I can not even put into words how upset I am about this,the phone was BRAND NEW!  I was so careful with it and I had my “shatter proof” glass protector on.  Ok, ok my case wasn’t the best decision (it was super cute though).  Either way, this was one expensive mistake!  I’m really trying to work on being a good steward of my time, property and finances then this happened.  I’m destruat, however the phone is still functional. Filled with shame,  I take it to work and show my co-worker expecting him to fully understand and validate my feelings of guilt for being irresponsible and wasting all the money I JUST SPENT on this on this device.  But his response shocked me.  He was surprised, as expected but then he took the phone in his hand, rubbed his finger across the screen and said, well, “It is beautiful in its’ own way.”  I looked at him completely baffled.  When I looked at the phone, all I saw was my terrible, expensive mistake, every crack on that screen was a reminder of my failure.  There was ABSOLUTELY NOTHING beautiful about that phone, until he said those words, and I took a second look.  This time, I saw more than a broken screen, I looked through his lens and noticed this sort of abstract art work, the cracks formed this beautiful web.  Then I realized a few things:

1) I was completely over reacting.  I didn’t drop the phone on purpose, it was an honest mistake.  There was nothing I could do about it now, so why allow this problem to continue to upset me.  I had options, I wasn’t super fond of them, but they are options.

2) I ended up having to purchase a replacement phone, but I’ll be much wiser with this purchase.  Not so concerned about the beauty of the case, I’m now focused on the value of the phone.  So I’ll invest in a case that will protect my new phone much better than my first choice.

3) Man I was hard on myself. I’m completely flawed, but just like my phone, I’m valuable and althoough my mistake made my phone less value, it DID NOT cause me to lose value.  It was time for me to understand causes of the mistake, make the proper adjustments (to prevent the mistake from happening again) and move on.  

Whatever life path you have chosen, please know that despite the mistake, you are beautiful in your own way!  Everyone around you should know and recognize that and if all the people that you surround yourself with see is a broken screen, it may be time to re-evaluate your circle.  Yes, the people in your circle should challenge you to do and be better, but if and when you fail, they should see beauty in the midst of your flaws.  

You are not your mistakes, YOU MATTER, YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL, YOU ARE VALUABLE, YOU ARE WORTH A SECOND CHANCE!  PURSUE YOU!!  If your first “case” was nice but not protective, do what you have to do to recover, then get you an OTTERBOX to protect your investment!  

                                              Dedicating this post to Cody, thanks for finding the beauty in my broken screen (Literally)

Just Try it!

Wanted to share a little nugget of wisdom with you guys.  When I was little my mother exposed me to EVERYTHING!  I was in the gospel choir, I played the bells at church, I worked with the outreach team, I was in the youth ministry, various math and science programs and I was a cheerleader.  I don’t think there is anything I didn’t do.  

My mommy always told me, “it’s ok if you don’t like it, but you are going to at least try it!”  So that’s my word for you today, straight from my mothers’ heart to yours!  Try something new!  You may not like it but how will you know if you don’t try.  You can start small.  Taste something different, try on a print that you wouldn’t usually wear, get yourself a new color lipstick!  It’s the little things that make all the difference!  

Reinvent yourself!  Who knows, maybe something different is all you need to get your confidence back or to give you the confidence you need to pursue what’s next!  

Oh yeah, did I mention before I found my passion, baking and cake decorating, I tried sooo many things.  Gardening … EPIC FAIL!  I went back to school to become an event planner, that didn’t work out.  I could give you  a long list of things that most would call failures.  But I didn’t fail at all, I just learned what I wasn’t good at.  If I never tried, how would I have known and now, I never have to wonder because I TRIED IT!!! 
So what’s it gonna be?? Can’t wait to hear all about it. I’m still trying and learning myself.

I dedicate this post to my Mommy Dearest!

I’m following her example, exposing my little ones to everything!  Here is JJ, excited about his new tap shoes, he tried dance this year,  taking tap and hip hop and he LOVES IT!  If I didn’t make him try, He nor I would have never known. 

What Are You Looking At?

Hey Family!  I’m growing to love writing these posts of encouragement to you guys!  Please know that as I encourage you, I’m also encouraging myself!

That being said, do me a favor, look around you, what do you see?  Check your phone, open up your computer, what’s on your screen? Turn on your T.V., what’s there? Go into your bathroom, what’s on your mirror? What’s in your car? 

Did you look?  I know, I know that was a lot of running around. But I want you to carefully evaluate your surroundings. WHAT DO YOU SEE family?  When I look at my desktop, I see my favorite coffee mug that reads, “Hello Beautiful.” When I turn on my phone there is a picture of my handsome husband (I ❤️️ Mr. Jones) and myself, a reminder that I am loved and I have a solid support system.   I’m looking at my computer screen and I see my babies, they are my “Why” and the encouragement I need to move forward.  I’m thinking about my Bakery, there is a photo of my parents, a reminder of my roots.  In my bathroom my affirmations are taped to the mirror.  I think you get my point! 

My mission is not easy, but it must be completed.  There is so much negativity around me, I choose to intentionally surround myself with positives!  When I’m tired and ready to quit, I see the picture of my children and I’m reminded that quitting is NOT an option!  I even collect inspirational Tee’s and I’m constantly listening to positive, encouraging messages (what are you hearing?  That’s another blog post, stay tuned).  

So, if you feeling like you aren’t pretty or if you are tired and feel like you can’t catch a break, or that you are not good enough.   It may be time to change what you are looking at!  Let me tell you a secret.  YOU CONTROL YOUR ENVIRONMENT!  The walls of your home, your mirror, your personal space, your phone, your computer, your car and your favorite coffee mug, they all belong to you! Encourage yourself!  You are responsible for you.  Gaurd your heart and mind, narrate your own story.  Changing your lens could change your life!