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Monday, February 27, 2023
Butter Carmel Cupcakes
Instead add:
1 cup of water
3 eggs
and 1/2 cup of butter melted down with a 1/4 cup of brown sugar. Bring this butter/brown sugar mix to a boil. I was able to make it happen in the microwave to be quick.
Blend together very well.
Fill cupcakes 1/2 full
Bake for 20 min.
Part Two:
Caramel Sauce
1/2 cup butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 (14 ounce can) sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp of vanilla
Bring to a boil the butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup.
Reduce to medium heat and add the can of sweetened condensed milk and vanilla. Stir for 4 minutes. Remove from heat then let the sauce sit for 10 minutes.
Inject the sauce mix into the baked and cooled cupcakes. Drizzle on top. There will be lots of camel left over that you can also use for popcorn.
Sunday, February 26, 2023
Strawberry-Pineapple Cupcakes - Cat Ears
Preheat oven to 350
1 box of strawberry cake mix (I used Pillsbury)
Do not follow recipe on the back! Instead add:
1 cup pineapple juice
3 eggs
1/2 cup of olive oil
Blend together very well.
Fill cupcakes 1/2 full
Bake for 20 min.
Decorate the top with whip-cream, strawberries, powdered sugar, or other fun topping.
We used almond whip but I'm sure coconut whip would be yummy too.
My youngest came up with the idea to make cat ears.
Saturday, February 25, 2023
Guest Post: 14 Microchanges Guaranteed to Advance Your Career, by Marla J. Albertie CPC, APTD, M.Ed., USN Veteran Instructor of Psychology
14 Microchanges Guaranteed
to Advance Your Career
Make these changes and watch your career take off!
As a
career and life coach, I am often asked “how do I advance my career.” I always
advise “depending on your goal you can do an array of things.” Everyone
doesn’t have to perform the same tasks for advancement, however there are some
universal slight changes you can make. I call them microchanges.
It will
amaze you at what a slight change can do for your career.
If you
want a raise or job satisfaction, try these simple tips for taking your work
performance to the next level. They’ll pay off quickly.
Online
Microchanges for Greater Career Success
The
internet is the place to start because it is easy to gain knowledge and promote
your visibility.
1.
Edit your LinkedIn profile. When
was the last time you updated your LinkedIn profile?
I updated mine right before I started my recent job.
I recommend
looking at your profile every 2–3 months to make necessary changes. Let
colleagues see your most recent accomplishments.
2.
Reach out to your network. Reach
out to colleagues you have not spoken to in a while. Reconnect with past
coworkers. You never know who holds the key to open your next door.
3.
Follow industry news. I
can’t stress this one enough. You should always stay abreast with what
your industry is engaged in. Spend a few minutes a day reading an article or
two about what’s happening in your world of business.
4.
Monitor your life. It’s
easy to lose track of time, since we cannot manage it, anyway. Set limits on
your extra-curricular activities. Give yourself time to read and set up systems
in your life.
Offline
Microchanges for Greater Career Success
5.
Face-to-face interactions still have a
dramatic impact. There is nothing like having a great conversation with someone
while getting to know them. Maybe that’s even more true today when so much
communication occurs electronically.
6.
Demonstrate initiative.
Sometimes you will be asked to perform job tasks outside of your job
description. How will you respond? I suggest you show initiative and step up.
7.
Be a team player. Identify
what your manager considers the top business priorities so you know where to
devote your efforts. Find a way to contribute that goes above and beyond your
job description.
8.
Volunteer your assistance. You
can volunteer your time at work or in your community. I suggest you try both.
Find areas of interests and see how you can help.
9.
Speak up. In
every meeting, there is always that one person who says nothing,
and the manager has to call on them, don’t be that person. Make
your voice heard on subject matters of interest. You don’t have to speak at
every meeting, but you should speak at some meetings.
10. Show
enthusiasm. Your manager will trust and value you more if you show that
you’re invested in your career. After all, it is YOUR career. If you don’t have
an interest in it, why would anyone else?
11. Express
gratitude. Let your colleagues know how much you appreciate them all the
time. Gratitude should be an ongoing effort. This does not mean act
unauthentic, it means to show gratitude to your team on different occasions.
Offer sincere praise and share credit for team projects. They’ll be more likely
to return the favor.
12. Dress
for the position you want. Appearances count whether or not you
like it. If your career desires are to be a business manager, how does a
business manager dress?
13.Join a
professional association. I have mentioned this in my previous
writings. There is no better way to meet people in your industry than to join
the industry association. I am a member of a few of them and I love the
connections I have made.
14. Use
your vacation days. According to the Harvard
Business Review, employees who take all of their vacation time have a
6.5% higher chance of receiving a promotion or a raise than their peers who are
stockpiling their time off. Isn’t that amazing? Take the cruise which is my
vacation of choice.
The
average full-time work week in the United States is roughly 42.5
hours long. Wouldn’t it be better for you to have a strategy for career
advancement? These microchanges will help you do a superb job and maintain
harmony in your life.
Marla J. Albertie, is the author of The Ultimate Brag
Book: A hundred questions about how awesome you are. She is a Certified Life
Coach and Corporate Trainer. She blogs owns of the Truth
Speaks Group, LLC, a multi-media coaching company dedicated to creating solutions for
integrating work and life to create harmony. When she is not studying for her
PhD, Marla loves to read, is a concert and comedy show junkie, and a cruiser
for life. Follow Marla on Twitter @tspeakscoaching and IG @Tspeaksgroup
Sunday, February 19, 2023
Guest Post: Getting Your “Tribes” to Help Promote You and Your Book by Marissa Bañez
Getting
Your “Tribes” to Help Promote You and Your Book
We all have many “tribes” – family,
friends, culture, ethnicity, gender, education, work, religion, politics, etc.
Most tribe members enjoy the vicarious
thrill of success on the part of someone they know or can relate to: “One of us
done good.”
As a published author, you have
given them that vicarious thrill.
Chances are, they’ll want to help you become even more successful, which
will further heighten their vicarious thrill.
Seek out those people . . . but don’t just take; you must also give. I call it “cross-pollination.”
True stories:
1. Someone
I worked with decades ago published a novel (work tribe). My vicarious thrill led me to post about it
on social media. Also, although we
hadn’t spoken in about 40 years, I congratulated him through the magic of the
internet. In our emails, I mentioned my
dream of publishing my children’s stories.
He then introduced me to his publisher, who is now my publisher
too. Since then, he has posted about my
various endeavors to promote my book three times on his blog. Each time, I re-posted his blog on my social
media to give him a wider audience as well.
2. My
sister (family tribe) “cold-called” the editor of a newspaper that publishes about
our country of origin and people (ethnic tribe). The editor agreed not only to write about me
but to organize a book launch party to introduce me to the community cultural
leaders too. I also agreed to be interviewed
by her about a personal topic for a different publication. Because that other publication has a wide
audience, I spent the time and mental/emotional energy for the project in
return for greater publicity.
3. I
contacted a different editor of a similar newspaper elsewhere (ethnic
tribe). She wrote an article about me,
which in turn led to her publishing a personal essay I wrote, and an interview
of me on a TV show. Because of this
exposure, the primary entertainment journalist of the U.S. arm of one of the
largest multimedia conglomerates from my country of origin (ethnic tribe) is
requesting an on-camera interview with me.
4. My
university alumni magazine agreed to include my book in an issue featuring
alumni authors (education tribe), adding to their need for content.
5. Someone
(friends tribe) recommended I join a Facebook group for certain moms (racial/cultural/gender
tribes). Because the group rules prohibit
self-promotion, I made myself known by posting on issues that mattered to the
group or that helped others in the group.
Several members googled me, saw my book, told the group about the book,
and bought it for themselves.
* * *
This will often feel like networking
on steroids. But because the current
marketplace of competing ideas is overcrowded and noisy, your tribes can help
you be seen, heard and, ultimately, read.
Marissa Bañez is a lawyer and
author of the children’s illustrated book, Hope and Fortune. Her second book, Hues and Harmony (How the
Rainbow Butterfly Got Her Colors) will be published on July 20, 2023.
Hope and Fortune by Marissa Bañez
Hope and Fortune
Book Summary
Hope and Fortune is a modern-day fairytale,
featuring multicultural, multiracial (e.g., Filipina, African-American, Latina,
Asian, Muslim, etc.), multigenerational, and multigender (including a boy)
fairies of different shapes and sizes who help a sad little child who has lost
her way to find her path. Each fairy
represents an ideal - Hope, Innocence and Wonder, Truth and Virtue, Generosity
and Kindness, Strength and Courage, Respect and Dignity, Confidence,
Imagination, Happiness, Beauty, Wisdom and Intelligence, and Love and
Friendship. Although the protagonist is a little girl, the life advice given by
the fairies is non-gender-specific and could resonate with anyone facing a
difficult situation at any point in her/his/their life.
Publisher:
Black Rose Writing
ISBN-10:
1685131174
ISBN-12:
978-1685131174
Print
copy pages: 46 pages
Purchase
a copy of Hope and Fortune on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Bookshop.org. You can also add this to your GoodReads reading list.
About the Author
A
first-generation immigrant to the U.S. from the Philippines, Marissa Bañez is a
graduate of Princeton University and a lawyer licensed to practice in New York,
California, and New Jersey. She has published legal articles for the
prestigious New York Law Journal and the American Bar Association, but her true
passion is in her children's stories. She currently lives in New York City with
her husband and daughter, whose childhood was filled with many original stories
and puppet shows made up entirely by her mom. In her free time, Marissa likes
to travel, design and make clothes, cook, binge-watch Star Trek shows and
Korean dramas, and occasionally strum a guitar.
She
is currently working on her second book, Hues
and Harmony (How the Singing Rainbow Butterfly Got Her Colors), a story
about mixed or multiracial children, self-discovery, and respect for others as
told through the life and adventures of a caterpillar. It is scheduled for
publication on July 20, 2023.
You
can find her online:
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/marissa.banez.7/
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marissa-banez/
Friday, February 17, 2023
How to Write Truths About People Who May Be Hurt by Them by Norma Watkins
How
to Write Truths About People Who May Be Hurt by Them by Norma Watkins
Do we have the right
to write bad things about people, family members or friends, who may
recognize themselves and be hurt?
My novel In Common is based on my family. This is how
I tried to apologize for potential hurt in the Acknowledgments:
This book is pure invention except for the parts that are
true. I have changed the names of fine, decent people because I don’t want to
embarrass them or their descendants. I have kept the names of public figures,
and a few beloved servants, who never received the recognition they deserved.
The historical events happened. In between, I made up a lot of stuff.
When you get ready to write the hard stuff, ask yourself three
questions: Is the story true? Is the story meant to hurt, or are you presenting
facts necessary to tell the story? If the answers are yes, it’s true; no, I’m
not trying to hurt anyone; and yes, this truth is necessary to the story,
you’re okay.
Authors have various opinions about how much to reveal.
Faulkner says you should be willing to sell your grandmother for a good story.
Annie Dillard says she would never write about people who don’t have equal
access to a printing press. Some writers show the work to family members and
get their approval. You can change names if you tell us you’re doing so. If you
are writing memoir, that carries the implication of veracity, so if you are
changing names, making up dialogue, or inventing where you can’t know what
happened, insert a little author intrusion and tell us.
From Barrington, Writing
the Memoir: Laying bare the soul with absolute frankness is still an act of
courage. To speak honestly about family and community is to risk accusations of
betrayal, of being a whistle-blower on the myths that families and communities
create to protect themselves from painful truths.
But a memoir (or a disguised memoir) does need to be candid.
And there’s nothing wrong with speculating on what might have been, or telling
the reader how you’ve always imagined your parents’ early lives. Realize that
there may be conflicting claims between the exact truth of the story and its
emotional truth as you experienced it. If anyone complains, remind them this is
your story, your truth, and invite them to write their own.
Be prepared to check facts where you can, but don’t be
afraid to tell the truth. Women, especially, have been told, “You can’t write
about that.” “It will kill your mother.” We know in advance about the turned
backs, the raised eyebrows, the gossip. We know what we must do to be approved
of, that we are expected to keep the peace, smooth over conflict, and “make
nice.”
Here’s Virginia Woolf writing in l931:
I will describe her as
shortly as I can. She was intensely sympathetic. She was immensely charming.
She was utterly unselfish. She excelled in the difficult arts of family life.
She sacrificed herself daily. If there was chicken, she took the leg; if there
was a draft, she sat in it—in short she was so constituted that she never had a
mind or a wish of her own, but preferred to sympathize always with the minds
and wishes of other. .And when I came to write I encountered her with the very
first words. The shadow of her wings fell on my page; I heard the rustling of
her skirts in the room. I turned upon her and caught her by the throat. I did
my best to kill her. My excuse, if I were to be had up in a court of law, would
be that I acted in self-defence. Had I not killed her she would have killed me.
She would have plucked the heart out of my writing.
You need to risk
unpleasantness and tell the truth. We learn from each other’s stories and
that is, perhaps, the great gift of story-telling. Shared humanity makes us
feel a little less alone in the world.
Alice Walker wrote in The
Same River Twice: “If you go deeply enough into yourself, you come up in
other people. We have the capability to connect to absolutely everyone ….”
Some subjects are so prohibited they have become taboo:
childhood abuse, sexual violence, certain mental and physical illnesses.
Overcoming your own inhibition is the first step in dealing with these
monsters. You must write in a way that is engaging without compromising the
truth. Tell the story for the story’s sake. You are not asking for sympathy.
You have made peace with the facts. The rewards you seek are the rewards that
go with courage: you take the risk. It is that unique blend of truth and art
that touch a reader’s heart with immediate sorrow or lift a reader’s spirits in
a flash of recognition.
When dealing with painful subjects, Ursula K. le Guin says,
there’s a distinction between wallowing and bearing witness.
Distance helps.
To describe something painful or difficult, tell us the story as if you were
talking about someone else. Keep us at an empathic distance. The story can be
maddening, but the writing isn’t mad. The story can be heart-breaking, but the
writer doesn’t whine. This usually means using third person, but you can use
first if the tone is right.
Here are a few suggestions to get you started:
1.Make a list of things you consider taboo for yourself.
2.Write a piece that begins with the words: “It would be
much too dangerous to talk about …”
3. Pick a problematic story from your past, something you
would have trouble dealing with: Tell it in the first person, present tense.
For example: I am standing barefoot in the hall outside my parents’ bedroom …
5. List any events or people you would not write about if
your writing were to be published. Pick one and write a page about it or
him/her.
6. Write a portrait of someone you hate, knowing that person
will never see it.
7. Write how it would feel if that person did see it.
There are other strategies you can use when truth becomes
too painful. 1)Turn it into fiction. 2) change the gender of the main
character. 3) Use my trick—wait until they die.
Another strategy to remember: When you begin the write about a painful event,
slow the writing down. We have a tendency to race through the hurtful stuff.
Resist this. Let the reader feel what you or your character felt: the shortened
breath, the pounding heart, the nausea.
Write now; worry later. In the end, most people do want to
be written about, and if they don’t, disguise them. if the event is what wakes
you up at night and gives you bad dreams, that’s exactly what we want to read.
In Common by Norma Watkins
Lillian
Creekmore grows up at her family's popular rural spa. She successfully runs an
entire hotel, yet longs for a husband. Then she meets Will Hughes.
Velma
Vernon accepts life on a small, struggling farm until a boy she barely
tolerates proposes marriage. To accept means duplicating her parents' hard
life. Alone, she leaves for the city and triumphs, not as a wife, but by being
the best at her job. Velma is content until the most beautiful man she has ever
seen walks into her office.
This
moving and darkly humorous novel follows the intertwined lives of women willing
to surrender everything to a man.
Publisher:
Black Rose Writing
ISBN-10:
1684339235
ISBN-13:
978-1684339235
ASIN:
B09V1NNLSZ
Print
Pages: 595 Pages
Purchase
a copy of In Common by visiting Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Bookshop.org. Make sure you also add In
Common to your Goodreads reading list.
About the Author
Raised
in the South during the civil rights struggles, Norma Watkins is the author of In
Common and two memoirs: The Last Resort, Taking the Mississippi Cure
(2011), which won a gold medal for best nonfiction published in the South by an
independent press; and That Woman from Mississippi (2017). She lives in
northern California with her woodworker husband and three cats.
You
can find her online by visiting
her website
or reading her blog.
Thursday, February 16, 2023
In Common, by Norma Watkins
In Common, a first novel from award-winning memoirist Norma Watkins (The Last Resort, That Woman from Mississippi), is the story of how much women willingly sacrifice for love.
Lillian Creekmore grows up at her family's popular rural spa. She successfully runs an entire hotel, yet longs for a husband. Then she meets Will Hughes.
Velma Vernon accepts life on a small, struggling farm until a boy she barely tolerates proposes marriage. To accept means duplicating her parents' hard life. Alone, she leaves for the city and triumphs, not as a wife, but by being the best at her job. Velma is content until the most beautiful man she has ever seen walks into her office.
This moving and darkly humorous novel follows the intertwined lives of women willing to surrender everything to a man.
ISBN-10: 1684339235
ISBN-13: 978-1684339235
ASIN: B09V1NNLSZ
Print length: 595 pages
Norma Watkins
Wednesday, February 15, 2023
Empaths
Amen! Cheers to all my empath warrior friends! You only make up 1-2% of the population but make life much more vibrant!
Saturday, February 11, 2023
Guest Post: Career Development by Marla J. Albertie
Can you imagine all the things you
like, love, and adore in one book?
Let’s
be honest. We tend to forget how amazing we really are. It is easy to see it in
others, but when it comes to seeing ourselves, we tend to have bad vision.
This
is why I wrote this book! All your favorites are captured at one time with
space to write more. How often do we brag about ourselves, take time to think
about what makes us happy, or do the things we like? If I had to guess, not as
often as you would like. You deserve to brag about yourself, so why not? Not
only is this a bragging book, but it is a book of ideas you can use to start
your next project, business, career move, or anything your heart desires.
In
this book, you will learn:
● How
to vision board your next big career move
● How
to inspire yourself by seeing you
● That
you are worthy
This
book is for everyone who wants to see themselves as the person they are. You
deserve to be your own cheerleader. Grab this book today and start bragging on
yourself!
ISBN-13
(paperback) 979-8887592923
ISBN-13
(e-book) 979-8887592930
Print
Length: 218 Pages
Purchase
a copy of The Ultimate Brag Book About
Yourself on Amazon or get a signed copy on the
author's website. You can also add this to your GoodReads reading
list.
About the Author
Marla
J. Albertie has lived on board a United States carrier therefore, she feels she
is unstoppable. As a native of Jacksonville, Florida she loves to read, travel,
and shop. Many of her travels have been on cruises as she has taken 16 thus
far. Marla believes life is a journey and we all can create the life we want so
why not; you only live this life once. She has a passion to see growth in
peoples’ lives and wants others to pay it forward.
As
an energetic visionary, she is the owner and founder of the TruthSpeaksGroup LLC, a multi-media company that creates
strategies and solutions for work-life integration/harmony (WLI/H). She is also
the founder of MJA Notary Services LLC., MJA Publishing LLC., and JEMA Holdings
LLC. and Being the founder of I/O for
Teens Inc. is her greatest work yet!
Marla
doesn’t believe in work-life balance as she believes all areas of our lives can
be integrated and we can create harmony in our lives by means of I/O Psychology
and Positive Psychology methodologies.
However,
harmony cannot happen if we are not in tune with who we are, therefore “The
Ultimate Brag Book” was born.
Marla’s
mantra is to #TeachTrainEducate working woman who desire to understand their
truth and live a life of success defined on their own terms.
Marla's
one word philosophy is #Learn.
Marla
is a certified professional career, executive, and life coach, trainer APTD
(Associate Professional in Training and Development), Certified Chief Happiness
Officer, Certified Positive Psychology Practitioner, Director of HR, Instructor,
of Psychology, Amazon Best Selling author, and has over 25 years of business,
coaching, and training experience.
Marla
holds a Master of Education in Adult Education, Bachelor of Applied Science in
Supervision and Management, and an Associates of Science in Financial Services.
She is currently pursuing her PhD in Industrial and
Organizational Psychology.
Marla
loves speaking, teaching, and writing. Among the many ventures she is involved
in here are just a few: The founder of the Motivational Movement K.I.M. (Keep
it Moving), Truth Speaks Academy, an annual Women’s Empowerment Conference.
I.M.A.G.IN.E. (I’M Awesome Growing IN Excellence), YouTube Channel featuring
the talk show Creating Your Career with Marla J. Albertie which has 36
episodes, and blog TheWorkingWoman.co. She has also published two books and
co-authored a third.
Marla
is an active member of the Junior League of Jacksonville, ATD, SIOP, SHRM,
Blacks in I/O, APA, ICF, IPPA, and NAHSE. She is also a Well-being and Data
Literacy champion at Mayo Clinic.
When
she is not trying to save the world, Marla loves a good story and frequents the
movies to eat her favorite movie snack, nachos. She loves spending time with
her family and friends cruising, shopping, and reading.
Here
is where you can find her online:
Main
Site: truthspeaksgroup.com
Follow
her as a writer on Medium
Subscribe
to her blog: www.theworkingwoman.co
Take
a course at Truth Speaks Academy
Subscribe
to my talk show on YouTube: https://youtu.be/faUFIqU8pHs
Instagram:
http://instagram.com/tspeaksgroup
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/TSpeaksCoaching
LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marlajalbertie/