Book Archives – Jamieson Diaries

Today we celebrate what would have been Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 89th birthday. This is one of the few times the actual day of his birthday, and the day observed for his birthday share the same day. I could type a mini book about the accomplishments of Dr. King, but instead I will share the title of a book written by Dr. King in 1967 that has become one of my favorite writings, from him, to date. I will also share a few of my favorite pictures from the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. monument in Washington D.C.

This is my favorite book to date written by Dr. King. I asked one of my friends for a book that shows us a more radicalized Dr. King, and this was his suggestion. (Thanks, Mo!) Although I’ve had the book for months, I thought January would be the perfect month to read this book, because of his birthday and to start the year off strong.

This is one of those books that somehow allows you to respect Dr. King’s fight and message even more. The hardest part to digest while reading this book is how applicable his words still are today. We have come a long way and have equally as much ground to cover before seeing true equality in this country. My absolute favorite aspect of this book is getting a non third grade history book white washing of Dr. King and his legacy. So many people who quote Dr. King don’t even realize they stand for and support the complete opposite of everything he fought for. Dr. King was definitely a non-violent man, but every bone in his body was controversial.

We traveled to Washington D.C. in October 2016. Naturally, we were to see Dr. King’s monument and park. There was a guy leaning on the wall while his friend took a picture. Once we walked up closer I noticed what he was doing and thought it was absolutely brilliant. To this day it’s one of my favorite pitcures, especially considering the circus happening in the United States government today. I also couldn’t help but to think how much Dr. King would’ve approved of this message if he were alive to see this foolishness taking place.

I snapped this picture of my husband reading one of the many beautiful Dr. King quotes in the park. There is something so poetic about my Black military husband not only seeing this quote in person, but being able to share the moment with his family. This quote is so important because as Dr. King said himself there are too many people “who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice.”

Happy birthday, Martin Luther King Jr.

At the beginning of the year I shared a post outlining 12 goals I am striving to accomplish every month of 2016. Click here to read the post if you haven’t already. As of earlier today, I have accomplished all 12 of my goals for the month of January with one day to spare! Yeah, go me! I will share a picture of each goal for the month of January below.

Date Night:

While my Mother in law was in town the husband and I went on a few date nights this month so that was a lot of fun. Here is a picture of us at a stop light on our way to see the Hateful Eight for a day time date. 🙂

New Recipe:

I follow the Tasty page on Facebook and decided to make the shepherds pie stuffed baked potatoes for my new recipe to try for dinner. It was an instant hit and I’ve made it twice this month for dinner!

DIY Project:

I actually almost forgot to do my DIY for this month, but thankfully earlier today I was bored and decided to do one anyway. How about that timing? I re-purposed an old t-shirt I never wear into a workout shirt.

Twitter Chat:

Thanks to a good friend who is a social media strategist I learned about the “My Creative Connection” monthly twitter chat. Not only did I love the Q&A but I learned so much from the first chat to help better my blog and brand. They do this #BlkCreatives chat on the second Monday of every month. It’s safe to say they have a loyal monthly chat customer now. 🙂

Natural Hair Style:

This month I did a nice and easy, wash n’ go, natural hair style but it looked great! It has been my favorite wash n’ go result thus far. Talk about a selfie worthy hair style. 😉

Periscope Cooking Broadcast:

I did my first ever Periscope broadcast (@BrienneJamieson) for cooking. The first meal I shared on Periscope was my yummy Potato Corn & Bacon Chowder. I know it’s yummy because my family loves it and I have gotten some excellent reviews from fellow followers and readers who have tried it out. Thanks again to those of you who watched and tried the recipe!

Nail Color:

I have a drawer filled with nail polishes I haven’t worn in over a yea,r or ever, for that matter. I decided to try one of the colors I have never worn before. It’s called Russian Navy by OPI and I loooove it! I had to show it off with my lovely workout gloves while at the gym haha.

New Book:

The book I read this month was The Pact by Jodi Picoult. I love Jodi as an author so it shouldn’t come as a surprise how much I enjoyed this book, but I was still impressed and emotionally drawn in. If you are looking for a tragic yet relatable book to read I highly recommend this one.

Jordyn Activity:

Although Jordyn and I play and have fun all day everyday, I made it a point to do something each month that we’ve never done before. This month we built our first “fort” and we both had a great time eating snacks and watching TV/movies. It was the perfect cold and snowy day to do so too. 🙂

Workout Reward:

I made a commitment of having to workout at least 20 days of each month in order to reach my post baby body goals AND buy myself a reward of $25 or less to keep me motivated. As of Friday night I hit my goal which gives me two off days before starting again on Monday for the month of February. I was happy to achieve this goal!

The last two goals of the month were performing a random act of kindness and doing something nice for my husband. I didn’t take pictures of either of these “acts” because 1) I didn’t even remember to do so at the time and 2) some things don’t have to be shared through pictures. However, I will share what I did for each. While out running errands, and buying dinner for the family, I randomly decided to stop and buy some pizzas for the cops who guard the gate on base. It put smiles on their faces which made me super happy. For my husband, while out running those same errands, he had accidentally broken one of his PS4 controllers earlier that day. I bought him a card that very sweetly said “I love you” in mushy card ways and I put a Game Stop gift card in it. It made him smile and tell me how much he appreciates me so I think he loved it. Making people smile always makes me smile and that’s what it’s all about.

What goals did you set for yourself in the month of January? Did you accomplish them? If so, congratulations and I hope you have a great February as well. If not, what can you do to make sure you adjust and execute for the month of February? Feel free to share below.

Have a great Saturday evening and rest of your weekend everyone!

Brie <3

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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2018

January Goals Accomplished!