Love Archives – Page 2 of 9

Jordyn Denise: 1 Year 10 Months

April 19, 2016 Leave a Comment

Today, my little comedian, diva, loveable, sassy, and strong willed, child is 1 year and 10 months old. Only two months left until she is the big 2! I can’t believe I have an almost 2 year old already. Time is flying by way too fast, but thankfully, we’re having the time of our lives in the process.

Jordyn can say her ABC’s but not sing them. Strange, I know, it’s usually easier for kids to learn the song first lol. She can count to thirteen, she knows all of her colors, and can recognize most children’s book animals and tell you their sounds. She is beginning to piece together her words to create sentences as well. She loves looking at us and saying “HUG!” before giving us the biggest and sweetest hugs in the world. She’s a little stingy with her kisses LOL but she gives me “nose kisses” with no hesitation. Nose kisses = brushing our noses together. Oh, and she’s officially sleeping in a big girl bed!

She can say: GG, Gramma, Auntie, Taylor, Maya, Mommy, Daddy, Elmo, and Abby (our neighbor and the Sesame Street puppet) very clearly. She loves going outside to play on the playground and in the wood chips. However, her favorite part about being outside is collecting sticks and digging in the dirt. I love she’s growing up to appreciate the simple childhood most of us grew up with as well.

She still loves her big brother a.k.a “Es” more than we could have ever imagined. And she’s SO independent! I love being able to talk to her and know she’s understanding what I’m saying to her. She my little BFF who I can’t believe is growing so quickly right before my eyes. It’s the most bittersweet feeling in the world. I can’t wait to see how much more she’ll grow in the next two months. She makes me so proud to be her Mommy every single day.

Happy Monday folks!

All Posts, Family Love

Happy Birthday, Ash!

March 4, 2016 Leave a Comment

Today is not only #ThankfulThursday, but it is my cousin’s (who is more like my sister) 26th birthday! She’s clearly getting old and I’m clearly getting better LOL. I won’t bore everyone to death, but I wanted to take the time to wish her a very blessed and happy birthday. I’m so happy I get to call someone as crazy, and complicated (-_-) as you are, my cousin. I hope you recovered from your birthday celebrations LMAO. We love you so much and can’t wait to see you next month!

Happy birthday again Ash/Adeebo/Tunia! 🙂

Brie <3

[03.03.16]

All Posts, Dear Diary

Adjust Your Crown, Queen..

February 29, 2016 Leave a Comment

Tomorrow is the last day of Black History Month and I wanted to end the month on a note that will educate and uplift our community. My Facebook friends have had to endure my rants the last few months about my growing dislike of the words, “bitch” and “hoe”, to describe my beautiful Black sisters. I wanted to share a little more insight on why I hate these words, and why I pray, after the enlightening of our beauty and history, in the last month, more of you will join me in the understanding of addressing ourselves as the queens we are, and nothing less. I purposely used the three Black women on the featured image of this post (Queen Latifah, Lauryn Hill, and Janelle Monae) because these are the images I want to circulate of Black women, but more importantly, I want you to remember and LISTEN to the lyrics they have shared with us in numerous songs. We have fallen so far away from ~~music~~ mainstream music highlighting artists that empower us I wanted to share influential lyrics from these beautiful ladies reminding us of our power.

Remember Queen Latifah’s 90’s hit “U.N.I.T.Y” with the multiple messages of loving ourselves, specifically our Black women, and of course the classic chorus/phrase:

“Who you callin’ a bitch?
U.N.I.T.Y., U.N.I.T.Y., that’s a unity
U.N.I.T.Y., love a black man from infinity to infinity
U.N.I.T.Y., U.N.I.T.Y.
U.N.I.T.Y., love a black woman from infinity to infinity”

Look at the beauty in this chorus telling us to love our Black men and women from infinity to infinity. Even better, listen and read how Queen Latifah demands at the end of each verse, who could possibly be daring enough to call her out of her name? I want us to command power like this in our music again, but also in our every day lives.

I will be fair and say, my generation and younger, thankfully have the beauty and empowerment of Janelle Monae. I definitely have a borderline crush on her and all of her fabulous-ness. But seriously, her music and her persona, is all about empowering young women to be the best versions of themselves, and I am such a huge fan. I particularly love her song “Queen” featuring Erykah Badu. Specifically this part of the song:

Am I a freak for dancing around?
Am I a freak for getting down?
I’m coming up, don’t cut me down
Yeah I wanna be, wanna be

Even if it makes others uncomfortable
I wanna love who I am
Even if it makes other uncomfortable
I will love who I am

I love how bold and unapologetic she is about her blackness in this song. I love that she points out others discomfort means nothing to her pride and self love. I love that the overall name of the song is QUEEN because she addresses by the name we should embrace.

Most people who know me know how much I love the entire “Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” album. It is still one of the best albums recorded in the last 30 years. One of my favorite songs on the album is “Doo Wop”. I didn’t realize how much I loved this song until I recently listened to the words, I had been rapping word for word, over the last few years. [Side note: it’s amazing how many songs we know word for word but don’t actually LISTEN to what we’re saying. Be careful what words and songs you allow to feed your spirit. But that will be a blog post discussion for another day 😉 ] This part of the verse in particular is what really hit me:

Showing off your ass ’cause your thinking it’s a trend
Girlfriend, let me break it down for you again
You know I only say it ’cause I’m truly genuine
Don’t be a hard rock, when you really are a gem

Baby girl, respect is just the minimum
Nigga’s creepin’ and you still defending him
Now Lauryn is only human
Don’t think I haven’t been through the same predicament

I love this verse because it really is the truth, especially for me, in the actions she speaks of. I used to be the girl who casually referred to her friends as “bitches” and “hoes” and I saw nothing wrong with it. But then I grew up, and more importantly, brought a daughter of my own into this world, everything changed for me. How could I be mad at anyone calling her out of her name when Mommy has been listening to music referring to other Black women by these inappropriate names, and even worse, Mommy has referred to other women around her by these names? What kind of example would I be? This reasoning is one of the reasons I love this verse because Lauryn Hill makes it known she used to be the same person. I also love her reference of us being gems. As awesome and “lit” as Black girls are right now, in spreading all of this #BlackGirlMagic, can you imagine how much more magical we would be if we treated ourselves, and fellow sisters as the GEMS we are to this world? My book choice for this month was “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” and he said one of the hardest things for mankind to do is to challenge their current ideals and morals, because it’s the first step of admitting we are wrong about something. I couldn’t agree with him more, because had someone had this conversation with me just five years ago, I would’ve come up with every excuse in the book to tell you I wasn’t wrong in my use of such nasty words towards people I love.

I wrote this because I really and truly want us to start holding ourselves and those around us accountable for the language used to describe ourselves. This includes challenging everything from close friends to the musical artists you support. We have to step outside of the box and realize a nice beat to a song doesn’t change the message you’re sending to masses regarding our beautiful Black women. This goes for both male and female musical artists. I challenge all of you, my Black sisters specifically, to find and remember our/your Queedom at all times. Although we all will have our moments of forgetting, always remember, it’s never too late to: Adjust Your Crown, Queen.

I will leave you all with my favorite quote from Dean Davenport’s lecture regarding the use of the word “hoe” between two Black college students on the show “A Different World“.

“I suggest, no I warn you: never call a woman something you wouldn’t want somebody else to call your mother”….”A family can never be united with it’s brothers and sisters divided…NEVER!” -Dean Davenport

Have a great evening and I hope you all have a great upcoming week!

Brie <3

[02.28.16]

All Posts, Dear Diary

We NEEDED Black-ish.

February 26, 2016 Leave a Comment

I’m sure, by now, you’ve all heard all about the buzz surrounding last night’s episode of the show, “Black-ish“, concerning police brutality towards Blacks/minorities. I’ve watched the episode three times already, and I cry each time I get to Dre’s speech explaining the sense of fear we felt on President Obama’s inauguration day, when he got out of the car and walked next to it. So much about last night’s episode was not only needed because of current events, but because we NEEDED this television show in general. How perfect is being about to see extremely hard but moving issues being talked about on television, and giving us the light-hearted, yet perfectly timed, laughs in between?

I haven’t felt so deeply moved about current issues, through a television show since the late 80’s early 90’s sitcom, “A Different World“. As most of you know by now, “A Different World” is my favorite television show of all time. It is my favorite show because of how much it taught people of all colors how beautiful Black people are, it taught me about my own Blackness, and more importantly it taught us about real issues in the Black community. It was also one of the best Black love stories we’ve ever seen between a successful young Black couple (Dwayne and Whitley). Last night’s episode of the show, “Black-ish“, reminded me of the episode of “A Different World” surrounding the LA riots after the Rodney King verdict. The show was cancelled the same season this episode aired because of this particular episode…of course -_-. It was such a powerful episode and gave insight to those who weren’t aware of the real injustices that happen everyday in the Black community.

Fast forward to 2016 and we’re still fighting these exact same injustices. However, in an age of obsession with empty and overly stupid reality television, we have a show like “Black-ish” to remind us of the power of television. With all of the ~~Love & Hip Hop~~ trash shows constantly showcasing Black people to the world as ignorant, uncivilized, savage animals, who don’t know how to present themselves with class; when I say we NEEDED “Black-ish“, I mean it. I’ve been a loyal fan to the show since it first aired last season, and I haven’t been disappointed. As a Black woman who grew up in the surrounding Chicago suburbs, they are touching on conversations and topics I could have only imagined being talked about, on a large platform, while I was growing up. Being the only Black family on the block or one of very few in the entire neighborhood is something I understand all too well. To see the writers bring it to life with a perfectly picked cast, and perfectly timed comedy, is all I could ask for in a television show.

If last night was your first time tuning in to the show “Black-ish” I hope you have now become a new loyal fan to the show. If you haven’t gotten a chance to watch the episode, please do yourself, and those around you a favor, and watch the episode. You will not be disappointed. Thank you, Kenya Barris, for creating “Blackish”, and sharing your comedic brilliance and heightened consciousness with the world. I can’t wait for next week’s episode to keep filling us all with the hope you shared in last night’s episode.

Black-ish comes on every Wednesday night at 9:30|8:30 c.

Brie <3

[02.25.16]

All Posts, Family Love

3 Years Down: Forever To Go

February 24, 2016 Leave a Comment

Three years ago, today, my husband and I said “I do”. This won’t be a super long mushy post, but I wanted to be sure I share with all of you how much fun it is to love someone you’ve been with for almost ten years, more and more, with each passing day. Even when I don’t like him I’ve learned to love him more, because I know it’ll just be another bump in the road that although it takes longer to get to the destination, I get to travel the longer bumpy road with my best friend.

We have had many people tell us how much they admire us and it truly puts the biggest smiles on our faces. We smile because there is no way to explain the happiness you feel knowing you’re inspiring others by genuinely and simply being in love with your best friend. Life doesn’t get much better than that, right?

Today, and everyday, I am thankful to be Mrs. Jamieson. Happy anniversary baby! I love you forever and ever.

Brie <3

[ 02.23.16]

All Posts, Dear Diary, Family Love

Valentine’s Day 2016

February 15, 2016 Leave a Comment

Happy Monday everyone! It is the day after Valentine’s Day, and I hope this past weekend was a great start to your week. If you’re one of the lucky folks, you have today off for, President’s Day. We had a very simple but perfect Valentine’s Day weekend. We decided to go to dinner on Saturday evening to avoid the crowd on the actual day, and not only was the food good, but a couple we met while in line waiting for our food paid for our meal. I’m still smiling due to their enormously sweet gesture towards two strangers. We bought them a bottle of wine to thank them for their generousity. They insisted it wasn’t necessary but we wanted to let them know how much we appreciated what they did for our little family. They shared and spread more love to others and that is what Valentine’s Day is all about.

On Sunday we decided to hang out and relax as a family. One of my husband’s favorite foods is cinnamon rolls so I decided to make him some, from scratch, using a recipe I found on Pinterest. They turned out super yummy and took SO long to make! But he was happy and that made me happy. He bought Jordyn a teddy bear and a pink soccer ball for her Valentine’s Day gifts and she LOVED them. When she saw her ball in his hands, her face lit up, and she yelled “BALL”! It was absolutely adorable. Jordyn made her Dad a beautiful canvas painting with her hand prints and message saying “I <3 DAD” for his gift. Dad loved it. 🙂

Later that evening we went to the community center on base to play some basketball, and run around the gym with Jordyn, before we came back home to make/eat a homemade heart shaped pizza, and watch a movie together.

I got my Valentine’s Day gift from the hubby earlier this morning when I went to a local spa/salon to have a two hour, Caribbean Spa Treatment, done. I can’t think of a word strong enough to explain how amazing this treatment was so I’ll just use GLORIOUS. It was a much needed and much appreciated Valentine’s Day gift from the hubby. He is the best.

Whether you spent the holiday with a significant other, friends, family, or even by yourself, I hope you felt and shared love in the process. Valentine’s Day is all about love and there is more than one way to love, show love, and spread love. I hope you are all recharged and enjoying your evening. Have a happy rest of your day and even though it still isn’t Valentine’s Day, tell someone you love them, today.

Brie <3

[02.16.16]

All Posts, Music Favorites

Jazz Music Love

February 12, 2016 Leave a Comment

This Sunday is Valentine’s Day as I’m sure you all have noticed by now. My husband and I have dinner, family time, and gifts planned for this weekend. But if you ask me, what is a weekend of love without the greatest genre of love music? (Don’t debate me on this. Jazz music is every emotion but above all it’s LOVE). In addition to it being Valentine’s Day weekend it is still Black History Month. I decided I wanted to share a post with a few of my favorite jazz love ballads by some of my favorite Black jazz musicians. Prayerfully, one day soon, the majority of my fellow Black people will come back to appreciating real music again. Music sharing the beauty of love and beautifully explaining heartache. Music that uplifts our people and those around us. Music that expresses our grace and strength through the perfect match up of instruments and words.

Fellas, if you’re wanting to impress the lady in your life, play one (or all) of these beautiful songs for her, and watch her be impressed with your caring, impeccable, and sophisticated taste in music. 😉

I hope you all have a weekend filled with love. Always remember sharing and spreading love on Valentine’s Day is not limited to those who have a significant other. Whoever you chose to spend the weekend with I hope you all have a fun, love filled, and safe weekend.

All Posts, Dear Diary

When Diversity is Missing..

February 10, 2016 Comment : 1

I’m sure you read the title of this article and figured it would have to do with the MANY diversity and racial issues going on in the United States right now. However, this is more so a open letter or venting session of how hard it is to be a Black woman living in Montana sometimes.

I haven’t had any aggressive or negative run ins with people of any color here in Montana due to my skin color. This, unfortunately, is not the same story for my husband, but that’ll be a topic for another day. If anything, Montanans have been genuinely some of the nicest people I’ve met in my 27 years of life. People smile and speak when they walk by you, and most even stop to ask you how your day is going, and expect a response! Crazy, right? This is still something I’m adjusting to coming from living in Chicago prior to living here where people don’t even make eye contact with you let alone truly care enough to speak and ask you how you’re doing. I share this information before getting into what I want to vent about because I don’t want to paint Montana as some unfair, terrible, place to live, when in reality…my life in Montana isn’t too bad. But at the end of the day, I still live in Montana, and as I’m sure most of you know, Montana isn’t know to be home to many people of color or much…diversity.

Montana lacks diversity so much that when we go out to eat people usually automatically apply the military discount to our bill because we’re Black, dining in Montana, and the only explanation of us being here is the military LOL. I’m reminded every time we go visit another city or state how much I miss seeing people of ALL colors on a daily basis. When we first moved into our house here on base and met our first set of neighbors, apparently she shouted to her husband (who is Mexican), with excitement, “WE HAVE BLACK NEIGHBORS”! Hahaha! To this day this is one of my favorite stories, but one of the saddest at the same time, because seeing a Black person in Montana is like seeing a unicorn. I have a handful of other stories like this one from run-ins with other people of color who were happy to see another one of “us” lol.

However, the hardest part of living in a place that lacks diversity, are the lack of culturally different activities and lifestyles around us. I sometimes get jealous seeing my Facebook friends and Instagram and Twitter followers post pictures of RSVPs to concerts and events I know I wouldn’t be able to find in the entire state of Montana. Some examples are R&B/Neo-Soul concerts, blues/jazz lounges, festivals, upscale evening lounges, restaurants, etc. When you live in a place where diversity is lacking you miss out on all of these amazing things to do, and see, which add appreciation and cultural value to our lives. Do you all know how much I took having authentic Thai and Caribbean restaurants within 10 minutes from my apartment in Chicago? Do you know how much I appreciate walking into a Mexican restaurant and seeing a menu in Spanish and seeing an all Mexican staff cooking my food? Do you know how much I would love to go to a Jill Scott concert for a date night with my husband instead of the two options we have here of dinner and/or a movie? Do you know much it means to walk down the street, through a store, or drive by people of all colors, ethnicities, shapes and sizes? For my friends who live in places that offer all of these options and then some, take a minute to just soak up the beauty that is diversity surrounding you.

As a military wife I try my hardest not to complain to my husband (in a non-joking manner) because I know he is/we are here because it is what is needed for our family at this moment. I also try to remind myself of the countless military spouses whose loved one is overseas or died serving this country before I complain. As upsetting as it is some days that I’m not surrounded by everything I want I remind myself I have everything I need. I know there are plenty of people who would trade places with me if it meant being with their loved ones everyday. Sometimes it’s hard to not be selfish and think about what I want, but I’m human. However, I feel it is important, no matter who you are, what you do, or where you live to be exposed to life outside of your little bubble. It’s much harder to understand someone else’s life and experiences if you’ve never had the opportunity to explore their culture and lifestyle.

As much as Montanans love their bejeweled flare legged jeans, cowboy boots, country music, hunting, rodeos, and cowboy hats…I miss professional sports, multi-cultural authentic food, big name concerts, date night in a little black dress, and round trip plane tickets for under $200. But the upside of being a military wife also means this won’t be my location forever, but man, it sure does feel like forever when diversity is missing.

Brie <3

[02.10.16]

All Posts, Dear Diary, Music Favorites

Robert “Bob” Nesta Marley

February 3, 2016 Comment : 1

This upcoming Saturday would have been Bob Marley’s 71st birthday. If you haven’t been underneath a rock the last twenty plus years, you know how much influence Bob Marley had, and continues to have, on our culture. You can even count the multiple Bob Marley quotes you see while scrolling down your Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter timelines every day.

As a young woman who loves being part Jamaican, and representing the Jamaican culture, I thoroughly enjoy how much people have continued to embrace Bob’s talent. When I’m not in the best of moods, I can always count on my Bob Marley playlist or Pandora station to lift my spirits. I will share my two favorite Bob Marley songs. The first one: “Is This Love” always makes me think of my husband and daughter. Reminds me as long as we are together, even with the bare minimum, I will always have and be surrounded by happiness and love. My second song: “Redemption Song” reminds me of how resilient and strong Black people are. Through everything we’ve seen and been through in our history and lives, we still stand. Bob also reminds us how real mental slavery is too. In light of it being Black history month this is perfect to share with all of you.

I wonder how much genius was left in this man when he passed away at such an early age? Can you imagine what music would be like if one of the greats, such as himself, were still around to make music? In a perfect world, the music world would be MUCH different, which means it could only be better. Rest easy and happy early birthday, Mr. Robert “Bob” Nesta Marley.

Fun Brie Fact: While typing out Bob Marley’s full name I said it in my head the way Matthew from the show, A Different World, says it when answering a question at the Campus All-Star Challenge. I’m sure all of my fellow A Different World fans remember that scene too 😉

All Posts, Dear Diary

Black History Our History

February 1, 2016 Leave a Comment

Today is February 1st, 2016, which means it is officially the first day of Black History Month. As a Black woman who has gone through life being taught to celebrate every aspect of what makes me different from everyone else, it’s a month long celebration I both enjoy and will always believe is much needed. If you’ve been paying attention to anything regarding the media in the last year or so, you have without a doubt seen much talk about race, and specifically what it means to be Black in this country. We don’t even need to go in detail of how critical this years presidential race has been in proving racism being an issue. As nasty as some people can be hiding behind their keyboards, talking about race and what makes us different, and causes us to lead different lifestyles, with different opportunities, is a LONG overdue discussion. There will always be people who immediately go on the defense when discussing racism. Then there are those who have expanded their minds enough to want to talk about it, and learn as much as they can to make the people around them feel comfortable.

However, to those of you who get uncomfortable when talking about anything racially related, I challenge you to learn how to be comfortable talking about race starting this month. You would be amazed how enlightening it will be for you and your friends when you sit down and have intelligent but passionate conversation about uncomfortable topics. The biggest lesson I hope all non-people of color (and people of color) take from Black History Month this year is the understanding that celebration does not equal exclusion. I have plenty of friends, who are not Black, who enjoy and celebrate Black culture the same way they celebrate their culture(s). You don’t have to be Black, or a person of color, to pick up a book or research: Black activists, actors/actresses, doctors, inventors, musicians, politicians, teachers etc. and learn what contributions they made to this country that directly effect you every single day. Your eyes will also be opened to learning there are more to Black people, and we have contributed so much more than slavery, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to America as our history books have taught us since elementary school.

My challenge to people of color this Black History Month is to take the time to teach your children about the thousands of amazing Black people who have done amazing things in this country. We can no longer use the excuse of school not teaching our children when the information plus more is available at our finger tips to teach them ourselves. As parents and guardians, we are our children’s first teachers, and we should be teaching them to celebrate and understand the bravery and sacrifice those before us endured to get us where we are, today. Have your children read a book, or go to a museum, to teach them about people such as Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, and W.E.B. Du Bois. How else will the children learn about their history if we don’t teach them what isn’t taught at school? Which is almost everything about Black History -_-.

To those of you who know me, you know I am a person who has family members and friends every shade of the rainbow. I love the people in my life, and to love them I celebrate the important aspects of their lives which makes them who they are. I expect the same in return, and one of the largest parts of being, Brienne Jamieson, is being a Black woman. Don’t tell me you’re “colorblind” or “you don’t see race“, because you are denying a large part of ME. If you move to, or visit, another country you want people to know you’re an American, right? Or on the flip side, if someone from another country moves to America we don’t expect them to reject their heritage, and all of a sudden call them selves an American do we? No. So think about these examples next time you tell someone you’re colorblind. Don’t let my Blackness, or anyone else’s Blackness, make you uncomfortable. Instead, see us for who we are and join in the beauty, celebration, and struggle, of being close to someone who loves her heritage. In turn we get to celebrate one another through our differences and similarities year round.

Happy Black History Month everybody.

Always remember Black History is Our History.

Brie <3

[02.01.16]