Support Make It Happen: The Young Mommy Guide To Creating A Career by The Young Mommy Life

Being a young parent has created its challenges and struggles. There are many days when I just want to throw the rag in and call it quits. I wonder if all my hard work will ever really pay off.

Enter blogger Tara from The Young Mommy Life.

I “met” Tara last year when I first began Mommy Glow. I didn’t really know where my voice fit in the virtual world. When I came across her and her site, I was like wow. Here is a young woman, a young mom, who is out there hustling, making moves, and creating a forum for other young parents to talk about the experiences us young parents encounter.

Tara has become not only my friend, but my personal cheerleader as well. She’s not someone asking me how I’m doing to be nice. She asks because she truly cares and wants to help in whatever way she can. She’s always been there for me, to help support me in my times of need. To help listen to me when I need to vent. All the way from Ohio she is a vital member of my support system.

And now I want to be there for Tara, and her recently published e-book called: Make It Happen: The Young Mommy Guide To Creating A Career You Crave available on Amazon for $5.99. I am so inspired by Tara’s go-getter attitude and her continuous positivity. She is a real inspiration to young mommies everywhere.

I was able to ask Tara more about Make It Happen and why this is a must read for all young parents, and below is what she had to say:

I decided to write a book about career and money first (as opposed to the "sexier" topics of relationships, body image and all that) because a good chunk of our day-to-day life revolves around money. For a lot of us, being a stay-at-home mom isn't really an option - even if that's what we long to do. So we go to work to support our families the best way we know how. Our jobs may not pay that much or we might just really feel like our job is sucking the soul right out of us. But we don't want to complain because that job is putting food in our babies' mouth. Right? 

I wanted to tell other young parents what I've learned over the past couple years - that we own our future. Too often we feel like we're scrambling, playing catch-up, but the truth is, we've got just the right combination of factors - youth, motivation, drive, the new digital age that allows us to contact anyone anywhere - that makes success more than just a strong possibility for us. 

We CAN have a career that is of our making that allows us to pay the bills and then some, that gives us a daily dose of happiness. If it sounds like poppycock to you, let me just say: I'm living it now. Other moms I know are either there or well on their way. 

In the book, I help you find your passion, learn to budget so you make the most of the money you earn, and give you 20 ideas for side hustles you can start TODAY for little or no money. Once we get financially empowered, it makes all the big decisions - where we live, what we eat, where our kids go to school - so much easier to make. I hope once people finish reading, they're ready to make that next step in their career - whether it's reaching out to someone they admire or setting up their own website/portfolio (I cover both items in the book).

I’m proud to know Tara, and uber proud of her publishing her 1^st e-book Make It Happen. I plan to read it this weekend, and hope you all take the time to download the e-book and write a review.

Let's show her some support!

Resurrection of May Book Review

I’m a bit obsessed with books! I love buying and reading books. My bookcase is overflowing with my favorite books and books I still need to read. I find such pleasure and contentment within books. I was fortunate to review the book The Resurrection of May by Lisa Samson. I’ve never read a book like this before in my life. My usual interest is in self love books and fiction about characters struggling to gain a sense of self and make sense of the world we live in. Well I guess this book is kind of like the later, but with a whole lot of heavy issues mixed in.

Summary:

The Resurrection of May focuses around two main characters: May and Claudius. An odd pair, May is a youthful College student and Claudius an elderly man who lives with his dog on a farm outside of town. Their friendship is unexpected, but turns out to be the best thing to happen to each of them. May goes on a mission trip to Africa and comes back a different person. May encounters a kind of pain and suffering she had never felt before, and it is with Claudius she is able to begin healing. It is Claudius with whom May connects most with when she returns. Claudius’ patience and understanding appeals to May and their friendship blossoms as the years go by.

My Reaction:

Wow. I expected nothing that occurred in the book. It was a complete roller coaster to my emotions. In a good way. The writing is so vivid and enlightening, you feel the words on the page. You empathize with the characters. You feel the pain and hurt and sadness. At one point during the book, I sat on the floor and cried. That is how powerful and moving this book is. It was gripping, frightening, and hopeful. There were many times I was on the edge of my seat frantic about what would happen next for May and Claudius.

May is introduced as a typical College student, but what she encounters in Africa changes her completely, and the reader is able to go through the journey of emotions with her, and watch her resurrection and growth firsthand. You want nothing more than for May to succeed and I was rooting for her the entire book. 

I was definitely entertained while reading this book. It was hard to read though, as some parts were uncomfortable to read. But, I definitely felt that it helped me take a step back and look at my life and enjoy it more. 

I would recommend the Resurrection of May to anyone wanting a great complex dynamic novel to read.

Booksneeze has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book or advanced reading copy.

Girls Hold Up This World Giveaway Winner!!!

Thank you to all those who entered the Girls Hold Up This World book giveaway!

 

 I'm happy to announce that the winner is: Alex Spencer!!!

The winner was picked using the random.org random number generator.

 I hope you and your daughter enjoy this book as much as we do!

‘Girls Hold Up This World’ Book GIVEAWAY!

I finally found the courage to post my first VLOG (video blog)!!!! So check it out, check it out!! You can ‘meet’ me and my daughter and find out more about the giveaway!!

Tis the season for giving! I want to share a copy of a book that I love to read with my daughter. The book is called Girls Hold Up This World by Jada Pinkett Smith.

Giveaway Guidelines:

*Please leave a separate comment for each entry. Please be sure to include an email address with every entry or twitter handle so I can contact you if you win.

How to enter:

1 entry - Follow Mommy Glow publicly via Google Friend Connect
1 entry - Comment below and list your favorite childrens book and why.

1 entry - Take my button and put some Mommy Glow on your blog

1 entry - Follow me on Twitter: @YoungFabMama

1 entry - Tweet about this giveaway:

“I just entered a book #giveaway from @YoungFabMama for Girls Hold Up This World! http://ow.ly/3mrAH (ends 12/14) !!"

This giveaway ends on Tuesday December 14th at 4pm. At the close of the giveaway one winner will be chosen at random using random.org and notified via email and/or twitter. Only regulations with the giveaway are that you need to live within the United States.

Good Luck!

What I’m Reading: Bitch is the new black

I love love love books. Did I mention that I love books? I heart reading. I wish I could do less textbook reading and more pleasure reading…one day in the near future that will be possible!

Since I was a child I’ve always loved reading all different kinds of books from diverse authors. I seem to get lost in the words on the pages and crave reading. Growing up the library in my town was in walking distance so I’d head there afterschool or on the weekends and read and browse through books for the entire day. Strange when I look back on it, but I enjoyed it then and still enjoy it now.

So, what am I reading? Along with 3 textbooks in Social Psych, American History, and Legal Issues in the Helping Profession I’m reading a super juicy book called:

Bitch is the new black

Doesn’t the title sound exciting?! The author, Helena Andrews is an African American grad of Columbia. When Andrews pitched the book she deemed it "Bridget Jones's Diary," part "Sex and the City” = exciting!!!

Ok so I’m only in Chapter Four, but I am totally obsessed with this book and wish wish wish I had more time to stay up and read and laugh along with Andrews’ story.

I want to give you a sneak peek of the book and while I am so obsessed and excited about it. Part of the inside cover reads:

Meet Helena Andrews. Sassy, Single, Smart, and Yes A Bitch-But Tina Fey Said it Best, Bitch is the New Black! …. Bitch Is The New Black follows Andrews – sexy, single, and a self-described smart-ass … Told in Andrew’s singular voice, this addictive memoir explores the roller coaster of being educates and single while trying to become an “actual adult” and find love.

Exciting!!! I definitely love supporting African American authors and so far I am soaking in all of Andrew’s words and style of writing. It’s inspiring, raw, honest, fresh, and yes exciting! Her writing is so effortless, I feel like I’m one of her girlfriends along her journey to find love.

Favorite quotes thus far from the book:

Problem is, I’m black and I have a vagina, so my Waiting to Exhale intuition tells me this shit ain’t for real.

Black women have won approximately three things – freedom, a hot comb, and Robin Thicke.

I’m a bitch, I swear I don’t want to be. Really, I think I have to be.

This last one really hits home for me. I think in general Black women are automatically generalized and slapped with the label: Bitch. It’s unfair and completely inaccurate. Though some women see the word bitch as a tool of empowerment. My question is what is a bitch? What is the definition?  We all have our own various definitions, which adds to the complexity of the issue.

I can’t wait to read more and get beyond Chapter 4, and I can’t wait to share more of the book with you all. I definitely encourage you all to purchase the book, and you can do so from Amazon. 

What are you reading??