Life: Updated

Oh man has it been a while...two whole months...I apologize for my absence. So many things have been going on I will try my best to do justice with updates:

1. I have just completed the Divergent Trilogy books by Veronica Roth and before that I read The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska by John Green. WOW! Why am I just now discovering these amazingly talented writers??? Let me tell you, when you come to the end of a John Green novel you remain in a haze of the after glow of that book. You don't want to pick up another book 'cause you're not ready for the last one to be done just yet...not ready for the experience to be over. Or that could just be me...I can be weird like that. I don't even have words to describe the Divergent series yet. I'm still processing ( I do believe an entire post will be dedicated to it).

2. Both of my parents have joined social media. This may not seem like anything big, but if you only knew they condemnnation they rained on Facebook and the like you would understand my utter shock when i received whatsapp messages from my daddy and a FB friend request from my mama. LOL! That is exactly what I did when I got them. Needless to say I receive many concerned stares. My father has acquired a galaxy tab and my mother is now the proud owner of an android smart phone. Significant portions of my day are now spent in orienting them into the world instant messaging, emojis and a variety of applications.

3. GUATEMALA!! I spent a week there this summer and it was a spectacular week. I was there for the Inter-American Adventist Youth Congress, which encompass upwards of 27 countries! The experience was indescribable...so hopefully my attempt will suffice. I was not intended to be a vacation but we got to go on a tour the day after we arrived and I must say; Guatemala is beautiful. Their former capital city La Antigua Guatemala (The Old Guatemala) is so rich with culture and their Spanish heritage, which is proudly displayed in the architecture of their buildings, both recently constructed and the exquisite ruins. The rest of the week was spent between the hotel and the convention centre where over 6000 young people (and the young at heart people) met to learn how we can best use our talents, gifts and zeal for youth work in the Adventist church to bring more souls to Christ. The spiritual level was always on a high and I came home feeling so empowered by the Holy Spirit. I met so many new people and made so many new friends in that one week it's not even funny (my FB freind request notification thingie just kept popping up for about two weeks after I came home) and the best part was that most of them don't know any english. Attempts at communication were quite hilarious most of the time.

If I continue I will be typing all night and I have quite a few tasks to accomplish before I can curl up in my bed with my new book (its an extension of the Divergent series....I just cant get enough!). So enjoy the pics of the world's newest wanderluster (is that a legit word? idk...idc...lol).

Notice the cobblestone roads which are throughout the entire city. Nice to look at, not so much to walk on.

 Not sure of the idea behind this one...

 All of the lights! (Friday evening alter call: they turned off all the lights and asked us to light up for Jesus [using our cellphones])

The last night...too tired to stand for the picture

Cookies and Chivalry

Today I indulged my wallet and my diet in a Mrs. Fields cookie. If you have never known the ecstasy of eating this piece of circular bliss, or by some evil twist of fate don't know what a Mrs. Fields cookie is, then I will be the angel that heralds this most glorious news to you. In the packet there is a single cookie about the size of your palm. Now this is not simply a cookie that yo absent mindedly snack on...you must eat this cookie with intent and purpose, the rest of the world is put on pause as the awesome cookie-ness of this cookie engulfs you. Yes. I know I have an unatural relationship with the cookie. I'm ok with that.

Mmmmm... ^_^

In other news...chivalry is not dead! Today I was about to enter a taxi and a man (not homeless and wanting money or 'thirsty' looking, just a gentleman who happened to be passing by) opened the door for me to enter, waited until I was properly seated, and closed the door after. Well consider me pleasantly surprised...

I wonder the merit of this...

Natural Hair Junkie

Hi, my name is Laurissa and I'm a natural hairaholic...

I've been natural for quite some time, with very little growth and hair health to show for it. Largely because I really was not that caught up in the natural hair scene. Well talk about making up for lost time! Opening just one link to an article on BGLH or just one Youtube video with a natural hair tutorial seems to be an impossible act for me. There will always be another link to another article or video below or adjacent to the one I most recently devoured that I simply MUST read, and thus the addiction is fed.

A screenshot from this morning: I don't always have time to read them all right away...so I open a bunch of tabs and save for later *hides face*

Despite this obsession, I am not a product junkie...well maybe not a full blown one. I read all these articles and watch all these tutorials about length retention, moisture retention, no-heat stretching, etc. to gain knowledge. One thing I have realised is that not everything works for my hair (I am thoroughly convinced that my hair has a type all its own. I call it 5Z). Everyone's head of hair is unique. And while there are general guidelines, it is up to me to do what suits my hair best. So although the arsenal is expanding with all this new found love for all things natural hair, I still take careful consideration of my weapon/s of choice.

Trying to stetch my hair using the African threading method...but with laces. Forgot to take an after pic, but it wasn't the most successful experiment I've ever conducted...

On a quest to achieve the perfect (or as close as I can get) bantu knot out...I think I'm almost there!

Farewell April

April is over?!?! When did that happen???...just the other day I was super excited for the BEST MONTH EVER!! now it's gone into eternity...sigh. April is such an awesome month though. When I was younger it was so rare that I'd find someone born in the same month as me. Now I've made so many friends and met so many people born in this amazing month. However, I don't only love April because it is the month of my birth, but also because of the weather and nature. I know in the Caribbean we don't have the season of spring, but I think in April we come pretty close. It's never too hot for extended periods or the rain isn't overbearing. The sun shines and warms the earth, but the rains come soon after just enough to cool it down. I'm fortunate and privileged to live in a valley with a magnificent view of the mountains, and just around April they begin to flourish after a short dry spell. The shades of green present seem endless, punctuated only by the beautiful pouis. The simplicity of these flowering trees are breathtakingly beautiful, and the blanket they form when the flowers fall is equal in it's beauty. Sometimes I just want to stop eveyone from walking on and trampling them so that their beauty can be maintained, but everything has its season and all things must come to an end. I'm thankful that it will not be like this forever. One day true beauty will be eternal.

Photo Credit: Kevin Sammy

Dedicated to my Grandfather....R.I.P. Dove

Novel Fashion

Fashion is becoming increasingly daring and bolder than ever. Now some things I can definitely get on board with...I LOVE color blocking, even mixing and matching patterns and textures. I saw a trend recently though, the book clutch, and I can't seem to get behind it. For those of you who are unaware of what a book clutch is, it is a clutch that looks like various novels. The first time I saw it I had to 'bust' out laughing. I mean...what is its purpose? Yes I know that we ladies sometimes carry bags (mostly clutches) that are less funtional than they are fashionable, seeing as they can only hold your chapstick and some vex money, but the book clutch is a tad bit on the unecesary side of life. How would you decide what to wear it with? What goes with Lolita? or Pride and Prejudice? or even Cat in the Hat??? So many confusing and unanswered questions. For the ladies who choose to rock the book clutch, more power to you...but please read the book before you wear it...its the least you can do.

Would you rock a book clutch?

The Sibling-hood

Yesterday was international siblings day (they sure do have a day for everything)...my apologies for the belated-ness of this...but I could not miss an opportunity to bless up my beloved sistren and bretheren by dedicating this blog post to them. I have never been an only child, so I cannot say if having siblings is better than not having siblings, but I do know that I cannot imagine my life without these two in it. They are my tree climbing, gymnastics (more like death) practicing, club house building, dolly house playing, hop-scotching, walking to school, licks-taking, partners. They are the loves of my life! So Happy (belated) Siblings Day to arguably the awesomest brother and sister in THE WORLD!! 

                                            We are quite a cute trio...aren't we??

Silver Linings and Silver Hair

Yesterday as I was styling my oh so awesome box braids I came across a...GREY HAIR! Now those who know me very well know that I have this secret (well not anymore) fear (for lack of a better word/term) of getting old. I looked it up and its called GERASCOPHOBIA.

This grey hair couldn't have come at a 'better' time to remind me of my imminent doom....errrr...I mean glorius future...than exactly one week before my birthday! Now I thoroughly enjoy the celebrations that come with birthdays, but the growing older part still hasn't, well, grown on me. Like my bestfriend loves to frequently and mercilessly remind me, I am 'twenty-something', which can be interpreted as anywhere from 21 to 29. That is kinda scary...the 29 part lol. I feel like time...life...is moving so quickly and I'm standing still, stuck in this irrational fear, as it passes me by. So I've made up my mind to grab life by the proverbial horns and enjoy the ride. Some people may say 'YOLO' would be appropriate here...but that's not my kind vibe...so I will raise an imaginary glass of NON-ALCOHOLIC wine (I love fizzy drinks) to aging gracefully and fearlessly...CHEERS LIFE LOVERS!