HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY XOXO

George & Camilla (One of my favorite pictures of these two)

How will you spend your Valentine's day? Are you one of those people who show their love everyday and don't feel that one day should be solely dedicated to 'Lovers' or are you going to jump into the band wagon of those willing to pour enormous sums of money into this capitalist frenzy known as Valentine's day? Whichever one you are, do what feels right for you and follow your beliefs, it is one more day in which you are alive so be HAPPY in it! HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY to all the lovers out there.....

Colleen & Dan (What woman wouldn't love to be kissed on top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris?)

For Those of You with Significant Others:

1. Go out on a date or better yet set up date night at home  if money is tight.
2. Do something fun together, what do you enjoy doing together? hiking, pottery painting, etc do something out of the ordinary.
3. Write each other a love letter, a poem, a note, a massage, a foot rub, do the dishes, take out trash: love is in the details, it's usually the very small things that count the most (check out some of my mushy-lovey-dovey poetry at www.authorsden.com/berniceangoh or better yet get a copy of my book 'When a Woman Loves a Man' )
Click Here: BUY 'WHEN A WOMAN LOVES A MAN'

Irene & David (Such infectious smiles too)

For Those Who are Single:

1. Love yourself, pamper yourself, go to a spa or give yourself some TLC treatment at home

Maureen Lermer Photography "Bubble Bath"

2. Talk to an old friend, go out for tea with a friend or go by yourself, enjoy being single!
3. Be your own best valentine, write a love letter to yourself and spoil yourself rotten like no one else can
4. Do some work around the house, paint, read, dance...

What a man can do a woman too can do, EVEN BETTER!

5. If you have children it gets even better, who says your children can't be your little Valentines?

Had to steal this picture of my friend, Maureen and one of her 3 children, Malaika

Maureen &  her daughter, Malaika: "GIRL TIME"

Here is a poem I wrote for my daughter several years ago (well, now I have revised it and included my son):

My little Valentines, Nina & Ricky: I was so happy to have captured this cute moment :)

LITTLE CUPID

She/He came neither with a bow nor an arrow

yet she/he cut right through me

with her/his very first cry.

Copyright © 2008-2012 by Bernice Angoh

For Those Who are Broken-Hearted:

1. Cry, it always works. The end of a relationship is like a death, you have to go through all the stages, don't fight it. But remember that you will be happy again, oh YES! even if you don't believe it this moment.

2. Get a copy of 'Lemonade Street', a collection of bitter-sweet love poems. You will thank me later for this. Click Here: BUY 'LEMONADE STREET'

 3. Be your best Valentine ever, spoil yourself rotten!

Maureen Lermer Photography "CANDLELIGHT"

 Thank you to all my friends who let me use their beautiful photography to CAPTURE this wonderful season and BRIGHTEN up my blog entry, love, B

XOXO

MERRY CHRISTMAS from FYR

Good Mommies Have Santa Over for Tea?

(Thoughts of a deep-thinking mommy)

Am I a bad mother because I feel somewhat disgusted at the number of presents I see underneath the Christmas tree? Whose birthday is it anyway? Are those gifts for the one whose birthday we’re celebrating? Will these have to be topped the following year? What gifts do we bring to Him this year? Don't get me wrong, I am grateful that they receive such love and attention anytime, I'm just a worrier, a deep-thinking mommy a I mentioned earlier.

Does it make me too self-righteous for wanting to give more than receive? How many people out there who won’t have a single gift this Christmas? Better yet, the little child who will receive one book or one toy or even just a hug from his/her mommy and have such joy in receiving….but over there another child receives hundreds of gifts but is not happy because maybe mommy and daddy or Santa forgot one thing from the list.

The helter-skelter back home in Cameroon when Christmas was nearing had nothing to do with gifts or presents--even though we sometimes got a new pair of shoe or dress. It was just an infectious season of happiness, more like Thanksgiving over here—gathering around a table to share a meal (rice, stew, chicken, chin-chin, chocolate) to enjoy those things that we usually don’t get to enjoy all year round like candy and cake.

Am I a bad mother for wishing I hadn’t fallen into the fairytale of Santa with my children? For wanting my children to know from the onset where their gifts really came from-- for not wanting the stress of buying for Santa as well? For wanting my daughter to know that one or two gifts is more than enough and means much more than truck load of gifts. But I am on my toes with my children everyday to build in them empathy, character and the joy of giving and thinking of others, sometimes even before ourselves. 

We live in a country which preaches SELF-SELF-SELF but I want that acronym changed for my children: S. selflessness, E. empathy, L. love & F. faith. I will fight with all I’ve got to teach them what is right and what I know deep in my heart that is true: that Jesus Christ is Lord…because I know and I thank God everyday that I have ears that hear (sometimes) hahahaha and that my eyes are opened a bit to ‘see’, that amidst all the distractions the SPIRIT within never ceases to call out and if we just quiet down some, we just might hear…

These are my thoughts this season, as I grow older some more is revealed to me.

So many people (including myself) tend to go with the flow “Oh, it’s harmless fun” “Oh, we think it’s okay to celebrate both sides, the Christian and the Un-Christian”. I will never boast to be so morally fit as to say I have no speck in my eye, but I strive to be more like Christ (it’s not always easy but I will not give up). He is the example I choose to follow and hopefully my children and my children’s children will choose the same path.  There is a RIGHT and a WRONG, a HOT and a COLD, a NO and a YES and though I sometimes join the ‘luke-warmers’, I do so knowingly.

I guess what I am trying to leave with anyone interested is that 2012 is another year to make things happen. Leave the anger, failures, resentments, bad habits and all that is ugly behind you and enter the new year all shinny and new. Think a little deeper, choose a little more wisely, love a little longer and harder, pray a little more feverently, listen a little more actively, talk a little less, give more freely, hope a little stronger, smile a little broader, walk a little slower, take time to make time for the things that matter, get a journal, dare to start that little business you’ve always wanted to start, be kind to a stranger, love like a mother, hug like a father, eat like a king/queen aha! This is where we talk about FYR. Are you going to carry your procrastinations from last year into the New Year? Or are you going to buy your eBook and attempt to do what you planned at the beginning of last year? Time does fly by doesn’t it? 

Enjoy time with your family all year round, give gifts all year round, say ‘I love you’ all year round, hold on to the beauty inside of you, make your own decisions, make wiser decisions…. And please if you see me at the store or on the street “No, I’m not offended by your ‘Merry Christmas’ greeting. I like to keep the ‘CHRIST’ in Christmas.”

p/s Before I begin to read any of your thoughts, I want you to know I am not judging anyone, my convictions won't just let me be, so I am always thinking  and searching and learning and relearning and un-programming but above all GROWING and striving to be the BEST version of me there could ever be...

Once in royal Davids city,
Stood a lowly cattle shed,
Where a mother laid her Baby,
In a manger for His bed:
Mary was that mother mild,
Jesus Christ, her little Child.

We have so many BIG SURPRISES from FYR in 2012, JUST YOU WAIT and SEE!!!

Can you tell my daughter and I ( (c) Nikotaphotography ) had a blast taking these pictures? We love colors and all things ARTSY.

May the blessings of God be upon us all this Christmas, May He bring us Peace and Joy as we face this daunting world together. May we Grow and Give and Glow: 3G Mom-ly...

COMING SOON: 3G MOMS

The picture below is some of the gifts my beloved daughter bought for me using some of her savings. She is a giver, always making things for people, always thinking of others and not just during holidays, she does it all year round. I love that most about her, such a thoughtful little one, and she's mine :)

☻ just ♫ call ♫ to ♫ say ☻ ♥ U ♫

Give if your heart compels you to. Here is Nina's WATER4LIFE Fundraiser site: Nina's WATER4LIFE

EAT & DRINK TO YOUR HEALTH. YOU'LL THANK ME LATER...

HAPPINESS IS FROM WITHIN...: This is why I am happy, This is my story, this is ...

I just had to share this powerful testimony about Jenny on the FYR program. She is also a contender in the FYR 90-day superstar challenge. Read and be inspired....

HAPPINESS IS FROM WITHIN...: This is why I am happy, This is my story, this is ...: "This is my story, this is my joy...Now the fact is, I never really talked about my struggles with my weight because I felt that’s personal a..."