Excellente!

Johnny and I just got back from our fifth wedding this year (all of which united couples who are Living Black Love, by the way). Congrats to the new Mr. and Mrs. Thomas!

The wedding was beautiful, as all weddings are, but this one was extra-beautiful because it took place in beautiful Cancun, Mexico. (And yes, the trip was well-worth three "beautifuls".) Just as beautiful as the wedding was the resort where we stayed. It was the Excellence Playa Mujeres. Johnny and I have been to a few resorts (in Jamaica, Aruba, and Puerto Rico) in our years together. In comparison, those places were like LeBron vs. me (I'm 5'1") on the basketball court - no contest.

The Excellence was truly the nicest place we've ever been. Although we've only been to a handful of international destinations, this was probably the nicest place you've been, too. I can't wait to go to another Excellence Resort! Couples retreat, anyone???

Johnny having one of many all-inclusive drinks
(this was actually during the wedding reception)



Johnny and I at the wedding

Me hanging out on the balcony of our hotel room

One of the views from our balcony...

Another view...


And another. And our room was one of the least expensive the
resort offers.

I Love the Reeds!

Though I do love our real-life friends "C" and "D" Reed, they aren't the Reeds I speak of. I'm talking about the fictional family from BET's new show, "Reed Between the Lines". Not only are they easy on the eyes (dang, Malcolm-Jamal Warner!), but you can tell that they have a lot of love for each other. I love a good show with a good family dynamic.

Alex (played by Warner) and Carla (played by one of my all-time faves, Tracee Ellis Ross) are Living Black Love. They're really into each other. Both have careers, but their main focus is family. Alex and Carla always make time for their kids, whether it's teaching them a life lesson or sharing a laugh. More importantly, they put each other first. I've noticed that in every episode, there's a scene where they have some time alone. That's so important in a marriage - especially when there are children involved.

Something else that stood out to me is the fact that the oldest two children, twins Keenan and Kaci, are not Alex's biological children. That's something I'm sure many couples who are Living Black Love deal with every day. If you happened to miss the episode where that part of the story was mentioned, you'd never know! Alex's patience and love for the twins is no different than his actions toward the Reed's youngest (biological daughter), Alexis. And the same goes for Keenan and Kaci. The whole family just loves on one other. I love it!

Honestly, "Reed Between the Lines" gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling inside every time I watch. Now I'm just waiting to see how Alex and Carla's first big fight turns out...

Living Black Love Is...

• Spending the day with your hubby and your first child on his very first birthday.



• Seeing your husband beam with pride as the child the two of you created gets his first haircut.



• Taking photographs together in celebration of the day and wearing a smile (a real one).



• Opening birthday gifts together with your son who cares more about the pen you're writing with than the gifts that are being opened.



• Getting into a little spat with your hubby while opening said gifts, and knowing how to squash it and move on.



• Taking your little man to one of his favorite places - day care - to celebrate with his friends.



• Thanking God for blessing you with the hardest two jobs in the world - wife and mother.

Love This!

About a month ago, we dedicated our son to the Lord. For those who don't know, a Baby Dedication is similar to a Christening; the parents commit to raising their child as a Christian. One of the followers of this blog attending our son's Dedication, and this was her email to me after the fact. I asked if I could post it here, and she said it was no problem.

Thanks for inviting us to the ceremony. I loved you and Johnny’s letter to Little Johnny. I forgot to mention to you what I noticed at the dedication ceremony. It pleased me to see about 12 couples up on the stage getting their babies blessed. I have never seen that many couples at a baby dedication. There was only 1 single, teen mom in the group and at least she and her baby had the strong support of her family. Each couple read letters to the congregation and their child stating the promises that they were making in regards to the child’s upbringing. I noticed that about half the men took the lead in reading the personal statements and were really getting choked up upon talking about how much their children have changed their lives and how much they loved their children and wanted the best for them. So, I guess black love is not dead and all black men are not deadbeat dads. Thank God! Somebody needs to report on that in the media.

I hope you love this note as much as I do. Have a great weekend, all!

My Time is Tight!

A week ago, Beyoncé announced to the world that she was pregnant. I'm just writing about it. Really? A week later? This is the new story of my life - Living Black Love as a mommy. I have very little time for anything extra.

Before our son came into this world, all of our friends with kids told us things like "Enjoy your marriage for as long as you can", and "Babies change marriages". You hear it and take heed to it. But until you actually have that precious child in your care, you don't fully get it. Never in my life have I been so strapped for time (or utterly exhausted). Never have I prayed so much that my husband would just fall asleep before I make it into bed (I'm that tired sometimes). Never have my feet been so dry. Since having baby Johnny, there have been several occasions when I've left my house without...

• applying lotion


• ironing my clothes


• eating


• thoroughly combing my hair


• checking myself in the mirror


• wearing jewelry

What's funny is that Baby Johnny never leaves the house without...

• fully moisturized skin


• neat-looking clothes


• a full tummy


• his hair looking decent (as decent as I can get it because he has so much of it and won't let me comb it while he's awake unless he's playing on the floor of his bedroom, which requires me crawling around behind him to get it done).

I promise I am not complaining, because I also never leave the house without...

• giving my baby boy at least one big hug and kiss


• praying for his safety that day


• smiling at his "Good Morning" smile


• thanking God for the blessing of motherhood

So, to Beyoncé - congratulations on being pregnant. You and Jay-Z get ready to make "It's all about convenience" your mantra. You're about to experience the best time of your life.

One of my Facebook friends posted something today that irritated me. The post said something along the lines of, "there are still Black families out there. I was in store (or restaurant, or Starbucks maybe) and saw a husband and wife with their three children and a baby". I know my "friend" had good intentions, but he clearly didn't know what he was talking about. Seems our goal of dispelling the myth that Black folks don't get married is going to be harder to reach than we thought. It upsets me that there are still people out there who want to believe in Black love and marriage, but won't allow themselves to do so. Oh, y'all of little faith...

Yesterday, we hosted a barbeque for some of Johnny's friends from work. It was a small group of us eating, laughing, and enjoying each other's company. Our guests had a lot in common with one another - there was one couple who got married in May, another half-couple (one of them couldn't make it due to a family emergency) that is planning a wedding for early next year, and a third couple who recently got engaged.

As someone who can finally admit that my husband and I have passed through the honeymoon stage (Johnny's been telling me our wedding is "played out" for years now, so I guess I'm a young veteran), it was interesting to listen to the young couples as they spoke. They excitedly shared their engagement stories, wedding plans, honeymoon mishaps, and goals for the future (babies on the brain, of course!). What was really interesting to me was that they were so busy with the excitement of the weddings that they just planned or are planning, that they can't see that after some time, the magic of the wedding will fade away and reality will set in.

The busy-ness of life can easily creep into a marriage - work, children, bills, and other responsibilities - pushing out the optimism and allowing all kinds of negatives to come in. So my question is, what can we folks who are living black love do to keep our marriages as shiny as the rings we exchange on our wedding day?

The answer came to me as I texted a friend who's just over a week into her marriage (Ahh...I remember a week into my marriage. We were just returning home from our honeymoon in Aruba. Ahh...Aruba!). She shared with me how she's a little stressed about being a good wife to her new husband, with everything else that's going on in her life (see "busy-ness", above). I gave her some advice, but I think she gave me some too! I don't necessarily think you should stress about being a good wife (because stressing gets you nowhere) - but I do think you should give it all you've got (Like that song by I don't know who). And I believe that if you are even thinking about what you can do to be a good wife, that's a start. The same goes for the husbands.

So let's plan to take a hint from these and other "Young Marrieds". In their early days, weeks, and months of marriage, they are just as happy and grateful to be with the person they waited all their lives for. They stand in front of a bunch of people and cry as they open up their hearts to their betrothed. And they stress about being the best they can be for that person. Maybe we should think back how we felt in the beginning to help us strive to be the best spouses we can be. In the meantime, if you have any other suggestions, please post and share them.