12/03/2009
Temporary "Squeezelish" High
Posted by Kaduna Girl (Amina) | at 2:26:00 PM | 13 comments12/02/2009
SWEET & SOUR MEMORIES I REMEMBER
Posted by Kaduna Girl (Amina) | at 9:43:00 PM | 9 commentsI remember...
We used to drive many hours by road from Warri to Kaduna for the holidays.
Chasing around the ducks and chickens in the courtyard to make a meal.
The smell of grand ma’s kosai balls and doya (fried yams) in the mornings while waiting for morning devotion to be over so I could indulge.
Dancing in the courtyard with the drummers a day before New Years.
Cooking in a hut with firewood at grandma’s.
Fetching water from the well in the village
Technology has transformed things now. Perhaps knowledge is now available
Hmmm...Sweet Memories
I remember...
Getting grounded all the time, but still managed to get around.
Getting a sweet slap on the back because my lil bro hurt himself while under my care.
Fetching buckets of water on the head, to preserve for later use.
As a child being selective of my friends & what they should look like.
Falling in love so hard that I couldn’t get up the ground
Hmmm...Sweet Memories?
My memories became a moment of sudden revelation...
No matter who you are...
Days go by, people grow, hearts break
Choices come, decisions made, goals crack
Lets keep it stable? Lets keep it sensible? Lets keep it steady?
Naaa, change is woobly
Change is inevitable
Choices have to be made
Decisions show signs of growth
My memories has created the platform for my future
The choices I make has set the path in my present
With my ability to discern right from wrong
...The right choices will be made & my future guaranteed.
~Amina J. Yakubu~
11/02/2009
What Woman Should I be?
Posted by Kaduna Girl (Amina) | at 4:55:00 PM | 27 commentsI don’t know about you, but for me and some people I know ☺
at this age most of my friends are married, some with kids…
It is a scary stage…
I remember when I was 18 years old I knew exactly when I would get married
I knew I had options…I still do ☺ because I am a freaking magnet! LOL!
But truly, I had my life mapped out. By 25 I knew I would be married.☹
Its strange because these days, the more I think of marriage the colder my feet gets
Of course there are many reasons why I feel that way.
I asked my friend the other day, what do men really want!?
I told him I would like to understand men, he said I shouldn’t…
Why?
I really just wanted to understand why a man has his wife at home, but he is out scouring a prey
I wanted to understand why a man can’t just go home, and safely indulge in the approved sin with the approved person
Anyway, here is the interesting part of our conversation. Warning: It is kinda vulgar. (Note: Name changed to protect identity)
Amina: Im tryna understand men
Dlo: don’t
Amina: I shouldn’t!!
Dlo: we can’t understand women either
Amina: Ah no o! Help me understand. If the thing catch you, you should be able to go and grab your wife na? Abi isn’t that the idea of marriage? The exclusivity?
Dlo: shebi u go soon marry?
Amina: ahhhhh! u don scare me finish
Dlo: dont b o..abeg men generally feel women change when they get married and start having kids..
Amina: change how? so that i make sure i don't change, pls tell me
Dlo: eh ehn..u go pay consultancy fee o
Amina: no wahala. i go pay
Dlo: You must arrange contract when you come
Amina: lol. no long thing
Dlo: Changes: and this is from discussions with my married friends...
1. y'all get comfortable
2...y'all take things 4 granted after marriage
3...no excitement except when it comes to shopping, what happened 2 d fun loving girl we married
Amina: lol
Dlo: 4...Sex starts becoming routine. Sometimes we men want good ole fashioned bread breaking fucking. lady in d streets, freak in d bed?
Amina: lol. omg
Dlo: Men need their wives to be consummate, motherly and whores...
Amina: oh snap! Lol ok keep going
Dlo: u guys just stop surprising especially after babies…Show interest in football. Offer to follow us to pub sometimes, even if we say no.
And always give us space… because we ain’t talking much don’t mean something is wrong u know?
Men are logical beings...most men. Our lives are pretty much organized and calculated...its very stressful for us when women mess up our routine one way or the other, especially when it makes no sense to us.
End of conversation...
Now, does this mean the problem is from women? Are we the problem?
Its possible.
I know I will be taking a lesson home from this.
My husband will not have any reason to go out, Amen
I will get a pole in my room ☺, if I have to
My husband won’t be left wanting...
Having all these information at our disposal should prepare us.
We should stop blaming men, and see what we can do.
Maybe the world will be a better place?
Its possible ☺
We should endeavor to be hot and on fire like this lady instead!Hehehe ☺
And things might change in our home! He might reduce the amount of time he spends outside the home, and move it inside. Be more exciting, and Spontaneous!
Thoughts?
~Amina J. Yakubu~
10/28/2009
H-Town aka "The party comes to us"
Posted by Kaduna Girl (Amina) | at 5:09:00 PM | 2 commentsAs soon as I got off the plane, the sneeze came for 5 minutes,
From them on, it was a cough with piercing pain to the chest,
Henceforth, my health became a downward spiral…
I wasn’t sure what I had, all I know is I became well acquainted with my bed within 2 days.
Muscle pain, abdominal aches, headaches, dizziness etcetera etcetera.
I had all the symptoms of a seasonal flu (and swine flu actually), but still unsure
My fear… “I hope I don’t have the swine flu!”
Woke up this morning (10/28/09) at 6 am vomiting nothing.
Then diarrhea followed, yuck ☹ (Might be as a result of Nyquil & Mucinex I don’t know)
As soon as this happened, my nerves kicked in, and my guessing game was over.
Checked myself into the urgent care center for medical advice.
It turns out I don’t have the flu, but I have some kind of viral infection
I most have eaten something from that Nigeria restaurant in Houston (finger Licking)
So yippee! I am flu free, but still need to get better.
Those of you that haven’t gotten the vaccine, please do!
You don’t want to feel shitty like I did or still do.
There are only 3 things I can do: eat (thank God), type, and sleep! But I can’t read! ☹
Needless to say, I had a BLAST in Houston. The Dallas crew made it happen even though they aren’t from H-Town, but the party came to them!? Did it? Maybe it did! Lol!
Even though “Saez & Zuk” nightclub sucked big time, Clara’s party and cloud nine was good. Most importantly, the company was all I needed…exquisite.
Time was well spent, I must say ☺
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http://www.ayakubu.blogspot.com/
10/23/2009
“Yo Bailo” (I dance)
Posted by Kaduna Girl (Amina) | at 6:01:00 AM | 1 commentsHe asked me to dance
I wanted to, but I said no
He took 3 steps back and 3 steps forward
Then asked me again if I would like to dance
In my shyness and awkwardness of his beauty
I wanted to, but I said no
The music so beautiful
The texture and pattern made me shiver
Ask again! I want to dance! he seems to quiver
He Looked a tad embarrassed scared of rejection
What do I do... Lesson learned...
I once loved, Love came, but I was blind
Love came a second, but I remained blind
Now I love once again, but love is a far
Unreachable... Unattainable,
How will love know I’m ready to love?
Should I say? Should I watch? Should I be patient?
Indispensably, Dance at the genesis...
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http://www.ayakubu.blogspot.com
10/22/2009
Its done, its finished, I did it!!!
Posted by Kaduna Girl (Amina) | at 8:35:00 PM | 0 commentsI sat on the couch today feeling a little bit gloomy
reminiscing about statements like “how do we describe Amina after she gets rid of the gap tooth?”
or the name my impish little sister instilled upon me - “Betty”! argh wicked yea?
But, I got my braces taken out today after thirteen months of excruciating pain and style crumpling! ☺
It felt strange but good at the same time
I was overly excited to see what I would look like
To see how my looks would be transformed
Ermm, I still look the same ☺ slightly different without the gaps ☺
I could not stop smiling
I could not stop starring at the mirror
I could not stop thinking and saying “thank you God, I am done”
In retrospect, I am elated to have gone through this “procedure”.
And I am glad I took that bold step at that (young ☺) age to do it
A lot of people could not believe I (diva) would do it. (hehehe)
It is now finished!
Good bye claws, Bienvenidos Bonita ☺
P.S its not a gross picture I hope? ☺
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http://www.ayakubu.blogspot.com
10/17/2009
"SET IT OFF" Movie on Route 1?
Posted by Kaduna Girl (Amina) | at 12:37:00 AM | 0 commentsOn 10/16/2009 I left home all dressed up looking cute :-), heading to Starbucks for another round of studying after dropping off this six-year-old girl I had offered to take home. Prior to getting to Starbucks, somehow I found myself taking this back road (Route 1North) in Maryland, trying to cut-thru all the slow traffic that resulted from this unending rain. Unfortunately, this traffic was on a mission to get me angry.
At approximately 4pm (EST) still driving, I noticed three cop cars swift past at the same time, which meant I had to stop for them to pass (very annoying by the way). In my head (most times talking to myself) I made the “WTF” comment, and gently said “whatever is going on or whatever accident they are rushing to, should not be on this road o!” If that was the case, my journey was for sure gonna be longer and I didn’t want that. 10 more minutes in this congestion I was gonna scream, immediately it began moving.
5 minutes into this moving traffic, (which is 20mins after the three cop cars passed) this time the cop cars flew past me like they were coming for me. About 7 of them came speeding down the road. I was still saying “no!!!! This accident shouldn’t be on this road.”
As soon as they passed me, just say 300ft in front of me as I decided to continue driving they pulled right in front of me, and almost at the same time they flew out of their cars and pointed their guns towards the same direction. OMG! My heart sank! At this point I didn’t know what the heck to do.
Should I duck? Should I park my car? Should I speed up? I did not want to be a witness to ANOTHER shooting! I wasn’t ready to watch someone die AGAIN. It took me many years to erase the first one, and this wasn’t gonna happen again. I was terrified by the thoughts of stray bullets at this time.
What if the cops mistakenly turned my direction and started shooting? I knew I didn’t want to park and wait; I wanted to be out of that setting one-way or the other.
The opposite side of the lane was blocked. Cars couldn’t move at this point. The car in front of me was driving slow!!!!! I literally smashed my gas I took off! At this point my heart was in my mouth! A stray bullet? Na not me!! I was not about to be a victim, plus there was someone’s kid peacefully napping in my back seat. Driving off meant passing right in front of this shoot out, but as I quickly did, I still had the time to glance to my left to see who they were trying to kill or shoot ☺.
What I saw was a Malibu parked facing my direction, doors open, tires already down, Oh God I hit that gas without thinking twice! This just reminded me of the movie set-it off! I didn’t want to be a part of it anyway. What if the victim shot back right when I passed? God! Thank you was all I said.
Sigh, before the thoughts of blinking your eyes come to mind, your life can end that moment. God knows when its time, and he sure knew it wasn’t mine! He neva finish! I am just thankful, because it can be a different story- but it isn’t.
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http://www.ayakubu.blogspot.com
10/06/2009
Bias Professor...
Posted by Kaduna Girl (Amina) | at 2:57:00 PM | 2 commentsHmmmmmmm So its been a while since I blogged, all because of this thing they call school! Unfortunately it is a necessary evil! A lot has gone on, from cries to laughter, to trips around the world, to parties, and to more laughter! God has been faithful.
School has been hectic specifically because of my RACIST Canadian professor. Let me indulge you in this "torment": when he is critiquing a FOREIGNERS presentation style or just the work itself, he goes like "in U.S and Europe people speak differently, so learn to put a pitch in your tone when you talk. example- "Tomorrow is OUR end of year PARTY!" (Notice the words I have in caps) AHMMMMM ok!!!! really? thats just stupid i'm sorry.
He has done a lot that I can't even get into. He grades people based on his initial perception of you! He doesn't even try to see potentials in people, only after you challenge him about your grade.
I have two weeks in this class, and I will be done! Worst part of this is that it is a capstone class! and he is determined to fail all the black people.
Hmmmm my biased prof.!
hmmmm my friends put me in your prayers, until then.
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http://www.ayakubu.blogspot.com
8/31/2009
Tag! Tagging! Tagged! ☺
Posted by Kaduna Girl (Amina) | at 4:16:00 PM | 4 commentsThis Award was passed on from Maxine and I was also tagged, so I have to share seven facts about myself… listed below:
1. I have 3 sisters and 2 younger brothers (6 children)
2. I am in my season of singleness, & kinda sorta learning a lot from it
3. Cooking is what I absolutely love to do when I have time
4. 3/4 days a week, I wake up at 7am to break a sweat doing a 4-mile run
5. I haven’t really held a real job in my business field since April 2007 :-/- mainly part-time jobs
6. I am in my final semester in my MBA program
7. I listen to John Legend all the time, over and over, and wish he would sing on my wedding day.
(Below are the bloggers that I am passing this award along to, and also tagging):
@ilola
Chinedu
8/24/2009
Always True... :-)
Posted by Kaduna Girl (Amina) | at 6:20:00 PM | 4 commentsExcited rush to be within your reach, it has its own way of making me flush
Like water flowing in the stream, my heart flows loud with love extreme
You sustain me at my level of awareness, you are able to stabilize my conscious
You are cognizant of my limit, & yet you give me a chance to experiment
You showed me light, you showed me what’s right
In every desert of trials, you certainly have an oasis of comfort
That is why in everything, I give thanks!
Because there is a reason for every disappointment.
And you stay true all the time!
8/22/2009
Get that dust out!
Posted by Kaduna Girl (Amina) | at 11:03:00 AM | 2 commentsMany years gone past, all covered in dust after dust
Morning after morning thoughts of making change roll by almost immediately
I shake the dust only when I'm in a hole
Sipping into corrosion, I still let it fade
I knew it had to change
As trouble lurks in the dark, I cry out
As pain becomes intense, I scream
As snares come my way, I muster
Why at that moment?
I knew it had to change
Ouch! A slight cuff in the back of the head puts me on course!
It should have been a part of life
It should have been a commitment
It should have been a promise
I knew it had to change
No expiration date in knowing you
No expiration date in loving you
No expiration date in dwelling in your presence
I Can't comprehend letting you erode anymore
I knew it had to change
You make my days free of dust
You make my life free of corrosion
And hear I am letting you slowly fade
Not anymore! You are my way of life
You are my I AM!
CHANGE HAS COME
8/19/2009
The Genie in Mee
Posted by Kaduna Girl (Amina) | at 11:53:00 AM | 6 commentsOk, so i have some more to share from Dr Anthony's book. It is so good I can't resist sharing with you all :-)...Learning from past experience is important for developing total self-confidence. That is because we are able to recognize and resolve our mistakes the best way we can, and avoid repeating it.
Also, total self-confidence can be built by releasing our unlimited potential through the power of our mind. The author asserts that there is a power within that can bring forth anything we picture. He calls it the Universal Mind or Creative Intelligence. He often refers to the creative intelligence as the “I AM”. When you think of how easy it is to talk to God he makes things clearer for you, and you tap into unlimited potentials, etc, again he says this is a Universal Mind Ok, I guess if we see this a different way, it might make some sense and similarity to discernment of the spirit.
He is saying there are forces in the universe that attracts or that magnetize our wants. Therefore, this magnet in the universe would attract what we desire or want in our subconscious. This whole thing gets pretty technical.
Basically, the law of mental magnetism states that what you really want or desire will be yours, as long as you give dominant attention to it. Desire is the seed of fulfillment. Whatever desires you have, has the mechanism to become a reality. Why? Because desires become imprinted in your subconscious! If you have the desire to be creative, it implies that you definitely have the means to achieve fulfillment.
After being aware of our subconscious mind, we need not forget that it works for and against us, depending on what we feed it! Depending on what it senses and records based on our physical, intellectual, mental, and emotional experiences.
Let me not forget to share with you how to program the genie inside you. Our
subconscious responds to three things:
1- Verbalizing. We already know this. From my previous blog we know the power of our tongue or words. What we say to ourselves determines everything we do. We use words to program ourselves without realizing it. Words as little as “ I don’t have patience, I’m not perfect, I can’t lose weight, I don’t like my job, I have a poor memory, ” etc. we need to program our mind with positive affirmations. We need to repeat them over and over again until our subconscious accepts them as reality. There is no room for switching back and forth, because it will confuse the subconscious. Yes it would!
2- Feeling and Emotion: the subconscious responds to these two things more than anything else. Our emotion is the carrier of creativity. We don’t have room to slow down our creativity thereby slowing down our reality. So we need to keep our emotions in check. By speaking aloud or listening to music, and using repetition to impress an idea in our subconscious, will help impress the information quickly, esp from negative to positive emotions.
3- Visualization: this is key because being visual and imaginative empowers our
mind. Our subconscious responds to images and pictures. The Author points that we have the power to mentally create a new life for ourselves. We should practice putting down whatever we visualize or imagine on a scrapbook. Everyday look at it so that the picture holds in our mind, and let them sink in. Since it is true that what we visualize we will be because of how the subconscious works and the power within, then we all should endeavor to do this exercise. We should picture our future vividly in order to feed our subconscious properly.
The subconscious power and conscious (hearing, tasting, smelling, feeling, & seeing) act differently. A lot of times our conscious will try to downplay the subconscious power, but this is where faith comes in play. The author was not biblical, but most of what he said I could tie to the bible. Faith is key. If we believe what we have put down in the scrapbook as already ours, we need to be excited and believe it is. The conscious will constantly fight against the subconscious telling us we are thinking beyond reality. But our faith will overcome that. We ought to be strong and not accept that. We should trust our subconscious more than our conscious because our conscious is only limited to five senses.
With all of this, we need to act like we already have what we pictured, start giving thanks to GOD! By doing that, we acknowledge that what we want is on its way.
Thoughts...?
8/18/2009
TO LOVE THY NEIGHBOR
Posted by Kaduna Girl (Amina) | at 10:08:00 AM | 3 commentsWhile reading Dr. Robert Anthony’s book on total self-confidence, I had to stop and reflect back on chapter six! It was on the POSITIVE power of love. I pulled out a lot of what i thought could and would be beneficial to share, and would hopefully empower you. Here goes it…
We ought to know that Love is not hate, violence, ambition, competition, or infatuation.
Infatuation focuses on outside traits, which eventually leads to disappointments.
Love is not sex. You can have sex without love, and love without sex. To all those that claim sex to be the only way to express your love! This is for you.
Love is the attracting, uniting, harmonizing force of the Universe. It is helping the other person grow emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.
Love is allowing the other person the complete freedom to be himself and accepting that person WITHOUT trying to CHANGE them.
Love means to LOVE! It doesn’t imply conditions.
It is absolutely foolish when we promise to love a person forever. We came to this world alone, and we will leave this world alone.
“Love is a moment-by-moment experience. Love will continue as long as each person fulfills a need and contributes to the relationship. Love must continue if a relationship is to be held together."
In order to preserve love, one partner must not attempt to change the other. This is one mistake a lot of us make. I am a living testimony! Trying to change my partner, even after he showed me who he truly was from day one! My effort to change the person eventually lead to a breakup, and that is what Dr. Anthony says in this book. Never attempt to change your partner, because it is destructive.
The more independent you feel, the more you will value your partner.
Bottom-line: love yourself in order for you to love someone. If you can love yourself, you will be able to show love.
By pointing out strengths in others, we are helping ourselves as well. Doing this would satisfy our own needs for loving, as well as generate even more positive response and increase our total self-confidence.
Love is the means by which we help others to be successful. It is a means by which we make others feel important, alive, & capable of self-improvement. By giving others recognition and assurance, & pointing out their positive traits, we can stimulate them to make the best possible use of their unlimited potential.
Loving thy neighbor is when we empower people to open their eyes to their own greatness; to their potential they never realized existed.
By doing all these, we are indirectly helping ourselves.
8/12/2009
"These are a few of my favorite things!" :-)
Posted by Kaduna Girl (Amina) | at 5:07:00 PM | 8 commentsDriving to work I prayed to God not to put a slow driver in front of me that would make me sin. I curse all the time when someone is doing 15 on a 45, especially during rush hour. Oh yea, so God decided to bless me by not answering my prayer ☺
It became clear to me that this happens to be one of my biggest pet peeve…I began to think about other peeves that I probably might have that really don't make sense, but yet gets me.
I began to think about a lot of things, and why does it even bug me! Oh well, I realize I have a lot of things that irritate me, below are only a few of them I wanted to share. Maybe you feel my pain
• Ok so procrastination crawls my skin. Why do you leave things at the last minute? Yes, a lot of us procrastinate, but some people are so extreme. I have a friend who kept procrastinating until he got stuck and could not find a new house, until a day after he was evicted from his apartment complex. “Last minute stunt”!
• African men that say “I can only date white women” bitch! Look at your skin! And remember your mama and sisters are black. Tshewwww! Lol
• When friends tend to be indecisive! That throws me off! Oh, most especially when the guys just don’t know what they want! Please make up your mind! Don’t get me stuck because dude cannot decide what to do. I like to be organized, and have my s*** together, planned!
• The biggest one, when I am done cooking, and someone wants to taste the food. Instead of getting a plate and spoon, they eat directly from the cooking pot, and attempt to put the spoon right back into the pot! I don’t know about you, but gosh! I have tried to see it as normal, but there is no way it can be normal.
• Not washing your dishes after eating, especially if the sink is clearly sparkling!!! Please endeavor to respect people’s environment.
• In college I some white friends…I had these friends not because they liked me, but at some point they had to pretend they did so that they could get close to the cute (I never thought they were cute) African or Nigerian guy that refers to me as “my sister”. Once they get him, they stop being my friend. ☹
• A guy that does not know how to express himself over the phone, but only when he gets on a chat or text, then you hear how much he wants to be with you, and how much he wants to make me happy. Emmmm, dude please call my phone and be a man. Tell me what’s up over the phone, no time for games dude!
• Hmmm, the skittles piñata ad! Please who feels me on this one? The advertisement that has the guy that his suit is made out of a piñata, gives me the itch! uhhh ! It gives me bumps!
• When you are done doing dishes, then someone swings by and drops a butter knife without thinking that maybe it can be rinsed? Yea! Maybe it can! Just try it!
So yea!!! These are a list of my favorite things! :-) No not really! Just thought I’d share ☺ More to come!