VernetteOutLoud

Storms Will Come And Life Will Go On

Photo By: Clem Onojeghuo, Unsplash

Because Storms Will Come

It’s FRIDAY you guuysss!!! We made it. This was a short work week for me. We had a storm and then we didn’t have a storm. Some parts of my country felt the effects more than the rest of the island. Me? I had to work and what they don’t tell you about four-day weeks is that you have to make up for the lost day. But it’s Five Minute Friday time and our word prompt this week is STEADY. 

You can join in too. The rules are pretty simple – write for 5 minutes on the word prompt for the week and post to your blog, then add your post to the linky party over at the Five Minute Friday community.

Setting timer now…

GO

We started the week here in Trinidad under a Tropical Storm watch. All day Monday, weather updates got scarier and scarier. The storm was expected to hit around 2:00 a.m. and we should start feeling the impact around 9:00 p.m. the evening before.

Needless to say, Monday, a holiday, was spent getting prepared for the storm. Not much of a holiday if you ask me. Check list in hand, we went through each item: Did we have enough food? Yes. Check! All devices charged? Yes. Check! Was everything secure in the yard? Yes. Check! Down the list we went, until we were sure that we were ready for whatever came our way.

The rain started well before 9:00 p.m. and with it, came the wind. That scared me the most. There was something in my neighbour’s yard that wasn’t properly secured that made a horrible banging noise. And I was sure that whatever it was would be the cause of serious damage.

By 2:00 a.m. the rain was not heavy but it was still a steady downpour.  The wind never let up. I went to bed sometime around 3:00 a.m. said my prayers and hoped to get at least two hours sleep before I had to get up for work.  The storm was over.

And yes, I went to work on time, because, life goes on, storm or no storm. The whole thing was a reminder that storms will come and you have to be prepared. You also have to be ready to move on when it passes.

STOP

Measuring My Worth, Whose Life Is This Anyway?

Photo By Vernette Superville

It’s time for another Five Minute Friday link-up and the word prompt this week is WORTH. I will admit, when I saw this week’s prompt I was a little intimidated. I have been finding, when I only have five minutes to write, what comes up is usually stuff I that I would never tell another soul.

The minute I saw the word “WORTH” I knew that what would come up would be some deep seated personal insecurities. So I delayed in sitting down to write. I managed to spend the entire day successfully avoiding thinking about the word. But I have this commitment to write every day this month so I have to get into it. So here goes.

You can join in too. The rules are pretty simple – write for 5 minutes on the word prompt for the week and post to your blog, then add your post to the linky party over at the Five Minute Friday community.

Setting timer now…

GO

I was chatting with a friend on Wednesday evening and we got to talking about travel. He wanted to know how I did the solo travel thing so well. And I told him, because it was worth it. Solo travel is probably the best way to get to know yourself.

Like I always suspected that I was kinda awesome, but I didn’t really know just how awesome I really was, until I got lost in a city I didn’t know and had to find my own way back to my hotel. Not once, not twice…

Good times I tell you.

Of course, when I said this to him I was more than half joking.

My secret? I really wasn’t joking. I actually do think that I pretty awesome. Some of the time.

Not always.

Sometimes, I hover somewhere between this is enough, I am enough and whose life is this anyway?

Is this okay?

STOP

Today’s post is brought to you by a rocking soundtrack as I prepared to write this by  Sinach no shame that I needed to remind myself of exactly who I am and who I belong to.  

Full disclosure: I sat staring into space after I wrote that last line and the timer buzzed me out of my reverie. I suppose it’s just as well, because I have no clue where this post was headed.

The One Where I Expect Good Things

Expect Good Things Poster

Hey you guys, TGIF amiright!!! And it’s time for another Five Minute Friday link-up. I hope this week was productive for you and if it wasn’t, I hope that at least it was well spent. The word prompt this week is EXPECT.

Of course you can join in too. The rules are pretty simple – write for 5 minutes on the word prompt for the week and post to your blog, then add your post to the linky party over at the Five Minute Friday community.

aaaand setting timer now…

GO

Expect Good Things.

When life seems hard.

When you start doubting the path that you’re on.

When the way forward may not seem clear.

When you start thinking that maybe, just maybe, you are doing this whole adulting thing all wrong.

The minute you wake up and realize that you’re still in the land of the living.

Because you stand on His word, and He came so that you can have life and live it to the fullest.

Just because.

Expect Good Things.

Expect Good Things.

Expect Good Things.

STOP

Today’s post is brought to you by this online timer I just found. Feel free to check it out here. 

It is amazing to me, what comes up when you only have five minutes to write. I’m cheating a bit and adding these extra words, because I wanted to put this week’s response in context.

This has been an especially hard week for me. The minute I read today’s word, the first words that came to me was “expect good things” and I have been repeating it to myself over and over since.

And I will repeat it until I believe it.

‘I have come that they may have life and may have if abundantly.’ ~ John 10:10 

Stand on His word. Expect Good Things.

Defining Moments

THE day i bought my ticket.

Shit just got real ya’ll!

I’m going to BlogHer15 in NYC in July.

It’s official and it’s happening! Hotel booked, plane tickets bought happening!

And I’m scared shitless. Throat gone dry, what the hell have I done shitless.

I’m nervous as hell because this is my first blogger conference and even though I take my blog seriously…attending this conference is a whole other level of serious.

I’ve been doing my research on what serious bloggers take to conferences…it’s a lot and I don’t even have business cards yet. I’m just figuring out what a media kit is and if I need one? And the biggie…something I’ve been considering for months: Moving from .wordpress.com to just .com…am I ready now??? So many decisions.

But I’m excited! Because this step is definitely out of my comfort zone and I’m ready.

I’m ready for all the things that have been set in motion by this decision. I’m ready to represent my little patch of internet. I’m ready to hopefully meet one or two of my favourite bloggers *fingers crossed I work up the courage to say Hi* and I’m definitely looking forward to connecting with other bloggers like myself. Newbies attending their first conference, just a little nervous but so ready to take this leap of faith!

If BlogHer 15 is your first blogger conference as well and you feel like me, a little daunted but oh so ready for this adventure, please say “Hi” in the comments!

I’m totally down for meeting a fellow newbie!

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NaBloPoMo_READYSETGO

I am participating in NaBloPoMo June: Ready, Set, Go!
Click on the image above to read more entries on this month’s theme.

Five Minute Friday: Begin

5-minute-friday-1

“We write because we love words and the relief it is to just write them without worrying if they’re just right or not. – Lisa-Jo Baker

I haven’t linked up in what feels like ages with the this lovely bunch of writers. But since this is founder, Lisa-Jo’s last week hosting Five Minute Friday, I needed to join in to celebrate with her as she begins the next phase in your journey. I also look forward to continuing this lovely practice with Kate Motaung.

Click on the button to the right for more details on what this challenge is all about and how you can participate.

GO

“On this path, it is only the first step that counts.” – St. Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney

But that first step is sometimes the hardest one to accomplish.

Because that first step usually reveals who you are.

If you can get past the fear.

The struggle with past failures.

The disappointment.

The fact that sometimes its sooo much easier to delay the inevitable.

To be able to just go for, to begin again, despite all that went before, has to be the most courageous thing you can do for yourself.

“Living in fear is so last season, if you want to be happy and really live your dream you have to take a stand and just put yourself out there. You might fail, yes indeed – but, you might, you just might succeed too! Don’t you want to find out? Either way your life will never be the same… Can you handle it?”
– Jackson Kiddard

What’s the worse that can happen?

STOP

I found myself getting lost in a myriad of memories, hence the very short post. I didn’t want to cheat and add another five minutes, so this is all I managed for this week’s prompt. The quotes I had the general idea about and cleaned them up afterward.

Thank you to Lisa-Jo for creating this space for us to get in touch with the truth that is sometime hidden inside our hearts. This challenge reveals and brings up and out things that you had no idea you were even thinking about. As we move on to the next chapter of Five Minute Fridays with our new host, I look forward exploring the wonders of my heart with you all.

 

Today you’re getting a twofer. Every day in August I will be joining the very creative Susannah Conway and her lovely community, in posting a photo a day. It’s a community project that doesn’t really have any rules – who doesn’t like that? – I will post a photo a day on Instagram. If you’re interested in joining this community, head on over to Susannah’s website here.

August Break Collage