compare my faces



July 2010




April 2011

  My face is getting slimmer. Working out has been working out. =)

Question of the Day

Question for the day: Beyond the titles that others have given you, who are you???
I am Confident, Easy going, friendly, funny, fun to be around, understanding, helpful, patient, laid back, sexy, intriguing...I am also a hard worker, very independent, Modest, Broad-minded, and Mature. I am Unique.I am the wonderful daughter of Mary Ann. I am a child of God. I am La' Toya Nicole Edwards. I am ME. I am One of a kind. :-)

I personally feel like there is a song for any situation in life. The song below is entitled "Be" by Usher.  Simply take the time to enjoy life, take chances, and BE yourself.

This is my new theme song for the year. I will enjoy life and take a chance &leap of faith on this new job and life in general. Now my second question to you is do you enjoy being you or do you live behind your titles?

Life's Unexpected

     It is crazy how life changes. In my short 24 years of life, I have experienced a lot. I feel like everything in life is a blessings. Even when things don't go the way I think I want them to go, everything happens for a reason, and it leads to a learning and growing experience. In these past 24 years I have learned a lot about myself, others, and life. I have lost and gained friends. I have even been in and out of love. How crazy and funny is that. lol. I graduated from college with two degrees and two minors and I did it in 4 years. I landed a wonderful job after college, which led me to another great job opportunity in another state and I even got accepted into graduate school.I joined the best sorority in the world, and I have the best linesisters in the world. I love my collegiate chapter and I love my big sisters, they are beautiful women inside and out and they are full of knowledge and they are simply fun to be around. I joined an alumnae chapter and I am so honor to be around such beautiful, resourceful, and friendly women. I am very honor to have met them all.  God has placed wonderful individuals in my life that are a blessing in my life. And in return I hope that I am a blessing in their life as well.

     My whole life I have dreamed of moving away and being independent and exploring the world and doing my own thing. I never had a bad childhood that is just how I always been. If you ask my mother, she will always tell you that I have been goal orientated and I am not a quitter. I say what I want and I do what I say. I have been truly independent since I graduated high school. I moved out of my parents house, went to college , and I have been living on my own ever since. Not bad for a girl that was raised in Roanoke,VA in a single family home to now in the Hampton Roads area to St. Louis. Wow, I would have never expected to be where I am now. I knew I could make it on my own, but I am just happy and blessed to live out my dreams and live life. I don't have any children and I am not settle down., so the least that I can do is explore the world and enjoy myself while I can.

I GOT THE JOB!!!!

GR8 NEWS EVERYONE!!!!! I GOT THE JOB!!!! I AM SOO EXCITED.... What a blessing and honor to be considered for this job. I am so glad that they have faith in me and believe that I can do a good job. Hopefully working here for one year can open up different opportunities for me.. I am going to defer my acceptation letter to the school that I was originally going to attend this fall. But there is also another university that is in St.Louis called Washington University in St. Louis and they have the number one social work program in America. #Winning... It turns out that the Executive Director works as a adjunct professor there AND teaches classes in gerontology (which is a concentration that I am interested in) also my new supervisor graduated from that school as well. If I don't get into the school that is fine, I can attend the school that I was originally going to go to in the first place. I talked to a Soror and a really good friend of mines, and she told me to express my interest in wanting to attend that school to both my supervisor and the Executive Director, and hopefully they will write me a letter of recommendation to the school. I also found two alumni chapters in the city and I am in the process of emailing the presidents of the two alumni chapters now that I am interested in. So hopefully I would have selected one before I leave in July.Special thank you goes to everyone for their kind words, advice, AND PRAYERS. Thank you thank you thank you!!!

new hairdo

Check out my new hairdo from all angles... Special Shoutout goes to my hair stylist Faith from Black Butterflies!!! Shes the best!!!

Quote of the day/week

Respect me as an individual, and you will be surprised by my intellegence. I expect to be respected. Is that too much to ask for? It doesn't matter what people think about you. Bc even if you were to please everyone, there will always be someone to criticize you. Just live for yourself. You're all you've got.

 ~ Author:Alyshia Merchant~

Informal interview update

So I had the informal interview with the VISTA in that current position today. Everything went very well. She was really helpful and gave me a lot of good advice. I got my supervisor at my current job to look over my questions this morning and she helped me reword and modify what I was going to ask the VISTA, and the questions that she helped me create were actually better than the one I had originally created. lol. So special thank you goes to her. I cant remember how long I was on the phone with her, I wanna say maybe 30 mins or so. She told me that the room that I would be living in was pretty big and the apartment is actually over top of a food bank. She told me that there is large roof that a lot of them go on top at night that as a gr8 view. She told me that my closet space was pretty large too, so that made me feel better. She told me about the city and I love the fact that its a lot of free stuff to do and the cost of living in St. Louis is cheap. She discussed the pros and cons to her job. That was very helpful. A pro would def be working with the elderly population and she really enjoys her coworkers. Which is good because I feel like having a good work environment and having a good staff that you enjoy to be around is always a plus. She stated that a con would be if you had a fair where no one came, or not being able to find a driver for an elderly person. She also broke down a typical day at the job and her thoughts of the city of St. Louis. We had a lot of similarity, mainly because neither one of us is from St.Louis, and we both became VISTAs right after college. After getting off the phone with her it really sealed the deal for me. The other position that the VISTA Supervisor suggested that I look at was the Social Engagement. I personally feel like that position would be super easy. Basically I would plan all the fun activities for the elderly ie winery, eagle watching etc. That job itself seems fun too but my question is: Which one would look better on my resume; the HEALTH PROMOTION/TRANSPORTATON OR THE SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT? I emailed the VISTA supervisor and I told her that I would be happy with either position that they gave me and that I would put in 110% in either job.  I personally believe that the Health Promotion/Transportation position would look better on my resume. Both positions will allow me to network with various professionals. Since I am interested in the mental health, substance abuse, and helping the elderly population on a social worker perspective, I feel as though this would be more beneficial to my career goals. What are your thoughts? If you had to chose between these two which would you suggest? And which do you think would help me in the long run as far my career goes?  (SN I want to get my Masters in Social Work with a concentration in clinical with a focus in gerontology and mental health or substance abuse.)

INTERVIEW: FINAL ROUND

GR8 NEWS!!!! I Made it to the final round of the job..I have an informal interview with the VISTA in the position tomorrow at 9am!!! They also informed me of another position. So now I get to choose between 2 jobs instead of 1! God is so good!! What a humbling experience & a blessing. Special thank you goes to everyone for their prayers, kind words, and suggestions. This last interview is informal and I can ask the current VISTA whatever I want. I am going to ask both VISTAs in both positions these questions. I am very honored to have been offered two different positions.But I am still leaning more so toward the original position that I applied for. Below I have compiled a list of questions that I would like to ask the current VISTA in that position. If you have any other suggestions, please free to tell me.
1. How long have you been a VISTA?
2. What do you like most about your job?
3. What do you find most challenging about your job?
4. Describe a typical day at the office, if there is a typical day?
5. How is the social scene in St. Louis? cost of living?
6. How do I transfer my benefits?
7. What is your plan after VISTA?
8. Do you live in the apartments that they provide?
if yes, a. What is the apartment like?
          b. Is the apartment and the rooms furnished?
          c. Have you encountered any challenges living there?
          d. The apartment and bedroom big or small?
          e. What do you like most about the apartment
9. Do you have any suggestions or advice for the VISTA(ie me) in your position?
10. Crime rate?
11. How far is the apartment from the job?
12. How much is the stipend for this job?

 Have a blessed and gr8 evening!!! thanks for reading!!!