July

[Verse 1: Drake]

This verse start’s as my sniper hits they mark

And your guards fall down from a rifle to the heart

Like, clap, clap, let em fall slow

I know you had your fears, you can let 'em all go

And most women are motivated so I act accordingly

But this is so refreshing that it means a little more to me

Dedicating time when I really can’t afford to be

I provide protection if you open up the door for me

Couple stares

Couple text

Couple dates

Couple I think that we’re readys

Couple I think that we should we waits

Are we actin' like a couple

I’m just tryin' to get it straight

Cause I’m over here convinced that it’s too early for mistakes

[Bridge: Jhene Aiko]

Oh, you had to change up the game

Oh, the weather is not the same

Now there’s only cloudy days

Can’t stand the rain in July

Oh July, there were fireworks explodin'

Now it’s getting colder

Leaves are turning color

Why, it’s just not our season

The one and only reason

Baby oh, baby oh

Our summer turned into fall

[Verse 2: Drake]

Damn, tell me where did all the magic go

I followed the rules and told you everything you had to know

Had you over every night

Every night was passionate

Plus, you met my mother even if it was an accident

I’m confused tell me where we go wrong

I was sure that I would be with you for so long

I was planning on this on being something worth mentioning

Energy invested in someone I saw potential in

Who killed chivalry

They need to get they sentencin'

Meanwhile we arguing and I can’t get a sentence in

And just as I predicted here we go again

They always say the hottest love has the coldest end

[Bridge]

[Jhene Aiko]

See it's funny cause I never thought this would end

But then the season changed

[Drake]

You were my, you were my, you were my love

Shoulda made, shoulda made you my world

Shoula done everything to make you happy, baby

Oh yeah

[Jhene Aiko]

Can’t wait for, can’t wait for, can’t wait for springtime

And I will turn into a butterfly

I will spread my wings and fly

And I’m too fly for this shit

Oha wooh

I am Japanese if you please

Greetings ladies and gents!

I'm currently sitting in Barnes and Noble preparing to write a paper (as usual), but I have a lot on my mind, so I decided to take a break and let it all out. Because it was only a couple weeks since my last post, I have a brief update. My paper submission to the ASEE Annual Conference titled "A Real-Time Model to Assess Student Engagement during Interaction with Intelligent Educational Agents" was accepted!! Woo-hoo!!! I guess that means I'll be in Indianapolis, IN come mid-June :) This past weekend I went to Princeton and presented my research at the IEEE Integrated STEM Education Conference (ISEC). Our paper was titled "The Positive Effects of Verbal Encouragement in Mathematics Education Using a Social Robot," and we won the Best Paper Award!! Whoo-hoo!! I didn't even know our paper was nominated until a couple days before the conference while perusing the agenda, but all praise goes to God! I couldn't have done it without him :) I know I don't live my life exactly as I should, but he keeps blessing me over and over again.

In other news, I recently found out that I will not be going to the NSBE convention in Nashville at the end of the month :( Bittersweet....I haven't seen my NSBE fam in years, but on the bright side, I won't be missing my Friday class again lol. I'll take that...plus I've already done my traveling for the month of March. 

I'm happy to say that my life has been going well, and I have no complaints. There's always a bright side to everything. My journal submission was REJECTED lol, but I received a lot a good feedback from the reviewers. I will make the needed adjustments, and then resubmit it to another journal in the next couple of months :) 

I have a couple of 5K races coming up next month: a few of us will be doing the ROC Race ATL on April 5th, and the GT Pi Mile on April 12th. Here lately, I've been running 3 miles about 3 days a week, but I would like to shave some minutes off my time -- I'm currently running it in approx. 32min, but I need that time to be below 30 minutes (preferably 28 minutes). The end goal would be to finally compete in a triathlon in June, but I need to get this swimming together if that's ever going to come to surface. 

Alright, well I've successfully completed no work this morning. I'll chime back in sooner or later.

Until next time...toodles!!

Vonda B.

Life Update

When I go months without posting, I feel overwhelmed because so much has happened. Let's see...since November I lost weight, went home for the holidays twice (made a pitstop in Charlotte), had a Fab5! sleepover, Blossom turned 2, went back home for a speeding ticket, gained weight lol, and submitted to 3 conferences and a journal. I've learned over the past few years that grad school is very stressful (nothing new), but I think I've found a great solution to the pressure! I need at least one vacation a month, and since December I've done a great job living up to this. I spent new year's in DC, went to the Dominican Republic in January, and I'm headed to CIAA in Charlotte this weekend. Ironically for all of these trips I have been with the same person...my LS/Front Door/best friend and so much more...Shan R. We've truly been #LIVIN', and she's done a great job making sure I keep a balance between school and play {and is also the reason why I'm broke lol...j/k}. Next month I'll be going to Princeton, NJ and Nashville, TN for academic related conferences; however, I'll be sure to break away and enjoy the city when I'm away.

Fab5!

Baby Maxine and her Mommy/my sissy :)

DC for New Year's

Blossom turns 2 :)

Miami to DR

And the evolution of me :) 

I'll do better next time - I promise :)

Vonda B.

"I Will Wait for You"

A friend shared this video with me today, and I just had to share! I feel like every female should listen -- especially those who think settling is an option. Know your worth ladies and have patience :) God is always working!

Review of "The Best Man Holiday"

***SPOILER ALERT***

IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE MOVIE AND PLAN TO WATCH IT, DON'T READ THIS POST!!!

Hands down this movie was BEAUTIFUL!! This was really a breath of fresh air to see a movie with so many prominent African American actors/actresses with a great storyline coupled with great acting. The movie was grounded in faith and family, which I loved even more!!! I would even argue that this would be a great movie to watch with the entire family (...minus a few scenes).

Morris Chestnut and Monica Calhoun (Lance and Mia) - I completely adored this relationship! Lance was the perfect husband to Mia. It was obvious that he cared about her deeply and would do anything to make her happy. He was completely faithful to her and committed to making their marriage work, which was quite surprising being that he was a well-known NFL player....and extremely sexy to say the least. I would've thought he'd have so many "side-chicks" with his popularity, but was pleasantly surprised to see that this movie did not follow the typical trend. Mia had a goooood man :) Their relationship was grounded in faith, and their children were so supportive of everything. I typically don't cry during movies...not my thing, but when Lance broke down when Mia was getting lowered into the ground...a tear managed to sneak its way out. I guess I'm a sucker for a strong Black man crying.

Taye Diggs and Sanaa Lathan (Harper and Robyn) - Harper and Robyn were interesting. I will say that Robyn is bigger than I am (I still have some growing to do) because if I walked in and saw Harper kiss Jordan anywhere, there would have been problems! I think the tragedy of Mia having cancer was able to help everyone focus less on the smaller issues and more on the things that really mattered :) I thought it was ingenious and ironic at the end of the movie when Lance had to deliver Robyn's baby. Harper had already been "in" Lance's wife Mia, and now Lance had to go in Harper's wife Robyn to deliver the baby.

Harold Perrineau and Regina Hall (Julian and Candace) - This scandal that Candace was in had me cracking up the entire movie. My favorite part of this story was when Candace asked to use Julian's phone while her porno video was up there, and Quentin saves the day by throwing the phone on the ground and breaking it. I'm not quite sure why it tickled me so much, but I'm weak every time I see it in the trailer after seeing it in context in the movie.

Terrance Howard (Quentin) - There is always a need for a "Quentin" in any group of friends. He was very free/liberal and hilarious, and the only one of the "guys" the was not married. He kept them young and alive. I just love how all the characters were so dynamic -- I was touched when he kept pressing the issue of Harper needing money, and was able to help out in his time of need. Prior to watching the movie, I envisioned Quentin as the immature bachelor that never planned on settling down and had no real source of income (the original "The Best Man" portrayed him changing jobs every other week). I'm still quite unsure what his career was after watching this movie, but he clearly had a steady source of money and was able to help Harper out. 

Nia Long (Jordan) - Jordan a.k.a. Nia Long is SEXY!!! Whew lol. I loved her role in this movie as Jordan. She was what I call the triple S's: Strong, Successful, and Sexy. I can honestly say that I identified with her a little as far as how independent she was. When her white boo thing approached her and said "I don't feel like you need me," and she responded and said, "well I don't," I was too done. I applaud her for her honesty though. I can say I feel like that with a lot of people, but I know I shouldn't. When you've gone so long being independent - providing for yourself, taking care of yourself, jumping barriers by yourself - it's hard incorporating other people into the equation. But, even though I currently identify with Jordan a lot, I would love to grow and have a relationship like Mia and Lance in the future :) 

Melissa De Sousa (Shelby) - If Mia wasn't her LS, I'd swear that Shelby was an AKA
-__-  Lol, jk, but really Shelby was over the top!!! I was impressed with her though because she was able to grow in this movie by apologizing to Candace and being respectful of Julian's marriage. She even wanted to be a better mother to her daughter after this holiday gathering -- very moving.

The 4 of these guys had a strong bond that became even tighter after the tragedy of Mia passing. They looked out for one another, and held each other up when times were rough. Now that's a true friendship there...a true bond :)

And yes I know this review isn't well rounded, and may be a little biased in relation to my life, but I don't care because it's my blog :) 

Until next time, toodles!

Vonda

Life Update

After reading the last post I wrote in April, I have a few things to update you all on.

First things first, I have had 2 refereed conference publications!!!! Woo-hoo!!! The first one is titled "Applying Behavioral Strategies for Student Engagement Using a Robotic Educational Agent," and was published at the IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics. The actual conference was held Oct. 13-16th in Manchester, England! I was also 1 of 5 students selected as a finalist for the best student paper award :) I had to give an additional presentation of my work in a special session with all the finalists. Even though I didn't win, it was still an honor being selected and great practice for future presentations to come. While in Manchester, I was able to get away for a day and visit London and this city is gorgeous! I definitely have to go back to visit one day.

My second paper was titled "Engaging Children in Math Education Using a Socially Interactive Humanoid Robot," and was published at the IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots. This conference was held Oct. 15-17th in Atlanta, GA. Because the dates conflicted with the previous conference, my labmate was kind enough to attend and present my work in my absence. Along with my labmates, I have also contributed to a book chapter, and I am in the process of writing another conference paper, as well as a journal :) Let's just say, school is going great right now!

As far as exercising goes...I fell off the triathlon movement :/ BUT, I have still been working out. The triathlon has only been postponed, and I will pick that back up ASAP. In the meantime, I have a 5K race next weekend in Charlotte, NC. My friend and I will be doing the Color and Glow Race. I've been training for about a month now, so I think I'm ready for the challenge.

And last but not least....I am now an auntie!! My niece Maxine was born Sept. 25th at 4:03PM and was 5lbs 15oz 19in :) Since then, I have been home twice to spoil her!! I'm soooooooo happy for my sis and brother-in-law!!!! They are going to be really great parents, and I will be the favorite aunt :)

Well I'm going to keep this short and TRY to check in regularly. So until next time, TOODLES :-*

Hair Update - 21 Weeks

19 month Update (2 weeks ago)

Loc Curls w/Flexi Rods (today)

And this is the final product!!!!