TeasasTips

Here we are again, Thanksgiving is upon us. The day before Black Friday, seems like folks look forward to Black Friday more than Thanksgiving lol. But have you ever thought about people who are in their homes who don’t have anything to look forward to on either Thanksgiving or Black Friday. For some this whole holiday season is just depressing and sad. There are people, some you may know, that won’t celebrate New Year’s Day, Christmas, or Thanksgiving because it is the saddest time of the year. But then there are families right here in America that can’t afford to buy a turkey to put on their table. They are struggling to make ends meet and a turkey is an expense that is not in the budget. I remember when 2 and a half years into my dysfunctional marriage, how the day before Thanksgiving, we didn’t have a turkey. I didn’t know from one day to the next how we would eat, you see my ex-husband was an abusive, drug addict.  He would beat on me just...

I am on Instagram everyday sharing pictures I took or motivational sayings I found online and liked. It’s fun and it doesn’t require a lot of conversation.  I’ve noticed some businesses are buying ads on Instagram. And although I wondered what a sponsored Instagram photo would look like. I believe I like them more than I do those ones on Facebook. Which is ironic because Facebook purchased Instagram in 2012 for $1 Billion. These sponsored ads on Instagram actually agree with the photo sharing flow of the network.  Primarily short, interesting videos and static graphics catch my eye. The photos I like the most are well composed and well lit (blame it on my own photographic eye) as well as pictures that create curiosity as well as intrigue me.   Pictures that standalone and tell a story are also perfect examples of the things that automatically get a heart shaped like from me.  As a business owner, these are the types of things that are popular...

There are two ways to access memory: recognition and recall. Recognition happens when you come into contact with something and remember it because of a previous encounter. Recall is when you independently remember something without a prompt. To break this down: If I asked you to name every piece of clothing hanging in your closet, you would be able to name quite a few (recall), but you would not remember quite a few as well. However, if I showed you each piece, you would definitely know it was yours (recognition). One purpose of branding is to build recognition (of a brand, product, or service) until your customers remember your brand. Why? Because people are more likely to interact with things that are familiar. Studies have shown that given a choice, most people in an unfamiliar location will make do at a chain restaurant they know rather than try a local restaurant that they have never seen before. That is the power of branding and branding is essential for your...

General Texting Statistics Texting is the most widely-used and frequently used app on a smartphone, with 97% of Americans using it at least once a day. (PewInternet) People worldwide will send 8.3 trillion text messages in just this year alone. That’s almost 23 billion messages per day, or almost 16 million messages per minute. (Portio Research) Over 6 billion text messages are sent in the U.S. each day.(Forrester) Over 80% of American adults text, making it the most common cell phone activity. (Pew Internet) Text messages have a 98% open rate, while email has only a 20% open rate. (Mobile Marketing Watch) Text messaging has a 45% response rate, while email only has a 6% response rate.(Velocify) Texting takes up 14.1% of cell phone users’ time.(Nielsen) 90% of all text messages are read in under 3 minutes. (Connect Mogul) 75% of phones worldwide (4.5 billion) are text-enabled (Duo Call Communications) 96% of smartphone users text.(Acision) Americans sent 69,000 texts...

I didn’t see Daymon again until the next morning. While making coffee and frying bacon he walked in the door. Maybe it was the hypnotic smell of hickory-smoked bacon and premium roasted coffee that brought him through my door. Just as quietly as he left, Daymon returned the same way. I was having awkward feelings and thoughts on how to approach the situation. Should I ask? Should I just forget about it and push it to the side? From past experiences with my physically abusive husband I knew to ignore a problem only makes a bigger problem. Daymon had disappeared into the shower. I missed his strong body holding me last night. I didn’t sleep well. I knew I needed to know what was going on. But my body just wanted him to hold me and tell me everything was going to be all right. That what I saw last night was just a ‘thing.’ To be honest, I didn’t want to know what was going on. I just wanted my Daymon back. I needed his strength to complement my lack of. I was so deep into ...

By LaTease Rikard He was the best. Courteous, handsome, kind, funny and unpredictable all in one. We met at the supermarket, me going out the door dropping a bag of fruit, him coming in the door seeing this beautiful woman in a vulnerable moment. Maybe the reason I dropped the fruit was to continue looking at the Adonis headed towards me. All eyes on him! In a moment of weakness he saw me. Saw me for who I was, an awkward, beautifully shy woman seeing her soul mate for the first time. At that moment time belonged to him. I just happened to be a part of it. Daymon and I began dating. The dropping of the fruit, him saving my apples from tire wheel death was the beginning of a love affair not to be forgotten. Within weeks we were spending time eating ice cream, enjoying movies and of course more supermarket runs. He wasn’t pushy or demanding, just a man more comfortable in his maleness than I’d ever imagined. His chiseled jaw and well-structured body gave the false impression of de...

Yesterday, I visited a 'station' - a safe house along the Underground Railroad in Southern Illinois. The Josiah White Log Cabin sits behind the Cheney Mansion, as undetected as one could imagine. If you're not looking for it, you'll drive right by. Amazingly if you Google "Cheney Mansion" there is very little mention of its role in helping the slaves. Cheney was a politician and an active abolitionist. In fact, many abolitionists lived in Jerseyville, Illinois. When Harriet Tubman was helping slaves to freedom, she needed help, she needed a network of people who believed what she did that slavery was wrong. So she helped as many slaves as she could get to freedom. "The railroad truly was the feet of the escaping slaves or a silent trip hidden under the hay of a horse-drawn supply wagon of a "conductor." If you can, imagine walking from the deep South up to freedom, the north. Think about traveling only at night where it made it harder fo...

Though he only lived 35 years, Elijah Parish Lovejoy made a lot of Missouri slave owners angry. You see, Lovejoy lived in Alton, Illinois a the time and was an abolitionist who believed slavery was wrong, and he used his newspaper to write about it. This didn't go over well with the slave owners on the St. Louis side of the river. Lovejoy, "published a religious newspaper, The St. Louis Observer , and began to advocate the abolition of slavery. Despite the bitter feeling against him., Lovejoy persisted in arguing the fights of freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and freedom from slavery. After seeing a slave, Francis J. McIntosh, burned at the stake, his editorials became so strident against slavery that he became an object of hatred by both Southerners and slave-holders. His press was wrecked by a mob in July, 1836, and he moved to Alton in the free State of Illinois." That was the first time. However, Lovejoy would not be stopped. He believed what he believe...

This month I will be writing a post each day on an event in Black History in celebration of Black History Month. I live in St. Louis, Missouri, and had no idea of the historical gems I was living around. All photos are mine, and original. I visited these places and took pictures just for the purpose of this series. I hope you enjoy it. Why Was The Dred Scott Decision So Important? “Dred Scott was a slave whose owner, an army doctor, had spent time in Illinois, a free state, and Wisconsin, a free territory at the time of Scott’s residence. The Supreme Court was stacked in favor of the slave states. Five of the nine justices were from the South while another, Robert Grier of Pennsylvania, was staunchly pro-slavery.” “Chief Justice Roger B. Taney wrote the majority decision, which was issued on March 6, 1857. The court held that Scott was not free based on his residence in either Illinois or Wisconsin becausehe was not considered a person under the U.S. Constitution–i...