I’ve begun blogging on my older brother’s blog because it basically lines up with the ideas I’ve had for my Real Life blog. I’d worked on that for so long but I just couldn’t continue on my own and, since he had similar goals, we linked up…
Tell me what you think of it at Keeping It 100 because, although we have similar goals and ideas, we’re just beginning to mesh them and do have some different ideals. My vision is for a magazine of enlightenment, of real education in relationships, health and arts. In fact, I created a system called RHEA – read about it below. Here is text directly from the old blog:

Welcome to Real Life

This is an outlet for my vast reservoir of random information. If you are just coming across my blog, know that it is for whoever will benefit from it but it, somewhat, comes from a personal place so if you’re a friend, feel even more welcome.
The goal is to enlighten people’s lives with the real truth and to never shy away from “taboo” or “politically incorrect” issues because in real life, in the real world, nothing is off-limits. If your day is made better, your life saved, your heart guided back to the right track, I’m happy!

Real Life Mag/RHEA
Real Life uses the RHEA system. It is named after a friend I had in elementary school and it stands for Relationships, Health, Education, Arts. Everything you will find here will align with one of these categories.
Which of the “RHEAs” do you love best?
–Relationships
–Health
–Education
–Arts
–Spotlights

Look for these specific traits to be incorporated into my new venture.

My brother is also seeking a magazine culmination but he also feels as if he wants to find a formula to be a pro-blogger. I don’t want to try tactics; I just wanna write the truth I find. I don’t wanna gossip; I want to lure in readers with the reputable quality within my writing pieces. He assures me that I am free to stay as positive as I am as he explores his personality and drags out a little more negativity, even suggesting we add my younger brother and eldest nephew to have even more variety and more of a balanced mood within our posts. He believes he is too positive, especially with my positive additions, that he has to be dirtier to reach the mainstream population of readers. He feels like he used to censor himself but that now, in 2011, he’s just gonna be himself, having such a personality, being such a character. He likens this goal to a manifestation of the likes of Howard Stern and Perez Hilton, just outrageous types. He wants to have an effect on people and bring some passion and action out of them, getting them involved in the blog as well. He’d definitely want a team and want to bring on other bloggers and have reader interaction as well. I know it takes that to survive managing such a big project. It’s not a solo thing and no one wanted to work for me so I’m here with him now…and we’ll see how it goes. Seriously, we have some very, very good stuff. I don’t agree with his usage of profanity and I help him to edit other things but the content is great otherwise. You’ll find things you can’t find anywhere else because no one is daring to talk about it…and it’s all there to teach and encourage you!!!

My eldest niece is here driving me crazy. I love her to bits but I have to go rest just at the sound of her voice. Peace!

Not only have I not been on here for a while but I’ve also been sporadic on other sites, such as on my Helium.
Yet, I have written many articles still and have received excellent ratings, as usual…just not on a consistent flow. I’ve still been doing a bit of blogging on other blogs and a bit of tweeting and other writing. Even bigger news, I’ve been working on my plans for my dream come true, Harmony’s Way. Learn about it at that link and this link.

Let’s start with the updates about November and December 2009 Helium articles I’ve posted about.
First, Songs: What I Know is now 1/58 instead of just 1/55. That always makes me happy lol
Second, here’s an excerpt of something I posted before; I will update that post in itself as well as in this post, right below this:

Visions

Rated 1/10, this poem was called “Just Vision” before it got to helium.com . I think I may change it to the “Vision” title instead of “Visions” because of the fact that I’ve since realized that my original title was “Just Vision.” Yet, I am glad that, at least, being in the “Visions” title should mean that it can be read by people who are having supernatural issues, seeing things. Maybe now, they can see something better!! I may write a poem that’d fit into “Visions” and leapfrog this and then, put this in “Vision.” I’ll let you know and update with any new links.

Here’s my “revision”:
In April, I did change it to Vision and added another poem in place of it, called Visions…if you click that former link, you will find that entirely different poem. The poem I’d posted about is now here. Presently rated 2/36, I’d say things are where they belong!

How to upload a photograph to Photobucket.com

In January, because I desired to write in some different “channels” since I know I have knowledge in a lot of subjects, I branched out into Computers & Technology: Internet and wrote this article. This is a step-by-step tutorial about uploading a photograph/image on Photobucket. I’d had an account with them for a few years already but had stopped using them in recent years so I started over at the main page to refresh my memory and to help me to make sure that all of the very necessary information was there for the readers of my article! It’s rated 1/7!

Sexy: Class vs. Sleazy

Rated 2/17, this article is just something that was bound to come up eventually lol Written in April, in this article, I state, “To be sexy is relative and it has a place but not where it is right now. The problem is when sexuality is confused with sexiness. To understand what it means to be a woman and what it means to be a man is far different than to exploit that for sexual purposes.” This article is in the channel, Society & Lifestyle: Morals, Values & Norms.

Views on illegal immigration in the US

Written in May, based off of a prompt on a college website for placement test review, this was something I found to be of unique character and of course, I couldn’t let it sit on the computer so I posted it there..and there it is, rated between 10-50/234. Yup, it’s just that controversial that ratings waver on a daily basis! Needless to say, I am glad to have posted it. I only wish I could do the same for the many other test essays I’ve written so far.

Would you wear a pre-owned wedding gown?

This was a debate and my vote was..wait, guess first…..Yup you got it, I voted No! I must have been in a wedding mood or something because I also wrote another wedding-themed article at about the very same time, which was in June. That article is called, The importance of wedding gowns in Christian marriages. So, whether it was Wedding Budget or Wedding Planning, I got some new topics here and it was under Celebrations & Holidays. 1/17!

Easter: Should children be limited in the amount of chocolate they eat?

In June, I joined in on another debate lol Oh, and my answer was YES! It’s rated 1/23.

Ensuring baby’s safety in your home

This may seem like a parenting topic but it was written in Home: Home & Garden: Home Interiors because it is essentially about baby-proofing. I originally write this on Life123 but that fell through as they were in beta and eventually just paid off authors for the articles that had been put up at that time but mine hadn’t gone through or something because I never got my $20 or my official posting and my account disappeared when they “went live…” I hadn’t even known they were in beta or what that even meant but I learned at that point and guess what, my article had to go somewhere so…rated 1/5, I hope you can benefit from reading this article ‘cuz I put in work!

That is all I have for you! Some creative writing, a bit of politics, home & garden, society & lifestyle, computers & technology and a couple from celebrations & holidays. Let me know what you think of the best of Christina Bernice Butler’s Helium.com articles from January through July 2010.

Peace, dudes && dudettes LoL

What makes us do The things we do That keeps me loving you Imagination And when you're in need Ain't got nobody Imagination sets you free, free… When your relationship is headed for the rocks Gotta use your imagination to get you back on top                                                                                     –Tamia, "Imagination" I know there are many people out there who are living lives they never imagined they would live–go … Read More

via Indigo Moods

America’s health needs you!

Pro-claim TV‘s prison ministry

Baby brain?? I think they just cant see past their bellies!! When you grow and get more bloated each day, how can you retain spatial memory??

Below are a few lines of a blog post I read here. I decided to follow this blog once I found it this week:

“Jesus revealed sin as a structural device which divided his society… Jesus is portrayed in the gospels as consistently destroying these dividing structures in both word and deed… When we understand sin as separation, we are called to live more inclusively”

Please read this. Do you remember the case?? I do. 5 years doesn’t sound too right, though but I remember how I felt even though it seems like it was even longer ago than 5 years..and feels like yesterday bmh (bowing my head (to pray))

At this blog, I read a beautiful post about how someone realizes that life is about God from reading Genesis again, as a whole. I follow her on Twitter and now I follow the blog, too.

Speaking of Twitter, check out JesusTweeters.

Read about Letters to God here, here and here.

You may want to learn about Melanie E. Lowry’s book here.

You relieve a few burdens when you share the gospel but I think we’ve all passed up a couple of opportunities and had nightmares since. In fact, that’s why I’ve been up since before 5 AM. Read Dear Melissa,.

An interesting (and that’s an underestimating statement) blog is this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDehUe975Po

Bullying happens every day. Help children deal.

Christian Vision Ministries; Isaiah Reed died and lives to tell it and much more.

Here’s a post re-tweeted from @FashionWeekNYC.

Joyce Meyer speaks of the resurrection.

Visit Soul Supply and read about prayer here and worship here.

Read this. It’s a translation of Hosea 4:6.

Mere Churchianity piques my interest and I want to learn/read more about it and get a copy.

This video of Adora Svitak is about adults learning from children. What do you think??

Read this; it’s about National Arts Advocacy Day (April 13th). Go here to learn more, if you’re on Twitter, to tweet “arts” on that day.

Jesus Christ Loves You. See just one of the t-shirts made by the group by that name here.

Read this to learn more about what’s going on with the homosexuality trend in this nation. They tell you what some of the myths are, what’s fact, the reasons and truths behind each and why the truth matters.

TOMS Shoes is a good organization, which hosts One Day Without Shoes in order to raise awareness about children who have no access to shoes. They are a great org. bcuz they already give one child in need a pair of shoes every time someone buys a pair for themselves.

This article helped me finish this article on Dressing for Success.

Well if you’re reading this, it means you can also go here and click here to help people for free. Provide child health, literacy, mammograms and save rain-forests and do so much more with just a few clicks.

This guy sure puts on a good show.

Earthquakes have been occurring much differently this year. Read this.

This is an interesting video. I laughed but the thing about it’s, while it is hilarious in one way, it it sad in another. If it actually was real and not staged, it’s all the more sad. You’ll see if you click the link.

At my blog, Jesus Walks With Me, I’ve begun a 40-day journey through Psalm 119. We started April 6th. I tweeted about it and posted about it on the blog on the 5th. Something very interesting that I came across through my study time.

Found these three (1, 2, 3) play-lists from my teenage years. Some of the music I listened to was crazy. Any thoughts?? L0L Here’s the current one that I listen to!!

Check out this song I wrote, Because of You.

This is an interesting post about The sinner’s prayer.

Here is a post and another post on sin.

This blog features many opportunities for people.

Read this article on Boundless, Fear and Trembling and this one, called Ask Theophilus: What’s Wrong With These Pictures?

I updated the post about To Save a Life on Jesus Walks With Me. To Save a Life has amazing, heavenly stories of the impact of the movie on some of its viewers.

Here’s a beautiful post on yet another blog I’ve recently subscribed to. The post is about “curing the ‘blahs.’”

There are Easter/Resurrection Day quotes in the form of song lyrics as well as MLK, Jr. quotes at Inspiraquote™

I saw Alice in Wonderland in 3-D on Tuesday, March 30th. They had kewl costumes..see for yourself here. Launch the slide-show under the images to see more!

They are a few decades late with this but read about the choking game. In high school, there was a couple who always did this to each other. They’d put a hand around the other’s neck until they started to pass out. They were sick but they are far from the only people who have done it, even at that age. It was a disturbing and scary thing to witness. Thankfully, they don’t do it anymore and aren’t even together but they have a child :-\

Free college. Make sure you also read the comments.

Something kewl…be surprised.

Before you get your hopes up, it’s in Germany. Now, I’ll tell you what it is: McDonald’s cupcakes

Here are a few of events at colleges around where I live.

What’s a zoomerang?? Find out :-}

Answer this survey to be entered to win some cash. You don’t need to register with the, site to enter/complete the survey but if you want to, there’s the link.

I can’t believe this heartbreaking story…read the comments.

Sing with karaoke!!

“I find comfort in the fact that God Himself knows what it’s like to lose a child.” from Boundless.

An Even Dozen, from Boundless — GOOD QUESTIONS && GOOD ANSWERS!!

Rest in Peace, Jamie Escalante!!

There’s a great Boundless post called, Who’s on First?

It’s a great song.

Bonito!! Sorry for the multilingualism of that.

Yesterday was the day to be a walking billboard for Christ!!

Paramore && Relient K will be in Atlantic City on April 30th to perform.

Unless you’re lactose-intolerant, you love grilled cheese, right??
“Uptown Whirl,” written by someone I follow on Twitter.

Melissa Blake’s Letters to my Future Husband – Letter 78

This smoothie seems yummy-lici-oso.

5 questions for married people.

Las Vegas is more than casinos. I always wondered Lol

Here’s a disturbing story I read several months ago about what I’ve gone through and seen first-hand for the past few years at Disney parks. A good point is made in the comments about how it truly affects children.

Beautiful!!

Suing the devil…it’s a movie. Read about it here.

This site has great stuff on protecting your family from the negative things in media, like what I spoke of in that To Save a Life post on my blog that I updated. Covenant Eyes and Clearplay are good programs you’ll find there.

They have good things for teenagers at this site.

Independent films

God & Haiti: post 1. post 2.

Wedding season’s coming up. Have you thought of a backyard wedding??

Focus on the Family’s Sanctity of human life Sunday

FamilyValuesCinema

Guiding principles

Maintaining enthusiasm

A sweet, adventurous blog called Camels and Chocolate

This is why schools need much monitoring.

Writing classes – great if you are in that area

Word of Promise audio Bible

Celibacy pre-marriage

A video to watch on Facebook. It is so positive!

My comments on this:

This is a gr8 quote

My poll

20 SB is doing a blog swap.

This is about morals in acting and being a Christian and caring about your family.

This is why you’re fat Rice Krispies Treat waffle cones

I need answers to this!

Why God hates sin

Some women love a lot of chemicals..515, to be exact.

I created a Goodreads account.

Tips for never being late for work

I’d love it of you read about this. There are too many issues now-a-days for people to be concerned about the word, vagina.

A related blog post from another Christian woman

Forgiveness

World News & Prophecy post

NOW, THAT’S A LOT OF LINKS..only the best.

Taylor Lautner, one of the nominees for Favorite Movie Actor. You’re great at pretending to be fierce (C’mon, do your best werewolf impression!) and you look especially cute when you move in slow motion. *Sigh* You’re strong and focused, whether you’re memorizing your lines or learning new martial arts moves. You’ll work as hard as it takes to reach your goals. You could totally kick lots of butts if you felt like it, but you wouldn’t — you’re way too nice!

15% of the people who took this quiz got the same evaluation.

whoever that is…

I was on Nickelodeon’s website because I decided to try to vote for the Kids’ Choice Awards at nick.com/kca since I like to watch nick@nite and they show commercials for the Kids’ Choice Awards, suggesting people vote and view (on Saturday, March 27 at 8/7C on Nickelodeon). I haven’t seen the awards since ten years ago. When I was a kid and wanted to vote like they’d said, I had no internet lol I used to love Nickelodeon back then and, as many of my peers have noted, so did they…it was a “classic” time. The time I’m speaking of: the 80s through the 90s. I guess that since we are in a new century, I should say the 1980s through 90s. Ugh. Am I old now??
Anywho, you can find quizzes like that and many others at the site; there’s even a quiz of the day ((by Quizilla)) and a daily Brain Blitz, which I had some fun with.

Here’s teennick.

Here’s the KCA main page.

This is where you go to vote.

If you’d like to express any sentiments regarding old Nickelodeon, please comment.
Now, I shall forward you to just one blog on the subject and to YouTube’s vast amount of videos regarding the same.
DO YOU REMEMBER ANY OF THESE?? I DO!!

IN OTHER NEWS:
Boundless has been as beautiful as ever. However, one very short and seemingly meaningless post has brought me to an interesting name search site, where you can search the origins of some names. Check out Behind the Name and Behind the Surname.

I found a quote here that goes a little something like this:
“PMS is a gigantic mood swing. Not only do I dread what happens to me emotionally and physically. Sometimes I honestly think I’m losing my mind. My reactions to common occurrences are dramatically different from other times of the month. When I’m suffering PMS symptoms, I burst into tears or want to argue over the slightest things. I can’t sleep, I eat too much of the wrong foods because I’m starving. I feel depressed and lethargic and avoid my usual physical exercise regimen. PMS responses affect me about ten days out of each month. That’s a big chunk of my life, and I’d really like to find management that can help me.”

Moving on..
Shouts to To Think is to Create.
Watch Mister Rogers Neighborhood here
Read about celibacy here.
Check this out and see these beautiful designs. To create your own, start here.
Check out The Hub.
Be inspired by Near but not in my Pocket.
Read nice stories here.

Be a Girl Scout leader. Turns out, my mom used to be one. She left a flier around in her daycare from the organization, which said they are looking for volunteers. Email or call a local representative in order to be registered for the Getting Started training. Read this for some basic information. If you are in New York City, like myself, the contact info is
Lori Morea
Membership Specialist
(212) 645-4000, Ext. 365
lmore@girlscoutsnyc.org
I plan to attend on April 24th.
• All training courses are three hours long. You are free to bring whatever
refreshments you would like.
• Please bring two references, including their name, address and phone
numbers.
• Please bring your $12.00 registration fee.
• CHILDREN ARE NOT ALLOWED AT THIS TRAINING.

And, that is all for now :-}
God bless always!!
**With all of the valuable things on my other 12, 13 blogs, it always surprises me how many visitors I get to this one. I haven’t posted regularly since the beginning so I hope you are all still here but I must say, I hope it’s not just because it’s WordPress ((this is the cue to check out the other blogs)).
View This Poll

I added Networked Blogs and WidgetBox to many of my blogs so you can follow through those as well.

On February 1st, I began writing letters to all of my grandparents.

In ten days, it’ll be a month that I’ve been working at April Flowers Daycare.

Now, here’s a wrap-up of the best on the web these days:

Future Marriage University is an interesting thing I stumbled across today.

It takes the church to save our marriages.

Serendipity 3 has partnered with The Early Show. Go ahead, Get some chocolate-y goodness and get to The Early Show.

Here’s a guide on successful car buying.

Here’s a V8 Fusion coupon.

I’d love to go on this trip.

Here’s an interesting video that I never did finish watching about Martin Luther King, Jr.

Go to ShabbyApple.com and use the code Melissabxoxo10off to get 10% off a purchase.

Here’s my fave things.

Oh no, you don’t know what it’s like
To have been deprived
When the tears clear your eyes,
There’s no comfort in sight
You’re just gone, in denial
Can’t you tell I can’t lie?
Won’t you ever just try?
Stand alone and don’t sigh
We’re a team ask me why
There’s a dream we must try
To succeed we must climb
Have to reach a new high
I’ve been wrong
Many times
But you’re scared out your mind
And to know God is right
Is the way you can find
A true love
That eternal hope
Everlasting life
Just kneel down at the throne
I can’t apologize
For the peace in my mind
It’s a gift I won’t hide
Nothing’s better than this so I
Am a Christian
Had some pains in my time
People wanting to fight
Hating me at first sight
Stressed and rejected
Why?
Because He has saved me
Because Hes died for me
I’ve accepted His love
My treasures are above
He was persecuted
They don’t like what I’ve said
Think I’m too conceited
I’ve felt so defeated
When you’re attacking me
Remember that I bleed
The same way that you do
And the scars can seep through
But He’s said to find rest
In Him and He knows best
So I stand and I’ll praise
Lift His holy name
It’s the one where I run
Where I will be saved
Yes
I
Am a Christian
I don’t know why He does what He does but I know He is the only One who sees the beginning and the end and has given us victory over sin
I don’t always comprehend why I feel certain ways but he’s felt what feel and His love never fails
He has made himself real to me, realer than the air I breathe, so forget what you see
His Spirit is within me
Don’t you want what we speak of?
We love you with the same love
I don’t know who put you down but I struggle in life but some friends, I have found
To fellowship with
Some more true Christians
Thank You Father
Get to know our Lord today
He wants you more than you’ll ever know but He knows more than I know so He loves you even more

Created by Oatmeal

Created by Oatmeal

 I know it has been a while but the “while” has been truly successful on my side. What about yours?? Everything from discoveries to writing breathrough to creating even more blogs. Yes, it’s possible to have even more blogs than I already did and guess what the count is now: 14!!

The first, Just a Girl (at daughtersinthelord.blogspot.com), is for all the ladies out there!! Lord knows we need each other and all of the support in the world, “‘Cause it’s hard out there for a [[chiqq]]” LoL See, I’ve never been one to prefer a gender over the other, thinking one is better than the other. What I mean by that is, I believe in equal rights. Yes, I’m a feminist. Nobody, not even my grandmother, can stop me. Conservative views CAN mix with feminist views. God made us different but equal. A weaker vessel doesn’t mean a less important or less able person. I’m not a man, I’m a woman but I won’t ever let anybody tell me that means I’m less of a person than a man. I have felt like it’s hard growing up in this world period but being female, I know certain experiences of struggle we have more than I know what it’s like growing up being male, so, I’m offering support to all of the females out there in the issues we face daily. This blog is new, obviously and so far, just has poems and link lists. Any reviews, comments suggestions, comment on the blog, please!! Now, this brings me to the second:

LiL Girl, at lilgirlgrowingup.blogspot.com, is with the same focus as the blog above but for the younger generations and addresses the stereotypes of being a woman. Almost every woman has been referred to in a belittling manner at some point, by someone thinking they were inadequate because they were a female. A woman should not feel like a little girl in a grown-up’s body but many do..and some even still look like little girls on purpose. If you’re raising a young girl, this is the blog to visit. It’s all about the mentality of womanhood. I feel a need for this blog reach & cater to women everywhere, so, input is always welcome, regardless of age or location.

Last but not least, I have my editing blog!!!!! I finally feel like I can cool off with the new blogs because eDITORcHRIS now has her editing space. Visit thewholepiece.blogspot.com to see!! From receiving writing tips to receiving editing/proofreading services, it’s where to go for any writer trying to take themselves to a more serious level. Understand, it’s one thing to communicate and another to communicate effectively, where you’re actually being heard. Others hear you when they understand you and if you’re not communicating in a way they understand, you’re simply talking (or writing) not sharing. Things like fixing a misplaced or misspelled word can go far in increasing the attentiveness and focus someone is willing to devote to your writing. Realize that, in order for what anyone writes to be relevant to someone else, they must be able to read it. Each and every word is valuable and makes a difference. We all use words, whether talking or typing. Words aren’t going away. eDITORcHRIS will help you to use them properly, to the best advantage and make your messages clear. Guess what, it’s all for free, too…for now, at least!!

AS FAR AS POSTS:

On Saturday, December 19th,  I wrote Top 8 Reasons to Take B Vitamins.

On Thursday, December 17th, I wrote Thoughtful Thursday.

On Tuesday, December 22nd, I wrote Slightly reflective, non-uniform inspiration for the day.

i’VE REVAMPED THE LOOK AND WORKED OUT KINKS WITH FEEDBURNER SO I’M MUCH MORE SATISFIED W/ ALl OF MY BLOGS AND DEEPLY INTERESTED TO LEARN HOW I WILL DEVELOP THEM FUrTHER IN THE NEAR FUTURE….

Also, in recent weeks, I have joined forces with MY BROTHERS!! If you don’t know them yet, you will. From recording music to inviting them to write on a couple of my blogs, everything’s been flowing beautifully!!

{{very}} PERSONAL CHANGES:

I packed to go on a trip to Virginia that I, in the end, didn’t go on. Read some context here: Choices

This morning, I prayed this prayer: Lord, I’ve made many mistakes…but if You forgive me, lead me now.

Unpacking from the trip I didn’t go on brought a lot of order into my life, as did the packing. I found many things and re-organized…one thing I re-discovered is this: What’s on Your Mind?, a book I bought earlier this year at a church. Bought 3 that day, actually. All of these books and more were sitting in a bookbag ever since my summer vacation and since September, the bookbag has been at the bottom of a closet in my new room that I moved into at the beginning of September!!

Now, on the topic of books and discoveries, I’ll be getting to those now:

–An e-mail from Focus on the Family had me learning of a great book to link to on my new two geared-toward-girls blogs:

Let’s Walk the Talk! Girlfriend to Girlfriend on Faith, Friendships & Finding Real Love

By: Danae Dobson

–My homepage is boundless.org and I opened up my internet browser to find them supporting yet another book I later linked to for my new geared-toward-girl blogs:

Raising a Modern-Day Princess: Inspiring Purpose, Value, and Strength in Your Daughter

By: Pam Farrel, Doreen Hanna

So, everything was coming together!! I’m sure that they’ll be great reads and was looking for good resources to add to those link lists!!

Last of the books:

–Somehow, someway, no doubt being through blogging or procrastinating, I found this! That led me to…

Primal: A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity

By: Mark Batterson

I have a new author added to the list of my faves!!

Moving on from books into other media-related discoveries:

I went onto my MySpace and saw this comment:

Whats good fam!!

The United in Christ Mixtape Vol.II is out, DOWNLOAD FREE AT:
www.forgivenmuzic.com

Many blessings,

CL

So, I checked it out. Hear it 4 urself:

http://www.reverbnation.com/tunepak/2171913

On tumblr, while looking for Christian blogs to “follow,” I came across a cool video:

http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/video.php?v=wshhsEd73BMD10073YP1