AT WHAT POINT WILL WOMEN QUIT SEEING THAT THE PROBLEM IS NOT THEM

Hello wonderful, amazing, sweet and lovely people. How are y'all doing today? I hope y'all are having an amazing day today and are not letting anyone steal your joy? Welcome to Maryam's Joyful Life! Today is a beautiful day!

I often get relationship questions from women around the world and one recurring theme is that the women blame themselves when something goes wrong with a relationship they hold dear. When a man breaks up with them after years invested in the relationship, for no apparent reason, they think it's their fault. Hey sis, it's not your fault! Sometimes, it's time to move on! Especially, when you've done everything to make it work!

I had this discussion with a lady, who had given all of herself to a man she thought was going to follow through with their wedding plans, only to wake up one day to the man breaking up with her. She had asked him why the sudden change of hearts, he said he didn't know. The next thing this sweet sister would ask me is, what are the signs of a spirit husband? The implication is that she thinks it's not normal and that she must have some spirit laying claim over her, which could've been the reason for her fiance's sudden change of hearts toward her.

I asked her if she'd prayed about it and waited on the Lord, she said yes but it didn't seem to work because her ex didn't change his mind still. My final advice was to let him go! It may be hard at first, but let him go! You can't force someone to be in your life who doesn't want to be in it. God may be saving you from a worse future and preparing you for that special man who would love and appreciate you; all of you!

Most times, women limit themselves from their true love and happiness by holding on to what is not meant to be, in the first place. We create most of our heartbreaks by convincing ourselves to accept or stay with someone, who God has clearly shown us is not worth our time of day. I believe that if we make seeking God's guidance in our relationships a priority, we will save ourselves from a whole lotta drama and pain.

To listen to a guy's perspective on the topic of relationships and more, please watch this video of my husband's opinion to crucial topics:

In closing, I'd like to remind you that you're amazing and worth more than you think. Don't ever think for one second that a guy is the prize because that's NOT true! You are the prize and always will be! Recognize you, accept you, embrace you and live it up!

Until next time, sweet, amazing and lovely friend.

Have a blessed week!
Maryam💗

COOKING IS SOMETHING I LOVE DOING|| Taco SEASONING Review

Hello wonderful, amazing, sweet and lovely people. How are y'all doing today? I hope y'all are having an amazing time today and not letting anyone steal your joy. Welcome to Maryam's Joyful Life! Today has been an amazing day.

So, for those of you who have been following my blog for a while, you know that I love cooking. I often say that I cook with love and passion. My love for cooking will only keep growing and expanding. I love the fact that I could whip up a mean freshly made food from all fresh ingredients in my kitchen. No wonder, my kids won't eat certain foods at some restaurants, except it's made by mama😊. I'm really proud of my cooking skills. Can you cook? What's your favorite thing to cook? Please share in the comment below.

I made a commitment to myself that I was going to share my tips on certain spices and seasoning that I have tried. Here's my review on taco seasoning.
So, if you're familiar with grocery stores in America, there are name brands seasoning and value seasoning. The value seasonings or brands at stores such as Walmart, Target, Public etcetera are brands that are owned by the stores they are found in.

It is no news that Walmart is the place I do most of my grocery shopping at. Walmart has it ALL! Their store brand items are called "Great Value."

There are certain things that I will not buy Great Value. Such as their apple juice. It doesn't taste the same. Anyways, back to the taco seasoning. I have tried a variety of brands from Old El paso, to Great Value, to McCormick and I tell you, they all taste the same! The more expensive one is McCormick's taco seasoning; just wanted to put it out there lol...

There are certain seasonings and spices such as vanilla extract and others that I would only buy McCormick's though 😃, but taco seasoning, is not one of them.

If you were looking to buy taco seasoning and the brand you'd  normally buy is not available, try the others because, from my experience, they are all the same.
I think that we as people, are creatures of habit. When we've become used to one particular brand, we don't want to try any other one, until that brand is not available when we need it the most. That's when some of us would stretch.

I hope that this post helps you in some way because it was a delight writing it😊.

Until next time,

Stay cool in this summer heat!
Maryam💕

HOW HAVING A NEW HAIRSTYLE REALLY MAKES ME FEEL

Hello, wonderful, amazing, sweet and lovely people. How are y'all doing today? I hope that you are all having a great day today and are not allowing anyone steal your joy? Welcome to Maryam's Joyful Life. Today is a beautiful day!

So, it's been a few days since you all last read a post from me. I apologize for being MIA. Anyways, I'm back now. Since, I have been gone, a few things happened and I'm going to share one with you all, on this post.

I HAVE BRAIDS!! WHAT?!😮🙈😁 Well, it's no news to those of you who have already seen pictures on my Instagram and my YouTube video😊. So, if you are not already following me on Instagram or YouTube, make sure you do.

It had been FIVE solid years since the last time I had braids. Towards the end of last year and beginning of this one, I go a new hairstyle. This style is a mohawk with the intentions of braiding the top when my hair was long enough. I had wanted to get it done a month earlier but didn't know where to go get it done at, until I remembered a lady I used to go to the same church with, who is a very talented hair braider. She's absolutely amazing. I gave her a call and she agreed to come home and do it for me. It made me so happy when she told me she was coming to me.

Y'all mamas who have toddlers know how hard it is to take your babies to a hair or nail salon right? It's hard because all you'll be doing is chasing your kids down and making sure they are safe and in sight. You pretty much would have a difficult time getting your nails or hair done with your kids all over the place. Well, for me the best thing I thought was to have my stylist come home. The home is safe and the kids can run around and play without me panicking. That's what I did.

My sister Grace was so patient with me whenever I needed to feed the kids or give them a snack. The hair took a little longer than it should've because of the many breaks to attend to the kids but over all, I'm very happy with the result.

I feel brand new 😊😊😉. 

I like having these braids😻.

 I look different from my regular short mohawk look and I like it. The complements I have received have been good too and so many. A lot of people who couldn't imagine how I'd look with braids are pleased with the look😀. 

Now, I am not a woman to do things for attention. I have always done things that please me. Although, there are things I want a lot of attention for, such as my work in the community, my business and my books. Getting attention on those would be amazing. I'd like to say thanks to those of you who have been showing me some support. Y'all are amazing!

So here are  my new e-books:

These books will bless your life. Make sure you get a copy of each today. A lot of love, prayers and commitment were poured into each book and the content will bless your life.

Before I go, please comment below and tell me how you are doing.

Until next time,
Stay positive!
Maryam💕

I HAD A GREAT WEEKEND AND MY HUSBAND WAS A HUGE PART OF IT

Hello wonderful, amazing, sweet and lovely people. Hope you are all having a great day and are not allowing anyone steal your joy? Welcome to a new week! Today is a beautiful day!!

I have to be honest with you guys, while I write this post, the kids are watching one of their favorite shows: "Bob The Train," while also waiting on me to take them to the park.

I promised and I have to keep my promise else, someone named Le'Veon; will be upset with me😊. I'm very careful to keep my promise because my precious child will hold me to it.
Man, I just love being a mom and having kids to love on, each growing day. Do you have kids? How do you spend time with them? I'm very curious to know you and hear your stories.

Let me go into my exciting story for the day. My sweet man made us lunch yesterday(Sunday) and it was really good. WHAT?!! Is this really my life? LOL! Honestly, I didn't expect much out of the food, when my husband decided to go on a spice rampage on me LOL. I was supposed to be giving him cooking instructions,  until he decided to add his twist to the food.
Watch the video of my husband's cooking👇

I posted a video of my reaction to his decision to add his own twist to the food on Instagram. If you're not following me on Instagram yet, please do. You'll love my content. Here's my handle:Instagram.com/theshumatesjoyfullife. The food turned out great!

I spent the weekend enjoying my family as always. What even made the weekend more awesome was the fact that my sweet man took off work on Saturday to spend time with us. We couldn't be happier for such dedication to us.

By the grace of God, I stay grounded and open to all that God has for us. I am learning each day that God is near a family that lives in harmony and love with one another. With this in mind, I prepare to forgive and let go so I can spend my days in peace and joy and prosperity.
This blog may be all over the place today, lol. It's because I'm also trying to hurry up so my kids could go to the park😊before it gets too hot.
How is the weather like where you are? Hope it's not scorching😩. It's been crazy in Georgia. But we are making the most of it. We've been swimming A LOT! The kids think they should be allowed to live in the pool... LOL! I'm still in awe of their love for the water. Because they didn't get it from me. You know, someone is very happy that the kids love the water so much. That someone is my sweet man💖.

Well, y'all! It's been amazing touching base with you. I hope your week is very productive and enjoyable.

With love and many blessings,
Maryam💕

THIS WEEK, I IGNORED MY ALARM TWICE|| I DIDN'T FEEL LIKE DOING ANYTHING

Throwback to when I won an award at our vacation basketball tournament in college.


Hello wonderful, amazing, sweet and lovely people. How are y'all doing today? I hope that you're all having an amazing day today, and are not letting anyone steal your joy, welcome to Maryam's Joyful Life. Today is a beautiful day.

I have been missing in action for a bit but I'm back now😊. Thank you all for sticking around for this long and welcome to those who have just started reading my blog and following me on social media. Y'all are amazing!
I'm one to share any amazing product that is working out for me and my family with y'all. In this blog, I will be sharing one with you all and adding a link to the video review I did recently on the product also. Yup! Guys, I'm proactive like that. But before we get into it, I have to share something a bit personal with you all. This week, I felt like taking my job and business slow. I didn't feel like working too hard at all. A couple of days in a row, I ignored my alarm and slept for an hour extra. On those days, I didn't feel like cooking lunch for my sweet man like I always do, but I still ended up getting up fast enough to make him some lunch to take to work.

I have had a few hours to reflect on my actions and learned that sometimes, we don't feel like doing our responsibilities or even going out of our way like usual, for others but we do it anyway. That's called sacrifice. I strongly believe that every sacrifice you make for others, will definitely come back, with overflowing blessing for you.

Whenever I have my like this, it's work time😊

I don't always want to be nice or do nice things for others but I do it anyway. These are seeds I have planted and keep planting because I believe that there are people who will go out of their way for me, when I need it too😇. It may not be the very people I do it for but someone will help me back.
Any good you do for others, do it with all of your heart and expect God to bless you when you need someone to come to your rescue in the future.

Hey, I didn't think that I had much in me to share today, but look at where we are?😉Back to the product I wanted to share with you all. Here's my favorite air filter in the whole wide world: Levoit Vista 200. This is a very big upgrade from their previous amazing purifier.

 Levoit vista 200 Air Purifier

Click the highlighted name to visit product page on Amazon. This air purifier has everything you desire in a purifier. The versatile functionality makes it very easy for you to use and get the most out of it.
I did an extensive review on it for my YouTube audience. Here's the video:

Please check it out and let me know how you like the product. If you would like to just go ahead and check them out, here's the link to their Amazon Prime Day Special: Levoit Amazon Prime Day Special. Don't miss out on the opportunity to save on a great product.

Well, this is the end of today's post. I sure do hope you enjoyed stopping by today. I love you and can't wait for all the amazing things that God has in store for you.
Until next time,
Stay cool in this hot summer heat😇

Maryam💕

MY FRIEND AND I RECONNECTED AFTER A COUPLE OF YEARS

Two African Queens😊

Hello, wonderful, amazing, sweet and lovely people. How are you all doing today? I hope you are all having a great day.

Today is a beautiful day and I am very excited to be back with another post.
We had the opportunity to visit with my friend, Tanya and her family over the weekend and it was an absolute joy! Tanya and I have been friends for a long time and she's one of the few people I truly connect with. I have added pictures from our meeting for you to see😀.

I am learning each day that my happiness and peace are dependent on me. The more I think about it, the more it becomes clear to me that NO ONE is responsible for my joy and peace but me! These days, I'm being more intentional in making sure that am not putting my joy on hold, with the hope that someone else would make me happy.

I love my sweet family and am grateful to God for blessing me, but I'm learning more to make me a priority. It doesn't serve anyone any good, for me to put my joy and needs on hold for them.

Every time you think you have to sacrifice your joy for someone else, you're heaping coals of fire that would soon burst in flames. You need to stop that. In order to best serve your family, you must serve you.
It is so deceiving how the world is perceived. There are forces in the atmosphere created by people, that try to force you to think that the best way to serve everyone is by forgetting or neglecting your needs. That's an absolute lie!

A selfie is always welcome right😁?

I've come to encourage you through this post, that it is possible to be your best while taking care of you and then others.
I'm not encouraging selfishness but self-care and love.
Through experience with bouts of resentment, I've learned that I need to take care of me too.

Take this post today as a reminder that you are important and need to show yourself some love and care, okay?

 Caught off guard😆

 Don't remember what I was saying in this picture😀

Tanya's hubby; Erik has a way with kids😇
I thank you for being here and loving on me, always😊.

Until next time,
Maryam

MY SWEET GANG AND I WENT SWIMMING AND IT WAS AMAZING!!

Hello wonderful, amazing, sweet and lovely people. how are y'all doing today? I hope y'all are having a blessed day.
It is always such a blessing whenever I get to make a post on my blog😊. There's just something about writing, that keeps me so happy, every single time; I get to do it. Is there a particular hobby you have that makes you very happy? Please share in the comment section.

So my sweet gang and I went swimming, a few days ago and it was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! The kid had a blast and mama and dada did too😬😬😬.

Summer time is pool time for us. I know that sounds like i'm fish when it comes to swimming... lol. I'm not! I can't swim but my husband is a very good swimmer while my sweet babies were born ready to swim. I keep asking myself how they are so fearless of the water and the ONLY answer is"they got it from daddy".

I am Nigerian and from the North. Where I come from, there weren't many pools I could access and I grew up scared of the water. I have overcome my fears for the most part, but I'm still very cautious around the water. In spite of my cautiousness, I still enjoy a great dip in the water. There's something about that dip that just takes away the stress from my bones and leaves me feeling relieved and happy. Do you ever get that feeling?

I love how this particular swimming pool is set up in Lovejoy, Georgia. The kid's section is so easy and amazing, to the extent that I'm not scared to let the kids runaround in it. I mean, the deepest part 

is only 1-ft deep and my sweet Zozo stands tall in it😬.  You know, that keeps this mama happy and stress-free and less fussy over them sweet babies.

I can't remember the last time I felt very relaxed around a pool until now. I love pools that are set up like this one, at the Gerald Matthews Complex in Lovejoy, Georgia. It costs $3 for adults and $2 for kids to get in and it's an outdoor pool. For y'all sweet folks who would love to get a sun tan while swimming.  I think it's a great deal for the fun and excitement, if you ask me😜.

If you live in the area and are looking for a fun exciting place to take your kids, I highly recommend this center.

We had a little photography session as the kids would allow us. They didn't want to be bothered y'all, but I still had to make it work for the memories and my blog😉.

I hope you and your family keep having a very pleasant and joyful summer time/holiday.

With much love and appreciation,
Maryam😍

DOES ANYONE ELSE ENJOY GROCERY SHOPPING AS MUCH AS ME?

Hello wonderful, amazing, sweet and lovely people. I hope this blog meets you in great spirit and health. Today is a beautiful day and I'm super excited to be doing one of the many things I love to do. I love to write and share😊.

Do you know how much I love going grocery shopping? Have I ever expressed it to you? Well, I absolutely love going grocery shopping. The days I get to go grocery shopping are days that I look forward to. Does that sound weird to you? I don't know if it's because I'm a wife and a mom or maybe because I love getting out of the house😊. You know, to think about it, I think it's because I love cooking for my family. I always love it when there's a variety of fresh produce and supplies in the house for me to cook. I love cooking. It's one of the things I could do all day everyday!

So, my sweet family and I went grocery shopping a couple of days ago and it was fun for us as usual for the most part😂. Zoe was a little upset initially because my hands were free to carry her but instead I chose to put her in the boggy. Oh for those of you who don't know, Boggy is what grocery carts are called in the south lol. It took me a second to get used to calling grocery cart boggy but here we are😅. It's come to my attention that every state or country calls it something different. What do you call grocery carts where you're from? Please share, I'm very curious to know.

We followed my list; well, for the most part lol... Y'all, I NEVER follow my list! Are you like me or am I just irresponsible😝😝? Lol... My husband often tells me it's a waste of time, for me to spend all that time writing a list, that I'm never going to go by😁. He's right,  but I like to feel unlimited in what I can buy. This is often my explanation. Moreover, It keeps my mind right and legs gliding💃💃, knowing I can buy anything I desire. That's the mindset I'm intentionally living by and God has been faithful to make a way.

I'd like to encourage you to always think positive and abundance regardless of what your current experience may be. Don't go off your list, try to follow your budget but with the mindset that abundance is yours.

Thanks for stopping by again. I hope you have a great day.
Here's the video from our shopping trip:

Until next time,

Maryam💖

THE KIDS EXPERIENCE AT THEIR FIRST VACATION BIBLE STUDY

Hello wonderful, amazing, sweet and lovely people. Hope this post meets you well.
 Today is a beautiful day and I'm coming to your screens a little late. Although it's been a very hot day in Hampton, Georgia, we are so thankful we get to experience another beautiful day😊.

So, the kids participated in Vacation Bible School this year and I was one big proud mama. Le'Veon was so well-behaved, that he was commended as the most well-behaved kid at VBS😊. Zoe on the other hand, was the most interested in joining the choir😅.

One very notable experience during the kid's VBS is when Le'Veon refused to say this particular line the pastor taught them. After every "God is good," they were asked to say "Yee Haw." Le'Veon said "no," that he it's wrong to say  "Yee Haw," because that's what a Donkey says and he didn't see a Donkey but a pig and a cow behind the pastor. That was his reasoning for refusing to say it. I tried to convince him that it's a different sound but that didn't work. My kid was over there correcting me and refusing to follow everyone else. It was so funny and amazing at the same time. My kid is very smart and won't follow what the crowd is doing, if he believes what's been said or done is wrong. I LOVE THAT! It makes me so happy that I am doing something right.

I participated in all of the activities with them and it was so much fun.  You know, I kind of think that I had more fun than the kids did 😬😬.
They learned about Jesus,  and what He suffered to bring us salvation. They also learned a few new songs and did some crafts.

It was such a blessing watching my kids learn about God in a Cowboy themed VBS, alongside other kids. My heart was so full of joy and gratitude to watch my son; Le'Veon, act in such a well-mannered way. It was so awesome that I almost shed a tear of joy😇. Zoe was so into the music, so much so that she was dancing and choreographing along with the choir and everyone else. It was such a beautiful sight to see.

I can't thank the church crew at Lovejoy Family Church enough, for organizing such an amazing event that my kids got to be a part of. It was truly a blessing to experience with my kids.

I filmed a little bit during the weekend. Here's the video:

Thank you for reading this to the end. I hope you made some fun memories with your kids also.
I have added a few more pictures from the event below.
Thank you for being a part of my world,

Sincerely,
Maryam