My Blog is 6 Years Old today!!!!!

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So today 6 years ago I started blogging. It has been an amazing ride. I have grown as a person and as a blogger. I have met remarkable people. In my 6 years of blogging I would like to summarise my observations and experiences:

- Everyone has a story. Isn’t that amazing, every single person has a story to share.

- I choose whose story to follow. There are a million and 1 bloggers out there, everyone with their agenda on why they blog. I choose to follow bloggers that I think will edify me. I say no to junk.

- I choose to be a blessing rather than a whiner on my blog. When I started blogging I determined not to become one of those people who whine and rant on their blog (nothing wrong with that as I know some people use their blog as an outlet). I knew that wasn’t God’s purpose for my blog. I have slipped and probably ranted once or twice but I can gladly say that is in the past.

- In order to focus on God’s goodness in my life I joined the 10 things thankful series and I know I haven’t been faithful with the series but all that is going to change cuz the thankful series is coming back!!!! I won’t say I have had it all rosy because I haven’t but God has been my sustainer.

- I am no longer hung up on comments. It really used to get to me that I would write a post I consider excellent and only 1 or two people comment.. grrhh.. But now it doesn’t bother me as such anymore. From my stats I know people read my blog, so whether they comment or not isn’t the point. As long as they are blessed , #thatisall

- I have become more aware of things around me now... I see something random and it inspires the next blog post

- My writing has improved and this was what gave me the confidence to launch Super Working Mum. This time next year Super Working Mum will be mega in Jesus name.

- I have seen bloggers come and go but I intend to keep blogging until God says otherwise

About from the people I mentioned in my blogger inspiration series, I am indeed blessed and privileged to have met so many amazing people on blogville. If I continue the series I would not stop so this is also special shout out to the following people (some ex bloggers) for making my blogging experience awesome

ilola, Lady Guide, Standtall, dollchic, downtheaisle, favoured girl, afronuts, Myne Whitman, Tyger, Writefreak, olufunke, Madame sting, Hazel, jaycee, jhamzyn, oluwakemi, dosh, Nefertiti, Sugarking, CaramelID, shubbydoo, 1 + the one, Natural Nigerian, rethots, bacuggi, solomondyelle, issueetal, uzezi, okeoghene, rethots, Tonilicious, sugarspring, 'Lara, sugarcoated,

Please if I didn’t mention your name it is not because you are not important, it just skipped my mind. I will keep adding names as I remember.

I love you all. Thanks for being part of my blogger journey.

Ok I’mma cry now.

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[Blogger Inspiration]- Nolimit

This is the second part of my Blogger Inspiration series. You can check part 1 here

It’s a very funny story how Nolimit and I met in real life which I think she mentioned once on her blog but i can't find the story. So, I knew her first as a commenter on my blog and I used to visit her blog as well. You know nothing special at that time. One time, in 2008, I blogged about my driving experience and passing my test here.  Nolimit commented and asked what driving school I used and costs etc. I emailed her with the details and we chatted a bit. I think at some point I asked for her real name but she said she couldn’t tell me cuz she was anonymous (right!). So I left it at that and didn’t push it. Till “God caught her”! lol

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One day around last quarter of 2008, she buzzed me on yahoo messenger (we were already chat buddies at this point) and asked me if Baale was my husband and I asked how she knew… she started screaming and feeling like a detective. Apparently my post on my belated honeymoon triggered her investigation. Baale had posted a similar picture I put on my blog on Facebook and madam detective noticed the similarity. Note, I still didn’t know her real name at this point. Anyway I also did some detective work and found out she and Baale went to Uni together! I got her FULL name from Baale and asked her- is your name not so so so…there goes your anonymity. I am sure she wanted to faint at this point. It was hilarious I tell you.

Fast forward to 2009 we still hadn’t met but we were still friends on yahoo messenger. I was pregnant and towards the end of my first trimester. I wasn’t eating well due to morning sickness. Nolimit and I were chatting as usual and she mistakenly mentioned to me (or did she blog about it, I can’t remember) that she had a pestle and mortal from Nigeria which she used in pounding yam. She proudly said she didn’t make poundo yam but had to pound it and even said she was going to be pounding some yam soon. Guess what pregnant Aloted did, I invited myself to her house! Told her you can’t deny a pregnant woman proper pounded yam o. Somehow we arranged a visit and I cajoled Baale to take me to her house. For those of you that know London well, I was living in West London and she in North London. That distance is far but we went, lol, I wonder what was going through Nolimit’s head, she probably thought I was insane. We got there past 8 at night and it was as if Nolimit and I had known each other for ages even though that was the first time we were actually meeting. There was no awkward moment. Long story short I ate pounded yam with efo riro in Nolimit’s house and it was t’oh quality!

Nolimit and I have remained very good friends. She is so REAL which I think is one of her best qualities. She is a child of God, jovial, confident, funny, friendly, a good dancer, not shy at all at all and very down to earth. There are no airs about her and she tells you as it is. She is also an entrepreneur…a quality I greatly admire.

Blogsville, thanks for bringing Nolimit into my life.

[Blogger Inspiration]- Good Naija Girl

From my recollection, the first time I knew about Good Naija Girl was when she contested in bloggers idols I think in 2008. I was rooting for her and the person who eventually won Abbie. During and after the contest I checked out GNG’s blog and I was hooked. Her slogan caught my eye- "Murdering the Yourba language since 1979. That totally cracked me up. I was curious to know more about this oyinbo girl in a Nigerian body and how she was adjusting to both cultures.

I left a few comments on her blog here and there and then one time she emailed me. I replied and it was as if we had known each other for ages! We found out we had a bit in common, blogging, reading, borrowing books from the library, living in cluttered space, joking a lot and chatting. It wasn’t long before we added each other on gtalk and we have been friends ever since. We have also spoken on the phone. She has such a cute and lovely voice.

If you ask me one blogger I would love to meet in person, GNG will be right on the top of the list. Even though we have never met in person, she has been a great inspiration to my life. GNG is such a sweet, funny, cheeky person and I love her spirit. One other thing we have in common is that we are both entrepreneurs and we share our fears of leaving the corporate world and doing our own thing. We also encourage each other knowing one day we will finally leave!

I call her my blogger consultant…she is so passionate about blogging and anytime I have a blog type question GNG is the lady to ask. She is ever so willing to help.  Very soon I fear she will start charging me sef. lol

Anytime we catch up online, we are busy sharing & strategizing business ideas or brainstorming. We also share blogville gossip sometimes cough cough. I always leave energised after I have had a chat with GNG. I feel like ya lets go do this! I hope you feel the same way girl.

This is one blogger I am thankful to know and who has impacted my life positively. I look forward to meeting her in person someday. I have been begging her to come to the UK but she is playing hard so a'mma just pack my bags and head to Canada.

GNG, thank you for being you and for inspiring me. You rock, totally!

6th Year Blog Anniversary (to come) and Project 2 update

Happy new month every one! I see this as another opportunity to be a better person, a better wife and a better mum so help me God.

On May 26th 2006 I started blogging! I have been blogging for 6 years, isn’t that amazing?? During that time my blog has evolved. I even took a long break after Princess was born but I am still here by God's grace

• I achieved a milestone I never dreamt I could.
• I learnt not to take things personal
• I got married
• I joined the Thankful Ten things Tuesday initiative
• I was nominated for inspirational blog award twice!
• I passed my driving test
• My dad was shot by armed robbers! 
• I had a baby

Etc…

Apart from the above, I am grateful for the amazing friendships I have made on this platform and in the month of May, I will be sharing a few of these blogsville friends with you and the impact they have made on my life.

Now I mentioned 2 projects I was working on here and I am excited to tell you about project 2. Drum roll!  I present to you my new baby called Super Working Mum. Ok about half of you are already going- “Ohhh No! Mummy stuff”…and the other half is like “Yay! Mummy stuff.” LOL. Whichever half you belong to, please I need your support.  You may not be a mummy but I know you know mums out there, or you may soon be a mum, or you are a new mum or a veteran mum. Everyone male or female your support is welcome.

So please check out the website. All the juicy info of the inspiration behind this initiative can be found there. Even a picture of myself and Princess! It is still fairly new and needs a design overhaul which I shall get to soon. I am focusing on the content for now. For mums and mums to be who may work in an office or are self-employed or are housewives there is something in store for you. I have so much to share, I am so excited!

We all know every mum is a working mum no matter what you do. Please send me your thoughts and comments here (or simply leave your comments in the comment section below) on topics you would like to see, if I don’t already have it on my list, I’ll consider adding it in.

Super Working Mum is also on facebook and twitter as well so please take just 1 minute of your time to follow and like us. Our daddies and brothers as well please feel free to follow us. Also please tell your friends and family about SWM.

God bless!

"The Small Print"- a debut novel by our own Bimbylads

A lot of the veteran bloggers would know Bimbylads. She used to blog way way way back. I followed her blog religiously then as I like her writing style and her posts were so funny! She always had one humurous story to share with us. She went off blogsville for a (long) while and came back with two surprises- a baby girl and a debut Christian novel called The SMALL PRINT!

I am so excited about this novel and I look forward to reading it. I have read the first chapter and all I can say is WOW.  Bimbylads is currently organising a blog tour and I thought it would be a honour to host her on my blog by having an interview about her and her book. Please read and enjoy.

Natural Hair Anniversary (Hairversary)

It is my natural “hairversary” today i.e 3 years since I did the big chop. Woohoo!!! Gosh it has been such a roller coaster but I am still going strong. Just recently, I made a commitment to consciously grow my hair especially around my edges which don chopped off due to constant braiding and weaves (sigh). I am getting to know my hair more and techniques that work for natural hair. I am also on a mission to grow my hair and retain length.




Aloted rocking a Bantu knot-out updo.
Self-Styled :)

 I am thankful for natural hair blogs run by Natural Nigerian, ilola and Coilybella (just found her a few days ago) which I stalk follow consistently.  I follow a few African- Americans on Youtube but these girls can like oppress someone with their long flowing natural volumious hair… phew!!! sigh! So it is very comforting to find my fellow Nigerians who are running things. (Not that Nigerians can't grow long volumious hair but for some reason I can't explain I feel the Americans have special hair genes.) You ladies rock. Learning so much from y’all. I was excited to find coilybella's blog as we have similar type of hair (fine-hair)and she blogs specifically for what she does to maintain "our" type of hair.

By the way, NN is organising a natural meet up in Lagos this Nov. So if you are in Lagos please check her blog for more details. I gather it is not just a meet up specific to natural hair but natural products and natural living as well.

I remember Vera hosted a radio talk show a while ago about teamnatural vs teamrelaxed. It was so hilarious and some comments from both teams were like wow..ok…slow down. Even though technically I am teamnatural because I have natural hair, personally I don’t see myself as a "conc" teamnatural as it is not a “if you are not for me, you are against me” type thing. I see myself as teamaloted as I do what's best for me :)

Ladies, and men…keep rocking you :)

Thots,
Aloted

PS. conc= concentrated

The Soul Sistas are back!

Hi guys! Hope y'all are good!

Just to let you know the Soul Sistas are back. Please check our latest post here.

We would love to read your comments.

A follow up post would be posted soon.

Have a great weekend!

Much love,

Aloted

Fashion Gist

Hello people, I hope you are all doing well. A friend recently discovered my blog and mentioned to me that my blog made her laugh. I didn't even realise my blog was that funny. It then occurred to me that I have been blogging since May 2006, 4 years! Oh mine! I feel like a grand mama blogger. LOL. I went back to read a few of my posts just now and even I was lol-ing. I think I should do a post with my favourite posts some day as soon as I find the time.

Anyway today I would like to share with you three relatively new fashion blogs that I am feeling. I have recently re-discovered my love for fashion especially shoes so these blogs make a lot of sense to me. I know a lot of you blogville ladies and men are into fashion- don't lie now. :)

Ilimitado-NG- I mentioned about my love for shoes hey? Well ilimitado is all about shoes, style and more for both men & women! They believe in not compromising hard earned money for style, or style for a good bargain. I so agree with them o, you know how it is in this day of economic crisis. Do check them out.

The Wardrobe Swap Party- Also called WASParty is a blog by two friends who organise cloth swap events in London. They say they are eco-fabulous, I like the sound of that :) They are all about upgrading your wardrobe at a cost close to nothing. Yes, you heard me right. Who no like better thing?. You need to follow this blog to know about their upcoming events amongst other fashion gist.

TheFashionPatrollers- This blog is written by a lady called Enii Akinbo, an upcoming fashion designer. Enii tells us about her journey as a fashion designer and also highlights the current fashion trends to watch out for. Follow this "correct" fashion blog for more gist.

Do visit them when you can and let's give them some blogville love and support. Thank you my people!

I hope you have a wonderful week ahead.

God bless!

Aloted goes to Maryland!

My peeps, I hope you are all doing well? Many thanks for all your wonderful comments on my last post. I am glad we all agree that both men and women are intelligent. We are all created by the same God, equal yet with different purposes.

So a few weeks ago, I went to Maryland, not the one in Lagos o…na the one in the US of A… lol. I thank God for journey mercies. I was there for 10 days and I had a wonderful time. I stayed with Baale's sister and her family. They were such wonderful hosts. Midnight crew visited their church and I got to see the singers live and direct!

So I met up with Nefertiti, it was as if we had known each other for years (though we usually chat online). We clicked like bread and butter (can’t think of anything better...lol). She took me round town and I had loads of fun with her. I got to meet her husband and beautiful daughter and they are both just wonderful. Thankfully, her alter ego did not show face (maybe once though..lol). Neffie, thank u for such a blast. By God's grace, I shall retaliate when you come to the U.K

Guess who else I hooked up with- Vera and Bumight!!! Yes ooo..lol. I must confess I was a bit reluctant to call Vera initially cuz we all know how popular our Vera is and I didn’t want to be on a queue waiting to talk to her. Anyway I "gathered" liver and called her up. She was so delightful on the phone. But u can guess now, like I thought, I had to hold on for a few minutes because another blogger was also calling her at the same time! LOL…I thought that was hilarious…

Anyhoo, so Vera suggested we meet up with Neffie and Bumight. It was a good thing Bumight had finished her exams then so she could come. We went to see a movie- Terminator Salvation. The gals made fun of me afterwards, because I kept on saying I wanted to see an action movie but in the cinema I was cringing during every “action” scene. Kai, that movie had too much action! After the movie which ended around 12 midnight, we hung out and gisted like old friends till about 2.30a.m! If not that I had to go home, you know as per JJC in town, who knows we might have hung out till 5a.m. Fun times!

I met up with another friend, we went to uni together and it was great seeing her. I got to call family members and a lot of other friends in the states as well. I also spoke with Good Nigerian Girl. I was the first to call her on her birthday. Yippee! LOL. I was also meant to hook up with Abbie, remember her, winner of the last blogsville idol (she hasn't blogged in ages sef) but unfortunately that did not happen. Hopefully, next time.

Overall my trip was fun however I left with a nasty cold & cough. I had to call in sick in the office when I got back. What a way to end a wonderful holiday. On the whole, I thank God I had a nice time.


I surely missed u guys and I am glad to be back. I have had blogger's block for a while now so thought I might as well gist you about my trip and hope that my blogger mojo comes back soonest!

Oh before I forget this is my 95th post (i think) so that means my 100th post is just around the corner...yippee!!! I was going to do the standard you guys get to ask me any question, but when I saw how you people bombarded Writefreak & NoLimit with powerful questions, fear catch me..lol. So I have proactively chickened out and will think of something different. Hopefully will come up with a plan by my next post ;)


God bless!