candid chicana

Featuring New & Upcoming Artist

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Bianca Medina, of Fort Worth Texas is a talented and upcoming new artist.

She is a Lead Shift Manager at a local retail chain store.

She was first inspired as a small girl, by her young uncle who loved to draw illustrations. He exposed her to the art world and she says that experience “sparked” her interest into dabbling with art.

As she started being introduced to art in the elementary classrooms, Bianca says,

“The art classroom is where I felt very free, open, and safe to be myself. This is where my love for art began.”

-Bianca Medina, (New & Upcoming Artist)

She started to participate in more projects as she grew, such as contributing to the school murals on the wall. She says the art teachers allowed the students to express themselves with their artwork.

Her former teacher inspired her by being able to CREATE with, “just a thought, a blank piece of paper, and a brush.”

After this pivotal point, she says she became, “infatuated” with art. From then on, she wanted to learn everything about art, and she wanted to see and learn the different mediums used to create art, and the various forms of existing art.

She took several art classes throughout middle school and high school, where she competed and won some recognition for her work. She was taught the basics and that was the foundation of her introduction into the art world.

She currently works on honing in on those art skills, during her spare time. She has self-taught herself many ways to mix an array of mediums to create new pieces of art.

Bianca Medina aspires to achieve many things both professionally, and personally. She plans to finish college, and get a higher education degree. Being, that she is my former work colleague, and I have seen what she is capable of, I know she will accomplish that and more, and her talents will take her far.

Now I have the pleasure to debut some of her best artwork right here on Candid Chicana. So, have a look. And please be inspired by her work as I have been.

And NOW,

PRESENTING

BIANCA MEDINA’ S ART COLLECTION

Art Illustrations By Bianca Medina

Feature Image: Vintage Wallpapers

Olga Castillo, Chicana Boxing BadA$$!

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I hope you all remember me introducing Olga Castillo on Candid Chicana .

She has since won some more medals and titles since I first introduced her here on Candid Chicana.

Let me remind you why this woman is freaking amazing.

  1. She’s a WOMAN, Boxing Champion.
  2. She overcame a dark past of sexual abuse.
  3. She overcame a domestic violence relationship/marriage.
  4. She’s a HOT grandma y’all and she’s a sexy mama. Do your thing girlfriend, you look beautiful!
  5. She has a beautiful spirit and loves to positively influence others, particularly women, but anyone in general as well.
  6. She loves her family deeply, and they love her so much too. I’ve never met them, but it’s evident when I hear them speaking in the videos of her fights in the ring.
  7. She exudes confidence, discipline, and grit baby!
  8. She keeps challenging herself.
  9. She’s living her dream, and enjoying her life.
  10. She’s my friend, and she kicks a$$!

So, I just wanted to share her successes right here to rejoice with her along the way. Congratulations! Keep on, keeping on!

Click this link to watch her in action.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1455621947867327&id=100002586085574

Faithfulness Is Key

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Click on link to watch the quick video by Pastor Craig of LifeChurch.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1585138071544771&id=10454796293713

I had a frustrating morning yesterday. Somehow I managed to lock my keyboard app and after many hours of troubleshooting, and calling my provider, I had no choice but to reset my phone.

Resetting Sucks!!!

Because basically you loose all your contacts, photos, and work. If you haven’t backed up your stuff….poof! Prepare to watch the disappearing act!

I keep having these little technical difficulties and it just makes me irritable because I already have all these other little nuisances in my life.

For example, having to blog from my smartphone since my laptop died. And considering, I’m already a blind old bat, this is VERY IRKSOME!

Also, trying to blog and write past midnight when my two toddlers are asleep. Bring on the caffeinated beverages!

My “writing hours” are supposed to be from midnight until 3 a.m. Since that’s mostly the only uninterrupted time I can usually find.

These are my little monsters in the picture below. Don’t let their cuteness factor fool you. They’re gremlins I tell you! Boy do they wreak some havoc on the daily!

And when my baby does NOT want to go to sleep, he insists on sitting on my lap. Even though he sees me trying to write with my one free hand. But let me tell you…..he does NOT care.

So….yes, I get extremely stressed out. Being a full time mommy, while trying not to lose my own identity is difficult.

I feel like that woman in the boxing movie I reviewed last week. I just want to give up sometimes because it’s too hard. I’m exhausted. And my kids know me as mom, NOT AS DEANNA OR CANDID CHICANA.

I asked my three year old son “What’s mommies name?” and he said, “mommy.” 😂😂😂 I asked the same question several times, but unfortunately I’m just mommy. 😮

But someway somehow I have to make it work. I get up and try again each day. In between boiling the beans and peeling potatoes and seasoning the meat, I also have to pay attention to my babies, AND not forget who I am as well.

But like Pastor Craig says in the video, it’s ok to sometimes be going through a season that seems unbalanced and maybe chaotic. This too shall pass! In fact it will pass very rapidly, and the day will come when I wish they could be little again.

I am thankful for my daughter’s, my “little queens,” I call them. They are my damage control team. They are growing up to be very independent and I don’t always tell them how much I appreciate them, but I try to as often as I can.

Without their help, I wouldn’t even be able to poop 💩 by myself. My monsters are magnetically attached at my hips and 80% of the time they will scream bloody murder if I don’t let them come into the restroom with me. By the way….why do you think it’s called RESTroom? I clearly don’t get any rest in there.🤷‍♀️

So thank you, to you my beautiful little queens. Mami ❤’s You! Without you, I wouldn’t accomplish anything. And I am so thankful God made you mine.💋

I’m currently working on updating two of my blogs and I have a new story brewing. Also, I fell behind on my inkchallenge. I’ll try to catch up tonight.

I’ve also downloaded the kindle reader app once again to start reading more. I got 10 free books for signing up . So I’ll post a pic of what I’ll be reading for awhile. It may take me awhile to read them. I remember I used to be able to read an entire book in one day. Those days are long gone now.

Oh yeah, don’t forget to work on your writing prompt for the week to be entered in Candid Chicana’s very first writing contest. This week’s prompt is:

Your favorite moment in film

And you can submit your entry to:

candidchicana@gmail.com

Midnight on 10/31/2017 is the deadline for submitting an entry.

A Mexican Girls Memoir

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Tonight I found some of my high school work from my journalism class. They were small articles I wrote that were published in the Bulldog Barker section of the Plainview Daily Herald. Either from the year 1999 or 2000.

I still remember thinking how I always got stuck with all the boring assignments. I was so shy in high school too. I think I still am. Shy, or socially awkward. Either way, I am still my same weird, little loner self.

Interviewing people in the community was the most challenging part of journalism class for me. I’m pretty grateful for the birth of the digital age, and social media. I’m free to write about anything that interests me.

Thankfully, my blog isn’t restricted by anything or anyone. A myriad of topics are out there, waiting for me to discover them and breathe life into them.🤓

And praise God, for the revolutionary, information technology age, the internet📶, Steve Jobs (🍎Apple🍏), and online colleges🎓.

The skills I developed for researching and finding credible sources comes directly from that education. So thank you God, I’m happy to be a part of this era.

It makes me a little sad though. My little article clippings. They’re reminders that I haven’t achieved my goals yet. And I feel a little disappointed in myself. And now that I’m starting to get my feet wet again, I feel a sudden fear. Fear of the unknown, and lack of clear direction.

The thing that helps me stay positive right now is you guys and gals, the readers who keep reading my blogs. As well as other bloggers whom I’ve become acquainted with along the way on my blogging journey .

Selena Gomez’s song, 🎵 I Love You Like A Love Song 🎵 adequately describes how I’m feeling.

“Every beautiful thought’s been already sung… ”

-Selena Gomez

I Love You Like A Love Song

Except for me, it’s: “every beautiful thoughts been already written.” What can I write about that hasn’t already been written before? So, I guess there’s no need to try to reinvent the wheel as they say. Just so long as I write.

I’m a little discouraged with my life detours. But I’m not giving up yet! I created a little inspirational flipgram video of a few of my favorite quotes. Maybe it will encourage someone today. Let me know if you like it. Send me your favorite quotes and I’ll share them on my Candid Chicana platform.

https://flipother.com/f/1H5YuuvC9mO

Contact me at:

candidchicana@gmail.com

dstatam63@bethelu.edu

Credits

http://www.storyblocks.com

Deanna G. Montalvo photos

Hocus Pocus, Focus Focus

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I popped on to my LinkedIn account this morning and came across a great article called:

The Power of One Focused Hour a Day by, Rao Srinivas.

When you are a creative, you can become overwhelmed at times with multiple projects going on (At least I do.) And also being thirsty for knowledge in the digital age can be as addicting as hardcore drugs. Metaphorically speaking. Let me explain what I mean.

If you love reading and learning, you may easily get distracted with the chitter chatter of content available online, with so many social media platforms. For example, I myself am a lover of sayings, quotes, poems, articles, blogs, free e-books, free homeschool worksheets that many resourceful and savvy mamas create, and so much more. So that can easily snatch up most of my day. Perhaps for you it’s YouTube, CandyCrush, or Pinterest.

I told my dear friend, (fellow blogger) Ralph Nyadzi, from Cegast Academy about my conundrum. It’s all the wonderful content that others are C R E A T I N G that inspires me. It’s like I don’t want to miss something great. He reminded me that it’s my quest for knowledge that makes me devour the words on people’s creations.

The problem with that, is that I’m hindering my own creations. So I was very happy to stumble across this article on LinkedIn. And as always, I have to quote a piece of his work. Because that’s what I do! That’s the type of writer I am. I love other writers words WAAAAAYYY more than my own. 😂

One FOCUSED hour a day is the equivalent of having two full weeks to work on whatever it is you want. In one FOCUSED hour a day you could write a book, build a company, learn an instrument, and so much more. What would add more value to your life? One FOCUSED hour a day of M E A N I N G F U L work, or countless hours pissed away on Facebook and Twitter comparing your insides to everyone’s outsides?

The good news for me is that I spend at least an hour a day on one of my projects already. The bad news is, I still piss away countless hours on social media obsessed with other people’s work. Liking pages, quotes and memes. I go cook dinner, come back and log back in to do the same crap. Welp! Yes, getting inspired, but yet neglicting my own work.

Whether it’s fear, procrastanation, or pure addiction, or the sum of those collectively, I’m not really sure. But the article had some great tips, that I will be utilizing to help me square things away. So, if you want to read the article I will include the link at the bottom. Now, I have to logg off my blog and go do some of my other work. (I mean after I check Facebook just real quick!)😋 Hey give me a break, it’s day one and you know what they say, “Old habbits die hard!”

To read his article, click the link below. And also, because my friend Ralph is amazing with words, I’ve shared a link to his blog as well where you can read 12 Success Quotes For Achievers.

https://www.thriveglobal.com/stories/14866-the-power-of-one-focused-hour-a-day

http://wp.me/p7YF6X-22u

#InkChallenge2017

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I got wind of this challenge a little late. But it still sounds like something right up my alley. If you like art, drawing, creating, then you might enjoy this.

To all my creators, check it out and hop on the bandwagon for this one. I’ll be uploading my pics daily onto this blog and on my Instagram.

Since I started on day 10. I drew a pair of dice with the ten dots as the focal point of my first illustration for the #inkchallenge2017

Happy Creating mi gente!

Send me your drawings and I’ll post them on my Candid Chicana blog platform.

My e-mails:

candidchicana@gmail.com

dstatam63@bethelu.edu

I learned and retrieved the information about this challenge from reading another bloggers material.

Check out her ink drawings at the following blog: Aiden&Katie Adventures Something Brewing Press

Candid Chicanas Illustrations 2017

  1. 10/10/17 “Dice” By Deanna G. Montalvo
  2. 10/11/17 “Candid Chicana Typewriter” By Deanna G. Montalvo
  3. 10/12/17 “Papi” named after (Jose Guadalupe Montalvo)
  4. 10/13/17 “U.S.S. Iwo Jima LHD-7“ By Deanna G. Montalvo
  5. 10/14/17 “Sugar Skull 1” By Deanna G. Montalvo
  6. 10/15/17 “Sugar Skull 2” By Deanna G. Montalvo

Help People, Never Hurt People

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What we Are is God’s gift to us.

What we Become is our Gift to God.

-Dr. Robert Anthony

I remember my pastor preached in one of his sermons, that you are most like, the five people you hang out with. So think about the five most frequent people you spend your time with.

Are they positive, encouraging, and uplifiting people? Or are they negative, discouraging, and belittling people?

Everyday we all have the same 24 hours yes, but none of us know what each others battles are. Remember that there may be people in your circle that look up to you and admire you. So don’t ridicule their progress (however minimal it may be in your eyes).

That woman at Wal-mart that your friends just mocked, might be fighting cancer as we know it. You know…..how these analogies go. Don’t do that! Don’t shame people. Don’t mock them or make fun of their misfortune. Don’t social media shame them. It’s not right.

I have a personal little mantra I created for myself to help me remember to always be sweet. I have bad days just like everyone else. My mantra is:

Help people, Never Hurt People

-Deanna Montalvo

That came about because of our church mission: To be a hospital for a hurting humanity.

Be wise and associate with people who are leaders. Leaders know how, and when to give constructive criticism. But steer clear of peers and coworkers that only want to play sadistic pyschological games with you.

An example of that would be if your boss asked you to do something a specific way, and later reprimanded you for doing it (the way they told you to do it.)

Stay away from those that are vengeful or vindictive. People who spread false information about you or try to influence others opinion about you.

I’m very much a loner because of my distrust for people. I’ve been betrayed by so many people in my life, that I struggle to let people in. All I can do, is my very best. So that I can positively influence the people I love and care about.

Remember, if your supervisors at work are not positive mentors, maybe they have never had one. Set the example. Because we all can learn from one another. It doesn’t matter where you are in the organization as far as position goes. Just adopt this as a lifestyle habbit. Be inspirational and influential.

What works for you may not work for someone else. So what makes you think your way is much better?

-Dr. Robert Anthony

Works Cited: Dr. Robert Anthony, Think Big A Think Collection, Berkley Aug. 1999

Image: http://www.freeimages.com, Ruphuloza Signore Militia.