Having a Fulfilling Fall with Friends and Fashion!

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This has been an amazing week collaborating with my sisterfriend Care of fashionwithcare.com If you haven’t already done so, please press the link, read, and subscribe to her website. Outside of our collaboration she does some pretty amazing blogs, collaborations, themes for the week, and e-books!

We both hope that you have enjoyed our fun week together. We are officially wrapping up our week with a few goals and tips to experiencing fulfillment in the fall with your friends!

I am nearing a milestone birthday in about 6 weeks! I am turning the big 3-0! I am anxious about year 30. I’ve been so anxious about 30 that I hadn’t thought much about celebrating it. But thanks to God sent friends like Care, I will be celebrating for sure! Y’all, she cornered me in the airport and said that she don’t care how I feel, and I will be celebrating 30 and to get ready to get on this flight lol My friends are DOPE! As overwhelmed with the thought of year 30 coming up, I truly pray that is my year. I’m actually going to claim it. Year 30 is MY year!

Here are couple of my goals for the fall that I would like to complete by the end of this year: 

1. I started a really big weight loss journey at the end of 2015/beginning of 2016. My largest weight was 248. I have lost somewhere between 60-70lbs in the matter of 5 months. While that is a SIGNIFICANT amount of weight loss, I have truly struggled for a year to actually reach my goal. I am about 20 or so pounds away from my weight loss goal and I want to shed the last pounds off an actually get a flat tummy. I plan on doing 2 a day workouts and eating very clean for the remainder of the year. Watch me work! I will post the results on my blog!


2. Quite a few people have requested it so I plan on posting natural hair tutorials! MAYBE on YouTube 😊 When you have dope hair, why not share it with the world?!


3. I want to see the world so I will be booking an international trip for 2018 by the end of this year. I have never been outside of the country…besides Canada. I want to see what the world has to offer through my own lenses!

Please make sure you check out Care’s goals too on fashionwithcare.com!

We have put together 10 tips for having a fulfilling fall with friends and fashion this season.

1. Be a friend if you want to have a friend

2. Purge your closet and share with friends

3. Take a trip together and dress up

4. On Wednesdays we wear Pink! – Have a little fun with your girls. Pick a day of the week to have a themed dress day (especially if you live in different places). Channel your inner sisterhood from far away

5. Pray together! Make this a priority. Don’t get too caught up in your own life that you leave your friends behind!

6. Embody all the characteristics of what you would desire from a great friend.

7. Create a group text with your friends to talk whenever you want. Great memories can be created even when you can’t get together all the time.

8. Get a hotel room and have a girls night with your friends.

9. Do something wild with your hair with a friend! Try a temporary hair color spray, dress cute and have a photo shoot together. Unicorns are rare and great friends are too, so be unicorns together, and go viral on the internet with #FriendGoals as your hashtag.

10. Be accountable to your crew. Affirm your friends on the regular and keep them lifted.
Thank you to all of our readers for this past week. I had a great time working with my sister friend. It is important to have amazing people in your tribe like Care. She pushes me when I need to be pushed because she sees so much in me and she refuses for it to just go to waste. She’s been an amazing sisterfriend to me and I hope that I am able to be half as great to her as she is to me.

Don’t forget to tell us your thoughts in the comments with your goals!

See y’all later 😊
Tanisha and Care

Fashion and Natural Hair w/ Care!

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Confession: The most complicated part of getting ready for a regular or even a big event is deciding on the perfect hairstyle. As of late, I find that I am most satisfied when I put the least amount of effort into my hair. A couple of my friends recently raved about my hair. They laughed and are still laughing at the fact that I told them that I woke up with great hair! It took me all of five minutes to style my hair. I wet it, put a little bit of leave in on my hair, and brushed my edges up with some gel and put it in a loose ponytail. Lastly, I said a prayer and went to sleep and hoped for decent hair and it turned out GREAT!

Below is day one hair, but it gets bigger as the week goes. You’ll notice in the series of photos through out this blog. 


All I did was a simple pineapple. It’s a very basic but versatile style. From everyday casual to nightlife, a pineapple will take you a long way.

Below, I rocked my pineapple with my casual clothing. My typical everyday fall look. A sweater, a cute baby tee, distressed jeans, and combat boots.



Then I transformed my pineapple into a fineapple with my autumn night time look! Let’s start with m jacket. Leather jackets are an absolute must in the fall! Oh and there’s my cute baby tee again! It can go from everyday wear to a night on the town with my girls, especially when I pair it with a simple mustard body con skirt, some fashion tights, and with booties or knee boots depending on your mood. And did I mention a cute cross-body purse to complete the look?!


And my pineapple was perfect for a semi-formal fall look. I chose a simple A line skirt and an off the shoulder burgundy ruffled top. And again, I wore the same booties with it to finish the look.


The pineapple is probably one of the easiest and most versatile hairstyles because you can literally rock it with ANYTHING! Pineapples have been saving my life very often as of late.

See y’all on day 4 where Me and Care will wrap up the series!

Be sure to check out Care’s Fall Fashion piece as well! www.fashionwithcare.com

Have Fun!

Tanisha Lashelle 😊

Fulfillment-Collaboration with Fashion with Care!

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What does fulfillment mean to me? It means to be completely satisfied with what God has given to me and not care what the world thinks!
It means to call all imperfections perfect.

Do I always feel this way?
Nope.

A lot of times, we get so caught up in the pressures of life that we put on ourselves to the point that what we have will never be enough to fill us.

We let our thoughts dictate what would be filling go so far beyond what’s in front of you to the point that it brings about the worst anxiety. We go from one extreme to another. We can go from deciding what to wear and how to style our hair all the way to how can we change everything we don’t like about our current season in the matter of days to make us feel happier or to make us feel filled?

As a natural, one of the biggest decisions that I make every day is, “how should I style my hair?” Now what seems like a simple” just wear it curly”always becomes so complicated and overthought by me. “Should I wear it in a big puff?!” “What about a dope fro-hawk?!” Or “what about a cute top knot with curls hanging?!” “Maybe a bomb pineapple?!”
Now combine something as simple as choosing a hairstyle with dealing with pressures of making major life decisions such as career choices, financial decisions, pursuing a master’s degree, and planning for the future. Doing all the previous and still trying to NOT be anxious about turning 30, veering my focus away from what I have not done or obtained, and trying not to worry about how all the plans I have for life will come into reality. It makes me go…NUTS!!!
Fulfillment is to wear your hair just as it is. Let go and fro it out. Let them perfectly imperfect curls fall just the way they are. Completely unfiltered. No slick edges. No head bands. Just my curls all over my head, free and flourishing. And don’t forget to take life and wear it the same way.

My advice to you and myself is to always embrace what has been given to you in the current season and all that comes with it. Just as it is. God has given you everything you need for this season.

Every now again, we need a simple reminder. My curly fro reminds to always take life as it is and wear it just how God made it. Perfectly imperfect. When I wear it with no manipulation, I feel complete and fulfilled.
Be filled and rock that unfiltered fro with confidence and grace. Rock your life the same way. Completely fulfilled 😊

Friendship with Care!

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The biggest focus of my blog is empowering women through my story. An important part of womanhood is having important women around you to build you up and support you. I have a network of women that I keep around me.
During this week, I have collaborated with someone who has been a vital part of my growth and journey to womanhood.

To all of you who do not know her, you will soon know her.

This is my sister Care Allen of http://www.fashionwithcare.com! We met exactly 10 years ago this month in Holden Hall on the campus of Michigan State University. We had both just joined the MSU Gospel Choir. One day after choir rehearsal, Care decided that she wanted to come visit. She stayed all night because that what you do in college. Stay up all night, have fun, and occasionally study from time to time lol But after that day I LITERALLY couldn’t get rid of her out of my life. I don’t know what it was but we just clicked with each other! 


We are so different but have the tendency to think alike on the same things. The defining moment of our sisterhood: We were playing taboo and the clues I gave were: “Pink, tall, bird!” Everyone in the room guesses flamingo but Care yells “ostrich!” and she got it right. Yes, I am very aware of the fact that I described a flamingo to perfection, but I knew she was my sister when she knew I wanted her to say ostrich because I was unable to describe it enough for them to guess. I knew we were soul sisters because she just understands me! lol I don’t know what it was, but we formed a bond that has been unexplainable and unbreakable.

Now let’s be clear, we have shared many disagreements but we have not allowed one of them to come in between us and they can’t compare in number or impact to all the good times. We have shared many tears together. I have seen some of the most challenging times in her life and she has witnessed me at my absolute worst. Our friendship has truly stood the test of time and I am so grateful for my friend.


That’s enough of us! What creates the defining moments in friendships for you? For me, the most defining moments in my friendships have been when everything in life came crashing down in my life. I saw who were really #TeamTanisha. They helped me pick up the pieces and rebuild me and helped me become the woman I am today. I have an entire tribe of women who screams #FriendGoals!


Here are a few ladies in a my tribe!

Leave your comments below! We want to hear about some of your most defining moments in sisterhood/friendship!

How I lost 70+ pounds!

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As a lot of you may know, the later part of 2015 and earlier months in 2016, I started my third fitness journey. In the span of about 4 months. I lost 50+ pounds. In total, I am down 70lbs! My largest weight was 247lbs. I currently weigh 170 something pounds.

Left: 2012 I was 247lbs and was very uncomfortable and insecure about myself. T hated this pictured and never intended on posting it. Right: 2 weeks ago at 170lbs. I’ve come a long way!


Not only was this a physical journey, but it was a mental, emotional, and spiritual journey. It was me literally me building strength and character to overcome everything that had been weighing me down. I went through a lot in the past few years that I have probably shared with no more than a handful of people. I went through many failures, financial hardship, abandonment, heartache, heartbreak from multiple relationships with people that I was very close to, pain, depression, sleepless nights, the whole nine. I was broken and no longer had the strength to carry on anymore. I told the Lord I could not bear it anymore. I don’t have the physical strength to carry myself physically, mentally or emotionally.

You know what He said to me? He said yes you can. “I won’t give you more, more than you take. I might let bend but I won’t let you break. No, I’ll never ever let you go. Don’t you forget it.” Those lyrics by Group 1 pretty much summed up what the Lord was telling me. He said, “I know it (the weight of your world) is crushing you, but something beautiful will come of it all. I need you to get through this battle. I need you to get fit. Physically, mentally, and spiritually. I need to cleanse you so that I can make you whole again. I need you to be healthy. I need you to gain physical strength to be able to get through this. We have a long way to go, so I need to build endurance in you to persevere. Remember, I have overcome the entire world, and I have the power to do the same for you, but I need your temple (body).”

People ask me all the time, “How did you lose weight?!” I try not to over spiritualize it BUT, it was so much more than just a weight loss journey. Many want to know what I really did to shed the weight.

Here is the big secret: I fasted and I prayed! Those are literally the ONLY things that I did different than the first 2 times I tried to lose weight. I tried 2 times before but in 2016, it finally clicked! I cried and asked the lord to rebuild my temple.

I was on a fast from October 2015-Easter 2016. I needed the Lord to breathe life into me again. Then I started going to the gym and the weight melted away. I am still amazed every time I look in the mirror! I love the woman that I have become from this journey and it’s not over yet!

I feel very accomplished to be able to work hard enough to drop some much need weight off physically, mentally, and spiritually. I feel so much better. I am healthy, I am out of the obesity category. And, most importantly, I am finally spiritually fit to walk into the life that God has chosen for me.

I encourage everyone that is struggling with their weight to invite God into your journey. He will get you through. You only get one body. You were bought with a price. Take care of it 🙂

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” I Corinthians 6:19-20

My next fitness goal is to tone my body and get abs!! Here is a sneak peak of my progress! I am going to Punta Cana in 7 months! Wish me luck! 🙂


Tears in Dry and Desolate Seasons

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God is so funny to me. I was driving down the highway today listening to William McDowell’s album “Sounds of Revival” (get it, you will weep your life away lol) and I was listening to Send the Rain. In the song it talks about sowing in dry seasons and rain only matters to those who have seeds in the ground. Then I started praying and just recalling all the tears I’ve sown in the last season. Then I said, send the rain God…Y’all I zoned back into reality and the sky was black and clouds moving in. I was in complete awe! It gets better tho…I get home and open up my new bible (which, btw is really cool) and look at the first page I opened it up to? Yep, Y’all it’s harvest time! #HeIsFaithful

Today, i bought the coolest journaling bible! I’ll blog about it later!

Mercy Loved the Pain Away

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Surely God has been good to me, He is still good to me, and He will always be good to me. I know that people look at my outer appearance but God looks at my heart. Surely He is good to those with a pure heart right? He truly knows my heart and I thought I had a good heart, so why did I nearly miss seeing his goodness in the midst of chaos? Because I was too busy looking the other way. I envied the people who made it. I resented the people who had no worries. I coveted all that were merry. I had green eyes for all who lived a good life, unlike mine, so I looked away.

I kept looking away. I completely lost sight of my focus. I allowed the chaos to tear me apart. So then I tried to understand why the detestable prospered? Why do I experience so much injustice, pain, and disappointment?  Why do you let me hurt and all of them get away scot free? Why do I have to deal with the residue of every mistake that I have ever made? Why do you allow me to burn in agony? Why did you allow me to cry myself to sleep often for 3 years? When does this end? Your tormentous ways…do they ever cease?

Your only response to all of these questions is persevere? Consider it pure joy when I am literally being hit on all sides? And endure all of it with no premature escape? What’s the point? I am better off throwing in the towel and looking away.

I spent most of 2015 secretly angry with the Lord. I could barely muster up the strength to actually recognize him for who he was because I was so angry at Him from January to December. At least a year long ought with God. My life was in shambles and I felt like I was watching it slowly crumble away right before my eyes. It felt so out of reach. How could my Father let this happen?

I tried to understand it all but couldn’t because His ways are higher and and His thoughts are so much deeper than my mental capacity. My limited mind cannot dare understand the unlimited ways of God.

But it wasn’t until I went to the sanctuary that I gained understanding.

It was there in the sanctuary where I realized how bitter my heart was towards God. I was all torn up inside. The wormwood and the gall agonized my heart and mind and ate at the deepest part of my soul. At that very moment, I knew that this chaos could not overtake me anymore. I cried out to the Lord and asked him to just remember me.

At that very moment, I heard Him. He said “Take heart, it is I. I have overcome the world. And beloved, of all of this, I will overcome you too.”

It was because of the Lord’s mercy and goodness that I was not consumed. His compassion never failed me. They are new to me every morning, even in my mourning. Great is your faithfulness to me, great has your faithfulness been to me, and great will your faithfulness always be to me.

Surely God has been good to me. He is still good to me. And He will always be good to me.

Here is the “sanctuary” that I made in the spare bedroom of my old apartment. It wasn’t fancy like I wanted it to be because at the time all I had was $95 in my account. I made the best out of what I had. My Bible, a pillow, a heated blanket, index cards, sharpies, a notebook/journal, sticky notes, Jesus Calling devotional, my radio and my vision board. Although, it wasn’t the prettiest, I gave God the very best that I had.

This is the place where I spent my early mornings and late evenings all of 2016. It’s the place where I let all my tears of hurt, pain, guilt, and shame fall. It’s the place where I finally looked to the hills instead of looking away. I heard the Lord’s voice again. I began to dream again. I felt life in my body again. In that very place,The Lord cleaned me up and made me whole again. Here I am 9 or 10 months later thanking God for that season because it made me the woman that I am today.


“By your spirit I will rise from the ashes of defeat, the resurrected King, is resurrecting me.” #SingMyLife Resurrecting by Elevation Worship

Scriptural reference: Psalm 73; Lamentations 3

Never Forget that the Thorn is a part of the Rose

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In order to keep me humble with knowledge of what God is doing for me, I was given the gift of a barrier, the very thing that holds me back, the thorn in my flesh. It was given to me years back to keep me in constant touch with my limitations.

Satan did his best to get me down but what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty and forgetting thankfulness for the blessings of God!

At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and I cried and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me, My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.

Once I heard that, I was glad that I let it happen. I quit focusing on the impediment and began appreciating the gift. It was a constant reminder of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness.

Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.

The thing that I used to look at as a thorn in my flesh is one of the very things that keeps me so close to God. No rose is complete without the thorn “Don’t beat yourself up about it. It wasn’t a bad thing, it was a God thing.”

2 Corinthians 12:79 (Tanisha Lashelle’s Version)

Forgive…

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…even when you don’t want to
…even if you are innocent
…even though you hurt
…even when you can’t do it
…even if they don’t say sorry
…even though you were wronged
…even if you don’t understand why
…every when the bitterness nags at your soul

And when you do it, have a pure heart about it.
And when you do it, you can’t take it back.
And when you do it, expect nothing in return.
And when you do it, keep doing it
And when you do it, live it out.
And when you do it, let it be unconditional.

Compassion+Forgiveness=Healing
This formula will change your life. You ask me how do I know? I know because I live it out daily. Been hurt a lot by people. Had to forgive them too.

Pray for those that hurt you. You never know what a person is going through that may have led to the hurt that you experienced from them. You can’t see what’s really happening because you are so tied into your feelings about it. Look at the bigger picture. I challenge you to go beyond your feelings.

Keep forgiving until it doesn’t hurt anymore. If you can change your mind about it, your heart won’t allow the bitterness to stay because the heart and the mind are one.

So keep doing it until it doesn’t hurt anymore! I guarantee you that the wounds will heal with time. God will take care of the rest for you. He knows and He cares for you. And He loves you.

Natural Hair Chronicles: These Curls Will Live Again!

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On May 9, 2015, I decided to start my natural hair journey…AGAIN! lol This is my 3rd attempt, but you know what they say “3 times a charm”. I have decided to take a trip on this journey because I wanted to do something different with my hair. If you have known me for a little while, you know that I am your typical wash, blow dry, and flat iron type of girl.

I am in a place in my life where I want to try stuff that I have never tried before. I am in a place where I want to give up on one last thing: Giving Up. This time, I am starting with my hair.

I’ve decided to embrace what God gave me: my beautiful locks, my crown of glory. This is not only a natural hair journey but it is also a spiritual journey for me.

It has been a little over year since I first started my journey. It has definitely had it’s fair share of ups and down but I wouldn’t take any of this moments back. This journey is so important to me because it has taught me some big lessons that go so far beyond hair. The journey has taught me commitment and perseverance. It has taught me that dead things can come live again but I will not go there with y’all just yet! 🙂

I have always had naturally curly, thick, long hair, but so many of my beautiful curls became heat damaged 😦 In my attempt to reverse my heat damage, I have decided to try to transition…for now. I am NOT ready what so ever for the big chop…as of now. However, I do plan on gradually chopping away my straight ends because my curls are ready to flourish and to live again!

UPDATE: In the picture below, the picture to left was taken of my hair soaking wet in July 2015. The picture on the left was taken in June 2016 soaking wet. 

 

Feel free to follow my blog as document my journey! If you have any questions, feel free to comment here, message me, or email me at tanishalthomas@gmail.com

I will try to post at minimum, once a week!

Stay tuned 🙂

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