This is mostly inspired kwa the link kwa PrincessAyeka12. I thought it was really neat the way it gave a chance for people to talk about like interests as well as get to know the user better as a well-rounded person beyond just their DP vipendwa etc. So I hope wewe guys don't mind this makala and I'd upendo to hear from wewe about what we do and/or don't have in common. :)

Behind the Screen Name: I upendo kusoma and uandishi so I wanted to pick a name that was very symbolic for me. I upendo and strive for balance as I truly believe it is the key to life. My screenname was meant to represent the balance that I strive for.

"Layla" is an amazing rock track kwa Derek & the Dominoes aka Eric Clapton. I saw a Ford commercial once as a child with this song and the song stuck in my head as this great American rock anthem for some reason. I also upendo rock music. This represents my zaidi fun, spunky, outgoing and less traditional side.

"Stepford" is from the book and subsequent films "Stepford Wives". I think that story was such a good tale of caution for women and zaidi relevant today in American society than even when it was written (at the beginning of the American feminism movement in the 60s-70s). I think it's important for women to not abandon their femininity, take it for granted au exploit it. I think it's important for women to remember the positive power that a wife/mother can bring to a family and society. This represents my zaidi feminine, maternal and zaidi traditional side.

Together, "Layla Stepford" makes up the balance of how I see myself: a modern traditional woman.

Age: Mid 20s.

Relationship Status: Happily Married to my very own Prince Charming<3

Country: USA: Which I see could be like 4 countries-
(1) West Coast with the Passive-Aggressive Liberal Culture (where I live)
(2) Mid-West with the Friendly and Balanced to Conservative Culture
(3) South with the Religious and Extremely Conservative and Traditional Culture
(4) East Coast with the Straightforward-Aggressive Liberal Culture
*Note: I am not trying to be offensive here but give an accurate opinion based on my experiences and point of view since this makala is for getting to know me. :)

Ethnicity: Mixed English, Japanese, Native American, Polish, Spanish/Portuguese, Polynesian, Italian, Libyan, German, Russian, Indian and Irish.

Childhood/Youth: Long story short, my mother was a woman who embodied everything about the sexual revolution spawned kwa the feminists, as was her mother. Both of them had 4 children kwa 3 different men. My mother and father were never in a relationship, ever, but I'm here anyways. I am the oldest from my mother with 3 younger half-siblings as well as the oldest from my father with 2 younger half-siblings.

Mom's Side: I was my mother's daughter, mother, friend, partner, confidante, etc. My mother got welfare and used that taxpayer money to party and drink all weekend. She'd be gone all night and asleep all day. Since I was the oldest, I matured very quickly and started raising myself and siblings and even my mother a bit. I walked to and from school everyday kwa myself and often stopped to pick up my younger sibling, the 2nd oldest on the way nyumbani (and my mother would pick up the littler ones and bring them nyumbani later). I semi-often cooked dinner, helped my siblings with their homework, gave them baths and read/played with them before kitanda time. Because of this, I have great appreciation for real mothers and high standards for parenting. The way I see it, if I could do as well as I did as young as I did kwa simply choosing to be selfless and consistent, then no woman should become a mother (in free countries like USA) unless she is willing to be selfless for her children. Best way to describe my life and relationship with my mother is Rapunzel and Mother Gothel except mine was worse and didn't adopt me.


(My mother's mother is the Queen of Hearts from Wonderland. Totally cruel and vicious, part of the feminism movement in America in the 60s-70s, hated men and now is alone and uchungu, chungu with nothing but her nasty attitudes and memories of youth to keep her company. Her husband who loved her dearly died alone when she refused to divorce him as well as refused to be with him. He never stopped loving her as he was a good man and was never allowed to songesha on since she wouldn't try to work things out with him nor divorce him. (He was only in his 50s and diabetic.)


Dad's Side: My father was a traditional man with traditional maoni and was exploited for this not only kwa mother but the 2nd woman he had a child with (who also had 4 children kwa 3 different men, coincidentally). This woman who exploited him also abused me as a child and taught her 2 daughters to do the same. She had 2 sons: 1 of which I got along with and actually tried to protect me when he was around and the other 1 of which didn't like me and always tried to fight/argue with me. I was often the compromiser here because I was the outsider with less personal investment. I also learned like cinderella did, how to make the best of the situation kwa learning how to compromise and find compromises for others. My father had to work long hours to pay to feed all 6 mouths (and 7 if I were there) so the abuse always occurred while he was working. Best way to describe my life at my father's is this scene from Cinderella:
"Mother! Oh, Mother, Mother! Mother! wewe did it!
wewe did it on purpose! Mother! Oh, Mother, Mother, Mother! She put it there! A big ugly mouse... under my teacup!... Cinderella! Yes, Stepmother. (Are wewe gonna get it!) Close the door, Cinderella. Come here. Oh, please, wewe don't think-- Hold your tongue! Now... It seems we have time on our hands. But I was only trying to-- Silence!"
I hear a lot of people criticize cinderella for not doing enough but they seem to always forget this part. cinderella does try to stick up for herself but Lady Tremaine refuses to let her. This was my life at my father's house. The sisters blamed me for everything that went wrong since I was there, even getting pleasure out of it, and the stepmother figure (dad's unmarried girlfriend whom he proposed to but she strung along to use him and leave him) was zaidi than happy to blame me, punish me and insult me. I often did try to speak up for myself until I realized it only made the punishments worse as it gets contrived as being "back-talking" aka zaidi reason for zaidi punishments.


(My father's parents were the Fa family from Mulan. His parents were the 1 positive family example I had. Their traditional values had served them well as they are still together after 60+years. They've only ever been married to each other and had 3 children together with only each other. This was the example of all my childhood "family" examples that I chose to follow.)


So ujumla, jumla wewe can see I've had a very Disney-life growing up which is probably why I'm so obsessed with Disney and why it means so much to me! :D

Personality & Values: I'm a Taurus and that pretty much does describe me pretty well. I am reliable, patient, practical, devoted, responsible and stable. I can also be stubborn and my spunkiness can turn into feistiness. I don't like inconsistency and I am very protective of marriage and family since I live in a culture/society that is always trying to attack marital and familial values.

I upendo 50s America. I upendo how happy and free those women were while being respected and appreciated at the same time. I upendo how most women in 50s America could grow up expecting to get to be married one siku instead of today where they think it's not enough au that they won't be good enough for it. I also upendo how women in 50s America also had the choice to pursue lifestyles other than traditional marriage and motherhood but weren't pressured like today to have to pursue alternative lifestyles to those within the home. I upendo how women in 50s America respected each other kwa dressing modestly and were respected kwa men with chivalrous acts as opposed to today where women dress in provocative and upsetting manners which disrespect other women and want men to be crude and vulgar in front of them. So ultimately, I am very much a 50s gal who loves femininity, freedom, opportunity, respect, modesty and most of all: balance.


School/College/Work: When I graduated high school, I was accepted to a private Christian college not in/near my hometown (I was a Christian then but I am no longer a Christian anymore). I had enough scholarships to get in but didn't have the money to pay for the dorms, no car and no job/money to take the bus to school etc. I had gotten to the dorm and moved in but had to songesha out the inayofuata siku which was very disheartening for me.

My mother, who received welfare and unemployment etc. never saved up for me as that taxpayer money went to her booze and drugs [not even rent au necessities] as we were evicted twice throughout my childhood and often struggling economically. I developed a deep humility and frugalness, learning the values of priorities even though my mother still hasn't today. Since college didn't work out for me, I turned to working and ended up working 2 jobs at different points to save up to get my own place. I knew that I'd always be substituting as a better mother than my mother for my mother/siblings if I never left. Since I didn't choose that lifestyle and she chose it for herself, I believed it was only fair to me to pursue my own independence. It was very hard for me since the mother in me wanted to stay and be a mother for my siblings but I knew my life had to come first because that was balanced.

I found a job that I loved and that paid enough to stop having to work 2 jobs which had begun to take a serious toll on my health. This new job that I loved treated me wonderfully and I even worked my way up to supervisor and trained new employees. When I met my husband, I continued working until we got married. I have been a housewife since then, trying to work on myself and healing from all of the abuse that I took when younger and not letting that make me a bitter/nasty person. My hope is to become a mother one siku and truly break the cycle of the abusive mothering that my grandmother started with my mother and she continued with me. Since I want my child to have the best chance that I never did, I want to be fully ready in every way before I even consider getting pregnant: mentally, emotionally, physically, financially and even geographically. :)


Hobbies: I have always connected to Ariel and Belle's upendo of adventure and learning. Their enthusiasm matches my own. I've also got a lot of Anna's can-do spunk and eagerness. I upendo to talk to people of different backgrounds and experiences and have them share their wisdom with me. I have found quite a few users on this site who completely inspire me in my road to bettering myself and it's such a pleasure for me to have this site to Converse with others like them and learn all that I do. <3

I can definitely be described as somewhat dorky and quirky. I upendo kusoma and writing, drawing, doing math equations (you read that right), making lists, checking things off on a orodha (and feeling/being productive), scrapbooking, playing games (board, card and social), listening to music, going for walks in nature and I upendo traveling. I don't watch much TV, there are only a few shows worth watching for me, but I do watch sinema quite often with my husband. I upendo playing board games. I really do. I also upendo randomly talking in a British accent because it's so beautiful and proper to me, I just can't get enough. My only real ndoto in life is that one siku my British accent would be so good that I could go to England and blend right in. <3 (I upendo other accents too though but not as much as this one.)


Other Cultures/Countries/Cities: I upendo traveling and experiencing new cultures! I upendo to hear accounts of culture shock and I upendo to learn about cultural differences etc. I find them fascinating.

I've visited half of the USA but never been to another country.
My inayopendelewa places in the USA are:
San Francisco- My inayopendelewa place on Earth! There isn't anything I don't upendo about this place. The weather is always a perfect autumn type weather that is a bit windy but never too cold au hot. The people are usually incredibly friendly and the perfect professionals who know how to balance respect and comfortability. There are some nice museums including the Walt Disney Museum and an Exploratorium. There are cool sights and historical places, especially Alcatraz Island. The sights are also gorgeous. It's just a perfect city to me in every single way other than all those hills! :D


Philadelphia- My 2nd inayopendelewa place on Earth! There is so much American history here that I appreciate as an American citizen. The Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, etc. It's also known for it's educational values with an Ivy League school that has 1 of the biggest Archaeology Museums in the world aside from England (University of Philadelphia) as well the Franklin Institute. It has also has a great art museum most known from the Rocky films. If that wasn't enough, the chakula is AMAZING. Seriously. Best Italian chakula in America. The pizza was in it's own category. The coffee and water taste better than on the West Coast too. Additionally, it's a very green place in that it still has a lot of natural forest. I just upendo this place! The people can be a bit rude and over-sarcastic in my opinion but I do value their straight-forwardness and reason behind their values, even if I don't completely agree. The crowd of Philly always makes sports 10x zaidi interesting in my opinion because of their unique spirits and attitudes though. :)


Chicago- My 3rd inayopendelewa place on Earth! This place embodies everything I upendo about America and in my opinion has a perfect balance of traditionalism and modernism, similar to San Francisco. I really upendo this city. It has amazing science and natural history museums that I could just spend multiple days, all day, in. Beautiful known kisima, chemchemi from Cheers? au some TV onyesha back in the day. Other nice landmarks like the bean, pier, tower, etc. kwa far though, this is my inayopendelewa chakula location in America! WOW! Best chakula I have ever had anywhere! <333


My inayopendelewa places & cultures outside the USA are:
England/English- I've been in upendo with English culture for a long time. I upendo the way the English talk, not just the accent but the proper English too. I upendo the concept of chai and their concepts of civility. I upendo the striving for grace and class. I upendo a lot of the British music/bands too. I also upendo the ujumla, jumla attitudes in British culture. :) I would upendo to go to England and experience everything about British culture as well as visit the archaeology museum, Stonehenge and Super Stonehenge.

Germany/German- I completely adore, admire and respect German efficiency. I upendo the way their culture is so efficient and direct, it is so intriguing to me. I adore their architecture as well! I also admire the German people for pulling themselves up after the World Wars. I also really upendo German food! So delicious! I've heard Germany is beautiful and I personally upendo forest and mountains so I would upendo to see the geography as well as experience the culture and talk to locals etc.

Japan/Japanese- Ever since I was a child I have always been attracted to Japanese culture. I have always greatly admired their sense of honor, duty and respect. I upendo their religion of Shinto and their concept of balance which is largely where I derive my beliefs from. When I was younger, I was fascinated kwa Samurai culture, partly because I like fencing (and archery) and partly because of the value systems and deep devotions etc. I have heard Japan is very beautiful as well and I would upendo to see it as well as experience the culture and talk to locals here as well. Similar to England, I'd also upendo to attend a traditional chai ceremony.


Favorite Food: steak, mnofu from Texas. Texans know what I'm talking about. <3

Favorite Drink: Dr. Pepper girl my whole life.

Favorite Colors: Pretty much all shades of pink and purple, especially combined.

Favorite Film Genres & Films: (In no particular order)
Adventure: The Mummy (1999) & The Mummy Returns (2001), The Grey

Comedy: As Good As It Gets, Fletch, Galaxy Quest, Annie Hall, Manhattan Murder Mystery, In & Out, Extract, Idiocracy, Twins, Bridesmaids, Clueless, Miss Congeniality, Hysterical Blindness, Dodgeball, Can't Buy Me Love, Dazed & Confused, Hot Fuzz, Bernie

Crime/Court: 12 Angry Men, Primal Fear, Escape From Alcatraz, Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial in Italy

Documentary: America: Imagine the World Without Her, Room 237, Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer, The Central Park Five, Let The moto Burn, For All Mankind, Tabloid, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, For the Bible Tells Me So, Koko: A Talking Gorilla

Drama: The Seventh Seal, Unforgiven, Broadcast News, Network, The Truman Show, Congo, Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Looking For Mr. Goodbar, Stand kwa Me,The Descendants (2011), Poseidon Adventure, Poseidon (2006) ; The Conversation, In The Line of Fire

Film-Noir: Se7en, Memento, Zodiac, Fargo, Barton Fink, (love Coen Brothers films!<3)

History: Glory, The Right Stuff, Apollo 13

Horror/Thriller: Suspiria, Identity, Triangle, Event Horizon, In the Mouth of Madness, The Mothman Prophecies, Deep Red, Final Destination Series, The Descent

Mystery: Clue, The Lady Vanishes, Inception, Devil's Pass

Sci-Fi: The Stepford Wives; The Thirteenth Floor, 2001 Space Odyssey, Back to the Future Series, Prometheus, Time Machine (1960), Planet of the Apes (1968 & 2001 + Newest Series 2011-Now), Jurassic Park Series, Time Lapse


Favorite TV Mini-Series: The Langoliers, The Lost Room, IT, The Stand, The Jinx, John Adams, Storm of the Century, Rose Red

Favorite TV Shows: The Twilight Zone (Original) <3, The Walking Dead, Scream Queens (on Fox), Once Upon A Time, X-Files, Forensic Files, Unsolved Mysteries, SNL (Favorite Cast: Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Gilda Radner ; Dennis Miller, Jan Hooks, Victoria Jackson, Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, Kevin Nealon, Mike Myers, David Spade, Chris Farley, Julia Sweeney ; Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Seth Meyers ; Fred Armisen, Kenan Thompson, Jason Sudeikis, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader & Nasim Pedrad)


Favorite muziki Artists: The afghan, afghanistan Whigs<3, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Ride, The Smiths/Morrissey, Cream, Fleetwood Mac, Smashing Pumpkins, Savage Garden, Oasis, Joy Division/New Order, Stone Roses, Living Colour, Talking Heads, The Cure, Linda Ronstadt, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Beethoven, Stevie Nicks, Elton John, Paul McCartney

Favorite Books: Fahrenheit 451<3, Lord of the Flies, 1984, Brave New World, To Kill A Mockingbird, Great Gatsby, Breakfast At Tiffany's, Martian Chronicles, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Feminist Fantasies, Flipside of Feminism, Ella Enchanted, Two Princesses of Bamarre, Edgar Allen Poe's Short Stories


Favorite Games:
Board- Clue<3, Battleship, Scattergories, Trivial Pursuit, Chess
Cards- Speed, War
Verbal/Mind- Alphabet Categories, Finish A Story

Favorite Disney Movies: Hocus Pocus<3, Swiss Family Robinson, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Hercules, Sword in the Stone, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast.


Favorite Disney Princesses: Belle<3, Cinderella, Anna, Aurora, Snow White, Pocahontas and Ariel.


Favorite Disney Princes: Cinderella's Prince Charming, Adam/Beast, Kristoff and Shang

Favorite Disney Sidekicks: Flora, Fauna & Merryweather, 7 Dwarfs, Olaf & Sven and Sebastian & Flounder


link
link
link
link
link
link
link
link
link
link

So that's me! Now wewe know who this person is uandishi so many makala and posting so many polls! Since I contribute so much and maoni so much, but haven't been here that long (only 4 months), I thought wewe guys might like a chance to get to know me and where I am coming from. I hope to hear from wewe guys as I would upendo to know wewe and get to hear where wewe guys come from as well! :D