Joel Carrick

First of all a huge shout out to Smoke’z Soul Food for acknowledging the hard work and talent of the youth! Now about that food. 🔥 We tried the bbq ribs with mac and cheese and baked beans and chicken with mac and cheese and pintos as well as a frozen drink and it was all so good. When they say bold, rare and unmatched they mean that and this is high quality food that you can’t get just anywhere. It was so good in fact that when the family members of one of the kids smelled and saw the leftovers they decided to go get some for themselves. This is that food that’s so good that you don’t want anyone else to know about it because you’re afraid the line will be too long the next time you go. The customer service is on point too and it was a great experience overall. You can check out Smoke’z Soul Food at 1972 Candler Road Decatur, GA 30032 and their hours vary by day and they also might sell out so be sure to check their IG for more info. It’s worth checking out for sure. 💯 . . . . . . . . . . #soulfood #soulfoodcooking #soulfoodshack #soulfoodkitchen #soulfoodrestaurant #smokedbbq #smokedbbqribs #chicken #chickenrecipes #porkrib #porkribs #foodie #food #foodies #foodlover #atlfood #atlfoodie #atlfoodies #atlfoodblogger #decatur #decaturga #decaturwhereitsgreater #candlerrd #decaturfood #restaurant #restaurantreview #atlscoop #travel #traveler #exploremore

Ms. Danielle has been a supporter of my page for several years now and has always offered her encouragement and has been so positive and always tries to help others whenever she can. Now she desperately needs our help. There’s a corrupt organization called Hasan Second Chance that was ran by Dr. Angela Hasan who has now been arrested and accused of scamming multiple families out of over 59,000 dollars. In this situation she preyed on Ms. Danielle when she was facing eviction and promised her that for a 500 dollar fee she could guarantee that she wouldn’t be evicted and that she would help her get caught up on past rent payments. One catch was that she had to make all her current and upcoming rent payments to the Hasan Second Chance organization to keep them in escrow but the money was never paid to her landlord and now she is months behind and could be evicted at any time. There’s a lot more to the story and you can read more on the multiple news stories about this case as well as on the GoFundMe link that is pinned to my profile. This member of our community needs our help. She can use any resource for rental assistance that she might qualify for but so far has hit a lot of dead ends and is running out of time but please comment or tag any resources you know of. Please help by sharing this reel and bringing awareness as well as sharing the GoFundMe link and contributing if you’re able to. Please try to have empathy and step into the shoes of someone in this situation and let’s show her what community means by doing everything we can to help her stay in her home. . . . . . . . . . . #community #communityfirst #communitymanager #communityovercompetition #giving #givingtuesday #givingback #givemore #givemorethanyoutake #givemore24 #loveyourneighbor #supportyourneighbors #rentalassistance #nonprofit #nonprofitorganization #nonprofits #atlnonprofit #atlnonprofits #atlantanonprofit #atlanta #atl #atlgeorgia #atlscoop #housing #affordablehousing #affordablehousing #housingcrisis #housingfirst #housingisahumanright #housingforall #laurendaigle

Many have asked who the kids in my posts are and I’d like to give them a huge shout out and tell you more about them. If you’ve been following me through the years you know that these kids help give back to the community any chance they get and put a lot of work into helping get food to those who need it even if it’s sometimes behind the scenes. Getting to know them over the years I can honestly say that they’re some of the most giving, thoughtful, dedicated and kind young people you could ever hope to meet. For years they helped at the food pantry and we’d explore different metro Atlanta parks and spent a lot of time at skate rinks and trampoline parks. More recently we started getting creative with the Instagram reels and a lot of it is their work and creativity that bring you quality content and I couldn’t do it without them. I’d give them the world if I could but they wouldn’t need it because they have what it takes to be someone great on their own. Thankful for the opportunity to work with them, looking forward to their exciting futures and I will never stop celebrating their success. 💯

Microsoft has a really nice campus in Atlanta and we’ve been by a few times to pick up donations. My bro-in-law has worked for Mircrosoft for years and when I lived in Seattle, WA it was a huge part of the culture there. I thought by now Microsoft would have grown a lot more in Atlanta but it will be interesting to see how it continues to grow in Atlanta in the future.

East Atlanta

Never stop exploring!

“You miss one hundred percent of the shots you don’t take.”

It was a good four day military weekend and a great day on Stone Mountain. Proud to be in the United States Army Reserve!

Not far from Salt Lake City there’s a popular hot springs called Saratoga Hot Springs. This time of year it’s surrounded by snow capped mountains but the water remains warm and many people come to swim even when the weather is cold. This hot springs apparently has less of a bad smell than other springs but I did smell something that reminded me of sulfur which made me wonder just exactly what is in the water. Have you ever been in a hot springs or to this one in particular? Would you swim in something like this no matter what time of year it was? Some people believe the water is healing so that does sound intriguing and I would try it out at least once. Saratoga Hot Springs is open from 6am till 10pm and is located at 625 Saratoga Drive Saratoga Springs, Utah 84045 and there’s a ten minute walk to the springs once you arrive at the free parking lot. . . . . . . . . . . #saltlakecityutah #saltlakecity #saratoga #saratogasprings #saratogaspringsutah #saratogahotsprings #hotsprings #hotspringspas #hotspringsutah #utah #utahphotographer #exploreutah #exploresaratoga #travel #travelgram #travelutah #nature #natureinspired #hiking #thegreatoutdoors #outside #optoutside #outsideculture #swimming #swimmingtime #nbayoungboy #neverstopexploring #welivetoinspire #welivetotravel #welivetoexplore

Make every day count. 💯 Enjoying the outdoors at one of Atlanta’s best parks. 🏀

Here’s another apartment complex in metro Atlanta that seems to be somewhat affordable. It’s in College Park right off Washington Road and not far from Camp Creek Parkway and the airport. The outside of the complex and the surrounding areas has cleaned up a lot from how it was when I first moved to this area and this particular property seems maintained. I’m sure there are those with negative experiences or those who believe the area is so bad that they don’t even want to drive through it so stay tuned for the comments. . . . . . . . . . . #atl #atlanta #metroatl #metroatlanta #southside #southsideatl #metroatl #metroatlanta #washingtonroad #collegepark #collegeparkga #collegeparkgeorgia #apartments #apartmentdesign #apartmentdecor #apartmentliving #apartmentgoals #apartmenthunting #housing #housingmarket #housingcrisis #housingfirst #affordable #affordablehousing #affordableprice #exploreatl #playboicarti #kendricklamar #travel #georgia #community #realestate

This is a throwback to a memorable day in Atlantic station and it’s crazy how fast the time is flying by without it even seeming like so much time has passed. Sometimes it seems like life is such a blur that just flies past us so it’s important to make sure we really are making the most of every day. Thankful for days like this one.