Weekend recap

This is a good movie.

My husband and I bought it in September 2010 but we had not watched it. And quite frankly, I wasn't looking forward to it. But it surprised me! We watched it on Sunday while we were having lunch. Wonderful acting! Angelina Jolie did a wonderful job! I wonder if there really are people like that in the CIA... hmmmmm....

I got to see my babies too!!!!!!!! Oh I missed them soooooooooooooooooo much! And oh how they've grown. Here they are...

He has 2 teeth!!!!!!

Look at their sweet smiles!

On Saturday evening, we went to see my godmother.

She lived in Uganda for over 40 years and worked as a Maths teacher before she retired. She drove my mum to the hospital while she was in labour with me. During that time, the current government had just taken over power and there were road-blocks everywhere. You could only get past the road-block if you had a green sticker on your car. She did not have one. But she put my parents in the car and made sure she got through all the road-blocks till she got to the hospital. She sends me a Christmas gift every year - it doesn't matter in which month I get it but I get it anyway. I admire her a great deal. Her love for the Lord brought her all the way to Uganda, away from her family and friends, for 40 years, to spread the gospel and to touch the lives of her students. A real inspiration.

And of course, I cooked :-) At my husband's request, I made pilau. Pilau is a rice dish cooked with meat and spices. I did not use meat but the spices are the most important thing in this dish. Here the ingeredients:

• White rice
• Onions
• Pilau Masala
• Hot Water
• Salt
• Oil (vegetable, sunflower or olive - you decide)

*I did not put any measurements because it is all relative. It's just rice - with a twist :-)

Chop up the onion and fry it on medium heat. 

 Fry until the onion begins to get burnt. Seriously. This will hep give the pilau it's brown colour.

 Add pilau masala. This gives the pilau it's unique flavour. don't put too much though otherwise it will make the rice bitter.

 Add the rice and fry for a bit.

 Add a double portion of hot water and cook normally. I put mine in the rice cooker. The water should look brown once you put it in.

 All done :-)

 My husband made the passion fruit juice as usual and demanded that he has his picture taken too :-)

Have a lovely week!!!!

What's happening?

I've been trying to write this post since Monday but I couldn't put my feelings into words. Now I can.

I'm sad. Very sad and worried. Over the last few months I've heard about a lot of couples that are going through some major issues. It makes me sad that there are couples who are married and can't stand each other anymore. I've always known that there are broken marriages and what causes the problems but it was never this close to me. It was always some movie star or some random person in the papers but never someone that I knew.

But now the list of couples that we pray for seems to be growing. What hurts me even more is it feels like an attack on marriage that is a direct representation of the relationship Christ has with the church.

One day I'm going to have children and I'm worried that they will not see enough loving marriages amongst our peers like I did with my parents. I want my daughters to marry men who are sincere and love them as Christ loved the church and I want my sons to marry women of virtue who value God and their families above any worldly possession. I want them to experience the kind of love that I share with my husband - unconditional love. I want them to have spouses they can count on.

Each time I hear about a broken marriage my heart goes out to them. It's so painful to feel betrayed but when one feels betrayed by a spouse it's a lot worse. I will continue to pray for them. That God will bring healing. That their children will experience the unconditional love of Christ and not become bitter. That somehow they will be able to find the love they shared and mend their marriages.

But for now I'm sad. Sad that so many hopes have been crushed and that so many couples are hurting :(

Losing it...

I've put on a little weight. I can't help it - it's hard to lose weight when you're happy. Since the wedding in May I've been doing a little exercise here and there but I didn't really like it. I've always been able to gain and lose weight pretty easily. But it seems that when you get married the weight comes to stay!!!!! 

The other day my dad came over to see me at work because he had never been to my workplace. When he saw me he said "You have put on weight!" His expression told me that he was not kidding. He proceeded to give me weight loss tips :) I was grateful that he told me though because it woke me up to reality. That morning I had tried to put on a skirt that I really like and boy oh boy was it tight. I could hardly walk right!!! So I guess God used him to give me a wake up call. And since he has been down this road before he gave me some pretty good tips.

One of my New Year resolutions is to work out three times a week which I've been doing. However, my eating habits were not good at all. I kept telling myself that I should eat healthy food but I had never gotten round to it but when my dad said I had put on a few I got serious!!!!! I've been eating salad and sandwiches this week and so far so good :)  No more brownies (sob), no more fries (sob, sob!) No more big meals :( 

Stuck with this!!!! (Image source)

I've been using a dance video to exercise but I was doing the easy stuff. Yesterday, I did the hard core exercises and boy did I sweat!!!! 

Dance video that I'm using (Image source)

I was beginning to feel like a moving bus!!!!! No kidding! I feel really heavy and I realised I just have to get up and do something about it. It's not entirely about the weight though - I wasn't feeling healthy either so I need to get into good shape.  So I'm looking forward to losing the weight and feeling healthier.

I hope that I'll be able to say that I've lost some weight in about a month or so. I'll keep you posted. I'm going to weigh myself today and see how heavy I am. ( Not looking forward to it!) 

This is me a few months before I got married:

And this is after 7 months of marriage:

Are any of you trying to lose some weight and get into shape?

Prophecy?

Tomorrow will be our 8 month anniversary. (I know several people think I'd better stop counting the months but I can't help myself!!!)
Anywho, since we got married in May both our matron of honour and our best man have added to the members in their families. Our matron and her husband had a baby boy in August while our best man and his wife had a daughter in December.

Baby Amy - precious isn't she? Born to our best man and his wife

Baby Josiah - my Captain Adorable!! Born to our matron of honour and her husband

Prophecy?? Heehee!!! All I know is that I'm enjoying having babies around me because it helps calm my nerves! No kidding!

Now, as you may (or may not) know I LOVE babies and so several of my friends and relatives were pretty sure that I'd be very heavy by now. However, I have disappointed them ;) Some of them have secretly decided that I'm pregnant so when I bump them they simply ask how far along I am (heehee).

In the beginning this was quite amusing but I grew tired of it. My grandmother also pulled me aside and made it clear that she wanted a great-grandbaby soon! Whoa! Last time I checked the only person I'm supposed to be talking to about babies with is my handsome farmer man right? RIGHT!!!

In Uganda children are so important to the extended family. The other day I read about a lady who has failed to conceive in her 8 years of marriage and so wants to get her husband a girlfriend a girlfriend who will bear him a child. Sound familiar? Sarah and Haggai all over again- I think...
Much as I respect the importance my culture places on child bearing I also realise that they are a gift from God and a happy marriage is important in a family. We want to build that firm foundation before we think of bringing little people into the world. Make sense?

So maybe our best man and matron of honour having babies within 7 months of our marriage is a sign of things yet to come - I sure wouldn't mind - but maybe we need some more time to discover ourselves and fall in love all over again as newly weds... :)

Did any of you experience some pressure to have a baby soon after your wedding?

'Creamy' chicken - yum!!

A friend of mine taught me how to make this a few years ago. He came up with it right there and I was glad I witnessed it because he couldn't remember how to make it the next day!!!! Hahahaha! I've decided to call it creamy chicken because it has a lot of cream.

I'm not good at measurements but I tried to take some this time so here goes:

• 250g chicken fillet/ 2 chicken breast fillet(s?????) (How on earth do we measure fillet????.....
• I pack of Streaky bacon (use as much bacon as you want...)
• 1 1/2 large green pepper
• 1 large onion 
• 2 carrots
• 250 ml fresh cream (you can use more depending on how much you want to make - maximum 500 ml)

* You can use some more vegetables you like but they have to be vegetables that you don't have to cook for too long before they are ready to eat. For example; red pepper, yellow pepper.

Marinade

• 3 tbsp powder garlic
• 2 tspn basil
• 1 tbspn ground coriander
• 1 tbsp ground mixed spices
• 1/2 tspn white pepper
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• Soy sauce
• BBQ sauce 
• Worcesteshire sauce 
• Dry red wine
• Salt (a pinch or two - the soy sauce has enough salt most time so be careful)

*I did not measure the liquids. I usually just estimate and you can meausure each according to your taste. Same goes for the spices - if you want more basil go ahead. There are no rules :)

1) Marinate the chicken fillet overnight
2) Cut the chicken into bite sizes (remember that it will shrink when cooked)

 3) Fry the chicken in a non stick pan on medium heat while you chop up the vegetables. Turn it over when it turns brown.

4) Fry the bacon in the same pan to give the bacon some of the flavour from the marinade. Then chop it up.

5) Do not drain the oil from the pan. Increase the heat to maximum. Stir fry the onions, green pepper and carrots. Season with a little salt and black pepper.

6) Add the chicken and bacon.

7) Add the cream and turn off the heat. Stir the cream in.

That's it!!!! Whew! I've never ever written a whole recipe with measurements before (applause) thank you, thank you... heehee!
It's a yummy dish. The vegetables are crunchy and the chicken is tasty. The cream gives it a cheesy, creamy taste. I hope you'll try it out. It's good with boiled rice.

As usual, my hubby made the drinks - passion fruit juice and banana smoothie (the bananas are from the farm :-))

And he helped me do the dishes!!!!! Isn't he sweet?

I made grilled chicken and grilled plantain too.

I really enjoyed this meal. And there was some left over- yum!!!

By the sweat of your brow...

"...you will eat your food until you return to the ground." Genesis 2:19. Now, I had never really taken that seriously. Of course I knew that we have to work hard and I knew that food is grown and does not fall from the sky but it never really sank in. Now I'm a farmer's wife and it makes soooooooooooo much sense!

Over the weekend I went to the farm with my hubby and got down and dirty with some farm work.

Crop: Bananas (matooke - they are bananas that are not sweet. They are the staple food in my tribe (Baganda) and are prepared by steaming in banana leaves)
Problem: Infertile soil
Solution: Cow dung (yuck!!!)
Project: Pour about 100 sacks of cow dung in the trenches in between the bananas. Then we had to cover it with dry grass and banana leaves so that it seep into the soil and fertilise it.

This is a bit of the banana plantation

The cow dung had been packed in sacks so we got some guys in the nearby village to help us carry the cow dung and pour it in the trenches.

The sacks

Pouring the dung in the trench

The dung in the trench

I know you're wondering what I did to make my brow sweat huh? Well, I covered the dung filled trenches with dry grass and soil. It was no easy task. We covered about two acres of banana plantation.

We cover the dung with dry grass and banana leaves so that it can retain any moisture which will help it rot and seep into the soil.

I had a good time with my farmer man. Each time I'd go to the farm we would just check up on the crops but this time I got to work along side him which was fun!

Hubby giving instructions :)

Finally, here are a few sneak peeks of our farm. A lot of it is still unused but we have big plans :-)

(Sorry I didn't have my camera so I couldn't take photos of the entire lay of the land) This is about a quarter of the land - I think :)

 

I couldn't take a photo of the harvest because my phone battery had died but it was a pretty good harvest :)
Many more nice things to come!!!!!

Stay-home mum misconceptions

 
I want to be a stay home mum once the kids start coming. In my opinion being a mother and wife is the most important thing that the Lord has given me to do. I can have a job and still give my family enough attention but I don't want to do it that way. My decision to stay at home has not been met with kind words from quite a number of people. There are a lot of misconceptions about stay home mums and I'm sure some of you have heard them before.

Recently, I was involved in a discussion on stay home mums with two gentlemen and I was the only one supporting the idea. Let me list down some of the things that are said about stay home mums which I believe are far from the truth:

• Stay home mums don't do anything the whole day. Well, I'd like to see a stay home mum  have 8 hours of nothing to do while the little ones run about the house doing whatever they want. Stay home mums probably have a lot more work to do than working mums. They have to feed the kids, clean the house, change diapers, make sure the kids don't wreck the house and still have a meal on the table for the hungry hubby when he returns. Now, doesn't that seem harder than sitting at a desk all day typing on your computer or sitting through meetings? 
• Stay home mums have zero ambition. On the contrary, stay home mums have A LOT of ambition. They want to make sure that their husbands and children succeed at everything they get their hands on. Gone are the days of housewives who were semi house maids. These days the stay home mum can work from home while keeping an eye on her young ones. It allows her to have a flexible schedule and to be her own boss. Ambitious? I think so.
• Stay home mums don't take care of themselves. At some point all of us women get too comfortable and stop doing our hair and nails every week, we start to wear cotton pyjamas instead of the sexy lingerie we started out with and many times this happens even before the kids show up. Am I right ladies? Sure its hard to stay in touch with fashion when you have kids and have put on some weight but it does not make it impossible. Every woman needs to stay on top of their appearance and it takes a little work. Sometimes we may get a bit lazy but we need to give ourselves a good scolding when we do because our husbands and kids need to be able to say with pride "Look at my mum/ wife."  My point is you don't have to be a stay home mum to 'lose' it. You may have to work a little harder but it's NOT impossible.
• Being a stay home mum makes one dull and they never know what's happening out in the world. Seriously?????? Have you not heard of the internet???? There are good books to read too. In this day and age there really is no excuse for staying in the dark.

I remember telling a friend of mine who is a stay home mum that I would like to do the same. She looked me straight in the eye and asked me if I was ready for it. When I asked her what she meant she explained that there will be a lot of people who will look down on me for choosing to stay home. She said sometimes people don't want to involve you in intelligent discussions because they don't think you'll be able to contribute. I told her that I was up for the challenge and I believe I am.

People have asked me why I would go to school, get a good degree, work for a while and then give it up to look after my husband and kids. First of all, I did not go to school in order to get a job at the end of it. I believe my parents took me to school so that I would get educated and be able to exercise my intelligence. Therefore, school should have taught me how to seize the opportunities that come my way and should have improved my social skills.

Women have the gift to multitask and the special grace that God has given them to raise a family. I respect women who work and raise families - my mum is one of them and she did a wonderful job. It's hard to do both and one has to make sure they have enough time for the family but it is possible.

I wish I could say that I can do the same but I can't. I want to be with my kids whenever I want to and to watch them grow into the men and women that the Lord wants them to be. Yes, I went to school and I'm intelligent but I have decided to be a stay home mum because I will feel more accomplished in that role. Please note that I'm not criticizing working mothers. I'm just saying that single mums have jobs too - 24/7 jobs along with rather difficult bosses :) and its ok to be educated and decide to stay home. 

I'm looking forward to spending time with my babies, cooking for my family and watching my family grow.

What do you have to say about stay home mums?

Changes....

The year has begun and it calls for a few changes in my life. I've never been the kind that makes new year resolutions because I did not think it was necessary but my darling hubby has taught me that having a vision is essential for us as Christians and one of the ways of acheiving our vision is by keeping track of how we're doing. And what better time to set goals than at the beginning of the year :-) Now it makes sense (eureka moment :-))

So I have some new year resolutions and I'm actually quite excited about them. I will share only a few because some of them are really personal. Here goes:

• Work hard at my salvation - with fear and trembling!!!! I've been going through the motions for a while but now I'm going to seek the Lord with all of me. I've already started and it's amazing!!!!
• Use my talent - singing. It's been on the shelf for a while but I feel the need to revive it. I'm praying for the opportunity to arise.
• Give my husband and my marriage a lot more attention. I plan on pampering him!!!! (I'm going to enjoy this one:-))
• Exercise :-) 3 times a week. I'll be doing this at home because the gym is way too expensive and I have a nice workout dvd that I can use. 
• Have the house properly organised by the end of February. We moved house in October 2010 and there are still a lot of things in boxes (no judging allowed!) So I need to get that done ASAP so that I can:
• Host more people for lunch and dinner :-)
• Read more books - especially on marriage. One every quarter - I'm a novel person so reading a book with no real story is difficult for me.

Realistic right? It's kind of exciting to have all these goals. I'll keep you posted on how they are all going but I'm looking forward to seeing that I achieve them all :-)
2011 you are going to be a wonderful year!!!!!! Thank you Lord :-)

All I wanted for Christmas....

Was a new phone. And now it's here!!!!! I'm so excited! It started out as a joke. I kept telling my hubby that I'd like an iphone because my phone was falling apart (literally) but I really didn't think I would get one. Then he told me that if I really wanted it that's what I'd get. I could not believe it!!!! I was super excited!!!!

So the search began. I wanted the iphone4 and we looked around for one within our budget but we couldn't get one that was unlocked on our budget. Then we thought maybe we should get the iphone3GS. But when I asked around I found out that an HTC would be much better than the 3GS. My brother's girlfriend had the HTC Desire so I took a look at it and fell in love. And the price was right up our alley. We had a friend order it for us and I began the 'long' wait.

It arrived on the 31st and I got it yesterday!! It's as lovely as I knew it would be. Here she is - the HTC desire....

Yes, I'm that crazy about gadgets!!!! The next few days will be spent discovering my phone. My hubby is worried that I will not might not speak to him for a while because I'll be attending to my new phone. We'll see :-)

Thank you for the gift honey :-)

Happy new year!!!!

Happy new year!!!! 2010 held a lot of good things for me. I know that 2011 will be so much better! In 2010:

• I married my best friend in May :)
• We went to Egypt for our honeymoon. (Sorry I lost the photos so I can't post any:-()
• My parents celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary in April.
• I got two jobs- one really crappy one that I left for a much better one.
• I got a new nephew in August :-)
• We moved house in October.
• My dad got a big promotion!

That's just a bit of what happened. It was a great year but I know that this year will bring more wonderful things that you'll get to know along the way. 

This year I decide that I needed to get a new look so I cut my hair!!!!! Just a bit. And I'm loving it. It was getting a bit troublesome to comb and keep styled but now I'm all smiles. Here are some before and after photos.

Before

 After

I want to cut it some more in the middle of the year but the hubby is not too happy with that idea so I'm launching Project 'Make him agree' :)