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!!!!!