Poetic Friday

(Photo credit)

Long time ago I used to write poems. I haven't done that in a while and I've never published them (except in my notebook :-)) because I was never really sure of my poetry... Well, now that I blog I thought it would be nice to post an old poem every Friday and give a little background to it. I hope it will get me writing poetry again and I hope you will enjoy it too...

THE PLAY

In its beauty,

I boast.

In its stillness,

I rest.

In its gentleness,

I am meek.

In this life

I am merely a character

who changes with the scenes.

In its violence,

I fight.

In its agony,

I weep.

In its loudness,

I shout.

To me

Life is a play.

And I...

merely a puppet,

heeding to its will. 

While I was in high school I often felt like i was just going through the motions of life. You know - doing what everybody thinks you should be doing at that particular time so that you don't look or feel awkward. That's why I wrote this poem.I felt like only the things around me controlled how I felt or behaved and I had no control over it. But the Lord taught me to see things His way and I lived happily ever after :-)

I hope you enjoyed the poem. Let me know what you think. Enjoy your weekend.

Oh wow!!!!!

I got an award!!!!!!! From Kathy at Lovelace Files!!!! Thank you so much Kathy. Love ya! This is a sweet surprise - especially since I'm so new to the blogging world.

Now onto the award rules:

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award 

2. Answer 10 questions*

3. Pass it along to three blogs you've recently discovered and enjoy*

4. Leave your recipients a note, telling them about the award

The Questions:

1.  Why did you create this blog?

I started following blogs last year in September. Lovelace Files was actually the very first blog I ever read. As I kept following other blogs I began to want to write and since I was newly married I had something to write about and I thought why not? So far it's so much fun and I'm learning a lot from many of the blogs I follow. 

2. What kinds of blogs do you follow?
I follow blogs on marriage, motherhood and cooking. Those things are very dear to my heart.

3. Favorite make-up brand?

I love Rimmel London eye shadow. I also like Mac concealer and foundation but I don't use them as much.

4. Favorite clothing brand?

Hmmm... I don't really have one. Maybe Bhs or Marks and Spencer.

5. Indispensable makeup product? 

 Victoria's Secret lip gloss.

6. Favorite color?
PURPLE!!! The colour of royalty :)

7. Favorite perfume?  

'Vera Wang' by Vera Wang. I'm a perfume freak but this particular one blows my mind!!!!

8. Favorite film?  

I can't pick one so I'll list the movies that I've recently watched and liked. The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader, SALT, For Colored Girls, Takers.

9. What country would you like to visit and why?  
France!!!!! I think it's the most romantic place in the world.

10. Would you rather forget to put mascara on one eye or forget blush on one side of your face? 
Mascara. I don't use blush.

I am passing on this award to:

1. Jessica at From Marriage to Motherhood. This lady inspires me. She is so creative and her love for the Lord is a real encouragement to me. She blogs about being a mother and a wife and everything in between. I want to be just like her when I grow up :-D
2. Faith at Life.Love&Marriage. In my opinion, this blog keeps it real. She's married and blogs about life with her stud-muffin hubby. I love reading about her life and the way she sees things. 
3. Sommer J at A Mama With Flavor. She is super creative in the kitchen. Many times I wish I was her so I could whip up something yummy for my hubby. She is, indeed, a mama with flavor!

Hope you get some time to check out these blogs. It's worth it.

Thanks again Kathy. You made my day! :)

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?