Thoughts On Being Older

This post is long overdue. I am sorry that I failed to keep my promise to put up this post over the weekend. Something came up and I could not find the time to do it. Anyway here goes. First some pictures.

My birthday cake baked by my friend Ruth. It was delicious. Look at that, 11 candles means that I turned 11. How about that :)

Blowing out the candles for the second time because the 1st time we where out side and we failed to light them up since the wind kept blowing them out.

For sometime now I have been struggling with the idea that I am almost leaving my 20s behind and am on the verge of opening the door to my 30s. Honestly I am not yet ready for my 30s, so I think anyway. I always thought that by this time I would be living some of my dreams or at least well on the way of doing so but this is not so in some aspects.
Months ago I remember reading an article on Boundless magazine which had an impact on me. Unfortunately I have forgotten who the author was but I will always remember what she wrote. The author of the article was talking about the things that she had hoped to be but will now never be and she shared how she was learning to let go of those dreams and instead focus on embracing the things she could/will be.

At this point in my life I am realizing that there are things that I will never be or can never have or do because the time for that is past but there are things that I can still be, do and have.

The things I wanted to be by this time

1. I always wanted to meet the man who would be my husband and get married to him very young, like say before I was 25. I hoped that we would spend a couple of years just me and him  getting to know each other, traveling and establishing ourselves before we had children. But here I am still yet to meet my husband to be.

2. I wanted to have my 1st child before but I was 30. From the look of things that will not be case. That is one dream I have to let go of.

3.I always thought that by now I would well on my way of establishing my career in my preferred field, again this is yet to come to pass.

For a while I felt miserable about these things that could have been, but then after a while realised  it was not the end of the world but was only the beginning of something different. I can make my 30s my 20s :) I am still going to marry the man of my dreams and have my children even though it is going to be later than I anticipated. All things will still work together for my good. God just has a different plan for my life than I thought. 

On the plus side I have had the opportunity to enjoy part of my 20s as a single woman, independent and without much responsibility. My 20s has been a time when I have matured  as a person and  my relationship with God has metamorphosed. God has been molding me over the years into the person He wants me to be and intended me to be.

Here is to all that I desired to be but never was and cannot be and all that is to be and could be. My God is still good.

Happy Birthday to me!

Yesterday 14 April, was my birthday and I had a fabulous time. Did I ever mention that I have the most amazing friends? Well, if I haven't mentioned it before I am doing so now, I have amazingly wonderful friends. A couple of friends went all out to prepare a picnic for me at a place called The Vyne which is one of England's historical houses. In the evening we then had a ladies night were we watched a girly movie, with lots of pop corn at hand of course.

The facebook messages, the texts and phone calls made the day even more special.

I will be posting a special birthday post hopefully tomorrow so be on the look out for that.

I love you April!

April has got to be one of my favorite months of the year. Usually there is Easter to look forward to, there is my birthday, one of my best friend's birthdays (actually a day after mine) and the birthday of my country, to name a few things I look forward to. What a month!
The weather has been warming up tremendously and  talk about the burst of colors everywhere - its gorgeous.

MARCH 29 MARCH - 4 APRIL 

I am now seem to be making it a habit of collecting these beautiful sayings. Here is another one that I love. Sometimes, I think we do indeed take a lot of things for granted.

This is one of the results of having a 5 year old style your braids. I like to think of this as a funky hair style. Check out those tiny feet - ha I wouldn't let that one touch my braids unless I wanted them pulled and plucked out.

In one of my previous posts I had a photo of a hanging that said Keep Calm and Carry On  but when I saw this one I was like 'Now that's the one'. I love this one better. Go ladies! Don't we just love shopping.

Made me miss my mum. There were a lot of Mother's Day special offers everywhere. Mothers are special and I believe are one of the greatest gifts God has given us.

My,my! Was I glad to be home after a long day. I am the kind of person who enjoys and loves her space. I usually look forward to going home and taking time out just to relax and be me.

I hate goodbyes.Two of my house mates moved out. Although I cannot say that we were the best of friends it was sad to see them go and a part of me misses them.

This is a picture that hangs in my friends house. What is special about it is that the person in the picture looks like her. She maintains that she is not the lady in the picture but I have my suspicions  ha ha ha, the similarities are just too striking.

The Get Behind Us Campaign

This past week was a very good one I must say. A number of small incidences occurred that made me want to cry not because I was sad but because I was touched and happy. Those little moments that sneak up on us are always priceless.

Lately, it seems like I have been posting just the Pearly Delights posts, I want to go back to where I post about other stuff too. I have a number of things in mind that I would like to write up, so hopefully one of such posts will be up soon.

I have realized from my last post that I mixed up pictures, the viking picture was supposed to be in this post and hence I have corrected that mistake and put the correct picture for the 21st of March.

Unbelievable but I completely forgot to celebrate my blog anniversary in February. Just goes to show the amount of things going through my mind are just too many. Happy belated 1st anniversary my baby Dance with me...

TUESDAY 22 MARCH - MONDAY 28 MARCH

The town I live in has a very interesting history. I have a love for history and actually History was my favorite subject at school such that I took it till my A Levels. The history includes a viking called Olaf who caused a lot of terror in the area such that he had to be offered a sum of 16 000 pounds  before he stopped the reign of terror. In return he agreed to be  confirmed as a Christian and promised never to return to England as an enemy. Olaf later became the King of Norway and helped spread Christianity in his land.

I forgot to take my picture of the day. I had my camera but then got carried away and only remembered later when it was too late. Our church motto is Love God, Love Each Other, Love Those in the World. So in our cell groups (which we call life groups) we plan our activities along those lines. Last week was a Love Those in the World theme and so we went to help a couple who wanted help with removing old wall paper in the house they will move into next month. Having forgotten to take a picture of the action, I improvised, here is the heap of the work clothes I wore instead :(

I love old church buildings.This was a beautiful one. There was a lovely rectory at the back, small park next to it and pieces of history to read about the church too. I was fascinated by the old graveyard on the left.

What do you think of this picture? I found myself giggling helplessly when I laid eyes on it whilst I was waiting for my friend to come down from her office so that we could have lunch together.The receptionist must have wondered what was up with me.

What a meal! This is part of the aftermaths of a 4 course meal served over 4 hours at a Chinese restaurant where a group of friends and I were celebrating a friend's birthday. The food was yummy but...I was not impressed by the slowness. I mean 4 hours to serve a meal ? It  is too long even if it is a 4 course one.

Remember the little moments I mentioned earlier, this beautiful scarf was the result of one of them. A friend went away on holiday sometime ago and on Sunday they came up to me and said they had a present for me. Aaaaaaaawwwww.

A girl has to be on the look out for these things. One can never tell where they will find their perfect wedding dress. And so the hunt continues.

A Glimpse of the Past

I am totally loving doing Pearly Delights. I have realized that I am documenting pieces of my life, both big and small, and I am also sharing about myself with my blog friends. Thank you for all your support, your reading and making comments makes it all worth while. Now for my 2nd catch up post. Enjoy!!!

Tuesday 15 March - Monday 21 March

Look at that! If that is not a carriage and some horses. You should have seen me making a grab for my camera to get a picture before the carriage moved on. What would it have been like to have lived in an age where horses and carriages where the main means of transport and not cars?

I think this would be a good motto to adopt. I know, I know it is not always easy to keep calm and carry on all the time but it doesn't have to be done in one day right? It is a process I think.

I lived and went to school in a small mining town for two years. I had many adventures there. When I saw this industrial site, I felt as if I had been transported back in time and I was standing near one of the mining quarries in that small town. Oh, may be one day I will visit again.

I am sure by now most of you know how much of an avid reader I am. Give me a room full of books and I will stay out of  your way. I think it would be safe to say that libraries are one of my favorite places to be.

With this dear friend of mine we try to meet at least once a month to talk about everything and nothing. I always look forward to catching up with her.

I have a special sister whom God recently blessed me with. We have a special bond and we decided friendship did not really describe our relationship but sisterhood is more like it. She is learning to play the guitar and she invited me over so that I could hear her play. Uuuuhm maybe one day I could convince her to teach me, I have this desire to play a musical instrument.

My new reading delight- The Agatha Raisin Series. The main character Agatha Raisin is one of a kind, seriously, she is hilarious.

Blue Eggs and Painted Tunnels

I am two posts behind with my Pearly Delights but I am going to make up for it this week. I meant to post updates last week but I could not seem to find the time. The good news though, is that I still managed to take a picture for each day. Here goes the 1st post.

Tuesday March 8 - Monday  March 14

It is amazing how much can be observed and seen if one makes an effort to be more aware of surroundings. I have lived in the city I live in for a year now and it was just the other day that I saw this written on one of the side walks in the Town Center. How could I have walked by it over a hundred times and never noticed?

I enjoy taking nice long walks admiring nature. This was one particularly lovely day and the weather was just perfect.

Art in the tunnel. It was refreshing to walk through this tunnel and see brightly colored art. A good sight for sore eyes.  Even makes one feel a lot better especially on a cold and rainy day.

This is one of the best films I have seen in awhile. It was romantic, funny and the acting was brilliant especially the character of Mr Darcy. Well done Mr Firth! Now I am inspired to read the book.

Thank God for caring friends who call up and suggest coming over to stay at their house while they are away because they think a change of environment will do me good. Not only that but that meant more room and peace for me - even if it was for a couple a days, it still did me good.

My friend brought over some blue eggs - fascinating. Unfortunately my camera failed to capture their true blueness, this is the best shot I got. I however could not help wondering if they had been colored or if they were originally blue.

I thought this was a beautiful painting. I am not sure what the painter had in mind when he painted it. I thought probably it was an impression of a possible scene after Jesus rose from the dead. Could it be? Would have loved to meet the painter and asked numerous questions.

Shona of Love Lane

This is week 3 of my Pearly Delights posts and if I must say it is going quite well with me managing to capture something I delight in or would have delighted in each day. Initially I was not sure I would be able keep up but my enthusiasm is still there and my camera has become like a second skin, always at hand to capture a delight. Some days are easier than others to find something to delight in but I am very glad to have the Pearly Delights 'project' to help me appreciate at least one thing I am blessed with each day out of the thousands of blessings I have. I'm going to keep counting those blessings - God is Good.

TUESDAY 1 MARCH - MONDAY 7 MARCH

Having a 24 hour supermarket 5 minutes from where I live is definitely a delight. On many nights I have made my way there to indulge some instant craving that would have snuck up on me. Yeah, this was one such night.

 Something New! My friends and I had a Shooting and Games night. It was my first time to try shooting. The noise from the shooting was not as loud as I thought it would be. It was good fun. I would do it again.

It was another bitterly cold day and I was making my way to the bus stop when the name of this lane caught my attention. For a moment I forgot the cold and felt like dancing. Who wouldn't with a name like Swing Swang Lane?

I smell Spring one of my favorite seasons. Here is evidence of how close we are to beholding more of the beauty of the season.

Another catchy road name? Only this one is romantic. I would not mind living in this road. Imagine a letter addressed : Shona James, 4 Love Lane. I would then be Shona of Love Lane lol!!!

Introducing the Huggie. My friends tell me it looks soft and flurry and makes one want to hug me. I wore it today and even baby E, my friend's son seemed to love it. He kept burying his face in it and playing with it. I can confidently say this one is a keeper.

In this post I talked about how I need to improve on my cooking skills, well I am trying to do something about it. This a chicken casserole that I attempted. Not really the best looking casserole in the world but is it not said that practice makes perfect and I thought it tasted quite good when it was fully cooked.