Facing My Fears

As a child I never learned how to swim and it has always been one of my regrets. I have  always wondered why I never go the opportunity to learn. I guess it was never considered a priority and hence I  never did. I love watching swimming (the sport) and have always admired swimmers and how good they are - they make it look so easy. But I have a fear of water.

Back in January a friend made a joke saying that if I was not careful I would be the girl to always pass the drinks to others whilst they are having fun in the water swimming. That joke awakened something in me and right then and then I made the decision I was going to learn how to swim.
One day I want to be able to swim with my children and not just wait by the pool side watching. I guess you know what I am going to say next ...right?
I started swimming lessons on the 5th of August and so far so good. The water is not so bad, I can do this.. it might take a bit of time but hey I am determined.

Changes

The whole of last year and part of this year on my side bar I had a list of things I wanted to do. Moving to a new place was one of the things on the list. Well...it finally happened. From the 1st of July I moved into a new place. I am now staying on my own. I love the space, the independence and just knowing that the place is mine. Makes me feel so grown up lol!

Old Place

New Place

The place is still very empty but that does nothing to diminish my excitement. I am always on alert for things that I can put in my new place. Being the picky person that I am I have not yet found a couch which I love - a couch is number one on my list. I have so many ideas running in my head and I have been doing my research. Pinterest is such a good place to get ideas and inspiration.
In my search for home ware I went to the Decorex Expo last week and I am glad I did. Here are a few pictures.

Looks too good to take a bath in.

For my garden or veranda some day.

Love love the burst of colors

These hand made flowers caught my eye.

I have never been a pink person but this got me.

More lounge ideas. Red/maroon doesn't look too bad for the couch.

The more I see home ideas the more I realize that the choices are many. It can be a bit confusing but at the end of the day it is down to one's budget. At the Decorex Expo I saw a lot of lovely stuff but on asking the prices I found myself cringing more than thrice.
I see exciting times ahead as I furnish and decorate my place. It's a dream come true for sure.

My One Thing

A few days ago I had a conversation with my friend Fay about singlehood and she was encouraging me not to lose hope. She gave me the scripture of Luke 18: 1-8 where Jesus told the parable about the persistent widow. I have always loved that parable and on many occasions that particular scripture has kept me going and I must admit pesistance in prayer has paid off. However, when it comes to being single and struggling with it I have found it hard to be consistently relentless. There are times when I feel hopeless and discouraged and I feel as if God is simply not hearing me and that I might as well accept that I am going to be single for life. Friends like Fay are a blessing because they remind me that giving up is not an option and that there is always hope.

Anyway, as with most single ladies I have a list of things that I would love to have in a husband. I know that people have different views on this and my view is that there is nothing wrong with having a list. Well, I am a dreamer and believe that anything is possible so I am not afarid to dream big and act outside the box. Having said that if some one where to ask me if I had to chose just 1 quality in my future spouse what would it be. The answer would be that I want my future spouse to be able to love me the way God does. I mean I have experienced the highest kind of love there is and I don't want to experience any less. Plus if he loves me the way God loves me then all other things like faithfulness, kindness, forgiving etc will be part of the package. Just my thoughts! That would be my one thing from my 'crazy' list (smiley face).

The First Time I ‘Met’ Kari

It was 2011, together with a couple of friends we decided to drive over to Watford where the Soul Survivor Festival was happening. The couple of hours we spent there were amazing and how I wished I had signed up for the whole conference and not just a day. Just before we left we stopped by the stalls, we wanted to buy a CD/s to listen to on the way home. There were so many to choose from and so many names I had never heard, it was hard to made a decision. Then my friend Cherie grabs this CD with this beautiful woman on the cover, takes a look at the song list and says, ‘Let’s take this one. I know the Revelation Song so she must be good.’ So we got the CD and what a good choice it was. We listened to the CD during the 2 hr drive from Watford to Andover, repeating our favorites several times. I fell in love with songs like, ‘Healer’, ‘My Beloved’, Sweep Me Away’, ‘No Sweeter Name’, Everyone Needs a Little’, ‘You are for Me’ – hey wait a minute – am I just about to list every song from the album? Since then I have been a fan of Kari Jobe and her music. She has a beautiful voice and sings from the soul. Her music leaves me with no doubt how much she loves Jesus.

The other day I saw the interview she and husband gave and one of the stories she told touched me and reminded me about God’s faithfulness even regarding the seemingly small things. Yes, indeed God is always listening and even when we have forgotten He doesn’t. So Kari shares the story of green eyes and how she always said she wanted to marry a man with green eyes. However, when she first got to know her husband, then just a friend, he had brown eyes. Let me not spoil the story – so I guess you have to listen and watch the clip to know what happened. But all I can say is that – her husband now has green eyes.

Gotta love how God works. 

My All Time Idée Fixe

I have been feeling rather lazy of late. Posting on this blog has been on my to do list  for a while now but it has taken me this long to finally post.
Last month I took a trip home to see my family. I wasn't able to go in December and so I wanted to make up for lost time and also see my nephew who I saw when he was just a baby. I was beyond excited and the days wouldn't move fast enough. Finally the day arrived and I was off. Here are a few pictures from my trip. My nephew has grown up I tell. These kids seem to grow over night and I am sure the next time I see him he will be a whole lot different.

Just after take off. I was able to take this picture as we flew over Joburg. I like taking pictures from the air. Its a different view up there altogether.

I love this picture. Can you that meandering pattern. It must be a dry river or something. Unfortunately, we are experiencing a drought in Southern Africa and hence our rivers are running dry.

Just after landing (whew!). That is the national airline which hasn't been doing so well for a while now.

Aaah there he is. My sister and nephew arrived the next day and we went to the airport to pick them up. This picture was taken just after they had come out of arrivals. He wasn't letting anybody take him from his mama :(

One of my friends has an office which has a great view of Harare. This is what she seeing everyday. Not bad neh?

There he is - my forever idee fix. He was just a tiny baby just yesterday. Not anymore. He is now a hyper and very busy toddler.  Kept all of us on our feet the whole time.

Look at that smile. Priceless.

 Little dude wanted his freedom and all aunt wanted was to have some pictures taken with him.

Do you remember these kind of radios? I love it so much and I am planning to convince my parents to give it to me. This is a gem and you don't see such these days. 

Hey little dude. What are you on about?

Finally warming up to me. We sure had fun together. Can't wait to see you again buddy. 

I miss baby AA already. I can't wait to see him again. I hope that the next time I see him he will remember me. I see him running towards me calling out my name... well one can only dream and hope.

Just When I Thought All Was Lost

I have been searching... no hunting yes hunting for a certain book for years. When I was about 7 years old I won a book prize at school. I kept that book for years until I was an adult. But because I moved a lot since completing university and my parents did their own house clearings getting rid of stuff over the years the book got lost. Of course, sentimental me was devastated when I couldn't find it on one of my trips home. My other childhood books including The Secret Garden were still there and I just couldn't understand how that one got lost. I had been hoping that it would be one of the books which I would pass on to my children one day. So I came up with a plan...I would buy the book and keep it to share with my kids one day. Aha as it were it turned out that I had forgotten the name of the book. All I remembered was that it was about a magpie who liked shiny things, a wishing well and a little girl who wished for a present to give to someone.

I tried to search on the internet using these and different phrases but my search turned out nothing on my particular book. Disheartening as it was, I was in denial that the internet with all its vastness would not have any information or at least the cover of the book. I knew if I saw the cover I would recognize it. I tried again and again. I had almost given up hope of ever remembering or finding it when the other day I decided to put time periods of when the book could have been possibly published (e.g 1970s, 1980s) and whala, one of the imagines caught my attention. I had found my book. I was so stunned such that I was speechless and frozen for awhile. After years of searching and trying to remember my moment had finally come. After that nothing and no one could remove the smile from my face.

Image from Pinterest.

This is the book. I am going to find it and buy it. One day I am going to share it with my kids. I am adding it to the list. My kids better be avid readers, shame they already have a number of books waiting for them :) :). Kids one of the things you should know is that your mama is book crazy!

The End of the Recognition Wall

When I first saw the recognition wall in our office as a new employee I thought it was so cool. It was a board where our visitors got to sign and write messages. It had motivating quotes, touching words and well to be honest some silly slogans and all that but I loved it. I even signed and wrote a message on it. A few weeks ago a decision was made that it should be rubbed clean and used as an upcoming events board. Being the sentimental person that I am I was distraught. I watched with much sadness as it was rubbed clean. And then... there were 2 particular messages which couldn't be rubbed off because some people had apparently used permanent markers. I was so happy that a part of the wall was going to survive after all.

A Part of the wall before it met its demise.

The last 2 pictures are what remains of what used to be. 

What did I tell you? That wall had some really great messages. My only regret is I didn't think of taking pictures of it before it was wiped off. I guess I took it for granted and just never thought it would be gone one day. Thank you, you who used permanent markers - because of you a part of the recognition wall remains alive.