Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
GREATER THINGS!!!!
I've been a busy girl lately...the last month has seen my beautiful country hosting the Soccer world cup!
WOW!!!!!
I've never felt so much spirit and patriotism before, and definitely the favour of God pouring down on our nation!
The last ball may have been kicked, no more flags waving or vuvuzelas blowing, but I believe that something has begun thats going to reverberate for years to come!
Greater things have yet to come, greater things are still to be done!
Check out this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMoIqR_oXM4
we did this routine in church at the begining of the world cup, but I think it's even more relevant now!
(and bonus: that's also list#64: make a youtube video! that's me in the front 'getting my Greek on!')
Thursday, June 10, 2010
One memorable day...
I've been absorbed in Dicken's Great Expectations for the last few days (list #23) and this paragraph really jumped off the page and got me thinking...
I've come to learn that often it's not the decisions we agonise through and turn over and over in our heads, but rather those we make in a split second that have the most impact on our future...
what chains have been built from your decisions?
"That was a memorable day to me, for it made great changes in me. But, it is the same with any life. Imagine one selected day struck out of it, and think how different its course would have been. Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron, or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on one memorable day."
I've come to learn that often it's not the decisions we agonise through and turn over and over in our heads, but rather those we make in a split second that have the most impact on our future...
what chains have been built from your decisions?
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Things have been such a mess in my life lately. It seems that situations never just happen in singular form but rather we are bombarded from all sides at the same time. The greatest bomb was dropped a week ago when my sister, a friend and I were involved in a car accident; thankfully we are all 100% fine but have been left without a car and all the hassles that tag along with the situation: finances, insurance, insecurity and blame. As a result of all of this, I was unable to go to work for the week and was unceremoniously fired.
So here I am: car-less and job-less. But I refuse to be hopeless! Somehow in all of this God has taken my hurt, my insecurities, my cries of unfairness, my despair and my anger and blanketed it in an unexplainable peace.
I was listening to a sermon the other day where the preacher said:
It’s all about the cross,
Run to the cross,
If you can’t run: walk
If you can’t walk: crawl
And if you can’t even get up to crawl, just look
Look to the cross.
“I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I am at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question? The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can, and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions...” Romans 7: 23-25 (MSG)
I’m looking to the cross, are you?
So here I am: car-less and job-less. But I refuse to be hopeless! Somehow in all of this God has taken my hurt, my insecurities, my cries of unfairness, my despair and my anger and blanketed it in an unexplainable peace.
I was listening to a sermon the other day where the preacher said:
It’s all about the cross,
Run to the cross,
If you can’t run: walk
If you can’t walk: crawl
And if you can’t even get up to crawl, just look
Look to the cross.
“I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I am at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question? The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can, and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions...” Romans 7: 23-25 (MSG)
I’m looking to the cross, are you?
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Oh how he loves us...
He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realise just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.
And oh, how He loves us so,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all
He loves us,
oh how He loves us,
how He loves us,.
We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
So Heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way…
He loves us,
oh how He loves us,
how He loves us.
(John Mark mcMillan)
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Every little thing is gonna be alright
So I’m still struggling with job issues.
As the job I have come to love becomes increasingly redundant, I note with dismay that financial demands don’t go on holiday but rather just invite confusion to come and stay.
Do I get a new job? Do I find a second job? Where do I even start looking? And it’s so much more than ‘should I stay or should I go’ when your emotions and fulfilment are wrapped up in it!
And yet somehow, I’m at peace. I have such an assurance that God has got this, that he will provide and that his plans will prevail.
“Go in peace, the journey on which you go is under the eye of the Lord” Judges 18:6 (ESV).
I like the way the Good news bible phrases it “You have nothing to worry about, the Lord is taking care of you on this trip”
I came across an article called “Finding a job, Keeping the faith” on a Catholic news site. (I’m neither Catholic nor big on following news sites, but somehow God creates these ‘coincidences’). The Pope was quoted on an address he gave to young people in Rome:
“My life has been willed by God since eternity. I am loved, I am necessary. God has a plan for me in the totality of history: He has a plan specifically for me."
The author goes on to say...
It is a dramatic paradigm shift for the job seeker, rightfully concerned about cell-phone and car-insurance bills that can't quite be shelved to eternity. But it is a mantra to keep you plugging away: "I am loved, I am necessary." And it is pretty amazing that God's plan for you, though it doesn't match your timeline, stands to be noticed in "the totality of history."
So take a deep breath and the long view. The master's plan is unfolding right now.
Yep...His plans are unfolding...
I hope it’s not some kind of sacrilege to use Bob Marley to sum up what the Pope says, but “every little thing is gonna be all right...”
As the job I have come to love becomes increasingly redundant, I note with dismay that financial demands don’t go on holiday but rather just invite confusion to come and stay.
Do I get a new job? Do I find a second job? Where do I even start looking? And it’s so much more than ‘should I stay or should I go’ when your emotions and fulfilment are wrapped up in it!
And yet somehow, I’m at peace. I have such an assurance that God has got this, that he will provide and that his plans will prevail.
“Go in peace, the journey on which you go is under the eye of the Lord” Judges 18:6 (ESV).
I like the way the Good news bible phrases it “You have nothing to worry about, the Lord is taking care of you on this trip”
I came across an article called “Finding a job, Keeping the faith” on a Catholic news site. (I’m neither Catholic nor big on following news sites, but somehow God creates these ‘coincidences’). The Pope was quoted on an address he gave to young people in Rome:
“My life has been willed by God since eternity. I am loved, I am necessary. God has a plan for me in the totality of history: He has a plan specifically for me."
The author goes on to say...
It is a dramatic paradigm shift for the job seeker, rightfully concerned about cell-phone and car-insurance bills that can't quite be shelved to eternity. But it is a mantra to keep you plugging away: "I am loved, I am necessary." And it is pretty amazing that God's plan for you, though it doesn't match your timeline, stands to be noticed in "the totality of history."
So take a deep breath and the long view. The master's plan is unfolding right now.
Yep...His plans are unfolding...
I hope it’s not some kind of sacrilege to use Bob Marley to sum up what the Pope says, but “every little thing is gonna be all right...”
Friday, May 7, 2010
Cookies for Chris
List #65 bake cookies for someone.
I love to bake. And even more so I love to bake for other people. Yesterday I whipped up a batch of amazingly chocolatety cookies for a new friend of mine.
I haven’t known Chris long, only a few months really and yet he has already had an incredible impact on my life.
Over the last few years and for various reasons I haven’t had very good experiences with boys...I’ve been left broken, confused and quite frankly completely unsure how to relate to the male species. And then suddenly this year, starting out at a new church, I’ve had the privilege of meeting not boys, but men. Honourable, righteous and courageous men. Guys who are genuine, who admit their imperfections, who chose their battles wisely, who listen to me and who look me in the eye.
Chris is one of them. He makes me laugh, he’s seen me cry, he’s dealt with my misplaced anger, he listens, and he speaks wisdom into my life. He’s teaching me guitar and he’s teaching me a new way; proving wrong all the ‘truths’ I’ve come to believe.
How good it is to finally meet the ‘good guys’, to have friends, to have brothers.
The prince of my childhood dreams might just be real, but to believe it I’ve first had to meet his brothers. And bake them cookies.
Choc chip cookies
Ingredients
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup flour
• 1 1/2 cups oats
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 slab milk chocolate- chopped
• 1 slap dark chocolate- chopped
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
2.In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Beat in the egg and then stir in the vanilla.
3.Stir dry ingredients into creamed butter and sugar. Add chocolate chips.
4.Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes in the preheated oven
enjoy!!!
I love to bake. And even more so I love to bake for other people. Yesterday I whipped up a batch of amazingly chocolatety cookies for a new friend of mine.
I haven’t known Chris long, only a few months really and yet he has already had an incredible impact on my life.
Over the last few years and for various reasons I haven’t had very good experiences with boys...I’ve been left broken, confused and quite frankly completely unsure how to relate to the male species. And then suddenly this year, starting out at a new church, I’ve had the privilege of meeting not boys, but men. Honourable, righteous and courageous men. Guys who are genuine, who admit their imperfections, who chose their battles wisely, who listen to me and who look me in the eye.
Chris is one of them. He makes me laugh, he’s seen me cry, he’s dealt with my misplaced anger, he listens, and he speaks wisdom into my life. He’s teaching me guitar and he’s teaching me a new way; proving wrong all the ‘truths’ I’ve come to believe.
How good it is to finally meet the ‘good guys’, to have friends, to have brothers.
The prince of my childhood dreams might just be real, but to believe it I’ve first had to meet his brothers. And bake them cookies.
Choc chip cookies
Ingredients
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup flour
• 1 1/2 cups oats
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 slab milk chocolate- chopped
• 1 slap dark chocolate- chopped
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
2.In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Beat in the egg and then stir in the vanilla.
3.Stir dry ingredients into creamed butter and sugar. Add chocolate chips.
4.Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes in the preheated oven
enjoy!!!
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Giraffes and Jesus...
I’ve been feeling a little...dispirited... lately, nothing I could place my finger on just a general heaviness that’s been weighing me down. So when my alarm went off at 5.30am last Tuesday all I wanted to do was pull the covers over my head and hide from the world. Though something told me to ‘get up’, somehow I felt that something would happen that day. Without much enthusiasm I rolled out of bed and began to trudge through the day, I arrived at varsity and immediately regretted waking up: my lectures were a waste of time; I was tired and was becoming quickly frustrated at everything and everyone around me, so much for ‘something happening’ huh?
On the drive home as I turned over in my head my horrible day I was suddenly taken by surprise. There, in the middle of Pretoria, just over the fence at the side of the road, was a giraffe. No kidding.
Now if you had of said to me “what do you think might happen today?” the very last thing I would have replied is “maybe I’ll see a giraffe”. It seems a small thing (though giraffes are really quite big...) but in that moment I was able to have a laugh to myself, to appreciate beauty and to remember that God is in control. I was reminded of this verse:
“Look at the nations and watch and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe even if you were told” Habakkuk 1:5
You could have told me I was going to see a giraffe. I wouldn’t have believed you. Likewise God is going to do something in our lives, in our nation that will amaze us, which we would never believe, even if we were told.
Cool story, huh? Would you believe that that’s not even the end...?
Fast forward a week and I’m still feeling wracked with worry and concerns, my job is unstable, my finances unsure and issues I thought I was dealing with continue to rear their ugly heads. Frustrated and angry I began to fight with God in the car on the way to varsity. I was yelling and crying and generally making everyone else on the road think I was a crazy person. Eventually I called out to God “if you are really in this situation, if you are really looking after me I want a sign!” and in a juvenile, irritated moment I added “how about another giraffe hey God?!”. I didn’t see anything.
Until about 750m later, when behold, there was not one but TWO giraffes on the side of the road.
Oh how God loves me, oh yes how he loves me. That he, the God of the universe would take the time to humour my childish little requests. That he would command his creation to calm my ever-doubting heart.
Sometimes I just need to be encouraged that God is there, looking out for me.
And sometimes, he drops a giraffe (or two) in my path.
Wow.
God is good.
“The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him.” Nahum 1:7
On the drive home as I turned over in my head my horrible day I was suddenly taken by surprise. There, in the middle of Pretoria, just over the fence at the side of the road, was a giraffe. No kidding.
Now if you had of said to me “what do you think might happen today?” the very last thing I would have replied is “maybe I’ll see a giraffe”. It seems a small thing (though giraffes are really quite big...) but in that moment I was able to have a laugh to myself, to appreciate beauty and to remember that God is in control. I was reminded of this verse:
“Look at the nations and watch and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe even if you were told” Habakkuk 1:5
You could have told me I was going to see a giraffe. I wouldn’t have believed you. Likewise God is going to do something in our lives, in our nation that will amaze us, which we would never believe, even if we were told.
Cool story, huh? Would you believe that that’s not even the end...?
Fast forward a week and I’m still feeling wracked with worry and concerns, my job is unstable, my finances unsure and issues I thought I was dealing with continue to rear their ugly heads. Frustrated and angry I began to fight with God in the car on the way to varsity. I was yelling and crying and generally making everyone else on the road think I was a crazy person. Eventually I called out to God “if you are really in this situation, if you are really looking after me I want a sign!” and in a juvenile, irritated moment I added “how about another giraffe hey God?!”. I didn’t see anything.
Until about 750m later, when behold, there was not one but TWO giraffes on the side of the road.
Oh how God loves me, oh yes how he loves me. That he, the God of the universe would take the time to humour my childish little requests. That he would command his creation to calm my ever-doubting heart.
Sometimes I just need to be encouraged that God is there, looking out for me.
And sometimes, he drops a giraffe (or two) in my path.
Wow.
God is good.
“The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him.” Nahum 1:7
Monday, April 19, 2010
ouchie fingers...
list # 72: start guitar lessons
After years of of sporadic self taught playing I've finally decided to take playing seriously and started lessons Thursday! now for dealing with those ouchie fingers again...
"Practice, practice, practice. Practice until you get a guitar welt on your chest...if it makes you feel good don't stop until you see the blood from your fingers. then you'll know you're onto something" -Ted Nugent
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
not fair
the murded....
....the murderer
Which does God love the most? *
"the beauty of grace is it makes life not fair" **
* Phillip Yancey: Whats so amazing about grace?
** Relient K: Be my escape
Monday, March 29, 2010
weekend highlights package
What amazing weekend of music, food, random adventures and sleep deprivation! It’s all these unplanned moments of random joy that remind me I’m alive! This is the highlights package...
1. Buying a chequered shirt for 20 bucks, donning a cowboy hat and sheriffs badge and kidnapping Pocahontas
2. Playing the most competitive game of musical chairs I have ever witnessed.
3. Buffet breakfast at the Botanical gardens for an old friends birthday (wasn’t allowed to eat bacon yet, I swear hell is a buffet breakfast where you can’t eat bacon!!!!)
4. Sister bonding time: driving in repeated circles, blasting Queen’s greatest hits and taking 1 ½ hours to find our way home from the gardens. (Should have been a 10 minute trip- I’m gonna be topping my Christmas list with a GPS this year...)
5. Going to watch the orchestra (list #83)
6. Hearing Bach’s ‘Brandenburg concert Nr.3’ played on classical guitar and oboe. Mind blowing. Seriously: Ka-boom. Splat.
7. Spending the evening playing pool, drinking coffee & beer and chilling with the principle violinist. Yep, I know peeps!
8. Hitting Mc D’s at midnight, oreo mc flurry’s and laughing our heads off till 2am.
9. Being stopped by the Popo for driving around a traffic circle the wrong way. (I wasn’t driving. Promise.)
10. Lazing in our lounge, drinking tea and jamming acoustic guitar...bringing us to about 4am
11. Cooking a full Sunday lunch for a good friend while listening to him coax magical sounds out of my guitar
12. Eating CHICKEN after 40 days of fasting meat. My tummy had a party.
life is good. the end.
1. Buying a chequered shirt for 20 bucks, donning a cowboy hat and sheriffs badge and kidnapping Pocahontas
2. Playing the most competitive game of musical chairs I have ever witnessed.
3. Buffet breakfast at the Botanical gardens for an old friends birthday (wasn’t allowed to eat bacon yet, I swear hell is a buffet breakfast where you can’t eat bacon!!!!)
4. Sister bonding time: driving in repeated circles, blasting Queen’s greatest hits and taking 1 ½ hours to find our way home from the gardens. (Should have been a 10 minute trip- I’m gonna be topping my Christmas list with a GPS this year...)
5. Going to watch the orchestra (list #83)
6. Hearing Bach’s ‘Brandenburg concert Nr.3’ played on classical guitar and oboe. Mind blowing. Seriously: Ka-boom. Splat.
7. Spending the evening playing pool, drinking coffee & beer and chilling with the principle violinist. Yep, I know peeps!
8. Hitting Mc D’s at midnight, oreo mc flurry’s and laughing our heads off till 2am.
9. Being stopped by the Popo for driving around a traffic circle the wrong way. (I wasn’t driving. Promise.)
10. Lazing in our lounge, drinking tea and jamming acoustic guitar...bringing us to about 4am
11. Cooking a full Sunday lunch for a good friend while listening to him coax magical sounds out of my guitar
12. Eating CHICKEN after 40 days of fasting meat. My tummy had a party.
life is good. the end.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Oh St. Paddy's day...how I love thee
St. Paddy’s day check list:
Went to Irish pub (10 points)
Wore green (20 points + extra points for tying a big bow in my hair!)
Caught up with a favourite friend (30 points)
Sang drinking songs (20 points + bonus points for knowing the words!)
Drank Guinness (20 points: list #33- Oh yeah!)
Impressed a genuine Irishman with our Guinness drinking skills (100000 points!)
And there’s no St. Paddy’s without bringing home some mementoes, last year I stole,erm...found... a sign off a street pole.
This years loot:
1x Guinness advert
1x coaster
1x bunch of green balloons
1x green bowler hat (this took particular skill to convince the waiter to get me one!)
The loot would have included a Guinness draft glass but Amy convinced me that stealing the glass would be wrong and shady. Damn.
The hat says it all...on St. Patrick’s day: I’M IRISH!!!!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Veggie tales...
My latest adventure is number 53 on my list: Be vegeterian for a month.
This has been a tough one... I started towards the end of last month when pay day seemed a million miles away. Let me tell you, the only thing harder than being a veggie kid is being a poor veggie kid!
But thankfully salvation has come and my pay cheque has been deposited! Which means the fridge is stocked with a grand assortment of...well...er..leaves and roots. Is'nt that a joy?
I'm going to go eat a bowl of sprouts now...
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Sometimes I'm glad I grew up....
I just took an entertaining, albeit slightly horrifying, little stroll down memory lane. There I was sitting at the kitchen counter, doing nothing in particular with the radio playing in the background when suddenly the opening bars of a particular song sent me flying back 10 years into my childhood. Before I knew it I was singing every word and my feet were shuffling into the dance routine my friends and I had choreographed...
The song? And it pains me to admit this...
“Everybody” by none other than The Backstreet boys
These guys were the band of my childhood. I had the posters, the t-shirt, the sticker album, the scrapbook and all their songs on tape! (This was a decade ago...)
Seriously?
What was I thinking?
I was a dorky kid.
And as I type this I’m still bopping and singing along to that song:
Am I original? (yeah) Am I the only one? (yeah). Am I sexual (yeah) Am I everything you need? you better rock your body now! Everybody, rock your body...
Yep, I’m still a dork.
But I’m probably the coolest dork you’ll ever meet.
The song? And it pains me to admit this...
“Everybody” by none other than The Backstreet boys
These guys were the band of my childhood. I had the posters, the t-shirt, the sticker album, the scrapbook and all their songs on tape! (This was a decade ago...)
Seriously?
What was I thinking?
I was a dorky kid.
And as I type this I’m still bopping and singing along to that song:
Am I original? (yeah) Am I the only one? (yeah). Am I sexual (yeah) Am I everything you need? you better rock your body now! Everybody, rock your body...
Yep, I’m still a dork.
But I’m probably the coolest dork you’ll ever meet.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Narrow driveways can teach you things...
Today I learnt a life lesson:
It's only when you're in a hurry that you reverse into the wall.
Moral of the story, in the words of Mr. Jack Johnson:
"slow down everyone you're moving to fast"
It's only when you're in a hurry that you reverse into the wall.
Moral of the story, in the words of Mr. Jack Johnson:
"slow down everyone you're moving to fast"
I'm Colourful!
List #84: Wear a different colour of the rainbow everyday for a week
This was a fun one!!! (and led to me organising my wardrobe by colour- I'm not OCD I promise!)
Song of the week:
Colourful
The Parlotones
Honey you’re my favourite
I wonder do you feel the same?
Honey you’re delicious
I wonder so I taste the same?
I’m an old romantic standing here clutching my bleeding heart
If I’m not good enough then I’ve had enough let’s make this fast
Who cares I’ll find my fish
I’m colourful
I get so nervous I stutter stutter
I am so clumsy I fumble stumble
I’m not some handsome knight in shining armour
I’m colourful, I’m colourful
Well honey you’re the reason
For the poet-inspired love affair
Honey this is treason
The king is gone Rapunzel let down your hair
I’m an old romantic standing here clutching my bleeding heart
If I’m not good enough then I’ve had enough let’s make this fast
Who cares I’ll find my fish
I’m colourful
I get so nervous I stutter stutter
I am so clumsy I fumble stumble
I’m not some handsome knight in shining armour
I’m colourful, I’m colourful
You lift me up take me higher higher
You fill me up with desire.
You lift me up take me higher higher
You fill me up with desire.
I get so nervous I stutter stutter
I am so clumsy I fumble stumble
I'm not some romance god but does it matter
I’m colourful, I’m colourful
I’m colourful, I’m colourful
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Rockstar sandwiches
In the sound track of my life Just Jinger is definitely prominent on the track list! So getting to see them live is an experience that will be filed in the “wow moments” box!
Saturday, 13 Feb, they played a small, intimate gig for Valentine’s day with a Moroccan picnic theme: what an amazing night it was! Firstly, I got to check off another item on the list (#99: give someone a Valentine’s day surprise.) Kate and I went with two friends, Eddie and Udo and surprised them with an awesome picnic and so we mellowed out on the sand under ruby coloured umbrellas and prepared to be blown away by my favourite South African rock legends!
They did not disappoint. They played all my old favourites and their latest hit “Milk and Honies”. AND they threw in some surprises, like a beautiful valentine’s rendition of Nat King Cole’s “When I fall in love”. Word must be given to the absolutely mind-blowing drum piece they played; I had to scrape my jaw off the floor when they were through! (Consider that the band members have all been professional drummers at some point in their careers). Another favourite was hearing their thought provoking song about the struggle in Zimbabwe, give it a listen here: http://ardmatthews.com/2008/11/23/fight-for-zimbabwe/
And what’s that you ask? Did I get to meet the band? Why yes, yes I did! Of course we waited to get autographs and a photo and this was an opportunity I wasn’t going to let pass...with the drummer’s (Brent Harris) arm around my shoulder and front man Ard Matthews right beside me it was the best sweaty rockstar boy sandwich ever! *sigh*.
The night ended with a head full of memories and melodies, and a reminder:
“NOW is the time of your life, NOW is the time it’s a: sweet ride till the end of the line!! NOW is the time it’s the: right time to come alive!! NOW is the time of your life!!” Just Jinjer: Time of your life.
Saturday, 13 Feb, they played a small, intimate gig for Valentine’s day with a Moroccan picnic theme: what an amazing night it was! Firstly, I got to check off another item on the list (#99: give someone a Valentine’s day surprise.) Kate and I went with two friends, Eddie and Udo and surprised them with an awesome picnic and so we mellowed out on the sand under ruby coloured umbrellas and prepared to be blown away by my favourite South African rock legends!
They did not disappoint. They played all my old favourites and their latest hit “Milk and Honies”. AND they threw in some surprises, like a beautiful valentine’s rendition of Nat King Cole’s “When I fall in love”. Word must be given to the absolutely mind-blowing drum piece they played; I had to scrape my jaw off the floor when they were through! (Consider that the band members have all been professional drummers at some point in their careers). Another favourite was hearing their thought provoking song about the struggle in Zimbabwe, give it a listen here: http://ardmatthews.com/2008/11/23/fight-for-zimbabwe/
And what’s that you ask? Did I get to meet the band? Why yes, yes I did! Of course we waited to get autographs and a photo and this was an opportunity I wasn’t going to let pass...with the drummer’s (Brent Harris) arm around my shoulder and front man Ard Matthews right beside me it was the best sweaty rockstar boy sandwich ever! *sigh*.
The night ended with a head full of memories and melodies, and a reminder:
“NOW is the time of your life, NOW is the time it’s a: sweet ride till the end of the line!! NOW is the time it’s the: right time to come alive!! NOW is the time of your life!!” Just Jinjer: Time of your life.
Friday, February 12, 2010
my tummy is happy now.
A bowl of spoiling apples was the culprit behind checking off the latest item on my list:
#51: have a tea party.
Our fruit bowl was looking a little sad, Kate suggested that we turn the offending bad apples into a pie; hence an impromptu pie making session was launched! With no recipe, limited ingredients and a tiny oven it was all a case of throw-thing- in-the-bowl-and-hope-for-the-best. Granted we were aiming to make an apple crumble and the results were something entirely different, but delicious none the less!
The pie was joined by a chocolate cake, we invited some girls around and voila! Instant tea party.
Turns out planning isn’t always a vital ingredient.
The sort-of recipe for our sort-of pie:
(This turns into a delicious gooey toffee apple pie. Well, at least it did when we tried it.)
For the pastry:
Chuck some flour in a bowl, rub in some butter until it looks crumbly. Throw in enough cold water to make a dough. Cling wrap it. Shove it in the fridge till later.
For the filling:
Peel, core and chop the apples. Throw them in a pot with some cinnamon, butter, sugar and golden syrup. Cook it till it smells good, there should be lots of sauce.
For the topping:
Make some more crumblies with butter and flour. Add a whole lot of sugar and some cinnamon.
Line a dish with pastry, fill with the apples and sprinkle over the topping. Bake @ 180°c till bubbly inside and crispy outside. YUM!
#51: have a tea party.
Our fruit bowl was looking a little sad, Kate suggested that we turn the offending bad apples into a pie; hence an impromptu pie making session was launched! With no recipe, limited ingredients and a tiny oven it was all a case of throw-thing- in-the-bowl-and-hope-for-the-best. Granted we were aiming to make an apple crumble and the results were something entirely different, but delicious none the less!
The pie was joined by a chocolate cake, we invited some girls around and voila! Instant tea party.
Turns out planning isn’t always a vital ingredient.
The sort-of recipe for our sort-of pie:
(This turns into a delicious gooey toffee apple pie. Well, at least it did when we tried it.)
For the pastry:
Chuck some flour in a bowl, rub in some butter until it looks crumbly. Throw in enough cold water to make a dough. Cling wrap it. Shove it in the fridge till later.
For the filling:
Peel, core and chop the apples. Throw them in a pot with some cinnamon, butter, sugar and golden syrup. Cook it till it smells good, there should be lots of sauce.
For the topping:
Make some more crumblies with butter and flour. Add a whole lot of sugar and some cinnamon.
Line a dish with pastry, fill with the apples and sprinkle over the topping. Bake @ 180°c till bubbly inside and crispy outside. YUM!
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Pictures
This week I saw the most beautiful picture of myself:
Drawn by: Bianca, 9yrs old
I’ve just completed 3 weeks of teaching practice, 3 glorious weeks in a classroom of 24 little miracles. Those children, with every hug, picture and kind word cemented the dream in my heart and showed me a little more of my purpose.
Surely there is no bigger reward than a child’s trusting hand in yours, confirming your significance.
Surely there are no better words to hear than those spoken by my mentor: “You were born to do this!”
Surely there is no greater feeling than knowing exactly what you should do with your life.
There are many “pictures” of me: student, daughter, friend, sister....
...and now, with absolute certainty I add one more...TEACHER.
Seeing myself through a child’s eyes was the most beautiful picture I could have been given.
What’s your most beautiful picture?
Drawn by: Bianca, 9yrs old
I’ve just completed 3 weeks of teaching practice, 3 glorious weeks in a classroom of 24 little miracles. Those children, with every hug, picture and kind word cemented the dream in my heart and showed me a little more of my purpose.
Surely there is no bigger reward than a child’s trusting hand in yours, confirming your significance.
Surely there are no better words to hear than those spoken by my mentor: “You were born to do this!”
Surely there is no greater feeling than knowing exactly what you should do with your life.
There are many “pictures” of me: student, daughter, friend, sister....
...and now, with absolute certainty I add one more...TEACHER.
Seeing myself through a child’s eyes was the most beautiful picture I could have been given.
What’s your most beautiful picture?
Saturday, February 6, 2010
It was a beautiful day!
My birthday weekend seemed to fly by at a rapid speed, filled with sorting, packing, random shopping and everything else that goes with moving into a new place. By the time it got to Sunday (My BIRTHDAY) I was exhausted in every possible way. The last few weeks had been hard and my soul was tired. Yet I woke up, put on my smile and my tiara (check list #59)and awaited what the day would hold.
Mid-morning found me sitting in lounge awiating the surprise I was informed would be happening. And boy was it a surprise...next thing I knew in walked Pookie, her husband and her two little sisters! I actually did a double take! So my afternoon was spent with my family and my bestie at my favourite place: THE ZOO! (check list #22). I love the zoo more than I think it is healthy for any 21 year old to love the zoo! So it was alligators all the way to zebras, golf cart riding and greasy lunches, photos, laughing&talking, snow cones and ice cream and all the simplest pleasures that memories are made of!
What a day! I crawled into bed that night tired and sunburnt with aching feet, but my soul was flying. It needed the joy, the pure, simple reminder of the beauty of life.
Mid-morning found me sitting in lounge awiating the surprise I was informed would be happening. And boy was it a surprise...next thing I knew in walked Pookie, her husband and her two little sisters! I actually did a double take! So my afternoon was spent with my family and my bestie at my favourite place: THE ZOO! (check list #22). I love the zoo more than I think it is healthy for any 21 year old to love the zoo! So it was alligators all the way to zebras, golf cart riding and greasy lunches, photos, laughing&talking, snow cones and ice cream and all the simplest pleasures that memories are made of!
What a day! I crawled into bed that night tired and sunburnt with aching feet, but my soul was flying. It needed the joy, the pure, simple reminder of the beauty of life.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
The List
This year instead of rattling off a couple new years resolutions that wont even make it past March,I wrote "the list". I pushed aside losing weight, saving money, not drinking or partying to much and all those other restrictives and instead listed 101 things I want to do to make the most of this year...
These things are a mix of big, small, quick, long-term, insignificant, crazy, silly and meaningfull things.
But all are about touching the joy in each moment!
THE LIST
1. Start a blog
2. Get my second tattoo
3. Play golf
4. Climb billboard @ HCC
5. Learn to cartwheel
6. Make baklava
7. Ride a rollercoaster
8. Run the Spar ladies 10km
9. Steal a road sign or traffic cone
10. Go cane jumping (Again!)
11. Eat sushi
12. Pet an Alpaca or Llama
13. Learn to hula hoop (30 seconds+)
14. Ride a motorbike
15. Start a flower garden
16. Ride a tractor
17. Read Jane Austin: sense & sensibility, Emma, Mansfield park, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion
18. Go to the shop in my PJ’s
19. Dye my hair blonde
20. Go camping
21. Picnic at the Botanical gardens
22. Go to the zoo
23. Read Dickens: Tale of two cities and Great Expectations
24. Visit the Voortrekker monument
25. Visit the Union Buildings
26. Knit a hat
27. Go on a boat
28. Sing a kareoke solo
29. Have a reunion with Pooks & Cornelius
30. Buy lunch for a homeless person
31. Read Catcher in the rye- JD Salinger
32. Go rock climbing
33. Down an entire Guiness on St. Paddy’s day
34. Go out in fancy dress
35. Have a Johnny Depp movie marathon weekend (watch ALL his movies!)
36. Learn to play “Lucy in the sky with diamonds” on guitar
37. Complete a painting
38. Read Wuthering Heights- Emily Bronte
39. Learn to crochet
40. Plant a herb garden
41. Watch the sunrise every morning for a week
42. Dance in the rain
43. Read the entire bible
44. Have a fondue
45. Slide down a hill on a cardboard box.
46. Read Lord of the rings trilogy: JRR Tolkein
47. Write letters of appreciation to important people in my life
48. Ice-skate (without holding the rail)
49. Watch the Parlotones live
50. Fly a kite
51. Have a tea party
52. Make and eat ice-cream sundaes outside in the middle of winter
53. Be vegetarian for a month
54. Make watermelon hats
55. Build a really big sandcastle
56. Plant a tree
57. Have a trolley race
58. Wear a tiara for my whole birthday
59. Go to the theatre
60. Sew an item of clothing
61. Go to the ballet
62. Have a fancy dinner party
63. Dress Goth for a day
64. Make a youtube video
65. Bake cookies for someone
66. Have a Mexican fiesta
67. Watch a live sports match
68. Watch ALL the Star wars movies
69. Surprise someone with flowers
70. Build a puzzle
71. Visit another country
72. Start guitar lessons
73. Play tennis
74. Join a hockey league
75. Flash someone on National cleavage day
76. Go busking
77. Go canoeing
78. Get a pet fish
79. Watch all ten seasons of Friends
80. TP something
81. Eat seafood (prawns, calamari & mussels)
82. Go to a museum
83. Watch an orchestra performance
84. Wear a different colour of the rainbow everyday for a week
85. Get braids
86. Learn to do the splits (improve flexability )
87. Go go-carting
88. Play paintball
89. Sleep under the stars
90. Make candles
91. Enter a poetry competition
92. Get ears pierced (#3)
93. Have an Easter Egg hunt
94. Make a mosaic
95. Write a love song
96. Wear a Natal sharks shirt to a rugby game in Pretoria
97. learn to sokkie
98. Go to the drive in
99. Give someone a valentines day surprise
100. Go horse riding
101. Buy a orphan a Christmas present
Number one: CHECK!!!! now what to do next?
These things are a mix of big, small, quick, long-term, insignificant, crazy, silly and meaningfull things.
But all are about touching the joy in each moment!
THE LIST
1. Start a blog
2. Get my second tattoo
3. Play golf
4. Climb billboard @ HCC
5. Learn to cartwheel
6. Make baklava
7. Ride a rollercoaster
8. Run the Spar ladies 10km
9. Steal a road sign or traffic cone
10. Go cane jumping (Again!)
11. Eat sushi
12. Pet an Alpaca or Llama
13. Learn to hula hoop (30 seconds+)
14. Ride a motorbike
15. Start a flower garden
16. Ride a tractor
17. Read Jane Austin: sense & sensibility, Emma, Mansfield park, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion
18. Go to the shop in my PJ’s
19. Dye my hair blonde
20. Go camping
21. Picnic at the Botanical gardens
22. Go to the zoo
23. Read Dickens: Tale of two cities and Great Expectations
24. Visit the Voortrekker monument
25. Visit the Union Buildings
26. Knit a hat
27. Go on a boat
28. Sing a kareoke solo
29. Have a reunion with Pooks & Cornelius
30. Buy lunch for a homeless person
31. Read Catcher in the rye- JD Salinger
32. Go rock climbing
33. Down an entire Guiness on St. Paddy’s day
34. Go out in fancy dress
35. Have a Johnny Depp movie marathon weekend (watch ALL his movies!)
36. Learn to play “Lucy in the sky with diamonds” on guitar
37. Complete a painting
38. Read Wuthering Heights- Emily Bronte
39. Learn to crochet
40. Plant a herb garden
41. Watch the sunrise every morning for a week
42. Dance in the rain
43. Read the entire bible
44. Have a fondue
45. Slide down a hill on a cardboard box.
46. Read Lord of the rings trilogy: JRR Tolkein
47. Write letters of appreciation to important people in my life
48. Ice-skate (without holding the rail)
49. Watch the Parlotones live
50. Fly a kite
51. Have a tea party
52. Make and eat ice-cream sundaes outside in the middle of winter
53. Be vegetarian for a month
54. Make watermelon hats
55. Build a really big sandcastle
56. Plant a tree
57. Have a trolley race
58. Wear a tiara for my whole birthday
59. Go to the theatre
60. Sew an item of clothing
61. Go to the ballet
62. Have a fancy dinner party
63. Dress Goth for a day
64. Make a youtube video
65. Bake cookies for someone
66. Have a Mexican fiesta
67. Watch a live sports match
68. Watch ALL the Star wars movies
69. Surprise someone with flowers
70. Build a puzzle
71. Visit another country
72. Start guitar lessons
73. Play tennis
74. Join a hockey league
75. Flash someone on National cleavage day
76. Go busking
77. Go canoeing
78. Get a pet fish
79. Watch all ten seasons of Friends
80. TP something
81. Eat seafood (prawns, calamari & mussels)
82. Go to a museum
83. Watch an orchestra performance
84. Wear a different colour of the rainbow everyday for a week
85. Get braids
86. Learn to do the splits (improve flexability )
87. Go go-carting
88. Play paintball
89. Sleep under the stars
90. Make candles
91. Enter a poetry competition
92. Get ears pierced (#3)
93. Have an Easter Egg hunt
94. Make a mosaic
95. Write a love song
96. Wear a Natal sharks shirt to a rugby game in Pretoria
97. learn to sokkie
98. Go to the drive in
99. Give someone a valentines day surprise
100. Go horse riding
101. Buy a orphan a Christmas present
Number one: CHECK!!!! now what to do next?
Remind me I'm alive
My best friend, Pookie, taught me to love the rain.
I never paid much attention to it until she pointed out how beautiful it really is, how it reminds us we're alive.
My favorite time is when the dark clouds roll in, when it's a moment away from raining and there's a certain energy in the air, you can breathe it deeply and fully.
It smells like redemption.
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