Of forgiveness, Chicken Lollipops and Bacon Wrapped Chicken.

Once in a while, you come across a blog that inspires you.

That's the effect Sabirah's blog has on me. Her post about forgiveness made me think deeply. It's hard to believe that she's so young. I admire her.

I found this picture of Chicken Lollipops she put up. Yummy.  

source

Reminds me of one of my new discoveries, Bacon wrapped Chicken. Yum Yum Yum, Delicioso! 

Home made appetizers for the win!

So what if it came in a box from the store?

I had to carefully unwrap the box, arrange the pieces in a pan and bake it in my oven. It doesn't get anymore "home made" than that joor. Scratch "made from scratch". *adjusts chef hat*

One of my friends thinks I'm crazy because when I'm hungry, I like to look at pictures of food. It gives me pleasure, especially if it's food I already ate. I feel like I'm breaking the "you can't eat your cake and have it" rule. *cheeky grin*

I like breaking rules. Tell me I can't do something and I immediately find myself trying to figure out just how I can get away with doing it. Explains why I got into a lot of trouble as a child... Yeah, that and my big mouth... My aunty used to call me "Radio Lagos". If only talking was an Olympic sport... 

Do you like to look at pictures of food too, or do you, like my friend, think I'm only punishing myself? 

I would like to know what you think.

Thanks for coming by again and again.

May your dreams come true

xxx

Labor Day Weekend :)

Labor day weekend was fabulous. We had a proper dinner date for the first time since we moved here. 

Not having anyone to babysit, we've had to make do with lunch dates and movies while the munchkins are at daycare. Going out to eat with them is fun, but I don't need to be a mind reader to know that the other diners (who are gracious enough to smile after having had pieces of food thrown at them) and the people who have to clean up after us don't like us very much.

You can imagine how excited I was when Dooshima offered to babysit when she was around. I'm so grateful to her. She's really great with them, and knowing they were in good hands, we were able to  relax and have a great time.

Dinner. 

At the movies :D  We saw Sparkle. Whitney Houston is/was such an amazing actress. I doubt that there was a dry eye when she sang "His Eye Is On The Sparrow". 

It was a fun weekend, we enjoyed having Dooshima around. We had a Crawfish feast. Fun times!

Alexis loves Aunty :D

Debola and Dooshima doing justice to the Crawfish 

See the serious looks on their faces? Figuring out how to eat Crawfish is not a joke at all o. Just yesterday, I was tweeting about how I need to learn how to eat Crawfish in public without looking like a village girl. I ended up spending a good chunk of what was supposed to be Study Time watching YouTube videos of how to eat Crawfish. I had a good laugh. You should look them up. Jokes for days...

Thankfully, I didn't laugh and forget why I turned on my laptop in the first place. I was feeling like a good girl, taking my online English Composition quiz which I thought was due  on Thursday  on Monday night. Imagine my relief when I found out it was closing at 8am on Tuesday. I would've been so pained, especially because it was really easy. We had 45 minutes for three attempts and I only needed one attempt and 5 minutes to get a 10/10 score. Yeah, I'm showing off *dusts shoulders off* Lol... School's cool ;)

Thanks for coming by again and again
May your dreams come true
xxx

First day of school :)

It's been crazy these past couple of weeks. Crazy good.

Nathan got into the Head Start program this year and we're really glad because it's perfect for his transition from  a faith based pre-school to Elementary school when he turns 5 next year. He wasn't picked last year and even though there was a long waiting list, he made it. God keeps showing up for us and we are so grateful.

See how excited my baby is?

He's been looking forward to "real school" all summer. I tried explaining to him that Kindergarten doesn't start until next year, but as far as he's concerned, not going to his regular daycare for pre-k 4 is "real school". Why rain on his parade? 

                           

He's wearing his "I will make history" shirt :) 

As other kids cried and clung to their moms, I was pretty chuffed to see him so independent. The tears we had to wipe were those of Alexis'. She didn't see why she couldn't stay.

She had already claimed her own seat in his class :')

As I watched them, I was reminded of how blessed I am. I do not take God's blessings for granted. This  verse of scripture expresses my heart's desire. I don't ever want to lose sight of how important my job as a mom is as I pursue my dreams.

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.                   3 John 1:4                     

My first day of school
Unlike Nathan, my first day day of school started off pensive. Thankfully, it didn't stay that way and I tweeted this picture in the middle of my first class. Teacher was teaching, Gbemi was tweeting. See my life? :P

By the time classes were over, I was sure that going back to school was the right choice. I wasn't afraid anymore. Errr.. that is not entirely true... I'm still afraid of Algebra. So afraid, I didn't register for any math courses this semester at all. The fear is reeeeaaaallll!!!!

In the weeks leading up to resumption, I was afraid. Thankfully, all that fear served a good purpose. My fear drove me to my knees and as I took time to reflect and ask God for direction, I closely examined my career choices and realized that while Fashion Merchandising was a good career option, I wasn't passionate about it. It was familiar and wouldn't be hard to study, but as I tried to answer the question:

"what would you be doing if financial reward wasn't an issue?" 

I knew I wouldn't pick fashion. I would not do it for free.

What I would do, which I am already doing for free and which I absolutely love, is being there to listen and offer encouragement when people share their cares and concerns about love and marriage. It gives me a lot of pleasure to see people find love and to see marriages thrive, especially if the couple had given up before. Watching God restore marriages, praying along with those who need it and just sowing seeds of love. I love researching possible solutions to issues, so that I can do more than pray or say "it is well". If you follow me on twitter, you already know I can go on and on and on, talking about love, God's way. I have since been named "Aunty Ifesowapo" by Atoke. @gbemisoke is a Love Ambassador. No shame. I often get DMs and Emails with requests for prayers, questions or advice and I find myself carrying burdens of people I barely know because I have come to realize that beneath the strong facades we try to put up, we are all the same, we want to love and be loved. The reason a lot of people suffer in silence is that we think our problems are exclusive to us, so we plaster on our practiced smiles and say "it is well". Jesus did not die for us to endure such pain. I am not ashamed to say that I struggle too. I have issues, questions, imperfections and it bothers me when I cannot do more than pray. I like searching for answers and I love to share them.

I have since changed my major and I'm studying to become a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. A Psychology degree is a requirement for a Masters in MFT, which I need to be licensed to practice. I studied Business Administration back home, so I'm doing Psychology first. It's going to take me so much longer to finish school, but I don't mind at all. I'm so passionate about love and how to make it work, I don't mind putting in all the years of study, just so that I can move beyond empathy to helping people find solutions. One part of me thinks I'm crazy. Debola is convinced I am on the right path and he has been very supportive, patiently listening as I went on and on (and on and on and on), trying to clarify the random thoughts in my head, praying with me as I asked God what He really wants me to do with my life, and just being there... I do not take all of that for granted. Having a supportive partner is such a great blessing.

When the day comes that I am weary, I will come back to this post and hopefully, I will be reminded of this joy and immense sense of gratitude that I feel and I will find the strength to keep going, to keep smiling as I did on the first day of school :)

I've stopped taking on sewing projects so that I can focus on my family and school for now and I'm hoping that as soon as I settle properly into this "adult education" thing, I'll  be able to blog more.

Thanks for coming by again and again,
May your dreams come true
xxx