What’s Been Happening

So, remember the list of goals I made last week? Well, I have ticked off at least one – the renewal application of my passport. I sat at Home Affairs for a while yesterday as they were offline, but once they were back on, the process was dealt with quickly. In seven to fourteen days I will have my new passport, so should a trip come across my path, I can grab it with both hands.

2020 is Here

New year, new decade…no resolutions, just goals:

Blog more and grow my blog and Facebook following.  My dream is to establish Reflections of a Misfit as a brand of sorts.

Drink more water and get some sun, because according to some memes, I’m nothing more than a houseplant with complicated emotions.

I’ve already decided what the theme for my birthday, which is nine months and twenty days away, is going to be.  I would love to say that it came to me in a dream, but the truth is that a friend shared something on WhatsApp that spurned the wheels of creativity.

2014 is Here…

Normally when the clock strikes twelve, hailing the end of a year, and the beginning of another one, I reflect on the year past, and more often than not my eyes are filled with tears about what I didn’t achieve.  Last night I didn’t.  Because I’d received a promise from God.  A friend shared this verse on Facebook and it took root in my heart:

Isaiah 43:18-19

New International Version (NIV)

18 “Forget the former things;
    do not dwell on the past.
19 See, I am doing a new thing!
    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
    and streams in the wasteland.”

I was quite tired.  If I’d had my way, I would have been in bed just before eleven, but Elizabeth forced me to push through. I spent the night at her place, simply visiting with her, her brother and her parents.  It was probably the quietest new year I’ve experienced in a decade.  This morning we had a proper New Year’s breakfast 😉

My step-sister is here, spending the night, en-route to visit my other step-sister who stays further up the coast.  While I sit typing away, she and my mom are chatting up a storm in the lounge.  Dad is very happy to have her here.  He has gone to great effort, with smoked angel fish and snoek and oysters.  

I quickly had to pop out on an errand and the radio in the car was off and all I could think about was just how blessed I am.  I have amazing parents, family and friends.  I am moving in two weeks into the perfect place.  My sideline businesses are both doing well.  This is definitely a reflection of what lies ahead.

Anyhow, I am not really a resolution person, but I saw this photo shared by Herbalife, it got me thinking…

 

So, here goes…

This year I will:

1.  Be a better listener.  After all, I have two ears and one mouth.  And if I must speak, to speak accurately. And to speak life:

Proverbs 18:21

New International Version (NIV)

21 T”he tongue has the power of life and death,
    and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

2.  Make time every day to be quiet in God’s presence.  Caryn, a colleague bought me this book for Christmas:

by Retah McPherson.  She has the most amazing story to tell.  If you’ve got time, read their story here.  

Feeling inspired by this, I bought this book (the Afrikaans translation) for Steve for Christmas and the English one for myself…

 

Steve told me that the author is a down to earth man, that really serves God, and that he ministers in a way that any person can understand.  I had heard about Angus Buchan before, but it wasn’t until I’d seen the movie, Faith like Potatoes that I really took an interest in his ministry. 

3.  Stay healthy – not only because it is good for me, but so that I can inspire others to be healthy too. 

4.  Read, and blog more.  After all, reading and writing are both passions of mine, and I should be pursuing them…

5.  Make a daily choice to choose life, because it is a choice:

Deuteronomy 30:19

New International Version (NIV)

19 “This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live”

6.  Make the most of every opportunity that comes my way and to help people where I can.

7.  To laugh more… 😀

I’m sure I could add more to the list, but for now I think that is enough…

Looking ahead, I am hopeful and happy, because of the promise above, and also because I know God has a plan for me!  And it is a good plan…

Jeremiah 29:11

New International Version (NIV)

11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

So…here’s to 2014 – bring it on!  I am EXCITED and SO READY!

 

Looking in the Mirror, 10 Years Ahead

I am somewhat uninspired.  It is possibly a combination of the mountain of flu meds I’m on and the dismal windy, wintry weather outside.  The fact that it is only Bruno (our accounts bloke) and I in the office today doesn’t help matters either. 

As I drove to work this morning I thought to myself, “I want to blog, but I really don’t have anything to blog about.  So I opted for the Plinky prompt of the day which is:

“10 years from now, what do you hope your life will be like?”

Well, given the fact that ten years from now, I will already be 40, I hope to be settled, in a home of my own, with a husband, a child (or two), and a cat.  Part of me feels lost because at 30, I have only had 2 really serious relationships, both of which ended in disaster.  Every time I find someone I’m interested in, I screw it all up because I come on too strong.  “Hard to get” is a concept I have yet to understand, let alone master.

Besides the proverbial family ‘n white-picket-fence-scene, I know that I don’t want to be working at the farm anymore.  Farming has to be in one’s blood and it definitely isn’t in mine.  Don’t misunderstand me, I like the people I work with, I am just not overly fond of the job.  Hell, one would have thought that by 30, I would already know what I wanted to be doing.  Wait!  I do know what I want to do – write.  But I also am enough of a realist to know that the likelihood of my work ever being published is slim to none.

My second choice is to own a glamourous gourmet sandwich shop.  This stems from my obsessive fascination with food magazines.  Ironically enough, I only cook when I’m really in the mood, and I’m only really ever in the mood when I know there will be guests.  And when I know there will be guests, I generally go the whole hog and prepare a themed (usually three-course) meal.  A while ago, with the help of another blogger, http://browniegirlblog.wordpress.com, I entertained guests with a Moroccan evening.  It was a huge success with the menu being:

Mezze Platter

Ciabatta Bread

Pecan and Raisin Bread

Three Cheese Bread Sticks

Pita Wedges

Hummus

Tzatiki

Rosa Tomatoes

Peppadews

Herbed Feta

Calamata and Queen Olives

I am a huge Hummus fan – I love it on seed loaf with cheese.  Elizabeth asked for some to take home so that she could have it on some fresh bread her Mom had baked.

Main Course

BG’s North African Baked Chicken Tagine – WOW!  Really colourful and delish!

BG’s Jeweled Couscous – I don’t think I will ever cook rice again.  Couscous is so easy.  I didn’t have spring onions that the recipe called for, but I just chopped in a bit of green pepper…

Moroccan Carrot and Orange Salad – DIVINE!  And from me that is a compliment, because I don’t eat carrot salad at the best of times.

Steamed Courgettes – I was supposed to make Courgette Fritters for a starter, but was pressed for time (actually I was enjoying the music so much,I didn’t see what the time actually was), so I just shoved them in the steamer with Salt ‘n Pepper.  Perfect!

Dessert

Lemon and Rosemary Cake, with Greek Yoghurt – Even though when I made it on Monday night already (the longer it stands, the better the texture and taste), I burnt the top of the cake to a cinder, I managed to save enough and it was lovely.  The Greek Yoghurt was such a lovely accompaniment.    

Drinks

As Morocco is a predominantly Islamic country, and they do not drink alcohol, I decided to be as authentic as possible and served only orange juice and BG’s minted citrus water, which will be something that there will be a permanent supply of in our fridge as it is super-refreshing.

 I also know that in 10 years time I will be driving a status car.  Preferably a Mercedes, but I’d settle for a Lexus too.  I was hoping to already be driving my status car, but I’ve made some bad life choices which forced me to delay this specific goal.

So, who knows, 10 years from now I may very well be a glamourous-gorgeous-gourmet-sandwich-shop-owner, as well as a married-Mercedes-driving Mom.

Sounds like a good plan, if you ask me. 

 

Hello world!

I used to be an avid blogger on another platform, but the wheels began to fall off the proverbial bus…  WordPress was recommended to me by a friend who blogs here, The Only Cin (http://theonlycin.wordpress.com), so I am sure I will be very happy here.

To get those of you reading my blog accumstomed to my kind of writing, I will be posting some content off my old blog here before deleting the account. 

The aim of this blog is to reflect what I’m feeling – be it creative, bored, ecstatic, worried, depressed or just a plain misfit…but at the same time to share the things I’m passionate about, like food, travel, literature, Sunday drives to No Where in Particular, my friends and my family.

I hope you will all enjoy the journey with me…