Spirit of Adventure

WOW its happening my girlfriend Denica and I are actually going to Italy!  The whole thing came together in an 18 hour window

Can you handle?

There are so many things that I love about this trip

• The spontaneity
• The fact that we're making life happen for ourselves
• Its an adventure (I like adventure)
• Our bravery
• The spirit of it
• Going somewhere I have always wanted to go
• Doing it on a whim
• Taking charge of my life
• Empowerment
• Excitement
• Our Courage
• Strength
• The prospects 
• How BIG my life is.

This time I'm going to Italy with a friend and get to experience it as a single.  Hopefully next time I go to Italy it will be with my love.

From the Ashes a Phoenix will rise

No lies its been a hard week, my boyfriend broke up with me, which sucked.

(He is a great guy & I do respect him and esteem him)

I was at the lowest point I've been at in the last 5 years.

But I've realised I need to pick myself up be strong & carry on.

It is the way I am though, when something bad happens I flounder & can't swim but give me a few minutes,

hours, or in this case days & I will come back stronger.  Ready to fight.

Game plan on.

I burnt the house down, but from the ashes a phoenix will rise.

I WILL!

I chose this picture (its not really my style) because the image of the old bird gone & the new beautiful stronger, powerful Phoenix rising is exactly what I need to do & be.

Playing with Fire* continued

I burnt down the house

 

My Favourite Picture

I came across this picture months ago in a South African newspaper apparently it was taken when Barak and Michelle saw the Queen and Prince Phillip pull up to a dinner in their car.

 

I love this picture because it just shows how real the Obama's are and it makes me smile when I see it.

Playing with Fire*

Here I am sitting by myself on a cold winters day, when I spot a box of matches, I wonder "Hmmm where did those come from?".  It doesn't really matter where it came from is inconsequential, its what I'm going to do with them that matters, I need matches to light some candles because its going to get dark soon and Eskom's turned the power off again, thank you for good service delivery.  But while its still light out there's a pile of leaves I can burn, my chores will be done in no time.

I go over to the leaves, there's no wind blowing and I start lighting matches, holding it up to a piece of rolled up paper and stuffing the paper into the leaves (which are in a wheelbarrow - I'm not an idiot, so I'm doing this safely), the leaves go up in a inferno of flames, they're dry fuel the fires thirst for dry combustible material.  As quickly as it goes up, it dies down.

I turn around to find something else to do, maybe I'll start loosening up the soil and throw some fertilizer to get the ground ready for the seedlings I plan on planting.  Heading off to the shed I grab a spade and return ready to do some gardening.  As I round the corner, I can't believe what I see, the entire lawn is on fire - how did this happen?  I thought I was being responsible, I thought I had it under control, oh my gosh!  The fire keeps spreading over the lawn, swallowing up every piece of dry brown and yellow grass.  Its still small enough to contain, I grab the watering can and throw that on the fir, it doesn't seem to have an effect.  I grab some towels off the wash line and try smother the fire, it smothers out that section but then the wind pick ups, the fire moves onto a new patch of grass.  As the fire moves on the trail of black grass that I managed to "save" and the grass it no longer has a use for is left in its wake.  The wind seems to be blowing from every direction I don't know which way the fire will move.

If the fire keeps moving towards the east, it will reach the veld, the dry long grass, then the dry pine needles and pine cones that lie on the other side of the veld.  If it moves south it will burn my house down.  If it moves north it will destroy my neighbors house.  If it moves west - please let it move west, it will be heading towards the lake and then I might have a fighting chance.  I don't know where its going, me armed with my hose pipe - do I even stand a chance?  If the fire keeps burning, it will probably take me down with it.





*This is a metaphor for an argument/strife/dissension I caused all by myself no one else to blame with a special person - pick your battles, some things just aren't worth arguing over.  The smallest comment can blow up way out of proportion and leave you feeling like a wretched idiot for your silly little actions.

Justin time - 1

A day that could have come sooner and would be welcomed if it was possible for it to be more frequent, my wonderful boyfriend Justin was arriving for his South African vacation, round 2.

Ecstatic to see him, finally, and take in every amazing minute with him (and they were).

My man was in town and we had an awesome trip from Cape Town to PE through the Klein Karoo planned.

Thus commences the best week of my year so far.



View Directions to Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa in a larger map

Everything in life worth waiting for and having happens "just in time"

Feature Friday - The Royal Wedding

Classic, Elegant, Classy & Beautiful.

More Wedding Day Blogs

http://www.empoweredtraditionalist.com/2011/04/29/old-love-new-love/

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ThisIsGlamorous/~3/FtcXW3Ebk8U/royal-wedding-with-this-kiss.html

Inspirational Friendship

I have this amazing friend, (I have a few, but this one gets special mention today), who lives on another continent across an ocean and she has recently started blogging.

She enriches my life.
She is a prime example of a godly woman.
I see her in the bible verse “Let your beauty not be external - the braiding of hair and wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes - but the inner person of the heart, the lasting beauty of a gentle and tranquil spirit, which is precious in the God’s sight.” 1 Peter 3:3-4 
Beautiful on the outside and the inside.
I wish I could spend time with her, so that she would rub off on me.
At least now she is a little bit more accessible - hear my friends enriching thoughts.  She will touch your heart.

http://amommythought.blogspot.com/

A Rose By Any Other Name

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

Friendship at unexpected times

My friend Caron left for the USA on Tuesday last week.  Me, being a flake, got her farewell dates mixed up - I need to buy a diary, and I missed her party.

Driving home on Tuesday afternoon, I got a phone call and it was Caron, thanking me - the lame, forget your farewell friend, telling me how precious I am to her, giving me affirmation when I should be the one calling her and saying - have a safe trip, you are precious, enjoy your adventure, have fun, I know you will continue to bless and enrich the lives of the 'Yanks' (said affectionately) you meet, you are a blessing and God has got you and he has amazing things lined up for you.

Read her tasteful, catchy, hip and chic blog http://macdotcoza.blogspot.com - its a treat.

Only decent picture I have available without access to facebook.

Thank you God, for this wonderful lady!

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

One of the explanations as to my current status of disposability, from Rebekah, is "out of sight, out of mind."

 I would hope for more of an "absence makes the heart grow fonder" effect, alas we can't get what we want.

The out of sight, out of mind effect seems to extend beyond the reaches of my Saturday blog.  Hence the prompting to dig up an old poem book I made in high school...

I was unable to track the origin of 'Out of Sight, Out of Mind' but I came across a poem (when I was about 15) written by Sir Walter Raleigh 1552-1618

Out of Sight, Out of Mind.

The oftener seen, the most I lust.

The more I lust, the more I smart.

The more I smart, the more I trust.

The more I trust, the heavier heart.

The heavy heart breeds mine unrest.

They absence, therefore, I like best.

The rarer seen, the less in mind.

The less in mind, the lesser pain.

The lesser pain, less grief I find.

The lesser grief, the greater gain.

The greater gain, the merrier I.

Therefore I wish thy sight to fly.

The further off, the more I joy.

The more I joy the happier life.

The happier life, less hurts annoy.

The lesser hurts, pleasure most rife.

Such pleasure rife shall I obtain.

When distance doth depart us twain.

I do pitty the girl he wrote the poem for.  Sir Walter an interesting man the hyperlink will take you to his wikipedia page, its worth a read.

Social Etiquette Doesn't Pay

The Little Book of Etiquette

I've always wanted to be a lady that conducts myself appropriately in various situations.  When I was about 12 I took a book out of the library on etiquette and read it (while taking notes - first born type A personality trait).

When presented with multiple knives and forks I know (thanks to Titanic) to "start from the outside and work your way in."

I also know how to fold that napkin fan.

Being South African I use both my knife and fork, simultaneously when I eat.  A fork is NOT a knife and should not be used to cut food, it is used to prod food and pick it up.

I like men to be chivalrous and really appreciate it when a man offers me his seat, lets me walk through a door first and opens a car door for me.  I feel like I'm being treated like a lady and these chivalrous gestures do make me respect the man displaying them.

   

On a side note tangent - I totally agree with the Cyanide and Happiness cartoon below.

Back from my tangent.

In line with etiquette - let me set the scene.

Bonni was coming home for a vacation, a friend of hers, Mildread, organised a welcome home part at Rebekah's house.  I'm friends with Bonni and good friends with Rebekah.  Mildread is an acquittance, we see each other socially where we have mutual friends - I've always thought of her as a solid, stand up, grounded girl who has been a great friend to our mutual friends.

Lee was invited to this welcome home part and she proceeded to invite me.  As she hadn't given me any other details, the eve of the party approached I decided to call Rebekah and ask her what I needed to bring.  Rebekah sounded confused and not excited about my query and the news that I had been invited (which was explained later-she still likes me, I haven't offended her - so YAY me for not being a completely crappy person).  

This news prompted a call from Lee about 10 minutes later telling me that "Your no longer invited" hmmm* saucer of milk with that comment?

Mildread had prompted Lee to uninvite me.

Now I'm completely okay with not being invited to something, its that persons prerogative, if you don't want me there thats completely okay.  But to be uninvited somewhere, who does that?  Honestly its bizarre, hurtful, humiliating and bitchy! 

How would Mildread feel if I asked Lee to uninvite her to a function I had organised for Rebekah.

Tangent:

Coming from the Christian circle that this scene was based in, the Christian cliche of WWJD (what would Jesus do), Christian love?  Hmmm* no wonder why the world see's Christians as hypocrites and the way social media displays them is self-righteous, holier than tough.

If I hadn't had the etiquette prompting of NOT arriving empty handed and checking with my host and friend.  I would not have been uninvited, spent my Friday and Saturday morbidly upset over my disposablity-its a crumby place to be.

I will be calling Mildread (having spoken to Rebekah this morning) and confronting her of her poor handling of the situation, nicely - bring it on confrontation, I wonder if there is an etiquette book on calling someone out on high school catiness. 

Reeeooow!

*This might be slightly misrepresented for your concise reading preferences - it was an exclusive gathering of closer personal friends, however Bella who is of the same apparent friendship ranking as me and who was in the same exact same position as me was not uninvited.  I was the one who was used to make an example of, as Lee has a habit of inviting people to things-her motto the more the merrier*

*Names have been changed*

Joburg anomalies

I was driving home on Friday amidst a torrential down pour.  Two things occurred to me, one that evening I had a pretty good chance of meeting Jesus and two, very few of the Robots on the way home were working.  An anomaly that occurs every time it rains in Joburg.

I'm unsure how far this phenomenon reaches if its centralised to Africa or if it affects Traffic Lights the world over.

Being a person who likes to fix whats broken, or implement measures that stop things from breaking because 'if it aint broke, you don't need to fix it' would it not make sense to avoid the scenario where robots stop working.  Its all about effective functionality.

I have thus thought of a few concepts to aid traffic on a rainy day and save technicians the schlep of running out to fix robots after a Highveld  thunder shower

1.  .Find out why robots stop working during a thunder storm.  (Fix the problem at the source)

I realize that this might be an expense government is not willing to put out at this juncture, so more practically in the interim...

2.  Cling wrap robots prior to a storm

1.   

  and look how happy cling wrap makes   people - the cling wrap technicians will have so much fun!

3.  Bubble boy the robots.

its more durable than cling wrap, can be recycled and washed and re-used as need be.

Goodbye Facebook

Today marks my first deactivation of facebook - why because I can.

SSMT Verse 3

2 days behind the schedule and about 3 weeks of 'spiritual drought' which is entirely my fault because I've been too lazy to open my bible and read anything and verse 2 didn't feature at all over the last 2 weeks, as a result of lazyness.  My physical life is echoing the apathy that I've been exercising in my spiritual life.

But new task week, new verse, and hopefully I will get my butt into gear and start growing spiritually again.

Let (mercy), love, (faithfulness), and trust never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.  Then you will win favour and a good name in the sight of God and man.  Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding in all your ways acknowledge him and He will make straight your path.  Proverbs 3:3-6 NIV, ( )=KJV

Why this verse?  Because from the mouth comes the overflow of the heart and I want to know what a heart that is filled with these traits sounds like...

soap scum

Soap scum or limescale is an anomaly that I don't understand.

NOT my shower/bath, random picture.

Defined as a grey layer of material that forms around showers etc. where soap and water are present together, it is caused by minerals which are naturally present in water.  As the minerals combine with soap they create a sticky mixture which adheres to surrounding surfaces, and mixes with skin, hair and dirt.

Now the part that baffles me is this

1)
soap+water=soap scum
soap+water+skin=soap scum
all these factors are present when we wash.

2)
You can't get rid of soap scum with the water that comes out of your tap.

3) If soap and water does (refer to image) this to your shower what is it doing to your body.

So are we all walking around with a build up of soap scum on our bodies?

Can you avoid being a human soap scum incubator by rinsing off with clean water (shower vs bath), or should we begin to use the soap scum rider products to wash with in order to prevent an outbreak of soap scum human beings.

Or is it a huge conspiracy between the soap factory and the soap scum rider factories, a we'll scratch your back if you scratch ours.

So maybe next time you're reaching one for one of these...

  

you should think again and reach for this instead.



















Next week I'll show you how to use this anomaly to avoid bath time, kids you'll want to catch this one.


* Please note we do not endorse any of these products.
* Don't try this at home.
* We are not responsible for your stupidity if you lack common sense take that up with your parents or educators.
* This blog was intended to be humorous and no scientific studies have yet been conducted. 

SSMT Verse 2

16 Days into the New Year, I thought I would be employed by now and I'm not - gulp* gulp*  With the only certain thing in my life being on the first and 15th of every month (oh and now that I'm doing youth the next 9 Fridays are planned out - YAY!).

So the 15th of January rolled round yesterday and I thought 'OH NO I don't have a verse to memorize for the next 2 weeks' que the anxiety.  Ridiculous right, anxious because I can't find a verse that speaks to me, one where I can hear God saying 'Justine this is where you're focus needs to be for the next 2 weeks'.  In my true fashion I list the things that I am struggling with in life...

anxiety

fear (links to trusting God)

stress

uncertainty

My next step is to page through my journal and see if I've written down any verses that I could use, nothing.  My next turn is to my bible concordance and see what I can find, the result NOTHING.  Well I am a 21st century woman so lets use technology, I will google the scripture verses I am looking for - nothing relevant.  Finally I go to my bible software and search, after scrolling through and reading a number of verses I got Isaiah 12:2 "Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid.  The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation."

Having just posted it, I saw another ladies verse come up under mine and I am now hijacking her's so verse 2 for 2011, which I think re-iterates what I chose - "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."  Jeremiah 17:7-8 NIV

Follow the hyper-link to Beth Moore's page, if your keen to be part of the blog community.

"Being CERTAIN of this that He who began a good work in you will carry it onto completion until [Jesus comes back]."  Philippians 1:6 NIV

Feature Friday!

One of my FAVOURITE blogs.

I love it when I see a new feed in my Google Reader, and cant wait to click on the link and see what awesome treats she has for me.

Christa Taylor introduced to me in a book called Answering The Guy Question (loaned to me by a friend).  It was a worthwhile read at the time, and that cover picture is SO cute how can you not want to read it?

In fact I enjoyed this book so much that when I fell on a book one of Leslie Ludy's books Set Apart Femininity, I had to buy it, I have yet to read it but if you see the stack of books lined up on my desk you will understand why.

I digress, I will discuss Ludy's work in another blog at a latter stage.

Now Christa's clothing line (which sadly is no longer in existence) was prompted as a great online store to purchase modest clothing.  Not something a nun would wear, but tasteful, elegant and cute.

If you think a girl can look good without baring all, then Christa is a blog you will love to follow.  Great fashion tips and looks.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, 2011 walk with God

A New Year, full of uncertainty and anxiety for me, a plannner with NO plan gulp.

What I do know however is that on the 1st and 15th of every month I will be memorizing scripture, so if your interested in joining an online community of woman (sorry boys) go to Beth Moore's website and have a look at this 'challenge' and start join in.

My Current Spiritual Crusade...

I am striving to 'take my thoughts captive'.  As a woman and 'so(le)journer'* of my mind the crazy, whacked out musings, over active imagination, propensity to think of the worst case scenario and all facets and possible outcomes of EVERYTHING in an attempt to be prepared for it all.  (Yes I'm letting you take a sneak peak at how my brain works - run now).  This is a necessary task.

My Material

Beth Moore's bible study 'Breaking Free' provides a section where 5 days are spent on the aforementioned task.  This is my soul focus for the next 5 days - and yes it is terrifying.

The Terror

Its a situation where practical application is necessary, so you pray for patience and what happens your put in a painstaking situation with the most tedious person on the planet and your job is not to have an apoplexy or kill them. Same thing here.

Scripture

The chosen verse is "You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast because he trusts in You."  Isaiah 26:3 NIV

So the journey of Spiritual Growth begins today and hopefully I can look back on Dec 15th 2011 and see a grown and changed woman, who is better for her time with God.  Like a good wine a Christian woman should get better with age as she walks with God.  The other thing I know 2011 will bring is more character and improvement on who I currently am ~ thank you Jesus, my life verse "Being CERTAIN of this that He who began a good work in you will carry it onto completion until (Jesus comes back)."  Philippians 1:6 NIV

*play on words - I'm the only traveler that gets to experience my mind first hand.