on breathing

these ladies {aletha on the left of me, kelly to the right}. what an absolute blessing they both have been to me in my first year here in uganda.
they have both been like breathing in fresh air a midst the dust and diesel of this city.

before we left canada, i was googling resources for families living in kampala and came across kelly's blog. her and her family {same as mine; 2 boys about the same age} were preparing to move to kampala only months before we were. i left her a comment on her blog and we soon connected via blogs and emails. it wasn't too long after we arrived that kelly and i met up and the connection was instant. a friend! in kampala! thank you, Jesus!

about mid-october i decided to take a hiatus from facebook but feared how i would connect with other women in kampala without the help of facebook groups like "expats in uganda", etc. God is so good. he doesn't need facebook to connect people.
about a week later i got an email from a friend of a friend who lives in uganda and thought that me and another young mom she knew of should meet up for coffee and get to know each other and if it didn't work out, well that's fine. so me and this other mom {aletha} met up and i really liked her! she was honest and real and had already been living in uganda for a year with her two little kiddos. what a total blessing from God!

this next year is going to look different for me in terms of these two ladies. aletha and her family will be returning back to canada in october and both of kelly's boys will be in school 5 days a week. and oh yeah, i'll be having a baby in mere weeks. so it's going to look different for all of us, but i am so thankful for their friendship during my first year in kampala and whatever this next year looks like, i trust in God's provision for all my needs - all i have to do is look back to how He provided for me this past year and my hope is renewed.

gratitude

why is gratitude so hard to do in the not-so-great times? why does my heart fall back upon grumbling and complaining and having a bad attitude?

on our drive home from jinja today i commented to jamie that sometimes {lots of times} pride is all over me. i pat myself on the back for being a mom in africa and how i must be so awesome-special to be doing what i'm doing and then i stop and think {or something happens to make me stop and think}, really, vanessa? really? because it seems like just yesterday {and a few days ago and pretty much all of last week, 2 months ago, etc.} you were barely hanging on.

there is nothing awesome-special about me. because it's nothing in me that enables me to be here. the real me is grumbling about late-night karaoke and hotel rooms right beside the bar and {my} out of control children and the lack of mosquito nets in our hotel room and lake flies in the bathroom and no power in our house in kampala and a fridge that got turned off for 3 days and wasted food and on and on it goes. that's the real me. or at least the me without Jesus.

i need Him far more desperately than i'm often willing to acknowledge. 

it's sad, really.
but i'm learning to abide in Him.
because He doesn't need strong, healthy, holy people coming to Him to abide. He calls the weak and desperate to come. abide. He calls me. and then once i come, He helps me to abide. it's amazing really. you might say that it's awesome-special. 

new shoes!

With Spain less than 2 weeks away I've been trying to figure out what we need. I figured the average temperature will be around 12 degrees. Which, quite frankly, for us will seem ridiculously cold. 

So when I realized I didn't bring shoes for Noah and Jude could barely fit in the ones I did bring, I asked Jamie to pick some up at the crazy market he was heading to. {My boys live in Crocs and flip flops/sandals. I love living in a country with only "dry season" and "rainy season". No need to buy clothes for 4 different seasons!}

When he brought home the shoes and the boys tried them on it was instant love.

 

Seriously.
Jude wouldn't even take his off for his nap.

And Noah kept asking when his quiet time would be so he could have it with his shoes on!

The beauty of living with less is that when something "new" {they are likely second-hand, coming from the market and all} is given, the gratitude and "specialness" is so much more!

jinja

we've been in jinja since thursday on a little getaway with our friend & coworker archie, who's joined us from canada.

jinja is located on the nile river and some of the places we've been to are absolutely gorgeous.

we went on a sunset cruise of the nile and we were the only ones on it! there were snacks a-plenty and even a barbecue on board for us all to enjoy to some eclectic tunes {kid rock, bob marley, coldplay, garth brooks...yeah. it was epic.}. 

we sat back and enjoyed the ride.

and then jude threw his nalgene bottle into the nile.

awesome.

and our captain even turned around and fished it out of the water!

we've done lots of swimming and watched some christmas cartoons. we've eaten some yummy food {tonight we tried banana fritters - so good.} and there have been been some kids for the boys to play with here.

i am looking forward to getting back "home" and wonder at this homebody i've become.

homebody and yet...traveller still. it's interesting.

we've been reading our christmas story books and opening our advent envelopes {although today's was "Do a craft with Mom." and that was a bit of a fail as i didn't properly read the instructions. oh well.} and can't wait to get back to our house to go through all the goodies that archie brought from home for us.

so very thankful.

oh! also, our boys have slept in the same bed for the last couple nights here. the nights have not been super smooth, but they could have been worse. needless to say, both boys took 2+ hour naps today.

it's so good for all of us to continue to learn to be flexible. i'm just thankful they are used to sharing a room {which i 100% recommend}. 

happy saturday!

big Sunday brunch

it's sunday again.

sundays aren't really my favourite day of the week here. going to church isn't really that fun or enjoyable and often i come home quite tired from trying to corral my kids and not make too much of a scene. it's enough that we're mzungus {white people} without being rowdy mzungus. 

but that's not what this post is about.

big Sunday brunch is partly for me. to eat delicious and filling food before heading out to church that happens to fall right over the lunch hour.

this week i had some leftover pumpkin puree from thanksgiving so i made up my own pumpkin spice pancakes and served them up with an overnight egg bake. add some tea and juice and you've got yourself a big Sunday brunch.

voila!

here's the overnight egg bake {which was delicious, by the way!}:

ingredients:

8 eggs

1 cup of milk

8 slices of slightly stale bread {more or less...whatever looks good to you. this recipe is totally changeable depending on what you have in your fridge/cupboard/pantry}

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

whatever else you want to throw in! {i used 1/2 a green pepper, 1/2 a red onion - finely diced, some pork sausage. next time i'll add in some tomatoes and maybe some mushrooms too!}

assemble ingredients and put in a large, greased casserole dish. cover and put in the fridge the night before.

in the morning, sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top and bake at 350F for about 45 minutes or until it's not so jiggly and looks done to you.

and the pumpkin spice pancakes while they were in the pan {also a hit!}:

combine:

2 cups flour

2 T sugar

4 t baking powder

1 t salt, optional

combine separately and add:

2 eggs, beaten

1 1/2 cups milk

1/4 cup oil or melted shortening

2 T brown sugar

1/2 t each cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger

3/4 cup pumpkin puree

stir quickly until blended and then drop onto an {ideally} hot, greased griddle {or you can just use a large pan like i do.} in any size you prefer {i use a 1/4 cup measuring cup}.

keep warm in a warm oven on a baking sheet if you want to serve all at once. serve with  maple syrup or anything else you think would go nicely with pumpkin spice pancakes!

one thing i do love about sundays here is after church, once we get home, we hear hymns being sung in luganda for the whole afternoon coming from a nearby church. it's beautiful with all the different harmonies and i often hum along with them.

there are always things to be thankful for. sometimes you just have to listen for them.

linking up with Miss Elaineous Mondays

thankful.

there is so much to be thankful for;

no headache when i woke up this morning.
a new swing set for the boys!

{do you like our tire swings? i think they're cool.}

turkey dinner - the turkey was a fail {um, i had to pluck some lingering feathers. it was not a pleasant experience.}, but still...turkey! in africa! amazing.

and the pumpkin pie. how is it that the smell of something brings back memories of so many things? when i smelled this pie come out of the oven last night, i thought of autumn, thanksgiving in canada, Summit {a student retreat that we go on every year}, fall leaves and so much more. and the taste...so worth the baking, mashing, blending, straining that i did. it.was.amazing. {if i do say so myself.} my first ever pumpkin pie! from scratch. like, for real scratchy, scratch scratch.
bet you've never seen a rectangle slice of pie before! {i had no pie plate so i improvised.}

anyway, jude thought it was good enough to practically inhale. and quite frankly, i agree.

and just over a year ago i wrote this. and now we're here. amazing.

turkey in uganda

so this is a story about my quest to serve a turkey dinner for the real Canadian thanksgiving {that would be today, folks}.
i figured my best bet was to go to a local and ask if they have turkey here.
elizabeth. my trusted, amazing, sweet, hard working house help was the first person i thought of.
she smiles and says that yes, they do have turkey here in uganda and she will go to the market and find out for me how much.
then she pauses
do you want them to kill it or will you do that here?
she smirks because i believe she already knows the answer to the question she asks.
we laugh as i say that yes please, we'd like it to arrive dead. and preferably plucked.
she laughs again.
later in the week she texts me and asks if i want a male turkey or a female turkey.
um...?
seriously have you ever thought about if the turkey you eat at thanksgiving and/or christmas is male or female?
me neither.
so i google it. {of course.}
and we decide male is the way to go.
and i find a pumpkin!

and last night i baked it. {it's just as orange on the inside as ours are on the outside.}
and then this morning i woke up with a migraine.
and elizabeth is MIA until 11am.
with a female turkey.
cut up into pieces. in a black plastic bag.
i smile.
because...it's funny. our different cultures. me trying to do this "canadian" thing in the middle of uganda.
and a turkey cut up into pieces seems funny at the moment.
i tell her that usually we cook it whole.
we smile at each other, probably thinking how funny the others' culture is.
and then i go back to bed.
and i'll cook my thanksgiving dinner tomorrow instead of today.
i'm feeling better now and will probably bake my first ever pumpkin pie for my sweet husband. this is probably his favourite part of thanksgiving dinner.
i'm learning {ever so slowly}. to be thankful. every day.
and this afternoon as my headache slowly subsided i looked outside and saw my home. my green grass and exotic trees. the stone wall behind us and the red dirt on the roads. and i smiled. because being thankful in all things {as hard and ugly as they sometimes are} is teaching me contentment and joy.

linking up with miss elaineous mondays

giving thanks for the ugly

i've picked up the habit of giving thanks in a journal. of doing eucharisteo.
{i even started a new "gratitude" journal that my sweet friend, mandy gave to me as a goodbye present.}

today after i dumped in a new package of pasta and then noticed there were dead bugs floating around in the boiling water i sighed.
and then grabbed a spoon and started spooning out as many bugs as i could find.
later as i picked through the cooked bow tie pasta for the ones that had bugs on/in them i was floundering.
how do i give thanks for this?
how do i practice giving thanks for the ugly things in my life? like bugs in my pasta.
1 Thessalonians 5:18
as i pondered my predicament, the horn of africa's famine came to mind.
and then i gave thanks. with a sincere heart. not just because i ought but because i truly felt grateful to have food.
i have food to feed my children.
i don't have to watch them starve.
and when one of them doesn't want tonight's dinner, i can offer him last night's leftovers.
leftovers!

today during my quiet time {noah and i had one together!} i read that "anything less than gratitude and trust is practical atheism." i was shocked. and convicted. how often do i grumble with an unthankful heart or stress because i do not trust the I Am?

so when i found bugs in my pasta i dug deep to find something to give thanks for.
even for bugs in my pasta.
besides, isn't there some sort of missionary joke about finding bugs in your food?

eucharisteo

upon the recommendation of a new friend i bought the book, 1000 Gifts.

i read this today at the end of the second chapter. the words almost jumped off the page at me,

...life change comes when we receive life with thanks and ask for nothing to change.


i have many thoughts swirling in my head from this book so far.

and so i am consciously giving thanks and hope to chronicle my thanks here.

(1) foam swords found beside the toilet for it means that there are lively, active, laughing, imaginative children {my children} in my life.

(2) air conditioning on hot, humid days and a glass of coke zero chock-full of ice

(3) impromptu kisses from my almost 4 year old

(4) walking hand-in-hand with my husband of 7 years to the grocery store at dusk - still in love - casual, quiet conversation on the way there and back. (5) realizing we both seek out strangers' eyes when we're out in order to make eye contact.

i found a little notebook that is blank (with the first 10 or so pages ripped out - i can't remember doing this but it was likely me who did it) that i want to fill with thanks to God for His goodness in my life. for there is much to be thankful for.