Is Perfection Stopping You From Achieving Your Goals?

“Perfection is the mother of procrastination” Michael Hyatt (Platform)

At job interviews whenever they would ask “what are your weaknesses?’ I would always say I am a perfectionist. I would smile inside because I always believed that perfectionism was one of those ‘positive’ weaknesses. I mean come on, it’s good to want things to be right, right?

Not always. My problem is that I will keep working at something even when it is already good enough, to the detriment of other things. I don’t know when, to say “Enough! This is as good as this can get…let’s move on. Or enough…this is the best possible option for this situation…move on”.

I am currently reading Platform by Michael Hyatt and in his book he spends time talking about setting goals, reviewing your goals daily and not allow perfectionism to make you a procrastinator, something I believe I have been doing. 

Presently I am working on a new project and whilst a lot of things have been completed, there are still certain things I need to be doing to move it forward. Are they difficult things? No. Have I done them yet? No.

What are my reasons…well I could give you a whole host, but are they reasons or excuses? The activities I am spending my time doing are not bad in themselves and will need to be done eventually but they are not bringing me closer to achieving my goal and there lies the problem.

Perfectionism can also stop you even starting a project or fulfilling a dream/goal because you fear that it won’t be good enough, or you’ll never be able to do it as good as ‘x’. Again this is something we should fight against and speak against that fear. God hasn’t given us a spirit of fear but of sound mind or as The Message puts it

“God doesn't want us to be shy with his gifts, but bold and loving and sensible” 2 Timothy 1:7.

The same mind-set works with other aspects of life. Waiting for the perfect man to come along. Waiting for the perfect time to get married? Waiting for the perfect time to have a family? Waiting for the perfect time to start your business or change career.  Let me tell you a secret about ‘perfect’…it doesn't exist.

If God has laid something on your heart, go for it. Take that step of faith and see where it leads, (I am talking to myself as well!). Put in the work and trust God.

Believe that He is walking alongside you and don’t allow ‘perfect’ to rob you of your success.

Is perfection stopping you from achieving your goals? Share below in comments.

p.s. thank you for sharing your ‘this time next year’ goals…I will be praying along!

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This time next year

This time last year we found out we were expecting a baby.

Fast forward 12 months and we have found ourselves enriched by this amazing 4 month old who has changed our lives way beyond we could have imagined. While it sounds a bit cliché, it's hard to imagine life without her.

In my old church we had this saying "this time next year" where by faith we would ask God for things believing that by this time next year we would have seen an answer.

Whether it was for a spouse, a job/qualification or a baby - 'this time next year' was a faith prayer and it was amazing to see how God answered and the testimonies people shared.

Back in 2008 my mum prayed a ‘this time next year’ prayer for me…for a husband {not that I wasn’t praying myself – but she did it publicly, at church, on my birthday}. Over the next twelve months God was kind and gracious and brought Afam and I to a place where by my next birthday we were engaged to be married. I am grateful for that prayer of faith.

Recently I was watching a Joyce Meyer teaching where she said we do not receive because we do not ask. Our motives need to be right but she said that often God is simply waiting for us to ask Him.

We have courage in God's presence, because we are sure that he hears us if we ask him for anything that is according to his will. He hears us whenever we ask him; and since we know this is true, we know also that he gives us what we ask from him. 1 John 5:14-15 (GNT)

Are you waiting on God for something? Have you asked Him?

What is your ‘this time next year'?

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Seeing in another year

Today is my birthday!

When I look back on the year, A LOT has happened and I have been blessed with so much. Equally there have been challenges and lessons learnt, but through it all, God has been my constant.

This past year I have grown in age, grown in my faith, grown in my marriage and grown as a family.

I thank God for giving me another 365 days (or 366 in this case) and I plan to live each of them to the fullest!

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It has been a bit quiet on the blog as of late.

I have wanted to write, but the very valuable commodity that is time, has been reallocated to a precious little girl who wants my full attention and things like having a shower or eating food haven taken precedent over blogging. Equally she had her Dedication at church last week, so it has been very busy around here with guests and such like.

My birth story is still sat in Drafts and unlike Amy who has been super efficient in posting her birth story (which was beautiful btw), it may be a while before it is ‘live’. I will try though, although if you know me in real life, you would have heard it already.

My MIL left on Sunday and this week it has just been me and Miss S. We are adjusting and I have slowly begun to realise that I can’t do everything and some things just have to be. But I am enjoying it and each day I learn more. I also had the opportunity to meet up with other mummy friends which has been fun. We all used to meet when we were pregnant so it was good to come together with our babies and share our stories.

I hope to be back more regularly, very soon.

Have a great weekend!

Picture - Me circa 1987

Solving the puzzle

Back when I was seven or eight, I remember entering this competition at school. We were split into teams, where I was a team leader and we had to work together in groups to solve these puzzles in the fastest time.

The clock started I remember attempting to do all the puzzles myself. My other team mates were around me, but I recall not allowing them to do anything and wanting to do the whole thing myself.

Consequently our team lost the competition and my parents pulled me to one side afterwards to explain a few life lessons; namely around teamwork and delegation.  They told me that we were in teams for a purpose and that if I had shared the tasks out and included everyone in the team, we would have had a more successful result. Equally as team leader it was my job delegate and not do everything myself. Completing the puzzle in itself was not wrong, but I was not effective on my own.

That lesson has stuck with me to this day.

Earlier this week I was studying my bible and came across the the story of Moses and Jethro in Exodus 18.

Jethro was visiting his son-in-law Moses and observed a few things. Day and night Moses would sit in a certain place and the Israelite people would present their cases to him for him to solve. This was obviously time consuming and was beginning to take its toll on Moses. Jethro noticed this and asked…

" Why are you the only judge? Why do you let these people crowd around you from morning till evening?"

¹⁵Moses answered, " Because they come here to find out what God wants them to do. ¹⁶They bring their complaints to me, and I make decisions on the basis of God's laws."

¹⁷Jethro replied: That isn't the best way to do it. ¹⁸You and the people who come to you will soon be worn out. The job is too much for one person; you can't do it alone. ¹⁹God will help you if you follow my advice. You should be the one to speak to God for the people, ²⁰and you should teach them God's laws and show them what they must do to live right.

²¹You will need to appoint some competent leaders who respect God and are trustworthy and honest. Then put them over groups of ten, fifty, a hundred, and a thousand. ²²These judges can handle the ordinary cases and bring the more difficult ones to you. Having them to share the load will make your work easier. ²³This is the way God wants it done. You won't be under nearly as much stress, and everyone else will return home feeling satisfied.

²⁴Moses followed Jethro's advice

What I like about this dialogue is that Jethro identified the problem, provided counsel to Moses and Moses listened and took his advice. Call it the first lesson in the art of delegation.

Being able to delegate is the sign of a good leader but also a wise person. Sometimes we may not see the need to delegate, but those around us who we respect will identify this and tell us.

The ability to trust others to complete the task in hand so that you can focus on the bigger picture is so important in being successful both in your personal and working life. Some people get this, some people don’t.

Delegation also requires humility. Moses could have got angry with Jethro’s suggestion, telling him that he was fine to continue as he is, but he put aside his pride and listened. He was able to let go and release authority to others, while still remaining in control and it didn’t make him any less of a leader. In fact it improved the situation no end. 

I suspect that these first few weeks (even months) of motherhood will definitely require me to put aside my pride and allow others to help me. It will require me to listen to those around me who I trust when they tell me to slow down/take a break/not be too hard on myself (*delete as appropriate). It doesn’t mean I can’t do the task in hand but rather it makes sense to allow others to do it or take a step back.

Letting go and delegating…so important.

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Peter Rabbit + the joy of reading

Alas! The first week of January is over! The snow never fell and the sun continues to shine on a daily basis. I love this unpredictable English winter! I think she knew my MIL was arriving soon and didn't want the adjustment from Nigerian temperatures to be too harsh!

So my favourite thing right now is my Kindle. I've had it a month or so and really love the flexibility it brings when it comes to reading. I've always been a bit of a bookworm and enjoy settling down with a good book. Before I discovered blogs I read a LOT of books to the point that when I was 11, I received an award at school for taking the most books out of the school library! I enjoyed nothing more than hanging out at the central library reading through the latest arrivals.

Fast forward to the generation of my 15 year old siblings and they often ask me, 'how did you do your homework without Google'. I laugh and respond by reminding them that there are places called libraries and books called encyclopaedias which took the place of the internet + Wikipedia back then (am I showing my age!). Either way I believe reading is an amazing and will always actively encourage it.

When I was a little girl my parents gave me with the Beatrix Potter story collection; the story of Peter Rabbit and his friends. I think there are 21 books in the full collection and they gave me the first 14. I loved reading those little books and cherished them. Recently I was tidying up and came across a bag where I stored childhood memorabilia and found all the books, still intact. Now that we're having children of our own, I plan to pass them down and hope they have the same enjoyment I had from them. Other favourite childhood authors of mine include Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl and Judy Blume.

One of the things I love about the Kindle is being able to download samples of a book, so that you can read the first chapter or so and see if you like it. Right now on my Kindle I am reading Love & Marriage by Emerson Eggerichs.  Last week I came across a book called 'Kingdom Parenting' by Myles Munroe. I downloaded the sample and really enjoyed it, so will look to purchase and read once I've finished Love + Respect.

What are you reading right now and what were your favourite childhood books?

Looking into the new year

My husband doesn’t believe in New Year Resolutions. He believes if there is something you want to change about yourself, why wait until January 1st, just make the change there and then. In part I agree, but I do like the freshness a new year brings, an opportunity to start again and do things differently.

This year I take on a new role as a SAHM (stay at home mum), one that I am excited about. Within that it means managing the home, finances, meals, looking after our daughter etc. I have sort of being doing this anyway since we got married (minus the daughter part), but now I want to take it to the next level and become more organised with it.

For me 2012 is about being more disciplined and having consistency around what I do. Many times I start a project, do it for a couple of weeks and then move onto something else. This year I want to complete every project I start and for the things I am already doing, do them better.

Around the home, I want to become a better homemaker. I want to be more consistent in our menu and the food we eat. I am comfortable in our grocery buying routine and know what we use each month, but I don’t want to spend time worrying about what we’re going to eat today or tomorrow, but have it planned out. This will require me to spend time and work out a meal plan that works for our family and then stick to it. I also desire to learn new dishes as well. I have a sewing machine, which I rarely use but hope to see more of in 2012. We thank God for our home and I hope this year we can continue to open our doors to friends and family.

In terms of finances, I currently record every penny I spend. That took some time getting used to, but now it is a habit of mine. What it helps me do is reconcile all our expenditure and identify areas where we need to cut back or increase. This year, I want to establish our new budget for the year and stick to it, equally I want us to increase our savings for the future. We have other financials goals which we will look to work towards.

Parenthood is an interesting one. It is an unknown territory to me and I have no idea how it will turn out. What I do know is that it is our prayer to raise our daughter to firstly love God and have her own  personal relationship with Him,  secondly be a respectable member of society and thirdly be a virtuous woman. In order for her to know God and His love, as her mother I need to be able to display those virtues on a daily basis. All the things Christ calls us to be, I need to model in our home. I read somewhere that your children don’t listen to what you say, they watch what you do. So for me that is major. My lifestyle, behaviour, how I treat others including her father will all affect the way my daughter views the world.

Finally as a wife, I want to be able to support my husband more. Not only in areas where I think he needs help, but areas where he tells he needs the support. So often as wives we can do things to help our husbands with the best intentions but if it is not the thing your husband wants your help in, you can be wasting your time. I want to listen more and direct my time and energy to those areas which benefit my husband the most.

It’s a huge responsibility and I pray for God’s help in these areas.

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Thoughts at 36 weeks

1. I must have been running on adrenaline the last couple of weeks. I honestly don't know where I found the energy to do things.

2. I foolishly thought finishing work would give me more time to do things, but I'm finding that I am tired all the time. My body is slowing down and even if I'm not actively doing anything, just the movements of the baby alone, exhaust me. It's a lot tougher to move about or even find a comfortable seating position and I can't stand for longer than 10/15 mins without feeling extreme backache. However it's not for much longer and it is good to know that she is still head down.

3. I spent last weekend washing all her clothes, blankets, bedding etc. Who knew that baby laundry would be so exciting and smell so good! Looking at all the items, as small as they are it's amazing to think that in a month or so, they will be worn and used. We've also sorted out the pram and car seat, so things are coming together nicely. I've picked up all the things needed for my hospital bag and will pack them all sometime this weekend.

4. Emotionally, while I am excited and looking forward to baby coming, I'm finding myself irritated by the smallest of things. If something is not right or in place, I get upset or angry. It's so frustrating and my poor husband is feeling the full brunt of it all. I'm assuming this is another pregnancy hormonal change, but I hope it goes away soon. I don't like being grumpy, especially at this time of year!

5. Getting out of the house is good. I spent the first part of the week away with hubs, which was good for a change of scenery and to get a bit of rest away from home. At home there is always something to be done, so being away helped me to relax and rest. It was also nice to order lots of room service and have someone else do the cooking for a change!

6. I enjoy finding baby bargains. This week we picked up the last few bits of baby things and I was able to price match a lot of things to get some good deals in store. #itsthelittlethings

7. Next Thursday she will be full term, which means she can arrive at any time. My thoughts: Please let us see the New Year!

8. My MIL has booked her flights and will be with us in 2.5 weeks. Can't wait for her to come. Yay for mothers and proper Naija food!

9. I have been listening to lots of Hillsong United lately. Loving the 'Tear Down the Walls' album. Hopefully baby will have heard the tracks enough times, that when I play it for her on the outside, she will recognise them :)

10. I am SO glad I beat the crowds and ordered all my groceries online (unlike last year). If you have never been to a supermarket in the run up to Christmas, you won't appreciate how amazing this is!

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve so from our family to yours - wishing you a wonderful Christmas!

35 and 35

Today marks 35 weeks of pregnancy with 35 days to go…a pretty cool pregnancy milestone don’t you think!

I finished work yesterday and was surprised about how emotional I felt about it.

I got into the office and my team had decorated my desk with ‘congratulations’ signs and confetti. I also had an ‘it’s a girl’ balloon hanging from my chair (which is just cut out of the picture). I work in an open plan office so if there was any doubt I was having a baby, there was no denying it now!

We had lunch planned at a local restaurant, however when we arrived they had already decided to give our table away as we arrived late. Slight bummer, but we ended up doing lunch in our work restaurant. To be honest, it was more about the people than the location, so it was still good.

I am so ready to leave, there is no doubting that, my body reminds me every morning, but actually saying goodbye to people, made it all very real and sad. It’s definitely the end of an era.

I know I’m going to do something far more important but let’s just say I was grateful for the coffee handover I had with a colleague which gave me the opportunity to leave the building before the tears started. 

To all my colleagues, thank you for all the well wishes and gifts and special thanks for making my last day fun and memorable.

Time to put my feet up…

Lists

Right now my life revolves around lists.

To do lists

To buy lists

People to call lists

Things to finish before I leave work lists

The list goes on.

I have recently found that if I don’t write something down I forget it. If an event is not in my diary it doesn’t exist.

Even when I am talking I often just lose my train of thought mid sentence. So strange and so not like me at all.

Apparently this is very common in pregnancy.

I'm wondering how soon after pregnancy things will return back to ‘normal’.

Not long now

13 days. That's how many working days I have left before I finish up at work.

Time has gone so quickly and it's hard to believe that very soon work will no longer be on the brain.

Don't get me wrong I enjoy work and the people I work with but I am relishing the next twelve months where I will get to use my mind for other things and focus my attentions on new interests and goals.

You know all those things you wished you had the time to pursue? Well it's those things I hope I can get an opportunity to embrace.

My MIL is also going to be around for two months and because she does not live here in the UK, I am looking forward to spending quality time building our mother/daughter relationship.

Mainly this next year will be about becoming a mother and all that it entails. Living the life of a SAHM.

It will be an adjustment but one I am ready for. It's time.

Yes I can

Source: modernparentsmessykids.com via Chichi on Pinterest

 

I have many dreams and goals.

Things that I want to achieve that have not yet happened.

Some days I believe I can achieve them and then other days there is this voice of doubt which discourages me and tells me I can’t. It is so frustrating.

One of my goals has always been to run my own business, which is a passion of mine. I believe in what I am doing and I know that I am good at it, but sometimes I don’t believe in myself and my abilities. 

Yesterday I was watching a sermon and realised that my whole mindset was wrong.

In life it is not about the I can’t but the fact that I can, because the Bible tells me that I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me. {Philippians 4:13}

Anytime I believe I can’t do something, that is the enemy feeding me lies. Trying to make me believe that things are not possible, I am not capable enough, I can’t do it. All lies.

But today I choose truth.

I choose to believe that with God’s help – I can and I will.

As I look to next year, I need to hold onto this verse. You should too.

Have a great weekend!

p.s. Cot arrived today – being the efficient parents we are, it’s now all beautifully set up in the nursery. I love looking at it and can’t wait for it to filled!

Happy Birthday to my one and only

Today is my dear husband’s birthday…

How time flies my love…

I don’t tell you enough but I admire you so much. You are a good man, who loves God, loves his family and works hard to ensure that we are taken care of. I thank God for your life and I am honoured to be called your wife. You make my life richer with each passing day and I love you so much. Our daughter will be blessed to have you as her daddy!

May God continue to upload you, bless you with good health and grant you wisdom as you lead our family.

May he also grant you the desires of your heart. 

We love you now and always…x

29 weeks

We had our latest antenatal appointment today and our midwife turned out to be one of the nicer ones. She did all the usual checks (which were fine) and then for the first time measured my belly. Now for those of you who have watched my recent pregnancy vlogs, size of baby was something that I was concerned about, since so many people keep telling me that I looked small for 7 months. Well today I got the confirmation that our baby is growing fine and that my size is on track.

She measured from pubic bone to fundus (top of the uterus) and the measurement was 29cm which it should be for 29 weeks. She said because I am tall my pregnancy belly will spread itself out and won’t necessarily stick out like on shorter people and that I have nothing to worry about. Yay!

She also felt the baby and told us she was in the breech position at the moment, but that it isn’t an issue at this point as she has weeks to turn into position.  She got us to feel my belly and told us this was the head or back etc. but we were a bit clueless to it all. The midwife said at this stage of pregnancy the baby still has lots of room to be moving around and summersaulting so her position could change all the time.

29 weeks marks when I can officially start maternity leave. While I enjoy work some days I wish I could stop working now, but then I remind myself its only 6 weeks to go. It’s going to be so weird (in a good way and providing baby comes on her due date) having a month or so to just chill and get ready when the time comes.

In other news we have bought our first piece of baby furniture! Enter the Eric cot from John Lewis. After researching around online, reading reviews and then seeing it person, we decided to go for a cot over a crib or a cot bed. I really wanted a white cot with a drop down side and adjustable mattress heights and this one fit the bill perfectly. The price was really good so we decided to get it and it will be delivered next week. We’ll hopefully put it together next weekend. So exciting!

One of my dear friends is throwing me a baby shower next month, which is going to be a lovely opportunity to catch up with friends and family I haven’t seen in a while. For ease we decided to set up our baby registry at John Lewis as their site was the easiest to navigate online. Walking around shops no longer does it for me, so it’s all about easy online access! I particularly like John Lewis as they have excellent customer service and they price match if you see the same item elsewhere cheaper.

Those of you expecting what was the first piece of baby gear you bought?

p.s. if you’re looking for ways to save money in the whole baby buying process, Baby Centre have a fantastic article Buying for baby on a budget.

Baby names and menus

Just popping in to say hi! Hope you had a wonderful weekend.

Ours was good but went far too quickly. I spent Sunday with a group of church mums and mums-to-be talking babies, pregnancy, labour and marriage. It was great to be able to ask questions and hear other people’s experiences about life on the other side! Hubs was doing the same with the dads in another location.

Can you believe it I’m now in the final trimester – woo! This is the final stretch and as each day passes I can’t wait to meet our little one. We’ve been praying about names and we’re pretty much there, but it remains top secret until she is born. We also just love sitting and watching her move around in my belly, which is a lot a the moment. As I commented on Facebook, watching your belly move on it own is both awesome and weird! But I love it!

Right now I definitely ‘feel’ pregnant. Backache is no joke and I find I can only sit down or stand up for short intervals of time and there is still 13 weeks to go! My body feels so heavy and I’m finding that I get a lot more exhausted which I expected would happen but it still takes adjusting to.

Home wise, I think I’ve finally found my routine. We now have a menu which we follow and it makes meal times so much easier. I know the best shops to go to for our food items and I’m also trying to make big meals at the weekend which we can eat in the week and for lunch at work, so this reduces the amount of nights I have to cook.  I’m so looking forward to next year where I will have the opportunity to be at home full time with baby and experiment more with my culinary skills (more ‘In my kitchen’ posts)  and crafty abilities (my sewing machine is on standby!) It will be a big change to life right now, but I am so ready for it.

I will also be updating the vlogs this week as well, so look out for weeks 26 and 27 very soon.

Have a great week ahead!

Who did you learn the most from?

The is so much information out there and so many avenues for you to learn and absorb information. It can be hard to decipher what is good and what is not.

From books to antenatal classes. From speaking to new mums or speaking to your own mum. Everyone has their own advice and way of doing things.

Whenever I get overwhelmed by the information overload,  I remind myself that women have been having babies for years, in many different environments and all has been well.

Women had babies before the internet was invented and before books were printed and their babies turned out just fine.

Sometimes on the job training is life’s best teacher.

Thoughts?

Wise words

So the weekend was crazy busy but well worth it.

We had family over from Nigeria who came and blessed us with lots of words of marital wisdom. Being married for over 15 years they have seen a lot. The funny thing was that a lot of it was not new stuff but it served as a reminder to us both about what we need to be doing to make our marriage the best it can be.

Marriage is hard work, but hugely rewarding and I wouldn’t change it for the world. I often wonder what my life would be like without my husband and I am grateful to be a wife. I love my husband and thank God for his life everyday. We’re constantly learning new things about each other and better ways to relate to each other and while sometimes it can be a challenge the results are worth it. I pray for grace…daily.

One of my key takeaways from our conversations with them was around transparency in marriage and how without it you can never have true intimacy. Even little things like hiding the secret shopping trips (we all do it!) we should come clean about and not keep any secrets from our husbands, no matter how small.

They also talked about how you relate to your old family once you’re married and making sure that they see you both as one, not two separate people which is so important. One needs to ensure that your marriage union is respected by all.

We were both so blessed by their visit and can’t wait to see them again.

Also this weekend was our church weekend away and while we didn’t get to go to all of it, the bit we did go to reminded me of why I love our church. The theme for the weekend was about diversity and unity and our church really is just that. We are a body made up of all different nationalities and races, but a family united by Christ. From the day we arrived people have been so warm and welcoming.

We are blessed to have a great leadership team and I pray that God continues to direct them as our church moves forward. I really believe that if you say that you’re part of a church, you really need to be part of it and support it both through prayer, time and your finances and I really feel God calling me to give more of myself to my church.

On the pregnancy front, baby girl has been moving around as normal and all is going okay. We were at the mall yesterday and couldn’t believe how expensive baby clothes and shoes are, especially as they don’t wear them for long. The things were cute though but when you relate it to what you can get for the same price in adult wear, it does make you wonder!

Having had a busy weekend, I wouldn’t mind sleeping for a week. It’s not going to be possible but I will do my best to catch up over the coming days.

Hope your weekend was good.

Have a great week!

Halfway

Today marks the start of my favourite month AND halfway through pregnancy! Twenty weeks is here and I’m so happy to have made it to this milestone. Now as each week passes, we are getting  much closer to meeting our new addition!

I’ve always loved September, mainly for its change of season and how it signifies a fresh start. Back when I used to go to school, September marked a new school year, new challenges with fresh opportunity. Everything that happened the previous year forgotten with the slate wiped clean. Now that school is behind me, I still love September and take the same approach.

Summer is over, a new season around the corner and with less than 4 months before baby arrives, I’m going to try and savour the rest of the year before it passes me by.

Highlights of the first half:

- finding out I was pregnant and telling our family

- ultrasound at 12 weeks

- watching my husband bond with our baby

- feeling my first movements

Other pregnancy realisations:

- chocolate doesn’t taste so great any more

- sardine and jam sandwiches do though!

- I’m actually growing another human being inside of me and I love it

- I miss sleeping on my back

- people ask you the strangest things. (Case in point: ‘does it feel weird?’ – asked by a colleague last week)

Here’s to the next 20 weeks. Happy September!

All moved in…18 weeks

We moved house over the weekend. Yay!

It was stressful, but it was made easier by the fact that we had lots of lovely friends and family to help us do it. Made all the difference, I tell ya.

Seeing as I hate mess and clutter, I then spent the next two days trying to get the new place in order. I’m pleased to say that 80% of the house is unpacked and I will do the rest (mainly non-urgent stuff) over the next couple of weeks.

This week’s main highlight (other than moving) has been feeling the baby move a lot more. Last week I wasn’t so sure, but this week because of the sheer frequency of it, I know it’s the baby and I love it!

This Saturday Afam and I are speaking at a seminar about finding your spouse. We’re doing it alongside an older couple and are providing the ‘young person’ perspective. To prepare we thought a lot about the barriers to why people don’t get married and things you can be doing to prepare. A lot of it is real basic stuff and next week I will do a post on what we talked about in more detail.

Enjoy this week’s update!

Pray for Peace

I don’t often write about current affairs here on this blog, but with the situation going on in the UK right now, it is hard to stay silent. Our country looks like a war zone.

It is so sad watching the events that have been happening in London and across the rest of the country. Teenagers and children as young as eight throwing bricks, setting fire to cars and buildings, looting. Youths attacking the police, vandalising shops, destroying businesses, destroying people’s livelihood.

It is so mindless and so not necessary. Do they not know that violence achieves nothing!

We need to pray…

Pray for those who have lost their homes.

Pray for those who have lost their businesses.

Pray for our leaders to make the right decisions.

Pray that the violence will stop.

Pray for peace.

Timing is everything

Morning sickness.

I don’t know why they call it that.

Mornings are fine for me, then midday hits and nausea knocks me right out until it’s time to go to bed and start the day again. It can be frustrating but I’m learning to work with my body and aim to get most things done in the morning. Just one of my lovely pregnancy symptoms!

Unfortunately seeing as I have tended to write blog posts in the evening, I’ve just not had the energy, hence the lack of posts of late! I do aim to maintain my weekly video diaries so please feel to check those out, if don’t see any action on here.

This past week has been ok-ish, it ended in a visit to A&E as I haven’t been too well (more on this in my week 15 update, which I will upload tonight), but thank God all is fine, baby is fine and I’m doing much better.

Bump is starting to form and be more noticeable, which I am liking. I’m starting to cross over from the ‘eaten too much’ look to ‘I’m having a baby’ look. My husband is loving the pregnant me and people tell me that I’m glowing. I definitely look better than I feel and I’m taking it all one day at a time.

Can you believe it is August, how fast is this year going! This time last year we were arriving back in the UK after a fantastic time in Nigeria. I was just about to start a new job and hubby and I had one month to find a new home. It was a hectic month, but God helped us through.

Looking forward to seeing what this August holds!

Have a blessed week!

(image source – where I would like to be right about now!)