A mother's reflection: The first year of Musidzana's life

Today(30th November) marks one year since I have birth to our sweet little girl.....wait..what...has it really been a year already?. It feels surreal. "They grow up so quick"-this is the truest statement I've heard in the past few months. It feels like we just got back from the hospital but in reality my baby is now a toddler, the tiny baby she was is now long gone(who am I kidding, she will always be my tiny little baby..even when she's 50😹). Sometimes when I have her in my arms I still hold her funny forgetting that her neck doesn't need much support. As I watch her daily I often have conflicting feelings; I'm happy to watch her grow and learn all kinds of skills but also sad to see how all the things she can do independent of me(*sobbs uncontrollably*). 

I have cherished everyday of the past 12 months. The early days of staying up all night, singing Venda lullabies and cuddling her when she was crying, staying by her side when she was sick, Seeing her learn how to crawl and say "Dada" +"mama". Every moment has been pure Bliss. 

I love the sound of her baby babbling and how easy it is to make her laugh. She has a very cute laugh/giggle that makes you want to laugh 😹I hope as she grows she will know how much Mom and Dad love her. We cherish the gift from God that she is to us and the rest of our family. so we pray that most importantly she would know that she's loved by the God who made her. 

He has blessed her with incredible beauty. I'm always happy to see how refreshing her presence is to other people but more than anything I pray that my baby girl would be the Proverbs 31:30 woman. I actually explain this verse to her time and time again(that 'Charm is deceitful and beauty is fleeting but a woman who fears the Lord shall be praised'-prov 31:30). I pray that as she grows into a young lady one day she would adorn herself with good deeds("I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God"-1 Timothy 2:9-10)

I can't wait to see what the future holds for my little girl. What will her interests be..What kind of talents(besides melting mama and dada's hearts🥰) has God given her..what kind of foods will be her favourite....

90-Day fiance, Cheaters, WWE, Bridezillas,etc: Why Trash TV is extremely addictive

If you don't already know what trash TV is, I'm not going to insult your street cred by asking if you've been living under a rock nor will I assume you don't already participate in the consumption of trashy Television content because almost 90% of modern day Television shows that grip viewers attention are in the form of trash TV. 

Trash tv (noun); Television programming regarded as poor in quality, usually because it relies on sensationalism and titillation to attract an audience. 

Trash TV doesn't require much intellect (or at least assume that viewers bring a high level of intelligence or knowledge to enjoy it). A perfect example of this type of TV programming is The Jerry Springer show (if you have never watched this relentless orgy of humanity's worst impulses you really aren't missing much). I remember watching some episodes of this disturbing show during my late night study sessions when I was in high school. I always assumed that they purposefully put this on a late night slot because most people are too tired, sleepy or worn down to think too much or concentrate hence they would settle for a show that isn't complex or intelligent. 

Even though I always felt depressed after watching any episode of The Jerry Springer show I used to enjoy seeing people yell and beat the mess out of each other for silly reasons, the exact reason I was also hooked on WWE for years before someone told me the fighting is fake. News channels, tabloids and Horror film makers already know our psyche....we love violence and gore hence they capitalize on it. 

Another reason why Trash tv is addictive and popular is because; we love drama, we love gossip  hence a popular TV program like Keeping up with the Kardashians has a large audience. Even though this is not exactly in the form of a talk show like Jerry Springer or The Wendy show, I categorize Keeping up with the Kardashians under trash TV. I think most people would admit that even though they can't resonate with the Kardashian women's lives ; some viewers live vicariously through this TV show, some form strong bonds with the characters on the show and others wish they could also capitalize on their own beauty (real or artificial) instead of waking up every morning to go to a 9-5 job that pays peanuts with an insufferable boss who is always on their tail. Above all, TV shows like this trend because of the exaggerated romance, relational woes, personalities or the celebrity status of the characters themselves. Can you believe reality TV stars are considered celebrities?-To be fair there are some who have earned the title but most have contributed little to arts, quality entertainment and pop culture. 

Trash TV is addictive because it provides an escape from the real world . Viewers get sucked into the make-believe world that the TV characters exist in. For some people it is better seeing drama in other people's lives on screen while appreciating that your life isn't as messed up as those other people's and for others it is nice seeing characters they are rooting for falling in love and living their happily ever afters.. (hello Love is Blind fans!?) And me? I don't particularly enjoy trash TV so much anymore. I used to have a love-hate relationship with most reality TV shows, some I hated so much that it drew me to watch them and every time I either lost some brain cells or resent the characters even more (which made me watch the next episodes to see how the characters I disliked turned out). I already suspect the producers of these TV shows know that some viewers are hate-watching.

My decision to limit watching trash TV is based on my conscience. I notice the impact that trash TV or most modern TV shows for that matter, do to me i.e I'm always left with more craving for gossip and controversy instead of focusing my attention on reading the word of God, repenting of my sins, fellowship with other believers and spending time with friends/family. Even though TV is a good medium of communication and a window through which we see the world, as believers we need to constantly examine whether the TV shows we watch further our understanding of the world and the culture around us rather than giving us just a thrill or craving for ungodliness. 

"So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31)

Banana nut Bread Loaf(Moist and delicious)//BEST RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

3 medium bananas (Let bananas ripen on the counter until speckled and then freeze for 1-2 days. Take out to thaw 4-6 hours before you want to make the bread. Cut off the ends and squeeze banana and juices from peel into a bowl and mash with a fork. This will yield the sweetest banana bread ever!)

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter or margarine, softened 1 cup granulated sugar 2 large eggs (Room temperature) 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (If you are in South Africa, use Self-Rising flour but don't add baking soda since that will be in the flour already) 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 cup sour cream (don't substitute this for anything, this is the main ingredient that makes this banana bread moist) 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup coconut flakes (I usually put mine through a blender so that the texture is less coarse) .INSTRUCTIONS 1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar.

2. Add in eggs and vanilla extract and mix well.

3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, soda and salt.

4. Add dry ingredient mixture to wet mixture and mix well.

5. Add in banana puree and sour cream and mix well and finally mix in walnuts and coconut flakes.

6. Pour batter into a greased 9" by 5" loaf pan (Optional: sprinkle some extra chopped walnuts and coconut flakes on top of the batter) and bake in a 325*F preheated oven for 60-75 minutes or until a toothpick or knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

7. Let cool for 10 minutes in the pan before removing from the pan. Slice and serve or store in an air tight container for 5-6 days (mine only last for 2/3 days and there are only 2 of us, hehe).

366 Days Later: Our engagement story

One year ago today Garrett asked me to be his wife and I said "yeah, sure. why not?". Just kidding.  My heart was racing, my palms were sweaty that I almost yelled "Yes!!!!" before the poor guy could finish his question. Our engagement day is one of the most memorable days of 2019 and I will probably be talking about it until I die haha.

Here is the story:
During the week of 15-20 April 202, Garrett told me that he was going to a Good Friday dinner at his Sister's place in Oklahoma City.
 For those who don't know... we were in a long distance relationship (I was in Washington, He was in Oklahoma) and we mostly Video called each other in the evenings after I got done with work but on that particular Friday we couldn't video call because I had to go to church after work and since Oklahoma is 2 hours ahead of Washington it would be midnight if I video called him after church. We texted our "Good night" during the service. I was so pooped after church and decided I'm going to sleep in on Saturday morning (boy was I wrong. I guess I'll sleep when I'm dead haha)

Early Saturday morning (between 7-7:30) My phone started buzzing and I answered when I saw it was Garrett calling. Even though I was tired I was excited to speak to him since we didn't get to video call the previous night. He asked me if I would like to go on a walk with him and I was so confused (I was half awake and thought maybe this is one of those cute things that couples in long distance relationships say to one another). He flipped his camera around to show me the name of my favourite walking/hiking trail in DuPont called Sequalitchew creek and I became hysterical- I became awake, jumped out of bed quickly and got dressed to go meet him.

I ran out of the house talking to myself "Garrett is in town!!!!!". I was surprised he was because we had visited each other in February and March. On our last visit we didn't talk about when we will see each other but we were surely going to see one another in May or June when I move to Texas.  Long distance relationship- especially with the most amazing human being I've ever come across was really hard. I felt every second we were apart, I missed him everyday but it was better being with him in a long distance relationship than not having him in my life at all.

When I got to the hiking trail we shared a warm hug and I kept saying "I can't believe you are here". I must have said that ten times. We held hands and walked the trail all the way to the end and sat on top of a log by the Lake/bay and talked........I was still exclaiming "I can't believe you are here" every chance I could. The air was so thin because it was early in the morning but my brain was becoming less foggy out of excitement of seeing my Boyfriend. I had no idea for what was coming next- While we were having a conversation he said "Let me tell you the real reason why I'm here" for a second my brain went "Oh O...he came to break up with me in person because he is such a nice guy he wouldn't do it over the phone"(Even though our relationship was very steady at this point my pessimistic brain automatically imagined the worst case scenario. I should probably put that as a skill on my Resume). He got up, held my hands and got me me up too and started making the most romantic speech (which included the sweetest words "I love you" which we had never said to each other before that moment even though throughout our dating relationship we knew we were in love with each other. They held so much meaning at this point. I knew he meant it as he has demonstrated it in action in the few months we had been together). He got down on one knee and asked me If I would do him the honour of becoming his wife. My mind had already said yes. I vocalized my yes and the waterworks followed, especially after he told me he asked my mother for my hand in marriage days before he came to propose.

He opened a tiny box and took out a ring then put it on my ring finger. The ring was 2 sizes bigger than my actual size because few days before I visited him in March he asked me to measure all my fingers and the size of my head so that he could buy me motorcycle gloves and a helmet so that we could ride his motorcycle together when I came to Bartlesville. Since I didn't know much about being a motorcycle passenger I didn't suspect anything. I got my fingers and head measured and sent Garrett the measurements. Turned out the measurement was incorrect which left him buying a bigger ring. We took the rings to the store to be resized and bought a cheap surrogate ring at Walmart.

The rest of our engagement day was filled with a lot of admin. Telling our family and friends (and facebook) about the engagement then going to a coffee shop to work on the plan (How do we get married if i'm a foreigner, which immigration lawyer should we hire, paperwork, when should we get married, etc).
We went for dinner in the evening at a restaurant called El gaucho to celebrate (man that place is expensive but you only get engaged once I guess).

Even though our engagement was three weeks, it felt like ages because I couldn't wait to be married to Mr Johnson. I couldn't wait to say "I do". A year later I'm so glad I did!

Honey Lemon-pepper Chicken Recipe

Ingredients:
-whole chicken (or cut up chicken pieces..please don't use breast under any circumstances...chicken breast ruins everything). I used 3 leg quarters. 
-6 tablespoons unsalted softened butter(not margarine)
-3 tablespoons Chicken bouillon powder(stock powder)
- 2 teaspoons Lemon pepper seasoning
-2 teaspoons Dry ranch seasoning packet or Shisanyama/Portuguese chicken spice
-1/2 teaspoon Salt
-1/2 teaspoon pepper
-4 teaspoons of Honey
(please adjust all the seasoning measurements depending on how much chicken you are making)

Directions:
1. Pat the chicken dry and generously apply softened butter to the chicken skin(and under the skin if possible) and bottom part of the chicken 
2. Sprinkle bouillon powder(be careful not to overdo it because stock powder is salty) then dry ranch seasoning then lemon pepper seasoning on both sides of the chicken(since we eat all sides, we season all sides)
3. Transfer the chicken to a roasting pan of your choice(esp one that can withstand high heat)
4. Preheat the oven to 400°F(about 204°C) and bake chicken for 60 minutes(whole chicken)/45 minutes for chicken pieces
5. After 45/60 minutes remove the chicken from the oven and drain the liquid into a saucepan or any cooking pan 
6. Add some honey/brown sugar, little bit of salt, pepper and butter to the liquid and bring to a simmer then pour over the chicken
7. Turn your oven to broil(or grill) then broil it for 5 minutes or more depending on how crispy you want your chicken skin to be
8. Serve chicken with rice, noodles or potatoes and enjoy.

I Went To Italy....?(Homemade hand noodles)

Anyone who has hopped on a plane and gone to another part of the world knows the thrill of travelling , seeing new sights, different types of people and trying new foods, but not everybody has the luxury to do so. Me on the other hand, I neither have the pocket nor patience to travel all over the world (Ok, never mind the fact that I traveled more that 9000 miles/14 400 kilometers from my original home, that's not important anymore since i'm now half-American)

So without breaking the bank I found a cheap way to travel; FOOD. I'm not talking about Food tourism where one goes to another country to eat local foods and immerse themselves in a particular culture. There are well-known bloggers like Mark Wiens who travels the world with his wife and little son solely to eat different kinds of food while getting paid for it. I'm talking about Cooking food from different parts of the world and learning more about the place it originated from. 
This is not an original idea, I stole it from my good friend Katy- we once went to the mall with her kids to eat food from a Japanese restaurant. As part of their homeschooling lesson the older kids were answering various questions that Katy was posing from their lesson about Japan. I loved that idea and thought this is something I would love to do with my family one day.

Now that I have my own kitchen I enjoy making food from all over the world- with a South African twist!. Today I made Italian egg noodles from scratch with my hands (Just like my nonna would...just kidding, I don't have an Italian grandmother). For anyone who has knead any type of dough by hand know what a workout it can be for your hands ,but the final product makes all the work that went into it worth it. Even though most of the time I'm making bread or cake I use my kitchen aid, today I had to use my palms and fingers. The dough is quite stiff and requires fat patience. 

To make the noodles I didn't use a specific recipe. I made research on what goes into the egg noodles from watching different YouTube videos then mixing my dough as I go (am I the only one who feels like following a recipe step by step doesn't workout as good as free styled cooking? )
All I used was All purpose flour (about 3 cups), 2 large eggs and few tablespoons of water(maybe 6?). I knead the dough for 20 minutes with few short breaks. After 20 minutes of kneading I covered my dough with plastic then let it rest for 1 hour. After an hour it was softer and easier to work with.

I rolled it with my rolling pin (handles removed) until it was almost paper thin, this took a couple of minutes then I ended up cutting the dough using my bench scraper(Who knew it had multiple purpose). I then dusted the cut noodles with cornstarch to prevent them from sticking to one another then transferred everything into a bowl and refrigerated them until dinner time (3 hours). 

I cooked the noodles in salted boiling water for only 4 minutes and they were done. I drained them using a colander that has seen better days and transferred them back to the pot and coated them with my homemade Marinara sauce and served them alongside my chicken parmigiana

This meal was delicious guys, so delicious it prompted me to write a post about it. I have always made pasta or pizza sauce from scratch but was too lazy to devote time to noodles but after today, I don't know if I will be buying boxed pasta anymore. Nothing beats homemade. Thank you God for the beautiful& highly skilled people of Italy and for taste buds! 

My Simple Small Town life: 10 Reasons I enjoy living in Bartlesville, Oklahoma

10 Months ago on this day Garrett and I returned from our honeymoon trip- I immediately assumed my new role as a homemaker and it was the day I permanently moved to Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Before all that happened, we were in a long-distance relationship/courtship so I'd visit a couple of times from Washington state and whenever we talked about getting married Bartlesville and other cities in different states/provinces were options for us to live in. Now that I've been here for full ten months I have fallen in love with rural America. Small town boy, small Town life-It's enough for me.
I've been to the bowling alley once, I've been to the Cinema once and I'm completely okay with the lack of too much entertainment around because I can stay in my house and live the life of my dreams as a hermit!Juuuussst kidding..!, But seriously, I like doing activities out of our house but I am also a major homebody and this is the perfect town to do both.  Here are 10 reasons I love living in Bartlesville: 

10. All my Purchases are thought out
Because a small town has limited number of big stores, driving to another town (Tulsa or Owasso) to get specialty items or goods means planning in advance (setting a date and saving enough money to go there), In most cases I just end up sitting on my couch contemplating whether its worth driving 45 minutes to get a Sprouts Organic red bell pepper or settle for a suspiciously large sized genetic modified one from a local supermarket. I usually opt for the latter.
9. Shopping is easier
Even though there are a limited number of shops, I appreciate that I don't fear being squashed to death in a stampede anytime I go make groceries....well except for that one day a year after thanksgiving where everyone is tricked into spending money on things they obviously don't need (Please don't come at me ye militant black Friday shoppers). Except on Black Friday, shopping in a small town is not only easier, but Pleasant!
8. The cost of living is relatively low
Without comparing the cost of living here in Bartlesville to any City I lived at in South Africa (because everything in America is expensive), small towns are known for lower rent costs, food costs and Sale Taxes. The standard of living is lower compared to a great number of towns in the same state and also in the country.
7. Life doesn't move too fast
Before I came to the US I spent 9 years living in few big cities in South Africa-the city I spent more years in was Port Elizabeth. As much as I loved living in that Friendly city, I often longed for school terms to finish so that I could go visit my mother in the village, away from the city strife...away from coffee drinkers, social media celebs, Beiber fans, etc. The village was a safe haven for when I was tired of the competitive and quick nature of life in the big city. Everything happened fast, people moved fast and so did I, I didn't have time to pause, think or take naps. Now that I live in this small "boring" town I haven't cared about living in a big town again.
6. No major noise pollution
Except for the occasional Bark-off(brought to us by our friendly neighborhood dogs) that happens in our neighborhood every evening right before we get into bed, Bartlesville is a quiet town. It's so quiet that whenever there is a loud or weird noise heard everyone always wonders what it might be (You are more likely to have a conversation with other people the next day about the strange noise heard .....the town is that small haha). In the big cities there was always a combination of noises coming from Night clubs, Industries, overcrowded residential areas, etc therefore selective hearing to drown all the noise was a useful survival skill.
5. Driving and Parking is not a nightmare
Because most places I go to aren't overcrowded by people, Finding a parking spot is not hard and driving around doesn't make me feel like I'm on an episode of a car racing show. I would say though, I do get surprised when I see people driving too fast in this tiny town..like what are you in a hurry for? Nothing is that urgent here. well, except if you are a paramedic driving an ambulance or a cop chasing a criminal.
4. The crime rate is Low
I've already written about the first time I got mugged in P.E in one of my previous blogs. When I stayed in Washington I lived with the fear of getting my stuff stolen (yes there are thieves in America too hahah...), I think I'm spoiled by the low crime rate in this town that I feel tense in bigger cities. Maybe because everyone here knows everyone so if you try to mug me i'll come to your house later with the cops!
3. My In-Laws live within an earshot 
It is a big blessing to be able to live in the same country with the love of my life but sweeter to live closer to my in-laws who are all things wounderful and loving. We get together, we visit, we live life together.
2. People are more friendly
This doesn't mean every single person is gonna go out of their way to be nice but a majority of time I am in public places I exchange smiles with friendly old people and people are not afraid to give complements because talking to strangers is not a faux pas. I always tell my husband that there is an Ouma at Braum's who greets me with "How are you doing little lady?"accompanied by a big toothless smile, that makes my week.
1. Our church family makes it even nicer to live in this town
One of the things Garrett and I prayed hard for was to find a Bible-believing, gospel-centered community of believers and the Lord blessed us with First Baptist church of Bartlesville. This is a nice community of believers who love and serve one another. A majority of our meaningful friendships were developed in this community and not that we would not go anywhere else the Lord sends us but at this time that we live in Bartlesville, we enjoy being part of this community. We love it here. We are thankful. I want to stay.