Downton Abbey Season 3 Begins With a Wedding

I first heard about Downton Abbey from Sting and after a while, I decided to check it out. The first episode I caught up with on PBS was not so encouraging. There were some characters I knew I could get to love, like Maggie Smith's sharp witted old Dame, but not knowing the full story held me back.

However, finding out over the weekend on Twitter that a new season was starting, I decided to try again. And I was rewarded with a fantastic episode, which included a lovely wedding. Matthew Crawley and Lady Mary of Downton Abbey had a beautiful spring wedding in their village church.

Avoiding Conflict - What sets you off?

Conflict is not all bad, as resolving them helps clear the air in a relationship, and the couple could develop resolution skills that may come in handy even in other parts of their life. However, some conflicts are just so unnecessary. At the end of the day, you begin to ask yourself, what was that about sef? And do you know the funny thing? You may not even have an answer!

I know what sets me off sometimes, and that awareness ensures I catch myself before I allow my inner turmoil affect the cozy atmosphere around me. Other times, it hits me from the blind side. Like the other day, Atala was frying plantain and I was washing up in the bathroom, by the time I came out, one set of plantains were in the bin. He'd let them burn. I didn't find it funny.

When he noticed my sudden sour mood, he asked me a simple question that when I thought about it, was like a pin in my 'how can you let food waste like that' balloon. He said something along the lines of, I'm sorry, I made a mistake. Haven't you ever had a food accident before? And since we've been living and cooking together so long, of course he know the answer :)

Date Night Movie Review - Nollywood Movies

I started the Date Night Movie Review series because I wanted to document some memorable movies, and celebrate doing things with your partner. Nollywood Reinvented pointed out a couple of weeks ago that we were neglecting Nollywood movies, and that was true. See, I like Nollywood Movies, but I know the ones I like, I just don't watch because I'm supposed to be patriotic or something.

I don't think I can be a Nollywood movie reviewer, I just don't have the patience. I watch for enjoyment, and maybe to learn something or two, either about storytelling, or simply about life. After all, movies are supposed to be a reflection of society, and writer/directors are auteurs meant to draw lessons through their stories. I applaud people like NollywoodReinvented who take the bullet so we can avoid the worst of the lot.

Other than review blogs like her's, my biggest criteria to choosing a Nollywood movie to watch - just like a Hollywood movie actually - are directors, story/screenplay writers, the trailer, and of course, the actors. It is almost a given that an actor like Denzel Washington, or Genevieve, or Omotola, at this stage of their careers, would not be found in low quality movies. I know I may miss some good movies that way, which is where selecting movies by certain directors comes in.

Tell Him by Barbra Streisand and Celine Dion

I recently saw Barbra Streisand in an interview with Piers Morgan and I remembered how I got introduced to her music. It was in a duet with Celine Dion in this amazing vocal masterpiece that I was obsessed with for a while. I searched it out on youtube and decided to share. Enjoy!

Rounding off 2012 in Portland Oregon - Weekend Pictures

When deliberating on what to do or where to go for Christmas or New Year, we didn't want to go too far so it was either a staycation at home, another city in our state or something similar. We settled for Portland in neighboring Oregon, it is actually closer to us here than some other cities in Washington, and we'd never been there before.

To add some pizazz, we decided not to drive, and instead bought Amtrak train tickets to and from Portland. It was roughly three and half hours, and that was time we could spend doing whatever we wanted instead of one person being stuck behind the wheel. Something funny happened, we almost bought tickets to Portland, Maine. The price first tipped us off, and the fact that it took three days to get there. We shined our eyes properly and were able to select our correct destination in the end.

The train ride to Portland was quite comfortable, I could say luxurious even. It was the Coast Starlight enroute to Los Angeles, and had and upper level in coach where we sat. The leg room was so much I was jealous. Why? Because I couldn't reach the leg rest attached to the seat in front of me. Turns out, the train thought of everything. Both the food tray and leg rest had extensions so I was able to use them easily. Our return was on the Cascades, which though not as shiny, was comfy still.

My Wedding Ring by Nena Ndioma

We got a good deal on my wedding ring. It cost us $75 at Sam’s Club, and that was a lot of money to us back then. It’s a simple, gold wedding band. I forget how many karats.

I never dreamt about what my wedding ring would be like. Apart from the fact that I’m not big on jewelry (except for earrings!), the sort of ring I would wear just never seemed terribly important to me. What mattered to me was to have a solid marriage, no matter what kind of ring I wore.

When we got it, I remember thinking to myself, ‘I bet this will fade in a year or so.’ Although $75 was nothing for us to sneeze at back then, I knew that there were much more expensive, sophisticated, beautiful rings. ‘If it ever fades in the years to come, we can always buy a better one,’ I thought.

Clear Your Shelf Giveaway - The Language of Trees

I have so many books sitting on my bookshelves that I've read but will probably never read again because I want to read more, newer books, etc. There's only so many hours in a day after all, and that's why I joined up with the "Clear Your Shelf" Giveaway Hop.

So join me from January 4th to 10th. This is my chance to clear out my overflowing bookshelf and pass on some books to other book lovers. I will be giving away a book I won from LibraryThing and which I really enjoyed reading, The Language of Trees by Ilie Ruby

WIP - Dunni Bonds with her Father

One of my action plans this year is to complete this WIP and if possible publish it this year. So again I bring what I've written so far for you guys to help me critique as we go. You can catch up by reading the previous instalments HERE. Thanks!

Dunni set the tray of Amala and Ewedu on the dining table and opened the ceramic dishes her mother had asked her to serve the food. The steam from the recently microwaved food filled the small room with the smell of the palm oil sauce and it wasn’t long before her father moved from the sitting room to the table.

“I hope your appetite is good this afternoon?” she asked.

He smiled at her as he sat and washed his hand in the basin of water she’d already set out.

“This ewedu is very fresh, I like that,” he said, smiling at her as he put his fingers into the sauce and after rooting around, pushed a piece of fish in his mouth.
Dunni pulled out an empty seat and sat the table, watching him roll the amala between his fingers before dipping it in the dark sauce.

“Are you not eating?” He asked.

“No, papa. I’m not hungry now.” Also, her father loved to eat Ewedu daily while Dunni could only stand the soup in small not-so-regular doses.

Some Inspirational Quotes for the New Year

Now that we are fully in the New Year, some people have made new year resolutions for an improved lifestyle. Others take it day by day on the things they would like to change and work on for 2013. These quotes are useful either way.

For me, I go with the purposeful living action plan. I want to lose some weight and continue to eat more healthy food. After all that happened in 2012, I put back about 15pounds that I lost with the Bouri program in February. But I know I can go back to that my 135lbs figure.

There's this blog, naijastories, and my newly set up company - BTW, I was shortlisted for the YOUWIN program this year, yay! - which I want to take higher. I also want to be more intentional in my relations with family and friends, and take more time to focus on God, and my inner person.

Happy New Year!

This is 2013! How time flies, right?

So we open up another new calendar, clean and with so much promise. I wish everyone a colorful and fantastic new year, filled with joy, success, peace, love, prosperity, you name it, and you'll receive it, LOL.

Seriously though, may this year be the one in which we achieve. Amen.