Christmas from the Store

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before! What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store? What if Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more!

--Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Hello world!

It’s been a while I wrote a blogmas post here. Life has been pretty busy, overwhelming. Is it just me, or time is really running quicker than normal? Today is 21^st December, just 3 days and 17 hours to Christmas. By the time we realize, we have entered 2018.

Oh well, life itself just passes quickly by.

I was at work yesterday when it dawned on me that we have entered the 20s of the month, but I hadn’t had time to do a proper Christmas shopping for gifts and food. I then understood those who usually say they hadn’t got time to do anything.

Well, maybe, I do not know how to manage my time.

A thought came to mind. Christmas is not all about the physical things we use to celebrate. As I participate in the #LightTheWorld initiative, I realized Christmas is all about having time for your loved ones and the people who love you. I must not worry about not having time to do Christmas shopping, I must worry about not having enough time to spend time with family, friends and loved ones.

The #LightTheWorld initiative has taught me about the value of service and presence. Jesus Christ gave service to His fellow men, even though he is the King of kings. He took care of people and loved them.

The quote I wrote above came to mind. I have been watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas since I was younger, and this quote came in handy.

Do not worry about not having time and money to spend on the material things of Christmas, even though, it is so cool and fun to do such things. The most people thing is having the people you love around you during this time of the year.

The end!

Daily Gifts (An Excerpt from Christmas Stories for the Heart)

Another blogmas post is coming your way this morning. How has your December been so far? Mine has been full of work, work, work, and I cannot complain much. Between being a student and a worker, I have seen the difference. As a student, you get a little break but as a worker. There is nothing like break.

Anyway, I have been trying to enjoy every little moment I have to spare. I have been super busy, but I try to live life at peace.

For a minute, I didn’t know which blogmas post to write again, but as I was reading this festive book of mine, I read page 104 and it really touched my heart.

It looks so much like the Light the World initiative I am involving myself in, but it has more options and simple and daily things we should be practicing.

The book says we can call these daily gifts “our Christmas Projects.” We could practice one of these little projects, one moment/day/period at a time.

They listed some suggestions in the book and I will list some here

Mend a quarrel

Seek out a forgotten friend

Write a long overdue love note

Hug someone tightly and whisper “I love you so.”

Forgive an enemy

Be gentle and patient with an angry person

Express appreciation

Gladden the heart of a child

Find the time to keep a promise

Release a grudge

Smile. Laugh a little. Laugh a little more

Play some beautiful music during the evening meal

Apologize if you were wrong

Turn off the television and talk

Treat someone to an ice-cream cone (yogurt will be fine)

Pray for someone who helped you when you hurt

Encourage an older person

These are some of the many things they listed in the book. You can try and do some as time goes by.

Merry Christmas!

🎀 🎅🎄A Merry Chips-Mayai 🙌

Jamani kila mtu!

Imebaki siku kumi na mbili na dakika kidogo kuzaliwa Yesu Kristo. If you don’t understand, I said, Hello world! It is just 12 days and some hours to Christmas day. (Not a direct translation)

Lolz xx. That was Swahili. [Whispers] Between you and me, I don’t even know how to read it myself. 😂😂😂

How are y’all doing? This morning, I saw the Harmattan’s shadow but it looked like it wanted to rain too. His appearance this year was dramatic. Maybe, he had a chat with the rain before the rain left. 😒😒😒

That was just by the way.

Meet Chef Addo. For this Christmas, he is teaching us a new recipe all the way from Tanzania! This is a great opportunity to add a new meal to your Christmas dinner/ New Year party.

Today, we will be learning how to cook chips-mayai, a very popular dish in Tanzania!

Thanks to Chef Addo for sharing this with the Marietta DeGrant Blog and with some friends.

Ingredients:

8 medium sized Irish potatoes

3 medium sized carrots

2 medium sized green peppers

3 medium sized tomatoes

10 eggs

Salad oil to fry the potatoes

Salt to taste

Method

Wash and peel potatoes

Cut potatoes into French Fries sizes and wash them again

Put oil on fire at a reasonable heat

Fry the potatoes and set them aside after frying.

Cut vegetables (green pepper, carrot and tomatoes) into smaller sizes.

Set vegetables aside and beat the 10 eggs together. Add salt to taste

Put frying pan on fire again and pour a little oil for shallow frying

As you wait for the oil to be hot, add vegetables to the beaten eggs and mix together

Take some French fries (few) and spread them on the hot pan.

Take a ladle and fetch some of the beaten eggs and vegetables and spread them over the pan. Make sure it does a full circle of the pan.

Cover the pan with a cover, and let it heat for about a minute. Make sure the heat is moderate to avoid burning.

Without removing the cover, and using a napkin to hold the cover, flip the pan so that the chips mayai lands on the cover.

Put the pan back on the fire and let the uncooked part of the food stay at the bottom of the frying pan.

Allow it to stay on the pan for a few minutes and flip it back again.

Serve on a plate

Serve with a scoop of ketchup and a cold drink.

Enjoy your meal.

 

A Chef happy with the results

Thanks to Cephas and Caleb for supporting this festive cook-out!

Most photos were taken by @bleceph.

Do you want to know more about the Tanzanian culture? Call him to be your chef this Christmas and during the New Year. He will not only cook for you, but you will learn a lot.

Book him now by sending an email to degrantm@yahoo.com.

Have a merry chips-mayai!!!

Some friends enjoying Chips-mayai

 

Santa Claus and one of his elfs😄😄😄

Book Review: Christmas Stories from the Heart

Every December, I do a festive book review and this year’s own is a book I bought in the middle of the year and I am so glad that I bought it. It is one of the best festive book ever. It is filled with miracles and sweet little nuggets which you can keep and cherish in your hearts all year long.

One thing I love about the book is the foreword which was written by Avalon, an award winning singing group. I totally agree with the foreword and I can read it over and over again.

They said Christmas seemed so much simpler when I was a child……in fact it seemed like pure magic. It’s true and the foreword reminded me of the cartoon movie, A Charlie Brown Christmas, where Charlie Brown complained of the way Christmas has been commercialized.

This book can be a perfect gift, for people who love reading and treasure little stories and poems that touch the heart.

Get a copy, and thank me later.

Simple Ways to Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

Hello world!

I hope you enjoyed yesterday’s poem. I wrote it last year and it’s one of the simplest poems I have written.

It’s another blogmas post day and I have a short post for you.

How to have yourself a Merry Little Christmas.

Before that, let’s try and sing a carol related to the song

Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Let your heart be light
From now on
Our troubles will be out of sight

Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Make the Yule-tide gay
From now on
Our troubles will be miles away

Here we are as in olden days
Happy golden days of yore
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near to us once more

Through the years
We all will be together
If the Fates allow
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough
And have yourself A merry little Christmas now

This is one of my favourite Christmas song and I can sing it all year round.

Today, I will be sharing some tips/traditions on how to have yourself, a merry little Christmas. Having a merry little Christmas doesn’t have to be so glamorous. It’s the peace that we need, not stress and tiredness.

I do not do all of these, but I will also add the ones I do and maybe, in the future, we can try them all.

Set up a nativity scene. How cute can it be?

Get an advent calendar to help you countdown to the day of Christmas. Here is a perfect example of it. #LightTheWorld is a perfect way to countdown to the Christmas day by participating in good will activities starting December 1^st, ending on Christmas day. 

There are other ways of also counting down by purchasing advent calendars that are filled with goodies.

Read your favourite Christmas themed books

Watch your favourite Christmas movies. Home Alone is very popular in this country, Ghana. Hahaha.

Play your favourite Christmas songs. You can create different Christmas playlists for the season, example, Quiet Time Christmas carol playlists, Workout, out and about etc.

Remember the less fortunate this Christmas. Donate, spend time with them, show them love.

Spend more time with family. They are very important.

Decorate! Decorate! Decorate!

Create a miniature Christmas village. At St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, they had one and it was very creative.

Try your baking skills or a recipe that you have been meaning to try.

Create family traditions if you do not have some.

Try other traditions found in other countries.

Here are some traditions you can try.

Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas!!!

Prepping For 2K17 + #LightTheWorld Review

Hey world

3 days till the end of the year. I bet some people are making New Year resolutions. Good luck on doing that. I stopped making New Year resolutions some years ago, so those kind of resolutions like losing weight (I don’t have to lose weight. For someone like me, I have to put on some flesh.), going to church every Sunday (I already do that), saving money (No comments on that one), and all that jazz. Nesta wrote about the failure of New Year Resolutions and I totally agree with him.

I am not discouraging you on making New Year resolutions. You have every right to, but please make realistic ones.

During the festive season, I was involved in a campaign called Light the World. We invited people from all walks of life to participate. Every day from 1^st December till December 25^th, we were required to participate in an activity that would show kindness and let us do good to ourselves, family, friends, strangers and other people around us.

If you were following me on Twitter and read my Blogmasposts, you will see me posting an activity daily for #LightTheWorld, especially on my Twitter.

It was like an advent calendar, and it was refreshing doing it and I felt so good. Even though, sometimes, I was so busy I lost track once, or twice, but I tried hard to get back. I can admit that not every day was perfectly made.

The aim of the campaign was to light the world, and turn the activities into goals for the New Year to continue to light the world, so it doesn’t end on the 25^th. It continues into the New Year and throughout ourselves.

I really enjoyed engaging myself in this advent activity, and I hope next Christmas, there would be more activities like this.

How are you prepping for 2017? Any goals, resolutions?

Keeping it real since One Christmas Day

Merry Christmas y’all.

Ooh, I can’t hide my excitement. It’s Christmas Day people! And my soul feels beautiful.🎄🎅🎆🎇🎈🎉🎊🍸🍹🍰

I remember when I was a little girl and wanted to grow up fast, buy more high heels and wear my hair, so that the wind can blow it.

Now I wish to be 12, or even 9.

Living your life as a young adult is not as easy as we see it when we are young. It has a whole lot of things we should warn our younger selves of. I think I need to write a book about being a young adult.

I was wide awake till I heard my phone ring. I answered it and heard “Happy Birthday, Silly!” I glanced at the clock and saw the time, 12:00am.

OMG! It’s two things: My Birthday! And it’s Christmas!

Exactly two years ago, I was on the search for a woman. A woman I have not met or seen before. I was wondering whether I could find her. I have seen a piece of her in my mother, so I had a fair idea of what part of her would look like.

It’s been two years and I realized, I am only 25% there. I wonder if it is a total waste of time.

But I am slowly learning that finding someone is not going to be an easy journey. You might get flat tyres, you’ll get hungry, eat bad food and get running stomach (diarrhoea), run out of money, meet good strangers and bad strangers. Finding someone is muddy, rough, scary, fun and overwhelming.

I thought of asking people to help me find that woman. Yes, I asked family, friends (my good friends), the church, the community, the workplace, books, the stars in the sky, the past and the present. I wanted to ask the future but it would spoil the fun.

I asked God. You know our Heavenly Father already. He has things in place to help me find her, but I will have to do my part. It’s like asking God to have sufficient money. He won’t send you gold and money, but He would give you strength and wisdom to work hard to earn money.

The woman I am looking for is the woman I want to be, and I am only 25% there.

I hope to find her.

Life has been fun and overwhelming and heartbreaking, but we are still surviving.

Yes, we are.

I have been keeping it real since the day I was born.

I feel like I am writing a post all about myself.

Hehehe xx.

That is the power of a personal blog.

How is your Christmas day?

The Life before Christmas

Welcome to the dawn of Christmas Eve! It is Saturday, and I am highly awake. Tomorrow is Christmas, and my birthday! I am fully determined this year to celebrate it, though it won’t be in grand style. This Christmas won’t be like the last years. I fell ill in November and most of our Christmas savings were used to pay the hospital bills.

So, it is the life before Christmas, and all through my dark room. Not a creature was stirring, not even the mosquito, except for the dog that just sent the barking signal for others to follow. I won’t be surprised if I use a longer time to write this post because I pause continuously, and frequently. I do not have visions of sugar plums dancing in my head. Father Christmas wouldn’t be around this dawn. He would come this evening, the night before Christmas.

So, today is the eve. I have nothing much planned for today, except for hanging out with friends, playing games and taking selfies and pictures. I might as well, go round the neighbourhood and see what other churches are doing tonight. Or just go out and take a couple of pictures.

I am currently silently playing Christmas music. I might as well, tune up the volume to annoy the Scrooges. (Silly Me). After publishing this, I am going to bed.

Can you believe tomorrow is Christmas? I am overjoyed.

What are your plans for Christmas Eve?

The Christmas Conversation over Hot Chocolate

Hey there! Happy Tuesday.

Today, I just want us to sit and talk. You know, just sit and talk…..virtually. Sometimes, we need to set aside some time, to talk, and sip some chilled drink or hot one.

So, today, let’s sit, sip and talk. It’s Christmas.

Now Playing: The First Noel by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir

I know, it is dawn…..early morning. What do you normally do during the early mornings of the holidays? Have you noticed it is very beautiful? Morning are beautiful times. I wake up early to experience early mornings. Christmas mornings are beautiful. I never experienced early mornings when I was a little girl, because I never woke up early. But as I got older and adapted the habit of waking up earlier, I have noticed some changes and experienced some moments, and I enjoy them.

Now Playing: I’ll be home for Christmas by Josh Groban

I have never celebrated Christmas without my family. I know, I won’t be in the same house with my maiden family forever. Marriage would send me out, and I’ll start to celebrate with my new family. To those of you who have celebrated Christmas without family before, how did you feel? What did you do to make it sound cool?

Now Playing: Mary’s Little Boy Child by Mandisa

When I was a little girl, I thought the story of the birth of Jesus is being played over and over again in Jerusalem. I always thought on Christmas Eve that Joseph and Mary are looking for room. I wanted them to come over to our home and give birth, but I also thought that, the prophecy is already written that He would be born in Bethlehem, so they can’t come over to my home, or else the story of the child’s birth would change and people would get confused.

Now Playing: Santa Tell Me by Ariana Grande

If there was a Santa Claus, I would tell him to bring back some people into my life. I really need them back. Those who have passed on and those still alive. But I know he can’t do that even if he was real.

You want more hot chocolate? Head over to Twitter.

Christmas Shopping

It’s the 19^th of December and I haven’t really started my Christmas shopping yet. Every year, I tell myself, Marietta, next year, do well to start early. But I fail. I totally fail.

Remember this Instagram post last year?

It is 5 days and some hours to Christmas and I am here with my lists. I stared at it yesterday, and thought of eliminating some items, but elimination is hard, substitution is harder.

I have now till Wednesday to do Christmas shopping. Should I even add Thursday?

Christmas shopping is so much fun. I think I should be employed as a Christmas Shopper for people who are busy. That would be a great job.

Christmas shopping can be done anywhere; the Shopping Malls, local markets near you, Kaneshie, Circle a.k.a Dubai and Makola. It is a fun thing to do, to be part of the people struggling to buy some stuffs and running here and there.

Are you done with your Christmas shopping? Or are you now starting?

Holiday Morning Routine

So, my Countdown to Christmas App says it is 6 days, 18 hours to Christmas.

Happy Sunday. Since, we are transitioning from work/internship routine, some things might change. There might be some differences like staying longer in bed, having a better social life and having more festive things at your disposal.

Today, I am sharing my holiday morning routine with you.

When I wake up in the morning, I check my phone for any missed calls, text messages, and social media. After that, I go downstairs to have my morning devotion. I am currently studying the New Testament with the help of a study guide and it is fun and more easy to understand.

Now, it’s time to bash the house with Christmas music. I am a huge fan of Christmas music. I wrote a blogmas post about it here.

After devotion, I check my Light The World campaign calendar to check what we are supposed to do for the day. If you do not know about it, you can read more details about it here. I encourage you to participate.

After checking up, I try to blog. I am doing Blogmas, where bloggers write about festive stuffs through out the month of December. We have different ways of doing it. For me, I am writing and blogging everyday in December.

It is time for chores. We don’t have much to do at home. We sweep, fetch water and prepare fire. I then go to the bathroom to do those hygienic stuff.

After, I am through with that, I check social media again, to get abreast with current issues. Some handles gives you words of encouragement and motivation. I try to share some updates on social media, especailly with blogmas and #LightTheWorld. As I do all these things, I try to spread christmas cheer by singing out loud. Sometimes, my mother comes to me and says Do you know that you are disturbing?

I try to get some breakfast from left over meals or try to purchase some food items for breakfast. After having some breakfast, I check my planner. Sometimes, I take my notebook to write down some inspiration, or think about life. (I am trying to write my book, or become a better person day by day). I look out the window to watch the store nearby. I’ll need me some Mirinda in the afternoon, I always say in my head.

Now, it’s time for makeup and outfit picks. I am mostly out and about during the holidays, doing personal errands and family errands, so I am mostly in trousers and blouses. My makeup is usually minimal, but I give my lips the bold look. As I walk to wherever, or if I get into the trotro, christmas music continues to play in my head.

And that is my simple morning routine. It’s nothing extraordinary.

Has your morning routine changed for the holidays?