Happy St. Valentine’s Day (Day 14)

He who is in love is wise and becoming wiser. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Good morning and happy St. Valentine’s Day! I am back from my religious trip and it was fantastic. I hope you will have a nice day today, or maybe you did have a nice time yesterday, just like me. As soon as I came back from my trip, I spent time with my friends, and it was fun.

Remember to enjoy and spread love. It doesn’t hurt to be romantic or to spend time with friends. It doesn’t hurt to surprise someone with a good time together. It doesn’t hurt to eat a bar of chocolate today.

Love is patient and kind;

Love is not jealous,

Or conceited, or proud;

Love is not ill-mannered,

Or selfish, or irritable;

Love does not keep a

Record of wrongs; love is

Not happy with evil, but is

Happy with the truth.

Love never gives up: its

Faith, hope and patience never fail.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Love never gives up, and it is true. I know it.

Happy Valentine’s Day, friends. 

Late Night Calls (Day 13) Poetry

This is poetry for this year’s Valentine’s Day. Enjoy!

Late Night Calls

She was counting down the hours to 12am

The time for chatting

The time for love making over voice with words

Whispering sweet nothings

She patiently counted down to 12am

Then she gave up

Time stood still

But she wanted to hear his voice again

Their parents would be asleep by then

And they had to keep their voices low

But that was romantic

For their voices sounded like honey

Flowing down a smooth green leaf

It was sweet

It was slow

Ooh, curse the time that stood still  

She wanted to talk with him

And hug her pillow as she listens to his masculine voice

Which can be tasted and felt

And recorded on her heart

There was joy and there was love

His poetry doesn’t rhyme

But she likes it

Her words are not perfect

But he loves them

They have to go to school in the morning

But they didn’t care

Because falling in love was their favourite subject

And that was for a lifetime

Late night phone calls

Late night “I love you” s

Late night poetic exchange

Late night flowing honey

Love is crazy

But it is not time wasting

                                                                                       Marietta DeGrant

                                                                                        January 2016

  

Lettre D’Amour (Day 12)

Lettre d’amour is the French word for a love letter.

Dear Readers,

You are beautiful, handsome, talented, and blessed, but you just don’t know it. The worst part is, you don’t want to agree to what I am saying. Have you ever looked at the mirror? Do you hate the size of your eyes? Someone wants that size.

Sometimes, you feel you are not good enough? Do you really need to think about that? How far have you gone to conclude that you are not good enough?

You think you are fat, you think you are ugly, you think you are not talented, and sometimes you think, you are nobody.

Well, I am writing you tell you, you are wrong.

You have a purpose, but you just don’t want to know. You are talented, but you just don’t want to find out what you are talented at.

Love the body you live in and take good care of it. Try to stay fit, and take good care of your skin. Eat healthily and let your mind and heart be at peace.

You can dance, you can write, you can speak in public, you can make someone’s day brighter. I am not a motivational speaker or anything of that sort, but I know I am supposed to tell you this today. It’s Valentine and you need to be appreciated.

Thank you for supporting the blog, and I love you all, even the haters.

Good night!

Your blogger,

Marietta

Have I done any good?

1. Have I done any good in the world today?

Have I helped anyone in need?

Have I cheered up the sad and made someone feel glad?

If not, I have failed indeed.

Has anyone’s burden been lighter today

Because I was willing to share?

Have the sick and the weary been helped on their way?

When they needed my help was I there?

Then wake up and do something more

Than dream of your mansion above.

Doing good is a pleasure, a joy beyond measure,

A blessing of duty and love.

2. There are chances for work all around just now,

Opportunities right in our way.

Do not let them pass by, saying, “Sometime I’ll try,”

But go and do something today.

’Tis noble of man to work and to give;

Love’s labor has merit alone.

Only he who does something helps others to live.

To God each good work will be known.

Then wake up and do something more

Than dream of your mansion above.

Doing good is a pleasure, a joy beyond measure,

A blessing of duty and love.

Text and music: Will L. Thompson, 1847–1909, alt.

I am Chocoholic (Day 11)

Hello, hello!

This post is coming to you live at dawn, because today is a busy day and a fun one too. We are embarking on a religious trip and I am super excited about it. I am done with packing and would probably be back on Saturday, just in time to get ready for Val’s Day.

Yep!

Oookay, welcome to another post of

And today’s all about chocolate. Hmmm. I am in love with everything chocolate. M.A.D.L.Y. in love with chocolate and I have a Pinterestboard for just chocolates. I love to watch Charlie and the Chocolate factory just because of the abundance of chocolate I see in it, and literally wishing I would own that factory for myself.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t eat chocolate like crazy to the extent of falling sick, but I love chocolate. If I don’t get chocolate for a day, I am ok with it. I don’t go about searching for chocolate, but if I do get it, I will say thanks, darling then munch on it.

Thanks to Pinterest, I can gather pictures of chocolate to make my mouth water.

Check out these images.

hmm, the look and feel of it

saving this for Christmas, mmmm

Don’t you just love the look of it, the colour, the beauty it has?

In Ghana, 14^th February is also Chocolate Day, in addition to the Valentine’s Day, so I get to eat chocolate, you know. So I celebrate two occasions, St. Valentine’s Day and Chocolate Day. I love my country.

See you later

Ps. Since I would be travelling today, tomorrow’s post and Saturday’s post would be scheduled for your reading pleasure. Check back tomorrow and Saturday morning to continue reading 14 Days of MarieAmour.

See you on Sunday.

Valentine Mood Board (Day 10)

Hey there world.

Another post of

And it’s my Valentine mood board.

Maybe, you might get some inspiration from here.

Good luck

Less than four days more. J

PS. Inspiration are from Pinterest and Tumblr

What to Wear on Valentine’s Day (Day 9)

I don’t know what to wear on Valentine’s Day. It’s true. Ladies struggle with what to wear every day, every moment.

I am also in that I don’t know what to wear zone.

I am not considered as a fashion guru, mind you. I am not considered as part of the fashionable people. That’s why I am not a full time fashion blogger.

Actually, today’s post is what to wear on Valentine’s Day. Not necessary red. I like to look at style photos for inspiration for these kind of cases.

For a day out

For the beach babes

For volunteer/ Charity work

For the dinner night

Church (because it falls on a Sunday)

Alone in my room, stalking Instagram J

Good luck!!!

There Is Beauty All Around(Day 8)

Bad news: Jst heard the trip i was about to embark has been postponed, and I don't feel good about it.  A am actually sad it has been shifted to another date, which is yet to be announced soon. Ugh!

Saturday 9^th January was the wedding of a friend of mine, and it was the first wedding I had attended this year. It was also the time I got to meet people I haven’t seen in a looooong while since I moved to Winneba.

Congratulations to Bro. and Sis. Duku, for a wedding to remember. A wedding where the bride taught the groom how to dance and how to love dancing, and we loved that. Well done, Priscilla.

The home would be a home of faith, love, learning and dancing. Yep!

Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.

                                                                                                Ecclesiastes 9:9

Sorry for taking too many selfies. LOL

Ideas for Celebrating St. Valentine’s Day (Day 7)

Happy Sunday everyone. I woke up earlier to be able to write this post before to head to the chapel for church service. It wouldn’t be a long post so let’s do this real quick.

This is another episode of

………..and we are talking about ways celebrating the Val’s day, which is next week.

Yeah, just next week Sunday.

Anyway, so since this year, the Red day falls on a Sunday, which is not so much of a cool day to celebrate it, in my opinion, I intend to celebrate it with my friends on either Saturday, which is the day before or Monday(the day after). We are still thinking about it, and I believe Saturday is a better day.

There are so many ways of celebrating the red day, whether you are single or attached. Unfortunately, I cannot give tips for those who are married, because I have no right to do that, and I am not an expert in that area yet, hahaha.

This post is mainly for young adults. For those who have not yet put the ring on it. *wink*wink*

                1.     Do voluntary work. Help to take care of the elderly, the afflicted. Volunteer to work at a place you dream of volunteering.
2.       Do charity work. Visit the orphanage or children’s hospital. Decorate the wards with red ribbons and share some sweets. Don’t forget to donate. They have the right to smile on Valentine’s Day too.
3.       Visit the beach with your friends or with your significant other, especially in the evening.
4.       Go for hiking with a group of friends to a faraway place. Do not forget to take along enough water (most important), and food.

What are you doing on the St. Valentine weekend?

DIY Soap Basket (Day 6)

Good morning! It’s Saturday and I’m happy about that. I just hope it will seem longer than 24 hours, so that I can rest and do a little bit of organization in my room.

Let’s learn a little DIY.

I learnt this thing when I went for a church camp when I was 12 years old. Oh, I surely miss those days. The last time I tried this DIY was when I was almost 14. I did it with some friends before going for the Christmas break. I gave that basket to my mum as a Christmas gift and she loved it. I remember the evening before we made the DIY, we went round searching for a cellophane wrapper. Even a neighbor, who was my friend and my junior but in another neighbouring school helped in the search. We went to every store in the neighbourhood then at last, we got some. My parents were furious because of how I stayed late after school and they were worried sick. I did not really care. I was making a Christmas present for my mum.

This is my first time in a long time to try it again. The soap basket is a great DIY gift to give to your female friends and relatives, and it can serve as an air refresher if you used a sweet scented soap.

Things You’ll Need

A sweet scented bathing soap

Office pins

Ribbons

A beautiful cellophane

A copper wire

A cardboard

A bow (optional)

A pair of pliers

A pair of scissoorss

Method

1.       Unwrap your soap from its original wrapper

2.       Pin the office pins on the outer part of the soap on top

3.       Cut the cardboard like the shape and size as the soap, place it at the bottom and pin the office pins at the bottom, just as you did at the top

4.       Cut the ribbon to a long thin one, and decorate the pins in a intertwined motion from top to bottom to top continuously

5.       Decorate the wire with a ribbon (maybe, another colour).Bend the wire into a shape like the hand of a basket (the distance between the two wire pins should be the same as the soap). Pin it to both ends

6.        Wrap the decorated soap like the way a hamper is wrapped and tie the top with a ribbon.

7.       Add a bow as desired.

You can decorate your room with it and save it till Valentine’s Day to give it to your sister or one of your girlfriends.

Want to try it?

Then send me a picture of it. Tweet it @MarieNoelGrant or tag me in your Instagram photo @MarieNoelGrant. I would loooove to see it.

Have a great weekend!

There is a Love Song Written on my Face (Day 5)

Good afternoon. Today I woke up with a great feeling of happiness just because I can smell a good weekend. Fridays are the best days ever.

When I woke up today, there was a love song playing in my ears. Meaning, I slept with my earpiece on. No judgements, I used to do that, and some people have told me to stop. I have a bad habit of having music playing with my headphones on, all the time. I have been advised to stop doing that always, or else, I will lose my sense of hearing.

Whoosh that’s scary.

Anyway, I am getting better in that area. The number of times I have an earpiece on has reduced, but last night, I had to listen to music while on bed (I’m addicted to music), and I guess I fell asleep while listening, so no judgements, haha.

I woke up with a Brenda Lee song. Though the song is really old, I love it. This song has been playing since January, on my computer, on my phone, my DVD player, literally on every playing device. Yeah, that’s how I can abuse a song. I can play the song repeatedly till I hate it.

This song, If You Love Me (Really Love Me) was the song that was playing, and I smiled when I woke up. I will sing that to my future husband one day. Any voice trainer in the house?

As an ICT student, Adobe Photoshop is one of our best friend tools, for editing pictures for websites, flyers, banners, cards and all fun stuff. Thanks to Photoshop, I had a love song written on my face.

That is Brenda Lee’s song written on my face.

I have a feeling this weekend would be great.

Throwback Posts of 2015 (#ValsDayWithNoel) Day 4

Happy Friday eve.

Welcome to another post of

 I wanted this post to be a little laid back, and since today’s Thursday, let’s do a little throwback.

We visiting last year, which is 2015. We did a little Valentine day posts and now, let’s do a little round up.

#ValsDayWithNoel (Outfits+Hair+MakeUp)

#ValsDayWithNoel ( A Glass Jar Made Of.........)

#ValsDayWithNoel (When You Hold My Hand )

#ValsDayWithNoel (Happy Valentine's Day)

Wake Up With Me In Winneba (Paint The Town With Valentine)

Less than 10 days more to the 14^th.

Love Poems Selection (Day 3)

Hey there lovers! What’s up? I believe you are all doing well. School is on the roll and we are trying to adjust with our new routines.

Welcome to another episode/post of

Today, I have gathered some love poems for your reading pleasure. Honestly, I suck at writing love poems, but hey I am trying ok.

Here are a few love poems I gathered from the internet, and the ones I have in my journals.

1.Sonnet  40: Take all my loves, my love, yea, take them all

BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Take all my loves, my love, yea, take them all:

What hast thou then more than thou hadst before?

No love, my love, that thou mayst true love call—

All mine was thine before thou hadst this more.

Then if for my love thou my love receivest,

I cannot blame thee for my love thou usest;

But yet be blamed if thou this self deceivest

By wilful taste of what thyself refusest.

I do forgive thy robb’ry, gentle thief,

Although thou steal thee all my poverty;

And yet love knows it is a greater grief

To bear love’s wrong than hate’s known injury.

    Lascivious grace, in whom all ill well shows,

    Kill me with spites, yet we must not be foes.

"I loved you first: but afterwards your love"

BY CHRISTINA ROSSETTI

Poca favilla gran fiamma seconda. – Dante
Ogni altra cosa, ogni pensier va fore,
E sol ivi con voi rimansi amore. – Petrarca 

I loved you first: but afterwards your love

    Outsoaring mine, sang such a loftier song

As drowned the friendly cooings of my dove.

    Which owes the other most? my love was long,

    And yours one moment seemed to wax more strong;

I loved and guessed at you, you construed me

And loved me for what might or might not be –

    Nay, weights and measures do us both a wrong.

For verily love knows not ‘mine’ or ‘thine;’

    With separate ‘I’ and ‘thou’ free love has done,

         For one is both and both are one in love:

Rich love knows nought of ‘thine that is not mine;’

         Both have the strength and both the length thereof,

Both of us, of the love which makes us one.

A Glimpse

BY WALT WHITMAN

A glimpse through an interstice caught,

Of a crowd of workmen and drivers in a bar-room around the stove late of a winter night, and I unremark’d seated in a corner,

Of a youth who loves me and whom I love, silently approaching and seating himself near, that he may hold me by the hand,

A long while amid the noises of coming and going, of drinking and oath and smutty jest,

There we two, content, happy in being together, speaking little, perhaps not a word.

[love is more thicker than forget]

BY E. E. CUMMINGS

love is more thicker than forget

more thinner than recall

more seldom than a wave is wet

more frequent than to fail

it is most mad and moonly

and less it shall unbe

than all the sea which only

is deeper than the sea

love is less always than to win

less never than alive

less bigger than the least begin

less littler than forgive

it is most sane and sunly

and more it cannot die

than all the sky which only

is higher than the sky

Which one was your favourite? I definitely love the last one.

Four Things I Love About Myself + Self Love (Day 2)

I’ve finally stopped running away from myself. Who else is there better to be?

~Goldie Hawn

Good morning! First official post of 14 Days of MarieAmour, and today’s topic is all about self-love.

First of all, what is self-love?

Self-love is the feeling that your own happiness and wishes are important. ~Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary, 7^th edition.

Anytime, people hear self-love, they think of what the Holy Bible says, that they will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, proud, ungrateful and all that 2 Timothy 3:1-5 says. I am not talking about being selfish, I am talking about how to take good care of yourselves. Please do not see self-love as a way of avoiding people who need your help. Be generous, kind and be at service.

Four things I love about myself

•        My passion for writing. I love writing and I love the way I sometimes have command over it.
•        I can be easily motivated and inspired.
•        The hair I have. The hair colour is not entirely black.
•        I can be organized. I know how to plan my day.

What about you? What do you love about yourself? Maybe, you are looking for ways to love yourself. I am not an expert in this and it is just this year that I started to know what self-love is, but I will share with you how to develop genuine and selfless self-love, not being lovers of yourselves and unholy and disrespectful. I am talking about self-care.

•        Cut away all toxic habits and relationships. If you have a habit that is really disturbing you, quit it.  If you have a huge bunch of frenemies, get rid of them.
•       Please! Do not compare yourself to others. It’s a taboo, I wish it was a taboo. I did that a lot when I was in JHS, but I stopped, when I entered secondary school. I found out that, I was wasting my time and mind resources and it wouldn’t do me any good.
•      Do something you really love or do things that makes you feel good. Like baking, journaling, Family History, DIYs, karaoke.
•       Think positively.
•        Have a grateful heart. Be grateful for your blessings and trials. Trials strengthen you.
•       When someone compliments you, don’t be all skeptical. Rather, say thank you with a smile.
•       Wear your favourite outfit, make up, shoes, hairstyles and get all girlbossed with it.
•       Create me-time. Very important. I learnt how to do this when I entered the university and I found that useful.
•       What! I almost forgot to add this one. Love your body by creating a wellness routine. Have enough rest (I am personally working on that one), workout out, eat healthily, and go for checkups and all that health jazz.
•    Try to unplug and declutter. Our electrical gadgets, social media can be a little distracting

All these and more, can be achieved and make pampering yourself, a priority.

Whatever you are doing, love yourself for doing it. Whatever you are feeling, love yourself for feeling it. ~Thaddeus Solas

14 Days of MarieAmour (Day 1)

Hello there!

During the Christmas holidays, MarieNoel was at work. Now the holidays are over, with the Harmattan (which is good news), next on the celebration train is St. Valentine’s Day, and I present to you

MarieAmour is the same person as MarieNoel and the same person as me. Just a Noel removed and an Amour added. Loving the French sense of names.

So anyway, it is the month of love and romance, where we get to show our romantic talent of RED! We are painting the internet with RED, this Valentine.

Yes!

Let’s talk about LOVE!

Get connected.

Twitter// Facebook//Instagram

And check out my Love and Romance Pinterest board.

What’s on your love mind?