Goodbye March, Hello April!

Happy new month! Welcome to the month of April! I think April is such a beautiful word and a very beautiful name.

I’m introducing a new column to the blog where I’ll do monthly recaps. I’ve seen it on some blogs and I honestly enjoy reading it (I just hope mine will be interesting enough for you to enjoy reading!)

Reading: One of my goals for 2018 is to read more. I think the time I read the most was when I was in college. But Life got busy thanks to ‘adulting’ – Thanks to my commute to work now, I’ve started reading again and e-books make it very convenient. I remember telling my friend some years ago that I preferred paper books to eBooks because I enjoyed the feel of paper in my hands LOL. The books I got my hands on in March were:

A bit of difference by Sefi Atta– I stumbled on this book on my local library’s app and it piqued my interest because it was by a Nigerian author. But I really struggled to read this book, I kept skipping pages and just stopped reading it altogether (I remember reading a quote about it being okay to stop reading a book because you aren’t enjoying it). I like books that I can’t put down once I start reading. Books I can’t get out of my mind even long after I finish them. Like Jodi Picoult’s Storyteller I read last year and 29, Single and Nigerian by Naija Single Girl.

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi – I read very good reviews about Homegoing and decided to buy the kindle version. It’s like a collection of short stories in the era of slavery and it reminded me of the movie, Roots. The author did a very good job of telling stories across different generations. It was sad to read our fellow Africans sold their own people into slavery. I still haven’t finished it because it’s not a page turner for me and its been a bit of a drag.

I read a very interesting article by Funto Ibuoye on Bella Naija where she shares 28 inspiring life lessons as she celebrates her 28th birthday. You can read it here. To think that she’s only 28 and has so much wisdom?!

I didn’t do much reading in March and I hope to do better in April.

Cooking: I do enjoy cooking, in fact my bridal shower was themed “Odun’s kitchen party.” I follow several food pages on Instagram (such as foodace, Thekitchenmuse, 9ja foodie, Sisi Jemimah etc) and the pictures of mouth-watering dishes I see encourages me to try out new recipes.

I made Nigerian meat pie for the first time using Sisi Jemimah’s recipe and it was amazing! The pastry was so nice and the filling was moist and tasty. I’ve wanted to make meat pies for ages and now that’s off my list.

I also made cauliflower fried rice and it was soo good! The ‘rice’ is cauliflower floret which is grated using a grater or a food processor to look like rice. It was so good that I forgot there was no rice in it. This was my first time cooking with sesame oil and I must say it gave the stir fry a very nice nutty flavour. I’ve added it to our menu because its tasty, low carb and very quick to prepare.

Watching: Iroko TV. I cancelled my Netflix subscription last year because I hardly used it. I struggle to follow TV series and I started watching The Crown but got tired. I decided to try Iroko TV since I always watched the Nigerian movies on Netflix first. And, I must say I’ve watched some really good ones! Nollywood has improved in terms of their cinematography, I love the drone shots of Lagos but the storylines are still pretty much the same.

Finally got round to watching Black Panther. My friend, Tayo and I saw Black Panther after the whole world had seen it. Wakanda Forever.

I watched Lalaland with my aunt and cousin. I had tried watching this movie on two different occasions before but got bored because I’m not a big fan of musicals. I think Sound of Music and Mamma Mia are the only musicals I like. Anyways, we watched it and it was quite interesting. It got me thinking because the main characters had to end their relationship and go separate ways because they each wanted to pursue their dreams. Could they have compromised their dreams for the sake of their relationships? Would they still have been happy? While I agree that compromises should be made in relationships, I think some compromises are just too big to make. Have you seen Lalaland, what do you think?

Learning: how to be more patient. People say I’m a patient person and I agree with them. But I have truly learnt patience in the last few months. Having to wait for an important news is excruciating. Very. But I’m trying to enjoy the moment while I wait. Also, God teaches us patience during our waiting periods. It has been a time for me to reflect about the miracles and prayers God has answered in the past and increased my faith in Him.

Are you waiting on God for anything? Please don’t give up. The bible says there’s seed-time and harvest but in between those two seasons is TIME. Patience is one of the fruits of the spirit and also one of God’s attributes which I believe He likes to develop in His children. One lesson I’ve learnt in my walk with God is that His timing is the best. I shared a testimony some years ago about how He makes all things beautiful in His time.

Loving: spring! I heard spring is called the queen of seasons. And I can see why. Not too cold and not too hot. As a proper Nigerian girl, my favourite season is summer. My first winter back in the UK was quite tough, I was always cold. I just hate winter. The cold, darkness and everything about it. It’s funny how the weather affects your mood.

I’m loving the sights of blooming trees, longer days, ditching the extra layers of clothing etc. The UK switched to British Summer Time two Sundays ago and it was annoying because we lost one hour but hey! It signalled better days. I remember my first year in the UK when I learnt we would move the clock forward, I found it very odd.

Listening: to Ire by Adekunle Gold. Ire (goodness) is about how the grass is not greener on the other side. I’m not a fan of afro beats because I’m mindful of the lyrics I listen to. Apart from Orente and Pick up the phone, I didn’t really know his songs. DH* had mentioned him to me a while back that his songs were good but I didn’t really check him out until recently.

Writing: a new story. If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you know how long it took me to complete Through The Waters. I decided I won’t post any series till I complete it first and properly edit it. I’m currently working on a new story which I started in the third person and decided to change to the first-person point of view. I enjoy reading books written in the first person which is probably which I would read any book Jodi Picoult writes. Which do you prefer? First or third person point of view?

Thinking: about three couples I know who have been trying to conceive for years now. I had a burden for them during the month and prayed for them. One of the husbands shared their pain and struggle over the past 10 or so with me last year and it was really heart-breaking. I also know our culture makes it more difficult for couples trying to conceive. People ask insensitive questions and give unsolicited advice.

Thinking about friendships. How some friendships are for a season and knowing its okay to move on when it’s over.

Celebrating: March 8 was International Women’s Day and this year’s team was Press for Progress. I think we have made considerable progress but there’s still a lot to be done. This year alone, women have spoken up in unity with movements like #Metoo and #TimesUp.

To celebrate International Women’s Day , Sterling Bank Nigeria produced a short video about the prejudice against women in the workplace. You should watch it here.

Mother’s Day: March 11 was Mother’s Day in the UK and it was lovely to see how mothers were celebrated. My boss asked me about Mother’s Day in Nigeria and our conversation was something like this:

“Odun, when do you celebrate Mother’s Day in Nigeria?”

Me: “We celebrate both the British one in March and the American one in May.”

She gave me a puzzled look, shook her head and walked away.

Which brings me on to my next question, why do we celebrate the British and American Mother’s Day in Nigeria? Why don’t we just pick one? I suppose the British one since we were colonized by them and our educational structure is modelled after the British. I’ve heard people say one is “Mother’s Day” while the other is “Mothering Sunday.” Is this true?

Mothers are heroes. Like they say, not all superheroes wear capes. Mothers should definitely be celebrated! On Mother’s Day, all the women were presented with gifts in my church and we had the men treat us to a feast after church.

Some years ago, I did a mother’s day post, where people submitted write-ups about their mothers. Have you seen this video? Its a complication of speeches from Oscar award winners who thanked the same person. It’s really beautiful.

Celebrating the death and resurrection of Jesus during Easter. I enjoyed the long weekend Easter gave us.

So that’s it!

What did you get up to in March? Did the month go too quickly?

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. Please do check out some of the links I included.

Wishing you an Amazing April.

*D.H: Dear Husband.

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