14for14: Finishing Line

Hey!!! WE made it @ Ms JB, T.Notes and Duru. This challenge challenged me in a good way... Lol! The aim of the challenge was to revive the dwindling blogging spirit and learn the discipline of "sticking-to-something". Guess what? It achieved its goal! I have 14 posts to prove it *winks* and so do my 3 blogging buddies. I know its a bit cliche to say 'what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger' but I kinda feel it bests sums up this challenge. I know am stronger. Through this challenge I was privy to the fashion and style of the delectable Ms JB, I found and rediscovered amazing blogs from T.Notes sniffing and have been able to see life through the eyes of the young and confused Duru. Its really been an awesome run. Thanks you guys for all the ginger! Giving up was never an option :)!

My 14for14 posts are

1. Intro
2. Looking for Love
3. Throw pillows
4. Mushroom
5. Common Sense Wahala
6. Playing with fire
7. Dining Hall Nightmares
8. Last minute
9. Street people love
10. 5 things I'm loving lately
11. Writing on the wall
12. My World
13. Minding my business
14. This one :p

Cheers to a greater 2015!! Let the countdown to the new year begin!!!

Sincerely,

Cee

14for14: Minding my business

"Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength..."Isaiah 30:15 (NLT)

Yesterday while talking to my Godmom, she mentioned the verse above and I wanna adopt it too as my motto for 2015. I wanna be quiet. Less talk. Less 'gra-gra'. Less waka dugbe. Less nkwali (work no pay). in short Mind my own business. I want to minimize activity and maximize effect/impact. I wanna prioritize more effectively. Say no more often. Enter rest about alot of things and cease worrying.

This is my last 'official' 14 for 14 post. I think I am supposed to write a concluding synopsis of sorts after this. Anyway doing this challenge was great, Some months it was an easy breeze while some months it took Gods grace and plenty hounding from Duru y'all to get me to post a.k.a last minute posts. It taught me a thing or two about sticking through and determination. Salute to Ms. JB for initiating it. I'm so behind in my blog rounds.

When I chose "Love, Life, Learning and Relationships" as what this series was gonna focus on, I really didn't know what I was going to write on. To write on only one of them felt like a restraining order and I couldn't do that. I dunno If I covered any of them well sef. Being as I only know things in part and I can't categorically say somethings only for MY OGA AT THE TOP to say another thing entirely, i had to be mute.

In this 2014, I have known what it means to love and be loved (Lemme chip in here that I am now sumbori's godmom. She's soo adorable.), I have lived, laughed harder, danced more than I have ever done before. I have gone outside my comfort zones to do more. Life has been beautiful. We had art class fun day on the 23rd and we really had fun :)! I also got involved with Slum2school this year and its been amazing. How can I forget my Nysc. This service year has been good. A respite of sorts. Teaching has its perks a.k.a flexibility. I'm not so excited about some of the grades I recorded after marking their scripts. Some Scripts made me blush while some almost made me doubt my teaching methodologies. 

Oh boi! I have learn't plenty things o! Both material (visible) and immaterial. I attended a few courses and acquired some skills +grammar (serenre) too. I haven't been as consistent in blogging as I should have and I know. Relationships have blossomed and some have died a natural death. Funny things have happened and more will happen. Some people keep 'hoping' against reality *yimu*.

 2014 is a year to remember! I grew up in more ways than I knew possible. I'm not there yet but I am striving ... 2015 shall be greater! Heaven on Earth! IJN

P.S: I'm a bit off the social media & Instant messaging grid atm. My phone just stopped coming on and I understand the message it is telling me...  ;)

Sincerely,

Cee

Merry Christmas Blogville!

Christmas is finally here! Merry Christmas everyone :)!

Hopefully all the vacationers heading outta town have left and the roads will finally be free n'all.
May this season bring all you hoped for and more.
I know what I want for Christmas and I'm still very hopeful o! Christmas aint over till I win *smiles*
My Grand-aunty is of the opinion that the smell of new paint is part of the celebration. Lol! Do you agree?
This year we are hosting some family members so that means plenty cooking and washing plates merriment and rejoicing.. You are invited :)
Wishing you guys an awesome celebration and a fab new year.

For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given,

and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

 Of the greatness of his government and peace

there will be no end.

He will reign on David’s throne

and over his kingdom,

establishing and upholding it

with justice and righteousness

from that time on and forever.

The zeal of the Lord Almighty

will accomplish this.

Isaiah 9:6-7 (NIV)

Lots of L<3ve,

Cee

P.S: would be back soon with my two concluding 14for14 posts! What a journey :)!

14for14: MY WORLD

So It's November already and Christmas is 6 Thursdays away *inserts dancing* !

Not only that my service year is gradually coming to an end...

Today was a teaching free day! Continuous Assessment Test day!!

I also conducted the United Nations My World Survey TODAY for the kids in my school and I got all kitted up in my NYSC regalia to do it.

It was fun and involved plenty pushing, shoving and excitement.

Most of the Kids voted for Affordable and Nutritious food + Good Education among other things :)

(For more info on the survey, check http://vote.myworld2015.org/)

Towards the end of the year, is always birthdays and celebrations galore for me. Saturday is my grandma's birthday! Whoop whoop! I have classes that day but hope to be back in time to "play" with her...She's a wonderful sumbori :)!

Funny how while talking with a friend a few days ago we both said simultaneously that we hated the question "what do you like to do for fun?"

It sounds so regular and innocent that I'm sure you are wondering whats the big deal? right?

Well five things are wrong with it

1. Its over-used! I can't count how often I have been asked that in the past few weeks.

2.  Its a trick! The guys claim to wanna get to "know" you *yimu* Na lie!

3. Its a kind of personality test or some sort of "judge of character". Someone once told me I'm a selfish person since all the things I like doing are 'solo' - reading, writing, solving puzzles and doodling. Imagine the nerve!

4. There's an underlying message. (go figure it out :p)

5. Its Banal

Now its my turn... what do you guys do for fun??! That is asides blogging and blog stalking ;)!

(actually joking 'seriously' Lol! )

Oh before I forget Tomorrow is The Young and Confused bloggers Birthday! Whoop! Whoop! Lemme tell you a secret... I posted early this month because of a bargain we made. Lol! Expecting my delivery oo and Duru remember to inbox me the number to call tomorrow :)!

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Romans 12:2 The Message (MSG)

14for14: Writing on the wall

Ever wondered about the early man and what they did for fun? Well today I taught my class about Cave art and how cave men used to draw and paint on cave walls. As you might have guessed the class was hilarious! Someone even asked me why couldn't the men just draw on paper like normal people. Lol! It reminded me of my childhood and my fave past time.

I won't pretend and say I was a docile child. Infact I was often the opposite. My parents had a standing order with the painters beacause of us. We loved to write, draw, scribble, doodle in fact we did anything and everything on the walls in our home. At a point they had to paint parts of the house textured paint and glossy paint in an attempt to deter us. It didn't work though. My brothers and I were determined to live our marks and tell the wall world we were here (We still are).

*In Beyonce's voice*
I wanna leave my footprints on the sands of time
Know there was something that, and something that I left behind
When I leave this world, I'll leave no regrets,
Leave something to remember, so they won't forget

I was here
I lived, I loved
I was here
I did, I've done, everything that (He) wanted
And it was more than I thought it would be
I will leave my mark so everyone will know
I was here

Truly, after all has been said and done that's what really matters... What mark would I leave on the wall of life? Would my Creator say Well done? This is what I'm learning and striving to do. Won't lie its not a piece of cake! (In pidgin.. pesin wey neva chop belleful u com dey ask am to remain for im pikin) God dey!

This world is fading away, along with everything it craves. But if you do the will of God, you will live forever. 1 John 2:17 (NLT)

Sincerely,

Cee

It's my MOMMA'S day

*covers eyes* I just want to say its my Mom's birthday today and I'm dancing.... Would be back Asap with a proper blog post and my 14for14 post. @John: Keep Calm the Madam shall be back after this commercial break *winks*

\

to buy a cake or not? If I do.... Guess who'll end up eating 80% of it??!

"In her hand she holds the distaff
    and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
 She opens her arms to the poor
    and extends her hands to the needy.
 When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
    for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
 She makes coverings for her bed;
    she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
 Her husband is respected at the city gate,
    where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.

She makes linen garments and sells them,
    and supplies the merchants with sashes.
 She is clothed with strength and dignity;
    she can laugh at the days to come.
 She speaks with wisdom,
    and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
 She watches over the affairs of her household
    and does not eat the bread of idleness.
 Her children arise and call her blessed;
    her husband also, and he praises her:
 “Many women do noble things,
    but you surpass them all.”

(Proverbs 31: 19-29, NIV)

She's THAT KIND of a Woman!! See my post here

Sincerely,

Cee

14FOR14: 5 things I'm loving lately

September has been quite wonderful and FULL of activities for me. I've had this post in my head for about 2 weeks now just didn't get round to typing it till now...

This post was inspired by a post I read a while ago on Cassandra's blog here on the things she was loving lately too. So here are my 5


 1. Marc Jacobs Lola

 I got this perfume as a birthday gift and I'm so loving it right now :)!

2. My Hair

I finally got round to doing straw curls. Wondering what that is? Well its the reason why straws are finding themselves roped into ladies hair drama. My brother says he doesn't get why the ladies at work are doing it and now his sister too has joined 'em. *yimu*. I'm enjoying the bouncy curls and how my hair is off my neck. At the same time... its been raining a lot of late so I don't know how long I'll be able to pull it off :(

Although mine involved me getting into a dryer...lol

3. My Love letters... Can't explain it but the things I had been reading in THE BOOK of late have been very personal and mind blowing. *lovestruck* He just knows how to make me blush n'all.

4. My "Jimmy choo's"- Lool! I'm kidding buh I'm loving my new gym shoes :)! I love looking at them when I  work out. So I guess they are secretly a motivating factor for me to stay fit. Don't judge me :p

Last but not the least

5. I really didn't want to fall any one's hand so I'll live up to my reputation of being a foodie (according to two of my blog readers)..... GRILLED GIZZARD & SNAILS. 

He answered, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

Luke 10:27 (NIV)

Sincerely,

Cee

My birthday :)

My cakes 2 of 3 :)! the chocolate one was a birthday gift from Decake Shoppe!

So I had planned on putting up a post on my birthday (two days ago) but things happened... and I didn't. I know you guys still love and won't begrudge me

I went on a Beach getaway a.k.a boat cruise to Takwa bay with a few friends. I had so much fun and got  a new respect for footballers oo! So we kicked the ball around for less than thirty minutes and went for recess by the water (we never finished the game. lol!)

Our makeshift  goal post :)!

See I've got my eyes on the ball... Don't just ask me what I did when I got the ball though :p

oh there were some 'kids' (lil goats) and dogs in attendance..

See me lifting my hands to heaven in gratitude! God has been too faithful :)!

Thank you for all the love, kind words and blogsville friendships that add spice to my life.

I'm grateful for you guys :*! You Rock!!!

Oh! Teach us to live well!

Teach us to live wisely and well!

Come back, God—how long do we have to wait?—

and treat your servants with kindness for a change.

Surprise us with love at daybreak;

then we’ll skip and dance all the day long.

Make up for the bad times with some good times;

we've seen enough evil to last a lifetime.

Let your servants see what you’re best at—

the ways you rule and bless your children.

And let the loveliness of our Lord, our God, rest on us,

confirming the work that we do.

Oh, yes. Affirm the work that we do!

Psalm 90:12-17 The Message (MSG)

Update: Remember the Blogsville Pay it Forward I posted about early this year (Check here)? Ermm... so far I have given 3 of them their gifts! Yay 2 more to go :)! 

Sincerely, 

Cee

14for14: Street People Love

Keep Calm August is giving way to the best month... September *dancing*. In order to let August to bow out gracefully I shall do my 14for14 sharply :)!

There are few people I see on the streets of Gidi that make my heart smile. I won't go into the legality or illegality of what they do because its not my jurisdiction. Without much ado I present you my Street Peeps:

1). The Exclusive street food vendors: (FYI this does not include mama puts and hawkers). I like food, you like food, we all love food agreed? The people who grill plantain, yam, potatoes, chicken, goat meat and all those other mouth watering 'healthy' street food are fabulous!

I apologize in advance for making you hungry! Please bear with me :P

Oh the list includes puff puff and akara (bean cakes) too.

2. Smiling security personnel: There's nothing as wonderful as seeing people doing their jobs cheerfully! I have met some very grumpy security men who are always complaining and looking for "appreciation" for doing their work. So I should pay you for opening the door or stopping traffic as I back out of your companies parking lot right? Makes no sense! A smile is still the best clothing accessory. You should see the security men I hail every morning on my way to work, They are happy and have a swagger!

3. Road sweepers a.k.a LAWMA: Suited up in their bright orange ensemble, every morning  these people are busy doing their work. They serve as my time gauge of sorts. If Lawma isn't on the road on my way to work it means I'm late *full stop*

4. Life Savers! Vulcanizers and cobblers: Be it your tangible car or your leggedez benz (your shoes) these two always come to the rescue! I can't count how many times. The most recent was on my way back from doing my NYSC clearance for the month, my shoes gave away! imagine!

and the last but not the least are

5). Keke Drivers with disabilities: wondering why? They could have easily decided to be beggars and no one would judge them because of their conditions but they didn't. While the same streets are full of people with both arms and legs who fabricate the most amazing stories just to get into the beggarly profession!

 I salute these special peeps for the services they render and the swag with which they do it! 

for we walk by faith, not by sight--2 Corinthians 5:7

Sincerely,

Cee

NOT talking about it

This is a short post on why I am not writing about Ebola. I had intended writing a funny post about how the new disease had affected my immediate family and environment. I would have written about my youngest brother's sudden love for bitter kola and my mom's suya microwaving skills or the fact that my brother's office bought cartonssss of hand sanitizers and gave all their staff. I would have also mentioned the 6am call I received informing me to add plenty salt to my water when bathing (apparently most people got 3am calls so I'm grateful for my sleep that was unperturbed).

There is usually a thin line between information and misinformation.

I'm glad of the recent news that there are Ebola survivors and at the same time I'm very sad about those that had to die from misinformation...SALT OVERDOSE!!!

It was funny before but it isn't any longer...

We shouldn't as Nigerians allow fear be our driving force! 

Lets equip ourselves with the Right Information! 

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Matthew 6:13

Sincerely,

Cee

14for14: last minute

The school where I am currently serving closed for the summer last Friday. Yay!! So I'm supposed to start chilling right? Well not exactly. My work just began and it has nothing to do with marking scripts and compiling results. I volunteer with an organisation every August to help disadvantaged students in developing their literacy and numeracy skills. This is my fourth or fifth year doing it and as a rule each year can only get better... So work dey but God is as always more than faithful :)!

There was a valedictory event of some sorts for the outgoing JSS 3 students on Thursday and the following are some of the things I learnt from the event:

1. It doesn't take plenty people to plan a successful event. I'm of the opinion that only the principal and her secretary planned the whole thing. I stand to be corrected but most of the staff were surprised by a lot stuff including the yearbook given to the outgoing pupils.

2. Students can undergo a complete 360 degree change when the music is turned on. I wish I could show you guys what I'm talking about. The dance moves were unbelievable! I really wish they could transfer a fraction of their enthusiasm to their studies. There are still a handful that have difficulty in reading and calculating basic sums.

The "he-pop dancers"lol!

3. The school photographer makes money!

4. It's the same set of students that get all the prizes. Its usually the first position in the class that gets the well behaved prize or the neatest student prize. Makes me wonder if intelligence is really linked to neatness and behavior...

5. Students are quite observant once it involves food or money! I gave out my food pack to a student who had been following me around that day and you can guess what happened next... Also the Vice principal sprayed some dancers money and that was how the next set of dancers danced until they got their share too.

Lol! July is almost over and I have succeeded in doing another Last minute 14for14 blog post! Next month I plan on breaking the trend :)

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Philippians 4:13(KJV)

Sincerely,

Cee

Liebster Award

Guess what? A young and confused blogger (if you don't believe me read his blog here and see what I mean) nominated me for the Liebster blog award. Thanks John for this nomination :)! I enjoy answering blog tags, check out my 11 question tag post and my versatile blogger award post. So without further ado, I'll answer his questions, post mine and nominate 11 bloggers.

His questions:

1. What made you start blogging?
I have always loved writing so blogging (sharing it) was the next best thing. I found out about blogging in my final year from my room mate who called it her 'online personal diary' (won't tell you what it took to get the link to her blog) and I got fascinated with the whole idea.

2. Whats your real Full name?
 Chisomebi 

3. What inspires you to write?
 People (in me, around me and the ones I hear about), life's experiences, the stuff my mind cooks up and a whole lot of other things.

4. Do you ever feel like quiting Blogging?
Right now Noooooo!!! Lol! but in the past I have considered it...Sad right? I guess I felt I didn't have the time. I was always trying to beat a deadline or the other and people weren't making it easy too. They kept over analyzing my blog posts.

5. Whats your most favourite post on your own Blog?
I'm sorry I don't have a favourite post i have favouritesssssss *tongue out*
Anyways, I like my post on my love-hate relationship with Okadas (click here) and the one about my parents here and here

6. What do you like most about the Young and Confused Blog?
I like the fact that it's not a stereotype blog. It's hard to describe the blog so everyone just goes with the flow.

7. What kind of person do I strike you as?
Aside the obvious, I think you are a nice person who thinks a lot about a lot of stuff. A real one who isn't afraid to be vulnerable once in awhile.

8. If someone asked to buy your blog for 500,000 Naira, would you sell?
Huh? No that would be selling myself short. Increase the offer and then I might be open to discuss *winks*

9. Whats the dumbest thing you have ever changed cause of a relationship?
My height. (I won't tell you what I did though :p

10. Whats is the most silly thing you recall doing as a child?
Using a scissors to cut open my brother's mattress after he found my trouble!

11. Can you tell us 1 of your secrets?
I'm not that into social media. I have a dormant Facebook account, not on twitter or instagram. 

P.S: I kindly ask all the nominees to attach a picture of themselves at the end of their  Liebster post, cause I have no idea what many of them look like.
Me :)!

My Nominees 

1. http://beautiful-eagle.blogspot.com/

2. http://coyintrovert.blogspot.com/

3. http://fashionkween.blogspot.com/

4. http://blushesanddimples.blogspot.com/

5. http://www.folasoasis.com/

6. http://oneplustheone.blogspot.com/

7.http://theaternotes-naija.blogspot.com/

8. http://thislagosgirl.blogspot.com/

9. http://missytees.blogspot.com/

10. http://www.dobbyssignature.com/

11. http://www.geeslemonades.com/

My Jamb Questions are...

1. What do you do?

2. What kind of music are you into?

3. What's one of the scariest things you've ever done?

4. What do you do for fun?

5. Describe your blog with a phrase.

6. Do you like to plan things out in detail or spontaneous?

7. What was your life like growing up?

8. Who in your life has influenced you the most? How did they do it?

9. What's your favorite joke?

10. If you could try out any job for s day, what would you like to try?

11. If someone asked you to give them a random piece of advice, what would you say?

Looking forward to reading your posts :)!

(P.S: I had help with the questions from here.)
Oh lemme give some background info about Liebster award. It is an online blogging award given to bloggers by bloggers. Liebster is a German word that means "favourite" and "beloved". So blogs with less than 200 followers which inspire such feelings are nominated/given the award. *wide grin*

Sincerely,

Cee

14for14: Dining Hall Nightmares

I went to a boarding school and like most, the dining hall was a world of it's own. It was the venue where the most embarrassing incidents and tales occurred. The two 'horrible' and 'earth shattering' things that you wouldn't want to happen to you in the dining hall were:

1) For your cutlery to fall! I don't know what the big deal was but then it was just so wrong. All eyes would be on you immediately and they'll be judging you. The eyes will automatically label you a grub, glutton, FFO (for food only) e.t.c. The judging had levels too. If it was a fork it was moderate, a spoon was worse but a Big Spoon like the one below was the worst of them all.

This was the basing Spoon!! lol

even Spoon get levels ;)!

2) For you to get a dining hall BADGE! That's what you get when food spills on your uniform. The bigger the badge the more the shame literally. Breakfast badges were the most dreaded because you had to sit through your remaining classes with it. Only babies were permitted to get food stains. (That reminds me according to this theory, I was a baby last Saturday because I poured a whole cup of tea on myself at an induction event and I was still going for a wedding afterwards. Sad right?)

So what did the Dining hall teach me?

1. That if I remain in my cocoon and refuse to try out new things (meals) from other cultures, I'll be missing a whole lot. You won't believe it but I started eating fish and water melon in Dining hall. Imagine!!

2. How to eat fast! Aint nobody got time to spend an hour eating a meal.

3. The person with the serving spoon is very powerful

4. Punctuality to the dining hall is key if you want to actually eat 

5. All that glitters is not gold. Some meals look way better than they taste

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 10:31 (ESV)

Sincerely,

Cee