How to : Apple Crumble

On Christmas Eve my sisters decided to go for a photo shoot.

I say my sisters because no one told me beforehand that this was happening.😒 And if any one knows me, I do not work well with last minute plans. Not at all. I probably won't (be able to) show up. And that day was no exception. Not because I was being difficult or didn't want to go, I really do make the effort for close friends and family, but because my older sister always has a theme for everything and I had nothing clean to wear in her scheme. That said, their pictures turned out pretty amazing, as you can see for yourself. So there is no salt to be found here. *sits pretty*😇

Thinking Out Loud #2 : Love

Happy Thursday!!
And a happy last month of the year.

Source

So the topic of love has been on my mind and on my heart for a while now.

How to show it.
Who to show it to.
What love is.
Self love....etc

Thursdays are for Thinking Out Loud

Happy Throwback Thursday!!

I've been away a while, it's been one of those months.
You know, those ones where you barely have time for anything.
The ones that move so quick you barely have time to breathe.
The ones where you're going from day to day with a "help me get through today" prayer?
The ones where you're counting down till you get a break? Three weeks I see you!
YES....Those Ones.

Can we just give it up to God for getting us through? Wont He do it?!
Cause 2016 has been something, am I right? 2017 come throuuuuuuuuuugh!!

So today's just gonna be about Thinking Out Loud.

I came across this on one of my favourite blogs: Running With Spoons. And I just knew I had to get into it. For those days when I don't have a structured enough something to share, even thought those draft posts are piling up. *covers face* Or those days when I just want to share the organised chaos that is me.

Motivational Mondays : On (For) women.

Happy Monday!

In a world where women are constantly looked down on, or being put down (by men or other women). A world where we have to fight to be heard/acknowledged. It's comforting to come across pieces of writing like these. On days when God knows I need special encouragement, He always finds a way to send me little love letters through His word. And to think, this message was written oh so long ago, only for me to read it today :). Look at My Daddy God!

Meet the Bloggers ft Chanda Mulenga

Brief Introduction

Long ago (not so long, just February 1995), the people of earth were blessed by the birth of a boy by the name of Chanda Mulenga (aka STC The Producer). I am that boy—well, man now. I am the firstborn and I have three siblings—two sisters and a brother. I enjoy reading, producing music, writing poetry, watching movies, hanging with friends and many other spontaneous miscellaneous things. It’s fun being a little random and/or unpredictable. I’m a Christian and I’m currently in my second year (2016) of study at The University of Zambia pursuing a degree in Computer Science.

Inspiration for Blogging

In all honesty I cannot really remember. I guess I can say some blogs that I read from inspired me and also I love being some kind of open book. Just leaving my random thoughts out there for people to learn from or get entertained. Another inspiration could be due to my composition lessons back in secondary school. My teachers of English really pushed me to develop my writing skills.

My Hate-Love affair with Adulting

Happy Choose-day!

Source

I'm sorry I didn't get you your usual Friday post, I tried to but, I was adulting.

Source

I've been 23 for all of two seconds, okay it happened about a week ago *cue music*, but I can tell you I definitely feel the difference.
So why now?
Why ONLY now?
Why have I decided to be responsible and adult this year?
Well to tell you the truth, I've asked myself that and had a couple of chuckles about it too.

Feature Fridays: Life Changing Mission Experiences; Every Nation Botswana Mission 2016

By: Grace Nonde

So my best friend Mwaba asked me: “What would you say was the difference between the Kenya Mission trip you went on last year and the Botswana Mission trip this year?” 
My answer: “I was able to hear God’s voice much more clearly this time around.”

Let’s rewind a little…
     Last year I went on my first International Mission trip to Kenya. The destination was Kenyatta University in Kahawa-Sukari, Nairobi. 
The way this happened was all God ordained. But that is a whole other story of miracles on it's own and you can contact me if you would like to know more. However, long story short is that  during the Kenya Mission trip last year I encountered God in a way I had never before. The supernatural was so real during the entire week we were there. We got to see many salvations, miracles such as blind eyes opened, spiritually orphaned children returned to their Heavenly Father and a definite change in the atmosphere of Kenyatta University where many Bible Study/Connect groups have been started to incorporate the students we reached out during our time there. 
Matthew 28:19- “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…”

How to: veggie roast

Happy Fri-Yay!

I'm home for the weekend, because I LOVE home (ask anyone) and because sometimes I just need a break off adulting uno? Can I get an amen?

So you guys know those people who like to eat fancy food but are too lazy busy to feed themselves? Well that's my whole life story! Loool. *hides face*

Feature Fridays:To grandma, with love.

By Chimwemwe Sakanjole.

Almost a year ago today(Oct/Nov 2015), I wrote my final 4th year exams📚. Within two weeks of being back home, I got my first paid job which started at the beginning of December. It was at a company I said I'd work for one day (power of the tongue)...

A few weeks later after I began, I got news that I would be graduating from uni with an Upper Second (i.e 2nd from distinction) Economics Honors Degree all by the grace of God 🙏🏽.
And merely two months into my new job, I got another job offer from a different company, one that I am currently working for.

God has been so good to me... 

Taking Stock; Spring 2016

Happy Sunday!!

This is the part where we pretend I wasn't awol for a month and skip right back into loving each other. Yes? Sounds like a plan *cheesing* 

I'm sorry I was away. *covers face* Remember that time I was excited about med school? Well......that happened. *insert dancing emoji* So I'm out here trying to live my best life and stay afloat. Thank you for being so patient with me while I settled. I promise I've got it together now *winks*

Anywho...it's that time of the year again!! (well technically this was meant for last month but pshhh, we'll pretend you didn't notice) Did you sit down and do yours?

Note to self

Wondering what I've been up to while I was away? Well....other than getting back into school after the long, long break. (more on that soon) I've been catching up with people I haven't seen in the longest time and reigniting old (and slightly new) friendships.

This last season  was one of learning from past mistakes and picking up new lessons. It was also about loving God, myself, my family and my friends. Come on now! God has let me longing for more and more!

I cannot wait to see what else He has in store for me!

Bisous

x

That New New thing

Happy FriYay!!

And a happy new month to all of you! *insert heart eyed emoji here*

There are so many reasons I'm excited about this new month. I've been waiting for it all year for starters, and there are so many things going on that I'll get to sharing with you soon. I just felt that i should share with you my excitement about this New month. Have I said New enough times now?  No? Good, cause I was just getting started. Haha!

Come on now! Those words are true and faithful! In the same way that the coming of the New Jerusalem is spoken about, I feel like God is starting something New in my life. And mannnn, does it feel awesome!

Yessssssssssssss!

Are you bearing fruit?

Happy Hump day!!

My devotion this morning said:

"What side are you on? That is the question Jesus is asking in Luke 13:1-8. Are you on the side of right or wrong? The right side leads to eternal life, while the wrong side leads to destruction. Jesus' message is simple: all you have to do is repent of your sins in order to have new life. If you don't repent, then you will perish. God does not desire to cut us down, but rather He loves us and desires us to bear fruit. What fruit are you bearing in your life currently? What sins do you need to repent of in order to start bearing the kind of fruit God desires?"

I absolutely loved it. It embodied the three S's: Short, Sweet and Straight-to-the-point.😄
See the last couple of weeks in various discussions with a friend of mine(with the aid of devotions, a couple of powerful sermons and searching scripture) I've been seriously thinking about the Christian life. It's not enough to just proclaim your Faith 🙅 No no no! You need to bear fruit. How are you going to claim to be following the Lord and growing in your walk when there are no fruits to show for it? Are you really growing? Just as the trees grow and eventually begin to bear fruit, so too should we be in our walk with God. 

Power of Make Up

Happy Throwback Thursday!!

Remember the time I did natural tag and had my best friend Mwaba answer all those questions? Then remember the time I did a make-up post myself?

Wellll...... for some reason no one believes that I like/wear make up. Which confuses us both. Lol. She's the reason I like it so much *points finger* and according to her, I spend more time doing mine than she does. Lies and deception! haha, okay...maybe there's a little truth in it.

My favourite things: Products

Happy Hump day!

I love getting to the middle of the week *grins* Don't you?

So I hope y'all are participating in the Giveaway? If not, where have you been and what are you doing? There's a FREE BIBLE ouchea just waiting to get snatched up.lol

In line with that, you guys know how I'm a reformed Product junkie? Yes, yes. We've all been there. Well now I use a specific set of products (the girls in my natural hair group will tell you that I'm a Dr Miracles brand ambassador looool) and I have a set Regimen (see here for details).

Once in a while though.....I get tempted by something oh so special and a week ago Aunt Jackie's products caught my eye. Hair Vitality Zambia were giving away samples of their product line in conjunction with Umoyo and by some miracle I got wind of it. Best believe I told all my Lusaka based naturals. Haha. They agreed to partner up with me for this (Thanks Guys!) and I was so excited.

Milestones,Motivational Mondays and other stories

Happy Monday!

Mid month already right??? I can't believe the month is flying by so quickly and we're fast approaching the next one. *gasp*!

Sooooooooo you know how I've been MIA? Well....drumroll please?
I'm soo excited to announce that the blog has gotten to a whopping 5000 views! *squeels*

WHAT???!!

COME ON NOW!!!

LOOK AT GOD!

You guys have been absolutely amazing and the response these last couple of months has been astounding. We were literally at 1K at the beginning of this year. And 2.5K a few seconds ago. Tjo! So thank you. Just thank you. And to show my appreciation I'm announcing:

A 5K Giveaway!!

 

The instructions are pretty simple:

☆Follow us both on blogglovin'

☆Follow our instagrams: @mwapsy @temzie4sho

☆Follow our blogs

☆Follow Afropop on fb

☆share the poster up on your social media with the hashtag #5kGiveAway

☆And leave a comment below letting us know why you think you should win.

Competition ends 30th June and the winner of the Bible to be announced on 2 July! Note that this is open to international viewers as well! So get to it!

Stay tuned for more!! And go check out AfroJungle for a feature I did in the Motivational Monday segment ;)

Bisous!

x

Feature Fridays

Happy FriYay!

I know I've been a lot quiet this month, I hope you'll forgive me, but I've been pretty busy and I'm planing great things for the blog. More on that on Monday though.

Today's Feature Friday is one of my high school friends, such a star and a fellow sister in Christ. I was so hyped when I found out she was blogging hey. It was so fun to reconnect and start encouraging each other once more. She's alway been a little crazy (see picture below. lol) and a tech lover(our computer studies class was hilarious!) and this is cleary translated in her creative blog; It's got some amazing segments that I absolutely love! Like the Motivational Monday and the Foodie Friday ones. But enough from me, here she is

Mother - daughter dates

Happy Throwback Thursday!

*Cheesing*

So almost a month ago was mother's day. And the week leading up to it daddy was out of town on a missions trip so mummykins and I painted the town RED. Lol, just kidding. That's what we want you to believe. We actually just chilled and did some errands most of the time.

On the Wednesday we went to the mall (Manda Hill) because mummy had something to do in the bank, so I took this as an opportunity to pick up my besty Chimwemwe (she's also my mum's best friend. lol) from her job for lunch. Cause it's important to treat your faves once in a while. That and it was lunchtime. Haha!

After some deliberation we decided that we wanted a proper meal, not fast food, and we went to  Curry in a hurry

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Happy Monday!

Twice in one day? *gasp* Yes! Just popping in quickly to tell you all that you can now find me on

Just click the link in the right hand column and you'll be able to get notified as soon as my posts go up. *Cheesing*

Thank you so much for the support y'all! We're up to 4420 views as of today!!
Look at God!? *Hands raised high emoji*
Keep your eyes open for something special (you'll know what it is when you see it) coming soon *winks*

Bisous

x

Note to self

Have you ever asked someone how they are and been convicted by their answer? 🙆😯🙊
Sometimes we need to deviate from the norm of answering things like "fine/okay/good/great".
Sometimes we need to be real and proclaim the goodness of God in our lives 😍, we need to testify about His grace that is more than sufficient for us.
A conversation I had recently with a friend changed my perspective totally. So much so that I shared it with my mom and my best friends.

  

Embrace your natural hair workshop and other stories

Happy Saturday!

So on this side of the world 25th May is Africa Freedom day and in Zambia it's a recognized bank/public holiday so the whole country had the day off. The ladies of Embrace Your Natural Hair took this as an opportunity to hold a natural hair workshop and what a great decision that was!

The day was amazing beginning with the weather, the venue, he speakers and ending with the lovely goodie bags we left with. I chose to keep my look simple and went with white and nude tones for both my outfit and my make-up. I finished it off with my signature bun and chitenge head wrap.

 

Feature Fridays: We're together-together

By Chitalu Lamba on chich058.wordpress.com

I’ll be honest: I don’t think I’ve ever been around people that are so in love. So much peace and freedom and happiness in one place at the same time. Well today I did, and it was marvelous, I only was aware of what I had been round hours later.

Two people enjoying each other’s company so much, caring for each other. Cinderella and her Prince Charming the night they danced at the ball. That magical feeling, I could feel between these two. *sigh* 😊, it’s left sparkles in me ❤.

They thought together… I bet even their heartbeats were in sync.

They told a very long story ❤

I don’t think there’s a picture or words that could help you fully understand, but be around two people in love and you will know…😏😊

Personality Traits

Happy Choose Day!

Do you ever wonder why it is you're best friends with the people that you are? Or if you know your best friends that well? Or just if you and your friends are really that similar? I did. And when my sister Chipundu introduced my sisters and I to the 16 personalities quiz I knew this was how I could finally find out. I watched a video clip from a segment of The Real 😍 that said, " at any given time a person has up to five best friends." And I felt like that was so true! Why? Because there are five people in my life that I know are going to weather the storms with me 😄

So on Sunday night and the whole of yesterday I introduced my friends to the personality quiz, asked them to take it and let me know their results. Pretty simple right? Well that's what I thought, turned out I was wrong 😂 The quiz claimed to be about ten minutes long and the results pretty accurate. Most of them did it without a problem and I was so excited to see what personality they'd gotten (and if I was right when I assigned each one of them a personality type). I did have to convince 3 out of 5 of my best friends though *cough cough* Chimy, Fwaya & Grace* that it was crucial that they take it. I may have resulted to blackmail 😂😂 but that's okay, it got the job done. Lol. 😉

Feature Fridays: Mercies in disguise

By: Kasela Kalebwe

A while back in bible class, we learnt about bad things happening to good people…

It was a pretty helpful lesson, but not one that stuck cause even though I had come across some bumps across the road, many of them I dug up myself, lol. And every so often, I still do.

But more recently, I faced a ‘bump’ that I thought that even I – the trouble maker that I am, didn’t quite deserve. It turned my life upside. I lost my pillar, my beautiful mother. One minute she was shouting at me for not calling enough, and as the defiant daughter, I thought she was being melodramatic and the next she was gone and I sat there like an idiot wishing I had called her every minute of every day. #harshlessonmuch

If I may put it as blankly as I felt, my world turned upside down. The person I would call when no one could understand was gone. And I felt the deepest, most painful loss ever. I prayed so much for what I thought would be Gods mercy to have Him give her back to me. When that request wasn’t being answered, I asked for Him to take me instead. You know how they say, “Can things get any worse?” And then they did… He didn’t seem to agree with my suggestions to fix the problem so I got upset! I got mighty upset with God… And the irony is, it didn’t make me feel any better, if anything, the sense of loss just dug deeper. . .

Why I'm running again

Happy Throwback Thursday!

Remember when I was being healthy and lost four kilos in four weeks? And how I followed up with tips on how I conquered healthy life struggles? Well......A few weeks into "Vac and Chill" I'd forgotten all about healthy eating and living. Being at home and having nothing to work to tends to do that to me *hides face* but that all stopped this Tuesday. Why? I'm going to run in the MTN half marathon, that's why. Also I feel like as someone who's venturing into the health profession I should be an example and I should definitely know better. So I've changed my diet and I'm exercising on a regular (like every day) basis now. *grins*

Registration details on Page

So about that half marathon. Well, It's been something on my bucket list and something I'd said I'd get done this year. You know those goals that you set for yourself at the beginning of the year? Well I do them every quarter and keep track of them by Taking Stock. See here and here. I can't wait till the next one so I can let you all in on what I've been up to.

Road blocks and other stories

Happy Choose Day!!

Have you ever been stuck in traffic so bad that you literally don't move for a couple of (what seems like) hours? Or been cruising along the road only to be caught up in a road block? It's frustrating and annoying right? But being angry or hooting (honking your horn) doesn't get you out of it, no sir. You just have to be patient and let the police officers do their job. And believe that once you get to the front and clear the road block, it'll be smooth sailing once more. That is, until you get to the next one.lol

Why am I talking about road blocks? Esp that I don't even have a licence? Lol. Well, I experienced my own version of one this last weekend. See it all begun on Thursday. I woke up ready to do an inspirational post, got to my laptop and pffft, nothing. I kid you not. I was sitting for almost two hours before I decided to rather make it a throwback Thursday post and put out something that I had already done the ground work on. Crisis averted right? No. *straight face emoji* My writers block slipped into a readers block and I just decided to close up everything. To the kitchen I went and it was a good day to make a sweet potato pie :)

How to: Banana muffins :)

Happy "throwback" Thursday!

So as you know I've been trying out various banana themed recipes over the last couple of weeks. Why? Because bananas are thebomb.com and for some reason I've had a couple of "too ripe" bananas on my hands lately. So rather than let them go to waste, I've been getting creative and trying out a bunch of recipes. My family know not to toss them out now. lol.

The other week I tried out a, wait for it: flourless, vegan, banana muffin recipe.
Yes guys, me! *round of applause*
I was convinced it was going to be bland and dull, but boy was I wrong! Just goes to show that you should never judge a recipe by it's name. *see what I did there?*
Plus it was really special making these because the name "banana muffins" reminds me of the girls in my cell group back in Cape Town. I love those women.

Is that your hair?

Happy Choose Day!

It was mother's day this last weekend and Social media was buzzing with people shouting out their mamma's. I love mine! We spent most of the week bonding and I'll have a Mother-daughter post for you out soon.

So my hair: I know I haven't done an update since I put up my regimen last month but believe me, I have been taking care of it, enjoying it and changing it up. At the beginning of the year I decided I was going to give myself a protective style challenge (along with my castor oil challenge) and keep my hair in protective styles most of the year. It's been going great and because I do my own hair (and have time on my hands, for now), I can switch it up quite easily before I get tired or when I get my three week itch. I've been trying to keep styles in for at least three weeks at a time (to stop my hand-in-hair syndrome) and give it a break for at least one week. You can have a look at the different styles I've had on my Instagram (preview in right hand sidebar)The length retention is REAL! I'd highly recommend this to anyone who's trying to grow out their hair, whatever state it's in; natural, texlaxed or relaxed.

 Snapchat : Mwapssy

The power of the selfie 📷

Happy Thursday!!

Is it a "thirsty" or "throwback" one for you all?
It's a throwback one for me. And believe me, my gallery is bursting at the seams; just how I like it😉

I'm a big photo taker/collector/boarder as you may have noticed. And I'm not ashamed at all 🙌🙅, 'scuse me for a second lemme take that photo 📷😄. I've been in the selfie game for a while now, remember my post from early last year? My sisters recently voted me and my younger sister "most likely to take a selfie" and my friends know cause they probably have a few selfies of me/staged photos/landscapes I've taken on their phones. 🙋 Hey friends, hey! They understand, blogger tendencies. Lol. (I was this way before I started blogging as well but that's besides the point )

How to: Banana Split and other stories

Happy hump day!!

Don't you just love getting to the middle of the week? It means the weekend is just around the corner 😆🙌💃. So speaking of weekend, happy belated Labour/May day to you all.🎊🎉 I hope you enjoyed the gift that was a long weekend. I already alluded to the fact that I did in my last post.

So what did I get up to?☺ Well I had a bomb wash day on Friday with my new haul of Dr. Miracles products💇, then I had a lazy Saturday and baked🍰, so I was in my happy place😊. On Sunday I went to church and got refreshed🙌 (hearing the gospel message is always amazing), did my cousin Chacha's yarn braids while we watched a lot of t.v. and cooked up a storm🍜🍝🍲. Finally on Monday, after doing the cutest Princess Elsa themed cake🎂, I went on a road trip with some of the youth from our bible class and had the most amazing time👭. Can you say full weekend?

Most Likely To tag

Happy Choose Day!

It's May already! *gasp* Like, I'm not even going to say that line that you know I like to use, but, serioulsy though? I was only just getting used to it being April. Lol. Hope you had a lovely long weekend? I know I did. Will tell you all about it tomorrow.

In the meantime, I thought you'd like to get to know some of my crazy family. Go family! Whoop, Whoop! Lol, you can take a sneak peak into my life and see why I am the way I am. Whenever I feel like I'm a crazy, I take a look at these guys and automatically console myself. Haha! In the spirit of loving tags, here we go!

From top left: Kalusha, Natasha, Me (obvs lol), Chipundu, Musonda, Chitambo

Note to Self

Happy Friday!

This was my mood a couple of weekends ago:

Lesson learnt!

Lol! But seriously though. *straight face*

Got an exciting week in store for you! Be on the lookout *winks*

Have a lovely weekend!

Bisous

x

Lessons learnt from my own encounters with "Becky with the good hair"

Happy Thursday!

So you've probably been living under a rock if you haven't heard about the bomb that is Lemonade; Beyonce's visual album that was dropped at the weekend. While you may not have heard all the songs or taken note of all the lyrics this one stands out,

 "He better call Becky with the good hair."

source

How to: banana bread and homemade custard

Happy Hump Day :)

Hope you're all having a lovely weekend? Mine is very quiet and relaxing; just the way I like it! So I was going through my All Things Edible tab and realized that I've been slacking on the foodie posts. *hides face* Sorry! Fear not my fellow foodies, I got you! *exaggerated wink*

So the other day, I think it was last Wednesday *checks picture time stamp*, I got up and decided to make banana bread. Why you ask? Why not? lol. Okay, maybe it's because i'd spent the previous night discovering and going through Michelle's blog Across The Ordinary. I fell in love with her banana bread recipe.  and vowed to try it the next day.

My Daddy God

Hey lovelies! Happy Thursday :)

Have you ever had one of those days where you're just low and overwhelmed with emotions? 

Yesterday was mine. Actually no. Honestly, I've been feeling that way since a couple of days *read posts* ago. I've just been ignoring it and keeping it in check. Cause you know, can't be wearing my emotions on my sleeve anymore. 

"I'm a big girl."

Or so I thought. 

I'm literally sitting at the kitchen table wiping my tears and blowing my nose as I type this. Be grateful you can't see me. I'm not a pretty crier. Ask my best friends. Ask my family. They know.lol 

I digress *hides face*.  Back to why I'm here and what got me to this point.

Natural hair tag ft Mwaba! 🙆💇

Happy Choose Day lovelies!

Hope you're all choosing to be happy? Yesssss!
So you all remember how a couple of weeks ago one of my favourite bloggers Esther did a feature on me about 17 natural hair questions? Well, I've been in the tag mood and had the bright idea to turn it into a tag because the questions were so awesome! Go check out her blog EstherAKat to see the original post.

Mwaba is one of my best friends and a newbie natural! She was actually natural when I first met her with the lovliest hair and I was so excited when she jumped back on the healthy hair journey, even more excited when she did her BC! She actually requested that I get my Hair Regimen out and I think I mentioned that in a post. Well when it came time to do the tag I couldn't think of anyone better to do it :)

Enjoy!

Holy Spirit Contact High 😆🙌

Happy Friday lovelies!

So yesterday I wasn't feeling too eager to share my devotions or some of the amazing posts I'd read on one of my favourite blogs with my Whatsapp groups like I usually am. Why you ask? Well, I'd been sharing the last couple of days and had started getting the feeling like I was being too much? Or too preachy? If you know what I mean.

But then, I stumbled across this picture...

...and I knew it was directed towards me. So I shrugged off my "negative nelly" coat and got to sharing, then headed to bed.