Lateness is the new thing again! Today we visited our friends on the far side of town again and for the first time ever drove back through Kampala after midnight. This resulted in a few firsts: first time making the usual hour-long trip in under 20 minutes, first time the lack of traffic and smog actually allowed us to smell the trees, and of course (the reason for the trip) the first time having a splendid dinner date with 8 wonderful YWAM ladies!

Monday January 6
The newness is lateness! Procrastinated eating for far too long, and while normally I just skip and go to bed, I was hungry enough to cook Indonesian fried rice after 8pm. Eating like a European, SNE!

This is just something small, but I finally gave up trying to stay clean going the gate. Our guard put oil on the locks a week ago and I try so hard to avoid getting slimy, to no avail. Now, I'm not much of a quitter, but this particular situation is a lost cause, so I give up! Dirt and oil, let's be friends.

Saturday Jan 4, 2014
I love networking! I'm trying to sort out plans for traveling in Spain later this month, but I don't know anyone in Spain. Tried a friend's aunt, but no response, and then an aunt's friend, and sure enough, plans are being made! Where couchsurfing falls short, being Dutch picks up the slack! Never made travel plans like this before!

I know last year around this time I said I helped make olliebollen for the first time, well today I made it all by myself for the first time! Though technically I sort of cheated because I used a mix and didn't make it from scratch, but hey, I don't even know if all the ingredients exist in this country! anywho, SNE.

Something New Everyday. Traversed to the far side of town to welcome some lovely missionary ladies to the country. Had a little culture shock talk and toured the city a bit. Oodles of fun! Also posted a photo upside down on facebook.. never done that before :S

Aaand true to my word, the first SNE of this month is the creation of a new blog!

It's called "These are the things". Check it out at http://theeverydaynotsoordinarythings.blogspot.com/

#blogsadvertisingblogs #blogmania

The SOMETHINGS NEW
Wooee, in 2013 I did a tonne of things I'd never done before, ranging from learning words and trying new recipes to traveling to new places and meeting new people. I learned some new languages, tried new food, and even learned some new things about myself.


The inspiration to start this blog came from the discovery of the scripture verse where Jesus says "I am making everything new!" (Revelation 21:5) as well as from a desire to explore and seek joy in the day-to-day, and I can certainly say I did that!


Some days I actively sought to try new things, and some days new things just happened. Some days I looked back at the end and put on a new perspective to see what was special and unique about a day I would have otherwise considered normal. I learned to make the ordinary exciting, I got a little bolder and I got a taste of what the world has to offer.

Due to the small amount of slackage this year, I will be continuing this journey for one more month, so stay tuned!


Tuesday December 31 2014.
Got a gift of potatoes from a student who went home to the village for Christmas, cool! Never had that before!

Then I brought in the new year with some fantastic American ladies and Ugandan dudes. Board games and snacks, then the best view of fireworks from 4 different locations across town. Followed by my first overnight at a friend's place here.. though technically that was on Jan 1...


Monday December 30
Something New Everyday. Felt the urge of the green thumb today and trimmed the hedges and transplanted a rose bush! I've been meaning to move that bush for ages, but now, for the first time (obviously) I did!

Sunday December 29
I cooked up a new soup recipe from the cookbook I got for Christmas, it was good! And then later on we watched the live stream of morning session of the P2C+ conference back home. Never done winter conference via the internet before! Also discovered a new restaurant today. We pass by it all the time, but today our American pals invited us in! It was nice to catch up again after the holidays. Afterwards we made even more discoveries: found a movie store and game shop and purchased our very own Monopoly game which we proceeded to play for the rest of the day.


Saturday December 28 For the first time ever, I was the one to get a thousand piece puzzle for Christmas. I pulled it out today and got to work, continuing a long-standing family tradition, but taking on a new role of puzzle initiator!

Friday December 27
Something New Everyday: First Ugandan couchsurfing outing! Thanks David and Jude!


Thursday December 26, Boxing Day
Hmm, I'm sure I did something new this day... just can't remember at the moment. I'll get back to you!

Wednesday December 25, Christmas Day
Wow, it's Christmas already! This is my first ever Christmas away from home, my first without snow, and my first without family. But it's also the first Christmas that I've had an awesome African church service, made brunch for my team, played scrabble with Bim and done family visits via skype. I broke out the Indonesian spices to make Bahmi Goreng for dinner too, never done that before!


Tuesday December 24, Christmas Eve
Something New Everyday. Crossed one item off my Africa bucket list, that's right, despite apparent cultural taboo I climbed a tree!! (mind you, it was in my backyard and no one who would be offended saw me.. but still) best Christmas eve ever, lol! Also (not new) played board games and watched Muppet Christmas a grand ol' tradition!