It’s a harvest…Sisterhood

September 6, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha18 Comments

I have 2 biological sisters. They are very, very dear to my heart (the two very’s used here are for both of them, so that they don’t fight over who exactly the very is for, if I only use one 🙂 We fight and love each other to bits (never try to get your word in; you might find us showing you the way out, whilst we make a cuppa and settle our differences). They are my rocks of support and cheerleaders. Never hesitating for a moment to kick me in the butt when I need it; and plenty times too. Hey! Wait a minute! I am human you know 😉

Now, I have so many other sisters, across Continents and all the oceans that divide us. Their words of encouragement, humor, virtual hugs, pokes and friendly advise have come to mean so much to me and the saying that ”wherever we are, it is really our friends that make our World, be it one, two, three or a dozen” is very true.

Thank you aidly193 for this warm nomination. You sparkle 🙂

Now to the nitty gritty. The rules of the award are:

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you, linking back to their site

2. Put the award logo on your blog

3. Answer the ten questions sent to you

4. Make up ten new questions for your nominees to answer

5. Nominate five blogs!

The questions asked are:

1. What is something you’ve always wanted?

Ans: The whole truth and nothing but the truth, something that I have always wanted is actually not an item that can be put in finite figures, nor can it be bought in the shops. It is simply ‘Peace of mind.’

2. What is your dream car?

Ans: My dream car changes like fickle breeze. Today I would ooh and aah over a Tahoe, tomorrow it would be a Corvette. I once had an affair going with a Range Rover until my husband bought one. Then the ardor cooled off and my roving eyes started wandering to the Mercedes Benz G wagon. I have expensive taste. Come on! Girls like toys too you know 😉

3. What is your favorite meal?

Ans: This may come as a surprise. I love everything edible, but you can catch my goat any day with plain Yoghurt (not the flavored ones) sprinkled with nuts. However, the bane of my life is gooey, chocolaty cake or ice-cream.

4. What is your favorite book?

Ans: I have fallen in love with so many books over the years that it is really a difficult choice to settle on one. The book that sticks in my minds eye as a child is The magic faraway tree by Enid Blyton. It simply made the World magical to me. As an adult, nothing beats my Bible. The treasures buried within never cease to amaze me.

5. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?

Ans: Recently, I have been thinking of so many parts of Asia.

6. What did you do for your latest birthday?

Ans: I was treated to a handsome breakfast orchestrated by hubby and kids. A lovely dinner (where I was allowed to have a large dollop of sinful ice-cream) and a beautiful set of silver jewellery, plus nail polish from my daughter, hand-picked flowers and body spray from my boys 🙂

7. What is your favorite genre of music?

Ans: My love for music is very eclectic and purely depends on the mood that I find myself in. It could be something calm and soothing to rollicking Afro pop. The short and simple thing is that I love every noise called music (that does not include the yowling from the cat).

8. What is something most people don’t know about you?

Ans: Shh! Can you keep a secret? I sometimes feel lonely in the midst of a crowd. Does that count as a secret?

9. If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would it be?

Ans: Why does Adolf Hitler come to my mind? I would sit him down and give him a piece of my mind.

10. What is your shoe size?

Ans: A whooping size 11. I envy all those dainty feet of other women, but I guess the feet size has to match the height of it’s owner 5ft 11in.

Now my nominees are:

Lynz real cooking: For all those lovely meals you keep serving up online.

Nena: I am happy I found you.

Oluseye Ashiru: For your lovely prayers and sage parental counsel.

Lucid gypsy: For the lovely interactions. Your posts make me smile.

Nedoux: I am glad I found you.

Do follow the rules above and kindly spill your guts below. Enjoy 😉

Are you a shopper or a penny pincher?
Do you have any hidden talents?
Do you dream often?
Do you think romance books and fairy tales influence our choice of a partner?
Are you an emotional person?
Are there any causes that you strongly believe in?
How are you feeling right now?
How do you make decisions?
What is your secret desire?
In a short prose, describe your town.

Looking forward to reading the scoop. Be blessed.

Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

Blog Awards · Blogging · Inspiration - Motivation

Liebster….Now isn’t that Sweet?..

September 1, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha15 Comments

Liebster Award is given to up and coming bloggers and having being nominated by Eloquentparadise I needed to know more. Looking up the meaning from different angles, I was pleasantly surprised to learn the meaning of Liebster.

Liebster is a German word which means sweet, kind, dearest, beloved, lovely, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcoming. It is a word that connotes loads of positives and getting to know the meaning made it’s worth go up so many notches in appreciation.

Well if that is not sweet, I don’t know what else is :).

Blogging is all about connecting and building a community and this is a way to help put out word about new bloggers/blogs out there. It helps build the backbones of budding bloggers like me. Like a balm to a writing soul and a lovely pat to an ample back like mine 🙂 Thank you Eloquentparadise for the honor.

Just 6 little rules to follow below:

Link back the person who nominated you.
Answer the 11 questions given to you by the nominator.
Display the Liebster award logo in your post.
Nominate other bloggers.
Create 11 questions for the nominees.
Notify all nominees via social media or blogs.

Now, to the nitty, gritty part of answering my 11 questions which are:

1. Do you have a bucket list? If yes, what are top three things on it?

Ans: NO, I don’t have a bucket list. Not yet at least. Maybe because I haven’t given it much thought and think I will get to that when I am in my 70’s hopefully.

2. What is the best thing about your personality?

Ans: My friendly nature and effervescent optimistic sense.

3. Do you like to travel? What is your dream holiday escape?

Ans: I love to travel. I love seeing new places and observing new cultures. It feeds my curious mind. I soak new experience like sponge and every place my feet has stepped on so far on planet Earth has left its little annotation on my person. In respect to a dream holiday escape, I would like to think that my previous stay in Burj Al Arab in Dubai was not only decadent, but also one of my most relaxing vacation times. I am not big on planning for a vacation. I keep an open mind to the adventure of it all after the jet lag or drive lag.

4. Books or Cinema?

Ans: I adore books, I adore books, I adore books, how many times am I allowed to say that :)?

5. Friends or lover?

Ans: Friends are timeless. They are like the family that we choose for ourselves.

6. Are you a morning person?

Ans: I am such a morning person. I try to get all the hardest stuff done early in the day so that I can have a guilt free evening to bury my nose in my book of the moment, watch a movie, dance or simply do nothing.

7. What is your most longstanding dream?

Ans: To become an accomplished writer. That has been my steadfast dream in a line of pipe long dreams which has ranged from the desire to be an acclaimed actress. I can be very dramatic you know. I did some school dramas in my teens just in case you are considering me for a role – I can quickly dust up my rusty CV.

8.Where do you see yourself 8 years from now?

Ans: 8 years is to far to think on. I live in the moment. I try to make the best of each day and take the year one after the other.

9. Roses or Orchids?

Ans: I love all flowers, but since I have to choose I will take Orchids. They look more exotic.

10. Skies or oceans?

Ans: The sky is everywhere and serves my imagination. I only have to look up to see the story painted in the sky. I have to go a distance to see the oceans.

11. Do you have an ideology? What is it?

Ans: I believe in God!

My nominees are:

My questions are:

What was the most difficult job you ever did?
If there is one thing you could change about yourself what would that be?
When you were growing up, did you think about becoming famous when you grow up?
Name and share one song you listen to repeatedly and why?
Do you enjoy dancing or are you a wall flower?
What is that one thing that always brings a smile to your face?
What is your favorite color?
What would you like as a surprise vacation?
Have you ever given much thought to the purpose of life?
Do you believe in the existence of God?
Have you ever volunteered for something?

I hope you have fun baring your thoughts. Cheers 🙂

Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

Creative Writing · Inspiration - Motivation

Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe…Make a list

August 31, 2015August 31, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha6 Comments

Catch a Tiger by the tail.

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Decisions, Decisions.”

I love spontaneity, which I try to limit to my shopping,writing and other fluffy things of life. In such times, my guts have stood the test of time.

However, in contradiction, I don’t like guessing games when it gets to the crunch time of making a serious decision.

I sit down wherever I find myself, with my note pad and pencil (never too far from me) I run the pros and cons, think and rethink before making a decision.

If I don’t have my writing material handy, who knows, I might resort to reciting Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe on my fingers and thinking the decision to death.

Eeny: Decisions, decisions

Meeny: weigh Pros on fingers

Miny: weigh Cons on fingers

Moe: Catch the Tiger by the Tail (and hope it doesn’t bite me).

Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

Hope · Inspiration - Motivation

I am no Usain Bolt, but I’ve got my own THUNDER…

August 29, 2015August 29, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha14 Comments

“Encouragement is said to be the oxygen for the human spirit. Do not forget you are carrying someone’s air with you. Encourage them. Help them breathe” – anonymous.

The Encouraging Thunder Award comes with very simple rules:

a. The nominee posts the Award on their blog and adds the logo.

b. Pay it forward by nominating others.

c. Mention your purpose for blogging and thank the person that nominated you; also add their URL to your post for ping back.

For me, this nomination could not have come at a better time. In recent weeks, I have being overwhelmed with the responsibilities of family life, adapting to new things, trying to get my writing Mojo up to speed and in all honesty, there have been some days I just felt like pulling the duvet over my head and refusing to do anything.

Nothing like a little encouraging shove from the right quarters, to get up and get it going. Thank you KeenVision for your generosity of thought.

At the very beginning, May 6th 2015 precisely, this was my very first post on my blog;

“Now, why did I start this blog I ask myself? Just to share my quirky tales and thoughts as well as get to know yours. It’s not all ironed out yet, but what is life without a few wrinkles, I ask? So lets hobble along, tell some tales, read some minds, drink some wine and have some fun. Who knows? We just might end up making a perfect medley of this and that!”

I loved to write long before I knew what it meant to be a writer – now I wish I had taken better care of my young teen journals where I wrote uncensored; it would make a good read and laugh. However, I hated the supposed rigors and strictures I felt was required to make it as a writer, I have come to realize that the notion was a mental slavery in which I had trapped myself.

Writing as we all know, is not a walk in the park. It is hard work which requires boundless mental energy, steadfast inspiration, focus, acuity and even business savvy, so the efforts of writers should never be undermined. I doubted I had the above requisites nevertheless, I decided to try.

The desire for an outlet to share my stories, poems and perceptions as well as the need for a medium that would help keep me grounded and accountable in starting something and seeing it to fruition gave birth to my blog.

I tossed all the mental hindrance out of the window: the fear of putting myself out there, the fear of not having support, the fear of not being good enough and I chose to enjoy the experience and to take each day as it comes.

I am glad I ventured, the short stint of 3 months and a few days shy of 4 months has so far wrought many positive creative changes in me. The choppy bloggy waters are full of creative and encouraging currents, and it feels good to be here.

I would like to nominate a good number, but I am limited to only 5 bloggers:

May our ink pots never run dry.

Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

Inspiration - Motivation

3 Events That Will Help You Expand Your Readership!

August 28, 2015August 28, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha2 Comments

Always good to meet new people. So let’s meet and greet 🙂

Creative Writing · Inspiration - Motivation

The Literal Door…

August 28, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha16 Comments

It always seems that the cover of a book is like the door,

That opens and lets you in, into depths unknown,

Where you never imagined or been before.

It might be an adventure into a city, someone’s abode, thoughts, emotions, insights and all,

A swashbuckling pirate, a queen, a romantic hero, a fairy, a rogue, a burglar, a terrorist, a philosopher, a comedian, a loving parent, a magician may open the door for you,

Have you ever wondered when you lift that first page,

What welcome you would receive?

Will you bubble up in laughter?

Will tears cascade down your face in anguish?

Will your stomach twist and knot in nervousness?

Will you break in sweat from anticipated fear, whilst leafing furiously to find out what happened?

Will the thrill of the chase, cause your heart rate to increase?

Will your heart melt like butter?

And you exhale a sigh of relief or understanding.

You will never know, will you?

Not until you open that door….

Inspiration - Motivation

Fit? So not…Fabulous? OH yes!..

August 3, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha33 Comments

Following my post of just a little nudge, I had to give myself a little nudge too. I weighed in a whooping 112kg from 98kg just a few weeks ago!

“What?” I shriek in alarm.

I gasp and swallow the lump in my throat.

I should have known from the extra waddle of my rump and the jiggle of loose parts coupled with the aches and pains here and there. These are my usual tale-tale signs even though my height tends to hide this ample splendor 🙂

I have fallen off my wagon and landed face down. But no matter, time to get back on the grind.

Getting fitter and cultivating a healthier lifestyle is one of my targets set for the year and I am no where near achieving that. Sob, sob 😦

Well the key word here is getting fit and revamping my nutrition. I am not on the verge of becoming twiggy, nor am I ready for any hocus-pocus, mumbo-jumbo weight loss magic. That is hardly sustainable and becomes dated pretty fast.

I just want to eat reasonable portions of healthy meals and exercise regularly.

At the start of the year, I jumped in with a lot of gusto and actually lost a good chunk. In retrospect, I think I got tired of counting calories and scaling every food that went into my mouth, coupling that with recent hectic changes made in my life, I comfort ate and threw away the scale. Not so sure that was a good thing 😦

Not to bore you with all the nitty-gritty details, I choose to expose myself by blogging my 30 day keep fit challenge, so that you can have the opportunity to tar and feather me when I fail. It also makes me feel more responsible, knowing that I have your support.

I shall log in once a week and give you a synopsis of how I fared and if I made the scale tilt a bit. I shall set incremental and plausible goals, so that it does not become too cumbersome.

I also belong to a group of very awesome, fit and dynamic ladies from different walks of life who are breaking the boundaries and achieving phenomenal things on this level. They can be found on Facebook at, Women Encouraging Women To Live Healthy.

It is a closed group for women and would require an invite, so just in case you are interested, you can give me a nudge.

They are a very fantastic support group of encouraging women (I am sure that am I one of the laziest of the whole lot) :), however, I hope that is about to change.

Worked out for 45 minutes today and had a good burn. I also ate very sensibly.

Inspiration - Motivation

..just a little nudge. Your Tip for the month..

August 1, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha6 Comments

We have cycled out of another month, gradually inching to the end of a very hectic year. Once August flies past, the rest of the months zoom by.

Now is the time to take a little peek at our resolutions, where under the influence of New Years glad tidings and Auld Lang Sine, we scribbled a thousand and one impossible things that we aspired to achieve (myself included).

How have we fared so far? Have we been able to make a crack at it yet?

The resolutions to break some habits, to form new habits, to write some more, to read some more, to change our lifestyle for healthier options, to acquire new skills, to undertake more intimate spiritual journeys, to laugh, love, give, and pray some more, to start that business idea, that book, that class, more rest (yes recuperation is also part of it, for the workaholics amongst us) and the list is ever endless….

Let us not feel overwhelmed and at a loss of breath for the shortness of time, if you have fallen behind.

A lot can still be achieved this month by tuning into ourselves and prioritizing:

– Review that list down to plausible short term goals: for the day, the week and at most for the month. Remember that little drops does create a large pool, and consistency creates habits.

– Reward yourself for every step made in the right direction towards your goals. Rewards could come in different forms and doesn’t have to be an expensive venture. It could be buying that book you have been wanting to read, a lie in, a relaxing day at the beach/park, going out with the girls for a laugh, a glass of your favorite wine, a soak in a bubble bath, seeing a movie, just find out what works for you. For example, when I put in a good work-out, I dance at the end of my workout. It makes me happy.

– Now, go get them. You can do it!

Life is not a short sprint but a journey undertaken in leisure, so endeavor to savor your journey.

Image credit: Thanks to Joshua Earle at Unsplash

Inspiration - Motivation

From pain to prayer…

July 27, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha21 Comments

What do you do, when each day seems like a struggle?
What do you do, when you are weary?
What do you do, when you are depressed?
When you are feeling ugly with negative emotions?
And everything around you seems to conspire to make it worse?

What do you do?
When the internal turmoils seems as if they will eat you up alive, from within?
What do you do when the anguish of your pain makes your eyes turn red?
And you feel like having a tiny switch button that you can turn on and take it all away?
So that you can experience blissful silence,
All your blues taken away.

Your vitriolic pain, your shame, your ugliness, your addiction, your anger, your depression, your fear, your bitterness, your mental anguish, your lack….,
All taken away at the flick of a button.

Your family have failed,
Your friends have failed,
The system has failed,
It all doesn’t seem right,
No human love seems enough,
To erase how you feel. That addiction has you in a choke hold, But you lack the will to stop,
That abusive relationship is killing you,
But stay in it you must,
No lover of yours, can fill the empty void inside you,

No booze, no drugs, no sex, no form of addiction, seems to help you out of the rabbit hole,
Hurt and pain of feeling lost are your steady companion,
Your grief hanging like a heavy cloak,
On your bowed shoulders from dawn to dusk,
Further pulling you down.

Yet you wear your smile,
Hiding your struggles behind the mask of your face,
Which is falsified like a clay cast,
You are trying to be strong,
Pretending to be strong,
Losing the essence of your authentic self, as each day goes along,
Pervaded by the feeling that you are not enough,
And that you can never be enough.

You float like a listless buoy, cast on roiling seas,
BECAUSE you seek for constant validation of fellow man,
Forgetting that he or she is equally fallible,
A mere human like you,
Bogged down by his/her own struggles, inner turmoils and pain,
Who cannot endorse neither the wind, nor the dust they were made of.

Ponder on the courage that you have to get up everyday.
The courage to face that job, to shoulder that pain, the hurt, the hunger, the loneliness, the lack, the emotional upheaval, the addiction and all the extra baggage.
Where do you think it comes from?
It comes from no other source; but from within you.
And you can do better
You can build that courage
Into a resilient dam of an over-comer.

BY CHOOSING NOT TO WALK ALONE!
The journey is harder when you walk alone,
BUT WHEN YOU CHOOSE GOD
Through Grace and Mercy
Through Faith and Hope
He leads you to Victory
A step at a time, out of the rabbit hole
A day at a time, to joy and peace
BUT ONLY IF YOU BELIEVE…

BE still and know that there is GOD.

Creative Writing · Humor - Bellyful of laughter · Inspiration - Motivation

10 things to Love me or Hate me…yOu’ve got to feel something…

July 25, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha4 Comments

A fellow blogger whom I enjoy reading her lovely articles Whereshappy invited me to do this LOVE/HATE exercise chain, so that you can take a peek into my quirky, murky mind.

Whereshappy, thank you for asking me to participate in this. It means a lot to be positively thought of by someone else.

In a short synopsis, I shall let you in, in a bit to see the 10 things that I Love and the 10 things I love to Hate. If you don’t want me to nominate you (I have eyes that see through, into your mind), just click on the like button 🙂 and run along. Thank you for reading…

1. I LOVE being a mother; hassles and all. It’s a wonder that I did not turn into an old woman living in a shoe with a brood of twenty. The fragrance of freshly bathed baby is just awesome, but when they turn into terror toddlers, that is another tale entirely. I HATE the thought of my brood flying from my coop, and that would happen one day; it’s just the way of life.

2. I LOVE that I have grown to love myself a whole lot, crooked feet, warts and all. Without pretense or trying to sound hyperbolic, the truth is what it is. The older I get, the more in love with myself I become, but I do HATE the thinning hair line and the effect of gravity in some perky places 🙂

3. I LOVE honest people and HATE two-faced humans. You never know which side of the face to talk to, or to slap some sense into 🙂

4. I LOVE or should I say adore books; and I HATE the fact that there is not enough time to read them all.

5. I LOVE to chat; even with total strangers (weird right?) but I HATE it when they want to follow me home and live off my couch.

6. I LOVE to dance and I HATE the fact that I sound like Donald Duck in the shower 🙂

7. I LOVE to travel, seeing new places, learning new cultures and meeting new people, but I HATE the downsides of living out of a suitcase; it short circuits my brain.

8. I LOVE colors every single one of them. They bright colors perk me up and make me happy, but I HATE having to choose them carefully in order not to risk looking like a Christmas tree or the rainbow lady. Sheer waste of time.

9. I LOVE to people-watch (I am campaigning for that to become a hobby) and my latest peeve is that I HATE the new craze of everybody walking absent-minded with their heads perpetually bent over their phones, even in restaurants or on dates when they should interact face to face.

10. I am sure you are tired by now, so I can sneak in the last bit without anyone taking much notice. I LOVE sweet things, oh, I love food. I am a confirmed chocoholic. I have to practically hold myself from eating all the cake. I do manage to squeeze in some exercise for my well-being and I HATE the idea that I can’t just gorge to my hearts delight without paying the price. Simply not fair.

*PHEW* The end at last. Now I pass on the baton to my friends to continue the exercise. It would be nice to read about you. Enjoy.

My nominees are: