Merry Christmas!

I must say, I've been gone for a lot longer than I expected. But I've been busy with life! Hope everyone is doing just swell!

So it's Christmas. I've just got home from my parents after cooking and cleaning with my sisters. Our beloved mummy is in Nigeria and we're trying to recreate a semblance of the magic she usually creates around this time of the year. We were all supposed to be spending Christmas in Nigeria this year, but unfortunately things didn't quite work out. Mum traveled first with my youngest brother, anticipating our arrival shortly thereafter. But our dear friends at the Nigerian Embassy required more documents than I currently hold to sort out my passport with them. One thing led to another, then the rest of the family ended up staying in London. Ahhh well. Next time I guess.

So, my sisters and I (with a little help from daddy - he made a few guest appearances then ran away with the excuse that he's just in the way) quickly pulled together to try and sort a little something out. I'm telling you I was so disappointed I only just put the tree up on Friday (23rd December). I digress. So I've just got home exhausted from all the cleaning, cooking and more cleaning in preparation for the big day. I'm laying in bed and was just reminiscing of Christmas when we were kids.

I remembered the very day my sisters and I came to the realisation that Santa Claus was a lie. We were playing on the living room floor and we started talking about what we wanted for Christmas. Then we thought "hey, we've never gotten exactly what we want for Christmas.". Then we started wondering why that was. We had one of those old fashioned gas fires in the living room. And we all turned and looked at it. The aha moment! Santa can't come in through there!!! That's why we never got what we really wanted. He couldn't get in. One of my sisters had a look under the gas heater, hoping there was a big enough hole. Then she looked at the remaining two of us with a face full of disappointment - "He can't fit through that hole".  That's the moment we grew up. LOL!

For my son it was very different. Christmas has always been a day we celebrate Jesus' birthday. When it came to time to have the "Santa conversation", it was simple. "I think a very kind man once existed in a snowy town and he used to make gifts and gave them to all the children in that town. So people who don't believe in Jesus kind of celebrate that". Lol! I think the story goes a little something like that. *shrugs shoulders*

I had a conversation with him a few weeks ago asking him how he felt about never believing in Santa. He said he appreciated not being lied to about something so major. Lol!

So how did your Santa or Father Christmas bubble break? Do tell!

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas everyone! Enjoy your loved ones and remember those less fortunate than you. Do what you can to help where possible. And remember the real reason for the season is Christ.

Merry Christmas and God bless!

Buki

xox

                                                  (Disclaimer: All pictures used were taken by, edited by and belong to bukibelle.com)

Meditation

An oldie but goodie. One of my favourite poems. Posting this in honour of National Poetry Day.

Hephzibah!

So I saw this scripture on Instagram and these three words stuck out to me. So I decided to look them up to find out what they really meant.

Diadem: A jewelled crown or headband worn as a symbol of sovereignty.

Hephzibah: My delight is in her in Hebrew. She is a queen and the mother of Manasseh in the Old Testament. 

Beulah: In the Bible, Beulah is a place, not a person, applied to the land of Israel by the prophet Isaiah and the land of Beulah has sometimes been considered a reference to heaven. It began to be used as a given name in England at the time of the Reformation and was used by the seventeenth century Puritans.

So in short, this scripture reads to me as:

Woman of God, you are a jewel in His hand. He delights in you. And you reside in heavenly places.

This certainly made me feel special so I had to share (can't be selfish now!).

Please be encouraged as I was.

Have an awesome week!

Buki

x

(Disclaimer: All pictures used were taken by, edited by and belong to bukibelle.com)

New Shoes

New work shoes. Ok, so I've needed proper work shoes for absolutely ages! Been wearing ankle boots or flats to work for the longest time. So I popped into TK Maxx on Tuesday and found these. But they only had 1 pair and they were size 6 (I needed size 6.5 or 40). I tried them on and they pinched ever so slightly. So I decided to leave them and sleep on it. Thought I would ask God (and my wallet) first. I thought if they were still there the next day that would be a sign from above and I would get them and done. The next day I went back and they weren't where I'd strategically hidden them. Lol! I looked around for them but couldn't find them. Disappointed I made for the door. But before I got to the end of the isle I just happened to turn and look up. There they were! They'd been moved! I reached for them and you'd never guess what!? They were size 6.5! It felt like everything was aligned! #Eurika! Lol!

What made me laugh was the week before, my son told me he needed new socks. The following day I planned to run out during my lunch break to get him new socks. That afternoon it was pouring with rain, but mama bear had to put on her big girl pants and go get those socks! I know socks aren't really an optional thing, they're a necessity. But it could have been anything. My son expressed a need, and my focus was to fulfil that at all cost!

However, when it came to a genuine (neglected) need of my own, the story is so different. I needed to speak to God about it. Make sure He was alright with it. I needed to sleep on it. I gave someone else the chance to get it. And only after all of the above had been executed, IF they were still there, then it's all systems go! Haha! Isn't that just the  funniest thing?

I said all of that to say your girl has matured somewhat. There was a time when I was driven by my desires. If I saw it, I wanted it, I'd buy it without a second thought. And there's also the finance part of things too, but this wasn't so much to do with the money but the need for the go-ahead from above. And that's what I'm proud of the most.

Just some of my random thoughts I wanted to share. This post started out as a simple Instagram post, but then I realised I had so much more to say. Lol.

Hope the weather is consistent wherever you are. We're praying for the British weather to make up it's mind. And they wonder why we Brits have trust issues. Hahaha!

Enjoy the rest of you week people!

Buki

x

                                                       (Disclaimer: All pictures used were taken by, edited by and belong to bukibelle.com)

My Year of Yes!!

Hi Folks!

How are you all? Good I hope.

Well, I've come to the conclusion that I tend not to see most plans through. When it comes down to it, I back out, or something happens that causes me not to go through with said plan. SO! I've decided to do something about it. Say yes more and do it anyway. 

I've always applied the scripture Psalm 15:4 to other people. It reads:

In whose eyes a vile person is despised, But he honors those who fear the Lord; He who swears to his own hurt and does not change.

How I interpret the highlighted part of this scripture is that, if I tell someone I'm going to do something, no matter what it costs me, I must fulfil that promise.

Problem is, when it comes to keeping my word to myself, I have no problem not fulfilling it. It's only me right? Wrong! We tend to see ourselves and our promises to ourselves as less important than others, and that's very wrong of us. One of the things I'm learning as I get older is that my obligations to myself come first. If I don't love myself first, I won't know how to love others. After all, the famous scripture says: You shall love your neighbour as yourself (Matthew 22:39). Meaning you have to love yourself first to know what love looks like right? Right.

So this year I've decided to say yes to myself more often. To love on myself more regularly. So far, so loving it!

One of the "yes" things I've been doing is forcing myself to socialise more, putting myself out there. To my friend's surprise, I've become a rather outgoing person. Hoorah! And I'm enjoying it.

Another "yes" thing thus far this year is I recently went on a spa weekend break with my friends. It was amazing! I felt like "what have I been doing all this while??" I haven't been living! So much so that I am budgeting some sort of spa break on a quarterly basis. It's now a must!

The spa hotel we went to was very accommodating. The staff were incredibly polite and helpful. Although it was busy, we were made to feel as though we were their only guests. Seriously, their customer service was just amazing! For me, customer service is 75% of the whole deal. I can't stand bad customer service. So I was very impressed. Their facilities were also pretty amazing. The rooms were luxurious. Their spa facilities were on point. Everything on "fleek". Lol. The only thing that let them down was their menu. There wasn't much variety, but it was ok. The menu wouldn't stop me from going back there because everything else was really, really good. 

The package we chose included one spa treatment. I chose the Swedish Full Body Massage. It. Was. A-mazing!

Here are some pictures of my weekend. 

The content of the Swedish Full Body Massage. Left me feeling like I was floating on air.

Entrance of the Spa Hotel.

My room for the weekend. I shared with one of my friends and we had an adjoining room. A very good idea.

Some of the products left out for us.

Enjoying good lighting in the bathroom.

Our bathroom. Nice and spacious.

Me by the pool, just before my spa treatment.

Me, just after my spa treatment. One hour went by too quickly!!

Poolside view.

Dinner in the evening.

Spa hotel details: Rowhill Grange Hotel & Utopia Spa, booked via: www.alexanderhotels.co.uk.

So I said all of that to say, love on yourself! Say yes to yourself (stop the deprivation!!) And enjoy your life!!

Until next time peeps!

Buki.

xox

Happy Singles Awareness Day!

Where my single people at?! Well, Happy singles Awareness Day! (And while I'm at it, Happy New Years everyone **covers face**).

How has your year started out? Mine has started alright actually. Took some time out to gather my thoughts. I'm back again. Hehe.

So another Valentine's Day is upon us. What does it signify to you? A single friend at church quickly shut another friend down when she wished her "Happy Valentine's Day", protesting that it's a Pagan holiday! Lol! Another jumped in saying, well everything we celebrate is Pagan. Even our so called wedding ceremonies, and the exchanging of rings etc. Has Pagan written all over it. I chirped in, well then, God forgive me, but I am wearing my white wedding dress and will be rocking my ring when the time comes! That is all! Hahahaha!

At work a few of my married colleagues stated they don't celebrate Valentine's Day. I asked why, they replied, men only put in all that work at the beginning. Boring!

Well, for the single person, Valentine's Day serves as one thing and one thing only - to remind us single people that we are in fact single. So I've renamed it Singles Awareness Day. Lol.

Being single isn't a bad thing though. I get my whole bed to myself. I even sleep diagonally. I don't have to discuss my every move or ask for permission to change my gas and electricity supplier. Hehehe. Currently loving it!

By the by, the guy that went ghost made contact after 3 months. He actually started the conversation as if we just spoke yesterday. I had to shut him down. He gave some flimsy excuses. I politely told him to lose my number. What a joker! Lol.

Anyway, 2016 is proving to be so far so good. I'm trying to say yes as much as possible. You know, give new things a try,  being spontaneous. I'll let you all know how it goes.

Do enjoy your Valentine's Day or Singles Awareness Day. Whichever. If you're single, do something nice for yourself! You're so worth it!

Until next time! Enjoy!

Buki
xox