Being a toursit in Uganda {Tombs of Buganda Kings}

In the midst of waiting for court rulings, passports and US visas, we had time to kill. So, why not explore Andrew and Simon's homeland, tourist style? Our driver has been driving Americans for years and knew all of the great tourist destinations and restaurants. It was fun to see things from that side and it took our mind off of the waiting, but it didn't give us a true taste of Africa. The next time we go, we want to be taken around to see a more traditional side of Uganda, but for our transition to parenting two babies, we were grateful for the tourism.

One of the places we visited were the tombs of the kings in Buganda. We honestly didn't know much about the kingdom of Buganda and even though our boys are not from the kingdom so this wasn't their heritage, it was neat to learn something new. And of course, being the book-lovers that we are, I purchased a book all about it at the "gift shop" for future reading and reference.

I would love to say that I remembered what all of these pictures meant, but we had only been in country a day or two, so I was pretty out of it. And the book I bought is buried somewhere and remains to be seen since we returned several months ago. Oh well!

: Andrew fell fast asleep just as we arrived

: Traditional Bugandan paintings

: Paintings of the kings buried there

: Inside

: Burial plot of king's family

Now that we have settled into our new life as a family of six, it is nice to reflect back on the good times we had while in Uganda. I look forward to blogging more of our time in country and the stories we have about those four weeks. It truly is a beautiful nation and we are blessed to have two little pieces of it in our home.

Moving Towards Urban Homesteading

: nature walk

Based on our values, organic lifestyle and desire to live a simpler life, we are moving more towards urban homesteading. We are excited about taking the first steps in this direction by starting a compost pile and removing our deck on the south side of our yard to make room for a garden. Honestly, we have no idea what we are doing! The saying in our house goes, "I found this thing on Pinterest...." And then we begin a new project. I have a LOT to learn about homesteading and living a self-sufficient lifestyle, but I am excited about this new chapter in our lives.

: compost bin

: removing the deck

Last year the focus was living a radical life. I wrote about the problem with the American dream, adopting, and of course The October Dress Project. We still want to live that radical life! I am still involved with the 12X12 Project, making purchases each month from a fair trade company and educating people about the different social justice issues that are constantly around us. We support friends around the world who are doing missions work and of course, we finally have our boys from Uganda home with us! I would call all of that pretty radical from the life we were living just a year ago, and we hope that God continues to lead us towards other radical things.

: fairtrade fashion from Bali Elf and Sevenly

This year, we want to simplify. It probably sounds odd to start a new chapter in our lives with a steep learning curve as a desire to simplify, but it is true. We want a slower pace to our lives, more reminiscent of times gone by. You know, knitting and churning butter kind of times gone by. I am checking out crazy books from the library like, "Almost Amish," and "Self-Sufficiency for the 21st Century." Who have I become? I'm embracing this mental transition towards a more agrarian life most of the time, but it is still odd to think I want to become a small scale farmer. What actress becomes a farmer as her day job? That is just strange! But that is what we are doing, so watch out blog. Things are a lot to become a little bit more crunchy....