What happened in the last 2 months?

I've been MISSING the last 2 months!!! I'm so sorry... have been rather busy with work and BASIC and all.... honestly, I'm not sure what I have been up to either!!! Let's see. I'm gonna dig out what I've been up to the last 2 months...

I cooked for XLQ!!!! Hahaha... that's probably like the 3rd time since we got married. I quite cooking actually, just that it's really time consuming and not very economical for 2 people! Hehe.. ok, now now, don't scrutinze the food.

I have switched jobs!!! This photo was taken on my last day with my beloved colleagues from Nielsen, where I was at the past FOUR years!!! I can't believe it myself... I had a good bunch of colleagues. Really thank God for that. =) I enjoyed my time there and some of these people made a great difference to my working life.

In case u guys are wondering what job I switched to... I'm right now working for a Hygiene company. Hehe, u can guess! I sell tissue paper. More clues! Previously, I was doing market research, now I'm part of the sales team, in a role/function called trade marketing. I think people who are not in the FMCG industry will prob not be too familiar with it...

In between my switch of jobs, XLQ and I squeezed 4 days out to go to Phuket!!!! =) It was such a nice break. The photo is our hotel. Hehe... it's this boutique hotel called Burasari, value for money. Real close to the beach. We had such a relaxing time... every morning, we wake up at 10 am, go for brunch, then we either lounge at the pool or go to the beach. We only had one highlight each day. Haha... either massage, or jetskiing, or going to the beach. We were that slack. But very very thankful for the break!!!

After 6 months of studying, getting married and going honeymoon in between, another 8 months of pupillage, XLQ finally got called to the bar!!! It all took like 5 minutes. hahaha... quite a funny experience! The judge was so eager to get us all out of the room so that she can carry on with the next thing scheduled.

Danny and Audrey got married!!! =) Ok, not a very flattering photo of me right here, but it's ok, I'm not the star anywayz~! Audrey looks really good... and I'm sooo happy for them. =) After being together since they're like 18/19, they finally tied the knot!! Pray that they will continue to grow in godliness and serve and love God more and more each day!

That's all from me at the moment... it took a long time to upload the photos, dunno why! =)

Hosted, host, hosting

XLQ and I are currently hosting 2 of the UK students who are here on their mission exposure trip! It is quite exciting for us as this is the first time we're hosting people in our flat! At first, we were hesistant to take it up... cos we thought, "What if we're busy with work and not able to be good hosts?", "WHat if we're not the model Christian family?", "I can't cook!" , "What if I'm not a good host?" But we thought, the reason why we bought a flat with more bedrooms is precisely because we want to use our place for God's work and for God's people! So we agreed to it and thought we will just take things as they come... I personally have been hosted by several families in the past and it's always been such a nice and warm experience... I hope I can do the same for others.

Right before they came, I was fretting over what food to buy and put at home so that they will feel well taken care of... I bought tea (heard it's a must for the British!), plain yoghurt, muesli, more cereals, cheese. Thanks to my brother in law who lived in Britain for 2 years, the students do love yoghurt and muesli! They have it every morning! I wanted to prepare toast and other food for them, but they seem so contented and happy with muesli and yoghurt... =)

It's been wonderful having the students... I get opportunities to talk to them and get to know them slightly better these few days. It's such a good reminder to know that we know the same God and Jesus, that we're serving the same Lord. They will be lots of work with the church coming up in the next 2 weeks- like running children's church, running Basic, sharing their testimonies etc. Pray that it will be a good and edifying time to both the Singaporeans and the UK students themselves. =)

I'm starting to learn that it takes some sacrifice to be good hosts... cos you have to bring them around, try and spend time with them, get to know them. Your regular routine and schedule may get disrupted... but it's a good experience because it helps us to be more other pp centred and helps to love others in God's family. It's all good.

Little conversations (Part 2)

One evening, XLQ, Jojo and myself went to Thomson Plaza. On the way, we chatted.

Me: Jojo, do you know who yiyi's sister is?
Jojo: *smiles* the 2 gals staying in your house? (btw, I'm hosting 2 UK students in my house at the moment)
Me: No.......
Jojo: is it Mummy?
Me: Yes!! =) How about yiyi's brother? Do you know who Yiyi's brother is?
CHECK THIS OUT
Jojo: Uncle Lichuan?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA... both XLQ and myself burst out laughing!
Me: No, Jojo, Uncle Lichuan is Yiyi's husband! Not Yiyi's brother... ok, who stayed at your house the last few days?
Jojo: Daddy?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...
After giving her a few more clues, she finally managed to say it's her uncle Lijie, who is my brother. =)

Organization!

Mid year attempt to reorganize my life!! I realized I still love good old organizers... maybe one day I will switch to full usage of PDA... but right now, the PDA just stores birthdays and addresses for me. Haha.

Little conversation

Conversation between Jojo (3.5 yrs old) and myself

J: Yiyi, why don't you have another wedding?
Me: Cos Yiyi is already married to Uncle LC! (Pointing to XLQ). Jojo, we only get married once.
J: Only one time? Why? (In her coarse, deadpan voice)
Me: Yes. One gal is married to only one boy.
J: One gal only one boy?
Me: Yes
J: What if there are not enough boys?
HAHAHAHA... I was trying so hard not to laugh by then!!!!!
Me: Jojo, don't worry, God made many gals and many boys! There are enough boys...
And she laughed...

Actually, what she said has some truth! In many instances, there are actually more Christian women than men... =P

Unluckiest week in Little Ms Absent-minded's life!

This sounds like a primary school composition title doesn't it? But seriously, this is quite an unfortunate week I've had so far... if I didn't believe in God, I will really think I'm down on my luck... but because I believe that God is God, who is in control of this universe, despite my haywire week, I am thankful that I am still sane... basically whatever can go wrong has gone wrong... here's the recap:

1. Monday morning- when I reached the office, I discovered that I forgot to bring my LAPTOP to work!! How can this even happen? Seriously bobo... how to work without my laptop? It's like a policeman who reached the police station and realized he left his gun at home. I was already so upset with myself, as I got home, i realized I forgot to bring my house keys!!!!!!!!!! Oh my gosh... real bad start to the week!!! Only managed to start work in the office at 10.30 am. =(

2. Monday afternoon- reached client's office for a short training session. Realized I forgot to bring my laptop charger!! So I sheepishly told my client that he only has 2 hours (cos that's how long my lap top can last without the charger...) Thankfully they were nice clients and the training was shorter than expected anyway.

3. Tuesday night around 11pm- found out that something I need to work on is not saved on my laptop but sitting in the office server!!!! XLQ was so kind to accompany me back to the office to get it... I was REALLY upset with myself by then... because I know I probably have to pull an all nighter because of all the time wasted... and tears of frustration rolled down uncontrollably...

4. Wednesday early morning at client's place, which is today- for some STRANGE reason, the work that I've done the night before between 12 am to 3.30 am mysteriously disappeared... I seriously PANICKED cos I'm supposed to give it to my client... Maybe I was too tired I forgot to save it? I don't know... at this point, I really felt like crying... especially when my boss and I were late for the meeting which was supposed to start at 8.30am... we got there close to 9 am because there was an accident along Lornie Road and we were on the Marymount/Lornie stretch for 45 MINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you believe that? Before I could start my presentation, I already felt exhausted... from lack of sleep and severe motion sickness. Thankfully I could send the stuff over to my client in the afternoon after I reached the office... but I had to redo a major part of it cos I simply can't find it in my laptop...

5. Then, when I reached the office, I realized that I have left my laptop charger in my client's office! CHAMPION- I am the champion of the world. Speechless.... absolutely speechless... One thing I'm thankful for... I thought today's meeting with the client will be super tough because they are rather demanding, but thank God it went really well and the client seemed to appreciate what we did...

BUT today is only Wednesday... the question is, can I survive Thursday and Friday? =( weekend, pls come quickly... the plea of a working folk.

Thankfully, life for Christians is really not about work... I think I will be a depressed individual if it is... even as a Christian, sometimes I get down thinking about work. God reminds us that we are whole and complete in Him, we don't have to find our identity in anything besides Jesus Christ, who has saved us from ultimate condemnation. But sometimes when you're swamped with work, you simply forget those facts of life... you simply get drowned in the work, the negative atmosphere, the gossip and politics involved...

I have to constantly watch myself and remind myself that I am a Christian first and foremost... there's really nothing more important than that in life. What a difficult struggle it is sometimes... But I always remind myself of my aim in life... to be a happy grandmother. =) Hopefully a god fearing, prayerful grandmother... maybe I should start this aim soon by having a kid soon. HAHA. Ok, that's me talking in a delirious state. Not ready. All right, before I ramble on... will sign off to enjoy this precious free weeknight...

Bits N Pieces

Haven't blogged for quite a while... been so busy! Work, family, ministry... it aint gonna get any easier, is it? It's bit sad, but somehow life in Singapore always seems that way...

Wonder if anyone is actually reading my blog. Haha, cos I'm tempted not to update it many times. Honestly, I'm still very wary of what I put up here because it IS the world wide web after all. I sink in comfort of the old school diary, speaking of which, I haven't written in in ages.

Random bits n pieces of stuff that come to mind:

In no order of preference:

9 weddings to attend in 8 months!
I have 9 more weddings to attend from now until the end of the year! They're such happy occassions especially this year cos so many of my good friends are getting married. Whenever I attend a wedding, I get reminded of my own last year and it never fails to bring a smile. BUT, don't worry, I will not ask XLQ to do it all over again, cos I will not forget how intense the prep was and how high strung I was trying to juggle everything... For the upcoming weddings, I'm asked to be emcee for one, coordinator for another... it's quite exciting! =) This past sat, I heard an excellent sermon on marriage from Ephesians 5. Such faithful preaching and what a challenge it is to live out married life with Christ and the church as example.

Recycle & reuse!
Recycling is catching up in Singapore!! I'm actually really happy about this... =) I used to recycle soooooo much, separating bottles, paper, plastic etc. And my roommates used to purposely throw things in the regular trash just to kick up a reaction. Haha. I miss those days guys. Singapore supermarkets may start charging for plastic bags in the near future. Radical move I must say! The HDB aunties must be complaining like mad. My colleagues and I were talking abt it and we were saying that the supermkts here are actually TOO generous in giving out plastic bags in the first place, or rather, people are too picky about needing separate bags for the things they purchase... as a result, we really take the plastic bags for granted... now they're starting to charge in order to deter the wastage. I think people's behavior may change. I myself make it a point not to ask for bags and try to bring my own bag to the supermarket. I did that the other day, but it was so silly... I brought a bag that was too small and in the end, I still had to ask for a plastic bag. Ha! But few issues...
a. What happens to people who purchase in bulk? HOw can they bring their own bags to fit everything?
b. When we throw out our trash, plastic bags are still the main "containers" we use to hold our trash. Is there any replacement for that at all? Can you imagine if people do not use plastic bags and simply throw out the trash directly in the rubbish chute? I can't imagine the "xiao qiangs" which will probably multiply and take over the earth...
Maybe we shld do a limit per person to 2 bags per trip type thing? Will paper bags solve the problem? I give it to Ikea to start charging for all their bags. Courageous move!

My cosy home
Ikea- one of my best friends. 4 months into married life and I still go to Ikea so very often. Curtains, cups, photoframes... there are just so many things you can buy at any point of time to do up your house... XLQ and I are really thankful for our home. I'm really enjoying the times I spend at home and just soaking in the fact that XLQ and I have our own place! It's really nice to be able to invite pp over and just chill.

We just completed furnishing our home! Guest room is done, so whoever is coming from overseas, you can definitely stay with us! =) Just completed the study too... I regretted a bit on the color of the table, cos it's more reddish than I imagined... but what the heck. I shld really stop fretting abt these silly little things!

My silly dog
Obi is staying at XLQ's parents place and I am so thankful for them... he love my father in law and they are now best friends. I can tell that Obi's attention is not as undivided towards me anymore... even though he still gets extremely excited to see me. But it's ok... I rather he be well taken care of...

Church affairs
Meetings and more meetings- that's how things have been for the last 2 months, with PUNJ and TNYF merging into STAR- Students at Adam Road... it's been a rather tough 2 months for XLQ and myself... cos we have officially moved to TNYF. It's quite a sudden move, and it's really tough because we have been in PUNJ for like... 5 years for me, 7 years for him probably... and we've seen so many people come and go in PUNJ. We've been deeply encouraged by the old leaders, the Post PUNJers, the current PUNJers... it's just been such an integral part of our lives! That's where XLQ and I met each other as well! =) However, through these things, I'm reminded...
-Ministry is God's. He grows people in their faith, not us. So, stop thinking we're indispensable! Or tie our identity to where we're serving. It doesn't work that way.
-We're called to be faithful stewards wherever we are, that includes ministry. Even though there may be many different opinions on how things can be done, we just need to be faithful and teach God's word to those under our charge.
-uncertainty is sometimes God's way of teaching us to depend on Him and Him alone. It's a tough lesson which I'm still learning each and every day.

How's married life?
It's been good! Not too different from dating life actually... cos we see each other a lot while we were dating. There is higher tendency to take each other's company for granted... we can be spending a lot of quantity time together, but not quality time. So we've made it a point to spend Friday nites with each other. =) No quirks that are driving me nuts YET. Haha. But I've actually learned to sleep without a/c! AMAZING. For a person who has been sleeping in a/c room her whole life, I think it's a good accomplishment! Haha... it's actually helping my sinus problem.

My prayer request that we will never take each other for granted and that we will always put God in the centre of our relationship. I'm so thankful that he's my confidante, friend and ministry partner... thank God for providing me with a partner during this lifetime.

All righty, quite a long post! Will try and update again soon. =)

Pre-wedding photos

Hey guys!

Haha, yes, after 3 mths, I finally received the soft copy of my pre wedding shots! Lichuan and I looked through them again, brought back sweet memories of the day when we went out to take the photos... =) I wonder if we will think they're super cheesy when we look back in 30 years' time... I'm sure we will. Haha...

Here are some of my favourite shots

XLQ doesn't really like these shots, but I had so much fun with the clothes! Haha... we look funny.

Which couple in the world take such unglam jumping shots during their wedding photoshoot? The lady in the shop said I am by far the bride-to-be who jumped the highest! HAHA.

I like this shot cos it's a natural shot of me laughing. I can't even remember why I was laughing...

NZ photos!

Some of NZ photos to share! Sorry it's been so long...

New Zealand is currently among the top 3 of my favorite countries in the world!! It's such a beautiful place, no hustling and bustling, filled with nature's goodness and God's wonderful creation. It's a country where you can really take a deep breath, sit back and relax! XLQ and I had such great memories of the place. I will love to go back again someday to explore more places! And do more hikes! =)

One of my favoritest part of the trip!! Seeing a whale do the infamous flip as he dives underwater... isn't that super cool? While I was enjoying myself, XLQ was getting really seasick as the boat had to come to a complete halt as we wait for the sperm whales to appear...

XLQ on a pony at the farm we stayed at. It was a beautiful place!

One of the countless postcard-looking picturesque places in NZ! Look at the "blueness" of the water... it looks fake huh? This is one of my favorite scenery photos that I took during the trip... but I kinda forgot what lake this was... =(

XLQ and myself at Frans Josef Glacier, hiking up the huge ice block! It was cold, tiring but fun!

Check out the magnificent backdrop of this photo! God's creation is simply breath-taking!

My hodge podge wish list

I wish I can meet up with more PUNJers

I wish I can spend more time with my close friends

I wish I can spend more good quality time with my husband

I wish I have more self discipline to do my QT EVERY day

I wish I can finish reading the bible this year

I wish I can do bible study with more gals

I wish I won’t neglect my family

I wish I have more time to spend with my dog

I wish my house can be fully furnished by end of March

I wish I can cook more often

I wish I can be more prayerful

I wish I can take time to reflect and ponder about God more

I wish I don’t have to grow up and worry abt loans, bills, CPF etc.

I wish there are 48 hours in a day (Do I really?)

I wish I can blink and the crowds in Singapore will disappear

I wish that the government is kidding about targeting the population at 6.5 million

I wish I am less snappy and more patient
I wish there is more nature around us!

I wish I read more

So many things I wish to do, so little time to accomplish!