Thursday's Tip: Two-Minute Mug Brownie

Tried this the other day with great results! I only had whipped cream then, but i think it would taste best with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It was also a little too sweet, i would lessen the sugar and cocoa. 

4 tbsp flour
2 tbsp packed sugar
1 1/2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
Pinch salt
2 Tbsp canola or other mild vegetable oil (do not use EVOO)
2 Tbsp milk, coffee or water

In a heatproof mug or ramekin, stir together the dry ingredients until no lumps remain. Stir in the oil and milk until you have a thick paste.

Microwave on high for a minute, checking it every 30 seconds (microwaves vary) – it will be done when it’s springy on top but still a bit gooey – like the very best brownie. Eat warm.

Recipe and Photo from the family kitchen

good cheer at the millers

Someone left my sour cream in the microwave

The story of a frazzled kindie teacher is filled with smiles, glitter, pink, hugs and ickie things.

She is too busy to blog. Enough to post one picture.

Of her sister digging her nose. Muahahaha

laughs about language

I'm going through a strange phase of having to maintain excellent English when talking to the kids while learning basic spoken Chinese from their conversations with one another.

Speaking of English, here are some interesting things i've come across:

1. Typed by a guy who was involved in an accident: "...Got hit...mere death experienced..."
2. The kids read "I'll be" as "I got be". 
3. It's interesting how "I didn't do it" or "It wasn't me" has evolved into "Where got?"
4. I asked a kid to spell B-O-O-K, she got confused and wrote B-O-O-B. 
5. Another kid reads YELLOW as LHELLHOW.

A boy and The Lord

A little boy told me today that he prays to Jesus every night, then Jesus will protect him. 

So i asked him why do you think Jesus can protect you when you pray to him? 

He didn't know, he's just doing what mummy and daddy tell him to do. 

So i explained to him that Jesus is the Boss and Lord of everything, the whole world and more. That's why He can protect you. He's in charge of everything.

The bell rang. 

I wished i could have said more. But it's okay. Jesus is still in charge of everything.

This is my application for evangelizing children, from the sermon "Christ's Glory & Judgment" that was preached in church last Sunday. It is available for download on the CERC website.

The dog days were gone for like... 5 minutes?

And they're back.

These four months have been a record for many things:
The most we've ever talked about real and important things since the beginning.
The most honest we've ever been about everything.
The most time i've had to practice cooking and have a few steady recipes under my wing.
The most relaxed time i've had to actually sit down and think.
The most difficult work of sanctification.
The most amount of tears ever shed.
And so on and so forth.

I wouldn't have given up these three months for anything.

I've learnt many things, which may surprise many, but i don't care.
I've learnt that in many ways, i am sinful, and of whatever sins i know of, i will repent. But also that, i cannot repent of things that is not a sin. Or at least, i'm not convinced that it is.
I've also learnt that you REALLY can't trust people. People misunderstand what you say or do, take what you say and do and use it against you. So i've got to learn to open up to people in a clear way, always clarifying and asking why. And expecting them to betray you anyway.
I've learnt not to expect apologies. Cos people are sinful. They don't know what they did, and sometimes even if they know, they're not sorry anyway. So i've got to tell them what they did, expect an apology and not be surprised if there isn't any.
And lastly, i've learnt that running away isn't going to help. It's only going to be a repeat of the same situations in a new place with new people. Sticking and sorting is the way to go, although i have also found it to be painful and angering and upsetting. Easier to take flight, but no solving the matter then.

So all in all, i learnt that i am sinful, people are sinful, but we still have to live with one another. Welcome to what is called the church.

No tips; but an update

Life has caught up with me.

I am now working in a kindergarten in our neighbourhood. The kids are adorable, but i hope i never hear another word about Angry Birds ever again. I think my chinese is probably improving. I have to try to understand what the kids are saying so that i know they are not up to mischief.

There are not very many nice shows on national tv to watch with a side of my ironing. I have finally organized most of the documents at home, but there still are some more piles somewhere. I had more than 5 copies of the songsheet for "We are God's people". There is a massive recycle pile near the door.

The dog days are ovah-huh! The dog days are go-o-o-one! but i don't think they've gone very far. Many talks, tears and hugs make a good relationship. Its putting gold through refining in the fire. A relationship without fighting makes a non-relating relationship, which is an oxymoron.

Oh yes, here's a tip for you even though i said no tips: If you want to make yourself cook, make sure that you buy all sorts of raw ingredients only when you buy groceries for the week (like raw meats and veg). That way, when you're hungry and go look in the fridge, you've GOT to cook. Haha.

Now i sit on my clothes vacated sofa and wait for the next wave to hit me. It's coming, i can feel it. But i'm gonna be okay. I have a bouy! It's called God's Providence.

Thursday's Tip: Really Random Tips

Hello everyone,

I'm actually not around right now, am at this conference, learning about the Providence of God at this very moment, but still here is my usual Thursday's Tip for you.

Tip number 1: I recently came across this really useful website, especially for people like me, who really have no idea. It's called stilltasty, and it gives you a guide to how long your produce and other food products last and when it's still safe to eat and most importantly, is still tasty!

Tip number 2: Did you know you can make appalum/pappadum in the microwave? Just place the appalam rounds on the outer corners of the rotating plate in your microwave and watch it pop! Be careful not to put it into the middle, cos it will burn. Time to cook depends on your microwave really, on mine at medium heat, it takes about 1-2 mins. (Tip courtesy of Melissa Johnson)

Thursday's Tip: Give gifts (without going over budget)

We all have friends and family that we want to give something to, be it for their birthday, wedding, any other special occasion or even just to say "Thanks!". But the problem is... not a lot of money to spend. So how?

Here's my roundup of 4 affordable (but still meaningful) things you can do/find:

1. Bookxcess
This bookstore offers new books for much cheaper than the normal bookstores. Something like FOS or Reject Shop for books. As far as my eye can see, nothing wrong with the books, so hey! All the better for us. They have loads of nice coffee table books, which of course are excellent for gifts. You can find something for most people there, lots of design books for those who love art, interior deco for the decorator, cookbooks for the housewives and cooking enthusiasts, all sorts lah. You'll be able to find a good enough book to gift for RM20-RM50. There are more expensive options too if you feel like spending but since this is about cheaper gifts, the RM20-50 range will suffice. (image from bookaxcess)

2. Bake a cake
Really. Effortsome, yes. Cheaper, yes. Yummy, hopefully. Meaningful, YES! Especially if you know what your receipient's favourite cake is. A normal sized round cake would probably cost you from RM15-RM30, a tea cake from RM10-20, depending on whether you get standard quality ingredients or high quality ones.

3. Plant something in a pretty pot.
I propagate plants quite often, so i usually have a few full jars of rooting plants that are just waiting to be planted into a pretty pot to be given away. This makes a good housewarming gift! Nice pots from IKEA start from RM5 and if you get cuttings from your own garden, it's free. Just tie a ribbon round the pot and voila! Or you can even plant it into unusual finds like cups or bowls.

4. Ingredients in a jar
If you're too lazy to make something yourself, then ingredients in a jar work just fine too. Put something like hot chocolate mix topped with mini marshmallows and choc chips into a pretty jar (if you like, glass ones work pretty well and IKEA is your friend for those) and tie it with ribbon. This idea is good for times where you want lots of small affordable gifts to give away, like at Christmas.
(all other images from pinterest)

need some inspiration to start cleaning?

Play this game!

via method

A peek into the life

Well, after receiving my new camera from dad (thanks again, dad!), i had to test it out. Don't mind these lame shots, cos the rest of the house is messy, these were the only good parts *grin*. 

Our shared office, but this particular corner is mine. Corkboard & Table: IKEA.

I only like to use this desktop to do artwork. It's superfast but doesn't have an internet connection =( 

Spot the cleaning schedule!

The view from my bed, it's my favourite spot to sip my breakfast coffee, browse the latest posts in Google Reader and other things. 

After i do my browsing (and wait for the coffee to kick in), i'm out to potter around my little container garden, watering, snipping and poking at the curry leaf plant that hasn't sprouted yet. The rosemary almost died, but i managed to salvage some cuttings to regrow it. The mint is going crazy at the mo, in the big container and also in the fourth pot to the right of the big container. I just trimmed the lemon basil to the height of the rail to make pesto the other day, but it's already grown taller than the rail. The money plant is a funny one, Adrian just can't believe it, i keep cuttings in a vase with water, and it grows and grows and grows, even without soil or anything. The two glass jars are the cuttings i'm letting root to thicken the mint plant and rosemary.

Then the day really starts.

Thursday's Tip: Housekeeping schedules

I've decided to rename Thursday's Recipes to Thursdays Tips. That's because i revert so often to my usual recipes that i don't have that many new ones to give you, haha! Well, that and the fact that i have a number of tips to help whoever is a straight-from-mama's-house-to-your-own-overwhelming-household wife. All the rest of you clean and neat freaks, be gone! (just kidding!)

So today, i have a tip for you on how to keep your whole entire house clean: Housekeeping Schedules! Note: This plan only works when you obey the entire thing, without skipping things, which i have to admit is a hectic mess for me to live by. It's meant to break it down into *easier to handle* chunks of 30-60mins work every day (although sometimes within a day i break it into 20mins per task with some recovery time in between!)

So let me explain:
Weekly Tasks
The 7 spaces going left to right are the 7 days in a week. So i've assigned each day to a room, first of all Monday is Kitchen day, Tuesday is Toilet day, Wednesday is Bedroom day and so on. I've left Sunday free just in case, because we tend to be out most Sundays, so ignore the 7th column for now. So every Monday of every week, you just repeat the tasks set for the day, eg. Discard old food, wipe all surfaces, flush drains, disinfect sponges etc. Every Tuesday you'd do the tasks for bathrooms and you just keep going throughout the week, cleaning a little at a time.

Monthly Tasks
Now some tasks you don't have to do every day or every week, like cleaning the fridge or cleaning the toilets. So the 4 spaces going downwards are the 4 weeks in a month. The 2nd row on Monday is still Kitchen day, but with 2 additional duties eg clean fridge and wash trash bin. So i've spread out things that only need to be done once a month throughout, so wherever there's extra tasks, just add them into the day's tasks.

Now back to the green columns:
Everyday Tasks
I've set some tasks i just need to do everyday to maintain my piece of mind, like clearing out the sink every day, and putting stuff back where they belong. I figure if i do a little every day, it doesn't add up to be a huge monster.

Tasks for Every Three Months
Now these are the big ones that only need done every three months, so i've set the months that i will do them, which are Feb, May, Aug, Nov. So in these months, i'll just add the tasks in throughout the month's tasks (not all at once of course!) and just do them bit by bit.

I know it looks complicated, but it keeps me sane! At least i know what i have to do every day and not just wash when it smells, or grows mold. Hope this helps!

kristin stewart looks amazing here!

I can't believe this is her. She looks awesome even with her usual sulky moody face, seems to be more sultry and sexy here. Amazing what some big hair and smoky eye makeup will do. 

Rest in the Providence of God

God says in Isaiah 45:7, “I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things.” Do you find it hard to accept what this verse says?

“Providence” is a helpful, if rather old-fashioned, term denoting the way in which God is in control of all events such that they are directed to fulfil his purposes. It’s something we Christians know in part but often find hard to explain, practice, apply, really believe in, or even want. With all the bad going on around us we’d often rather not think about what that implies about the God we love.

Some Christians choose to respond optimistically, citing Romans 8:28, ‘in all things God works for the good…’ Some say if we pray hard enough things will work out for us. But in private, when faced with the pain and evil of this world, many of us wonder how God can really be in control – especially bad things happen to good people.

What should Christians living after the resurrection of Christ think about these things? Will we brush our questions under the carpet, or will we face up to the reality of life as it is every day? Come along to this year’s TTC, conveniently scheduled over the Hari Raya holidays, to work this out in the company of fellow Christians.

More info

Find out more and register online at Gospel Growth Fellowship website. Join theFacebook event.

Thursday's Recipe: Meal Planning

This thursday, no recipe, but a special on meal planning. What is that, you ask? That, is what you do when you want healthy homecooked food and also to save some money and time. Basically it's just planning for the family's meal for one whole week at a go or even two, so that you can make a master grocery list and go only ONCE to the market or store. See? So green, saves petrol from making all those trips to the store when you aiyah forgot something.

I'm no expert on this, but i thought i'd share a tip that makes it easy for even me to start meal planning, especially since my husband loves to have homecooked food =/

Voila! Post-its are lifesavers! So i just write our favourite dishes, mixed with some easy ones and leave some  for leftovers, eating out and space to try new dishes. Then i just mix and match til i get a good set, considering things like "Can i make this in a big batch to freeze?" or "Can i make a bigger batch tonight to be left for tomorrow's lunch?". This is my go at it, it's been working well (when i actually use it), and so i won't expect my husband to go hungry. 

I usually only plan one week at a time, cos you can't expect greens to last so long even in the fridge, and i hate to see food go to waste. Also cos getting out of the house a couple of times a week is a good thing to keep you sane! So i would count all the groceries i need, by looking at this chart and add it all up to a large master list and go get it all at once, saving myself time and petrol, and also money, cos then i know what i need to get and i don't end up buying lots of things i don't need or won't eat. 

That's it for this Thursday, hope this helps you!

forget your sorrows, come on get happy...

I just really want to thank both sets of our loving parents. For all the support, it means so much to us. More than words can say. 

And on a separate note, i want to wish my mum & dad "Happy Anniversary" again. It's not today, but still! I'm glad they demonstrate to me what commitment in marriage means, and thankful for the support my mum still gives me today, from rushed emergency calls on what to do with my food to just general nonsense =P Love you both!

Thursdays Recipe: Help! I don't know how to gut a fish!

If you don't know how to gut a fish, here's a good video to show you how.



Another video from her, on how to make poori!



edit: i have tried this simple recipe, and it is as she says a very basic recipe. Slightly bland, can't quite taste the poori-ness. Next time, i might add a dash of ghee/oil, a pinch of salt, and a little milk to the dough mixture. Also, make sure your oil is hot hot hot! I left it a little on the low side, so it didn't cook quite as nicely, not very popped up. All the best!

Out of the depths, O Lord, I cry to You

Out of the depths, O Lord, I cry to You
When I am tempted to despair
Though I might fail to trust Your promises
You never fail to hear my prayer
And if You judged my sin
I'd never stand again
But I see mercy in Your hands

So more than watchmen for the morning
I will wait for You, my God
When my fears come with no warning
In Your Word I'll put my trust
And when the harvest time is over
And I still see no fruit
I will wait, I will wait
For You

The secret mysteries belong to You
We only know what You reveal
And all my questions that are unresolved
Dont change the wisdom of Your will
In every trial and loss
My hope is in the cross
Where Your compassions never fail

now i know why man created disposable plates and cutlery

do you know how fast the sink fills up with dirty dishes, used cookware and many other things that need to be washed within a days time before they stink up your kitchen? every time i finish washing the stuff in the full sink after lunch, i sigh a little with relief and relish the squeaky clean-ness... for about 2 hours max. Cos then the process starts again when dinner time rolls around!

a little bit of observed wisdom for you: if there are things in the sink, and you don't wash them today, they are going to grow. and by tomorrow, you'll have a landslide of dishes. you may even break some.

i really hate washing dishes. if there's one thing i would like for my birthday, Christmas, anytime?! it would be a dishwasher (be it a person or a machine =) but til then, happy cleaning to me. it sucks that my hands don't even crack from constant dish washing or just general washing. you'd think they would, then i can kesian myself a bit (haha) and put it off til later. but i don't. so i just keep going. i think it's a strange side effect from having to put moisturiser on my eczema, it keeps my hands moisturised so i can wash dishes just fine -.-

Thursdays Recipes: Tea cakes & how to vary

I've learnt that the basic ingredients and method of preparations essentially are the same, and i've tried three variations with much success.

Lemon Drizzle Cake (from BBCgoodfoods)
225g unsalted butter (one stick is usually about 227g, i like SCS), 225g caster sugar, 4 eggs, zest of one lemon, 225g self raising flour. For the drizzle: Juice of one lemon, 85g caster sugar (the drizzle is optional, some people find its too much lemon, but i like it. Just mix together the juice and sugar then pour over the cake, hot out of the oven.)

Banana Cake
225g unsalted butter, 140g caster sugar, 2 eggs, 3 large ripe bananas (mashed), 50g raisins (optional), 150ml milk/buttermilk/cream (i just use whipping cream or milk if i'm lazy. Buttermilk can be very expensive but if you want, just mix one cup milk with 1 tbsp white vinegar or lemon juice and let stand for 5mins), 170g self raising flour, 50g nuts (optional, any nuts you like, pecan, walnuts, etc)

Carrot Cake & Cream Cheese Icing 
225g unsalted butter, 140g caster sugar, 2 eggs, zest of 1 orange and juice, 170g self raising flour, 50g raisins, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp mixed spice, 140g carrots (grated). Cream Cheese Frosting: 100g unsalted butter, 300g cream cheese, 100g caster sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract (Beat the butter til soft, then mix everything else in)

So from this you can see that basically you need butter, caster sugar, eggs, self raising flour, and whatever flavour you like (i put it under zest and spices). If you have additional things like carrots and bananas, then lessen/half the amount of sugar, flour and eggs. This way, i think you can modify the recipe to whatever you want!

Preheat oven to 180C.
1. Beat together butter and sugar. (Make sure the butter is melted/defrosted, hard butter is harder to beat)
2. Add eggs, one at a time.
3. Sift in flour.
4. Add zest and spices (this includes whatever else you want to put in, fruit or vege, raisins, nuts, spices)
5. Line a baking tin with baking paper/Butter up the walls of a baking tin and spoon the mixture in.
6. Bake for 45-50 mins (or until a skewer poked into the center comes out clean, which means no cake parts stuck to it)
7. The end! Or if you have a topping, then this is the moment to spoon it over the cake.

These cakes should probably keep for a couple of days. It can also be wrapped in two layers of aluminium foil and frozen, will keep maybe for a week or two this way. If you want, you can substitute the butter with vegetable oil (1/3 cup should do) but i think you'd need to add an additional egg if you do that.

Recipe: Nasi Lemak

Here's a recipe i tried yesterday, reasonably easy, adapted from a few recipes i saw online. I'm probably gonna put more recipes on my blog as and when i try new ones and figure out easy ways to cook so that those who need to know these things (like i did) don't have to search high and low for explanations for so many things. I'm taking a lesson from Julia Child's cookbook, to be detailed enough so that you know what to expect.

You can keep the sambal in an airtight container in the fridge for 1-2 days. A few tips i learnt recently, is that cucumber always goes bad quickly, so don't put it in the fridge with any other food in the same container and hard boiled eggs can keep in the fridge for 1-2 days too. Another thing is, it may be easier to prepare the sambal the night before you want to eat it the next day for lunch or dinner, cos it took me a little less than an hour to prepare it (but that's just me, i'm a little slow in the kitchen).

Serves 3
Sambal Ikan Bilis
1 medium red onion, 1 loose cup ikan bilis, 1 clove garlic, 4 shallots, 10 dried chillies, 1 tsp belacan, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 1/2 tbsp sugar, 1 cup water plus tamarind pulp (about two heaped tsp or pulp the size of a ping pong ball)

1. Rinse the ikan bilis and dry with paper towels. Fry til golden in 1 tbsp oil. Set aside on paper towels.
2. Blend belacan, shallots, garlic & dried chilli. (If you prefer less spicy sambal, deseed the chillies first, but i like it fine spicy). You might need to be patient with your blender and check occasionally to make sure everything's mixed up into a fine paste.
3. Slice red onion into rings.
4. Heat oil (med-hi) and fry blended paste til fragrant. (1min)
5. Add onion rings and ikan bilis and stir well. You may need to loosen up your onion rings.
6. Add tamarind juice, salt & sugar, stir well.
7. Simmer on low heat til the sambal is thickened to your liking. (5-10 mins)

Coconut rice
2 cups rice, 3 pandan leaves, 2-4 small slices of ginger, 1 packet of coconut milk (200ml), 1 cup water.
1. Wash rice as per normal.
2. Add all ingredients into the rice cooker and set to cook. (Depending on whether you like your rice wetter or dryer you can adjust how much water to put in. I put in slightly less than 1 cup of water, but i think 1 cup would have been fine)
3. When it's done, it may look like it's still slightly wet on top, but not to worry, just stir well and it should be fine.

I served this with hard boiled eggs (done the night before also) and fried fish (just kembong covered with salt and fried in hot oil the day of), and just chopped up the cucumbers just before serving.

Enjoy!

What's on the menu today and how to help your husband

That's the question i ask myself (and get asked of) every day. Difficult to answer. Sometimes i run late, and end up buying food. Sometimes i decide to do something, then decide it's too hard (and i'm too tired) so i go back to my old reliable recipes (you know, like pasta... and pasta...). So i never quite know what's on the menu today. Sometimes you get lucky in my kitchen, if its a good day, you may get a whole dinner AND some cupcakes or dessert. As time goes by, your repertoire grows, so the 'old reliable recipes' gets updated with new old reliables, which then kinda causes you to forget what the old ones were, so you kinda go back and forth re-learning the old things (if you're forgetful like me).

Anyway, on a different but related topic, i learnt recently that being a wife does not equal housework or cooking or whatever. Ultimately that's not what being a wife is. Cos different people do different things, some wives have people to do that for them, some wives share the duties, some wives do it all themselves. But what they all have in common is that they're a helping partner to their husband. So it kinda becomes subjective, cos what a wife really is, is a woman who's fit to help him (in whatever way he needs to be helped). Maybe that means your husband needs you to help out with managing the household, maybe that means he doesn't. Maybe that means you need to be keeping up to date with whatever he's reading, so that he can bounce ideas off you and through discussion, may be able to get a better grasp of whatever he's trying to learn or understand. Maybe that means you need to work, maybe he doesn't need you to work, it's quite dependent on each situation.

So for me to have gone into marriage, imagining myself to be only the one kind of wife, is a real mistake. And one way that wives can avoid that is perhaps to ask your husbands how they need to be helped, and not rely on your own idea of how to help your husband. Studying our husbands is a difficult thing, men being the clams that they are (requiring some digging to get to the guts). But it's a worthwhile form of study (Adrianology, if you would call it)... On a funnier note, can you imagine if studying your husband was a professional course? You would have a Bachelor's degree of Adrianology! Doesn't sound right if you swap it with Married's Degree of Adrianology. Or how about Masters in Adrianology! Haha, now that's one i can't use.

Hmm, i think the roast chicken is burning...

This is my Father's world,
O let me ne'er forget
That though the wrong seems o so strong,
God is the Ruler yet.

This is my Father's world,
Why should my heart be sad?
The Lord is King, let the heavens ring,
God reigns - let the earth be glad.

This is my Father's world,
a wanderer I may roam.
Whatever my lot, it matters not,
My heart is still at home.

Taken from a hymn, for these times.

goals are good. a new list for the new year.

versus

Math is easy / Design is hard

Mathematics is the study of quantity, structure, space, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns, formulate new conjectures, and establish truth by rigorous deduction from appropriately chosen axioms and various definitions. / Design : No generally accepted definition of 'design' exists, and the term has different connotations in different fields. Informally, 'a design' (noun) refers to a plan for the construction of an object (as in architectural blueprints, circuit diagrams and sewing patterns) and 'to design' (verb) refers to making this plan. However, one can also design by directly constructing a unique object.

Cooking is easy / Cleaning is hard

Cooking is the process of preparing food by applying heat. Cooks select and combine ingredients using a wide range of tools and methods, is the process, the flavor, texture, appearance and chemical properties of the ingredients can change (unclear). Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely across the world, reflecting unique environmental, economic, and cultural traditions. / Cleanliness is the absence of dirt, including dust, stains, bad smells and garbage. Purposes of cleanliness include health, beauty, absence of offensive odor, avoidance of shame and to avoid the spreading of dirt and contaminants to oneself and others, in the case of glass objects such as windows or windshields, the purpose can also be transparency. 

via behance

real love

people say that hate is the opposite of love. other people say that indifference is the opposite of love.
real love is not separate from hate. it's not the opposite either. you'll only know what it means (or what it takes) to love someone when you hate them.

i'm 24

birthdays. always a bittersweet occasion. i only really officially achieved 11 things off my list. i moved in, threw a party, went on a couple of holidays, printed my favourite photos, read 3 classic novels, made a scrapbook, bought ugly betty and put up an inspiration board.
i tried documenting everything but you know, time and busyness catches up with you, which explains why i didn't blog about some of the things i did do.
i tried growing a flower but it died.
i tried to take a photo a day but it was too much work and the photos i did take disappeared with the great hard disk massacre.
i did share the gospel with someone.
i found several good restaurants in damansara, like the one we went to yesterday to celebrate my birthday, thanks to jeremy and melissa.
and i did make my kitchen cosier.
i could feel bad for not being successful in achieving all these things, but what's the use. it wasn't meant to be a do it all kind of list anyway, just some things that i'd like to have done but don't need to have done.

So what's next, twenty four? shall i or shall i not do another list?

Lessons learnt in being a wife

It has been a week in education of young impressionable girls of the idealistic, optimistic and utterly stupid and untrue nature of their hopes and dreams of being a wife.

Being a wife means...
...Never letting go (even when you hate his guts sometimes)
...Staying alive (even though you'd rather die)
...Doing the dishes (even if its disgusting and gross)
...Talking (even in silent treatment mode)
...Calming down (even when you're super angry)
...Seeing the good in all he's doing (which is in reality a lot, although you translate it to be not)
...Keep going on being a wife (even if your whole being insists on giving up)

Now take a whack at it and see if you'll be the so-called wife that you believe God called you to be. My advice is: Stop being the young impressionable girl with idealistic, optimistic and stupid untrue hopes and dreams of being a wife and JUST BE ONE. Find comfort in God when you fail and keep finding comfort in Him cos you're gonna keep failing for the rest of your life.

why me?

i am not a miracle worker

Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.
(Matthew 7:3-5 ESV)

bummer

i dropped my hard disk and now all the pictures i have of singapore and india are the ones on my blog right now. i'm a little beyond upset over that and every time i think of "oh that was like that time we did that in... oh...(peeved silence)" but i've gotten over it (mostly, i think). i did go in a pursuit of anything and everything that made me happy again for a while, which ended up in situations neither me nor adrian ever wanna be in again =P.

so now, i'm no longer on speaking terms with the laptop, which is what i believe to be the source of the problem in the first place (bar my actually dropping the disk) and i'm using the permanent desktop, whose hard disk is safe and sound, firmly planted on the table, never to drop. i hate hard disks.

makes me think about the permanence of things and God's providence and will. God will always be there, never like a hard disk where hard knocks will make keel over and die. He will never leave you, unless you are being a stubborn three letter word that means donkey who insists on being disobedient, unlike a hard disk where even if you are kind to it, it may fail you anyway. This all must have happened to teach me two things: first, that i need to trust God because He's the most trustworthy out of all the everything and anything in this world and probably out of this world too, and secondly, back up always, cos hard disks are not God, and you are not God.

There you go, lessons learnt. (in a very small voice) I would still like to imagine all my files being returned in pristine order. 

Celebrating our 1st year

we went over the waters for a short holiday. stayed at tune hotel in johor, commuted over every morning. i think we walked more than we have ever done, ended up with back pain, leg pain, everything lah. we didn't go to the typical universal studios. took the cable car ride to mount faber, walked to the henderson waves, which was awesome! saw the light and water show at marina bay sands, just stumbled upon it when the music started calling.



the zoo was really good! the best zoo ever! the animals looked healthy and had lots of room to run and they were all in open areas (not the wild/dangerous ones la), so things like the monkeys were free to swing from tree to tree without being caged. I thought that was so cool.



on the third day, we went on a bike ride all along changi beach coast. the wind in our faces was the best feeling after walking only as fast as our two legs can bring us in the melting heat for two days. we tried the international nasi lemak at Block 2 next to the bus terminal, which apparently is famous there. after lining up for about half an hour, it was only eh... we've had much better in malaysia.



another holiday to add to my favourite rest times, nothing will ever beat my honeymoon in Penang.

Love the church: Do not speak what you ought not to speak.

...continued from "Women's tongues are evil"...

If we love Jesus's church, if we are part of the body of Christ, we ought to do all things in order to build it up, not tear it down. And that's why we ought not to speak out of turn, speak words that are useless and not helpful, not edifying, which is gossip, slander, malicious and only cause the church to be weakened. We are one body and ought to care for one another. Remember this, women, lest we are as worthless as nothing and far worse than that, lest we are the cause of the downfall of Christ's church. If we have not love, we are nothing. Wake up, and do not go on sinning.

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body— Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
For the body does not consist of one member but of many...as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. 

...God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.

As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.


Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning.

1 Corinthians

Women's tongues are evil

If only women knew how much damage their tongues can cause to the church, maybe then they would realize why it's better for us to be silent in church. I pray God for Your name's sake, for women to be better, more submissive, more wise, more Christian.

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls...


...we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.


How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

James

Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband, and having a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work. But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry and so incur condemnation for having abandoned their former faith. Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not. So I would have younger widows marry, bear children, manage their households, and give the adversary no occasion for slander. For some have already strayed after Satan.

1 Timothy

A perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends.
A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid anyone who talks too much.

Proverbs

Speak no evil

...continued in "Love the church: Do not speak what you ought not to speak"...

Holi Holiday

We had an awesome holiday in Chennai, India. Just family. People make it sound scary and weird, but it was surprisingly amazing! I loved the colors, the sights, cows and honking, especially the food. I wouldn't necessarily stay there my whole life, but it was good for a visit. Learnt alot about Indian culture too.

I tried to take as many pictures of Indian lifestyle, the real stuff. Didn't buy very much, so pictures were my souvenirs. I may even make this into a scrapbook of sorts, i think. Sorry about the heavy editing, makes it seem more colorful than my digi cam can.

You know i've been reading about all these banning, banning people from preaching the gospel, banning people to say things as according to the Bible, banning people generally from having any sort of Christian opinion. Why is it okay for the rest of the world to have their opinions, make laws to express it or cancel laws that don't express it, and try to stop everyone else from opposing their opinions in the name of freedom of speech or the right to whatever? Hello? Don't we have rights too or a right to an opinion too? And when does it become okay for anyone else who happens not to be a Christian to complain about Christians being offensive in what they proclaim, but at the same time they can go on being offensive about Christians out loud in whatever way they like? I just find this all completely topsy turvy. It's like some circle of crazy that will never end.

I guess i may sound silly, saying all these things about the gospel, Jesus, seemingly making all these claims about God. The basis for it: The bible told me so. Call me silly to have an opinion based on God's Word. We'll see, won't we?

Funny thing is, it's a blessing to Christians when these things happen. In history and til the day Jesus returns, these things have only resulted in more and more people becoming Christians and growing to be stronger Christians. Read the Foxes book of Martyrs, or Unquenchable Flame by Michael Reeves. We have the eternal assurance of our salvation, thanks to the blood of Christ. We can never die. So go on preaching it brothers and sisters. The world can do what it can, but
our God rules this world. 

from a show that also has a lot of unfair and loud opinions about God and Jesus and Christians, the lyrics to Loser Like Me:
Just go ahead and hate on me and run your mouth (so everyone can hear)
hit me with the worst you got and knock me down (baby i don't care)
keep it up and soon enough you'll figure out,
you wanna be, you wanna be
a loser like me... a loser like me

Have thought about everything i mentioned before. It's not just a problem with the gospel. It's a whole framework of thinking that's wrong. I see how much work God needs to do in someone before they come to realize that they're not all that, they're not God and they need to submit. Thank you Lord for disciplining me in the many years that has built up to this moment. When the necessary things like understanding the nature of justification, sanctification, perfection and maturity or even more like the nature of truth, revelation or the doctrine of Scripture, if these things are not there, people really just can't get it. Understanding that we don't have to do anything to gain favor with God (or with man for that matter, which is much less important than God) is foreign. All you end up with is an anthropocentric view of life, which is arrogant, proud in itself and can't be taught. Pity. It's a lot like Ahaz, Hezekiah, Assyria, one day God will whack you and that would be it. Better to understand the sovereignty of the One Creator God now before that happens. Scripture puts it all to us clearly. We just don't bother to find out. We just say that's vague, don't know, can't be bothered to find out what it says, can't read it, oh it's sealed, can't even open it. Isaiah is blowing my mind about all this. Everything just pops now, right before my very eyes. The nature of seeing the world and reality through God's eyes, as Isaiah did. Realizing when reality has been topsy turvied by sinful people like us and seeing clearly through to what is the only solution to all this rubbish. Seeing the problems for what they really are and gaining strength from God who is the only comfort to us in this ridiculous situations. Having vision that is God-centred, God-focused, and not navel-gazing. So much more to say, but Isaiah has said it all, 1 Thessalonians has said it all, the Bible has said it all. God has said it all, take it or leave it.

strength in God!

some people think they are sinless.
some people also think its possible to try their best to be good.
some think that sinning against people is not sinning against God.
some also are obsessed with the fact that everyone in their life has sinned against them.

i think it's deluded.

only God is sinless.
No one is righteous, not even one.
And sin is defined as rebellion against the Holy God.
There is no way for us to pay for our sin.
It's too much.
Everyday our debt to God grows.
Only the sinless Son of God can pay and has paid for all that we've done.
David says 'Against you alone have i sinned" and he's right.
Whatever you and i have ever done to ourselves or to others, none of that is as important as the fact that everything we've done is rebellion against God.

What kind of perverse gospel is it that people subscribe to? Its not a gospel at all.
For while we were still sinners, Christ died for the ungodly, the sinners, the enemies of God.
His blood, his sacrificial death takes our place.
Because of what he has done, we are now assured of no more condemnation by God, where we ought have suffered the wrath of God, we are now freed. We are reconciled and have peace with God, since we are JUSTIFIED by God. My price is paid, i have nothing more to answer for. Nothing that i can do to further compensate for my past, but the blood of Christ has accomplished it all.
To subscribe to anything other than this, is heresy. Outright denial of the gospel of Christ.

I rejoice in this suffering, this persecution. It has only made me more sure that i am forgiven. I have comfort from God. I have strength in Him. I have confidence that i am no longer condemned by God. I am clean in His eyes.

And honestly, that's all i need to know. For the eyes of man are blind. They will keep seeing but never perceiving, always hearing but never understanding. The wisdom of God is portrayed in Christ's work in me, but those who are blind will never understand it. Will never see it. Will even ignore God's glorious work, in order to bring forth their own perverted form of justice.

Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the Lord understand it completely. Only the Holy Servant of God will bring forth RIGHT JUSTICE, and i look forward to that day. It is a pity for those who claim to believe yet still find ways to work their own sanctification, their own holiness. Do you not know you can never do it? Do you not know that no matter how many people you apologize to, even the ones you have wronged, it won't make you right with God? I know what you want, but what you need is to trust God's work of sanctification. Can you imagine, calling God's immense payment, restitution if you will, cheap grace?

Christ crucified, i'm justified. 
Redeeming love has been my theme and shall be til i die!

What is thy only comfort in life and death?

What is thy only comfort in life and death? 
That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ; who, with his precious blood, has fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him.


Psalm 51
        Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
  Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!

For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
       Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.
  Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
  Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
  Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
  Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
  Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
  Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
  Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.
  Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,
O God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
  O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
  For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
build up the walls of Jerusalem;
  then will you delight in right sacrifices,
in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.


Romans 5
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.
But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

midnight mumbles.

127 hours taught me a lot about Isaiah. It's when man is led by their selfishness, arrogance and pride to situations where they're stuck deep in affliction and suffering, that's when man realizes they are no more than a speck on the face of God's earth and develop a deeper respect for God. You have to come to a place where you are face to face with the fact that you are nothing, you can't do anything to get yourself out of the horrible situation you're in. In that time, the only response to God is "Thank you", turning to the One who's struck you (sorta like the moment after he cuts off his hand and says thank you to the rock) and be repentant. It's sad that we take so long to repent, who knows how long after that point of repentance it will take for us to fall into a crevice again.

As an aside, i realized something else about respecting God. Sometimes i wish that Christians who date non-Christians would have a little more respect for God and the church that Jesus died for. It's nothing personal, you see, but what's at stake is your own faith, trust, dependence and godliness (not to mention not glorifying God as you should). Understanding the nature of being bought by God, set free from slavery to be God's servant/slave, OWNED by God, that should change your perception of how you live your life, who you choose to be with etc.

the most beautiful vertical garden i've ever seen

A bedroom for my six?

Number 23 and number 4(again)

I tried number 23 for a while. Growing a flower is not as easy as the three cacti i have right now, and the money plant that won't stop growing. It died. or is dying. But at least i tried. No pictures cos its not pretty hahaha. My next project is to propagate the cacti i have to make a vertical garden on my balcony.

In the midst of planning for number 4 : Go on holiday. yet again. Trying to squeeze a holiday in sometime soon. I think we both need a short getaway, me to gain creative inspiration, him to get some rest. Singapore? Terengganu? Taman Negara?

So far i'm enjoying getting through the list. Forces me to have some fun in between all the work. It's too easy to get obsessively absorbed into the creative work, it's like quicksand. Once you're absorbed you don't come out (for days). I'll be happily drawing and designing for hours without eating, while listening to glee music on youtube. Blah!!!

in the face of death

Isaiah chapters 38-39 : Hezekiah the king is 39-40 years old, he's sick and he's dying. It's a pity to be so near death so young. God tells him to set his house in order or he will die. And Hezekiah is right when his response to that is to turn his face to the wall and pray to the God who holds all of life in his hands.

Its strange huh? In light of sickness or death, that's when man comes face to face with his Maker, knowing that none of it is in his own control, he can't heal himself, he can't make himself live on. It's sad then, that stubborn and rebellious man comes to that point, and does not repent. That is folly beyond all rescue. Like in the rest of Isaiah, turn to Him who has struck you... repent and live. It's only the most stupid of fools, who will not see the hand of God in all of life, who will not see that dying an unrepentant death will only lead to eternal judgment without ease.

I pray for the foolish, that they will not be wise in their own sight, but see God's wisdom, see God and turn to him. To believe in God who made, sustains and preserves every living thing on earth and not in the lies that our deceitful hearts tell us. There is no rest or ease in pain after death. There is only rest and peace in God.

me wisdom

i am acting like a dog that returns to its own vomit. repent, repent. turn away now.

wisdom = God who created everything with wisdom and order. 

wisdom = God who in spite of human sin and folly, works out his wise plan for the whole earth.

wisdom = God who reveals his plan in Christ, the wisdom of God.

wisdom = God, who teaches His people to live wisely in His ways.

wisdom = me now being transformed in the renewal of my mind to fear God, be wise and love the church and everyone else. 

wisdom = me not being conformed to the futile folly of this world's wisdom.

the world who disregards God is dumber than ilona (7yrs). 

God has made His world in WISE order, not in random chaos. Conforming self to his order = difficult because i rebel but necessary cos it is the way to life! Life is as God knows it, not as you know it. 

Folly begets folly. Be stupid, you'll get stupider. Be wise and you'll grow to be wiser. Keep doing your crap, and you'll grow crappier. That's God's wise judgment. Love it, and you'll grow to love it more. Hate it, and you'll hate it all the way to hell. 

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.  He dies for lack of discipline, and because of his great folly he is led astray.

O simple ones, learn prudence; O fools, learn sense.  Hear, for I will speak noble things, and from my lips will come what is right,  for my mouth will utter truth; wickedness is an abomination to my lips.  All the words of my mouth are righteous; there is nothing twisted or crooked in them.  They are all straight to him who understands, and right to those who find knowledge.

The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil.
Leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in the way of insight.

BHLDN

The prettiest wedding site ever!
(Anthroplogie's new bridal collection)








via stephmodo.com

awesome stairs!

If i had stairs in my house, i would have these!

Just one thing this chinese new year

Thank you to everyone who has been giving me angpaus in the past years, rest assured that it has been put to good use. (except for maybe a teensy bit) You have paid to support me and my family's ministry in my church CERC, so thank you ever so much for all of it!

It is my dear hope that the angpaus i give out this year will be put to the same good use as well. I leave you with this proverb, wishing you all the blessedness and gain, prosperity and security in life that you will find only in the LORD of Wisdom, Jesus Christ.

Blessed is the one who finds wisdom,
and the one who gets understanding,
for the gain from her is better than gain from silver
and her profit better than gold.
She is more precious than jewels,
and nothing you desire can compare with her.
Long life is in her right hand;
in her left hand are riches and honor.
Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
and all her paths are peace.
She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her;
those who hold her fast are called blessed.


The LORD by wisdom founded the earth;
by understanding he established the heavens;
by his knowledge the deeps broke open,
and the clouds drop down the dew.


My son, do not lose sight of these—
keep sound wisdom and discretion,
and they will be life for your soul
and adornment for your neck.
Then you will walk on your way securely,
and your foot will not stumble.
If you lie down, you will not be afraid;
when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
Proverbs 3:13-24

Iced lemongrass juice

Uber yummy! And really easy to do too!

a handful of lemongrass sticks, washed
6 tablespoons of sugar
10-12 cups of water
one lemon, grated zest and juiced

Stick everything into a pot, bring to a boil, make sure the sugar is melted, then turn fire down to low heat and leave it for 1 1/2 hours. Yep! It's that simple. You'll get a really refreshing drink at the end. Try it! Makes about 10 cups of juice, unless you cover the pot which is okay too.

I'm gonna try a nice barley drink soon.

typography alphabet

The Alphabet from n9ve on Vimeo.

Number 19 : We love Ugly Betty!

Adrian and i love this series! It's really too bad that it ends with the fourth season. We love to watch it, to observe the values and lifestyles of the rich and famous Mode people and also the ambitious not-so-rich in Queens. We bought two series' as each others' Christmas presents. Hopefully someone revives the series into a movie or something.

Number 3 : Throw a housewarming party

Done!

Happy New Year!

This marks the beginning of 6th year of me writing here and i'm excited to keep going. It is also the first Christmas and new year Adrian and I will be enjoying as a married couple. And this Sunday will be the first party at our first home! I'm very excited to have everyone over. The house is not really complete to my liking yet, but the fairy lights and decorations are up and it all looks so festive! But i figure it'll be okay. Everyone normally has their housewarming when their reno is all done, but i don't mind doing it now, cos we don't have the money to do more reno at the mo.

See you at the party then!