A Jam Packed Year

This year has been very eventful. And so so jam packed that this is the first free Saturday I've had in ages.

Relationship
Got officially engaged, but am so so busy with work that haven't been planning much... But it's ok, there's still time.
Looking for a place to live. That has been a huge roller coaster ride. But finally found a place and now in the process of getting a loan for it. Yay!
Despite being busy, we still squeeze time for each other. Thanks, love.

Hobby
Bought a lot of craft stuff which are lying in the cupboard unused. This area of my life is neglected. Temporarily.
I rarely have the luxury of reading. I think I only read 10 books this year:
1. Bringing up bebe
2. Lone Wolf
3. Chicken Soup for Couples Soul
4. No 1 Ladies Detective Agency: The Good Husband of Zebra Drive
5. And the Mountains Echoed
6. I've Got Your Number
7. Bound to You

Audio Books (which I listen to while driving)
8. The Happiness Project
9. Happiness Hypothesis
10. You are not so Smart 
Plus a few unfinished Montessori books.
One more month till the end of the year. Hopefully I can read a little more!
Update: Read another 5 books the past week! 

11. Committed 

12. Chicken Soup: Here Vomes the Bride

13. 40 Love

14. Sing Me Home

15. Chicken Soup: Married Soul

Holidays and Road Trips
Trip to Penang for bf's friends wedding

Went to Boracay!! Super duper awesome! Many thanks to bf's happily married brother and sister-in-law.
Family trip to Taiping, a quiet and quaint little town. In other words, a bit boring lah. Haha.
Church trip to Penang and Cameron Highlands.
Year End trip to come: Desaru! YAY!

Looking forward to Year 2014!!!
The year I become Mrs Randall.

A New Discovery

I love books. Whether it is reading for knowledge or just reading to escape and enter into another world. Unfortunately, reading takes time, and it is a guilty pleasure to me, because I do not have the luxury of time (I'm awfully busy). I am afraid of picking up a new book because I know that once I do, I have a temporary obsession and I neglect sleep (which I really need) or other work.

So, how happy, how excited I was, when I discovered audio books!! I spend about two hours a day on the road, and now I can listen to books while I drive and driving is now a huge pleasure to me and I actually REALLY look forward to driving, and I'm even happy to get caught in jams (as long as I'm not late). Yeah, I know I'm weird, sometimes. OK, a lot of times.

Thankful :)

In lieu of celebrating thanksgiving in school (we are learning about USA this month),

I'm thankful to be a part of God's family. That I have great brothers and sisters.

I'm thankful that I have found the love of my life, and that I have the privilege of spending most of my being with him. He has shaped me to be what I am and he brings me much joy and happiness and a great future to look forward to.

I'm thankful for my wonderful family that support me in all I do.

I'm thankful that I have found my passion. Work that I love and enjoy. Work that fills me with love and teaches me kindness and patience.

I'm thankful for a wonderful workplace, where we share the same values. A workplace with wonderful colleagues, a workplace that helps me grow and makes me want to learn more.

I'm thankful for all physical blessings: a peaceful (enough) country where there's no war, a car that I can drive, a beautiful house, good food I can eat, my physical health.

I'm indeed blessed :)

Of Love

“Love is a temporary madness, it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides, you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion, it is not the desire to mate every second minute of the day, it is not lying awake at night imagining that he is kissing every cranny of your body. No, don’t blush, I am telling you some truths. That is just being “in love”, which any fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident.”

Louis de Bernières

Holiday

I have mixed feelings when it comes to breaks. On one hand, I'm glad I have time off to rest and catch up with other errands. On the other hand, when I rest I feel so so unproductive and this feeling sucks :(

Currently...

I am currently...

READING: Montessori, A Current Approach by Paula Polk Lillard
WISHING: that there is a good school with good pay which is near my house. Btw, in a nutshell, my definition of a good school is enough space and enough time for children to play and choose own activities.
LOVING: cheap and cute stickers and washi tape
DREAMING: of my house, my wedding, my next job

:)

Cooking!

I think it's the first time I'm cooking this year. Other than my cookie flop turned into muffin. Haha. I like cooking actually, but it's just so tiring. My parents are away so I finally convinced myself to cook.

Tried a new recipe, altered it and...success! S yummy, but wasn't enough for all of us. Had to eat cereal and instant noodles to fill up our stomachs haha.

Tada...my ham bacon mushroom spinach crustless quiche.

Dumb blond

I'm kinda dumb blond-ish sometimes. Just sometimes.

Case number 1
Driving out of Selangor, I realized, hey got so many mountains. So nice one. I asked Randall, eh why Klang got no mountains leh? He was like, duh, it's called Klang VALLEY. Haha.

Case number 2
I wanted to do lotus root stamping with the kids, and I rarely eat lotus root. I was looking around in the supermarket and went to the rooty veggies area. I saw the sign saying lotus root so I picked a couple. When I went home, then only I saw the label: SWEET POTATO. Opps hahaha.


Other than these instances, I'm actually quite smart. I think...

Why I Love Reading!

Choices

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. 

Robert Frost

I am glad that when I asked my students (11-13 yrs old) to rate what they feel indicates success, most of them chose being happy and enjoying life at the top of their list, and placed making money at the bottom. Idealists? Yeah. Randall says they are young. They don't know yet. But I feel that they've got it right. Their young not-quite-adults-yet minds got it right. Well, as long as you have enough money that you can feel happy. 

From the beginning of my job, I've been contemplating quitting. Why? Because this job has turned me into a teacher I do not like, and I find my self thinking that if this is what being a kindergarten teacher is like, I don't want to be a kindergarten teacher anymore. I keep thinking of the opportunities that I did not take. Julia Gabriel, Waldorf, TweedleWink Playschool, Montessori... And I keep trying to convince myself to stay. For the sake of the children. And then another offer comes and it definitely would be better for me, but would it be selfish and irresponsible for me to quit? How much impact would my quitting be for my students? Will they find it easy to adjust to a new teacher? I don't know what to do now...

It's Official Now!!

It's not that he suddenly "popped the question"

We have been talking about it for a long looong time. I can't remember when we first talked about it. He proposed to me when we were out dating. In the car. At the park. After movies. Grabbing a bite after classes. At the pasar malam. While window shopping. It has never been about whether I will marry him or not. The answer has always been yes. It's just about when we will get married. :) I can't wait to start this new chapter of my life!!! He is the One I want to spend my life with. Grow old with. Wake up to. Come home to.

The Cookies which became Muffins

I have always baked the same chocolate chip cookies. So, this year when I saw this awesome recipe for Nutella chocolate cookies, I wanted to try them. Only I forgot the Golden Rule of baking for amateurs like myself: ALWAYS FOLLOW THE RECIPE.

I was kinda sorta embarrassed by this stupid mistake, but oh well, this is a lesson I won't be forgetting haha.

The dough

It could have been the cake flour, or the Nutella, or the brown butter, but honestly, I don't know what actually made it go all wrong. The cookies just melted on the tray into one huge flat blob within minutes of being in the oven.

The scraped off stuff from the pan.

I started adding more flour and still it melted, but tasted ok. So I put them in muffin trays.

Thats how my cookies became muffins. 

My 2012

I turned 21.
I made my first passport.
Road trips
- March: Malacca with youths
- May: Janda Baik with luv
- June: Frasers Hill with family
- Sep: Bukit Tinggi with green tea gang
- Dec: Bukit Tinggi with luv
- Dec: Malacca, Johor & Singapore with youths
Took 5000 pics with my camera
Read 30 books
A honeymoon year at work - very relaxing.
Bid farewell to my awesome job.
Bid farewell to awesome friends: Jodie & Su Cheng.
Made new friend: awesome colleague Eunice.
Spent too much on facials.
Spent too much on books.

Goodbye 2012!

2013, I welcome you with open arms: exciting plans ahead!
I want to:
Work: Learn more, earn more, save more.
Health: 5 servings of fruit & vegetables a day.
Love: Change relationship status soon!!!