Sunday, May 31, 2009

WHAT I'VE BEEN DOING

I love love love interior decorating, i wish i could turn back time and took any interior course instead :P
Well, i can do these course for part time, but sometimes it's just too exhausting having to do another project after work. I've posted about Polyvore before, and for me it's the ultimate place where i can throw my ideas and creativity without hurting my savings :P. You can drag all items and easily delete if you dont like them. Here are some ideas that i threw at polyvore:






And if you like fashion, you can also make a collage of fashion and accessories that you like without spending your money heheh :P.

Monday, May 25, 2009

OVER THE WEEKEND

On Saturday, our new sofa finally arrived. They came early in the morning around 9, just at the right time after Indra moved the old sofa to Bungaree. The sofa is quite big, we spent almost 4 hours assembling it. As we expected, the sofa looks massive in our small house, i thought we made the wrong choice, but as soon as we sit on it, we knew we made the right decision! ^_^

With the new sofa, i feel that my house is a proper house now. We've been waiting for 3 years to get the sofa, and it's finally completed! :P. Here some of the photos:




Good thing came out of the new sofa, when Indra moved the old sofa, he found his wedding ring! ohh...i forgot to tell you, Indra lost the wedding ring at Pemberton. We were packing and ready to go home when he realised that the ring has gone missing, we searched the whole challet but we couldnt find anything. It was 10.30 already and the check out time was at 10, so we decided to leave without the ring. Thank God we never use the real wedding ring. As soon as we got married, we order another pair of wedding ring, cheap ones and no names on them. So i wasnt too upset about it. *lesson for all the girls out there, keep your real wedding ring safe, wear the cheap ones daily!*

On Saturday night, we played poker and card games. There were Ray, Meli, Michael, Indra and me. It was fun, especially with the card games. Apparently guys are slower at snap game! ^_^
Ray and Michael couldnt finished the stack, and they decided to call it even! hahaha..

On Sunday, i started serving in hospitality team, it was great working with new people. Indra will start serving in morning service as well next month :)
We had bubble tea session after church with Taz and Ray, then we watched Slumdog Millionaire, which was really really good!! *highly recommended*

Citra, our pastor's fiance gave me this book called "The Shack", the story is about a man name Mackenzie who lost his little daughter. She was brutally murdered in an old shack. One day he received a short letter from God, inviting him to meet God at the old shack, a source of his pain. I havent finished reading this book, in fact i was only at chapter 6, but every single thoughts and words that came out from Mack are exactly the same thoughts that i had when i lost my little boy. The same pain and anger. I couldnt wait to go home and continue the book again, somehow i feel like im reading my own journey. I will share it as soon as i finish reading it.

*Thanks Cit for the book, it's awesome!*

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

STORY BOOK

Pemberton trip was awesome!! only 5 of us went there but we had so much fun!!
We stayed at the Karri Valley Resort, and the place is as gorgeous as the picture i posted before. We stayed at the challet with 3 bedrooms overseeing the lake.
However i will not share the story now.

Maybe it's the after effect of great holiday, you know, after you had so much fun, you feel reluctant to go back to your ordinary life. Maybe that's what im experiencing now. As soon as we reached Perth, i felt down and sad, i didnt feel like going to work, and certainly i didnt want to face all these unfinished problems that im still having :(.

Negativities started to hit me, i kept asking myself and Indra why all these things are happening to us, we thought after we lost Em, at least God would take care of this coffee shop thingy, make it easier and smoother. What happened was the opposite, everything became so complicated. I actually lost my passion in getting the shop, i just want everything to end, now! im so tired and exhausted, mentally and physically! Deep down in my heart i asked "God, cant You just make it easier? especially after what had happened to us?" and i started to think that God just doesnt care of my pain and sadness.

This morning, i opened Our Daily Bread as usual, really hoping that i could find answer. I said in my heart "God, please talk to me, in any way possible". Then i read the verse from John 9:1-3, it goes like this:

"1As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" 3"Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life."

And it hit me again!
All these happened so that God's work might be displayed in my life!! He chose me specifically to experience these so that others can see how great our God is.
It's like God wants to make a story book, a book filled with stories and pictures showing His goodness and love. A book where He can draw a sketch, erase, re-draw and put stories in it. And that book is me. It hurts and ugly when He erases the drawing and sketches, but He uses the simple white book to show His marvelous works. He makes ordinary people become extra ordinary.

Not long after that, Adel sent us daily devotional about Vine and Branches. God is the vine and we are the branches, we dont need to try to be branches, we already are. In saying that, we have to know our position, that we are attached to the vine (God). Whatever we are facing now, we shouldnt be focusing on the condition but more to our position, we are attached to God and we should put our trust in Him.

It's really good to be reminded again and again that we are a conqueror, not a loser. Sometimes our problems overcome our ability to think clear, and slowly our focus has shifted. Our attention are drawn to our so called poor condition, but the truth is we are attached to Christ, we have everything we need, we are rich in Christ.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

GOOD FRIENDS GOOD TIMES

I should've posted this story long time ago, i am not even sure i can recall all the details, but i ll try anyway since im still in holiday mood :)
I mentioned Bunker Bay in my previous post, yes i've been there before couple of times with friends. This article is about that trip, it was so fun i had to write it here.

It was during Easter Break last year, 8 of us decided to go on road trip to Margaret River (Me, Indra, Tazh, Liza, Chris, San2, Wayne, Diana), yup a bunch of crazy people hehehe..




The girls were ready to (pose) go.. :)


We started our trip in the morning, we rented a van (a great one, Hyundai Imax i think) and off we went. First stop was Hungry Jacks at Baldivis, somewhere between Perth - Mandurah. We had our breakfast and crazy poses have already started.



Then in the car after Hungry Jack, i remember clearly the girls were talking about Brazillian Wax, and we all laughed like crazy. After laughing so hard many times on the road, we all fell asleep.



Around noon, we stopped at Cape Lavender, and had our lunch there. The food was great, i remember Tasia ordered Salmon, and she said it was one of the best salmon she ever tasted! after we finished our lunch, we took some photos on the lavender farm, but it wasn't the season so you cant really see the purple colour on the lavender.







We arrived at our apartment at around 3 or 4, we stayed at Quest and it's a good one :). After we unpacked our things, we headed to the beach nearby and took some more photos.....again!!! :)







I remember that night, we had Internet a la Mbak Tasia and played Wii till we dropped. The next morning, all the girls woke up quite early to prepare the breakfast, and we made continental breakfast with bacon and scramble eggs. That day, we went to some wineries, chocolate factory, cheese factory, and to the beach.









The following morning we packed up our stuff and ready to go home. On the way home, we had lunch at the famous Bunker Bay and we played at the best beach ever!! Here are some crazy and fun moments.












I love this last photo, i will hold it dearly in my heart :)

Gosh, i had trouble choosing the photos hehehe..there were hundreds of them!
Guys, i miss those moments!!! we should have another trip again!
Maybe this time we can go further...like..Europe?? ^_^..wow, it would be so much FUN!
Love you guysss...
xoxo

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

GETAWAY TRIPS

I am so excited now!! why?? because suddenly i have all these getaway trips ahead. Me and Indra rarely have a break or holiday, we only go back to Indonesia at the end of the year and that's about it.

First Destination: PEMBERTON (MAY)
Few weeks ago, Ray (our master chef) asked if we would like to go to Pemberton. They have a really nice resort there (Karri Valley Resort), but it's quite expensive. But i think they are offering discount and special price now as the weather starting to get cold. So, we are going to Pemberton this saturday, stay there for 2 nights and coming back on Monday. We are planning our activites now, we probably going to do canoeing, walking, climbing, visiting Yahava Coffee Factory (one of the best coffees), fishing, going to waterfall, etc. Here is the picture of Karri Valley Resort, awesome right?



Second Destination: BUNKER BAY (JUNE)
The company where i work is using AMEX for some of our expenses, and we've been using it for years but we never redeem the points. So they asked me to check how many points do we have, and it turned out that we still have around $1700 worth of points! So, we decided to go on spending spree :) and we chose Bunker Bay. I've been to Bunker Bay several times with our friends, but it was just for lunch, well we were actually having lunch there so that we can go to their private beach. The beach at Bunker Bay is gorgeous! i think it's the best beach i've seen so far!! the access is limited to the resort guests only, so it's very very clean. But to stay at the resort for 2 nights?? fully paid by the company?? wow, never thought of that! So here some pictures of Bunker Bay:





Third Destination: ALBANY (JULY)
My parents and my brother are coming here in July (Thanks to AirAsia for their cheap tickets). I just cant wait!!
We only meet once a year and not for a very long time, because my brother works in a different city, and our free times always clash. So this July will be very special, all of us finally together! So special that my parents asked us to go to New Zealand, but again because my sister has a busy uni stuff and they are here only for 10 days, so we decided not to go. We chose different place for our destination, it's ALBANY. My parents have been here couple of times but they just stay in Perth, so this time, when everyone is here, we are going to Albany, we are going to stay there for 3 nights probably. We have not found the accommodation yet, but im sure there are plenty of nice apartments and villas over there. Here is the photo of Albany:



Fourth Destination: SINGAPORE (AUGUST)
My mom and her tennis friends have this some kind of petty cash between them. They've been saving up for quite a long time, and now they are in spending spree mood as well. They decided to use the petty cash money to get flight tickets to Singapore. Yup, all the ladies will spend 2-3 days in Singapore, shopping and eating i guess :P. My mom asked me to join them, and i checked Tiger Airways, gosh it's only $58 from Perth to Singapore! well it's still tentative, as we are waiting news from the coffee shop, but i will definitely put this into my diary :)



"God, You heard what i have been praying for
Yes, i need a rest, emotionally and physically
And you gave me rest A LOT more than i ever asked.
Thank You.."

Friday, May 1, 2009

04.05.09

Im having day off today, i only work 3 days a week now, Tuesday to Thursday, so long weekend every week ^_^
I like to work and doing something, so when i started working part time, i felt weird, i felt like i wasted my 2 days of the week. But lately, i started to enjoy my free days, i clean, wash, vacum on those days, and what's better, i can do my sewing project too :). This afternoon i took an intermediate coffee making class, it was fun! the instructor gave us these fake dockets, we had to make 14 different coffee order and he timed us as well. I completed 14 coffees in 18 mins!! not so bad but the taste was a little bit weak :P.

Lately i received some comments on my blog, some of them are anonymous. These comments really blew me away, if you see the comment in my posting "God Remembers", it was a miracle!! God gave me message through someone in US!! I still get the goosebumps whenever i read it. I am grateful if my experience can be an inspiration or encouragement for other people, this way, i can show them how great our God is. I never thought that i would recover this fast emotionally, yes im still sad from time to time but most of time, i feel very positive and blessed. From the stories that i read, some people who experienced the same thing took years to overcome their grieves and actually moved on. So i thought, it would happen to me too. Thinking that it would take me years to recover scared me a lot!! Crying every day and night was so exhausting, physically and emotionally.

Accepting the loss is one thing, there are few things that you have to deal with after that. For me, it's very hard to see pregnant women or women with babies, it feels unfair to me. But then gradually, it became a little bit easier for me. Yesterday, we had baby dedication at church, and i felt fine, i even talked to the mothers and saw the babies afterward, in fact i felt happy for them. Thinking back, i would never be able to do that if God didnt give me extra strength.

The coffee shop project is still in the process *sigh*, it's been dragging too long!! nothing wrong from our side, just bitter feud between the current owner and the leasing agent. I hope it will be done this month, no matter what the result is, we know it's the best for us.

I've been doing SOAP journaling, our church gives away thick journal for each of us and everyday, we should read the 3-4 verses which are given for that day, and we put down specific verses which appeal the most to you, we observe the verse and apply that verse into our daily lives. I remember the journal from 1st May 09, the verse that appealed to me was about forgiving. Jesus was asked 'how many times should we forgive those who have done wrong to us? seven times?' and Jesus answered 'Not seven times, but seventy seven times!'. It is hard to forgive people who have done wrong to us, to forgive people once for their mistake is hard enough, let alone seventy seven times!. It is not common in this world to keep forgiving the same people for the same mistakes they've done, usually we will get tired of them and we try our best to keep our distance with them. The true forgiveness that Jesus said is not only from your mouth but also from your heart. It is easy enough to say 'yes, i forgive you', but can you actually forgive them from your heart??. I find it difficult. Sometimes i still talk about their mistakes and get angry behind their back. But i promised myself i will learn to forgive from my heart next time. Once i forgive them, i will try to refrain myself to talk about them behind their back, and i know i will be able to do that with God's help.

Anyway, just random information, i have watched 'Doubt' the movie, there was this particular scene that i like when the priest preach a sermon at the church, he talks about gossip. It went like this:

"A woman was gossiping with her friend about a man whom they hardly knew - I know none of you have ever done this. That night, she had a dream: a great hand appeared over her and pointed down on her. She was immediately seized with an overwhelming sense of guilt. The next day she went to confession. She got the old parish priest, Father O' Rourke, and she told him the whole thing. 'Is gossiping a sin?' she asked the old man. 'Was that God All Mighty's hand pointing down at me? Should I ask for your absolution? Father, have I done something wrong?' 'Yes,' Father O' Rourke answered her. 'Yes, you ignorant, badly-brought-up female. You have blamed false witness on your neighbor. You played fast and loose with his reputation, and you should be heartily ashamed.' So, the woman said she was sorry, and asked for forgiveness. 'Not so fast,' says O' Rourke. 'I want you to go home, take a pillow upon your roof, cut it open with a knife, and return here to me.' So, the woman went home: took a pillow off her bed, a knife from the drawer, went up the fire escape to her roof, and stabbed the pillow. Then she went back to the old parish priest as instructed. 'Did you cut the pillow with a knife?' he says. 'Yes, Father.' 'And what were the results?' 'Feathers,' she said. 'Feathers?' he repeated. 'Feathers; everywhere, Father.' 'Now I want you to go back and gather up every last feather that flew out onto the wind,' 'Well,' she said, 'it can't be done. I don't know where they went. The wind took them all over.' 'And that,' said Father O' Rourke, 'is gossip!'

It was a perfect illustration for gossip!! sometimes we don't realize what we said to other people, we might think that this person is trustworthy and he or she will not tell to anyone else, but we never know, once that gossip spreads, it's just like feathers from that illustration, we cant control it anymore, and no matter how hard we try, we can never go back and gather all the feathers. So i learnt to speak carefully from then on :)

Oh yaa..one more thing...that new movie "Defiance" is a great movie!! highly recommended!!

To people who dropped comments on my blog, i THANK YOU!!! your comments have been a blessing for me :) and i hope i can be a blessing for others too.

*God, tell Em i miss him, big kiss and hug from mommy*