1st of March 2012 in the natural marks an end to summer and a new beginning into a beautiful (and my favorite) season - autumn.

March marks a new season, a new phase in my life - in our lives - as we embrace some changes. Changes and 'risks' that have been anticipated (I might add eagerly by me) for a few months now are actually happening.

Change is inevitable - yes I agree but there are some changes and adjustments that we must knowingly and actively make decisions on for things to happen. Which really isn't THAT hard when we hear the Word and act on it. It isn't hard when you know Whose hands your life is in, and knowing the One who has created and called you into this world for a purpose. Even when you are not sure what's next.

All I know and hold on dear to is His Word and His promises.

For He makes ALL things beautiful in His time - Ecc 3:11

For in we know that in ALL things God works for the good of those who love and are called according to His purpose - Romans 8:28

So for now, I can't wait to sleep in on Mondays and Tuesdays until the next change comes along.

So for now, I will enjoy doing what I love and explore different things.

So for now, I will prepare myself for the next phase in this period of transition.

I choose to love change!

The hubby just celebrated his 29th birthday (yup, no secrets there!) last week and I truly hope it's been a good celebration - the way he wanted, the way he likes it - no big fuss, celebrating with close family and friends over home cooked meal and laughing at himself or each other! In that sense, I'm very blessed because I don't have to stress over planning an elaborate pretty party, all I have to do is.. COOK! Which is my favorite thing to do anyway so all good!

Celebration of birthdays have never been a big thing to me (for myself especially) - as in I've not thought much about why we celebrate apart from it being 'tradition' or something we do all the time.

This time round, I actually felt horrible for not planning anything special or doing anything out of the ordinary for my dearest as I was swamped at work etc (excuses ahem). We had our own dinner 3 days before his birthday. On the day itself we went for a simple meal with the siblings (which was great and fun!) and last night, dinner with some friends. Although he insisted it was all fine and he had a great time, it got me thinking.

Birthdays are a time of celebration of life, a time we reflect on the milestone that we've come to, a time to be (especially) thankful, a time to honor and shower special blessings!

Indeed I'm extremely grateful to God for HW, to actually witness his growth (spiritually AND physically) from 8 years back until today, to think about how God orchestrated everything and knowing it is no mistake or coincidence that we are who we are, where we are and why we are.

Grateful for the man who loves God and honors God no matter what.

Blessed to have the man love me unconditionally.

Thankful for the man for complements me.

Loving the fact that he makes me smile and laugh and cringe at the same time - all the time!

Can't get enough of him being there for me, encouraging, leading and spurring me in all things!

Love the way he loves his family (and mine)!

Extremely blessed to have married a man of integrity, a man who stands for what is right.

I love you my dearest and I pray that you will continue to grow in the things of God and truly this year will be the year of upgrades and strong faith!

Hope you had a blast this birthday!

Every milestone of our relationship is celebrated with food. So no exceptions here!

Its not easy forgetting a date such as 07.07.07. At least I think that's why he chose to ask me to officially go 'steady' that day.

I don't think I'll ever forget cooking at his place while he pretended he was busy on the phone with someone when he was actually calling MY dad to ask for permission to date me, and then bringing me out to Hogs Breath at Knox, have dessert and when they were playing the song 'I want to hold your hand' by The Beatles - held my hand and asked me to be his. Just like that! Of course I thought he was kidding so I said no and asked if he's talked to dad, and after explaining everything - well, the rest is history! His clothes and body shape is history too!

What an exciting and fulfilling journey it has been. Absolutely God-picked for me, he truly is the best for me.

I love you HWT, now and always.

I refuse to start this entry with "It's been awhile since I last blogged" but I don't know what else to say! Haha

It's been an amazing, spectacular, mind-blowing, life-changing, interesting 5 months I must say! Truly loving life - doing life with God and hubs and friends! Don't read what I'm not writing - it hasn't always been a smooth journey, it doesn't mean my life is a bed of roses and certainly doesn't mean I'm perfect BUT I believe it is a matter of perspective PLUS knowing who God is and embracing life as it comes our way.

Life is a journey, like it or not. It's a journey, not a destination. I had a conversation with someone about an upcoming trip and she said that she hates the travelling to the destination ie taking flights etc, but loves being there. She mentioned that her partner plans to pop a sleeping pill and sleep through the journey.

And I began to think about it. How some of us just wants to get 'there' because we think that's the life, we will be living THE life we've always dreamt about, life just wonderful like a bed of roses. But so many times we forget that there is a journey to walk through, sometimes even crawl through. Of course I'm not suggesting that the friend's partner forces himself to stay up on flight and do nothing and suffer through the flight - it's merely an illustration!

Our journeys can be painfully stained by sweat, blood and tears (which I must say all of us would rather not have), or it could be one where it's exciting, adventurous and pleasant. Or both.

But what is life without both? God definitely did not promise a life without thorns and scorns but He did promise a life that is abundant and full! (John 10:10 - ... He came to give life, and life more abundantly). This means that life WITH hardships can be fulfilling too.

We learn from our journey - at least I believe we should learn from all our life's lessons. We learn to be better people, and to do things better instead of being bitter. More importantly, it's an opportunity to know God better - His character, His word, His love for us.

See, I think it's a choice that we make everyday. Circumstances will always come our way to distract and upset us. Heck, people do that too! And we can't run away from that. But what's more important is our response to things that happen. If we let everything affect us and how we live our lives, you can pretty much expect a miserable life!

If we CHOOSE to take things with a grain of salt and SEE God in the midst of ALL of our lives - not just the church and ministry bit, I believe we will be better people, happier people and truly enjoy life that God has purposed.

I believe because I see the people around me that continued to trust God and have brilliant attitudes despite what they go thru, and they are truly living the blessed life! If they can, I don't see why we can't!

Life itself is a choice. Every decision, big or small, has an impact on our lives. Therefore, choose wisely. Choose to have a fulfilling life. Choose an adventure of a journey! Choose life!

Happy New Year to all our dear family and friends!

 

It has indeed been an amazing past year, journeying together and having many 'firsts' in our lives. Just having a quick think through, God has just been SO good to us, through the good and the bad, the ups and downs, and just the everyday routines in our lives. We couldn't be more grateful for His love, grace and provision in every area of our lives, we have never lacked! Thank You Jesus!

 

This year WILL be a year of stepping into the supernatural, it WILL be a year of dreaming with God of all the impossibilities and seeing it come to past, and it WILL be a year of many more first's for us. And it is our heart's cry and prayer that each of you will encounter God in a deeper way and grow and go to new levels of relationship with Him who created you!

 

We truly look forward to the MORE that He has in store, and we can't wait for this adventurous journey to begin! 

Absolutely LOVED Christmas this year as we got to celebrate with both our families!

 

On Christmas eve, we had lunch with Dtans with turkey, meatballs, heaps of potatoes, quinoa, bruschetta, cocktail prawns.. basically too much food! It was a great time of fellowship and exchanging / ripping up gifts, and then headed to Docklands for PSCC's Carols at Docklands which was WORLD CLASS! 

We then flew to Hobart on Christmas Day to be with the Ewes, and Shaun and Hannah prepared a mean lamb chop meal! It was a great time of cramming in his little studio apartment, and just catching up with mum and dad and then going out for a walk along the beach!

More updates to come on our Tassie trip!

James-Perry Ma, turned 4 on the 6th of November this year - and it really made me think how QUICK time flies! I was there about 4 years ago at their home when he was first born.. and now he's already running and scootering about!!!

Anyway, as one of the "che-che's" in the office he comes and visits every fortnight, it was such a pleasure to be at the party at the park, with countless other kids and babies! 

Here's just a few photos from the day - set-up, kiddies playing games such as the spoon and egg and three legged race

The Super-mum, Jo, spent "too long" according to herself, in the kitchen, making and baking all the food (didn't manage to capture all because most were gone when we got there!), cupcakes etc PLUS made a CRAZY amazing cake for JP! The cake was a triple choc cake, with ganache in between, and the cars were made from gum paste! It was SO perfect everyone thought it was bought!! And of course, every kid had a personalised goodie bag to bring home with them! Oh how I wish I was a kid!!

JP's baby sister - Jasmine Grace, and she's turning 2 soon! Oh my.. but isn't she SO adorable?

Other baby pictures - greedy babies and prammed up baby!

I wonder if I will bother doing all that.. Perhaps doing it old-school Malaysian way.. McDonalds party!

There has been a few requests for the recipe I used to make my otak-otak. So far, I've made this twice, and I must say it has been consistently yummy, and the texture is just right! It takes about 2 hours prep time (preparing everything from scratch ALONE), but it's ALL worth it!

So for those of you who are interested, here's my version adapted from Aunty May's!

Ingredients:

600g fish fillet, sliced thinly (I used basa fillets, but you can use any white fish fillet ie barramundi, red snapper, macakerel...)
250ml thick coconut cream
20 banana leaves (about 15cm squares)
toothpicks
6-8 kaffir lime leaves (daun limau perut), sliced VERY finely
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon fish sauce
4-6 tablespoons cooking oil

(Other ingredients that I didn't use because I couldn't be bothered paying so much for a small use - 30 laksa leaves (daun kesom) sliced fine, and 2 tumeric leaves (daun kunyit) sliced fine)

Rempah (Pound or Grind finely):

2 onions or about 15 shallots (bawang kecil), chopped
4 large red chillies, sliced (I didn't de-seed because I like it spicy!)
1 thumb sized galangal (lengkuas), peeled and sliced
6 candlenuts (buah keras), soaked in hot water
1 1/2 tablespoon toasted shrimp paste (belachan)
1 tablespoon tumeric (kunyit) powder
2 tablespoons chilli powder

Other:
2 eggs, well beaten
2 tablespoons tapioca flour

Directions:

1. Slice fish thinly and blend lightly in food processor (it'll become a paste)
2. Heat oil in pan and stir-fry rempah until fragrant (probably 4-5 mins) and add coconut milk and stir well. Remove from heat to cool.
3. Combine fish paste, rempah, beaten eggs, sliced leaves, tapioca flour, fish sauce, sugar and salt and mix well.
4. Blanch banana leaves in hot water in small batches to soften (if fresh banana leaves. If frozen, just let it defrost and rinse and wipe dry).
5. Spread otak-otak mixture in the centre of banana leave and bring sides up overlapping. Secure both ends with toothpicks (if don't get what I mean, just play around and test!)
6. Place under grill or over BBQ for 5 mins on each side. If using oven, use the fan grill function at 180ºC for about 10-15mins. (When cooked, otak-otak should be firm).

Honestly, after wrapping 4 or 5, I got lazy so I laid the banana leaves on a shallow tray, spread a thin layer of mixture and cover with aluminium foil and baked it together with the banana leave wrapped ones! =)

ANYWAY, ENJOY!!! =))))))

I can't really remember when was the last time I had the Saturday to myself - no, not that I don't enjoy time with the hubs, or want or need time away from him, but it's always good to have some alone time, doing whatever, whenever!

It's a good time to spend reflecting - on life, and on this journey that God's bringing me and us on.

It's a good time to catch up on the laundry and rearranging / tidying the closet.

It's a good time to reorganise and sort out the documents, bills and paper work that has been lying around since we moved in!

It's a good time to clean the kitchen, toilet, bathroom and rooms. Hmm, maybe I'll leave that to the man =P

It's a good time to spring clean out the junk in the little corners - especially hubby's junk which he has not done anything about since forever.

It's a good time to bake the strawberry and lemon muffins which I've been thinking about.

It's a good time to curl up in my favourite corner of the sofa, reading a good book. Or watch a movie.

It's a good time to continue writing in the journal entry which I've started and been meaning to finish while listening to music.

It's a good time to browse for a retreat for our 1st anniversary coming up really soon!

Perhaps I'll do some of everything, or perhaps none at all.

Or maybe, just one.

Whatever it is, it is THE DAY that the Lord has made, so I WILL rejoice and be glad in it!

 

Honestly, I'm not a great big fan of anything sweet, cookies, dessert, chocolate - you get the drift. When I stumbled upon this recipe, I thought what a great snack gift it would make for the people who are having exams. So on our precious day off, Anna helped me with this while I tried other recipes.

Best dunked in milk while its warm! You can microwave the cookie for 10 seconds or so before having them as the insides are fudgey and gooey. In words of some who's had it - TO DIE FOR!

Ingredients:
Adapted From Pigpig's Corner,

• 450g bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used Whittakers Bittersweet Dark Chocolate)
  
• 55g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• Nuts (optional) - I used flaked almonds
  

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 180°C.
• Melt butter and chocolate in double boiler (place in a heatproof bowl and set it over a saucepan of simmering water).
• In another bowl, mix together eggs, sugar and vanilla.
• In another bowl, sift together flour and baking powder.
• Add melted chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and stir to combine.
• Slowly fold in flour.
• Stir in chocolate chips.
• Scoop about one tablespoon of batter onto baking sheets and add a few pieces of almond flakes (optional)
  
• Bake for about 10-12 mins.

Note: Batter may harden if left too long. If it does, just put it over the double boiler again and chocolate mixture will melt again.