A (close to) Mid Year update

Oh dear, I'm almost blogging on a quarterly basis nowadays. But for good reasons!

I've been pretty occupied with a number of things and I have to say, 2013 looks set to be yet another exciting year :) Right, I'm saying that in the middle of the year, HAH. 

So far, our new place have given us the space and opportunities to experiment with things that have not been possible when we were not staying alone. Like cooking, baking, having fresh cut flowers all over the house and embarking on mini home projects to make our little abode all cozy and personal!

They may seem like the normal daily stuff, but they form so much lovely memories for this initial part of our married life. And we're thankful everyday for the ability to indulge in the process.

And so to note down all these beautiful moments (and of course, sometimes frustrating ones, like when my soufflé failed to rise :( ) we're working on a food/cooking/baking blog that documents down (very casually) our foodie moments in the kitchen (or wherever food leads us) - the Poppykitchenblog!

I have a ton of photos and material to post, but so far, many of these posts are still in draft stage (and some still in my head). But I hope I'll be able to have the discipline to go at it in full swing really soon!

Besides our couple time, I'm playing wedding coordinator for my brother's wedding!!

Yes, it IS more exciting to plan someone else's wedding (hey, I'm not the one coming out with the money right)!

Look how ravishing my SIL is!! I can never carry lace as well as her. In fact, I think not many ppl can ;)

And the wedding is in Jan next year so we're running on pretty tight timeline. But I'm so so so happy and excited!!! Totally not complaining :D

Another exciting piece of news....

In case u were guessing, nth to do with babies. Far from that actually.

Well, I've been going back for some dance lessons with my girlfriends recently.

And we tried out for a recital happening in Sep, and managed to get into an item!

So yes, after what, 4 years? I'll going to be back on stage again!! Yes, I told you this year will be exciting. And I haven't talked about my honeymoon yet :D

Besides all the fun stuff, it's gonna be a pretty interesting year at work too.

After 3 years of recruitment work, I'll be posted to another team to handle HR development work. 

Looking back, I have so much to be thankful for. I can't say it's a dream job, but I've always wanted to be in HR. And it's definitely an awesome experience for a first job. So many interesting experiences and every interview sessions I have and every career fair I attended made me learn so much. Moving on to the new team is pretty exciting because it's going to be a rather different scope of work. But I'm thankful that all the wonderful people will still be around me :)

And so I thought, after a year of grad trip, a year of entering the workforce, a year of proposal and wedding, this year will be a quiet and peaceful one - I'm wrong again!

I'm so thankful to have pops ard the whole time, supporting me in all the things I do - from baking (he has to finish all my bakes, whether it's nice or not), to the wedding planning (oh yes, he sits with us at the bridal studios for hours, w/o a single complaint), to dance (he chauffeurs me home at 11.30pm every Thurs, aft practice, or sponsors my cab fare :p) and work (for always being so encouraging). 

And in the midst of all the excitement, I'm soooooo looking forward to our long-awaited honeymoon in the UK!

For now, I pray for strength, wisdom and a heart full of gratitude to bring me through this whirlwind 2013 :)

Happy New (Financial) Year!

It's already April and only my second entry for the year!

This wasn't what I was planning for when I was blogging my previous entry because I was so determined to keep this space alive and jot down more bits and pieces of life - especially married life.

In any case, better late than never I guess! Let's take it as a fresh start for the (financial) year  >_<

The past 3 months had been a whirlwind. I have no idea how to better explain what went on during the virtual void. 

Majority of my time had been filled with work - office work, home work (office work which you bring home to do) and house work. Recruitment peak, corporate projects and trying to settle into married life (while balancing your time between family visits) required quite a bit of juggling, if I have to be honest. 

There was a period of time when I almost consistently returned home around 9pm after dinner (or finish washing the dishes at 10, if we cooked), did housework till 11, finished washing up around midnight and worked till the wee hours before catching a few hours of sleep.

And I've already fallen sick twice over the past 3 mths.

There were numerous occasions when I felt soooo tired, I became so frustrated about not being able to do anything well. But pops had been really really supportive, even when I throw one of my unreasonable tantrums out of frustrations. And he always reminded me to turn my problems to God. With problems I can't solve, I know only One who can. 

And of course, some nice little things help too... 

I've been extremely active on my Instagram because when I stop to seal those pretty little moments into photos, it helps to take me out of the whirlwind for a moment to appreciate the beauty that the moment brings. 

And I'm able to keep returning to these lovely moments which serve to remind me that there are so much in life to be thankful for. 

Besides having all the crazy-exciting things coming together at the same time, there had been many beautiful moments this past 3 months as Mrs Lim  :) 

More about married life in another post!! Hope it won't be a 'complain' session again next time though...

Lesson #6 - Do or Drop

This period has been CRAZY at work.

From a 4-person team to a 2-person team and a temporary 1-person team in a span of a couple of months during peak period. Not the best arrangement, but I survived!

Things will probably cont to be crazy till we leave for our shoot, but trough this period I think I've learnt 1 important thing.

When u think that you have TOO many things on hand, don't stop and procrastinate. When we feel overwhelmed at work, we tend to just stop and think about what what we should do. S'times, we forget to get started because we simply can't figure out where to start.

I've learnt to just get started and clear what ever I can, when I can. Procrastinating for that 15 mins may mean that I've wasted the time I could have used to clear my emails or craft an approval. 

And at the end of the day, I'm starting to learn to drop and go. There are just too many things on the list and I can cont working on them till the next day and the day aft if I don't learn to drop them and go at the right time. Workload will only increase as we progress. If we do not learn how to drop and go at appropriate time, how can we balance our time between work, self and family in the future?

And I'm thankful that I have pops to keep reminding me all this :) He has learnt the art of it and he has been very efficient in his work. I'm learning!

Travel Diary - Valentine's Day in the clouds

** This post has been in draft status since the day I returned from KK, so here's my KK trip in a nutshell!
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I'm finally back from RG and my Mt. K expedition!! 

With less than 4 hours of sleep since day 1, I'm SO glad to have a full 8-hr slp at the resort aft the climb!

Since RG is an official event, I shall not say too much abt it. But I have got lots to say abt the KK climb!!

Let's do The List again to summarize :p

Top 5 crazy things about the Climb:

1) Walking and walking and climbing and climbing for 9 freaking hours (Day 1)

2) Having to climb through rocks and steps for 200+ meters to reach the bunk aft dinner

3) Waking up at 1.30am for the summit climb after 3 hrs of extremely disturbed sleep

4) Getting so dirty u don't care about moss on your gloves, mud on your butt, sweat on your face, and rain  in your hair

5) FREEZING cold water for shower at the rest house. If you still have water to shower when u get there

Top 5 wonderful things about the Climb:

1) Growing closer with the clique

2) Overcoming a personal challenge 

3) Experiencing Pop's unyielding love, care and patience

4) Fresh air, gorgeous view, being completely surrounded by God's beautiful creation

5) Spending our first Valentine's Day as fiancé and fiancee amidst the clouds 

Top 5 amazing things I learnt during the Climb:

1) When I acknowledge that I have no control abt the situation and cannot depend on my own strengths, I prayed through the night for God to grant me strength and endurance. God is always there and He always answers prayers 

2) You never try, you'll never know what you can achieve

3) I get altitude sickness at about 4000m

4) I'm ok with climbing up but I suck at climbing down. 

5) I now understand what is true fatigue - when you feel like your legs are abt to give way any moment and you can just drop to the ground and fall asleep

Honestly, I'm very very thankful that I made it through the climb. I'm never an outdoor person much less hiking! But I'm thankful that Pops encouraged me to try and it's really a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I'll never forget. And probably never try again. And I thank God for watching over me, for telling me that I can do it, for giving me the strength.