Ready for CHRISTmas?

“Ready for Christmas,” she said with a sigh
As she gave a last touch to the gifts piled high…
Then wearily sat for a moment and read,
Til soon, very soon, she was nodding her head.
Then quietly spoke a voice in her dream,
“Ready for Christmas, what do you mean?”
She woke with a start and a cry of despair.
“There’s so little time and I’ve still to prepare.
Oh, Father! Forgive me, I see what You mean!
To be ready means more than a house swept clean.
Yes, more than the giving of gifts and a tree.
It’s the heart swept clean that He wanted to see,
A heart that is free from bitterness and sin.”
So be ready for Christmas - and ready for Him

Christ was, is and shall be the perfect Christmas gift.

Surprise, Surprise!

What a busy and fruitful weekend, was part of 2 lovely surprises for dear friends.
One, a quarter century celebration of life and another, a proposal that marks the start of a beautiful life together for 2 lovely people.

Pops and I promised to meet Ryan up for her bday dinner and since it's her 25th, we decided to gather the PP and surround this special girl with the people that made up a good part of her uni life :)

Forgot to bring my camera so the bunch of photos were taken with my iPhone, hence the pixelated quality in low light setting.

Much attention that day was also given to Baby Lynn :) Such an amazing feeling when Lynn let us touch her tummy as the baby moves. Ryan and I were gasping and wowing like school girls gone awry.

Can't wait for the new addition to the group, such excitement!! And I hope Baby Lynn was not affected by Aunty Ryan's vulgarity explosion that night.

Caught 那些年 and it was really an amazing show :) Got all of us reminiscing about how fun and eventful secondary school had been. And I'm thankful that I get to be with the person I love <3

Sat was another big day!

Coz Nash have been planning his surprise proposal and we're gng back to NUS for this special occasion! The rain had no impact on our hyped up enthusiasm.



For a good half of the way, we were cooped up in AS7, marking steps and settling on formation. That was 2 mins of dance in one day's practice. N-e-r-v-o-u-s! Thank God the steps were no killer. Nash is not known for simple steps.

Here's the chronological low-down of how the proposal went:

Scene 1 - Facebook chat

I happened to see this event for Alumni happening at NUS and got everyone to meet there for our gathering.

Scene 2 - NUSS Guild House

Everyone stands around with the crowd watching this magician/ balloon sculptor going into a mega-sized balloon. (Kind of traumatizing if I were a kid)

Emcee started talking after the magic show and wanted to get someone to recount his NUS life.

Emcee: "Ok, I'm going to find a young chap"

Walks into our group.

Emcee: "Hey there, you got a nice smile, come share with us on your NUS life!"

Nash: "errrr...... o...k...."

*squirms and act reluctant while "supportive" group of friends backed away slowly from him*

Went on stage and talked about dance and all during NUS days and emcee urged him to show the crowd some steps.

*Squirms and act reluctant again (he was getting really good at that)*

Scene 3 - On stage

Glee's version of Marry You starts blasting over the stereo and Nash switched into dancer mode.

And Sharon was busy recording on her iPhone. So much so she didn't realize us moving away from her to the stage!

It's an exceptional feeling to be part of sth so special... Everything pays to see that cry-smile-touched-and-tickled expression on her face. For 2 whole minutes :)

Kelvin and pops caught everything on iPhone, compact and DSLR. I can't wait to watch!

And we had a yummy dinner at Simpang Bedok. Major Yums.

That wraps up my surprise, surprise weekend :)

Lesson #4 - Don't Judge

Never be too quick to judge a person.

In fact, don't judge. Especially when we don't know the reasons behind certain actions and the story behind certain events.

There may be a bigger picture behind everything.

Bossa Steps

Walking home alone on the dimly lit street, stepping to the tune of Bossa. Simple pick-me-up after a day of course :)

Dreams.

Dreams - the magical word that can open up amazing wonders, the picture perfect scenes of our future we all have in our minds, the things that we strive hard towards, or to some, the worthless activity that girls like to indulge in.

I've always been a dreamer, I've always had those picture perfect moments in my mind. They change as I grow older, as the world (in my perspective) becomes more complicated. But they have always been there.

The family, the house, the lifestyle, the career, the spiritual life.

But we've seen so many people attaining major successes, but never satisfied. What's the problem?

Today's devotion asked, "Whose Dream is This?"


Time for some prayer and soul-searching. I have so many dreams, so many things that I would love to do, but which of these are from Him?

Growing Up

In the midst of all the excitement about getting our own house and thinking about settling down, Pops and I have been telling each other that we can't wait to start our new phase of life together :)

Today, my manager told me out of the blue that she will be taking leave on Monday to celebrate her 10th year wedding anniversary. How sweet, I thought. And how long a 10-year marriage seems!

I was immediately immersed in a flashback of the past 10 years of my life. And I asked her, whether it seemed to have past by very fast?

Yes, very fast. It was almost like a blink of an eye. And I jokingly replied, blink a few more times and your kids will be all grown up.

When I returned home, I found myself stopping right in front of our family portrait. The one we took to commemorate my graduation.

I looked at my parents, my brothers with their families, and my teenage niece. And me, in that gown and mortar. To my parents, I was a little baby in what seemed like a couple of blinks ago, barely able to walk and so dependent on them.

Now, I'm all ready to move on to a new stage of my life, starting a family, going through what they have gone through and very soon, it'll seem like I'm living my life again through my children's life. All the childish laughters, the academic matters and the teenage problems. Until they are old enough to start their own families, and the cycle continues for them.

We spend our lives wanting to grow up, wanting to move on to the next stage of life, wanting to experience something new. Looking back, I sometimes wonder, what's the hurry?

I don't want to look back at the previous stage of life wishing I had laughed a little more, stayed up a little later, saw more of the world, danced a little crazier, loved a little harder, indulged a little heartier, learned a little greedier.

Most of all, I don't want to look back at the previous stage of my life and realize that I hadn't embraced those moments enough. That I didn't live the minutes for what they are worth.

I don't just want to look forward. I want to enjoy my life right at this moment, embrace it, and be thankful for it, while I look forward to the next.

So one thing on my Gratitude List today - I'm thankful that I stopped myself in the racing track of life  and took a moment to enjoy the gorgeous surrounding.

Riverparc Gathering!

Had a gathering with our future neighbors at the showroom yesterday!

When people nowadays complain that they do not know the neighbors ard their units, it's an amazing feeling when we're able to start knowing one another 3 years before we even move in.

It's one thing talking to one another in our FB group, it's another experience to see one another in person and interact face-to-face during the gathering :)

And it's an interesting feeling sitting in these chairs, eating with the neighbors when abt 3 mths ago, we were sitting there listening to our agents selling the units to us... How time flies! 

Our contribution to the truckload of food - Shepard's Pie! 

Game time! The kids were hilarious :)

We can imagine how vibrant it will be with all these kids and lovely families ard :) I can already foresee how rowdy the pool will be!

It is especially heartwarming to see enthusiastic neighbors volunteering to organize the event, bring food, do registration, custom-made door gift and think of games to bond everyone :)

Hope that 3 years down, we'll grow to become one big family :)

Took some photos of the models because we hear that there are only abt 2 or 3 units of 2-bedders left so they are probably gng to remove the showroom soon.

 Model of a 4-bedder unit (above)


Living room and Kitchen area - it's separated into dry kitchen and wet kitchen. We love the idea of having a counter-top so when it's just the 2 of us having some snacks or drinks, we can grab the food right out of the fridge/ oven and have them at the counter-top.

The dining table by the balcony was 1 big thing that got us sold to buying a 4-bedder. With the extra length in the living room, we hope we can place the dining table by the balcony as shown in the model and have our meals while looking out at the view :) 

That's us at the lighted plot and the waterway just beyond the school opposite our plot. We got a mid-level unit so hopefully we're still able to get some view of the waterway beyond the school. 

And that's our stack near the entrance :) We're looking forward to basement parking so we no longer have to spend 5 mins walking up and MSCP and driving the car down!

Looking forward to 2014!!

Amazing Grace

Amazing grace
How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I'm found
Was blind, but now I see
'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed
My chains are gone
I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy rains
Unending love, Amazing grace

The Lord has promised good to me
His word my hope secures
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures

[2x]
My chains are gone
I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy rains
Unending love, Amazing grace

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow
The sun forbear to shine
But God, Who called me here below
Will be forever mine
Will be forever mine
You are forever mine 

I remember we used to sing this in school, but it didn't meant more to me than just a lovely song.

Today, as I sang it again at church service and really look at every single word of the lyrics, I was overwhelmed by emotions.

Grace - defined as favor or goodwill.

What have we done to deserve Lord's promises of all the wonderful things - love, joy, peace and blessings? Nothing. We are entitled to all this purely because of God's Amazing Grace. It was out of God's goodwill.

Echoing the sermon today, let us not face life with the limited power and strength that we have - strength that can fail and deplete; but let us put our faith in the Lord - the source of all power and strength. For "He will my shield and portion be as long as life endures."

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These past few weeks, we've been attending service at the church which Pop's uncles and grandma are attending. The culture there is rather different coz the church is of a different denomination. However, the english service really helped us to feel more engaged at the sermon and worship portion. Because, while I've been going for a mandarin service for the past 10 years of my life, it has not been entirely easy listening to the sermon while trying to translate the information half the time. But I must say, my current church has really helped me to build a good foundation in God's words because they delve very deeply into the teaching of His words. 

This is a big decision for us and we really need God's guidance to tell us what to do next and reveal His plans to us. 

M.U.M :)

Mum's gng to be in Europe this year on her birthday so I decided to pop a mini surprise for her on her lunar bday.

Bought a little cake and a small bouquet of flower for her even though she always says that flowers are a waste of money.

But seriously, I don't believe any girl (or lady) who'd actually mind receiving a lovely bouquet :)

Reached home just before midnight and set up with Daddy to surprise my sleeping Mummy :)

Yummy :)

And this is the only photo mum allows me to upload on the net coz her hair was extremely messy :p

I'm really thankful to have such a wonderful mum :)

She has been an amazing role model and has taken really good care of the family.

It's so easy to share my thoughts with her and she's always there to give me sound and practical advices. 

I love spending time with her - shopping, hi-tea, chit-chats, long bus rides - I wanna cont doing that even after having my own family next time...

Hope she'll enjoy herself in amazing Europe~!

Now it's truly, "Goodbye Steve".

"3 Apples changed the world, 1st one seduced Eve, 2nd fell on Newton and the 3rd was offered to the world half bitten by Steve."  Couldn't say it better. Every era has its own geniuses, I'm proud that he belongs to ours.