2016...A New Beginning

2016 is now here..leaving behind a quite challenging 2015. I don't know about yours, but I had a fair share of mine. The best thing happened to us in 2015 was the birth of our third child Imaan Amalyn. Everyone in my family adores her so much & she is such an easy baby. She loves to smile a lot especially to her big brother. Kakak also loves her baby sister, but sometimes we can see that she's quite jealous of her, maybe she is used to everyone's attention on her before.

2015 had also witnessed the mass retrenchment of MAS employees. There were rumors flooding the FB newsfeed. Some were ridiculous & the best part was, it sounded like outsiders knew more than the insiders. What were their intention spreading the rumors? They didn't sound like they care, they were not in our shoes.

I still remember the days we were patiently waiting for the letter to reach our home. Nothing could describe our feelings. When the day finally arrived, I received a text from Mr. Hubby, 'sorry mummy...I didn't make it'. I was in the office car coming back from a meeting together with my bosses, my tears pours like nobody business there and then. When we reached the office, i cried my heart out in the toilet. Not because i'm worried about our financial, i cried because i'm worried about my husband. I do not want him to feel down.When I reached home that day, I tried to act normal. Really hope that I would never breakdown in front of him. I know I have to be strong for him, no matter what happened, we were in this together.

When adik was born, Mr. Hubby was still struggling to find jobs, despite so many competitors, he managed to get a job with an air cargo company. Alhamdulillah...he was jobless for only 2 weeks. It was adik's rezeki maybe.

Then, it was adjusting  period for us. No more free tickets & less overseas holidays for us. But its ok, we'll be fine ;-) . After a few months, we have already adjusted & prepared for the coming years. We learned that we could never be too comfortable at one particular place, so, we drafted our long term plan. My husband went to get EASA license so that he could apply for overseas job. As this is a long term plan, we didn't see this coming in these few years, but, we could only plan...still He knows best.

3 weeks ago, my husband received a job offer from a middle east airline company. And that has totally changed our plan! Everything was so sudden that we need to rearrange so many things we have already put in order. This 2016 will open a new chapter in our lives. I always believed that Allah always heard what's in our heart and now I believe it more.

Maybe after this, I will be updating this blog somewhere else. InsyaAllah...

Till we meet again.

After the long hiatus

Salam & good day dear blog...

When laziness strikes, all you wanted to do just lie down & be a couch potato. Well, at least it was me. Since my last post (which is in Syawal last year & now Ramadhan is coming - phew...almost a year), a lot of things happened. Let just talk about the good ones ya.

Last year, we had a short trip to Melbourne, Australia. It was a fun trip, but Melbourne is a very expensive city (at least to me). Our expenses for 7 days in Melbourne is so much the same as our 11 days trip to London & Paris (which i got to do a lot more shopping!!). However, the kids still enjoyed playing in the parks, visiting the zoo, playing mini putt in Phillip Island, feeding the pelicans and so on. With small kids, our itenary will always prioritize them. Well, mummy still got to do some shopping though ;-). Maybe we had enough of Aussie for the time being. We missed London anyway...hope for another trip next year...insyaAllah.

Reminiscing London, I don't remember when or where, but it was a few weeks back. When Izzat was coming out of the car, suddenly he mentioned...hmm...smells like London...hahaha..we just laughed & asked him back, do you really remember the smell of London? Poyo jer...macam la duduk kat London tu bertahun-tahun. Mr. Hubby also mentioned about things he wanted to find there, so, I'll take that as a sign. Harap ada la rezeki.

Well, enough of London 'bebelness'. Let us continue, after coming back from Melbourne, I had to go for an official trip to Europe - 5 countries to hop in hop off in less than 10 days. Throughout the trip, I did not feel well. The smell of the air really annoyed me. I was homesick all the time...can't wait to go back to my family. Finally, the day came, it was the day of Izzat's performance for his kindy. My parents came to pick me up at the airport & straight we went to the performance hall. As I don't feel good since on the flight, I asked Mr. Hubby to stop by any pharmacy around. I suspected that I was pregnant as I was supposed to have my period during the Europe trip, but, Ms. P did not turn up. After purchasing the pregnancy test kit, straight we went back to my parents' house. And there you go...the double line showed up...clearly.

And as I am updating this blog now, I'm approaching my 34th week of pregnancy. Exhausted, heavy, could not stand long even to cook. Sometimes I pity Izzat & Amani as I could not really attend to them. To be honest, we're all tired of outside food & missed home cooking so badly. But, for only 1 time of cooking, I'll get foot ache for at least 2 days, well, I still drive to work everyday, sometimes even carried Amani to the bathroom whenever she refused to walk for the early morning bath. This time, it's really a challenging pregnancy. I hope this coming Ramadhan will give me strength to cook, as we planned to train Izzat fasting.

Till I don't know when...tata ;-)

Selamat Hari Raya 2014!

Salam Aidilfitri & Maaf Zahir Batin semua...

Hari ini, hari pertama masuk kerja selepas raya. Dah puas menjamu selera dengan juadah-juadah enak &bersenang-lenang dah tiba masanya kita siapkan kerja yang bertimbun. Alhamdulillah, tahun ni dapat lagi kita sambut Aidilfitri...semoga kita masih diberikan peluang menyambutnya di tahun-tahun yang akan datang bersama-sama yang tersayang. Insya-Allah.

Bercerita tentang raya, bagaimana Ramadhan anda? Sejujurnya, ingin saya membuat sedikit pengakuan yang Ramadhan saya tidak seperti yang saya rancangkan. Banyak kalah dengan nafsu dan kurang sabar. Namun, saya tak boleh tunggu Ramadhan akan datang untuk memperbaiki diri, saya perlu bersiap sedia mulai sekarang untuk Ramadhan akan datang. Semoga Allah S.W.T. mengampunkan saya dan memberi peluang untuk saya mencari keredhaan-Nya. Amiin.

Cerita raya saya biasa-biasa saja. Tahun ini diduga dengan sakit demam anak-anak yang tidak membolehkan kami berkunjung ke rumah sanak saudara seperti biasa. Alhamdulillah..raya kedua Izzat dah kembali sihat. Mujurlah demamnya tidak berpanjangan.

Seminggu di kampung, kami pulang ke KL hari sabtu yang lepas. Oh ya! Untuk makluman semua, our new online consignment store is already opened on 4th of Ramadhan. Feel free to visit & shop ya? And don't forget to subscribe for our newsletter (you'll enjoy 5% discount on every purchase!). The shop is officially www.pinkierthanblue.com . You will be fascinated with all the choices in the store, owh, we shipped internationally too!

Sekali lagi, saya ingin memohon ampun dan maaf pada semua yang membaca kalau ada yang terasa atau kurang senang dengan penulisan saya. Salam kosong-kosong untuk semua.

Hope...dream...and a new found friend

You guys know how much I anticipate to quit my job (becoming tougher since hearing rumors about 2+2 bonuses this year ;-p ) right? Most of the time, I have been dreaming about this business i'm going to set up and grow with it through out my whole life. Something I could sustained for my children, something that could offer me financial & time freedom. But, everyday I woke up from bed...dreaming...dream...hope...dream...
hope. Full stop.

I have tonnes of ideas in my head, but not brave enough to start. Starting with questioning myself about this and that. What ifs. How? Can it be done? Ecetera...ecetera...until one day...I met a new friend...online...

Yes...a new found friend...online. It is just less than a month I started knowing her. With her spirit & positiveness I learn something (I know this sounds cliche, but, it is the truth). I have never look at somebody and feel ashamed about myself like I look at this girl. With a child in one hand, she managed to pull up her business & now it is a success.

This same girl came out with an idea to make my dreams come true. Believe it or not, today is the 8th day since we discussed the idea & she has done so much to make things move. Her spirit has made me move faster (though I still could not catch up with her). I must run! I must not let her down! I must not let people who has engaged with us down!

This business is about helping others. First few months focus is not to make profits, but to introduce ourselves to the country (to the world someday...insyaAllah). To brand & market ourselves together with our friends who are in his together. To show ways to the homemakers (with crafty skills) out there on how can they grow.

Alhamdulillah...as far as we're moving now, the path is quite smooth..but as she said to me...there will be hiccups a long the way...may we be blessed...amiin...

To all parents out there...expect a new phenomenon for your passion soon! We're excited about it! And so must you!

p/s : I am taking my readers seriously from now on...all of you...yes...you're not going to regret following this blog (if you're!)

Love,
Wanie

Unconditional love

Coming home to see these cute little faces has always been great. These 2 little people love each other's company very much. I really hope that they will grow & love their bond forever. Seeing them playing, laughing & share everything together always makes me smile. Now that adik talks so much, the conversation becoming more interesting. Sometimes abang asked for adik's opinion upon constructing a lego structure & adik will answer ... haa, ya..ya..! So funny!

Mr. Hubby loves to call adik chipmunk as adik sounds like one. But, since we seldom let them watched TV (except for Disney Junior sometimes), she has no clue what chipmunk is!

Abang, being a responsible brother could now be relied on to take care of his adik. He can help adik put on her pants, hold the cup when adik wants to drink, get something in the fridge for adik. Though adik is a little bit tough, abang still can handle her.

Abang & adik, mummy & papa hope that you will always be there for your family. Be a strong man, faithful to Allah & responsible in every way you are going to be directed to. Your journey is still far beyond...may Allah S.W.T. blessed you all the way...amin..

Kain, gunting & mesin jahit

Sejak beberapa tahun ni, banyak sangat kain-kain cotton yang saya beli. Maklumlah...english cotton kan famous lately ni. Dalam kepala ni macam-macam nak buat especially sejak anak dara dah besar. Bukan apa, sometimes bila ke kedai nak cari dresses yang menepati citarasa susah sangat. Alih-alih pattern yang sama cuma beza corak or jenis kain jer.

To be honest, saya jarang shopping baju anak-anak. What I usually did is, kumpul duit & tunggu the high end brands buat sale. Masa ni la saya shopping cukup setahun punya stok. It is worth the wait. Tak kisah lah the items are off season pun. Janji cantik & menepati citarasa. My first choice has always been GAP (been thinking to start buying from oversease through Hop-Shop-Go...tengoklah macamana).

Anyway, back to the title. I have been planning to sew a dress for Amani myself & I choose bubble dress for the purpose (ambitious kan? hahaha). Disebabkan gelojoh sangat nak cepat siap, saya tak jahit tepi pun (lagipun jahitan semua tersorok dalam lining). So...here is the result.

 

 

Amani wore it to a kenduri last Sunday & she loved it a lot. Hahaha...bravo mummy! Still...ada la jahitan yang tunggang terbalik since this is my first try for a dress. Well...this is a new beginning for me. Hopefully I will continue with more sewing project.

 

Err...tutorial?  Maybe we start with something easier.

An Ordinary Life

Waking up at 12.20 am after falling asleep in my children's bedroom...I can't put myself back to sleep. Looking into my phone, there's this message from my husband, giving a link to an extraordinary view regarding the recent tragedy of MH370. I'm not going to discuss the link here, it's just makes me think how our point of view does change when something far from ordinary comes across our mind.

Lately, I could not really focus on my work. When I was at work all I could think of is my family. Being a working lady, time is my worst enemy. Out to work at the wee hours with children to send to school & day care, making me so stressful especially to arrive at work on time. When I reached home from work, it has always been dark. I have only 3 hours to prepare dinner, cater to the husband & children's need, settling the house chores before putting the children to sleep (which will usually take longer time). I have no time to actually play with them (which I know that it is something they enjoyed the most). When you're to tired to entertain them, the anger came in.

Amani is just a 2 years & 4 months old toddler that really needs attention. Being the playful one, she always making me tired with the water spilled, biscuits crumbed scattered everywhere in the house and some of her request that makes me moving around the house restlessly. Sometimes I do scold her because of small things. And then, I woke up in the middle of the night feeling bad. She just wants her mummy to cuddle her & play around with her. She is such an angel with her soft voice saying 'hi, mummy!' whenever she sees me (she would never let me out of her sight). She always says sorry for small mistakes such as when she accidentally step on her brothers's toys or when she spilled something on my laminated floor. I love the tone. I love the smell of her curls & chubby cheeks. It is painful to see her crying every time I sent her to day care.

Izzat, being a responsible & well-mannered child always there for her sister. Izzat has a very good discipline. He kept his promise well (if he promised to watch 2 tv programmes, he will stick to 2, nor more or less unless we give him permission). Looking at him, I always wanted him to be my baby forever. I want him to be a good muslim & turn only to Allah S.W.T. & us his parents for guidance & advise when he grew up. I really hope that he won't put his friends first. But, how can I do that if I do not have time to sit with him listening to his problems & be with him through thick & thin?

Well...a friend of mine (who is famously known as an attention seeker) once told me that an ordinary person should never be a blogger. If your life is just about your children, family & food, it's boring & no one would read your blog. Wow...I found it quite harsh friend. A blog could be somebody's something. It could be an open journal to record his/her life journey, so that one day it could be read by his/her future generation. An open secret that you hope will soon be discovered by someone it meant for. I believed, everyone could write whatever they want.

I get different kinds of feedback when I told people that I plan to quit my job in less then 2 years time. Some are very supportive & some are not as they think letting go of my current job is a not a good decision. That is why I am preparing myself for physically, emotionally & financially. Those career woman who actually quit their 5 figures salary is my hero now. If they can do it,why can't I?

These days, I always picture myself as a SAHM. I dreamed of having my own garden, preparing meals for my family & managing the house in my own time. And most importantly...I will have more time to prepare myself for the hereafter. Nothing can beat the satisfaction I guess.

Anyway, coming back to the post title...nothing is wrong to look at things ordinarily sometimes. Be focused & lived it.

Ya Allah, permudahkanlah urusanku...Amiin...