Finally, the long awaited examinations and markings are over!

Ben and i were supposed to start full-fledged on our wedding preparations but nothing seems to be done.

To make things worse, i had the worse PMS ever last friday… sobbed for a whole 2 hours with Ben being worried yet amused by me. We both concluded that it is pre-marriage jitters.

Tons of things to be completed:

1) Send out all wedding invitations

2) Confirm guest list

3) Sitting arrangement

4) Wedding montage

5) Actual Day Run Down

6) Paint our room

…

and the list goes on.

Just as we thought we could both spend every day after school to settle our wedding stuff, our days seem to be filled with meetings, workshops and whatsoever. =(

This weekend, we are gonna shift his current bed to my current room in order to make space for our new bed! =)

2 weeks later will be the Guo4 Da4 Li3… shall post more pictures then!

We spent the entire day shopping with my mommy and aunt today.

The entire shopping process was rather fun actually. We went to this shop in Chinatown where they sell all sort of things required for traditional chinese wedding. I realized that being in this line is rather lucrative!

Ben & i love the way it is SO TRADITIONAL. We had a lot of fun learning about the different traditions and the significance of all the different items, despite the fact that the shop was rather humid!

Ben decided to buy this super HUGE ang bao for the 聘金 ( chinese term for this sum of money which he is supposed to give to my mommy on the day of 过大礼. My mommy told him it’s not the size of the ang bao that matters, it’s the amount INSIDE that matters more!! Although i agree with her, i find this big ang bao super cute!

TO MY JIE MEIs : Ben bought one big ang bao for you all too! hahaha. But i don’t know about the sum inside!

Ben observing the carvings on the pair of 龙凤烛 which he was about to buy.This pair of candles is supposed to be kept burning till their ends to symbolize 百年好合.

Ben making payment for his items.

I like the way he is so keen about all these wedding preparations.

Other than the candles,  we also bought several stickers to be pasted on our doors, new cupboard, and other wedding-related items.  My dear JIE MEIs – see the BIG RED ANG BAO that states 万事胜意??? That one is for the gate crash! =) =) Give Benben some ‘effort-points’ ok!

This set was bought by my mommy for me. The potty and large basin is for the baby who may come along next time =)

Among all these items, i like the tea pot and the ‘thread-and-needle’ kit the most ( the heart shaped box).

Ben and i have decide that we will set up a Love Altar in our future home. It will be a corner which displays our unity candles, and all our wedding related items, so that we can always remember The Day. I kinda like this idea. =)

It’s been a week or so since i last blogged and yay! There’s progress in our wedding preparation!

29 Sept – We attended the first session of our marriage counselling! It was quite an interesting and refreshing session. Together with 2 more couples, several relationship issues were raised and discussed. It was interesting because we could hear from the other couples and realized that it is indeed true to say every relationship is unique and different!

Us! Looking tired outside the counseling room.

The entire session lasted from 7pm to 1015pm! By the end of the session, we were both exhausted and famished!

30 sept – booked our HK trip from 23rd to 27th Dec! just the both of us!  Minor disappointment of the day was that there are some minor changes in our honeymoon to Europe as the tour group was canceled. =(  though it was a bit disappointing, God blessed us with a good travel agent who helped us a great deal! While at the travel agency, i experienced the first earthquake in my life!

1st Oct – Children’s Day. Bought little erasers and placed them on each individual desk in my home class as a little surprise for them before the EL paper. =) Woke up feeling lighted-hearted because it is our 2nd year anniversary today! Although we did not make plans for anything special, it was still a special day to us!

And on this special day, we received an email informing us that our wedding album is ready for collection! YES FINALLY!!!! it’s a pity because we will not have the time to collect it until next tues =(

cant wait to see the album!!!!!

]]> http://kikiandlala.wordpress.com/2009/10/01/we-are-2-year-old/feed/ 0 jespy IMG_0981 Photo 135 http://kikiandlala.wordpress.com/2009/09/29/2-more-months/ http://kikiandlala.wordpress.com/2009/09/29/2-more-months/#comments Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:00:42 +0000 jespy http://kikiandlala.wordpress.com/?p=115 ]]>

Today is the first official day when we started to give out our wedding invites.

Everything seems so surreal.

It’s exactly 2 more months to The Day!

I wonder how both of us would feel on this very day 2 months down the road…

Meanwhile, it is the examination period again. i cant wait get all the marking done so that we can go full blast into our wedding preparations!!!

Preparing for this wedding feels like going through events management all over again. The only difference is that this time round, i have wonderful helpers around me! Feeling so blessed with so many lovelies in my life, including friends whom i have not managed to keep in contact regularly for the past 10 years or so!

I need an overall wedding coordinator, any volunteers?!?! LOL.

i’ve always wanted to start a wedding blog – a place where i can pen my thoughts at every stage of preparation for my ‘happily ever after’.  However, i never seem to be able to get down to it due to the workload i’m currently struggling with.

2 to 3 months more to The Day, the urge to pen down my thoughts intensified. I’ve been doing quite a bit of self-talk simply because i have no time to blog. Having quite a bit of pent-up emotions, i decided to put away the must-dos for tonight to spend time on what i am doing now.

I think this is going to be a very long entry and i wonder who will have the patience to read it. Personally, the purpose of blogging is to remind me, many years down the road,  of the emotions and feelings involved in preparing for the wedding. When we become husband-and-wife, the passion may fade, we may not be as close as before, these memories serve as a reminder to us why we chose to be together in the first place.

Our wedding preparations started as early as last year, from March 2008 when he proposed on 29th Feb.

Things we have accomplished to far

1) Set the wedding date – 28 November 2009, Saturday

2) Wedding Lunch Banquet – Crowne Plaza Terminal Three

3) Bought our wedding bands

4) Bought our dream bed

5) Decided on my Bridal Gown designer – Margaret Brides

6) Decided on his suits – Dickson Tailor

7) Photographer – Kelvin from Lighted Pixels

Food tasting and Meet-the-Parents session

9) Invite cards

10) Bought our house which will be ready in 2011

I guess the most memorable experience so far was our first fitting for gown and suit, as well as photography.

First Fitting

The feeling of seeing myself in my very own gown was simply indescribable. Not fantabulously gorgeous but the fact that i donned a wedding gown was awesome.

This session also motivated me to start losing weight for The Day. Feedback on my choice of gowns varies – some say that they are too plain, some said that the evening gown is too simple. However, i decided that i like them as they are because in actual fact, i’m a very simple girl. I will look rather out of place in elaborated make up, hairdo and dresses. =)

Photography

Photography was fun. We had our photography session in June during our holidays. It was a great experience although it was really exhausting. We met up with the photographer to discuss the venue and concept, and proceeded to look for various ‘props’ we thought might come in handy for the pictures, such as picnic basket, sun glasses, bubble guns etc. We even rented our dream wedding car for the photoshoot! I will always remember how Ben’s mommy and myself tried to tie the flowers to the car on our own! We even went to East Coast Lagoon to ask for used tin cans just because i have this fantasy of having a wedding car with tin cans dangling behind. Elaine even helped us to write the words ‘Just Married’ on a cardboard in place of the typically used car plates. On the actual day, we booked a room in New Majestic Hotel for the photo-taking and enjoyed the hotel stay thoroughly. =)

In Majestic Hotel

On the way to Changi Board Walk for the photoshoot (Bridal Bouquet from Green Point Flowers)

Minor makeover of his room

Since our house will only be ready in 2011, we will be staying at his place after our marriage. Hence, we are still in the midst of doing up his room. Progress so far? We did a built-in wardrobe and went ahead in painting our room a dark shade of purple despite opposition from both of our parents. We bought a TV and installed cable. Work is still in progress but we are already loving it. I love love love  the view from the room. Shall share on this blog once i upload the pictures from my newly purchased camera!

Amidst all these preparations, i’m glad that he is always by my side. I have heard horror stories of girls complaining that their other half do not care about the wedding preparations. I thank God that Ben plays his part very well right from Day 1 of the preparations. In fact, he did more work than me. Things like looking for my wedding shoes, calling up bridal studios and hotels to make appointments etc.

We did not have any major disagreement when it comes to making decisions, be it major or minor. We both understood what each other wanted, and we make compromises.

Along the way, we also learnt to be more realistic – many things that we originally wanted for the wedding had to be given up due to financial constraints and we have to learn to deal with our own disappointments.

I think for every bride-to-be, the stress level builds up as The Day draws near. Just like any couple, we do have our own share of quarrels, be it wedding- or non-wedding related. Having to handle the heavy workload, topped with wedding preparations, frustrations do build up and sometimes i just wanted to give up and don’t care anymore.This wedding preparation also taught us that a wedding is just about the two of us. We have to please so many other people and it does get pretty irritating at times.

Insecurity thoughts like ‘Am i really going to give myself to this man and spend the rest of my life with him?’, ‘How will life be after marriage?’ , filled my mind. Questions which will never be answered. Some may say if i am unsure, why get married?  I guess it’s got nothing to do with me being unsure. It is more of wedding anxiety, Ben always says.

The key is to always  spend time reminding yourself why you decide to get married in the first place. Then will you be more clear-minded when negativity strikes.

For now, we will do our very best to make the wedding a successful one. I want to look back and recall this beautiful episode and let it etch beautifully in my heart.

Will continue to update this space =)

Today is my first time driving to town alone without B.

Was supposed to send my mom and granny to town, so B patiently went through the route with me the night before. Last night after dinner, B even drove around that area to ensure that i know my way there and back. You guys must be thinking i am such a loser ;(

This morning, i drove to town w mom n granny as planned. everything went quite smoothly on my journey  back and forth as traffic was clear.

Nevertheless, there were more than once whereby i doubted myself and got confused over road signs. I remembered B telling me, ” Just go straight. Keep to the second lane.”

A part of me allowed myself to get confused by all the road signs, thinking if i should turn left/right. Doubts filled my mind and i sort of panicked. “Oh man, i forgot what B told me last  night. Should I turn here?!!”

Yet at the same time, a voice in my mind told me to just believe in B and just go straight. Even if i lose my way, B said that it’s an experience to get lost because you will discover new roads.

Hence i kept driving straight.

Believing in B was right.

While driving on the familiar road back to B’s place, i thought to myself : Driving is just like living life.

In life, where things are going too smoothly just like on a stright road, people get bored and start to get distracted, similar to getting confused by road signs.

In a relationship, when a couple gets together for too long and everything becomes a routine, people tend to seek excitement by ‘trying new roads’. i.e. straying (physically or mentally) or breaking up to seek new boundaries.

Sometimes as we drive on a straight road continuously for too long, we forget where we are heading.I think it is very important to constantly remind yourself about your goals and aims that you set in the first place.

In a relationship, when we get bored of our partners, when the passion gradually diminishes, we should sit back and ask ourselves why we loved that person in the first place. In life, as we bury ourselves in our work and start to hate our jobs, we should remind ourselves why we chose to do what we are going now in the first place.

Even though driving on a straight road tends to get  boring after a while, i have learnt to appreciate the benefit of having a consistencies in my life. To go against my constant and turn left/right as directed by other road signs is the last thing i want to do.

i was doing a search on goggle to find out more information about a massager. Chanced upon a link which led me to “Flowerpod” community.

The forum could not be read and there was a prompt for members to log in in order to read the responses in the forum.

Me: Haiya, i’m not a member.

and just when i was about to close my browser,

Bb said : “i’m a member.”

me: WHY on earth are you on FLOWERPOD?! i thought it’s meant for girls.

Bb: Oh i was researching on some wedding stuffs.

*melts*

my B is a good boy who cares so much about our wedding!

It’s been a long time since i last updated this blog. Had a sudden urge to pen down my thoughts after a good run with B.

We spent a few hours shopping, eating and drinkin coffee while discussing our wedding plans.

i like.

i feel alive because i did so many things today.

woke up feeling rather sleep-deprived because i was at work for almost 16 hours yest… left school around 10pm… and i was already in school by 745am this morning… =(

had some alone time in the office today and managed to get some marking done.

My table…

A picture speaks a thousand words -_-”

Bb came a few hours later and bought me my fav food for lunch. Next up was the highlight of the day!

We decided that we shall go for the zoo run afterall!

on our way to the zoo!

collected our race pack and running bibs! we took a few pics while waiting for the run to start…

He is sleep-deprived too. =(

our lunar trainers!

at the starting line…

we ran the night safari and the zoo… the run was held to commemorate ah meng…

so we stopped to take pics…

we finished the race!!!! WHEE!

Bb rewarded himself with at least 6 cups of milo from his fav milo van.

after the run, we went to church and i waited for him while he prepares for service tmw. somehow, i really love the way he plays music. =)

after church, we went to meet his family for dinner… very very yummy indonesian food… talking about food… Bb and i really want to start a food blog sometime soon! probably during the hols!

it was already almost 10pm by the time we finished our dinner…

the last pic of the day before Bb drove me to pick up my mom n aunt from the stadium.

I’m really happy today, mainly because i accomplished my very first run… though i did stop to walk for a while… i am still glad to have him by my side to encourage me throughout the run…. especially when he held my hand while we dashed towards the finishing point…

it’s an eventful day. =)

i like.

我不是无敌铁金刚。