My knitting journey

Just as my house ‘Tammy’ (we just decided on its name) turned 1, I also hit the 1^st year anniversary for my knitting journey. I have always wanted to learn how to knit. Years ago I managed to get someone to ‘teach’ me, but obviously she wasn’t a very good teacher. She never told me not to start with black colour when you’re just learning (!!!) and also she ended up finishing my scarf for me rather than let learn and make mistakes.

Anyhoo, about this time last year we have this new lady coming to our church. We get to know each other and turns out she’s a knitter. She was looking for a knitting buddy and since I’ve always interested in it, I said yes. She offered me to use her needles and taught me how to do the knit and purl stitches. As usual, we started with a scarf. It took me a month to finish it and unfortunately at the end, I made a big mistake!! -.- I managed to save the scarf and it has been used a few times by my lovely husband since it became his (I really appreciate him for being nice and very excited about the scarf even though it is crooked. He still thinks it’s perfect). After that, my friend suggested for me to do another scarf or a beanie, but me being overconfident, I just decided to do a top for myself as my 2^nd project. 

Long story shorts, I have turned into a knitting junkie. I have yarns everywhere and still think it is not enough. I subscribe to knitting websites, buy knitting magazines/patterns, and have so many knitting projects on the go. Turns out knitting is back to be the ‘cool thing’ again at the moment and it is extremely therapeutic (unless of course when you’re making a mistake, it can be extremely stressful).  Youtube videos and instructions on websites are also very helpful. I learned lots of techniques from the internet. So far I have made scarves, vests, booties, and dolls. I think everyone should knit, it is definitely very rewarding. ^_^

My first ever knitting project

The scarves/cowl

 

The Booties

Key rings with initials

    

Super R and Minion

     

His and hers top

 

weekend

weekend ini perasaan lagi ga menentu banget deh..kayaknya banyak pikiran and perasaan campur aduk, terus banyak maunya pula hahaha... tapi well, weekend has gone and I think i was quite productive maren ini...

Kta memulai hari Sabtu dengan kerja bakti ngeberesin garden and urusan rumah tangga. Garden kita bener2 sedih deh kemarin inih.. Dah rumput ga tumbuh2 (sedih ga sih, rumput ajah ga tumbuh2 and here i am wishing to have a vegie garden), malah tanaman2 liar yang tumbuh -.- akhirnya maren kita beli backpack sprayer and weeds killer.. Mr. A dah kayak ghostbuster deh pas dia pake knapsack sprayer nya hahaha..and terus selama dia nyiramin tuh tanaman2 liar, gw mulai membersihkan deck buat di kasih decking oil. Terus sambil nunggu itu deck kering abis dicuci, kita pergi do groceries buat minggu depan.

Balik2 dari groceries, kta start doing the deck lagih buat kasih oil nya. O M G..we really are not handy couple aye.. Kalengnya padahal tuh dibilang cukup buat 12 m2 tapi udah abis setengah kita baru ngerjain sedikit banget.. alhasil ga cukup and terus hubby musti buru2 pergi ke Mitre 10 buat beli lagih. Udah beli tyata salah donk and karena kita b2 dah agak2 over this, kita nekat pake ajah oil itu. Trus pas dia beli mas2nya tyata bilang kalo ga mungkin cukup satu kaleng buat 12 m2 kecuali dicampur air (tapi instructionnya ga bilang pake air!!! -.-) Final result? Agak belang bentong gitu and bisa keliatan banget ini hasil kerja orang2 amatiran! But we are very proud that we can do this together and still being married at the end of the day ;p Oh tapi in the middle, Mr. A kena ketusuk pisau tangannya and gw kena minyak panas. Don't worry we didn't do that to each other, it was all silly accident.

Agak2 bete sebenernya karena weekend ini habis sibuk ngurusin pekerjaan rumah, but I keep telling myself that I have to be grateful because doing housework means I have a house. Also because now I know for sure that our deck is protected against weather etc etc and we are 1 step closer to my vegie garden dream!
SEMANGAT!

our house 1st birthday

Ga berasa udah bulan February lagih ih..cepetna! And ga berasa juga udah 1 taon sya berada di rumah inih. Bener2 ga berasa!! Happy birthday rumah :)

Jadi inget dulu pas nyari rumah tuh bener2 perjuangan. We started looking for our first family home itu Maret 2011 kurang lebih. Kita mulai dengan minta pre-approval dulu dari bank supaya tau bisa nyarinya di kisaran harga berapa. Terus udah dapet budget, kta mulai liat2 and tadinya daerah yang kita mau itu di North Shore, Auckland. Banyak alasannya... pertama karena emang yang paling bagus dibanding barat, selatan or timur.Well timur bagus sih cuma jauh ajeh, kalo naek bis 1 jam lebih secara sya kan kerja di city and ga niat deh bawa mobil ke kantor. Macet and bayarnya mahal. Nyari2 di North shore, budget yg kita ada tuh cuma bisa dapat rumah tua ajah.. and secara Mr A bukan handyman, kta ga mau rumah yang bener2 tua and musti benerin ini itu.

Akhirnya kta nyari ke daerah west karena dngan harga yang sama di west kita bisa dapat rumah baru and daerah sono lagi berkembang. Tapi selama nyari di west, hati gw slalu bilang kalo kita bakalan settle di north shore. Sbenernya sih another reason aku kekeuh di north karena skolahnya lebih bagus2 dibanding daerah laen kata beberapa org. Di Auckland tuh kalo mau nyari skolah musti per zone,yang rmahnya di deket daerah situ. Jadi kalo mau skolah di skolahan north shore, yah gampangnya tinggal di north shore.

Duh dulu tuh nyari rumah dari yang semangat, capek, bete, eneg, eh terus semangat lagih, capek lagih, berantem2 pula sma si Mr karena mungkin dua2nya agak frustasi ajah kali yah.. Pas aku suka dia ga suka, eh pas dia suka aku ngga suka..ribet kan.Sampe akhirnya kita ada waktu take a break to cool down.. Pas udah semangat lagih yah mulai lagi and kali ini kita kembali nyari di North Shore.

Waktu itu sempet ketemu 2 rumah yang kita suka and dua2nya auction. Yang kedua kita udah musti keluar uang buat building report dll eh saingan bidder nya org chinese kaya yang kayaknya uangnya ngga terbatas. Kta yang setiap kali nawar tuh mikir2 dulu cukup atau ngga, eh dia mah langsung angkat tangan ajah naikin penawaran. Akhirnya kita nyerah knowing it will end up very expensive. Waktu itu sebenernya sangat bete n agak ngambek sama Tuhan, tapi sekarang looking back, I am very glad we didn't get the house. Otherwise, we will not get this lovely house. Emang rencana Tuhan tuh jauh lebih baik yah..

In Otober 2011 kita ngeliat iklan untuk land and home package. Iseng2 nanya and liat2, tyata harganya ga jauh beda sama rumah2 yang kita liat2 tapi ini kita dapat rmah baru yang kita mau designnya. Akhirnya  we decide to go ahead with it. Kita diketemuin sma architectnya, ditanya maunya apa, budgetnya berapa dll..Dia terus design sesuai yang kita mau. Awalnya (dasar org jualan), dia bilang 6 blan slesai..yah kita seneng2 ajah donk cepet...akhirnya 1 taun lebih baru kelar. Mreka bilang sih alasannya karena waktu itu kita had a very wet winter jadi mreka ga bisa kerja, tapi walahualam deh sebenernya knapa soalnya tetangga gw bangun belakangan tapi bisa selesai duluan and i dont think the weather in their place was much different than mine.

After a long battle at the end with the builder, dia bilang rumahnya akan selesai and kita bisa masuk 31 January 2013. So jadilah kita bilang ke building manager apartment kalo kita keluar tanggal segitu... terus donk!!! GA KELAR...AAAAAHHHHH...sedih deh.. kita nomaden 4 hari..2 malem pertama akhirnya kita nginep di hotel (barang itu dah masuk gudang semua) and 2 malem berikutnya kta akhirnya nginep di rmah pendeta kita. Waktu itu bener2 homeless sampai banyak orang nawarin kita rumah, tapi kan kita ga mau ngerepotin.

Day5 early in the morning, kita langsung ke rumahnya pagi2, dah bilang smua furniture supaya diantar hari itu jga. Dan there you go, 5 February 2013, we officially moving to our new house :)

It has been a roller-coaster journey, but at the end of the day it is all worth it.
Cheers to the the 1st and many years to come :)!!!!

The plan

Original empty section 

Piles in

 Foundation 

 

Start of first floor

 2nd floor up

 

Roof and preparation for outside cladding

 

Final result ^_^

Office Politics/dramas

Bete ga sih sama yang namanya office polictics/dramas!!??! Gw sebel banget lohh!!

I am currently working at my 3rd workplace since I first started working full time and kayaknya di sini tuh office politics nya parah abis. Well ato mungkin jga normal and gw nya ajah yang ga pernah ngalamin beginian. Terus smuanya juga sangat terlalu pake perasaan padahal kan yah namanya kantor menurut gw sih smua bisnis kan, nothing personal..eh ini orang2 apa2 jga dibuat personal and jadi agak dibesar2kan menurut gw. Terus waktu itu kan ada perubahan di company, masa dia sampai ngancem2 mau keluar dari perusahaan.. and yang lebih parahnya lagih akhirnya perusahaan meng-accomodate kemauannya dia donk. Gilee di 2 perusahaan yg dulu gw kerja sebelonnya, pasti tuh orang dah di let go kali.
Ini sih mungkin jga karena latar belakang perusahaan  inih yang awalnya emang family company jadi mungkin sangat kekeluargan. kalo 2 perusahaan yg dulu smuanya international company yg publicly listed, jadi kan orang2 bisa seenaknya karena musti pertanggung jawaban sama para shareholders.

Arrrrggghh..kadang2 tuh membuat diri jadi agak demotivated krena tiap hari ada ajah yg 'dihebohkan'. never a dull moment deh di kantor gw mah tpi drama nya selalu agak2 ga penting. misalnya si A mempengaruhi si B spaya ga datang ke acara team drinks karena si A lgi ngambek ama bos jadi dia ga mau datang. akhirnya smua tim si A ga mau datang. Si bos marah2 karena mreka ga datang trs akhirnya smua si tim A datang jga ke acaranya. -.- ato si C tiba2 ga ngomong sama si D (padahal kan bisa ajah karena sibuk ato lagi banyak pikiran), eh si D ngambek n akhirnya ga mau ngomng lagih ama si C tanpa memperjelas dulu sama si C dia sebenernya kenapa. Ihhh..ada2 ajah deh...

Oh well, regardless...sya masih bersyukur punya tmpat bekerja dan pekerjaan yang baik. I guess at the end of the day smua tempat ada baiknya n buruknya. I guess i just need to curhat sbentar :)

Be happy!!! :)

Auckland Anniversary Feast

Sorry it took me more than a couple of days to put another post. We've been very busy on the weekend because we invited 2 groups of people to come to our place. We had them coming Sunday and Monday afternoon for lunch. O M G.. I think I put 5 kgs over  the weekend (I know I'm a bit exaggerating but I just feel like I had so much food!) 

So this is what we had on the weekend:
Sunday:
- Steak  served with creamy mashed potato and beans, topped with mushroom sauce
- Fruit flan (we use kiwi, orange and strawberry on top)

Monday:
- Marinara Risotto
- Green salad
- BBQ chicken
- Pork ribs glazed with Jim Beam sauce
- Japanese style steak

(SEEE...now you know what I mean by the extra 5kgs!)

I only have the fruit flan picture for Sunday dishes but I have more pictures for Monday dishes.
Enjoy! :)

**Oh and also, if you want any recipe, just let me know and I'll ask hubby to let me know. YES, HE is the chef at home and I'm so lucky :)

Sunday Fruit Flan

 Pork Ribs in prep

 

 BBQ Chicken

 

Green Salad

 

Marinara Risotto

 

The Full Family :)

PS. Really sorry for the bad quality of pictures, I am still getting used to it. I still often forget to take pictures, let alone know how to take good pictures. Please bear with me :)

January 2014

I'M BBBBAAACCCKKKK!!!!! :)

After having approximately 3 years hiatus from this blog, I have finally decided to re-start this blog again. Why you might ask? Well, I have been reading a few blogs lately and I just miss that feeling of writing a blog :) I remember that I really enjoyed it before but the busy-ness of life made me abandon this blog. I was thinking to start a new blog, but then thought ..hey, why don’t I just ‘re-start’ this blog. It has my entries from years ago and saved me the hassle of set up a new one.  So here we are!

First of all – HAPPYY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!! It’s kinda late, but we’re still in January so I think I can still say it? I believe this year will be greater and better than previous years. Personally for me, this year will be a very interesting year. There are a few uncertainties already that happened outside my control but I want to keep positive. My goal this year is to finish the year well and in December 2014 I can say with a grateful heart, ‘WOW! It has been a super duper great year and God has really proven His faithful to me and He really does take care of me!’
So, let’s play the catch up game. What has been happening in my life for the past 3 years?

1. I am getting older..oh well, who doesn’t 
2. We bought, built and moved to our first family home – more details to come details here
   
3. I get into knitting and baking – more details to come
4. I changed my workplace
5. Met a few new good friends
6. Wiser? Hahaha.. I know  I shouldn’t say this myself and I need others to say it but there you go I said it, I’d like to think that I’m getting wiser this past few years
7. My brother gone back to Indo for good :’( - more details to come
8. Etc..etc..etc..- well there are still many things that happened but it can take me days to list everything down, so let’s just leave it like this

I think I am going to end my 1st entry here, just to make it short and sweet. I’m so excited to write more entries in the near future.

So again, HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014 and God bless you ;)

meditasi

Ari ini tiba2 kebayang...

Gw duduk di tengah hutan, bersemedi di atas batu n di bawah pohon2.. menjauhkan diri dari hal2 ‘duniawi’ dan hawa nafsu, dari materialism, dari hingar bingar kota.. menenangkan diri, menikmati suara2 alam.. bersatu dengan sesuatu yang pure dan alami.

Hahaha.. I so sound like a hippie or I don’t know what they call it.. but to be honest, doesn’t really sound like me.. tp kayaknya I quite like the idea.

Gw ngomong ttg hal ini sama temen gw, they just laughed and bilang ‘ngapain yahh?? Ntar dimakan beruang loh.’ Hahaha… trs gw bilang kayaknya orang2 yang kayak di atas itu kira2 happy kali yah.. mreka cuma focus ke masalah makanan, bertahan hidup n enjoying life. Tapi di luar perkiraan temen gw malah bilang ‘ga lah loo!! Klo gw mah ga happy. I need my toilets, which may not available in the forest. Terus I need my books, family, friends. Lagian paling susah disuruh diem ga mikir apa2, ga bisa. Ujung2nya pasti mikirin/ngebayangin apa gitu’

Bagian terakhir dr apa yang dia bilang kinda stuck in my head. Is she the only person yang ga bisa ga mikirin apa2.. or kita manusia emang kayak gituh. Malah bingung kalo ga ada yang dipikirin. Jadi inget pernah denger omongan ini ‘Pernah ga kamu ngerasa hari itu sibukk banget, but at the end of the day, you’re not really sure what you’re doing or achieve. I think people nowadays just addicted to be busy. They like to think that they have so many things to do.’

Yah ga bener2 sama kayak apa yg temen gw bilang.. but similar.. apakah kita manusia sekarang addicted untuk banyak pikiran/stress/being busy? Can’t we just sit around, not doing anything and not feeling guilty? Always urgent..always on the go.. list list list.. when will it all end?