A Start of of a New Beginning

...and the belly is getting bigger. The quickening, it's the baby's movements in the womb, starts to be stronger. My steps upstairs to my room are getting slower. I started to spend longer time in the closet selecting what to wear today.

Exercise? Sure I do it every other day. If not swimming, I do yoga or pilates. I try to eat healthy in good portion, meaning not too much. Morning sickness has diminished, though I often feel nausea after I take the DHA pill.

Four months to go. It feels that my delivery time is still far ahead, but I try to enjoy the moments. The moments of being pregnant with two sons. Yup! Starting May 2012, my life, our family's life, will be totally changed!

I will soon be a mother of 3!!! By the time I hit 35, I will have three children. Whew... Saying it out loud feels weird, in a funny, proud kind of way.

I am a proud Mama of Getar and Alarik, and really excited to welcome the new addition to our family. I am happily married to Abdes for 13 years, being best friends for 16 years.

Year 2012, I am embracing you with open heart. I am ready with whatever challenges and opportunities that will come to me and my family, no matter what the Mayan prophecy had said. I am grateful for what I have for now, for what powers I have to live our lives. I believe The Almighty has written a path for me to live. All I have to do is just do good to myself, my family and to my surroundings.

May 2012 is a lovely year for all of us that will lead to a happy and prosperous life.

(Almost) Yearend Notes

Time flies. It is almost end of 2011. I am about to throw out the fancy small organizer notebook, which I always love to buy every January.

It is like a common thing to write about our 2011 reflections. It's like every Media will have some sort of kaleidoscope of "who's who", "what's the hottest events", the unforgettable moments of 2011", "#1s of 2011", and such things.

So let's make one.

For my business, it's been a good year. Just established a very mutual cooperation with one of the best resort in Bali (in fact, in Asia). A homework for us is to employ more staff, energetic smart ones, to join our team.

For my personal life, as I have written in my previous blog, we are about to add a member to our family. We will not be a small family anymore. In 2012, we will add one more human being to this cramped world. Sorry, Mother Earth... It was not our intention. This is truly God's gift. It'll be such a sweet, unexpected gift, who will come in end of April 2012. She or he will come to this world, definitely for a reason. With God's blessings, hopefully the baby will be born healthy and complete, and I will be recovered promptly.

Year 2011 has a couple more weeks to go before it is finally gone. I have made mistakes in the past. I truly have learned my lessons. I will be a better person for myself, my husband, my kids, my family, my team and my community.

I am baaaackkk.....!!!

Yup, I am back to my blog page after, gosh...more than 3 months. There have been a lot of things happened in my life.

First, we had a wonderful family trip, with the in-laws, to North Sumatra.
Second, business has been running pretty busy after the Eid holiday.
Third and last.... *drum roll*, I am expecting our third child!!!

The last happening was the main reason I haven't blog. Every spare time has been rather spent on the bed, or in front of the TV. Now, the pregnancy has started to be more enjoyable, even I still experience nausea beyond the first trimester.

OK, as I promised in my last post, I will share photos of our trip to North Sumatra. From Bali, we spent one night at my in-laws, then off we went to Medan. It was a big group. Total 14 pax! Yup, the more the merrier. It was the first big trip with my husband's parents, his sisters + spouse + children. We spent 2 nights at Medan, then we went to Siantar for one night, stopped over at Tebingtinggi, one night at Parapat/Lake Toba, went to explore a bit of Samosir island, stopped over at Berastagi, then spent the last night at Medan, before left the city to Jakarta.

I had pretty much high expectation on the culinary tourism from this trip, and low expectation on the service or hospitality. Well, that's quite right. The hospitality of people there is far below any service we can get in Bali. Services at hotels, restaurants, public places were not very warm, though not bad at all. They are kind people, but serving with smiley face was just not in their blood.

Food? Super fantastic. All of us enjoyed the food so much, expect me. Hahahaha. I felt weird at first, wondering why everybody loved all the food. I found out the answer on our first night at Parapat, when we stayed at Lake Toba Hotel. I realized I hadn't got my period for the past one month (I did one full month of fasting!). Voila! Positive result on the test pack. That's why my taste bud had been abnormal, and I became fatigue pretty easily. Yeay! Unexpected blessings...

So, here are the photos that I've taken mostly from my Blackberry camera. Enjoy...

Welcome to Medan!

Dressed up in Kebaya for family gathering in conjunction with Eid celebration. That handsome young man is my first son.

Posed in front of the hotel where we stayed in Medan, with my sister-in-laws.

The street food stalls are so tempting...

Lemang, made of sticky rice, in combination with Sari Kaya, a concoction of coconut milk+palm sugar + egg, is super perfect at Tebing Tinggi. Gotta try!

This is the ultimate public transportation in North Sumatra. Count how many passengers can this motor-taxi take!

These are the grand children of my in-laws. The two boys, one in pajamas (but with sneakers on) and one with shawl, are mine.

During this trip, hubby couldn't let go of his Olympus EP3. Even a 'not so normal' view would be his object.

On the boat, on our way to Samosir island.

The traditional house at Samosir. This is where the 'Sigale-gale' live puppet show is regularly shown. Gotta try if you come with a group of friends to Samosir. You will experience the 'Manortor' dance, and wear the "Ulos' fabric. Some Rp amount of donation is expected (couldn't remember the amount).

The view of Toba Lake from top. We took the not common street to go to Berastagi. When we stopped at this area to take some photos, we could clearly hear the sound of "Uwuk..uwuwkk...", the shoutings of Siamang (black furred, tailless gibbons, native in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Thailand) in the woods.

This is our family photo opportunity, on the BSA, Becak Siantar Asli (Original Siantar Motor Taxi). The motor used for this taxi is a classic UK-made motor. Totally cool. The taxi riders definitely do not want to loose their coolness, so they pick a genuine masculine ride!

This last photo, including our family photo on BSA, were taken with the cool Olympus EP3. Hubby took this picture, perfectly portraying the beautiful view around Toba Lake.

Eid Mubarak!

Ramadhan month is about to come to its end. Let's ignore the fact that there's indefinite settlement about when 1 Syawal or Idul Fitri is. Well, I completed the fasting month. Waking up in the morning to prepare meal was the hardest task for me. Those heavy eyelids, waking up to the yelling alarm, then with task to think what to cook (with drowsiness). I missed one morning due to the fact that I changed the alarm setting to weekdays only, unintentionally.

Imagine, fasting and site inspection with client, then followed by lunch meeting at a fancy restaurant! Yup, done that.... Passed the test, thankfully.

It is a new beginning, of course. It becomes a reminder how physical fasting is like an exercise to our body and mind. I lost 2 kgs, thanks to the fasting. Should I try Monday-Thursday fasting from now? *undecided* The last month also reminds me to always control my anger and other bad feelings. Ego containment is another big task, isn't it?

We are now going to pack our things to travel to Jakarta, then off to Medan, North Sumatra. It will be quite a journey, as the travel involve 14 pax. My parents-in-law, sisters in law with family, all of us. We will depart for Medan on Wednesday, then to Siantar and Brastagi. We will return to Jakarta on the 7th, and to Bali on the 8th. Wait for my postings about our trip to North Sumatra. Hubby has prepared all of his 3 cameras in a special backpack, ready for photo stock hunting! Will share those, too, for sure.

To my friends and family, all I can request now is your forgiveness for any shortcomings coming from me. Eid Mubarak, to those who celebrate!

Make My Life Up

I haven't done any postings for a while. My left brain has been so busy and successfully kept my right brain quiet. I have been so focus on the now, no chance of letting my mind wandering and creating imaginations.

So, last Sunday, I decided to buy a novel. Nicholas Sparks' novel. Yeah, sure it will trigger my right brain again. But, I could not read it at my usual speed (two overnights to finish). It is Ramadhan. I have to wake up at 4 in the morning, plus the Decolgen I took to heal my cold. As consequence, I am not sharp anymore.

So the drowsy sluggish me have to find a way to be alive. In front of the mirror is where I always find my cure. My morning and evening regime is putting on layers of creams. I could not live without those creams. Moisturizer, special for my oily-rather-dry skin. Special cream for my over 30 skin. Eye cream. Sunblock SPF 40. Sometime, need concealer. Foundation cream. (Duh, I want to look good when I reach 60!) Then simple powders, blush on, eye liners, mascara, lip gloss. Next is doing my hair as been taught by my hair dresser. Turn on the hair dryer, roll up some curls, dry them up, roll them down, then style it with wax.

I guess my point of saying those things is I love to be in front of the mirror. I love putting on make ups. My man never complains so far. I definitely encourage Moms readers to take the chance being in front of the mirror and to enjoy being a woman. That's the privilege of being a female human. Evolve ourselves. Learn how to accentuate our age-appropriate beauty, without looking like a monster. To look and feel beautiful are not sins. Putting on make ups for women can boost up confidence. It is a process to appreciate ourselves.