12 Years!

This week, we celebrated our 12th year wedding anniversary. 12 Years? WOW. We've come a long way and Alhamdulillah, I couldnt be happier.

We've gone through so much in this 12 years. So many ups and down but we made it. 

My kids got us flowers (guess who paid for it?) and we painted a big painting for my husband for his new  office. No fancy celebrations but I honestly dont need anything more. 

Like any other couples, we go through a lot together. Marriage is hard work. No one is perfect and there's no such thing as a perfect couple but we try to be the best for each other. 

May Allah bless our marriage and give us strength to continue showering each other with love till Jannah. 

1st Anniversary

On the 25 February 2020, we left for our first family Umrah and it was a life changing journey for me. I didnt have plans to keep the hijab on when I come back. I only bought a few hijab for my trip and that was it. At that time, I didnt know what style suited me or which fabric is good for me. I just bought simple plain ones for my trip. That was it. Honestly speaking, I thought life would just go back to how it was. Changing my image was the last thing on my mind. I just didnt think about it. Or maybe I was in denial. 

While I was there, my aim was to do the best I could and make full use of the experience. It was beautiful. I dont know how to explain it but I really felt at ease when I was there. Even doing the tawaf alone (without my family) was therapeutic for my soul. Walking in the mosque, finding a spot to pray, going to get the zam zam, everything about the whole journey was amazing. Our room had the best view both in Makkah and Madinah. Everything was easy. Unlike some of the stories people tell me. 

Being there for 10 days made me realise that donning the hijab was not difficult at all. All this while I kept thinking about how troublesome life would be but while I was there, it was easy. It was as if I've been wearing it all my life. 

I always believed that when the time is right, Allah will ease the journey. Indeed He did. Alhamdulillah, a year later I am still a work in progress and I still have it on. Somehow, the journey is just so easy for me. It was a natural progression and I dont even miss going free hair like before. 

It took me a while to find a style that suits me. Like I said, I am still a "work in progress" 

I found a few styles that worked for me and looks good on me. I still have to work on it but InsyaAllah it is going in the right direction. 

Friends and family have been really supportive. Their constant prayers InsyaAllah will keep me on the right path. This year on the 25 February 2021, I am celebrating my first hijrah anniversary. Yay me!!!

Viral TikTok Recipe

 

Have you heard of the Viral TikTok recipe? Honestly speaking, I havent until my friend posted it. I'm not on TikTok, in case you are wondering. I saw my friend posted this on her Instagram and being a pasta addict, I asked what it was and she told me it is a recipe viral on Tiktok. Remember the Dalgona coffee hype? Ya, this is kind of like that I suppose. We are still on MCO (although it doesnt feel like it) and I thought maybe I should get on this bus and check it out. 

Two of my friends said it was the bomb!!! So basically it is just a simple baked pasta with cherrie tomatoes and feta cheese. I never ever buy Feta cheese but I quite like it. Off I went to buy my first ever Feta cheese from Village Grocer. FYI, I do eat feta cheese but I never needed it in my cooking at home because I mostly cook Malay dishes. So this was my first time getting Feta for own cooking. 

There are plenty of recipes but this is my spin on it

What you need:

- Cherie Tomatoes (lots of it!)

- Feta Cheese

- Olive oil

- Salt / Pepper / Mixed herbs like oregano, basil etc

- Red Chili for the kick

- Readymade sambal Pucuk ubi for the kill!

- Pasta (I love Penne)

Step 1: Preheat the oven

Step 2: Mix the cherie tomatoes and chili together with herbs, salt, pepper and place the feta cheese in the middle. Bake it in the oven for like 20-30 minutes or until you see the tomatoes & cheese softened

Step 3: Boil the pasta

Step 4: Add the pasta in the melted cheese & tomatoes

Step 5: Serve and sprinkle over some pucuk ubi for the kill

It was da bomb!!!! I had 3 bowls of it. Try it and let me know if you like it!

On another note, this is the painting I did for my friend for her new home. I cant wait to pass it to her next week. I hope she will love this because it is one of the most difficult paintings I've done to date. I love it!

GALentines Day

I forgot all about Valentines Day this year until my friend posted something on the group chat to wish us a Happy Galentines Day. I didnt even know what Galentines Day was. I have become that blur.

We had no special plans obviously. Everyday is just another day. My son has been playing Fortnite with my best friend's son a lot lately (blame covid for their extra screen time!) and one day decided to play together in person. To cut long story short, they decided to do that playdate on the 14 February, which was a Sunday after Chinese New Year. They dont have piano class on that day (normally, they do have class every Sunday) and Monday is the start of school after being on half term break. I thought, why not, let them play since it's their school break anyway. They havent seen each other for ages and I havent seen my best friend in 6 months. That way, I get to see my best friend too. And her husband's birthday is approaching and she had commissioned me a painting that her husband wanted. I had to deliver it to her anyway. Perfect!

Off we went to her house which is half way across town. Luckily there werent any traffic and only 1 roadblock.

I dropped my son off and stayed there for a bit. It was nice to see her kids because I havent seen them for so long. We decided to have some quality GAL time and went for lunch at a nearby cafe. It was empty, which is good.

I had such a nice time catching up and it just felt so so good. We talked about my artwork and she was trying to convince me to sell them. I just feel like I'm not ready to sell but she is my biggest fan and want me to go all out with it. (I love her!!!!) 

At the restaurant, we had so much food and the food was amazing. I havent had a meal outside in so long. I forgot how nice it is to eat out and how much I've missed it.

I painted this for her for her office. She absolutely loved it. It feels so good when someone loves the work that you do, doesnt it? I was over the moon. 

We spent about 2 hours at the cafe before heading back to her house to pick up my son. I gave her husband the painting and he was so happy with his birthday gift. I couldnt be happier.

I got home feeling absolutely excited and my spirit was so high I was so happy. I am happy that my son had a good time playing with the kids. He havent had that in a long time. I am happy that I got to see my best friend and catch up on a lot of things. We talk to each other almost daily but its not the same as talking face to face. I didnt realise how much I missed her until I left her house. I was really so happy.

You know, we might think we are dealing and coping with this whole Covid situation well but sometimes, we dont realise that there are parts missing from our lives that Covid has taken from us. I hope we will be able to keep the numbers low so I can meet up with family and friends more often. I miss my life. I miss being out.

How are you?

We are still under lockdown and I've lost count. I have no clue what day it is or how long we've been in this MCO. When is this all going to be over? 

I've been feeling really down the last couple of weeks. I'm just sick and tired of living this way. I feel like I am wasting my time. I feel like my kids are losing out a lot. But each time I have this negative thoughts or moments of weakness, I snap out of it pretty quickly. I have to count our blessings and remind myself that we have so much to be thankful for. But I'm only human. I have my good and bad days.

This week, my kids started their mid term break. I feel like with online classes, we need breaks and I am so happy that we have no classes this whole week. Chinese New Year is coming up too. Kids have been on their online class since January and I think, this break is needed for us to just chill. We have an art project to do for school. We decided to do it as a family.

Family

This is what we come up with. It is all our initials. This painting is titled Family. We each painted our own initials and chose our colours. This really sums us up. I love the colours and we had fun painting this.

Apart from forcing my kids to participate in this art project (it was not compulsory to do), I also did some painting myself. This is painted on canvas. One morning, I had Sheila Majid music on spotify and just started painting away. Go with the flow intuitive painting. I love how the colours look so nice together. I posted this on my instagram and my friend booked it immediately. I'm still not confident enough to sell my paintings but soon, I think I will. One thing I need to learn is take better photos. 

Yesterday, I went to BSC to do some grocery shopping and stopped by Times Bookstore. I got myself a Sudoku book. Dont ask me why!!! I feel like I'm forgetting things even more lately. Maybe I need to start Sudoku and solving Maths problems or something. I used to do Sudoku a lot but I havent done in years. When I started this today, I couldnt do it as fast as I thought I could. Felt stupid for a while. But once I got the hang of it, it is actually fun to do.

So that's me. I've had a productive week, I think. I just need to keep myself busy. Hope you are all doing the same and keeping busy. Cant wait for this to be over. Stay safe everyone!

Staying Positive

It's hard to believe that we've been living this Covid life for over a year. How did we survive living like this for so long? I got to say that I have good days and I have bad days. Right now, I'm just feeling really exhausted, tired of being at home. I miss seeing my family members, I miss seeing my friends. I miss being around people. I just want things to go back to normal. I feel like I am slowly falling apart.

I spoke to my husband about it and he said we need to be thankful that we have this life. Some people out there are struggling and yet we are still able to sleep very comfortably at night. He is ABSOLUTELY right. 

I am thankful, dont get me wrong. But we do have our little struggles too. It is OKAY to have be weak and have moments when you feel like you are breaking. It is only normal to feel that way but what is most important is to always be thankful because someone out there have it much worse than us.

I have to remain positive. Keep moving and hopefully, this too will pass.

I am so happy that I found my "happy place" in Art. I switch on my Spotify and paint away. It is amazing how calming it is. I recently downloaded old songs I grew up with. Songs from the 90s and early 2000s and boy, they're all so awesome. Brings back lots of old memories. I am singing and painting. It is not a pretty sight sometimes but it makes me feel a thousand times better. 

I hope you have your "happy place" too wherever you are. I pray all this will be over soon. Amin.

Stay positive. Remember, all this will go down in history as something so great we overcome. Not long now, hang in there!

Lockdown 2.0

 

Malaysia are you ready? My kids was in school for 2 days and they were so happy. Too bad for them it is short lived. 

I dont know what else to say but I hope and pray that this lockdown will end soon. Hopefully the numbers will go down and schools can reopen. We have to find a way to live with this virus, somehow.

I miss our life. I miss seeing my kids do regular stuff they so enjoy. I miss them having friends around. This is the best time for them to mix around because their friendships are still pure and genuine. I hope they'll get their lives back soon.

Stay safe Malaysia

Happy New Year 2021

 

I painted this wreath

Hello 2021!!!

It is hard to believe that 2021 is finally here. In 2020 we cant wait to leave the year behind and move on. 2020 was such a trying time for everyone. Alhamdulillah, we are here. We are still given the gift of life and I am hopeful that things will get better. Insya Allah.

We were home this time for New Year's eve. My kids weren't too happy as their cousins we all away in Penang. Initially we thought of going away somewhere too but somehow, we just couldnt make up our minds. I guess there's this fear at the back of our heads if it is even safe to be out. We decided not to waste our money on hotel and instead, went shopping for new clothes. My kids grew so much in 1 year. We havent been shopping in that long. My daughter's shoe size has gone up too that she can no longer wear kids size. Soon we will be the same size.

New Year's Eve

We went out to buy some balloons and party decor. It was just the 4 of us but we just wanted to make it special for the kids. We ended up playing Nintendo Switch (Boys Vs Girls) and that was a lot of fun. Nothing special but there you have it.... we have all the things that mattered to us most. Family, a roof over our heads and food on the table. We are truly blessed.

I wish you all a very wonderful 2021. I pray things will get better for all of us and hopefully we can go back to our normal lives. I pray for covid to go away. 

Happy New Year readers. May God bless us always.