Salted Almond Butter Ice Cream

The other day, I came across this blog post. It struck a cord with me because from time to time, hubby and I discuss how our marriage changed since the arrival of Asher.  I'm a very lucky woman because I have the world's best hubby in so many ways. He is a hands on daddy, in love with me and is absolutely supportive in my fitness, health, work, family and food goals.

That does not mean though that we do not struggle from time to time. Like most families, we can fall into a rut if we are not careful. Because of his early morning starts, more often than none, he gets easily tired. For me, I'm a perfectionist in some ways and like to make things "right". With our focus on Asher, it's easy to start the morning with a text message and we may not even have a decent chat till 2 days later!

With tiredness and busyness means we say things we do not mean (or think), we forget appointments and neglected to check in with one another. It comes in with impatience and annoyance. I felt unappreciated, and he felt unheard. It could easily spiral into a downward mess.

I'm writing this to remind myself that I'm very very lucky even though sometimes I don't feel that way. Because counting my blessings makes me realise that the world is not bleak. My husband isn't the world's most unthoughtful person or mean. He is a human and humans can tire and make mistakes. So this is my list to remind myself.

1) He wakes up early every morning so that he can be with us earlier in the day
2) He brushes his teeth in the guest's bathroom so he doesn't wake us up.
3) He never complains with whatever I cook.
4) He plays with Asher every single day. He change his nappies when needed and feed him most dinners.
5) He budgets and make sure our household gets taken care of
6) He says "I love you" daily to me
7) I have been obese, skinny and pregnant and he stood by me
8) He stayed close to me when Granny was seriously ill and passed on.
9) He welcomed my family into our lives and even like them staying with us.
10) He adored my granny and attempted/learned cantonese with her.
11) Also attempted to speak mandarin to my dad
12) Taste and eat every single dish I made and bake AND gave me honest thoughts.
13) Never once did he complained about my gym schedule. He change his work schedule so I can head to the gym to have me time 4 times a week.
14) Totally embraced eating clean.
15) Does the laundry
16) Remembers rubbish and bin collection days
17) Trusts me completely with shopping and budgeting
18) Always on the lookout for cheap flights
19) Appears to know every city and transport system around the world.
20) Cooks me breakfasts occasionally
21) If I forget an ingredient in the midst of baking, he would go out and buy it straight away.
22) Often think about our future
23) Share our love for travelling
24) Endure my occasional need to "get it right!" (and then having to taste countless tarts, ice cream or roasts)
25) He is in love with Asher.
26) Some evenings, make me a cup of chai tea with warmed up almond milk.
27) Want to spend time with us. He doesn't stay long for work functions or meet up with friends for a beer at night.
28) Always keep me updated on his work, what's been bothering him or finances
29) Calms me down when I feel upset or panic.
30) Pray with me and for us.

I'm sure there are more and i'm sure I can add to it as time goes on.

So for my hubby, this salted almond butter ice cream is for you. (Just because I know how much you love ice cream!)

Salted Almond Butter Ice-Cream (serves 2)
2 frozen bananas
2 tablespoons of almond butter
pinch of salt

place everything in a food processor and blitz till it becomes ice cream! Drizzle with your favourite topping.

Extension of Time- Our 5th Wedding Anniversary

Has it been 5 years?

5 years since we said our vows.

5 years since we held our epic 3 weddings across 3 countries in 2 weeks?

I chose to write this post a little later because... I have to pause. To take it in. While we signed our papers on the 24th April, we maintained that we celebrate our anniversary on the 1st May- simply because it's where our traditional ceremony and church wedding took place. Truth be told though, that we just pick the date when we can take time together so it changes every where when we "celebrate" it.

5 years later, we learned a few things. The biggest change this year, is of course the arrival of our son Asher. You could say that between year 4-5 of our marriage, we have to grow quickly. We learned how having a child can strengthen and provide challenges to a marriage. We learned about our weaknesses and vulnerabilities even more. We also learn how to make us a "family".

Time will always be our biggest challenge. You would think me being at home means more time (ah, maybe I should document what I do at home one day in a post!), but in actual fact, it means as a couple we can lead even more separate lives than ever. Hubby works, wife looks after the house and baby- when we come together, we talk about our day and what happened.  However, it is very very challenging to sit and have long conversations about our plans and feelings. When we do sit down in the evening, it would be the night when Asher's teeth will bother him, or he decides that he needs more settling than usual to sleep.

So we have to learn to adapt. We take long walks with Asher in the evening for around 2-3 times a week. Not only do we get to exercise, but we relish in catching up about what we have been thinking about. As a wife, I make a mental note to really listen to what's happening at his work. Yes, I may not be working now, but that does not mean my husband working life isn't important to me. I listened to his concerns and his excitement (even in computer lingo). I told myself to take in the moment and enjoy being with my husband rather than to make mental lists in my head on what to do next.

We decided that on weekends, we will have at least one family lunch outside of the home. It's really lovely to be able to explore cafes and new places to eat. That is one thing hubby and I love doing pre baby and we decided this is one thing that needs to be continued post baby as well. Preparation is everything of course, but thankfully, Asher loves his food and usually can be entertained with his own toys and rusks for 20-30 minutes while we enjoy a meal together.

I also learned about myself. I learned that I want my hubby to love me first. This may sound selfish as of course I want him to love our little boy. But sometimes, I would prefer him to look after me. It's so easy to fall down the trap of having the focus all on Asher, than it is nice when he offered me a back rub or to cook me dinner. It took a while for the both of us to realised that we have to look after each other while we look after Asher.

Which also means my hubby wants me to love him first. It's hard and I do forget, but what happened to "how was your day" when he walked in the door? Instead, I bombard him with what happened to Asher's day. Even if I do that, I try to stop myself and make a note to really be there and listen to him. I started making different sorts of breakfasts and snacks for him so that when he wakes up, everything is done. He just need to grab his lunch and snacks, and heat up his breakfasts. It's funny but men does liked to be looked after in little ways like this. I try to take over some things he usually does so that he can have stress free time with Asher over the weekends.

We set little traditions as a family. Day trips, long car rides, or just simply chilling at home over home made banana berries ice cream. We realised that even after 5 years, it is those small things that we treasure. We have God first, then us, then Asher. It is the HARDEST prioritising thing we have done and still is trying to tweak and do. I suspect this is one of those things that we have to keep a pulse on.

Last year I wrote about spending time together. This year, it extends further than that. This year, it is about how we put each other ahead of being parents. One that we continue to strive and do.

Happy Anniversary my dear hubby- I'm in awe that we have spent the last 5 years together married. Five amazing ups and downs years. 5 years today, we held our traditional wedding ceremony. 5 years ago, we prayed that we will remember this day. We are here now and more to come.

Avocado Banana Bread

Having some bananas that are turning brown (or black should I say) in my pantry, I decided to make a quick and easy banana bread for breakfast. This is more for hubby than for myself as the poor man has been waking up at 6am sometimes 5:30 to get to work early, just so that he can spend more time with his little man in the evening. As such, we found it works best that he has a "heat and go breakfast".

I'm really fortunate in the sense that hubby has always been very supportive of our healthy clean eating habits. A true man, he fell in love with me when I was overweight and continued to love me for who I am. I recall my aunt told me that he is a keeper. On reflection, I'm sure it must be tricky for him to love me through my insecurities about my body. God is fair. When I was young, I wrote a list of everything I want for in a husband and here is he. I can't ask for a better husband really.

At home, he listens to why I choose to eat the way I would like to. He never complains about what I put on the table. He did say however, that he is glad I like my meat. He took to heart about my research on food and now, he voluntarily reduced the amount of rice and noodles till once if not none in the week.

It's only recently that I started baking again. It certainly feels good knowing that hubby gets a healthy breakfast, but also nutritious as well. We are not "big" demonstrators- and I know that he gets my message that I care for him as he toasts a slice of avocado banana bread for breakfast.

Avocado Banana Bread. Serves 12
1 cup of Almond meal
1 tsp bicarb powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp of cinnamon
2 eggs
1 Avocado
1/2 cup of greek yogurt
1 banana mashed
1 tsp of honey
1 tsp of cinnamon
1 tsp of vanilla paste

1 extra banana for topping


Whisk eggs, yogurt, honey, vanilla together. Place almond meal, all powders and cinnamon in a separate bowl. Fold wet to dry, adding in avocado as well. Place sliced banana on top of the bread. Bake in a preheated 180 oven for 40-45 minutes.

Happy Birthday to my darling hubby. I'm so blessed to be able to spend the last 13 years and call you my partner for the past 7.5 years (4.5 of which we are married). And yes, I did make you a dessert for your birthday to have when you are home! 

Panfried Rice Rolls

There is a calm in my heart. A feeling of being contented by the simplicity that our lives have fulfilled over the past few months. I am now in the middle of my 2nd trimester, fast approaching 3rd, and woah has time passed fast.

I woke up one morning and told my hubby that the feeling of being close to him, incubating having a life in me seems almost perfect. I'm not sure why I was chasing so many things at once before anymore. I suppose this is Part 1 of nesting (part 2, I may start cleaning.. don't think I'm there yet!)

I have become a fan of our local libraries. I'm starting to feel better so I'm starting to take over the reins in the kitchen a little more (much to my hubby's relief- really, he should do a guest post one day of the wide eye worried look when he is in charge of dinners). We looked at investing in some 2nd hand items for our little one, and decide what we need new.

I'm reading more. Like heaps more- the way I was when I was a teenager. Except it is filled with parenting and baby books.. oh, and an odd romance here and there. Trying to do what I do not think I will have time to do when baby arrives.

As a couple, we discussed parenting styles, values and changes to our finances. I'm glad that we were well trained in our uni days to live on one income means I'm equipped with some skills on budgeting. So far we have...

- re looked at some of our previous love of mince.
- re look at our mortgage and bank cards
- libraries and more libraries
- shopped around for car, house and car insurance

I'm so proud of my hubby who is really the true bargainer of the family- any aunties should take tips on how smooth and calm he is when bargaining!

While I do not have many cravings, one thing I always go for are my childhood food groups. Yes, eating clean is not exactly the easiest thing to do at the moment but I manage. This was not one of my eating clean days :p I took the idea from Tigerfish though. Who nearly always give me a lightbulb moment on using the most simple kitchen ingredients and transforming them into something else.

Panfried Rice Rolls.

My childhood favourite- steamed usually with a dash of dark sweet sauce and sesame seeds. Not forgetting the chill. This version, means I fried it with some dried shrimps, chinese sausage and heaps of chives. Oh it was so good. So good that I licked my plate. I picked up fresh rice rolls from our local oriental stores.

Panfried Rice Rolls (serves 4-5)
1 packet of rice rolls 400 grams snipped into small bites
1/2 cup of dried shrimps washed
1 tablespoon of garlic
2 chinese sausage sliced
2 chili padi
2 tablespoon of caramel sauce
2 tablespoon of soy
1 tablespoon of hua tiau jiu (chinese cooking wine)
bunch of onion chives chopped roughly
pepper

serve with chill sambal if you have any.

Heat wok or pan really hot. Dry toast the shrimps. Set aside. Heat a tablespoon of oil and fry some garlic and chili. Add chinese sausage. Then toss the rice rolls with the sauces. Simmering for around 2-3 minutes. Add in dried shrimps and chives. Taste, season and serve with sambal chill.

Happy Easter ;) 

Words in a Marriage

Every year around this time, I am reminded of the blessings and challenges of marriage. A quick blink and here we are, on our 3rd year mark. Has it been 3 years since we committed to each other?

In year 1, I learned how to make marriage a choice in our daily lives. In year 2, I learned that we complement each other by using our strengths.

This year?

I learned how powerful words are in a marriage. Words are not just alphabets string together to mean something. It's how we say it and how we use it that matters. Yes, we all had moments when we say things we don't mean- and find it hard to take back. Words can single handily bring a person down or up.

I learned that he stands up stronger when  I say I believe in him. I noticed that he held his head up higher when I complemented him. The reverse is true, he noticed and encouraged me to meet my fitness goals. He  told me that my work is precious and he is so proud of me. He complemented my cooking and polish out my cookie jar.

Belief is such a funny thing. You can't see it but you can feel it. And when we feel it, we can see it in our body language and attitude.

You may think, it's only easy to be positive and uplifting when one is happy. Well, this past 12 months has been challenging. Role changes, family situations, health challenges, moving (more on that later)... it takes all our effort to remain affirmative towards each other. These are the moments that tests a marriage. One minute that we take our eyes off our marriage, the satan strikes.

Because I learned that if we don't believe in each other, then who else will? If we don't build each other up, then who will?

It doesn't mean that we are hypocrites who are not honest and continued to smile through mistakes. It means we acknowledge that ok, this isn't going well but let's not play the blame game and what's our next move. Because we believe it can be done. I am responsible for the decision as much as he does and verse versa. Now, this is hard. It's one of the hardest thing I have done. The blame game is so much easier most days. To say we are a team, no.. we are the team.

My prayer for the next year is that I will be the uplifting and positive wife. God knows how much this is a challenge to me more than to Him. Sometimes, I wonder how can he be so uplifted when I haven't been? But it comes back to filling the gap and knowing that love is wondrous.

To another year ahead. To a lifetime of curveballs.

To my husband of 3 years... Happy 3rd Year Anniversary.. and many more to come.

Quick Fix Egg Tarts

With one piece of puff pastry left in the freezer, I was wondering how can I make use of it. Then Sonia from Nasi Lemak Lover posted her Egg Tart with Puff Pastry and I knew that I have found my answer.

Egg tarts has a special meaning for the two of us. When hubby asked me to be his girl friend, he took me to a lovely quiet spot near a river armed with an egg tart. I was still in university and he just started working. He picked me up after my late classes and told me he was worried that I would be hungry (as I usually am after my classes), hence the egg tart. We were good friends who went for a few dates before that evening and I thought nothing of it. When he did utter the question " I have been thinking, I really enjoy spending time with you and I know you like the time we have together too, so would you be my girlfriend?", I was just slightly surprised.

Two hours of questioning later, I agreed. Most of my friends still give me grieve that I  "tortured" him with my questions in our early stages of dating. While I was initially embarrassed, I was glad we clear up some expectations and thoughts early on, which probably helped us prepare our lives together. If you are wondering, these questions were about his future plans, career pathways, religion and beliefs and seriousness about the relationship. My line of thinking was, I'm not going to waste my time if he isn't serious!

Oh fun times indeed. So while I have not yet master the art of making proper egg tarts yet, I managed to surprise hubby with these little treats when he came home late from work one evening.

Quick Fix Egg Tarts  (makes 8 mini egg tarts)
1 piece of puff pastry cut into 8 pieces
3 eggs
40 grams of sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp of vinegar

Whisk eggs, sugar, vanilla and vinegar. Strain it twice. Place pastry into muffin or tart tin. Pour egg mixture into casing. Bake in a preheated 180C oven for around 25-30 minutes till golden brown.

Filling the Gaps

It seems like yesterday when we became a couple. Then we got engaged, married...and a blink of an eye, it has been two years.

The first year, it was a year of discovery. A steep learning curve where we learned how to live with each other. To communicate, to put us first when making decisions. It was bitter sweet.

The second year though, I'm learning how to relax. I'm slowly realising that God gave us different gifts for a reason. For example, he knows that I become anxious when it comes to household finances, so He sent you to calm me down and take control in that department. Oh, and He knows that I need someone to wake me up in the morning, keep warm when it's winter and wave your magic wand with excel file sheets (and all IT related situations).  Funny enough, you need me to provide you alternative perspectives, organise meals, connect with others and remember things (e.g. birthdays, things,..). 

 We are so different individuals. I like decisions to be made fast. You like to ponder. I'm anxious. You are calm. I grew up in a traditional Cantonese household. You grew up in a family rich in different cultures. I enjoy cooking in the kitchen. You prefer eating instead. I like the produce of the garden. You do the gardening. You literally planned all the electrical and data points of our future home. I prefer to look at the general layout, and how we are going to live there. I love eggplant. You want bittergourd.

And how we fight. Not in a bad way, but because we are different, we clash at times. Interestingly, it's never the big issues that we clash. It's the smaller, minute, day to day stuff. Like what time we are heading out to breakfast. Or whether or not we are heading out to groceries in the morning or afternoon. Those silly stuff that does not matter in the end. But I'm learning.

I'm learning that.. I have gaps. You have gaps. together we fill gaps.

At first these gaps were disturbing. You were quicker than me to accept that. I was perplexed and wondered how can we be so different? I had to resist the urge to impose me on you. 

I went back to our vows. And there it was. Would you believe it? We wrote our vows to complement each other. You said you will be the one to calm me down, to hold me... I said that I will fill you up, work together and encourage you regardless.

And because we fill each other gaps, we vowed to "Accomplish more than we ever could alone."

God Almighty is amazing. He said it in Genesis 2:18. It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.

And he gave me the privilege to do so.

I pray and hope that in the next year. I will have a thankful heart to appreciate and accept these differences.

To my dear husband. Happy 2 Year Anniversary.... and many more to come.

Grilled Beef Sesame Japanese Salad

Are you the type of person who likes making decisions or perhaps prefer to ponder your choices for a while? For me, it depends on the situation and type of problem. Take food for instance, I plan my meals on a weekly basis a and around work schedules. The usual weekly conversation hubby and I have goes something like this:

me: "any meal requests for the week?"
hubby: silence
me: "I need suggestions!
hubby: "erm... beef?"
Me: "ok, how about a beef salad?"
hubby: "ok...." (and probably feeling relieved that I'm not pressuring him to give me more answers)

When it comes to general house issues though..it's the reverse.

hubby: "sooo, what light switches would you like..how about electrical points, do we need 5 in the study?"
me: silence
hubby: "I need you to have a look..."
me: "I didn't know there are actually TYPES of light switches? and yes, 5 is too many in the study..."
hubby: "ok, we go with the white switch and remove 2 electrical points and put in a surge protector board."
me: "ok" (relieved as I have no idea what he was talking about but it makes sense...)

That's why I guess God make sure that I am there to feed hubby, and hubby is there to make sure I have enough electrical points in the house to use...

Speaking of confusion, I'm not sure if the weather knows what it wants lately either. We have been going through a series of winter, summer and autumn weather in one week. It is freezing one day, and super hot the other. It's getting harder to plan meals. Take this salad, I made this while it was below 20C. And then made a soup when it was 35C!

Hubby likes his beef medium rare. I like mine towards medium. We compromised as the rump steak has a side that is thinner than the rest (Which makes it cooked quicker). I sprinkled some peanuts and made a sauce based on sesame dressing from the shops.

Grilled Beef Sesame Japanese Salad (Serve 2)
250 grams rump teak (tenderized or with sea salt sprinkled and left on for 10 mins or so. Rinse and pat dry. This will make the meat tender).
1 tsp olive oil
cracked pepper

3 cups of salad leaves
1 carrot shredded
1 avocado diced and sprinkled with lemon juice

Dressing
3 tablespoon of sesame dressing
2 tablespoon of mirin
1 tsp of soy
1 tsp of sesame seeds

granulated peanuts to serve.

Heat grill pan till very hot. Spread olive oil on beef and some cracked pepper. Sizzle steak on both sides for 3 mins each. Rest steak. Sliced thinly.

Dressing-whisk everything.

Assemble salad but placing carrots on top of salad leaves. Beef. peanuts and dressing on the side.

Chocolate Caramel Brownie Hearts

We never have any luck celebrating Valentine's Day. Perhaps it's the nature of our relationship-that we emphasized on they daily choices rather than a big celebration on one day of the year. Or perhaps I just cannot justify how much flowers costs and think it is much more worthy spending it on something else. In fact, AR bought me a swarovski crystal rose because he said given my practical nature, I would enjoy a rose that never die instead. Besides, he figured that he probably saved more from not buying me roses on Valentine's Day. He was right. A rose from the garden also suffice. In all honesty, to wake up smelling a fresh stalk of rose from our garden that he deliberately woke up earlier to cut was more meaningful than a big bulky bunch of store bought flowers.

I recalled when we first started dating, he gave me a puzzle mat for Valentine's Day. He was traveling then, and called me to tell me that there was a present hiding underneath his bed, and that I have to pulled it out. Not the most romantic because he forgot to clean the dust under his bed!!!! And I bet our housemates was wondering why I was in his room looking underneath his bed. How suspicious that must have looked. In later years, we seem to spend Valentine's Day separately due to different commitments like being overseas at the same time or having family members visiting. 


More recently, we opted to write each other cards and notes to remind ourselves how privileged is that to have one another. Even through arguing the little things like how busy our schedules are, how we manage our money to why we tend not to "listen" to each other-probably due to tiredness. Often, we learned the hard way that, regardless of whatever we said or did,  we do we have goodwill towards each other.  Valentine's Day is about us respecting and loving one another. The cycle that never should end.

 

Sweet Valentine's Day everyone!

Chocolate Caramel Brownie Hearts modified from Taste

80grams of butter (recipe called for 150grams)

150 grams of dark chocolate (I used a mixture of mint chocolate and chocolate with cherry liquor in them)

1/4 cup of caster sugar (recipe called for 

1 1/4 cup of plain flour 

2 eggs

2 tsp of cocoa powder 

220 grams of Cadbury Carmello chocolate blocked (I put it in the fridge for a few hours before chopping them into small pieces) 

Preheat oven 180C. Line a slice tray with baking paper. 

In a sauce pan, melt chocolate and butter. Fold in sugar when the mixture has been combined. Cool for a few minutes. 

Meanwhile, combine flour and cocoa powder together. 

Whisk 2 eggs, Slowly whisk 2 eggs into the sauce pan to chocolate mixture. Then fold in the combine flour/cocoa powder. Fold in carmello chocolate bits. Pour into prepared tray and bake for 15-20 minutes till top is set. 

Cool. Cut using heart shape cutters and dust with cocoa powder. Resist munching on the leftover bits! Caution, despite this recipe saying that it is a brownie, I think it resembles a truffle instead and is quite rich.

Sending my love to Aspiring Bakes #4 Love Is In The Air Series!  The host is Ellena this month, with a theme of "Heart Shape".

Marriage and Gifts

I have been thinking of writing more thoughts about marriage- simply because I think that we experience and learn so much from it on a very day basis, and it will be a waste not to pen it down. Abit of it is humour, and abit of is just pure fun and frustration. Just to add a dash of sweetness and kindness to the mix as well.

Marriage is like a book of good recipes. You want to keep the good ones and learn from the mistakes/challenges. There is no such thing as a bad recipe isn't? There is always something to learn from.

It's funny. This blog has followed through on my journey in my studies all the way to us getting married. It has also followed through quite a few of my birthdays too. Since I was 21 actually. Which make it.... a decent amount of time!

Which brings me to my birthday that happened about a month ago. The day went really sweet. Hubby made me breakfast in bed, brought me a bunch of flowers and we had the most awesome Jap buffet dinner ever.

But he didn't get me a birthday present.

He tried. He really tried very hard.He wanted to get me a car charger massager thing to help with my bad back while driving. Apparently it doesn't deliver to Australia. And while that thought was sweet AND practical, I was actually thankful that he didn't get me a gadget that may not work......

Then he tried looking for a bag, nothing that caught his fancy.(he bought me a beautiful Oroton bag last birthday! and a little clutch a few years back and it was the most successful gifts ever!)

He tried thinking outside of the box, he tried to ask me. But I joked around and said "Tiffany, or anything belonging to the apple range of products" (which I know it is out of our household budget at the moment. given that we are building and wanting to save those shiny new products for our new home). So that was out as well.

He tried to hint at getting a ice cream maker or hair straighter or something to that effect. I said we are only married for 17 months hon, not 17 years! Couldn't you leave appliances out? So that was out of his list too. 

So I became the not so grateful wife who said no to any suggestion.. and ended up with..

no gift. 

Which surprisingly, I was quite ok about. In fact, I think he was more upset that he didn't get me anything. I, on the other hand, didn't put too much emphasis on it because he chose to spend the day with me and he respected me enough to give me what i want..which was...rest. 

But I got really nucky when he suggested using funds from my birthday gift to buy a coffee machine for the household... I was really really angry!

Which means I was fine with no gift, but not ok if the same funds are directed to elsewhere-no matter how practical it is.

My poor confused husband.

And I admit that even I think it looks confusing after re reading this post. But it is the principle isn't it? He did get it in the end and I explained to him by saying...

"How would you feel if I saved up the money to buy you a brand new computer, but you didn't want it so asked me to wait for a while until something interesting/new came up. So instead, I suggested taking the money and using it for a spa retreat. For myself. I will bring home a small bottle of vanilla massage oil for you"

He got it. ;P

No gifts aside. He got me this awesome durian cake. It's not quite the same as the one my parents used to bring back for my grandmother's birthday. But it will do..because it is in PERTH and beggars should not be fussy.

Married for 1 year!

It was exactly 1 year ago that AR and I had a blast celebrating our marriage with our closest friends and family members in Singapore. One year! Where did all the time went? It doesn't seem that long ago that we were dating then we got engaged, then there was the wedding planning and of course, the big days themselves.

I will never forget the moment when our pastor pronounced us husband and wife.  Or the beautiful Perth reception we held for 57 people closest to our hearts. Our two tier wedding cake-one Chocolate Mud and the other Carrot Cake. And why we chose those flavours. Chocolate because we love and Carrot because that is the one cake you ALWAYS buy for me when I am ill. Not forgetting our first dance, when we suddenly went into our own little world and cherish that 3 minutes when we danced together.

Nor can I ever forget our Singapore wedding celebrations. How intimate it was to share the moment with everyone. The joy that our families had as we served tea to our relatives. The emotional church ceremony where we gave thanks to God and to our parents for raising us. The fun we had at night, at our banquet and then partying in the bar till 2am in the morning.

How about the Malaysia leg of the celebrations. The grandness of it, the speeches and oh, not forgetting the warm welcome the family gave to us while we were there. 

So how is married life? friends asked...

In this one year, we learned so much about each other than we did dating. Perhaps like all couples, we thought we prepared well. After all, we attended way more than the required 3 sessions of pre marital counseling. We had countless chats about our direction in life. We spoke about our families, careers, children and of course finance.We prepared for the worse, we came out with scenarios and discussed what we will do if that happened.

Come the day when we call ourselves Husband and Wife, it was more than a name change. Yes, the above helped but the reality was much harder than what we anticipated. We learned that marriage is a choice. a DAILY choice. Where we choose our partners in life instead of consulting with them last.  We learned that it is so easy taking each other for granted just because we have signed on the dotted line- and we have to remind ourselves that we are very blessed to have each other. We learned that forgiveness is necessary and saying sorry is essential.We learned that love is to be shown in so many small ways. And yes, it does accumulate.

We fought, we cried, we laughed.

So we learn how to love.

Married life? Is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. It taught us how to grow up, to never take for granted how marriage is a gift. A gift for life. I enjoy having hubby having his arms around me in the morning just as I am waking up. The lunches that we have on Sunday afternoons. The walks we take. Decisions we made together. Celebrating each day as we have this gift that is worth us fighting for. This whole year, not only did we pull off the wedding celebrations, we planned the most awesome 3 weeks Europe honeymoon, traveled to Melbourne, road trip from Adel to Mel, renovated our home and worked hard.

In one year, we achieved so much-only because we are together with God. It's because we vowed that together we will achieve more. This coming year will be a bigger one. Because we are stronger, because we have the will to make it better.

Happy 1 year Wedding Anniversary AR- and many more to come!