Am I the only one who feels like 2013 passed by so swiftly that I am incapable of remembering of any significant events? As I began to type this post, the neurons in my cerebellum are working extra hard to recall some memorable events and some of the I-wish-to-erase-that-part moments.
As my chin rested on my left hand, which was resting on my armchair, my mind began to wander aimlessly. Flashes of memories popped up like daisies in the spring. Am I getting cynical to force myself to reflect and recall what I have done for the past 12 months? Can I blame it on being part of human nature to question myself again and again on a simple matter? Perhaps, I am just going down the rabbit hole.
Albeit seemingly as dubious as it can be, I finally managed to shortlist 13 wonderful things (according to no one but me) that has ever happened to me in the year of 2013.
1. A Trip to Florida
I got to visit the magical kingdom of Disneyworld and the magnficent Wizarding World of Harry Potter during our 2nd Anniversary celebration. The only complaint that I ever have was the road trip to the sunshine state from Virginia. It was already tough to drive 9 hours and we had a 4 month old baby with us.
2. Annakate’s First Word
I think I have reiterated more than enough throughout my blog posts that I am loving the journey of motherhood. Although I must say when I hear the first word from my daughter, it sounded as sweet as honey especially when the first word was “Mama”.
3. A TVB (Hong Kong Dramas) Addict
I know you might not see this as a positive thing to be a TVB addict but TVB dramas keep me sane when I have completed my chores. I am not a fan of American cable TV – I roll my eyes indefinitely each time I see something that goes against my values (This does not apply to Duck Dynasty and Amazing Race). I am in favor of TV dramas that promote traditional family values and good morals. Some of my few favorites of TVB Dramas of 2013 were Always & Ever, Brother’s Keeper, Friendly Fire, and My Bounty Lady. I highly recommend them.
4. Visiting Malaysia
I can go on and on for this topic but I will keep it short. The three main reasons that I love visiting my homeland are FAMILY, FRIENDS and FOOD! No one from Malaysia can deny the fact that Malaysia offers the best food in the world, especially my hometown, Ipoh. It was definitely worth every dollar of my airfares to be able to savor local delicacies, meeting my buddies and relatives, and most of importantly, my family got to meet Annakate for the very first time.
5. Visiting Singapore
I got to spend time with my best buddies and one of my favorite cousins, Veronica, who are working in this small little country. However, there is a love-hate relationship between me and this country. It is undeniable that I am always in awe of the government’s libertarian style of management. I am always in favor of fiscal conservatism. I am also quite envious of the Singaporean’s tax system and healthcare services. Who does not like to be taxed less? Right?
The one and only matter that pisses me off in Singapore is the kiasuness (read: extreme competitiveness) of the society. I do think that this is the result of heavy migration whereby people come and go so quickly that it is tough to beget love within the society.
6. Meeting Other Stay-Home Moms
To be a stay-home mom, I sometimes get the feeling of being lonely and cooped up at home. This is not really the case since I got to meet a few other moms this year. The playdates allowed me and my little girl to socialize like a butterfly!
7. Reading/News/Politics/Economics
I spent a lot of time reading news whether it’s politics or economics or weather reports. It is definitely my father’s genes that I inherited to be madly in love with one of the most “boring” subjects aka politics (with some economics). I don’t have a cable TV, but I would get onto the CSPAN website to watch the American lawmakers arguing and voting on policies that might affect me and my family. The more I read, the more I researched, and the more I discovered that I am evolving into a Constitutionalist small (l) libertarian.
As mentioned in no.5, I strongly advocate fiscal conservatism through limited government and this means I support lower taxes. I also do not believe in government coercion to achieve something. I am capable of making decisions for myself as long as I do not harm someone else or infringe on someone else’s rights.
You can read this entry here if you would like to know about my definition of government. And I care about the poor/homeless, but I just don’t believe in taxes to solve the problem. Churches, private charity organizations and voluntary individual actions solve more problems before the federal government stepped into the picture to institutionalize poverty. Okay, to cut the long story short, I am glad that I discover more liberty learning ideas this year.
8. Annakate’s First Crawl and First Steps
My little one made her first crawl in Singapore when she was 7 months old and she started her first few steps of walking when she was almost 11 months old. Oh boy, the day she became mobile, my nightmare began because we, as parents, are constantly terrorized. Haha!
9. Annakate’s First Birthday
Annakate turned one in September and of course as parents, we were extremely proud to celebrate our first year of parentiservary without any catastrophes. Thank you Jesus for that!
10. Annakate Communicates
By 15 months old, Annakate knew how to identify a few animals by saying “Woof Woof” to refer to a dog, “Eckk Eckk” to a duck, “owwwwwwww” to a cat, “moooooo” to a cow, “akk akk” to a pig, “aaaaaaaakkkkkk” to a sheep and “erhhhhhhhh” to an elephant. Yes, she identifies them through their sounds and not by the actual word of the animal. Isn’t that funny?
However, she also knows a few words such as ball, owl, nanana (banana), pepple (apple), dadda (daddy), mama (mommy or food), nen nen (hokkien word for milk), ssh (fish), phaa (Phone), choo choo (referring to a train), pooh (Winnie the pooh and all teddy bears), and byebye (with a little wave). She can even shake her head to decline our requests each time we try to ask her or feed her something.
That’s my little girl, knowing how to communicate already.
11. MUMS Group at MCC
MUMS – Moms Understanding Moms Group is an excellent discovery to me. I get to meet other moms and learn from each other in growing kids God’s way. These mentor moms are essential to me because they have gone through so much. They are veterans in motherhood and they can guide me as I continuously learn and strive to be a better mom.
12. Stronger Faith
Faith grows stronger as I cry out to Abba Father. No one can take my faith away because I strongly believe that He is my ultimate provider (which He proved it again and again), my comforter, my Heavenly Father who protects me at all times, and most of all, He is my Savior.
13. Stronger Marriage
Mike and I strongly believe that in marriage, it’s about being the right partner. Daily communication which includes sharing of ideas, discontent, heartbreaks, frustrations, jokes, laughter, dreams and visions of the family. It is vital for a couple to be able to talk anything under the sun and not going to bed mad at each other. It is one of the secret ingredients to stay connected and allow the marriage to blossom to its full potential. We are definitely embarking on this lifelong journey together with God’s grace and anointing.
Phew! That is quite a recap of 2013. Kudos to my brains for recollecting all these wonderful things that I achieved or happened in my life. Having said that, many of us sashayed into the new year with several hopes and dreams, and I jumped into the bandwagon with a list of New Year resolutions which I desire to achieve by the end of 2014.
2014 Resolutions:
1. I hope to be a better wife who can support my husband 24/7 in his dreams and visions.
2. I yearn to cover the remaining books in the Bible that I rarely read (The Prophets in OT).
3. I am going to delete the Facebook app on my iPhone on the first week of January.
4. I am going to start my physical workouts and to exercise at least 3 times a week.
5. I am going to limit my sugar and refined carbs intake for a better health.
6. I am going to read more books and reread the Harry Potter series.
7. I must spend more days in Ipoh if I ever visit Malaysia again. Those food are calling out to me.
8. I must maximize the usage of my neurons in order to learn some new skills.
9. I am not going to ride on somebody else’s passion and I do not want to be dry bones. I am going to thirst for more of His presence and live by faith!
10. I must sleep earlier so that I can achieve 8 hours of sleep averagely a day.
Good luck to all of you in this brand new year and crap, I am going to turn 3-0 soon! Dangggg!