2013

2013 has come to an end. 

This is a very special year to me because many life changing events happened.

In early 2013, me and my husband, then fiance moved into our first home (officially got the key on our anniversary 19/12/12).  This marks a big step in our relationship, sharing household and also a mortgage :P

In March 2013, I also got married. One would think we had so much time to plan for the wedding (we were engaged for 1 year and 8 months), but truthfully we only started planning 6 months before the wedding day, and to my surprise, it wasn't too bad after all. The wedding day was marvelous, things couldn't have gone better and till this day (after 9 months of marriage) sometimes i still feel surprise that we are married already, and the wedding was long gone.

In the same year, I also graduated. (well i graduated the previous year but my official graduation ceremony was in May 2013). This means more celebrations!!

In the same year, I also stepped into the tough life of internship, working 49 hours a week and studying at the same time for the entire year, i endure lots of hardship and shed lots of tears. But hard work pays off in the end, because at this very same year, I achieved a competent result in my final assessment, and ended the year with a successful pharmacist registration and a pharmacist title!

I don't remember what my new year resolution was for this year, if i even had one. I believe it was somewhere along the line of passing my registration and have a good year of working and married life. Well, looks like i certainly did it.

It is so crazy to think how much my life has changed in one year. I started the year as a student, who graduated, and then bought a house, got married and passed her registration! Crazy i know..and i can't believe it is all over now.

For next year, i am making it easy for myself. The one and only new year resolution is to find a proper full time job that i am happy working with.

Thank you for an amazing year 2013, i hope to continue this exciting journey and expect more good things to come in following years! 

I know 2014 is going to be great if not better because we are starting this new year in Hong Kong and spending January in UK and Europe for our belated honeymoon! The most romantic cities in the world, here we come! Venice Rome Florence and Paris!!!

Excitement

3 days to our trip!
I have been enjoying my time off work, tidying up the house and preparing for our trip.
Can't wait to see everyone in Malaysia again.

This is a much needed trip with the hubby after such a big year for us..
Malaysia - Hong Kong - UK - Europe
Here we come!

First day as a pharmacist!

My very first day as a fully registered pharmacist! :)))

A fresh start to a new chapter of my life!

Spent my night finally sorting old letters and cards... as much as i loved to hold on to those primary school christmas cards.. my ''junk box'' is getting bigger and bigger each year..  it is time to move on from the past and throw them out. I guess memories will just have to retain them itself.  *Although i did keep a few special ones :)*

FINALLY...

I have made it, finally!

One day to results

Tomorrow is the day my results will be revealed. I either become a registered pharmacist tomorrow or fail my internship assessment and have to do another 6 months internship and resit.

Whatever the result is, I hope to remind myself how lucky I am to have what I have.
 If I pass, a big part of my dream has come true, I will then focus on my life and family, keep working hard to achieve better things in my career, it is only the beginning.

If I fail, I wish to remind myself that everything happens for a reason. If I am not competent then I need to change my way of learning and review what I have done this whole year, it is time to reflect and improve.
I shall not be too sad, because I have a loving family, supportive husband, cutest dog in the whole world, and a cat.

Hopefully I won't be sitting in front of my lap top tomorrow night reading this post, crying.

Fingers cross.

December

Excited it is December today!
18 days to our big trip!!
Malaysia - Hong Kong - United Kingdom - Europe

Start packing and counting down!

Facebook stalking

Got an unexpected friend request from an old school friend, ended up facebook stalking for half an hour, found more old school friends that i stopped keeping in touch with on facebook. I was being nosy and trying to see who elses in my year group got married, to my surprise, not many people were married. Instead, many of the couples i know who have been dating for years ended up single.

That made me think of how my life have changed since then. Who would've thought I would end up living here in New Zealand calling this my home, and meeting my amazing husband here.

Everyday i smile just thinking about how lucky i am to have what i have now. Life is full of surprises. I wonder how my life will turn out to be from now on. Who knows, I might end up in another part of the world in another 5 years time. Who knows.. :)

Mid Nov

Now that everything is back to ''normal'', i am slowly learning how to enjoy my study-free life again. I realise i have lost in touch with many friends, and don't really know how to socialise anymore :SSS

Next thing on the list: Plan Europe honeymoon trip!!! :D

Time flies, this year is almost over. 5 weeks to Christmas, 5 weeks to Malaysia :)

Finished intern assessment!

So FINALLY, the biggest day of my life (besides my wedding) the biggest day of my education/career life has come. I sat for my first and hopefully final intern assessment. The nerves was crazy but everyone else going through the same thing that day felt the same way.

One whole year of hard work has finally come to an end. I am still working for another month as an intern until I get my result. Fingers cross I will pass and this is it, end of my studying life and start of my career. Let's not jinx myself, let's keep waiting patiently for another month.

I have decided to do some cleaning up, there were still boxes of old stuff unpacked since we moved in 11 months ago.
I decided to start with my old memory box. I started collecting old cards and letters and little memorable ornaments since young, and this box has grown bigger and bigger through out the years. I have always wanted to clear it out, after all, they are what most would regard as junk. However no matter how many times i attempt to clear it out, i ended up sitting there looking at all the old cards reminiscing old memories for hours. And in the end put them all in the box and store them away.

Today, I made another attempt to go through them but again, it brought back so many sweet memories, childhood friendship, so many ''friends forever'' from various people that i no longer talk to these days, little notes here and there of silly nonsense conversations shared during school hours, old letters exchanged with cousins when we were young.

I even found my old primary report card, and realised i was actually a pretty dumb kid, getting 36 out of 50 in class. haha. These are things i made an effort to bring with me from Malaysia to New Zealand. Somehow it made it's way from my parent's house to me house. I wonder if i will bring it along to my next destination, or maybe someday, i will finally decide to throw them away and let those memories fade. After all, there's only so much junk a person can keep aye. Guess today is not the day for a clear out, maybe next time.

TWO days?!

I lied. I do still freak out before exams. Only that this time it happens a lot later. 2 days to the big day.
I am feeling sick, losing appetite, feeling dizzy and unable to focus.
Sigh, please God let me get through this smoothly.

I have evolved.

I remember sitting in the library by the window next to the heater on a cold winter night, studying hard and being anxious about not getting through third year.
I looked outside the window and saw people walking, relaxing and having a life. I told myself I need to get through this so that I can have a life too someday.
Then, it was all over, I have not just passed the toughest third year but also glided through forth year. Before I realised, it was the end of university life and into the working world.

The past 2 years have flown by just like that. In exactly 10 days time, I will be sitting for the biggest assessment in my life. That day, I will be getting up and head to work as usual, only that it's not at my usual working place but a simulated pharmacy in a hotel bedroom.
Never mind the nerves and anxiety, I know it is something I have to get through to get to my goals. I must say with all these years of experience, I am almost used to the pressure, i no longer freak out just before exams, crying by my desk thinking i am going to fail and lose everything.

I guess this is what working in the real world does to you, it makes you think outside the box. The big picture here is that there is no point getting all crazy over this assessment, everyday is an assessment in my line of work, i deal with patients everyday, i deal with potential life threatening scenarios everyday, theoretically i should be able to deal with the same scenarios too on the 6th of November. If i do muck up and had to be reassessed, i deserve it because i could've killed someone if it was a real life situation.

Having said that, looking at the big picture made me think. I suddenly realise that I am no longer a student, focusing just on passing my papers so i can move on the the next level. I am almost there, i am almost a registered pharmacist that i spent the last 6 years working my ass out to become. It did take me an extra year more than most people, but I am proud to say i tried my best all the way through and I am almost there.

Now that it is almost over, it felt like i was in a long dream all this time, and i am finaly awakening. That makes me think, what is going to happen after this year? I no longer have assessments to aim for passing. After this year, I will finally get what i have always wanted all these years of hardwork, i will have my life back. And then what?

I have to admit, I am no longer the same person I was 6 years ago when i first came to New Zealand. I am now a wife, living with my husband in a home we own. I had a goal to be a pharmacist and I am on my way there to achieve it. How I managed to juggle work and study and even planned a wedding while at university and got married in my first year of working, I don't know. But this is what my life is right now.

It's a mixed feeling, part of me feel happy that i have achieved so much in such a short amount of time. Another part of me felt like i have 'lost' those years of life because i dedicated all my time to achieve my goals. Now that it is almost over, I am actually a little afraid to move on to the next chapter. Things have changed, my life has evolved, and so have I.

On the side note, I am still surprised how the wedding is all over and I am now legally married for almost 7 months. I almost wish that i could slow down time, especially the part when i got married. Just so that i could relive the moment and feel myself walking down the aisle all over again. It all happened too fast, and there were so many things going on in my life at that time it almost 'diluted' the special moment of my wedding. This year is a big big year for me. And I really wish it ends just as well as it started.

A month to go

A month from today, i will be free.

Sigh... the suspense and the never ending workload.

Almost there..

4 weeks to assessment!

Almost the end of journey.. please God let this end well.

Almost the end of internship...

6 weeks to my assessment..
I am excited it's almost coming to an end, but at the same time, i feel terribly unprepared.

Please God.. let this be over in a good way.

Fingers cross...

***Depressed***

Post Birthday and Spring

I turned 26 few on the 31st. Officially past the mid -twenties, feels weird because the first 5 years of my twenties flew by so quickly i didn't realise they are gone until they are.
What surprises me more is that I manage to finish uni, get a job, get a house and get a husband. I feel that my life has just started but also lost half of my most precious twenties.

Anyway just wanna jot that winter is gone, finally! No more gloomy nights, the sky stays bright after work and flowers are blooming, spring time is here!

It also means there's only 2 months until I face the biggest assessment in my life, i have been stressing over this the whole year, i hope it all ends well.. i really do.

Winter nights

Feeling cold, at least this year's winter isn't as wet as the other years.
We are depending on the heat pump every night, the next home we get must be well insulated! Kinda stuck with this one until we pay off mortgage..so yeah :P
Still don't know what is happening next year.. so many uncertainties :S

Cold~

It's that time of the year again, cold gloomy winter nights. This year, my winter is not spent sitting beside the heater in the library. A change after years of uni life.

The best thing about being married? You have a warm hubby to cuddle up with at night.

Honeymoon trip booked!

Malaysia - Hong Kong - China - UK - Europe

Malaysia and Hong Kong wedding dinner in December!!

Monday blues

Correction to previous post. I am actually working 49 hours a week, and have been doing that since December last year. No wonder I am so tired and sick of work.

Although we are married and bought a house, the future is still uncertain. What is going to happen next year? Where do we go? Where do we raise our family?

So many uncertainties at this moment.

First sick day off

First sick day off since I started working.
I used to get sick every winter during exam period. This time, I'm actually not as sick as i was during uni, but it's nice taking a day off work and catch up on my chores and homework.

Been married for almost 3 months now, been working for almost half a year now, graduated, got a house and everything. All i ever wanted in life, I have achieved. Next step, which is the biggest step in my career,  is to get registered. And then it'll be job hunting all over again. Hopefully able to work closer to Frank next time.

So far, I'm working 46 hours a week and juggling homework and house chores. This is just temporary, if i do get through this year, i'll make sure my working hours next year is healthier, get some days off to catch up on house chores and spend time with the hubby, and make sure i keep myself healthy. One thing i did manage to do this year though is to ditch coffee, which was a pain at the first few months as i constantly felt tired and lost, but now that i have cleared out all the caffeine in my system i do feel a lot healthier, my immune system seems stronger too.

One thing i failed half way thorugh the year was to exercise, the plan to walk pinky everyday went down the drain when the weather became cold and wet. Next year perhaps :)

14th May

Tuesday was our engagement 2 yr anniversary, not that it matters anyway since we are now married, but it's nice to celebrate and reminisce the proposal :)

Graduation

Finally graduated with honours!
End of another journey, next one to complete.

Wedding photos!

Just over a year ago Frank and I were going around looking for our perfect wedding venue, picking a good date with the parents, starting our very first wedding planning together.

Now, a whole year's worth of planning has gone by so quickly and the wedding day has been and gone.

I am slower than everyone as usual, it is taking me a little longer but it finally sinks in, the realisation that the wedding is over, all those planning and preparation are over, we are now married! I am a married woman!

I will look back to this in the future and relive this moment again and again. :)

Time to scan through those thousands of wedding photos and post it up, we have kept family and friends waiting long enough :)

Numb

Three things that make being home alone worse:
1. Having a busy day at work and skipping my break
2. Coming home to an empty house with no person around
3. Coming home to an empty house with no person and no dog around

The house didn't actually feel so empty when Pinky was around, even though all she did was sleep in her bed. I had to send her to sister's because she escaped the fence and went onto the road. Until we figure out how she escaped, and until we get the fence properly fixed, I am not letting her come back here and risk getting run over when I am at work. It might be a big cost to get the fence done but this is money I am not saving.

Empty home

I hate to admit this but just when I thought long distance relationship was over, we found ourselves in another one. Am I haunted by long distance or what, but frank got sent up North for work this time.

Coming home to an empty home is depressing.

At least it's only 2 hours away this time, and only 4 days a week.

But nights without the hubby can be quite lonely, that does not make a happy wife :(

Married for one week!

Frank did a speech on our wedding night about why he loves me. However, I still don't understand why he would love me. Whatever he sees in me that made him so in love with me, I hope he still sees it in many years to come. Because at this moment, I am enjoying my newly wedded life, hearing him say he couldn't believe we are married and I am his wife, with the sweetest look on his face. I wanna hear that again and again in the next 10, 20, 30...60 years to come!

Truth is, I can't believe he chose to marry me out of all the other women in the world. I guess I am very very lucky indeed. :)

Getting married SOON

I can't believe how fast time flew by, as always.
For the past 2 months I have been tremendously busy, not with the new house and new job, but with planning final wedding details.

I am getting married in one day.
It has been a journey for us, getting every detail of the wedding right, from planning who to invite down to the steps of our first dance.
Despite the madness of wedding planning, here I am, struggling to keep my eyes open after spending the last hour finalising wedding plans, just so that I can write my final blog post as a single person.

In one day time, I will have a new last name, have a new title and have a new husband.

I wish I could write a long emotional post about getting married but I am physically too tired to do so. Sorry for abandoning my blog for so long, it's hard to find time..

What motivated me to write this post though, is a conversation between him and I two nights ago. Although I am a little embarrassed sharing personal conversations like this on public, but it is something I want to be able to read again in years to come and remember the smile he put on my face.

''Are you a naughty or good girl?''
''I can be anything you want me to be ;-)''
''I want you to be my wife''
*Melts*

Happy New Year 2013!

Pinky officially moved in with us today, we had to build a fence around the house before we could bring her home, what other great day to do that than the first day of 2013!

We went for a walk today and there are many amazing reserves around this area, there's even an off leash dog exercising area, she'll love her daily walks around here!

So, time flew by 2012 especially in the last 2 months, in a glimpse, it's 2013 already!

2012 was definitely an amazing year, so many life changing events have happened, it definitely took both Frank and I to the next level, a brand new phase of our lives.

Let's reminisce what have been achieved in 2012.

I have officially completed my Bachelor of Pharmacy. Official graduation to follow coming May!
I am now a registered intern pharmacist with the Pharmacy Council in New Zealand, have got my annual practising certificate!
Throughout this year, I worked hard and also played hard. This is definitely my most enjoyable year at University, looking back at all those pictures with friends at uni, I know I will miss this.
This year, I did my placements in another town, experiencing pharmacy out of Auckland.
I also went through dissertation, the big final year project that everybody complains about.
Despite my busy academic year, I also managed to slot in wedding planning at the same time, still amazed how things got done all at the same time.
I started and ended my final part time job as a pharmacy assistant, and that being said, I started my first full time job in the same pharmacy!
Frank and I ended our long distance relationship and progressed into living together.
I officially moved out of house.
Bought a house! Our first home!

I am still amazed at how lucky I am that all these good things happened to me, this is by far the best year I've had! Compared to 6 years ago, when I just came to Nz with nothing, being depressed everyday, went through the toughest time of my life with family and academic problems to what I have achieved today.

I'm not trying to boast but I am happy and proud of myself, and extremely grateful to have these good fortune happening to me, I hope this last and good things will keep coming.

When I face down time again in the future, I shall always come back to this post and read through the happy things that I have experienced, to know that as long as I do not give up and keep working hard, good things will eventually come to those who wait, and when they do come, always be grateful.

Thank you amazing 2012, let's make 2013 even better!

New year resolution: Be happy and grateful! Cherish all the good things around me especially the little things that makes my everyday :)