pre-wedding photographer booked!!!!!

we r sooo hapi... or rather maybe im e more excited one... hahaha... u noe how much i love fotos... n when wenhui was shoppin fer her pre-wedding fotographer, i alreadi liked montage studios alot then n now dat we managed to get eng howe to do our pre-wedding shots, im like over e moon la!!!!! =)))

eng howe's style is more of capturin e characters of e couple. not those arty posey kind which i think vin n i not v into la... n i think if we do those pose here n there pics, u all sure burst out laughin one when u c our pics rite... even though i noe we will look superbly gd loh... HAHAHAHA... too bad la, its my blog so i will shamelessly b thick-skinned here hee hee... =Pp

i realised wedding is one huge project wif many activities inter-twined. cos e studio needs to noe e itnery for e dae, which can onli b planned after noein how many pple comin fer e tea ceremony. then itinery aso needs to noe if e make up artist can re-do my hair b4 e church wedding. then e pre-wedding fotographer needs to noe when e studio can complete my gowns to fix e foto shoot date n e weddin band shop aso need to noe e foto shoot date, n so on n so forth... sounds v complicated hor? but oh well, we juz do one thing a time n dun get too bogged up by e ten thousand things ba...

next up is to book our actual dae fotographer!!!!! we haf quite a few in mind but still not sure which one to choose... can u believe it? our original budget was 3.8k fer this but now its onli 2.5k cos of e many things we learnt dat we need to incorporate into our budget... things like church wedding programmes, men's shirt/tie, couple's shoes, etc... there r sooo many costs to a wedding!!!!! n in e past, i tot gettin married was some easy peasy thing... juz book e studio, fotographer, location then ok finish... but no loh... theres sooo much details dat we need to settle!!!

dun wori, vin n me r enjoyin this whole process... even though there r times when we haf disagreements n we need to manage our families n relatives opinions n ideas fer our wedding, we still find joy in all of this. truly e marriage preparation process is a time when e couple wil grow closer n learn to think fer each other more n b of one mind, learnin how to b prepared to think as one in time to come... so hor, i strongly recommend those who r thinkin of gettin married to go fer marriage preparation course first!!!!! our pmc reali helped us understand ourselves n each other more n wat is in it fer us when we wan to come together as one. many pple think its juz some formality dat a couple has to go thro if u r christian. pple think dat everyone noes wat consists of a marriage - juz love n bear wif each other loh!!! but its far more... we need to noe each others strengths n weaknesses n likes n dislikes, n much more... n pmc can help to uncover all these things abt urself n ur partner dat u never knew... n after e pmc, when u truly noe each other n ur own characteristics more n still r prepared to take e next step to marriage, then it will definitely help loads durin e next phase of ur life... =)))

vin is now researchin on honeymoon destinations... yes yes after so many pple haf asked us abt our honeymoon fer e past 2 mths, we r finally startin to think abt it!!! so if u haf any suggestions, do let us noe!!!!! we r thinkin between banyan tree or club med, or if u noe of any wonderful beach resorts, tell us k!!!!! ^_^

thanksgiving!!!!! =)))

didnt take many pics durin this trip which is v unlike me... but then again goin on a trip of this kinda nature is aso v unlike me, thus resultin in e different kinda behaviour... wat abt e nature of this trip dats unlike me is...

1) we went to e village

i've never been to a village n though this is not those kinda village where u need to dig a hole to do ur business, its village enuff dat we live in houses made of wood n its reali like those houses our parents lived in... ok maybe they lived in zinc houses... hmmm... maybe my mum lived in a brick house... but oh well u get e idea!!!!!

ok perhaps a picture paints a thousand words, so lemme find a pic of e houses we stayed in... =Pp

this is e first house. in this house, i slept in a sleepin bag fer my FIRST TIME!!!!!! n boy it was so fun!!!!! but it was v squeezy as e room xiumei n i were in was big enuff onli to place 3 sleepin bags side by side wif a 2cm perimeter between us n e wall n wif a small area fer us to stand when we got into e room... hee...

this is e 2nd house where its much bigger!!!!! but its aso my first time sleepin in e same area as another... hmmm... not too sure how many more... maybe 9 other gals on e open space!!!!! =)))

2) i had to use a squatting toilet fer 4 daes straight!!!!!
maybe u'd think its nothin but i never used a squatting toilet fer 4 daes in a row b4!!!!! it was like at most maybe fer a dae then go back to e hotel room at nite kinda thing... n cos my back is not v strong, it was v tough on me... but thank God no back relapse!!!!! im healed!!!!! =)))))

3) i survived bathing in cold water fer 6 daes in a row!!!!! n i reali mean COLD...
it was supposed to b abt 22 degrees when we went i think... highest in e afternoon of abt 29 degrees but once it got past 5pm, e temperature will drop n e coldest it got was abt 13 degrees at nite or in e early mornin... n we had to bathe in dat kinda cold water!!!!! ok maybe not 13 degrees... but maybe between 15-19 degrees since we bathed at 10pm, not yet e lowest point...

n dats fer me who loves to bathe in e highest temperature available in my house water heater!!!!! my mum used to alwayz complain dat e toilet is like a sauna each time i finish bathing but now i've improved!!!!! this trip helped me to get used to bathin in colder waters... so now i can bathe at 2/3 e max temperature!!!!! =))))) dats gd news fer me cos i keep readin dat cold water is gd fer e skin... but i still came back wif dry skin...

ok la!!! enuff of e strange things dat happened to me... many thanksgivings to come!!!!!

we went there not v prepared cos e team n dates were onli confirmed 2 weeks b4 our mission trip. it was super rushed n we didnt even get to meet as a team b4 we set off... but thank God we alreadi r gd frens n noe each other pretty well alreadi. but still, much more could b done if onli e administration was done beta n we had a clearer picture from e organizers. yet, its ok cos God still did great n wonderful things there!!!

on e first dae when we reached, we felt super lost cos we spoke zero thai. ok maybe vin n xiumei knew a few terms. but its phrases like...
'where is e toilet?'
'hello' - as all of us noe, its sa-wa-dee-kar (for gals)
'i don't understand' - i think xiumei knew this from e start...
so, dun think these 3 phrases can get us anywhere la...

thankfully, pastor prasarn speaks fluent english so he is our best fren there!!! hehehe... but then u c, they r bz preparin fer e mission trip to e village, so when dat happened, pastor, pi tee (pastor's wife) n e youths kick started into action, speakin to each other in thai n havin no time to explain things to us in english, so 4 of us felt quite useless cos we didnt noe how to help em...

interestin thing abt thai pple is dat they will juz do it. they wun come up to u n ask 'jean, can u help me bring this there?' so we had to keep askin em v frequently how else we can help em after we accomplished an item. but i guess sometimes they felt its faster to juz do e stuff than stand there n think how to translate into english, how they need us to help em...

but no worries... after 2 daes, we got e hang of it!!! we learnt to read their actions n juz jump into watever they r doin cos most of e time, our instincts r rite n we'd end up doin e rite thing fer em hahaha... v hard to explain to u though but its reali v fun to live wif a big group of pple whom we both dun understand each other. then it boils down to smiles, smiles, n many more smiles. then maybe a hand action n some laughter after we both realise we duno wat each other is tryin to sae.... kekeke...

we held 2 evangelistic rallies there n spread e gospel to e village, which has never heard e gd news b4... so its reali v exciting!!!!! in spore, most pple haf heard abt Jesus n dat He died fer our sins to save us etc... so its reali amazing dat in 1 nite we can reach out to maybe more than 50 pple n share e gd news wif em!!!!! vin n i shared our testimonies wif e thai n they shared dat they were blessed n touched by it. pastor prasarn said dat its gd dat we went cos usually pple r more interested in e foreigners. i understand dat cos i'd b more interested in foreigners too if they came to my office/church hahaha...

this trip aso helped us to bless pastor prasarn n his family. as it was a small group, we could spend quality time wif pastor prasarn, pi tee n kadya. we aso spent time wif e youths!!! li jie taught oh (a thai gal) engineering stuff fer 2 nites n xm, vin n i helped nu (another thai gal) to summarize 10 newspaper articles n explain to em e meaning of e words so dat they can translate into thai!!!!! hee...

i reali enjoyed our time there. e tracting (where we went to houses in e village to invite em to our rally, n aso where e thai youths toked to em abt how they r n juz spend time wif em), e rallies (where we performed songs n xm danced wif e thai youths n we shared out testimonies), e late nites wif e youths, e outings wif pastor prasarn n rod (a thai guy in Bangkok Bible college attached to Sanphranate church), e trip wif Pastor Prasarn, pi tee n kadya to pi tee's sis' home where we juz sat arnd (thai style is juz relak n sit arnd) n where vin n i toked alot wif pastor n pi tee, n reali could feel more fer em n noe more abt their heart fer e pple...

theres sooo much dat i wana share but abit hard to put into words... hope to show u more pics (from xm's camera) n u can feel wat we felt... e love of God fer all of us, regardless of nationality, color, race etc... He is e same God n is wif us no matter where we r =)))

leave u wif a beautiful pic of pastor prasarn n pi tee ^_^

we r goin to chiangmai!!!!!

n its my first mission trip!!!!! woohoo!!!!!~~~

charis is a church dat has a missions heart, so think more than half e congregation (or maybe those youths n young adults) haf been on a mission trip... n i think most of those haf gone more than once. so i guess to most charisians, its juz another trip loh. but to me, hey its gona b a life-changin experience!!!!! so many wonderful stories n great testimonies haf been told when pple come back n im sure nothin beats experiencin it myself first hand when im there!!!

i used to think, missions is not fer me. to me, i think dat there r pple who r called to go fer missions, n those dat shd juz focus on pple arnd em, in their wkplace or schs... n im not sayin dat its rite or wrong. but now, i think dat if i haf e time n money, well, i shd juz go n c how God is movin in another part of e world!!! n a more rural part of e world to b more precise.

many a time, we r all stuck in our comfortable little home, safe little country, where everyone is reasonably well to do n has everythin dat we need. so we might end up complacent n think we dun need God cos we haf our mini-gods around n sometimes we try to b god of our lives cos we think we can change things wif all those resources dat we haf arnd us.

but in countries not as developed as ours, things will b different n i believe dat is y their hunger fer God can b so great. cos in their lack, God can show himself strong maybe cos their hearts r yielded to Him to allow Him to move through em... well, im so eager to come back wif so much to share!!!!!

do keep us in prayer, Li Jie, Xiumei, Vin n me, as we go there from 13th to 19th. wat we r doin there... hmmm i onli noe dat we will b goin to e village to help in their christmas party ba... not too sure aso cos not much details given by em so we juz goin wif open hearts n expectin anythin n everythin n to b readi to serve God anytime!!! would appreciate if u could stand in agreement wif us fer lives to b transformed, hearts to b changed, n fer protection over all of us!!!

dun miss us!!!~~~ ^_^

updates updates updates =)))

guess dats y we need wedding coordinators... we cant do it alone...

i haf been researchin like crazy since e dae we decided to get married in Jul08. readin up fer many hours per dae n been sleepin real late fer weeks... things went reali well n we managed to book e banquet venue n bridal studio in less than a mth from vin's proposal. but after signin e bridal studio, suddenly i felt super tired n worried.

anxiety attack.

i started to doubt all e research dat i've been doin. actually it was onli fer e bridal studio dat i was super worried abt. cos we didnt take long enuff time to ponder over this. we took abt 3 weeks to choose e banquet venue n less than 2 weeks to decide on e bridal studio. we went to SAFRA country club 3 times b4 decidin on it but on our 2nd visit to Blush Blush, we signed. n i felt we were pushed into signin. so i felt terrible.

i started thinkin dat i got e worst deal ever cos e photography was not nice, they might charge us extra, not many people signed wif em, they don't do make up fer my mum, they cant give vin an additional vest in place of e shiny lapels that they want to offer him... blah blah...

but then i failed to rem dat i love their gowns, it is much cheaper than e other place i was considerin, i no need to pay for dry-cleaning cost, e make up artist is famous, i can keep my wedding gown, i feel more comfortable wif em, etc... =))) thank God fer vin who is this strong pillar of objectivity n not as emotional as me to keep remindin me of these positive things...

u noe when we keep focusin on negativities, it juz goes in a downward spiral n things juz look extremely bleak. but hey, as my frens arnd me keep tellin me, pay alreadi ma so juz trust in em n get e best out of e package!!! make sure i get great service from em n incur no more additional costs!! case closed!!! yeah!!!

joyce was a great help todae too... such a dear... she toked to me fer a few hours on e catering, photography, actual dae plans, n so much more... gave me a great sense of peace dat everythin is in control... knowin dat there is someone whom i can turn to for help, who can give me great advice n support, who noes exactly wat can or cant b done, who can help me plan everythin according to e circumstances dat im in...

God is good... ^_^

WHO IS MY 7777TH READER??? =)))

Bridal Studio booked!!!!! ^_^

praise God dat we r so efficient... we started out hafin alot of doubts as to whether we would b able to haf enuff time fer our wedding preparations n if we shd hold our wedding in Dec 08 or 2009 instead so as to haf enuff time to prepare. mainly cos everyone arnd us tot dat wedding preparations need to b at least a yr n when we announced dat we were thinkin of gettin married in Jul 08 (8 mths from e time vin proposed), everyone's jaws dropped n proclaimed dat its too rushed.

u noe humans r interestin. dats y we haf somethin called - herd mentality. when there is a queue in a food court, everyone assumes dats e nicest stall n become like e north pole attracted to the south. so when pple take more than a year, to almost 2 yrs to prepare for marriage, everyone would assume dat dats e norm. but i guess in all situations, we need to look at e unique circumstances n conditions dat each person is faced wif ba...

this reminds me of a story... (hahaha sounds like moses lim in e sitcom 'under one roof' rite???)
there were 3 monkeys in a cage n in e cage, there was a bunch of bananas hangin from e ceiling. but each time e monkeys reached fer e bananas, they were mildly electrocuted. after some time, they somehow stopped tryin to reach fer e bananas.
1 monkey was removed n another monkey replaced it. this 1 monkey never knew of e history of e electric banana so tried to reach for it. juz b4 he touched e bananas, e other 2 monkeys stopped him. this process went on n one dae e monkey managed to grab e bananas n got a shock of his life. so he became like e other monkeys, scared of e electric bananas.
e process continued... n one dae e electric current was stopped so dat e monkeys could actually get e bananas if they tried. but interestingly, even though e replacement process continued till a dae when all monkeys never touched e bananas b4, they never did wana try.

herd mentality. u will do as e crowd saes. but juz dun go n try. we almost decided to go as e majority saes n not boldly venture into wat we actually reali wish for...

but of cos im not denyin dat we shd not seek e advice of others. so we did go arnd askin everyone if it is actually possible to haf a wedding in 8 mths n i did alot of research online at wedding forums to gauge how it is like to prepare fer a wedding. joyce, our wedding coordinator, convinced us, together wif e help of her husband, francis. e key difference between us n most couples is dat we dont need to spend time on house renovation, dats y 8 mths would b more than enuff. ok! we r gd to go! once we were convinced, we started our engines goin n woohoo!!!! now e 2 major things r completed!!!!! banquet venue to secure e date n bridal studio to secure e gown!!!! ^_^

n all this was done in less than a mth!!!!! sooner than we ever tot was humanly possible, given vin's tight work schedule. fer e past few mths, he has been reali bz at wk n even though todae is his bdae, he is in office since 1 plus wkin... his whole team is back in office todae for a project. n they might juz wk till 8 or maybe even till midnite, depends on how things go... so well, thank God we've got so many things nailed down wif so limited time n resources =)))

we need to stay close to God to hear His voice. in all e decisions dat we r makin, may it b pleasin to Him n b e best dat we can haf. it can b quite scary to juz keep swiping our cards fer 4 digit payments... n entrustin e details of our big dae to sales managers n designers dat we haf never known in our entire life. but yes we trust dat it will all wk out to e gd of those who love Him... do keep us n our team in prayer, dats how u can bless n help us... thanks so much =)))