The JoyFoo Life!~

It has been a turbulent week..

Last Sunday, Fil was tested postive..This was followed by Mil and Hubby tested postive just two days after.

Since then, have been running errands to buy lunch/dinner for them almost daily.. Took leave for the week too to take care of them, and for the safety of others, in case i spread it to the colleagues in office.

It has been a week already..however, mil cough has not got better, though her energy level has increased. Dan still have very thick positive lines. However, thank God they seem to have passed the vvv xin ku stage.

Miraculously, i am still negative as of now. Thankful for the constant prayers and the food sent over from friends and family. We are so blessed, grateful!

This one week, has been a roller coaster ride.

Less of physically tired, but more on the mental side.

Staying in isolation has gave me time to think/brood upon things. Too much, actually.

Realised many flaws i have during this periods, and also realised the importance of working.

I used to think that i will be better off staying at home, and working on things of my interest (volunteer work/blogging/exercising/etc). How good will that be, and i can do things on my own pace.

However, during this week, i realised that an idle mind is indeed the devil's workshop. While praying, God gently revealed to me, why, despite my desires, this is not the time/season yet, to stop work and to fully focus on my interests. (I could do it as a side hobby too for now) Here are the 5 reasons why.

1. Need finances (obviously.. haha...)
2. If i don't work, i wouldn't be able to emphatise with Hubby's work stress, and thus, this will be a stressor to him too, as he has to be the sole breadwinner for all of us.
3. Idle mind - tend to overthink
4. May clash with in laws if i am home more often, unlike now, where we have a peaceful relationship
5. Not able to bless families and friends/those in need, which is something i really enjoy doing

Thus, after seeing the above, i feel actually very blessed to be in a job with good colleagues and bosses. Praying for motivation to work even harder starting tomorrow, and for the next 6 months, to achieve my personal goals which i set out to do.

Happy to announce that i have been running for the past 2.5 months consistently (3/4 times a week). Due to the past weeks turn of events, have stopped exercising for 2 weeks.

Going to restart exercising again from tomorrow! :)

Also started on a 3-6 months bible study course, every Wednesday, from 7.30-9.30pm. There are 2 exams in June'22 and Sept'22.

Shall study/work harder for the next 6 months!

Not by strength, nor by might, but by the power of the Holy Spirit.


Jiayou for the next 6months!:)


It's never too old/too late! Keep going! :)

This weekend has been very fruitful and a breakthrough in the number of activies done/day. Think this is the highest record of activities, as usually there are limitations due to limited energy (old already lol)!

Shall share what was done this Saturday and Sunday:

Saturday
1) Jogging in the morning
2) Lunch with Cell Group friends (Jo and Jac), who specially came down to Clementi to meet us (Thank you!)
3) Ice Cream at Burnt Cones
4) Coffee at Olla Specialty Coffee
5) Badminton at Westwood Secondary School with the Westie gang (Trish, Aston, us)
6) Dinner at Macs
7) Movie "Ah Girls Go Army"

Home sweet home!




Sunday
1) Online Church Service
2) Jogging after the rain
3) In laws came!:)

Balance is a key to everything. But all along, i am quite an extreme person. Either play or the way, or work hard all the way. Put in 0%, or if not 120% in every area. Have learnt to be more balance recent years though! :)

Thank God for the motivation to exercise, shall continue to keep fit! Jiayou everyone for next week:) Saw this meaningful quote below, let's try to enjoy our work!

I am back! (Must announce everytime i blog haha)

So how have the week been?

Have you ever expereience this, you are doing something really well, and you share with others. Then, suddenly the thing you are doing well stops.

This happens to me ALL THE TIME.

I have learnt that i have to learn humility. Even just last week, the devotion in school, was about the importance of being humble in God's eyes. How it is important to stay humble at all times. Well, it is human tendency (guilty of that), to forget the roots and become proud, especially when things are smooth sailing. I am one fine example. But over the years, i have been humbled countless times the hard way. So i had this self-revelation (own logic) - until you learn the hard life lesson of humility, then the blessings will not stop.

So how do you keep the blessings non stop? Stay rooted, and depend on Him at all times. Good and bad. I used to be very dependent and prayerful, but once good things starts coming, i feel that it is ME! It is because of my intelligence, my own abilities, that lead to it. And very soon, it all came tumbling down, and i got to restart all over again. Repeat this 100 times in the past 15years.

This cycle happen so many times till i finally recognised that all the blessings are from Him. It's really by His grace and mercy, that we can go through each day, well, and safe.

Let God become your standard. Don't try to make something happen for yourself. Recognize that you can't make anything happen, but you can surrender your life to God, and let Him make things happen. :) And now, i am living a life of surrender. Surrendering my desires, work, family, health, finances, and all to Him. He is a good Father, He knows what's the best for me!

And living this kind of life is better. There are so many things i want and wish for, and want to control - but He knows what are my needs much better than i know myself. Still learning to put aside my ego, pride, and wants, and trusting Him.

Ok now about work! Work till 8.50pm on Thursday, and went out on Friday dinner. KO the whole afternoon on Saturday. Every 15th of the month, we have to close the accounts. So the days/weeks leading to it will be busy. Plus all the adhoc work and projects, i am really thankful for able to handle the stress and workload! First half of the year is super hectic, so need the rest. Sorry friends if not able to meet up as much as you would like!

Thankful for good colleagues in the department too who are helpful and nice. :) We learn from each other's strengths, and grow better!

Dinner with my sec sch/JC Korean friend, who is leaving to New York for post Doc, and our JC good friend, Karthik. It was such a great time of catching up. Enjoyed the chats and the reminiscences of our early days in JC life. How time flies, we have known each other for 17 years, that's like half of our life! Look forward to more catchup, in two years time. :)

Dinner at French Fold Orchard - Palais Renaissance . The ambience is really good! and the Crepes are so delicious. Recommended for meet ups in future! :)

Will be back to blog. Stay tune for more posts!

P.S: Wanted to run today and tomorrow to hit my target for AIA Vitality, but it's raining heavily now! LOL, goes to eat instead haha. bye!

I am back to update on life! So one month has passed, how has it been?

January has been busy at work, as usual. However, thank God for the motivation to exercise, i have managed to exercise more! :) and limit my social media to a minimum.

We started on a few new type of exercises like running/walking/badminton/swimming. After exercising, I always feel so good! (Even if the day is tough)

The endorphins makes the mood better, and somehow, sweating out makes you too tired to brood on things, thus going to bed earlier!

For the longest time, i have told myself that i can't run, only could walk. So this time, when i started running, and realising that i could actually run, it was a big breakthrough in my life.

When i first started running for 30mins, my body was so new to it. My heart beat jumped to 160-180 beats per minute easily.

For AIA Vitality, it requires running at 70% of maximum heart rate for 30mins, in order to qualify for the vouchers. 70% for me is about 132 beats per minute. so 160-180 is really high! Just running a short distance will prompt my heart to pump the blood vigorously. So i did not have to do much, to hit the 70%. It was amusing because Hubby told me, usually he has to sprint all the way to reach 150 beats per minute.

However, after a month of running, my heart rate has gone down to 140-150 beats per minute. (more normal) So now, i have to make an effort to run more, for the heart beat to stay above 132 beats per minute. :) However, it was also an achievement, meaning that the heart is stronger now! :)

As the sole of my old sport shoes are worn out after 5 years of wearing it, I decided to buy a new pair of shoes at an offer. My good friends introduced the ASICS brand of sports shoes, and i got this! :) It's really pretty and I can bounce wearing the shoes due to the Gel, so i am very happy with the purchase!

Bought the same pair of shoes with my mama! :)

Badminton is also a sport we picked up. Booking a court at ActiveSG requires the fastest fingers first. It is always fully booked, especially the Clementi and Jurong East Sport Hall. Started the sport with a few friends living in the west, and wow, we really sweat ALOT from this sport! I could feel my arms becoming toner now. =)

Look at the Badminton racket and shoes i invested with my bonus! :) *Flies around the house because i am too happy with this investment*

The Badminton Racket, with The Bear (Olivia) :)

Badminton Shoes which i never knew we need, until the saleslady told me it's good for cushioning the impact on the knee and legs.

My mother in law asked if i was training to be Olympian. HAHA!

One thing I noticed is that although i have been exercising more, the weight has gone up! instead of going down. In the past, i will focus a lot on the weight, to judge the success of dieting. But now, i try not to look at that, because the body is actually gaining muscle. Right? Yes! :)

Some pictures of exercising!

1st badminton outing. Fell down in the first 5mins and injured the knees, but we continue on, and hit the 1hour mark!

2nd badminton outing! 2hours this time.

Dinner at VOLK with the boss! One of my favourite food :)



The delicious Salmon Bowl and Sake Clams @ Taman Jurong Food Centre - MUST TRY!

It has been a fruitful month, and i pray for divine motivation, to continue this for the rest of the year! :)

Back to work tomorrow. Happy CNY everyone!:) And i just realised today is 2.2.22. What a special date!

Bye!

ok i am back! to update on how the first week of 2022 have been...

Not attempting to scroll FB/Instagram at every free moment i have, have allowed me to enjoy the present, and gave me time to think/pray..

Also had more time to read the bible plans, and when i needed to be updated on news, i would go to straits times/today/mothership to get myself updated.. Ok don't judge me, yes i read mothership! :)

As Mother Theresa says, quoted in the book, titled, Where there is love, there is God..

The fruit of silence is prayer
the fruit of prayer is faith
the fruit of faith is love
the fruit of love is service
the fruit of service is peace

Having the extra mental space to think, has been great! Not wanting to post every thing i am doing on social media, has also encouraged me to live in the present.. and not care so much about what others think/craving for validation. So far, it has been good!

Exercising has been ongoing as well. With the AIA Vitality App that i pay $8/month for + Lumi App, where i can earn free vouchers from Cold Storage, Grab, etc, i am encouaged to move around more! Thank God for the disclipline to move so far, and for the great apps!

Have also decided to sign up for the SOT Alumni Course, from March to June 2022, weekly on Wednesday through zoom, with exam in June. Want to seek Him first in all i do, and i pray for wisdom, to be able to understand what is taught. (Introduction to Protestantism & Evangelicalism) Even when i am typing the title of the course, i was already lost. >< (haha, Not the best at theroies!)

The only thing which has been bothering me, is the chest pain that i am having for about 2 weeks. Today, I finally went to see the doctor. The doctor did the ECG Test, and said the results looks normal. The nagging pain may be due to acid reflux, which is caused by stress. He prescribed me 2 weeks of gastric medicine, and asked me to see him in 2 weeks time, if the chest pain persists.

During the two weeks of in and out of pain, I began to really treasure time on Earth. Being alive and healthy is something we take for granted, the problems we faced usually tend to overshadow the blessings. I pray that i am not too late, in wanting to change my lifestyle to become healthier. Better late than never!

On MC today and rested... praying that the pain will be gone soon so that it's not so uncomfortable!

Being free from FB/IG, has also given me more time to be thankful for the things around me. I am thankful for good and helpful colleagues and bosses, and look forward to the BONUS that is coming soon + CNY!:) The first half of the year is going to be so hectic, praying for good physical and mental health to overcome it! :)

It has been the longest time since i updated anything on the blog. About 1.5 years to be exact! Shall do a quick update here on what happened in 2021!

So, i went for another round of IUI in Dec 2020.. and it was not succcessful. As IUI was too painful and tramautising for me, we decided to try TCM in 2021. In the 2nd round of IUI, it took 3 tries for the doctor to insert in properly, and it bled and i was greatly shaken. Till today, there is no good news yet. *thunderstorm and lightning flashes* LOL

It is indeed sad and disheartening that we have tried different ways to no results. Doctors say that we are fine, (though they did mentioned that we need to be less stress and exercise)

So after trying for kids for a while (many years in fact), i have decided, I am not going to focus on this in Year 2022!

Instead of wondering if i might be pregnant (Every Month), thus not daring to exercise to the fullest, not able to drink tea/watermelon/ice water/sashimi in peace, i have decided to surrender this area, and leave it to God.

This is something i can't control, so i am leaving it to Him. I trust Him 100% that He is a good Father, as He has shown me faithfully in the different areas of my life. (Turning it 180 degrees around from the first time i was saved at 17) There were too many situations where i realised that He knows me even better than i know myself, so i am in good hands, whatever the outcome may be.

It's hard to believe, but I really trust that the baby will come in God's timing. Yes, no doubt there are disappointments, but i trust and know that His timing will be the best timing for us. =') Your will be done God, not mine. :')

On my end, i will do what i can control, which is to exercise and keep myself healthy.

I have gained about 10kg after marriage, due to yummy food and letting go. *heave a big grandma sigh*

Well meaning friends have advised me to do something about it, for my health especially.. and the truth does hurt, i can't agree more!

Having high cholestrol, and feeling pain in the heart at times, breathlessness even, has prompted and woken me up.

In the last few months of 2021, God also showed me gently that i have to really change from a sedentary lifestyle, to leading a more active/self-disciplined lifesytle, for my own good.

LOL i sound like i was such a lazy person above, yes in the area of exercise i was really lacking motivation. But, it did get better in the 2nd late half of 2021! *try to save my reputation*

In the second half of 2021, i managed to clock 56,000 steps for an ActiveSG T shirt that says "Conqueror", because i wanted the T-shirt SOOOO much. :P Also, we clocked 56km in 4 months and got a medal+t shirt+singlet. Every other Mondays, i have also tried to exercise 1 hour.

It's amazing how much motivation i can get from apparals/medals like this. :)



So, i started with a HUGE goal this year, i want to change my life totally, to exercising 3-4times a week!! No longer just for losing weight, but more to improve my health, and to keep a better shape/stronger mind.

I pray hard that He will give me the motivation, energy, and help to change my life around, to become a much fitter person, that i always dream of.

Like what Pastor shared yesterday, many of us, "READY, GET SET", "READY, GET SET", "READY, GET SET", and never GO! We need to really take action and GO!!

I felt like it was totally my situation, because i do plan alot but just no consistent action.

So this time round, i am determined! Onward to a fitter MF. :)

Going to take a health check up at the end of April. From now till then, I shall work hard to execise more! :)

Also, i have decided that i was spending WAY too much time on FB, Instagram, so i am going on a fast in those 2 social media platforms. (I know blogging is also Social media, but it's a start la! ;)

With the time saved from aimless scrolling, i would have more time going back to my first love: blogging and writing.

And this time, it will not be blogging for others,(nobody is reading it since it was dead for a long time) but more for articulating what i feel on the inside, and journaling down life, so that i could look back at how much the tone of the posts have changed, and growth (if any) in years to come. :)
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ONWARD to a fitter 2022! Let's talk about babies again at the end of 2022. :)