Year of Change

In my family Christmas celebration almost a month ago, the preacher was asking us to count the blessings we had in the past 12 months of 2008. He asked us to close our eyes, counting one by one every single thing that was really mattered for us in that particular year. And I was astonished. Yes, it's true that I began 2008 with some complainings, from being hospitalized because of the dengue fever, to the resignation from my old job (love the job, hate the office!).

And I also tried to find my way through the year, working as a freelancer, trying this job and doing that job, sometimes feeling so insecure about my unclear employment status and my unstable bank account. But!!! To mention about all the blessings I had during that year, I felt guilty only to think that I've been complaining so much!

I have a wonderful family, who sticked with me through thick and thin, an amazing guy who's now also becoming my partner for life, and later, a great job with new people and challenges to know. Sometimes, we are too busy looking at the dark side, without realizing how lucky actually we are.

I ended 2008 with so many beautiful memories. I have a new family (and having my best friend as my sister in law!), a great wedding ceremony (and a nice party afterwards!), a new home (me and my guy were finally moving to an appartment in western Jakarta), a memorable honeymoon (I totally recommend Le Jardin, a very beautiful vila in Seminyak for those who plan to have a honeymoon), and a blasting new year with the whole Limtob family in Singapore. Woohoo!

For me every year is a year of change, but 2008 brought so many changes to my life. Not just giving a checkmark in "Married" box instead the "Single" one, but living the brand new life altogether. Sometimes I still got this weird feeling, when I woke up in the morning to see my guy lying right next to me (without those horrible feeling of, "Shit! What have I done last night???What's my mom going to say??), or how I really care about what's the cheapest brand of detergent. It's totally so un-me! (But true, that I still struggle to wake up early every morning to make tea for him, and go straight to bed after he's gone to work; or that sometimes I just spend all day watching Gossip Girl and forget to wash the piling dishes).

Sometimes, a year brings so many changes in our life, but I do believe that the most important change still comes from our inner self. So..happy 2009 to all of you, be it a healthy, wealthy, and memorable year =)

Gosh

I would never thought that there is an important difference between imported and local flowers, red roses and white lily, wedding cake and champagne,or white, off white, and broken white gown (why on earth there's so many whites anyway?).

And I've never realized that we had to take so much time to choose the color for family's uniforms (and why, again, there has to be uniform after all?), and to arrange all the forms and official documents. Ow, and the never ending questions: who's going to take the ring to the aisle, what's the theme of your wedding, and how many invitations you would like to print?

And, it's going tougher when the guy you think you've known so well, started to act quite annoying: What if we add about 100 people to our guest list? (Yea, as if we still have lots of savings in our bank account!!!) Can I change the color of my suit? (yep, after I bought a songket which has perfectly matched the previous color he chose). OR, how bout this type of conversation:

Him: I don't like the design of our invitation card
Me: Then, how's the one you like?
Him: Well...it's not quite like that...I have it in my head, but somehow I can't describe it...
Me: So draw it
Him: I can't draw
Me: Just try it
Him: ...
Me: So?
Him: Let's use the one we had..

(BUT, this conversation had been repeated on and on again, say, like every single day!!!!)

I would never have thought that it needs so much effort, patience, and compromise, to prepare for something, that at the end, only means one thing: my commitment to love him for every single day of my life. (But as everybody says, this is only the beginning...so hell yeah, i will enjoy it till the very big day arrive!!)

Here We Go Again...

Kayaknya belum setahun musim kawin yang terakhir gue alamin lewat, tiba-tiba musim yang sama udah mencegat gue di depan mata..

Dimulai dari satu demi satu teman-teman main gue jaman smp-smu yang mengakhiri masa lajang mereka... (and that makes me the last one who's still un-married!!!)..trus..teman-teman kuliah..baik itu satu angkatan sama gue, atau angkatan di atas gue, atau bahkan angkatan di bawah gue...(see? it is not related with age at all!!!).

Hmm..dan gue mulai parno karena dalam 1 minggu ini, topik "undangan, pernikahan, pesta kawin, dan sejenisnya" menjadi sesuatu yang luar biasa jamak buat gue..dimulai dari salah satu teman gue sejak sd, yang minta gue supaya jadi "penyambut pengantin" --whatever that means-- di pesta pernikahannya minggu depan. Oke, gue pikir, why not? lalu, keriangan ditambah dengan persiapan pernikahan salah satu sahabat terdekat gue yang waktunya kurang dari sebulan lagi...Ngeliat semua pernak-pernik persiapannya, belum lagi ditambah segudang masalah yang sempat dihadapi, gue jadi ikut ketar-ketir mengikuti perjalanannya menghadapi hari H (but I know you could make it,honey..my prayer will always be with you...)

Belum, belum selesai kok...tiba-tiba gue mendapat message di Friendster gue, dari salah seorang mantan pacar jaman SMU..yang ngabarin kalau...yup, dia bakal menikah bulan depan..dan minta dengan sangat supaya gue nyempetin dateng, karena pestanya sendiri bakal berlangsung di hari non-weekend...hmm..oke, i'll try, gitu janji gue sama dia..dan emang bener, gue pengen banget dateng karena despite what we've been through, we've become great friends..

Hmm..baru narik nafas lega sebentar nih, beluuummm nyampe 1 minggu, tiba-tiba kemarin gue nerima telepon dari salah satu teman lama yang juga seorang wartawan...mengabari kalau minggu ini juga, dia bakal menikah...oh nooooo!!!!

puncaknya adalah tadi, beberapa saat sebelum gue menulis postingan ini, seorang teman yang baru menyelesaikan S2-nya di Inggris ikut-ikutan mengirim message di friendster...buat apa lagi kalau bukan menanyakan alamat lengkap gue untuk mengirim undangannya?

Phewww....

Dari dulu, gue bukan termasuk cewek yang senang berandai-andai tentang "my perfect wedding day"...apalagi berandai-andai tentang kehidupan setelah menikah..dan meskipun kalau ditanya setiap orang "kapan nyusul?", gue bisa menjawab,"doain aja, secepatnya.." tapi ups! ternyata kenyataannya, gue belum sesiap itu...jangan salah lhooo...i'm truly happy with all my friends' happiness..i just wish that someday, one day, i could take such a brave decision like them...=)

My Best Friend's Wedding

I still remember..the good old days when we've become friends..
Two giggling girls in blue and white uniforms..
Sitting at the back of the class..exchanging letters and song lyrics..
Chatting in the phone until our parents got mad (although we've just met a few hours earlier at school!)..

And girl, how we're struggling together..Trying to be part of the high school frenziness..Getting our hearts broken and mending it again..Freaking out everytime the report card got out..

College days were a lot harder..And although we've made many new friends..we're still keeping it up with each other..Me, with my complicated relationships..and you, with your one and only love..

And sometimes, I miss those great days..When we're talking and talking about life and everything..Not about jobs, money or the future, but basically about anything that can make us feel comfortable..we're not alone, that's the most important thing.

But here I am, watching you in your beautiful kebaya, with your guy by your side (yup, still the same partner!), feeling very happy for you..And it's okay, if we have to talk about marriage..and jobs..and future..as long as we're still good friends, being there for each other in thick and thin..I can deal with that...=)

The Invitations

Masih jelas dalam ingatan, sekitar 8 tahun yang lalu, banyak banget undangan sweet seventeen yang gue terima. Kadang bertempat di hotel berbintang, kadang di cafe yang lagi trend di Bandung, atau di rumah orang yang berulang tahun..

Kadang dalam satu malam, ada dua pesta yang digelar bersamaan, dan akhirnya malam minggu pun dihabiskan dengan tur dari satu pesta ke pesta lain. Membandingkan MC nya, makanannya, band-nya, dan tamu" nya..

Dan sekarang, undangan-undangan itu kembali berdatangan..Bukan sweet seventeen tentu, tapi undangan pernikahan. Kalau lagi bertemu dengan teman-teman lama pun, pembicaraan biasanya berkisar antara kapan si ini nikah, di mana tempat dengan harga murah, lebih baik makanan hotel atau pesan catering, perlu pakai wedding organizer atau tidak, dekorasi dan undangan pesan ke mana...

Dan gue hanya bisa berpikir, sambil membuka undangan-undangan berbentuk bagus itu... Does time really fly so fast..Or is it just me who do not want to fly with it?

Congrats Bro! =)

besok kaka gue married...
bayangin, kaka gue, yang selama 23 tahun ini udah jadi tempat gue curhat, ngobrol, temen becanda, minta saran seputar karir dan percintaan (heheheh), tempat ngadu (biarpun sering nggak diwaro), partner berantem, dan bahkan temen tidur bareng sampe gue masuk sd...

pas gue nanya, "lo nervous ga?"
dengan coolnya dia jawab,"engga.emang harus?"
dan gue jadi bingung sendiri...
pernikahan itu menurut gue adalah satu peristiwa besar, yang mustinya, hanya terjadi sekali dalam seumur hidup kita...
dan menurut gue wajar aja kalo seseorang yang mau masuk ke dunia penuh gambling ini, ngerasa nervous lebih" satu hari sebelumnya...
tapi ternyata kaka gue yang emang cuek itu tetep aja nyantai dan seperti nggak terpengaruh sama sekali (kecuali kalo dia emang jago akting tanpa sepengetahuan gue)

Ngomong" tentang pernikahan...
emang nggak ada yang bisa kita yakinin 100% dalem hidup...termasuk juga soal pasangan hidup kita...
jadi kata gue, kalo emang udah ketemu yang pas...yaaa....nikah aja..
lho?kok jadi ngaco?
maksud gue, jangan nyari yang terlalu perfect...
karena emang perfect love adalah loving an unpercect person perfectly...
hmmm...mudah"an nggak jadi bingung...