Getting Ready for 30daysoflists September 2017

I need to keep myself busy and occupied for September. Thing are going to get ugly really fast in September. If I didn't prepare myself I might spiral and fall down into a darkest path. Pain can easily consume me. I signed up for September 2017 30 days of lists challenge again this year and this time around I decided to use a notebook. A simple line notebook which I dedicate a page for each list. I need to keep my hand busy with decorating pages, printing stickers, write the lists and even do some doodling and coloring.

I am so ready for September challenge

I just so nice to have something tangible to look at when the project is over by the end of September. I might print out a few photos of myself and paste them in this notebook as a reminder of what I looked like at this point in time.

Mixed Media Effects 🦋

I am currently obsessed with my iPad and Apple Pencil. ✏️ My latest obsession is Digital Art Journaling. I can't believe how easy it is to make a page look like an Art Journal by using the right Digital Papers and the right apps to make a page you are proud of. 

Tools that I am using
iPad Pro 9.7" ( I wanted to upgrade to iPad Pro 10.5" but I think I will wait)
Apple Pencil
GoodNotes app
I use build in paper that comes with GoodNotes app
Digital Kits supply in my collection
Internet connection to search for images 

Kit: Explore Bundle M3 by Dawn Inskip

I saw this Mixed Media Kit at http://the-lilypad.com and I was totally hooked. I have not buy a lot of digital kits this year but for this I make an exception. There are so many things that comes to mind for this kit alone.

1. Digital Art journaling - I made this page with my iPad using these kits except the alpha element which is from Storyteller September 2017 kit.

2. Digital Planner - This year I have totally gone digital with planning. I ditched all of my paper planners for iPlanner from digitallyspeaking.net . I am obsessed with digital planner. I can write and decorate and doodling as much as I like. It's super easy and convenient at the same time.

3. Digital Scrapbooking - I have not make any digitally scrapbooking lately. Having your heart broken again can really makes you fall of creative bandwagon. I think this kit might be the cure that I need. Super inspirational and messy at the same time.

4. Project Life layouts- I can definitely see myself making a few journaling cards with this kit. I am just in love with the color. This might be the thing I need to kick start my Project Life obession again.

5. Digital Cards - I have not make a card in a really long time. I might start again. There are so many cards that I can make with this kit like Birthday Card, Happy Anniversary Card, Friendship card and Welcome to the Club card. 

6. 30 days of lists - I am thinking of joining the ladies from 30daysoflists for September. What better way to start my September other than use a kit that help me get back into creating and journaling. Doing this project digitally can be fun but the same goes for making the list with a notebook and print things out.

It's good to be making layouts and creating again. I really need the inspiration and the boost. Digital Scrapbooking and Journaling is definitely the best world to be involved with.

BE YOU - BE CREATIVE - BE HAPPY 

Love yourself // #thursday3 24.08.2017

I have no idea why this week or even this month moved a little bit slower for me . Time is definitely move differently for different people. Somehow I felt like September will never comes which I know sounds ridiculous.

#thursday3

1. I am currently having trouble focusing on an audiobook. My mind tend to wonder to other things. I have no idea why I am having trouble paying attention to The Lucky One by Mark Edward. I never had this problem before with this author.   

2. Letting go of the life that you know and love is not an easy thing to do. It's scary and it's huge. All I can do is focus on one small task and keep moving forward. 

3. Daily affirmation that I have been repeating to myself this week is I AM STRONGER THAN I THINK- REPEAT AS NEEDED

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
Think about it this way…If you take one picture and write down three facts each week — at the end of the year you’ll have more than 50 photos of yourself and 150 facts about what life has been like. It would make such an epic All About Me book — and most of the work is already done." - rukristin.com 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The longest year ever!

This year has been such a long year for me. I have never felt like the days move slower before. Is it just me or something is up with the universe. Does anyone feel that way too? I wonder.

I felt like the things that happened in January seems like a long time ago. Like a  a distant memory for me, the time when I though everything was okay. And then Bamb! Just like that my whole world collapse and changed instantly. I felt like I have been living a completely different lives in less than seven months timeframe.

Here are some random stuffs that shook my world to the core

- I used to enjoy hiking and camping as an activity that I can do with my loves one. Now that seems like a distant memory. I might sell my hiking and camping equipment in the near future because I don't think I will ever do that activity ever again!

- My father has to move out from our home this month. I no longer has a place that I can call home at my hometown. The house the we grew up in is no longer available to us. I loose the only place where I feel closer to my dead mother.

- My immediate boss decided to retire way before his time. When the day came I felt kinda sad because I like working with him. The way he look at the world is so different and sometimes pretty amazing. I am not sure who my new immediate boss will be like. I am still waiting.

- We as a family finally have the opportunity to make a plan to travel together as a one big happy family. I am so looking forward to our trip later this year

- My colleague and friend is going away to further her studies and will be working under me anymore. I felt sad because I am going to loose someone I could trust as a friend and as a coworker. Hopefully our friendship will remains.

- My whole world is crumbling at the same time and I am doing the best I can to keep it together. I might loose everything I hold dear but I still have to go through it. It has to be done in order for me to move forward. It feels such a long time ago when my family were still together and we were happy. Now everything is falling apart.

- Waiting for the next Apple event seems like forever. So many beautiful things are made in technology world and I so glad that I stick to Apple because of it's simplicity. Oh I also bought my first Macbook Pro ever this year. I feel like I am living a dream. I just love the new keyboard. And now there's a lot of rumours for iPhone 8 and I am so nervous that the price is going to be expensive and I still buy it.

- SEA Game 2017 is happening right now and Malaysia is a host. So some of my team member join to volunteer  for the event and they will not be at the office for more than two weeks

- The General Election rumours has been lingering for awhile now and nothing seems to be happening at the moment

- There seems to be a lot of speculation and rumours about centralisation of IT personnel in the government but somehow there are still no clear direction about our scheme in the near future. Is it happening or not seems to be the question people are asking

- I totally stop doing Project 365 and project life pages since July. I just can't bring myself to document the most horrible thing that has happened to me again. I just have to kept those feelings private at the moment. I really missed doing scrapbook project. At the moment DayOne app and 5 minute journal has become my best friend

- I finally have the budget and the opportunity to install laminated floor in my house. Things seems to look pretty different at the moment.

Wow! I can't believed all of these happened and are happening in 2017. I am hoping and praying that the next few months will be a great month for me. Things might get though in a few weeks but I have to believe that I am strong enough to face it. May Allah help me in my journey.

2017 please be good to me for the rest of the year

Life is like water

I cannot believe that the life that I know and love is over. It's not easy to pick up the pieces and build a new life. Nothing is ever permanent in this world. You need to adapt to whatever life throw at you. Be more like water. Easily adapt to whatever situation without losing yourself.

Now that I have a chance to start all over again, I am not going to waste it. There are so many things I wanted to do that I did not have a chance to do it. Yeah it is scary out there. A lot has changed and competition is fierce. With the birth of internet and social media now there are so many things that you can do to pursue your dream. Now is also the time for me to get to know myself again. I have been someone's wife for so long and it's hard to see myself as me. It is also scary when you think about it. Who am I really? 

My plan for the next few months is to get to know myself again. Discover what it mean to me. What makes me happy, what are the things that I am good at, what makes me unique and special. I discovered 5 minute journal last week and I am so excited to try this method of journaling.  I think this is a good start for me to practice on a daily basis. To appreciate life and not take the little things for granted. I have to retrain my brain and myself to see the amazing thing in my life even though I might not be able to see it right away. I would love to invite positivity into my life.

I am going to live intentionally by ..

1. Do 5 minute journal daily

2. Recite Quran twice daily

3. Exercise more without fail

4. Take a deep breath and be thankful

5. Spend more time creatively like art journal or fauxbonichi

6. Take one photo a day that I am thankful for

7. Pamper myself at least once a month

8. Sort and Organise all of unwanted stuffs in the house. Aim for minimalism

9. Read books for pleasure

10. Learn new skills and discover new tech to help with managing my life

Every time the pain hit me, all I have to do is take a deep breath and repeat to myself that I am going to be okay. Pain is temporary and it will go away. Focus on a big picture and Insya Allah, Allah will help and guide me to the right path. I truly believe that. Life is like water, it will adjust to what ever chances that you make. 

Love yourself // #thursday3 on Friday (10.08.2017)

It has been a long time since the last time I play #thursday3 challenge. I wanted to do this challenge yesterday but somehow that did not happened. So many things suddenly happened and I wanted to scream. Luckily people around me are so supportive and they make me feel like the problem I am facing not that big a deal in a bigger scheme of things. 

I really need this challenge to feel good about myself. I matter . I am unique , I am creative and I have Allah on my side.

HERE ARE  MY SELFIE AND THREE FACTS ABOUT ME THIS WEEK

#thursday3

1. I am currently rereading Getting Things Done by David Allan. My goal this month is to improve my productivity and organizational skill.  

2. Alhamdulillah I have managed to keep myself together even though I almost fall apart again. I need a reminder that what ever happened it's for the best. Maybe this is the push I needed to move forward and finally be where I am suppose to be.

3. I am currently studying Trello and how to make a beautiful dashboard. I really like the visual style of project management on Trello. I hope that this tool can help me manage current project and help me plan future project.

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
Think about it this way…If you take one picture and write down three facts each week — at the end of the year you’ll have more than 50 photos of yourself and 150 facts about what life has been like. It would make such an epic All About Me book — and most of the work is already done." - rukristin.com 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

5 things Digital Planner

I have been into planner since 2015. I was so obsessed with all things planner. I bought so many planners, pens, color pencils, stickers, washi tapes and many more like crazy. As always all things crazy really got out of control in no time. I was also into journals and bullet journals and I can't seem to stop trying to find the planner peace. 

This year I decided to keep things simpler and I only do my planning digitally including writing on my journal. I can be more productive and at the same I can control the paper mess in my home.

What changed? - iPad Pro, Apple Pencil, GoodNotes app and iPlanner from digitallyspeaking.net.



Here are five things why I adopt a digital lifestyle with Digital Planner

1. I have everything in one place - I used to have a home planner, work planner, project planner, journal and they live at different places. Carry all of them on the go is a hassle. Now I only carry my iPad and I have all of my planners in one place.

2. No more mess - I have stop hunting for perfect stickers and I have stop printing stickers. All the decoration stuffs that I need are available on google. Any text, any images I can find and add them to iPlanner. It so easy and convenient. I still can cut and paste stuffs but everything was done digitally. No more physical mess.

3. Unlimited Space - I can have as many planner as I want and as many note papers as I like. There is no limited. I am finally free of no enough space anxiety. Now I can use my planner anywhere and any time without have to worry about running out of space. There's always more space.

4. Adaptable to my needs - I can basically try any method of planning and journaling on my Digital Planner without have to waste money buying and trying different planners. I can adjust or setup my planner as often as I like. Editing, deleting and moving things around is so easy.

5. Work well with others - I usually do my setup and planning on Sunday on my iPlanner. Then I add all of time sensitive tasks on my Google Calendar and all of my to dos on todoist. iPlanner might work like a tradition paper but it lives on my iPad and it is so easy to transfer all my notes and tasks to Google Calendar and Todoist. 

There are so many beautiful tools out there for productivity and planning but I still prefer writing on my iPlanner. It feels good to write things down and it helps a lot with remembering thing.

I think right now the Digital Planning community is growing and so many people are trying out this new way of writing things down.
Here are a few facebook group you can join

- iPlanner Digital Planning
- All Digital Planner
- Digital Planners and Journal Worldwide

I am so excited with the blooming of digital planner in planner community. It's an alternative way to planning and merge the traditional way and a new way of doing things. It's fun, it's cheap and it's a smart way to memory keeping. 

I just hope that electricity,internet, wifi and cloud storage will be available to us for many years to come.... hehehe...

Mom I missed you !!

I promised myself that I don't want to cry. I promised myself that I am going to be strong for my kids. I promised myself that a new adventure awaits. And I promised myself that I am happy.

And then I saw this entry on my DayOne app and it totally broke me. That was the last time I wished my mother "Happy Birthday". It was her 70th birthday. I cried and cried and cried. I missed her so much and I don't know how I am going to face this challenge on my own. I know I can do it but I still need my mother. There's a hole in my heart that has not been filled. No matter how old you get you always need your mother.

In a way I am glad that she is not around to witness her only daughter got hurt again and again and again. She will be devastated. 

Mom, the world right now has become more dangerous than ever. People you trust with your life will turn on you in an instant. It is true that nothing is permanent but that does not make it any easier when you lost it. 



Al Fatihah to  Zaliha binti Hashim. May Allah protect you always.

Getting Rid of things

When you are facing with a life changing event, things can easily get out of control. Some times you get sucked into an emotional vortex which you swear never to be in again. I need something to keep my mind busy and at the same time heal my heart and my soul. I refuse to play the blaming game. I choose to move forward and say goodbye to things or relationship that doesn't work anymore.

I am so thankful I found this video: 5 Things to get rid of for a happy life

"Letting go of a draining relationship. You deserve a relationship that nurture you to become a better person. If you have to force it, leave it, if it doesn't nurture you, leave it, if it is destructive, leave it. Embrace the impermanence of a relationship. And honor that it did serve you at one point in your life but no longer. Help you to move on and pay more tribute to the relationship that's do actually nourish you." - 

These words definitely helps me a lot. I need to focus more attention to a relationship that nourish me, not on a toxic relationship and doesn't work. 

I am also keeping myself busy with planning and organization to keep everything in check and to keep my distant from being too emotional. I need to be strong and fight every battle that comes my way. Suddenly this feels like going to war. I need to prepare my ammunition. I might have lost the battle but I am not losing the war. I have to keep fighting.

I love GTD method and I love Evernote

And I am also in love with ToDoist



Everything happened for a reason. I am excited for the next adventure of my life. This is probably the best thing that ever happened to me, the push that I need to move forward.

🎸 Life Playlist 🎧

 
Words cannot express how much I love this little boy. He is growing up beautifully. He is a boy with lots of love to give and I am so lucky to be at the receiving end. I love him so much. His life might not be as normal as what it should be , I am determine to make his life full of love, fun and happiness. 


Kid is the most resilient creature when it comes to change. It gives strength to know that no matter what happened he is going to be ok.


One of many ways I can share my experience with him is through music. I love music and it has always help me to cope with a lot of life challenges. At the moment I am trying Spotify Premium 30 days for free. At the moment I am listening to this Playlist and I am obsessed with it.

ENJOY!!!

💄 I AM ME💋

I think Dato Vida 💅 got it right. Her positivity is contagious. Take life as it is and go for it. She is brilliance in a way that some people consider crazy. If you look beyond appearance you 👠 will see a confidence woman who doesn't afraid to be who she is and she doesn't apologise for being unique. Life is too short to be anybody else, to be sad, to be upset and to be depressed. Happiness is a choice it's not a destination. Decide to be happy and just be happy.

I AM ME

I AM HAPPY

I AM BEAUTIFUL

I AM CREATIVE

I AM UNIQUE

I AM ADVENTUROUS

I AM A TRAVELER

A WOMAN

I AM A MOTHER

I AM A MEMORY KEEPER

I AM A LEADER

I AM A CEO OF MY LIFE

I INSPIRE

I LOVE LIFE

I HAVE ALLAH ON MY SIDE

 

Thank you Dato' for being an inspiration to all the women out there!