Our Journey

It all started back in 2015, when one of my best friends told me that a friend of her boyfriend's would like to be introduced to me. I didn't take it seriously at that time as I was quite tired of dating games. So, a month passed without any further conversation about it. Until one night, my best friend told me again that this man really wants to be introduced to me and asked for my number. This time, I gave her my permission to forward my contact to him.

It only took 5 minutes for him to reach me after my best friend gave him my contact. "Hi," he texted. It tickled me that he made the move very quickly. I thought this man was really straightforward. Nonetheless, we kept the conversation going all night long – trying to get to know each other – until we both got very sleepy. The next couple of days, we constantly talked to each other until one day he asked if we could meet.

When we first met, the chemistry between us somehow felt very right. I felt so comfortable talking to him, and I think so did he. I could sense that he is a very nice guy. We talked about so many things. Afterwards, he took me home that night and all the way home, I could feel butterflies all over my stomach.

Our relationship somehow progressed very quickly. Everything just felt so right. On 21 November 2015, he finally asked me to be his girlfriend and I said yes. From the beginning of our relationship, he already said to me that he would like to take our relationship seriously. If everything goes well, he would like to get married within 2 years.

Fast forward to 15 September 2018, we finally got married. It wasn't easy at all for us to finally reach this stage. Just like any normal couples out there, we also had our ups and downs. Nevertheless, we always did everything we could to maintain our relationship. 

I couldn't be happier that things finally start to fall into place now. Being married to him is indeed a blessing for me. I feel so lucky to have a husband who is so kind, caring, supportive, and hardworking like him. I truly hope that our marriage can last until death do us apart.

5 Things I Learned After Joining the Quarter Century Club:

1. Life is like a tire, sometimes you're at the top, sometimes you're at the bottom. When you're at the top, stay humble. When you're at the bottom, stay calm and try your best to roll back to the top. Always be prepared to deal with the worst scenario life has in store for you.
2. As you grow up, your circle gets smaller. The friends you used to meet every week will no longer be available all the time. It's not because they don't care about you anymore, it's simply because their priorities have changed. This might get you sad at first, but you'll get used to it. It's a part of growing up.
3. When you finally reach the age of 25, people around you will either be engaged, married or pregnant. Be happy for them and support them in every decision they take. However, don't ever rush yourself into marriage just because of social pressure. If you haven't found "The One", just be patient. The right person will come at the right time.
4. In line with point 3 above, if you have otherwise found "The One", commit yourself to the relationship and let your significant other feel appreciated. It's very important to show your significant other how much you love him/her.
5. Always be grateful. You might get a little bit envious of someone else's achievements sometimes, but you should never forget to be grateful of what you have also achieved in life. However, just feeling grateful is not enough. You should also be more motivated to achieve more and more.

Coldplay: A Head Full of Dreams Tour 2017

So, just like many other Indonesians did, I went to Singapore last month to watch Coldplay's concert. Not much to say about this concert except that it's the best concert experience I've ever had by far! Seriously! The lighting, the colorful balloons, the confetti.. oh everything was just too perfect. Their performance was very powerful and the setlist was just dope. They started the concert with A Head Full of Dreams and ended their performance with Up & Up. I got really emotional when Chris started singing Fix You and Everglow. The energy I felt in the stadium when the band performed songs like Charlie Brown, Yellow and Viva La Vida was also very fantastic. They even did a cover of David Bowie's Heroes. To sum up, this concert was really worth all the money and the effort. If I had another opportunity to watch them live, I would definitely not miss it.

The One Who is Worth Fighting For

As many people said, relationships aren't supposed to be easy. Arguments, tears and disagreements will get involved. It takes a lot of hard work, compromise, commitment and mutual respect for a relationship to work.

Our relationship doesn't always go smoothly. There were times when we drove each other crazy. There were also times where we fought with each other that we thought of giving up. Nevertheless, we somehow always managed to find our way back to each other. Maybe it's our love and commitment that keep us together until today. 

Despite the dark days that we went through, I'm very thankful that we met. Seriously, I can't imagine living my life without him. We're so different in many ways, but it's our differences that make us feel complete. Even if no relationship is easy, I know ours is worth fighting for. 

Kelas Inspirasi: A Very Memorable Experience

Early this year, I made a resolution that I have to get myself involved in voluntary projects just because I feel like I hadn't done something meaningful in my life. A friend of mine then suggested me to join Kelas Inspirasi, a one-day teaching program initiated by Indonesia Mengajar. I was reluctant at first, thinking that I'm not capable of teaching kids. But I registered myself anyway. 

Weeks passed. Suddenly I received an e-mail from the committee stating that I pass the selection for Kelas Inspirasi. I was excited and nervous at the same time. I thought of all the worst scenarios that could happen during the program, but I kept telling myself that everything will be alright.

Those who passed the selection were then required to attend a briefing held by the committee. There, we were divided into groups and got to meet our group members for the first time. My group was assigned to teach at SDN Tanah Tinggi 10 Petang. We had a brief discussion with the school's representatives regarding the school's condition. 

The program was held on May 2, 2016, coinciding with Indonesia National Education Day. We only had around 2 weeks for preparation. It was quite challenging for me to prepare the most effective lesson plan. Thankfully, I had a brief discussion with my senior a few days before the program and she gave me an inspiration for my lesson plan.

The day finally came. It turned out to be one of the best experiences of my life. Although there were a few moments where their behaviours stressed me out, it was also very heartwarming to hear their dreams for the future. Many of them want to become police, while some others want to become astronauts, doctors, and teachers. I will definitely register myself again for another Kelas Inspirasi programs in the future.

Gratitude Post

I'm a very logical person when it comes to making decision, but with you suddenly my logic stops working. I remember my heart beat so loud when I first met you. I was so nervous that we might not be compatible with each other, but you proved me wrong that night. Thanks to our similar taste of music.

You are a very spontaneous person. It is one of many characteristics that I love about you. You even asked me to go together to Sea World only on our second week of knowing each other! We had quite a conversation that day and I remember the happy feeling I had afterwards. I couldn't stop smiling that night.

Your presence in my life was something I did not expect. You might not tick off every criteria I have for my ideal lover, but with you somehow everything feels perfect. You came into my life with your simplicity and offered me nothing but happiness and sincerity. Despite many disagreements and fights we had along the way, I am really grateful that we met.

If you're reading this, I just want to thank you for sticking with me throughout the times. I may be really hard to handle at times, but that's only because I want what's best for us. I sincerely hope that we can keep making each other happy.

Self-Development

Being an adult is hard. You have to go to work every day, manage your own money, and face all those "adult's problems". Some people are afraid of becoming an adult. However, I am happy to have finally reached this point of my life. Why? I can now make my own decisions and decide my career path. Yes, it can be scary and tricky sometimes, but this way I can learn to be responsible of my own life. I consider it as a self-development process.

Being an adult is challenging, but I like challenges.

ex·pec·ta·tion

Expectation is one element that can't be separated from life. We are already used to living with expectations. Sometimes we are expected by society to achieve something. It can be a good thing or a bad thing, depends on how you see it. We can either use it as a motivation to achieve our goals in life or we can choose to be burdened by it. It's a matter of our choice. William Shakespeare once said that expectation is the root of all heartache. In many cases, I couldn't agree more with him. That's why sometimes I'm scared of other people's expectations of me. But once again, it's a matter of our choice. So this time, I'm not going to let it burden me. On the contrary, I'm going to use it to challenge and motivate myself. Wish me luck.

Thank you!

Empat tahun yang lalu, tak pernah terpikirkan oleh saya untuk menjadi seorang mahasiswi hukum.  Saat itu saya terlalu sibuk bermimpi untuk dapat masuk ke sekolah seni yang selalu saya inginkan hingga saya tidak sempat memikirkan untuk berkuliah di tempat lain. Sempat kecewa saat saya harus melepas mimpi saya tersebut, namun akhirnya saya dapat ikhlas merelakan mimpi itu pergi.

Saat ini saya hampir mencapai akhir dari perjalanan saya di Fakultas Hukum Universitas Indonesia (FHUI). Lucu juga kalau dipikir-pikir seberapa cepat waktu berjalan. Walaupun dunia hukum tidak pernah menjadi pilihan saya sebelumnya, kini saya merasa sangat bersyukur telah diberikan kesempatan untuk menjadi seorang mahasiswi hukum. 

Saya masih ingat bagaimana sulitnya saya beradaptasi dengan pelajaran-pelajaran hukum di awal masa perkuliahan saya. Saya yang sebelumnya tidak pernah tertarik dengan dunia hukum harus memaksakan diri untuk dapat mengerti pelajaran-pelajaran saya saat itu. Walaupun berat, saya tetap berusaha untuk menikmati segalanya. Alhamdulillah saya dipertemukan dengan teman-teman yang sangat menyenangkan di FHUI. Kehadiran mereka membuat saya enjoy menjalani perkuliahan saya. Walaupun teman-teman saya memiliki karakter yang berbeda-beda, namun perbedaan karakter itulah yang membuat masing-masing dari mereka unik.

Teman-teman saya adalah orang-orang yang sangat suportif. Mereka akan selalu mendukung satu sama lain. Dari luar mungkin mereka tampak seperti orang-orang yang cuek, namun sebenarnya mereka adalah orang-orang yang sangat perhatian kepada satu sama lain. Soal humor, tidak perlu ditanya lagi. Mereka adalah orang-orang yang telah sukses membuat saya banyak tertawa selama 3,5 tahun ini dengan canda tawanya. Kehadiran mereka benar-benar mewarnai hari-hari saya.

Menulis post ini membuat saya tersadar bahwa tidak lama lagi kami akan segera terpisah satu sama lain. Sedih tentu rasanya. Namun saya tentunya selalu berharap yang terbaik untuk kalian. Saya ingin mengucapkan terima kasih yang sebesar-besarnya untuk kalian karena selalu berada di sisi saya selama 3,5 tahun ini. Saya sadar saya memiliki banyak kekurangan, dan untuk itu saya meminta maaf. Intinya, saya sangat bersyukur dapat dipertemukan dengan orang-orang seperti kalian dan saya akan sangat merindukan kalian.

"A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been,

accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow." -- William Shakespeare

A Heart Full of Love

I remember the first time I watched Les Miserables. I thought the love between Marius and Cosette was beautiful. It is an example of how beautiful love can be. I find it very romantic how Marius could fall in love with Cosette from the very first time he saw her. He didn't even know her name, but he knew exactly that she was the one for him. He would do anything just to be with her.

You know what? I want that.

I want to be Marius (not literally). I want to know how it feels to fall in love with someone at the first sight. I want to fall head-over-heels for someone (and have that someone head-over-heels for me). I want to feel butterflies whenever I see that person. I want to be willing to do anything for that person, because I know he's the one.

The point is, I want to fall in love again, but it has to be with the right person.

Appreciation

People sometimes are too busy thinking about themselves that they don't realize they are hurting people around them. They don't care if there's someone out there who needs their presence more than anything in this world. They don't care if their words may have hurt someone's heart. They don't care that people care about them. No, they just don't care about that. What they really care about is only themselves. They want people to understand them and their problems, yet they don't want to make the effort to understand people around them. That's... unfair.

These kind of people should keep in mind that people don't live to please us. They have their own life, you know? We can't expect people to understand us if we don't try to understand them in return. If you keep hurting them, people will eventually leave you alone. Those people who were once around you will no longer be around. Once they leave you alone, you will realize that you need them. You will realize that you're nothing without them.

Maybe after all it's true what David Nicholls said in one of his novels: "you can live your whole life not realizing that what you're looking for is right in front of you". Those people were already there in front of you. You just don't see them. You're too busy with yourself. So, while they're still around, appreciate them. Appreciate their presence. Tell them how much they mean to you. Show them that you care about them. Because remember, you don't know what you've got until it's gone.

Lesson Learned

Lesson learned: No matter what you do, how good you do it, people will still judge you. So, do whatever you want to do. Never let other people's opinions affect you.

I wish someone would do this for me

I've watched this scene from Love Actually countless time, but it never bores me.