The Beautiful World

Going abroad is every one's dream, who doesn't want to have new experience at new place, new country, new environment, also new language. Alhamdulillah, With Allah's Ridho, I can feel it now. Don't ask what I am feeling now. Of course happy, excited, and all extra ordinary feelings I have :)  Many opportunities have been waiting to be explored and  learned. It becomes more happy after we welcome our beautiful baby boy Attar Feld Zam. Our life (my husband and me) are changing more fun and happier every day. What a blessed life we have, Alhamdulillah. 

Attar Feld Zam

After 3 months we got married. We needed to have long distance marriage because my husband had to came back to Germany to finish his PhD studies. But I followed him to come to Germany 3 months later.

Jakarta, March 14th, 2010

Singapore, March 2010

I had spent for 3 Months enjoyed the beautiful of Germany also view days in France and Prague. For me Germany is lovely and high tech country. They respect their history, it can be looked from the character of  their buildings. Mostly they still keep the original historical exterior but modern interior inside the building. France and Prague are also beautiful countries, with a great Eiffel and unique buildings around Prague city. View days were not enough to explore their beauty. After 1,5 months I was in Germany I knew that I was pregnant and backed to Indonesia when my pregnancy was 3 months. What an exciting feeling, I could  "brought" a grand child of our parents as their gift. So I could say Attar is made in Germany hehehe :D

Berlin, June 2010

Munchen, July 2010

France, July 2010

Prague, July 2010

Prague, July 2010

Before I came back to Indonesia, my husband got a position as a postdoctoral researcher in Waterloo University, Canada. Canada is one of my husband's dream country. I felt so happy for him. I spent 2 months in Indonesia without my husband which was my second three semester of my pregnancy started. He finished his thesis and came back to Indonesia soon on November 2010. Alhamdulillah,  we could spend holiday for 3 months with our families before we went to Canada. While I was still continuing my work as a teacher in my previous school. We went to Canada, after made sure that I could deliver my baby there without cost because there was insurance would support me. We know that delivering baby abroad is very expensive. So I went to 3 different doctors in 3 different countries every 3 months :)

Kitchener, April 2011

Spending a year in Canada was incredible, we were so happy because we have many good friends and activities, not only for my husband with his work but also for me and little Attar. Yes, Early Years Center and Community Center are our favorite place. What an ideal place to go, stimulating little baby with many activities and meet with a lot of new friends from all around the world. These places are school for us and very inspiring, I hope someday I can apply all the knowledge I have in my back home.

Niagara Falls, December 2011

Toronto at night, November 2011

Early Years Center in Kitchener, 2011

Victoria Hills Community center, 2011

Now We are in Ireland, new country, new people, new environment, and new English accent hehe. Ireland is my dream country when I was Junior high school, at that time I was one of Boyzone and Westlife fans, the first country that I wanted to visit is Ireland. Alhamdulillah we are here and feel happy living in Galway. It's almost same in Canada we get many opportunities to learn as well. Not only for me who can go to some interested courses  but also for little Attar. He is toddler now, he needs to be busy, active, and creative. Bringing him to the library, parents n Toddler's  group, or play date  to socialize with other kids are important for his development. Our Ultimate destination is going Hajj, aamiin Allahuma aamiin. May Allah invite us to do pilgrimage to Mecca.
I feel soo grateful to Allah for all His blessing in our life.
Keep your dreams alive!! We never know when Allah will make our dreams come true... 

Ireland, 2012

Ireland, 2012

Dublin, June 2012

Ikhtiar dan Tawakal

I found this video and its really inspiring for me, delivered by Aa Gym. I more realize that our effort is the main and the result is in Allah's hand. Saving our money, make a financial plan for our home budgeting, Insurance, and all the effort that we try to make our life better is ours. As a human we have to try as good as we can. We believe that having a good niat and iktiar will be rewarded by Allah. He will decide and give the best for us. 

Attar words list 17M

So excited to see Attar develops many words in his age. I don't want to lose this moment. I do really want to record words that he can say :) its mixed English and Indonesia, because English is automatically as the atmosphere here especially when we attend toddler activities and interact with our friends so he is exposed with much English and Bahasa Indonesia is what he listens from his parents. We try to apply OPOL (One Parent One Language) at home but sometimes we break the rule hehehe "inconsistent" but Alhamdulillah Attar still can catch the words.He got the words not only from us but from the educational VCD as well like Baby Einstein and Barney, it helps him learning many words. Happy Learning Attar!! :) (Big Smile of your mom)

Attar 17M 1W

1. Mamam (eat)
2. Nenen (nursing)
3. Ama (mommy) 
4. Da-dah (finish)
5. Bye-bye (good bye plus wave hand)
6. Ayah (daddy)
7. Atta (Attar)
8. Allah (with Shalat movement)
9. Am.. (Aamiin)
10. Ann (Anin)
11. Appe (Apple) 
12. Boo (Ball)
13. Popo (cute name for Ayah)
14. bobo' (sleep)
15. Ais (Eyes)
16. Hat (head)
17. Tooo (Toes) 
18. Doo (Dog)
19. Daaa (duck) 
20. moo moo (cow)
21. ta ta ta (quack-quack) 
22. oink oink (pig)
23. gaba gaba (Turkey bird)
24. ba ba ba (Sheep)
25. Bird
26. Dede' (little kid)
27. Bebe (baby)
28. Buu (Book)
29. Hoo (Haloo)
30. Uti titi (grandma)
31. Atuu (akung)
32. Nene (nenek)
33. Heee (Horeee)
34. Aff (TV)
35. mmuaacch 
36. Baby bop (Barney's character)
37. Ciluk baa
38. Joe (His friend's name)
39. bun (bunda)
40. Ana 
41. sss (fish)
42. baa (Bug) 
43. sss (shoes)
44. peppa pig (cartoon character)
45. buu (blue)
46. taa (star)
47. miaw miaw (cat)
48. mo  (Monkey)
49. no mo mo (No more monkey jumping on the bed)
50. not not not (nod, nod your head)
51. tate (tante)
52. Kho, Dho, Tho, Dzo, Nun, Aaa (Alif Ba Ta song)
53. am (om/uncle)
54. a o u (I love you)
55. De (Bude/aunt)
56. apa (what in Bahasa)
57. Di di di (dirty)
58. pi pi (clip nail)
59. foo (Fox)
60. pee (Pear)

His favorite is following the movement of nursery rhymes like the wheel on the bus, if you're happy, twinkle little star, 2 little birds, itsy bitsy, 5 little monkey, head to toes, rain rain go away, Bingo, etc. He likes to build cups to the highest level, putting something to its place, imitate me sweep/mop the floor, "read" a book, talking at the phone, say bye-bye and wave hand, brush teeth, comb his hair, following the rhythm or some words of the song (singing). He also likes to speak in his language that we don't understand, I call it his own personal language only him can understand the words. 

Always pray for you,son... hope you will grow as a shaleh, healthy, happy, smart boy :) Insha Allah...

How to decorate large wall

Since we have our own house  (we still rent it, actually hehe) I become more curious about home decorating. When we were in Canada, we didn't bought many things, mostly our furnitures were given by our helpful friends. So lucky we are, landing in new land and got many helps from our friends around us. At that time I was trying to make our house looked good and comfortable with the furnitures we got. We had very simple apartment, but we were so happy could live in that apartement. Many beautiful memories were made there (honestly I miss Canada a lot) T_T.  This is our home's picture in Canada.

After a year we were in Canada, my husband get a position in NUI Galway, Ireland. Moving to one country to another country is not easy, Alhamdulillah we had Indonesian friend who met in FB and gave us information about the apartment that available at her apartment's buliding. We are so lucky because we get the apartment full of furnitures in every room although smaller space than in Canada. For staying temporary, It's Ok to have the second furniture that land lord has prepared for us than to buy brand new furniture which cost a lot of money. The challenge is I need to be creative to add the accent such as add frame photos in our large wall behind the sofa, table cloth, cushion, etc. I am quite satisfied with the result :)

I got this video from you tube when I searched some ideas to decorate my wall.. hopeful Its useful for you all too..

Organized Home

I am always inspired with the organized home concept. How to make the small space become neat and beautiful by putting every thing properly and effectively. Now days not every one can have a big and large house, So it doesn't matter how big our house, as long as we can be creative with small space. Our house will become cool, organized, functional and pretty ;) having a clean house also make us to have clean and clear mind so we can be more productive.

To maintain the organized system at our house, doing clean up a little bit every day will save our time spending entire our time in weekend cleaning and organized. 30 - 45 minutes per day is enough.

Nikmat yang sering dilupakan

Diawali pagi hari kemarin, bermain kuda-kudaan bersama Attar, ntah dari mana asalnya, pinggang ini terkilir. Masha Allah pinggang terkilir itu sakitnya sungguh tidak nyaman. 2 hari ini tidak bisa banyak bergerak hanya duduk atau tiduran karena jika salah bergerak sakitnya luar biasa. 

Kejadian ini seperti teguran, mungkin selama ini waktu yang saya gunakan kurang bermanfaat. Sesungguhnya nikmat yang sering terlupakan salah satunya adalah kesehatan. Alhamdulillah saya masih ditegur Allah untuk memperbaiki diri ke depannya. Saya menemukan Artikel yang bagus ini, semoga kita semua bisa mengambil Ibroh/hikmah sebelum semuanya terlambat. Sehingga bisa menggunakan umur dan kesehatan dengan melakukan amal yang diridhoi Allah dan terus memberbaiki kualitas amal baik kita, Amiiiin... Mohon Maaf Lahir dan Batin ^_^

Ibnu 'Abbas RA. berkata bahwa Rasulullah SAW. bersabda, "Ada 2 (dua) macam nikmat yang banyak dilupakan manusia, yaitu nikmat kesehatan dan kesempatan (umur)." (HR. Bukhari)

Allah SWT. telah menganugerahkan kenikmatan dalam berbagai aspek kehidupan. Nikmat Allah teramat luas serta tak terhingga. Manusia manapun tidak akan pernah bisa menghitung berapa banyak nikmat yang telah Allah anugerahkan. Kebanyakan manusia malah sangat mengingkari nikmat Allah, bukannya bersyukur. Sebagaimana Allah tekankan dalam firman-Nya,

وَآتَاكُمْ مِنْ كُلِّ مَا سَأَلْتُمُوهُ ۚ وَإِنْ تَعُدُّوا نِعْمَتَ اللَّهِ لَا تُحْصُوهَا ۗ إِنَّ الْإِنْسَانَ لَظَلُومٌ كَفَّارٌ

"Dan Dia telah memberikan kepadamu segala apa yang kamu mohonkan kepadanya. Dan jika kamu menghitung nikmat Allah, tidaklah dapat kamu menghinggakannya. Sesungguhnya manusia itu sangat zalim dan sangat mengingkari nikmat Allah." (QS. Ibrahim : 34)

Di antara berbagai kenikmatan itu, ada kenikmatan utama yang justru paling sering dilupakan manusia, yaitu nikmat kesehatan dan kesempatan (umur), seperti yang telah diperingatkan oleh Rasulullah SAW. dalam hadis di atas. Kita seharusnya sadar, bahwa kesehatan merupakan modal dasar dan nikmat yang tak ternilai harganya. Bayangkan, seandainya kita bergelimang dengan harta, kemewahan, kedudukan, keluarga selebritis, tetapi badan sakit-sakitan, semua itu menjadi tidak bermakna. Begitu juga kalau jatah umur kita habis, semua itu menjadi tidak berguna. Kita wajib bersyukur atas semua nikmat tersebut. Allah SWT berjanji, "Kalau kamu bersyukur, pasti Aku akan menambah nikmat-Ku."

Wujud syukur yang malah menjadi salah kaprah adalah pesta ulang tahun. Oleh karena itu, Rasulullah SAW. dan para sahabat tidak pernah mencontohkannya. Umur itu bukan untuk diperingati setiap tahun dengan meniup lilin dan ucapan happy birthday to you, dilanjutkan pesta pora. Apabila hidup ini hanya diisi dengan hura-hura, hingga meninggalkan shalat serta amal ibadah lainnya, melanggar aturan Allah dan Rasul-Nya, ketika malaikat maut menjemput, kita akan merasakan penyesalan abadi.

Allah SWT. memperingatkan dalam Surat Al Mu'minun ayat 99-100, ada orang yang sangat menyesal saat malaikat maut menjemput, hingga orang itu berteriak, "Rabbir-ji'uun. La'alli a'malu shalihan fiima taraktu...." (Ya Tuhanku, kembalikan ruhku ke dunia, agar bisa berbuat amal saleh....) Nau'dzubillah mindzalik !

Allah SWT. menganugerahkan umur dan kesehatan kepada kita. Artinya, Allah SWT. memberi peluang dan kesempatan kepada kita untuk beramal saleh, peluang untuk bertobat, bukan untuk pesta pora, sekadar mengejar kesenangan hidup yang ujung-ujungnya kemudaratan dan kemaksiatan. Abu Shafwan Abdullah bin Busrin Al Aslamiy RA. berkata bahwa Rasulullah SAW. mengingatkan umatnya, "Sebaik-baik manusia adalah yang panjang umurnya serta baik pula amal perbuatannya." (HR. At Tirmidzi)

Istilah umur berasal dari kata dasar omara yang bermakna pula makmur atau subur. Jadi yang dimaksud umur adalah usia yang subur dengan amal saleh. Boleh jadi orang berusia 60 tahun atau 70 tahun, tetapi umurnya masih balita atau malah nol tahun karena jauh dari tuntunan agama.

Umur dan hidup manusia itu diatur dan ditentukan Allah. Manusia tidak mampu mempertahankan fisiknya walau dipelihara dan dimanja obat-obatan, suplemen, vitamin, olah raga, dan sebagainya, akhirnya lemah juga. Surat Al-Hajj ayat 5, intinya mengingatkan kita;

1. Manusia berasal dari saripati tanah, tetes mani, kemudian menjadi segumpal darah. Dari segumpal daging yang sempurna kejadiannya dan yang tidak sempurna, menjadi tulang kemudian dibalut dengan daging, Allah tetapkan dalam rahim sampai waktu yang sudah ditentukan, kemudian lahir bayi.
2. Berangsur-angsur ada yang sampai dewasa, tua, muda belia, kadang ada yang sudah dipanggilnya, dan bahkan kadang anak kecil atau bayi.
3. Ada pula yang dipanjangkan umurnya sampai pikun sehingga tidak sadar lagi bahwa dirinya itu manusia.
4. Semua itu Allah yang mengatur. Allah mempunyai hak prerogatif kapan saja memanggil hamba-Nya, untuk menghadap dan sekaligus mempertanggungjawabkan segala amal perbuatan dirinya.

Umur panjang adalah anugerah Allah Artinya, Allah memberi peluang dan kesempatan kepada kita untuk beramal saleh dan untuk bertobat.

Rasulullah SAW. mengingatkan kita, "Barang siapa yang kualitas dan kuantitas amal salehnya hari ini lebih baik dari hari kemarin, maka ia orang yang mendapat rahmat. Dan barangsiapa yang kualitas dan kuantitas amal salehnya hari ini sama dengan hari kemarin, maka ia orang yang merugi. Serta barangsiapa yang kualitas dan kuantitas amal salehnya hari ini lebih jelek dari hari kemarin, maka orang itu terlaknat."

Imam Ali RA. menyebutkan, rezeki yang tidak dapat diperoleh hari ini masih bisa diharapkan diperoleh esok. Namun umur (waktu) yang berlalu hari ini, tidak mungkin dapat diharapkan besok.

Dalil-dalil dan keterangan tersebut menasihati kita agar bertambah hari (umur), bertambah ilmu dan bertambah terus amal saleh kita sebagai wujud syukur atas jatah usia yang Allah anugerahkan. Jangan seperti yang disindir Allah dalam Surat Al Hadid ayat 16 yaitu,

مِن قَبْلُ فَطَالَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْأَمَدُ فَقَسَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ ۖ وَكَثِيرٌ مِّنْهُمْ فَاسِقُونَ

"Orang yang bertambah usia tetapi bertambah keras hati, dan kebanyakan dari mereka adalah orang-orang yang fasik, bertambah jauh dari agama."

Sesungguhnya setiap orang diberi jatah waktu yang sama oleh Allah SWT. Enam puluh detik dalam satu menit. Enam puluh menit dalam satu jam. Tujuh hari dalam satu minggu. Persoalannya, mau diisi dengan apa waktu-waktu tersebut ?

Semoga Allah menganugerahkan kekuatan dan kesadaran kepada kita untuk senantiasa bisa mengisi waktu-waktu tersebut dengan hal-hal yang bermanfaat, sesuai dengan petunjuk Allah dan Rasul-Nya yang termaktub dalam Al-Quran dan Sunah. Hal ini agar kita tidak menjadi orang-orang yang merugi. Amin. Wallahualam

Potty Training

Learning about Potty Training

In Indonesia, Potty training has started as early as he/she can, maybe because the warm weather that Indonesia has. But in western country which has 4 seasons, Potty Training can be started when they are 18M-2,5Y. The Cold weather make it more challenging, that's why waiting them to understand the instruction is helping a lot. Hopefully we can through this learning process successfully.

Here it is, my baby's video.. he is growing so fast and talking more than before :)
Calon yang mau di-training!! Siap Attar??!! hehehe