All of my siblings, my husband’s siblings all have common, easy to pronounce & saints’ names. So definitely we want the same for our kids too. Oh & another thing, we would want to name our kids with the same initials as ours. My husband’s initial is C, mine is J. Therefore our eldest we named her Carmen & our second born is Jasmine.
I have quite a list when it comes to names that I like for my kids. In terms of choosing names, my husband & I both have this preference whereby we like straightforward – common names. Preferably names of saints or biblical names. Mainly because we are both Catholics that we want our kids to follow the path of the saints that we named them after. Most importantly, straightforward – common names so that people would not have difficulty in calling their names.
The list of names that I’m going to share are random names that I like. I may get to use them if we decided to add another child but for the time being, I’m just going to list the names here just because 😄
Boy Names that I like
Jordan
Virgil
Jacob
Alisson
Harvey
Julien / Julian
Oliver / Olivier
Henry / Henri
Gabriel
Andrew
Girl Names that I like
Amélie (from 1 of my fave french movies)
Allison
Gabrielle
Celine
Clara
Belle
Chloe
Camille
Brigitte / Bridget
Genevie
Colette
Madeline
Claire
Olga
Louise
Amanda
The names listed above aren’t really names of Saints, more to common names that I like & might not use them if I ever want to add more kids. My preference are more towards French names cos I just love everything France 😄
I know this post is totally random but thank you for reading!
Covid-19 is no longer a ‘global health emergency’ and we finally can live normally. Things started to be like pre-covid again & people are out without masks on already. People have gone to work on a full swing and at my workplace, classes are conducted face-to-face with maximum capacity. Now that life has gone back to normal, I must say I miss those time when it was the pandemic that all of us are required to ‘Work From Home’.
Working from home during the pandemic I can say that I was more productive. I got my job done way earlier than the deadlines while managing the home. I even get to raise my firstborn and be with her all the time for a good 1.5 year. I can say that my life was less hectic as I don’t need to wake up early to ready everything before going to work, no work-home commute. As a true homebody, the pandemic & ‘work from home’ are like precious gifts to me.
No longer working from home…
Working in the education line with me having a teaching position, whether I like it or not, I had to return to the office. It is understandable that a person can learn better in a classroom setting, all my students said so. I pretty much have classes to teach 4 days a week, which I’m thankful for that my schedule aren’t packed. My faculty practices 4-days work at the office & 1-day work from home. Again, it’s something that I’m truly grateful for this kind of arrangement cos I get to be at home 1-day extra ♥
What I miss about work from home…
I miss working from home, I really & truly do. What I miss about it the most is not having to commute from home to work & home again. It’s a 40-50minutes drive from home to work, that’s how far away my workplace from my home is. I feel that it’s a waste of time to be on the road, I could’ve used the time spent on the road on doing my laundry if I were to still be working from home.
Another thing that I miss about working from home is of course getting to spend time with my kids. Like I mentioned, I was able to spend 1.5 years with my firstborn during the pandemic. However, I couldn’t do the same for my second born. I must say I’m a little guilty that I couldn’t be with her the same amount of time like her older sister.
Just being at home is also something that I really miss. I think I’m just a true homebody, I really enjoy staying at home because I was able to do all the house-chores. The feeling of getting all the house-chores done is to me one of the best feelings in the world. Now that I’m back to work at the office, I feel that I have to chase time to complete my chores before my kids sleep. Even with that, I still can’t get everything done so I have so many laundry piled up. I HATE piling up laundry!
Acceptance
At the end of the day, it is how it is. I have to go back to office and work like most people do now. I still have to be grateful that I only have to come to work 4-days a week but I still hope that I can get a fully remote job so that I can be a ‘stay at home-working mom‘ to be with my kids all the time.
From reading the title, yes I am a Catholic. I may not be a devout one but I try to attend mass as often as I can especially during the Lenten season. Lenten season starts on Ash Wednesday & apparently, my family & I will be in KL. So, not sure whether if we will be attending Ash Wednesday mass in KL.
I followed quite a few Catholic-niche accounts on Instagram & I’d say my favourite is Pray More Novenas because I find the account is very relatable & also because my favourite prayer is the Novena. There’s this 1 of their posts, reminding that the Lenten season is around the corner with this question “What are you planning to give up for Lent?
In previous years, 1 thing that I always want to give up for Lent is Social Media. But I ended up failing all the time. I just can’t be separated with social media, maybe it’s this FOMO thing. It’s definitely not a disease as I’m not obsessed with social media but still, it’s a coping mechanism for me to keep my sanity in my hectic life of mothering to 2.
Great tips shared by Pray More Novenas whereby try to find something to replace what you decided to give up on in case of slip-off. My understanding of that is; if I caught myself scrolling through Instagram then I should read daily readings, daily devotion. I think this is just brilliant! Instead of feeling guilty for failing on what I’ve promised to give up for Lent, I can feel the relieved that at least I’ve filled myself with words of God throughout the Lenten season.
It’s been awhile since I prayed for Divine Mercy. I decided that this Lenten season, I will get it back on again.
Done setting my 3pm alarm
So what I am giving up this Lenten season? ONLINE SHOPPING! I truly enjoy online shopping, I mean who doesn’t?? Even the thought purchasing something online made me smile! Therefore, I decided to stop online shopping this Lent. If I have any slip-offs, I would donate to the church during church collection the same amount of money spent on online shopping. Hah!
I am still going to try giving up social media this Lent too. I still have the will to give it a try & who knows maybe I’ll persevere & succeed this year! If slip-offs happened, like I mentioned above I’ll do daily readings, read daily devotion or listening to Bible In A Year podcast. Which I never heard of this podcast before but since Pray More Novenas mentioned it & I’m intrigued to have a listen. Or instead of reaching out to my phone for social media, I’ll just do either one of the replacements. Hah!
I think that’s all for this post. To my fellow Catholics, have a blessed Lenten season! May you get to indulge yourself in prayers, repentance & remembering His Holy Sacrifice for us all.
Happy 2023! I hope it’s not too late to wish everyone Happy New Year as it is now already February 😂 Bidding farewell to the year 2022 & now we welcome the year 2023 🥹 2022 was such a good year for me. Despite the hecticness that hit me was unending & still hitting me in the face now that we’re in 2023, there were so many blessings that 2022 blessed me with.
The birth of Jasmine Joy has got to be the biggest blessing I’ve received in 2022. She is everything that I could’ve wish for to complete my small family. She is such a smiley kid but not to those that she first met. Sassy like her mommy.
Carmen’s 2nd year of toddlerhood is another thing that made me feel so blessed to be a mother. Seeing her growth, her personality changes, her adapting to being a big sister, for me are so fun to witness & observe. She becomes more calm at church, follow instructions well (not all the time), I can even ask her to get things, she can wear & take off her own clothes now. Looking forward on how much she would change when she turn 3 later in June 😆
Being able to go back to the office after maternity leave was also one of the good thing that happened last year. Of course, the mom guilt of not being able to care for my kids myself will never go away. But I know by working will make me feel good about myself & that will make me be a better mom. I also take it as my ‘me-time’ even if it’s not really that, at least I get to do things other than mothering.
2023 Resolutions
With my 2022 resolutions (which I did not share), I realized that I really shouldn’t be stressing myself to have bigger goals. As I always thought that the bigger my goals, more achievements I will achieve in that year. For me, it was the total opposite. 2022 was the year that I decided to only have small goals that are easily to be ticked off the list like maintaining the weight below 80kg afterbirth instead of shedding 20kg afterbirth. Which I did manage to maintain my weight below 80kg & I did go back to my pre-pregnancy weight.
So this year resolution, I want to show up more for myself. Doing more of the things that I enjoy doing like creating contents on IG & TT, blogging, self-care routine. Going to keep the resolution simple & I think I’d give the ’12 week year’ thing a go. It’s an idea that you split the year in quarters & set goals for only 12 weeks, then you make another sets of goals for another 12 weeks & so on.
My first goal is a habit reset whereby I must complete all my daily habits. I have a list of habits that I bring forward from last year which are taking my daily supplements, drink at least 1 litre of water, shower before 8pm & more. New ones that I’d like to add is to do 2-3 simple beauty self-care routine in a week. Whether it’s hair mask day, face mask day, nail care day – anything simple that’s less than 20mins I can do that will make me look better but will help me mentally too.
Second goal is to put effort into how I dress for work. I really looked like a potato when I went to the office in 2022. I’ve been trying to accessorize by putting on headband so I don’t look boring when I don’t have makeup on, which I really LOVE my headbands. Need to clear out some spaces for clothes that I can wear to work & out.
Third goal which is also my fave goal, to have better commitment in content creating which also means to post more content, not only just on IG & TikTok but blogging too. I’ve been enjoying posting my weekly reflections #JJWeeklyReflection2023 on IG. One of my goals for this section is to also post IG reel & Tiktok at least once a month & I think I’m on track on that. Follow me on IG & TikTok with the account handle @jesssjustine 😄
I hope that I can achieve my 12 weeks goals with ease & let’s get back into this again after 12 weeks for another sets of goals 💪🏼
It has been a little over 4 months being a mother of 2 girls under 2. My eldest, Carmen Mersey is currently 2 years old and I recently gave birth to another girl, Jasmine Joy on the 3rd of June 2022.
Some may assume that I may have it all figured out since I’m not a ‘first time mom’ but hey, I’m a first time mom of 2. It’s when the moment that I become a mother of 2 that I open my heart again for something that I have experienced but at the same time it’s also something that I have never experienced before. So no, I don’t have it all under my grasp and in all honesty, life hasn’t been easy. Well of course I have my ups and downs but there were also extreme downs as well.
I knew this new journey would come with many bumps along the way and that there’d be new lessons to be learned. Not gonna lie that it’s exhausting, testing, challenging, and demanding in every way imaginable. Especially when I have a baby crying out for me and a toddler screaming “Mommy”— it pains me having to choose who to console first 😥
Now that I’m back working at the office, my mental load has added up. There were many times it felt like I was just cruising throughout the day; weren’t really present, just on auto-pilot mode. So many mothering things to do, chores, my work, 24 hours in a day ain’t enough!
Family support helps me stay sane
Oh yes, I’m super thankful that I have my family help & support. When they said it takes a village/community to raise children, this is very true. So grateful that my family really work together in helping me to take care of Carmen & Jasmine when I was away at work. I don’t take my family for granted as I will let them rest when I’m home from work & also during the weekend. I will also try to do as much chores as I can so that they won’t have to do anything while they take care of the kids during the weekdays.
Carmen is still adjusting to her new baby sister, Jasmine
I kind of expected it would take time for Carmen to adjust with this new situation, being that she is no longer the ‘baby’ of the family. We understand it completely as there is only so much for a 2-year old can grasp about being an older sibling. A lot of time when I was carrying Jasmine, Carmen would cry & ask me to carry her while telling me ‘put baby there’ pointing to the crib.
Her whining and fake crying has reached a new level and honestly at times I feel annoyed. But there were many times too that Carmen wants to carry her baby sister, keep kissing her and wanting to lie with her on our bed. The grown ups in the family especially me try to spend as much time with her as we can so that she knows that she is not being replaced by her baby sister.
But at the of the day, I’m living my best life
I know this may be very cliché, I’m currently living the best life despite the downs and extreme downs. Sometimes I do worry that I might not be able to love another child as much as I love Carmen but I was proven wrong. My heart has grown so big that I have so much love in my heart.
The ‘mommy mantra’ that keeps me going is ‘this storm shall pass that things WILL GET BETTER..’ It isn’t an easy life with a newborn & a toddler but it’s my new normal. It’s going to be a challenge ahead of me and I know I won’t end every day with a smile. But I know I’m going to love all the bits & pieces of this journey.
Best friends for life! Having 2 is hard but it’s oh-so-worth-it!
Hey blog! I’m back after leaving you for far too long. 1 year plus is definitely a long hiatus.
But I’m back, baby!
So many things happened since my last post here. Some are small ones, some sad ones but the thing that I want to share about now, that ‘big life update’ is I’m now a mother of 2 girls 😆 How grateful I am to be blessed with 2 beautiful girls that I can call mine ☺️ Will dive deep into this big life update & will surely share more of my new journey ‘Mothering to 2’ in the future.
I have so many things to share here after getting my blogging mojo back so stay tuned for more life stories / updates from me.
my precious little girls 👧🏻
time has passed, life has changed & yet this 1 thing remained… my love for blogging!
Goodbye April and hello May! April went by pretty fast and again it was a hectic month.
This April update got posted quite late because there were many significant events happened quite recently, one of it was the passing of my grandmother, my mom’s mom. It was a shocking news to us because she never got herself warded, she just has some ‘old people sickness’, that was all. She passed away peacefully in her sleep, I wasn’t able to see her on the 1st and 2nd day of her passing because Carmen and I got warded due to an accident on Carmen. Carmen accidently splashed Eucalyptus oil to her eyes and she even consumed some. Because of that, she has a large wound on the outer layer of her eyes. So for that, it was important for her to be warded so that doctor can monitor her eyes every morning and evening.
Okay let’s move the focus back to the title of this post. Which is the update on my ‘No Buy Challenge 2021’ – April edition. Come & let’s dive into it!
April Update – OTHERS purchases made
April was a month of lot’s of ‘others’ purchases than the usual necessities. The 2 purchases were actually purchases that I really need.
Desk Lamp – I bought a desk lamp because I really need it. I do not have a baby monitor and I don’t feel like getting one. So when Carmen goes to bed, I of course has to be there with her in the room to keep an eye on her. With having the desk lamp, I now have source of light so that I can fold clothes, do some organizing & gratitude journaling in the dark without worrying too much about my eyes.
Cable Charger – I don’t know how & I don’t know why that all of the sudden my Apple cable charger died on me. So I had to get a new one! Can Apple just improve the materials used for the cable?
A good thing about the April was that I didn’t not overspent on all the expenses categories that I have set. All are within the budget that I’ve set, that’s a good thing for me because it means I finally know the exact amount of allocation of budget that I need monthly. TRACKING EXPENSES since last year has finally paid off! I now get the hang of my expenses without dreading about being overspending.
April Savings Update
In April, I saved up a total 40% of my salary, which I’m stoked about. I am almost reach my 7 months worth of emergency funds. And I even locked my 4th student enrollment so I cannot wait for the total payout. I haven’t planned on what to do when I finally receive my total payout but I might treat myself a little. I’m still doing my monthly investments, still going strong.
May Spending Expectation
My youngest sister will be celebrating her 20th birthday this year so I planned to celebrate her birthday, but a quarantined one again like last year. So I planned to get her a birthday gift, a cake and will be preparing her a small feast! I just love when there is a celebration.
Honestly, updating my monthly money journey has taken its toll on me. I feel like I keep repeating over & over again most of the things that has got to do with my monthly update. I’m thinking ways to freshen how I want to write for next month’s update. Oh creative juices, come flow into me!
Is that time of the month again whereby I’ll be sharing my ‘No Buy Challenge 2021’ update. This update was posted later than usual as I was busy with final semester assessment marking & faculty meetings.
March was super hectic and I can honestly say that my mental state wasn’t at its A-game! I was constantly down, feeling demotivated from work most of the time. Therefore, I finally gave in to my temptation in buying in the “WANTs” department. I know retail therapy isn’t the most proper way to make oneself feel better but I just feel like I deserve to reward myself.
Let’s dive into my small self rewards!
1. Crystal worth RM20
My kryptonite, crystal or should I say not my kryptonite anymore? Previously, I couldn’t control myself buying crystals but after not buying any for almost 3 months, I don’t go crazy anymore. I bought it during Instagram live and it’s the one that I’ve been meaning to get my hands on. The crystal is Pyrite, it’s one of the famous abundance related crystals. I’m very happy with my purchase as I only bought 1 piece. I can say that I’m proud with myself as I get to a hold of my temptation to buy more crystals.
2. Dessert & Coffee date – RM51
I went to hang out with my younger cousins mid March and thankfully that time, my husband was home so he took care of Carmen. My cousins & I went to visit this new Japanese themed dessert place in Putatan called MyKori and Tree Monk cafe in Kepayan area after that. It was fun that I get to enjoy good food, COFFEE & not forgetting good companies. I even vlogged about it and posted the video on my Youtube channel.
Okay, now move on to my spendings in March.
March Expenses Spending
I just love seeing this pie chart! This app that I’m using to track my spending is called ‘Money Lover’
1. Groceries
I didn’t overbudget in this category even though I did cook up a storm during Easter Sunday, I even baked a burnt cheesecake.
2. Things for Carmen
Hahaha I really can’t help but buying new things for Carmen. Husband & I bought a few toys for Carmen so that she could train her hand movements. We bought her this small drum with the drumstick so that she can train her hands to beat the drum & eventually to use the drumstick to hit the drum in the near future. Since Carmen is teething, we also bought a few more of teething toys. I set RM50 for this category and I spent over RM80!
3. Food Delivery
After setting RM100 for this category, it was definitely the correct amount of money to set. I finally didn’t overbudget! As a matter of fact, I only spent RM89.85 including a birthday for my parents.
March in nutshell
I really did follow my heart & I was truly mindful on my spending. Although I was on the ‘down’ side in terms of emotion, I still get to control my impulses when purchasing things that I thought I can’t resist. I gave in, I bought crystal, yeah but I was so mindful of it. It’s not that I was resisting the urge to buy more, no that’s not the case. I actually don’t have the urge to even buy more. I told myself that I only wanted Pyrite & that was what I get. With the other beautiful crystals that were shown to me, I know what I want & I only get what I want. You see, our minds are really strong when we want them to be. And with practice, I guess I’ve achieved that state of mindfully purchase / mindfully frugal.
In the savings part, yes I still get to save more than 30% of my half-cut pay + i-Lestari. And since we won’t be receiving i-Lestari anymore, I expected that things are going to be hard. I just pray that March is the last month that we’ll have to experience this half-cut of our salary. If you’re reading this, please pray for me. I really need it.
Thank you for reading until the end of this blog post.
Hello March, so nice to meet you again! February went by so instantly & it’s that time again for another monthly update of ‘No Buy Challenge 2021’.
If I can simplify into 1 emoji on how my finances were in February, it would be 💸. I overspent on groceries, Carmen’s stuff, food delivery. I also went a little overboard on my husband’s & my parents’ birthday presents but I’m not stingy when it comes to gifting my loved ones.
So let’s dive into my series of overspending, shall we? UGH!
Finalized stats on my total spending in February
1. Overspent on Food Deliveries
It’s so hard to stay within the RM50 budget that I’ve set for this category! But I realized that being a ‘working from home mom’, food delivery is actually a godsend. There were so many times that I got really tired from balancing house chores & my job in the morning, I just can’t manage to prepare lunch. If I got tired from having ‘telur goreng & nasi with kicap’ cos this dish is the simplest & yummy, I would order food. I just don’t want to overthink about this category as I know food delivery would make me stay sane. Therefore, I will be increasing the budget for this category to RM100 in March. This amount would be manageable as the total amount spent for February is RM75.75 😊
2. GROCERIESSSSS
I have expected that I would overspent for this category, like I mentioned in the January update. And it did happened as expected! My total spending on groceries were RM409.60, a little extra from my RM300 budget. I got excited as it was Carmen’s first CNY celebration so I cooked up a feast! Fresh produce were sold at a slightly higher price nearing CNY, especially Chinese Yam.
3. Carmen
Carmen started her BLW at 8 months plus, we started this journey nearing to the end of February. I bought a few utensils for her like suction silicone plate with silicone fork & spoon, noodles, more bibs & a splash mat. Even though I overspent a little bit, I know in the next couple of months I won’t be spending so much in this category.
4. Gifts
This is the category that I’ve spent a huge chunk of money on. I bought a few items as presents & a cake for my husband’s 40th birthday. Can’t let a guy who just entered the ‘4 Series’ without gifts! Glad that he loved all the items that I gave him, especially the gift of ‘Fatherhood’ 🤪 And then I also bought my parents their birthday presents. Bought the presents early because my dad’s birthday is on the 5th of March & my mom’s is on the 26th. I didn’t put a budget for this category because I’m just the type that gives freely for my family. Can’t be stingy with family members!
Yay of the Month
Not much to be yayying about for my February spending except for still getting to save money & adding a new investment portfolio. Total amount saved up in February is RM512.80 💃🏻 There were days that I feel the amount set by Tantini were a little high but I still save according to my own amount. That’s why there’s the 80cents. We always think that the cents in money doesn’t count. Cents may seem small in worth but they are still money.
As for my new investment portfolio, still very early to talk about it. I have been HODL with it when the price flew off so high, I was itching to sell off & cash in the dividend I got. Thankfully I didn’t. HODL!
February in Overall
I remembered reading figuringgitout’s February update about her having a money mind shift and I can say that I experienced the same too. Honestly, I can say that I’ve never felt so passionate about finance in my life. But in February, most of my free time were spent on educating myself on money, finance, investing. All of these new knowledge & information that I gained has led me to realize the type of lifestyle that I aspire to have. And that is to live simply, living a frugal life but mindfully. By mindful frugal I mean to be calculative of things that I buy ; not just on the monetary value but also the quality & how I truly feel about them.
Most people would associate frugal with being very negative & very unapologetically stingy with spending money. But actually it’s quite the opposite. A frugal life means understanding my current economy situations & start living within my means. I’ve chosen to live this lifestyle & I’m content with it.
That’s all for the February update on my ‘No Buy Challenge 2021’ & I would like to end this post with a very fitting quote from Dave Ramsey, a personal finance guru. This quote resonates to me so much & it has become the quote that I live by.
If you will live like no one else, later you can live like no one else..
Hi all! I am back with an update on my ‘No Buy 2021 Challenge. I know I’ve just posted a blog post about this recently (click here to read) but actually I’ve been on-boarding this challenge since the beginning of January.
If I have 1 word to describe how I felt about this ‘No Buy Challenge’ in January, that word would be EASY. I chose that word because thankfully I didn’t have to curb any urge of impulse-buying. I think this is because I was spending like a crazy person in December 2020 due to buying Christmas presents for family & close friends. It was Carmen’s first ever Christmas too! That’s why I went a little overboard with our Christmas celebration last year. But I didn’t regret any of the purchases made because buying gifts and gifting them to my loved ones give me joy.
So here’s the breakdown of my spending for January 2021!
Finalized stats for my total spending in January
All of my total spending in January are essentials i.e bills, grocerries, not buying any from the ‘WANTS’ side of my brain. I’ve set that my monthly spending would be RM1,000 monthly and I’ve spent below budget. So that’s a WIN!
However, I went overbudget for food delivery ie. Food Panda & Grab Food. Allocation set for this is RM50 but I overspent and it is RM70.80. Maybe my budget for food delivery is too low? I’m not sure but I’m still going to give this budget of RM50 a try for February. Trial and error is KEY in building my sustainable budget.
As for my groceries budget, I spent lower than the set budget of RM300. Since I’m still living with my parents, my parents and I will stock up food for our pantry. So I don’t really have to fork out much for this category.
I am responsible to buy for Carmen’s clothing & some other things that only need to be bought occasionally. So for January, I did not buy anything for Carmen as my husband will be the one who stock up Carmen’s essentials like diapers, her ointments.
When it comes to Netflix subscription, I used to subscribe only when I need to watch shows from my bedroom. After a month, I would normally unsubscribe again because we actually have LongTV (android TV box) at home and it has all the shows from Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Apple TV. Basically, LongTV has it all. But my sister asked me if I want to be included in her subscription & we would share the subscription fees. I decided to be included so that my sister won’t have to cover the subscription of 4 screen package on her own. So now, I can watch Netflix if I’m Beaufort or in my bedroom. It is cheaper too, compared to ‘1 screen package’ that I normally pay for. So I put this expenses under the entertainment category.
Yay of the Month
Besides spending less than my monthly budget, I’ve also saved a lot too! All thanks to this instagrammer I’ve followed who is a senior of my colleague, Tantini which she initiated this #LOABossMoneyChallenge. It’s an easy way to save money whereby she will post on her Instagram story daily on the amount that needs to be saved. So all of us who are on board of this money saving challenge will save the amount mentioned DAILY.
January in Overall
I never thought that I would succeed in the 1st month of this ‘No Buy Challenge’. I was expecting I will fall into temptation and buy things but am proud to say, this girl is a strong headed! I even uninstalled all the shopping app like Zalora, Lazada, Hermo. However I still keep my Shopee and Cashback app for window shopping or when to buy things that I need. I’ve also added another investment portfolio. Previously I only invested in Gold and now I have invested with a new robo – advisor. I am so terribly new in investment but I have started to learn a thing or 2 about it. I’m hoping that I am consistent in my investment to let my money grow passively. Maybe I would do a blog post about it mid-year on my progress.
I have a feeling that February is going to be a tough one as it is CNY and I might spend extra on groceries. Regardless we are facing the MCO 2.0, CNY feast is still ON!
That’s all for this January update and I hope you enjoy reading them.
In The Mind of Jess 