London eye

Enjoy the other pics on my camera are of us so not putting them on here. It's flipping freezing and not even been here an hour ;)


Ammena
using BlogPress on her pretty cute iPhone

Punky

After a comment from eyes in my shoutbox about my recent change of mood I changed it again ;) I was feeling really bloated last week but today I'm a lil excited. I'm actually doing something for new years eve that won't leave me alone or out of the crowd. I'm going with hubbyA to see the fireworks at trafalgar square in London. In the time he's lived here he has always worked and never done anything big. Now he wants to change that with his wife ie me ;) so I'll be trying to get pictures insha'Allah and Friday has been taken as a chill at home day so insha'Allah this means staying at home and uploading pictures. So look out facebook and blogger :) nearly at work now so I'm off
Peace and salams

Ammena
using BlogPress on her pretty cute iPhone

And again

I didn't like the last appliation and now I've found an app that was set for blogger alhamdulillah. Now you won't be able to get rid of me mwah ha ha.
Sad to see Mina flies in a month :( good to see Mehvesh back online. Looking forward sort of to my holiday to Canada end of January insha'Allah. Gonna miss hubby :(
To see how the pics work. Took this photo of the main mosque in Liverpool last Saturday, Ar-Rahma mosque. It's been recently done up and if your on my facebook check my mosques photo folder, you will find a picture there of what it looked like before. Masha'Allah.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Blogger on iPhone

Woohoo...... So I finally found an application that allows me to write blogs from my phone. Do you know what this means people? It means I won't have to wait for hubby to stop using my dongle for me to post. However, I can't post pictures so we will see how it goes with this application insha'Allah
Peace and salams ladies
Fi amenallah

Rocky Mountain cookies

I liked them, hubbyA likes the coconut biscuits the best so far. I think I will be making a few batchs of these to take with me, I had one problem with them being very soft but I think its due to the fact that I couldnt cool them properly as I dont have a cooling rack. Im borrowing one from a girl in work so insha'Allah the next set will turn out ok :D What dya think? I thought they were yummy!!!
I made flapjacks today, they were a disaster, there wasnt enough sticky mixture to cover the mass of oats the recipe called for. So when they came out the oven the top was browned nicely from underneath when I let them cool was dry and crumbly. HubbyA likes them after never tasting them before, but I know what they are supposed to taste like, and this isnt it!!!
So Im going to make the meringues in the morning before I go for work (just noticed Im supposed to leave them for 1.5 hours in the oven!!! then maybe Ill make the coconut biscuits when I get home from work, as I know how long they take and what I have to do. Then thats less to do wednesday night in the world of baking, maybe Ill try a different recipe of flapjacks that calls for less sugar and less oats... does anyone have a flapjack recipe thats tried and tested?

Baking days

So I decided I might take up a few treats to my family in Liverpool when we drive up next week, and instead of making them the night before I thought to test them out before hand. Theres a few recipes of things I wanted to make so off we went to Tooting today and bought a whole load of things including bakes things like a whisk, baking tins and what not. When we got back after Asr I started on these coconut cakes (photo care of hubbyA) they were a little hard to get from mixture in the bowl to somewhat round specimens on the baking trays but alhamdulillah they turned out pretty good. I would have liked them sweeter but hubbyA reckons they are just to his taste so maybe we have a balance. Im just glad I got one recipe tried out, so look out for future tries this week too which include flapjacks (although he doesnt want them) rocky road cookies, mini muffins and peppermint meringues.
Tonight we are thinking to settle in with a pizza and try to find a good dvd, although I am currently being 'watched' to get off his laptop so he can play some game *rolls eyes*
Adios chicas
Peace and salams
Ammena

Bricks in paradise

Salam, so now Im looking for fatwas and such...

I came across a hadith awhile ago about the praying of the 12 daily sunnah rakats (2 before fajr, 4 before and 2 after dhuhr, 2 after maghrib and 2 after isha) and about how good it was to pray them. I heard somewhere about how with each sunnah prayer you would be building your house in paradise, I dont know why but I had it in my head that each salah would add to my house insha'Allah until I came across these ahadith

The Prophet (saws) said: "Allâh will build a house in Paradise for whoever is diligent in observing twelve Sunnah raka’at (as follows): 4 raka’at before and 2 after the Dhuhr (Midday) Prayer, 2 after the Maghrib (Sunset Prayer), 2 after the ‘Ishaa’ (Evening) Prayer and 2 before the Fajr (Dawn) Prayer." [Sunan Tirmidhi, 379 and others; classed Saheeh in al Jâmi’, 6183]

 ‘Anbasah ibn Abi Sufyan (ra) quoted Umm Habibah (ra) as saying "Allâh’s Messenger (saws) said: "A house will be built in Paradise for one who prays twelve raka’at in a day and evening as follows: 4 raka’at before and 2 after the Dhuhr Prayer, 2 after the Maghrib Prayer, 2 after the ‘Ishaa’ Prayer and 2 before the Fajr Prayer." [Sunan Tirmidhi, 380; he classed it as Hasan and Saheeh (See Saheeh al Jâmi’, 6362)]

In another similar narration, the Prophet (saws) said: "Whoever consistently prays twelve raka'at throughout the day and night, a palace will be built for him in Paradise." [Saheeh Sunan Abi Da’wud, no. 1250] 

  My question to you all out there is this... I started doing these extra salah during Ramadhan and masha'Allah was able to keep them up until the clocks changed and dhuhr is now so early. I dont pray the 4 before dhuhr but still try to keep up with the rest, however am I not gaining the full reward and building my house because I am not completing all 12?? Should I still carry on with what Im doing rather than take the 'well Im not getting the reward so whats the point in doing them all' approach. Currently I have been able to do more than what I was doing before Ramadhan, so I do the 2 after isha always now which has become a regular thing in our house since hubby asked me how many I do after isha masha'Allah. Its just the 4 before as I try to do the 2 after dhuhr but because the prayer room is quite far from my area I tend to not have much time to eat in my lunch break (30 mins) any suggestions? links? knowledge?
JazakAllah khair
Peace and salams,
Ammena

What I did today

hubby woke up feeling a little better after a day of feeling unwell since waking up for work yesterday morning. We had sort of planned earlier in the week to go to Kingston today but I told him yesterday only if he felt better, I dont think he felt that much better especially as he has been asleep for the past hour now and I feel guilty about going out with him today. There wasnt anything I wanted specifically but I like being outdoors with him, being outdoors reminds me of the fun stuff we used to do while getting to know each other before we were married. Being indoors with him now reminds me of the situations we kept away from before we were married and I still sometimes get this 'we arent supposed to be here like this' even though its been a month already.. yup a month!! time flies eh! However, I dont feel like its been a month because we dont spend that much full alone time together. He works on Saturdays and sometimes I work saturdays or sundays so we very rarely get a whole weekend off to enjoy each other, which sucks really.
Anyways, we went into Kingston... I bought some marzipan fruits for me Dad (and got me one too) cause we both love them and I dont get him many presents. So I thought with going up in a few weekends it would be nice to have, we also bought some fudge for us (A's new found food) We got some food shopping in, plenty of fish cause I feel guilty about him eating only veggie foods or some sort of curry (saying that Im cooking spaghetti bolognaise soon for when he wakes up) We got some bits for the house (Ive taken to writing lists now, how very grown up of me) we got to pray Asr at the mosque in Kingston which we havent done since we got married and I subsequently moved away from the area. Also bought him some Beechams cold & flu which he gulped down not long before going to bed.
Im thinking about going back into Kingston on my day off on Tuesday because I just found out that the WHSmith in the Bentells centre stocks Emel... so insha'Allah they might have one in there for me to stock up on before I start my subscription in the new year. Ive made a little wish list on Amazon too after feeling bored with my book collection, or maybe its because I have no where to house said book collection so its currently in a big plastic box with my dvd collection. Although I started a quick read of Animal Crackers the other day that I picked up a few months ago for 99p, and while searching for the link I've just found out its 12 short stories.. which makes tons more sense now lol
I was told today by hubby A that hes looking forward to the trip up north, which makes me happy.. his comment was 'yeh, you can drive and Ill take movies' Im sure we will be taking plenty of food up too! We are leaving straight after I finish work at 4pm christmas eve for a, what should be, 4 hour journey which I have no doubt will turn into something more. Insha'Allah it doesnt take us too long, and Im sure this will be much more fun than the lone journeys Ive taken in the past and it made me realise that I havent driven this far before with someone else in the car... my 5 hours to eyeS was alone aswell as the 8 hours to Anisah so Ill definately be glad of the company as especially as its him :D alhamdulillah
So Im off now.. to start cooking, to wake him up, to chomp on a choccie digestive or a marzipan fruit.. just not sure of the order.
Take care, peace and salams
Ammena

And again...

... haha, you all thought you would get rid of me once I got married, hate to disappoint you girls. As I was totally sick the beginning of the week and still feeling a bit bleh hubby is cooking tonight masha'allah. Cauliflower and potato curry for his resident vegetarian :D he must love me right? to put up with my family issues and my eating habits ;)
So I wanted to answer a few questions imuslimah left on my previous blogs comments so here goes... I think if you read back more I must have said how me and A met.. although thinking about it now, maybe I didnt. Well, it all started back in July when I joined www.singlemuslims.com I started talking to him about a week after joining and we officially met in Whitechapel, London on July 18th alhamdulillah. Then Ill just say that things moved from then, we agreed to get married just before Ramadhan literally, I think it started on the friday and we agreed the sunday before. The plan was originally to get married just after Eid as his brother would be over from Germany and he wanted him there... that sort of freaked me out, things seemed too quick. Allahu alim.. his brother decided to come over the week before Eid and not after so we changed the date to the weekend when he would be over after that which was November 7th.
How I came to be here? Well Im British, as many people will gladly tell you, esp my homies over in Canada (and adopted Americans ;) heehee) I moved over to Canada after graduating a few years ago to try it out. My mum was over there with her husband but in the end I came back end of last year but of course my mum stayed over there as she has her life over there now.. I just wish she would realise I have my life here too now. So no big story to tell really... pretty boring from my eyes.. I move around alot, thats what I do, thats what Ive generally always done... now apparently I have to start settling down in one place, hmmm *rolls eyes* although A keeps me grounded and especially living here now, Im definately less likely to just get up and move around now without some sort of conversation ;)
Stranger.... a company called Coster aerosols, it was a good company, good pay, but no chemistry involved and 3 modes of transport for every trip. So Im thinking the extra pay would have been gone in no time and I wouldnt really have a life, leaving for work around 6am and getting home around 630pm depending on traffic. Best left alone I felt really, I had wanted to cancel but couldnt get hold of the stupid agency for 2 full days grr. So mum knows about the new addition now? lol... how did it go? any news with you coming back here? or do I remember you saying thats all sorted and youre staying over there for another few years? typing that now, I remember you saying it lol
Ok so a marriage moment lol :D we went shopping today, its my first full weekend off since we got married and he wasnt working either. So we made a list of things we needed and off we set to the market down the road. Bought tons of fruit and veg, he got some chicken and we both headed home very pleased with ourselves (well I did) considering that it would have cost twice as much if not more in the supermarket. I love market food shopping :D We have just been out to buy a hair trimmer for him too, I would like it to look like he hasnt just stepped out the wind when he meets the other side of my family in a few weeks :) Oh yes, did I tell you? we are going up to Liverpool... staying at my dads (after a painful and red 'do you share a bedroom now?' conversation) for a few days, going to show him Liverpool, a few childhood memories, Im really looking forward to it and judging by his face when I mentioned it all he is too alhamdulillah.
Anyways, its probably time to get off his laptop before he tells me to watch any specific buttons once more heehee.. take care girls. Peace and salams,
Ammena

Im back

Assalamalikum ladies,
so yes Im back from the long weekend with my mum and by long I mean Friday to Monday not long in the mental sense of the word.. although it does come to mind too lol. So it started on Friday, I left about 615 from my flat after a long farewell to hubby and a lil Eid gift from me and a 'dont go yet' from him... it was mentally painful to be pulled away from him on our first Eid together as man and wife and I wont be doing that for a long time insha'Allah. I picked up my mum at Gatwick and we drove over to Oxford with the usual mutterings and random conversations that we both involve ourselves in. It was nice alhamdulillah, I hadnt told her that A was coming over yet.. well I had asked her and she had sort of left it open to me so I hadnt given her a date. I wont bore you with the depressing writing of going through my dead uncles personal belongings, the tears, the questions, the findings, the threats, the feelings of rummaging through a charity shop because I do believe that is personal but I just wanted to give you an idea there. This was the baby of 9 children from my grandparents and he was just 8 years younger than my mum so they grew up together along with another brother inbetween the two.
Anyways, Friday night she asked me about A... so I told her, hes coming tomorrow which is when the Spanish inquisition started. Wheres he from? where are his parents living? is he using you? do you have to change religions for him? she was shocked that his parents knew about me because she had it in her head that him (being pakistani and muslim-although the muslim bit was an assumption on her part!) that he couldnt be involved with anyone outside 'his own' as she nicely put it. She worries about me, I get that... but how would I know if he was only after a passport unless I knew him after he has his passport lol :D It was funny, I had a semi strong conversation with her about the fact that yes A is pakistani and yes A is 6ft1.. her answer? 'but Pakistanis arent tall' and she just kept repeating it until we both laughed and she commented 'so hes going in the loft then yeh?!' lol :) was a breakthrough
We picked him up early Saturday morning and they had the little small talk chat that you can have with one person in the back and one in the front. He asked how her flight went, if she had always lived near Toronto over there the usual things really. I felt a strain though and prayed it wouldnt be like this all day, my two cousins turned up around 11ish I think, I introduced them to him too.. I wasnt worried about these two, I knew they wouldnt be bothered by any outward physical issues (colour of skin, accent, blah blah) so I was completely comfortable with them being around him. And I was right, they both loved him and his accent, of course when we were all together that evening there was a little conversation about him, and again the passport issue came up. My cousins couldnt sit there for that and chipped in that it could happen to anyone and that if you found the right person that it didnt matter and you would never know unless u gave it a try, alhamdulillah I was so glad they were there.
Before the Saturday was over me, my mum and A went for some food and took it back to our hotel to eat before I took A back to the train station. When he was getting up to leave she decided to use that time to warn him and to make him promise to look after me, which I have no doubt of alhamdulillah. They had a little natter too about how my mum was when she was younger compared to me as he told her he was shocked at how active she was lol :D thats my mum ;) She even asked if he was coming back the next day which I thought was a good sign, all in all it was a good day for A with my mum and for that Im grateful Alhamdulillah.
The rest of the weekend passed pretty much the same as the friday except with a little bit of shopping and more tears, questions and anger. Understandable really when you think my mum has come all the way from Canada to sort out the house when my uncle who lives about 20mins away cant be bothered because he has what he wants. But I wont go into that.
It took me 2.5 hours to drive my mum to her hotel yesterday, which was a nightmare especially when I had another 45 minutes to drive home to my husband after that but oh well. I left her in a few tears with a 'look after youself and be careful' to which I repeated her words with a 'love you' thrown in to give her some comfort. She texted me this morning to tell me she had gotten in to Canada fine but now begins another stage for her as her father in law passed away in Florida over the weekend. So they will be driving to Buffalo tonight for the funeral on Wednesday afternoon :( may God look over and protect them all Ameen.
And me? well after unloading my car of all the bits and pieces I took from my uncles that was going to get thrown away to remind me of him, me and A went to IKEA seeing as we had the car and bought a new coffee table which he lovingly made up last night before coming to bed at a very late time considering he had to be up at 430 for work. Needless to say I think he was probably a little late this morning lol :D If hes reading this... I missed you way too much this weekend...

Anyways thats me for now.. Ive got an interview this evening in Stevenage (yes far!) but Allahu alim right?! insha'Allah it will work out good whatever way. Peace and salams
Ammena