The New Year

what will it bring? Only Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) knows but we can still look forward to it. I have to say after many years or troubles and tests Im finally seeing the benefit of it all alhamdulillah. I thank Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) every day for giving me my life and for making me into the person that I am today, trust me.. things could have been alot worse :)

Last year (well still this year really) saw many changes and these changes were all welcomed, memories have been formed and bonds solidified alhamdulillah. What did we do? well, I suppose the biggest thing really is that we got married (civil ceremony) so now we are more officially married which in turn helped to keep hubby in the country with me :) yay me :) this may not seem a big thing, but it took many months to finalise, and that wasnt just to plan... that was mainly to get my mum to actually be on board with coming over for the wedding full stop.

I got a new job, which in turn lead to us buying a car which I love having now :) Now Im on proper shifts, which means I work every other week with all weekends off yay :) which was a welcome need lol

We booked our tickets to fly to Pakistan on Xmas day :) so we are very looking forward to that insha'Allah it will be tons of fun. Hubby is getting very excited now I think, every time he talks with his parents there is something to look into. We just recently bought all the presents to take over with us for the immediate family so no more present buying insha'Allah.

As for the future, we look forward to 2 holidays next year insha'Allah.. Pakistan then over to Canada in the winter for 2 or 3 weeks, depending on my work :) and who knows what else 2011 will bring. Im just looking forward to another year with my husband insha'Allah

Peace and salams
Ammena

Too old??

I found out yesterday from a lady in work, who I think is either 39 or 40, that she can not adopt because she is deemed too old... how crazy is that? At first I didnt want to believe her, but I think she has looked into this. That makes me feel upset, there are so many children without families out there.. why would they stop couples from adopting at that age?? isnt the average age around 80 now?? thats a good 40 years that a child can feel loved and wanted :( breaks my heart really..
Then she went on to talk about how being a mother after 32 you are classed as a mature mother.. do you take that as good or bad?? I didnt know what to say.. I wonder if I will be a mature mother?! Allahu alim

thats my thoughts for now.. Im having a broody day today, hubby has been working and Ive been stuck withonly my own company for the whole day. I dont know how I lived on my own for so long.. honestly!!

Our walimah

no, we havent done it
no, tickets arent booked

BUT Im very much looking forward to it all :)
The current plan is to leave the end of March and stay for the whole of April, much to my in-laws surprise, yes I will cope with the weather... anytime we go it will be hot, we have decided on the earliest month that is best for us so insha'Allah it will work out.
Im looking forward to meeting the rest of my husbands family, to see the little things people do that he tells me, to see the places he talks about and to experience things from his perspective (although obviously unfortunately not totally)
Im looking forward to not having to really think about a party ;) 2 planned weddings are definitely enough for me. So this one, I get to sit back and enjoy... especially seeing as most of the little things are nothing I know about but very important to A's family. I get to have another henna party, but this time its going to be completely filling my hands up to mid arms, and my feet.. and then Im just going to sit there and relax ;) hehee.. Im looking forward to clothes shopping for the party too, looking forward to buying things to bring back to the UK to remind me on my other family when we are home insha'Allah.. Im just really looking forward to it all... meeting new people and making new friends insha'Allah.

I cant wait to get our tickets eventually booked insha'Allah

Update

Its been way too long and for that I apologise, my excuse? erm.. does 'Ive been off' count? I cant even say hubby has been distracting me because he is back to full time hours now alhamdulillah. So its just plain me! I get so bored that I dont think of the things I could be catching up with.
I finished work last Wednesday, hubby was off Thursday and Friday so we spent a 'weekend' together, we went food shopping, we took a trip into Tooting and went out for lunch together (Chennai Dosa) which is something we havent done in a while (Eid lunch doesnt count) so it was fun masha'Allah

Dosa, much warmer and much nicer than the last place

Coconut rice... very nice!!

We just basically chilled for two days, no worrying about anything, no drifted or distracted thoughts and it felt so good alhamdulillah. He got a new phone contract which means he can actually use his phone, for texts and calls ;) Then Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday I have done nothing, oh sorry on Monday I took a bus ride into Kingston upon Thames for a little trip, I bought a few things and wanted to change some bank details which they wouldnt let me. So yesterday, which was a day off with hubby we stupidly braved the snow and went to the nearby shops, I changed my bank title to MRS :D and finally got rid of my interest savings account alhamdulillah.
Its now Wednesday, Im back at work tomorrow and I slept in late (just before 10am when I have been waking up just before 8am all these mornings) so Im thinking to do some stitching and maybe nap a little. Maybe make some coconut biscuits for hubby who took a load of gingerbread biscuits into work today :) I do love it when he actually likes the stuff I make for him, masha'Allah
Anyways, thats it from me girls.
Peace and salams
Ammena

Chats with mum

So I spoke with my mum last night, quite surprisingly it was over an hour and we had a good catch up alhamdulillah. I told her about hubby getting his visa, she congratulated and genuinely sounded pleased for us, she asked what difference this made to us and was pleased it would help in the future. She also put her two pennies worth in about what we HAVE to do now with our lives but thats just my mum. I mentioned that we were looking at flights now for Pakistan, I was not looking forward to mentioning this to her, she acknowledged but didnt go into detail with her questions. She doesnt want me to go, end of! I know that, but this isnt something she can dictate about.. this is my husbands family, hey.. this is my new family and I wont let her come between us. I mentioned to her that we are looking at coming over for about 3 weeks the end of next year so that give her something to talk about too, she asked what we would be doing and mentioned all these places that we 'had' to go bless her. I told her we would take a few days trip to Toronto, Niagara and of course the ski slopes that I used to frequent :) hubby wants to try snowboarding and Im all up for having someone to go with lol. She was very excited about this prospect but also upset that it means I wouldnt have seen her for 15 months (hubby pointed out to me later on that he hasnt seen his parents in about 28 months by the time we are looking at going over there) I told her I wasnt coming over to renew my health card in May because it was a waste of money and my time away from hubby if I went there. It was a nice conversation, minus her telling me things that I need to do but Allahu alim

On another note, Im getting very excited about the prospect of my walimah in Karachi :D Ive been asking hubby how things work over there, what I will wear for the henna party (oh yes Im having one!!) hopefully my cousin is looking at coming over for it too which would be amazing to have her there insha'Allah. Im looking forward to the clothes, the food but most of all the people. I asked A if his mum will cry when she meets us at the airport, he said probably.. I wonder if he will.

Well I started 12 hour shifts today, Ive got about 2 hours left and its not so bad. To be honest it isnt the 12 hours that kills me (I did my last working year in Canada on 12 hour shifts) its the 0230 start that does it. However, I work until Wednesday and then Im not working until the following Thursday, hubby is starting full time hours at the weekend (Saturday-Wednesday) which means that I will have 2 full days with him this thursday and friday which Im very much looking forward to. So far the only thing planned is a trip to Asda during the day when its quiet ;) so we are just going to relax together and go for salat ul-jummah insha'Allah.

Ok, let me try and look like Im actually working now
Peace and salams
Ammena xxx

Eid post

Sorry, I just realised I posted an Eid update on my private blog with photos and didnt write anything here.. so here goes
"yay.. Eid al-adha started, and its the first Eid me and hubby have actually spent the whole day together. Eid al-adha 2009 my mum was over and I was in Oxford helping her sort through my recently departed uncles possessions (this was when she first met hubby) Eid al-fitr 2010 I had just started my new job and couldnt take the day off :( 
so this was our first official Eid together and we had a brilliant day masha'Allah. We woke up early, got ready and headed off to the masjid together, prayed Eid salah and then walked back.. I really have to learn more about sunnahs to do at Eid, well both of us do really.. it took me awhile to convince hubby that we should walk a difference way home, even though it meant a direction where we would see noone. Anyways, we did ;) got home, took more photos and had tea and sheermal then decided to go out for breakfast and pick up a few groceries while we were out. We drove to the area we wanted to go to in search of Halwa Poori for the husband... alas we came away with none and decided to come back later on for dosa and dessert :D so we left the area and headed home for a little bit. Hubby spoke to family in Pakistan who arent celebrating until today :( which kind of sucks really, but then we decided to go out to eat sooner rather than later as we were walking there and back. So off we went.. and here are some photos for you

Dosa menu, well the menu but we went for dosa

tin 'glasses' I didnt dare ;)

he managed to get some meat bless him

My spicy potato masala dosa, was yummy!!

strange garlic bread

yup, thats how yummy!!!

 

just a few ice cream choices

dont even ask about cake choices, I zoomed in to take the picture but couldnt face the choices if I went any closer

News

We got the most amazing news yesterday.. after paying extra and not getting what we paid for and having to wait over a week we finally received hubbys spouse visa by recorded delivery alhamdulillah. We are so pleased to be over this for now and thank everyone who remembered us in their prayers masha'Allah. JazakAllah khair.

So now we are looking at flights to Pakistan and figuring out how much we need to save in order to have this next wedding for his family over there. I will get to meet my parent in laws which is both scary and exciting, but honestly.. I cant wait insha'Allah. We are looking at the end of February, so anyone who is in Karachi around that time, do feel free to drop by.. just tell me so I know to look out for you insha'Allah.

Again, many thanks
Peace and salams
Ammena

Finished Eid dishes

Ending of my dosa

alhamdulillah we had a great day, I pray you all did as well... here is a photo of my finished dish at the end of our Eid meal out alhamdulillah

Eid al-adha 2010

So the second Eid of the year is nearly upon us insha'Allah. Its come around so quickly, I keep remembering this time last year and then it warms my heart to realise that (even though we have been married over a year) this is the first Eid me and A will be able to spend the whole day together insha'Allah.
This time last year I was trying to get used to having a man about the house, getting used to being called a wife and getting ready for my mum to meet A for the first time. So many things have changed, the scenery, the emotions, the relationships alhamdulillah.
What do you have planned for Eid? This weekend we are sending some money over to Pakistan for Qurbani, fasting on Monday for Arafat insha'Allah and then Eid off :D yay me!! so insha'Allah we will have some nice new clothes (Ive been shukr spotting!) and go to the masjid for Eid salah nice and clean insha'Allah. Im really looking forward to it. I dont know what else we will get up to during the day but Im sure it will be rememberable whatever we do alhamdulillah. I will be sure to take and share photos insha'Allah.
Peace and salams
Ammena

So this time last year I was getting ready to say goodbye to my old lonely life on my own in a small bedroom with shared kitchen and hello to a life filled with another person (for now) in our own little flat away from everyone else. The day was a mad rush of getting last minute things from my old flat and moving them to the new and finding time to squeeze in chats with a dear friend who had travelled down for our nikah. In the end we (me and A) both turned up late for our own nikah but alhamdulillah it ended perfectly and we started our life together.

Im grateful for everything this year has given me, it hasnt all been sunflowers and rosy days and there are still many more of the unpleasant days in the near future. However we are still here, together and just as strong. Constantly learning about the other and surprising each other with tales and comments. We both know the other family alot more and have more communication between all of us alhamdulillah, we are now officially married to everyone (including the Home Office) and now we can start looking forward to a walimah in Pakistan and the first time I will meet the rest of my desi family insha'Allah.

I look forward to all the new things written for us in the future and pray we will never be separated insha'Allah.
Peace and salams
Ammena

Salah al-jummah

I went for salah at the mosque today.. an elderly lady sat next to me moved her prayer mat to a horizontal position for me to prostrate on. I cried. And then I prayed for her rewards to doubled and her intentions to be accepted.

Allahu akbar

Languages

This really goes out to all those mothers of multi-lingual families.

Hubby and me usually get talking about what we want with our children, our thoughts, dreams and colours :D Something he said to me awhile ago is making me look for solutions and opinions out there in blogworld. Ok, so here goes.. we were discussing languages for our children, obviously my mother tongue is English and A's is Urdu... We both would like our children to speak Arabic too insha'Allah but thats not the issue here. I asked him what language would he talk to our children, 'English obviously they wont speak Urdu'
I was shocked.. why wouldnt they speak Urdu? I wanted them to, they needed to communicate with his family (mainly umi) I think he was just as surprised to find that of course I wanted him to speak to our kids in Urdu.. but how do we get around this?? what if I dont understand what my kid is asking for?? ;) Im hoping to give them 2 languages as a mother tongue insha'Allah.. I know it general takes longer for a child to talk in this sense.. has anyone else had experiences with this? One language from each parent, preferably Urdu but Im keen to hear how it went with other languages too insha'Allah

JazakAllah khair

My car

Woohoo.. look out for me whizzing around your local Asda

Here in my car.. la la lalala la la

Update

Yes, its been awhile.. I tried to blog yesterday but for some reason the computer wouldnt load the window properly. So here I am, at work reading through SOPs and periodically writing a sentence or two. I have a manual handling course with St Johns Ambulance to go to this morning, so my shift has been changed to a 6-2 I would have rather started earlier but thats ok :) Before I get into whats been happening with me, did y'all notice my blog rename?? hehee.. After coming into contact with so many gori (white) wives I thought I would incorporate that part of my life into the name of my blog as that is what I am a part of now alhamdulillah and always will be insha'Allah. My new family have welcomed me into their open arms since pretty early on in my 'relationship' with A alhamdulillah, they havent looked at the colour of my skin or the fact that I havent always been muslim. There have been tears and questions from both sides but they have always realised that he makes up his own mind masha'Allah and I was what he had made up. Insha'Allah soon I will get to meet them all and get to know them even better. Hubby is currently teaching me little phrases he thinks would be beneficial when we go over 'how are you?' 'I am fine' just little things that I keep having to go over and keep getting asked by his mum (well he keeps getting asked because I dont speak with her)
So whats been happening with us since the big day?? Well the only really interesting thing is that we got a car :) woohoo.. it was much needed with my 0230 morning starts, the £14 taxi one way was getting too much for our finances and the 75 minute bus ride home was getting too much for my mental state so alhamdulillah. We bought it on the Wednesday, picked it up on the Friday and by the Saturday it was already causing problems and had cost £130. On the Monday we took it back to where we bought it and he took it into the garage that he works with, five days and £350 less we picked up the car and alhamdulillah so far so good. It has enabled us to go shopping in Asda ;) which works out better for our pockets masha'Allah so we are very pleased little people :D We got AA cover last week and I drove to Great Missiden for a radioactivity protection course for 2 days, the scenery and the building was amazing.. the food, not so good and I was so grateful to be driving home on the tuesday evening.
Clocks have changed, I slept alot this weekend, caught up on some major stitching and baked hubby some cinnamon rolls that I know he loves :) Insha'Allah next weekend will be a major update.. of the good kind, Im not too sure but I will keep you up to date insha'Allah
Peace and salams
Ammena

back again

So after plenty of photos and seeing the majority of people arrive we wandered into the registry office.. my Dad sort of waited around bless him, I felt really bad not knowing if he thought he was going to walk me down the 'aisle' or if he was just waiting around to be there :) I told everyone to go on in and my cousin (and witness) waited with me. She wandered if I wanted her to walk up first, after telling her about what I felt about Dad and the 'aisle' she decided not to upset the balance even more and went inside, taking my pretty bag with her :) I answered a few questions for the lady making the certificate while totally forgetting my dads middle names, yeh hes got 2... but alhamdulillah it was time to walk in. She gave me instructions which I obviously didnt listen to and I stood there nervous as anything waiting to see hubby. As soon as the music came on (my cue to walk in.. that I remembered) I turned the corner, and there he was.. all smiles and red cheeks, I didnt see anyone else and apparently I rushed down the aisle to be there next to him. Not having any contact for one day was hard!!!

Our rings in hubbies hand

Signing the book, with the bouquet

We went through all the ceremony holding hands, giggling and smiling, we exchanged rings, signed the register book and posed for tons of photos. We had confetti thrown at us as we left the building and then we posed for even more photos outside the registry office in a little garden with a lovely bench. It was an amazing time that Im so glad to have shared with my family and friends alhamdulillah. I thank God that I was able to share it all, especially with my grandad and that my mum had decided to deal with her issues and be there for me, alhamdulillah.

Our rings on our fingers :)

After all that we got the car to a hotel for the reception, read food :D There was no DJ, no big speeches.. just family and friends gathering to help us start the rest of our lives together (well in their eyes the start anyways) We ate lots, hubby and bil got their fair share of meat (hubby especially, and he is still eating it now) I dont have many non people photos of the reception area except these.. so enjoy :)

The room from the top

and the bottom

The cupcakes

We had an amazing time, went to bed leaving people there about 9pm.. soo tiring, and my feet were killing me lol :) although pointy shoes looked great ;) masha'Allah

So my friends, that is how my wedding went.. Im sure those I speak to more off my blog will have been told more by now but I really cant think of much else that I can portray over my blog. Just be sure it was a great day and a great few days after alhamdulillah.

Currently we are going through some tests, so please remember us in your duaas. JazakAllah khair

Peace and salams, Ammena

Photos

insha'Allah I will post a few general ones here and some on my private blog... but please be patient girls, I work silly hours and only want to sleep or cuddle up to hubby when I get home. Insha'Allah I will try to upload some today or tomorrow, or if not the weekend insha'Allah.

.. wedding morning to follow

So I sat and had my hair done, they pulled, backcombed, tonged, straightened, poked.. then I started to panic when I realised it was 1230. They still hadnt done the main bit, added the accessories and I still had to drive to the hotel, drop off the balloons and have my makeup done!!! gggaaaarrrrr!!!

We got out around 1pm and made our way to the hotel I was having my reception at, I texted my makeup artist (best friend from high school) and asked her to meet us at the hotel to then drive me and mum back to where I was getting changed so that my car would be there all the time then. I dropped the balloons off and as mum went the toilet I ran back to the car to pull out the presents I had bought for her, my dad and my brother in law :) I had previously discussed it with the hotel staff and they agreed to put them in appropriate places on the 2 main family tables. I came out of the room to find my mum pacing (she was getting stressed!) she asked where the artist was, how was I supposed to know?? I phoned her, but because she was driving she obviously didnt pick up the phone... we stood there for 2 minutes, I didnt know what she wanted to do until she screamed (maybe thats a tad over the top but she did shout it at me) 'I have too much to do, I still have to shower!!!' then it was the 'lets take your car and we can sort that out tomorrow' bless her.. my mum was being a typical mother of the bride :D as I had just talked about picking up the bouquet on the way to the registry office ;) hehee. I text my friend 'mum stressing, meet you at X hotel' then we make our way there, to a stressing stepdad (what is it with these people??) Mum jumps in the shower while I sort out my clothes, hunt for a missing watch that I had made especially for the wedding (I find it in its box under a pile of clothes) and the things I need to take with me for the evening and the next day. Shes finished, artist shows up and I get changed in the bathroom quickly. I come out to a few oohs and 'doesnt she look lovely'

The makeup goes on quickly but effectively alhamdulillah (I start to feel like a clown) stepdad wants to take pictures before we leave (bearing in mind he hasnt got to grips with his DSLR yet!) Also have to point out that by this moment I havent spoken to hubby except a few words before the signal cut out around 9am.. I dont like not being able to talk to him :( Dad thinks it will keep me quiet though ;) I strap on my shoes and we are off to the car that my stepdad is driving us in, I nearly fell down the stairs too at that point over my dress. I actually didnt stretch it out like I had planned to with the shrunken chiffon, but it looks absolutely fine and I didnt even think about it for the whole day alhamdulillah. We got to the reception, the girls were all oohs and ahhs and someone said 'your car is ready outside' I was like 'huh?!' Obviously something she shouldnt have said according to stepdads twitches, I got outside and was pointed to a grey old style Rolls Royce, it looked amazing masha'Allah. My stepdad goes 'you think we are going to let you drive to the registry office in a hired car?' I was thinking... well I was thinking more of a taxi (they wouldnt let me book it during the day, said stepdad would sort it out for me) I have to admit, I had an idea that they were doing something like this... I have intuition with these sorts of secrets, but I never imagined how much more prefect it would make my day masha'Allah.

The Rolls Royce

Me and mum sat in the back of the car and stepdad sat in the front, and we drove to the registry office in style :) Although I was worried we would be late cause he seemed to be driving really slowly and taking some strange route. I worried about hubby stressing about where I was, after all the jokes I was going to be late to this one too and people telling him they were going to kidnap me and drive me up the M6 ;)

We got to the registry office, and the first person I saw was the family friend who we had met on Sunday who was into photography.. here, to photograph my wedding :) it was a shock and such a nice surprise alhamdulillah. She sent the photos yesterday morning, so insha'Allah they should be here today or tomorrow which Im really looking forward to :D

Anyways... more to follow

The wedding morning...

.... started at 0630! My mum had told me she would phone me from her hotel room down the corridor at 0645, so I thought I would wake up a little earlier and try to get some things done. In the end I got nothing done except a shower and a tidy up, I phoned her room at 0715 to tell them I was going down for breakfast. I was told to wait ;) they were ready and 'just giving me a lie in' pff, whatever!!

We went down for breakfast which I have to say was the nastiest hotel breakfast I have ever had!! Premier Inn, NO!!! The fruit salad tasted like fizz and vinegar, the scrambled eggs tasted like water... I should have asked for a place of mushrooms and tea really. We stayed there for abit, I was asked again if we were only going to Pakistan for a holiday ;) then we went back to our rooms. I packed my stuff and moved it down to my mums room for when I was getting ready in the afternoon. Then we set out of the hotel passing by the receptionist for my mum to beam 'my daughter's getting married today' I couldnt help smiling either

In the carpark I gave my stepdad the balloons I was sending him to the card shop to get blown up with helium, 4 in total and me and my mum set out to the hotel where the reception would be taking place. We got there not long after, now my mum hadnt seen the hotel before now so she was excited for that and I was looking forward to seeing what the room looked like. I expected it to be clear apart from the tables so I could start setting up.. what a shock I was in for! When we got there, the room looked the same as it had done when me and hubby had dropped off the cupcakes the evening before. I was not impressed! She told me the room would be ready about 12ish and said everything would be ok, all I had to do was tell her where I wanted what and it would all be ready for when we got back from the ceremony. I wasnt expecting that! So although I was nervous about things not being ready, and I had sort of expected to do everything myself (and was looking forward to it, may I add) I was happy that someone else was doing all the little things for the room. I stood there with her and she wrote little post it notes and stuck them to each individual bag saying where they needed to be and in what type of pot if needed. I was really happy with how she listened to me and was really nice, I wish I had dealt with her from the start ;)

We sat out in the lobby and I started on the task of attaching the printed labels to the favour bags, we chatted, we laughed at the fact that the balloons my mum had bought all the way over from Canada obviously didnt stay in the air with her master breath. Then my stepdad phoned in a tizz.. the card shop wouldnt blow up my balloons because I hadnt bought them there. Whatever! I told him to insist and pay for it, mum freaked out... I attached labels ;) He didnt phone back, then we saw him park the car with inflated black bags in the back of the car. 'Obviously he got them done and I bet you he used the 'Ive just come all the way from Canada for this wedding' line in the shop' I asked how he got them done, 'well I just told them, Ive come from Canada for this wedding' I raise my eyebrow at my mum ;) I finish the labels, hand over the balloons to the room coordinator and me and my mum set out to go get my hair done :)

We are running late and cant find the shop, I phone the lady.. we find her and then make a short stop for hair accessories in a nearby shop that has a whole floor dedicated to wedding things. I could easily have spent hours there, instead.. I leave my mum there ;) The lady starts combing my hair, talking with her daughter about the style Im after and what needs to be done with it.. mum comes back, shes off again to buy some balloons (the same as the ones she bought over, with an additional plain purple one)

More details to follow insha'Allah

I forgot to mention a scene...

.. When we were in Chester on Sunday, me and my mum popped into Primark cause she hadnt had time to really shop at this point and just wanted to see what was in there. The two men stayed outside while we sprinted around the shop, she picked up a whole outfit (dress and leggings) with extra leggings and a cardigan, and also picked me up a pair of feetef pjyamas (like a big babygro) at the check out :D When we moved off from outside the shop down the road my stepdad turns to my mum and says 'A has something to ask you' me and my mum look at hubby who gets the 'deer caught in headlights look' and is silent for awhile. Me and mum look at each other, shes intrigued and Im questionning what on earth he has said to him and kicking myself for not pushing to hubby how he does this all the time (remember when I asked him what he would say if I told him I wanted to move back to UK? I take the dog for a walk and come home to a crying mother!!!)
So A starts with 'remember we told you that we are having a wedding in Pakistan?' OH NO!!!! mum starts flustering and shaking her head.. 'I wasnt told anything about this' she keeps repeating. I later tell him he has to stop saying wedding, its a party.. albeit a big party and very important to his family... but it isnt a wedding. Anyways, she just keeps saying this over and over, alhamdulillah (just this once) for my stepdad who says, 'yes they have, right from the beginning!' then I remember my mums reaction to me not agreeing to not go to Pakistan in the next few years 'fine, you have him, enjoy! SLAM of the phone' hmm... Hubby starts off again, 'well it would be nice if you could make it over and celebrate with us and my family over there. I just wanted to say that you are invited to it aswell' I wait for a reaction, and wait some more... my mums is first, obviously cause my stepdad has probably already reacted. 'Thank you for inviting us, we will have to see though... we arent made of money (she says laughing) and we dont get many holidays.. so just let us know' There.. out in the open!!

Later they ask me, youre only going over for a holiday right? not to stay? I frown at them and lift an eyebrow.. enough said... 'do I (stepdad) have to wear traditional clothes?' Yes I tell him!! I dont care if he doesnt have to, I would like them to and I listen to him go on about how he isnt... whatever!!

All in all, good reaction alhamdulillah

Lets start at the beginning

Sunday daytime we went into Chester to meet up with some people who I hadnt been able to invite to the wedding unfortunately. It also gave me a chance to show hubby another city (which I like to do) and give him chance to get to know my mum more.We got there about 12ish after dropping his brother off at the train station to go into Liverpool.

Alhamdulillah we found a spot after going through the one way system a few times and made our way to meet up with my mum and stepdad.. at this point I have to say (for those who know my family) my stepdad had been pretty much the usual character he is. For those who dont know him I wont paint an even worse picture for you. We met for tea and took a little walk down Chester main road before meeting up at the place we were chilling at for the next few hours. These people we were meeting have never met hubby so it was nice to all be together with new people masha'Allah.. they all welcomed him warmly alhamdulillah, involving him in conversations, asking him tons of questions about him, his family and us :) There were wedding favours, wedding cards and tears exchanged but when we left it had been a pleasant afternoon and the weather was still lovely.

We left about 415 to meet my friend at a motorway service station to pick up the cupcakes she had lovely prepared over the last 6 hours, may Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) reward her for her sabr and intention. I know it made the icing on the cake for our wedding (not to be corny hehee) We stuck around for a little while, got to meet her parents and see her kids (hubby hadnt met them before, but it was nice for me to see how much they are growing masha'Allah) Then we left for the reception location to drop off the cakes for the next day. We dropped them off and time was running away with us, but we managed to get back to my mums hotel to pick them up to take them out for a meal. The place we went to holds many memories for me, it was where I was taught to use chopsticks, its where I told my mum I had lost the last piece of jewellery bought for me by my parents before they divorced, its where the owner constantly fussed over us and its were we spent many meals just catching up and being mother and daughter (and finally stepdad too) It was a nice meal, hubby had fish and I had mushrooms in blackbean sauce... it was a good night out, they got to see us together, quietly away from the world.. how we are when we spend time together and I believe it was was important for them to see that so alhamdulillah.

We dropped mum and stepdad off at my cousins before going to pick up the brother in law, I dropped them both off at my grandads, picked up my wedding dress and left emotionally... this was the be the last time I would see him before the ceremony, I was starting to get a little nervous ;)

Next blog: the wedding morning

:)

I'm now officially married to the whole wide world :D alhamdulillah. We had an amazing day and night with all my family and friends ;)


Ammena
Via BlogPress on her pretty cute iPhone

I'm just on my way home from work now, very late! I have a ton of things to do! Haven't properly finished packing yet, wanted to cook some biscuits to take to a girls party I'm having Saturday night. I was supposed to be cooking chilli to take with us to eat while were up north.
And to top it all off, I'm starting work at 0245 tomorrow so I can finish at 1045 insha'Allah. So I need to sleep very early tonight :( then I've got a mad rush to get a bus which is gonna take me in total over an hour to pick up a car in Kingston and get back to Wimbledon for my spray tan at 1230
Remember me in ur duaa girls. Until I actually get up north it's going to be a hectic time and non enjoyable!!


Ammena
Via BlogPress on her pretty cute iPhone

How I feel today

Feeling a little lonely today, this is the second weekend that hubby has been working and now I realise how he feels when Im working during the week and he is at home :( Trying to decide what to do, most of the wedding stuff is already organised so there isnt really much else to do.
I have one week left at work and then we are leaving for the north.. I finish at 1030 on Friday morning (start at 0230) then its off to pick up the car, get my fake tan and maybe catch a little nap before we head off to the M25 :D Im having 3 days off at work, mum is over for a week. Its going to be busy from start to finish but Im really looking forward to catching up with friends for a little party on the Saturday and with family and older friends at the wedding. My brother-in-law is flying in from Germany on Wednesday and getting the coach up to Edinburgh in the night time so I have to make some biscuits and cookies for him to pick at. Hubby has recently decided that he needs to start eating more meat and he thinks its purely that reason that he has lost so much weight since we married.. Allahu alim
Anyways, thats really it from me for now. Going to spend some time stitching, maybe go out and buy some wrapping paper for some gifts I recently bought and something else but I currently cant remember what ;)

Peace and salams,
Ammena

It's the holidays

Just wanted to wish all my readers happy holidays :) is it your holiday too? Well Eid Mubarak? No? Well enjoy our festivities then :)

Eid Mubarak everyone. I pray all your duaas, fasts, salah and charity was accepted throughout this holy month. May Allah reward you all with good in the dunya and especially in the akhirah insha'Allah.


Ammena
Via BlogPress on her pretty cute iPhone

Shahada stitching

I've lost the pattern to finish this stitching off :( I just re found the material today after deciding not to finish it as someone pointed out that it was haram to me. I'm contemplating restarting but obviously without a pattern I can't. Can anyone help??


Oh and as a measure of size, that shiny thing is a pound coin so the whole thing is a good size masha'Allah

Ammena
Via BlogPress on her pretty cute iPhone

Aloo qeema

Hubbies aloo qeema (potato mince) he used veggie mince so I could taste and it was yummy!! Got leftovers for tonight too


Ammena
Via BlogPress on her pretty cute iPhone

How to get free Qurans to burn

Via Shaalon 2 Salaam via Aaminah Hernandez

At the moment

From my moods we are very busy at the moment, although now currently Im reading Quran and hubby is talking to family. We are waiting for the postman, well I am.. I dont think hubby cares ;) then after Dhuhr insha'Allah we are going to go to the shops to look for his shirt and shoes for the wedding.. Ive been buying a few little things for the wedding... just bought my mum this little thing to put on the table at the reception and we bought my dad a personalised glass with our names and the date of the wedding on... insha'Allah they like them both.
The list of things to do for the wedding is slowly going down alhamdulillah, my next door neighbour is making our top tier wedding cake :) chocolate sponge and lemon sponge insha'Allah... shes practising this weekend so Im really looking forward to the pictures of those :)

Wedding watch

I recently asked a sister to make a watch for my wedding day. I wont really be wearing much jewellery and as my current wear every day bracelet is gold it doesnt really go with the rest of the outfit so I told her the colours and the materials Im using for other things and this is what she came up with masha'Allah such a talented lady. What do you think?? I asked her to put the clasp near to the watch face so the pattern of the bracelet wouldnt be interrupted with the clasp and I think it looks amazing. I cant wait to see it 'in person' and I most definately cant wait to wear it on the day insha'Allah

On a side note, I eventually picked up my dress today... and for some reason the chiffon has shrunk and is now shorter in some areas that the lined satin layers.. I cried :'( I shouldnt have messed about with it but theres nothing I can do now. She said it will weigh down with the fabric but Im doubting her seriously!!

Blogger

My blog is playing up... the recent posts widgets just wont update.. or maybe its this computer. For whatever reason, its annoying!!!!

We played at grown ups today and discussed money :) The money we have been saving since we married will be getting used soon and we were trying to figure out how much we have and how to sort it out. Insha'Allah it will work out ok for us all and I do remember that Allah provides.

Unfortunately my husbands bike was stolen from inside the mosque last night as he prayed Taraweeh :( my reaction? Im upset... a brother from our own community who may have prayed next to my husband or given him salams in the street has stolen something he has worked really hard for. It upsets me to think about it :(

Food

The other day I cooked salmon en croute with roast potatoes, parsnips and some steamed baby corn. It wasn't until I put all the food on the plate that I realised I should have cooked a different coloured vegetable. Plain looking food, no matter how different the tastes, it always tastes blander to me :( but it was still nice. Some things to remember if I cook it again, and hubby liked it. Which in my book is the main thing. So alhamdulillah


Ammena
Via BlogPress on her pretty cute iPhone

My mood

Its been awhile but here I am again... I had a great conversation with my mum last night alhamdulillah. She has her outfit for the wedding and wanted to tell me all about it, as was the same about her shopping trip, plans when she gets over here, things we are going to do. She isnt letting me see A the morning before the wedding *rolls eyes* but whatever lol :) I got to bed late but I was glad I talked to her.. woke up late, as tired the whole day but alhamdulillah
Now I just got a call from the hotel saying I cant have the layout for the tables that I wanted :( there is my disappointment :'(

MOOZ-lum Official Trailer

Bread

I've been meaning to make this for so long now since trying them awhile ago. I bought pastry recently to make the cinnamon rolls, on the packaging was a recipe for salmon en croute that I wanted to try. It needed spinach, so I thought why not try making the rolls too. Hubby has been asking since the last try. So today I used my time fairly wisely and made the rolls. Here's a beginning shot, I'll post an after shot when I can get on the computer insha'Allah

This is the after shot :) we still havent tried them yet, so I will let you know and if you would like the recipe you can find it here on my dear sister in Islam's blog. Enjoy and if you do try them yourself please let me know :) I made a few adjustments to her recipe as she isnt the best when it comes to writing down ;) I added half a 450g of ricotta cheese (albeit at the wrong time) add the spinach and cheese into the flour with the sun dried tomatoes.
Ammena
Via BlogPress on her pretty cute iPhone

My pages

I know some of you read me in google reader so don't see my whole blog. Or maybe you haven't noticed but a few weeks ago I noticed an option to make pages (something I've been waiting for on blogger) I wrote an intro on one and copied juz Amma onto another to keep up to date with my memorisation.
Well yesterday I was able to cross out the first surah since making the page and also the first surah in such a long time *blush* but I'm so glad I did it and now I can move on alhamdulillah.
I just wanted to ask about your memorisation, do you go by size? Or just in order? I started by size and now I'm onto the 8 ayat surahs but I'm getting far enough into it now that I really should start learning in order. Any suggestions??
Peace and salams

Ammena
Via BlogPress on her pretty cute iPhone

Blogger question

Is there a way, once a post is made on one blog, of reposting that on another post?? Instead of copying and pasting and then re-adding any photos.

Anyone??

Conversation with harrods guy

Him: where u from?
Me: Liverpool
Him: brunai?
Me: Liverpool
*getting bored*
Him: did you convert?
Me: yes
Him: how long ago was that?
Me: erm, about seven years ago
Him: interesting. It's the fastest growing religion in the world
Me: apparently
Him: interesting


Ammena
Via BlogPress on her pretty cute iPhone

Cinnamon rolls

This morning I made cinnamon rolls for hubby :) Check out the photos and recipe... no special equipment needed, very quick and easy masha'Allah.

Take 50g caster sugar and 2 tsp ground cinnamon, mix together in a small bowl

Roll out 250g ready made puff pastry to an 8 inch square, sprinkle half of the sugar mixture over the square

Roll out the pastry to press in the sugar, making a 10 inch square. Brush with a beaten egg and sprinkle the rest of the sugar mixture over the area.

Loosely roll the pastry into a log, use the egg to secure the edge in place. Using a sharp knife cut the log into small sections

Place onto a greased baking sheet and place in a preheated oven at 220 degrees Celsius for about ten minutes, until golden and crisp

ENJOY :) Iftar isn't for another five hours, so I'll let you know how they are then ;)

30 mosques

I just wanted to blog about an awesome website I just stumbled upon via twitter, its called 30 mosques and is basically a blog about two guys who have decided to visit 30 mosques throughout the 30 days of Ramadhan. This isnt the first time they have done something like this, but this is more media attentive seeing as a journalist from Al-Jazzera is following them too :) check it out.. the picture qualities are amazing too masha'Allah

Iftar cooking

Final product: Pakoras

Hubbies vegetable pakoras.... batter, then veggies, then final product

Ammenas falafels... yummy

Final iftar food, vegetarian sausage rolls, falafel and vegetable pakoras :) yummy yummy

Poll

After thinking about who to choose and not being able to choose between my 2 best friends, I decided to ask my cousin... I texted her yesterday to see if she would do it, her reply? "Just pass us a pen" :D My cousin alhamdulillah :) One of the girls I mentioned though has agreed to do my make up (minimal of course!) those who know me wont even question this lol :) So Ive asked her if we could make a little evening out of it, a few friends, take-away and make up.. proper girlie night, dunno if I can handle that :D should be nice though insha'Allah

Telephone conversation

had a nice little chat with my mum just before about the wedding things, I wanted to ask her if she would sit behind me and A with my Dad and A's brother to sign as witnesses. Thought it would be nice. Apparently the thought of doing that isnt so appealing to her, so she suggested I get a good friend to do it for me. Oh well... easy enough for me ;) She still wants 'special' flowers though :)
Im currently searching for a tie on ebay for my stepdad which is annoying but has to be done I guess.
Started learning surah al-Humazah (dont first verse lol)
Big intention to not fall asleep and miss taraweeh tonight insha'Allah

Now let's see if this is working. Would make things easier if I could blog on the go this month insha'Allah

Its here

Ramadhan has started alhamdulillah :)

we were able to stay for the full 20 rakats of taraweeh last night alhamdulillah and we woke in plenty of time this morning to have tea, scrambled eggs, mushrooms and toast :) well I had water eggs and mushrooms the rest was for hubby ;)

Ive read the first juz of the Quran today and intend to read a little more today.

Most of all Im grateful alhamdulillah. I have a wonderful husband by my side who is fasting with me masha'Allah (hes just out for Asr at the moment) my grandad is home from the hospital eventually waiting for more tests, but home. Im just so grateful for everything today alhamdulillah and just wanted to share. I pray things are going just as well for you, wherever you are

Peace and salams
Ammena

Ramadhan Mubarak :D

Cupcake Storage

I figure I will get more chance of a reply from blogger than from the friends who I know dont do cupcake stuff on Facebook.

So the thing is, my friend is making the cupcakes for my wedding insha'Allah, at the moment Im thinking I will be picking them up the Sunday evening for the wedding on the Monday. So will they keep? Whats the best way to store them? Anyone??

Please and Thank you in advance

My mood

I havent done one of these posts in awhile so here goes, Im off work for the day today as Im working on Sunday but Im excited as Im going to an area in North East London that Ive never been to, to meet up for lunch with a few friends. The sister, Canadian, invited me over to her newish pad as well as a few other sisters we know who I havent really sat down with for quite sometime now :) So Im looking forward to having some girlie time and enjoying my friends insha'Allah. Photos may follow ;)

New Pants

I want these pants, in black... I saw them on a girl a few years ago at an islamic weekend, she got them from shukr. Now seems like they have stopped making them :( Im wondering if someone can make them for me so I will look into that later on insha'Allah...

My cake topper

We bought this yesterday while buying a little present for my brother in law when he comes over for the wedding insha'Allah

My other ring

Heres my 'engagement' ring for those who havent seen it (minus the black cardigan hair on the clasp) soo.. do you think the wedding ring will go with it? not too thick? not too sparkly??

Ring

For those of you who have seen my 'other' ring... heres the wedding ring Im thinking of. Tell me what you think :)

Wedding favours

I collected a parcel today and after standing around listening to the accusing eyes accompanied by the smirks over the fact that I dont have ID under Ammena Butt... he finally gave me two portions to my wedding preparations.
Firstly... heart shaped mints that will go in a small dish next to the guest book for the guests to munch at (or keep) while they sign our book insha'Allah

Secondly... the rock pieces that will go in the wedding favour bags that hubby's mum is sending over from Pakistan :) 

I have ordered some more rock pieces, purple ones :) so far Im really pleased with these masha'Allah.. we are thinking to order some more of the mints because 100 just doesnt seem enough, also they are cute and only 99p :D In the favour bags there will be pieces of traditional pakistani fruit favours, some mini eggs (cause hubby recently tried them and loves them and suggested we put them in.. how can you deny an excited husband that??!) I think thats enough :) I did want to add something small as a keepsake, but I cant find anything simple and cheap enough. I thought about heart shaped stones, but thats practically impossible ;) Also we are getting some wedding bubbles to put on the tables so I think that should be enough for everyone to enjoy insha'Allah

And again

...... once more, feeling special?? lol

So, Ive been given my official start date today, September 7th :) which will be the last week of Ramadhan. Ive written to the manager to make sure they are ok with me taking the three days off for my wedding, so we will wait to see what he says. Currently Im writing out my letter of resignation to print out at work (cheeky eh?!) and give in tomorrow insha'Allah.
Grandad is still in hospital, they have an operation to do but will only decide whether to do it based on some tests he has to go for. Basically they wont decide whether to put him in for the operation until mid September :( otherwise he will have to have a catheter inserted for the rest of his life, which I cant really see him doing. Allahu alim.
We are still looking at cars, thinking more of a VW now, a polo perhaps or a toyota avensis, we have been watching reviews on youtube lol :) I would like a newer car with me being out at such random times.. my mum suggested getting a taxi to work for a few weeks (and the bus back in the afternoon) so we can save up a little extra money, we will see... Have to also figure out the parking situation too, insha'Allah we may have found a way around it as our neighbour parks his van in the customer car park for the shop we live above so we will see if we can do the same thing insha'Allah.
Ramadhan is nearly here... are you excited?? prepared? Im actually not as prepared as I thought I would be this time last year.. but I have certain books I want to read, stitching I want to finish, lectures I want to listen to and surahs I want to memorise so insha'Allah.. what are your plans ladies? Ive already made a batch of samosas, going to finish them this weekend, then try my hand at making the pastry and making meat samosas (well hes going to do the meat bit) Also going to make a batch of coconut biscuits, gingerbread biscuits and Im planning on a few new dishes throughout the month insha'Allah

Bedtime for us... peace and salams,
Ammena

Update for Ms Rainbow

It has been a little while and I do apologise to all my readers, life has been pretty hectic lately. We had to make the trip up north for my great aunties funeral, we decided to leave a little early and got to visit my grandad in hospital too alhamdulillah. They have found out what it is, apparently his bowel is leaking into his bladder which is causing the infection and the great amount of pain he's in. Only problem is they seem to be taking their sweet time getting him into theatre to get it sorted :(
Ive been communicating with the guy who is to be my boss in the new place :) Things are moving along alhamdulillah, he's fine with both of my references and now Im just waiting to be given the all clear health wise. Although I really dont understand how they can see Im fit for the job by asking my previous experience with chemicals and lifting, or my height, or whether I suffer from diabetes/ high blood pressure/ hayfever/ etc. Once Ive been given the all clear I can give my months notice in at work. I dont know whether I want to start as early as possible or as late as possible, early would be bad for Ramadhan especially with the super early starts, also it gives us less time to find a car but early would be good as the extra money would come in for when we get married. However, late would be good because of the holiday issue and I need to take holidays for the wedding as well as for when we go to the home office to sort out hubby's papers... I guess Allahu alim right ;) insha'Allah it will work out well either way.
I found out yesterday that my student loan, as of the end of March was just over £8K which Im so pleased about... then I was even more pleased because I have still been putting money away since March which means that Im actually around the £7,500 mark which I was super excited at.. with the extra money from this new job and when hubby can start working full time hours, insha'Allah Im looking to have it paid off by next year which Im super super excited at alhamdulillah.

Ok time to eat.. Aloo Gobi :) yummy... back soon insha'Allah

Good news??

Im welcoming it with open arms I can tell you that!! Ive been offered a new job alhamdulillah. It is the job I told you about in this previous blog, apparently the guy who was originally hired pulled out last minute. The supervisor sent me an email to give him a call this morning and at 1530 today I was officially offered the position. I was sooo excited, I got on the phone straight away to hubby who is very excited for me too. Its a good move for me work wise as my new title will be 'pharmaceutical manufacturing scientist' I will be working with anti cancer drugs, so its something that I will be using my degree for. I cant wait to get started insha'Allah.

Just wanted to fill you all in :D

The bad news

So I wanted to fill you with goodies before sharing this part of my life with you all. When we went up north a few months ago it was to tell the family we were getting married, we went around mostly friends and some family who I hadnt told on the phone. One person in particular was my Great Aunt Madge, her husband was married to my dads uncle and I remember loving going to their house as a kid. As usual a family rift happened and I didnt see them for many years, until I started driving and I would occassionally pop in to see them. Then my uncle Bob passed away a few years ago, I couldnt make his funeral as I was in Canada at the time with no holidays. I talked to Madge a few times on the phone and when I moved back here as I was living around the corner I would regularly pop in to see her.
She was taken into hospital the beginning of last week after a heart attack and unfortunately she passed away on Thursday. Something hubby said the other day really hit me, he said 'she was so excited for our wedding' which made me realise why the tears fall. They dont fall because Im sad, they fall because Im sad for my unborn children, the ones who will never know these people who have touched my life. Im also saddened that I couldnt help open their hearts to the beauty of Islam, but thats not something I can dwell on as I have no say in that matter, Allahu alim

Wedding shopping

On Monday we were both off so decided to go into Kingston to see if we could get some bits, we looked for hubby's tie, my shoes and some little bits. I got my shoes and a bag as you can see :) I had looked at these shoes last year for the nikah but I figured they were too small (5) or too loose (6) so I didnt buy them. Now I have enough time to try to wear them in insha'Allah. Im very happy with my purchases and even bought hubby his little lilac tie :)
We had a good day masha'Allah and came back tired, it wasnt something I wanted to do after a weekend of running around but alhamdulillah we had fun. I just cant wait for next weekend now, when Im not working, hubby neither and we can just sit back and rest insha'Allah
And Im looking at buying this little bolero to go with my dress, I just have to wait until the debenhams site is working so I can buy it and get it sent to the store here. Im trying to get all this sorted now so I can enjoy Ramadhan without the questions about everything.