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