Walimah April 10th

Woke up eventually around 1pm, shock!! Got up and had a little breakfast, then went to the tailors. The usual guy wasnt there so they didnt have any idea where my suits were except for the one hanging in the window. We took that one!
Lazy day really. Chilli Tomato and bhai have gone for a haircut and in about an hour and a half we will be going to the salon to get my face sorted :( not looking forward to that.
Mad night!! left for salon late about 545pm and she did everything I didnt want. Finished after the time the party was supposed to start (the 3 girls werent even ready!) Got stuck in traffic after ami and L took forever to get ready. Phoned mum on the way over and told her we were having the party. When we arrived they wouldnt let the chin chee guy in and we had to wait for A to arrive before it could start. The camera people had been there since 830pm but it all didnt start until 1130 :(

Just took photos, more photos, ate, more photos and then everyone left. After all the hype I was a little disappointed :( But its over and done now alhamdulillah. And again, my walimah from Aishah :) 

Mehndi

Quiet day. Siblings went to pick up Bhai and an auntie from the airport. Bhai had 3 bags with him, was overweight by 15kg but ended up paying for only 1kg, which kinda makes me hopeful for when we go back ;)
Went to pick up my gharara, my other suits arent ready yet :( Wore the one we picked up yesterday, the trousers are a funny material and very hot so I wore my Monsoon skirt instead. Checked out the new person we are paying to do the video and photography for the 2 events insha'Allah the video will be good, hubby has given many specifics and although they seem to understand what he wants, he doesnt seem hopeful. Hubby got his tight pants (cant remember the name) and gave them to his mum to be dyed black after stressing around a little market trying to find me a scarf for tonight and somewhere to dye his pants.
I uploaded photos from last night onto FB :) has to be done!! I think I feel more like people are here with me by hearing (reading) their comments.. does that sound weird?
Have been watching them put up the tent, it looks huge and really nice inside masha'Allah. I cant wait to get in and see it all from down there.
Just getting ready now, doing my face with the few bits I bought over from Body Shop, got my outfit on minus hijab and accessories, Nadia (best friend from Canada) just phoned me too, I cant believe it!! I miss her so much and wish she was here to explain all these things to me and just to have someone to talk to.
Thirsty!!

 Aishah came over for the mehndi as well :) check out her post here --> My Mehndi from another perspective

Desi parties and weddings

A few little updates about my parties... sweet sister in law, 21 Im going to have to think of nicknames for them all when I come back insha'Allah, anyways she has taken it upon herself to organise our mehndi and walimah parties and she is getting very excited. Hubby had to tell her to calm down yesterday, bless she was getting a little worried that there wouldnt be enough time to do everything (baring in mind we have a week before we leave and 1.5 weeks after we get there is the party lol) as some political murders have many shops closed :( She was more fussed about that, I was like 'erm.. hello... murders? who? why? will we be ok??' Apparently its not something I should be worried about, but I definately will not be telling my mum about it all ;)

So anyways, her plans involved something along the lines of having me carried into the mehndi party on one of those big cushion things until hubby asked her 'who will carry Ammena?' traditionally it would be the brides male relatives, but I wont have any over there! 'we will sort it out' she said... Im not too sure about that. As for the entrance to the walimah a horse drawn carriage non the less.. even though people wont see us when they are all inside, and she wants to do it just ten minutes or so before the food is served. 'So then they see us for ten minutes, eat and leave?' apparently this is what they do there.. she said ok, maybe sooner than ten minutes then.. I think we will need to sit down with her when we get there and explain the budget ;) she was excited though bless her and how can you take that away from your sister in law?? she says she wants to show me a traditional asian wedding ;)

As for the big show stopper I told you they had bought my mehndi outfit, well that isnt really the case and I think this is where her panicing is for. So I will be wearing... wait for it... my mother in laws wedding lengha skirt (red) and they are having a shirt and duputta made to match the designs on the skirt. How amazing is that?? I nearly cried, I definately filled up!!! to be given the opportunity it feels like she is wishing our marriage be as strong and successful as theirs and also feels like such a big acceptance from her too. I dont know if she thought about this when they decided to do it or what.. maybe Im thinking to much into it, but it MUST be a big deal for her too. Get this... they were worried I wouldnt like the idea because it wasnt brand new.. masha'Allah. Im so looking forward to seeing it and I told hubby I would like to pass this on to our daughter too insha'Allah... they can design their own top to fit with the fashion at the time.. but in Pakistan the lengha skirt it always going to be traditional. Allahu alim :D

Thats all the updates at the moment.. we fly the beginning of next week, yeh you read right!! less than a week to go insha'Allah. We are all packed and just finding out last minute things but if there is anymore news Ill let you all know :)
Peace and salams
Ammena

The phone call

Last night we got a phone call from Abu, the reception was bad so hubby hung up and then he phoned again... the phone was instantly passed to my sister in law, hubbys younger sister, she wanted to tell him that they had been out shopping for my mehndi outfit that day :) red and orange skirt and long sleeved top :) Im so looking forward to seeing it. She told him how she was counting down the days until we came over, shes staying with us for the whole month we are there :) mainly by ami's request to be the translator of the household when the men arent there for whatever reason. I dont care why, it will just be so exciting to have this younger married lady and her son there to play with and chat to. Plenty of photo opportunities there ;) I do worry though that I wont get time to spend with ami just the two of us, I know we dont speak the same language but when has that ever stopped 2 people commuicating?? 

Then he spoke to his other sister, the baby of the family :) she told him how she had her walimah suit :) pinkish in colour and that she only needed to get her shoes and chooriyan (bangles) hubby told her we would take her for them. She has exams at the end of March which will be finished in time for the party preparations.. alhamdulillah, ami originally told us they finish after the walimah but its all working out well alhamdulillah.

Just wanted to share this little part with you all :) Can you tell Im getting excited? I was nearly jumping on hubby last night while he was on the phone. The first sil told him she had seen some really good wedding outfits for me too and at decent prices so insha'Allah the day after we arrive we can set out to try and get most outfit things sorted and done :D will take a whole load off us then insha'Allah

Anyways, thats me for now.. got few things to shop for.

Peace and salams, Ammena

Research

I was scolded the other day by a fellow blogger (who currently has her blog closed) while she is over here visiting her husband for a few weeks. Why? because I havent researched the things that happen and are expected of me for the Pakistani wedding. Well, I say wedding but I really just mean the party seeing as the nikah has already been done.

So what is expected of me? what will be happening? Once again we are trying to organise a big thing while not being in the country let alone the area which is slightly disheartening. I want to be part of going around and checking the venues, trying on the suits, looking through catalogues of table ware and stage setups.. this is all so new and different to me I think thats the reason why though. 

As far as I gather from translations from hubby, we may have found the hall to hold the party which is one thing. Im having a henna party on the Friday night, with the tent outside and me in the house.. his mum is collecting information about the food and decoration for the hall. You see I know all the factual things, its just really what is expected of me and what Im supposed to do for all this time. Im looking forward to meeting Aisha over there for the henna party so at least I will be able to talk comfortably with one person. I think we would have been over there for just over a week before the actual start of things, so gives me time to adjust.. to people, temperature, food, language. 

We have fabric here that was bought from Saudi by a friend of hubbies which Im thinking to get made for a suit for the henna party as its so pretty.. but then (as was pointed out to me) ami might already have a suit in mind for that party, so I have to stop thinking of what I want ;) I originally said to my husband that as long as they are fine with me covering then they can do whatever they want that we are both comfortable with. Alhamdulillah they have been fine with everything so far :) I worry that they will think Im being all 'I am' but insha'Allah it will be ok and they can see the great man their son has grown into since they last saw him so long ago. 

I will be wearing the traditional red lenga for the walimah which Im very much looking forward to :D Im currently looking for a tikka and a red nose ring which I have seen here in a shop so Im thinking to buy it before we go over :) we cant really afford much of the 'bridal jewellery' that is so traditional and his mum keeps asking, what will she wear around her neck lol.. bless her, masha'Allah
Here are a few pictures to keep you on your toes until we come back end of April ;)

Red Tika

Finishing touches, although hubby doesnt understand the need for henna seeing as I will be covered up ;)

Bridal feet

Blood red lehenga (minus the bare midriff obviously) Im still unsure as to whether I will need long sleeves if the duputta is this big, feedback??

I cant find any pictures of the nose stud.. imagine this, a thin line of gold from the hole to the end of the nostril with 3 small red stones :) its beautiful :D and Ill post pictures when I get it insha'Allah

Peace and salams

Ammena

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

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

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