Some photographical treats from Wales

The mountain biking park

Our bikes, chilaxing and taking in the scenery

Criccieth castle

Our bikes chiaxing half way up Mount Snowdon

The view from the top masha'Allah

Relaxing at the beach

Enjoying the calmness of the waves

December

so peeps... its December, the end of the year, and nearly time for our holidays... there is little snow in Canada at the moment so Im semi praying for a big dump but not too much on the roads (I can but wish) Ive picked out the new bindings that I want, although they wont look good with my current board Im hoping to change that for the next season insha'Allah. We cant wait to go over.. I have a big bag in the house full of little presents for my mum, her husband and a few friends over there.... I cant wait to show Chilli all the places I used to eat at, share new things with him and discover old things once again. I do miss Canada, but currently Im not in the mood to move again so for the time being its just holidays :) My mum is coming over to the UK the end of next year insha'Allah so there will be no family holiday next year (not including the 12 days at the end of this holiday!) so we can do what we want.. there are many places we would like to visit around Europe so insha'Allah we can have some local fun :D
My braces are going great alhamdulillah. I just noticed yesterday a little gap inbetween my two front teeth at the top.. which is a massive step considering the number of years the one tooth has been behind the other ;) So Im excited for my next appointment and then when Im back in January I will be getting the bottom set on, which Im not really looking forward to but needs must :D

Holidays

So the holiday season is approaching, and before anyone jumps on me about how haram it is to celebrate Xmas I wasnt talking about that!! We are going on holiday :D again its a family holiday thing, we are visiting my Mum in Canada for the New Year but its a holiday and Im very much looking forward to it.

It will be Chilli's first real snow holiday and hes very excited to be trying out snowboarding when we go over :) Hes been excessively checking prices and updates on all the different types of boards, bindings and boots.. I swear, he knows more than me, while I dont claim to know everything and Im not amazing on my board Ive been on a board probably 3 seasons and I love it :) I dont love the timings between seasons as I feel I forget many things but then it all feels new once more when I get on the slopes. I love it!!

Ive been trying to 'organise' our 23 days over there in Canada so I know how much money we need to save up for all the little things we want to do. At the moment we have 7 trips to the slopes, which means lift passes and maybe a few rentals for hubby.. and 5 days at a ski resort which I am super excited about.. although Im not really looking forward to having to share a room with my mum and her husband!! Allahu alim... it doesnt sound like she expects us to be together 24/7.. things its about time she realises that I have my own family now and Im not just her 'baby' grrr

Things at work are up and down, Im working with a new girl who's command of the English language isnt very good which causes more work and more problems for me really. Its times like this that I wish I didnt have to work, but Allahu alim.. I enjoy the week off that I get even if I do have to live with 12+ hour shifts :)

Thats really all thats happening on my side at the moment.. teeth have settled down alot alhamdulillah, I have stained elastics which are neon yellow at the moment thanks to Mr Tumeric :D but I enjoyed the curries :) Oh yes, Ive been making alot more desi food lately much to Chilli's delight which included aloo queema, aloo gobi and aubergine curry (I cant remember the name)

Onwards and Upwards
Peace and Assalamalikum,
Ammena

April 22nd 2011

Went to the tailors to see where they were up to with my suits, all done by tomorrow night he said.. will see!
Hubby wanted to stay around the area and spend time with Abu and throughout the weekend. Bhai and 2 sister in laws were going to the cinema, with the time that they intended to be back we decided to go with them. However, we got there late after having to go to Oman airlines to confirm our flights, bhai was told his was cancelled so he had to sort that out. The 3D films werent working anyways, so we bought tickets for tomorrow instead.
The we made our way home and got involved in a 5 car pile up. We were at the front, had to brake sharply but missed the car infront of us. Then 2 cars behind went into the car infront, which in turn went into the back of us. The boot lid is playing up a little now :( and we wasted an hour waiting for different people to turn up to be told we could have left because it wasnt our fault.
We went home, ate and then decided to go back to Metro to buy the spices to take home with us. We took Abu as well :) and bought 2kg of fish for 1200 rps which is not even £10 can you imagine!!! There was so much fish there, they gutted and descaled it all there. I only knew 1 fish, cant even remember which one it was now.. they had prawns but I think there was something else too.. trout maybe. Amazing!! bought most of the stuff for the biscuits too so insha'Allah will start them soon.

April 23rd 2011
Got up early today to catch the 1pm screening (yes early!) of Rio. Half way through the film Abu phoned Ahsin, nana had passed away :(
We left the cinema to go to the house, after awhile, me, Chilli, Abu, nephew and L came home and left everyone there. At least he is free from pain and suffering now.
Spent the rest of the day at the house, returned for the funeral just before Isha

Onwards and upwards

So yes, we are home :) safe and sound alhamdulillah. Before I go into my diary writings of the past month there are a few blogs that I wanted to write with reference to different peoples pages that I have read recently. I could comment but one of them isnt totally what the person is looking for and the other one I dont want to write for view to everyone there as Im sure far many more people read hers than mine ;)
We are both back at work now so trying to get back into the routine, missing family but thankfully we sorted out the internet in his parents home while we are there and installed skype onto the home computer. Now we get regular phone calls from little sister for chats when she is bored on her own, which is quite often :) Alhamdulillah for the connection.
Im still without a new surah :( but feeling refreshed and ready for new things now the holiday is over. Its weird, we dont really have anything to plan for now which is nice, although we did book flights to Canada the other day for the end of December but thats far away and doesnt really need much money to save for (except for the car rental and little trips) In the meantime we have to sort out our finances and sort out our lives ;) insha'Allah one step at a time :D We would like to move sometime soon and for Chilli Tomato to get his driving license (I very much got used to him driving while we were in Pakistan) so hopefully it wont take too long for that.
So look out for a new post soon insha'Allah..... for the time being, I should probably get back to work shh
Peace and Salams
Ammena

Meeting the in-laws

Ive been thinking about writing about this for awhile and after reading recent blogs from Sara over on a little of that I thought I would write up my thoughts about the impending (we will arrive in KHI on Wednesday afternoon insha'Allah) trip to meet the in-laws.

Some history, when Chilli Tomato and I first met (I like the nickname, what dya think?) he didnt really tell his parents that he was thinking about marrying an English girl, for no reason other than he wanted to see how it went. After quite awhile of not speaking with them because we were busy together they eventually got hold of him and demanded to know what was going on. So he told them he had met an English girl and we were seeing how things would go if we wanted to get married. Of course we had the 'if you want a passport we have relatives all over England' and maybe the tears (I cant remember if that was then or afterwards) Now we have the 'Im so happy CT married Ammena... I would rather him have married an English convert than a British Pakistani' and this is how it is being said now that they are looking for a wife for his brother ;) The first day we went looking for flats was the first time I got to speak to his father, he was very kind and had an easy tone to listen to masha'Allah.. he asked me for things involving my marriage and asked me to look after CT. His mother had a harder time with us getting married here without them, she definitely cried about this.. but things went ahead and his family backed us each step of the way alhamdulillah.
When his brother came over for our civil wedding back in September that seemed to be another connecting bridge between my family and his. His family felt more included and my family felt relieved I think to finally meet a member of his family. So now we are travelling to Pakistan for our mehndi and walimah parties tomorrow, and Im not nervous about meeting anyone except his mum.. what does that mean?? hubby tells me I shouldnt be, then I remind him how nervous he was when he first met my mum ;) His Dad Im really looking forward to meeting, maybe because he is the one Ive been in most contact with since meeting my chilli tomato. His brother is fine obviously cause we have spent a lot of time with him since we married alhamdulillah. His little sister is just a ball of energy and I love listening to her speak to chilli tomato, even though she doesnt speak that much English she speaks a little but listening to the adoration in her voice when she talks to him or the excitement when she talks about me (not to sound big headed) she has such a cute voice masha'Allah. His other sister (I never know what to call her in terms of her place in the siblings line... shes his younger sister - not as young as little sister obviously - so would I differentiate by younger and youngest?) the English speaking sister I look forward to meeting purely because I think we will have a few things in common (apart from chilli obviously) although shes not my age I do tend to get on with people of all ages alhamdulillah. His Mother on the other hand.. well Ive said salam to her, she has heard me practising my Urdu words but apart from that we have had very little contact :( and I think thats why Im so nervous about meeting her... I can pick out her voice out from the younger sister and Im told by hubby what she likes, Ive seen photos... but thats about the only interaction we have :( I pray that this holiday will change things between us and we can get a chance to bond insha'Allah...

Im looking forward to reading over this post when I get back and see how things have gone :)
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

Dressing up

After 7 years of not dressing up for anyone, just slightly when I would meet friends but never OTT.. Im finally married and full of a person to dress up for.. but guess what, I dont have the clothes for it and I definately dont do the make up for it either. So what do I do?? Did you find it so easy to step back into that dressing up for your husband? I wonder if its harder for converts or born muslims or they both find this hard. Or am I just slipping back into my tomboy roots?? Any comments welcome

Life

whats been going on with me? not much really :) we arent even busy preparing for the walimah in Pakistan at the moment. The deposit has been sent over for the venue which is all sorted.. I find it very odd that they cant give us a price for the food until closer the time as the prices might have changed by then. Allahu alim. I believe the invitations are all being sorted as we speak, hubby's cousin is getting married around nowish and mil and fil are travelling up to Lahore to attend the wedding so Im sure they will be giving out the majority of them at that time which is exciting :) Im sooo looking forward to seeing the outfit I will be wearing, it wont be fancy fancy insha'Allah but its all new and exciting to me ;) so leave me be lol :)
On a side related note we just bought a new camera that we have been looking at since we got married ;) its been a long time coming so alhamdulillah we have been able to do this in time for the party which was the original intention masha'Allah. Hubby has taken it over as usual taking the manual to work with him and overloading on youtube tutorials when at home but alhamdulillah hes happy. We are venturing outside tomorrow for a trip to get my Pakistan visa sorted in Central London, with plans to visit a few haunts too so Im really looking forward to getting the camera out and about :) pictures to follow insha'Allah.
Aside from camera shopping and talks of Pakistan thats all that has really been going on in my life, Im trying to organise some books to take over with me and Im very much looking forward to spending time with umi and abu and just sitting on the roof and soaking up some rays. Im going to make use of the hijab less time I have before my brother in law gets over there, its only a day or so but still ;) and hes only over for 2 weeks, which gives plenty of time afterwards too :) woohoo. The only plan we have over there apart from the party of course is to take some time in at the beach (I miss swimming and having the water on my skin that isnt the jet from the shower) hubby said we will go on our own but he also wants to go with all the family insha'Allah so plenty of photo opportunities there :)

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

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

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

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

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

.. 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