step by step

We're already a month into the new year! Did anyone make any New Year's Resolutions? Are they already broken? If you're like me, they probably are long gone and forgotten. I don't take them seriously anyways and rarely make resolutions, but I do tend to set long term goals throughout the year that I don't follow through with.

One way to keep track of goals is to make small term ones that will help you make the necessary steps in the future, thus attaining long term goals. For example: write down the steps necessary to reach a big goal. Now, turn each step into a mini, short term goal. Do one step at a time. The path to the ultimate goal won't look too bad. Do things little by little until you get the hang of it.

If your goal is to organize the house and have a system going, it'll be hard to do right off the bat. Tackle each room at a time, create a binder, get rid of clutter, step by step.

If your goal is to become fit, start off small by walking and light weight exercise and work your way up. There is no way your house will become like Martha Stewarts or you'll look like a body builder over night. Small, consistent steps are the key.

Muhammad, Peace and Blessings be Upon him said, "The deeds most loved by God are those done regularly, even if they are small."*

This I can see apply to everyday life in the sense that you see a change in yourself when you do small things regularly, rather than a ton of good things a few times a year. Good habits are formed by repetition and consistency. So make small changes and move on after you have implemented that change into your everyday life. 

I should use that advice for this blog. :) This is choppy, I had a thought in my head and wanted it get it out there before I forgot, but time isn't permitting me to go into details. I just wanted to make sure I didn't forget it later on. Have a good weekend!



*Narrated by Bukhari and Muslim

Outfit Of The Day

To show you more of my lifestyle, I guess I'll be posting more outfits and food and everyday photos here as well. Maybe not of my face, but little tidbits of my life here and there. :) The above photo is what I wore to a dinner a few weeks ago.

If you are new o this blog, you may not recall the post regarding the Muslim women's dress code. If you are interested in the requirements and how we stay stylish while covered up, click here to read all about it!

The Grass is Greener on the Other Side

Since I've had more free time these past few days I have been busy reading. And running. And reading. And sleeping. And reading and reading. Oh, and more reading. The result? I've been staying up too late reading, getting up too late, my run is about 4 hours later than it should be. Everything is later. The days are ending sooner so by 5 pm it feels as though I have done nothing all day, which I have not.

The problem with me is that everything looked so tempting to me before I had all this time on my hands. I made a list of things I wanted to do. I had a plan and it was to be awesome. Now that I found my books, aka my friends, I am holed up in my bedroom reading until the book's finished. I do not care for TV or movies, I do not care to eat out or cook. I'm not depressed, I just don't see the hype anymore. All these things I have been itching to do when I could not, do not look like they're worth the scratch. What does look tempting is studying. I am crazy. I know.

I've been reading The Hunger Games. I'm not good at book reviews, but I'll give you guys my opinion of the books and the movie in a post soon. Once I finished The Hunger Games I moved on to Catching Fire. I finished it in a day. I let it consume me until I finished it.

Reading is good. Everything can be good in moderation. But in excess it can be not so good. I guess that's my nature. I obsess over things until they are done. I obsessed over studying until I was completely done. I didn't go out and enjoy myself. I didn't enjoy life. I obsess over reading, until there's nothing left to read. I like to completely immerse myself in projects until they are completed. I clean until there's nothing else to clean. I seem to have an obsessive personality.

Despite me plowing forward until completion, I do not feel productive. To me, the way to feel so is to check things off my to-do list. This is also wrong. I jump from one extreme to the other. I guess I am going to be a workaholic when I get a job. But I don't want to be. I want to be able to enjoy my life at the same time. I need to step back, take in a breath of fresh air and enjoy the view, the big picture.

Maybe I should make a to-do list of things like "relax", "Call a friend", "bake something" and "take a walk outside". Things that feed my soul more than my mind. That way I can relax my obsessive mind by checking off things as well as nourishing my soul.

The Housewife Life - episode 1 "Dryer Woes"

I've picked a few fights with my laundry dryer in the past few months. I end up feeding it the wrong things. And I'm not a ditz that I don't know how to work a dryer. One occurred out of 100% pure laziness and the other was unintentional. Either way, the dryer decided to fight back.

My husband has a habit of not emptying his pockets. Ever. So anytime I have to put his pants or jeans in the washing machine I stand over the garbage can throwing away handfuls of tissues and receipts or putting dollar bills and coins on the night stand.

I do this pretty religiously, because I don't like the rest of the laundry to go bad or an important receipt to get destroyed. One time I was so unfortunate to miss an inky pen. A pen! Who misses a pen? I do. I've found a pen or two in the past. But usually no damage has been done. But this time there was ink all over the dryer. Surprisingly and thankfully, none of the clothes got stained, despite it being a load of whites.

Since the clothes were not affected, I didn't learn my lesson. Of course not.

Another item that frequently gets missed is a stick of chewing gum. Normally nothing happens, except the gum comes out really soft. My husband sometimes eats only half. I noticed a lot of people do this and my question is why? It's so little it's hard to chew it, let alone find it in your mouth. I tried it once and I kept thinking that I'd miss the gum and bite down on my cheek or tongue instead.

This time I knew there was gum in his pants. I could smell the stick of Juicy Fruit all the way across the room. I was lazy and in a hurry to get the laundry done. Thinking that it's no big deal I tossed it into the washing machine. Then the dryer. As I was removing the clothes I noticed white junk all over the dark shirts and pants. This can't be good. I also noticed the strong smell of Juicy Fruit all over the clothes. I looked inside the walls of the dryer and there was sticky gum all over it, all over the clothes. I guess it was half a stick of gum, so it would be easier for the gum to escape onto everything. It didn't look pretty there with all the black ink from the previous incident.

At least the clothes smelled fruity.

I had to scrub the gum off with a metal sponge and goo gone, which worked like a charm. If you haven't heard of it, buy it! It's amazing and a life saver. Only I was scared the goo gone would catch flame the next time I tried to dry something because of the warning label, which is on everything, really, on the back. So I had to wipe it down really good to make sure it would be ok. And that it wouldn't ruin the next load going in.

Did I learn my lesson? Probably not.

Muffin Top

You know how I got pumped up a few weeks ago and decided to work towards a healthier lifestyle?

Complete. Fail.

Well, not completely. I was good for a few weeks. But I have completely stopped everything and have been doing the exact opposite of what I was supposed to do. Stress makes me do crazy things. And makes me gain weight and eat more red velvet cake complete with cream cheese frosting, resulting in more weight gain. It's a vicious cycle and I'm the only one suffering. I now have a certified muffin top. In case you're not familiar with the term, a muffin top is when one's abdominal fat hangs over one's jeans. Either because there is too much fat or the jeans are too tight. People who aren't fat can also have a muffin top if their jeans are too small for them.

The only reason why I did stop was because I became stressed and felt that I had to dedicate all my time towards academia. Within a few days I felt to unhealthy and sad. I felt like a muddy, gray colored blob. That's a pretty weird yet accurate description of my feelings regards to my health. When I run it makes me feel good. I feel too heathy and happy to eat heavy, high calorie foods. I'm ready to start feeling like that again. It's time to dust myself off and try again. Third times a charm. It'll be the Same routine, since I was able to stick to it for so long without falling apart. Wish me luck!!

I guess I am back a lot quicker than I thought. I am sitting here wondering what I should do with myself now. I need a hobby. I want to try my hand at knitting and want to make myself a few scarves for winter. But I'll shut up about that because lately I don't follow through with what I want to do because of other priorities like school, family events and the fact that I want to do all of them at once. So I end up with a bunch of half finished projects. I had compiled a list of things I wanted to do after my exams were over. Now that they are, I don't know where to start. I am so fickle and indecisive. Well, a few things have to wait because now that I am free, my husband has to study. I told ya, it happens. It's okay, it's life.

Anyways, I was looking through my bookmarks and blogs I follow and was pretty sad to see many deleted or haven't been updated in a while - like this one. And now I need to go out and find blogs to read since I love reading blogs as much as I love reading books.

If you have any suggestions or want to list your favorite blogs, please do. Actually, I am begging you to! You can even self promote your own blog here. There's no shame in that. ;)

Out with the Old

I am a changed woman! I love to throw things away. I used to be sentimental about stuff, but over the years I have learned to toss out unnecessary items that I know I will never look at again and won't care to. For example, things my classmates signed for me back in middle school. We had this phase where we had everyone sign everything. I had poster boards, Tshirts, caps, notebooks, etc. All signed by the same people, half of whom I no longer am in touch with either. I threw out everything except a small baseball cap. Which I think I ended up tossing out because I can't find it anywhere. There weren't any personal messages on there, just generic "Keep in touch!" Stuff. So that went away.

I do hang on to cards and letters. I think they are a little more personal to me, so I keep those. Old shirts, socks, binders from my classes, notebooks, gone! I attribute this to having lived in India. That was the first time in my life I moved anywhere and I couldn't take everything with me. While in India we moved house 4 times! It was so annoying and even more annoying with so much stuff. It was amazing how much junk one can collect over the years.

A year and a half of moving back to America I got married and had to move again. So all this moving in such a short amount of time definitely did me some good in the clutter department! It wasn't easy to part with things people would find sentimental, but I got over it. Now I can't wait to throw things out. I've crated a list of things that help me get my life organized.

1. If I didn't look at it on over a year {in my case, many many years}, I shouldn't keep it. It's not worth it. Yes, some of my stuff is from my childhood, but I have memories and photos and that's enough for me. Everything else just makes my space look unorganized.

2. Clothes, shoes and accessories: Torn, discolored, or worn out items need to be tossed out. If you were to - God forbid - be in a car accident and needed strangers to help you get out, would you be embarrassed by what you were wearing? If the answer is yes, then get rid of it. Clothes that don't fit right and have not over the past year should go. Anything you can't style in a way that you like should also go. If you MUST keep old clothing, store it in a box or suitcase, throw a box of mothballs in there and put it in the basement or other storage area. Ideally, give it away. Accessories and shoes you would not be caught dead in should also go. If it STILL has the receipt on it, you haven't worn it because you love it but it doesn't look right on you yet, just return it. Places like TJ Maxx and Marshalls will give you store credit, no matter how old the item. Buy something else that fits well  and flatters your body and chances are you'll wear it a lot more.

3. Minimalism is key. Why do I need 3 deodorant sticks? I don't. I also don't need 298 pens and highlighters cluttering my desk. Yes, I am a student but I don't need that much. Give them to a doctor friend. Do you know how quickly some of them lose pens on a daily basis? A lot.

4. Think about how nice and organized everything will look once all the junk it gone. Every few months I de-clutter and I go through at least one large garbage bag every time. Stuff adds up. For  receipts, bills, etc buy an accordion folder with tabs in it. That way you can keep all your important papers in one place and know exactly where it is when you need it.

5. That's all I can think of that works for me. When I'm bored I like to look up organization tips or watch videos on YouTube. That really gets me inspired to make a move. After all the stuff is gone, you can work on the best part. For me, at least. Decorating!! Making it all pretty/fun/pleasing to the eyes.

Fitspiration

Hi, Everyone! I'm in need of a little motivation. I gained weight over the last few months and seem to be going uphill on the scale.  I didn't check because I didn't want to find out, but my jeans definitely felt tighter. I started running almost everyday and started to feel good about myself. Eating healthier came automatically and I wasn't craving as much sugar as usual. Then I finally got the courage to weight myself and found that I was 3 pounds over my pre marriage weight. I wanted to lose about 8-9 pounds and still do.

For some reason I just stopped. Within a few days I noticed a dramatic change in my mood and how I felt about myself. I went from a pretty healthy diet to one filled with junk food. I feel depressed and lumpy. So I am going back on treadmill and hopefully will stick with this. I mean, I should since it made me feel so good. This time a huge reason is because of the positive impact healthy living had on every aspect of my life. 

I was running every morning for about 30-35 minutes and walking a few minutes to cool down. I am on a time constraint now so instead of adding time to my running schedule I'll add speed. 

Breakfast was usually a homemade fruit smoothie or cereal and chai. I drink the chai for the caffeine but I'm switching to coffee for two reasons. One being chai doesn't work for me anymore and I need something stronger. And I tend to add more calories to my chai than my coffee in terms of evaporated milk vs sugar.

Lunch I try to put off until about 3 pm, but I realized irregardless of how late my lunch is, I will end up eating a little dinner. So there's not point in eating so late for lunch and eating again before I give those calories a chance to properly digest. I eat a huge portion of veggies that I microwave and season myself. And add a serving of carbs. 1/2 cup of brown rice, seasoned. Or a slice of bread. Sometimes soup. I like to eat a LOT. For me, it's quantity over quality. A small heavy meal will not do it for me. I'd rather have a large meal the same calories so I stay full for a really long time. 

Dinner is usually a little Indian food, which is pretty oily. I try to not eat much around dinner time, but I usually have to eat something. 

I snack on baby carrots and try to drink a lot of water. I don't like drinking a lot and get a lot of kidney pain as a result, so I really need to and try to drink as much as I can when I remember. If I'm craving something sweet I grab some dark chocolate because that's the only thing that curbs the craving. But if there is cake in the house...I cannot resist. I still have to learn how to stay away from it. I should probably just not take the first bite. 

I am going to add a few minutes of abs, squats and arm exercises to tone up a little. Oh! This is important! Support groups, exercising buddies, etc help you keep on track, if you can't do it alone. A bunch of girls have a thread where we try to help each other stay on track and it helps for the most part. I feel bad eating something knowing other people out there are trying to be healthy and are relying on me for support. :) I also need to keep in mind that results aren't going to come in a day or two. Like the picture below says, it took time to gain the weight and will take time to lose it. At least my mental health will benefit quickly. 

Anyways, what are some ways you keep healthy? Please share your tips, we'd love to hear them :)

Happy Friday!

When I'm studying, I'm in the zone and do not like being disturbed. Not even for a moment. That's how I've been since I started med school and that's how it's going to be until I take my next exam. Le sigh. Study-wise, I guess that's a good thing, because I tend to stay on track. But it's also a  horrible thing because so much stress comes along with it if I don't stick to my schedule.

Things on my to-do list when I finally have enough time to do it

1. Burn my books - I'm kidding. Knowledge is very valuable to me and feel like I'm dissing intelligence by doing so. I would never ever do that. But I am looking forward to putting them away, out of sight, as well as removing the desk from the bedroom.

2. Work out. I was running but stopped. I am totally going to join a gym and repair my body from months and months of sitting around for hours at a time.

3. Cook! I love cooking and want to try out fancy stuff that takes time and patience. I don't know if I'll be able to follow through with this one, but I'll definitely try.

4. Read. I have not read a novel for fun in about a year and a half. It's time. There are so many books I have in mind.

5. $hopping! This I'll do after the gym and after I lose 5 pounds. There are some things on my wish list, but I think I'll hold off until I drop a few pounds. This'll be motivation to get to work!

6. Garden. I was hoping to get some gardening in this summer, but that proved to be a fail. Hopefully this coming spring/summer of 2013

7. Pinterest. I take breaks and go on pinterest, saving recipes, DIY projects and other things. I want to actually do some of those and even post them up here!

8. Go places with my husband. When he's lucky and gets two days in a row off, we naturally want to go and take a day or two trip somewhere, but can't because I am not off. We have a list of a few places in the States we'd like to visit and hopefully we can do that one day. Lucky for me, he also has his boards coming up so I won't feel as bad because he has to study, too!

9. Give my closet a makeover. I am super excited to do this. We have a walk in closet, but it definitely can be changed to make the most of the space.

10. Redo the bathroom. Paint, retile, and change the mirror, lighting and countertop. I might as well change everything. :) It's not so bad, but I want to do something drastic to something. haha.

I think my brain is ready to get back to my books. Peace :)

The Little Stuff

Here are some of my week's amazing things in my life. I don't know what I should call this segment. I'm not a creative cat so if anyone can think of anything aside from thankful thursday, let me know!

1. Evaporated milk. It makes my chai so yummy. It's not great for me, and I am trying to cut down on a lot of fatty things, but I don't deprive myself of three things: evaporated milk in my chai, dark chocolate and carbohydrates. Good tasting chai makes me feel all warm and happy. dark chocolate tastes good, but also a little goes a long way and curbs further cravings for sweets. And carbohydrates because, if I did deprive myself of them, I'd go crazy when given the chance to eat them.

2. My health. I know this is a general topic, but I was thinking about it today. Living in India for a few years, I've had my fair share of infectious diseases; but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. However, I don't get sick often and I am grateful for that. I'd rather have one unusual illness every few years than many small ones throughout the year. I was thinking how awesome it was that I don't get sick often and I finally caught a viral infection a few days later. I guess I jinxed myself, but it really is a blessing. I do have seasonal allergies, but it can all be prevented.

3. Today's special people {and everyday!} are my friends. The ones who I can talk to about anything without feeling judged. The ones who will give me honest advice. The ones where I can meet after months or even years and feel like nothing's changed. Those people are hard to find, so if you ever find one of these gems, don't take advantage of them.

Appreciate what you have, not what you had

A lot of times I wonder what would have happened if my life didn't change. Or that I'd like to take myself back a few stages of my life in live there forever. Man is rarely completely satisfied with what he has. I was having a conversation with a friend and she was wishing she had waited before moving to the next phase of her life. Wishing she could go back to how things were. I sympathized with her, and wished I could move back a few years myself and relive those days that seemed so stress free.

But then I realized that every stage of life has stress or a concern or a worry. I just don't remember this fact when I have new worries and concerns to think about. I tend to only remember the good in the past. And focus on the "bad" in the present.

I am here today because of what happened in the past. I am who I am right now because of past experiences, joys and sorrows. If not, I'd be stuck in the past and wouldn't have accomplished what I have. And then I'd be sad that I was stuck in a rut and not moving on with my life. See? As I've stated earlier, Man can never be completely satisfied with his situation.

When this phase is over I will begin a new chapter of my life and wish that I could be where I am right now. Alhamdulillah, there is nothing wrong in my life right now, it's just stress. I should start counting my blessings; anything that makes me happy or feel good. A minimum of three a day. I'll try to do this as regularly as possible, but I'll probably need reminders! And I'll post them up here, aside from a few blog posts per month. {Edit: I'll start slow in regards to posting them here, but at least once a week}

Let's start with today, even though it is only 5:35 pm:
1. I ate a dosa. It's an Indian version of a savory crepe. Not everyone can make these right, the Indian restaurant here does not serve them and today I had the pleasure of eating one. Homemade and from scratch, made with love, eaten with love.
2. The weather today was a little warmer than the cold we've gotten this week and it felt to nice to feel the warm sun on my back.
3. I had pain in my foot and side before I started running this morning. I didn't want to miss today's run, so I decided to run anyways. But the pain stopped shortly after I started and I felt good after.

OK these are not so exciting, but I am a normal person and normal things happen to me. I'm just being real here. ;)

Learn to Learn

My sister and I were having a conversation one day about school. She had told one of her teachers that she wanted to go into education so she could become a high school or middle school teacher. Her chemistry teacher told her that she shouldn't go into education because the job market is not good for teachers.

Sure, sounds like reasonable enough advice right? But what is this chemistry teacher's premise? It is that we get an education in order to solidify a job.

What about getting an education to be an educated person??

I had some friends over and we were talking about how college really just made us become learners for the sake of getting good grades and completing our credits. I barely ever studied in undergrad. I just did the minimum required in order for me to get my A and forget about the class after the semester was done. But now that I'm in grad school I have subjects that are specialized in what I actually care about learning and understanding. Like this one linguistics course I'm taking, for instance. The professor wrote a bunch of articles and books that I read before coming to the course so I was really exciting to study under her. The way she runs things is that we read each week, discuss material, and write a few papers. There are no exams. Honestly I love this way of learning but I'm engaged, keeping up with all the readings, and actually understanding and applying what we're discussing in my work. I'm not worrying about what I need to remember to do well on an exam.

So that is it. I am going to go back to school...but this time around just to be a well-educated and well-read individual. No registrations, no fees, no deadlines, and no exams. Just pure learning for the sake of learning. I started with www.khanacademy.org which is an AWESOME tool for everyone. Right now I'm watching the videos on Organic Chemistry.

I used to be pre-med before I switched over to the social sciences. Don't get me wrong, I love the social sciences and I definitely love my job and what I'm pursuing right now. But I remember that I used to looovee my math and science courses and I really miss them! So far the first few videos of Orgo have been challenging but interesting and engaging.

What have you always wanted to learn?

Blobby Bobby

I logged on to blogger today to find everything changed. I like new things so I guess I'm not complaining. I just find it odd to be writing up a post in an unfamiliar setting. Ah well.

Anyways, I'm visiting my family for a few days. Every time I'm home I go into ultimate lazy mode. I am a complete blob and don't want to move or do anything. I just lie there like a wounded tiger. {I am a tiger according to the Chinese horoscope.}

I sleep in my brother and Sister-in-laws room since they don't live here; and my sister took my room after I got married and moved out. When I came I dropped all my junk right at the entrance of my brother's room and left it there. It hasn't moved since. And nothing can make me move it. Not even the number of complaints from my family members saying they've almost died tripping over my stuff.

I become a lethargic sloth at home. Not that I'm all busy at home with my husband. All I do there is sit at my desk and study all day. But man, am I neat. I'm Danny Tanner {the dad from Full House}. I study at a desk in my room and I can't study if my surroundings are messy. I can't focus at all. My mind will be on the messy bed, or the clothes lying around, or my makeup all over the dresser. I don't even wear makeup on a daily basis but it manages to take over my dresser every now and then.

Anyways, I am home and I am lazy. It feels good to be home. But why must I turn into a blob? I feel like a fatty cake. Anyways, this might be the most useless post I've ever written. But right now I feel pretty useless. Maybe I'll go clean something. yay.

God and boys

The blessed month of Ramadan is almost coming to a close. Its so sad to see the days slipping away. I keep looking back and trying to figure out what I accomplished this month. I feel like I just let the month pass me by without taking advantage of it.

The whole purpose of the month was to become God conscious people. If we were to think of God frequently we'd constantly be able to put ourselves, our actions, and our behaviors in check. The minute we forget God we start to forget ourselves.

God says in a verse I absolutely love in the Qur'aan:

وَلَا              تَكُونُوا كَالَّذِينَ      نَسُوا   اللَّهَ      فَأَنسَاهُمْ أَنفُسَهُمْ ۚ

 أُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ   الْفَاسِقُونَ

And be not like those who forgot God, so He made them forget themselves. Those are the defiantly disobedient. [59:19]

Its such a beautiful thought to know that if you know God you'll know yourself. You'll know who you are, where you're from, where you're going, your purpose, etc. 

On another note...I've had something on my mind for a while now and I need to vent... so here it goes. 

Gender relations in Islam has always been a touchy subject. How do Muslims interact with the opposite gender? We know that we can't have pre-marital sex or anything else that leads up to that including dating as we know it today. Okay, what about having platonic relationships? There's different opinions on the topic. I personally went from having many guy friends, to not having any platonic relationships with them in college, to where I'm at now. I take the opinion that its fine to have friendships so long as both parties know their limits. We're all mature adults here and should know whats appropriate and not appropriate right? 

Apparently not. Since I've been married hubs and I have hung out with many different crews of people. And in terms of mixed gatherings (both genders hanging out) I've noticed such a huge difference between singles and married people. Sorry to all my single girls...I'm about to call people out. 

Older married couples that we've hung out with are so mature in their way of interacting with the opposite gender. Whenever we hang out with couples there's always interesting conversation and everyone is usually comfortable and like themselves. 

Lately though the gatherings I went to with a bunch of single friends ...maan let me tell you. People do NOT act like themselves. I've noticed this over the years and even in myself in the past. Put a guy in a room and girls will start acting differently. I remember once a guy friend of mine was with his other friend and they were acting normally. Then a girl walked by and he punched the other guy and starting joking louder. His friend called him out and said, "man, how you gon start acting all tough when a chick walks by." I was cracckinng up but its so true for so many people. 

Sometimes I see girls talking louder and acting all giddy and all I can think is "OMG SHUTTUP AND BE YOURSELF PLEASE!" I don't know if its because people are trying to get married or because people want attention especially if the person is attractive? Who knows. But to my all my ladies out there...please don't do that because its foolish and looks it.

Oh and another thing to vent about... to my single ladies...PLEASE do not mess around with immature boys who do not know how to man up. These little college guys and even older are running around acting like they're 17 trying to hook up with girls like they're game and then they pull the "I-really-do-want-to-get-married card." No homeboy, you just want some ass. And when these little boys hang out with you and tell you you're beautiful and what not TRUST ME they are talking about you with other guys. 

Best advice I ever got when I was single was from a male acquaintance of mine who said, "If a brother isn't man enough to go to your parents right now then he's a boy thats not worth your time." Hubs called up my dad barely a week after we started talking. Now thats a man. 

Okay I think my vent is done. Here were the key points:

1. Don't forget God, you'll forget your sense of self

2. Stop acting different when the opposite gender is present...just be yourself

3. Do not waste your time on little boys who need to man up ... they'll use you, talk about you, and leave you 

The end. I apologize if I offended anyone! I just need to get this off my chest. 

Today, give a stranger one of your smiles. It might be the only sunshine he sees all day. {from P.S. I Love You}

I was just thinking about how a little kindness can go a LONG way.

It is now my goal in life to smile when I make eye intact with someone. Or do something nice for a stranger if the opportunity arises. You never know how far that little gesture can go and turn a persons horrible day upside down.

It also might make people more aware of the fact that a little random act of kindness can go a long way. Maybe they'll pay if forward.  And maybe it'll spread and maybe eventually people won't hate on each other for no reason and the world will be good again. Was it ever good?

Anyways, because the world is ugly and selfish, I decided to try and do random good things. And to count my blessings and the beauty around me. If I post it here maybe it'll make me more aware of the good stuff in my life and stop my complaining.

Today's good things:

1. Grape leaves. Someone made them. I don't know who. People either hate them or love them. I love.

2. Tests. They make me smarter.

3. I don't like surprises when I know one's coming, but they're fun.

4. Annnnd this. WTHeck??

On Top of Things. For five minutes

I forgot that I don't live with my mom anymore.
Which means that I need to know where important things are.
Like my Debit card. And bank statements.
And Reciepts and warranties of the washing machine and two laptops we just bought.
I thought I lost them.

So bought a file with dividers in them. One file. For many small, important things
It's green and from Walmart {my new favorite store and third home}.

But I forgot I don't live with my mom and didn't organize anything for a month.
For a month the empty file sat on the nightstand and stared at me.
It would have kept staring had Mr. FallingUp not shoved it into the drawer.

Then I realized my mom doesn't live with me.
And I cleaned out the drawers and gathered all the receipts and cards {gift cards too} and labelled everything. Now my file is full and happy. The end.

This was the proud moment of my day. My highlight. This is my life. My housewife life until I take my boards.
The end.

 One time my room was so messy the cleaning lady refused to clean it. 

My mother did not find it amusing.

Breathe

Playing hopscotch outside with the neighbors

Sidewalk chalking the driveway

Running through the sprinkler

Eating popsicles on the porch with family

Beading friendship bracelets

Life used to be so simple and easy when responsibilities didn't lie on our shoulders. When the world felt like one huge playground ready to be painted with realities of our imagination. Those are the days I miss when I think about work, bills, and responsibilities that keep getting added to my shoulders.

لَا         يُكَلِّفُ      اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا         وُسْعَهَا

Allah [God] does not burden a soul except [with that within] its capacity. 

[Qur'aan 2:286]

Garlic Chive Chicken

I found this amazing recipe from www.allrecipes.com. It has this cool function where you can type in ingredients and it chugs out recipes you can use!

Anyhow the recipe I found was Garlic Chive Chicken.

Basically I love the sauce thats used for the dish because its infused with garlic, lemon, and chives! mmhmm. You could use the sauce over things like perogies or crab cakes. Check it out!

Ingredients

• 1 head garlic
• 1 (8 ounce) package egg noodles
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh chives

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Wrap the garlic head in foil, and bake 30 minutes, until cloves are soft. Remove from heat, and cool enough to handle.

2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add egg noodles and cook for 6 to 8 minutes or until al dente; drain.

3.Slice off the top of the garlic head, and squeeze the softened cloves into a medium bowl. Mix in the chicken broth, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.

4. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Lightly coat the chicken breast halves with flour, and cook in the skillet about 10 minutes on each side, until lightly browned. Set chicken aside, retaining skillet juices. Stir in the garlic mixture, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and return chicken to the skillet. Continue cooking the chicken about 5 minutes on each side, until no longer pink and juices run clear. Remove chicken, and arrange on plates over the egg noodles.

5. Mix the butter into the garlic sauce mixture in the skillet until melted, and stir in the chives. Spoon the sauce over the chicken and egg noodles to serve.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/garlic-chive-chicken/detail.aspx

Why I Love to Pray

There was a time when praying five times a day felt like such a burden in life. The times were so inconvenient to my schedule and my heart was never truly in it. Then I came to know of the following saying of God:

I have divided prayer between Myself and My servant into two halves, and My servant shall have what he has asked for. When the servant says:

All praise belongs to Allaah the Rabb of all the Worlds.
God says: My servant has praised Me. And when he says:

The Most Gracious the Most Merciful
God says: My servant has extolled Me, and when he says:

Master of the Day of Judgement
God says: My servant has glorified Me -and on one occasion He said: My servant has submitted to My power. And when he says:

You alone do we worship and from You alone do we seek help
God says: This is between Me and My servant, and My servant shall have what he has asked for. And when he says:

Guide us to the Straight Path, the Path of those whom you have favored, not of those upon whom is Your anger, nor of those who are astray

God says: This is for My servant, and My servant shall have what he has asked for."

[Narration reported by Muslim, Maalik, at-Tirmidhee, Abu Daawood, an-Nasaaee and Ibn Maajah]

The verses that God responds to in the above narration are the translation of the verses from the Opening Chapter of the Qur'an. It is what Muslims recite in every prayer unit every time they pray.

Prayer to me is my time of solitude with God; one-on-one time with Him. Its the time that I get to talk to God and I know that He is responding and its almost as if I can physically hear it. And most of all it is a time in which God will answer my prayer of seeking guidance directly with no hesitation and no doubt on my part.

I try to surround my day, my activities, my schedule around prayer. When I'm in class I think about where I'll pray after it. When I'm finished with one prayer I'll think about when the next prayer is. When I sleep I think about when I'll wake up for prayer again. Its a cycle that keeps going on without end.

Sometimes people get frustrated with my constant worry about my prayers and not missing them. But I don't care because when you drink from the elixir of God's love who cares about what others think? Its His love thats a necessity for me in life.

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, "When anyone of you is engaged in the prayer, he is holding an intimate conversation with his Lord."

May we be amongst those who are intimate with God. Ameen.

El oh el!

Laughing is refreshing. It's fun to do. It's a helluva lot better than sulking.

Occasionally me and Chuckle have laughing fests. I'll laugh about something, she'll laugh at my distinctive laugh. And next thing you know, we have tears streaming down our face and we're holding the sides of our stomachs from pain.

We also used to lie down next to each other, in an upside down position, and talk to one another. The way your mouth looks in this position, while you talk, used to crack us up! It just looked so dumb and funny to see your mouth move from an upside down angle.





So after watching the recent CNN special on "Unwelcome: The Muslims Next Door", I was in a state of panic and worry and disgust and anger and just an overall upset mood. If you haven't watched it or didn't hear about it, it's basically about the city of Mursfreesboro, Tennessee, enraged that the Muslim residents of the city decided on relocating and constructing their mosque to a larger space. There were many people for and OBVIOUSLY against the building of the mosque and many protests over it. So much controversy surrounded it that it was taken to court. Just a lot of tension, bigotry, and ignorance in the city of Mursfreesboro. It was very disheartening to watch and take in.

However I got an email today from one of our former authors, Artistic Logic, that has kept me laughing all day. Instead of getting upset and outraged, Artistic Logic, more or less, pointed out the ridiculous things people say, ludicrous things people do, and even the outrageous things people wear. Not to mention the lack of knowledge people have about a lot of things these days, particularly that of Islam and Muslims. Don't get me wrong, the special presented by CNN is a very serious issue and impacts many people, myself included. And I applaud CNN for taking the initiative and raising awareness about this. But after some time, if you really look back on it, and listen to some of the stuff and watch the actions of people, it really makes you guffaw at it all.

While talking about subject and predicate parts of a sentence with my class, I randomly thought of it, and I suppressed a giggle. And then again when I was yelling at my students for shouting out during instruction, I had to force the smile away that was creeping up on my lips. And while driving home from work, I was grinning from ear to ear, while thinking about it.

I dont know about you, but I just love to laugh. I feel like my whole day was much nicer cause of that email that had me hooting since dawn.

Not to mention that LOL-ing is much more fun and better,then say, FML-ing.