Umm ... eww.

Assalaamu Alaikum :D

How's everyone doing? Hope you are all enjoying the holidays! In a matter of few days, we'll be in 2006 insha'Allah! May this coming year bring happiness to each and every one of us.

Okay I'm getting a bit annoyed. As I'm sure my brother is too. It turns out that we can no longer hang out in public anymore. Why, you ask? Because people think we're married. Can I get an "eww" please? *waits* ... Thank you. It's just getting more funnier these days. It really amuses me that people will just jump straight to that conclusion. If we happen to go out to pick some food for the family ... the workers will think we're married. If he tags along with me somewhere, people will assume the same thing. I went to the bank today and my brother had to come along as well ... the teller thought we were newly weds. HAHA ugh. But, she said that each of us were cute so we felt special teehehe She told us her reason for thinking that was because we looked a like. Umm ... so wouldn't you think we're related instead? It was just too silly!

I don't know why I'm sharing this with the world. I felt like it :) So, sorry brother dear ... no more quality sibling time.

I Am Revived!

Assalaamu Alaikum :D

Alhamdulillahi Rabbil-alameen

I attended the Reviving the Islamic Spirit conference this past weekend and I must say, it really did it's job by reviving my spirit. Subhana'Allah ... I feel we are so blessed to have events like this right at home. And it felt even more great to see the amount of people who were present, for the same purpose as I was, to feel good about being a Muslim. Alhamdulillah! I wasn't able to go on Friday because I was invited to a friend's wedding. Masha'Allah it was beautiful, may Allah Swt shower their marriage with many many blessings, ameen. I heard that day was amazing and that Ms Shabazz was definitely not to be missed. But I was able to attend the lectures that I was looking forward to (except one) so it's completely alright. I'm quite happy.

Dr. Zakir Naik is one of my favourits. I get so giddy when I listen to his lectures haha I was quite impressed with the way he handled the questions that were being asked of him during the Q&A session. I really wish I could regurgitate everything he said because it was definitely remarkable. One of the young men asked a question concerning the divisions in Islam, mentioning the feuds with Shia and Sunni. And all Dr. Zakir Naik had to say was there is no such division in the Qur'an. And he further went to ask, "what was our Prophet (peace be upon him)?" It saddens me to see such things happening within our Ummah. And my du'as are that we really do understand what needs to be focused on here. Believe in Allah Swt, believe in Allah's Word, the Holy Qur'an and believe in the last Prophet and Messenger, Muhammad (pbuh) and hadith. Subhana'Allah, our community can do wonders if we just put aside the differences. May Allah Swt grant us all hidayah ....

Shaykh Hamza Yusuf and Imam Zaid Shakir were also brilliant! These speakers, they have such a gift of getting the message across to the listeners. And I thank them from the bottom of my heart to spend time in inspiring ourselves to become better and to make a difference. I also enjoy listening to Shaykh Sulaiman Mulla because he really keeps you captivated with the message he is trying to convey. It was the first time I heard Shaykh Riyadh Ul Haq speak and I found it to be quite interesting! His topic on being selfless was masha'Allah well done. He spoke of Ibrahim (alaihe salam) and that his whole life was sacrifing in the name of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. I love lectures that really make you think! On the 3rd day of the conference, last part was hosted by a man named Moez Masoud. I really wish he was given some time to lecture on a topic because he was just incredible. I think it was the amount of love and passion he put into his words when speaking of Allah Swt and the Qur'anic verses that really moved me. Wow. Apparently, he is from Cairo and has his own show. I wish I could see what it's all about it! hehe

Anyways, all in all, it was just great this year and I am so thankful that I was able to make it. I really miss it :( Insha'Allah those who were not able to attend RIS 2005 ... will be given the opportunity next year! I met with a lot of wonderful people, can't forget to mention that teehehe Such lovely sister's whom I do hope to see again in the near future insha'Allah. It was great to be with people who were just as interested in learning more about the Deen.

Definitely a memorable weekend :) And now I can focus on my goals for the holidays! I'm back into my Qur'an readings alhamdulillah and will keep up with that and studying hadiths. I want to work on my tajweed so I hope my aunt has some time for me hehe May Allah Swt bless my efforts, ameen.

P.S. = Hapy Birthday Weebzie!!

Candy Canes and Chocolate *yum*

Assalaamu Alaikum :D

I hope everyone is well insha'Allah! Well it is finally done ... I made that cake for my sister's birthday which was yesterday. I originally had seen it in a Kraft's magazine and wanted to make it the second I laid eyes on it. When my sister was with me one day, we both saw that same magazine with the cake in a commercial and she agreed that it looked delicious! So that got me thinking. Her birthday is coming up and she's really difficult to shop for haha why not just make her a cake? Lovely idea, no? It was a hassle to make this cake though. It's called Candy Cane Chocolate Cake ... and crushing those candy canes was such a difficult job! I think my little hands are all bruised up now :( It was worth it though haha My sister arrived at my house earlier than planned and my cake was not completed yet! So I yelled and screamed telling her she is not allowed to step foot into the kitchen muahaha

Cake from the outside

And a peak of the inside!

I finally finished it. Took a while to decorate it with each little piece of crushed candy cane but I did it! And alhamdulillah, it was oh so yummy :)

Free for the Holidays

Assalaamu Alaikum :D

No exams. No last minute cramming. No worries. Nothing ... until next semester of course teehehe I can finally relax for the holidays and carry on with the activities I have been waiting to do. For example, cleaning my room oOoOo it's a mess! Something must be done AND I'm hoping to get new lighting for my bedroom because the lamp that I have right now is too gross and old. I plan to make a cake for my sister's birthday which is coming up this week, insha'Allah. It's a cake that I found in a Kraft's cooking magazine ... I'll be sure to share it ;)

Next on the agenda, is to attend the Reviving the Islamic Spirit (RIS) conference which is on the 23rd all the way through to the 26th. I'm pumped! It wouldn't hurt to revive more of my spirit. I'm hoping to enjoy it this year as much as I did the last. The plan at the moment is to stay at my dear cousin's place and go to the conference with her that weekend, so it would be a bunch of us girlies attending the lectures awww. I hope to come back here and share the topics that I found most interesting!

If anyone else is attending, have a great time!

It Is NOT a Winter Wonderland

Assalaamu Alaikum all my exam-writers,

Lucky bums who don't have to write any haha Anyhooz, I'm relaxed right now, because I just finished my second last exam of the semester. Alhamdulillah, wasn't so bad. But just studying for that exam was not a joyous event. Due to an essay that had to be submitted today, I lost valuable study time. Just had a day to study ... I know ... a day! But I did it, granted didn't sleep at all during the night but I did it. Okay fine, I slept for 20 mins but it just was not enough. I had my whole bus schedule times planned out for the morning so that I would arrive at York a half an hour earlier than my exam. What ends up happening is ... we have a little snow storm. Somebody please tell me why did it have to snow on the day of my exam?! I really wanted to give winter a chance this year, I really did. But from today's experience, I'm sorry, it's just not happening. Instead, winter reminded me why I dislike it so very much. We don't mesh well together, with all the brrring and all. Since my brother was grouchy this morning, I had to shovel the snow off the car ... it really gave my arms a workout ... *ouchies* But I quickly ran into the house because our neighbor let his hyper dog out and it was about to chase me .... stop chasing me!! I was one grouchy lady this morning, was not pretty.

Finally, we got rolling. Obviously the roads were horrible so there was a lot of build-up on the road. My exam was scheduled for 9am and I was still trying to get myself to the GO Station at 8:10am. By the time I reached the station, it was 8:30am and the bus came in at around 8:40am. Now, it usually takes 20 minutes to get to my university .... but since it was a snow day (yay snow! *cough*) I was delayed another half an hour. And not only that, I had to STAND on the bus! I hate standing on the bus! It's hard to study that way ... I almost knocked the guy down infront of me, it could have been a dominoes affect.

Whatever ... I was 20 minutes late for my exam but I was okay with it because it's a 3 hr exam and I knew I'd finish with it earlier ... which I did :D

I have yet to see an exam day where I'm actually happy .... still waiting .... almost a graduate but I shall still wait to see that day ... insha'Allah .... so many dot dot dots ....

P.S. = boooooo winter!

*murmuring*

Assalaamu Alaikum! :D

It took about four weeks to get here, but alhamdulillah, it has arrived! Drum roll please ... thank you :) I ordered a Marge Simpsons mug and it has finally come into my possession. There was a Homer one as well but I already have him on a tall glass which quotes "Trying is the first step towards failure". Wise words, Homie ... very wise.

Without the Chai

With the Chai (mmm ... whipped cream and cinnamon)

Doesn't it look darling? Aww. Now I'm going to transform myself into a chai drinker just so that I may use this mug over and over again ;)

Oh! And because the order was so late ... due to high demand of the product (teehehe), I received an apology gift! Cute earrings ... ooh la la ...