Alhamdulillah for the Good Times

Assalamualaykum all,

It’s been forever since I last had the chance to write here. In case you didn’t know, two weeks is equivalent to forever on the Internet. I feel like I owe you guys an explanation especially because even though I kind of stopped updating frequently it didn’t stop some of you from sending me kind words through your messages and e-mails.

Thank you for keeping me in your thoughts. I was, still am, drowning in post-grad work. Everytime I receive an e-mail from a reader it always warms up my heart. So thank you for making a very busy and burnt out girl very happy! I don’t know if you have any idea what it’s like to be in my shoes right now but every single day I come home tired – mentally and physically. I’m not used to it and I’m still trying to adapt myself to the workload. I am left with hardly any free time to do leisurely things such as hanging out with my friends.

Last weekend, however, I gave myself a break and had some girlfriends over for a little slumber party. I have a new motto now…

Work hard and play hard!

We watched ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ and ‘Four Lions’. It was my second time to see ‘Four Lions’ and for some reason I think it’s funnier the second time around. The girls and I are in love with Waj a.k.a. Kayvan Novak a.k.a. Fonejacker, by the way. We’re going through this phase of always quoting his lines from the movie.

If you haven’t seen ‘Four Lions’ yet I strongly recommend you do (if you can put up with some of the swearing). Just for laughs. It’s about a group of British Muslim men trying to become terrorists. It all its funniness the movie does have a point. “Muslims” who are aiming to become terrorists aren’t as practicing and religious as they seem. They just have a twisted and sadistic view of religion. What they do doesn’t represent Islam. Instead it mainly represents them. Most of all, THEY DON'T HAVE A CLUE ABOUT WHAT THEY'RE DOING!

Anyhoo, I also cooked up a storm and believe me, that night I realised just how much I enjoy cooking and that I wish I had more time to dedicate myself to it. The main dish was angel hair pasta with chicken and tabasco hot sauce garnished with fresh basil and grated parmesan cheese. As for the side dish, I made potatoes with almonds and cream. My friends have asked for the recipes so, inshaAllah, they'll be up on this blog soon.  

The next day, Lamya's car, Dreamy, arrived from Christchurch. It's her first car in NZ and it was an exciting moment for her, of course. We had an Afghani breakfast courtesy of Saj. It's made of eggs, onions and tomatoes. It was really yummy even though it kind of looks like a skull in the picture lol. After our hearty breakfast we headed to the beach. We simply couldn't let a sunny day go to waste, could we?

Once the fun was over it was time to start work again. I know I'm lucky to have a group of friends who are caring enough to pull me out from under a rock when it is much needed so I could see some sunshine and enjoy life again. Alhamdulillah, for all the good times and the stressful times that make us grateful for those good times!

I LOVE MY GIRLS!

May God bless all of you always.

xox, Sha