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

Comments

amirah said…
What a cheerful life yo have in NZ.. The photos tell everything.. Take care darling!

Love from the land down under.
Chloe said…
Reading this makes me miss everyone so much! I cant wait to see you all (I'll be down at the end of May inshaAllah for 3 weeks).

Its sounds like you took some much needed time out - you deserve it! xox
Anonymous said…
You're all so beautiful and diverse sisters mashaAllah! Good for you for taking the time out to enjoy life. ;-)
Anonymous said…
cute frens u have dear! gd luck !
Fariza Othman said…
hilarous at the last motion picture!! Love it lol!!

xoxo

http://farizaothman/blogspot.com
hatim a.r said…
dont worry sha,ure not the only one having a hard time adjusting to busy life. i have to go to hospital everyday before 8am.after lunch lectures till 7 pm. I.NEED.A.VACATION
Yunne Osman said…
haha i love the last picture =)
Mona Zenhom said…
What fun! Beautiful sunny pics and wonderful friends, what a great post!
Hanafedora said…
Darling!! Oh my The food!!! We must one day make a girls day and cook and go vacay together okay? You cook! Hahaha :) Miss you sha.. You look so happy. I too wish I have time like the old days but life must go on and we have a responsibility :) Muaahh Labiu.
Elisa said…
Wonderful pics!! Right away after reading this post I went to see if Netflix had an instant play of Four Lion. . .they do! So, yeah, just got done watching it and what can I say? HILARIOUS!! HaHaHa I love it!!
Feda said…
cute cute cute! love the photo at the end! Stay strong Sha! you can do it!
RS said…
hahah! the last picture is hil-arious! btw, I hope you'll be able to cope. I'm sure u can! Always know that rewarding yourself for work well done is always a good motivation!

<3
Aisha said…
alhamdulilah indeed =) i know exactly how you feel...unfortunately dont have the opportunity to relax with any of my friends right now. working and studying at the same time sucks =(
Zara A said…
Aww, its so nice to hear from you! Once again a lovely post with some beautiful photography!
I understand what you mean with all the load of work, I've also been so busy with studying as I'm 4 weeks away from my final exams. So I'm pretty stressed at the moment, which is why I'm taking a break from my blogging until June. (A long time, but it should be worth it!)
Please make Du'a for my sister!
Insha'Allah you take care and good luck with all your work.
Your always in my prayers. Hopefully I might email you sometime soon, considering I've barely had much time to check my blogger due to my work load.

Lots of love xxx
humie said…
OMG! Why does it seem like we're having the same experiences even though we live so far away?
1. watched 4 lions b/c my boss is irish and he said it was really funny. He though the cursing was in arabic and after I watch the movie I had to explain to him that urdu and arabic are two different languages. And he wonders why I make fun of " crazy white boys" in my arabic classes.
2. I have an afghan friend and I love afghan food. So in the US truck foods have become really popular and there is a truck that serves halal afghan food. I'm eating it everyday now which I should probably stop b/c I haven't gone running in forever and I don't want to be fat for the summer.
p.s. I love the pictures. But I'm also jealous that you have time to have fun. Exams are killing me.
Emmy Z said…
Four Lions the movie sounds very interesting! thanks for the recommendation. ima gonna check out the dvd/download the movie!

p/s hope all is well with you Sha :)
Laila said…
Love the photos! they're aweson! :D