Going home for Eid = Last day alone with hubby

Ok, so I have a lot of drafts that I have saved on here which I will publish sometime soon.

They will update you guys a little bit better on what I've been up to since I've been here in SC.

Hmm... I was here since Aug. 2nd and had booked my ticket for Sept. 22nd (school starts on the 23rd), which would be 2 days after our religious post-Ramadaan celebration of Eid.

I was excited about spending this first Eid with my husband but at the same time we had no idea about how we would celebrate it.

We haven't found any practicing Muslims over here :( and so we actually had no plans.

We were thinking we'd just pray and chill at home, like we do everyday... as it is, we love spending time together :D Alhamdulillah!

Well, one morning my sister text messages me on my cell and is like, 'Guess who is coming over for Eid?' and I'm confused... and so I ask 'who?'. She doesn't say anything back to me but I realize something fishy is going on.

Then I talk to my mom later on in the day and I find out that my dad had called up my husband and told him that he wanted the 2 of us to come over back to OH for Eid (which would be 2 days before I was intended to return). My dad also said that he knew my ticket had already been booked and to see if it could be changed and that my dad would be paying for my husband's ticket. That would be his Eid gift to him :)

So yup, my ticket was already booked and we called to find out if we could cancel or change and the airline people told us that we'd have to pay $150!!! This, of course, was more than the amount that my ticket cost because it was a one-way back to OH.

So we decided to forget about the wasted ticket and just buy a new one and let my dad pay for my hubby's.

Ok... so long story short :D I'm gonna be in OH on Sept 18th along with my husband!

I'm really happy that we'll get to spend our first Eid together with my family and little cousins, alhamdulillah.

Although I'm happy tough, this trip is still bittersweet because I know that I won't be able to see my husband for 3 whole months :'( This whole distances thing is difficult... and these past 1.5 months have been the most time I have spent with him over the whole year of our marriage.

Oh yeah, that reminds me... our first wedding anniversary is coming up! Masha'Allah.

It's on Oct 11th :)

I was planning on paying my husband a visit so that we could celebrate together (it's on a Sunday) but now it's pretty much impossible. First, it'd be too expensive, second I'm gonna have midterms around that time. Third, we're having an AlMaghrib (www.almaghrib.org) class the same weekend :( So yeah, my plans have pretty much been canceled.

Am gonna end this here because it's late and my husband is already snoring away on our futon... poor thing!

Until later...

Peace.

In-laws arrive! (for 10 days)

So my in-laws have arrived for 10 days and we're having a lot of fun playing Ludo together, going to the beach, aquarium and we also hosted an iftaar for my second cousin who lives in NC, on the first day of Ramadaan.

My poor MIL and I spent a total of 2 days in the kitchen... from the second that we woke up, until the second we went back to sleep! SubhaanAllah.

It was a lot of work, but my mom-in-law taught me a lot too, I learned how to make a few new things :D

Also, the iftaar party was a success!!!




The pic above is the dining table all set up for the day my in-laws arrived.
I cooked rice, lentil and spinach :D

Setting up the apartment :D

This was by-far my favorite part!

My in-laws were with us for 2 days after we came to SC and then they went off to NV to spend time with my husband's elder brother, for 2 weeks.

Well, I decided to take on a mighty task before they came back...

We bought and assembled a bookshelf, coffee tables and a desk in a total of around 3 days... after that hubby and I also bought ourselves a washer n dryer with the money that we got during the wedding!

SubhaanAllah! It really was like taking on more than we could chew and I was super overwhelmed one day... trying to cook and clean and do 3 loads of laundry in a single day... but I am blessed with an AMAAAAZING husband because he did a LOT of work... he doesn't just help, but in fact he DOES a lot of stuff, masha'Allah.

I am so thankful...

I have arrived...

The wedding reception was a huge success and everyone had tons of fun.

It was also pretty well organized and my outfit + hijaab all turned out the way I wanted them to, alhamdulillah (Allah praise is to Allah).

The day after the wedding reception we drove to SC which was a 13 hr drive... even though I was really nervous about riding with my in-laws and everyone for the first time, it all turned out really well and everyone was extremely caring :D

Also, although it would seem like 13 hrs is a loooot, alhamdulillah it really did not feel like that long... i guess it was the happiness of everything which got me through it :)

So, yeah, I'm beginning my new life in SC... slowly but surely!

I'm only here for 1.5 months :( but I'm still excited!!!

The Reception- Aug 1st, 09.

The Decor

Running through my head right now...

I cant be losing sleep over this, no I cant
And now I can not stop pacing
Give me a few hours, Ill have all this sorted out
If my mind would just stop racing

Cause I cannot stand still
I cant be this unsturdy
This cannot be happening

This is over my head but underneath my feet
Cuz by tomorrow morning Ill have this thing beat
And everything will be back to the way that it was
I wish that it was just that easy

Cuz Im waiting for tonight
Then waiting for tomorrow
And Im somewhere in between
What is real, and just a dream
What is real, and just a dream
What is real, and just a dream

- "Somewhere in Between", a song by Lifehouse

Wow, it just sort of hit me!...

There's only 2 days left until my wedding!!! yikes, it's soooo close now. But alhamdulillah :)

Things are going well so far. I was freaking about not being able to find hijaabs, to match the new outfit which my MIL is bringing for me to wear on Friday night, but alhamdulillah I found one, but only after much searching throughout every store I could think of at the mall! I ended up buying a red one too, wich will go perfectly with the outfit that I have to wear on Saturday evening (the actual wedding reception).

So alhamdulillah things are going smoothly overall.

My MIL got me some AMAAAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL clothes from Pakistan. Although I haven't seen them in person, my husband was nice enough to put a lot of effort into photographing them for me, and then e-mailing me them.

I am truly feeling blessed! :)

May Allah protect us all from the 'evil eye' and people with ill intentions. Ameen.

Below is the picture of the outfit which I'm wearing on Friday, insha'Allah.