Sad days for United Arab Emirates

mood: sad
craving: ----

Salam Alikom (Peace be with you)  to all my Muslim readers and hello to all my non-muslim readers....

Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'oon ( To God we belong and to him we will return) 

^ Muslims say this when someone passes away. 

"Everyone is going to taste death, and We shall make a trial of you with evil and with good. And to Us you will be returned." (Quran - 21:35)

We all go though life wondering what our purpose is; at least I did when I was younger, until I found Islam. When I found Islam, my life changed and the way I looked at life changed in such a big way that I look back on it now and wonder how I lived without this blessed religion.

"Then We raised you up after your death: Ye had the chance to be grateful."(Quran - 2:56) 

When my mother passed away I prayed that God accepted her and forgive her sins. So, I had faith back when I wasn't Muslim, but it still wasn't enough. It seemed after the passing of my mom, I was more aware of death. I was scared and wanted to really find out what was the purpose of life. I searched and searched. Studied and searched more. When I found what I was looking for,  (Islam) I was astonished how I could be so ignorant. Islam is easy, people make it hard. Islam is perfect, people aren't.  Rewind a bit, mom passed on and a couple years later, one of my good friends passed on in a major car accident. It seemed like death kept creeping up on the people I loved. It was really scary. One year after my friend Denise passed away, another friend had a bad car accident. After that it seemed every year or two, a friend of mine was dying. I found Islam a couple years after that. Thank you God, Islam gave me the insight on what I was so afraid of. Death.

"Every soul shall have a taste of death: And only on the Day of Judgment shall you be paid your full recompense. Only he who is saved far from the Fire and admitted to the Garden will have attained the object (of Life): For the life of this world is but goods and chattels of deception. "(Quran - 3:168) 

Death is scary, because it's unknown how you're going to die. As Muslims we are afraid of not doing everything that God has told us.  God's willing we will make it to Heaven if we do what we were commanded to do.

"To Him belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth: It is He Who gives Life and death; and He has Power over all things."(Quran - 57:2)

In 2004 a great man passed away, Sheikh Zayed. May God forgive him and accept his good deeds ameen. It was a great loss to the people of United Arab Emirates. Not only did the local Emiratis love and adore this man, but many foreigners who knew him, loved him.  Then the son of Sheikh Zayed, Sheikh Nasser bin Zayed passed away on June 3rd, 2008 when his helicopter crashed over the gulf waters. May Allah forgive his sins and accept his good deeds ameen.

Now one of Sheikh Zayed's ( God have mercy on his soul ) sons, Sheik Ahmed bin Zayed al-Nahyan,   died. His glider crashed in a lake in Morocco. May God have mercy on his soul and forgive him for his sins ameen.  1969 - 2010

"And certainly  We! We it is Who give life, and cause death, and We are the inheritors." (Quran - 15:23) 

The only thing is this life we can't escape is death. Every one of us who is reading my entry, will die someday. We just don't know when or how. I think that's the scary part.

I ask God to forgive us and increase our iman ( faith ) and only love each other for the sake of Allah ( God ) and do everything in this life, only for Allah ( God ).

Please pray for our brother in Islam and pray for his family. Pray for all our brothers and sisters who have passed away and for all the families who lost loved ones. 

 "And Allah (God) has created you and then He will cause you to die; and of you there are some who are sent back to senility, so that they know nothing after having known )much). Truly, Allah (God) is All - Knowing, Alla-Powerful."(Quran - 16:70)

final whisper: May Allah (God) forgive our brother and have mercy on him, give him jannah (heaven) , give his family patience and iman (faith) ameen

    

BBQ'ing chica's

mood: tired from staying up late
craving: another visit to Om A's house Tee hee




Salam Alikom to my sisters in Islam and a big to all my non-muslim followers and readers....

Yesterday was just one of those days where I just wanted to jump up and hug the sun and run in the wind as fast as I can. We had such a lovely day. Wanna know why? I got to be with my best friends and have the best BBQ ever. We had so much fun and talked and laughed. While Twizzle and I were outside  "trying" to BBQ the kabobs and steak, the rest of the gang was inside. We started a tiny bit late and wished we had started earlier, since Twizzle and Kasey have a long way back home. We started eating at about eight pm and that was late.

I marinated some chicken in this really great marinade.  Recipe coming up at the end of the post. *drool*

As the kids played and screamed through the house and outside, I took charge of all the preparation and made sure the baked potatoes were cooking up a storm in the oven. I got the meat out and proceeded to put them on the kabob sticks. Kasey strolled in the kitchen and started helping. Then came Twizzle, as another helping hand. By the time  you know it, we were done! and it went so fast. We were laughing because the chicken smelled so good, even if it wasn't cooked.

Salad not finished. I don't know if I got a picture of the finished product. LOL 

Rewind to a tiny bit earlier. Twizzle and my daughter had to go get the sticks for the kabobs, because I totally forgot them back home. Ahhh. So, they come back with so much stuff including the sticks. Six cookies and cream ice cream bars, hot cheetos and Doritos. I was laughing because I told Twizzle to come back with junk and she threatened me, "After you eat this junk: no more! We are trying to eat healthy." LOL I said, "OK! OK! yes I won't eat more junk. " The funny thing is, I didn't eat any of  the junk last night. Instead we ate strawberries from Japan that Twizzle brought for us. Wow, what a treat and so much better than JUNK. So, guess who has all the junk at her home? LOL Om A does. Really, that's not why I am craving to visit her today. ( Twizzle, if your reading this...Well, just close your eyes at the next sentence. *big grin* )

In the above picture y'all can see we burnt the kabobs. LOL We had to throw the rest in the oven. :|

Yes, a big bowl of hot cheetos A nice big juicy apple sure does sound good now. Maybe with a nice big cold glass of Pepsi max  water. A little bit of doritos baked pita chips (whole wheat) dipped in hot sauce makes my mouth water. After wards just laying around and relaxing going to the GYM and working my bum off. *runs from Twizzle*

My daughter & Kasey made us  some really good chocolate coffee

Kasey had brought us some stuff back from Canada and I wanted her to give me a little pedicure. She's awesome at giving them. As I made myself comfy in the big chair, she got everything ready to start making my feet look like a million bucks. They look so good and I love my Ped Egg. Thanks Kasey. I love you.

Being with my friends last night was so amazing. I love hugging and laughing with them. I am the affectionate one out of the group. I loved sitting in the middle of all the toys and talking with Kasey and Om Abdullah. Loved BBQ'ing with Twizzle, as Khaloodie ( Kasey's son) talked up a storm and asked us tons of questions. He's so cute. Twizzle and I laughed so much! we burnt the kabobs and they were like charcoal after we got finished with the first batch. Ya, never let us BBQ your meat. Not a good outcome. My daughter made the most awesome salad you've ever tasted.  The steak was excellent.  Oh, well. Next time we'll start earlier so we can at least see what we're cooking. It was dark outside. Tee hee!

 We were snapping so many pictures yesterday. Masha'a'Allah!

Time always goes so fast and I hate the end of our get togethers.  I just wished Dubai was closer and Al Ain, too. Well, thank God me and Om Abdullah live only a hop, skip and a jump away. We always have so much fun together. Even if when we don't see each other, we talk a million times a day. Y'all don't wanna see our phone bills. LOL

I am trying to talk, Twizzle and Kasey into getting a bb. Twizzle refuses, cause of the camera on the bb, it's not good. Kasey, well I really think it'll be her next phone. Om Abdullah and I love our bb's.

What a great ending to a GREAT beautiful day with my best friends. I love y'all and hope to get together soonish.

Wishing Saimah & Om Fatimah ( Om Abdullah's sister ) was here.. It would have been complete.

Now for the recipe;

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lbs boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1 (15 1/4 ounce) can unsweetened pineapple chunks
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 1 large green pepper, 1 inch pieces
• 12 medium mushrooms
• 18 cherry tomatoes
• hot cooked rice

Directions

1. Put chicken in large shallow dish.
2. Drain pineapple, keep 1/2 cup juice.
3. Set pineapple aside.
4. Mix juice with the next 7 ingredients in small pan.
5. Bring to a boil.
6. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
7. Pour over chicken.
8. Cover and chill for 1 hour.
9. Remove chicken from marinade, reserve marinade.
10. Alternate chicken, pineapple, green pepper, mushrooms, and tomatoes on skewers.
11. Grill kabobs over hot coals 20 minutes or until chicken is done.
12. Turn and baste frequently with marinade.
13. Serve over hot rice.

Kasey's little boy, Hamoodie. Masha'a'Allah. ( God bless him ) Awe, he loved me and kept wanting me to hold him. (((hugs))) habibbi (My love) 

final whisper: Y'all are my sunshine my only sunshine, y'all make me happy when skies are grey. You'll never know, dear sisters, How much I love y'all. Please don't take my sunshine away. 

I LOVE Y'ALL girls. 

It's a small world..

mood: really excited and taken back
craving: a nice BBQ with my best friends

Salam Alikom to my sisters in Islam and a big to all my non-muslim followers and readers....

The above picture is Mexico. I always went there with my family. I have so many good friends from there. This is right on the border, where I grew up. 

As I sit down to have my morning cereal, I can't help but type on my keyboard a million miles a minute. So many things are racing through my mind and I am really amazed at how small this world really is.  Last night before going to bed I was playing with my black berry and I was reading my emails. I got this PM on my expat account and, basically, it was a lady who was asking me about Dubai. She said she's from my home town in TEXAS and she has been reading my blog.  She's really interested in knowing how the life is in Dubai. I was really excited and I wrote her back on my bb really fast, (note: I never do this: I usually wait for the next day to answer any emails I have received). So, here I am typing up a storm and really excited to get to know this lady from San Antonio, Texas. At the end of my last PM to her, I put my real name.

 I woke up this morning and found another message, from her. She wrote back and said, "Ok, are you from Del Rio?" I jumped out of bed and was like *shocked*. She proceeded on telling me her real name and her last name and her married last name. Well, it just happens that I grew up with this girl. She has been my friend since we were children. She lived by my house and we would see each other every day at school, from third grade till our senior year. We lost contact after we graduated. Life just happened. The funny thing is, the last time I seen her was in 2002 at Wal- mart and I was wearing my hijab and abaya (head scarf and big dress that covers my normal clothes). In the next couple days I had left to Germany, we exchanged emails at Wal-mart and just never got in contact with each other. It happens. I think she was taken back when she saw that I covered and was Muslim.

So, here we are almost ten years later and as of now, she doesn't even know that I am who she thinks I am. I really should email her now. I would think they're still up. Maybe. But, I was to excited to not make a post about it. I just emailed her now. LOL I couldn't help it.

The funny thing is, last night my husband was watching one of his forensic shows and a man by the name of Mr. Macary came on and he was a rapist and a murderer. I turned and told my husband,"Ew we had this teacher in high school by the name of Mr. Macary and he used to give all the cheerleaders flowers. He was creepy." My husband made a face of disgust. I quickly thought of my friend who wrote me last night, she was a cheerleader. That's not all. Remember the post I made, "When I say I am Muslim, you turn the other cheek," Well, I thought of her in this post...  Not that she did anything I didn't like when I met her again in 2002... but  I would of liked to know what she thought of me reverting to Islam and being Muslim. When she saw me, she seemed very taken aback.  It's funny how she was and has been in my mind these couple of days, and now she gets a hold of me. Kinda creepy.  But, I've always had this since I was little. I dream of things and they come true. Mind y'all, it doesn't happen a lot, but none the less, it happens. I have a sick sense to a lot of things. It's creepy and scares me a tiny bit.

Anyways, I guess that's all. I am going to make a double post today. Look out for my next one. It's going to be a fun post. Pictures galore coming up.

P.S. Dearest childhood friend, I honestly think it's a GREAT opportunity, for a small town girl to head out and experience one of the most amazing countries  ever.  I can't wait to talk to you and tell you what you wanna know.  People from all over the world are praying to come live here in United Arab Emirates. Y'all have the chance; take it and run. I also got a hold of Yoly Fuentes Ramon and we do keep in touch. She's honestly dying to come here to visit me here in UAE. Her Father in law came here and adored it.

final whisper: I can't wait to show you my home country and my husbands culture. God's willing you and your family will love it here. 


It was lovely talking to you last night. God's willing y'all will get some great news. 

Welcome home..

mood: Thankful 
craving: to hug my in laws

Finally the day had come, the day I had been waiting so eagerly since I married the man of my dreams.  I was gonna meet the most amazing parents who raised my husband and who made him in to the man that I love. So much was going through my mind, I never thought this day would come. After living in Germany for almost five years, I patiently awaited to hug my mother in law and thank her for raising such an amazing man. I waited to tell her my thoughts and feelings all these long years.  It was finally gonna happen. I had so many feelings going on, I made myself sick.

The morning we woke up to come to UAE, was the morning I'll never forget. I kept telling myself everything will be okay, I had to psyche myself out, or else I would end up throwing up. I didn't want that to happen.  I was pretty quiet on the flight and my husband kept comforting me and assuring me everything will be GREAT, they love you already and will love you more when they meet you. I just smiled and was still thinking in my mind, Wow my life is gonna change so much.  Will they like me? Even if I've talked to them on the phone all these years, several times and they confirmed their love for me when they accepted me. I had to keep trying to tell to myself, everything would be just fine. Have faith in God.

By the time I knew it, we were there, in Dubai. Ekkkk. My husband wanted to surprise everyone so we got our luggage and we took off to our destination. Here we come! and no turning back. I remember so vividly looking at everything with wide open eyes and I was amazed that this was the United Arab Emirates - the Middle East. I was in shock. Yep, my culture shock had begun. What a road to go.  I had never in my life imagined that a middle eastern country can look and be as advanced as United Arab Emirates was/is. I guess you would call it, ignorance on my part. I seen tons of pictures, but pictures don't capture the amazing sites "In person" that UAE has.  Dubai is as busy as NYC; if not more. We rented a car and we were off to meet my family. The family I would and love for the rest of my life. It was finally gonna happen.
We turned on the street my husband grew up at. The house was seconds away. My stomach was turning and my heart was racing. I can't turn back now. I joked with my husband to just leave me at a hotel and when I am ready I'll call him so I can meet the family. He laughed and said, he'll carry me to his parents house and not let me go. Oh man, I was so nervous I could of just got out of the car and ran the other way. But, it was over 100 degrees and I would be in trouble if I did that. Plus I didn't know my way around. So, that plan was out the window.
I finally saw the house that we were going to live in. The villa right next door was my in laws and I can see my brother in laws looking out their bedroom windows. I quickly followed my husband into our villa. He carried the luggage up and me and my daughter were way ahead of him. I was already breaking a sweat. We entered the villa and I looked around and was still in shock from seeing everything else. He showed me around. It was pretty nostalgic seeing a place where my husband grew up and knowing this had been my in laws villa months before we moved in. For some odd reason I sat down and just started bawling my eyes out. My daughter quickly said, "Mom, what's wrong?" I looked up and said, I don't know.  I guess I was over whelmed and very nervous. This was the only outlet I had. To cry.
My husband had went to my in laws to greet everyone, I told him I can't go looking like I had run a marathon. I'll stay and take and get refreshed. He came back and seen me crying. He was worried and wanted to know why I was crying. He made me feel a lot better and told me everyone is excited to meet me.  By this time I had made a run to our bedroom, which my in laws set up, we shipped our bedroom set from the states. I felt a little more at home seeing something familiar in the villa. I still had to process everything into my mind. This is the country I will spend the rest of my life at, I am really in the Middle East. I will never go back to the States to live.  I think it started hitting me then. Remember I hadn't met my family yet. I heard a knock at our front door and looked out the peep hole, there stood a woman wearing a hijab (scarf on her head) and carrying something really big. I opened it and she handed it to me. I set it down. My husband came out of the other room and lifted the hot pot, his mother sent us some Briyani with meat. I couldn't eat anything. I had to go shower and get ready to go meet my in laws. Mind you, everyone was there.  My heart was still racing.
I got ready and off we went. It's a hop skip to their villa. So, I was thankful that I wasn't going to sweat. I didn't want to go in there looking like I had just come from swimming. gothic','comic sans ms',times,'times new roman',serif;"Peace - that was the other name for home.  ~Kathleen Norris We got to the front gate and walked in and I was shaking, literally shaking. I look back now and laugh at myself. Since we don't mix ( Men and women ) I was lead by my in laws maid to the woman's majils ( woman's sitting area ) I walked in and there everyone was. I got greeted with the biggest hug and kiss by my sweet lovely mother in law. I could of stayed in her arms forever. I wanted to cry, her hug was like my mothers. I felt at home. My sister in laws and my husband's sisters in laws, made me feel so good and comfortable. All that worrying was for nothing. I guess I'll always remember the first days I came to UAE. It seems all like a dream now. I thank God everyday for this awesome blessing. My in laws never seize to amazes me. I love them with all my heart.

May God bless them and give them good in this life and the hear after and reward them both ameen final whisper: Right there, in my Mother in law's arms , I knew I was finally home.

When I say I am Muslim, you turn the other cheek.

mood: cranky 
craving: to talk some sense into some ignorant people heads.. 

I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Just one of those awful days and as many times as I said to myself, "It's my choice to make myself happy." It just didn't work. *sigh* I tried listening to Quran and reciting and even dikher. Nothing. AstagferAllah! May God forgive me.  You know what  the icing on the cake was?  One of my cousins emailed me -she never does- she started going on about how Christianity is the religion of God and on and on. Muslims are going to hell. Honestly, so many times I've come into situations like this since reverting to Islam, when my old friends classmates from grade school find out that I am Muslim, they are taken back and totally act so much different towards me. It happend on Face Book. That's exactly why I don't have Face book anymore. Darn, it happens with my family. Makes me sick to my stomach.

"There is no reply to the ignorant like keeping silence" 

My sister, Mona and Dad have never said a thing about me reverting, now that I remember my cousin Janis stood up for me to a couple of people (I love you, Jan Jan) we were always close. But, others... Pffft! sickening. Right now I don't care what I say, because I am only telling the truth and sick and tired of family people who don't know a thing about our beautiful religion, saying things that are made up and to try to hurt me. They don't even read about Islam, I know about their religion. HELLO, I was Catholic  most of my life.  They just wanna live in a bubble and never educate themselves about other religions. Just ignorance. Pick up the old forgotten habit and READ! It won't kill you.

"Fear always springs from ignorance" 

LOL You know what really makes me think.  I know there are so many people who read my blog, they're not Muslim and they never comment on the religious stuff I write about. Why? Maybe some of you, Non-Muslims can tell us. Or maybe y'all just don't know what to say? Please "dont be shy if you want to comment and ask anything. Or even any misunderstanding you have....and questions will be welcomed if you want to learn. What gets me is when people bash our religion without knowing anything about it. But if you have a Q, ask away and I'll try to answer or if I don't know I'll ask someone who knows better. If you are too shy to leave a comment, you can send me a little message," Come get to know us. I do think there's more good people in the world than bad, right? I want to always believe that.  I have 3 very close friends from my childhood. They have never judged me and always accepted me with open arms. They are all Catholic. Thanks for being so open minded, girls. I love y'all.

"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than a sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity" 

I am so done with my family these people. When I go back to Texas, I just wanna see my father and siblings, my Uncle Rudy and my mom's cousin (aunt sylvia) and her daughters. That's all. Seriously. No one takes any intrest in my life since I've been gone. Maybe because they believe that my ARAB husband beats me and I can't go out. It doesn't matter to me. In these almost ten years of being away from my family, NO one has ever called me or kept in touch with me. Only my dad and siblings have. No one else. I am so done with them. I don't need them. My parents raised us kids to always be considerate of everyone's feelings, I did just that. I tried to keep in touch. I did my part. I thought at least they would reach out and try to keep in touch. Since it's a sin to disown your own family, I will never cut ties with them. But, I won't look for them anymore like I did when I found Facebook. It was very obvious that they weren't interested.

Well, this post has just been a rant post. I guess I am allowed. Just as long as I stay close to my dad and siblings. That's all that matters to me.

"The greatest ignorance is to reject something you know nothing about"

P.S. I am smiling now. I feel a lot better after this post. Thank you God for guiding me to the religion of PEACE, LOVE , HAPPINESS and TRUTH. I am so blessed to be MUSLIM. So, so blessed.

Those of you out there who want to know about Islam, just ask.  I am not asking y'all to revert to Islam. LOL We are peaceful people. Don't let ignorance get the better half of y'all.

final whisper: "I am not ashamed to confess, I am ignorant of what I do not know" 

Thank you Dad, for never judging me.

A big thanks to my loving family/friends here in UAE! Honestly, if it wasn't for y'all my world would be empty. I LOVE Y'ALL.


God guide them and us.

You light up my life

mood: happy
craving: talking to a special someone

I came to the blog world with an open mind, but not knowing that I would fall in love with the sisters that had blogs too.  I've read so many blogs and stayed up many nights just reading and reading.  Twizzle and Om A can attest to that. We often call each other and laugh at the silly blogs we find and exchange links quickly.  Also with the inspiring blogs and the sad blogs. This world is full of so many different people and so many different mentalities. It's amazing.

One day, I was reading different blogs and I came across an awesome blog. I was taken back in time and I loved reading every single post she would make. She is such a fantastic writer and you wouldn't even know that English is her second language. We began exchanging emails, talking about all different things. It's honestly unusual for me to get so close to someone so fast. I don't roll that way. I am very cautious and really take my time to get to know someone. With her, it was natural and everything feel into place. Every day I find her in my prayers and even while I am out I will think, Oh Miss Dreamer would  so love this. LOL

Have you ever met someone and just felt like you knew them forever. She's just that sister, I heart her. Funny and vivacious and smart and everything you would want in a friend/sister.  Her heart is pure gold. I am a pretty good judge of character, I trust my instincts. They never fail me.

We went to Dubai a couple weeks back and I saw this car and the license plate read,  Bahrain. I quickly got my Nikon out and told my husband to speed up so I can capture a pic of the plates. He thought I was nuts and we laughed so hard. I finally got a picture and said to myself, I am gonna show it to my special friend, Miss Dreamer . Here it is. I love her blog, y'all honestly have to follow her blog. It's awesome. So full of life and yet some mystery to it. She always makes me smile and makes my days brighter.

Have y'all gotten close to fellow blog sisters? Do you know a special blog sister? I can't wait to hear y'alls answers. Go on over and become a follower.

Go on.

I dare you. LOL  'Nuff Sed.  

final whisper: someday, someday.. I can't wait. 

This is for you, Esell.

mood: wide awake

craving: a nice hot white chocolate

Jummah Mubarak and

Salam Alikom to my Muslim Readers and Hola to my non-Muslim readers and followers.

I threw a party a couple days ago for one of my most special friends/sisters. She is one of the most amazing women I ever met. She stole my heart and many others hearts.  She is on her way to start here new amazing life. We love you Essel.

I wanna share some of the dishes we had.

Get ready to drool.

Samosas

Grape vine leaves stuffed with rice and meat

Fried chicken

Chicken biryani 

Tiramisu

Kanafa

cake balls

Tuna cakes

chicken casear salad

I don't know what they call this. But, it's good. A salad with egg plant and parsley, chickpeas and pine nuts.

Lasagna with the chicken biryani

*****************************************************


Today's desserts for our family lunchen. I wish I got our lunch, but I totally forgot. I guess I was to hungry. LOL


Kanafa 

chocolate drops

flan

sliced bread cake 

Qahwa

We had a lot of other stuff, but I felt all shy taking all these. The pictures are taken with my bb, so they're not clear. 

final whisper: May God give you and your husband  a happy long life together ameen 

I hope y'all enjoyed the pictures. 

La Cucaracha

mood: relaxed
craving: time with the family

Cucaracha, means Roach in Spanish.

There's something about those gross, brown, ugly bugs that everyone loves to hate.  When I see them, I honestly scream and cry. Ya, ya I am a big baby. Since moving here I haven't seen a lot of them, but enough to never wanna ever see them again. Who would wanna see them? We had them back in Texas and they were the same ones, the big flying disgusting ones. *gross* Thank God we don't have a problem with these little suckers, I would truly consider moving if we did. Not moving out of the country, but moving out to another home. LOL I can be very demanding when it comes to stuff I don't like. This is one thing I can't stand.

So, the story goes. Last week I was cleaning and moved our couch pillow and there it was, a gross big Cockroach! Ewwwwwwwww.  I immediately screamed and my hands and face broke out into a sweat. I ran for the phone and called my dear husband at work. Thank God he works close enough to get into his vehicle and come home fast. This is me..

Me: Come home please
him: what's going on?
Me: There's a big gross disgusting Roach on the couch.
Him: kill it. "he's laughing so hard"
Me: NOOOoOoOOOooO!!!! I have it in a glass candle blocking it from going anywhere and my hand  is killing me. Our son is trying to move the glass and I think your parents might even hear me crying.
Him: I am on my way. Laughing
Me: waiting... Ten minutes go buy... Still waiting...... Seems forever....

Thank God! he came in the door and he killed it. I ran out of the room crying still. I told him to get the bug people to come. We don't like to do this, but in this part of the world, where it's hot and humid, it's unavoidable that your gonna get these gross little creatures of hell. You're basically screwed if you get the little bitty ones. The ones we get from time to time are the big gross ones. They're called water bugs. They're disgusting. I always keep our bathrooms super clean and our kitchen very very, very clean. No food is to be left out and trash is taken daily.  These damn little things seem to gross everyone out.

There was this other time when I was in my bedroom and my daughter had just gone to sleep. I looked up at the ceiling and saw something black on it. It started to move and I realized it was a roach. OH MY GOD, I started screaming for her to come and kill it. She ran into my bedroom and caught it and killed it. I'm really paranoid when it comes to these things.

Have y'all ever had any roach problems? If so, share.

final whisper: don't ever kill a roach with your shoe. If she's carrying eggs, they will stay on your shoe and hatch in your house. LOL Yuck! 

He's one in a million.......

mood: wishy washy
craving: hugging my father

It's been a long time since seeing my father. The last time I seen him, was June 8th, 2002. Ya, that's too long. My dad has always been very strict with us. At the time I didn't understand, but now I do. I thank him for that. He never let me go to Mexico with my girlfriends, nor to the prom, but all those times I cried my self to sleep at night, not understanding what he was trying to do, all makes so much sense now. I thank him now.



He called us tonight and I talked to him a long time. He wished my daughter a happy birthday and told me to wish my son the same. Since my baby boy and girl are 14 yrs and 1 day apart.  He sounded very lonely for some reason. I felt so sad when we hung up. I just wanna sit and talk to him forever. I wanna laugh with him and act silly with him. He's so funny, yet so loving and caring. I just wanna see him.

My husband talked to him tonight, and asked him to come here. Of course my father and brother and little sister wouldn't have to worry about anything. My husband just told him to go to the airport and the tickets would be waiting, that's all he would have to do.  I know my father won't fly and he hates it. But, I really have faith that God will put it in his heart to come see us soon. I want him to see my world. I want him to know that I am okay. I want him to meet my family and see just how I live. I want to introduce him to this culture. He would be surprised when he comes here (he would love it). I want to see him hug my daughter and see him hold my son and kiss my son. I have tears in my eyes now from thinking about it. I wish he would move here, so I can take care of him, as he took care of me and my siblings all those years.


"Thy Lord hath decreed that ye worship none but Him, and that ye be kind to parents. Whether one or more attain old age in thy life, say not to them a word of contempt, nor repel them, but address them in terms of honor. And out of kindness, lower to them the wing of humility, and say, "my Lord! bestow on them Thy Mercy, even as they cherished me in childhood." (Quran 17: 23,24)

final whisper: I just want your smile and I just want your hugs and I want to hear your voice all the time. one day without you, is like a million years.

UAE is my home.....

mood: can't believe it's really happening (Thank you God) 
craving: To embrace someone special

After almost living here for 3 yrs, I still called Texas my home. After reading one of my sister's (in Islam) blog, I realized that I am home. Texas will just always have a special place in my heart...but UAE is my home. Home to me is where you're going to live the rest of your life, be with your spouse and kids and make your memories.

A wise woman always told my siblings and I, "When you marry, you go wherever your husband goes. Your home will always be where he is." Thanks for that advice, mom.

I guess Um Riyam's blog entry woke me up; sort of like a light going off in my head. Texas is only going to be a place I will visit. I've accepted this and I think after accepting this, it's made me feel a lot better.

UAE has given me a lot of insight to who I am. I admit, when I got here I was in such a huge culture shock, (I said that in the last post)  I so need to make a post on my culture shock. That said, I'm living a great life here. I do everything I did back in Texas and more. I have my own SUV and go shopping when I want, go to parks with my kids and husband. I go out to eat at restaurants. I do a lot more socializing here, which I LOVE. 

So, UAE is my home and Texas will be a place I love and visit. I feel better typing it out now!

final whisper: I <3 you, UAE

Who's Texan in UAE...

mood: silly
craving:  going to Dubai to visit one of my sweetest most loving friends. 

Salam Alikom my Muslim readers. Hola to you non-Muslim readers.

I think its time to get to know a tiny bit about me.  Don't y'all love to go read blogs and know about the person who's writing? I do. I think it makes it more personal. I have nothing to hide. So, here it is. 

I am a loving mother who cherishes her two beautiful kids. I thank God for them every single day, several times a day. I have two wonderful children. My daughter is sixteen and son is two years old. He terrorizes my daughter, day in and day out, poor girl.  They're my life and every heart beat.

 Since I've reverted to this wonderful most beautiful religion, Islam, I've kept myself busy with an all woman's Islamic forum. I've had that since 2004 and it's brought so much joy and love into so many sisters' lives. I've met so many wonderful women from around the world and bonded with them as I'm bonding with my blog sisters in the blog world. It's lovely. I can't say enough about it. 

I'm a very easy going person and I love the color PINK, only in clothes/make-up, NOT in the home. I love animals: dogs are my favorite . I love to act silly and  get together with my friends and cook up a storm for them. I like to think I am a good friend and will always try my best to help anyone if they need help. I love anything that smells good, candles and perfumes and  house oils are the best. I love to keep my home nice and clean.



I am married to a brother from UAE. I've had the ride of my life since being Muslim and marrying a man from another culture.

I like to watch chick flicks, grab some popcorn with chocolate and chill out with my daughter.

My family and I lived in Germany for five years, because Abu Azooz attended a university there. We learned so much living there and our daughter speaks fluent German as does Abu Azooz.  I understand more than I speak.

As y'all know, we are living here in United Arab Emirates, and we have lived here going on 3 yrs. It was the biggest culture shock to me when we arrived and we laugh about it now. It wasn't funny at the time. Ask my two best friends, Twizzle and Om Abdullah. I was so ridiculous. I'll make another post in the near future and let y'all know what things made me cry.  I wouldn't ever wanna live any other place in the world. UAE is my home.

I was born in San Antonio, Texas, but raised on a border town. Mexico (where my grandfather was from) was only a hop-skip from my house. We always went there . I haven't been back to Texas in almost ten years. It's been a long time, but God's willing, we'll be going back to visit.

I taught myself Spanish, because Mom and Dad didn't teach us. Just thinking about my Dad's parents and them not knowing any English makes me giggle, because I had to teach myself. I asked my dad a while back and he told me, "It's so y'all wouldn't understand when your mom and I spoke." LOL I started learning Spanish when I was in grade school. I had no choice. Now, thank God, I speak Spanish and just miss it so much.  I miss my Latina sisters back in Texas.

Well, if theres anything else y'all wanna know come join my all sisters forum and get to know more about me and my family. Don't be shy to join, you won't regret it.

I've enjoyed the blogging world so much, it brings so many inspiring stories and I love that. I think it has really brought out the better side of myself. Thank you everyone for keeping up with my little posts. Your comments really make me smile.

Keep all the great blogs coming. I get so lost in them, especially the inspiring stories. They take me to another place.  I love going to that other place. I hear nothing around me and can really just read forever.


final whisper: Thanks to all you readers/friends out there. If my posts have helped just one person, I am happy. 


P.S. I tag everyone who reads this. I would love to get to know more about y'all. Please make a post.