Autumn in East Tennessee and Ruth's Chris Steakhouse!

Salaam ya'll! I've had sooo many problems with my pics through blogger/android/google plus. Anyway it appears ALL my old photos are gone. Many I still have on my hard drive, some I do not. I doubt seriously if I will go back and re-post, that's a lot of work as I have over 325 posts.

So here are a few pics with captions. Let's see what I can find:





View of the Tennessee River

Delicious steak hmmmm

Sweet potato casserole

Two fairies mA



Broccoli casserole

Yummy salad

So updates, updates, updates... still no dialysis, still under 20% kidney function, still gettin' by. :)

Still married to my awesome Cap'n, still deliriously happy (please say "masha'Allah!") and still waiting, sometimes patiently, for him to arrive.

Still a happy Muslim mama with a happy little girl who's cute n sweet n spicy. :)

I'm hoping to go visit Cap'n one more time but, as usual, money is the deciding factor. We are both VERY simple people. We want to live as Muslims, die as Muslims, have a happy, balanced life and work for the akhira. We wanna share some laughter, weather some storms, and raise our children. So for money to be such an issue (the not-having-it kind ;) really galls us. We are not greedy, more more more kinda people but when you really need el dinero to see your husband/wife, to spend time together as a couple and the ONLY thing preventing you are finances... well it sucks. To be polite. :)

So please make dua for us that Allah swt unites us soon. Amin!

Ma salaama ya'll...

Little Miss's new look m'A!

Salaam ya'll. After Aaminah didn't pass her 4 yr old basic eye test at the pediatrician's office, I took her to be tested. The result:



Don't forget to say "masha'Allah!".

Cute li'l things

Salaam ya'll. So I'm tired of talking about my illness. It's consumed a lot of my time and I'm ready (as I'm feeling a bit stronger) to move onto brighter things. :-)

Ya'll know I'm woman on a budget, I like bargain shopping and I encourage it. It's just responsible and good for all concerned. Reduce, re-use, recycle. :-) So I was at a local neighborhood sale looking for some winter clothes for Aaminah. She's grown so much m'A, she's a size 5-6 now. :-) While there, I spied this cute little purse. It looked brand-new and I got it for a song. :-)  Well, $5.00 but still...



I love the soft muted metallic purple, It goes well with many colors. I am the person that always switches out my purse to match my outfit so this makes it easier!

I really love the chain detail, look here:

Pretty!

I don't really buy much for myself, on a super-tight budget alhamdulillah. But I will ocassionally splurge and at $5, I don't even feel guilty. :)

I also like to be prepared. I am the mom that always has a change of clothes for my daughter even though she's 4. It's just easier that way. So I found a little manicure set, brand-new, but was only $4. It seems you always need something like that when your out, plus even at home those little things like tweezers and files gets misplaced. Now I have them all in one cute little package. :-)

At first I thought it was a little credit card case...

but then opened it up to find these. :-) And everything still had plastic on it so I know it's new and no nasty fungi clinging to them i'A. :-)

I then packed a little change purse I found in Aaminah's toys and put some eyeglass cleaning packs in it (she wears glasses now!) along with a few safety pins, ponytail holders. lip balm and hair clips. The things we always need if we are out and she has a bad hair day or she is eating. (I hate for hair to drop in the food!!!!)

This is the change-purse I re-purposed from Little Miss

And here is what we carry in it. :-)

I also keep a little packet of tissues and found this pretty one for $.50 on clearance. And lastly is the little leopard-print compact mirror I got 2 years ago in MA for $.97, also on clearance.

Aaminah has one also, she is a crazy cat girl!

Too bad they didn't have purple, would have been all matchy-matchy. :)

OK so there is just a bit of fluff for you.  :) Enjoy...  Ma salaama!

Mystery of the photos solved...maybe

Salaam ya'll. What, 2 posts in 2 days? Am I ok? Yeah, alhamdulillah. :) Anyway I did a bit more research and now, I'm gonna do something I try to not do: make a blanket statement of blame.

GOOGLE SUCKS!

Aww now that's not really fair cause I really like their search engine. However, I wanted to directly upload photos from my Android to my blog. Google said, heyyyy no problemo, just download this little program and we gotcha covered! Well then ALL the pics I took on my phone (even ones sans hijab) were showing up on my goole + account (which I only had to upload photos to blogger!)

I freaked and immediately deleted them but apparently that is where the pics were hosted, so they disappeared from my blog. :-( Boo! Now, I already deleted the pics from my phone cause I didn't need them. Oh nice, so no way to get them back. Not a huge deal except I really hate to see that annoying error message pic instead of my photos so I'll probably go through and remove the non-existant photos so that error pic goes away.

Grrrr.

Anyway, I still have over 500 images from my blog stored on my phone and NO WAY to delete them. Is annoying and weird. Alhamdulillah. I don't wanna delete all photos because many are of Aaminah but guess I'll have to do what I have to do. It's eating up a lot of my storage.

OK so mystery of the pictures solved. Alhamdulillah. :) On my way to see my nephro, make du'a for me please!!!

ma salaama ya'll

Where to start?

A'salaamu alaikum ya'll!!!! Sorry been outta the circuit for so long but soooo much has happened. Subhanallah. Where to start??? Seems like a good place for a list! Random info, no particular order.

1. Married (as ya'll know) deliriously happy, 'nuff said.

2. I have been reading all comments but due to my tenuous health I just wasn't able to log on and respond to all of them. However, a few I did want to address:

  a.) To my new follower, so glad you stopped by! I'm normally very on-top of things but if you've read more recent entries, I'm sure you understand why this belated greeting. :-)
  b.) My pics: I have no idea what happened! I did remove a few pics of me (didn't have many on here) but for some reason, my phone and google decided to download ALL of my blog pics onto my phone. They cannot be deleted, I read here and there and apparently I had to delete them off my blog! I tried many things, got annoyed, and then found out all my pics had the dreaded "!" symbol. So annoying and I have not figured out how to fix it.
  c.) My husband did not request I remove all pics HOWEVER, if he did I would be more than happy to accomodate him. Cap'n is an awesome husband masha'Allah and would do anything for me. Just to clear up a point a reader made.

3. My health. Alhamdulillah! I've had I guess 7 surgeries since March and wasn't doing well. Found out I could switch to peritoneal dialysis and had that tube inserted (in my abdomen). Nice. So I had 2 tubes, one in my thigh and one in my lower belly. Belly wouldn't heal from all my immunosuppression and the one in my thigh (for hemodialysis) stopped. It's bad when you need dialysis and you can't do it. Like, end of life bad.

BUT....alhamdulillah, He took care of me as always! I spoke up, said I didn't want ANOTHER surgery and to continue hemo while my abdominal incision healed. I knew my kidney had enough function left to slog on through. I expected to feel crappy but survive until my belly healed.

Alhamdulillah! My kidney function is 19% (roughly). That means, insha'Allah, I don't need to dialyze right now. Ya'll, I've been through sooooo much since March. Really. Days where walking was a chore, couldn't cook or clean, even taking care of Aaminah was too much. Alhamdulilllah I had help and I just you know, did what I could and prayed to Allah and look where I am now.

Subhanallah just so grateful. :) I'm still sick, yeah, definitely, but I'm living. I might even get to have this tube in my abdomen removed. A normal-ish life. I won't feel great but I feel sooo much strong than I did, I'm just happy for it all. :)

I have an appointment with my nephro tomorrow and I'll know more insha'Allah. :-)

4. Aaminah. What to say? She is sweet, smart, beautiful and growing like a weed! She started pre-K and loves it, has the best teacher and I really like the curriculum. She's doing awesome and yet another thing I'm thankful for!

5. It feels good to be here again. When I didn't feel like writing, I didn't let it bother me. I said alhamdulillah and went on. For now, I'm feeling better, stronger, and feel like sharing. When Cap'n gets here, maybe it will change again. Allahu a'lam. We'll just see, won't we?

Anyway, I'm pretty sure everyone's lives somehow managed to move forward even without me here. :-) I pray everyone is in the best of health and iman and please, keep me and my little family in your du'a. I know it's only by the grace and mercy of Allah that I'm feeling better now and possibly getting a reprieve from treatments. Treat each day as a gift and try to make the most of it. If the most you can make is to sit in your chair and not cry, alhamdulillah. If you can go at it full-steam ahead, better. :) I have somewhere in between right now and I'm good with that.

Ma salaama ya'll!

Alhamdulillah! Masha'Allah! Allahu akbar!

Salaam ya'll! I am very pleased to announce that Cap'n and I have married. :-) Alhamdulillah! We had a wonderful time, I think we were both more than the other expected and both grateful to Allah for the love and understanding He has placed between us.

"And among His signs is this, that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that you may dwell in tranquility with them, and He has put love and mercy between your hearts. Undoubtedly in these are signs for those who reflect." [Noble Quran 30:21]

Masha'Allah. So this was my big secret, I just preferred to keep everything hush hush til it was a done deal, especially due to my health issues. Alhamdulillah I've been perfectly healthy (well for me that is! lol) the entire time I was away and now am back, sans husband. We are just waiting to be reunited and please all, make dua for us that we are together again soon.

This life is hard enough; going it alone makes it even tougher. :-)

Ma salaama!

Shhhhhh.....

Salaam ya'll! I'm still around, still sick, still struggling, still smiling, still sighing, still "subhanallah"ing. Started with an "s" theme and just decided to run with it. :-)

Anyway the transplant work-up is on hold until I lose 45 lbs. Yes you read right, 45 pounds. Ouch. Alhamdulillah. I know it's for my best interest but having surgery after surgery, week after week, is NOT in my best interest at all. I have already lost weight and am very very dedicated. I mean, we aren't talking about getting ready for swimsuit season, we are talking about my life. Insha'Allah khair...

Of course, with my illness and level of tiredness I can't exercise so it's really just diet. Please make du'a for me, sisters.

Now... I have a secret... and yeah, I hate hate hate hate HATE when people do a big tease on their blog but I'm so excited I wish I could share. Suffice it to say that in a couple of weeks I'll have a very very happy post to put up insha'Allah. :-) Insha'Allah I'll get loads of "masha'Allah"s and "mabrook"s. :-) I promise I'll update you guys in a couple of weeks. Until then, I will be VERY M.I.A. :-)

Please keep me and my family in your dua. I love you all fi sabilillah... Ma salaama!!!