Ramadan Mubarak

Tomorrow is the first day of Ramadan for the Islamic Calendar year 1433! 

I've spent the last 2 Ramadans away from home and I am more than happy to be home and be part of my Orlando community this Ramadan :) 

It is difficult to admit but it is the sad truth - I feel that I wasted my past 2 chances for pure worship. 

And I had decided at the end of last year's month of Ramadan that I shall never do that again and that this year would be a new beginning for me. Ramadan only comes once a year - it is that time of the year when we have a second chance at rebuilding ourselves; an opportunity that Allah is giving us to worship Him, to ask for forgiveness, and to gain lots of rewards.. I ask myself, "why would anyone want to give up on this wonderful time of the year?" 

I will take this opportunity: 

- to ask for forgiveness. 

- to thank for what I have.

- to pray and worship.

- to be kind and respectful to my parents.

- to do as much good as I possibly can.

- to help the needy.

- to learn to have more patience.

- to learn to avoid anger.

- to not be judgmental.

- to avoid gossip.

- to always say the truth.

- to volunteer my time.

- to stop complaining because life is beautiful!

- to study hard!

May everyone have a very blessed Ramadan!

Grateful..

This week I've had a very strong reminder sent to me.. a reminder to be thankful for what I have in life and to appreciate the life that has been given to me. This is something that I have always tried to remind myself but as human nature goes, I tend to forget it and need a refresher.

The question "Why me?" always crosses my mind from time to time.
And the answer I can give myself today is, "because Allah loves me." Only He knows what is in store for me and He sees the big picture. He is helping me and saving me from a worse situation.

This is a short post but it means a lot to me because I have to remember this!

This too shall pass! :)

French-braids

Since I was already writing my USMLE blog today, I decided to write something for this blog as well and to share my new-found interest in doing hair! Thanks to my sister-in-law, I've started to try different hairstyles for her and have had a pretty good outcome.

I've always LOVED the french-braid and after watching many youtube videos, I managed to do it for myself. I then used my roommates in St. Kitts to try it on them. When I came back from the island, I tried it on my sister-in-law and it turned out great! I did it slightly different and started from the right crown of her head and ended on the left front.

This past week, I learnt from a pin on pinterest on how to do a slightly different version of two french-braid-like braids on the sides and "topysing" the hair in the back. The picture explains it better. Two ideas that can also be done separately, coming together - love it!