Welcome September!

Hey y'all :)

My head is hurting so this is probably going to be pretty short. First of all, welcome September! How are you? Good to see you. Means Fall is near.

Anyway, Happy Labor Day to whoever's reading this that celebrates it. I don't. And it's not because I'm not American and don't support my country or whatever, it's because I'm not supposed to celebrate anything besides the Eidain(which were given to Muslims and Muslims alone as a special Holiday of our own). Either way, I'm not even sure what Labor Day is celebrated for. I should probably look it up. No sense in being ignorant on purpose.

So, past all that. I have a boatload of catching up to do. Let's see, I'm keeping in touch with some of the people I met while volunteering. It's been awesome chatting with them and getting to know more about them. Today I started back with homeschool and we took assessment math tests and I totally bombed because half of the test had stuff I haven't learned yet. So my mom says that I can do a different test seeing as you can't assess what someone remembers if they haven't had the chance to learn it, let alone remember it. Still, seeing such a low grade on my math test(my favorite subject in case you didn't know) made me a tiny bit sad.

Besides that, lessons with my Quran teacher are getting a bit wishy-washy. She keeps not calling us on the weekends(even though she says she will) and we're wondering if maybe she doesn't want to deal with us anymore because we missed her call on Thursday and stuff hasn't been going right. I don't know. InshaAllah, everything will work out.

Also, my father is back in Saudi Arabia and we moved our rooms around again and we went shopping last week and I got to spend my own money I made from Swagbucks and also my iPod is fried so I'm sad and desperately wanting to get a new one.

So yeah, that's it. As I said, my head is killing me. I'll hopefully talk next more next Monday.

Signing off for now, annyeong, ma'a salaama, au revoir, sayonara, adios, bye!

Sumiyya <3

Summer Volunteering Has Come to an End

What's up?

I know it is Thursday, not Monday, and I'm super late but today is the best day to be writing this because Summer Volunteering is all over and we had the party and now I can tell you all about it. Yay! :D

So Tuesday was our last day of volunteering. I mostly pulled holds and checked them in(by myself which was super awesome since it was my first time doing so) and then I started shelving them but then was called to cut some crafts. Monday I did a craft table pretty much all shift long but it was okay.

Tuesday was also the day that everyone found out if they won one the Summer Reading grand prizes. A friend I made while volunteering won a Chromebook. Sweet, right? Sadly, I did not win an iPad Mini. I was really hoping to but alas, not a winner. Although my father says that if we really want it we can get one in November. I don't really want it that much though. If anything I want an iPhone 5s but as that is pricy and requires also getting phone service I shall hang tight and just Swagbuck until I have enough to where we can go half and half at the least.Speaking of Swagbucks, I've been meaning to put a referral link in my blog. If you're reading this then definitely click on it and sign up. There's a team challenge going on right now so if you hurry up and join then you'll be on a team and you'll get even more swagbucks. Here's my referral link right here and if you sign up you can come back to my blog and here's the link to the team challenge and also on the homepage there is a search quest thing and you can join that too and possibly win 500 swagbucks which is the equivalent of $5.

Anyway, back to volunteering and all that, yesterday was, as you know, the Teen Summer Volunteer Appreciation Party!!! I got my clothes ready nearly a week prior and was just waiting so long for it to happen. So I woke up yesterday and I studied and I did some other stuff and basically just waited for it to be 3 so I could take a shower and then get ready at four. So when all that finally happened, I got ready, did my makeup, put on my outfit everything and we were this close to being out the door and my Quran teacher called. it was 4:40 and I knew I'd be done pretty quick so I answered, read my surahs, and was out the door. We got there and then signed the card for Mrs. Rebecca(who's leaving to another branch, so sad. :( She and Ms.Tiffany are two of my favorite librarians so it's sad to see her go) and then went inside and joined the party. It was totally fun. We ate pizza(just one slice because I wasn't really hungry) and cupcakes, which were delish and had these cute toothpicks/topper-things on them:

Then we played trivia in between listening to songs. I won one(how many strings does a violin have?) and got some rubber band things that make those rubber band bracelets.I gave them to Laila since she's been wanting to make them for a while.

Then, after the trivia and all that we moved the tables and played some games(some people played Apples to Apples, some Jenga, and Laila and I rotated with other people playing Just Dance). It was really fun.

Before we started Just Dance though, we did the drawing for the TNT prizes. I think it was Semayt who ended up winning the iPod shuffle and then after that they drew smaller prizes such as earbuds and can cups(Laila won one!):

  

So then after all the prize drawings we played and talked the party away and then it was time to go and Jibreel came to get us so we all(including Jibreel) helped put stuff away and then we grabbed our goodie bags(filled with sweets ^o^), exchanged emails and stuff and left. 

So all in all it was a fun experience. I can't believe it's all over now. I'm going to miss volunteering and everyone I volunteered with(especially since I'll be moving InshaAllah). I'm going to try and keep in touch with everyone.

I thank Mrs. Rebecca and Ms. Tiffany for choosing me and Laila to be volunteers and I'm so glad I had such a wonderful experience. 

Thanks for reading and for bearing with my lateness throughout this Summer. I hope your summer was full of fun things and awesome experiences. I wonder what next summer will bring.

Oh, almost forgot. Here's what  I wore, what Laila wore, and a group picture(yes, I screenshot it from IG and uploaded it to my laptop). Enjoy!

 

Signing off for now, ma'a salaama, annyeong, adios, au revoir, sayonara, bye!! >o<

                Sumiyya <3

Eid Mubarak!!

I'm super late because Eid is already over now but Eid Mubarak!!! 

Ramadhan is over, Shawaal is here, July is ending. It's all mixed up. :D I don't know how I feel about August to be honest. 

Anyway, today was Eid and it was pretty nice. Ummi(my mom), Laila, Sakina(who's actually baaligh now O_o) and I  had to stay home from the Eid salaat because all the boys went and there wasn't enough space to get in without wrinkling something or whatever. So we stayed home and did pretty much nothing. 

We're kinda broke this Eid so doing something fancy was out of the question so we just went to the park and played soccer. Then we ate pizza and spaghetti for dinner. Awesome, right? 

Also, Laila made her own Eid outfit this year which looked really cute and I just put together an outfit out of stuff I have. Here both of them are:

And my mom made a sign:

Cute, right?

Anyway, I'll see you all next Monday. Bye! 

As Salaamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Baratuh!

Signing off for now, bye, sayonara, annyeong, au revoir, adiós, Ma'a Salamaa!!! 

Sumiyya <3 

[Insert Blog Title Here]

Konichiwa!

  So today I don't have much to say. I just pretty much volunteered, which went okay today. Although there were quite a bit of hitches. For instance, I was late for pretty much the first time. Then when I was supposed to pull holds, it turned out they had given my hold list to one of the teen leads, who, of course, didn't even notice that it clearly had my name on it. But other than that, it was great.

  After that, we came home and just chilled for a bit and then we went to my grandparents' house. This time we were boy free. By boy free I mean we didn't bring the boys that are staying with us. They went to stay with their older sister for a little while. However, it was short-lived and they're right back here where they shall stay for about another 2 weeks. I'm not so opposed to it anymore though. I guess the barely two days that they were gone was like a little gulp of air and I'm ready to face the next two weeks now. Plus, they've grown on me.

  Anyway, like I said, not much to say today. Mrs. Tiffany, one of the teen section librarians and co-overseer of the Teen Summer Volunteer Program emailed a while ago announcing the date of the volunteer party. I'm so excited! They're going to have cake there and everything. I remember last year we were at ImaginOn the day of their Summer Volunteer party. People kept asking us if we came for the volunteer party and we, salty at the question, just said no. The reason we were salty was because we wanted to be volunteers last year but weren't picked, as you know by now. So we're finally going to be part of the party! Again, I'm super excited! You can tell how excited I am by the fact that I'm using exclamation marks! quite liberally. :D

   I think that's it for today. I have to go make taraweeh and witr and head to bed. Got more volunteering to do tomorrow. Plus, I'm working Circulation(blehhhhh) so I have to be at my best. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't like to work Circ, or shelf(which is basically all you do when you're working Circ), it's just a bit taxing you know? A lot of bending and moving.

  Anyway, signing off for now, ma'a salaama, bye, anneyeong, au revoir, adios, sayonara!! 

                            Sumiyya <3

 
 

Wednesday Reminiscing

    Hey!

     What's up? I know "This isn't Monday!" is probably what you're thinking. I assure you, I am very much aware of that fact as you can see by the title. Anyway I was just talking to my mom, reminiscing about this past winter when it snowed, and I realized that I never wrote a blog post about how much fun we had.

      The first time it snowed it was the 28th of January. We were so excited but it was only a small coating and it was pretty much all gone within two days. But then on February 12th it snowed again. This time there was more but we didn't know if it would last. It did though and the very next day we had about half a foot of snow. It was more than enough to play around. So we had snowball fights and made snow angels and even constructed a mini snowman that kinda failed. The snow was actually kinda icy by then but that was good because it allowed it to pack better.

      At first, when my siblings had said they were all going to go outside and play in the snow and they asked me to come I said no because I was busy and I thought "It'll be there tomorrow, then I'll go." They were kinda mad but they let me be. So then I was sitting and I was thinking "What if it melts by tomorrow? What if I don't get the chance? This could be a repeat of the sledding thing in Xenia." So I decided I'd go out. I got on my old boots that I hadn't worn since 2010-2011 time-frame. I got on my abaya and hijab and niqab and I put on my hat that I made. Then I put on my hoodie and my sister's bubble jacket(which kinda look like life vests to me, just sayin') and I put on some gloves and I went out the back door so that they wouldn't see me and I could ambush them with snowballs. I stopped to draw something in the snow: a heart with an S in it(Which I've always done, it's like my signature thing. That, or my name in cursive with a heart on it.)

     As you see, it's not that visible but it was okay. My footprints are the things around it. Also, as you see, there were some random sticks lying in the snow near it. Anyway, after drawing that I went and gathered a huge wad of snow and rushed to the front yard yelling "Ambush!" and then it was on. Snowballs started flying left and right. I got hit a couple times but I hit everyone else at least twice and I dodged a lot too. It was a lot of fun.

     Then we went and made snow angels. I don't have a picture of that because they didn't really come out that great. But, of course, it was fun nonetheless. Then we attempted to make a snowman. Which, as you know turned out to be a fail.

     After that we went inside, intending to come back out but we stayed inside. My brother actually stayed outside helping some lady shovel the snow on the road. Other people pitched in as well. So all in all, it was a fun day. An hour spent playing the snow did not hurt and it was so much fun and I loved it :))

      So now that I've told the story of our winter escapades, a story that is great for this summer time because it reminds of cooler times, I will do a spam of all the pictures I took. The first couple will be of the January snow, the rest of the 12th and 13th of February.

 
     So yeah, that's pretty much all I wanted to talk about. See you Monday! ^_~

     Signing off for now, annyeong, ma'a salaama, sayonara, adios, au revoir, baiiiieee!!!

                 Sumiyya <3

Hey, Ramadhan! Where are you going?

     Hello!

     Today is the 16th day of Ramadhan. Can you believe it? Ramadhan always seems to go fast. At the start you're like "Okay, here goes" and then when you're at this point you're like "Wait, what? It's halfway over?" and then at the end you're like "Where'd Ramadhan go?" InshaAllah at this point we should really start reflecting on our Ramadhan thus far and try to regain the standing and the plans and schedules we set at the start of/before Ramadhan.

     So, I'm going to try and re-up my Quran reading. And also it's meaning. InshaAllah I should finish a khatam in a few days. I'm going to start planning my du'aa because it is really super awkward when you have to make your du'aa out loud and you're stuttering and wondering if you should even ask Allah for that new bike or iPod or whatever because that seems so trivial and everyone is just sitting there and you feel like they're silently judging you. Run on sentences for the win!

     Speaking of Quran, I recently got a new Quran teacher. She is doing the lessons over Skype. So far they've been going okay.

     Volunteering today went really well. I got to pull holds for the first time(finally!). It was cool but also kinda annoying when something was shelved in the wrong section. It's like going on a scavenger hunt.

     Funny volunteering stories: Today while I was shelving these little girls came by and one of them was saying "It's funny that there are so many kids in the library, when half of them don't like to read!" I was laughing so hard to myself. I mean she was so real. Spot on. It's so true and apparent that even a kid notices it.
     Btw, sorry for missing last week's post. I came home from volunteering that day and it was just like: collapse on my bed. I don't even recall why I didn't.

     Okay, I gotta go. I have to study and figure out how to deal with some stuff. I'll see you next week(not in the literal sense of course).

     Signing off for now, sayonara, bye, annyeong, adios, au revoir, ma'a salaama!!!

                   Sumiyya <3

     
   

June Ends, Ramadhan Begins

As Salaamu Alaikum(Peace Be Upon You)!

 Today is the last Monday in June. I wasn't going to write this blog until I remembered that. :D Feeling kinda lazy. Anyway, that means: tomorrow is July!! I love July. Maybe it's just because my birthday is in July, I don't know. Speaking of my birthday, it's in 5 days. I will finally be 17. I hate having to wait half the year to be the age I'm supposed to be for the year. I think I like how Korean's do it better. At the start of the year, you are considered to be the age you are turning that year and actually a year older as well because they count the near-year you were in the womb as a year too. But, I think it'd just be cool without the womb-year thing. Then on New Year's I'd be 18 instead of having to wait until half of 2015 is over. In Islamic months I am already 17 too since my Islamic birthday is the 9th of Safar which was in December last year.

 Anyway, long, unnecessary birthday history aside I'm happy July is approaching.

 Now, onto the subject of Ramadhan. Today is the second day and there is an hour until we break our fast. So far Ramadhan has been great. Fasting actually has been pretty easy despite being 16 hours this year and everything else seems to be working great as well. Alhamdulillaah.

 Last post I promised to update you on the pool party last week. Well, it was amazing! So first, that day Laila and I went for volunteering, then we stayed a little later to go to the 3D Printing event, which was really cool. I made a heart t go on a necklace which I actually have turned into a choker. It looks super awesome. So after the event we rushed home and started to get ready. Ummi found Laila's old swimsuit(which we were looking for so that I could wear it) and Laila did a little adjustments because it's a little big. Then I packed nearly everything I could think of that we'd need to go to the pool and we left.

 When we got to the pool it was so exciting. We went in and so many people were there swimming and getting food to eat and sitting and it just looked amazing. So we quickly took our stuff off(we had our swimsuits on underneath) and went into the water. It was awesome! Laila and  I of course, needed floaties so we grabbed some of the noodles and use those to float. Sakina made friends quickly with some girls who also didn't know how to swim and they stuck together in the 2-3 ft area. Ummi just sat talking to someone from our homeschool group's mother. At some point all the older girls(which included one of the girls who volunteers with us) who knew how to swim decided to do scynhronized jumps into the 9 ft water. It looked really fun but of course, we couldn't join because we don't know how to swim. Then Laila got the idea that if I held her floatie board(she'd traded the noodle for it) while she jumped and then handed to her when she rose up then that could work. So that's what she did. Then she tried to convince me to do the same thing but I was horribly terrified. Even so I stood up on the side of the pool and thought "I  can do this" but then I couldn't. So I told her that I wasn't going to do it so she said "I'll call one of the ladies, she can help catch you, then it'll be fine." So she called the lady and the lady agreed. Hesitantly, though, once she learned I couldn't swim. Then that lady called someone else to help her. Then slowly by slowly a whole bunch of people were coming to help and I was still frozen there wanting to jump but also not wanting to. So they were patiently waiting, urging me on and finally, I was like "Okay" and I jumped and it was okay though some water got into my throat and my nose. I didn't want to do it again though. Laila did so I helped her two more times and then we went back to swimming with the floatie noodles.

 So all-in-all it was pretty fun. The next day was the "I Can Be a Gameshow Star" thing at the library which was super fun. Jawaad and Saalih ended up winning.

 So yeah, the past week was pretty cool. So I think that's it for today's blog. It got a little long because I like to talk. :P

 Signing off for now, bye, annyeong, sayonara, adios, au revoir, ma'a salaama!!! Oh and Ramadhan Mubarak because I forgot to say that with all the unnecessary talking I did. XD

 Sumiyya <3

Pool Party! And TNT?!

Hola!

 Bienvenidos to my humble blog! I don't have very much to talk about besides the fact that today I volunteered again and I got to help with story time which was awesome! I can't wait to do it again. Wonder what I'll be doing tomorrow(forgot to check the schedule)

 Other than that, recently we have taken 3 boys under our wing. The ages of 7, 9, and 13. Truthfully, it's been a little weird and it's like we have 3 mini Jawaads(which is almost never a good thing :P) but, you know, I guess it's okay.

 So, as for the title: tomorrow there is going to be a sisters-only pool party at the pool that I previously mentioned which is sisters-only on Thursday but today was an exception as they made a special reservation specifically for this day. I'm really excited because I haven't been anywhere near a pool since we left Xenia(yes, nearly 3 years ago). But, we might have a bit of a dilemma because they want us to bring a side dish and we're broke so we don't have the means and/or ingredients to make something or buy something. We don't want to show up empty handed though. :(

 But, if that gets worked out(and InshaAllah it does) then I'm totally looking forward to gong! So excited!

 Tomorrow is actually going to be filled with activity because Laila and I have to volunteer from 10:15 to 1:15, then there's going to be an event we'll go to from 2-4(and we might just end up helping out during the event as well, who knows?). Then the pool party is from 6-9. So it'll be action-packed.

 Speaking of volunteering, that actually reminds me of the second part of the title and why I added it. No, I'm not referring to the explosive kind of TNT. What I'm talking about is: A TNT Award! Now, you're probably even more confused. :D Anyway, a TNT Award is what staff members give to volunteers if they feel like they were a huge help on something or if they went out of their way to make sure that their job was done not only to T but even better than that. If a staff member feels like you have contributed even more than required of you, they write your name and why they're giving you a TNT Award and then at the end of the volunteer program they will either count up and see who has the most TNT Awards and give them a special prize, or they'll do it in a drawing style and whoever they choose gets the prize. I'm hoping it's the drawing because then even those who may have only got one(whether or not they deserved more) still get a chance to win. Plus, the special prize isn't just something small, it's actually a really cool prize like a gift card or an electronic device.

 So anyway, I got one and so did Laila. One of the main teen section librarians, Mrs. Ventola gave us each one for helping her figure out how to do cobra knot bracelets for the Summer Reading Kick-Off event that they had on the 18th(which was pretty fun, btw). Really though, we should be thanking her because for so long I had wanted to do those and now that I've leaned how and gotten started, I kinda have the motivation to get more supplies and do much more. When I get the money, that is.

 So I think that is pretty much it for today. See you next Monday and I'll tell you how everything went with the pool party and everything(if we go).

 Signing off for now, sayonara, bye-bye, ma'a salaama, annyeong, au revoir, adios!!

 Hasta Lunes! <3

 Sumiyya <3


 

The First Day of Summer Volunteering!

Annyeong!

What's shakin', what's poppin', what's going down?

 I just came back a little while ago from my first day of being a Teen Summer Volunteer. It was cool! The first thing I did, and this I did for most of my shift, was help out with a Children's event that was going on. I operated the Ring Toss game and gave the kids a prize( a money pencil) after they had their turn. There were all kinds of kids there and they were fun and cute and awesome.

 Funny story: One of the girls asked me why I wear a mask. I told her it was a veil and it was to keep my face hidden from men. She said: "Why? You don't wanna date?" I was laughing on the inside so hard but I just told her "Nope, don't date."

 The younger kids were especially cute because they had a habit of instead of tossing the ring they would just stick it on the little spike thing. It was pretty funny. Especially one girl in a blue jumper who was absolutely adorable, she kept sticking the rings of one color on their matching color cone/spike things. There was also a kid with his dad and he was super cute. Gave his dad a hug when he finally got his last ring on and then he said determinedly "I wanna try again!"

  So yeah, I had some fun with that whole event. Though I got quite a bit sweaty as I was running around picking up the rings plus I was wearing two shirts(My volunteer shirt! ^o^ and a long sleeve white shirt to cover my arms).

 Then after that I did a little bit of shelving. It was nice. Then when that was finished, the head librarian of the Children's section told us that we could just clock out for the day even though our shift was ten minutes from being over since we worked pretty hard.

 So, all in all, it was great! After my shift I did some Summer Reading activities, got candy and my Summer Reading hours prizes(I've already passed 10 hours in just 4 or 5 days) which were a coupon for a free Jr. Frosty at Wendy's, two $5 fine wavers, and a free book. I chose Looking for Alaska by John Green. I was already planning to read it so having a personal copy helps.

 I cannot wait for my shift tomorrow and the Summer Reading Kick-Off at my library(It's a week late) where I'll also be volunteering. Tomorrow Laila and I won't be in the same section of the library. She'll still be working in Children's but I'll be doing something else. I'm kinda nervous.

 Well, that's it. Just wanted to talk about that. Also, the 15th of Sha'ban was this past Friday. We fasted and it was okay. Didn't feel too long. Although, I think I did fall asleep a couple of times so that could be half of why but it was nice. Can't wait fro Ramadhan!

Signing off for now, sayonara, bye, adios, au revoir, ma'a salaama, annyeong~!

Sumiyya <3

Summer Excitement

Ohayo!

Wassup? It's the first Monday in June and that means A. It's a brand new month, for new experiences! B. 2014 is already half over O_o and C. Summer is in the air! I can practically taste it. Or maybe that's just the heat and sweat I'm tasting because it's been raging hot in the 90 degree line which of course means we ain't seen nothing yet.

Well, either way I'm completely excited for the Summer. For once my Summer Schedule is packed. I've got so many things I'm doing and want to do and I cannot wait!

The first thing that I'm planning to do is: Teen Summer Volunteering at the library! Woop, woop! Get excited 'cause I know I am. :D I honestly cannot wait. I really think it'll be a wonderful experience. Oh, and get this: Mrs. Ventola told us that last year she was going to pick us but there was only one spot left and she didn't want to choose one over the other. I mean, yeah we were disappointed last summer and yeah, she could be just trying to appease us but so what? I am most definitely appeased. XD

The second thing I plan to do is: Be on Swagbucks like crazy because that's my only income this Summer(no job unfortunately :(( ) and I'm trying to save up as much as I can.

The third thing I plan to do is: Be a tag-a-long going with my sister to tutor a girl in fashion design on Thursdays. I'm just going there for backup(safety in numbers, even if that number is 2) but I might be able to contribute something.

Speaking of Thursdays, the fourth thing I plan to be doing is: Going to a local, private pool that is Ladies Only on Thursdays. My friends Laylaa and Hafsa plan to go as well so we could hang out there together. Plus I could finally learn to swim!

The fifth thing I plan to do is: Go to as many library events as I can, which'll be easy because I'm probably going to be helping set up half of them anyway. Oh, and I'll be doing Summer Reading as well.

Some other things I hope to do but it's not concrete is: Taking the GED test and graduating finally, Getting my permit or at the very least just doing some driving lessons with my mom, Learning at least a spattering of French and Arabic before I leave for Saudi, and getting a bank account(which actually I will need for Swagbucks)

Oh, and biggest of all, most of the Summer I will be fasting. So that'll make the above things a tiny bit harder. Especially since it'll be so freaking hot and the days will stretch into forever but InshaAllah I got this. Allah never gives us something we can't handle. Plus, people do way more than I plan to do while fasting and they are just fine.

So, InshaAllah everything this Summer will go well. I'm super excited! Aren't you?

Signing off for now, bye, annyeong, adios, ma'a salaama, au revoir, sayonara and arigatou for reading!

Sumiyya <3

Summer Volunteering, Jobs, and Hello Clean, Beautiful Room!

What is up?

So it has been quite a while but this time, I don't care that much. I'm okay wit letting a few weeks slip away so it's cool.

Anyway, I have exciting news! Laila and I are going to be TEEN SUMMER VOLUNTEERS!!! We signed up last year and weren't picked but this year, we were better, more experienced, and we got in! I'm so happy and I cannot wait to start.

Today we decided to look at the shift times they gave us and pick when we want to work. So we're looking at Mondays-Thursdays 10:15-1:15 and Saturdays 1:15-4:15. Our orientation is next Saturday and I believe we start on the 16th of June(not sure).

There was also another reason why we were setting up our schedules today and that is because: Laila got a job! Yes, Laila got a job where she will be teaching a 5th grade girl how to design and sew her own clothes as the girl is an aspiring fashion designer. Laila applied in April, then we met the lady in early May and talked to her and all that and she contacted Laila just today asking when she can start. To be honest, we didn't even think she was going to write because it had been quite a long time.

On the topic of jobs, my brother recently got hired and today he got fired. He was working at a place where he was supposed to make radiators and they said he was working too slow so they laid him off. He called my mom crying. Poor thing. He was so excited to finally have a job and we were excited for him. But, as my mother reminded him: "Everything from Allah is good" so that probably wasn't the right thing for him. InshaAllah(God-willing) we will find a better job soon.

Now on to my room. So if you don't know, my room can get messy. And when I say messy I mean MESSY like a Hoarders house kind of messy. It aggravates me because a lot of it is my sister's fault(not saying all of it is) and she doesn't like picking up her stuff. But this time not only was our room in huge disarray, so was/is our house. My mother decided that it had to end so she decided that we would all clean the house from top to bottom starting one room at a time and we started with my room. We took everything out of it and then I vacuumed the floor, washed and hung up/folded up the clothes and organized the closet and bookshelf. We are still in the process of transporting the stuff we took out back in(although, really it was mostly my sister's fabric).

Anyway, now my room is sparkling and fresh and clean and beautiful and I can breathe! Plus, I can get off my ladder without having to worry about hurting my foot on anything. XD

So, I'm not really excited about it but we'll have to the rest of the house as well and I guess I'm ready. I mean, now that I can breathe in my room I feel more energized. However, I do want to finish reading Shatter Me before we start.

So that's it, signing off for now, byers, annyeong, sayonara, adios, au revoir, ma'a salaama!!!

Sumiyya <3

Friday Night Lights

Well, hello there!
My name is Sumiyya Abdul-Rasheed and this is another Monday blog.

If you don't know, I was just doing a Tyler Oakley(who's last  name I just realized is the same as Annie Oakley)-style intro. If you don't know who he is, check him out. He's pretty funny and has great videos although lately he's just been doing a lot of Q&As(Q and Slays :D). Also he does Top That videos with Becca Frucht on Popsugar's channel. So yeah, anyway, check him out.

Today I really wanted to talk about something really awesome I went to this past Friday. It was at one of the local libraries in my area called Hickory Grove. The event was called Friday Night Lights.

Basically what it was was teens hanging out on a Friday night with also kind of an open mic night/talent show feel to it. If there was something you wanted to perform(song, poem, rap, flip, etc...) then you could just get up there and perform.

I came late to the event but luckily I made it in time to have a slice of pizza and some drink and I, of course, made it just in time for the talent portion. So here's how it went down:

The first performer was a girl named Jade. She did a poem which was really nice. I could see that she had a poem book(like me!) so this was really her passion.

The second one was a girl named Kimberly. She sang Angel by Natasha Beddingfield. It was nice but her voice could maybe use a little training. Otherwise she sounded great.

The third one was yours truly :D I did a poem too. It's one of mine called Window of Wonder. I thought it would be really cool to get up there and do it so I did and it was awesome. A lot of people seemed to like it.

The next performers were two kids. They both did flips. Not at the same time though.

The next performance was by two brothers who I think were Muslim and also who I think were twins. Anyway, they both started beatboxng and then one was beat boxing while the other was rapping and they killed it! It was sick. I think they might have gotten the best reception. At least from me.

Then some other boys decided to rap as well but there was a great confusion as to what was going on. Then one started rapping and it was kinda wack to be honest but he did his thing and some of it was okay.

Then Kimberly got up and sang again. She sang Lights by Ellie Goulding this time. It was nice as well.

Then the final act and I think it ties for first in my mind with the twins'(?) performance was by someone named Bernard. He sang a song which I later learned was Chocolate by The 1975. He played guitar while singing and both his guitar playing and his singing were totally amazing! My sister and I were like: If he doesn't have one already, he should make a YouTube and do covers because that was just so amazing. Also, I think I might just have to check out more of the 1975's songs because although honestly after hearing the original song, I didn't like it all that much but it has grown on me and been stuck in my head.

Here's a picture I surreptitiously took of him: 

So after all that we had to tidy up while waiting for our parents to come. So Laila and I helped.

Then we left and went to the store. And that was my Friday night.

It was pretty epic ^_^

So signing off for now, bye, au revoir, annyeong, adios, sayonara, ma'a salaama!

Sumiyya <3
 

Graduating

What is up? 

I'm on time for once, eh? :D

What I wanted to talk about today is that my mom is graduating tomorrow. 

That's right, tomorrow she will finally be done with college. She will finally have a BA in both ESL and Instructional Design. She will finally have time to breathe. She'll finally have time to chill. She'll finally have time for us. 

It's been 5 years since she started and was thrown into the throng of homework and back to back assignments with hardly any break between classes. It's been a long 5 years. There have been times when she just didn't want to do it. There have been times when she actually didn't do it. There have been times when she excelled above everyone else. But finally, this is the time, when she's through with it all.

I'm so excited for her and for us and our life for the rest of this year before we move to Saudi. I also kinda wonder: "What will she do now?" Homework was the thing that kept her busy. I mean, of course there were other things but it was mainly that. Although, I also think that now she'll be able to sleep do much better. She can go to bed earlier. She doesn't have to stress so much about grades and all that good crap. She can relax. 

That's why I'm excited and happy for her. Her graduation is way bigger than when my father graduated because it's been 5 years in the making and it's finally here.

So, since she won't be able to go to her graduation party because it's in Iowa(or somewhere over there), we are actually throwing her a surprise graduation party. We're pooling all our resources and getting help from our grandparents an aunts and uncles and we're really hoping to make this a special event, dedicated solely to her. 

So this is pretty much it, I wish her the best, and I love her, and I congratulate her a million times on finally graduating. 

Signing off for now, sayonara, ma'a salaama, annyeong, adiós, au revoir, goodbyeeeee!!! 

Sumiyya <3 

Making My Way Downtown

What's up?

Long time no blog. 

Yeah, I know, I know. Sometimes I just get lazy or feel like "What's the point?" But I've got to do it if nothing but for myself.

So anyway, I'm back and I'm just going to talk about what I did yesterday and some other stuff I've done that I can really talk about. 

In my last blog I talked about the tea party we were going to. Well we went I that and it was pretty nice and everyone was saying how nice and grown-up we looked. It was really nice.

The other thing I want to talk about is Ben and Jerry's Free Cone Day which was also fun. I got two different flavors: Hazed and Confused and Triple Carmel Chunk. Both were delicious.

The last thing I wanted to talk about(which kinda goes with the title) is that I went walking downtown for basically the first time. We were taking pictures or our cousin who's doing a Flat Stanley thing in her class. SO she sent us a flat replica of herself and we went and took pictures.

And so that's it for now. Bear with me guys.

Signing off for now,

Annyeong, ma'a salaama, adios, au revoir, sayonara, bye!!!

Sumiyya <3

I'm Still Here

Hello there! I know that I have not posted anything in about two weeks. That's two posts missed. So today I decided to get back on the ball and make up for yesterday's missed post. And on that subject, I've been thinking: maybe I shouldn't just stick super hard onto a Monday only schedule. I mean, there are times when I really want to post something and I think "No, you have to wait until Monday." So I think that I'll still do Monday posting but if there's any other day of the week wherein I really want to post something, I should just do so.

So anyway, I'll be catching you up in my life for the past two weeks.

The first thing I'm going to say is: I'm writing this blog post from my laptop. And I know what you're thinking "My laptop?" "Did I read that right?" The answer is: yes, you sure did read that right. Yes, I Sumiyya Abdul-Rasheed finally, FINALLY, have my own laptop. It's a 10.6" Gateway Windows 8 laptop. It's small and cute and super adorable and it's all mine! I'm still so happy. It's called Mini-Bar. I was thinking of chocolate when I named it(you know me, chocoholic extraordinaire). Although only recently I realized a mini bar is for drinking and I probably should've called it Fun-Size(like me!) or something like that.

So yeah, I got it a exactly a week ago(last Tuesday) and I've been loving it since. Also, I have not completely abandoned my iPod now that I have a laptop. I still use my iPod quite regularly and I balance my online time between both of the devices.

Second thing I wanted to talk about is: I nominated my sister for a TV Show! So I got an email from FIDM Fashion Club saying that there was a new show coming out called Threads and basically designers anywhere from 8-16 compete on the show for cash prizes and scholarships. It sounded so cool that I thought: "I have to nominate Laila. She's a great designer and it'd be a really nice opportunity for her." So I nominated her and then we had to send in information about her and also pictures of her designs and so we did all that. Then they called and Laila and my mom had an interview with the people and now it's all over and I just really hope she gets picked for the show.

Third thing: Saudi. So my father has been in Saudi Arabia for a while and he's really liking it. Especially in the city he's in. So what's going to happen(InshaAllah(godwilling)) is that he will come back for the Summer which we will all spend here and then we will all move to Saudi at the end of Summer. So we're trying to get prepared. Especially because apparently we'll be going to school with people who speak the tiniest amount of English. We need to practice our Arabic and fast.

Fourth thing: Tea party!!
My mom's cousin's mom(therefore my great-aunt) is having a mother-daughter tea party this weekend and we're going so we've been getting ready and finding all the accessories we need to go with our outfits and all that. I honestly cannot wait for it.

Fifth thing: Spring Break
My older brother is coming down for Spring Break. He'll arrive the day we leave to go to the tea party so we won't see him right away but we will spend the rest of the time after we come back with him. While we're gone to the tea party he'll hang with my cousin(who came down a while ago), my little brother, and probably my uncle too.

Sixth thing: Life
I've been really evaluating how my year is going so far and I've come to the realization: not so good. The only thing from my "resolutions" list that I've stuck to is brushing my teeth more often. I've been trying to exercise and stuff but I am so pathetically lazy and I really don't feel like it sometimes. I'm trying really hard to think about what language(besides Arabic) that I will sit down and say: I'm learning this one and staying dedicated with it until it's complete. I know I said Spanish and I really do want to learn Spanish. However, there are other languages I want to know as well. But I've decided that I'll learn Spanish for now. Throw myself into it and when I'm done and I know it pretty well that's when I can learn another language. I don't have to rush with it.

So, I think that's pretty much all that's been up these past couple of weeks. Thank you, whoever you are, for reading and I'll hopefully write again next week or if I want to post before that then soon.

Signing of for now, au revoir, sayonara, annyeong, adios, ma'a salaama, goodbye!!!

Sumiyya <3
 

Visiting and Leaving

Hey!

I am making today's blog super short because I am very busy and shouldn't really be writing right now but u just had to tap this out really quick and give an update because I missed last week. 

So, if you were wondering why I did not post last week it is because I went on a road trip to Ohio to visit my older brother. We stayed from Sunday morning until Monday(which was my mom's birthday!) late morning. It was such a short trip because supposedly there was to be a storm in the area and my parents wanted to clear out before it hit. I don't think that storm even ended up coming. Anyway, we rushed back gone and I was kinda mad about that but oh well. 

The reason we went up there in the first place is that my father's job offer in Saudi was going through well and they were getting ready to have him come over so he wanted to go and see my brother before he left. 

Though, even knowing that my father was leaving soon, we didn't know how soon. And to our surprise, soon was Saturday. 

Yes, he's gone now and my brother is still in Ohio so that means for a while we are a 5 family. :D Also my younger brother is stuck with a lot of girls. 

Anyway, that's pretty much it. I do have some really exciting news but I do not have the time so I will tell this exciting news at a later date. Although, I don't know if it'll still be exciting/good news next week. 

So, signing off for now, annyeong, sayonara, adiós, au revoir, salaams, byee!! 

Sumiyya <3

Going Vegan?? Plus OOTD

Hola!

Bienvenidos a mi Lunes blog!!! 

Hey, what's up? If you don't know, I'm Sumiyya(it's kinda easy to see that so I don't know why you wouldn't). Anyway, today is Monday so that means another pointless blog that little to no one will read. :D Welcome!

So, contrary to the title, no I'm not going vegan. You see my father has adopted a "semi-vegan lifestyle" where he basically eats like a vegan and occasionally has chicken or fish. 

Except his vegan lifestyle mostly consists of entirely raw vegetables(not cooked at all) with no extra flavoring whatsoever. Also of burgers made out of any type of bean he can find. He's been seeing great health results so starting this past Saturday he decided that we should all try this vegan lifestyle with him. I tell you since then I've been living a food nightmare. 

Don't get me wrong, normally I love cabbage, spinach, lettuce, and broccoli but when these vegetables are completely raw with no flavoring at all except the occasional sprinkle of the juice from green olives. The burgers have been great though. Also he's made meatloaf(also out of beans), lentil soup with brown rice(which we had started eating even before the vegan thing), and mashed potatoes made from cauliflower. So not everything is bad about his vegan lifestyle but the raw spinach, okra, broccoli, and all are just completely grossing me out. 

So now let's get on to my OOTD!

Today my outfit is what I call "Schoolgirl Chic"(you'll notice that with me, a lot of things will have chic in the name XD) 

So for my top I have two shirts on. One is a black long-sleeved shirt with a ruched turtleneck from a brand called J.Jill(never really heard if it). I got it from the thrift store. 

The second shirt, which is in top of the turtleneck is a grey and white shirt. It looks like a white blouse-with a slight ruffle front and sorta puffy sleeves-with a gray vest over it except it is attached and the white doesn't go any further than the chest area. The brand is Love Always, another brand I've never really heard of and this shirt is also from the thrift store. 

For my bottoms I am wearing a NoBo(No Boundaries) skater skirt that I got from walmart. It looks like this: 

Also underneath I am wearing black footless tights which are actually also in the above picture. They are also from the  brand NoBo and both items were purchased at Walmart(so was everything else in the picture :D)

For accessory type things I am wearing black gray and white argyle socks that look like this: 

And I'm wearing a black scarf(which is a commonality in my outfits unless I wear another color scarf or another with it). 

Also I have my handmade black and white ring and my white Timex watch. 

Last but not least for a pop of color, I have on electric blue fingerless fishnet gloves. I don't know the brand, just that my grandmother bought them off Amazon. 

So that's it! Hope you enjoyed today's blog. I will see you(not really) next Monday. 

Signing off for now, sayonara, ma'a salaama, bye, annyeong, au revoir, adiós and hasta el lunes!!! 

Sumiyya <3 

Trying New Things

Konichiwa!

Today is Monday again! I'm happy or today because today is the area switch meaning I'm not on the kitchen any longer. Well, at least not until another 3 weeks from now. :)

Anyway, what this blog today is about is: We went to the mall on Saturday! Cool, right? We don't often go to malls on Saturdays as a general rule seeing as there are usually a lot of people there on that day but we made an exception apparently and so to the mall on Saturday we went. 

Now, we were supposed to go there to shop for clothes. However, mall clothes are pretty expensive(at least for us) and so even though I saw a couple of things I wanted, I decided not to get them because I wanted to make sure I really wanted then before spending a quarter of my budget on them. 

So we basically just window shopped and also we went to Books A Million and read manga.

Also, on the title of the blog, I tried two new things. Well, kinda three, seeing as going to the mall on Saturday was kinda new too. 

The first thing I tried was a Starbucks drink. I had a Caramel Frapp and it was pretty good. 

I also sampled some of my sister's Double Chocolate Chip Frapp and I have to admit that was way better. I think if I get Starbucks next time I'll get that. Hopefully in a Grande next time not a Tall. 

The second thing I tried for the first time was Godiva chocolate! Godiva chocolate is really expensive a lot of the time which is why I never really tried it. 

The chocolate bar was sooo good. Unfortunately I had to share. :( But what I did eat was pretty good. Also in this picture is a bookmark I got at Books A Million(actually I bought both there). It totally describes me and I love it!

Also I wanted to do a quick OOTD for Saturday. Here's what I wore: 

Scarf: Hobby Lobby

Over garment: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 

Glasses: 99c and up store

Gloves: Claire's

So that's pretty much it. Mall "shopping" I pretty fun. So is trying new things. 

Well, signing off for now, annyeong, adiós, au revoir, salaams, bye, sayonara!! 

Sumiyya <3

February!

Hello all!

Today is another Monday in the constant weekly Monday cycle. Yeah, I have no idea what I'm saying. 

Anyway, it's February! I was so excited for February 1st. Here are my reasons: 1. February 1st was the day I was finally finished with my now candy until the end of January. I did it! I was really happy. Speaking of that, now that I have been eating from my candy stash, I only have a little left(and it's only been 3 days!) but my youngest sister helped me with that because she kept on asking for candy. *Sigh*

2. A lot of the giveaways I entered were being announced. I quickly realized I didn't win any though. :(

3. It was World Hijab Day. That is so awesome that they have a day dedicated to recognizing what exactly hijab is and experiencing for yourself what it's like. 

4. It was the opening day for Rita's so they had everything 50% off so we went and got stuff. I got a Blendini made with chocolate Italian ice and coffee custard and chocolate chips. It was pretty good. 

There's the cup looking ugly and all. XD

So yeah, I was really excited. 

So things, the most recent things:

We went thrift store shopping with my parents. It was really fun. We got a lot of stuff. Our total was $100. At a thrift store. So yeah, we shopped hard. Although $60 itself came from everything my father got. 

Also yesterday was Super Bowl Sunday so we went to my grandparents' house to watch it with every one. Mostly I just slept. And then ate. And then slept a little more. Then I cleaned up and then I slept and then we left. My aunt was so mad that the Seahawks won. She has to get my grandma a jewelry case now. :D That's why it's not good to bet.

Oh, and today I mostly did homework(I'm almost done catching up!) and I talked to my older brother on Facebook Messenger. We had a nice conversation. 

So that's pretty much it. Oh, yeah my father is getting ready to leave to Saudi soon but I think I already said that. 

Signing off for now, au revoir, sayonara, annyeong, adiós, ma'a salaama, goodbye!!!! 

Sumiyya <3

Sick Week

As Salaamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh(full Islamic greeting meaning: Peace be upon you and the mercy and blessings of God)!

Welcome to my weekly blog. You know, weekly sounds so boring. Bi-monthly, bi-annual, annual, all that sounds cool but weekly sounds well, weak.(pun totally intended :D)

Anyway, this past week has been my sick week. I think it started on either last Monday or Tuesday but I caught a dreadful cold and I believe I'm getting over it but I'm not sure. 

It started out as just a sore throat and then it worsened horribly to laryngitis and an even sorer throat, then a sore throat, a raspy voice and a blocked nose, then it's kinda been where it is now: kinda sore throat at times, lots of throat clearing and an on-again, off-again blocked nose. 

Anyway, here's how the my past week went: during the past week, my mom's cousin came over, my mom's cousin's husband made chocolate cake, my mom's cousin made killer guacamole, we smashed on fried broccoli, and I exercised and stayed sick and slacked on homework. 

Speaking of exercising, I might have mentioned it in my last blog but we started doing a whole bunch of monthly workout challenges including The Gorgeous Glutes Challenge, The 30 Day Ab Challenge, The Squat Challenge, The Back Challenge and a sort of treadmill challenge as we have a treadmill at my house of which to use. Btw, did you know that if you strut on a treadmill it works out your hips better? 

So today was the first weekly weigh in and I lost an okay amount. I plan to lose more(no more fried broccoli!) and my no candy until February thing is kinda helping. 

So basically that is it for this week's blog. InshaAllah(God-willing) I shall be less sick if not completely healthy by next week's blog.

Signing off for now, sayonara, annyeong, adiós, au revoir, bye, ma'a salaama! 

Sumiyya <3

Showering Babies

Ahlan wa Sahlan wa Marhaban!

Yesterday, I went to a baby shower. The second baby shower I've ever been to. I still have the pictures from the first baby shower I went to:

Anyway, this baby shower was for my mom's other cousin and she's around the same age as the one who the other baby shower was for. 

It wasn't as huge this time but it was quite fun. We played Name That Baby Song, where we named songs with baby in the title and Baby Jeopardy. My mom set up both games and we helped a little but not so much that we knew the answers and weren't able to play. 

The baby-to-be is a boy and so everyone had to wear blue or green and a tie/bow-tie. A lot of people, including us, forgot the tie part though. 

So this time I didn't get any fancy pictures of the gifts or decorations because I myself was busy but I get little favors and all and I took a picture of those here at my house.

The boxes have candy in them, the little jars have a sugar scrub(brown jar) and a salt scrub(blue jar), there's a bookmark, a mustache pop, and two nail polishes(one is a Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear nail polish in Blue Me Away and the other is a Klean Color nail polish in Aqua Blue), and the bow was not actually a favor but a decoration that I liked and was allowed to take. 

So yeah, I had fun and the trip was nice. 

Oh and on another note, today we measured ourselves and weighed ourselves because we're about to go hard on some month long challenges and eating right and all that. It's going to be quite a month. We're having a celebration after the month is over. It's on the 24th which is my mother's birthday but the celebration is not for her birthday, it's for her Fab at 40 plan. She turns 40 that day and she wants to be ultra fab(aka slim, healthy, rocking, and on her deen). So we're trying to really help her achieve that goal and if/when she does, we'll have a party for her. 

So that's pretty much it for my life update this week. 

Signing off for now to go do some late night homework, bye, annyeong, sayonara, adiós, au revoir, ma'a salaama! 

Sumiyya <3

Making a Hat

Annyeong HaSeYo!

Today my blog is a bit short. I'm just talking a bit about a new knitting project I've been working on. 

So you remember this hat I made right? 

Of course you do!(I think)

Anyway, a sort of friend of mine saw it on Facebook and wanted one for her daughter so she asked me to make one that was pink and had a blue bow. 

So yesterday I ordered the bow and here's how the hat is looking so far.

I should be finish soon hopefully. 

So that's pretty much it for today's blog. Super short, I know. 

So, signing off for know, bye, salaams, adiós, au revoir, sayonara, annyeong!!!!

Sumiyya <3

Life in 2014, TAMIC is a No-Go and OOTD

Konichiwa!

Thought I'd actually start using different languages for my greeting. 

Anyway, it is 2014! Well it has been for about 6 days now. So much crazy stuff happened at the start of the year and I don't feel like getting into it over here because it'll take a long time and then this'll be a very long post. Let's just sum it up to say one of my neighbors got stabbed and my grandmother cussed out my uncle's wife. Check my twitter(@tw33tst4rS) for a bit more detail on the former(you might have to scroll down quite a bit). 

Anyway, the year hasn't really started off the best for me and I'm just hoping it'll get better because I had high hopes for this year. 

Btw, here's a list of my plans and goals for this year. There are a bit more and I'll list them below this picture.

1. Read Quran more

2. Do more ibaadat

3. Establish an exercise routine

4. Write in my diary more often 

5. Work to be less lazy

6. Have fun :)

There are other things I want done or that I want to accomplish just to be a better person you know? But I don't have to do all that this year, I'm just hoping I can get it established this year. 

Also, my brother is leaving soon. He'll be leaving this Thursday to go to Ohio to stay and go to college there. The packing and getting ready has been pretty mellow but my mom is also trying to change around some stuff so we'll be doing a lot of that after he leaves. Anyway, I know I'm not going to miss him right away but I will eventually miss him. Plus with my own moving to Virginia, I'm probably going to miss everyone(but Laila who'll be with me).  

So now about TAMIC. As you might know TAMIC is the Anime and Manga Interest Circle, a book club that I really like and really want to go to. A lot of the time, though(for example: today), I can't go. The library it's at is in a city half an hour to 45 minutes away. Going there takes up gas money and time so no one really likes to take me. Part of me is wondering whether I should just give up on it once and for all and focus my attention on other things. I probably should. That way I won't be so disappointed nearly every 1st and 3rd Monday. 

As for my OOTD. Today my look is something I call Punk Pixie. I really should wear more Punk Pixie outfits. Anyway for my shirt I am wearing a black shirt that has pretty lace on it. It's from the brand Made 4 Me 2 Look Amazing. I absolutely love this shirt. I'm wearing a skirt that is light blue and white and it's asymmetrical and knee length. This is the more "pixie" part of my outfit. And I'm also wearing my black leggings that are pretty much plain but have studs in the shape of pockets on the butt. For accessories I simply wore my blue, fishnet fingerless gloves. Since it was cold, I wore my black hoodie for a greater part of the day and the hoodie with the gloves gave the more "punk" part of my outfit. So yeah, that's my OOTD. 

That's pretty much it, hope you're having a great year so far. 

Signing off for now, 

Sumiyya <3