Sunday, June 30, 2013

A Perfect Summer Activiity~~ Strawberry Picking :)



Salam....
It is Summer, it is sometimes too hot just like in Malaysia, and sometimes it is cold... But not too cold... Just nice I would say ;)
And every Summer, it is a must to go for Strawberry picking!!

Yeah, we went for it two weeks ago, it was a hectic wekend;
On Friday we went to a friend's house to celebrate their kids birthday, got home late at night, then on Saturday early in the morning we'd left for Bonn, for Flohmarkt (something like carboot). 
This time we didn't go there to buy anything, but we just wanted to give Afeef a chance to try something which he had been asking for so long...
He'd always  wanted to sell some of his stuffs in Flohmarkt, and..... well yeah, he made it this time after so long of contemplating on how, when and where should we start...  and he earned 9euro selling his things.. Ok lah, not bad for a beginner.. InsyaAllah when I'm in the mood to write more, I'll share that Flohmarkt story.
Also, we had a little picnic with some friends in Bonn, touched by their effort to meet us, then lepaking at a friend's house until about 9pm, then drove home and reached home late at night haha, then on Sunday we went for strawberry picking! And also Sunflower field hunting again!! It was fun!




This was the Birthday's celebration of the world's cutest kids other than my kids haha!



The next day: Photoshoot at Flohmarkt before we looked for our friends and their spot...



The next day: Sunday, we went hunting for Sunflower field, but unfortunately, it wasn't ready yet....
Kinda frustrated because I kinda looked forward to this one... Really is crazy over Sunflowers... 





And also, Strawberry picking!
Mmmmmm... Nyum nyum nyum...



Ready kids??!!! 
Yihaaaaaaaaa...!!




And lastly...


                          

   When there's lots of Strawberries, it is always a must that I make this...


                            

 Strawberry Shortcake!!
Really is delicious! Maybe the freshly picked Strawberries contributed to the extra delicious taste.

Really easy to make, all you gonna need:

~~ A spongecake. You can bake it yourself or buy the ready made.
~~ 300g Cream Cheese.
~~ 250ml Whipping cream.
~~ 1/2 cup of sugar.
~~ A teaspoon Vanilla essence.
~~ Lots and lots of Strawberries.

Method: 
1: Cut your sponge cake into 3 layers. Put aside.
2: Mix cream cheese ang Sugar thoroughly using a mixer. Add in Vanilla. Mix some more. 
3: Add in Whipping cream and continue mixing until the batter becomes fluffy. 
4: Spread the batter evenly on the first layer of sponge cake, arrange cut strawberries nicely on top of it, then cover with another layer of sponge cake. And repeat procedure until you finish everything!
Done!!!
A perfect dessert for Summer!

Ok, that's all for today.. More stories later, insyaAllah...
Afeef had Karate tournament last Saturday, can't wait to write about that when I have the time..
Till later, Salam...







Thursday, June 20, 2013

PS. I Love You....


A few days off Piano, a few days off Facebook, a few days off Blogging...
All because of this one book!!





Well, a few days off Facebook is not unusual, a few days off blogging is also common for me, but a few days off Piano???!!
Well, that's a bit abnormal for me heheh.. 


The thing is, I saw this book many many times when I was in Malaysia, in MPH, in Kinokuniya, in Borders, and many many other book stores, but it never occured to me that I should buy it, and I had never even bothered reading the synopsis, because in my mind, it was always the same thing:

 "This book must be another hopeles romantic kind of story...."
Judging from the title of course... And I didn't even care of it being 'The Number one International Bestseller' because of course that's what most people want, the more hopeless romantic, the more people loved it... Errrrrr I'm right, am I??

Mmmmmm... Of course I'm dead wrong!!
This is an INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING book we're talking about, not MALAYSIAN BESTSELLING book!!!!!

Ok, ok, so, never ever underestimate any books!!


I'm not going to ramble about it, and make u guys feel bored of my failure to deliver what the stories were all about in short. So, this is basically the synopsis for those who haven't read it yet:

~~Some people wait their whole lives to find their soul mates. But not Holly and Gerry. They were childhood sweethearts-no one could imagine Holly and Gerry without each other. Until the unthinkable happens. Gerry's death devastates Holly. But as her 30th birthday looms Holly discovers that Gerry has left her a bundle of notes, gently guiding her into her new life without him, each signed: 
'PS. I Love You'
With some help from her friends, and her nosy and loving family, Holly finds herself laughing, crying, singing, dancing-and being braver than ever before. Life is for living, she realizes-but it always helps if there's an angel watching over you~~

As for me, this book was a mixture of emotions. It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me sad. It was such a bittersweet book. And I loved every bit of it! 
It was by far, one of the best books I've ever read!
And it touched every corner of my heart.. :)

The part that had touched my heart so deeply was when Holly had to open Gerry's last letter, he'd left her ten envelopes which she had to open one each month. So this tenth envelope was opened by Holly after about a year after Gerry's death.. And the content of it  brought tears to my eyes, and also the fact that there'll be no more letters after that, and that Holly still hadn't had enough strength and courage to go through life alone...
This novel really captivates you in to reading more, I found it very difficult to put down, and I kept putting myself in Holly's shoes.. 
Though hubby is not my childhood sweethearts, but the love we have built together for almost ten years were enough to make me understand how Holly feels throughout the novel. 
Cecilia Ahern is very very good and there were times when reading the funny parts in this book, I felt like I was reading Sophie Kinsella's book! :D

I reccomend, read the book before you watch the movie, or if you have watched the movie, you should also read the book. I heard the movie was far from good. Here are the facts: 
Movies fail to deliver good emotions, an act can't produce it as good as writings do. 
As for me, I had never cried at movies, and I don't easily cry over novels too, unless if it involves mother and child relationship or if it's based on true story.... but this book was an exception, just like 'A Thousand Splendid Suns', 'PS I Love You' made me cry. But still, nothing can beat 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' just yet, it is still number one on my list!

My rating for PS. I Love You~~~~~ 4.5/5

Lessons learnt from it ~~ Appreciate what you have before it's gone!

So, enjoy!



PS. Sorry if there's any mistakes in my writing...



Monday, June 10, 2013

A HaPpY CiRcLE In LiFe (",)


It's been a while since my last update, dunno why, I was always  sooooo not in the mood to write... 
As usual there were many many many stories to tell, but, they were left untold.... But then again, not everything we did, or happened in ourlives were meant to be shared...


But one thing worth sharing here, is about my Usrah group...


What I wanna share is not about the usrah itself, or who's the member, or what our activities were when we get together, but... My attitude towards it...

This Usrah group started about 2 years ago, just me and one friend, she lives quite far from my place.. We started just the two of us, and we started doing it online through Skype..

As time went on, the members of the gropup increased from two, to three, four, and by now, it has grown quite huge with about 8 members.. InsyaAllah, there'll be more later :)
We met regularly online, we kept reminding each other of our purposes in life, and after each session, I would feel more content, refreshed and....... Complete...

But, there was one turning point where I felt so wrong, so not in the mood for this usrah thingy where I just felt like quitting..  I was so close to doing so, sooooo close, and perhaps if I did, that would be one of the biggest mistake I've ever made and the stupidest thing I've ever done my whole life...
Really....

Thankfully, when I was in this state of confusion, hubby kept guiding me, and kept telling me, no matter what my reasons were to quit usrah, just don't quit...
Yeah, it worked a few times, but not always..... From time to time, I still felt wrong at heart...

But, thankfully again, when I was in UK about two months back, a friend who was also our usrah group member sent me a very very beautiful article, heart whelming, and just what I really needed at that time... It was basically about usrah, and how the Author revealed her own experiences relating Usrah, how at one point she also wanted to quit, and how she felt that she benefits nothing from Usrah, and how wrong she felt about the whole thing... Oh my, exactly like how I felt at that moment!!

But, as she was telling her stories, I didn't quite feel anything until the last part, when she wrote bout how she realized what she was about to do was totally wrong and that she mentioned specifically that, if we ever felt like quitting or not joining usrah when we had the chance, we were actually falling into the Jahilliyah trap or chain, or whatever you wanna call it...
Oh ya Allah!! I remember gasping at that...

".......Falling into the Jahilliyyah trap......"

Tears started welling up in my eyes, at the thought of how I got carried away until I never realized what  had happened, and another thought hit me, about how hubby, friends, sister and my mom tried to help me, not letting me fall or not letting me fall further into this trap by giving me advices, but nothing seemed to really worked, because, it was me, it was all me... It was my sick heart... 

Yes... Every single thing happens for a reason, every single thing that had happened there's something to learn, every single people we meet in our lives has his or her own significance.. No matter how good or bad, we should always be thankful for their existence in our life even if one relationship ended up ruefully....
Some people I met here changed my life tremendously, and I believed I've changed some other people's life too, and I hope in a positive way...
So, my being in UK had a huge impact in my life too and a huge turning point too regarding Usrah particularly...
How??

My sister and her family live in a neighborhood surrounded by many Malaysian families, I even had the chance to meet some of them while I was there, and they had these arrangements of Usrah where they took turns which house should the Usrah being held each week. My 2nd week there, they were supposed to have one usrah session at a nearby friend's house. And my sister, who'd just gave birth to her 2nd child and still in confinement period, planned to attend it and even asked me and my mom to come along.. She even planned to bring her baby along...
I was already a lil bit amazed by her courage but not until she told me exactly one day before the Usrah was due, that unfortunately the 'naqibah' could not make it and that other members of the group planned to just cancel the usrah session for that week...
But, to my amazement, my sister refused to cancel it, and she volunteered to be the 'naqibah', and I watched her study and read something from a book at about midnight with her baby by her side, sometimes my sister had to cuddle her and breastfeed her, but still she reads...
Oh my, that was the huge turning point for me... How determined, how she refused to give up so easily even for one Usrah session...
Not only that she has strong reasons to cancel the Usrah, the absent 'naqibah', her being in confinement period, but she tried hard not to cancel it.. 
But me??????!!!!
I wanted to quit usrah for reasons I wasn't sure what they were, let alone fight for it?? Haaaaahhhh..
I've never felt so humiliated my whole life.. Not to anyone, but to myself particularly and of course to Allah SWT....
But, I knew, things happened for a reason... Two weeks in UK changed my attitude towards Usrah entirely, apart from the wonderful times with the loved ones :)
Seeing the Ukhwah between them, I realized I'm given the chance, eventhough I didn't get to meet my usrah group member so often, (we meet online regularly) but once we get together it was among the best moment in Deutschland... Something worth remembering my whole life insyaAllah..
Like over two weeks ago, we met again for a little picnics and bbq, and chit chatting and games!! ;)
It was great...






Ahah, game time!! This is our envelope that contains questions, it's a game we played in pair, each group consists of husband and wife haha..
Cool and Nice (",)



A little picnic too... hehe.. 
There's Sushi, Satay, Kerabu rice, fried bihun, BBQ meat, chicken, squid, prawns, etc etc...
Yummy yummy..



Things didn't just stop there... More realizations hit me... Like a clogged pipe suddenly cleared from blockage, and water started flowing in, that was how everything started flowing in my head... 
I realized how special these friends I have, how kind, how they appreciate me.. How some of them noticed that I kind of dictance myself away from the whole Usrah thing, but still they never left me out, they kept persuading me in their own way, still gave me a chance and space whenever I needed it...
And most importantly, I noticed how forgiving each member of this Usrah group..

Non of us are perfect, I guess theres something lacking in our usrah group at some point last time that made me decided to quit, but... If we wait for things to be perfect, then I guess we're never gonna get anywhere.. We have to be the one to help make it perfect, fix the problems, and work together instead of just chose to leave.. Like the saying goes, 
"Don't wait for a perfect moment, but take the moment and make it perfect... "
Yeah... I guess I learnt my lessons, alhamdulillah... ;)

Alhamdulillah..... alhamdulillah... alhamdulillah... alhamdulillah...

I feel so good nowadays, and I did wonder, what would my life be like if I really quitted? 
Miserable I guess haha..
Wouldn't I be??

Abu Hurairah and Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri (May Allah be pleased with them) reported: The Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said, "When a group of people assemble for the remembrance of Allah, the angels surround them (with their wings), (Allah's) mercy envelops them, Sakinah, or tranquillity descends upon them and Allah makes a mention of them before those who are near Him.''

Right?
Even if life's not miserable, my heart would be empty....
And... what a waste to miss all the things shared during each Usrah session..

So, never ever doubt the benefits of any assembly made for the remembrance of Allah... 
NEVER!!
If you encounter problems, try to fix it, not run away!

Lastly, I played a song specially for my Usrah group members...
And it's also meant for my mom, hubby and sister, who have always guided me through whenever I seemed to have lost my way and direction... :')
Thank You...

So here it is,
~~~~~ Sebuah Pertemuan~~~~~ 




~~USRAH~~~
 Bulatan gembira, bukan untuk mereka yang alim2 dan bertudung labuh sahaja, ia untuk semua...
~~~Wardina~~~




Ps: Sorry for any mistakes in my writing... My English isn't perfect, but I'm trying my best... (",)




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