I've done it again!

Yes, I've done it again! I've neglected a blog. It's quite a vicious circle isn't it? Create blog with the best of intentions, post a few times, get tangled up in life, blog is left floating in cyberspace, feel guilty, start again!

I will be posting more often though as life has been starting to slow down a bit more in the last little while. Salem's mom is gone to Lebanon in hopes of escaping Old Man Winter. I kinda wish I had that option too - I am just not ready for winter this year, I don't really know why.

In other news, I completely gave up on the gym and training since a little before the wedding. I caught up to me, I gained about 10 lbs and I got depressed on top of being a bit mentally overloaded by other things and I had a mini breakdown. I'm currently working on changing my thought process in order to become more objective and positive about myself and not be so darn negative and such an anal perfectionist. I need to stop this behaviour for my own good, and for the sake of those closest to me. I mean honestly, I have let my constant comparisons to others, negative self-talk and constant self-doubt take way too much control over my life and emotions. FINI!!!! Wish me luck! Thankfully though, Salem and I have started back at the gym (and we've been very good so far), my eating is pretty much back on track, I'm feeling motivated and I've even started training to run (and I'm actually sticking to it) - thank you C25K!

What do I hope to accomplish? Well, I have a certain type of physique and a general ballpark weight I'd like to get to, but I'll just see how things go along the road. Salem's also training hard to gain weight and put on more muscle. I'm thinking I'll be doing status updates here, maybe post up small goals we have and celebrate virtually when the goals are attained! Hey, everybody deserve a small pat on the back when there's a job well done, no?

Other big events this week - Salem's birthday is on Friday! I've already gotten him a few gifts, I may get him something else but I'm not sure yet. There's definitely supper and dessert planned. MMMMM yummy sweets!!!!! *nom, nom, nom, nom* I shared the recipe name with my good co-worker, Kat, to which she told me that she'd be glad to help finish-off the dessert if there's too much left for us! Considering the size of it, I think there will be some left to share a bit with others.

Pictures will be slower in coming though! Work seems to have blocked Flickr, so noon and after-work picture posting will not be possible - boooooooo!!!!

Ok, that's it for now! I hope to post something in the next few days.

Pictures of ARUBA!!!!

After many months of putting this off, I have decided to finally sit down for a few minutes and post some pictures from our honeymoon for you all.

We went to Aruba for our one-week honeymoon and boy was it a great decision to go there! The beach was amazing and the place was so relaxing. Mmmmm I wish I were there now! We stayed at the Bucuti (it included breakfast only) but that was fine as there are many restaurants to choose from.

Alright, lets get this picture show on the road!!!

Salem enjoying the sun and sand on day #2 in Aruba!

The beautiful sunset on the beach!

Salem walking off into the sunset.

Day 3: Just past the capital of Orangestadt while on our island safari. My suggestion to you: a half day is plenty! And please reconsider this tour if you easily get car sick or are scared of Jeeps rolling over. We had a blast!

A hungry resident at the donkey sanctuary. Hearing them bray is funny, seeing them bray is hillarious!! They throw their whole bodies into it.

The windward (east) coast right next to the Natural Bridge. The colour is amazing but the waves are very violent. I also got sucked out to sea at the nearby Natural Pool.

Along the east coast - last stop on our safari. Don't mind the hair!! Aruba is a very windy island!

One of our breakfast buddies: these guys are major leaches! They swoop in the second you turn away!

Amazing beach!!! This is in the middle of the day - hello fellow beach neighbours, far, far away!

Our view of the water from where we often settled on the beach. Can I just teleport there now?

Night out in the high rise hotel district. Look at home clean it is!!!!

Dinner was so yummy, the service was excellent and the view onto the main boulevard in the high rise district was great!

The high rise hotels as viewed from our quiet beach. Enjoy your dirty beach over-crowded tourists! We'll just stay here where it's nice and quiet!

Me enjoying the wonderful water! After this, the beaches here don't even come close! :-(

A view of our hotel from the water. The restaurant there is made to look like a beached pirate ship - it's called the Pirate's Nest. Great food, very friendly service - breakfast was served there. We ate like pigs!

The tanned happy couple on their last night out!

Well, so much for posting some new pictures!

Firstly, I must tend to my religious duties!!! So Eid Mubarak everyone! May Allah accept all your good deeds done during the holy month of Ramadan!

 
I was going to treat everyone by posting up a few pictures from Aruba but it seems the internet here at work doesn't want too cooperate with the new Flickr system: it won't let me link to the pictures. Booo stupid system!!! Oh well, perhaps tonight!

I wasn't posting much (if at all) during Ramadan as I was busy with my fasting, cooking and praying. I will be posting up a bunch of pictures and recipes over the next week or so - I hope you enjoy them and maybe even try a new recipe.

These days, life is getting back to "normal" although I have fasting days to make up. Salem is back to eating normally and I've noticed that my system does not like me eating much! For the last 3 out of 4 days since Eid, I've felt like I had a big wet ball of yarn stuck in the bottom on my digestive system, all thanks to the increase in food intake. I'm hoping that doing those catch-up days here and there over the next week or so will help ease my system back into fairly normal eating. Let me tell you though, not going to the gym is really showing, I hate my body right now and I feel like a gigantic cow!!!!

In the next few weeks, we will be leaving for Alberta to attend Lama and Ali's wedding. I'm looking forward to the wedding and seeing this wonderful couple start their new life together. I'm also really looking forward to seeing a part of my own country which I've never seen. I mean it's the ROCKIES for crying out loud!!! OMG! *jumps up and down* I'll be praying to see some awesome wildlife too (moose, caribou, whatever! Major bonus points if I see anything related to wolves)!!!!! The man and I might be bringing a laptop so there's a possibility of posting pictures from our trip once in a while. I will not be posting any pictures of the bride and groom until they return - Sorry, but I feel the need to show my respect to the couple by waiting for their approval for the pictures. I mean no disrespect to our guests, but I was more than disappointed when people posted pictures all over the place yet didn't feel the need to tell us that pictures of us were posted online. So there are pictures out there for strangers to see of our wedding which we never got to see ourselves.

We'll be in Calgary for a few nights, then making our way to Edmonton for an over-nighter, then to Jasper for one night and finishing off with another night in Banff. We're almost done booking everything (car and 2 nights are done) and now we're just waiting on the confirmation from this amazing looking place in Jasper.

We have a few things we'd like to finish up before we leave though, such as organizing the guest room, finish  fully unpacking and I want to make a trip out to IKEA and pick up some baskets and a new dining room table! Woohooo!!! I just need to figure out what to do about the lighting. Beurk!!!

On the menu tonight: Silat bi loubieh (swiss chard and black eyed peas) and.... quinoa! Yes, I will finally be trying my hand at some quinoa. Wish me luck, I have the feeling that I may need it!

The craziness that is Ramadan!

It's been a few weeks since my last post. "But why??" Well, Salem's mother and sister left for Calgary on August first, we had some major unpacking to do after that (we were down to 3 boxes and had almost a room full of stuff just piled on)... Needless to say, I was completely depressed and demotivated when our nearly fully unpacked guest room was once again crammed with stuff! I had to fight the urge to just throw everything right out the window, watching it as it tumbled to the alley below, making falling noises like those I so fondly remember from the Wyle E. Coyote cartoons I used to watch as a kid. On that note - Am I the only one who ever wished he would catch the darn Road Runner? Just once!!!!

Anyway, as of the 11th of August, we've been fasting and doubly renewing our dedication to Allah for the holy month of Ramadan. As a wife, I've also taken on the happy yet very time consuming (and sometimes stressful) job of cooking balanced meals for the husband and myself. I really do enjoy cooking but I think perhaps I'm still too much of a perfectionist, trying to constantly come up with new recipes, large meals that will satisfy Salem's tummy yet still remain nutritious. I constantly am reminding myself that this meal is our only real meal of the day (plus 2 small snacks a few hours later).

But worry not! I have been trying out new recipes, making old recipes and taking pictures! As soon as I can, I will be posting a slew of things so get ready and rest up your eyes while you can.

So what's a typical evening like for me? Here's an idea:

6:00-6:45 - I arrive home, do my prayers and feed the cat
6:45-7:45 - Prep dinner (usually a soup or fatteh with a salad as a starter then a main course with meat, veggies and starches).
7:45-8:30 - Break our fast, do our prayers and eat!
8:30-9:00 - do the dishes (this is a joint venture)
9:00-9:30 - sit for a few minutes and relax
9:30-10:30 - do our prayers for the night, then go on a walk to get our blood moving and some much needed fresh air
10:30-11:30 - veg out and have a snack/dessert then go to bed

Thankfully, weekends are a lot more fun as we stay up until (on average) 3-4 am. At this point, I would like to thank the Dollar Cinema for cheap admission and snack as well as late-night showings! I would also like to thank Dad's Bagels on Sherbrooke Ouest for providing us with our pre-dawn meal of fresh out of the oven bagels! OMG! Alhamdulillah!!!!!!!

Ok, enough mindless banter on my part, I will post pictures and recipes within the next week or so (insha'Allah).

A strange, high-protein breakfast experiment

So last night I started brainstorming about a possible breakfast experiment I would try out this morning. If you have all the ingredients ready, it really doesn’t take long to make. If nothing is ready, add 5-10 minutes to your prep time depending on how quickly you wash, chop, measure and mix things.

My first try at the “quick weekday morning” version of the dish was pretty good. I have taken a few mental notes for next time – which will be the “weekend” version of it. I’ll list my changes at the end of this rough recipe. I’ll post pictures next time too as I made more of a scramble this time, not so much an omelet.

High protein breakfast omelet with chicken

- 2-3green scallions, chopped

- ½ tomato, chopped

- 4 oz cooked chicken breast, shredded

- 1 large egg

- 1 cup egg whites

- 1 oz cheddar cheese, shredded

- cumin (to your taste)

- chili powder (to your taste)

- onion powder (to your taste)

- paprika (to your taste)

- salt (to your taste)

- pepper (to your taste)

Step 1: Spray non-stick pan with a bit of PAM and heat it on medium heat. When ready, add scallions and cook for 1 minute, stirring occasionally so they don’t burn. Add tomatoes and cook for another minute. Add chicken breast and stir, warming it just a bit.

Step 2: While waiting for items in step 1 to cook, whisk together egg, egg whites, cheese and herbs/spices.

Step 3: When chicken has been heated through, add the egg and cheese mix. If you are looking for a scramble-style dish, start stirring the whole with a spatula. Cook until done.

Now, what would I change? I will be using a whole tomato next time, putting in 2 oz of cheese and adding a bit of chili sauce on top. Also, if you have the time, simply pour in the egg and cheese mixture, heat on the stove top a few minutes and then finish cooking the omelet by placing it in the stove to “bake”. My weekend version will be made like this. I’ll make sure to take a picture of that when I get around to making it.

A movie weekend!

Well, this weekend was the first weekend where I felt like Salem and me got to really enjoy being a newlywed couple since our return from our honeymoon! It was great! We went to see 2 movies!

Friday evening, we had dinner at Emm Salem's (aka Salem's mom) and then off we went to the Dollar Cinema at Decarie Square. What is the Dollar Cinema? It's an old-school cinema with just 2 projection rooms. Admission is $2 and snacks are $1 each (pop, chips, popcorn, candy, etc). I had seen a movie there about 4-5 years ago and it was a good experience. Well, it still is a good experience! If you want to see a movie that's no longer in theaters but not yet on DVD, chances are, it's playing at the Dollar Cinema! Make sure to bring a light jacket or sweater as it can get a little chilly due to the A/C and make sure to come with a smile on your face! The owner is very nice and talkative. it really is worth checking it out - Salem and I will be sure to return. what did we end up seing? Robin Hood (with Russell Crowe) which was alright but it's really hard to beat the original.

We topped off the night (or early morning as it was 2:30 am when we left) by making a quick stop at DAD's Bagel on Sherbrooke Ouest in NDG (right next to Double Pizza on the corner of Wilson). They're open 24/7 and always have great Montreal bagels, Indian food and a few pastries to take home. We were lucky to get there just as they were taking out fresh batches of poppy seed and sesame seed bagels. Yummm Yummm!! They made for great breakfasts on Saturday and Sunday (topped with cheddar, feta and cream cheese or peanut butter and home-made strawberry jam). It was so good!

I spent most of the afternoon unpacking the guest room while Salem took his mom and Lama to pick up Lama's wedding dress. I was productive!!! Yay me!!!
 
Saturday evening we went to the Angrignon mall to see Inception. Now, anyone who's known me for a long time knows I was never a Leonardo Dicaprio fan but I now have to admit that I am starting to appreciate the quality actor he can be. It's also nice to see that Joseph Gordon-Levitt is all grown up! I still remember him from 3rd Rock from the Sun. Anyway! The movie was freaking AMAZING! Totally worth the entry price! It's a mixture of suspense, action and is mentally stimulating as well. It was the best movie we've seen in quite a while. I don't want to say too much about the movie for fear of ruining it for others, but it is basically about the power to invade someone's dreams, extracting ideas, secrets and the possibility of implanting an idea in someone's mind while in that dream state. If you do end up going (and I hop e you do), just make sure to be ready to pay attention as you might get a bit confused if you miss something.

Alright, that's enough blabbing on my part! Time for me to start getting ready to go to bed. I hope y'all had a nice weekend!

Fortune cookie coincidence? I think not!

Yesterday, I had the chance to go and have lunch with my friend Michèle (yes, she's the pastry goddess who made our wedding cake). For lunch, we went to the Chinese restaurant where she works. Upon exiting the restaurant, I asked for a fortune cookie - something which I don't usually care too much for but I was in the mood for one this time. I get to work, open it up and what do I see???? A double fortune! Ok, this isn't the first time I get 2 fortunes for the price of one, but I'm guessing someone opened up the "active, not passive" barrel when stuffing this batch as my two fortunes were eerily coincidental!

Behold!!
My first fortune "Be spontaneous."
My second fortune "It's now or never."

Of course, I asked Salem what I should be spontaneous about to which he didn't have any suggestions. I did nothing spontaneous yesterday, so I'm hoping today is still considered "now" and not "never" although I still have no clue what to do...

I did a nice little baked salmon and side dish for dinner last night but I don't have the pictures with me. I'm hoping to post the recipe tonight.

I'm also currently looking around for a naturo/homeopath. Yes, the big hippie in the is telling me to try out alternative health practices in order to balance out my body, mind and soul. So the next few weeks might have posts concerning fitness, more hippie/granola stuff, little white sugar pills and, of course, the standard belly aching on my part. Why the push for this? I've noticed lately that even though the wedding planning stress is gone, it's been replaced by general stress and anxiety to the point where I had a bit of a hard time taking a decent breath at lunch yesterday. For the meantime, I'm trying to do my on little version of art-therapy and telling myself to just take a deep breath and let it all go on the exhale.

Should anyone know a good naturo/homeopath in Montreal (preferably a female), I would greatly appreciate your suggestions.

Alright,off I go to get some fresh air and reading.