What I didn’t accomplish in 2020

Last year on the 1/1/2020 I wrote a blog post about what my 2020 goals were. This was 3 month before the pandemic, before the world shut down. Non of us could predict what year this would become but I’m sure everyone is happy that we’re saying goodbye tonight.

Last year I had this on my new year’s resolution list:

• WRITE IN MY GRATEFUL JOURNAL EACH DAY
• FAST IN RAMADAN
• WORKOUT & FINISH 5K RUN
• FOLLOW THE 12 HOUR FAST
• TRAVEL – AMSTERDAM, ISLAND…?
• KØBENHAVN BOAT TRIP
• MAJOR 25TH BIRTHDAY PRESENT 
• CONTINUE MAKING YOUTUBE VIDEOS
• POST ON IG AGAIN…? (BIG QUESTIONMARK)
• BUY LESS IN 2020
• SEW A DOLL FOR MY DAUGHTER
• SEARCH FOR A FULL TIME JOB
• GET MY MOTORCYCLE LICENSE IN 2020

I can honestly say that I did not accomplish all of these goals. Some I were unable to do because of the strict travel ban & I didn’t feel safe travelling otherwise. Others I was too hesitant to try and scared of the criticism I would receive. My list for 2021 is not long, in fact – I didn’t write one for this year. I always seem to fall short of them anyway and I don’t want to disappoint myself. I do believe I would benefit from more routines and structure in my life next year. Like having specific days to workout, filming youtube videos, bed time routine and so forth.

These are the things I didn’t accomplish in 2020:

• I did not write in my Grateful Journal every day (but I came very close).
• I did not finish a 5k run.
• I did not travel this year.
• I did not take a boat trip to København.
• I did not post on IG again.
• I did not buy less in 2020, unfortunately.
• I did not sew a doll for my daughter (but I bought her one).

I am however very proud to have fasted in Ramadan, having a great 25th birthday where we went to an amusement park and rented a tiny house on Airbnb. I searched for more jobs at the end of the year and also went on interviews. Most of all I’m proud to finally have my motorcycle license. A dream of mine for as long as I can remember.

Let’s look forward to a brighter future & hope for a great 2021.

Elizabeth

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This saddens my heart

I miss the nights in Ramadan. When the night falls deep into a sleep and you are alone with your Lord. I miss the feeling of completely serving my Lord with the intentions to only please Him.

It saddens my heart that for each year it seems like we lose more and more people to this dunya. Don’t feel tempted to follow the footsteps of Shaytan. He only sits on the Straight Path to send you astray. And his whispers are only filled with lies and deception. 

Hold on to that last string of faith and recharge your imaan. Trust me, I know it can be hard. How tempting isn’t this world, with all it’s beautifications. But one thing is for sure; it will end and everything you have left are your deeds. So make them many and make them good. God willing, the good will overweight the bad on the day of Judgement and our faces will be shinning bright. 

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Elizabeth

2019 THROWBACK

Week by week this is what I did last year.

1. Finding out the gender of our 2nd child.
2. Punctured a tire on the car.
3. Went to the movies w/ my mum & saw ‘Second Act’.
4. Visited my friend at her new apartment & brought her salt & bread.
5. First night our son slept in his own room.
6. 50% on sick leave from work.
7. Spent the afternoon w/ my mum.
8. Drove to Sweden with the family to buy food.
9. Met my friend after not seeing each other for one year.
10. My son and I spent a whole afternoon w/ my dad in Oslo.
11. Flew to Paris w/ my mum (& my daughter).
12. Renovated our new kitchen table from the thrift store.
13. Celebrated my mum’s birthday w/ my brother.
14. Met my best friends.
15. Visited my old school w/ my friend and my son.
16. Easter holiday – worked all week.
17. Drove to IKEA & went to a fabric store in Oslo alone.
18. Food shopping in Sweden w/ the family.
19. Start of Ramadan. Watched ‘The Hustle’ at the cinema w/ my mum.
20. Started maternity leave.
21. 38 week control.
22. First Kindergarten visit & visit from my mum. Our daughter was born.
23. Eid celebration w/ my husband’s family.
24. Visit from my friend & went shopping.
25. Food- and kids market w/ my children, mum and brother.
26. Met my best friends & celebrated my friend’s birthday together.
27. Breakfast at my dad’s.
28. 1st motorcycle ride w/ my dad. Met my friend & went to a cafe & the beach.
29. Met my friend at her house w/ my kids & her nephew.
30. Beach day w/ the family.
31. First day in kindergarten for my son & met my niece for the 1st time.
32. Shopping day w/ the family. Akvarium visit w/ my mum and the kids.
33. Norway’s biggest amusement park w/ my husband’s family.
34. Visited an open farm w/ my children.
35. Celebrated my 24th birthday w/ my mum, dad, brother, husband and kids. Also bought a new car.
36. 1st day back at work.
37. Goodbye dinner for a dear colleague.
38. 1st time our daughter tried baby food (mashed potatoes).
39. Last MC ride of the year.
40. Sweden w/ the family – food shopping.
41. Gokart w/ my brother & husband.
42. Our daughter rolls over for the first time.
43. Sunday breakfast at my dad’s.
44. Visited a huge soft play area w/ my husbands family and kids.
45. Sweden w/ my mum and daughter.
46. My son had to go to the doctor’s.
47. Met my friend.
48. Picked up my mum from the airport. Witnessed a motorcycle crash.
49. Brunch at my dad’s.
50. Sweden w/ my mum and daughter.
51. Cinema w/ my mum – we watched Jumanji: The next level.
52. First roadtrip w/ the family to Gothenburg.

Elizabeth

100 days ago

A 100 days ago I gave birth to a healthy baby girl. 4920 grams and 50 cm of pure love wrapped into one tiny human being. 3 months later I can see her smiling back at me when I look at her and all of my worries fade away. The world stops for minute and it’s just us. Then the noise from the outside world start tumbling in again but that smile remains. And after 9 long months she is finally kicking her feet of joy and excitement. There is nothing more beautiful and precious than to see your children grow up right beside you. And losing either one of them would be my greatest fear.

Tomorrow will be my first day back at work since going out on maternity leave 3 weeks before my baby girl came. My head is totally ready for it but my heart is still yearning to be with my child. I’m overwhelmed with emotions and don’t really know what to focus on. But I know it will be good for me, and I’m ready to take the leap.

The first Saturday in September, 3 months after giving birth, I’m back at it, and I’m ready.

Elizabeth

While we wait

It has been 9 long months but the wait is over. And while I waited for my little baby girl to arrive, I found myself doing various tasks around the house to get the time to pass. As I went along I added things to my to-do list and every time I added something it seemed as if I would never get my list done.

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Cleaning the house – several times. Including washing the windows on the inside and outside. Washing our sofa cover. Cleaning the entire kitchen, inside and outside the cabins. And the usual dusting and vacuuming.

Washing baby clothes. I still had some clothes from my son that I though were unisex which I dug out while I simultaneously went through his old clothes and gave some away for donation. I also received a lot of clothes from colleges that needed a wash and some new clothes I bough just for our baby girl.

Sewing. I actually did quite a lot of sewing while I waited for the baby to arrive. I had a list of things I wanted to make and it was a perfect time to get around to it since I had a lot of spare time on my hands. The only tricky part was getting around to cut out all the fabric since my belly was mostly in the way. But I did manage to make a jacket, a bedsheet and up-cycling some old clothes.

Baking. Now I wish I did more of this but manage to make a cake or two, one of which was a delicious carrot cake.

Colouring my hair. The last week I was really bored and scratched my brain to find something to do. I got more and more sick of seeing my dull hair so I ordered some hair bleach and colour. When my products finally arrived I took my hairdressing skills to the test and changed my hair.

Making YouTube videos. Now I knew I wanted to have a little break from filming when the baby arrived so I decided to pre film a couple of videos which I will post soon.

Packing our hospital bag. I waited till I was 35 weeks pregnant to get on with packing the hospital bag. If you want to see the content of my bag I will leave the video link here.

Giving my son a hair cut. Yet again I found my hairdressing skills come to use and actually managed to cut my sons hair twice before the baby arrived. I love seeing him with short, clean cut hair – it makes him look so fresh and young.

we heart it

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That’s how I spend somewhat of my time waiting for our baby girl. I also had some shifts at work when they needed me and spent a lot of quality time with our son. Now a new routine awaits us and I’m excited to see what that will mean.

Elizabeth

Reminiscing over summer memories

It’s been a minute since I’ve written for you. To be honest I don’t know how to start again. But the longer I procrastinated the more I missed it. 

The last you heard from me was when Ramadan was ending. I was genuinely sad that such a blessed month was leaving us, and I guess I was scared not to be able to continue on with my new habits after Ramadan had left. I took a 30 day cleanse from social media which I desperately needed and to this day I have still not installed Instagram on my phone – more on that in a later post.

I was one month in to a new job which I love. I now work in retail, a wish of mine came true to be able to work with what is my passion – clothes. Endless amount of clothes have been bought with personal discounts but I’m not complaining, I just have to keep my spending spree in check.

Throughout the summer I worked a lot which was just what I wanted after being home for such a long time with my son. I was also able to enjoy our hot Norwegian summer, and I actually mean hot. Never before have we Scandinavians had such a tropical weather. My mum and I were also in Italy which I will share with you in my coming posts.

That was a bit of a summer update for you even though we’re well into fall now, it being the beginning of October and all.

New memories are being created and a new chapter is upon us. I can’t wait to share my adventures with you again. I promise, it won’t be long until you hear from me again. 

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Elizabeth

All good things must come to an end

The end is here and I’m left with an empty and sad feeling inside me. I couldn’t really put my finger on it before but now I know that it’s because our blessed month of Ramadan has ended. We’ve lost a dear friend and we can only pray that we’ll be here to greet our beloved month next year.

I was so scared before Ramadan started and was scared I wouldn’t be able to fast and work at the same time. Though it was challenging and tiring at times, I felt an empowerment and for every day it became easier even though the fasting hours became longer.

Let’s take our good deeds beyond this month and keep it in our mind that everyday can be like a day in Ramadan.

I pray that Allah will accept all of our good deeds this past Ramadan & may He forgive you & I for our sins. May Allah bless & guide you. Ameen.

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Elizabeth

A whirlwind of a week

Monday

The last couple of days have been so crazy. It all started on Monday where I had a chill day with my son until he fell into an accident. I got so overwhelmed and guilty that I couldn’t protect him. Luckily his bruises are almost healed and he was back on his feet in no time.

Tuesday

Tuesday I got an email about a phone interview I had Friday morning, just when I thought there was no hope left.

Wednesday

On Wednesday I had to bring my car into the repair shop so that I could continue on driving it the next 2 years. That meant waking up at 6.30am, driving to the next town an hour later and then wait a whole day till the car was fixed. We did spend the morning having a hotel breakfast and continued on with shopping and a walk back home to my mums. Whilst my son was taking his afternoon nap which he had been procrastinating, I could finally breath out and relax.

Thursday

I got another interview call on Thursday which meant I got to meet my mum again so that she could watch my son. It went fairly well and we enjoyed an afternoon outside before we drove back home where I then colored her hair.

I actually got another call yesterday morning while I was at the health station with my son for his last baby vaccine. Another store wanted me in for an interview and we settled for today at 1pm.

Friday

Starting off today fairly early at 7.30am, I had breakfast and got ready for my first interview. Around noon I had to drive, yet again to my mums to pick her up so that she could watch my son while I went to my second interview.

It has literally felt like I’ve been running around everywhere and meeting so many new people in such a short amount of time. On top of that I have another interview on Monday at a clothing store which I’m super excited about. But first I have to take this weekend to rewind and unplug. My feet are killing me and I’m in desperate need of a lot of sleep.

Wish me luck!

Elizabeth

New office space & decor inspiration

I’m finally sitting in my new office space. And you might be wondering if we’ve gotten a third room.. well, not exactly. Over new years we decided to have our son back in our room after he stayed in his own room for 3 months. Baby call and all installed of course. I actually loved having our bedroom more spacious and back to it’s usually self but since my husband wanted to venture into the unknown space of streaming, we compromised on a solution. Now we both have our space in our sons bedroom. For a while at least. Besides, our son is just a bit over 1 year and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with having him close to us for a little while longer. Soon he’ll be begging to stay in his room and I’m sure there will come an age where he won’t even climb into our bed any more.

So I’ve been diving into the interior front lately, searching for inspiration. And when I decide to do anything, the whole house has to get a remodel or at least get a clean out. There are few things as satisfying as cleaning and de-cluttering. What I’m searching for now is a dresser, either white or in wood where I can do a little DIY project. Over the dresser where my son’s clothes are, I would like a grid wall where I can hang different pictures. If I don’t find that, I think I’ll just hang the pictures directly on the wall. Perfect for inspiration and also great for filming YouTube videos.

Hopefully all this will happen in the next coming weeks. And when I’m done I’ll shoot a office tour, insha’Allah.

Elizabeth

Last day of 2017 – recap

15 minutes before midnight and here I am sitting on the couch writing a recap post. 2017 has been a wild, chill, amazing, heartwarming, difficult and hard – and once again I’m taking a look back at the past year.

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Last Day of 2016 – I ended and started the year with my mum, highly pregnant, walking around trying to catch the fireworks at 12. It was a lot like today, cloudy and roads covered in snow. We actually didn’t find a good spot to look at the fireworks, but we did see some. And after a short, but tiring walk I made my way home to my bed.

15th of January – The most amazing, heartwarming, incredible day of my life, and of 2017. I gave birth to my baby boy. He’s soon turning 1, and I can’t believe how I found the strength to push him out without any medication or drugs. This was hands down my proudest moment & the highlight of my year!

Surprise Birthday Party for 2 – Surprised my mum at home with a clean house and her favorite cake. I stayed and celebrated her belated birthday whilst we ate carrot cake and she opened presents.

Summer 2017 – First summer i tried wearing the hijab, and it was a success! Not as hard as I thought it would be. Abayas became my new best friend and light chiffon scarfs as well.

22nd Birthday – I gave birth at 21, but 7 months later I turned 22. If you haven’t seen it you can watch my «22 things I’ve learned the last 22 years».

2 Year Anniversary – This day lies close to my heart because it’s the day I said my shahada. Nervous and anxious, but the best decision I have made.

Roadtrip to Gothenburg – I was eager to travel the whole year, and finally at the last end of November we decided to take a roadtrip – my mum, my son and I. We had a wonderful stay in Gothenburg, spending most of our time at Liseberg, Universum and in the car, of course.

First day back at work – After 46 weeks at home I had to say goodbye to my baby boy, at least for a couple of hours, and go back to work. After a couple of days and haircuts, I was back into the old routines.

Dinner with the fam – 23rd of December, a day before Christmas Eve here in Scandinavia, we all meet up at my brothers apartment and had a wonderful homemade buffet and played games long over midnight.

Last day of 2017 – Today I continued packing for tomorrow, and also meet up with my mum yet again for a New Years Eve dinner with my son. Now 1 year later he could join us and it was a full circle experience.

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A new year is on it’s way, and this year we get 366 days of creating and writing our story!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Elizabeth