Muslim Woman in Amman

I've recently come to realize I am a terrible blogger. I get all gung ho to write and amaze people with my awesomeness but then I fall flat. Because, frankly I am not that awesome. I don't go out much I pretty much go to work come back and veg all day long. Sure every once and a while I go out and do something great and I compose a whole post in my head about my awesome trip. Then I get home and forget about it. Or the great composition in my head doesn't come out onto my keyboard and so it fizzles away. Sometimes when I'm in the shower I get some amazing post idea about education or Jordan and then I come out of the shower and it fizzles away. Another problem I have with my blogging is I want traffic so I want to make posts that people will want to come to. So I write about things that I am really not that into. Or I get so worked up about writing a post that would create traffic that I end up trying too hard and my post falls flat. This is the first post I've ...

My new job is fantastic I love all the books and figuring out how to organize the library. In my short time I have been a school librarian I have learned a few things. I would like to share my list with you. Captain Underpants and Diary of a Wimpy Kid are so popular that I always have a copy needing repair. Hardcover picture books, despite being small, hurt like hell when they fall on your foot. There are always books that need to be checked in. ( I should have thighs of steel by the end of the year from all the squating) Kids no matter how many times you tell them otherwise will always put books back on the shelf instead of in the book drop. The existence, and popularity of Mo Willems, Pete the Cat, and Peter H. Reynolds. We have too many books and not enough shelves. So many books I want to read, but not enough time. The Pinkalicious series is never on the shelf. The books I loved as a child are no longer popular. (Baby Sitters Club, Boxcar Children, Nancy Drew) We hav...

My brother visited from the states and wanted to do a bunch of things in the two weeks he had here. In this time I have done more than I have all summer. We shopped we visited Jerash but most importantly we ate out. My brother has been working as a chef for a number of years and as such is a major foodie. So, naturally we went to a lot of restaurants, Here are the five main restaurants we went to. The first one we went to was Summaga near Ajloun castle. This restaurant is an organic farm to table restaurant. The food was so flavourful and definitely worth the trip. The only downside I had was it took a long time for the food to come out so don't go in starving. It's in the tourist office of Ajloun Castle so you can check out the shopping while you wait for your food. With a great view of Ajloun castle and a rustic decor this restaurant is a great stop if you are in the area. We also went to a place called Ajeen Wraps and More in Abdoun. Great mana'eesh, but for...

Oh my God, it as been a hectic few weeks. My brother came to visit, which meant going all over town to do a whole bunch of things which I'll get to in another post. In the middle of my brother visiting school started, I'm in a new position, LC Specialist (Assistant Librarian), and spent a week trying to figure it all out (still having trouble but it's getting better). Then in the middle of that I came down with a nasty stomach bug that took a few days to clear. Needless to say I've been neglecting a lot of stuff recently. I promised myself to blog every Saturday, that hasn't happened. I promised myself to keep my room clutter free and dust free, My shoes are all over the floor and I haven't dusted in a month. I promised to work on my photography, completely ignored my 30 day challenge for at least a week. Diet and exercise? HAHA! Ya, that went too. On the plus side I visited so many new places in Jordan, had so many different types of food. I love my new jo...

On the first day of the Big Eid (Eid Al-Adha) We went to hang out in Abdali at night. First we went to The Boulevard then we headed back into Abdali Mall to look around. It was a fun night and I would recommend it if you want some place to hang out at with friends and family. The Boulevard is a great place to find a bite to eat. The place is lined with different cafes and restaurants. Plus, they had a ton of play areas for the young ones. There are multiple ways to get into the Boulevard you can either come from one of the street entrances or like us park a in the Mall parking lot and go through it to the Boulevard. We just had diner so we weren't really hungry but we did stop at Four Winters for some ice cream. I had Raspberry Cookie, it was very delicious. It was more tart then sweet so it was a very refreshing dessert. Also watching them make it is super cool. They mix everything together in a Kitchenaid mixer and add dry ice to cool it down, so fog comes out of the...

I have officially been in Jordan for a whole year! In honor of my one year aniversary I would like to reflect on some of the things I love about Jordan. Family While my two brothers, father and niece are all in the states, my sister leaves here with her husband and four kids. I love the men in my family but there is nothing like hanging out with your sister. We have a lot more in common together than me and my brothers. We talk about clothes, shoes, shows and food. We go out for coffee every saturday just to enjoy each other's company. I am truly blessed to have such a great sister. I also get to enjoy my three nieces and nephew. My nephew is 4 and he is absolutely adorable. He recently used my Moogly CAL squares as little blankets for my stuffed tiger. My nieces are just fun to be around. We recently went to a farm in the Jordan Valley to go swimming and we had a blast playing with a beach ball and racing each other across the pool. Family is definitely my top love! ...

     To end my Hectic week with my nieces and nephew we took their new cat, whose name was changed to Fluffy, to the Humane Center . The vet there gave him an exam to see if he was healthy. Turns out he has ear mites, hopefully Snowball won't get infected. He also gave him some anti-worm medication. Other than that Fluffy is a healthy little kitten. We have to take him again next week for a check up, hopefully the mites are all gone. If they are the vet will give him his shots and then we'll be done, until it's time to neuter him. My mom plans on bringing Snowball to hime at the same time to give him a checkup. While we were there the kids enjoyed looking at all the animals the Humane Center has. Suhaib loved the parrots. Sadeel loved the place she took a ton of pictures of all the animals, and can't wait to go back. The Humane Center does good work and really cares for animals. They take in stranded animals and abused animals. They have a bunch of cats up for ...

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My sister has gone to Turkey for a week. Which is great her and her husband get to have a second honeymoon. Problem is we have their 4 kids running around our house. On the one hand I get help painting my room, on the other hand the house is never quiet. In our tiny three bedroom apartment is just my mom, my cat and I. We spend most of our time reading, crocheting and watching TV, and Snowball just sleeps all day. But, these kids. My nephew is four which means he is always active getting in to things, touching anything within his reach, playing with everything. My nieces are preteens and teenagers. One is always playing Fortnite with her cousins, loudly. One is constantly listening to music and the eldest sleeps most of the day. That said, I am really enjoying spending time with the kids. The first night we sat together and watched the Lorax on Netflix. Yesterday I spent 2 hours in my room watching my nephew play with my dragons. And all the girls helped paint my room. On Tuesda...

     At the beginning of summer I vowed to work on losing weight and getting to onederland (below 200lbs). Before Ramadan this year I was fluctuating between 214-212 lbs. That was in May, we are in July and I am down to 206 lbs as of this morning. It wasn't easy. I lost a lot in Ramadan (205 lbs), gained some back lost some more gained it back. I was stuck at 207 lbs for two weeks, I am hoping that the 206 this morning means I am back to losing. Only time will tell.

I have been secretly envying the Moogly CAL for a few weeks now. I kept thinking "that is so cool, I want to do that!" But, I thought maybe it was too late, I'll do it next year. I told my mom about it she thought it was a great idea, and she said "Why wait?" So on Thursday I grabbed the curtain ties from my bedroom and went to Barakat for some matching yarn.

This summer I have been going for Keto and Low-Carb meals. Even making some of my own. For breakfast I love Mug Cakes. they are quick and easy and best of all filling. Today I am going to share my favorite sweet mug cake made with cinnamon and vanilla which makes it taste like a cinnamon roll.

Today I went through my yarn basket looking at my unfinished projects trying to decide what to work on. I have a lot, probably not as many as other crafters but for me it's a lot. Some of them I realized are to be unraveled. I just have no interest in completing them, either because it is no longer needed or just didn't come out right. For instance a plastic bag keeper that I found on Snappy Tots . Turned out to be obsolete because my mom bought one from Ikea.

One of my favorite things about Jordan is plant shopping. In the spring and summer if you go down Jerash Highway from the University St. there are a bunch of plant sellers. The plants are super cheap and offer a large variety. They have so many types of plants flowering, not flowering, fruit trees, bushes and so much more.

My brother is coming to Jordan at the end of summer. He has this plan to go hiking in Wadi Mujib. Wadi Mujib is this amazing canyon near the Dead Sea that has some amazing hiking trails. To read more about the different trails checkout Wild Jordan's website .  I unfortunately I am not a fan of hiking. Basically, because I am out of shape and lazy. But, now that I am forewarned about my brother's ambition I can plan ahead. So my goal for this summer is to walk. Walk around the block. Walk around Sports City. Walk around the malls. Also at ACS we have a challenge to move 500 miles this summer so that's another goal to work towards this summer. I am currently at 26 miles, I have a long way to go. View from the walk near my house I also plan to do some Tai Chi to improve my flexibility and stamina as well as body weight training to improve my strength. And, because it is summer weekly trips to the pool. I go every Tuesday to the pool in Sports City. It's women o...

     School's out for the summer. It has been a great year here at ACS and I am looking forward to many, many more. I want to end my first year on a high note so I thought I would list some of the amazing things that I enjoyed this year. In no particular order here it goes: The people, I am so blessed to be at a school with such friendly people. Everyone greets you with a smile even if you don't know each other's name.  The energy, everyone is filled with so much energy that I feel energized just by walking the halls The Grade 5 team, extra gratitude to the people I worked closely with for the duration of the year. Jami, Ayisha, Miriah, Meredith and most of all Lesley. You guys made my year awesome. The activities, there are so many great after school activities that I can't even begin to list them all.  Mansaf on Thursday, need I say more? The thoughtful little tokens of gratitude from the admin and the PTG. There is a whole lot more, but for now th...

     Recently I went on a trip to Ajloun to visit the castle. It was an amazing trip. We had a tour guide that really brought the place to life. He talked about how his great grandfather lived in the castle and the black soot on the ceiling were from their cooking fires. I personally take that story with a grain of salt, but it was enjoyable. As a historian I thoroughly enjoyed the tour. There were some very cool artifacts. There was also a piece of stone that fell off during one of the earthquakes that hit the castle. I can make out a few words but no clue what it says. The views around the castle are amazing. you can see everything around you. I can easily imagine the ancient soldiers looking down at the enemy from the rooftops Or looking at the enemy approaching from the arrow slits. A truly amazing place that I would recommend to anyone who is visiting Jordan and loves history.

     Recently, I started knitting as a hobby, it also works great at stress relieving. I have been practicing different stitches and made a few little projects to get myself familiar with the whole process. I still have a lot to learn, but I'm getting there. Last week I finished my first two colored project, a tawashi for the shower.      I found the design as a free pattern on  Ravelry  I used some light cotton yarn I got from a shop here called Barakat . I used my circular needles (knitted flat) that are 6mm. It turned out smaller than I normally like my shower scrubs but I filled it with some cut up sponge to make it more sizable. I also used the leftover tail after I sewed it up to crochet a little loop so I can put it on a bathroom hook.      I used it straight away and was a little disappointed. Not with the size, but actually the yarn. I read that you should use cotton on skin because it is sensitive, but I realiz...

     In honor of the new direction my blog is going I thought I would post one of my favorite dishes to cook; Chicken Curry. My family and I have been working on losing weight and eating healthier. For awhile now we have been on a low-carb/ keto diet. In the pursuit of finding meals to fit our new lifestyle I came across many different recipes for Chicken Curry and then I sort of made my own version.       Normally, Curry is eaten with rice but as I am trying to cut down on my rice intake I have replaced it with a baked potato. My mom who is more of a vegetable eater has hers over some grilled zucchini. She assures me it's great but I have a personal intolerance for vegetables I'll just take her word for it. You can also try other bases that you want, it is pretty versatile. Or, you can just eat it plain.       Whatever way you choose to eat it, I would love to hear about your take! Let me know in the comments below.

     If you are someone who by some chance has visited my blog a recently you would have noticed that it has become pretty dead. This year I got a new job as a Teacher's Assistant and am no longer a full fledged educator. It is a move I am happy with and am quite comfortable in my new position. Unfortunately I am not creating content like I used to and as such do not really have anything to contribute to my educational blog. Therefore I am remodeling it into a personal blog.      While I am still an educator I am sure there will still be educational posts, but for the most part my posts will be about life in general. I will have posts about my hobbies, about places I have visited, about my family, and anything else that catches my fancy.      As part of the remodeling process I will be changing the name, but I believe the URL will stay the same. I will also be changing the look of the blog. I will not delete any of my previous posts, so t...