Hi guys,

So I feel like it’s been awhile since I’ve done one of these post, just catching up and chatting. 🙂

First of all, a belated Eid Mubarak to all my Muslim readers! Hope you had a blessed day, and an even more blessed month! You’d think that I’d have more time to post while I was fasting, given the fact that I wasn’t eating for 17 hours out of the day, but for some reason, blogging became a chore during Ramadan. There was just so much else to get done that blogging sort of fell by the wayside. -_- Sorry!

The past month was crazy, but as usual, I feel spiritually enriched like I do after every Ramadan. Here’s hoping I can maintain the same level of prayer and worship throughout the rest of the year, inshAllah (God-willing)!

The past month wasn’t only a month of fasting, but a month of comings and goings. Right before Ramadan, one of my oldest friends, my childhood from my middle school, came back to Canada after being away in Pakistan for the past 5 years. She’d been studying there, and would only come back once a summer to visit her family, during which we’d only see each other once. As we’ve rekindled our old friendship, I can’t help but ponder how much we’ve both changed in the past 5 years.

Obviously there’s the big things like school and jobs and career-related stuff, but there’s also the little things that are hard to quantify and to relate. Once a year she’d come back, and we’d meet up once (if we could) in the brief three week period she was there. We’d only have a few hours to relate news about our lives to each other, and cover the things that’d seem most important or pressing or exciting. It’s only now that I’ve realised how those other little things have helped shaped me (and her, I’m sure) as a person. It’ll be interesting to discover these little stories about each other, now that she’s back for good.

Funnily enough, the same month that my childhood friend came back into my life, I found out two of my best friends are leaving. One is getting married and moving away to Manhattan, NY! And the other is moving away to study law in the UK. Naturally, I have mixed feelings about both, as it’s hard to adjust to the idea of people leaving, especially best friends. But as my long-distance friendship with my childhood friend who studied in Pakistan has taught me, if you truly want to remain friends, distance is nothing. 🙂

This past month was also a month of birthdays. My mom and my nephew share the same birthday, so that was fun, since it was his first birthday. I know I sound like a broken-record, but I honestly can’t believe how fast he’s grown up! It really seems like yesterday he was born, and now he’s already 1. :'(

It was also my birthday about a week ago, and I was feeling quite nostalgic, if you couldn’t tell by my numerous posts on growing up here on the blog. Lol. I remember when I was a kid and I’d want to celebrate my birthday, my dad wouldn’t be pleased, since he’d say you’re just celebrating the loss of another year. What’s to celebrate? I never used to understand his logic as a kid, but now I can completely understand his anti-celebratory attitude.

The older I get, the more I think about all the things I still haven’t accomplished. And once I start counting all those things, then the less I want to celebrate the passing of another year.

The past month was also a month of slowly counting down to starting school again in September. It’s officially one month until I start classes in teacher’s college, and it’s a very strange feeling.

After being out of school for the past 2 years, and longing for it, I’ve got a strange mix of feelings as I prepare to get back into the groove of school. I love school (as some of you might know), and can’t wait to get back into a busy, hectic schedule in which I’m learning and constantly being challenged. But at the same time, I can’t help but look forward a year from now, after I’ll have graduated (inshAllah), and at the feeling of trying to find a job in a market that’s apparently over-saturated with teachers, as people LOVE to tell me on a daily basis. And I get scared. Because here I am, paying thousands of more dollars at another attempt of getting more qualified, so that I can at least get a job that can pay off those thousands of dollars. It’s already stressing me out. >_<

But mostly, I’m excited! Finally, I have an excuse to go back to school shopping, which I LOVE. 😀 Hehehe.

So the next month will be all about just relaxing and hanging out with family and friends, as I try to enjoy the last month of summer before getting back to school. And hopefully that includes lots of baking, blogging, and writing. 🙂

Hope you’ve all been doing well, and have been enjoying your summers! Let me know what your plans for the last bit of summer are, and if you’re doing anything exciting or adventurous. 🙂

As always, thanks for reading,

Ikhlas