#25 Have a big 25th Bash

The last 7 months, this blog has made me realize a lot of things. I have a lot to be grateful for in life. Today,  as I type up this post and think about the last 7 months and what I have been able to achieve, I am truly grateful for each and every opportunity.

I am grateful for my health that allowed me to compelte the half marathon. I am grateful resources that are so readily available to me that allowed me to complete an online islamic course. I am grateful for my job, for my education, for the money that I earn that allowed me to visit melbourne and book our trips to South Africa. I am grateful to have been raised by a loving family and be surrounded by fantastic cooks to finish off my family recipe book.  I am grateful to have such an amazing husband who encourages my ideas and creative ventures.

But most of all I am thankful and grateful to Allah (God) for blessing me with a beautiful life. To have completed 17 out of my 25 things to do is more than I could have asked for.

This year for my birthday, I decided to have 25th bash with some close family and friends as a cupcake decorating party! You can read more about it on my other blog. But here are some photos to give you all my readers a gist of how I celebrated my 25th. : )

  

  

  

  

 

Happy Birthday to me! 🙂

With love

Siddiqa

#8 Swim with the Dolphins. Done

I got a little surprise from dear husband this morning when he told me that we were off to Sea world to swim with the dolphins! As part of my list of things to do, he thought he would contribute by helping me finish one last thing off my list on my Birthday. So very lucky me! 😀

So off we went to Seaworld one more time and this time it was my turn in the water. We got into gear and I had one of the most amazing experiences of my life! Not only did we get to pat the dolphin, we got to feed it, make it do some tricks and of course watch him jump in the air and splash us silly. Absolutely amazing! Since its my birthday, I’m keeping this post nice and short but with plenty of photos. Enjoy!

#9 Attempt making a croquembouche. Done.

Phhheww! What a week it’s been! I just finished off my last CPA foundation exam (and passed!) and spent the rest of the week making some goodies for Eid.

A few weeks ago, Maryam (from Maryams Kitchen) invited Faaiza (from Modest Munchies) and I to her place to make a croquembouche, and it was perfect timing just before Eid and my 25th! So we spent two nights making the choux pastry, coffee flavoured buttercream and of course putting together the croquembouche. I have to say, its not all that intimidating if you spread the steps over a couple of days! But I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the help of Maryam and her experience with different pastries and desserts. Thank you Maryam! 🙂

So here are some photos of our creation (again thanks to Maryam!). This means I can finally tick it off my list. Booya!

   

     

     

      

   

#19 Memorise one long surah from the Quran. Done

So today I finished memorising a long surah from the Quran. I didn’t realise that just by being consistent everyday, how easy it really is to memorise parts of the Quran like that. Growing up, we were encouraged to memorise as much as we could and at the time, when I was too young to understand the importance, I wasn’t discipline enough to keep revising all the parts of the Quran that I had memorised and over time, I had to re-learn a lot of it.

My Dad was quite strict when it came to memorising, and now that I’m much older, I’m so glad he made us memorise the 30th parah and some long surahs while we were still young and able to learn it quicker than we can today.

I make a point everyday to revise and read as much as I can and I use the time on the bus (1 hour ride to and from work) to do my daily Quran readings.   It makes a difference to your day when you start with the words of the Holy book, and with smart phones with every app possible, it’s literally all at your fingertips.

I hope that I can definitely keep memorising more of the Quran as time passes, one surah at a time Insha Allah. But for now, I’m going to make sure that all the surahs that I have memorised since madressah, are practised everyday, so that years to come, I wont have to re-learn it.

It’s a great feeling to be able to tick #19 off my list 🙂

#4 Attempt eating a full tomato. Done.

Argh! I knew I was going to regret putting this on my list of things to do but now I can’t turn back. For those that don’t know me well enough, wont know that I absolutely dislike (hate is a strong word : P) tomatoes. I love tomato sauce, but I can’t stand tomatoes. I don’t care if its mixed in with a salad, in tabbouleh, even if its sun dried tomatoes, I don’t like it. At all.

Growing up I often use to see my cousin Suri pick up a tomato and bite into it like you would an apple, my sisters would pile their burgers with it and my mum used to make these grilled sandwiches with cheese and tomatoes. Just the thought of it use to make me want to gag. I’m not exaggerating. One time while on a flight, I thought the cherry tomatoes were in fact cherries ( before you judge, I was too young to notice the  difference :P) and bit into one. It was awful. I even lied at school camp and said I was allergic to tomatoes so I didn’t have to eat it. J doesn’t mind tomatoes but dislikes CUCUMBERS just as much. You can imagine what a typical salad for dinner looks like.

I used to think I’m not a fussy eater, but that’s probably because I grew up having the food the way I like it. When I got married, I realized that there’s a lot of things that I don’t like and can’t stand in my food. I don’t like raisins in my food, I don’t like broccoli, I don’t like onions unless it is caramelized,  I don’t like egg yolks and my bread always has to be toasted .. the list goes on.

Anyways, I’m going off track here. Focus Siddiqa. Focus.

I went to the supermarket and picked the smallest tomato I could find. I cut it into 4 pieces and J watched me eat the tomato. It took me ages to finish. It didn’t taste very nice at all and it is actually the first time I have managed to taste a tomato and swallow it. I can safely say that I am still not a fan of tomatoes.

And now I’m just glad I can finally tick #4 off my list!

p.s – this photo was taken after a long day of studying through finance chapters. enough said.

#10 Complete a First Aid Course. Done

Yesterday Jaaved and I completed the Apex First Aid Course! The course was a very detailed and hands on approach of learning and went from 9am till 4pm! We walked out as certified First Aiders. woop woop!

I’ve completed a First Aid course before in Auckland and kept it fairly up to date until I moved to Brisbane 2 1/2 years ago. I added it to my list of things to do because my last certificate expired two years ago and I really wanted to make sure I had completed it before I turned 25. The Apex training institute conduct First Aid classes continuously throughout the year and its worth the full day sacrifice.

I encourage everyone to complete a Firt aid course. First aiders are important. The life they save next, could be yours.

#10 on my list is done 🙂

 

#18 Sew a dress. Done

I enjoyed sewing classes when I was at school almost 12 years ago, but it seems that interest just faded away with time. I listed ‘sew a dress’ in my list because I wanted to give it a go after so many years and because I like to think I’m quite game for new challenges, why not sewing classes? At the least, I’ll learn how to hem and do simple quick fixes on clothing. I wanted to see whether sewing could be another hobby for me alongside my cupcake hobbby and something I could be good at.

I wasn’t. I was horrible. I couldn’t remember how to thread the machine until my 3rd class. That’s embarrassing. I’m sure my dadi (grandmother) would have been utterly disgusted. I couldnt follow the pattern instruction properly until my fourth class. I still pin markings on the material the wrong way and dont even get me started on my overlocking skills.

When I give anything a go, I try to give it my all. Im a perfectionist on things that I am passionate about so naturally when it came to sewing, I wanted to be really good at it. I wanted to own a sewing machine and sew dresses and skirts, tops and pants but I learnt a valuable lesson during my 7 classes. I dont have to be the best at everything I do. There are things that we can never get our heads around. And sewing was just not for me. By my third class, I almost dreaded going because I was the slowest and I would always need help from the supervisor with my garments. Luckily for me, I was in a group of lovely ladies who were always willing to help and made the classes that little bit more enjoyable.

So after 7 classes, one pyjama pants, one top and 2 skirt (yes, i substituted the dress for a skirt), I closed the sewing classes chapter in my life. I dont know whether I will ever give it another go. Maybe I will. Who knows. But until then, #18 on my list.is.done.

#7 Climb the Story Bridge. Done.

Phew! I am on a roll this week!

On Sunday, J and I ticked off #7 on my list and went for the Story Bridge Climb! It was one of the most amazing experiences ever and I strongly recommend it to everyone. We booked ourselves in for the 9am session and after about 1 hour worth of preps (including getting into some not so flattering jump suits) we were off! The climb was a brave decision considering we had done a boot camp session the day before! We had a full commentary all the way up which made the climb so much more interesting and the staff were friendly and very helpful. That always makes a difference!

We made it to the top and the view from the top was worth every step of the climb. We finished up just in time for lunch. Phew. What a day that turned out to be.

We weren’t allowed to take cameras on the climb but we did buy photographs at the end. You can see some photos of preps and the climb here

Heres one photo of us!

Woop woop! #7 is done baby!

#23 Visit/Plan a visit South Africa. Done

I didn’t actually think I would be able to tick this off my list so easily but Alhamdullilah, J and I have been able to take time off work and have booked our tickets to visit South Africa at the end of the year ! Phew! I’ve never visited South Africa before and J hasnt been back to the  motherland in 8 years so it will definitelty be an experience for both of us.

Being married into a South African family I’ve heard my fair share of stories of life in South Africa and how things work/people live, I even later found out that I have family of my own that live in Johannesburg! I’m definitely looking forward to seeing all the places J and his family often talk about, meeting the family, enjoying the beautiful scenery of Cape town, shopping till I cant shop anymore and all in all just making the most of our 4 week trip . I also heard that there are heaps of cake decorating shops there. Booya!

Being from a Fiji Indian background, raised in New Zealand, I never really thought that South Africa would be on my list of 25 things to do or that I would ever visit that part of the world, but I’m fortunate that the opportunity came and we are able to make this trip. Alhamdullilah a million times!

So even though we wont be VISITING SA before I turn 25, we have definitely PLANNED and BOOKED our trip so that counts 😉

I will come back to this post to put up some pictures. But until then, I think I can safely tick off #23 Visit/Plan a visit to South Africa off my list.

#22 Enrol/Complete all foundation CPA papers

So where have I been for the last two months? I’ve been busy with studies and exams to try and get #22 ticked off my list! I can safely say I can because although I haven’t completed all my CPA foundation papers, I have definitely enrolled. I have 2 more foundation papers to complete before the year ends and I am determined to give it my very best! I managed to sit down and work out exam dates and study leave so that I can complete all my foundation levels at the end of the year (hoping that I pass!) and start my professional level papers next year.

I have a while to go before I become a CPA (certified practicing accountant), but I’m sure it will be worth it at the end! I’m glad I added it to the list, because its the only way I could make sure I enrolled! My next subject is Finance. argh. And then it’s Business Law. double argh. Surely, it will be worth it 😉

#22 on my list is done. Phew!