23... to 30
I can't complain! My 23rd year of life began quite nicely, alhamdulilah :)
As part of my birthday present, V bought tickets to see Wicked. Even though we'll only be able to seeing it in 3 weeks, I'm really excited because I've wanted to see this play for so long now. I absolutely LOVE going to plays with him. We've been to some good ones and some bad ones. And now I have two to look forward to, this and .. Fu's! And if you haven't bought your tickets to see his play I suggest you do it soon because we have a star amongst us bloggers!
Anyways, because Wicked is still to come, we went out to celebrate on Saturday and I had a really great time. I'm not going to go into any details because there are many, but it was quite fun! And oh yeah, my grandparents are giving me a laptop as a birthday present. Nice eh? I didn't even ask for anything, they suggested it - be aware that my parents think I'm much too old to be celebrating my birthday and are quite annoyed that my grandparents are giving me such a lavish gift -- I however, am not complaining :D
In the meantime, I've prepared the newest of my lists. Remind me when I turn 25 to review this list and make the necessary edits. I'm quite certain things will have to be added or deleted...
Things I want to accomplish before age 30:
1. Have that engagement ring on my finger (BEFORE 2007).
2. Get married sometime in the summer (possibly August?).
3. Go on a super cool honeymoon to either Italy OR Bora Bora (or both!)
4. Find a permanent teaching job at a high school in Brampton or Mississauga (ideally I'd love to stay GSS.. but my contract is only up till February - however, if possible, apply back to this school whenever there's an opening).
5. Before finding that permanent teaching job, teach for a year at an inner city school (or as "inner city" as Toronto gets - for the experience - and to reach out to struggling teens)
6. Save up $$$ and move out (it would be fabulous if my new home is located close to where I land that permanent position!)
7. Spend 2-3 years of wedded bliss with V before having children (I'm totally against having children right away, plus I just don't want to for personal reasons).
8. Travel! (this includes, Hajj, South Africa, and basically as many of the places we can afford as mentioned in the This Is Miami song).
9. Bring two children into this world (and no more, again for personal reasons)
10. Do not gain more than ten pounds (or chain myself to a treadmill).
Is my list realistic? I think so. InshAllah I'll be able to accomplish everything on it in some way by the time I reach 30. If not, well then that's life and there's nothing I can do to predict or determine the future, but I can work towards what I want, and for me that's important. Most of these are longterm goals though, and 30 is very far away. I can barely accept that I'm 23. It didn't help that on my birthday one of the teachers at school jokingly told another teacher that it was my 17th birthday and that other teacher believed her - and thought I was a student teacher :S
As part of my birthday present, V bought tickets to see Wicked. Even though we'll only be able to seeing it in 3 weeks, I'm really excited because I've wanted to see this play for so long now. I absolutely LOVE going to plays with him. We've been to some good ones and some bad ones. And now I have two to look forward to, this and .. Fu's! And if you haven't bought your tickets to see his play I suggest you do it soon because we have a star amongst us bloggers!
Anyways, because Wicked is still to come, we went out to celebrate on Saturday and I had a really great time. I'm not going to go into any details because there are many, but it was quite fun! And oh yeah, my grandparents are giving me a laptop as a birthday present. Nice eh? I didn't even ask for anything, they suggested it - be aware that my parents think I'm much too old to be celebrating my birthday and are quite annoyed that my grandparents are giving me such a lavish gift -- I however, am not complaining :D
In the meantime, I've prepared the newest of my lists. Remind me when I turn 25 to review this list and make the necessary edits. I'm quite certain things will have to be added or deleted...
Things I want to accomplish before age 30:
1. Have that engagement ring on my finger (BEFORE 2007).
2. Get married sometime in the summer (possibly August?).
3. Go on a super cool honeymoon to either Italy OR Bora Bora (or both!)
4. Find a permanent teaching job at a high school in Brampton or Mississauga (ideally I'd love to stay GSS.. but my contract is only up till February - however, if possible, apply back to this school whenever there's an opening).
5. Before finding that permanent teaching job, teach for a year at an inner city school (or as "inner city" as Toronto gets - for the experience - and to reach out to struggling teens)
6. Save up $$$ and move out (it would be fabulous if my new home is located close to where I land that permanent position!)
7. Spend 2-3 years of wedded bliss with V before having children (I'm totally against having children right away, plus I just don't want to for personal reasons).
8. Travel! (this includes, Hajj, South Africa, and basically as many of the places we can afford as mentioned in the This Is Miami song).
9. Bring two children into this world (and no more, again for personal reasons)
10. Do not gain more than ten pounds (or chain myself to a treadmill).
Is my list realistic? I think so. InshAllah I'll be able to accomplish everything on it in some way by the time I reach 30. If not, well then that's life and there's nothing I can do to predict or determine the future, but I can work towards what I want, and for me that's important. Most of these are longterm goals though, and 30 is very far away. I can barely accept that I'm 23. It didn't help that on my birthday one of the teachers at school jokingly told another teacher that it was my 17th birthday and that other teacher believed her - and thought I was a student teacher :S
posted by 'liya @ 9:43 p.m.
18 comments
18 Comments:
At 11:03 p.m.,
Anonymous said…
wait so ur rents are o.k with v??? is this what you are telling me.. what kind of laptob lets see pics from ur bday
At 10:02 a.m.,
Anonymous said…
HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!
Woohoo!!
I'm turning 22 in less than two months.
But I want to stay 21 forever!
I hope you had a fantastic day, although a day spent with the bf is always a fantastic day ;) (that's assuming that V is the bf! :P)
At 10:41 a.m.,
FU said…
THANK YOU FOR PLUGGING MY PLAY :)
I'm so excited and nervous!!!
At 2:06 p.m.,
Anonymous said…
Your list is funny considering how not-so-subtle your suggestions of marriage are. Poor V. He's going to need to use an onion ring as an engagement ring if the deadline is 2007! Better yet, make your own ring using pipe-cleaner!
At 4:02 p.m.,
Anonymous said…
before 2007? I thought u just went looking for the first time? August 2007? Good that way i won't be the only one going for an early start! :) Good Luck
At 5:31 p.m.,
'liya said…
Anonymous: I haven't decided on the type of laptop yet because I need to do some research. Any suggestions?
Clairissa: Thanks :) We've been talking about getting engaged for the past 3-4 years so this isn't anything new lol. But now that I'm done school and have a job I think it's a good time!
Fatima: Thanks :) 22 was a fabulous year - you'll love it don't worry! - but of course I wouldn't mind going back to 21 too :D
Fu: You'll be great! Can't wait!
Nauman: "Poor V" has had more than enough time! he suggested an onion ring a loooong time ago but naturally I refused :D
Aman: It's not early, I'm done school and he'll be done and I have a job (and he better have one), so isn't that the next step? I don't want to have a baby like YOU - now that's early!!
At 5:43 p.m.,
Squeeky said…
Assalaamu Alaikum :)
Aww, that list sounds very realistic :) And I fully believe that most of what you have mentioned will be accomplished, especially the engagement ring ;)
I think it's great that you have a list like this, helps you to focus on what you really want to achieve. Maybe I should start one myself ... although I already know the main points I want done in the near future :)
May Allah Swt help you reach these goals with ease.
At 12:48 a.m.,
Asmaa said…
I find your list somewhat scary :( The way you've planned everything out just so...it's actually quite frightening. Give yourself some room, girl!
At 4:45 a.m.,
sara said…
I like the idea of a pipe cleaner ring. Make a green one so it can look like a squiggly fuzzy catepiller! THREE WEEKS LEFT! I got ur email about the cookies, check my reply and ask your mom if those are the right ones. I don't want to buy the wrong thing!
At 10:37 a.m.,
Bilal said…
nice one.
good lucks...
At 12:47 p.m.,
mezba said…
Mashallah such a methodical person! You really are a teacher.lol
As for laptops I recommend Dell. They are brand name, have good support (even if you have to wait 20 min for someone in India named Harry).
At 4:34 p.m.,
nat said…
Hey 'liya! I really hope you got my message on your voice mail at School! Your list sounds reasonable, my goal to marry will be 2008, I'm giving my bf another year to establish himself and be where he wants to be financially. Best of luck.. and I'm still waiting on your phone call!!!
At 9:23 p.m.,
'liya said…
Squeeky: Yes, it does help me focus! Hmm if you have a list in your mind I'd love to read it - maybe I left out some important things that I could see in yours :) I'd also be curious to see if ours are similar or different or both!
Clairissa: I always thought it would be really romantic to be surprised, even if you know it's coming. For example, I know I'm going to get a ring but I don't know how or when. I'd love for him to present it to me in some really sweet and creative way - that would be surprising! - but at this point I'm also so fed up with waiting I'd rather just take it, put it on my finger, and throw the box at his head :D
Asmaa: There's plenty of room - 7 years of room! I don't know what's going to happen, I might not even get any of my goals accomplished (though that would be very sad indeed!) but having my list helps me understand and know what I want.
Just think of it as a guideline.. like a course syllabus! - it's there, but it's never followed exactly - there's always adjustments!
Sara: I'm very concerned about the cookies! I asked my mom and she said I don't need any cookies because I'm gaining too much weight so I'm going to have to ask my grandma for the names :S As for the pipe cleaner ring, how about um NO :D
Bilal: Thanks :)
Mezba: My dad has a Dell laptop and I do like it, so maybe I'll go with the same thing (because I also don't know anything else). Is that what you have? Does anyone else have any opinions on this?
Nuffy: !!!!!! I have your number taped to my desk at work and I just keep forgeting argh!! THANK YOU SO MUCH for the voice mail message! I didn't know you had left one because after September I stopped checking my voicemail - I figured if no parent has called they never will - but I'm so glad I checked now when I saw your comment because there were a couple of messages! SO thank you for the reminder and for the very very sweet message and surprise!! I'm going to be checking everyday now (like we're supposed to - I don't want to get in trouble for missing anything!).
At 9:19 a.m.,
mezba said…
Liya: yes I got a Dell. So far alhamdulillah I am happy with it. But I got top of the line, cost me around 2G.
At 1:12 p.m.,
nat said…
Clairissa thats such a wonderful proposal you got! I think it's every woman's fear that they're boyfriends will propose in such a mundane and ordinary way, and I know thats one of my biggest fears! I want to be able to say how creative my boyfriend was when he proposed... but hes just so practical and though he is creative at times *sigh*... for pete's sake I'm dating a guy who doesnt even SMILE in photos! I guess you can't always have your cake and eat it too.. but I have to give him credit, he has written me a poem and thats a good start :D
At 1:26 a.m.,
'liya said…
Clairissa: OMG that is SO cute! That has got to be of the most unique ways of proposing that I've heard of (and I've read through many unique ways ... I've even emailed him suggestions to try to help point him in the right direction lol). You're so lucky, aww, I just keep thinking how sweet it is for him to think of something like that and do that! Now I'm going to tell V about this to give him another push :D
Mezba: I'm still doing my research. Actually, to be honest, I haven't done any yet :S I'm going to check into it this weekend. If I'm going to get one, I want it to be something good .. hmmmm
Nuffy: A poem is a good start! I don't think V has written me one before though I know I've written some for him. I hope V does something creative too :S
At 4:30 p.m.,
Anonymous said…
two things :
1. as much as we love to plan our lives . . . Allah plans them for us . . . goals are different . . . so dont hold onto these :)
2. NEVER SAY : i am having having two kids . . . once again Allah is the best of planners . . . my best friend cant have any kids after 13 years of trying . . . and one of my other friends who "planned" to have two is now sitting at number 5! . . . this is something which we should never ever plan . . . alot of babies come out of their mothers holding the "loop" in their hands . . . lol! (meaning unplanned mistake pregnancies) . . . soooooooo.......i guess you got the point . .
take care
fida
At 5:10 p.m.,
'liya said…
Fida, yay you're back! I understand what you're saying and I agree, I don't know what's going to happen.. tomorrow! -- but I like to have some kind of plan to look forward to, I can't live day to day without thinking about what I want from life. And doesn't everyone think about the amount of kids they'd like to have?! If I have 3 well that would be wonderful too, and if I have none and choose to adopt, I'd be equally happy.. 10 fingers and 10 toes.. you know?!
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