Update

Assalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatu everyone, and Ramadhan Mubarak!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while; honestly I've just been busy. The lovely Caraboska mentioned that she was concerned that I haven't posted recently especially given my situation, so I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm fine Alhamdulillah (and thanks so much for the sweet sentiment Caraboska! <3 ).

So the first week of Ramadhan is over, and I am very happy to announce that I have successfully completed all the fasts. ALLAHu Akbar! This is a really big deal for me, since my mom said that I was absolutely forbidden to fast and presumably would be watching me to make sure that I eat. Alhamdulillah, I've been keeping very busy for the past eight days with work and volunteering, so I've been able to skip lunch and dinner times at home. I'm kind of worried about tomorrow since my mom said that she wants us all to eat dinner together, but Insha'Allah I'll think of a way to get out of it. This weekend my parents and sister are going out of town on vacation Insha'Allah, so I will have the house to myself again. My period is due really soon too Insha'Allah, which is one week where I don't have to worry about hiding, so I only really have one week left of keeping on the down low before I go back to school.

As far as my Ramadhan goals, I've been moderately successful with them Alhamdulillah. I've managed to keep all the fasts, and I've been volunteering a lot with the intention of it counting as sadaqah. I have been avoiding music, instead listening to nasheeds and the Qur'an. I'm a bit behind on my Qur'an reading, but Insha'Allah I'll catch up with it tonight. I've been very careful with my "fast of the tongue", i.e. trying to avoid gossiping or talking bad about others, and I've been mindful of not losing my temper. One thing that I really want to work on is praying sunnah prayers. I haven't been praying them at my parents' house, partly because I don't have much time to myself to pray before someone walks in on me, so I need to keep to the basic fard prayers. Insha'Allah, once I get back to school I'll start implementing those into my schedule, especially the sunnah prayers for fajr and maghrib (the ones that the Prophet (saw) never missed).

Insha'Allah, I hope everyone is having a fabulous, blessed, meaningful Ramadhan. And thank you all so very much for keeping me in your prayers; I truly appreciate it, and I pray that ALLAH will reward you for it with something even better.

Ramadhan Mubarak!

Love,
Anne