this boy

I love this boy! I never would have thought that having a boy could have been so much fun. He has the most sparkliing eyes and cute little dimples. Recently he has discovered how much fun it is to chase his sisters around the house and they love it. It is so cute seeing them be so playful together and hearing his little squeel when the girls catch him. He is also just a good little boy, except when he turns off the tv while the girls are watching it. He is also a little daddy's boy and he wanders around the house saying "da" or "daddy" all day. Anyway, he is the apple of my eye right now.

Love is in the air

For valentine's day my wonderful husband took me on the most wonderful date, the one I planned!! We went to the Biltmore House which is an amazing Old world Mansion built in 1895 for George Vanderbilt. It is a 2.4 million, 250 room humble home with all the original furnishings from tapestries to bed linens. the mansion come complete with its own indoor bowling alley and pool. It is an amazing place to visit. There is also a beautiful conservatory and gardens, winery, and stables. If you wanna check it out further go to the biltmore link on my page.
Anyway, I love this time period and going to this house makes me feel like elizabeth Bennet when she first enters Mr. Darcy's home in Pride and Prejudice. It is the most wonderful place!! So, if any of you are looking for a wonderful place to visit check it out, also it's only an hour away from me!!!!

Isn't life exciting!

Since we moved here Aqeel has been looking for another job with absolutely NO success. There seems to be a lot of jobs around here for engineers, but not so many for international business & spanish majors. Aqeel and I felt that the Lord was preventing us from finding another job because we were suppossed to stay at Toys "R" Us. A job that Aqeel hates. Back in September Aqeel was offered to work for a company called Primerica, which is a financial planning company, part or full time. He went to a few classes but was then sidetracked with the busy christmas season. He recently took his state insurance exam and passed.

On Friday aqeel called me from work and told me he had some news. I need to prface this by saying that Aqeel recently asked for a raise which they were working on filling out the evaluation paper for last week. I assumed he received a raise so I was like, yeah bring on the news! He told me that his boss was in and they were offereing him a two week vacation to find another job because it was obvious that he didn't want to work there. I was blown off my feet. If any of you know anything about Aqeel it should be obvious what a hard worker he is, so I was shocked that this would happen, as was Aqeel. We took the vacation and Aqeel is currently looking for another job as well as working full time as a financial planner.

We have now realized that we should never assume that we know what the Lord wants for us. Isn't life interesting.

I wanna, too!

How long have you been together?
In my heart I feel I have always been connected to Aqeel, but physically 71/2 years.

How long did you date?
About 6 months before engagement and another 6 after that.

How old is he?
Aqeel is 31 and I will be 30 in April!

Who eats more?
I think this question should be obvious, Me!!! I love food far too much. It truly just brings me so much joy.

Who said "I love you" first?
Me, no question although I think we both felt it at the same time. Aqeel was in denial for a while that he could love someone he had never before seen.

Who is taller?
Aqeel by 1 1/2 inches.

Who sings better?
Well Aqeel is mostly tone def so I do not have much competition, but I would say me anyway.

Who is smarter?
It's really not fair that I am the only one responding to these questions because I am always gonna say me. Honestly, I really don't know. I would say we are pretty equal in intelligence just on different topics.

Who does the laundry?
I hate it when Aqeel tries to help out in this department because he always shrinks something or put the wrong colors together so that they end up looking dingy. The answer to the question however, is both of us, but mostly me.

Who does the dishes?
Since I am going back to school Aqeel has agreed to take on the bathrooms and kitchen duty, so for now Aqeel does it.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?
I say whatever side of the bed I am sleeping on is always right! (but it's really Aqeel)

Who pays the bills?
Aqeel, I just make sure they get paid.

Who mows the lawn?
Aqeel, I was raised that lawn care is a man's job.

Who cooks dinner?
I do. I love to cook.

Who is more stubborn?
Aqeel, although he doesn't have me beat by much.

Who kissed who first?
After dating for six months via the phone we were both so excited to be able to kiss that we both just attacked one another.

Who asked who out first?
I introduced myself to Aqeel first and I guess I was the first one to declare my interest as more than just friends, but we met online so our situation is a little different.

Who proposed?
After a date to the movies I had him hold my jacket while I went to the bathroom and he slipped the ring in my pocket. I found it when I put my coat back on. That was it. He never even asked if I would marry him. He just gave me the ring and assumed since we had already talked about getting married that that was enough. However later that night as we were kissing I asked him if he was actually going to ask me to marry him and so in between kisses he did so. What was a girl to do but say yes. It's a good thing he's such a good kisser! I will never let him live this down.

Who is more sensitive?
Aqeel is the Alpha-male so he doesn't "feel" anything. Definitely me although I am pretty tough skinned.

Who has more friends?
Probably me, although few of them live near me.

Who has more siblings?
Me, by far. I come from a family of 7 kids (4 boys, 3 girls). Aqeel has 2 older half siblings (10 and 8 years older) and on younger brother.

Who wears the pants in the relationship?
Honestly, we both try hard to share this responsibility. However, I think that Aqeel gives in a lot more to me than I do to him. I tell myself this is because he recognises my brilliance in all things!

let it snow!!!

When we were moving out to South Carolina one of the questions the girls asked was if we were going to have snow at our new home. I told them that it just doesn't snow in the south. To our shock it snowed here one night and the kids got a snow day!!! It snowed about 4-5 inches and was all gone by the next day. We used our snow day to build a snowman and it has lasted almost two weeks. Currently our snowman is a 1 foot square of snow and by the weekend I am sure it will be gone. It was fun while it lasted. Just as a side note, the girls now think that I have no idea what I am talking about because I was wrong about the snow. It has been quite humiliating for me.

Liar!

Amaya is our family comic and is constantly coming up with new things to keep us laughing. Last night during our regular FHE we were talking about ways to communicate love to one another. Aysia and I were role playing and afterwards I asked Amaya what we were doing. Her response was, and I quote, "lying". Aqeel and I were busting a gut laughing at her comment. Children make the best comments.

A little about us

We are the Rasheed family. First we have Pappa Rasheed, Aqeel (age 31). A first rate guy who never gets into any trouble. Then comes Mamma Rasheed, Alisa (age 30, this April). The strength one the family who also can regularly be caught giving in to one of the kids just to get them out of her hair. Next the oldest of our beloved children, Aysia (age 7). The DIVA of the family who is always keeping us up to date on the latest. Our middle child, Amaya (age 4). Here is our comedian who is always keeping us in stitches. Finally the baby, Aqeel Jr., loving known as Jr (age 1 1/2). This is the sweetest awnry boy you will ever find.

We live in Greenville, South Carolina home of the palmetto tree and confederate flag, which you can find flying at the state capitol (quite a controversy here). We have finally purchased our fist home, which we love. It's just too bad we had to come all the way to SC to be able to afford it. We loved San Diego and miss it terribly.

Our interests are basically finding time to relax. Aqeel works many long hard hours at work and I am currently going back to school full time through an online program with my former college EOU. Education is great, teaching yourself stats, not so fun, but it is all working out.