11 years later
In honor of our 11th wedding anniversary I’ve decided to give Ali a break.
This means that as much as I want to, I won’t talk about the fact that he left one tablespoon of oatmeal in the otherwise empty canister yesterday. I also won’t mention how he instructed me on how to load the dishwasher properly.
That’s right, he tried to tell me how to load the dishwasher. Properly.
Some things are better left unsaid.
Instead I’ll try not to make things all about me for change.
Me: “What do I do that irritates you?”
Ali: “You don’t close the dishwasher so that it clicks shut.”
Me: “Why are you so obsessed with the dishwasher? What else about me bothers you?”
Ali: “Nothing.”
Me: “No really, I want to know what else I do that irritates you.”
Ali: “You leave 1 second on the microwave and you don’t clear it.”
Me: “After 11 years those are the only things I do that annoy you?”
Ali: “Yes.”
I don’t get it. I can list 50 things that I do that annoy the living S@#$ out of myself. How can my husband not have a similar list?
Actually I already know the answer to that: Ali doesn’t have the same list because he’s just a much better person than me. And that’s the truth.
So now that I said he’s a better person than me – for everyone on the Internet to see – I don’t need to get him an actual gift. Right?
***Any avid readers out there? I just reviewed How to Bake a Perfect Life on my sister site thefancybookshelf.wordpress.com.***
While I'm not going to win Mother/Wife of the Year Award anytime soon, I haven't killed anyone yet or shot myself in the head. And that, my friends, is how I calculate success these days. 
FANCY THAT FANCY THIS 
Loved the pictures, you guys look stunning. Happy anniversary.
Awwhhh, now that’s a nice mushy post & gorgeous pics of your big day guys…., 🙂 Happy 11th, may there be many, many more 🙂
And seriously Ameena….., how could you leave 1 second on the micrawave without clearing??!! (Hoots of laughter this end). UN-forgivable…, 😉
It’s really lame but I am too impatient to wait that last second!
Happy Anniversary!!!!
Thank you Annie!
Congratulations, Ameena! Those photos from your wedding are beautiful.
It’s good to find someone who sees fewer flaws in us than we see in ourselves. 😉
Thank you Lisa!
Love the pics. Congrats!
Thank you Di!
Y’know what? I think he doesn’t see any of those things in you because he sees the REAL you.
We are our OWN worst critics. Constantly judging ourselves and wanting to be a better person, to grow, to change, etc…but really – what’s wrong with just the way we way? Once we accept that – then we can just live fine and dandy…
And, yes, I know your tongue in cheek – just reading a book that talked about it 😉 Me and my books…
Congrats on 11 YEARS! INSANE!
You are totally right. Once I accept myself for who I am I will be a much happier person! Until then I’m lucky that Ali will tolerate me. 🙂
Awww, look how young you two were!!! Happy Anniversary!!
Thank you Anna!
Happy Anniversary! The photos are wonderful.
Thank you Rasha!
Oh dear… I’d have issues with the microwave thing, too…
Happy Anniversary, Ameena! I hope you two (and Maya) have a wonderful day!
these wedding pictures are gorgeous! I can’t believe you’ve been married for 11 years! and for the love of god, shut the dishwasher and clear the microwave, will ya? 😉
I’m going to make a concerted effort Daisy. I promise!
You are SO gorgeous… You look like such a babyface on your wedding day. COngrats on 11 years… If those are the only things that irk him about you…you’ve got PLENTY more to come 🙂
You are SO sweet. Thank you.
Awww, this is so sweet Ameena…11 years is pretty incredible! A huge congrats to you both!
Happy Anniversary Ameena. You were a beautiful bride and you still look beautiful even with those BIG glasses now! You have just given Ali the best Anniversary gift, he could not ask for anything better.
Love this post! It’s endearing in the way that only you can be. 🙂 Happy Anniversary to both of you!
What beautiful wedding photos!! Happy Anniversary!!! 🙂
Happy Anniversary! I wish you a wonderful day!
p.s. The Spaniard and Ali have got to be twins! “Click Shut.” Really?
Really. I think Ali has a lot of twins in this world!
Happy Anniversary! Wishing you both more happy and healthy years together. You were a beautiful bride (still are with great hair – I want your hair 🙂 ).
Lydia – I want to accept this compliment gracefully but I cannot – you don’t want my hair. Really! But thank you anyway. 🙂
Wow, that’s pretty cool. I’m pretty sure that Derek would have a list although being a smart man, he’d keep half of it to himself. Those photos are stunning.
Thank you Deb!
Nope. No gift required. Happy Anniversary!!!
Happy Anniversary! My husband is a better person than me too – but we don’t have to tell them that right?!
Or you can tell him and not search fruitlessly for an appropriate gift?
Ameena! Happy Anniversary! You don’t look a minute older than you did 11 years ago in those gorgeous photos. At 11 years, you’ve outlasted everyone in Hollywood!
Sweet Jaya…you do amazing things for my ego. Thank you.
Happy Anniversary! Thanks for sharing the photos they are beautiful! My bf explains to me how to clean sometimes… and I get so mad cuz i clean almost every day and he takes one day every other month (which i totally appreciate 🙂 to clean and he decides to give ME a lesson?? Glad I’m not the only one… It’s funny how living together u get caught up in the little things that really don’t matter! But if he thinks that’s your only flaw then you’ve got yourself a truly wonderful man! I def think you have given him the best anniversary gift! 🙂
He takes one day every other month? He sounds like a keeper to me!
Happy Anniversary!
I love your stories about Ali – you relationship sounds a lot like I imagine mine will be. 🙂
I totally think that we do (or should) marry someone who makes us a better person in one way or another. I would imagine that you and Ali probably bring out each others’ “better self”.
Hope that you can celebrate the 11 eleven years! And many congratulations to you!
Thank you Kristina! I don’t know if I bring out his better self but I’m going to ask him for sure. 🙂
Congratulations on 11 years!!! You look gorgeous in the wedding photos and it is very sweet that your husband sees only the best in you. Although, I think I am with him on the microwave thing. My hubby does that and it drives me batty. If you just press clear when you are done and shove that dishwasher door closed all the way then you can tell Ali that you are now completely perfect.
You have a very good point. I am going to make a serious effort now so I will be perfect!
Aww, I LOVE this post!! Happy anniversary!
I read How to Bake a Perfect Life and I really enjoyed it! 🙂
Such a cute book, right?
Love your lovely wedding pictures and Happy Anniversary!
Happy Anniversary Ameena!!! I love your wedding pictures. 🙂 I love your hair!
beautiful pictures ameena! happy 11th to you both!
Happy Anniversary to you and Ali, my dear! 11 years together and only two things about you bother him, but I’m sure he could list a million things that he loves about you. The good definitely outweigh the bad here. You’re just all sweetness to him. Haha. Am I getting too sappy? Whatever, you’re on my FB, you’ve seen my sap. Lol. Needless to say, looking gorgeous in your wedding photos! I love that second one!
Thank you LeQuan…that wasn’t sappy at all.
Bahahahahahaaha! My hubby only tells me one silly ting too, but I can go on and on and on… Why is this?
Happy Anniversary =)
Awww…loe your wedding shots. I totally feel the same. I’m sure there are way more things he does that annoy me then vice versa and I’m convinced it is because he is a much better person then me. I’m cranky and anal and he’s just easy going and amazing even though he gets on my dang nerves sometimes with his little messy habits. We got keepers!!!
Happy Anniversary! Congrats on 11 years!!
What a cute post. My husband’s list is shorter than mine, too. I think he doesn’t let things bother him as much as I let them annoy me. I still say I’m not uptight … per se.
Also, you’re gorgeous in your wedding photo, but I think you’ve only gotten prettier over the years.
Thank you Tracey! You just made my day.
god i LOVE your wedding pix. i can’t believe it’s been another year since i saw them first!
Such beautiful wedding photos! HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!
Oh and I totally leave one second on the microwave- haha those seem like the kind of things that might annoy you actually 😉
You would think it would annoy me, right? But since I do it it doesn’t. Forgive my double standards!!
I can’t believe that those pictures are 11 years old… you two haven’t aged a bit.
Happy Anniversary!!
PS. I’m going to go home tonight and ask Matt what about me annoys him.
Thank you Samantha. Let us know what he says!
Happy anniversary, Ameena! You look the exact same now as you do in your wedding pics! Beautiful 🙂
How beautiful! Here’s to a great anniversary day and eleven more years of Ali finding nothing to complain about!
I’ve always thought that you two make such a wonderful couple 🙂 Happy Anniversary, Ameena. I hope that you and Ali share many, many more wonderful years together.
Happy Anniversary! You look beautiful in your wedding pics! Next time leave the microwave timer at 2 seconds instead of 1, let’s see how Ali flips then. 😉
Beautiful photos, and happy anniversary!
My husband hates that I leave yogurt container lids on the counter after I eat yogurt and nags me about it. Except, I actually stopped doing that about 3 years ago when he mentioned that it drives him crazy. I, on the other hand, have a VERY long list of stuff he does that drives me INSANE. The funnier thing is that our son has started doing a few things that my husband does and it’s driving my husband crazy! Karma, yes?
Luckily Maya hasn’t picked up too many of Ali’s irritating habits…aside from her compulsion to hoard and her messiness…
I love it! So sweet. Men are so easy. As long as he is fed and paid attention to my husband is happy. Marriage can be so wonderful if you continue to love and respect one another. By love I mean making sure the kitchen is stocked and by respect I mean supporting his surfing addiction. And P.S I can read between the lines and see how much you adore your husband. I love your family.
Funny how a stocked kitchen can avoid most arguments, isn’t it?
Happy anniversary you two! Beautiful wedding photos. You are so pretty, Ameena!
Thank you – I didn’t get roasted today so I am a happy guy.
Time flies – looking forward to the next set of 11s!
Gorgeous pictures! You both make such a beautiful couple.
Congratulations on the anniversary – 11 years is such a wonderful achievement!
I love leaving a few seconds on the microwave just because I know it annoys Lyndon – and I think that is funny. Does that make me horrible?
Absolutely not. You do what you need to do to get through the day Janelle. 🙂
Happy Anniversary! You guys make a gorgeous couple!
Congrats on a 11 years and only 2 things on his list – I’m sure my husband’s list is much longer 😉 Laughing about the 1 tbsp of oatmeal b/c my husband will finish a bottle of wine, cork it, leave it out and then ask me the next day why I finished the wine and didn’t throw out the bottle! Delusional.
Happy Anniversary Ameena and Ali. Beautiful wedding pics.
What is it with guys leaving one bite? CD will leave one raisin in the bag. ONE! Why?!? If I ask him about it, he says it’s because he wanted to save me some. Therefore, I had to make a rule about it. 🙂
Either leave me a whole serving or eat every last bite.
This is a briliant rule but then we run into the problem: What constitutes a whole serving? This would be a mystery for Ali.
Me: “No really, I want to know what else I do that irritates you.”
Ali: “You leave 1 second on the microwave and you don’t clear it.”
^^ THAT IS MY PARENTS. right there. except my dad does it and it drives my mom crazyyyy!!
I think the same thing about me and Mr P. I know I am so annoying. One of his many nicknames for me is irri-tater because i’m always getting irritated at the drop of a hat, but he loves me anyways. Do you think maybe indian men secretly like high maintenance wives?
Wishing you a very long and happy life together daaaahling. You make such a beautiful couple.
*kisses* HH
Those are beautiful wedding photos. I think it’s best, generally speaking, NOT to give in to the temptation to list all the things that annoy you about your partner.
Gorgeous photos! You look stunning!
Beautiful post and love all your wedding pictures! I have a thing with the microwave, I have to stop it before it beeps.
Have you read Emily Giffin’s books, in particular, Hearts of the matter?
That was supposed to spell heart of the matter.
I haven’t read any of Emily Giffin’s books yet…do you recommend them?
If thats it for irritation baby you’re a saint! ❤ haha congrats on 11 wonderful years and 11 more! and then even more after that (duh!)
love you!
Holy CRAP are you a gorgeous couple!!!
I can only imagine how beautiful Maya is going to look on her wedding day 🙂
ps. how old were you when you got married?
Thank you for the compliment! We were only 23 when we got married…just kids who had no idea what they were doing…
I love that he only has two small complaints! Isn’t that the way?? You both are just beautiful together! Seriously!
I am constantly telling poor Shaune that it irritates me when he does this or that. I need to stop. I really need to count my blessings.
Happy anniversary! 🙂
The conversation in this post tells that you are such a wonderful wife that your husband can’t think of any “real things” that annoy him about you.
Ali is a super nice husband. come on, it’s been eleven years and he has only two complaints!!!
Happy Anniversary to both of you.
Lovely pictures of you both. especially the second one.
Love the pics, you guys are so gorgeous!
And wait, is TODAY your anniversary? It’s mine too. Not quite 11 years, only 4, but I’m honored to share it with you guys.
Thank you Alisa and Happy Anniversary to you as well!
Aww Happy Anniversary to both of you. May you have a happy and healthy life ahead of you. Lovely pictures of the couple. 😀 wow just two things 😛 Lucky you 😀 haha
O, I adore the shots you took of your wedding pics. You guys are a beautiful couple – you look gorgeous together – and you both look so happy 🙂
Happy anniversary!
who would know that behind the pretty dress and innocent smile is a snarky, sarcastic (and one of my favorite) bloggers? Ha. Happy Anniversary. I am not sure if things annoy me more or less over time. Hard to say.
Happy Anniversary!
Happy Anniversary to both of you!!!!
I LOVE your wedding pictures Ameena, you look SO HAPPY and RADIANT!
I never clear the micorwave either.
🙂
I love these pictures! I hope you post more! And man, you’re lucky there’s only one thing on the list. I would never ask the hubster for a list because I’m sure he has a real list 🙂
Beautiful photos… Happy Anniversary !!!
What a very sweet post. You two are such a great match and you are both good people. My dad told me it doesn’t matter how good or perfect two people are, just that they are good together.
Happy anniversary!
Happy Anniversary to you!!! You were right there are a lot of them in June 🙂 Your pictures are so beautiful!!!! Hey and don’t feel bad about the dishwasher thing – my hubby tells me all the time I overload ours….and they ‘will not’ wash properly.
11 years, you are the gift my friend. Your passion, your energy, your support, and your stubborn will for taste. Your fancies…he, I am sure, knows that he is blessed beyond the physical. NO gift can express that.
hi, Ameena,what a lovely post.Happy Anniversary.yuor photos are beautiful!
my microwave is a cheapy dial one,it stops when you open the door,so i leave the door open.hubby comes along,shuts,and the thing starts up……….oops
Aww, you look so beautiful! Happy anniversary!
Masha’Allah..I wish you guys remain happy always or forever (whichever is more)…Happy anniversay:)
oh and yea no need for a gift now:P
I never clear the microwave either. That way, it is always ready for your next round of food;) Sounds like he is smitten! Happy anniversary:)
I love your wedding dress Amina! Happy anniversary!
My dad does the same thing with food containers….he will put an empty one back in the cupboard or an empty milk carton back in the fridge!
Ameena, you are such a beautiful bride! Happy anniversary to you both, such a happy time 🙂
well shit I’m crying. Gorgeous pictures. Congrats 🙂
Well there you have it. We’re not twins. I can’t STAND it when anyone leaves 1 second on the Micro…:-) x
We have dishwasher issues too.
Your wedding pictures are gorgeous. Happy Anniversary!
Congrats Ameena! You are a gorgeous bride! Happy Anniversary to you guys 🙂 We are married for 5 years so 10 sounds soooo much more!
happy anniversary! beautiful pictures.
Happy Belated Anniversery. Such an adorable couple. Ameena I love your dress so beautiful. Did you keep it for your daughter one day? Loved the wedding pictures.
Thank you Erika! I had my dress dry cleaned and packed away for Maya or anyone else who wants to wear it. I would be such a waste if nobody ever wears it again!
haha. I leave 1 second on the microwave too. I’d rather not hear the ‘ding’ of it if I’m standing there anyways.
Happy anniversary!!! You two are a beautiful (and super funny) couple…LOVE IT!
Happy anniversary. Maya looks EXACTLY like how Ali looks in that second wedding picture. It is seriously insane.
Happy Anniversary Ammena, oh such a lovely pic and you look stunningly beautiful 🙂
Oh my goodness. Ali sounds like he’s the bestest husband ever! You are so lucky to have such a man: handsome, powerful, loving and romantic. You must be living a dream.
(There. That should have made sure you do NOT need to get him anything. High five girlfriend! And next time he teaches you how to do housework, just pretend to be really dumb and ask him to do it instead since poor you caccnot do anything right. And thank goodness you have him to take care of things. Either he buys it, or he sees the sarcasm. Win win, no?)
Congratulations! These photos are so beautiful. I hope mine are half as pretty as these when I tie the knot next month. What great keepsakes.
Me: “After 11 years those are the only things I do that annoy you?”
Ali: “Yes.”
This says everything. I’m so happy you’ve found each other! Congrulations on 11 years together, and be there many and happy more! 😀
AWWWWWW, congrats a ton on your big 11 years!! wow, feels like yesterday we were shopping for all those woven trays, remember?? and ridiculous pics….yo def need to blow up and frame the one w the purple burst in the back, just love em all! really, loved this and the latest post….too sweet and too funny…perfect mix if you ask me. and how nice you could reply to all your fans….im expecting something back;)
xoxoxoxox
How’s this for a reply: You are the most awesome friend for reading my nonsense and for commenting on it, despite the fact you have 3 kids, a job, and 50 other things going on. You’re the best. XOXO
Ameena, what a gorgeous bride you were! Lucky Ali. And the Beverly Wilshire & environs provided a storybook setting. You must have stopped traffic as you two posed.
Even though you’ve got a June anniversary, I have to say that this post was the ideal Valentine to Ali.
Happy Anniversary to a beautiful couple! Y’all haven’t aged a bit. What’s the secret? 😀
How funny you say I haven’t aged because I felt OLD after seeing those pictures again!
First, happy anniversary! Second, this is a terrific post–and your wedding pics are gorgeous. You’ve reminded me that the little things, in the scheme of things, really should be little. (Even though they seem so annoying sometimes!)
Aw, that’s sweet! And, I LOVE those wedding photos!
A very belated Happy Anniversary to you both…sorry I am so late (I am sure I am that person, the one that chimes in after the fact) but I really wish you all the best in the years to come 🙂
P.S. Of course Ali’s list is so small, seriously lady 😉 But he does have a bit of a thing with the dishwasher going on 🙂
Thank you!
P.S. Such lovely wedding photos…you are both amazing and so is your gorgeous daughter!