Mama Monday...{Azra}!!!

Tell us about yourself:
My name is Azra. I am from Bosnia. I am married to the most amazing man in this universe (as every woman thinks about their husband) Mirnes. We have the most beautiful son in the entire world, Edin, who is 18 months old. We live in Jacksonville, and love long walks on the beach and beautiful sunsets …. Oh wait I am getting off track ;)

I have lived in the US for 15 years. I moved here with my parents and amazing twin sister when I was 15 years old. My family and I lived in Germany for five years because we had to move due to the war that was going on in Bosnia. I speak fluent Bosnian and English, and used to be fluent in German, but have not used the German language for 15 years so now I can still understand it but not really speak it.

I am currently a full-time graduate student in Jacksonville. I am studying to become a Physician Assistant...and I will graduate next year!!!

 

Husband love:

 

 

My husband is Bosnian too, which was not a plan of mine but it just worked out perfectly and makes life easier when raising our son. We had known each other for 10 years before we started dating. We went to the same high school and had the same friends. He had his vision of a perfect woman and I had my vision of a perfect man. We found each other to be so far from our ideal mate. The only thing we could agree upon was that the “perfect” thought of a girlfriend / boyfriend was NOT each other . He drove me crazy with the way he walked / talked / looked and soon to find out he felt the same way about me. Until one day after a long 10 years we ended up on the same vacation in Tampa and here we are now… happily ever after :)



I truly cherish my time with my husband. I think of him as a rewarding gift to me after a whole life of challenges. He is everything I could have ever dreamed of and more in a man. He is a big tall guy from the outside, but inside he is my really small cuddly baby who is very sensitive and he is such a giver… I occasionally pinch myself to wake myself up from this amazing dream . He would give anything to anybody, and always thinks of others before himself. He makes sure I know that he loves me every day and how thankful he is to be in our little fairytale with our son Edin. His loving words, notes, kisses and hugs, are the things that make every day better than yesterday.

 



 



Now don’t get me wrong, we do have our down moments too and I think that is a normal part of a relationship- differences and challenges that occur,  and we find that through the ups and downs we are brought closer and more in love with each other every day. 

Mama love:
This little munchkin has changed our lives :)



After being married for only 2 months we found out we were pregnant. This little one did not wait a second to add more love to our small family. He is the first grandchild on both sides of our family and as you may predict he is very very loved and spoiled by everyone ;)

Edin is 18 months and is amazingly smart. He stays with my mother throughout the day. We speak to him only in Bosnian, and he gets his English through any video that involves his favorite… Mickey. Our plan is to expose him to the Bosnian language with the hope that it will be his first language and the English language we are not really worried about because we are 100% sure he will be fluent in it very soon.

 

Challenges you have faced on this mama journey:

There are many challenges I have faced throughout my life. Moving away from my birth country at age 10 to Germany due to the war in Bosnia, learning a new language and making new friends at a new school. All this occurred while my mother was very ill with a chronic back problem and had three different surgeries while my dad had to work day and night to provide for us. My twin sister and I had to make sure all of our mom’s normal duties were taken care of throughout the day, while still maintaining a good standing at the new school. Finally when I began to adjust to life in Germany, we were forced to move back to Bosnia or go somewhere else, we could not stay in Germany because the war was over in Bosnia. However, our home was destroyed back in Bosnia and many of our family members were not there anymore. That’s when we had the great opportunity to move to Florida. At age 15 learning English, making new friends and adjusting to a new lifestyle was so incredibly hard but I managed to keep my head up and make it through.

(Auntie love-my twin sister Amra!)

 

As I adjusted to life in America and completed my undergraduate I had the dream of pursuing grad school in order to make a better life for my son, husband, and most importantly give back to the most amazing parents who have sacrificed their friends, family, homes, jobs…lives…EVERYTHING just to provide my sister and I with a better life and the opportunity to be educated.

So… while I was pregnant and working full-time with Katy as a dental assistant she encouraged me and convinced me that I was more than capable of becoming a Physician Assistant and chasing after my dream. Shortly after giving birth to my son I found out that I had been accepted to the Physician Assistant program. The first year started when my son was six months old, and it was the roughest year of my life. I have been through war with horrible memories still in my mind after losing many friends and family members, learning a new language twice in my life, making new friends over and over. However, nothing was more devastating than being in school all day long with studying that consumed my days and nights, trying to function on about three hours of sleep each night and going through 2-3 days without holding my son in my arms not even for 5 minutes. I would come home after he was asleep and leave the house before he woke up. I had missed all his “first” moments: the first words of “mama”, “dada”, his first steps, his first bump on his head, his first …EVERYTHING… nothing what I had dreamed or planed of as a first time mom. I have had many sad moments and shed many tears over face time and Skype at school while my son was on the other side at home smiling and crying once he saw me on the screen of the phone / computer. Through this heartbreak I have had to remind myself that I am doing this mainly for him, and that it is not forever.

 



Advice for surviving the tough days:

Everything happens for a reason and eventually good will come...hang in there and don’t give up. Love, Live, and Laugh NOW!!!  Life is too short to do anything else.
 

Money saving tip:
Material things will not make you or your child happy.
I do not remember the size house my parents had or the clothes they dressed us in. The memories I hold dear involve the quality time we spent together and all of the joy we shared together. And  I am sure none of it was expensive and could not be bought.

(my amazing parents with Baby Edin)



 Money saving for the Mama-

Baby Bullet for baby food saved lots of money for us while living off one income. Also it is much healthier and I know what actually went into my baby’s little tummy. A bag of veggies and fruits at the farmers market would cost me approx $10. I would dedicate 2-3 hours on a Sunday morning to prepare all the meals that would last the whole week, and it would give me a piece of mind knowing that my son is eating healthy and the things I wanted him to eat.

 

Health and fitness:

 

 

Lots of chocolate, Nutella spread on a BIG loaf of bread after every meal, ice-cream with lots of fudge and whipping cream on it, homemade Nutella crepes… then chase son around for workout. It’s really the best ;)

 

(Nutella training!)

Good read:

I love reading goodnight books to my son after a long day of reading at school. Such a great break from studying all of the horrifying diseases people can have.

Beauty secret:

Bare mineral make-up!

Recipe:
Bosnian Style for you…

The best advice for any recipe is one I have inherited from my mom: anytime there is a crock pot recipe, soup, or stew that I want to be creamier or thicker just add this to it once the meal is completely cooked:

In a separate pot on the stove add a tablespoon of flower, half a tablespoon of sweet red pepper powder, and one table spoon of olive oil. Stir everything on a medium heat until it starts boiling. Quickly add the mixture to your meal (while it’s still on the stove cooking) and stir constantly until the whole mixture is added. Keep stirring for another 5 minutes and you will see how the meal will start to get thicker. I do this to many of my chili and soup recipes.