Postcards from Oman and Abu Dhabi

Well, it has been a while since we have been on a trip to post about.  With the girls in the U.S. going to school we are unable to take many trips.  Madeline's spring break didn't coincide with Alison and Janie's spring break so she came to the Middle East solo.  Because Saudi Arabia is such a rough airport to fly into especially if you are a fifteen year old girl, we decided it would be best for us to fly in with her.  If something is wrong with your visa...or even if the visa is correct but someone made a data entry error in to the computer system...they will put you on a plane and send you home.  John and I haven't left Saudi since January so we decided we would make it a mini vacation.  I know it doesn't seem like a long time, but when you live in Jubail, Saudi Arabia and you are here for weeks on end with no breaks it starts to wear on your psyche.

A good friend of ours in on temporary assignment in Abu Dhabi so we decided it would be the perfect time to go and visit her and maybe add a quick stop in Oman.  Unfortunately our friend, Toni, was going to be in Nepal at the same time so we were going to miss her, but she offered her apartment to us.  John and I flew in to Oman a day early to make sure that the Omani visa process wasn't difficult before Madeline flew in to the airport.

We spent four days in Oman and about four days in Abu Dhabi.  We had so much fun with Madeline. Oman is such a beautiful country...nothing like Saudi.  It has mountains, and coastline, and Omanis that actually work. It is laid back and accommodating and friendly.   We didn't have nearly enough time to explore so we will definitely be going back.

We flew from Oman to Abu Dhabi a few days after Maddie got there.  We thought Abu Dhabi would be just like Dubai, but it is a lot different.  It's got tons of malls, tons of culture, a great coastline, and Ferrari World.  Toni's apartment was in the BEST hotel.  We loved it.  It had everything...pub, spa, Italian restaurant, pool, Sushi, etc.  We loved loved it.  We are just sorry that Toni wasn't in town for us to hang out with her!

After a week out of Saudi all three of us flew back in to the country for Madeline to spend her last week of spring break at the compound....in the thriving city of Jubail.  She spent nearly every day going up to the school and hanging out with all of her friends and teachers.  She had to much fun!  She is the only kid that I know that wants to spend a week of her spring break at school.  It was just like old times...I had to get up early and make her breakfast and lunch...take her to school...make dinner. Kids were in and out of the house all hours of the day and night.  I loved it!  I had a purpose for a week...hehe.

Maddie is back at school.  We have a countdown of 7 weeks until we get to go pick her up in NYC for summer break!  I cannot wait.  We plan on taking a road trip from NYC to D.C. to visit the Buntings (YAY!) to Atlanta to New Orleans and home to my other two loves in College Station!  It should be a blast!  So excited!!!!

Love...

It's so easy to judge, isn't it? It's in our nature really...we meet someone for the first time and we form an opinion...most of the time we are reserving final judgment for later, but most of us form an immediate opinion based on looks or conversation or whatever it is. We judge people on what they wear, their accents, their hair, their Facebook posts, etc. We are a people who judge. We try to prove to others that we don't, but even the best of us do. It's inevitable.

In that same tone, we, as Christians, are some of the most judgmental people there are. I don't know if we do it to make ourselves feel better about our own sin, but we all do it. We compare other's sin to our own. A murderer is much worse than a rapist is much worse than an adulterer is much worse than a thief is much worse than a liar which is much worse than I am because I just tell little white lies so as not to hurt anyone's feelings.

Because I understand that it is human nature, I accept it with a grain of salt and move on...but some days that isn't enough. Don't get me wrong, I am including myself as one of these judgmental offenders, but there are days I just want to scream at the top of my lungs at some of my Christian counterparts.

When one, in particular a Christian, uses social media to make their point...plead their case...judge...that is their right, but I hope they put much thought in to their statement before they post it. Think about those friends they might have that don't know the love of Christ yet...those that aren't saved. Think about the message you are sending. Are you telling them that God loves us all...every single one of us? That we were ALL made in His image? That he loves people of all colors, all sexual orientations, of all religions....is that the message we are sending? Because it should be...because it is true. He loves us ALL...

If one is a Christian then one, by definition, professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ. While my inner circle of friends and family most likely know what that means, I have plenty of friends that do not. So, in that instance, what do I want my message to be? Am I living my life as a person who believes in the teachings of Jesus? Are my social media posts portraying that?

It seems easier to be a "good Christian" when you live in a small place surrounded by like-kind...even if you don't live in a small town, you most likely are surrounded by like-kind. It is when God moves you out of that comfort zone to a place where there are few like you, when you may even be the minority that it matters. The same litmus tests don't work anymore. You find yourself judging everything harshly because it isn't like you. You waste so much of your time focusing on the differences that you might miss the purpose. You might just find the purpose when you stop judging and start praying, not praying that they become more like you, but that you would become more like Christ. In a world where everyone around you is different from you...you SHOULD stand out...but in a good way. As one who is forgiven and has hope and love. Someone who has joy in their heart...(not someone who is necessarily always happy).

I know what the bible says and I believe it. Every word of it. Just because I believe something differently from you doesn't mean I should hammer my beliefs in to you. I do not believe that God has called me to do that. Do I think that people are called to preach the truth? Certainly... But those people that we so harshly judge in our lives that are not saved are not playing with the same rule book and as such, cannot be judged using that same rule book. However, in that book it calls ME to LOVE. It tells me that above all else LOVE is the most important thing. It calls me to love my neighbor. I believe that God left us that instruction because He knew that without LOVE....and I mean genuine love for our fellow man...our motivation would never be right. Without love you will never be successful at planting seeds. Love has to be the motivation for everything.

That is my hope for my children. I hope that I teach them to love. Love everyone...more than jumping up on a soapbox to rail against gay marriage, homosexuality, Muslims, or whatever the flavor of the day is...I hope I teach them to love their neighbor. You don't have to love their choices or their religion...loving someone doesn't necessarily mean agreeing with their choices or their lifestyle...I think any parent can attest to that! Love people as someone who was created in God's own image. I hope they continually step out of their comfort zone and surround themselves with new...but I hope they always carry that love, God's love, with them. I hope that they reserve judgment and exude joy!

My friend posted a quote of Gandhi's the other day and it has been bouncing around in my head. Gandhi said, "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." That post goes on to explain that we are all just sinners. We are human. But, the big difference is that we are FORGIVEN. We can thank God that we have a Savior that loves us and has forgiven us.

The New Normal...

Life was CRAZY this summer and it doesn't seem like I was in one place long enough to update the blog.  Now that I am in Saudi Arabia with no children and what looks like endless hours on the horizon...I guess I have no excuses.

As everyone knows, we moved from Sweeny to College Station this summer.  It was an interesting few months trying to figure out how to fit 15 years of junk from a four bedroom house with a two car garage into a new three bedroom townhome.  We did a lot of downsizing this summer.  It took a few months, but I think that we are almost finished.  There is still a twin bed standing upright against the wall in poor Alison's room, but hopefully she will move it to our bedroom now that I am gone.

Alison spent the summer working at a law firm and living with her aunt Susan in Houston.  Janie spent the summer taking classes at A&M, and Madeline and I spent the summer going back and forth from College Station to Clear Lake so she could be in "Holy Musical Batman."  Thank goodness Jerl and Sue moved to League City, which was only ten minutes from the theater, so that we had a place to stay during the week.  They were kind enough to let us crash at their beautiful home for weeks.  The musical was so fun.  It was a great group of very talented kids!  We are so glad that Maddie got to spend the summer with her friends, Patrick and Ethan, before leaving for boarding school.

Madeline, as she is now known in NY because she moved in to a dorm with THREE "Maddies" of various spellings, is at boarding school in NY.  It is about 30 minutes outside of NYC in Westchester County.  She is loving it...she is doing MUCH better than I am with this situation.  She has been busy since the day she moved in to the dorms.  She has gone to street fairs and shows in the city, the renaissance festival, a Mets game and has tons more on the schedule in the upcoming months.  She has made some really great friends and God is so good that he moved her in to a dorm with a group of girls who all like the Avengers and Dr. Who.  It seems as though she has found an entire school full of students and administrators with similar interests...and it HAS to be a God thing because her interests are a little off the beaten path.

Ali and Janie are learning to live with each other in College Station. They are going to Aggie games and tailgating with the Marsh clan (thank God for them...they truly are a blessing to our family).  I am so glad that they have each other because it puts my mind at ease....BUT...the caveat is that it has been an adjustment for both of them.  Those of you that know them well won't need an explanation as to why.  He He.

As for me....I am getting used to the empty nest.  It has been a week and a half since I've been back and I am just getting over my jet lag.  I think it was so bad this time because I was also facing life without kids...I always prided myself on having an identity outside of my children, but when we moved overseas that all changed.  I apparently had no identity outside of my children.  HA!  So I am adjusting.  I am slowly starting to go through the stuff the girls left behind and making decisions as to what to do with it.  I have started Beth Moore's James bible study with an incredible group of women here.  I am officially over my jet lag thanks to a 14 hour slumber the other night....just in time to go back to the States to visit Madeline.  It is parent's weekend in a little less than two weeks so I will be going back to NY.  I can't wait to see Madeline and she can't wait for me to get there so I can take her to get her hair done...HAHAH!...I guess she still needs me for SOMETHING. Please pray that my visa gets renewed in time for me to go.  You just never know with this country.

I would post some pictures, but my children take very few...or if they take them the pass along very few to me.  I will be taking a TON in NY because the leaves will be changing and I cannot wait to see it and to experience cooler weather!!!!

I miss my family and friends but it is nice to be back with John...poor guy, he was lonely here without us.

Until next time....

I just realized that I haven't posted in two months!  WOW!  Time just flew by in Saudi as we were preparing to leave!  I will update the past two months...

Janie graduated!  WOOHOO!  Not that we were worried, but the homeschooling portion of our year did not go as smoothly as we thought it would.  There were numerous technical difficulties that proved to be very frustrating given the eight hour time difference and the fact that Saudi weekends don't coincide with American weekends!  Well, after much angst and effort on Janie's part to resolve the various issues, she finished her coursework and graduated from the University of Texas High School.  Thank goodness that is over.  After seeing pictures last night of the Bahrain School graduation it made me kind of sad that she missed out on a normal graduation with her friends.  But, God has a plan and we are going with it!  When Janie finished school she got to spend a while in Bahrain staying with our friends so she got to hang out with her friends and say her good-byes.  I know it was so hard for her because she loves Bahrain and her friends, but she will be back to visit this Christmas.  She starts classes at A&M at the end of the month so she will be very busy getting acclimated!

Janie has grown in to an amazing young woman...we couldn't be prouder of the person that she is!  She seriously has been such an easy child to raise...she kept me sane this year when we moved to Saudi...we spent hours doing nothing but watch TV and Pinterest crafts.  I don't know what I would have done without her.  I will miss her immensely, but I know that it is time for her to go off on her own and become something even MORE incredible than she already is!

Madeline had a very busy last few months.  They had their Performing Arts Spring Concert and she is in both choir and rock band.  The band and choirs did such an incredible job!  She loved both choir and rock band.  After they finished their spring concert, the production she and her cast mates had been practicing for for months kind of fell apart, but a great core group of six committed to getting it produced.  For the last several weeks of school she spent 25 hours with her 5 other cast mates practicing this hilarious adaptation of sleeping beauty.  The finished product was absolutely fabulous!  We just absolutely loved it!  She had her last performance on her last day at the school so it was a happy and sad occasion.

The Misadventures of Bubbles (Sleeping Beauty)...the awesome Mr. White (drama God) on the left!

Madeline as Bubbles

The CORE 6 that salvaged this hilarious and wonderful production!  Love these kids!

Maddie and Patrick....The Best Friend!

Maddie and Alex...The OTHER Best Friend!

Madeline had a few other challenges in the last few months.  She started getting sick again with similar issues that she had earlier in the school year along with new symptoms.  She started getting migraines and stomach pains.  Thank God that he brought us to a country that had someone who could help us because modern medicine couldn't figure it out!  Madeline is still suffering from Epstein-Barr and now we have found that she is allergic to wheat.  If you know Madeline, you know that this is a devastating diagnosis as she mostly subsists off of wheat and bread products.  It has been a very challenging few weeks to try and find food in the Middle East that was gluten free that she would eat.  It is somewhat easier in America (although not where we live), but the challenge here isn't buying the gluten free food, but getting her to eat it.  It takes Madeline quite a bit of time to change her palate...if at all...so you can imagine my challenges!  She goes to camp this week and is very scared that there will be no food for her to eat.  She has back up food (with little to no nutritional value) just in case.

In spite of Madeline's year long battle with this horrible virus and allergy, she had an AMAZING year.  She made some awesome friends, did two productions (adaptations of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty), performed in choir and rock band, wrote like crazy for her favorite English teacher EVER (Mr. B), sang and performed in our compound choir, took a song writing class along with guitar lessons, and managed to go to Bahrain to see all of her friends over there as well!  She will miss Saudi dearly, but she is excited about her move to New York in September to attend The Masters School!

Alison has been working at a law firm in Houston since May.  She will be working all summer so we won't get to see as much of her as we would like!  We are so proud of her...she had another AWESOME year at Texas A&M...WHOOP!  She and Janie will be living together next year and I know they are going to have a blast together!  I am glad that Ali is there to help her get situated.

WE SOLD THE HOUSE!  After seven days on the market and a negotiation period that was nearly double that, we are scheduled to close this Friday.  John was supposed to be here to help me close and move, but circumstances at the plant forced him to postpone his trip home....but just until July!  He will be here for a month, but unfortunately for me (and fortunately for him) not in time to help me close and move.  We are downsizing our furniture because we are losing 600 SqFt AND a two car garage so it is a necessity...it also helps me with the moving!  I still have a dining table and 6 chairs, a washing machine, a coffee table, and a lawn mower for sale if anyone is interested ;)

Maddie and Janie leave for Super Summer tomorrow morning...Alison is a Team Leader again this year so she has been gone since Friday evening preparing for the students to come to camp.  The girls will be gone for five days and will be back in Sweeny just long enough to get Alison's car and drive to College Station.  I am sure that it is a little bittersweet because we have lived here in the same house for fifteen years.  I don't think that they are attached to the house or the town so much as the people.  Because we have had to move four times in the last three years, they have learned to adapt and change.  God is good.  He saw what was coming and provided a way.

This has been such an incredible year.  As we flew in to Houston this week and I was filling out our U.S. Customs form, there was a place that asked me to list all of the countries that we visited since our last visit to the U.S. and I realized how truly blessed we are.  We visited Saudi Arabia (obviously), Bahrain (the country we LOVE), Istanbul (Turkey), Bulgaria, and The United Kingdom.  What an amazing ride we have had this year.  We are so truly blessed and are loving every minute of our adventures!

Skiing in Bulgaria

The Blue Mosque...Istanbul

Tower of London, UK

As we close this chapter of our lives, I want to tell those of you that have been our friends and extended family how much we appreciate you.  My children were raised in an amazing town with amazing people.  They were surrounded by friends, family, and mentors...they were raised in an incredibly Godly church with people who loved us enough to pray for us.  We will always consider Sweeny our home and we will miss the people very much.  

FOR SALE IN SWEENY!

House For Sale in Sweeny!1612 Azalea St.
4 Bedroom (4th bedroom is being used as a family room and office right now), 2 Bathroom, 2 Car Detached Garage.  Beautiful tile floors...lots of updates.  A MUST SEE!  Great price in a great location!

If you are interested or know someone who is looking to buy contact:

Cindy Kahanek, REALTOR®Natalie Munro, Assistant

RE/MAX 1st Team

230 HWY 332 West, Suite A, Lake Jackson, TX 77566
Office: 979-297-5747
Cindy's Cell: 979-248-1551 or Natalie's Cell: 979-239-8848
FAX: 979-297-7540
cindyk@remax.net

nataliepmunro@yahoo.com
http://www.cindyk.remax-texas.com/
http://www.har.com/cindyk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spring Break 2012: London!

The trip started out great!  We were on time (maybe a tad early) to the airport...things going great...we remembered to bring Flat Caden.  And then it started...our travel luck or, bad luck, as the case may be.  They announced that our flight originally scheduled to leave at 10:55pm was now going to leave at 1:55am.  Because we had a connecting flight in Istanbul at 1:55am, this was not a good turn of events for us.  We sat there patiently for a while before I mustered the energy (if you've ever had to deal with Arabs at an airport you would understand this statement) to go up and ask what was to happen to those of us missing connecting flights.  We were told that the "manager" was coming and that all would be well.  When the manager finally showed up it was dangerously close to our take off time so I started getting nervous.  He offered us two choices:  to fly to Istanbul and stay overnight in Turkish Airlines airport hotel and leave the next day; or, fly to Istanbul, connect to Amsterdam, switch to a KLM flight and get to Manchester 5-6 hours after originally scheduled.  We chose the latter....not sure why, but we did.

From that decision on it was kind of a mess.  We made it to Istanbul with what we THOUGHT was enough time to catch our connecting flight to Amsterdam...until we saw the transfer desk line.  It was literally 4 hours long and everybody knows what happens in lines in Middle Eastern countries (yes, I know Istanbul is technically part of the EU, but once you go there you'll understand my statement)....LINE CUTTERS.  So, mix together line cutters and a bunch of angry Europeans and what do you get???  YEP!  A fight.  Fortunately for US, we had a FRONT row seat to the event as the line cutter and the angry Scotsman who thwarted his efforts with the threat of violence and the frequently used "F" word were standing behind us!  Ahhhh, good times.  Even worse was when a Turkish Air official came to the back of said four hour long line to ask who was going to Amsterdam and then promptly moved all ten of us with our hands raised to the very front of the line.  You can imagine that we were the most hated people in the room for those 20-30 minutes that it took to get us on our not so merry way!

We get on the flight to Amsterdam after a few more delays and we get to Schipol Airport with 30 minutes to make our connecting flight.  If you have ever been to the Schipol Airport you will understand that that is virtually impossible.  Soooo we get off our Turkish Air flight and start RUNNING through the airport to the other side in order to catch our connecting flight to Manchester.  Unfortunately for Janie, she was wearing 5 inch heels and, while she looked fashionable, they were not very functional.  We left her in the dust sad to say.  We literally made it to the gate as they were boarding the plane.  We were out of breath and sweaty.  Ugh.

Three short hours later...or something like that...we make it to Manchester but, unfortunately, our luggage did not make it with us.  We promptly filed a claim and caught a cab to my sisters house.  We were tired and hungry.

The next day two of the bags show up at my sister's house...no warning, no calls, no nothing...they just were delivered.  Of course one was Janie's (if you know "the charmed one" you will understand why SHE got her bag first) and the other bag was Madeline's carry on with little in it, but that she decided to check at the last minute in Saudi.  The next day John's bag got delivered.  Madeline and I were out of luck.  So this was the beginning of the lost baggage saga.  Needless to say, we did NOT receive our bags for the entire 10 days we were in London.

It was so nice to see my sister, Suzette, and Lee.  We had a good time eating, talking, shopping, etc.  We spent 3 days with them.  One day we took the train out to Liverpool to see the Beatles Experience.  It was a corny little museum, but we liked it.  We drove around and saw a few things and then went to the Cavern Club where the Quarrymen and then the Beatles first played.  It was a nice piece of music history.  There was a musician performing Beatles songs, of course.  We signed our names on the wall.  It was neat.

  


On the 5th of April we loaded up and took the train to London...we were happy that two bags were still lost at this point.  Taking the train with 5 bags and two carry-ons is no small feat.

London was freezing cold and it rained 3 or 4 of the 7 days we were there, but all in all the weather was pretty nice.  Fortunately for us, we had our winter coats in our carry on bags so we were good there.  We did have to spend a good 3-4 days shopping for stuff to wear.  We kept buying only one or two outfits thinking that our bags would show up and when they didn't we would have to go shopping again.

We saw Buckingham Palace, the changing of the guards, Hyde Park, The Tower of London, Parliament, museums, Camden Markets, Platform 9 3/4, Harrod's, West End, etc.  Easter Sunday we went out to Speaker's Corner to listen to the crazies yell.  It is a place where on Sundays people go out and just rant and rave and others heckle.  My kids loved it.  It was cold and raining, but fun.

We shopped...a LOT.  I ran in to an old high school friend, Michelle Holt Messer, and her husband and we had a nice time of dinner and drinks.  We went to see a play on West End called "All New People" written by Zach Braff. He was also starring in it so we were excited.  It was a great play.  I thought that it was evident on stage that Zach wasn't an experienced theater actor, but no one else was of this opinion.  The next day we saw the musical Rock of Ages and it was incredible.  I thought it was going to be so dumb, but it was funny and fun and I really enjoyed it.  I would like to see it on Broadway as well.

Even without the luxury of our luggage, I have to say that it was one of our better vacations.  We missed Alison, but her spring break was a few weeks ahead of ours.  She spent her spring break in London with her Shakespeare class!  

So next vacation is home to Texas for the Summer and we are planning a trip to Thailand for Christmas.. :)