My glass is half full!

I've been pretty upbeat and positive on the blog (and in life), while on this quite amazing journey. That is not to say that there are no frustrating moments or difficult days. I just choose to look at my glass as half full. Actually, in reality, it's more than half full. This is our year!  We have been afforded many amazing opportunities because of this journey, and that is where the focus must remain.  The days are few, but there are those days when one has trouble moving past a deep longing for a sense of  "normalcy" that one can only find at home.  BUT, Jordan is our 2nd home.  It is home now for us, for at least 2 years (and I'm quite happy with that I might add!).  Today, I must remind myself of that and focus on all the good that it entails.. and I mustn't forget it's only a short time until we will get to spend time with family and friends in our "1st home", America!

I've always been a person that loves quotes.  Anytime I'm going through something, I always search to find inspirational quotes. Here are a few worth sharing-

The only difference between a good day and a bad day is your attitude.  ~Dennis S. Brown

 Life is a shipwreck but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.  ~Voltaire
 
So what am I finding particularly frustrating right now?  Nothing and everything.. if you know what I mean. I don't know if it's because it's the holidays, the normal ups/downs of being away from home, the (sometimes inaccurate) chaos that the news medias like to shove down our throats in every avenue possible, the fact that I can't jump in my car and go wherever it is I want to go.. really, who knows?!?  What I do know is since I can't even seem to pinpoint what has caused this (temporary) down, I must move through it. Time to moveon.com

These are the best times to keep a positive focus-
I have an amazing support system-- right here in Jordan!
We get to travel the world!  Rome is next, only 5 short weeks!!
The Jordanian community has been fantastic and welcoming.
I work with some pretty amazing people, and have quickly formed bonds with many of them.
We will have our first visitor! My auntie is coming!
 I am blessed to have a job, doing exactly what I love.
Did I mention my auntie is coming? ;-)

This list really could go on and on, and for that very reason this blog post has done exactly what I was hoping for, lifted my spirits.   I have way too much to be thankful for, time to climb back up!

This is me.  Being real. The only way I know to be.

More posts on the fun stuff... coming your way soon!!  Inshallah ;)

Halloweens past and present

For the last few years, our home in Eagle was "base" for friends who joined us for trick-or-treating. We would cook hot soups-- my favorite was always Tiff's cheeseburger soup, which I have now mastered and shared here in Amman.  We then of course took lots of pictures of our kiddos, and headed out to trick-or-treat in the neighborhood.  We lived in one of the best neighborhoods to trick-or-treat! Kids filled the streets, houses were decorated, and the kiddos came home with enough candy to last them until Christmas.

I loved Halloween. I mean, I could do without some aspects (eventhough I don't buy into the nonsense about the so called 'meaning').  What I love is the gathering of friends, kids in costumes letting their imaginations run wild, laughter filling the streets, and who doesn't love candy? Ha!  Don't pretend like your kids eat it all themselves!!

Although, I miss our traditions, it's always fun to start new ones. This year, my boss (who lives in our building and is a fantastic person!) took us over to the Brit Club (@ the British Embassy).  I guess first I should mention that prior to Halloween, Hailee had a book character day at school, right before the Eid holiday.  She was supposed to dress up as her favorite book character, so she picked Hermoine from Harry Potter.  When, I showed up at work that day, what I saw was Halloween. Call it what you want, but primary students were dressed up in costumes, I guess you could say that all those characters were in a book somewhere, but honestly, it didn't look much different than the Halloween parades I watched at Red Hill Elementary.  It was fan-tas-tic!!

Back to Halloween night. So, Martin (my boss) took us over to the Brit club.  They were hosting a Halloween party for kids- games, candy, dancing.. the girls had a great time.  The games included pin the eyes on the skeleton, bobbing for apples, and doughnut on a string.  Now, those of you that know Hailee know that she is pretty competitive-- seems to be a Nelson family gene! This competiveness and desire to always push herself applies to most areas of her life including of course, bobbing for apples.  I actually stopped her twice to see if she was okay because she was soaking wet and sucking air, but she was determined to get all of those apples! She didn't stop until she got them all- 6 in total, I believe. The doughnut game was quite comical as you can see from the pictures.  We literally could not stop laughing :)


Charlee was not much into the games, settling on only one. When we first arrived, she headed straight fort the pool because what better way to celebrate Halloween then going for a swim? She enjoyed playing in the play area and soccer field until she heard music, and then she and her sister danced the night away! Oh, and I must mention that Charlee picked out her costume. I was happy she picked out items that totaled less that 5 JD, because the Halloween costumes we looked at at Hamley's were upwards of 50 JD. She spent the night saying, "Argghhh, pirate!" Next time you see Charlee, you must ask her what a pirate says for a good laugh!

The girls had a fun-filled night. We feel fortunate to work with people who are so welcoming and who are so willing to extend so much of themselves to help ensure we are able to settle into our new life as expats. Thank you. 

Eid in Dubai

Sooooooo.. Dubai was AMAZING!!

We went during the Eid holiday, so it was super busy, but it was worth it!  The trip was a last minute booking through a travel agent. Probably the worst part of the trip was the fact that our flights both to and from Dubai were at 8 am, so we were up with the birds.  The girls did really well though, and it was nice to arrive with time to get out and check out the city.

First off, our hotel was amazing!  Those of you that have traveled with my husband, you know he is a Motel 6 kind of guy ;-)  His motto is "all I need is a bed".  I prefer a little more, so I've been able to talk him into hotels more like The Holiday Inn.  What that means is we usually stay in 3 star at best, and that's perfectly fine with us. This hotel our travel agent booked, however, was a 5 star hotel!! We were like The Clampetts from Beverly Hillbillies!  We probably won't stay in such an elegant hotel again, at least not anytime soon, but it sure was fun while it lasted.  It was crazy to have so many smiling faces ready to do anything and EVERYTHING for us (take our bags, fold up the stroller, open the taxi, bring us bottled water, you name it.. they would do it!). The hotel was on a beautiful harbor and their was lots of grass! Living in the desert, let me tell you- we truly appreciate green and grass! The girls sure enjoyed it :)
Most of our time was spent at malls.   That's because everything is in the malls!  I've never seen such large malls in my life.  Seriously in the malls- 1,200+ stores, 160 restaurants, aquarium, ice rink, ski resort with lifts, theme parks.. unbelievable! They were definitely packed for the Eid holiday and for this reason they were open for 24 hours for the holiday! It seems Dubai is a very popular travel destination for Brits.   We're thinking we saw as many Brits as we did Arabs.  A few that we talked to told it was for the shopping (Dubai is referred to as the shopping capital of the world and we sure do believe it) and the weather. During this time of year the Dubai weather is great. It's still pretty warm, but during the summer we're told the temperatures are unbearable. 
Mall of Emirates is near Burj Khalifa, which is the tallest building in the world.  It really is quite amazing, as are many of the buildings in Dubai. We watched a water show in front of the building and it really was quite amazing.  It's one of those surreal moments, as until now traveling to places like this, standing in front of the world's tallest building, these were all beyond our imagination.

Our last day in Dubai was spent at The Palm/Atlantis resort. A fun water park and yes, another aquarium.  The water park was amazing! Our favorite part was the lazy river, which had some really fun rapids. It was probably a 2k lap around the park, and we were able to ride double tubes with the girls.  They had so much fun and laughed every time we went through the rapids. Bill also went on the craziest water slide ever! It was so high, and sends you through a tunnel surround by sharks!


4 days flew by- but we brought home many memories! Cheers Dubai, we'll be seeing you again soon!