Daily Archives: April 20, 2011

Time here comes and goes in a strange way- one day time is flying by and the next day it is creeping along. Can’t believe we have already been here for over 3 months.

Here is what we have been up to:

1. . There is not a whole lot to do in the town we are currently living in, but there is a decent mountain that you can climb. A few weeks ago we went on a hike to the “hanging gardens” and a cave. It was probably the last day this spring that we could start the hike at 10 am- at about noon we were all dying from the heat & we still had two hours left to climb back down!

the hanging gardens- I know green in the desert!

2. Chase met a friend outside of our apartment about a month ago and has been over to visit him & take a tour of his family Oasis a few times. A few weeks ago I got to go too and meet his wife. After lunch I got to go on a tour of the Oasis as well- on the tour we got fresh lettuce straight from the ground!

3. I started teaching ballet! Some of my friends out here have little girls that have been dancing around their living rooms dreaming about becoming ballerinas one day. I decided that a great way I could serve my friends was to start teaching their daughter’s ballet on Saturday mornings. I have only had one lesson so far, but it was super fun & reminded me about how much I love dance!

my students

4. Not sure if I have mentioned before, but I love looking at new recipes. I love getting new ideas for what to cook -not that I cook all of the things I see, but I can dream- right? For date night a few weeks ago I made this dish by Pioneer Woman. It was Delicious.

I used Chicken instead of beef

5. There is an arab proverb that says, “The neighbor before the house” and it means that if you have a good neighbor than you have a good home and that is all your need in life. I have been blessed with a great neighbor. She is super sweet & speaks great English- which has enabled us to build a friendship quicker than other people I have met out here. Even though it is not great for my Arabic- I am very thankful for her- a a perk she does help me with my homework & I asked if we could start using more Arabic & she said yes- I think I have to make it happen.

Anyway, last week she took me shopping at the fabric souk to look at material for a dress that I am going to have made- when it is finished I will post pictures and tell you more about it….

6. Chase & I have gotten hooked on a new TV series called Chuck. If you haven’t seen it you should.