Spoiler Alert: Life is Amazing
I Skype with my parents on a weekly basis, and one thing that my mom keeps repeating is how good I look and happy I am. It makes me realize how much we absolutely did not like or fit in Maryland. Yeah, it was never our intent to be there, but I thought we did a good job of making do. Oh man, were we just making do. Everything just feels better here.
No, we will not be making this a permanent locale (take a deep breath parents), but dear God did we actually find a life that we thoroughly love living again. I watch how the East Coast is transitioning in to "winter mode" and am grateful that I am not within a thousand miles of it. Adam and I get to carpool to and from work together, which means more time together, and round-trip, the total commute is less than 30 minutes. So much better than my 1-2 hour commute each-way daily commute. It also means that we get to stick with being a single-car household, which I had been hoping to return to. We all know how much I hate owning or having "things".
We have an incredible group of friends, that have already become family. Seriously, we have at least dozen people that we can call at any hour for any reason, and they would be there for whatever is needed. And we would do the same for them. We can go put our toes in the sand and beings in the sea whenever we please and have gotten back into freediving. I don't have to wear jackets except for when someone goes a little crazy with the air conditioning. I have my "girls' nights" while Adam has his "poker nights", there are group brunches, happy hours, water park ventures, lazy afternoon BBQs, museums and exhibits, ahhhhh.....just a life thoroughly lived. Oh yeah, and the trips. Love all the airplane rides! Where to next you ask??!?!??!
I have days off from work with the new year, so to Cambodia we go! YAY! We also have some friends that will be going with us, like Nepal, so it will be a group adventure!
So, in summary....Do I miss the US? Actually, no. Not at all. What I do miss are our friends and family there (Adam also misses easy access to good beer, Sriracha, and Crystal Light). I hope that more people get the chance to come visit and completely obliterate this American perception of what the "Middle East" is, because I promise you, it is not what you predominantly see on the mainstream media.
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| Beach bumming love |
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| Freediving excursion |
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| Wakeboarding at the waterpark |
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| Shake Shack with my gingers: Alison and Adam |
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| Halloween and my lumber jack love |
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| Halloween Party #1 |
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| Halloween Party #2: Allison, me, and Alison |
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| Heading to Halloween Party #3 |
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| Happy Hour on the beach |
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| Art exhibit at Manarat Saadiyat |
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| Playing with the birds of prey at the exhibit |
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| Brunch time: Debbie and Adam |
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| Brunch time: Michael and Dave |
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| Brunch time: Me and Chris |
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| Brunch time: Adam and Allison |
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| Brunch time: My beloved Dave |
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| Brunch time: Love these boys, Adam, Dave, and Chris |
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| Brunch time: The girls- Allison, Debbie, and me |
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| Brunch time: Chillin' pool side |
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| Brunch time: LOVE |
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| Brunch time: The Perfect Day |
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| Brunch time: The adorable and awesome Greenhalghs |
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| Morning fog, our home is the 2nd building from the left |
So this is what we are thankful for this festive holiday and continually...a fortunately life filled with amazing people and experiences. Thank you to all of you that make our lives so enjoyable and incredible!
