Year Two in Review

by Cindy

I've been thinking about this post for a few days now and I have to admit, even just thinking about it has lifted my spirit and put me a very thankful mood. When I think about the past year, I am nothing but thankful and appreciative for all that is "our life."

Everyone always wants to know how long we are staying and we always reply that we love it and don't see ourselves leaving in the foreseeable future.  People often respond with a one syllable response of "oh" or a simple response of "that's good" or "that's nice" but I can tell they are thinking something different in their heads.  I do wish that I could more clearly communicate how much we love it; enough so that people would lay down their preconceived perception of this land and really listen to what we love so much about this place.  I guess it is a "you have to see it to believe it" kind of life and kind of place.  So, even though you may not believe me, I wanted to give you 'Year Two In Review" (in no particular order):

• We were thankful to have our friend Katie, whom we know from Lubbock, come visit us for a long weekend.
• We are looking forward to my brother and Eddie coming to visit us in September.
• We enjoyed an amazing trip to Prague with our friends Chris and Sal.  They are great travel partners and we look forward to many more adventures with them.
• We summited Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa.  Who would have thought!?!?!  In 2009 we visited Kenya, Africa and everywhere we went we could see Kilimanjaro in the distance.  It is a beautiful mountain and quite inviting.  As I read and researched the mountain, I realized that climbing it really was something within my reach.  I knew it was a life long dream of Jeff's so it was really a joy for us to be able to do that together and for him to achieve something he's dreamed of doing.  (My toenails are still recovering.)
• We had an amazing trip to the Andalusia region of Spain with the Angell family.  Again, great travel partners and I am sure we will travel with them again.  Sadly, Mintaka leaves for college this year so future trips might be without her.  [Although, you can't help but excited for her to leave because she's so excited about it all - she beams from ear to ear any time you ask her about it. Her mother, on the other hand, wells up with tears any time we talk about it.]
• We have enjoyed a year of our book club, reading books about Dubai, books from authors here at our University and currently reading through some American classics. I am so thankful for the stimulating conversation and the ability to have civil and intellectual conversations with people who often have very different views than I hold.
• We got to spend Christmas evening with the Angells, too, watching A Christmas Story.  
• I attended my first local wedding, it was amazing.  After the wedding, the bride moved to Boston and I hope to catch up with her in early August when we visit Boston.
• Jeff and I attended a cooking class in Spain.  Bring on the paella and gazpacho!
• At work, I have the opportunity to develop a new class using a great software.  This is a great opportunity for me to learn and help bridge my career between academia and ERP software.
• I received a full, three year contract to work. 
• We've had a great small group in our home which has allowed us to meet many new people and grow closer to like minded people on campus.
• We had an amazing Easter sunrise service on the shore of the Persian Gulf!
• We've been able to invite friends to church with us and have them attend church as well as Jeff's 'Sunday school' class he taught (we actually go to church on Friday so it's called Friday school).
• I'm looking forward to Jeff preaching at "big" church this week.  It is unfortunate that so many of our friends have already left for the summer.
• Jeff and I celebrated an early 11 year wedding anniversary trip to Ireland.  It is a beautiful country and has everything we don't have - cold weather, hills, grass and rain.
• We have shared numerous amazing dinners with so many of our friends.  We are fortunate to have so many great restaurants and world renowned chefs in Dubai.  Along these same lines, we have had more 3-4 hour dinners in the past two years than our whole life combined.
• We've been able to celebrate all of the great American holidays on patios and in back yard gardens - Thanksgiving, Christmas, 4th of July, Mardi Gras, Easter, etc. with our American friends. 
• We've been able to travel to out of town conferences with students.
• I baked endless amounts of cookies, fudge and other sweet treats to share with our friends at Christmas - even though many of our friends don't celebrate Christmas.
• Jeff and I were able to travel to Oman and hike through "The Grand Canyon of the Middle East"
• I have enjoyed monthly dinners with 'the ladies' which are always a good time.
• Jeff and I are fortunate to be able to spend so much time together - we walk to and from work together each day, we eat lunch together most days and we spend evenings and weekends together.  We do not have work schedules that require time from us outside of 8-5, M-F.  We have an amazing marriage; one for which I am more and more thankful for each passing day.

I really could go on and on and on.  We are blessed beyond our wildest dreams.  When we considered this job 2.5 years ago, I could not have predicted that life would be so good.  'Year Two' has been amazing and I'm looking forward to more years to come.