New Digs!

 Side/Front Yard

Back Yard

Living area

So, this is where we will start living as soon as paperwork is finished.  Which is supposed to be today at 3:00 pm by the way.
The pictures sorta make things look more stretched out.  It is a very modest townhouse/villa. We are thankful to be able to get it because of the great location. It is on a cul-de-sac, so no traffic, and the backyard faces a large lake area where we will enjoy walking our dog.  Notice there is no gate in back yard... I will have to walk down the road to gain access to walk area, but I'm pretty sure the son and hubs can step over the fence.  The locals here have been referring to the husband as Mr. Long, so that is how I will continue to address him on this blog!!  I thought that was funny.  Notice I didn't say they call me Mrs. Short, and they better not!!!  They usually call me Mrs. Steve..
Anyway, we are more than ready to move in.  Our air shipment is in country now so we can get it right away.  I have never looked so forward to seeing my oldest towels in all my life.  The rest of our things may take another couple of weeks to arrive.  That's ok.  I packed 2 lawn chairs,  2 plates, forks, cups, towels, pillows, etc so we can have enough stuff to camp out.   Sew ready to set up a home here!

Burj Al Arab - Sky View Tea

Here are a few pictures of our Saturday tea at the Sky Bar in the Burj Al Arab....

This shows our initial approach!

This is view of inside of hotel as we proceed up the escalator. There are also huge wall aquariums on either side of the escalator that you can't see here.

Here we are getting started. We really didn't know what to expect, so it was fun for us as they brought out the different courses of the tea.  7 Courses!!!  They were small servings so we didn't realize how quickly we would become stuffed! 

And this is why it is called the Sky Tea.  This was our view from one side of the lounge.  It was a hazy day so I don't have a picture from the other side, but it shows the Jumeria Palm with the Atlantis Hotel.  We could also see all the little man made islands a little further out in the water.  I guess we will just have to go back on a clear day to get the rest of the pictures.  I know you are gonna want to see them. 

Anyway, it was a great day and a great weekend to celebrate Easter.  The next morning we met up on the beach you see in the middle of this picture for out church's Easter sunrise service.  Incredible! Incredible weekend and Incredible Savior!!

That Dirty Dog!!

Does this sand make me look long and skinny?

Ok, this post is old. I found it when reacquainting myself with my neglected blog.  I think it was 2011. Josie, has since passed away, so this post is in her sweet, dear, memory.

Fun walk on the beach!

Swimming...

Yes, you guessed it! Erin, mom and I went for a road trip to High Island a few weeks ago and decided to take our pets. We actually took a miniature dachshund each. Nanny took Rags, whom we were pet sitting for Carryl, Erin took her dog, Shotzie,and I took Josie. Of the three dogs, Josie had the most fun. Rags sat in mom's lap the entire time and Shotzie stayed with Erin. Josie's leash broke just as we got there so I spent most of my time yelling at her and chasing her down. She loves going after the seagulls. We did learn our lesson and there will be no more trips to the beach for the dogs anytime soon. I don't think they liked it much and it was a lot of work for us. Imagine us trying to get them cleaned up for the ride back home! Oh yea, we did get two horn blows while we were there. I think Erin got one when we were unloading and I got one when we were loading back up!! All good for fun and laughs. We stayed long enough to get some sun and eat our lunch and then packed back up for 2 hr trip home. It was a good day and beautiful on the beach. We hope to go back before the end of the summer!

Let's Catch Up!!!

Ok, A lot has happened since my last post almost 2 years ago.... So at a glance:
Ethan started senior year in high school.
Ethan ran cross country and did great!
Ethan played varsity basketball for Zavalla Eagles and dunked the ball in a district game!
Ethan went to senior prom
Ethan graduated High School
Ethan started first job
ERIN still in college in Galveston, working and doing great during all this time.
Ethan starts Jr. college
STEVE gets job transfer to Dubai
Ethan gets 2nd job and begins second semester at Jr college
Lisa moves to be with Steve in Dubai

And that pretty much brings us up to date. With the exception of a few details here and there. 
I flew to Dubai in December 2012 to 'check things out'.  Came home for Christmas and stayed until movers packed and shipped some of our stuff. In March I officially moved to Dubai to find a place to live and set up housekeeping.  I arrived in Dubai, spent one night, and then headed off with Steve on a business trip to Cairo, Egypt.  That is where we are in the picture above. 

Now I have been back in Dubai, living out of suitcases until our little townhouse is ready to be inhabited.  Paperwork takes a while over here and so we are hoping to move in within the next few days which will be really great since I am traveling back to Texas in 11 days!

Run and Not Grow Weary...

There's Ethan, in the middle. They thought that his "glow in the dark" shoes were funny. Actually, they are silver Nike's, not really glow in the dark, but when I looked at the picture I immediately saw God's blessing on Ethan and our lives. When we moved to Zavalla to help Ethan complete high school, we never even dreamed that he would do so well in sports, let alone in cross country running. But God did. I have always told Ethan that God has a plan for his life, as for all of our lives, and to me, this picture holds a spiritual message. God has used Ethan's physical stature to help his emotional and mental one. He has enjoyed sports and making new friends. This picture is him with his Fellow Christian Athlete's. The kids here have made Ethan feel welcome and included in their activities. I have always believed that God would honor our faith in Him, but I never hoped that we would see the benefits so soon! I thank God daily that he has blessed us with Ethan, and his sister, Erin. They make our lives more complete and joyful!

Good Clean Fun

I think I have posted about this laundry soap recipe before, but I was making a new batch and decided to put it out here in blog land one more time. Thanks to nurse and friend extraordinaire, Wendy Linton, who first gave me this recipe. I have been using it for 2 years and still love it. So here goes.

You will need:

1 cup of borax

1 cup of washing soda

1/2 cup of grated Ivory soap

1/2 cup of grated Zote soap (found on the laundry aisle in store)

Stir all together and then process in blender or food processor just to get a finer powder and better combined mixture. Use 2 T per load and that's it! I did the calculations, and it only costs 6 cents per load. Here are a few pictures for show and tell:

Here's how all the packages look, except for ivory soap, but I think you know what that looks like :)
Grating up the Zote soap:

Mix up in bowl and then process a little at a time to get a good, fine powder mixture.

Find some pretty jars for storage and start doing laundry!

Here is the white hoodie that was involved in the bike accident that I mentioned in a previous post:

I did use a spot remover that you spray on before putting it in the laundry, but it came out snowy white with my homemade detergent. I was very impressed that all the mud was removed. I don't have an after picture right now, but you can take my word for it. It is so white and clean, and never going to go on a bike ride again!!!!!!