I have favorites and slumber party fun!

I taught 2nd grade for 8 years and I never had .... never will admit...never had favorite students. I can however admit online to having favorite parents. Oh wow--a good parent in your classroom can make your year 100 times better! In the two districts I taught, I  had mostly...amazing parents--don't have my sisters drink too much and they'll spill the bad ones.....

 Most of my close ones are even my Facebook friends! I love that they want to keep in touch with me and I love seeing their children grow up! Two of my favorite moms wanted to see me before we left. I taught both of their sons in different years. I love hearing about the boys and how they've changed and grown! I also just love these women! They are not only amazing people, but spectacular moms. One day those boys will show their appreciation for it!!

Thank you for supporting me as a teacher and as a friend!

*Still working on Elise's ability to smile for the camera*

Erin and I have been wanting to let the kids have a "pretend" sleepover, so we finally got around to doing it! Elise had to have her hair in pig tails--because that's just how it goes! We got a pizza and popped popcorn! The kids had so much together--Claire really wanted some popcorn!

Packing, Saying Goodbye, and Wine....and more Wine

This is a long one--so get a glass of wine and take a sip after each paragraph. It will be more enjoyable.

They came to get our air shipment this week.

For those of you who aren't aware, when you move over seas you have 3 categories in which you organize your belongings--air, sea, and storage. We can only fit 900 pounds on the air shipment...which is NOT MUCH!  

We needed to do the air shipment early because it only takes 2-3 weeks to get there. This way we do not have to wait on the major necessities --i.e. toys, towels, sheets, crib, exercauser, high chair etc. 

We will do the boat shipment when we physically move to Saudi. The boat can take up to 3 months to get there! 

Our Storage container will have all of our furniture and things we don't want/need to bring with us-- fine china, crystal, a majority of our seasonal things, anything that is special that we don't want to lose. 

The air shipment really went fantastic. The company uses Graebel Movers and I have never experienced a moving company who worked as well as they did. 

You may think, how would a 31 year old know about moving companies?? Well, growing up, we spent a lot of time MOVING STATES/CITIES. In fact, I lived in 3 different cities/states in high school--that doesn't count all the middle school and elementary moves.

That explains a lot.

Moving on, when the truck pulled up I was overcome with emotion again. Memories flooded back to me from when I was a child, teenager, and adult. That moving truck only means one thing to me CHANGE IS COMING. There's no turning back now. I wish I could have had Green Day, "Time of your life" playing in the background while the truck pulled up and drove away. "So take the photographs and still frames in your mind..."

My dear friend Erin threw me an amazing going away party with some close work friends from Robinson. She had everyone bring something special that reminded them of me. It was the sweetest idea. She is such a good friend to me and I will miss her more than she knows. 

It is so much fun to hang out with your friends away from work! Ha! We have the most fun! Teachers are WILD! My Robinson friends are a family to me, especially my second grade team. They will always hold a special place in my heart!! This is a picture of our team --missing Norma, who's traveling of course!!=)--

Yes, they know I like PEEPS! 

Some of my friends helped compile this book from my past students. This is just too special to  not share. I couldn't include everyone! I just picked the first couple to share!

Saturday was yet another hard goodbye. I had to say goodbye to two of my best friends--We spent the day shopping and having lunch. It was so nice to see them. I love that whenever we get together we pick up right where we left off. Claire came along for the ride and she had a blast! She loved being spoiled by them! It's always been hard to say goodbye to them. I wish we could all live on the same street and get together every weekend.  It just makes our time together more special. Until June...

Oh the Places You'll Go

This is by far one of my favorite all time children books. I would read it to my students several times throughout the year. As we make this huge step in the next few months, I can hear myself reading it aloud, to get me through some tough days and decisions. "You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose!"

This huge step we are about to take as a family is moving to Saudi Arabia. Yes, Saudi Arabia. No, it's not like Paris, Texas--there's no Saudi Arabia, Texas-we are actually moving to the country. Yes, the country that doesn't let women drive or dress "normal." 

How did we get here? Well, Josh came home from work one day in June and said some of his co workers were moving there and he thought it was a great opportunity for his career and for us as a family. I smiled at him and said, "That sounds like a fantastic idea! Sign me up! You don't even have to ask silly!!" Then we hugged for an hour.

HA- if you believe that than you don't know me very well.

He did though, come home and say something very similar and I quickly shot the idea down and probably mocked laughed at him, I can't remember.

One day though, we sat down and really talked about it and we decided it wasn't the best decision for our family. What if our parents get sick in the states? Do I want the girls to spend some of their life in a different country, far away from everyone we know? Elise and Claire can't do dance class? There will be no more weekend trips to San Antonio to see their favorite people -i.e. Marissa, Gregory, and Larkin. No more everyone meet up at mom and dad's for the weekend to see KK and LeLe. No more zoo trips with Granny and PawPaw. No more play dates with our best buddies. Will Claire even know what a Target is?? --Yes, that really does bother me.

But obviously, those questions went to the side when we started reading the benefits of going over there for a few short years.

We can give our girls a better life. I can continue to stay at home. We can travel to countries we never thought we would be able to go to.

The night we decided to go with it, I cried for a long time. I looked over anyone and everyone that had written a blog about Saudi. I looked up safety issues, the plane flight, things to do. I became obsessed. I then had to stop. We made a decision and now we just pray that it is the right one for our family. We pray for happiness over there and safe journeys to and from home. We pray that as much as we will miss our family and friends that we will get through this. We pray that we end up enjoying this adventure.  I don't want to look back and regret this opportunity. One of my sisters close friends wrote in my high school graduation card, "We only regret the things we don't do, just a thought." That line got me in a lot of trouble in college, but I truly believe in it. Thanks Amy!


So, here we are.

The purpose of the blog is to:
1. Keep a record of our adventure for the girls in the future.
2. To make my sisters laugh every once in awhile
3. To let everyone know how we are doing and what we are up to in the land of sand.

Must make a note to my brother in law, Robert for coming up with the Title for the blog. Any future money made from the blog, he is entitled to 1%.