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%.