Facebook - My Addiction and Blessing

Are you as addicted as I am to Facebook?

I just can't seem to stay off it. I love hearing from friends from near and far, new friends and people I haven't heard from in 20+ years. I love the opportunity it provides to stay in contact with so many people, especially people who once meant the world to you, but through time and circumstance lost touch with.

I know some people hate those "I ate a meatloaf and mashed potatoes for dinner" status messages and deride the posters for being mundane and boring, but I love them. I love the little peek Facebook provides into other people's daily ins and outs of life. I love knowing I'm not the only one who's lost her hairbrush or who is still watching "Survivor." I laugh hysterically and am thrilled each time I'm reminded how funny my friends are. I can weep when I know my friends are hurting - when a child is diagnosed with a serious illness or a parent passes away.

Living so far away, I often marvel how missionaries and others who left their homes and travelled far, far away coped. How did they manage without a reliable, quick mail service? How did they stand not having Skype, which allows me to not only hear loved ones' voices, but to actually see them as well? No email for quick little jots home. No Facebook to keep up with the lives of those you love.

So, yeah, I spend waaaaayy too much time logged in to Facebook. I usually have it open in another tab while I'm doing a myriad of other things. I'm down near addicted, but I have no desire to cure that addiction. I love having the live updates to find out what my peeps around the world are up to and I'm not ashamed!

Life is great in the 21st Century!!! Can you only imagine how life will change in the next 50 years??

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

I am less that two short weeks away from our annual trip home to the States. In between now and then Daniel will finish his last year of middle school, Emily will become a high school junior (meaning it's just two short years we have left with her at home), and I just have to make it through the next 10 straight days of work while still preparing for an almost three month vacation.

There are so many things I look forward to about being "home." Family, friends. Shopping. Freedom to do what I want, wear what I want, say what I want.

As if to reinforce the desire to escape Doha for the summer, the weather has recently been very cooperative. It's suddenly gotten very humid - combined with temps above 110, it's been simply miserable. Then today we a horrible dust storm blow into town, lowering visibility to a couple of hundred feet. Yuck!! Yep - it's time to get out of Dodge!

Being Focused on the Truly Valuable

We live in a world where we are constantly being bombarded by media and messages that are often not consistent with how a woman of God should live. The radio, the television, movies, even the grocery store check-out lane shouts at us to be thinner! sexier! prettier! a perfect mom! a perfect wife! a perfect woman!

And the truth is, we often fall for it. I know I do, at least. I want to be that perfect woman that I see on the screen or the cover of a magazine. And maybe, just maybe, if I buy into whatever tip or trick is being offered, I will be completely satisfied with my life.

That's yet to happen.

And don't you find yourself in the trap of comparing yourself, your husband, your children, your home to others around you? Isn't it easy to wish you had a bigger, nicer home? A husband who is ultra-romantic and helpful around the house? Children who are accomplished and well-behaved at all times? A tinier waistline and bigger budget?

It's just all too easy to focus on the wrong things, isn't it?

A while ago, I found on a wonderful blog, A Wise Woman Builds Her Home, the perfect antidote to this trap. It's a simple prescription to help us keep our eyes in the right place and, in so doing, to help us keep our hearts content with all that God has blessed us with. Here it is:

1. Ignore all the books, mags and ads that convince me I need to buy them in order to find out their secrets.

2. Focus my life, my mind and my heart on Christ.

3. Drown out all the voices that dictate what you and the children are "supposed to be doing"- (everyone seems to have a plan for our lives, don't they?), take your eyes off what your friends/neighbors are doing by not comparing and then reexamine false standards or high expectations you have made for yourself and your loved ones.

4. Pray and ask God to give me focus, ability and wisdom to prioritize my husband, children and home. Ask hubby for advice that He has to offer.

5. Expect for Him to answer in a powerful way and then....

6. Obey and listen to Him!

Sounds so simple, doesn't it?

Life is Good

I don't know if anyone is ever even checking this old, practically defunct blog anymore. I wouldn't imagine so, but if anyone ever happens to check in, I thought I'd give an update. After all, it's 3:15 and I'm up watching the Super Bowl. Not for the football, mind you, really for the commercials. After all, the only bowl my team (Denver Broncos) went to this year was the toilet bowl!! Anyhoo, this seemed like a good time to pop in and say hi to anyone who's still interested.

Since my last real substantial update, lots has gone on. We had a fabulous trip to Rome in November!! It was so nice to be in a place where you found something beautiful around every corner - a park, a fountain, a piazza, a church, something. We had a great time. Could have been a little bit better if the apartment's heat had been working since it was in the 40's but, hey, let's focus on the positive, shall we??

We had a nice Christmas break, during which we traveled to Abu Dhabi, just an hour south of Dubai. Hubby's sister lives there, so it was really nice to visit her and her family. Daniel really enjoyed visiting with his cousin of the same age and Emily got to participate in a youth retreat put on by Youth for Christ for kids from all over the Gulf region. We had a great time visiting Dubai, but the highlight for me was bookstores!!! We spent well over $200 at the Christian boostore (yippee!!!), and then stocked up at this amazingly huge bookstore we found in Dubai as well. That's one thing I really miss living here. Another great treat for us was some of our favorite restaraunts - PF Chang's, Wendy's, Taco Bell and more. Yummy!

Daniel got to participate in January in our middle school's Week Without Walls. 8th graders get to go to either Malaysia or Sri Lanka. Daniel chose Sri Lanka because it had more of a service element to it and involved more contact with animals. He had an amazing trip during which he worked to help refurbish a local primary school, visit an elephant orphanage and tour cultural sites all over the country. The highlight, though, was that leeches apparently got into his shoes and sucked his blood. Very cool stuff for a 13 year old boy!!!!!

Emily went to her winter formal also in January and looked so beautiful and grown up I thought I would cry. I can't believe that we only have another 2 years or so to have her in our nest before she'll be out on her own. It's been such a change to start relating to her as more of an adult than a child. Sadly, she had to learn some grown-up lessons last week when the mother of a friend passed away. The situation brought up so many conflicting emotions for her - how to deal with mortality, how to talk to the friend about it, and more. I'm so thankful that she's really built a good relationship with one of the school counselors, who's both a friend and neighbor. He spent a good deal of time talking to her since it happened, helping her process and deal with her emotions.

Overall, life is pretty darn good though. Emily is preparing for her spring break mission trip to Jordan again. The kids are doing well in school. We're looking forward to summer. I learned today that I'll have almost three months off, so we'll have a nice long visit home. We are considering spending some time looking at colleges while we are there. My mom and dad will be sick of us by the time we leave, we'll be at their house for so long!!

Thanks to those of you who have kept me on your "follow" list. I promise to try to get back to form soon!!

Whoo-Hoo!!!

I'm so happy about the way that the living room turned out!

I did end up second-guessing myself and going back and getting another paint color. But it didn't seem right either, so at the last minute, decided to go ahead and paint the first color. I'm so glad I did. It came out beautifully!! It's kind of a caramel color, and it looks so lush and rich. I just love it.

Hubby and I took some time to rearrange the room as well - moving artwork, furniture and plants around. We also put up some of that vinyl lettering you can buy with the pre-cut letters in different sayings. While I was in the States I picked up one that says, "Live. Laugh. Love." It's looks so nice up against the rich color. Now it looks like a pulled together room rather than just a place we just moved into and haven't really worked on. I'm so happy!

Pictures will follow when I figure out how to get them out of the camera!! (Hubby's still home, so hopefully later today!)

I'm Back with a Quick Update

Moving to another blog site seemed to be the right thing at the time, but it just never felt like "home." So here I am, back at my bloggy home. I'm not making any promises about the frequency that I'll be posting, or that my posts will instantly revert to dispensing of wisdom and tons of homemaking advice. Life is still the same with me over here - still working, still struggling to make it all work, but here I am.

Here's a quick run-down of what's going on in my life to get you all caught up:

1) Those of you who followed my workplace drama during my early days of working might be relieved to know that it's really turned out very well. Over the summer I received a promotion which was designed by my new boss to really let me know how valuable he considers me. It's really helped me be happier with being there.

2) It's September 9 and it's still 115 degrees outside during the day. Ugh!

3) Emily seems to have really blossomed and settled in here finally. This is a huge answer to prayer.

4) We had an excellent vacation in the US over the summer. 4 weeks in Tucson, 2 weeks in Miami. A great time of re-connecting with friends and family, not to mention experiencing all the little things that make American "home."

5) Today is the last day of Ramadan. This month long period of fasting and reflection for Muslims has quite an impact on the lives on non-Muslims living here as well. Hubby has been lucky enough to finish work each day at 12:30, the kids finished school at 2:30. Everything runs on different times to accommodate the day-time fasting fatigue which most Muslims struggle with.

6) However, tomorrow is the first day of Eid. This comes with a week off school for the kids and I (actually we've been off since Wednesday), and four days off for Hubby. Restaurants will resume regular hours, as will stores, I can drink a bottle of water in the car, and I won't have to hide my fruit or glasses of water at my desk.

7) During this week off, we are going to be painting the living room. Hubby painted our dining room a gorgeous red while the kids and I were back in the U.S. over the summer, and we painted the kids' rooms the weekend after we got back and now it's time for the living room. I'm a little nervous about the color I've gotten to be honest. I couldn't find the paint chip I had selected when it was time to buy, so I tried to pick the same one there, but now that it's home and the paint chip has been found, it's quite different from what I chose. I'm debating whether I should just try it out or waste the paint (which is pricier than it is in the States) and go back and get what I really want.

8) Did I mention there are TWO Eids? Yes, that's right, there's an Eid holiday now and another one in 40 days. So in November, we are off for our first big family vacation (to somewhere other than visiting family) to. . . . . . ROME!!!! Yep, that's right - we are going to the Eternal City. I've rented us a great 2 bedroom apartment smack dab in the middle of the historical center of Rome, just blocks from both the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. The Coliseum will be within walking distance. I was in Rome a long time ago with a friend and I'm so looking forward to going back!!

9) And in December we get three weeks off for our winter break (Heaven forbid we call it Christmas break!!), we are planning on driving to Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Yes, this means we will be once again driving through Saudi Arabia, but this time it will only be a matter of hours rather than days. We'll be staying with Hubby's sister who lives in Abu Dhabi, but the really exciting part is going to Dubai. We can't wait to try the indoor ski slope!!

10) My current reading list is: Crazy Love, by Francis Chan; The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold; Just Take My Heart, by Mary Higgins Clark; and a quick re-read of Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women, by Geraldine Brooks (for the book club I'm joining this fall). Quite a variety!

So that's it. Life is good right now. It's good to be back.

Moving Again!

No, we aren't leaving Doha.  

(Shucks!)

I've just decided that it's time for me to leave The Simple Life at Home behind.  It's just not what I had originally envisioned anymore and I don't know how to make sure that I'm not disappointing people who come here looking for something that I can no longer offer here.  

But if you are interested in just little ol' me and my life here in Qatar, feel free to join me at my new home, Middle East Mama.  It will be more personal, more about my life now.  I still hope to offer the occasional bit of wisdom, delicious recipe and more, but I'm not going to feel obligated to.  And that will make all the difference.  I'm hoping that this move helps get me back to loving blogging again, rather than feeling guilty if I don't post often enough or am able to dispense wisdom from on high.

I'd love to see you there!!!