Party Animals.com

Sorry for being absent friends.  We have been busy having fun.  We are now in the Doha party scene.  I'm thinking about changing the website address to party_animals.com.

On Friday we experienced the Qatar water park for the first time.  It was epic.  We got nice and pruney relaxing in the lazy river and the slides had no lines!  You read that correctly, no lines people.  Heavenly.  The only obstacle between us and the amazing slides were about 100 stairs.  But the stairs were worth the fun, although my glutes are still burning. 















(One of those arms is mine and one is Jonathon's.  I don't have one hairy arm.)

Today is our anniversary.  Happy anniversary to us!  We started celebrating early and enjoyed cirque du soleil last night.  Neither of us had seen a show before and were pleasantly surprised.  I wish I had a trampoline, incredible arm strength, and didn't get dizzy.

With 48 months of marriage under the belt, we have learned that laundry doesn't wash itself and trash doesn't walk to the curb.  We have learned not to sweat the little things, but that some days the little things make all the difference.  It doesn't matter what you say if you say it in the wrong tone.  Fights can quickly escalate and communication is powerful.  We have learned that dreaming together surpassing dreaming alone. 

We have so much more to learn.  We have no clue what we are doing, but may we continue to be stronger as a team than as individuals. 

Happy birthday Aunt Gracie.  Party extra for us.

And We Ate

We shawarmaed this week, and we shawarmed hard.  Don't look it up, just true me.  Shawarmed is (not) a word.

We have friends moving in a month, so we are embarking on a serious mission.  They must show us all their favorite restaurants in Doha with limited time.  We must eat delicious meal after delicious meal.  We have accepted this task with honor.

We are still not skilled consumers of Arabic food.  This confession saddens me, but I cannot tell the difference between Turkish, Armenian, Lebanese, and/or Gulf food.  In 11 months, all I have observed is that the hummus has a different consistency.  The only solution is to eat it ALL.

Jonathon discovered a Mexican buffet and we counted down the hours on Tuesday until our bellies were full of beans, tacos, and scrumptious guacamole.  When we get to Houston, no fajitas will be safe.  Not only did the restaurant have endless chips and salsa, it was super classy and the decor made us feel right at home.  One of us was more excited to take an awkward photo than the other.

Happy birthday Nancy!  We hope you have an amazing birthday full of smiles.  

Happy birthday to a outstanding guy and my ace brother.  Nate, I am very proud to have you as my brother.  We will be rejoicing in your honor.

September Happenings

I hope you all had a lovely Labor Day weekend.  I know most my posts are random, but this post is extra random.  Short story, it was a slow week on the home front and I have nothing better to post about.  Enjoy.

This past weekend we were out in the ocean and it started to feel like warm bath water.  Not pleasant.  The good news is that tropical birds started appearing in our backyard, so bird migration must mean that cooler weather is on the way.  The weather has been harder for me lately, because it is September so my mind is programmed to believe it should be cooling off.  In reality we have another month of heat.

I promise to stop complaining about the weather after one more jab (thanks Lindsey):

I haven't posted photos of the inside of our home, because I didn't know how much I wanted you guys to know.  Although, we now have some sweet accent walls and I'm feeling like a kick butt interior decorator.  The best time in your life to have red walls is in a home you don't own.  Call me if you need a room in your house to look extremely Middle Eastern.

Yes, we have heavy duty curtains to keep the blazing sun out and the coffee table is never actually in the center of the rug.

Since two reds walls didn't seem like enough, how about a teal wall?

It has taken me a while to write about the conflict in near areas, because I have been trying to piece together the words in an elegant and politically correct way.  But we all know that would take way too long, so here goes nothing.

We are surrounded by multiple counties in unrest and in the middle of wars.  But I feel no closer to the chaos than I did from my couch in Houston watching the news.  It sounds selfish to be so disconnected, but it is hard to imagine the disarray because we feel safe in Qatar.  Since I'm an engineer and extremely practical but not always emotional, I made you all a list.

Why we feel safe in Qatar:

      1. Qatari citizens are happy.

      2. Poverty does not exist among Qataris.  Qataris receive a stipend from the government, so the average income is high. 

      3. 95% of Qatari citizens are the same religion.  There are different forms of Islam.  In countries experiencing unrest, the population is usually split and tension occurs between different religions.

     4. The citizens and the government leaders observe the same religion.  Another reason for fighting in countries is because the government officials do not follow the same religion as the majority of community members.

We feel safe in Qatar, just a little hot and sticky right now.  Have a great weekend.

Alles Gute zum Geburtstag Christina.