Together Again

This is part of the family on my husband's side.

I know, I know. I have really neglected my blog since being back in America. There just isn't as many exciting things to post about here in the States as there are in Egypt, but, I just thought I'd post to let you know how life is going here.

We just made it through Christmas and New Years. Hard to believe it is 2012, isn't it? Well, it was our first Christmas in the States in 7 years, and it was the first Christmas in 6 years that all 5 members of our immediate family were all together. It was great! We have kids who have returned to the States from Egypt to finish their schooling, so over the years usually one or two of them have been in the States while we were in Egypt for Christmas. This year, our oldest would have been in Egypt had my husband not flown her back (as a surprise) for me and the whole family for Christmas. My husband, youngest son and I had not seen her for 6 months, but other family members, such as our middle son and extended family had not seen her for a year-and-a-half. I was the first one surprised on the night before Christmas Eve, and it was great to see the faces of all of the family as we showed up to their homes for all of the Christmas celebrations. Needless to say, there were more than a few tears shed.

Our daughter will be in Egypt until sometime in June because she is teaching 6th grade there in the school she attended while there. She will return and finish her University studies where she is pursuing a degree in Elementary Education. The sad thing is, we will be going back in July, and this time, we may return as "empty nesters". Our youngest will be a senior in high-school and will probably stay and graduate from the school his two older siblings graduated from. Please pray for our family, as this will probably be a very hard thing for us.

But for now, I am still relishing in the memories of a wonderful Christmas and New Years spent with the whole family and in the fact that I am so wonderfully blessed.

Life in the States (So far)

Attending a special wedding when we first got back to the States. The bride and groom are friends who met in Egypt, and all of the people here are people we know from Egypt who are from the States and actually made the trip to Houston, Texas for the wedding.

Our son (on the far left) with some of his friends from Egypt at the wedding.


It has been a long time since I last updated my blog. I guess the excuse I could use is that we have been really busy just getting settled. It has taken a while to feel like we are finally settled, and sometimes, I still get that "unsettled" feeling.

We have spent the majority of the last 10 years in Egypt, so really, Egypt is where we feel like "home" is. We returned to the States around the 1st of July, and stayed with my in-laws till the 1st of September, when the house we were moving into opened up. We had most of our furniture, but we did have to start searching for bedroom furniture for our bedroom, as well as our son's bedroom. That did not take too long thanks to Craigslist. We found 2 beautiful sets in no time. There were some other small purchases we had to make, but we are mostly settled now.

Our youngest son, who is a junior this year, is doing well and enjoying his new school experience here in the States. He has gone to a small private school in Egypt since the 1st grade. The school he is attending here in the States is small according to people here, but it is quite large to Levi. He is getting to experience lots of new things, such as playing on a school soccer team, being in the school chess club, choir, and worship band. What is kind of funny though, is that one of the things our son is most excited about is that he has a study hall. In all his years in his school in Egypt he has never had a study hall, and he is thoroughly enjoying having that extra time to work on his homework.


Our son participating in Spirit Week at his new school. The picture above is from "Mime Day", and the picture below is from "Nerd Day."

There are other things going on in our lives here and many things we are adjusting to, but more about those things later. I hope to keep my blog updated more as we are getting more settled and adjusting to life while back in the States.

A Trip to the Salon

Since being back in the States, I have made a couple of trips to the salon. Once for a slight trim and low-lights, and once for a manicure and pedicure. The prices for things here are much higher than they are in Egypt. I get a cut for about $5.00 there, compared to $18.00 here, and the manicure and pedicure there would cost me around $3.50 (total) compared to $20.00 here. Now, I have to admit I go to a Cosmetology school and have the manicure and pedicure done because I refuse to pay what you would normally pay in a normal salon.

I have gone to the same guy in Egypt for about 8 years. His name is Osama. He is a really nice guy and speaks excellent English. That is one of the reasons I go to him. I speak Arabic pretty well, but my hair is not something I want to be misunderstood on.

This is Osama.

Also, I have become very good friends with some of the women who work there doing manicures, pedicures, etc. It was really nice because a couple of months before we came back to the States, we moved to an apartment that was within walking distance from my salon. This made it nice for me to just be able to pop in on them and visit.