Mosque.....

We love Fridays here. It's a day of rest and gathering for Muslims.  A day where most things are closed until early afternoon.  It's a day where families get together for big Friday afternoon dinners.  It's a day where you can take a long nap.  It's a day that sort of reminds me of Sundays at home.

This past Friday we were invited to lunch with some friends at their house in Dubai.  As we were pulling into their neighborhood, we saw this beautiful mosque.  Note: we see A LOT of mosques here. I mean, we're in a Muslim country.  They're in every neighborhood....or there could be 4 of them.  Sometimes I don't even notice them anymore when we're driving, especially if they're pretty small.

But I noticed this one.  It had a different flare about it. I felt like we stepped into Morocco or some other part of Arabia for a minute when we saw the design of the mosque.

The women don't always get to peak inside especially if it's not a mosque where a lot of tourists go.  It was after the Friday prayer time so it was pretty quiet. I took a quick peak in and saw the sun shining right through the front windows.

 

Does this picture portray how quiet it was inside?  

It was silent and the carpet is always so comfortable. 

Remember that Friday nap I talked about?  Yeah, well it was calling my name right about then. 

We enjoyed some grilled fish for lunch with our friends.  It is called the Fish of the Sheikhs.  

Since I'm pretty much like a Sheikha, I enjoyed it just like one of the Sheikhs would have.

With my fingers and rice. Then I held it up for the camera. Just like a Sheikh would have.    

Match made in heaven.....

 

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TERRY!

(That's what they call him here and I like to blend in with the culture, so I call him Terry now, too:)  

On Sunday we celebrated 7 years.  What did we do?  Go to work and then I went to the pool and he went to soccer.  That's how we roll around here.  

Those things keep us sane which keep our marriage happy.  

But we took off today to celebrate by running errands. Isn't that romantic? 

Actually to me it is. Trey doesn't love to run errands especially when it's 1 million degrees outside.

But today he did. We went and picked out fabric so that I can make 2 summer dresses I've had my eye on.  I'll update you on that later this week. 

This kid is always doing things to make me laugh or shake my head.....

but we always have an adventure.  Can't complain that life has been boring.

Who knew I would have lived in 2 separate countries by now...except God.  

 Trey insists that he didn't.  Should I believe him?  His mom warned me

but I didn't take her advice.

Here's to 7 + 7 + 7 + however many more God has for us years of marriage. 

Tea for two.....

"Perhaps that is the true gift of a teatime celebration: It fills our cups with joy and warmth and friendship. May the echo of the teacups' message be heard not only at Christmas, not only on special occasions, but anytime friends come together."~Emilie Barnes, "A Cozy Christmas Tea"

 On Saturday we hosted an Afternoon Tea for friends.  The art of special occasions such as these seems to have disappeared with the invention of Starbuck's where you run to grab your coffee and eat a pastry that has been sitting in the cabinet for a day. 

  A tea is a good time to act like the lady of all ladies!  Bust out that cute dress, apply the make up, put on a set of pearls and toss on a hat.  

My mom hosts a tea party every fall and she passed along some dainty tea cups along with good ideas on how to host a tea.  A while back my mom and aunt gave me special serving dishes that I could use for an occasion such as this.  We used jams out of a fancy schmancy jam dish, ate chocolate mousse out of antique clear glass dishes and served up scones an old fashioned cake plate.  We combined those things with .25 cent spoons from a local dollar store, hand-me down glasses and a fake lace tablecloth from a local grocery store.....but it all worked!

Preparing for the party, setting the table and making tea sandwiches is just as fun as 

having the party itself.

Who can eat scones without clotted cream and raspberry jam?  I was dreaming about 

this stuff when I went to bed that night--not really but THAT is how good it was.

Since it's about 1 million and 10 degrees here (really only 120F) we thought

welcoming our guests with a glass of iced peach tea was a good idea.  It was.  

They liked it and so did we. 

Our friend Beth has a LARGE collection of books at her home.  

She brought a book along about the Titanic.  She read about tea time on 

the Titanic and the typical menu for First, Second and Third Class on the ship.

 It was the perfect addition to our tea time.

 

And here are your hostesses.  Beth also has a LARGE collection of hats. 

She was an opera singer so she had all sorts of parties and such to attend.

Boy we had fun going through them and trying on all different styles!

Nothing like a large brimmed hat to wear to a tea.  We were having a 

hard time getting the picture because we kept knocking hats and THAT

is a big NO NO in hat etiquette, apparently. 

We'd love to have you for tea. Just let us know when you're coming. 

We'll prepare the clotted cream and jam.

It's my party......

Last week I celebrated 33 years. It was a great day and enjoyed a party at work along with a party in the evening at the home of friends.  Min made 2 great chocolate cakes with espresso icing and my office buddy decorated our office and had everyone put on party hats when I walked into work in the morning.

Our hostess in the evening made this fabulous chicken corn chowder that I love and made it a very special evening.   Our hosts surprised me with some good friends at the party (I thought it was just going to be us) and the table was set so nicely.  It was the perfect way to spend a birthday.  I enjoy being in a home more than going out to a restaurant. 

Also, a friend from Oman brought me silk fabric to make a dress with.  People here will go buy fabric and get their dresses made.  I have to find a design I like and get working on that.  I want to be able to wear it for Eid (the holiday that follows Ramadan) for visiting our local friends.  I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

Lebanon......

Last week we were in Lebanon for a conference.  We were able to travel around to a few sites in Lebanon and had a great time enjoying good food, friends and the Lebanese lifestyle.

The Lebanese remind me of Italians. They are relaxed in their attitude, love good food and enjoy life.  I think I could live there! 

We went out to the Eastern part of the country to a place called Baalbek. Unbelievable temples that are rather well preserved and huge!

We were on our way back to our hotel from Baalbek through the mountains (ski area) and stopped in this little town for lunch.  It was family owned and the mother of the family (maybe she was 80 years old) was sitting outside enjoying the weather.  She gave us apples from her tree and made us coffee in her house.  We also ate in the restaurant. She was so sweet and I would have loved to sit with her for hours.

 We went to the Hariri mosque and enjoyed shopping in the downtown area of Beirut.

We never saw this before. This is sheesha/argila/hookah (whatever you call it in your country) that was put into a pineapple and watermelon. I never saw that before.  I wonder how it makes the tabacco taste?

Welcome to the world.....

This post is a little later than it should be, but the pictures came in

while we were in Lebanon last week. We became an uncle and auntie!

Trey's sister Jessica and her husband Jeziel had their first baby last week.

Welcome to the world Jeziel Miguel Gonzalez Jr. --a.k.a. JJ

They are doing well but little JJ is a bit jaundice.

He wears this special glow blanket which is supposed to help bring his

numbers down.  Which numbers you ask? 

Well if I could spell it, I would give you the medical term.  But since I have no idea what I'm talking about in the medical world........  we'll just say the billi----number. 

It sounds like 2 names put togther --Billy and Ruben.  Maybe that is how

they came up with it.  2 boys named Billy and Ruben had

high numbers.  So instead of some super techincal medical term, they decided to just

use their names and call them the BillyRuben numbers. 

And if that is NOT how they came up with it,

well then they should have because it's a pretty good theory.

Under Construction.....

So I am changing up the blog a bit. I was getting bored with it and decided that a makeover of the blog would be an exciting way to make the hot summer days pass.

Now I'm wondering what you think about it.  Did you like the old title better?  I love the American colors....maybe because I'm away from it.  You know absence makes the heart grow fonder. 

So what do you think?  If you have a better title, please shout it out!  I'm willing to give it a whole new look.