Sweeeet Home Alabama!

Nearly two weeks ago, my family left Saudi Arabia. Our adventure was cut short due to problems that had been developing for months with our employers, the countries newly enforced laws and our safety. Although it was sad to say goodbye to our close family members and friends, it was necessary.

Ideally, I would have waited until July, however, I realized that there was no need for me to continue looking for confirmations. I had confirmations and needed to just do it-and I did. I can't argue with God's timing. I have no regrets! Being back in America is absolutely amazing!.

While we were still in Saudi Arabia, everything back in the US just fell into perfect place. A house came onto the market, just weeks before....and it was nearby my parents! This house is just perfect, I must say-it's like it was tailor made just for us. It came with a dishwasher, stove, refrigerator, washer, dryer, nice carpet and perfectly chosen painted walls in each room! We have a huge back yard, front yard and empty lot to the side of us. Most people in the US do have most of the above, but to me, I now think of them as luxuries and blessings! In Saudi Arabia, I washed all the dishes by hand, I hung all the clothes to dry and we had no yard or patch of grass anywhere close to our home!

Just yesterday, we got a new SUV....well, its older than my 2nd and 3rd child....but it looks new! It has new tires, leather interior and is just perfect for us!

This past week, the kids went to VBS and they all made good friends and are so excited to start school with them in the Fall!

We also just adopted 4 cute little orange kittens. They are so tiny and just 5-6 weeks old, so the kids are learning to take care of them and they are giving them so much love. They stay outside and have so much room to play!

I set up our cable, internet, car insurance and other necessary bills. I changed our address and phone number as staying in Alabama will most likely become long term. The kids love it here and appreciate it so much more than I did when I was a child. I am so impressed at how well they have adapted and made new friends so quickly. As a said, everything has fallen into perfect place!

What Happens When You Vacation BACK to the US from Saudi Arabia?

Image via www.carseatblog.com 

First of all, how was it possible that we all were able to come back to the US for a mini-vacation? We have only been in Saudi Arabia for 6 months. My company was so generous and thoughtful to give me and the kids’ airline tickets to visit the US. During the month of November, I had a bit of a “culture shock” melt down and I think my boss agreed that I just needed a little break to refresh and recharge.

Before we flew out, each family member stated what we needed to stock up on when we got back to the US. Other than being with and enjoying our family, our other mission was to load up on the things that were either too expensive or too hard to find in Saudi.

The “stocking-up” began with my brother taking the kids to Wal-Mart. Not just a regular Super Wal-Mart, but a miniature regular sized small town Wal-Mart. His trip with them took over an hour  2 hours! My brother let them buy whatever they wanted and it was just so funny to see the random things that they chose to buy (based on the things that they must have missed the most).

Our youngest son bought:
·         Chocolate donuts and beef jerkey
·         Angry bird game and watch
·         Trident ice-cream flavored gum –and a
·         12 pack of Capri Sun drinks!

Our daughter bought:
·         US Weekly magazine
·         Press on finger-nails complete with art designs
·         12 pack of HUGS juice drinks –and a
·         Mini-video camera

Our oldest son bought:
·         Beef Jerkey
·         gum and candy
·         A remote control helicopter

While the kids were going crazy at the little Wal-Mart, the hubby and I were hoarding items at the Super Wal-Mart in the next city over.

Here is what we (mostly me) bought:
·         5 boxes of Cold-brew Lipton Iced Tea bags
·         5 tubes of Burt’s Bee’s chapstick
·         5 automatic eye-liners (self-sharpening)
·         My favorite shampoo and conditioner
·         Tomato bouillon cubes
·         Goldfish snacks and Cheez-itz      
·         Chili powder (to make home-ade chili with)
·         Ranch Dressing mix
·         Creamy peanut butter-3 jars
·         Grits (oh, how I missed them!)
·         4 bottles of makeup foundation, powder, eye shadow and lipstick
·         Tampons
·         Saltine crackers
·         Loads of kids Tylenol chewable tablets and chewable Pepto Bismol tablets
·         Socks for the boys

Things I forgot to bring back L  (dang it! why didn’t I think of that while I was there!)
·         Chef Boyardee Ravioli
·         Neosporin
·         Bengeit mix (not available, sadly)
·         Hot Tamales candy
·         Bubble-icious-gum

After our major splurging trip, we made sure to eat at our favorite places throughout the week. We went to: Larry’s BBQ-twice, Cracker Barell, Captain D’s, McDonald’s (for breakfast), IHOP, Chick-fil-A and Olive Garden. Stores we (me) got carried away in were: Old Navy, Bath & Body Works, JCPenny, Dillards, WAL-MART, Target, Barnes & Noble, Michael’s, Kohl’s and several shoe stores.

I was sure to also bring back many children’s books, Beth Moore and Joel Osteen studies, a mini-Christmas tree for each child, new clothes and shoes for the whole family, magazines and my Keurig coffee maker!

Of course there were more high-lights of our trip, but the best ones of all were spending time with friends and family that we hadn’t seen in years!