Leaving on a Jet Plane...

We are currently holed up in our hotel- two adults, three kids, 10 pieces of luggage, 1 set of golf clubs, two laptops, five carry on bags, and menagerie of small stuffed animals. The room is a bit crowded, the kids are restless, Ariel and I are stressing out, but finally, FINALLY, we will be on our way to Cairo soon.

Our flight leaves tomorrow at 4 pm. Please, send prayers, well wishes, good vibes our way. We are going to need it!

Goodbye Texas, we will miss you. See you in Egypt!

Things I'm Going to Miss

In the middle of the chaos of our lives right now (living out of suitcases, eating out every meal gets old fast!) I've been thinking about all the things I'm going to miss about the States, specifically Texas since I've lived here my whole life. Here's my list so far (friends and family are not included- they're a given!)

1. Thunder storms
2. Target, HEB, and Dillard's
3. BBQ, Mexican food
4. Driving through south Texas (especially from about Edinburg to Three Rivers- that drive reminds me so much of McAllen, and my family, and my childhood).
5. The hill country
6. Dallas Cowboys and UT football
7. Whataburger and Luby's
8. walks around the neighborhood
9. the library

A Birthday and an Update

Happy 6th birthday to my Jacqueline! I can't believe how big you are! You are such a smart, silly, sweet, and gorgeous little girl. You are definitely a 'girly-girl'. Your idea of fun is dressing up, playing with dolls, dancing, and modeling. You have a terrific imagination- you dream about unicorns, ponies, and fairies. You think the world is magical and you have a heart of gold. Your Daddy and I always say how funny it is that you can be so fantastical but so logical as well. You amaze us with your problem solving and inquisitive mind. We love you!!!


In other news- we have a flight finally!!!! Yay! We leave for Cairo on September 28th from DFW.

Not to be Forgotten!

I realized yesterday that I forgot to mention something (someone!) very important in my last post.

Audie!

Audie, our 8-year-old cat, went off to live with my Mom in McAllen. Oddly enough, the girls, who usually pay poor Audie no attention, were devastated! They both cried and sobbed and begged for Audie's return. I was very surprised since they have never been too close to him, and Audie usually spends most of his time outside. But, as Ariel said, he was a part of our family since before they were born. We promised we'd visit him in the summers and when we return from Cairo he can come back and live with us.

Bye for now, Audie. We'll miss you. :-)

A Quick Update

We still do not have a move date. I have no words for this.

My Mom took the majority of our furniture yesterday. This includes our washer and dryer. :-0

Both girls birthdays are next week (they are exactly two years, one day apart). Where does the time go???

We are pretty much living out of suitcases now as we wait for our flight. I know this will get old real fast. I hope we leave soon!

A List

-We are still here in Texas. Waiting and waiting. Things seemed to be finally progressing along and then we hit another roadblock. HR in the states is waiting for a very important 'move notice' from HR in Egypt in order to proceed with the movers and flight booking. But, since Ramadan is coming to an end, Egyptians will be on Eid holiday from September 9-12th. So that is 4 more days of delays. ARGH.

-The kids are getting antsy and bored from having such a long summer vacation. Jackie and Julia re ready to get back to school and I am counting the days too! Ha.

-Even though we have rid ourselves of so much stuff we still have so much stuff! How is it possible to collect so much stuff??? There is no end in sight.

-Jacob is talking a bunch now. It is really cute and very funny. He strings together lots of words to make sentences and is very good at making conversation that is actually in context. He is also super silly and very rough! I am not used to all this boy energy.

Whirlwind

Ariel returns from Cairo on Friday. The kids and I are so excited to see him after nearly 4 weeks but, I know from here on out it is go, go, go at breakneck speed. We have so many details to take care of and not enough time in the day. We also want to try and squeeze in some time to visit friends and family before we leave.

It is so surreal that in two weeks or so we will be living in another country (a whole other continent!)for the next three years. I just can't wrap my brain around the whole idea yet. We are trying to go into this whole experience with a positive outlook and hopefully we will learn a thing or two from our travels. I can't believe we are going on this journey!

Moving Across the World

Moving to another continent with three kids and a bunch of stuff is quite the undertaking. I am deep in the throes of packing and preparing for our big move. Moving is hard anywhere you do it but this whole moving-to-Egypt-in-a-month-thing really amplifies the whole process. The last few days my emotions have gone from stressed to excited to determined to tired to stressed again. I have to get rid of an entire house full of furniture, two cars, and a cat (who is going to live with my Mom in McAllen). We have had to get passports, travel vaccines, medical exams, and pre-departure health forms completed in the last few days. It has been a whirlwind and I know this is only the beginning of an exhausting few weeks. BREATHE, JOANA.

On a positive note, Ariel secured our apartment in CAIRO, EGYPT, PEOPLE!!! How crazy does that sound!???!! We ended up going with the smallest apartment but the landlord is fantastic and makes up for the size of the place. Also, Ariel will get a month of vacation off before the New Year and we have the option of flying home or somewhere else. Since Jackie will be in school most of December we are thinking of using the flights to go to Europe. How does Christmas in Italy sound??? :-)

Apartment Hunting Part 2

Ariel set out today again in a quest to find us an apartment. Today he met with two realtors who took him to look at 6 different apartments. Out of the 6 he thought 2 were pretty good, but honestly he didn't seem thrilled with any. He said they were fine but both had a few cons. We are both resigned to the fact that we are going to have to most likely settle on something because we won't find a perfect apartment.

On another note, I am starting to sort our things and get rid of unwanted items. I also need to sell a few big pieces of furniture. I'm getting so antsy for the move and as of now I am not fully stressed out but am feeling more anxious. I can't wait to be finally moved and settled. The next few months are going to be quite eventful!