Planes , Trains and automobiles

Here we go again, another school year has begun and we are still in Sand Land.  If you asked Brandt and I where we would be living 4 months ago this would not have been the answer.  However, we are true believers that everything happens for a reason so here we are.  It may not be our plan but we accept this and continue move forward with faith, hope and happiness.

All is good - kids are in school and life is as normal as can be here which we all know and have learned takes some doing that’s for sure.

Backing up a little - we spent the summer in Canada, well most of us did “some people” have to stay and work to pay for this life of planes, trains, and automobiles.   This summer the kids and I embarked on our 17th & 18th Transatlantic Flights in the last 3 years…never thought I would say that one.  Also in a matter of a month I was on 8 airplanes in 5 different airports from Germany to Vancouver, Calgary and San Francisco and Hawaii. And not to mention Brandt in the time span of two weeks did the same number of airports and in two days he went through a 15-hour time difference.  Talk about jet lag!  I am so grateful to be able to do these things.  It was really nice to spend an entire month in YYC so I could chill and stay in one-time zone for longer than a week. It was such a wonderful summer; I was able to connect with some friends from my “real life” that I miss so much!!!  

Life in Saudi has been lonely to say the least as we lost some of our close friends as they moved back home.  It really magnifies how temporary this life is.  We try so hard to make this place our home but It still feels like we are living in this alternate universe of “fake“ life just waiting for time to pass until we can go home.  So being in Calgary was much needed reality.  We spent a lot of time with family which I would love to pack in my 8 suitcases and bring with me.  Maybe next year we will live in the same time zone at least…lol.  

Speaking of luggage every year I swear I will bring back less and this year I definitely brought back different things but still A LOT!!!  People always ask what kind of things I bring back so here is a list some of them:

- 8kg Kraft Peanutt butter

- 4 Liters maple syrup

- 2 Containers Ranch Powder

- 50 pounds meat

- 2 liters of Fetta cheese

- 1kg Macadama nuts

- 6 bottles of spices

- peppercorns

- taco seasoning

- Cheezies

- Shampoo/conditioner

- 12 tubes of color

- 3 halloween costumes

- Prescriptions they don’t offer here

- 1 year supply of ibuprofen

- Bedding & pillows

- Cricut craft machine

- 2 large protein powder

- 5 bottles of vitamins

- water balloons

- school supplies

- pvc pipes for crafts

- 10lb weighted blanket (this was a fun one to carry through the airport)

- new clothes

- toys and Lego

So as you can see there was a little bit to bring back. The packing and weighting and plastic wrapping of 4 suitcases, 1 duffel bag and 2 boxes, plus 4 carry-on’s, 1 adult and 3 kids. Good times!  It’s so fun I was looking forward to getting on to the plane…NOT!  However, we were somewhat ready to come back as we had not seen Brandt in almost 6 weeks.

Expat life can be such a broad range of things from fancy and extravagant to using a garden hose for many things that it should not be …..Like washing your hair or doing your laundry.  But the other part that no one tells you about is the time apart as a family.  Being as the husband is in most cases the main worker and money maker in the family the mother and kids have more freedom to come and go as they please/need. In Brandt’s area of work days off are hard to come by and all the appropriate hoops have to be jumped through as with most oil & gas companies.  Brandt’s so-called vacation schedule got completely messed at the very last minute and we had to scramble in order to make the most of what he got.  It only left him with 2 weeks to come and vacation with us which sounds like a lot until you factor in the 4 days travel but that’s the life.  Basically, it meant that we were apart for 3 weeks then together with the kids for 4 days followed by adult vacation then back on plane for him so between June 8-aug10 he saw he kids for a grand total of 4 days.  Not my favorite part but that’s what we signed up for.  The temp in Saudi over the summer is between 40-50c so not really an option for the kids to be there and us to keep our sanity. 

Now to the positives of expat life! We have been back for a two weeks and I have not had to clean a bathroom or water the grass! Love that part and we are planning the next vacation(s)! Tracey’s are going Paris, and all are participating in their own runDisney race!  So it gives us all something to do to fill our time and goals to work towards even our oldest is doing the 5K race.  Super exciting! And it has been my daughters dream to see the Eifel Tower so as long as we don’t get lost on the train we will cross that one off the list!  Living here is definitely crossing some of those bucket list things off. 

So for the next year this is our goal - enjoy the simple life and cross some more boxes off.  So far we are planning Paris, more Disney, cruising and running a full marathon.  And so the adventure continues….

Picture Time:

Kawaii  , this is what a vacation looks like with out kids.  Peaceful and exhausting. We hiked a lot and enjoys the island . It was officially the most beautiful place we have ever been .  Blessing for sure to be able to do this one.

Street meat , or as we call it chicken  shawarma . Sliced and served in a pita with french fries and mayo.  Sounds weird but oh so good! I would post a picture of the outside but you would all judge me for feeding this to my family some things are just better not known.

Dessert tent  no need to say more...

Brandt spends some time on the rigs and this is his five star double ended trailer he gets to call home when ever he is there.  Fancy right! 

So when I

 said it was hot i meant really hot!!! that is 59 celsius , picture the surface of the sun and then add some wind ....so basically hell to put it blunt.

So here we go , adventure some more.....I promise to do better and post more exciting pictures of the wild world