No cake or premeditated assult talk today, just me and my crazy overthinking and overanalyzation of EVERYthing!

I wont lie, today’s blog is going to be long. I can compare it to my last semester of college when I had to read 10 grueling chapters of international politics the night before the final. Do you see where we are going with this post?

So, now that I’ve warned the world about my long post and have permitted myself to write as write as much as I want, I have no idea where to begin! The thoughts are there, but all jumbled. Its amazing that I went to college to learn how to talk to people, but there are times when I feel like I am speaking an entirely different language! (especially with guys, ie: Will)

I’m in a predicament that needs an unbiased outsiders opinion…

I believe networking can be absolutely crucial when trying to get a job, especially a first “real“ job. Like everyone else, I think its important to put your best foot forward and develop relationships with those you may work for some day. However, I always get a little hacked when I see people get things just because of who they are. I know that is how things are done sometimes, be it right or wrong, but I always frown on it.

My family has been totally encouraging during my sit around the house all day and watch reruns of everything that flopped in the States time. My dad always keeps an ear out for new job postings and has submitted my resume to a couple to people a while back. My dad and I are a lot alike in the sense that we want to do everything “by the books-“ no special treatment, so I told him not to really push people about my working there to the point they get irritated.

When we got over here, Human Resources told my dad that they don’t hire any married woman under the age of 23 because it is a Kuwaiti law. What a mess. So I am sitting here thinking I will be a barefoot, in a moo-moo, curlers in my hair, eating gobs of peanut butter on double stuff oreos until my next birthday (I was pretty dramatic when we found out). Well, to be sure, my dad called a lawyer that works at the embassy just so we would know, and so I could look elsewhere if it were true. Well, it turned out that it wasn’t a law at all and just sort of something that the company has adopted over the years. They have been through so many different people that it just became “law“ over time.

Well, my dad wrote a letter to a lady in HR just to let her know that I was in the country (which makes everything a lot easier) and available to work. I guess that made her mad and she wrote my dad back and said he was showing favortism and this and that. It wasn’t the case at all. There were no innuendos (or however you spell that) or anything that should have caused her to get mad. It just said that I was living here and if she needed to hire anyone, he had my resume. But anyway…

Having the information from the lawyer has opened a whole other can of worms because I really don’t want my dad to go to the head of HR and tell her that they are wrong and its not a law and blah blah blah (not that he would do that, its just a fear I guess). I just don’t want to be seen as the boss’ daughter who got a job because of him. Nothing has happened to give truth to my feelings, but I’m sure people on the other may feel otherwise. I have this fear that when I do get a job I will be walking into it with people upset at me. Am I making any sense at all!? I hope so. There are a lot of things that probably need to go in the middle, but I don’t want to get even more confusing.

Okay, all of that mess leads me to my current situation. My dad is one of the managers at the company where everyone (my family) works. Every month the managers plan a get together for the wives and their families. Well, my dad signed Will and I up to go along. They are taking a boat trip out to this small island for the day. The guys are going to fish, and the ladies are going to do whatever “grown-up“ ladies do. It sounds like it would be a good chance to get out and see stuff, but I just don’t know about going. Everyone that is going is really nice (or so I’ve hear) and have been asking about me, and all of the people that I am paranoid will dislike me won’t be there anyway. I think it would be a really good time fore me to meet the other managers and give them a person to put with the resume, but I’m just unsure.

One of the guys my dad works with has a daughter that is my age that works for another company in Kuwait. She is going too. It would be so nice to have a friend here, which is another reason I would like to go.

I guess that is my situation. Do I want to get on the boat or remain a land lover this weekend? I think- just from sitting here and getting all of my feelings out- that I am leaning towards going. People are going to think what they want no matter what. Plus my mom and Will both work at the same company and no one has said anything to them besides a few jokes to my mom about my dad having wasta (Kuwaiti word for power). I worry and overanalyze everything (as if you didn’t already know).

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Assuming you are not crying tears of boredom or nodding off, I am going to go on to my next subject! I put up some pics of my first few weeks in Kuwait! I was really excited about getting them. You’ll have to go check them out and see what I see everyday. There are NO camels in these pictures! In fact, I haven’t seen a camel since I’ve been here. I think they are all out in the desert. I’ve heard they have camel races somewhere in the city, which I think would be kind of cool to go see. I though I got more pictures of the interesting Kuwait scenery than I actually did, so next time I will have to try and get more of those.

Ahhh, on to the lighter side of my life. Before we moved I was addicted to the Food Network. It was my favorite channels (goofy, I know). I haven’t quite figured out why I enjoy watching people cook things that I never will, but there is something mesmerizing about the whole process (this is coming from the girl that has literally cooked a cookbook- I’m not lying) So, I have convinced myself I love cooking and have the potential to be a good cook. I decided that despite the fact that I am an unwilling “SAHW,” I should sieze the opportunity and become a better cook (Scary thought). I think (and my family would probably agree) that I have been promoted from “rookie” status to rookie in waiting.

Yesterday I made a really yummy dinner that I want to share! For all of you almost professional cooks this is just boxed mac and cheese or something, but I was still excited that Will liked it. He is always encouraging with my cooking but also honest. He will always tell me what he thinks about my cooking when I ask- which has probably gotten him in trouble with me from time to time. Will is a really picky eater and he loved dinner last night, so that was a plus. He even said he wanted me to make it again for his birthday- this is coming from the guy that is addicted to eating out.  These chicken and rice burritos are soooo easy (I made it for cryin’ out loud) and they sit in the crockpot all day which is another plus. Here it is:

*1 pound of skinless chicken breasts cut into strips

*1 can of green enchilada sauce

*1 large green pepper cubed

* about 3 tablespoons of water

* 2 cups of instant rice

* 1 small onion chopped (I’m not a big onion fan so I used the minced flakes)

*tortillas

*whatever else you like on burritos- we used sour cream, cheese, and tomatos

* Place the chopped onion and pepper at the bottom of crockpot. Add water. Place chicken on top and pour the enchilada sauce over everything. Cook on low 6-7 hours. 5 minutes before serving, add rice (it should absorb all of the liquid and cook up fast). Serve with tortillas and toppings!

What a Martha Stewart! bet you didn’t guess I’d throw in a recipe today. Thanks for working through my many thoughts today! Hope your Monday is a lot less complicated than this post!

The other day my mom, sister, and I were sharing a piece of carrot cake that we had gotten after lunch. This cake is my sole focus. It has my full attention. Nothing is going to get in the way of me and this cake. I turn into an entirely different person when it comes to sharing dessert. The lion in me comes out. It’s like an aniamal eating her young or something- you may see me on Animal Planet one day. Its like I have a time limit or something, and I not only have to eat the fastest but I have to eat the most. It’s quite entertaining for onlookers I would imagine. The way I see it, everyone is on their own when it comes to sharing a dessert in this family.

So I’m elbowing my sister for more fork room and proceed to tell them how great cream cheese frosting is on carrot cake. I then go on this two minute tangent about how every year Brian (Will’s brother) has a red velvet cake for his birthday and how great cream cheese frosting is on red velvet cake. “Everytime I eat it I sit and try to figure out what flavor red velvet is. I just can never figure it out!”

My mom and sister simultaneously put their fork down, look at eachother, and start laughing. “It’s chocolate cake with red food coloring, britt!” No way! It can’t be! I never think,” This tastes like chocolate” when I eat red velvet. Will someone help me decipher the flavors I experience! AGH!

So anyway, when Will gets home my mom tells me to go ask him (who has no concept of cooking) what red velvet is. “Chocolate cake with lots of red food coloring.”

I feel so deceived! What’s up with that!? What’s the point? You add a fancy name and red food coloring to a simple chocolate cake and it becomes an entire different entity!

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Anyway, I didn’t feel like creating a whole new post for the unexciting events to proceed, so I thought I would just attach them to my ramblings of cream cheese frosting and superficial chocolate cake.

We didn’t end up going to the Contiki because it opened at 7 and we were hungry by 5:30. We ended up going to the Hard Rock Cafe. It was the coolest I had ever seen. Its an all glass pyramid, so you have an incredible view no matter where you are. Its right on the gulf, so it was really pretty.

Friday wasn’t much more eventful. My mom ended up having to work because her boss had a heart attack , so it was a lazy day. It was “take your family to work day” for me! Ha Ha. They were able to see all of the exciting and wonderful things I do while I am here “at work” and they are gone (really working).

I am bracing myself for my little sister’s finale to school and her constant company this summer. This sounds silly, but I have a system and schedule down while I sit here and do nothing and wait for a job. I have a feeling my system is going to need a little tweaking with her here… a LOT of tweaking I should say. I think my whole plan is going out the window as we speak.

She is my best friend. I’ve known her her entire life for cryin’ out loud! However, I have a feeling we are going to kill eachother. I forsee many entertaining blogs on the way about being locked in an apartment with my 15 year old sister. Cabin Fever in the air? I think it’s already hit. Hard.

I am already having visions of the many arguments we will have over the computer- our only access to outside life form! I wouldn’t even know people live in Kuwait if it wasn’t for going out on the weekends! Computer sharing will be interesting.  I think it is going to become the thorn in our sides. Shes already made comments about being on it all day, so it am biting my tounge. For now blood in my mouth is better than her blood on the floor. I hope its not that bad. I like my sister and would feel bad about locking her on the balcony so I can maintain my schedule. ha ha

Enough about my uneventful past few days.

I got my pictures developed and they turned out great! My dad is going to scan them for me today, so I should have them up tomorrow or the day after!

Better get going. Happy Saturday. <3

Yesterday turned out to be a good day and a nice start to our weekend.

My mom had the day off because they changed up her schedule this week, so that was nice. She recently got her license over here so we were able to get out and about.  We picked my sister up early from school and went out to lunch. Afterwards, we went to the Sultan Center, similar to Walmart, and did some grocery shopping. There were a lot of westerners there, so it was nice. It just feels more like home when you get a friendly hello from a westerner. My mom says that most of them get up really early on Thursday or Friday (our weekend) and go grocery shopping to beat the rush (which is when my parents usually go), so she was surprised to see so many people out.

My mom did a good job driving- we didn’t even get lost! It is very easy to get lost here because very few roads are marked. You want to know something else really strange? They don’t have a phonebook! Talk about going crazy! I have no access to any phone numbers here. You want to find a doctor or make a hair appointment or call for pizza? Good luck. You just have to hope your heiress (kind of like a apartment concierge) has a good list of numbers. Anyway, I got a little sidetracked, moving on…

Will got home later that afternoon and we were able to sit and just talk about how I was feeling. He really needs my support during this time- hes working really long hours, away from his family, etc.- and I haven’t really been sensitive to that. It will be a lot earier to spend time together once we get our own place, but that may take longer than we expected. One good thing is that Will got his license yesterday, so going on dates and just being together on weekends will be a lot easier. I felt a lot better after we laid everything on the table and I listened to how I could be a better encourager about the things we can’t change (like living with my parents and the lack of time to ourselves).

Today was a lazy day. We got Showtime, which is like a better cable network here. It can’t be much worse, thats for sure. They have the BBC food channel and E!, so I am thinking I hit the jackpot. I finished my book. It turned out to be pretty good. I think I will get a few more online and hope the shipping doesn’t take forever.

I think we are going to go to the Contiki tonight( I have no idea how to spell that). It is a fancy Polynesian place. Its in one of the hotels here. Its a part of this awesome wooden ship. I guess Kuwait is or was (I’m not really sure) famous for making huge wooden ships. Our restaurant isn’t in the ship, but I’m hoping to get to go in and check it out.

I’m not really sure what the plan is for tomorrow. Hal, the man who leads my parent’s bible study, mentioned changing things up for a while. I guess everyone that goes to the study but our family is going to work 12 hour days 7 days a week until Camp Doha is closed. The closing of Camp Doha is a REALLY long story. In short: after the Gulf War, the US agreed to keep their base open there for 10 years. The contract will be up at the end of this year and the Kuwaitis do not want to renew it because it is on a really lucrative piece of land- a port that they are hoping to turn into a hub. They want to develop one of the islands off the coast into a major tourist spot- kind of like Dubai- that premits drinking and gambling, etc. (which is ironic since their government is adamantly against those things). Anyway, Doha is going to be the hub for boats to take people to and from the island. So, everyone is having to move to other camps in Kuwait. Now, why did I feel the need to write all of that whey I really only had the intention of talking about a hiatus on Bible study? Who knows.Anyway, I am hoping we will figure something out. I think it is good for us all to get together, just for accountability and time to be with friends.

No other exciting news to report (not that what I said was exciting by any means ). 

Guess I better get going for now- I think I am going to get my eyebrows threaded. Ever heard of it? Neither have I and I am terrified of what they are going to do. No one waxes here, so this thread thing will be interesting…

My roll of film is done, so I should get them developed and have some picture up by the middle of next week, that way people will believe me when I tell them its not all camels and dirt.

should probably put a disclaimer on this post before I begin: today’s thoughts are about 60% PMS emotion and about 40% true, deep down unwavering core feelings.

Having said that, I miss Will. Our life has been totally different than what we are used to. Back home, our schedule was something most couples dream of. Will had Friday off ,and I was done with my classes and work by 11 so we had the entire day to spend together. Then we had all of saturday, and even though church was considered work for Will, we still had the afternoons off together before we had to go back for evening service. I miss the convenience of meeting up for lunch and his ability to take an hour off here and there throughout the month. And who could forget our long evenings of guiltless TV watching and Madden playing.

I knew things would be different when we moved here- going from having something similar to a 3 day weekend at home to working 4 10 hour days and getting up at 3:45 to get ready for work. That’s a pretty different schedule than what we were used to.

Will and I got in a tiff the last few nights this past week because I feel like I never get to see him. Our schedule is like: he gets home close to 6, we eat, are up for about an hour and a half and try to be in bed by 8:30 or maybe 9. As I have referred back to DOZENS of times, I am a time person, and without going in to The Five Love Languages mechanics for the upteenth time, that is how I feel the most close to Will. So, time has become quite a precious commodity around here. We’ve talked about it a lot the last few days, and as usual, Will was right (I hate that). One of the biggest barriers to us functioniong somewhat normally is the fact that we are still living with my parents. Our time has to be shared and divided up among 3 other people besides just us. We eat together, watch TV together, Will goes to work with them each morning. On top of that, they are constantly talking about work since it is a commonality they share. That leaves P and I to make up stupid stories about saving women in burning buildings just so they will relax and stop with the work talk all of the time. We are constantly surrounded by my family, which makes alone time about as common as a sleeting day in Kuwait. I love my family and I am SO grateful for the way they have just let us camp out here right now, but I am ready for us to get our own place because I think that will greatly help with the few hours we are able to spend together.

I’m sorry for whining and “poor Brittny” talking, but this is quite a big change for me, and being alone all day in the same scenery has not helped (as a side note I started a great book by Taylor Smith called, Liars Market).

Thats it for now. Lucky for me, will gets off at 3 on wednesdays we we can get an early jump start on the weekend. Thanks for listening.

My life is full of embarrassing moments. Maybe I am even being too kind when I say embarrassing. I guess I should just call it like it is and tell you that I regularly have “blonde moments.”

Stop where you are, and don’t let your mind wander and think I am a ditz or not smart- I graduated cum laude (I don’t say that to be a pious snob, I say that so you really know that an “educated” person can consistently have these types of lapses ). So now you are probably like, “Okay, shes smart, but shes one of those that has NO common sense.” Its not really that either, I just have stupid moments sometimes I guess.

My life is full of moments when I will do something “blonde“ when I’m by myself and I just breathe a sigh of relief and think, “Thank God no one was in my presence. Talk about a ‘Jessica Moment’.“

Well, last night I had one of those moments. I obviously had the option of letting my family have a good laugh and then tell no one else (probably the better option), or tell my fellow Nest Bloggers about my silly moment. I guess I’m sharing…

Its always hard to write a funny moment, so I don’t know how this will go- there is no room for inflection or motions to explain things better… so if this story makes absolutely no sense, you can chalk it up to my Mrs. Hamlin, my 8th grade English teacher.

If I had to rank the times I have been most scared in the last 5 years, last night would have made the list.

It was about 12:30 at night, and Will and I had already been asleep for a few hours. Well, for some reason, I wake up and Will has his right arm (the arm closest to me) pointed in the air at about a 45 degree angle and is doing all of these crazy hand motions and number signs or something. By now, I’m wide awake and am asking Will what is going on. He tells me, “I have to see who else is up.“

“What do you mean Will?“

“I can’t tell you.“ So now I am totally disturbed.

“Why can’t you tell me?“

“Don’t worry about it. If it was important I would tell you.“

“Tell me, Will!“

“I can’t tell you. Don’t worry about it. Go to sleep.“

So, he then rolls over and goes to sleep. And I turn over and do the same....

Yeah right.

I sat up in bed against the headboard for almost 2 hours freaking out about our conversation. I was thinking all sorts of things like:

-Is our apartment monitored for safety? Have they seen everything I have done for the last 2 weeks ( so that sent me on a 20 minute tangent as I tried to retrace my every move for the last 2 weeks and think about what “they“ were able to see)

- I read an article on the plane over here about a business planting chips in people- have I seen any cuts or scratches on Will? Could that have happened??

-Does Will have a different job? Is he one of the people in the company that has to have a special security clearance? Is there something I don’t know?

For the sake of my dignity (it might be too late) I will stop there with all of the thoughts I was thinking. I assure you they got much worse. I watch and read WAY to many political thrillers. I had everyone in my family being brainwashed and… I’ll just stop there.

The next morning Will woke me up and I asked him what he was doing last night. He told me he was just dreaming. Since we have been married, there have been a few times when Will has talked in his sleep and done stuff (one night he jumped out of bed and told me there was a snake in the bed. AHH). I guess just being in a totally different environment made this sleeptalking escapade a little frightening. Plus, it was different then the other few.

So either my husband has strange dreams and feels the need to share them through his sleep with me by scaring me senseless… or he really is working for the CIA as a spy and has been brainwashed with an implanted chip....

I hate jeans shopping. I really do. Its like I spend 5 hours looking, I get all hot and start sweating because I am trying on pair after pair without luck, which in turn makes me frustrated and in a bad mood for the rest of the day. I hate going to the mall for jeans. Its a big wardrobe committment. They are a major part of the “collection“! I hate it so much. I don’t know why, but I really do…

Yesterday and today I felt like I had been on a neverending, quest for jeans, but instead it was just for a normal, inexpensive, cute pair of sunglasses. Easy right? Hah.

I desperately need a good pair of sunglasses because of the blaring sun and risk of damage to my eyes, so the search began…

Last night we went to 2 malls. P and I found tons that we liked- but they were on average about 90 KD, which is almost 300 US dollars! I honestly believe that Kuwaitis have never heard of The Limited or the Loft, or even Old Navy or Target for cryin’ out loud! Nothing is for “normal“ people here! We couldn’t find normal people sunglasses at all. They were all Gucci and Prada, and blah blah blah.

First off, if I am going to be spending that much money- I’m not going to be wearing it on my eyes! P and I went home in shock that we couldn’t find a single stupid regular store.

So this morning my dad remembered that the airport has a few decently priced sunglass shops, so we headed off! When we got there, Will had to exchange money so we could go shopping.  This is SO depressing. He traded $100 US dollars and got a little less than 30 KD back. It’ll make you sick how much their currency is worth. You have to donate a kidney just to buy a few things at the grocery store. Anyway, back to glasses shopping…

We went to two places that had awesome glasses like we had seen last night, but they were still pretty pricey. So, we went upstairs and found another store that had some nice ones that were a lot cheaper than the ones downstairs, but they were still too much for me. So when I was about to give up and my family was starving and lagging behind P and I because of how long we had taken, I found “the“ store…

It actually had super cute sunglasses for really cheap (for Kuwait anyway). I found an awesome pair for only 6 KD and they are totally UV protected and everything. They are hideous (I know I am using awesome and hideous in the same sentence to talk about how much I like my sunglasses, but those are the two words that come to mind)! They are huge and glamorous. Will has been calling me “Nemo“ all day because he felt like he was staring at a fishbowl. What a goof. I’m hoping to get some pictures up in the next week or so so you can see where we live and make fun of my sunglasses too.

So that was our “adventurous“ day of sunglasses shopping. I don’t even want to think about how much I am going to hate jean shopping after this extravaganza…

Thank God for online ordering.

We think I got robbed. Now, I know you’re probably saying, “How do you think you’ve been robbed- either you know or you don’t.” Good point, but seriously, I think I was robbed.

Now, I have to fess up- I am a very scatterbrained person (I worry about things I can’t change, but forget things I can, go figure). I am constantly forgetting to do things or where I put things. I even forgot to pick up my pay check a few months ago. So, Will was convinced I just misplaced what I claimed was stolen, but after some sleuth work I convinced him I had been robbed.

For about $110 a month, you can hire a maid to clean your house 3 times a week- not bad (I think if it was that way in the states, I would have had to get one). So, my parents decided that because of their schedule they would get one to clean up the house. All of the reports they had heard about maids have been excellent- afterall, you can literally lose a hand for stealing in this country.

So, my parents didn’t hire their own private maid, they hired the maid service in our apartment complex. That means you never know who is coming to clean your house. Well, each time a lady comes, I am always there- so you wouldn’t think anything would happen. Apparently not. I just kick myself at how nice I was to her!

Okay- so heres some background information. Will gave me 10 KD- which is about $35 US dollars (our currency is worthless here) and I put it safely in my wallet and hid my wallet away. Okay- I didn’t really hide it all that great, but it wasn’t like it was super visible! Well, the other day P and I went to one of the bakeries they have at the bottom of our apartment and bought a couple of things. I spent 1 KD. I didn’t have pockets so I kept the money in my hand and as soon as I got upstairs I put the bag on the counter and put my money back in my wallet (at this point I was retracing my steps for Will and he inturrupts me and is like, “So, are you SURE you put the money back in your wallet? Could you have set it down somewhere and forgotten about it?” That does sound exactly like something I would do, but I KNOW that I didn’t this time)

Anyway, so I didn’t think anything about my money until Will asked me if he could have some of it last night. I went into my wallet and nothing was there. I started freaking out, trying to think of where it could be… but I KNEW I had put it in there.

My mom had said someone had went through our medicine cabinet too because everything was rearranged differently. I started looking around and I am not a detective, but I really think I solved this mystery.

Will and I are still living out of our suitcases, so the other day she moved them out of the way so she could clean. I didn’t move them an inch that next day and left them where they were. Well yesterday, after she had done the laundry she spent a long time in our roon cleaning. She would iron some and then go away. I thought maybe she was putting away clothes. Well, I found this wet cloth almost hidden in a basket on our dresser- which is right next to the bag that had my wallet in it. Its almost like she was cleaning the dresser, saw my wallet, took the money out and I don’t know maybe she got flustered or something and walked out and forgot her rag.

I don’t know, I am totally speculating, but I was pretty mad to lose 35 bucks. With the move and leaving our job back home, we haven’t gotten a paycheck since the beginning of May, so we needed what we had.

So, my dad cancelled the service and got our key back fron downstairs.

Pretty crappy…

Theres something about that “first house” when you just get married. For most of us, theres nothing really overly special or extravagant about it on the outside, but there is something so unique about coming home that night from your honeymoon to the first house you two will live in together.

I remember coming home from our honeymoon late at night, thinking of all of the unpacking I would have to do the next day, but when we walked in, our parents had surprised us and set up a lot of our house already. That was really special, and a big relief since I had school that Monday.

I never realized how much I really loved our little condo until the night we were about to move.

Will and I were sleeping on the floor because or mattress was already in storage and the air compressor his mom gave us for the inflatable one didn’t have a nozzle to air it up. We were exhausted from our very long day of packing, trashing, or storing our belongings. I am almost positive Will was just about to head off to sleep when I started to tear up, realizing this was the last time we would ever sleep in this house. I started crying thinking about all of the great times we had had there. So, I inturrupted Will from his sleep so he could listen to me cry and be all sentimental about our little house (lucky him).

I thought about our pre-health insurance meals- when we were able to eat really well because we hadn’t gotten my out of this world expensive health insurance yet (where all of our grocery money seemed to go).

I thought about lazy evenings in our living room, when I would sit in Will’s lap on the recliner and we would talk about our days and watch TV.

I thought about our air conditioner breaking down and how we had to use the last of our wedding gift money to pay for it.

I remember how that summer we got the “sacred” letter in the mail telling us we got OU season tickets. Will was so happy that day.

I remember my first Easter there with my sweet basket surprise, and my first Christmas there with my Christmas tree surprise. 

I remembered last summer and how Will decided to start landscaping our yard (his dad is a landscape contractor, so its in his blood- or so I thought). He and his friend Billy made this gorgeous rock bed on the right side of our condo. Will had “good intentions” of rocking the other side that next month, but It somehow didn’t get done until I don’t even remember- sometime that late fall maybe. So then we had this beautiful rock bed full of nothing but weeds. About a month and a half ago, Will decided to finally finish the beds. He and his dad put cedar wood chips in it and filled it with pretty green plants. I loved coming home to it. The sad thing was that it wasn’t even 100% done until literally the week we were moving, so I never even was able to fully enjoy the entire front of our little condo.

Anyway, I cried about a lot of things. I mean, it was the first house we had ever lived in. We filled it with a lot of memories. <3

Well, today we found out our little house will be getting new owners on July 6. I am happy that we no longer have the financial burden of paying for a house we aren’t living in, but (this is probably crazy) I am a little sad because someone else will be living there now. I mean, I always knew we weren’t going to live there very long, and its not like we were the first people to live there… I guess its because it was the first house we had together as a team- our own place where we could have our own rules and could do what we wanted (a luxury I am desperatley missing since we have been living with my parents).

Anyway, that is what is on my mind this afternoon. I am sooo glad that “Friday” has arrived. I’m not sure what we have planned for the weekend, but I know it will be nice to finally get some time with Will. For everyone else, have a good hump day.

Spring is still here, but you would have thought Summer took over the Middle East and made it’s permanent “command center“ outside my apartment. Its dry here. Dry that I don’t think a person can understand until they live here. I mean, you could lay a side of beef outside in the morning and by evening it will be jerky. Even the Kuwait newspaper calls its country “the oven.” Its only May- could it get any worse? Yes.

Well, I’m sure there will be many more times I will whine about the heat here, but I’m not complaining so much about the heat today but how DRY everything is because of it. The Persian Gulf is literally right ourside my balcony, so I was hoping I would find SOME relief from the dryness (can you believe it- a girl who is WELCOMING humidity??), but theres none. 

I truly think I am in the early process of evolving into a rasin. Really. I can see it. I am eventually just going to shrivel up and be this one big round shrively talking rasin (what a visual).

I think when you get off the plane in Kuwait someone should greet you with a survival basket- not with a map or money or anything like that. Instead it should be filled with the best ever body lotion, face moisturizer, chapstick, conditioner, and sunscreen. I think I should write a letter.

I sit inside almost all day and I am already seeing the affects. I don’t even want to know what it will be like this summer, and especially when I get a job and am more exposed to the atmosphere. I have dry skin as it is, so I am going crazy here. I have to apply half a bottle of lotion on myself just to get rid of that itchy tight feeling (yuck). Maybe I need a new lotion- any recommendations?

Then, of course I know the whole “drink plenty of water“ tip.  I drink 8 a day, but obviously that is not going to be enough- even if I am just sitting inside. Its like a rule where my family works that employees drink a bottle of water every hour they are at work. They have hundreds of cases brought in each week. Hmmm, strapping a toliet to my back doesn’t sound very fun but maybe I will have to resort to this.

Then my hair. Not only will I be a shrively rasin, but I will be one with bad hair. I have limits, and thats pushing it. Like my skin, my hair is also dry- everything about me seems to be dry- my skin, my hair, my sense of humor…

I wash it every other day since its so dry, and it is still dry. I think I am going to have to sleep in my conditioner (KPax- it is the best for dry hair!) and rinse it out in the morning. I am running out of ideas to shield myself from this “oven.“

So that is what is new (but hopefully not permanent) here. I better go for now because I have some things to do: drink a keg of water, slather on the moisturizer, and check on the beef jerky I laid out on the balcony. Ha Ha

Our first “real” weekend in Kuwait made a realize that we will truly live a very “normal” life while we were here. It felt a lot like the states… but sweltering.

Where to start? I am going to look forward to Wednesdays. The work week in Kuwait is 48 hours, so everyone works 4 10 hour days and one 8 hour days. Will got home at 3:30 on Wednesday, so it was like we had the whole afternoon to hang out and get an early start on the weekend. (it still seems like it should be call Friday everytime Wednesday hits… TGIW just doesn’t have the same ring). Everyone got home and we hung out a while and then my dad made reservations for us to eat at the Crown Plaza hotel for my graduation!

Since I have been kept inside all week, it felt so good to get out. This counrty is nocturnal to the extreme, so everything is so busy at night- we were out what they would say is “early” at 7:00. There are several restaurants in the hotel, but we chose to eat at this western steakhouse. It was really good. It was kind of humourous to see their take on “the old west.” I wonder if they still think there are outlaws and cowboys and horses there just like everyone thinks there are nothing but camels and people that don’t wear “normal” clothes over here.

Dinner was good, but we had to stop off at baskin robbins for desert- not the healthiest thing! Guys- I’m not joking. Evertime I get into a car here I am terrified. I have never experienced panic before, but I seem to each time I am in a car. They way the Kuwaitis drive is out of this world. First of all, very few streets are marked, so you have literally no idea where you are going. My dad has lived here for a year now and had to call a dentist’s office for directions on how to get there, and will tell you by things it is near because the buildings have no numbers. I wonder how they get their mail. Then people will get impatient and drive up on the median and curbs to pass those on the road and then cut in somehow! You can be in a turning lane and someone 3 lanes over will decide to turn and cut everyone off and almost hit you to turn too. Its craziness. I do not look forward to driving here. Today my dad wasn’t going fast enough (he was going the speed limit) so this car got right on out tail and started honking and flashing its lights and then it pulled right beside us and was halfway in out land and almost sideswiped us and was yelling and everything. I seriously almost hypervenhilated. It was terrifying because even though it wouldn’t have been our fault, the police almost always believe Kuwaitis over anyone else because of “wasta,“ which means power and is what this country seems to run by, It’s kind of an unspoken good ole boy system.

Anyway, since everyone comes out at night the traffic can get pretty bad. We sat in it for a while. We just counted all the porches and BMW 700s and landrovers we saw like it was a game.

Yesterday was nice. I felt like I was in America again. We got up around 8 and got ready. We went to this place that is similar to a best buy and my parents needed to buy a printer and a freezer because of the lack of space they have in the apartment. Then we went to the Sultan Center, which can be equivilated with Walmart to go shopping. We came back and unloaded everything and then we went to Marina Mall. It was soooo awesome. It is on Gulf Road, which is like the main road in the city where everything is located. We parked and then I was able to get an Aston Martin… or at least we got a picture by one. Will wanted me to take a picture of this gorgeous lamborgini but I didn’t want to look too suspicious. The mall was beautiful, like a really nice normal mall you would have in the states. Will was dying to see Star Wars on opening day, so we went ahead and did that. Their theatres are really nice with fancy seats. The movie was great- except they cut out the kissing scenes which I thought was weird. My mom slept through the whole thing. Pretty expensive nap.

After the movie we went to ChiChis, this mexican restaurant. It was like 6:30. Anytime Will and I would be home and go to dinner at that time we would have to wait for 30 minutes. Like I have said a thousand times, people don’t get out until late and don’t eat until after 8:30 or so. We were the only people in the entire restaurant! It was the first time I have ever had a restaurant to myself at 6:30 on the weekend.

After that, Will and I had a decision to make. I will try and quickly explain this as best as I can… Because I am not employed with my family’s company yet, I am unable to live with Will in our own apartment unless he pays $1,000 a month (which we can’t do). So, that has made things kind of hairy. We decided to move the few things we had in our apartment out until I got a job. Will is hoping that in the next few days we will be able to get him a room in my parent’s complex, so at least he will be closer and we will be able to see eachother. So we moved out of our cute little place and into my family’s for a while… this situation deserves a post of its own- 5 people in an apartment.

On our way out the “movie guys“ were there. They sell copies of new movies for like $3. We got Sahara, which is still in theatres, Ray, hotel Rwanda, and something else, I don’t remember.

I know this blog is getting long, and I am even leaving out things, but I am just glad about this weekend. Being by myself last week really made me wonder if being here was going to be okay, and this weekend was kind of a little reassurance that everything is going to be okay. Life is not that different from home- minus my friends and a few other things like Walmarts, wearing sleeveless shirts, and tap water.

Today was nice. My family usually goes to a Bible study led by some friends, but he and his wife were out of town this weekend, so we didn’t have it. We just kind of took it easy. We rested, went the nicer Sultan Center more downtown and got some things we had forgotten, and just drove around. We drove past some ferarri dealerships, and looked at some more car places. Will was drooling. Sorry Will, in your dreams. It still blows my mind how rich this country is. It’s crazy.

We also stopped by the beach real quick on our way to the dealerships. It was beautiful. We stopped along Gulf Road and took pictures. We only stayed a few minutes because I had no sunscreen, but it was really pretty.

Tonight we watched Hotel Rwanda. The main guy used to be on Saturday Night Live. He did a great job. It was funny to think of the sketches he was in, and then see him so serious now.

Thanks for reading this looong blog. I wish I could write more, about Geezys and our new living situation… but I will save those for another day! Hope you all have as good a weekend as I was able to! Off to bed now! Good Afternoon America! Goodnight Kuwait!