Amman Citadel

This man- I'm telling you, he was born to model!

Just a small portion of the ruins.

We live in a city full of amazing history and ancient sites. Amman sits on seven hills. The Amman Citadel is on the highest of the hills (or so I have read). Whenever we have guests in town this is the first place we take them. The ruins are absolutely breathtaking... as is the view of the city.

The other week my husband and I had the opportunity to visit and take a few pictures. These pictures do not even begin to do this place justice. We only had time to snap a few shots- I hope to return soon and take more. It's ok to still be a tourist in your new home when your new home is this amazing!

All Things Fall

All set up to be thankful...

The party favors- homemade pumpkin butter! It doesn't get better than that.

Pumpkin Pancakes

Homemade Pumpkin Spice Lattes- better than Starbucks 

Pumpkin Pancakes

Carving Peppers

Last week we got together with some friends in honor of Fall and all things pumpkin. We had pumpkin pancakes (that I made from scratch- yes, I consider it from scratch even with that can of pumpkin pie mix!), biscuits and gravy, pumpkin spice lattes, apple crisp, and carving peppers. I can't think of much that is better than a combination of all things listed above. Major sugar overload but worth every bite! I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.

We are thankful to be able to hold onto some of these fun American traditions- even in the Middle East. Thankful for friends to do it with and the way things taste that much better when they are a special treat!

We Have So Very Much To Be Thankful For

Those sheep totally photo-bombed me!

I wonder if on that first Thanksgiving they knew- if they knew what that day would become. A world-wide holiday celebrating our thankfulness to God. But they couldn't have. They couldn't have known that so many of us would LOVE this team of year. The changing of the trees, the cooling of the weather, the obsession with all things pumpkin. They couldn't have know that around this time of year there would be a natural thankfulness in our hearts. They just looked at what God had done and they said THANK YOU! With a feast. I love it.

So today as I look around me I feel the same. Thankfulness to God for the place He has brought me to, the people He has put around me, and for the marvelous way He has made this world with the changing of the seasons. 

We truly do have so very much to be thankful for!

Egyptian Anniversary

I have no idea who this house belongs to- we just thought it was beautiful!

He does that serious face so dang well! 

One year (and seventeen days) ago my husband and I got married. And I sure didn't know what I was in for! We met in New Zealand, got to know each other in Jordan, dated in England, visited France, married in America, honeymooned in Mexico, moved to Jordan, and to top it off celebrated our anniversary in Egypt. Is God good to us, or what? You know that verse- "no good thing will He withhold from those walk uprightly"? Well I believe it! 

So here are some pictures of our anniversary trip to Sharm El Sheikh. It was less expensive to go there than to stay in Jordan. No problem for us :) 

So, so thankful for my first year of marriage. Marriage isn't always perfect and easy but I'm thankful for my godly husband and the things God has done in my life through marriage. Thankful He gave me such a good man to go through life with. 

"Many waters cannot quench love, nor will rivers overflow it; if a man were to give all the riches of his house for love, it would be utterly despised."

Song of Solomon 8:7

This Chicken Is Ours

A while back we were driving down the road. While stopped at a stoplight, a man approached our window with plastic containers full of....baby chicks! Not just any kind of baby chicks- brightly colored ones. Have you ever heard of such a thing? From what we understand they are injected with some kind of dye so they come out brightly colored. Their feathers will eventually shed and they will just be plain, old yellow again. But back to the point- we bought eight. Eight! What were we thinking?

So here we are- living in Amman with our own little farm. We are down to only five chicks thanks to a little burglary. But these five are well fed by my handsome husband with leftovers from our meals. Their favorite food being eggs. (They are slightly cannibalistic as my friend pointed out)

So happy Saturday from us and our little Middle Eastern farm!

Rise and Shine

Lamb crossing!

11 years old and working at 7 am!

What?!?!?? They weren't open at 7 am...but we'll be back! 

The other day we had to get up and give a friend at ride at 5:30 am. So we took along our camera- since there is always plenty to see here and very few people out so early!

As we drove along the roads we were not disappointed- sheep, goats, beautiful scenery.....and Belgium chocolate! What?! That one was unexpected. Don't worry- we marked the spot on our GPS and we will be back!

We are never up this early during Ramadan. We have taken on the schedule of many around us- staying up very late at night and sleeping in. It's just what you do here. So we appreciated this early morning- to get out in the quiet and see the country. To admire those tending sheep and goats- their discipline and hard work in the morning hours. To see the beautiful creation God has made. We loved it.

And then went home and took a nap :)

Tabouleh, Hummus, and Such

Bri ordered ginger ale...lucky him- he got ginger tea instead!

Well, we have arrived in Jordan. Home, sweet home. And we are SO happy to be here. Really. We love this place. And this food. ;) Since arriving I am consistently craving hummus and tabouleh. I can't get enough. So when date night rolled around what do you think we went searching for? (Thank goodness it's not hard to find) In Amman they have some amazing rooftop cafes that will bring hummus and tabouleh to your heart's content. We love you, Amman.

Hannah's Bachelorette

 

Heading out for the night

Lovely morning fog on the walk to breakfast

Breakfast at lunch time

What a smart, little sign

What a crazy last couple of weeks it has been! The wedding is over and I am left with just pictures and memories of everything that has transpired. Here are a few photos from Hannah's bachelorette weekend. We headed south to San Diego for our last chance to hang out with the bride. Twelve of us celebrated the beautiful bride with food, lingerie shower, hanging out, and more food.

After sprucing ourselves up for the night we headed to Little Italy and the Gaslamp district. Have you ever been there on a Friday night? Yeah, well so has the rest of the world! It was packed! We ended up at Yardhouse for dinner and then back to the hotel for more festivities. Aaand to give our poor feet a break...a girl is not supposed to walk that much in heels! When you are with people you love you somehow always end up talking (and eating) until it is much later in the night than you had realized. So we all crawled into bed and slept until (almost) checkout time. (Oops) Thank God for the great coffee on the water right behind our room! Too good!

Thankfully, there were plenty of sleepy little cafes nearby for us sleepy-heads to eat at. We found a darling place by the bay with good food and good prices. Win-win.

I love chances like this to get away and celebrate a person and a marriage. Especially when that person is my little sister whom I adore. And she has found such a special guy that loves her so much. Something/someone this special doesn't just happen every day.

Love you, Hannah!