Farewell Houston (again)!

As of today we have officially been in Dubai for 1 month, but I will try to start from the beginning of our journey. We left Houston on the 25th of Jan, 2018 and we were all excited. If I had to rate us, in my opinion I would say I was the most the most excited about the move, followed by Asher, then Blake and then Pierce. That will be interesting information only if you know where we stand today... who is most settled here in Dubai as of today in my opinion, Pierce would be first, then Blake and I are probably tied and lastly Asher. It is amazing the difference between expectations of a move versus reality in a move.

While our departure was quick, found out in Nov. that Dubai was an option, then traveling to Dubai in Dec. for a sight and see (where you pick our your house and school), followed by coming home to family and friends telling them over Christmas that we were leaving, we had about 1 month to say "see you later" to friends and family, pack our house up in three different segments (shipping to Dubai, storing in Houston, and leaving in the house), stage a house to get ready to put on the market, figure out what we were doing with Goldie, celebrate Pierce's 11th birthday, and not to mention this only child (me) was celebrating her 40th birthday.  Blake says he gave me Dubai for my 40th... he is amazing, isn't he?

Here are just a few of the faces that we got to spend time with you during our busy January.  We are better people having these beautiful people in our lives.  So many of them are not pictured here, but not one should go unnoticed.  You all made this move possible, you helped our hearts get filled up before we entered a country where no one knew our name.  We will be back and you will be one of the first hugs we give.  Thank you and we love you dearly.       

Saying "see you later" to this dog... I can't even explain.  Goldie is still in the US with these sweet people next to me in the picture, they are saints to take on our little horse and love and spoil her rotten (she is sleeping on Emily's bed).  She will join us in April and we are all counting down the days.

The last days also included Blake's last day at the office (I was not able to get a picture :-) and the boys last days at school.  These two had some amazing teachers and we will forever be grateful for Sugarland Baptist and Oyster Creek for making their departure special and memorable.

Our new home...final stage!

Ok you have seen our new home in 2 different stages 1)  Our walk through and 2) When we first got here with tons of boxes... now take a look after all the shipments, unpacking, sweat, lots of love, a sweet handyman, weeks of labor and making our new condo a home.

Hope you enjoy... and there is plenty of room for you... so come and visit... check out the guest room (screaming your name?).

Our family room...
 

 

 

Asher's Room... still needs some love... working on something for the wall... but this room definetly turned out smaller than we thought... but how much room does a baby need?

Master Bedroom... we are so pleased the Indian rug finally made it into the bedroom and not under our dining table... no more sleepless nights wondering if anyone is going to spill something on it
(HE HE HE).  

We really did not have anywhere to put our desk... and it is not ideal to have the desk in the bedroom but with the baby coming and the space... it turned out to the only place we had for it... so it is tucked away in the corner and seems to work fine... we just have to make sure everything is silenced before we turn out the lights... no alarms, bells, whistles, dings and honks please...

 

I have never had a vanity area... and I love it... I love to sit here in the morning and get ready... where has this been my whole life...

 

Prince Pierce's quarters... we brought the blue curtains from Singapore and they worked out great... and they make his room like a caccoon at night just like he likes it.

 

This outdoor (enclosed) space runs the length of Pierce's room and the guest room next door... it is a great place to store more toys and play.  And these buckets you see at the bottom of the picture catch the water drippings from the aircon unit that is run every night... oh the joys... this place was not built to have aircon units so this is how we get around that.

The entrance way...

The guest room... screaming your name....

 

 

 

 

 

This wall is my favorite bc it has tons of storage space... we got it all filled don't worry with all kinds of goodies... Pierce loves going in the gift closet part and seeing what "gift" he needs for the day...

Hope you enjoyed our virtual tour... wish you could be here in person.

Our initial loves about Korea...

When we first arrived in Korea... we had so many things that we instantly fell in love with that made our new country all that better... first all the toilets are heated and have built in bidets... I personally have never used a bidet but since it was in my house I had to try it out... I will leave my comments out of the blog but I knew that Pierce would love it... and our toilet in the master room had a "kid" function... so next time pierce had a poo I told him about the button... just look at that face... he loves it... and now he has to go poo at home and in mommy and daddies toilet (which is good news for the guest)... but on a side note if you are having trouble getting your child to go poo in the toilet... get a bidet... oh my it will have your children lining up to go poo in the toilet...

Thanks to ViVi and Grandad we had a blow up mattress for Pierce until our shipment came in from Singapore... and boy was it comfortable and Pierce still had to use it even when he had his bed... but the thing I love about this picture is pierce went a grabbed a photo album that his friend Audrey back in Singapore made him when we left... we love that we have these memories and memorabilia to remind us of our friends in Singapore.

The parks... they are everywhere.. and oh boy have we had so much fun playing on them and meeting new friends that love to practice their English with us.  Pierce loves swings and there are two parks that are close to us that have them... life is so good.

Our new home... one of these buildings is ours... and we are on the 13th floor... we love our new home.  Just tonight Blake was saying that all was missing was the pool... I concur but I do also miss the trash shoot... but other than that... we are happy this is our new home.

Another near by playground...Pierce says this one is perfect for baby Asher.

Pierce and I made it to the top of our building... I think the 26th floor... and this was the view... there is a place to hang out and bring a grill but nothing fancy... but the view is great...

 

Blake says his first initial love is for the huge TV that came with the place... Blake was squinting in Singapore... not any more...

Space... there is space everywhere... outside/inside... enough inside for a tent... enough outside to ride bikes and "play tag".

There is a lot more to love and this is really all about our new home... but the first week we were here we rarely left on new condo... come and see more later.