Q&A

fully covered at the souk

I was recently featured in our community newsletter, and since I'm an awful record keeper these days, I'd like to post it here so that my girls (if they happen to read this some day) might learn something interesting about me. This also gives me an opportunity to give a better answer to one of the questions (read, make it much more exciting).

What’s your educational/career background? I received my B.S. in Human Development and Family Studies from the University of Utah. Since graduating I have worked as a nanny, and as administrative/executive assistants in a U.S. Senator's office, a small lobbying firm and an accounting firm that, interestingly, has offices in Saudi Arabia.

What other posts have you served at? Houston, TX; Conakry, Guinea; and Washington, DC.

What’s your favorite thing about Riyadh? At the risk of setting back women's rights here, I really appreciate not being able to drive. Yes, it can be frustrating having to rely on the schedules of others to get anywhere, but I am terrified enough as a passenger so I'm glad I don't have the option to sit behind the wheel. I also really love wearing an abaya. It gives me a chance to experience a small bit of the culture here and also the ability to go out in public in my pajamas.

What is your dream job? I don't really have a dream job, but I would go back and be a consular assistant in Conakry any day. I primarily helped process asylee/refugee follow-to-join petitions and it was the most fascinating work I've ever done.

What’s the most interesting thing that’s happened since arriving in Saudi Arabia? I live a really unexciting life here in Riyadh. I don't know if this is interesting, but I gave birth to my daughter, Evie, the day after King Abdullah died. I was planning on delivering here, but had a change of heart at the last minute and went back to the states. I can't even imagine the complications that might have arisen if I had stayed here and had a baby during that hectic time.

What’s the best restaurant you’ve eaten at in Riyadh? (and what did you like best about it?) The best things I've eaten here are the buttered hummus and baba ghanoush at Assaraya. I could probably eat them every day. I'm also Good Stuff Eatery's biggest fan. I ate there all the time when I lived in DC, but also, I come from Utah where you typically eat fries with fry sauce (a mixture of mayo, ketchup and sometimes other secret ingredients), so I love that Good Stuff has a dipping bar of various sauces for your fries.

What’s your top goal for 2016 (yes, that’s next year!)? I plan to train for and complete a 10k or half marathon, which might be easy if I hadn't started and stopped the couch to 5k training program about 20 times in the past 3 years. Fingers crossed I can make it stick this time!

What's a random bit of trivia about yourself? While working in the Senate I: spoke to a very well known astronaut on the phone, shared a room (and an elevator) with some very powerful governmental leaders, was evacuated from my office building on two separate occasions because of a biological attack and an unidentified plane flying over the restricted airspace above the Capitol (the latter was an absolutely terrifying experience), went to a tea party in the White House rose gardens, watched from those same gardens as the president departed on Air Force One, payed my respects to a former president lying in state, stood on the Senate floor, in (well outside the gate of) the tomb meant for George Washington, as well as within reach of the beautiful painting on the Capitol dome. My few years there were about a million times more exciting than all of my time spent overseas so far.

One down, one to go

Trying to camouflage my despair! They are going Riyadh-iculously far away!!

This picture (and it's adorably clever caption courtesy of my cousin) popped up in my Facebook feed today and now I'm all emotional. Tomorrow marks one year of living in Saudi Arabia (and one more to go). This lifestyle is really hard for someone like me who hates adventure and trying new things, but I am so grateful for the opportunity to experience and introduce my children to cultures I barely knew existed before I married into this crazy life my husband chose. I have grown exponentially in the 6 years we've been doing this, but I'm also looking forward to the the day we can settle down and put down roots somewhere. For now I'll take some deep breaths, eat some chocolate and (try to) enjoy the ride.

Happy 4th!

I have been teary all morning while listening to the classical fireworks radio station on Pandora (thank you VPN for making this possible). Today, as I celebrate the birth of America with friends in Saudi Arabia, I am so thankful to have been born in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Happy Independence Day everybody!

Happy 4th of July (and Merry Christmas *wink*) from my little firecrackers.

Hindsight is 20/20

We were in Guinea when I was pregnant with Adele, and being the paranoid, risk-adverse soon to be mom that I was, instead of the standard 45 days pre-delivery and another 45 post-delivery, I spent basically my entire third trimester and almost three months after Adele was born state-side to ensure we didn't run into complications in a country that had essentially no health care to speak of. Aside from a week long stay in the nursery for antibiotics following Adele's arrival, it was a complication free 6 months, meaning the extended separation from Brian was unnecessary. It was hard on all of us, and we vowed never to do it again if we could possibly avoid it.

I was a few months pregnant with Eve when we learned we would be moving to Riyadh. A good friend of mine had given birth there the year before and encouraged me to consider staying there to deliver. Once we arrived at post I spoke to others who had given birth there and had a good experience, so Brian and I decided that we would do the same and we were happy we wouldn't have to endure another lengthy separation. Fast forward to December when, for various reasons, I was beginning to doubt our decision. We had many tear-filled (me...not Brian) discussions about it, and I realized that despite having a great doctor and delivering in a hospital with a good NICU, I would feel more comfortable delivering state-side. Brian agreed with me, saying that after all was said and done, he would hate if something happened and we regretted staying in Riyadh.

 Three weeks later (and a week before Christmas), Adele and I found ourselves back in Utah. The remainder of my pregnancy was pretty miserable, but it culminated in a relatively easy labor and delivery, and both Eve and I were discharged from the hospital the following day.

So do I regret coming back to the U.S.? Absolutely not. You see, if you follow world events, you may know that Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah died January 23 in Riyadh. I had Eve the next day. Now, his funeral was held the same day he died, so I may not have had a hard time getting to the hospital to have the baby, but Brian's office was tasked with the coordination of a visit by a large delegation from the U.S., including both President Obama and Secretary Kerry, coming to pay their respects and meet with the new king. I can't be certain, but at the rate his blackberry was receiving emails regarding the visit, he likely would have had to go into work for the next few days and leave me to recover from labor and learn how to juggle the needs of a newborn and a toddler by myself. I still feel a little guilty that he wasn't in town to help his colleagues, but I'm so glad I didn't have to navigate the first days of being a mom of two on my own. It's amazing what a little perspective can do.

Introducing...

the newest member of our family: Eve! Born on January 24 in Murray, UT, she is 7 lbs 11 oz and 20.5 inches of pure joy! Big sister Adele and her parents adore her!

I've been meaning to tell you!

We are equal parts excited and terrified to be welcoming another kiddo to our family late January!

Trading in the District for the Kingdom

When people ask me how long we’ll be in the DC area, my answer has always been two, maybe 5 years? I’m sure I’ve talked about it before, but we really only know one year in advance (if we’re lucky and get our assignment at the beginning of the bid cycle) where we’ll be spending the next few years, and with overseas assignments being hard to come by in my husbands line of work, it’s often likely that you’ll have to spend a few consecutive tours in the states. Unless, UNLESS you bid off cycle and by some miracle get lucky and nab an assignment off of something called the NOW list. It’s because of that list that I can say with certainty that we will only be in DC for a few more months (leaving so soon?!) because we are moving  to:

SAUDI ARABIA!!


Riyadh to be precise. Some of you may think I’m a little nuts when I say we’ve been trying to get to Saudi Arabia since we first started bidding on our future homes, but we have, so when my husband saw it on the aforementioned NOW list, he knew he had to at least give it a shot, and by some miracle, he got the job! We still have to iron out all the details, but we will likely be leaving sometime around August – September. We are so stoked!