Five Years and Counting

Jonathan and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary on June 19th. Our internet has been (and is always) unpredictable, and every time I've tried posting pictures of our lovely date the connection seems to disappear. But here they are, about two weeks late. Better late than never.

We went to a delicious Brazilian restaurant here in Amman. It's one of those places where you just about eat your weight in meat. Twelve or so waiters walk around with different kinds of grilled meat, chicken and seafood and cut a portion for you to eat. If you like it, you just ask for more! You have to pace yourself and lay off the salad bar, because they serve up a ton of food. We rolled away from dinner a couple of hours later having enjoyed a relaxing evening out together. Thanks to Lou and Becky for treating us to dinner, and thanks to the Schiefs for babysitting Guy!

Since this is an anniversary post, I thought I'd write at least a couple of lines about the wonderful man who makes it all possible. (Don't worry, I wrote the sappy stuff on my card to him, so this will be brief.) But I am so very grateful for Jonathan and I don't mind if you know it. The friendship we've shared for the past eight years has brought me immeasurable joy and peace and fun. He has helped me to conquer so many silly insecurities, challenged me to keep my focus on the things that count, and been a loyal friend every step of the way. I love daydreaming with him. I love parenting with him (he's a fantastic dad). And I just love him in general. It's been a great five years and I'm excited about all the ones still ahead.

East Jordan

We took a day trip and drove about an hour east of Amman to visit some friends of ours who live in a village out there. Need I say it again? It is always good to get out of the city. Really, I'm grateful for Amman with its restaurants and malls and modern conveniences. I don't particularly want to live in a village in Jordan, but I do love getting away from the busyness that surrounds this city and our lives here.

I got my first glimpse of East Jordan on our day out. Jonathan saw it last year on his long bus trek to Syria and Turkey (no thank you). Its main attraction (by this I mean "thing to see" and not "what is attractive about it") is sand, sand and more sand. Just east of Amman, all the way to Iraq and further still is lots of dirt. Speaking of Iraq, Jonathan was chatting online with a friend of his who is on duty over there, and apparently daytime temps are around 135 F. Nighttime temps dip to a luxurious 103 F. Without air conditioner, mind you. How can I possibly complain about the summer heat?

A low-light of our adventure was strapping our dear son into his car seat for the trip. He's grown unfortunately accustomed to riding in mom's lap and screamed for about half our journey. The ride home was much more peaceful since he was tuckered out from a fun day!















Some of the local scenery as we made the drive. Sorry, I neglected to take photos when we were in the village.

New Accomplishments

Baby Guy's had a very busy week. Within the span of five days Guy cut his first two teeth, started crawling, and has figured out how to pull himself up. All in all, it's not been as crazy a week as one might think. He's been more clingy at times, however the crawling has given him a new level of contentment. He enjoys his ability to get the toy or bag or container that he desperately wants. Guy is officially an "ankle-biter" and can be found slowly following me and Jonathan around the house.

Also, today he is 9 months old! We have his check-up on Wednesday, so I'm not sure how much he weighs or how tall he is. But the ache in my back when I bend over to pick him up tells me that he's growing just fine. Here are a couple of pictures of Guy adventuring through the house.

The Past Few Days

We've had two lovely weeks together as a family. Jonathan is in between teaching English courses, so his schedule has been much more relaxed. We've enjoyed several little outings together as a family, and I've loved having him around during the day more. Some very special friends of ours came over to our house on Friday. Basem, Sireen and Sarah are some wonderful folks we've known since we came to Jordan. Sireen tutored me and Jonathan every week during our first year of language school and still helps us out periodically. During my lowest moments of culture shock that first year we moved here, Sireen was quite literally the one thing I loved about Jordan. Like I said, they're wonderful and I'm glad I get to show them off to you :)














Another highlight of the weekend (and, in general, our lives in Jordan) was hanging out with my friend and her son. Like me, she is a new mom, and we've both been learning the ropes of living overseas and having kids. We decided to take our boys out to the mall for a field trip. Getting around this city in taxis can be an interesting experience on any day. Add a baby and a stroller and the experience can become an ordeal, so it usually takes some motivation to leave the house and go somewhere. My friend (who thankfully lives just down the street) and I are helping to keep each other sane, and we try to challenge ourselves to get out regularly and interact with the adult world. We made it to 1.5 stores in the mall before our boys were ready to head home. Hey, it's a start!



This is the first family photo we've taken since Christmas! We were heading out to a party, and since we were already dressed up, we decided to take advantage of the occasion and make it a photo op. Doesn't Guy look like quite the old fashioned, Southern baby? I love it! We wanted to get him dressed up so that we could show him off properly. He was a little party animal that night and a happy camper in spite of being out past his bedtime. The other picture is of Jonathan standing and waiting to catch a cab for us (on the way to the party). There is a main road in Amman that runs through eight roundabouts. We live near the fourth one and it's where we always go to hitch a ride. That pic is just a brief glimpse at some of the "everydays" of our life here.
















That's it for now. Thanks for stopping by our blog. Have a great week!