The jacket fits!

Ok I'll be honest - I'm in the 2nd round of 21 Day Fix and I haven't been 100% on when it comes to eating with the plan.  I"m making adjustments daily but some days are easier than others.  Case in point - we went to brunch for a birthday yesterday although I did my morning workout (go Cardio Fix) I was not at all faithful to the plan during brunch which put me off the rest of the day.  But...I put on my orange running jacket this morning to run to the store and it FITS!  I mean it's always fit but it's been snug...and when I say snug I mean it showed every roll I had.  But now...I mean I'm amazed at the difference!

Ok not the greatest picture but you get the point.  Before I wasn't even able to wear this without rolls coming from every possible spot and now I can.  And honestly I needed this little pick me up - every day is hard but every day gets better and seeing results is the key to all of it!

Trying to get motivated...

After trying to enjoy an evening where I'm not running and have a rest night (after finishing Round 1 of the 21 Day Fix, just started Round 2 - Go me!)  We were able to enjoy a fabulous dinner with friends which means we got home late which means I'm just sitting down to try to get work done for school as well as work done as a Team Beach Body Coach.  Hence I'm now writing a blog as I have people who are interested.  The problem is the idea of not wanting to work but go to bed ;-)

But alas that is not the case.  I have a beautiful daughter and I've been able to enjoy a fabulous burger at Fudruckers ;-)  (Seriously their burgers are so much better than in the US - who knows it may be the lack of preservatives!)  It was an amazing meal shared with good friends who have become an extension of family!

Ok on to work so I can head to bed.  Here's to more camels tomorrow (I saw black, tan and white today ;-)!)  And hoping tomorrow goes well with my students!

Some day I'll be better...

Everytime I think about the blog I think hmmm I should update it and then proceed to find a million other things to do.  I was doing that with exercise too.  But since I am currently finishing the first round of 21 Day Fix, I've decided it's time to attempt to keep up with the blog again.

We are still living in the UAE and things are going well.  I recently bought a new jeep and it's nice to have an actual vehicle that makes you feel safe again ;-)  Everything here is about learning and figuring out how to accomplish all the tasks at hand and so far I've been fortunate with very few set backs.  But that's what life is about, learning to deal with set backs and move forward.

Like I said I'm going on the last day of the 21 Day Fix - a Team Beach Body product and am actually loving it.  Still working on food as it is my biggest problem, I love carbs and the more of them the better!  But I'm learning just how good veggies are and how to have a balanced diet.  To me this is imperative due to the fact that I'm teaching my daughter how to eat for the rest of her life too.  At first it's hard but everyday gets better and easier.

Learning to let go of processed foods is hard, but living in the UAE makes it easier.  It's actually cheaper to eat the fresh produce here then the junk!  What a concept that would be amazing for the rest of the world to hold on to.  Each time we go to the store I can get enough produce to last a week or two and not spend more than $20 USD.  It's incredible!  So we'll continue to work on it and see how we grow or in this case me shrink and little one grow!  I will try to be better about updating this blog as this will continue to help me become a better communicator, coach, therapist and mom.  Even mom needs her time to share information and grow.

What I learned about Christmas this year...

First off I love Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.  So after hosting a Christmas Eve get together with friends B and I headed over - I even figured we'd get there early like 11 instead of 12.  OMG BIG MISTAKE!  There was standing room only in the courtyard of the church where mass was being held (come to find out) as well as standing room only in the church itself.  Fortunately the balcony has a children's room where we were able to sit and wait the hour until mass started.  At 1:30 we left church as they were just getting to the communion aspect and B had been asleep on and off since we left the house.  If that was an indication of what Easter mass will be like I may need to do some serious planning if I want to go to Easter Vigil!

The other important part I learned about Christmas in Al Ain this year was that it is impossible to find Peppermint flavoring as well as Chex cereal.  To me these two things are staples for Christmas but now that I am aware I will plan ahead for next year.  Not a big deal overall.

The biggest thing I learned was how wonderful it is to not be in a hurry.  In the US it's gotten to the point that there are a million holiday parties and shopping and cookie exchanges and people are working right up to the last minute.  Here that's not the case. The malls aren't any busier than normal - we've been out of school over a week so there was no rush.  There were a couple holiday parties but they organized themselves in a way that they didn't overlap so it wasn't a big deal.  To me this has been a great Christmas because it wasn't busy, we've been able to enjoy the time we have with everyone and not worry about the chaos that usually surrounds the holidays.

Oh the first experience in mailing a package...

It's a week before Christmas and of course some of the things I ordered here took 9 days instead of 3-4.  Which put me a bit behind in shipping my box.  Last night I wrapped as much as I could (take that as in what I should do but was also able to convince my sister to do for me LOL).  I then proceed to pack the box and wrap it in brown paper.  So it's all set to run to the post office in the morning - a week before Christmas.  I live in a Muslim country so this should be pretty simple from shipping here to the US...oh poor mistaken American that I am.

Come to find out you can only ship 2 kg to the US from the UAE.  So after repacking (aka having to buy their boxes and separate my stuff into 2 boxes to get it within weight).  And spending way more money than I was hoping it would be the packages are in the mail - with a 1-2 week time that they should be there....but we shall see.  So for my family reading this...it may or may not be there in time - sorry!

The good news is that B and I have been meeting new friends and enjoying the lovely weather here in the UAE (daily highs in high 70s and low 80s with nightly lows to 50s or 60s).  It has been amazing to see the Christmas spirit here as well.  Most of the hotels have tree lightings and caroling as well as finding Christmas stuff in all of the stores - there are 2 things I can't find when it comes to the Christmas season though - that would be peppermint flavoring and chocolate covered cherries.   Oh well, now I know what to add to my list this summer of things to bring back!

But speaking of Christmas Brennan was able to see Santa...after 2.5 hours.  I will honestly say that it was well worth the wait.  Santa Claus at the Wafi Mall in Dubai is amazing!  He's in a separate room from the line of children waiting and spends quality time with each child.  He got down on the floor with Brennan and talked to her and it was just an amazing experience.  Plus he gave her a doll and named her Jill so that she could take it with her!

Quick one

Ok so yesterday probably started out as my worst day here in the UAE.  I hadn't slept well and it was just a rough day at work - I think my co-teacher realized it as her husband brought us chocolate cake.  We were able to sit down and just talk - well as best as we are able to with the language barrier.  What an amazing experience.  I have found now that I am such an incredibly lucky individual to have this experience and to be able to share it with those around me.  Not only were we able to celebrate Thanksgiving with new friends and old but we continue to see the good around us and how fortunate we are to have the time and energy to stop, look and see what an amazing gift we're given by the people around us everyday.

Failing to Update

Let's see between moving to Al Ain, starting my new job and trying to get moved into an apartment things have been hectic.  So here's some pics until I can get some more time ;-)