Dog Splash

 Thats me, at the Dog Splash. 

We played in the baby pool. It was a lot of fun, but it always is with Bell.

 The dog splash was on Sunday at the University's outdoor pool. Humans were free but dogs were $5. I was super overwhelmed and didn't know what to do. For a while I just ran around the pool and checked everything out. But then I found my bff Bell;

Bell's owner John brought a dummy we had fun running after it together. Can you guess who got it first in this photo?

 Bell got it this time! She is getting fast! I am getting a little less clumsy but I fall still.

Well after a while I got up the courage to jump into the pool from the ledge. I was a little nervous but I really wanted to save mommy from the water, so I did it, I jumped in! And once I got it, it was a lot of fun! When we got home on Sunday I was so tired I fell asleep right away! What a great weekend!

Vet visit/Sokol Park

Today I went to the vet. For whatever reason the vet does not take appointments, they are only walk ins. Last time we went, we didn't have to wait too long. But today, today was a different story, mom and I had to wait probably an hour for me to get 2 shots. Hmff

I really wouldn't have mind too much if mom would have let me play with all the dogs that were also waiting. But she kept me on my leash and close to her. I was not impressed. 

The vet visit reminded me of the last visit, later that day we went to one of my favorite parks and I got a little sick. My tummy did not feel good at all. But today I figured I would share some photos of me at the park. 

Sokol Park has lots of different trails. Mostly mountain bike trails but we see lots of runners and walkers as well. I love being in the woods; where it's nice and cool, lots of sticks for me to chew on, and lots of smells for me to sniff out. I love the creek because I can get a drink of water. This picture is a little old I am way bigger now! 26lbs now!

 I love running off my leash because I run really fast ahead of mom and dad. If they can't see me they whistle and I stop and wait for them, gosh they are slow.

I am almost pointing here. I love listening and watching everything, to see what I can chase. I point a lot at all sorts of things. Recently I have enjoyed pointing and hunting bugs in the evening. I concentrate very hard to see them and pounce of them.

So that is Sokol park, we probably go there 2 or 3 times a week. But as the days are getting shorter we will have to make it earlier or we wont be able to see. Next time I will tell you all about my swimming adventures in the University of Alabama Arboretum.

My BFF

Bell and I taking a break for a picture

Here at Rivermont there are a lot of dogs. There are lots of different types of dogs; big, small, friendly, unfriendly, loud and quite. But my Best Friend Forever is Bella, aka, Bell. She is a miniature golden doodle who is about a week older then me. When I first got here I was a little nervous about all the big dogs around (but not anymore, I like playing with everyone). Bell and I got along really well because we were both small and we have lots of puppy energy. 

 

Usually Bell and I play pretty rough but we enjoy it. I mean this looks pretty scary but we really love each other. When we aren't biting each other we usually eat sticks together and we are starting to chase after a Frisbee or stick. Unless we get distracted by a good looking stick that needs to be chewed.

 

 

 

We love treats as well. So if you ever want to play with us, please bring treats. We don't sit for long so give it to us fast! 

Yesterday Bell and I had a great play date. We played for about an hour outside. It has been raining and there is a ditch that was a little wet. Well, we found the muddiest spot and played there for about 15mins while our moms talked and had no idea. Finally we came out and they weren't too happy. Don't worry we found a big puddle in the ditch and cleaned off...sorta. 

The Wash

The day my mom and dad came to pick me up the breeder told them he had just given all of us a bath. He told them that I didn't like it and I was squirming and trying to jump out the whole time. So why they thought a free dog wash would be a good idea is BEYOND ME.

As you can see from the above picture I was not happy about this. I am just getting used to the water and I especially don't like doing things without being slowly introduced to them. They just plopped me into this pool and this lady just started spraying me with COLD water. I mean at least they could have done is warm it up a bit! Then she poured a big thing of shampoo on me and just started lathering up! I was not amused. 

Yeah she looks nice but I am not enjoying this.

There was some good out of it. I got my picture taken and got a treat for it. There were lots of other dogs that wanted to play so that was fun. Oh and there was this dog house that we bought some raffle tickets for. I mean we live in a pretty small apartment so I don't know where that thing is going but whatever. I don't get much say around here, obviously.

~ Brooks

Who is the newest Schwamberger?

Many people might think my adopted mom (Tanya) is the newest Schwamberger since her and my adopted dad (Ben) got married here in America. Well thats just not true, because they adopted me about 2 weeks after they got married. Not only am I the newest Schwamberger but I am also the cutest and coolest. And probably soon to be most athletic. I think I need to whip these to slackers into shape! 

Let me tell you a little about myself. They named me Brooks (after the running shoe, which I like), I am an 11 week old Vizsla, I was the biggest female out of my litter, and I am awesome. 

So we moved down here to Alabama. The ride down here was okay, I rode in the front seat of the U Haul with mom and dad, but I wish mom would have gone in the back so I could just snuggle up with dad the whole time. When we got down here I think we were all pleasantly surprised. First thing we did after getting our keys was go for a walk on the "river walk". That was awesome but a little short for my liking. But there are lots of sticks there so I like it. That night though we went to, what we call, "the oyster trail" because it leads to this oyster house. This is one of my favorite walks. 

A few days later we went across the river to the actual river walk. Much longer and nicer over on that side. There is a farmers market as well which mom really likes going to. We also went over to the University where dad is going. Pretty nice over there, there are lots of squirrels and lots of girls, who think I am the cutest thing in the world, which I am. 

It's been a pretty good deal for me lately because mom isn't working yet. So we kinda hang out all day together. I do a lot of lounging she does...well I don't really know because I am sleeping. But we do go down to the "forest" a lot and hang out down by the river. Now we call it the "forest" because it's called the river walk but it's not really. And one day while we were walking we met this older lady and she had a little dog that didn't want to play with me. Her dog's name was "peaches" and she said that they called it the "forest" and we thought that was pretty funny so thats what we call it. But can we talk about the dogs name...peaches? You know your in the south when the dogs are name peaches and bella. 

Well it's time for a nap, I will fill you all in on more later on. 

My First Half Marathon

Jess and I waiting to start! 

Well yesterday was the day, the day I completed my first half marathon. Never did I think I would run 13.1 miles without stopping. But I did it, and I did it in 2:06! Here is how it went down! 

 We got up and had some breakfast and then headed out to the start. Now it has been chilly in the mornings recently so we were ready with our light jackets. But when we walked out of the hotel we realized we didn't need them, which meant it was going to be a warm day! We got to the starting line and waited to start. We realized very quickly that it was going to be a very windy run. Which I wasn't a big fan on. The one positive, the wind would be to our back the last km to the finish line! We started and Jess and I ran together for the first 10km then we hit some head wind and I told her to go ahead and I did the best I could to keep pace. The picture to the right is at the 11km marker about half way. People are looking to the right and clapping because the professional runners were on the other side of the road with just 3km to go. We all started together, they were running fast! 

I felt pretty good the whole time, at about 18km I was getting tired and again we were running into the wind. But I saw the finish line and I kept pushing! This picture is jut before the finish line!

 

Jess finished just under 2 hours! She did a great job, and I was lucky to have a great friend to train for this half marathon, I definitely wouldn't have been able to do it without her! In the picture below we were ready to stretch and relax after a good hard run!

Will I do another half marathon? Ben asked me that right after, when my hips were killing me and my legs were tired and I said NO! But today I feel good and would love if I could break 2 hours. So maybe there is another half marathon in my future.

Thanks to my wonderful husband for supporting me and taking pictures!

HSBC Golf Tournament in Abu Dhabi

A couple weeks ago Ben and I attended the HSBC Golf Tournament here in Abu Dhabi. I wasn't really expecting too much. I figured we would see the players but never really go up close. I told Ben on Friday when we were heading out there, you know I don't think I will come tomorrow I have stuff to do. Well we had so much fun on Friday we did go back Saturday, especially since we wore red we got in for FREE! 

We got super close to the players. At one point Tiger and Mcilroy walked by me, I was so close I could have touched them! And then probably be escorted off the golf course so I kept my hands to myself. On another hole Mcilroy squatted down right in front of me while he was lining up his shot. I wanted to tell him to get out of my way so I could watch Tiger putt but thought that would be rude. 

On Friday we followed Tiger, Mcilroy, Donald and watched them on all 18 holes. There weren't too many people on Friday so like I said, we were close. But on Saturday there were a tone more people so we went to the holes where we knew we could get a good view and we could get ahead of the Tiger and Mcilroy crowd. On this par 3 hole we watched a couple groups. This guy name Rock almost got a hole in one and we noticed he wasn't wearing a hat, which was strange because although it's not super hot these days it is still very sunny. But he had Justin Bieber hair so we figured he didn't want to mess it up. We actually watched him a couple times and he ended the day tied for first with Tiger.

As you know we work on Sunday here (something I can't wait to get back when we move back to the states) so we couldn't go watch the final day. Although Ben and I both thought about it because we had so much fun the last two days. Rock, the guy with great hair, ended up winning! Which was pretty cool.

European Vacation

It is time for a post about our European Vacation! We spent our holiday in Prague, Vienna, and Budapest with our friends Paul and Lisa. Instead of doing a day by day recap of what we did I thought I would share the highlights!

Walking: We did a lot of walking on our trip. It's such a great way to see lots of different things in the city and also find tucked away places. We walked everywhere! Whenever we got cold we just popped into the next restaurant, cafe, or bar. In Prague all of the sidewalks and most of the roads were cobblestone. It really made you feel like you were in an older place. In Vienna and Budapest they were paved sidewalks. We were amazed at how clean all of the cities were while we walked around. In the picture to the right you can see Ben in the blue jacket. I was always in the back, short legs = slow walker.
 






Christmas markets: There were Christmas markets in every city we went to. They were really fun to walk around because you could get a feel of the kind of food we ate, different crafts, and things that represented the city. There were usually a couple different markets in each city. We really enjoyed exploring them and looking at all the different items. The picture to the left is a Christmas Market in Vienna. 

Dogs: From the moment we landed in Prague when we loaded onto the bus there were dogs. The first dog we met was on the bus and he rested his head on Paul's knee. We were amazed to see so many dogs on public transport, walking in the streets, playing in the park, in restaurants, and just ever where. I think there might have been some law that dogs must be muzzled because most that we saw had a muzzle on them. None of the dogs looked scared though, they usually kept to themselves and didn't mind all of the people. We don't see many dogs in Abu Dhabi so it was really fun to see all the dogs and how they acted. In Budapest we even where in a park where some dogs were playing. There was a greyhound and to watch him take off in a sprint was pretty amazing, they are fast dogs!  

Sausage:  I think all of you may know this, but we don't get a lot of pork in Abu Dhabi and when we do its mediocre at best. Now I am not a huge pork fan, I don't LOVE bacon, but I do really enjoy sausage. And one thing we learned in Central Europe is that they do sausage right. We probably had some sort of sausage everyday in our 2 week trip. We had them at the markets, in restaurants, from street vendors. I think our favorite sausage was from Vienna. Now they really did sausage right. They would take a large long roll, cut off the end, stick it on a spike to toast, then squirt mustard and ketcup in it. They then would stick the sausage in the roll. OHHH it was awesome! The picture above was taken on Christmas day, with our awesome sausage dog from Vienna! 

Christmas: We were in Vienna for Christmas. That day Ben and I rented bikes and rode around the city. Vienna had such wonderful bike lanes everywhere. Even in the winter time many people were still riding their bikes. So we rode around for about two hours. We ended up getting our yummy sausage dogs for lunch. That night Paul, Lisa, Ben, and I were trying to find a place to eat. Since it is a Christian country many things were closed. We walked around for a while and found a bar that was open. We walked in and everyone looked at us like we had 4 heads. We asked if they had food, they didn't, but we figured we would stay for a drink anyway. We stayed and the 12 year old behind the bar brought us this fried pastry, very good. He was learning English in school and his friends/family were trying so hard for him to speak to us, but I am sure he didn't know too many English words. It was a funny time and we left after a drink to find some real food. We found a place and walked in and asked if they were serving food they said yes but it was Kosher. We had walked into maybe one of two Jewish restaurants in all of Vienna. We ordered some food, it was very good, and headed back to our hotel. 
 
Cathedrals: In all of the cities they had the most amazing cathedrals. You could tell how much work it took to complete each one. Inside the stain glass was just amazing. You really got a sense of how old Europe is by the Cathedrals. They were truly amazing.

Weather: We found out that this part of Europe usually has snow during Christmas. Let me tell you that it snowed for about 2 seconds one of the last days in Prague, then it turned into snow. Although I was a little upset it didn't snow it was probably for the best since it would have been much colder walking around in the snow. It did rain a little a couple days but overall the weather was nice. I mean we were cold at times but we expected that. When we back to Abu Dhabi we both said although it was fun to be cold for a while the 70 degree weather isn't so bad either!  

New Years:  We were back in Prague for New Years since we were leaving on New Years day. All of the hotels and hostels (dorm rooms, you rent a bed) were expensive. So our friend Paul found a site that had rooms to rent. Well he found this guy that was reasonable and we decided it would be a good idea. The room we rented out was in an apartment this guy lived in with his girlfriend and daughter. I am pretty sure the room we stayed in was his daughters room but we didn't mind. So it was all four of us in this room, rather amusing. We didn't want to go downtown that night because we knew we had to get up early so we stayed in. Well the owner of the apartment also stayed in and invited friends over. It was a fun night meeting new people and having good conversation. This dog belong to the apartment but he was cute! Look at those ears! I think he wanted some sausage! 

We had such a great time, although we missed our families very much. But we know we will be back in the states soon and we will be able to see you more often! We hope you all had a great holiday and hope 2012 has started off with a bang! Love and miss you all! 

Ben and Tanya   

Sweet Home Alabama

Well ladies and Gentleman it's time to fill you in on our future. As you all know we had a few options. We could stay here in Abu Dhabi a bit longer and continue teaching, we could move to Alaska and teach, or we could move to Alabama so that Ben could do his Doctorate in Sports Pedagogy. 

Well I am here to tell you today, that we will be moving to Alabama after our wedding! 

Ben was accepted into the Doctorate program at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa last October, but we didn't know about the the graduate assistant (the only way he would pursue this option.) until just recently. This is something that Ben has been thinking about for a while now and he knew that he didn't want to pass it up. So when he found out that he was rewarded the graduate assistant there wasn't much talk about what we would do. He eagerly said YES to Alabama! 

So after our wedding in July we will be moving to Alabama to start our new life. The program is about 3 years and Ben will be very busy. I don't know what I will do, ha. If there is a PE position open at one of the schools I think I am a very good candidate but you don't know if there will be anything. I can always sub and of course coach gymnastics. 

Ben and I are very excited to come back to the states, even if it is Alabama ;) . We are already looking at dogs and apartments. Probably more dogs then apartments, we can't wait to have a canine friend! I found an apartment complex that I really like. It's right on a golf course and you can golf for free! So if I can't find a job I can start working on that professional golf career that I have always dreamed about. 

So what do all of you think!

Tanya's First 10k race

When people meet Ben and I and look at us they know we are active, which is great because we are! Then they start talking to us and they learn that Ben is an endurance athlete; runner and ironman. Then they look at me and ask if I run. I always laugh and say "no no, I was a gymnast and have some sort of hip injury I can't really work out, it hurts to walk"

Well the old hip is feeling pretty good. Over the summer I started running a little bit, then when I got back here I continued to run. A friend I do yoga with and who works at Ben's school, Jess, said that she was going to do a 10k race in November. We started running with each other in the mornings. It was really nice to have someone to run with. We don't really run fast, because we are talking so much, but we get up at 5 am and we do it.

So yesterday was the day, the 10k run. It wasn't till 6 pm which I didn't love but it was a bit cooler because it was in the evening. There was about 800 other people who were running so it was tight at the beginning. The race took place at the formal one race track in Abu Dhabi. It was pretty neat being able to run on this track where cars were driving at 100+ mph just last week.

Now Jess and I usually run together, but I know she can run faster then me, she took off in front of me almost right away. I didn't want to push it so I just let her go. The first 5k I took it easy so that I wouldn't die at the last 5k (I had only run 5 miles two times, a 10k is 6 miles). I started to pick it up a little more in the second half and by the 7k marker I really tried to pick it up. I was feeling pretty good until the last kilometer, when my hip was aching a little bit. But when I saw the finish line I just went. I wanted to be under an hour and I needed to move it to do that.

My time was: 59:33. Nothing spectacular by any means but I was happy. I ran the whole time and was under an hour. Ben said my second 5k was about 3-4 mins faster then my first 5k so thats good.

I would love to put some pictures up but...My wonderful husband forgot the camera! He says that he forgot because he has never been a spectator in these sort of things, he is the one usually running!

Jess is doing a half marathon in February. I am thinking about doing it with her. I really enjoy the training and miss competitions. But I need to think about it a little more thats a long race!

Bus Stories

I know we have seen this before

This was taken when I first got to Abu Dhabi and when Ben still didn't have a car. We explored the bus, such a big thing then. Now that I am living with Ben and I don't live so close to school I have to take this lovely bus everyday! So what was a novelty before has now become a necessity.

So everyday I wake up early so I can get the bus. First I thought I had to get the 6:35 bus to get to school on time. But last week when I was sick and slept in, I found out that I can actually take the 6:55 bus and still get to school on time, which is super exciting!

The bus is one dirham which is like 30 cents which is nothing. BUT sometimes I don't have a coin, and you have to have a coin. So I buy a bus pass for a month which cost me 40 dirhams. I take the bus 2x a day, so the pass pays for itself which is super exciting.

Because I ride the bus everyday I see a lot of different things. Here are some highlights:

• A women sitting next to me (there were several seats not taken up, so she didn't have to sit next to me) started yelling at the bus driver for the way he was driving! Not just in Arabic but in English too, she really wanted to get her point across.
• The man who brought a crow bar on to the bus one morning. The next stop someone had hedge clippers. hmm
• When the bus driver yells at men for sitting in the ladies section, always a favorite with me
• Running to catch the bus, I do this sometimes and I see many people do it.
  

I know I have more stories but right now thats all I got. I will start writing them down so I can share them with you. I really do have a chuckle now and again on the bus.

Dish Jenga

I like to call this dish janga

Ben and I are pretty good about doing the dishes almost right away. Side note: There don't seam to be any dishwashers in the UAE, I guess thats because everyone has a nanny or maid. But sometimes after a big meal or us both being lazy there are a lot of dishes in the sink. Sometimes I will wash and Ben dry or vise versa but other times not. And this is when it gets interesting! I like to call it Dish Jenga. How many dishes can I pile on the drying rack without it falling down. Now I haven't had any catastrophes yet, but I am waiting for the day that everything falls and all our quality Ikea dishes shatter in a million pieces on our tile floor.

But they day has yet to come and here we are with all the dishes in the sink drying nicely on our quality ikea drying rack.

Happy Friday everyone!

PE Rocks!

Since there are 2 schools at 1 campus I have been sharing an office with these characters....

Left to right: Stella, Nick (Johnny on top), ME, Jen, and Helen in the back

Introducing the PE staff of GEMS Abu Dhabi

Stella: Stella from Romania and has been here for about 6 years. She has an accent that puts fear into children but joy in their hearts. Her uncle is Arnold Schwarzenegger (kidding but hey she could kick your butt as fast as he could). She is the movement and music teacher at the new campus and loves dancing around with her 3 and 4 year olds to the song "Hey give me 5". She is a straight shooter and will tell you like it is. She was also a gymnast in a past life, we are waiting to see her tumbling skills!

Nick: Nick joins us from Thailand but is originally from the UK. His little friend on top is his 4 year old son Johnny. He had another 2 year old son (I don't believe him though, because we have never seen him) and a Wife (Emma) who is the English Language teacher. He will also be at the new campus running PE and organizing all the sports teams. He also has some sweet moves on the dance floor, as he showed off today to his KG2 class to the beats of "I got a feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas.

Johnny: Don't let those 3 inch eye lashes full you this kid will make you play hide and seek for hours! Johnny comes to school everyday to Ms. Sarah's class. He greets us in the morning sometimes slump over his Daddy's shoulder or runs in and says "chase me your a monster!". After a long day of school, when you think a 4 year old would be tired, he comes back to the gym, screaming "chase me your a monster!". Johnny really brings a new dynamic to the team.

Me: You better know who I am by now.

Jen: Jen is back and better then ever! Last year Jen and I shared the office on Najda street and it was cozy then. Now with three extra people, well lets just say its more then coozy! Jen will continue teaching PE on the Najda campus. I am sure she will continue teaching her kids sweet soccer moves and equally sweet dance moves. I do have to say we have a crazy dancing PE staff! When Jen isn't teaching you can find her kicking butt and taking names at boot camp and running half marathons all over the world!

Helen: Helen also joins us from the UK, and will be teaching PE at the new school. She is a basketball player at heart and busts out a few dance movies here and there, I think she is eager to get in the body sox (coming soon to a blog near you, the body sox). When Helen isn't making field goals on the basketball court she can be found watching coronation street on her Ipad because she doesn't have real tv yet because she doesn't have her visa.

So now that you know who all these people are I can get back to the post...

With back to school night just around the corner we figured we would have a little fun with the PE profile picture. The above picture was not our first attempt by any means! We all thought it would be fun if we did a "jump" picture. Except no one was around to take the picture, so we said "pshh we got this stack of mats and a self timer" DONE!

So there we were all ready to take our "jump" picture after the 10 second timer....

So yes as you can see we didn't get it right the first time around. I mean I look like I am about to have an accident on the gym floor.

Take 2:

GREAT! Oh wait, who is that still on the floor! Ugh Helen! Weakest link.

So this went on for...oh...about 10 mins. Until we gave up and took the very posed picture you see at the top.

Since blogger is uploading my pictures at a rate of about 1 picture every 10 mins I will not upload anymore tonight. But stay tuned for some awesome actions shots and learning about our little PE team.

We are BACK!

My basil plant! Don't mind the dirty window

Over the summer my mom and I went to a tupperwear party (yes they still have them!) and I bought this little handy contraption and brought it back with me. You put your herb of choice into it and the water bottle on the side keeps it all watered so nicely. This way I can totally forget about it (okay maybe not totally) until I need some basil, yum! I will keep you updated on how it is working.

So Ben and I are back in Abu Dhabi. Ben got here a few weeks before I did and I was delayed 5 days because of Hurricane Irene. But I got here, kicked jet lags butt, and here I am on my first day back with kids at school!

Last week we found out that the new campus would not be ready, not much of a shocker around here. Things in Abu Dhabi never happen the way they say they are, we take it all in stride. So what that means for us is that both schools are on one little campus. Now I wasn't going to go out to the new campus I was staying at the old one so it's been a bit of adjustment. So all 500 kids and 70 staff are on one fun filled campus! It's tight but we managed today pretty well. Last year I had a small gym that had foam under it and carpet. At the moment that room is storage for all of the things that can't go out to the new campus. And with lots of classes in the gym I have started going to each class and doing my lessons.

Today was interesting to say the least. I remember how tired it felt after doing the 3 year olds last year but you always hope for better! Well it didn't go horribly but they are only 3 and for that I think they did fine and I know they will get better and better as the year goes on! Today we talked about what the bell means (freeze) and we danced, ran, jumped, and swam around the room. As Ms. Tanya tried to learn all the names and who is Mohammed and who is Muhammed. Love different spellings.

Ben is doing well, he is riding his bike here and there and it hitting the weights in the weight room. No ironman this year but I think he will do some of the smaller triathlons in January and March. He has started his swim lessons and I will have to soon as well! He also plans on coaching the elementary swim team again this year, try outs start next week.

Nothing to crazy going on at the moment. Just trying to find that routine again and get back in it.

I know I said it last year as well, but I am going to try and do a better job of keeping this up to date ;)

Our Wedding in Abu Dhabi

When we got engaged in December, Ben and I both didn't want to wait very long to get married, but living here and with the busy summer we knew that wasn't feasible to have it this summer. Although I think if I let my mom plan the whole thing she would ;) love you mom

Being over here is much different then the states. Ben and I both have our own apartments and are expected to live in them because it is against the law to live with the opposite sex if you are not married. Ben and I were both living in our own apartments but after we got engaged we were ready to be together and live together. We love each other very much and didn't want to wait any longer.

There have been a few teachers from Ben's school who have gotten married here and then have a wedding at home later. We decided that we would talk to Pastor Joe (the pastor at the Evangelical Church here) and see what it was all about. Talking to him and then talking to our parents we decided that we wanted to get married here so that we could start our life together.

We invited our teacher friends and had the sermon on the beach on a Tuesday afternoon, April 26th. Afterward we headed to a restaurant bar to have dinner and celebrate. It was a very nice event and we were blessed with how many of our friends and co workers came out to support us.

We were so fortunate we could do it here but we did miss all of you here. We are still planning on getting married in the states next summer, June 14th 2012 so mark it in your calenders because the next wedding is going to be bigger and better!

We have a wonderful friend who took some great pictures and I put together a little movie. I also had some video but couldn't figure out how to import it. Once I figure that out I will also share it with you.

We love you all and really can't wait to get home for the summer. We are really missing home these days!

We are going on a picnic

As many of you know Ben is a laid back kind of guy. It takes a lot for him to get upset and with most things he lets it roll off his back pretty easy.

Well a couple weeks ago Ben got this in the mail: Thank you Nancy

When Ben plays this game he turns into someone I don't know. I don't mind that he plays video games, really I don't care. But when he plays this game he gets angry (mind you he plays against the computer). He gets so angry he does this...

And most recently this...

When Ben plays this certain video game and gets upset he takes it out on our coffee table. Now the table is from Ikea and of course you get what you pay for. It's probably good the table isn't any nicer because Ben might actually hurt his hand! So to help hide Ben's anger problem while playing his baseball game we got a table cloth...

So now Ben can bang away in anger when he looses against the computer on his game and no one will ever know. I just looks like we are going on a picnic everyday. Ohh one day we will get this house decoration right.

Tanya's Spring break in Goa India!

I would have updated the blog a little earlier about my trip to India but this week at school was crazy. We not only had report cards to write for the students but we were also responsible for ordering. Since we are opening up a new school next year Jen (the other PE teacher) and I were responsible for ordering for that new school. A large undertaking and very stressful. So it was a little crazy this week.

Then every night when I got home Ben of course had already made dinner for me since he was off this week....NOT. haha just kidding he did make dinner a couple times this week. He also went food shopping before I got home and bought me raspberries. Which he knows I love but we never buy because they are expensive. But he did it anyway, he is pretty great.

India was good. I went to practice yoga with this man name Rolf and his wife Marci. People come and practice with him for sometimes 3 months at a time. Almost everyone there is practicing for more then a week. So when I was there the first couple of days they kept asking me how long I was there and I said "just a week" and they walked away. Haha, I obviously not serious enough about my yoga...no no of course not but, I think they didn't want to go too in depth since I was leaving in only a few days. The yoga was good, I saw some really neat things, and I am glad I went

Sunset the first night

Now the beach was the main highlight. I spent all day there. I had planned on maybe getting a scooter and exploring. But the taxi ride from the airport to my guest house I decided that would not be a good idea. People drive very differently there and I didn't feel comfortable. And my sense of direction is horrible, I would have gotten lost.

Nice Waves

So my days were filled with the beach and sunsets. I had some great food at this shack on the beach called Pete's and also some traditional Indian food at a restaurant with a guy who was also practicing yoga.

My taxi ride to the airport was funny. The driver was a real character. I told him I lived in Abu Dhabi and he told me he used to drive taxi there and also Dubai, Oman, Suadi, all over the Gulf. He then told me he used to drive for Sadam Hussan. Now I am a little sceptically but he told me oh yes he did and he had many nice cars, even American cars such as a Buick. Many cars he had, my India Taxi driver told me. Ha he made me chuckle a few times on the hour ride to the airport.

I had a long flight back but finally made it, safely, back to Abu Dhabi. It was nice to be back to my own soft bed and air conditioning. It was hot there and there was no AC anywhere, only the airports.

Now that both Ben and I have had our spring breaks we are pushing through till summer. We are excited to come home for Ben to do his Ironman, to travel to Utah, planning our wedding, and going to some baseball games. And most importantly seeing all our friends and family!

It's been a while

So, so sorry for not writing in a long time! We have been really busy since we got back from Christmas vacation.

Ben is training, training, and doing more training for his Ironman in June. He completed a Olympic Tri in January and did pretty well. He had some trouble with his goggles during the swim and wasn't completely happy with the swim, but felt good on the bike and with the run. His next race will be in March and he rides his bike about 6 hours in one shot on Friday or Saturdays to get ready for it. Ben has also started softball this week. So he will be busy with practice for that after school for the next 8 weeks or so. ACS had their field day and for the first time in about 5 years there was no sand storm! It was actually a beautiful day, not too hot and sunny. He said it went off without a hitch!

I have started doing 3 gymnastics classes at my school on Friday mornings for 3 year olds, 5-8 year olds, and 10 and up. It has been a lot of fun and a great way to make some extra money (but don't tell my principal that! I am doing it only for the love of the sport ;) ), plus Ben is off on his bike all the time I needed to keep myself occupied. I also had a field day at my school. Since we don't have a huge field we had to do 3 sessions of kids. It was a long day but the kids had a blast and we had no issues! No sand storm and some of the kids were even cold when we were doing the sponge relays. I know its nothing like what you all are experiencing with all the snow! I hope spring comes soon and melts all the snow away. I know in PA it already is melting.

Some people have asked us about the wedding plans. Well, there isn't too much that we can do over here. We do know it will be at the church I grew up in, Pt. Pleasant Baptist Church and the reception will be at our fire house. My mom is apart of the ladies auxiliary there and is getting a great deal on the space. Too bad there is no fire pole :). I have looked at a lots of dresses online and found one I really like and can't wait to get back to the states to try it on. Besides that we haven't done too much. We will have a very busy summer of planning!

I hope all are doing well and I will try and make some more time for the blog! Love and miss you all!

A few more days in Chaing Mai

We were in Chaing Mai for about 5 days. The second day we just walked around and enjoyed the city and our pool. The long day of travel and all that elephant training really took it out of us. That night we went to the night bazaar and got some great deals on some stuff. We had a lot of fun haggling for our merchandise, maybe too much.

The third day we went on a Zip line trip. It was called flight of the gibbon and it was really awesome! There were 21 zip lines in the rain forest that we went through. This was Ben's favorite day of the trip. Our guides names were Bird and Woody and they really made the trip."come to me jungle friends!"

The next day we took a Thai cooking class, Ben was hesitant at first but when he heard we got to cook and eat all day he was convinced. We made a lot of different dishes, we hope to re create them back home if we can find all the ingredients.

My awesome spring rolls!

Ben making fried bananas.SOO GOOD!

The chiefs name was Boom and she was great! She really helped us learn how to make these unique dishes and told us some substitutes if we couldn't find things when we got home. We had some really great meals and we were stuffed at the end. Although I think Ben wanted some food later that night, I thought he was crazy!

Our last day in Chaing Mai we rented a scooter and drove up a mountain to a temple at the top. Now we weren't big on Temple watching but people had told us that the view of the city is amazing and worth the trip. So we did and the view was really cool and the temple was probably the nicest in Chaing Mai. Afterward we went to a palace where the royal family stays when they come up North. The flowers here were amazing! So many different types and colors of roses and apparently we were in the blooming season so we were lucky. There were also a wide variety of other flowers as well. It was a nice walk and we got some great photos.



After all our walking around we were ready for some food and a cold drink, so we made our way back down the mountain. When we came to this part with an opening we saw 3 helicopters coming in for a landing and then taking off right away. It was quite the show and there were many people who stopped as well. At this point we really didn't know if we had enough gas to make it down the hill so we just coasted. It was a long decline so we figured we would be okay, and we were. I was laughing the whole way down, I thought it was pretty funny.

That night we left Chaing Mai late to leave for Phuket then off to Ko Phi Phi on the morning ferry. We met a girl at our guest house who was also leaving for the airport and we were chatting with her for a while. She was from Norway and was staying in Thailand a few months. She was heading back to Phuket to spend some time with friends she met there.

Chiang Mai, Elephant Farm

Well to start off our great Thailand adventure the night before Ben proposed to me. By now I am sure you all have heard. We are very excited and are planning on July 2012.

We left Abu Dhabi on December 18th very early in the morning. We had a layover in Qatar and when we got on the plane we learned that it was Qatar National day an that we would not be leaving on time. I was annoyed but had a tone of movies in front of me so I didn't put much thought into it. But then Ben turns to me 2 hours later when we are just taking off and tells me we will miss our flight to Chiang Mai. So then I was annoyed for 6 hours. Well we did miss our flight and we had to buy another ticket, not happy but we needed to get to Chiang Mai that night so we could go to the elephant farm the next day.

Our first day in Chiang Mai we went to Patara Elephant Farm. This is a place where they are breeding elephants because the elephant population is dimensioning in Thailand very quickly. We got there put on our trainer attire and met our elephants. The first thing we had to do is feed the elephants so they would be happy. They are happy when there ears and tails are flapping.

After that we had to look to see if the elephant slept last night by looking at sleeping marks on either side of the elephant, this is to check if they elephant is healthy. Then we had to check to make sure the elephant was sweating, the only place it sweats is by its toes. Then one last to check if it was health was to see if the poop looked healthy. Elephant poop actually doesn't smell and if it does it means the elephant is sick. It was very interesting!

Ben smelling poop, I think he likes it :)

We then had to clean off our elephant by brushing the dirt off its back and then washing it in the river. After that we learned how to get on our elephant. One way is to get on my using their leg and then climbing up. The second way is to by climbing on to their trunk and then they lift you up on to them, then turning around. I was the first one to try and took the trunk method. Its amazing how strong these animals are! It was nothing for my elephant to lift me up.

We then went on a long walk a waterfall where we could swim with the elephants and they could drink. The owner of the farm told us that elephants and can smell if the water is polluted and wont drink if the water is polluted. He said that a new resort was built near the farm and now the elephants wont drink the stream water near the farm they used to drink.

When we reached the waterfall the elephants got in and they just go right under and don't seam to come up. They loved playing in the water. We got in and also played with them. Every time we tried to sit on top of them they would turn sideways and dunk us.

After a swim we had lunch and the elephants got to eat the leftovers. We then got back on our elephants and walked about 40 minutes with them on some very steep narrow paths but it was nothing to the elephants. They were so sure of foot on these trails. We then took a little rest so that the elephants could eat some more. Then Ben and I shared an elephant and rode back to the farm to say goodbye. We gave them some more bananas and said goodbye to them and our trainers that were so helpful.

It was an amazing day to say the least. We learned a lot about elephants and I was glad we got to see them in a safe and healthy environment. There are so many places in Thailand were they aren't treated right and then live shorter lives. It is an experience we will never forget!