$5.50

Yep...that's how much it cost us to fill up our SUV.

New Experiences

Today, after working a half day, Jordan and I decided to drive to Safeway to stock up on some food. We asked our HR director for a map because the last time we went to Safeway we had only been in the country for 17 hours and were very unaware of our location and how the roads worked. Now that we have been here for almost a week, we find ourselves more comfortable and knowledgable of our surroundings. We were surprised to find out that Safeway is only a couple miles down the road...could have sworn it was on the other side of the city based on our last visit. LOL.  Once we got there we noticed the parking lot to be very empty. I immediately said, "Did we hit prayer time?" We pulled out our prayer time card and realized that prayer had just started. Prayer lasts about 20 minutes, so we decided to head inside and wait until the doors opened again. These are things we are going to have to start thinking about as we go out. 

After putting our groceries away, we talked about going to the rec center, but realized we were exhausted and hungry. We started brainstorming dinner ideas, but were both too tired to really get started. We decided to hit up the McDonald's just down the road. As we pulled into the parking lot, we noticed the drive through line wrapped around the building, so we decided to go inside and order. We found a parking spot and entered. As we got closer to the counter, the cashier politely said to Jordan, "Sir, Sir...you need to go to family section." We both looked at each other and realized/remembered that restaurants are divided; a section for single males and a section for families which included single women and married couples. As we exited that section, we looked around and noticed I was the only lady there...duh! So, we walked around the building and entered through the doors with the play place. As we entered, we immediately noticed booths with privacy curtains...guess we were in the right place. We were pleasantly surprised with our McDonald's experience. =)  Not too bad to have your own private booth. As were finished up, the lights started flickering. We looked at each other and pulled out our prayer time card...Yep, prayer was beginning. We quickly cleaned up our trash and got out there just before being locked in for the duration of prayer time. 

We have now made ourselves aware of prayer times and hopefully we'll remember to avoid them next time around!

Our private booth

Me in my Abaya
(I have my pj's on underneath. LOL...there are positives to the Abaya)

Villa 270

In previous years, the thought of compound life was anything but postive. We figured living on a compound would be suffocating and imprisoning, but we have found compound life to be amazing. We've only been here for a couple days, but have realized that life here is easy and convienant. (Just an example, we noticed a garbage truck driving around the other day and when we asked about it, we were told that trash gets picked up daily from your carport for free.)

Our villa is located near the entrance of the compound. Across from our villa are the compound offices and shopping mall. The mall incluleds a grocery store, dry cleaners, travel agency, spa, and gift shop.  A block down from us, on the same street, is the restaurant, recreation center, and pools. The restaurant offers a variety of choices as well as weekly theme nights. The reaturant also houses an ice cream parlor. We've spent the last couple nights in the rec center. When we can't sleep, we find ourselves down there. The fitness equipment is new and very well taken care of. There are six treadmills, each having their own flat screens attached. The workout room also includes ellipticals, spinning bikes, stair steppers, row machines, weight machines, and a yoga room. The recreation center also includes indoor raquetball, squash and basketball courts, hot tubs, steam and sauna rooms, and a game room with pool tables and foosball. There are two outdoor pools with diving boards and lap lanes as well as a kiddie pool and hot tub. I think we'll find it difficult to be bored here.

Here are some pics of our villa. The villas come with a TON of furniture. We'll have to figure out what we want to do in regards to painting and decorating. As soon as we have our house in order, I'll post more pictures.

Our kitchen is rather large with new "American size" appliances

 

Laundry room

Dining room



Living room and front door

Guest bedroom
(Our room is a mess, so I'll take pictures later)



The school provides us with a KIA Sportage while we're here.

The entrance to our house.
(Not sure why this picture looks stretched out)

Our carport

Our front porch

Entrance and exit gates
(This is actually the third gate and secuirty station you
have to go through in order to get onto the compound)

Looking down our street.
Restaurant, recreation center,
shopping mall and offices are on the right.

Few from our backdoor

**just unlocked a door in the kitchen and was surprised to find a walk-in pantry. It's huge! I'll post a picture once we get it stocked.

Bags are Packed...Ready To Go

After taking a much needed year off, we are back to living overseas. Tomorrow we leave for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. We are looking forward to living overseas again and teaching internationally. We've missed it! We'll use this blog as a way to keep in touch with family and friends and share our experiences. 

On to our next adventure! 

Relay For Life

Cortney and I took part in this year's Relay for Life in Woodland Park. I walked in remembrance of my dad and his battle with leukemia, my grandma and her battle with cervical and esophageal cancer, and in honor of Jackie Bullard's (Cortney's mom) fight with melanoma.

It's been nice to have someone to relate to and talk to during this difficult time. Cortney and I never imagined we'd be dealing with these issues so early in life, but we are and it's nice to have each other!

~Jess

Remembering

Over the past couple months, I have spent a lot of time remembering and recalling the years of my childhood, adolescents, and early adulthood. I have spent most my time remembering how my dad was involved in each of these stages. I was truly blessed with an amazing dad and only wish he could be around for the next stages of my life. Here are some (not all or in any particular order) qualities and memories I have of my dad.

*UNCONDITIONAL love; no matter what my sister or I did, he always loved us.

*Gentle-natured.

*Selfless; always thinking of others and how he could make their lives better.

*Loved the game of golf and knew everything about it. Jordan was always shocked at how much information (dates included) he knew about each tournament, golfer, and golf course.

*Picking up pennies. I'm sure many of you had seen my dad picking up pennies wherever he went. He would bend down in this half courtesy position to pick up a penny. I always made fun of him for this, but over the years, he saved up hundreds of dollars by stopping to pick up a penny. =)

*Laughter filled our house. His laugh was contagious and it was heard often.

*Jazz. My dad loved jazz and the sound of the saxophone. This was one thing my parents did not agree on. My mom said it sounded like 'elevator music'. He would just laugh and continue to listen.

*Interest in others. Even in the last days of his life, my dad showed interest in others. He knew every nurse on the 11th floor (cancer floor) and not only did he know their name, but he knew intimate details of their lives. He was curious about people and wanted to get to know them. After my dad passed away, my mom and I visited the 11th floor to say 'thank you' and deliver a funeral program. I knew my dad touched many lives, but I didn't realize how many lives he touched in such a short time. Nurses came out of nowhere and began to cry after realizing my dad had passed. Even Gerta, the janitor, began to cry. For my dad was a man that even got to know the lady that cleaned his room.

*Giving. My dad loved to find gifts/items for people. He frequented thrift shops and rarely came out empty handed. He would pick up basketball books or movies for Jordan, a golf club for a friend that was missing his, a cooking book for me...the list goes on and on. He was always thinking about others. Over the years, my dad gave away so many sets of golf clubs...he always found someone in need of a set.

*The way my dad looked at my mom. My parents were deeply in love. Not many people can spend as much time with their spouse as my parents did. They worked together for 30 years! Not just in the same building, but right next door to each other. I remember coming to Summit to help out in their classrooms and they would even eat lunch together in the teacher's lounge. They drove to school, ate meals together, spent weekends hiking, snowshoeing, seeing movies, hopping from one thrift shop to another, etc.... Needless to say, my parents spent their whole marriage practically inseparable, but my dad always looked at my mom like he was seeing her for the first time. Even until his last day, he would stare into her eyes with such amazement...I can only hope people have a marriage like my parents. What role models they were for me and my sister!

*His smile. My dad wasn't much for grumpiness (not sure if that's a word). No matter how bad his day was or how awful he felt, my dad always had a smile. Just like his laugh, his smile was contagious as well.

*Proud. I know my dad was proud of me. I not only heard it every time I spoke to him or received an email/card, I saw it. He was proud of who I was and who I had become. I never had to doubt his feelings because he was so outspoken about them. At times, this was embarrassing. When I was home in April, I felt so inadequate when arriving at the hospital. When the elevator doors opened to the 11th floor and I found myself trying to find room 1108, I came across a couple nurses that said, "You must be Win's daughter from Africa!" I of course, slightly rolled my eyes because I knew immediately that my dad had been talking about me. In fact, all the nurses and doctors knew who I was once they entered the room...and if that wasn't enough, he still had to brag about me everyday when they came in. I was blessed to know how my dad felt about me and I will continue to make my dad proud!

*Strict when need be. Although I was a good child and didn't get in much trouble {haha}, my dad could be strict. My parents didn't play the "good cop, bad cop" role. When we did something wrong, both my parents showed disappointed and both were in charge of discipling. I never felt like there was one parent to go to and the other to avoid when in trouble. My dad was even gentle when disciplining. I don't remember my dad raising his voice...and because of that, I always trusted him, no matter what I had done.

*Expectations. My dad had realistic expectations of me and wanted me to be the best person I could be; no matter what that looked like. He did not expect me to fulfill his childhood dreams/goals, but allowed me to be who/what I wanted to be. Because he didn't have unrealistic expectations of me, I never felt that he was disappointed in me. I never wondered if he was proud of me. He expected me to be happy...and I am.

*Loved to vacuum. My dad wore out the carpet with all his vacuuming. He cleaned at least 5 times a week and enjoyed it. He wouldn't let any of us touch that vacuum.

*Chart House. My dad loved this restaurant. Over the years, we visited more than 15 different Chart Houses across the nation. Anytime we went on vacation, he would look to see if there was a Chart House nearby.

*Loyal.

*Valentines. My dad always got me a single red rose for Valentines day. He would bring it home after work and I remember how special that made me feel.

I have many more memories of my dad, but these are some of the memories I had tonight.

~Jess

On To New Things

With the passing of Jess's father, we have decided to not go back to Abuja, but rather stay close to home during this difficult time. It was a tough decision because we were leaving behind good friends, nice paying jobs, and the experience of overseas teaching, but it was the right decision for us.

With an unexpected year off, we plan to do some traveling around the U.S., spend time coping with the loss of Jess's father, and make plans for the future.