we're back..

and had an amazing time!! 

We have been home since last Sunday and are still trying to catch up on sleep, finish laundry, clean house and get back into the routine of life. This is why I have been slacking in updating our blog- sorry! 

There are so many stories and pictures to share that there will probably be several posts about our trip. First, we want to thank all of you for your prayers, support and love before, during and after our trip. God made a lot of things clear for us and we are excited to share it with you all soon! 

Below are a few pictures/stories...

stuck in at Atlanta for 24 hours... we went to a pub 

and came upon a St. Patrick's Day celebration

our first language class... "Salamalecum" (sp)

"camel crossing"- you don't see that everyday!

a date farm we toured with one of drew's 

friends

loving it here..

we have been here for 3 days now and have had such a great time. We have managed to cram 4 days worth of stuff into 3- since we lost one because of the travel mishap. Some highlights of our trip so far:

• a mini-language class at the G.A.P (we had a 45 minute private class with a super cute local woman- I will just say we have lots to learn!!)
  
• tour of the mall/Carrefour in Al Ain
  
• coffee, dates, oranges, & omani bread with some of drew's guy friends
  
• a tour of a date farm
• ate yummy bread & cheese
• a night out with drew & jord's Omani friends
  
• a tour of a mosque in Muscat
  
• beach time at a P.D.O.
  
• a sunset boat ride with soft drinks & snorkeling & an engagement- congrats Mark & Stacey!!
  
• a great stay with drew & jord's best friends: John & Vic

We have done a ton more, but we will just have to share stories when we return. We are all healthy and well. We are excited for the weekend here (Thursday & Friday) and will be sad to leave on Saturday night. We love you all and miss you!

missed flight...

we were supposed to get to Dubai at 7 pm tonight (Dubai time), however, becasue of weater we missed our flight by 10 min!! We had high hopes for a while that we would make it, we even ran through the air port barefoot only to find an empty gate.. :0( So, we stayed at the Days Inn Atlanta airport last night with planes taking off and landing every 10 min.. haha, but we are looking up and trying to find the positive side of all of this. We know that God has a plan and is guiding our trip, so we will put our trust in Him. We are planning on spending a few hours in downtown Atlanta- in the rain!- and then heading back to the airport to catch a 9:35 pm flight to Kuwatt (sp) and then to Dubai- so we should get to Dubai at 10:00 pm on Sunday night (Dubai time- they are 12 hours head of Texas time).

Please pray for safe and on time travel. Also, pray for our patience and for our "team bonding" we are going to do today with Mark and Stacy! :0)

We love you all! If you don't hear from us that means we made it!

hitting the road!!

Ok maybe we aren't going to be "hitting the road" per se... but today we are finally leaving!! We are sitting at Chase's parent's house hanging out with the family before we take off in 4 hours! We got to enjoy a taco lunch with all the McGoughs (Scott, Sherry, Colt, Hannah, Haley, Bennett, Cicely, Hagan, Glenda, Cecil, Rob and McGuire- we were only missing Colin). It was so nice to see everyone. We are so blessed to have such a supportive and loving family. We got to spend some time with mom, Andy, Brooke, and Aubs last weekend and Dad and Linda the weekend before. I know we are only going for a week, but it was nice to pray with, talk with and share our hopes and dreams with our family. Thanks for all your care for us!

Please pray for a safe and restful travel. We leave for Atlanta at 5:30 tonight and then leave for Dubai at 9:40pm and arrive at 7:30pm on Saturday night. We are SO SO excited! We will try and blog or send an email letting you all know that we got there, but if we don't just know that "no news is good news". We love you all and appreicate your prayers, love, and financial support. We can't wait to come back with lots of stories and some answers!

2 more days!

Only 2 more days!!!

one week away..

. This time next week we will be on the plane crossing the Atlantic Ocean! And we can't wait!

(this is a stolen picture from Jord- as will probably be

most of the pictures I will post for the next week)

coffee

I am so thankful for coffee.... 

The other morning I was sitting at my desk at work, checking my e-mail, and sipping on a delicious cup of coffee- it was nice and hot and had the perfect coffee/cream ratio (if you have ever had coffee with me than you know that there is prob. more cream than coffee- haha) Anyway, I was sitting there thanking the Lord for coffee. It tasted so good and was fulfilling its purpose- waking me up. It is very strange to me to think that just 3 1/2 years ago I did not like coffee- I couldn't stand the smell, the taste, and it made me feel shaky. It is amazing what college and the need to stay awake to cram for a test will do... 

My favorite types of coffee:

• At Starbucks: Cinnamon dulce latte
• At Sugarbrowns:  "goody two-shoes" (non-fat/sugar free carmel latte) 
• At Daybreak: Vanilla latte
• At home: Dunkin donuts cinnamon spice coffee with coffee mate french vanilla creamer 
• At Drew & Jord's: Decaf southern pecan coffee with milk and splenda