Celebrating Christmas at my new home!

We arrived in Dubai a few days before Christmas. The benefits of Sean arriving 4 months before I did meant that I got to spend my first night in a unpacked home. This gave me ample time to take in our AMAZING view! It really is unreal and I have been spending good chunks of time on our balcony. We are definitely spoiled. 

Other things that we love about our new place: proximity to the action, a grocery store on the ground level of the building, a great gym and my personal fav - THE POOL! As my pregnant belly gets bigger and heavier, I have decided to take up swimming as my exercise. It is nice to feel weightless! I have really appreciated that the average temperature has been in the mid-seventies for all of January and February. So I happily have been swimming, soaking up vitamin D and getting some reading done.

On Christmas Eve, we decided to go to the beach and go play in the snow! In Dubai, they have an indoor ski slope and penguin preserve/research center. As I was five months pregnant we decided to save the ski experience for later and go pet some penguins. It was so fun to learn about emperor penguins and then get to pet them. It was also nice to see some snow on Christmas Eve. Though it did make me a bit homesick for Colorado. 

Despite the moment of missing a snowy Colorado and family, I must admit I am so happy and feeling at home here in Dubai because I am here with Sean. In the State Department people often have the conversation of what to say when people ask "where is home"?  I agree that the consensus is that home is where the heart is. Sean has my heart, so I am at home. 

Viajeros Romanticos (Spain part two)

I think calling our trip to Spain a babymoon is spot on. It really was a second honeymoon. It also felt like the first honeymoon in the sense that after this romantic trip, I'd be moving into a new apartment with my love. I am so glad that we got to have this week together in Spain. He really is my best friend and I love traveling with him. He is the perfect combination of foodie, adventurer, art aficionado, intellectual and historian. One of my favorite travel traditions is to buy a book of a famous author from the region where we will be traveling. We read it together during our trip. I love this tradition because it takes our experience of learning about the local culture to a higher level. It sets a good tone. For Spain, Sean bought a book of short stories by Cervantes. 

We took an evening stroll down a beach in Malaga. We stopped to read some Cervantes
and watch the sun set into the ocean. One of my favorite moments of the trip. 

We sat in front of this mill/battlement? as we watched the sun set.

Right before we got engaged, Sean started going through a phase where he was fascinated by the Lost Generation. We read Fitzgerald on our honeymoon and Hemingway on our trip to Guadeloupe in the Caribbean. Sean is a romantic to his core and his interest in these colorful figures has been a welcome influence on the start of our marriage and family. Like the romantics we want to take pleasure in living and seek for the ideal. Sean calls it the 'joie de vivre' - I could think of no better way to describe what life with Sean is like.

When I was looking up ideas on where to go in southern Spain, I came across a photo of Ronda, Spain with a quote from Ernest Hemingway about how he felt is was the most romantic city in the country. Obviously we HAD to add it as a destination on our itinerary. I must say that it was more than we could have hoped for. We loved it! If we could do our trip over, we would have stayed the night there. We could could definitely picture Hemingway spending time here as we ate Bull Tail at the restaurants, toured the bullfighting ring, strolled the cobblestone streets and gazed at Puente Nuevo. 

My handsome husband channeling Hemingway with his beard in front of Puente Nuevo. 

I just love him!

It was a bit of a hike to get to this look out point and would be all uphill on our way back. So we decided to take a break and read a bit more of Cervantes. I don't think we could have chosen a better spot for soaking in romantic Spain.  

Baby Greenley and I. 

Sean 'El Toro' Greenley at the bullring in Ronda. 

As I mentioned, Sean is a foodie. As this was our babymoon he wanted to treat me to a fancy night out. He took me to Dani Garcia's restaurant in Malaga. It had two Michelin stars! This was by far the finest dining I have ever partaken of. The theme of the restaurant and the tasting menu was inspired by the book "The Little Prince". It was magical and very filling  - the tasting menu had 21 courses. You could tell that they cared just as much about the innovative food and flavors as they did the presentation. Each course had its own unique presentation. For one of the courses we went into the kitchen and had to unlock small chests with a key we were presented with at the beginning of the meal. 

Our desert came with the purple planet on top with dry ice coming out of the craters. 

On the last leg of our trip, we drove up through the western part of Spain to get back to Madrid. Sean was delighted to find that there was a city that was dedicated to ham. So we stopped over and got ham sandwiches. They even had a ham museum!

We loved the sculpture shaped like ham, welcoming us to the city Monesterio. 

Sean had found a great deal on a boutique hotel in Madrid. When we got there,
they gave us a free upgrade to their luxury suite! The balcony and view were to die for. 

It was the perfect way to end the perfect trip!

Spain Part One

Finally after being apart for almost four months (109 days to be exact) Sean and I were able to be reunited! We decided to meet half way between the US and UAE in Spain for a babymoon. Getting off the plane and seeing Sean was such a happy moment. He was so excited I think he forgot I was pregnant and squeezed me so tight that I had to remind him about baby Greenley.  He responded with a tender little pat on my now 4 month pregnant belly. We were back together and it felt right. Only then did I realize just how hard it had been to be apart. 

It was ten in the morning in Spain and so we went and rented a car and drove to Toledo, where we spent a few hours walking around and taking in the charm. After that we were pretty tired and decided to head down to Granada - where we were staying. We had been gifted a week stay by Sean's father and new in-laws as they were not able to use the timeshare they had for 2015. 

Sean grew a beard while we were apart. I I like it a lot!
Though I did eventually ask him to trim it up a bit. 

The next day we woke up and drove to Granada to see the palace Alhambra. I had been looking forward to this tour for a long time. I have always loved Moorish/Arabic design. So I was excited to see a palace full of it. I was not disappointed. It was gorgeous.  

The view of Granada Alhambra

The gardens were gorgeous. If they were this amazing in the winter,
I can only imagine what  they'd be like in spring. 

Oh what it would be like to live here. If I had unlimited money to design my own palace,
I would definitely steal a few ideas from Alhambra 

Such intricate design combined with those views - my idea of heaven. 

The jewel toned tiles were a nice touch

I have always dreamed of having a central courtyard in my house!

After our tour in Alhambra, we walked through Granada, got something to eat and then decided to go on a self-guided graffiti tour that was mapped out in our tour book. It was a very neat and gave us a great opportunity to wander  the streets of Granada in a way we wouldn't have otherwise. It is a charming and beautiful city. Here are some highlights: 

The most famous graffiti artist in Granada is Hijo de la Pintura.
 Its amazing that he did this with a spray-paint can. 

It's a Boy!

The timing was just right that we were able to discover the gender of our baby two days before I left for Dubai. I have to admit that I was convinced that baby Greenley was a girl. I had always pictured myself being the mother of girls. I was so convinced that I was using she/her when talking about baby Greenley. During the ultrasound it was difficult to get a good shot of his face. He was wiggling all over the place. However, when it came time to get a shot between his legs, he held perfectly still. There was no doubting that he was a boy. The doctor even said that it was one of the clearest shots she had ever seen. Our boy just wanted to make sure that his mom knew he was a boy and not a girl. I have to admit - I was genuinely shocked! Me - the mother of a boy! Ha ha - If I didn't already think that I would have to wing this whole parent thing, I definitely will be winging it now! Sean was very excited for the news. He created the announcement we posted to let everyone know. He is pretty gifted with photoshop ;).  

I am so lucky that I get to be be a parent with Sean. 

He is so excited and I can tell he really will be amazing. 

Despite all of his wiggling, we were able to get this great shot of his little profile. I just love his little nose. I have spent a lot of time just staring at this photo.

 I just love him so much and I haven't met him yet! 

I have had conversations with people (and have heard of conversations) where people talk about how much they dread and want to avoid pregnancy. It does a number on your body and there are some not-so-pleasant and even gross side effects.  But I am so glad that I get to be a part of this process. It truly is amazing to participate and observe in this part of nature. I am filled with awe at how it only takes nine months to create something as intricate and as complex a human body. That being said, this pregnancy has been relatively easy on me. I have not had much in the way of morning sickness.  I was miraculously able to survive full time work and full time school during my first trimester. I don't know if I will be lucky for future pregnancies, but I was grateful for the extra blessings!

Baby Shower

My sister Serena and friend Leah are amazing and decided to throw me a baby shower before I left for Dubai! It was so kind of them as it also gave me the opportunity to say goodbye to all of my girlfriends. It was a bit early for a shower as at that point, I still didn't know the gender. But my dear friends really did such a great job of showering me with their love. I know a lot of great women in DC! Here are some of them that made it:

Serena did a great job with adorable decor! We played a fun game where everyone brought a baby picture of themselves and we had to try and guess who was who. 

Everyone was so generous and brought the nicest gifts. 

As cheesy as it is, the best part was being surrounded by friends. I really miss these girls!

A shout out goes to Dom for the funniest gift. Back story: When I first started dating Sean I was on the look out for potential red flags. On our 2nd date he told me he was a huge fan of Edgar Allen Poe. When I told my roommates, one of them said "You know about people who are in to Poe right? They're in a death cult". I kid you not, I spent the next month or two looking for signs that he was into death. HA! So it was fitting that my roommate got us children's books based on Poe's writing, featuring a little black crow named Edgar. Well played Dom! Sean can't wait to read them to our baby. 

One of the most touching gifts was from Paola, Sean's cousin-in-law, she made a quilt for our baby! It is so cute and colorful. I was really touched by such an amazing handmade gift. 

Another roommate of mine couldn't make the shower. However, she had gone crib shopping with me. When I found a crib that I liked (but that I knew wouldn't match the State Department issued furniture in my future apartment), she offered to repaint and distress it for me in my fav color - Tiffany's Blue! I love it and it really means a lot to me as I will have little control over the decorations of my living space throughout my life. So it will be fun to have a piece like this that is really ME.  

Not pictured here are the generous gifts from the Physics Department and my mom - because of them I was able to buy a REALLY comfy rocking chair and an awesome stroller. My sister-in-law also took me to get a pedicure (as I as moving to the beach!!!). It was perfect! 

Baby Greenley

After waiting for what seemed like an eternity- we are finally able to announce to all of our friends and family that Sean and I are going to be expecting a darling little baby on May 3rd, 2016! I posted this on social media this last week. It was so much fun to share this happy news and to get so many well wishes.

Over the last six months or so, I was starting to feel the desire to give parenthood a try. Every time I saw a little chubby baby - I wanted one. This was surprising to me because, in the past, I had never really felt the maternal need to be a mother. I had never really experienced baby hunger. But sure enough, I turned 30 and found myself in a marriage with a wonderful man who wanted to be a father. So little by little, the baby hunger came. My only hesitations  were- 1. I could not handle having a baby while I was still working full time and going to school at night. So I knew that I wanted to at least wait until I was done with that. 2. Depending on where Sean and I were posted, I might not be able to stay at post to have the baby and that would mean I would have to be med-evac'd out six weeks before the due date and wait for another six weeks to travel back to post with the baby. That would be four months without Sean when I would need him the most. No thank you.  

Now that my masters is near it's completion and Dubai is a post where I can stay to have my baby, all hesitation was gone. Shortly thereafter we had this happy outcome!

I didn't think I was pregnant the day we took this test. But Sean was leaving for Dubai the next day and so we decided to take one, just in case. We were both definitely shocked and excited. I am so glad we took the test and that we got to find out the happy news together. We also had the entire day together the next day to take it in and to just be happy. 

The freshness of this happy news made it all the more devastating for me to drop Sean off at the airport. I hated that I wouldn't see him for almost four months. I had to keep reminding myself that I really did want to finish my masters - which is why I stayed. I ugly cried in the car all the way home.

My new temporary home, by the way, is at my sister Serena's. She was good enough to take me in and let me stay in her newly completed basement while I finished my degree.  I was still puffy eyed weepy as I arrived for my first night. It was hard to comprehend that Sean and I would be apart for so long. However, I knew immediately that I would be in good and loving hands. 

I love the Cherry family very much. 

One night I was feeling a bit sad with Sean gone and was watching TV in bed. One by one the Cherry kids came down, asked me to scoot over and joined me. They have done such a good job at keeping me company. It really has been so good to be in this home!  Serena and Chris are great parents and it has been a privilege to observe their approaches to parenting. I have learned a lot! 

I am missing Sean so much. I am so glad that we live in an era of Skype and wifi. 

We are sure to talk to each other every day for at least an hour. 

I don't know what I would do without being to see this face every day. 

At six weeks I went to go and do the confirmation ultrasound. I have to admit I kinda felt like Rachel Green in friends when she felt like a bad mother for not being able to recognize the baby. I put a shirt on the baby to help make it clear where baby was. So it was still exciting to see concrete evidence that there was a baby! Up to this point, I hadn't really felt like I was pregnant and felt uneasy about it. So having a Dr. confirmation definitely put me at ease. 

Here is baby at 12 weeks. It was such a neat experience because baby was moving around a ton. Sean was able to Skype in and listen to the heart beat. It was so neat and left us both on a high all day. We are so happy and excited for this little one to join our family.