For the past few years I've taken on the motto "Do Life Big." If you're wondering if I made this up myself, the answer is No. As much as I'd love to take credit for this I cannot. Jamie Grace, a Christian singer, has a song called "Do Life Big." The meaning behind this song comes from the familiar Bible verse that goes a little something like this...(I'm paraphrasing) Jesus came to give us life and we should live this life abundantly. I don't know what you think abundant means but to me it means more than enough, more than you can handle, BIG. Thus, "Do Life Big!" After my Mom died I vowed to myself that I would do my best to Do Life Big every-single-day-of-my-life. Perfect segue to how I spent the last 10 days of 2018!

We went on a Mediterranean Cruise on the MSC Meraviglia! This cruise left from Civatevecchia, the port in Rome. We spent 2 days in Rome before boarding an 8 day cruise that would take us to Palermo, Malta, Barcelona, Marseille, and Genoa, Italy. Best. Decision. Ever.

I would recommend this cruise and I actually want to do it again! We were adventurous and used the public transportation in all of the countries.

It rained when we ventured out in Rome and it was a little cold in Malta. Overall though the weather was pretty and a stark contrast to the usual sunny weather we experience in Abu Dhabi. 

After this great vacay, I have really discovered that I love to travel and now I'm looking forward to Spring Break which will be our next getaway. I'm still in the planning stages of what we're going to do but we are definitely going to country hop. As I write this we have 86 days. 86 days before I board another airplane. 86 days before I catch the perfect sunset. 86 days for me to get this body swimsuit ready. (Head on over to Unique Does Cooking to check out the recipes I'm trying out in order to complete this mission.)

86 days for me to Do Life Big as much as I can.

Update: I never clicked post so this post has been in my drafts. So as of today we have 30 days and to say that I'm ready would be an understatement.

Remember to "Be Kind to One Another", "Do Life Big" and "Be Uniquely You"!

I have to start by apologizing! My last post was in September and here we are in December! Oops! So much to fill you in on so I can tell you what I'm doing now. I'm going to go month by month.

September began with our school being renovated. Renovations lasted all of September and if I'm brutally honest renovations are actually still happening.

I tried to do more healthy eating and I tried my first Spin class at this gym called The Room. I like working out but my butt and that bicycle seat DID NOT get along. Thus that will probably be my last spin class! LOL!

In October, I did another round of the smoothie cleanse and I was very pleased with my results! More so than the first time.

Mike and I went to an Oktoberfest event and we had a really good time. It was smaller than what I pictured in my mind but it was really fun! It was held at the Abu Dhabi Golf Resort.

So many people tell me that I talk a lot about what I do outside of school but don't talk about school much. Well, because being a teacher here is....DIFFERENT to say the least. A school was closed and so that school has combined with my school. The students from the other school are quite different from the boys that I had last year. They "found" a hurt bird and during the break they tried to "nurse" it back to health. The feet you see is that of a teacher protecting the bird.

I have been trying to do different things with my hair. Below is 1 day when I was "feeling" myself.

November was a busy month!

November began with Flag Day. If you've been following this blog you probably remember me talking about Flag Day last school year and how big of a deal it is. Nothing changed! If anything, it seemed to be a bigger deal now! 

Working in a Muslim country has made me appreciate cultural differences. We have a large area for teachers to work in and one thing that will catch someone unsuspecting off is if it's prayer time there could possibly be someone praying. You don't have to stop what you're doing to pray. You don't have to be silent. You just have to respect that they are praying and move on. The first time I saw that I was taken aback because in the U.S. prayer is not allowed in schools by children and most definitely not the adults!

My little brother got married this month. So, I ventured back home because I was not going to miss that.  It was a wonderful time and I was so glad I got to see my brothers, my Dad, and some friends and family. I don't think I'll be going back home again until 2020 but you never know. My little brother asked me to do the Mother-Son dance in memory of our Mom...(cue the water works)... well we had to add a little flair to it. See below!

I did my first 5K! Let me clarify though! 5K Walk! It was great. Mike and I had never done a 5K and I was so proud of us. There were so many people. The only negative thing I have to say about this event was the water stations all ran out of water! How?!?  On the positive side if you know me, you know I LOVE STILTS! And there were some stilt walkers before the walk began. Talk about overjoyed!

I really am trying to take charge of my health so my friend, Jennifer and I, went to a fitness festival. It was a great experience. They gave out free passes to gym classes, they offered workout sessions, and my favorite was the cooking class which I think we won but they wouldn't declare a real winner. We made fish cakes with tartar sauce and they were delicious! I really am going to add that to our menu in 2019.

I was invited to my first lunch at an Emirati's home. They had so much food just for me. I couldn't believe that they went through all of the trouble and the food was great too. She served Biryani which is rice and chicken (it could be any meat). She also had fresh mangoes, a salad called Tabbouleh that has quinoa, lettuce, and a sauce. It was good too. We ate on the floor which is how her family eats and it was a very enjoyable time. She also offered to teach me Arabic. I can't wait!

November ended with National Day! National Day is where the UAE celebrates becoming 1 country made up of 7 emirates. National Day is a BIG DEAL! Below are some pictures from my school celebration. The women are cooking Luqaimat. They are like doughnuts with honey and sesame seeds. They are my absolute favorite! I know I ate at least 10 of them that day!

December was pretty slow. School slowed down because it was Exam Time. The kids' last day was December 12. Staff's last day was December 20. 

The one highlight in December was one of my favorite cousins took a cruise out of Dubai and it stopped in Abu Dhabi! Mike and I took her around the city to see some of the must see attractions. I really enjoyed her and I invited her back anytime!

Disclaimer: This is not a post to talk down about being a teacher here. I love teaching here. This is a post that shows what being a teacher here is like. Teaching here is not for the faint of heart. Teaching here is not for those who dislike being out of the loop. Teaching here IS for the flexible. Teaching here IS for those who can Go With The FLOW!
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Today is the first day for students AT MY SCHOOL. The 1st day for students for everyone else in Abu Dhabi was September 2. Yup! I know what you're thinking. Why? How does that even work?When last school year ended we found out that our school would be renovated (CLICK HERE TO READ THE POST THAT CONTAINS THE PICTURES) because we'd be welcoming more students due to school closures and schools combining. We were told it would be ready by the time school started. 

The first day for teachers was August 26. I pulled up to the school on August 26 and this is what I saw. 

The UAE is home to so many world's largest, tallest, fastest, longest attractions.​

​The world's largest indoor theme park - IMG World - Dubai, UAE
The world's fastest rollercoaster - Formula Rossi at Ferrari World - Abu Dhabi, UAE
The world's largest mall - The Dubai Mall - Dubai, UAE
The world's tallest building - Burj Khalifa - Dubai, UAE
The world's tallest hotel - JW Marriott Marquis - Dubai, UAE
The world's longest zip line - Jebel Jais Flight - Ras al Khaimah, UAE

Before today I am able to say that I have been/rode/visited all of the above items on the list EXCEPT 1.

After today I am able to say that I have been/rode/visited ALL OF THE ABOVE! Today I conquered the longest zip line in the world!

Well it has been a little while since my last post! I'm going to try to summarize what we've been up to.
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To commemorate the end of the school year, the school provided lunch for all of the teachers. There was no silverware, plates, etc so we had to eat the traditional way - with our hands. The below picture is the after for our table. Each table had this exact platter. #Experience #StayOpenMinded #NewForMe 

Mike and I often talk about how our life here is vastly different from our lives back in the Queen City (Charlotte, NC).
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Doing Staycations is something that we would never have done. One because our budget was tight and Two we never had time. So we jump at chances to Do Life Big!

In the last post I talked about being in many different FB groups. This post will begin the same way. Recently I joined a group called UAE Staycations and after browsing through the group my first thought was where has this been all my life???

The first thing I saw that caught my eye was this...

One thing I've learned since being here is that there are Facebook groups for everything! I'm in a group on facebook called Best Bites of Abu Dhabi. This group is dedicated to people who like good food. Members of this group ask for recommendations for ladies nights, places to eat, places for takeout, and so much more. There are also various competitions that the admins of the groups will post too. I enter many of the competitions not thinking that I'll ever win. Well, my thinking was wrong! I won dinner for 2 at Al Ain Aloft's Thursday Seafood Feast at Olive Tree which is inside the hotel.

Al Ain is about an hour and a half from Abu Dhabi. It is actually one of the cities we could have been placed. So, Mike and I decided to make a weekend trip of going to Al Ain to enjoy the Seafood Feast.