My first car accident!

I rear ended someone today. My car is totaled. Their car had a small scratch on the paint. It's bound to happen in Morocco. Someone 2 cars in front of me stopped in the middle of the road for no reason. At least they were driving on the right side of the road. Many times you'll see people driving down the wrong way!
No one was hurt and everyone was understanding.
I guess the good news is that it won't go on my US insurance record! :) We actually hated this car so we aren't too sad to see it go. It was a very tempermental car and if you didn't turn the alarm off just right, it would not start, etc. We have been wanting to get a different car but felt we couldn't justify getting another car when we had one that worked, etc. Now we HAVE to get another car and frankly, we aren't too sad.
I do hate that I can't say that I have never been in an accident that was my fault! Oh well! :)
Here is a picture. It's hard to see but the driver's side headlight cover is completely busted out (it was glass, by the way!!! I don't think American Safety Standards would allow that!) and the grill is pushed into the radiator and engine.




--Rachel

Pics of my birthday presents

Some had asked to see. Here is the tea set. It's hard to see but I really liked the spoon holder (it's a swan):


Here is the necklace with my name (Rachel) in Arabic:


--Rachel

Happy Birthday to me! :)

Another year older! :) I woke up to a nice breakfast made by my two favorite guys and presents. I wasn't feeling too great because I had the 2nd part of my rabies vaccination yesterday and it made me nauseated and gave me a fever with chills all night long.
Josh had a necklace made with my name in Arabic and he and Andrew purchased a beautiful traditional Moroccan tea set for me. It was a nice surprise. Josh also gave me an SD card and said "mix tapes are so 80s. Mix CDs are so 90s, so I made you an SD card of your favorite songs!" :) Too cute! I also got a few more books. Between Christmas and my birthday I think that brings the count of new books up to about 8. I love books. :)
--Rachel

How to navigate this blog

Many of you who shall remain nameless but remember life before television and walked uphill both ways to school in the snow (*cough*MomAndDad*cough*) can get pretty overwhelmed trying to figure out a blog. I'll make it easier for you. Look to the right of the page and you'll see "Blog Archive" then it's broken down by year and months. You can see the title of each post and if you click on them it will take you to the post.
--Rachel

Why I should be VERY concerned when I hear my husband and son out on the balcony giggling!!!

I kept hearing them giggling and whispering on the balcony and was wondering what they were up to. Then I found pictures like the following on my digital camera! :)

Boys! I need a daughter in this house!!!

--Rachel

Josh here. This started a while back with a joke about a potential Halloween costume for Andrew - dressing as a security contractor (i.e. Blackwater) in Iraq. You'll notice the cool sunglasses and the tan ball cap. Also, check out his tactical sling on the M4, and the fact that he (safely) has his finger OFF the trigger, like a good professional. Yes, Rachel does need a girl in the house. :)

Merry Christmas! :)

Enjoy!

Andrew looked forward to opening the presents

Andrew is getting pretty good at taking pictures! :)



I love this little guy!!!

--Rachel

Myspace and Facebook

If any of you are on myspace or facebook, let us know! We are on there at the following addresses:

http://usm.facebook.com/profile.php?id=712791418

and

http://www.myspace.com/ariel53098

--Rachel

Can't believe it's almost Christmas!

I can't believe Christmas is in a few days. It doesn't really feel like it. We are still unpacking but have made some GREAT progress this week. Yesterday I got out some of my favorite Christmas candles/candle holders and turned on some Christmas music. That helped! In the past I've decorated the entire house including the bathrooms. This year I got the tree up! :) I need to take a picture and display it on here. I also put out most of my snowmen. For those who don't know, I collect snowmen. My mom thinks it's a little silly since I actually started collecting them years before I saw snow (I saw real snow - not just some flurries for the first time in December 2002 when we lived in Missouri). Anyway, I usually put the snowmen all around the house. This year they are all on a table on the landing on our staircase.
I think this sounds more depressing than I actually feel! I'm looking forward to Christmas! :) We are going to a good friend's home for Christmas Eve and another friend is having an open house on Christmas day. It will be fun. I'm also looking forward to giving Andrew his presents. He's still not in the mode of asking for certain things. I had him go on Amazon.com and pick out some things he liked, but he's not really hoping for one special thing. That takes a lot of pressure off of us!!! :) He does think that the friendly guy that works the post office at our Embassy gives us all of our packages! :) Coincidentally, this same man has impersonated "you know who" at some parties lately. :) It's pretty cute.
--Rachel

Not a good day to be a sheep in Morocco!!!

This Thursday and Friday is Eid al-Adha. They call it Eid (pronounced like eeed)for short. We, as employers, are expected to give our housekeeper and gardener an extra week's salary to help offset the cost of their sheep. They are such great people and do their jobs so well I have absolutely no problem with this. The following is an explanation of the holiday:
Eid al-Adha (10 Dhu'l-Hijjah)
The celebration concluding the Hajj
Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice, commemorates the prophet Abraham's willingness to obey Allah by sacrificing his son Ishmael. According to the Qu'ran, just before Abraham sacrificed his son, Allah replaced Ishmael with a ram, thus sparing his life.

One of the two most important Islamic festivals, Eid al-Adha begins on the 10 day of Dhu'l-Hijja, the last month of the Islamic calendar. Lasting for three days, it occurs at the conclusion of the annual Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca. Muslims all over the world celebrate, not simply those undertaking the hajj, which for most Muslims is a once-a-lifetime occurrence.

The festival is celebrated by sacrificing a lamb or other animal and distributing the meat to relatives, friends, and the poor. The sacrifice symbolizes obedience to Allah and its distribution to others is an expression of generosity, one of the five pillars of Islam.

The sheep are slaughtered in the yard or on the street. I think we won't go out on our balcony (we can see over the concrete walls into several yards from it) or out in town for the day!!!
---Rachel

I love capturing moments like this.

My two favorite guys playing Star Wars on our front living room floor:

BUSY Weekend!!!

Friday we had a Christmas Party at the Ambassador's house.




Saturday morning we had Breakfast with Santa.


Sunday Rachel performed in a Christmas musicale for the embassy.


That wasn't even everything! We had some other events including a progressive dinner. I'm just glad the weekend is over. It was fun, but a little too busy!!!
--Rachel

Recommended Toy

My sister's children gave Andrew a Webkinz for his birthday. I had never heard of them before.
Basically it's a stuffed animal that comes with a code to have the same pet in a virtual world. You can take a look at the parent's corner at www.webkinz.com. The stuffed animals are not very expensive (the one he's getting for Christmas was a little less than $10). I also got him some trading cards and a bookmark. All items come with codes for things in the virtual world.
You earn Kinzcash by playing games of trivia or skill. You can also get a job, go on a gem hunt and more. Andrew has learned to budget his kinzcash to get more items. The trivia questions are age appropriate (Andrew answers the ones from the age 5-6 category).
Even better, he can interact with friends (and his cousins) online. They can visit each others' rooms and play together. You get one room with your pet. Andrew has gained 4 more rooms in a month's time. He gets so excited when his cousins can play webkinz with him.
I wouldn't recommend it for anyone younger than Andrew though. His cousin is 12 and she enjoys it as well.
If your child has a webinz and would like to play with Andrew online sometime, drop me a line and we'll get it set up!
Check it out!
Rachel

Andrew's school Christmas Program

We went to Andrew's school Christmas program today. Here is a video of Andrew's class singing. He's in the middle with the red shirt and jeans. He's trying to tap his foot to the music, but that's hard to do while standing. :) Enjoy!
--Rachel

381 PAGES!!!

My Master's project is finished! I will NOT think about school or do anything with school until January 7th! :) Merry Christmas to me! :) :) :)
Now I'm going to unpack boxes and decorated for Christmas. :)
---Rachel

Congratulations Katelyn!!!

I asked many of you to vote and she won! You can read more about it here: http://www.cmt.com/interact/music_city_madness/

Congratulations Katelyn! :)
--Rachel

Josh's luggage is found!

Those who receive our family updates via e-mail heard about how Kenya Airways lost Josh's luggage on October 31st. He recovered one piece the Saturday after Thanksgiving and today he received his other piece of luggage and he said he believes that everything he packed is in there! I'm amazed that he got both pieces back with everything inside!
--Rachel

Kill me now!

I'm down to the final days of my research project for grad school. I have almost 300 pages and still have more to go! I am ready to be finished and I am looking forward to having 2 weeks away from anything school related. :)
It's due Thursday and then I can have my life back. :)
Rachel

cute little video

Oreo - He earned it!

Before Oreo came to live with us he was exclusively an outdoor cat. I found out from the previous owner that they would frequently give the cats table scraps. I noticed that he had a taste for table food; especially blueberry muffins. I have never seen a cat get so excited over muffins. He circles the kitchen in excitement while they cook. He stands under the table while we eat them. Call me mean, but I don't like giving cats table food. It isn't healthy for them. However, if we don't close the lid to the trash can securely we'll find the muffin papers out of the trash and licked clean!
This evening we had ham. Oreo got very excited and I would not let him have any. I made sure he had plenty of cat food available. Josh had sliced the ham for me and I didn't realize he had left a piece behind on the counter. After dinner we were watching a video on the computer when we see a black and white blur run by with a piece of ham the size of our Oreo in his mouth! Like a little kid who knew he was being naughty he hid in the corner and we heard the smacking sounds of a happy cat enjoying a large piece of ham.
I shouldn't have, but I gave in. I pretended I didn't see him and let him enjoy his ham. If he worked that hard for it, he deserved it. He will be getting his shots over Christmas break so he'll be outside a LOT more then so he won't get too many more opportunities to steal food.
Here's a picture of Oreo. As you can see, it's pretty hard to say no to this cute little guy! :)

-- Rachel

Where does the name "Fried Dill Pickles" come from?

I had to come up with a name for my blog. I wasn't expecting to have to do this when I signed up for my blog. So , there it was "Name of blog" and it wouldn't let me proceed through the registration without a name. In a panic, I try to think of a name. Hmm, Army wife? nah, makes me sound way too dependent on my husband. Something to do with traveling or moving all the time? Fish out of water? It was taken. Fish out of H2O? See, being a former Chemistry major paid off! :) Fish out of H2O was taken as well. I've been thinking a LOT about Fried Dill Pickles. It's a Southern thing. It was also not taken!
I used to get fried dill pickles in my hometown frequently when I was in high school. I also found a restaurant in Josh's hometown serves them as well. They are quite delicious. I have never made them myself but I am seriously considering trying to because I am really craving them! The recipe is pretty easy:
FRIED DILL PICKLES 2 lg. egg yolks1 c. water1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour1 (32 oz.) jar dill pickles, well drainedOil for frying Beat yolks and water together. Gradually beat in flour, keeping the batter smooth. Trim end on pickles. Slice 1/4 inch thick and dry well on paper towels. Heat oil to 375 degrees and fry. Do not crowd. Fry until slightly browned. Drain on paper towels and serve at once.
I have a picture of me and fried dill pickles from the summer of 2006 when we were visiting my in laws.


--Rachel

Rabat Airport

When we first arrived in Rabat, Morocco last September the first thing I saw was chickens on the runway! I thought to myself "I am NOT in the US anymore!!!" The airport was about the size of my house. I'm not exaggerating. I thought that a capital city would have a bigger airport. I have since learned that more flights go out of Casablanca, but honestly that airport isn't very big either.
Last week Josh. Andrew and I went back to the airport in search of Josh's missing luggage. The luggage has been missing since October 31st and Kenya Airways keeps trying to send it to us. We walk into the airport and I couldn't help but notice the mangy, stray cat INSIDE the airport. He was sleeping on the red carpet that led to the first class line of the ticket counter. What was even more surprising was that no one else seemed surprised to see this cat inside the airport.
Stray cats and chickens . . . I don't remember reading about this in ANY of the guidebooks we have about Morocco. :)

--Rachel