Falling for...

Have I mentioned it before? The fact that it's hot here? The fact that there seems to be a distinct lack of seasons here? As much as the heat bothered me during the worst of summer, I haven't mind it too much. I'm a warmer-weather person anyway and, compared to coldest-rainiest-winter-in-35-years Morocco, March in Oman and the UAE were a total blessing.

But, hey, March is the time where the weather had better be shaping up anyway, where I come from. So, even though it's been in an extreme way, March through September should be hot. I know I mentioned just the other day how I'd miss my fall walks and trees, but my own memory combined with facebook, blogger and, yes, even Williams-Sonoma, are all collaborating to make me really miss the seasons.

I got an email a couple of weeks ago about Esther's potential Halloween outfits for her pup, everyone and her brother seems to be posting status updates about apple cider and carving pumpkins, my sister-in-law and her roomies are baking up gorgeous squash pizzas in my old house and now, even one of my little internet pleasures - searching Williams-Sonoma - has turned up heartache.

But so what if this year we won't be carving pumpkins and camping and apple-orcharding and roasting perfect turkeys while football blares on in the background...this year we will live in the memories of times past and make a few that we'll keep around during the times when things are "normal" (if there ever again will be such a time!).

Like when Esther (who lived with me for years) would celebrate fall by purchasing tiny gourds to decorate our dinner table come fall.

Or the year in college I had such a ridiculous Halloween costume that people still remember it (oh, the follies of youth).

Long walks in the 'hood with Vitale, MA, Jess and lots of other friends who stopped in.

Mulled cider on the stovetop.

Walking to work at Preston-Osborne or Smiley Pete and collecting leaves or kicking over piles of them.

Saturday mornings at Magees with warming coffee and chitchat.

Halloween parties - and the first year I owned my house and had tricker-treaters.

Thanksgiving with my family - and last year, when I had the privelege of two Thanksgivings.




What are your favorite memories?

Tourist Duty

We have scant few weekends left here (What? So weird!) and so, to make the most of those remaining, we have decided to venture out a bit more into the countries around which we are living. We've spent plenty of time in Oman and the UAE, but there are still a few things we've noticed and of which full advantage have not been taken.

One of those things is "interior Oman," which generally means not Muscat or the UAE border. The country is full of Dunes and Oasis and Wadis (valleys that fill up with water - ripe for swimming and exploring). Another is taking a (totally touristy) safari in the UAE.

We did both of those things during last week's Eid, as well as spending a cultural day in Abu Dhabi at their soon-to-be-finished-twenty-years-in-the-making-Isalmic-cultural-center (it's technically not a mosque because Muslims are instructed to build very practical and plain mosques meant only for worship, and this is not that; however, people do worship here. They also call it an Islamic cultural center so they can admit non-Muslims.).

It was a great couple of days break to act as a buffer between the days of re-settling in our expat lifestyle while simultaneously conducting exercises to get us out (Jacob's job search intensified last week).

Anyway, here are the memories...ah, Kodak (or, actually Sandisk digital image) moments.

Full album here.

Wadi at Sunset. It's so amazing to come across this - palms and mountains

and greenery in the middle of the desert.

Obligatory camel-love shot. C'mon, I know we all rode one at the zoo, aged 8, but in the desert? A must.

Also a must: dune bashing. It's like a roller coaster with no track! Well, maybe a soundtrack, which in our case was alternating Middle Eastern pop and Western R&B/Rap (ie, Apple Bottom Jeans), to which our driver/guide bashed (quite rhythmically) until he made our Danish girl-companions sick.

And the final part of the evening was a "Bedouin-style" dinner at a tented encampment, wherin we enjoyed a pleasant dinner, a belly-dancing show, henna and sheesha (and the locals enjoyed the show of international tourists mooning over desert livestock and the novelty of sitting on the ground for dinner - win win!).

And now, Abu Dhabi. Every time we've driven into the capitol city, we've passed this incredibly-massive-four-minaretted white mosque off the highway. You can't miss it. This time, we actually stopped. Well worth it. The architecture, detail and design of this place is amazing. Even if camels don't do it for you, check out the album to see the rest of the mosque pics. White Grecian heat-absorbing marble (so you can walk around barefoot and not get burned) inlaid with everything from precious stones to colored natural marble to mother of pearl (black and white) in intricate designs. Not to mention the white- and yellow-gold accents all over.

The hallways, which border all four sides, were arched and inlaid and gold-leafed and surrounded by pools.

You might notice some odd posts if you subscribe to thehardyheyday.blogspot.com, or follow us on Facebook.

No worries, these are just the posts of our other blog, Moroccomyworld. Despite it's really awesome name (thanks, Jess!), it's become a bit inactive, so I migrated it to The Hardy Heyday so that all the photos and recipes are still available.

We'll keep posting the adventures here. Stay tuned!

It hasn't happened for the longest time...

I think the last time I really felt like this was probably before I bought my little house in 2005. It's the way I feel right before a big change, a move, a decision. I feel energized and anxious (the good kind) and curious, like a kid at Christmas or a birthday.

The whole world is open to us right now, as we contemplate next steps in our life. We are down to just over two months until we leave the desert lands and middle east and adventures of Africa for our next move.

I can't believe it's been almost a year.

I can't believe it's been nine months since we got married (actually, tomorrow, the 27th).

I can't believe we don't know where we're going (but it's ok...I happen to like surprises!).

Eid Mubarrek!

We've been a bit MIA this past week because of Eid Al Fetr, the holiday following the end of Ramadan, Islam's month of fasting. We were around some and out some (photos of Dubai safari and Abu Dhabi's mosque coming!). The days in were mostly taken up with some housekeeping and continuing Jacob's internship search (where we stop - next - nobody knows!).

It was nice to finish up reviewing our France photos, though and think of our sweet vacation and the short glimpse of fall we got while traveling there. It's amazing that September is almost over. Even an Indian Summer might extend to September, but in the next few days it will be officially fall - one of my favorite seasons (but not here, even thought it will be cooler, Insh'allah).

I'll miss the tea-scented fallen leaves strewn around the tree-lined streets of my neighborhood, especially on Catalpa, where the Gingko leaves turn the street brilliant yellow for a spectacular week. I'll miss the first crispness in the air, clear mornings and jackets (worn because it's cool and not because I have to cover my arms, even in the hundred-plus-degree heat!).

So, here are the photos of Tours, in the Loire Valley. A preview and the album!

A stunning success in culinary quests: the Doner Kebab.

Castles...just like fairy tales!

One of my favorite dinners in France - in Tours - The Smoking Rabbit.Isn't this just like a children's book or something?

Sigh

Provence, though not in its high season (lavender was passed, sunflowers were on their way out), was still a wonderful and relaxing stop during our trip. We stayed in Orange and made sojourns out to Aix-en-Provence, Arles and Avignon. It was beautiful country, and even reminded us a bit of home with the rolling hills, grazing animals and manicured farmlands.

The towns were wonderful, too, full of shops and cafes and markets. Everything was perfect for long walks and long lunches with light cool wines and sighs of contentment.

A few of my favorite shots below, and the web album here!
I love all the menus they have in front of the cafes. I think I photographed just about every one I saw!See? Didn't I say the shopping was great? My adorable husband modeling some French wares in Aix-En-Provence. The Palais de Papas in Avignon, where the Papacy was housed for about 70 years during a time of unrest in Rome. Arles, one of the towns we visited, was home to Cezanne and Van Gogh during many of their (maybe unpopular, but) productive painting years. I loved these horses. There was even a little track that the kids could race them on, and a leaderboard just like Keenelands with chalk lines for the finishes!

Request for photo input!

Ok, so there are about a million pics of Paris, and some of them are duplicates in B&W. If you take a look at photos on my picasa account or on fbook and have a preference on the photos that are B&W vs. color, let me know. I've been staring at them so long it's hard to tell!

La vie en rose

When we arrived in Paris, it was eight in the morning. So, we grabbed our bags and navigated CDG (which looks nothing like it should according to fave HS flick French Kiss...maybe that was the other one?) to the connecting train station where we navigated by, yes, plane, then train, then automobile to our charming little corner-closet-room on the top floor of our boutique hotel. Tres cute.

Me, and all our luggage (since we nearly always travel, like carpetbaggers, with all our belongings!)

We spent a bit of time on the Champs de Mars and Champs-Elysees and planned the sights of our trip, because, of course the Eiffel Tower and famous streets are iconic images of Paris that had to be mentally (and photographically) documented immediately! Plus, cafes...mmm...food. I already mentioned baguettes, brie...there was wine and pain au chocolat and croissants and cafe au lait and duck and butter and...mmmm...

We also saw Versailles (actually pronounced correctly! It's a revelation after living in Kentucky so long! I kept having to tell myself: don't do it, don't say Ver-say-lls!) and Notre Dame and one of my favorite spots: Ile St. Louis, where there was a little band and kids and dogs everywhere and an impromptu "free massage" service all along the bridge and, of course, streets lined with flea-market stalls full of old books and maps and kooky pictures and knick knacks.

A charming little side street.

The band on Ile St. Louis.

The absolute highlight of Paris, though, was the evening that started the week before when a book showed up at my mom's house. It was my birthday hint. A copy of "The Sun Also Rises," Ernest Hemingway's first major novel. On our last evening in Paris we visited the famous restaurant "Les Deux Magots," where Hemingway is said to have completed a large part of the book, for a spectacular dinner and fabulous wine and great atmosphere. We sat at a table on the upper level of the tiered patio and talked, ate drank, imagined and watched the people - and the day - fade away. It was one of Jacob's more notable successes in events (and that's hard to say considering his record!). So thoughtful.

Following Paris, we headed to Provence, but more about that later. Here are all the pics of Paris. Enjoy!

Four on the floor

That's how the day ended, both of us on our knees, laughing and kissing, our minds swimming with dreams and possibilities and finalities.

That event I mentioned the other day? It was our engagement, though I had no idea it was coming - a fact we both laugh and revel in together - even though my mom had assured him that, "of course she knows it's coming."

So much so that when Elisabeth was dispatched during a girls' night out to find out ring specs, I insisted on quieting the topic, knowing that it just wasn't in the cards right now. When she pressed over and over, I didn't move and as I was leaving her house that night, she yelled after me, "You're going to marry him!" I dismissed her with a flip of the wrist and walked on.

You see, we'd only been dating three months and, while we - unbeknownst to each other - both would have jumped in head first even at the two-week or month point, that's just not how things are done, right?

Further, my sweet, ambitious boyfriend was in the first stage of a 33-month graduate program in another state and was only three months away from beginning stage two: a year abroad.

When I was asked if I was going to marry him by another friend, Angie, I skipped the usual response: a categorical rejection and unparalleled disbelief at the suggestion. Instead the response was a bit more demure, and out came "I don't know what will happen, but if Jacob Hardy asked me to marry him, I'd be the luckiest girl in the world."

So, after only three months of dating, one year ago today, my head spinning, heart floating, I listened as the most wonderful man in the entire world looked up at me from on knee and offered me a hand, a ring, a new future. And I accepted.

Dependent Independence

I remember the morning I left for college. It was a rainy August morning and Sarah, along with her mom and her little brother, had come to see me off. After a few hugs, I climbed into the loaded Expedition with mom and dad and wedged myself in between all the boxes I'd carefully packed and labeled with index cards that detailed each item contained within.

I was a little tearful looking back at Sarah and recognizing our first major break. I was a bit conflicted when mom and dad finally stepped out of the dorm room and left me with my new community. But I was also electrified by my newfound independence. I couldn't help but be excited for this new life, this new place. At 17, I was getting my first taste of being grown up. It sounds harsh, in a way, insensitive, that I was so excited to get on to the next thing and leave so much behind, but I guess when the next thing is coming anyway, one might as well embrace it. And, while I didn't ever see myself going back to Indy long-term, I knew I'd never entirely leave my family, Sarah, or that place - nor would they leave me.

Leaving Lexington was different and still the same. This time I packed up not a room, but a life. I didn't graduate from school, I had to leave a job. I didn't stumble out looking for my direction and basking in independence, I set a course and united myself with another person's life and dreams.

Three days after our wedding and still glowing, we left the airport with our four bags in tow and the rest of our things packed up at various family homes. As much as I've loved Lexington and my life there, once we left it began to immortalize itself in my heart. It's been challenging to think about going back. I think it's mostly because Lexington, as Indy, was so perfect for what it was and the time it was in my life and I don't think it can ever be the same, or I don't want to expect it to be and be disappointed.

When you go somewhere new it's not fraught with expectations of rebuilding relationships or hopes of familiarity or fears of the unknown - because everything is unknown. Everything is open to interpretation and shaping.

But going home recently, as a married woman, sharing with our friends (from Indy, Lexington and beyond) in engagements, babies, jobs, lives...it made me question for the first time what I was so scared of. People will change, places will change, but the key in both of my moves has been the relationships that stick. And those are the things I come back for - and will keep coming back for.

Because I need to be a part of the Taylor family life, my brother's and mom's, my girlfriends', my entire family's and new family's lives - and I need them to be a part of mine.

Fete Accompli & Paris Previews

It was just about this time last year I got a call from my mom.

Jacob and I had just returned from a weekend in Indy to celebrate the long weekend and my birthday. It was, admittedly, evaluatory for my then-beau. My mom, brother, grandparents, best friend, as much family as could be assembled and all the guys my dad was friends with were brought to mom's house to "meet the boyfriend."

Despite having already sojourned from South Carolina to meet up with me in Lexington and suffering from a monster cold, Jacob made a good showing in Indy.

But when mom called the week after and asked me, "What did Jacob get you for your birthday?", I still felt like I had to shore up the support and defend him a bit. "Oh," I said. "He's more of an event person. He probably has something planned for the next time he comes up." Mom seemed to be a little incredulous, but I was pretty sure he had something going on.

More on my birthday story last year (for those who don't already know) later, but right now I'm going to elaborate more on this year's event by posting a few pics from the Paris leg of my birthday (and our romantic) trip:

One of my very favorite things in Paris was the Fat Tire bike tour. It was 7 miles of biking around sights and hearing all the interesting history and backgrounds from a hilarious guide. Touristy: definitely, goofy: maybe, FUN: yes!

Me and my Diana (the camera) on the Champs de Mars in front of the Eiffel Tower where Jacob and I planned some sights and relaxed with, what else, baguettes and brie.

Ok, I skipped the Louvre. I just couldn't do it. Too many people, too much hubub, too much fussy fuss. Maybe next time. But, the Musee d'Orsay? Breathtaking.

You know what else is breaktaking? Or maybe I should say who, because the answer is: my husband.

PS-Pics

You can see the rest of pics of Mia on my google picasa account here, and photos and stories from past posts about the Emirates, Jordan, Oman, Arabic, the US, and various rants and raves about being an independent woman in the middle east at thehardyheyday.blogspot.com!

Tour de Force

Ever since my wedding, there's been this rumor going around that I get things done by, well, forceful measures. Something during the MOH speech about me coercing people to be friends with me by depriving them of house and home...

So, yes, it's true, I threw Sarah's house keys out the window of a school bus after one day in second grade so that she would have to come to my house instead of heading to hers. But it's not like I threw them into a cornfield or a creek! I threw them into my front yard, obviously. And, hey, it worked. Credit where credit is due, thankyouverymuch.

Because here it is some 20-odd years later and we're still the closest of friends (although I'll credit her ability to persist with me through attitude as much as I insisted with her through lack thereof). It's been many moons (as my mother would say) we've seen through all the elementary school recitations, icing fights, carwashes, choir rehearsals, beaded-button rings, goofie movies, catchphrases, college apps and acceptance, marriages, moves and, now, babies (she had just let me get all caught up and then there she goes, moving ahead again).

I've linked to Sarah and Travis' blog before, wherein they've chronicled the 2+ year journey of adoption, but now the process is complete, the family is together and Mia is home.

The absolute and undisputed highlight of the trip home for me was seeing my best friend and her wonderful husband become parents (you can see it, too, on their blog). We had two whole days to drop in and visit and share dinners (and Mia's first cereal) and laughs and hugs before Jacob and I got back on a plane. Praise God for this little family and that I got to see them all together! Below are a few shots of their arrival from Ethiopia with their darling baby girl.

After abandoning my husband and the car at an airport dropoff, I ran through the terminal and up an escalator - pushing people out of my way - to get my first glimpse of this baby. Isn't she gorgeous?

With Travis' dad - proud grandfather!

Momma and baby getting used to being home.

Daddy and Mia, sharing dinnertime.

Cutest nursery EVER!

Parties with the Petries

It's damage only in retrospect (all the eating over the last month at our favorite hometown haunts and vacation spots) as far as the potential (?) weight gain. Now, in photos, I can relive all the wonderful times we had, which, hey, happens to include food...and markets. And people. Mmmmm...markets.

Here are a few shots of our trip to Cleveland, which was at the end of our time at home, but the beginning of the camera's rehab. Beginning with the most important first:
Ha, ha! Just kidding! Dogs are not more important than people...

But seriously, Jackson is so cute and reminds me of Kipling too much and Sadie can catch food she tosses up in the air from her nose!
But, hey, so can Phillip! Just kidding, but maybe with some training. These are the Petries, Phillip is a longtime friend of Jacob's and Josie is a new friend of mine (Marriage is great, right? You get a spouse and new friends!). Mmm...markets...this one was indoor/outdoor and fabulous! I hope we live near one the next place we go. And, hey, I had to show the pig as it should be - a beacon of gastronomy, not a shameful, haram dinner reject!

Eating alfresco? Not something we get to do here, much. And the beautiful, in-season, sweet, tart glistening peaches...oh, yeah. That's summer.

And just one for the road: a delectible cheese plate from Luxe, which, if you're in Cleveland: yum!

PS-Ramadan

I totally forgot-following our culinary frolic through France that when we returned here it would be Ramadan. So when we made our first trip out to the grocery, it was odd and interesting to see that the entire mall was devoid of food (not the grocery, of course, but anywhere one might purchase and partake of food on the spot). That means KFC, McDonalds, Curry (my fave little Indian spot), Herfy's...you name it - all dark. In the middle of the day!

It makes sense, though, since fasting is the order of the month - from dawn until dusk. And, that old saying, 'when in Rome...' has real implications here. Even a non-Muslim foreigner can't be spotted eating in public; the offense can result in jail time for the remainder of the month.

I guess we'll be eating in...

Back to Buraimi

It's hard to believe that it was five short weeks ago that we packed up our little Buraimi flat and headed out (encouraged by our desire to get home and one of the many summer power outages that plagues our little town during the "hot" months). Last night, after a minor snafu regarding some very expensive film, an x-ray machine, the French police and two late-arriving travellers (more later), we made it back to Dubai and were reunited with our SC Crew.

It was familiar to get back to the Middle East in a surprising, yet comforting way. The Arabic, the local dress, the sand (oh, the sand), and the heat.

But the first thing (after a bit of sleep) I was excited to get to was the trip pics. Unfortunately, our camera up and got a bit of flash flu and had to go to the shop for most of our trip and little Coca-Cola bath washed over our early-home-trip-pics-including memory card, BUT we do have a few of the end (and some really extraordinary events) as well as a TON of France and our romantic-buffer-birthday trip.

As soon as I get them downloaded, I'll be sure to post (and they'll be posted in the order of occurance on the memory card).

In the mean time, enjoy your Labor Day weekend, which we don't have (such a cruel early reminder of the culture change!).