Saudi House Tour

When we first moved here in May I did a post of what our new house looks like here. I had the intention of putting up "after" pictures once we got settle and kept forgetting to do it. So, finally I made sure the house was clean and took pictures.


So...lets get started! 

Here is our floor plan to help visualize where everything is

I don't have an before picture of what the entry looked like but essentially it was nothing. Here is what our entry looks like now....

Currently I have our Spring branches in with Easter eggs hanging. Once Easter is over I will keep the Cherry Blososm branches and just take off the eggs. In the fall I have some nice orange, brown and red branches. On the wall is an etching that we bought at a Bazzar here of a Bedouin lady on a camel. We finally got it framed and up on the wall. The bookcase serves as a place to store everything...I have a birthday present on there that I need to give to someone, one basket is the dogs leash and ball and the other is where I store dry cleaning. Since it is not too big of a basket, it helps make sure that it doesn't pile up. 

Just off the entry is a large, rectangular living and dining room.

Before

After

The room is divided into three purposes...the more formal living room which is above. We typically watch non cartoons in here and the occasional movie with the kids. Then there is the dining area which is below. We eat all our meals here and it has worked out well. I made sure to buy lots of different kinds of fun kid colored plastic place mats so we keep the table nice and we bought slipcovers for the leather chairs before we came which are awesome, just take them off and wash them.

My desk and laptop sit between the two areas. Not the most ideal place for an office area but it works and I can work on the blog while watching kids play in the playroom next to this room.

Off the living/dining room is the playroom and more relaxed living area. This is the room that we love having as we did not have this space in Texas. It has been awesome to have a play area.

Before- isn't it depressing....there was NOTHING in here for the first four months we were here!

After

Off of the playroom/living room is the kitchen. 

Before

 After

You can't do much with a kitchen in company housing so other than adding some accessories, a rug and a blind we tried to update it and make it not so bland. But if this was my house we would totally be knocking down cabinets to open it up to the playroom and updating counters and cabinets and floors and appliances!  But it works for us as is!

On the opposite side of the house is all the bedrooms (3) and the bathrooms (2). At the one end of the hall is the master bedroom and bathroom. 

Before

After

Currently what is in our master is what we had in Texas which I loved but our house in Texas was much brighter, had beautiful wood floors and it felt bright and airy and just what I wanted. Here it just seems dull. So, I have been wanting to update it with some bright colors, add some reds and I am hoping to buy this duvet from Pottery Barn. 

John has kind of agreed to it but hasn't given me the full go ahead to order so I am waiting on that. I am hoping with that, a textured headboard in either a wood or even a Seagrass/basket material would add some dimension and something different to a pretty bland room.

Just down from our room is the second bathroom which is the kids bathroom and guest bathroom in one.

Before

After

Also on this side of the house and down the hall are the kids two rooms. I completly redid Peyton's when we moved here and I love it. I probably like it more than she does. I bought everything from Pottery Barn Kids and most of the furntiture is from Ikea and the lamps are a combination from Ikea or Target.

Before

After

And finally here is Graham's room which is essentially the same as it was in Texas minus the paint color. I am still so happy that my mom helped me with the curtains and bedding. We did have a cute bed skirt which you can see here but when we lowered the crib it didn't work. I am going to work on it and get it to fit on his big boy bed when he moves into that...hopefully not anytime soon.

Before

After

After picture to come....whenever I have a spare moment it means he is asleep and I am not about to disturb him. But it looks almost identical to his room in Texas.....

That is it! Hope you enjoyed seeing where we live here in the desert! 

New Passion...Photography

As a result of our move to Saudi, I have had more time and the financial resources to be able to pursue my interest in photography. I have joined an online forum called Clickin Moms and have found a wealth of information there, I have taken two courses and am hoping to do another one next month and I have  gotten the editing program Lightroom and over Christmas asked for several photography books. All have helped me grow and learn more every day about the art of photography. I only wish I had more time to devote to it...and well now.....I wouldn't mind an upgrade in my camera!


Well several weeks ago I did a newborn shoot for our friends The Perry's of their little girl. I was so nervous and put off asking to do it for weeks. I don't know why I was so nervous...probably because I had never done a baby that little and I wanted to do such a good job for them. Prior to this shoot I did three other shots outside my kids.  I am so glad I did the shoot for the Perry's because not only did I learn a ton, love the pictures....most importantly...they loved them and they were able to capture this time in their lives which is hard to do in Saudi with not a whole lot of photographers around!

I have also done a maternity shoot of a friend here and then her newborn boy shoot (more like 6 week old baby shoot) and then I did one of triplets. Here are some from the pictures that I have done for people since July when I started to actively try to learn photography.....

I don't know where this interest will lead me but for now I am having fun learning, practicing and hopefully growing. And it is always fun to be able to practice on kids outside my own and give friend's some photos for them to hopefully treasure.

Midweek Ramblings...

Another Wednesday and the end of the work week....well it would be but John no longer has weekends and my work never ends.... so....it is just a Wednesday here! 


Some ramblings of thoughts from this week....

• I have also been looking back to last year at this time and am amazed at how much as changed.....last year we knew we were moving but couldn't tell anyone yet, we had a one week old baby, John was spending his paternity leave doing errands/inventory and getting us ready to leave the country in nine weeks and I was trying to recover! Hard to believe that we are about nine weeks away from our one year anniversary in Saudi! I have lived here for almost a year! I remember the time from when Graham was born to when we announced our move to when we left as flying by! Crazy....where life takes you and how much can change!
• I am starting to wean Graham from bottles. He only gets three a day anyways so I was hoping it would be easy. We have gotten off the morning one and I know I should start the afternoon one soon but it is so easy to avoid this....the before bed one....I am dreading that one!
• Peyton's imagination is so much fun. She is always pretending to be something else and insists you call her by her new name...sometimes it is Cat Bones Cat, Fluffy the Dog or the other day she was Penny from the movie Bolt and I was Penny's mom. Also, when we are on vacations and I forget to bring books we do "pretend stories" before bed time. They are always hilarious! She gives me a topic, helps name the characters along the way and we both have fun. Lately even when we are home she requests "pretend stories" and we have had some interesting ones! 
• Graham needs to learn how to walk....he is killing my back and is so heavy! I think with a little more determination he could but he thinks it is funny to stand up and fall down.
• Speaking of things Graham thinks are funny...he thinks it is hilarious to tackle me! Seriously! I am laying in the floor relaxing and he crawls over, leading with his head (or helmet if we were playing football) and tackles me and he laughs uncontrollably. He has a pretty powerful punch for a 12 month old. He might just be our little linebacker!
• Peyton has her first ballet performance next week! I am so excited! She has been doing amazing in going to ballet and school unlike before mostly due to a sticker reward system which honestly has made life so much easier in the mornings with school and with ballet. I might do a post about that and our chore chart later, both has helped tremendously with giving her responsibility for her actions in an age appropriate way.
• We have been walking to school pretty much everyday which has been nice. Her school is probably as far you can get from our house but we don't live on that big of a camp and so it is a long but nice walk. It takes me about 20 minutes and gets me moving in the mornings and Graham and I walk back along the beach which is always a nice way to start your day.
• We are day 14 into the turnaround...and we are doing pretty well. The days are long sometimes but we are managing and it has gone better than expected. I am tired though and it is hard to go to bed early because by the time I get the kids to sleep, clean up...then John gets home and I want to talk to him. So we talk and then I get to the other things I wanted to do that night and then I realize it is late. I need to get to bed earlier because we do have long days and I need my sleep but it is hard to choose what to let go. I do know that the cleanliness of my house needs to slid. I was crazy cleaning and staying on top of things last week because of Graham's party and I knew I wouldn't have a chance to do a four hour cleaning spree so now that the party is done I can be a little more lax and give myself a break.
• We are busy researching and thinking about different vacation destinations for the year which is exciting. Once we get final approval for our vacation in May and I can book it finally, then I will post details about that! I am pretty excited about it! And also about possible trips in October and December. Lots of fun and I feel pretty blessed that our biggest struggle with all of it is picking a place to go!
• This weekend we have a parade and carnival on camp supporting all the groups that meet and that is about it. I am going to try to be more purposeful with our Friday because last week it was a long, boring and very unproductive day. The hardest part by far with John's new work schedule has been the weekends because our friends are with their families and it is hard to find things to do! But this week will be different!