Help [ME] Ronda

who turned up the heat?

Yes you read that correctly.  That's 120 Fahrenheit.  Andrew tells me it get's hotter in July & August.  Two months you won't find me in Doha.  We have been settling into life here with Andrew.  The gulf coast beach called Sealine was beckoning us to come forward for a visit, especially with the high temps.  It's just south of Doha where the giant desert sand dunes meet the beach.  You can ride camels & atvs or take your jeep out for a stroll on the huge dunes.  We opted to spend time under umbrellas on the beach and near the pools.  Anthony had fun photographing the crabs in the water and building a sand castle.  It was fun watching him just be a kid.  Andrew & i took to reading especially after Andrew spotted a jellyfish in the water.  Here's a look at our day at Sealine.

In the Desert

We made it safely to Doha, Qatar a couple days ago.  Honestly with the jet lag and time zone changes, it's hard for me to keep track of days.  Andrew always says Day 2 is the worse and i would have to agree.  Anthony & I both were having issues staying awake and being coherent.  We are extremely happy to have time together with Andrew and blessed that he has a few days off with us at the beginning. 

This time around things feel a bit easier.  Maybe it's because i know what to expect.  The unknown is always hard.  Our first few days are always about getting acclimated again so we just do casual jaunts around Doha until the jet lag subsides a bit.  The first night upon arrival we did visit the Villagio Mall.  We are shocked & saddened by the recent fire that happened some 14 hours later. We are heartbroken for those families who lost loved ones.

Our first day we drove around downtown after breakfast at one of Andrew's favorite places. We were checking out potential future apartments since he lives pretty far out from the city center.  We also had to stock up on some groceries since his cupboards were, shall we say, lacking.  This requires a trip to the mall were most of the grocery stores are located.  Grocery carts in the malls still fascinate me.  Andrew also scouted out an Art Supply store for me and wanted to share it with me.  Gosh i love that man.  We also visited the Souq Waqif one night for dinner.  It's such a cool area where you can purchase all kinds of unique items along with some very generic tourist items.  Here's a pictorial diary of our journey so far. 

have art, can travel

With numerous days ahead in Doha, i decided to pack me a little travel kit.  Ok maybe not so little but compared to the studio, trust me this is a small portion.  Andy will be working and gone some nights while we are there.   Anthony & I have 24 hours of traveling ahead, plus the return trip.  So i will need something to keep me busy and I have an insatiable need to create. I actually tried to limit myself this time, meaning i didn't take every medium i own.  Trust me when i say this is so hard!  Not all of this will be in my carry-on.  I will limit myself to the art journals & pens for now.  Maybe some washi tape.  So let's take a closer look at what's in my travel kit.

I have two art journals going with me, both Moleskin.  These are watercolor journals perfect for almost any medium.  My adhesive dispenser is a must.  Yes i decorated it.  I had leftover paint one day and it was sitting there. 

If i had to limit my mediums, spray ink/mists is always going to make the cut.  I decided to bring a small rainbow of colors.  The mini misters are perfect for traveling!  They will be double bagged in case of leaks.  Right next to them are my black pens in a variety of sizes.

Love Picket Fence distress stain.  It is a great white that really covers well without lifting off the page days later.  Black ink is a must and there is a white ink (Snowcap) underneath as well.  Water bottle, glue stick, some dabber paints are to the left. a simple corner punch can add so much to a page.  Needle & black floss.  A tin of embellishments.  Paint brushes in round, flat, and filbert.  Water pens, a pencil, and a good white eraser.  What you don't see is some stamps that are already packed.

There is a kraft journal under the scissors and brayer.  Again moleskin.  It will be my travel journal for Doha.  Just a little grid journal to help me document my time in Doha.  Behind that are some travel word fetti stickers from Making Memories.  Remember those?  Yes i still have a few of those from ions ago (11 - 12 years ago?).  Perfect for this trip, along with some 7 gyspies date stickers.  There are some kraft journal jotters & Kraft Polka dot envelopes from Maya Road and some glassine envelopes from Tim Holtz.  Manilla tags, 3 x 4 pieces of paper, and book paper under the brayer & scissors.  A few washi tapes and walnut stain ink.  It's my favorite.  And underneath it all is a craft mat that will be joining me on this journey.  It's a great instant go to surface.

Once in a lifetime

Say you got to go to Ranger U with 23 other incredibly talented women in the industry, would you think it could get any better than that?  How about if you got to add dinner with Suze Weinberg in her house with her wonderful husband Lenny and your friends?  Suze picked up Lisa Pace, Carolyn Ross, Aurea Estelle, and myself up from the hotel and brought us back to dinner at her house.  They welcomed us with open arms.  As i sit here typing this, i still cannot believe it.  I remember the first time i picked up UTEE and fell in love.  Never did i think in a million years i would have this opportunity.  Her house was stunning.  I mean stunning.  Like the kind you would see in a design magazine.  Suze took us on a tour while Lenny cooked us dinner.  There were so many amazing pieces in her collection and she told us the stories behind them.  I have to say that my favorite pieces were hers.  Her melt art pieces are just incredible.  We then sat down to dinner and wonderful conversation.  What you see what you get with Suze.  She is honest and generous.  I was truly blessed to get to spend the evening with my friends.  Take a look at her pieces and a few of her other art pieces.

Whirlwind weekend

It was a whirlwind weekend. On Friday i left for Tallahassee for my neice Jessi's wedding. Saturday was the wedding.  Sunday was brunch/birthday bash for my nephew Michael and then a flight home.  I am so happy i had this chance to spend time with my family and be a small part of a beautiful wedding.

The wedding was held at an old estate, now museum called Goodwood Museum.  It was supposed to be an outdoor wedding with the reception at the beautiful carriage house.  The rains came pouring down and so the wedding moved into the carriage house after some rearranging.  Jessi & Chris were not deterred by the changes, they just wanted to be married for the greatest of God's gifts, love.  The coolest bits of the wedding was the love & laughter poured into the planning, ceremony, and reception. 

Jessi looked so beautiful in her dress.  I believe Sandra (jessi's mom) and Jessi added the belt which matched the beautiful headband.  The gown was so gorgeous.  So very gorgeous.  And the vintage broach bouquet was filled with jewelry from generations past which brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it.  The wedding colors were buttery yellow and grey.  You know i loved it.

There was an old fashion candy station for both kids & adults complete with glassine bags and apothecary jars filled with candy.  There was a water stations with pitchers filled with different kinds of infused ice waters (cucumbers, raspberries, lemon & lime, oranges).  Being in the south, there was an ice tea station as well.  The tables had a variety of vintage centerpieces along with "cake" stands made from crystal candle holders & 45 records with pictures of the bride & groom.  These cake stands later held the cupcakes served instead of the wedding cake. Here's a small peek into the wedding.  More photos to come but i need to have a chance to sit, play, and did through them all.

Wuv, Tru Wuv

To Doha & Back Again, A pilot wife's tale

We are back home in Denver.  While i totally love my house, this city, and the family i have here, i fear i left my heart in Doha.  It was an incredible visit filled with some much love and good times.  I was pleasantly surprised at how easily i could adapt to life there.  I admit i wouldn't really want to drive there just yet.  Roundabouts confuse me and the drivers are a wee bit aggressive.  We traveled all across Qatar from forts in the north west to the beach & sand dunes in the south east.  Andrew kept us quite busy trying to show us about life there. 

It was good to see his life there and i am happy he has such a good group of friends.  I already miss him like crazy, tearing up the whole plan ride home.  I have to say his airline is so luxurious and we were blessed to travel with them.  The flight home does get a bit long, 16:19 to be exact.  We stopped in Houston, had a 2 hour lay over, and then hopped another 2:30 flight home to Denver.  We were exhausted after 24 hours or so of traveling.  However we all woke up early this morning, anywhere from 4:30 - 6:00 am.  Hopefully we will get back on Denver time soon.  In the meantime here are some pictures from our last days there.

Happy New Year's Eve.  Be Safe.

More days in doha

It has bee a really good visit for us and has opened our eyes about Andrew's life here.  It is a good thing for us to be immersed in his world.  On Christmas eve we went to an expat (ex-expatriate: a term used for those living outside their own country) Christmas party.  Paul, a great Irish fellow, made surprise surprise.... Irish stew.  It was fabulous.  I was amazed at all the nationalities and how global it felt.  Christmas eve dinner with some Irish, Australians, New Zealanders, Iranians, Americans, British, and Austrians.  It was so very cool to be welcomed into their home to all sit around & chat about life in Doha.

Later that night we went to the Souq Waqif. A very cool open air market full of goods like fine silks & fabrics, all kinds of metals, jewelry, and incredible spices.  We walked along the streets with some Pilot friends of Andy and just enjoyed the scenery.  The kids made a few purchases in the candy shop.  Andy sat me down in front of this man who makes costume bracelets right before your eyes.  It was so cool.  He told me to pick three colors and we watched him create this beautiful bangle right before our eyes.  Bling Bling he asked.  Why yes of course.  Love my bracelet.  We are heading back there for another visit. 

Unfortunately i have caught a cold here.  My nose is so stuff that i went to get a saline rinse and the box of puffs is three-quarters gone.  I also have asthma which sometimes bring ons complications with colds.  I had to get a nebulizer while i was here to help with my breathing.  Hopefully it will clear up soon, especially before we take the long flight home.  I have been powering through and we still have been sight seeing around town.  Andrew has been so wonderful taking us around even though he has worked some nights.  We have blessed with many days off with him. 

Our Days Here

We have really enjoying our time here with Andrew.  It's a true blessing to be with him here.  Jet-lag caught up with us a few days.  We sucumbed to some naps one day.  The 4:30 am ish call to prayer does tend to wake me up.  We have been sight-seeing quite a bit.  Andrew is trying to show us snapshots of life here mixed in with the sights.  He has shown us a few places he could live with company housing and a few he could live on his own.  I am happy he wants my input for i see a day when i spend more time with him here.  

(Click on any photo to make it larger)

The above photos are from our day at the Pearl, Qatar, luxurious living & shopping.  It was stunning and a bit intimidating with shops like Missoni, John Galliano, Cole Haan, Harry Wintson, etc.  The walk around the pearl was really lovely and i was surprised to see it decked out in Christmas decorations including multiple Christmas trees.  We had lunch at a wonderful restaurant that overlooked the bay area.  It was the best hummus i have tasted and the bread was simply fabulous.  We couldn't resist dessert at the Chocolate Bar. 

Yesterday  we met some of Andy's friends here, Bruce and Chris & Sarah.  I am impressed with the community of ex-pats here and happy Andrew has friends he can rely on.  They took us in their jeeps into the desert North West of town.  We went to see an ancient fort that is currently being excavated and then into more desert to see a place called "Film City."  It is this bizarre little city in the middle of nowhere supposedly built for filming.  We stopped on our way there to trudge up some slopes of sand.  They look like solid bits of rock but one step will tell you it is nothing but soft bits of sand that crumbles beneath your path.  Going down the slopes is more frightening than climbing up. 

The sun setting in the desert is a sight to see.  It was a giant blazing ball of yellows, oranges, and reds set against the sand that seems to go on forever.  It really changes the appearance of the dunes bringing out the subtle colors you miss at first glance.  I couldn't even begin to imagine traveling in the desert at night on a camel caravan to some remote town.  The desert seems so endless and to me so easily to get lost in.  Thank goodness for our fabulous tour guides. 

Welcome to Doha

We made it here last night after a 24 hour day of traveling.  I was so happy to see Andrew that i of course cried.  I just couldn't help thinking of how much i have missed him and how blessed i feel to see him now, if only for 10 short days.  We did a little shopping last night making sure there was food & some kitchen essentials at his apartment and then went home to sleep pass out. 

This late morning/afternoon we went into the West Bay/downtown area of Doha.  I can say that it will be a while until i attempt driving here.  I will leave that to Andrew for now.  I think shopping at a local grocery store will give you insight into the daily life of the town/country you are in.  What i love is the freshness and abundance of produce here.  There was a wide selection of unusual items, stuff i would have to hunt for in the united states.  I admit i was a little surprised to not find Celery and had to laugh a bit when i asked "No Celery in Doha today."  Of course this was in one grocery store that i had checked but he felt as if he knew the whole city's content. 

It seems Andrew was waiting on me to purchase a few essentials.  Basically if it wasn't an immediate need, he figured he would wait.  He claims that "he wanted me to pick them out so i was happy" but i think the truth is it just isn't something he is into even if it is for him.  Shopping just isn't his thing.  It's ok, i totally make up for it. I asked him if he had a vegetable peeler to which he replied, "um yeah i think so."  What he thought was vegetable peeler turns out to be one of 4 can openers.

I am amazed that the grocery stores are located in the mall.  Shopping carts pushed through the mall seems so, well, foreign to me.  It would also be a little too easy for me to shop for the groceries.  Honey we need some milk and a new pair of shoes.  The spices here of course are amazing.  I loved that i could go up to barrels and just tell them how many grams i wanted. 

I admit i am under impressed with the lack recycling and sewer lines here.  Being from a uber green state probably makes me hyper aware but Andy tells me they are trying to implement these here.  I am hopeful.  Tomorrow we are going to explore some more and visit the souq.  We also have some desert trips planned and a camel ride for the kids. 

Days in Spain

Ellen, Susana, Me, & Sandra

like i said before, simply an amazing time.  I had more pictures to share of my time there.  I did a layout workshop twice in both stores on Friday.  I met a lot of great women and they were very patient with my spanish.  On Saturday, the workshops were held at a hotel.  It was a day to celebrate us as individuals.  My Album, I AM, is meant to celebrate all of who you are as an individual and the roles you play in life. There was an opportunity to take pictures in between the workshops.  It was really cool of Ellen & Sandra to think of this for everyone.  I love chatting & hanging out with all the girls.  I would so do it again.  I have more to say about the other instructor (whom i adore) Susana but i want to dedicate a whole post to her!

A big Thank you from the bottom of my heart for making these days so special!