Whim

Private schools

2011-11-21T13:42:00.001-08:00

Now we are back in Riyadh, with a re-design on our schedule. The girls are in private schools now and just having a ball. We don't have as much time together as we did last semester, but what we do have is more than we had in Ohio. I get more Pyper time too, I think she was a little bit neglected last semester. Each morning she drenches herself in her little water play station just outside my back door, while I organize and unpack (still). Then we see the girls about 2:45 for homework and all head out for a play at the playground before dinner. Life is bliss.

The regular sabeth day afternoon cruising

Kingdom Tower at its finest

the broom hockey club

Much needed trip home

2011-11-21T13:15:00.000-08:00

Well finally a visit home. What a gift from the lord. I was just sinking into a depressing state of caged up reality when Rich calls up to tell me we are finally able to go to the states for Iqama (residency visa) processing. Yahoo!!! I guess the shock from Thailand back to my guilded cage in Riyadh was a bit too much because I seriously started to cry from happiness. We were outta there in about one week, packed and tickets in hand. My mom had visited Chestertucky the previous month but I missed her, so Janae talked her into coming back for one more week with me. It was such an amazing break. And we even got a holiday, Halloween, my favorite. Rory had such a great idea, Madusa. I love it when my girls give me a creative blank canvas to work with, costumes have become my favorite art project each year. City decided to be a "Man eating Siren". She did have a seductive blond wig too. (what am I teaching my children?)

Well being away from Daddy got old very quick, but he came at least every other weekend to see us. Mom and Dad McClellan let us stay with them, in turn I helped out around the house. My favorite part was the misc. tiling patch jobs. I forgot how much I enjoy tiling/mosaics.

My mom and me and the girls drove around downtown, I felt like tourist. We went to the West side market and drove around in the flats checking out bridges. and then to the Rock hall to teach the girls about Elvis. I couldn't stop taking pictures the whole day, even on Mom and Dad's street. I can't believe I already forgot how breathtaking it is in Ohio in the fall, I practically wrecked ten times, just staring into the woods. Wow.

Rory goes to my beautician Kelly

Siren City and Madusa Rory for Halloween

Pyper's first pumpkin carving

Shaylee came yardsaling with me and Janae and Gramma Lee,

we took a break to play on the grassy hill.

City loses Tooth # 3

Cousin Kaela's exclusive birthday outing

McClellan family eirloom buggy, soooo cool!

Thailand pics

2011-09-02T12:02:00.001-07:00

Soncran, our baby elephant

Rory and her best friend Talia

Felicity's fish face

Floating market

Phuket

Hydrant

Rory's cute hat and thai pants

Wat Arun steps

Grand Palace

Thailand

2011-09-02T10:46:00.000-07:00

Getting out of here for the summer is on the top of every expat's mind. However we stuck around (except for the three weeks in Thailand). Yeah a little bit crazy, at least that is how we have been here at the compound. No one around but us. So to keep positive my blog will focus on mainly the fun trip to Thailand, and what a trip!!

We Jumped all over the Country, starting out in Bangkok. After landing we grabbed a mini bus to Hua Hin to meet up with Gilian, Amy, Trevor, and Talia. They had been in Cambodia all month and came up to meet us for a week. What a treat to see them, like seeing family. Rory joked about going to visit "Talia land" (instead of Thailand). Talia and Rory bacame best friends in first grade, they promised to come back to Thailand when they grow up. The funnest moment was dancing in the rain with a baby elephant named Soncran. I never knew I could love kissing a slimy cold wet elephant trunk. We even went back for seconds the next day and she just lit up when she saw us, what a smart baby. She danced and talked for us, she even painted us a picture. Later we found a fun hotel that had a cave for us to stay in, we battled a gargantuous spider who had big beautiful eyes but she won. Oh well I guess it was her house anyway. Gilian spoted a huge alligator lizard thingy staying under our cave, I think she almost had a heart attack but found it so exciting that she really kept her cool, I was quite impressed. A couple days here was just what the kids needed: bugs, animals, kayaks, ziplines, rope bridges.

After the Sterns left, me a the girls found some cave Temples to hike up to. After climbing about 500 steps and then around in a bat cave for a couple hours, we relaxed in front of the monks quarters. Looking at wild squirrel monkey things eating rice and dipping our fingers into the ponds for the fish to nibble. Poi was our guide, she was the niece of the hotel owner. She was so sweet and showed us all around her town, the girls just loved her to bits. She couldn't have been more than 20 years old.

Back to Bangkok again to meet up with Rich and Pyper. We had a few days before they got there so we went to the Grand Palace and Wat Arun (my favorite). The girls hiked super steep steps to the top and gazed out over the city. What a beautiful view, and the Temple itself was coated with tiny mosaaic tiles. After we picked up dad and the babe we ventured toward Phuket. Took us a couple days, we saw the floating market on the way and grabbed some messages too. One place we found along the way was a little western guesthouse right on a river, the girls loved walking around on the bridges and walkways.

Phuket was as expected (we'd planned to go to Ko Samui but travel just didn't work out) touristy. Although still fun because it wasn't too busy of a time of year. The beach was amazing. As tradition, I spent the mornings out watching the sunrise and snorkeling. One morning City joined me (5:00am) relaxing and bonding. This trip I had spent a lot of time keeping a scrap journal, its fun to keep flyers and maps to remember places and things.

We found some waterfalls and butterfly gardens, there was a cool collection of huge insects. Then we saw a fun stage show about the legends of the island with lots of animals and fire.

On the 4th of August we flew to Chiang Mai. Its a smaller city than Bangkok, a trendy college town. We spent a lot of time wandering around and going to night bazaars. People were very crafty and artistic here, we found some fun souveneres. One day we went rock climbing, even Pyper. We took turns with her while the rest of us climbed. Rory and City took right to it, very natural. Rich was a trouper and climbed too. I think this was one of my favorite days, although we did get rained out. We later hooked up woth some more friends, the Rollins from our home town too. They are working with Engineers without Borders, bringing college students to help out a small town up north. The goal is to install and facilitate a clean water system in Piang Luang. They kindly let our family tag along. There is a school that they installed a clean water system in last year. The school let me come teach some art and the girls had so much fun helping me and making friends. They were like celebrities always surrounded by kids, playing new games, eating a strange lunch, and even reading stories. Rory was embarrassed when they asked her to read to them and City to sing for them, but the Thai kids want to learn english so much. They were always asking the girls questions just to hear them speak english to them. and Lynn Rollins was there to teach them, she did a great job. I hope to go back again, it would be a fun for our family to have. On our third day we went back down to Chiang mai and then grabbed a train back to Bangkok. The girls have never been on a train, they had a blast making forts on the bunk beds and stairing out the windows. What an adventure for us all.

Ethiopia pictures

2011-09-02T10:42:00.001-07:00

Ethiopia scenes

2011-09-02T10:29:00.000-07:00

Thoughts of a different life

2011-05-27T10:58:00.000-07:00

The company my husband works for, McKinsey organized an office retreat in Ethiopia. Held at the Sheraton in Addis Ababa, the capital. Life inside and outside the walls of this resort were contrasted way beyond my moral standards. This became apparent our first day there. We spent a couple hours riding around in the hotel taxi, getting lay of the land, culture and even doing a little shopping. As I absorbed my surroundings I became overwhelmed and surprised at how different their way of life was from mine.

Life in the City:

My First impressions were of grief and sadness, seeing so much poverty and homelessness. Tarps or fabric strung from stick to stick divided their living spaces and maybe even provided a little shade. Others more fortunate formed scrap metal square units with maybe a few rough cobble stones in the entry way to keep out the mud. Not a moment passed while we were out that I wasn't staring out the window, taking in everything I could. But in doing so becoming nearly if not completely overtaken by tears.
I could not hold back as I observed so many young children without proper shoes or nourishment. Anywhere you looked there were babies and young children playing in the streets only a few feet away from the busy traffic. My heart ached at the sight, I imagine much of the death rate is even caused by such circumstances.
Homeless mothers we would see on the streets looked at us, begging with their starving malnourished eyes for a way out. The same look from the commercials when I was 8 years old. Hasn't anything changed? In 20 years? Many would argue that they have, but I didn't see it. I wanted to empty my bank account for them, but had to settle for diapers or sometimes take out. Rich and I learned quick that we could not give money or even carry it with us. The early times when we'd reach for our purse to purchase something, people would hover with desperate stares. Even shop keepers argued and yelled at us to stop at their shop, for it was unfair to stop at his neighbors and not his.
At one point we were assaulted by three young men. The act took place within 6 seconds, Walking hand in hand we were at an instant forcefully separated. I was dissarrayed at one young mans greetings while two others quickly frisked Rich. Hands scooped every pocket but came out empty after a mild brawl with him. Rich was satisfied with his strength against them but quite frustrated as he watched them run away. No one hurt, just a ripped shirt pocket to show for a desperate attempt to get ahead in life, us being the victims.After taking her picture I gave 1 bihr (like a quarter) to a little girl who quickly snatched the rest of the bills from my hand. I tried to get them back and motioned to the other kids that I wanted to share with. But she just disappeared into the crowd only to be seen moments later smiling and waving with her proud mother. Needless to say, from these first to days we learned how to get around and a little on how to safely serve or give to those in need.
Country life:

We ventured out to Wonchi crater lake (created by a volcano) and into the countryside. It was so beautiful to us, considering the drab dry desert life we are use to lately. Everything is green and lush. Ethiopia has had a droubt lately so a nice change for them I'm sure. Unlike in the city, grass sprang up where there would otherwise be mud, providing a cleaner thoroughfair. Life here in the country was still very busy but in a more productive way. People in the city make a living selling trinkets and driving taxis, where the country folk herd goats and manage small farms. We hardly passed any motorized vehicles, only a few horse drawn carts, but mostly everyone walked. Nobody was empty handed though, even young girls carried at least a sibling on their back. Women with large fabric sacks full of grain on ther heads, sticks/ kindling bundles strapped to their backs. Some men with very heavy packs on their heads. Goat herders everywhere, bringing their flock to and from the slaughter stations (which were managed by a guy with a knife and stone slab on the side of the road.) Chickens for processing.

This country side was very beautiful, steep hills and ravenes everywhere. One room huts positioned on even the most narrow hill tops with barely a couple feet to the drop off on either side of the house. These steep hills did not stop them from farming though, we saw crops being processed or grown at a 30 angle slopes. The huts were built from sticks into the ground and mud/dung plaster gluing it all together. Some people painted sweet amature drawings around the walls of their homes. The wealthy had thatched roofs, others just scrap metal pieces. The thatching is their form of air conditioning. Most had stick fences around just to keep out the wandering goats.
Arriving Wonchi we were welcomed by crowds of people gathering to see the whitees. We ate first then ventured down the road. Kids followed us down striking up conversation in sparse english. "You American?" "I'm in school" "you give money for books?" "you have pen?" They offered branches to dust our feet or mules to ride on. I learned thank you in Amharic, amesege'nallo'. The valley was full and lush like something out of Jurassic Park. We passed two mills, a few kids bathing in the springs and even spotted a black and white monkey. At the bottom it was too marshy to walk so we rode the muels to the lake, where we then boated to the island. There was a monastary at the top of the hill on the island but closed for the season.
This life was so peaceful, I could do this. I think. I always have had a secret dream to get marooned on an island and have to provide for myself. Make my own house, clothes, food etc. It doesn't seem too hard having observed this life here. :) Well I'm sure my ignorant passion can runnaway with my mind. But the reality is I have chosen my life and I am happy at the direction it is going. However my heart has been touched too many to just stand aside and not do anything about so much poverty in the world. Not that I'm out to rescue everyone, but I left Ethiopia with some new goals and I am setting out to accomplish them. Thanks Ethiopia for such an eye openning adventure.

My cute baby

2011-04-12T00:16:00.000-07:00

Al Khobar: more craziness

2011-04-11T23:17:00.000-07:00

So this past weekend we decided to take a trip to Al Khobar, an Eastern province of Saudi Arabia. There are a couple of towns located there along the gulf coast so it is a nice break from in-land Riyadh. Our first morning there was spent hunting for this "Thursday morning Market" I think only the expats all it that because the locals had no idea what we were talking about. The first place we found was the vegetable and fish market (Felicity loved it Rory hated it). Soon after we realized we were in the wrong place we hunted again and then found it. Well worth the search the girls made their way through the crowd to see the baby rainbow chicks. So cute but I'm sure they were slightly damaged from all that bright dye. While they were playing with the baby chicks and bunnies I tried to haggle with an antique vendor for some of his goods, but he didn't want to play my game (I think he did not like me). Oh well. I found the basket ladies who were more than willing to play. I got some great baskets for $75.

Next we followed some local lds folks to their "private private" beach and played the rest of the afternoon in the water and flying kites, it was bliss. I found it interesting that even on a private beach we were surrounded by Saudis who covered there picninc spot with a half tent for privacy. It's like a stretch of fabric that is unrolled around their picninc tables to keep anyone from viewing the wife who was only showing her eyes anyway.

Friday we hooked up with the Lockyers for lunch and then went to church in the Aramco compound, it was awesome!!!!!!! The lesson focused on 3 Nephi 17 when Christ visits the Nephites.

Saturday was our last day and I had a mission to find the local scene. So we headed off into the sunset to find out what else was so cool about Khobar. Sure enough we found a slew of beaches and even a fair-ish area where they sell goods and give camel rides, four wheeling, cotton candy etc. very cool. Unfortunately we were a little late to join in the fun since we had to get back to Riyadh that night. Earlier we did get to catch some splashes, after having bought full length bathing suits for me and the girls (sorry no pics). Pretty interesting though, mine was very bright so I wore my abaya over top and snorkeled anyways.

to catch up

2011-04-11T11:13:00.000-07:00

A few things to catch up on. First; can I just say "What a Crazy country this is that I'm living in!" (not meant to offend anyone) I mean, wow! Last month we finally ventured out for a weekend trip, which took weeks of planning with drivers and permission forms and so on. So we go to Bahrain, supposedly the peaceful sweet vacation spot for Saudis and expats. Drinking, bathing suits, you name it. Soon after we are on our way we catch word that it is now blowing up in protests. But we decide to just get there and see how it goes. It was nice we went to this wonderful museum where we learned a lot about the Arab culture and bedouin life. The girls bought a little souvenere etc. The next morning we hear of a few deaths from the police's early morning raid on the protestors camps (children mothers Fathers and all were forced out of the square). So we decide to get serious about checking around to see just how seriousely we should respond. So Rich calls the local Mckinsey office who is surprised we are there and offers to get us the first flight out. Enough reason for us to get out of dodge, so we book our driver to take us back and we headed out. However we could not resist stopping by a craft mart to buy some baskets, the basket maker made the girls these cute little animals and bracelets. And we found a camel farm that we visited as well. They had the cutest baby camels.

Sexy ankles

2011-02-01T10:54:00.000-08:00

Rich and I took our first date night out and went to Al Deira Souk. We had a blast wandering around the alley like roads wandering in and out of shops. The shopkeepers were so nice, we spent quite a bit of time just visiting with them. Everyone wants to tell us all about their antiques, crafts, rugs, and scarves. We got a few business cards and plan to go back for purchaces. Getting a little hungry we decided to ask someone for a good place to get a bite. Mohammad (the cousin of Mohammad the antique dealer Rich ran into a few months ago) sweetly offered to fetch us the best shawarma in town, but we insisted on walking. So he walked us to this little hole in the wall (no where to even sit) restaurant with the yummiest chicken shawarma.
Later we caught a picture of a man making Igal's on a machine. These are the black ropes that Saudi men wear atop of the scarf on their head. It was cool to watch him wind them. The rest of our last half hour was spent walking around looking for the Mosque where we were to meet our driver Mushtaq. This was perhaps the most awkward half hour I have ever had in my life. We were out closer to the main street and the wind was picking up, however I hadn't realized that I wore a knee length skirt and leggings with sandals. Not to mention that my abaya did not button down any lower than my waist so as to reveal my calves and ankles when ever it caught the wind. I think all the men thought I was a prostitute or something because they were drilling holes in me left and right with strange intense looks. I could do little about it though because I had the baby strapped to me in front and couldn't really hold my abbaya shut. To put the icing on the cake, my head scarf would not stay on either. Argh!!! Oh well I guess they're all gonna have to be shocked, I thought. Rich just chuckled and commented about how sexy my ankles are.
Later I was talking with my friend about it and she said thats where the Mutawa headquarters are. I would have been so freeked out to have been approached by one of them (they would have yelled at me and made me leave). I'm sure it will happen to me some time while I'm here in Saudi.

It's raining in Riyadh

2011-01-19T13:08:00.000-08:00

Homeschooling the neighborhood

Maia and Brooke

Rory's name in Egyptian Hieroglyphics

Felicity enjoying homeschool

Felicity and Quinn

Kingdom Tower in Riyadh

Felicity in her Abbaya in front of our Compound

We are just having a blast here in Riyadh Saudi Arabia. Our transition has been smooth sailing so far. I feel like I've been living in th stone age without a phone or internet. Now we're just awating our air shippment and then life can really begin. It's got Important stuff like rollerblades, jonny jump up for Pyper, art supplies, oh yeah and the girl's school curriculem!!! What did I get myself into? Homeschooling for the rest of the semester! No Fear, the internet is finally here (with a borrowed McKinsey computer to save me). But I think it really has been good so far, especially having had nothing to go on. It's a good challenge for me.

Some friends in our compound got to skip school because it flooded yesterday (yeah, can you believ it? RAIN in the desert) so they all came over to our place and did homeschool with us. It was great, we are making a big group effort timeline and it's strung around our school room. The kids put stuff on like: when underware was invented, guns, chocolate, sissors, bowling balls, chalk etc. I guess we'll get to the important stuff too, but its sure fun for them to drive a little.

Our little sand piper

2010-10-31T18:48:00.000-07:00

I have really enjoyed getting to know our newest little addition. Pyper Maeve is about two and a half months old now and such a sweet ball of sunshine. She has a beautiful head of brownish red hair and little eyes just like her Grandpa. I'm convinced he sprinkled his happy personality on her before she left him in Heaven. I miss him.

Rory and City enjoy playing with Pyper as soon as they get home from school each day, helping to get her jammies on and snuggling with her before bed. She is cooing and sucking on her fingers all the time now. I cant believe she is already growing so fast. It seems faster for Rich because he has only been able to come home every few weeks or so. I know its been real hard for him so I try to keep pics updated on the web for him to see, and of course web camming when we can.

I am happy to have my body back to normal, now my battles are just making sure I keep a full supply of milk and washing bright yellow poopy diapers. I am so lucky to be able to stay home and be with my children, whom I enjoy every second with. They are definitely the best girls in the world (sorry to be byest). I guess I'm pretty much saying I have it good, no Great! Thanks for spoiling me Rich, I love you.

Getting ready for Baby

2010-07-22T05:08:00.000-07:00

Well we are super excited for this next adventure, especially Rory and City. They cant believe they're going to be a big sister soon. They have been playing soccer all week, and the people teaching them are high school girls. I told Rory that maybe when she's in high school she can teach her baby sister soccer too. She grinned from ear to ear.

We are all on track at this point, car seats, stroller, crib etc, Only thing left is Daddy. Hopefully he comes home next Wednesday. I came home with reusable diapers and showed Rory how to use them. She got so excited about this amazing process, and immediately declared that she would be the first to change the baby! Sweet, if I can keep that enthusiasm for a couple months I will have really accomplished a miracle. Now we just need to spread it to daddy.

Anniversary getaway

2010-06-28T12:59:00.000-07:00

Ok my mom would be in Heaven! It is date season right now and every palm tree is full of berries. I feel a bit homesick thinking of mom all the time, I'm even craving dates. Me and the girls got to pick some, Rich thinks this baby is going to be made of dates because I've eaten so many.

Last weekend we decided to grab the girls and go snorkeling for our 11th Anniversary. Fujairah is the Eastern most Emerate of the UAE and is renowned for its beautiful mountain scapes and snorkeling. I got to see two sea turtles the size of Felicity, WOW! It was really an amazing experience swimming with the first one for about fifteen minutes before I had to come back to shore. The fish were beautiful, Rich saw a huge school of sardenes that circled around us forever. The girls really enjoyed seeing so many salt creatures and fish. I noticed these fish were not like the onse Rich and I saw in Puerto rico, which were the same kind from the Fish store.

On our way home we stopped at a market, we couldn't turn down a beautiful persian silk rug. Even the girls had to each buy one.

Jumeirah Mosque

2010-06-19T12:10:00.000-07:00

We went to the Jumeirah Mosque today. The government has set this mosque aside to give tours to the public during off hours. It was such a wonderful experience for all of us. Almost more of a question and answer session which was even cooler. The women were very thoughtful about their answers and I think Rory and City really understood and respected the importance the muslims place on prayer. It makes me look inward to really ask myself about my own relationship with god too. The building was basically just one big room that everyone squishes into to pray 5 times a day, and they even let a gentleman demonstrate how he prays standing then kneeling and touching the ground with his forehead. I was happy that they let us take some photos too. The building has a couple of minarets for the call to prayer and a large dome above the central room, all of which have beautiful detailed pattern work on the outside and painted patterns inside. Most of the mosques that are here in Dubai have very light coloring as well, beautiful.

Dessert Safari

2010-06-15T23:57:00.000-07:00

Getting ready to ride the camel.

Rory and Felicity came into our bedroom this morning all inspired and dressed up in their little belly dancing gypsy outfits. They are going to plan a show for us. Last night they got to see a real belly dancer when we went on a Dessert Safari with them. We started out Dune Bashing with an Iranian family, all of us squished into a Landcruiser. The driver Mohammed Ali let the air out of the tires and headed out on the dessert sand, up and down like a roller coaster all over the dunes. Reminds me of diggin up scout mountain with John when I was little. It was "a bit freaky" (as Rory puts it) at moments but of course I wasn't scared. We then got to the camp area where there were camel rides, four wheeling, henna tattoos etc. The girls got really worried when the camel got up to go for a walk, but even more so when he stopped and sat back down. He basically jutted forward to kneel his front legs down and then back for his hind legs to kneel. I think they were happy to be back on the ground. The camels stand about twice as high as a horse, talk about damage if you fall off. Dinner was delicious, dad's favorite Shawarma to start with and barbeque along with other traditional sides. Needless to say it was a very fun night and the girls slept on the way home.

Belly Dancer

Rory rolling down a sand dune

Dune Bashing

Free range Camels

Getting ready to go

Tra la la

A bit about Arabian culture

2010-06-14T10:49:00.000-07:00

Here is a little bit about our trip to Dubai.

A stuffed camel at the Museum.

City girl dressed as a gypsy.

Spice Souq, lots of yummy smells here! Saffron is the native favorite.

This is an Abra, a typical taxi boat used to get accross the creek.

The way that Rich explained Dubai in a nut shell is that it's Mormon paradise. He's totally right. Everyone dressess very modestly and there are no advertisements at all. Even the television has hardly any swearing and absolutely no kissing or intemacy (its all edited out of the movies.) The men who are muslim Emerates wear long white dresses called Dishdashas and headscarfs called The women have Abeyyas, long black robe/dresses and burkas that cover their face and hair also black.

We had a great trip to the Souqs (markets) and wandered around looking at lots of fun stuff. There were textile souqs, Spice souqs, and the biggest one was the Gold souq. Lots of gold jewelry everywhere, bling city. I think my favorite was the spice souqs though.

Rory and City swim in the hotel pool every day, so they have turned right back into fish. Pretty much all they had learned in the Philippines came right back to them. We have gone to the beach only once so far, the girls were on a search for Sponge Bob square pants and the othe characters too. They only found Patrick the starfish, mr. crabs and a couple of Jelly fish. They were so cute playing with another couple of filipino kids.

Brother Lee visits

2010-06-13T21:20:00.000-07:00

Janae and I have had a blast this past month, we got so spoiled when John and Elisha came out to visit us with their family. Its been an action-packed week visiting the beach, seeing Historic Kirtland Sites, visiting the Botanical gardens etc. John's boyhood dream job has finally come to pass, he is part owner of a Hot-Rod dealership (how cool is that?) Our visit was supplimented by auctioning off one of his hot rods in Indianapolis. He called me up and asks how far away is Indianapolis from Cleveland? The next thing you know they were here (he must be a Lee, so spontaneous.)

Dubai, where's that?

2010-06-13T21:03:00.000-07:00

City Rory and her best friend Talia dipping.

So it was very last minute but the girls and I decided to leave Ohio two weeks before school was out to go out and stay with daddy. He has been on a project in Yemin, a country near the United Arab Emerates where the bustling huge city of Dubai lies. Yemin isnt terribly stable so he is stationed at his office in Dubai and flys in and out each week to Sana Yemin. Me and the girls hadnt seen daddy for a few weeks at that point so instead of him flying home we just flew out there to him. Wow it is so amazing having children old enough to really enjoy trips like this, they are such great little travelling companions. The time difference is 8 hours ahead of the US so it took us about 5 days to really get over jet lag. We've been here now for 1 and a half weeks and have already made quite a few friends.

Just hangin out with Jesus

2010-03-11T18:07:00.000-08:00

Man! Can you tell these kids are cousins or What!

So we up and left to Florida at Christmas time this year. What a strange experience it was waking up in someone else's bed Christmas morning. The girls were so worried that santa may not find us, but we reassured them that Santa would be informed.

We started out at the Holy Land, its basically a Christian amusement park. There are shows that go on periodically with talented singers and actors. The shows range from spiritual to kidsie. There is also a mini model of old Jerusalem which was really cool to see. The strangest thing was walking around seeing Jesus all the time. I think it even confused the girls a bit. The kids got to go inside Jonah's whale, and even pretend to be Samson and Delilah.

On Christmas eve we went to the beach, it was quite chilly but the girls got in with the Hatchlings and Dads too.

Shauna has a fun tradition with the kids, a little elf visits them every day. They each have a small elf outfit (that acts as a stocking) and the elf comes each night to leave the kids a toy or treat. The foot prints are even left behind too.

Nicole soaking up the sun.

After Christmas we headed back up North toward Jenny and Jason's. It was so nice to see them, honestly the kids hardly know each other, but you'd never know it. They all hit it off right away. Kaden is such a charming gentleman and growing up so much. He is a spitting image of his dad. We found a game place where we all waisted lots of quarters and brain cells, buts its ok because we won tons of tokens for prizes.

Later we went back to the Womack residence where dads and kids played War with nurf guns in the dark. Jenny and I chit chatted and played speed with Uno cards. We are both still really good. It was more of a challenge than either of us expected. ha ha.

Ashlyn and Rory, What a pair.
Kianna, Felicity, Abigail, Ashlyn, and Rory all comfy on the Hotel bed.

What a fort.

The RunBug

2009-10-12T05:53:00.000-07:00

Well I ran my first Half Marathon yesterday (13.5 miles) it was invigorating. I started training in January, I took a longer than normal training period so I could progress nice and slow. I think I have an ankle condition called posterior tibia tendonitis or something. Basically from exercising too much. But the doc said just take the training slower. It has been cool seeing my ankles develop their stamina for longer periods of runs. Weather may have a bit to do with how they feel too. I began my run a bit fast and it was on concrete which is what pushed them into pain in the beginning, but after we got onto the towpath which is just dirt they began to feel better.

The morning was a bit cloudy but dry at least, and the run ended up so beautiful. All the fall colors are starting to come out here, I just love this time of year. I was a bit surprised at how people did not pace themselves, I noticed them slow down a lot near the end because their bodies were giving out. Keeping yourself at a slow steady pace was the biggest advice I had read or herd so I was surprised.

I have really enjoyed going through this process of learning bout myself and body. I have always hated running with a passion which is why I decided to face that issue head on. I was determined to love running and now I think I at least like it. The actual activity itself is still rough but I love how I feel afterwards. My favorite is surprising myself with how long my run was. There is something ritualistic about running a new rout and then driving around in my car watching the trip clock how many miles I ran. So in all I guess I am just surprised to find that at nearly thirty I have a new found love. Not to say I will become a serious runner, but I have definitely caught the run bug.

Homeward bound

2009-10-10T17:25:00.000-07:00

Me and the girls went back to Pocatello last week, wow what a trip! We stayed with John and Elisha, they've been there for about a year, although now they are moving to Colorado. Janae and Tammy came to see us while were there and we all had so much fun. Monopoly was by far the funnest. We also developed a "Lee's coolest 80's movies" list. We also went down memory lane listening to Mannheim Steam roller and Yaz (Erasure). I am sure glad I took this opportunity to go down to visit them and do a bunch of other cool things like:

Go to the D.I.

Go to the Cottage

Eat at Bamboo Gardens with Terry and Gail

See the long missed western sunrise with my girls

run through the sage brush

get spring water from scout mountain

pick pussy willows from the canal

hike up to the I

play in the rocks at Ross park

swing at ross park

visit my daddy's grave

Go to Tagen's reception

We also visited Mike and his family in Bicknell Utah, near Capitol Reef National Park (Kinda like Zion's).

Rich and I went to Manti for Tagen's wedding which was so beautiful, Im so proud of her!

After settling in we took Rich out for a double date for his birthday, we ate amazing food at Cafe Diablo, mmm!

On Sunday we had a great time skipping church and driving around the mountains looking at amazing Rock formations. My favorite sites were the 1,000 year old petroglyphs on the base of some of the cliff walls. Natives etched pictures in the stone.

Running fetish update

2009-08-31T19:42:00.001-07:00

So I am excited to say I have worked my body up to a solid 6 mile run and stretch to a 9 mile regularly. I am now running for a different half marathon in October and feel good about being ready. Rory got new tenni-shoes for school and wants to run with me everyday. She is on fire about getting tough. She wants big muscles and weight lifts too. I think they are just about ready for their own little race too. Her and City are in soccer which has also helped get them excited about being fit. I wish there were more hours in the day, now with school it is tricky getting time to exercise with them.

The girls just developed and illustrated their own reward program and call it Star Kids. They decided on their chores and made cards for each. Then they painted the boards and nailed hooks to put them on for each day of the week. At the end of each day if they get all their chores done then I give them a fake dollar which they go shopping with at the end of the week (in my store.) Rory is saving up for the Hanna Montana dress-up outfit, and felicity can't seem to get her head wrapped around saving yet but getting there. I have to say this first week into the program has been a blast with them, they are really becoming responsible young ladies. Here are a few of their illustraions:

Summer's crazy cousin moments

2009-08-31T19:00:00.000-07:00

Nuf said.

run fatboy run

2009-06-16T18:23:00.000-07:00

So after seeing Run Fatboy Run the movie, I totally felt like I related. Although not as extreme. Collette got me into running late this winter and I have to say I really have developed a love for it. Its a strang contageous hobby. There's something about pushing yourself farther than you ever imagined that is almost like a high. If I can stay away from injurys my goal is to run the Akron half marathon (13.5 miles I think, YiKES!!) this september. I'm excited to say that I have worked up to about a 3-5 mile stamina, still a long way to go. I guess if I have to walk a bit that won't be so bad.

So The whirling wind of the Kirtland Play has finally sucked our family in this summer. Rich, Rory, and City, Janae, Aaron, Brianna, and as always Sunny and little Jeremy too. Its been fun hanging out and seeing it in motion, the directors Nate and Sunny sure do an amazing Job. Suppose to be different this year, more songs and new scene etc. Can't wait.

Accomplishments

2009-05-21T21:30:00.000-07:00

Finally a minute to sit and reflect. I am ready to jump into the next phase of my life, Graduated finally and surrounded by amazing people. I couldn't have asked for a better life. My kids are angels, my hubby is supportive and, well, HOT. My mommy came out to visit me for two weeks. And my siblings want to come to Kirtland for our Family reuinion. Seriously I don't think life gets any better than this. I love you all. :o)

Tis the season for New Years resolutions

2009-01-28T21:03:00.000-08:00

Why is it that our country decides to routinely emphasize shopping, eating out, partying etc. etc. etc. at the end of year? It's cold so no one wants to exercise, everyone is too busy to cook dinner so they eat out instead. The family is in town which makes everything even more out of control. Is this all for fun? hmmmm. I can think of funner things like beach volleyball, swimming, painting a piece of art, sunbathing, clipping my toenails, clipping my husbands toenails, cleaning out my bellybutton, watching Rich rip out his nose hairs. Yes much funner things. Things that actually come to mind when there is time to think. And even more aligned with what people really want to be doing for their Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks. Then comes the weight gain and feeling depressed and ugly. So now it's January! time for New Years resolutions. Lose the weight that I just gained (from the past 4 Christmas's), organize from the last four Christmases, clean the last four Christmases. Why do I do thins to myself? Or why does our culture do this to us? Is it money? Buying food, gifts, gas, giftcards. What about self control. Discipline, conscience. Thats it!!!! next year its going to be a trip.....

But in the mean time I think I'm going to train for a 10k marathon. 6.5 miles (for those of you like me, just learning) Collette is going to get me on a training schedule, I am so excited. Hopefully it will be a successful experience. Maybe I can lose all the crap I just ate.

:o)

Sweet

2009-01-08T20:07:00.001-08:00

Awesome!!!

2009-01-08T20:06:00.000-08:00

Wind blown

2009-01-08T20:04:00.000-08:00

Christmas break

2009-01-08T19:51:00.000-08:00

So we had wonderful Christmas break. My mommy came out for a three and a half week visit. Janae and I feel so spoiled. We are already having Ina withdrals. Kirtland ward had a hard time letting her go too. She is definitely loved here. Our vacation consisted of lots of candy making (handled by Rich and my mom) mini album making, ornament painting by the girls, Build-a-bear outing, tea party inductions for the bears, nativity re-enactments put on by all 9 McClellan grandkids followed by Star Wars cookie decorating. Hosting 5 parties including Rory's monstrous birthday party and mom's first date. And trip to Pittsburgh to visit the Zoo, Aquarium and Science center. Whew! a little less than a break, but fun nonetheless. :o)

Zoo visit

2009-01-08T19:29:00.000-08:00

Build-a-bear Tea Party at Janae's

2009-01-06T20:17:00.000-08:00

Reggae remorse

2009-01-06T20:01:00.000-08:00

Well its done. The dreads are gone!!! It was nice to relieve my head from the weight, but yes I miss them very much. :o( My husband and girls had a family revolt but I soon won the battle. My girls even sat and cut each one off. Rich spent about two and half hour combing. After the painful morning I took a trip to the beautician, Wa-lah.

Halloween

2008-11-13T18:10:00.000-08:00

Landon at the top (Janae's boy) apple bobbing, then cinderella and kitty Brianna.

2008-09-16T21:23:00.000-07:00

I pride myself in helping kids get acquainted with their daring side, this week I was able to get my friends daughter Kenzie to get over her fear of riding a two wheel bike, I was successful. She is now a rolling strolling steam rolling machine. Watch out. So last month my goal was to help Brianna get over her fear of water. Not that she is really afraid, it just takes her two hours to get use to it. She is eight. So after a few visits to Kenzies pool she began to really get bold and even go down the slide, yay Brianna. Here she is helping her little sister Kayla down the river at our church river walk. What troupers.

2008-06-19T10:06:00.000-07:00

This is another Project almost finished, I actually hauled all these rocks (with a little help from my hubby) and placed them like a puzzle together to make a walk way. Woah it was a lot of work but well worth it. I am so proud of myself.

Favorite picture from New Orleans

2008-06-18T11:07:00.000-07:00

The Garden Gurus

2008-06-18T10:51:00.000-07:00

So this is the beautiful garden we moved into this year finally. We built some raised beds and put on a front gate which isn't in this picture. The beautiful arbor around the garden was built by the previous owners (lucky us.) So this is our first real garden, Collette would be so proud. Rich grew up gardening so I'm very lucky to have him as a montor. I'm learning that the trick is actually maintaining the health of the plants and not just planting them (darnit!) So if anyone has good organic gardening pesticide recipes etc. please tell me. (I should call aunt Gail)

RIpping out the Deck

2008-06-18T05:36:00.000-07:00

Here is the 3rd McClellan project, (I am a Spurt blogger) Rich decide one day that he wanted to take two weeks vacation time to build a new deck. He found some random person who was giving theirs away so he went with his brother and picked up the wood which is basically new, and put it into ours. Its not finished yet but more pictures will come.

The fireplace

2008-06-18T05:24:00.001-07:00

This picture is just for bragging. This is our fireplace project from 3 months ago but I never showed it off. We are soooo happy with it and I think it has been one of the most fulfilling art projects I've ever done. And best of all it was a family effort. we each have blood and sweat into this puppy.

Lake County Native American Mural

2008-06-18T05:10:00.000-07:00

Well here is one of the many McClellan Projects, we are even working together to make it happen. Cheryl McClellan (my mom in-law) started a museum, I often wonder how one does that. We are helping her paint a mural of a native scene on one of the walls. Cheryl ,daddy, and even the girls came to paint too. It has been an ongoing effort for about one month and I dare say it is kinda fun painting again, its been quite a while.

Raising money for the House of Refuge

2008-04-08T21:23:00.000-07:00

If you haven't seen my screen prints from our Philippines trip last summer please feel free to do so, the link is on my list at the bottom. House of Refuge. They are sold to raise money for the House of Refuge Orphanage that we visited with while we were there.

McClellan Family after dinner DooDah!

2008-04-08T21:11:00.001-07:00

Here is a nice photo that Elena took of the typical after dinner visits at the McClellan house. This particular visit was on Easter Sunday. We had mom's amazing turkey stuffed with homemade stuffing too. Kristen brought some yummy peanut butter and peanut butter cookies that each of us ate at least 5 of. Me and my girls sat and played with our olived finger tips. (that comes from the Lee side of course) And of course Easter egg dying my favorite art.

I just have to say.......I sure have married into a cool family. I love living here.

You she's a Beautiful girl, she's a beautiful girl!

2008-04-08T21:09:00.000-07:00

My dancing Queens

2008-04-08T20:50:00.000-07:00

Here are my adorable girls being little dancers. They have been in Ballet off and on for about 1 and a 1/2 years and really love it. Who knows if they'll stick with it though. SoI just have to say that I cannot believe how expensive dance is and will continue to be. It's not like it's a rocket science or something. Our friend Mylene came over and they practiced their dance a little. Emphasis on the "little" but nonetheless an honest effort for them and moms too.

Flash from the past

2008-02-21T20:13:00.000-08:00

So, I have been reflecting a lot this last week and a half while Rich was gone (over Valentines) about my life with this amazing man. (but first off isn't he a hottie) I don't think I remember a time that I was more happy than I am now so this is by no means a venting session about missing him over the lovey dovey holiday. In fact I over booked myself so I would not get depressed. I couldn't help but remember how it all started, so I found myself rummaging through old photos, letters etc. And I just have to say it was sooo cool but made me miss him so much. There is a whole other part of his life that I haven't experienced and flipping through photos of him being a reckless missionary and even in Jerusalem with all his girlfriends made me know him so much more than I thought I did. then I looked at old photos of me. All I could think to myself is "WHAT POSSESSED HIM TO MARRY ME?" I mean yeah I was crazy and spunky but....WOW! I looked at letters I had written that made absolutely no sense, wore clothes that made absolutely no sense, and especially acted like I had no sense. This is the guy who dated and planned to marry someone who was like a Valedictorian or lawyer or something smart. What happened? I still ask him that question.

So over Valentines I found myself thinking a lot about who we are today, and I can honestly say that I feel good about who I am and the kind of life that he and I are leading with our two beautiful daughters. Now if only we can keep his feet on the ground here in Cleveland. (Or maybe even land over toward New Mexico with the rest of the fam.)

2008-02-21T19:34:00.001-08:00

So me and the girls had a fun visit to my friend Kathy's. She is just moving into a new apartment and we went over to kristen it with a girls slumber party initiated with all of us doing face masks on each other. The girls are still talking about how much fun they had. Then we all cozied up on the floor together and told stories and ate popcorn of course. The next morning Kathy made the most amazing oatmeal buffet you ever saw. Toasted coconut, jams, syrup, raisins, nuts, you name it. Wow! the girls are still talking about that too. :o) Thanks Kathy for the fun.

my Fire Hydrant enfatuation

2008-02-12T21:57:00.000-08:00

So I have long had a fascination with fire hydrants. Maybe even a little bit of a fetish :o). I know my husband truly loves me when he engages in my rediculous hunt to get as many different kinds of hydrant photos into my collection. This is one that he got in Europe somewhere.

He had to go to Austria for work training and decide to take advantage of it a little and took an extra week to travel around and down to Greece. How cool is that. We are so spoiled. Our world travel experiences are needless to say wonderful and I hope they become a habit of ours. Maybe next time I will get to go. I'm banking on Monte Carlos next.

Hey I can always dream right.

Remembering Jazz bowls

2008-02-04T06:01:00.002-08:00

Well I have honestly been intimidated by my blog since I haven't had anything as cool as the Philippines to write about, so here is my first step back into the fun.

My husband got up in church today to bear his testimony and as usual it hit me right in the heart. What an inspirational man! I can't believe how lucky I am that he fell for for such a quarky, punky redhead like me (when I was 16 of course). That even still today I must have him brainwashed into believing I am as high caliber as he to live life as a McClellan and have adventures together forever.

Anyways his testimony expressed thoughts about Viktor Schreckengost and President Hinkley living such amazing lives leaving behind legacies for us to learn from. (their passings were both within a day of each other last weekend) He expounded not only on their lives but, but compared them to each of us posing a question. How are we living our lives? What are we leaving behind? What track are we leading ourselves down and is it on purpose?

I really appreciated his few profound words about this subject and will probably forever ask myself these questions to keep myself in check, I guess that is now what makes me a McClellan. No wonder the family has such an amazing repetoure of accomplishments. (sorry just had to brag a bit)

The art above is Viktor Schreckengost's, it's a piece that Rich discovered on the web I think. One of my many favorites. I still can't believe I got to work with Vik to recreate the Jazz bowls. I miss that scene a bit and am nostalgic for the old dirty Ford factory surroundings. Day after day I would admire the beauty of the parabolic oversized bald porcelin bowls slowly drying in the sun, and carve intricated details on the walls of them while the shavings formed into delicate little curly Qs that fell into an ant pile on the canvas stretched table. The white dusty clay coated the surface of everything in the Cleveland Institutes of Art's ceramic department with the amazing ora of honor monopolizing the 3rd floor the entire summer of 2006. I recruited 10 students who slaved all summer in the hot sweaty studio to recreate over and over and over the masterpieces crafted in the 30's by people just like them and probably just as young. I still don't think any of them truly realize their privellaged roll in such a wonderful re-enactment as this, and first hand with the man himself.

The idea to recreate the Jazz bowls was Richard's and the initiation was mine. In the beginning I worked with a potter, Jim, who threw a few bowls for me to carve and experiment on. My first crit with Vik was over the the only one that remotely survived the firing. It was relatively smaller than the originals, the foot had been blown out in the kiln, it was the wrong blue, and worst of all warped. For proof of effort and the sake of emergency I sculpted a new foot on it so it could at least stand up. The carvings were just about perfect, I had studied and worked for about 4 weeks to develop some stencils to apply but ended up free handing it anyways. At first glance Viktor's face lit up with excitement, like he was at the Institutes final crit week. Instinctively he began to teach me everything that came to his extremely sharp mind. He explained how the first ones were fired upside down to avoid warping on the rim, cast them in molds, and made stencils for the imagery around the bowl. "Each motif, he explained, leads into the next creating a continuous pattern around the bowl." The oval martini glasses imitate the round rim of the bowl when skewed, and the Egyptian blue glaze that emulates the glow of New York city night life. He went on and on like he had created it yesterday. Despite my ashamed stature when I first presented it to him I walked away having more inspiration than I had ever had from any of my art teachers, and this wasn't even my own art.

So here I am faced with myself as an artist and perplexed at the development, or lack of, and wonder where my art is going. What am I leaving behind? What track am I going down and is it on purpose? Questions Rich posed, that I pose. Will I naively jump into a thoughtless New years resolution of commitment to throw my art on a wheel and form it into an amazing Jazz bowl that will influence the lives of people for generations of time? Or will I continue to stare at the wheel with a blank intimidated look accepting an excuse promoting schedule packed with motherly errands, community involvement, and church callings, all of which prevent me from addressing my unsatisfied inner artist?

Bike wreck

2007-07-15T07:42:00.001-07:00

So while we were in Borachay we decided to rent some motorcycles to ride around the island and see the village. It was amazing to be on a bike again but of course the "Lee" tradition is to weck. (you'd think we'd learn by now with John getting paralyzed and all) Luckily we were not going to fast and just got a few scrapes. Felicity how-ever was a little scared to ride with mommy and opted to ride with daddy the rest of the day. We later got stuck riding in a huge downpour of rain. We finally found shelter under a rigiddy little shed where a few guys were playing pool. They were all very generous, it was fun to hang out with the natives.

WaterBaby

2007-07-15T04:25:00.000-07:00

Rich captured some crazy shots of the girls playing in the water. He can play with the settings like a manual camera and get high shutter speads. The water looks so cool. What a cutie she is.

We were the center of attention one afternoon playing in the water fountains at Serendra shopping area. Not that we have to be playing in a water fountain to be the center of attention in the Philippines.

2007-07-15T04:20:00.000-07:00

Bananna Hats

2007-07-15T04:13:00.000-07:00

Cute as ever, the girls were caught playing with the hats in Borachay. We visited the Island a couple weeks ago and played on the beach everyday. I found some cute little shops with eclectic stuff these hats are made out bananna trees and Pineapple plants too.

2007-05-16T07:21:00.000-07:00

Felicity too has embraced the art interest, following her sister of course. She spent the day today helping me work on her first screan print. It is one of her best. It will be matted and sold at this summers art Fair to raise money for charity. This piece began the conversation with Rory about "what abstract art is." Rory has since turned into another artist and tries very hard to express her inner emotions. What darlings I have.

A Proud Artist mommy

2007-05-16T07:01:00.000-07:00

Every five year old's obsession today is Princesses. And it just so happens that I picked the ultimate name for my little princess Aurora. Who would have guessed Disney would launch the biggest murchandise campaign of their history "Disney princesses Unite." Every little girl that meets Rory gets a little envious dreamy look in their eye, secretly wishing their mom had been as clever as hers. But it is an instant friend getter. So along with every other American girl Rory is obsessed with princesses as seen here. Her Art love in action is deeper than mine ever was, I think she gets her attention span form her daddy. This is a 3 color screen print that took about 3-4 hours to produce and Rory was right beside me every moment, now thats stammina.

A Dreadful moment

2007-05-10T05:52:00.000-07:00

This expression is one of many that were given during a seven hour period of endless knotting.
Most of my time was spent mesmorized just watching their hands work, working knitted knots in each section of hair. Yes I already had dreads but I can hardly call them that having now been exposed to these. WOW!
Yes it is absolutely black, since that is whats available. They get the leftover hair clippings from salons and turn it into knotted ropes, and then attach it. After the painful day of sitting and getting each hair ripped halfway out I then went and got it bleached twice. It took another three hours. i went the next day and got it all died to red, somewhat natural. You can go to " photos.e-mcclellan.com " soon to see more pics of us lately and the final outcome of my hair. It is worth it though and I do like it, and of course it cost a fraction of what it would have in the states (I don't know if anyone in the states does it though). And at the end of it all Rory admitted that she NOW likes my hair. It's been a while since she has complimented my hair because it has been short.

Visiting the Womens Correction Center

2007-04-27T17:03:00.000-07:00

I visited the Womens correctional Unit this week. What a neet experience. Rory's first thought was why are we going to visit bad peple in jail? It was a nice time to talk to her about how people can change. And this facility was just that. A Rehabilitaion prison, for women to re-direct their intentions about life and get an education, religion etc. There was a program for graduating form like first grade up to 12th. And they put on a neet song and dance program as well. They sang a beautiful song about their mothers, and I have to admitt I was brought to tears. They also sang "Lupang hinirand" their national anthem, Rory drew the flag (and a jeepnee). After the program we met a lot of the ladies and visited with them the girls were a breath of fresh air for them.

The women collect all kinds of old things from the community one of my favorites is the old phone book pages rolled up into skinny long straws that they them weave into baskets. WoW! It is soo neat. We bought 6 of them.

Jeepnee Fascination

2007-04-24T16:48:00.000-07:00

I have no idea how to spell that. So this is only a glimps of the worlds most cool bus. Well actually its a Jeep thing. It is modeled after the world war 2 military trasportation vehicles. The Filipinos liked them so much after the Americans left that they used them for their own transportation and the fad began. Now days they are totally pimped out and customized to each drivers style specs. Sme people put a lot of money into it to look flashy and others are just run down but still working. They are the most common form of transportation here. The locals ride them everywhere for something rediculous like (.40 cents) 20P or something. I have not had the luxry of riding in one yet. If we stay here for the long haul I plan to buy (don't tell Rich) a short one for our family's Mormon attack vehicle. It is basically an extended normal jeep, but "awesomer" nonetheless.

Breaking away from boredom

2007-04-19T06:49:00.000-07:00

Well who'd of thot we'd be in anther country 2 months ago? And here we are in the bustling business district of Makati Manila having an experience of a lifetime. I say it' all Rich's fault. He was getting itchy after a 6 months break away from the Jazz bowl project. "So Heather if you could go anywhere in the world where would it be?"he asked, (I didn't say the Philippines) "hmmm, I don't know why do you ask pooping Dog?" (Lee family joke). " Do you have something up your sleeve?" Well after a couple months at Mckinsey he had started asking questions about opportunities for projects abroad, and when I showed interest too he moved full speed ahead to getting onto another project out of the States. But we had no idea that it would move so fast. How cool!! So here we are.