Giving Thanks

I still remember when I was organizing our first Thanksgiving away from home in Aberdeen, which was shockingly only 2 years ago.

So much has changed since then!

This is our second and last Thanksgiving in Dubai. We have plenty to be thankful for this year. I'm very thankful that Ram got his dream job and we are moving to London. I'm thankful for a happy and healthy family. And I'm thankful for the friendships I've made all over the world.

I kept going back and forth on whether or not to host an official party and finally decided against it. Over here the Americans celebrate on Friday since its the start of the weekend and everyone is home. I figured this is the last year I can get away with putting Riya to bed first so I can enjoy my turkey feast with both hands :p

Even my menu for two was pretty ambitious but this year I got smart and decided to do all my chopping and portioning the day before. Since Ram had to work the next day, I had to find a way to cook while taking care of Riya. Luckily, Ram was able to only work half a day and was a big help in the babysitting department. This made Turkey day go very smoothly!

Too busy to smile while watching Baby Einstein :p

My grumpy lil man was happy once he got some Turkey!

We had enough to feed 6, but then we wouldn't have had any yummy left overs :p

I don't mean to brag, but Ram said this was the BEST holiday meal he's ever had. And I won't lie, my baked macaroni and cheese with gruyere and cheddar cheese was DAMN good.

Riya has been taking a step here and there but she finally took those first few steps all together the day after Thanksgiving. Woohooo!

My Husband...he's sort of a big deal.

I don't like to brag but my Husband is sort of a big deal.

He's always very modest and quiet about his accomplishments and successes at work so Ram, I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to brag about you. 

I'm just so proud of you.

He has been noted in several reports over the last year as a highly respectable and experienced attorney in his field. Compliance attorneys are very specialized in what they do, so the fact that he has a glowing reputation in his field is amazing.  

And now, my rockstar husband just scored a gig with the one and only GOOGLE. 

Yup, that's right. After 7 grueling interviews, spread out over a few months, Google wants Ram to join their family. Originally, the job was posted for Dubai but halfway through the process they changed their minds. Google wants Ram to be based in their London office and build out their Ethics and Anti-Corruption program for all of Europe, Africa and the Middle East. He's going to be the number 2 guy (under the chief compliance officer) for the region. Say whaaaaaat?!

I'm sure I don't have to tell you all how hard it is to get an interview with Google, let alone a job offer. They receive something like 75,000 applications on a weekly basis. Ram beat out hundreds of applicants for this role and I am so thrilled that he has joined the Google family. Can life get any better than this?! Oh wait, yes it can! We are so excited to have the UK and Europe back at our fingertips. Riya is going to grow up with a proper English accent and my dream of her meeting the prince (and falling in love) just got real folks. 

Do you think Google allows spouses access to their amazing facilities?! Apparently they are dog friendly, so Luca can go along for the ride. Lucky dog!!! 

We are expecting to spend the new year in our new city, so stay tuned! It's going to be a whole new adventure moving internationally with Riya in tow...

I'm so excited...and I just can't hide it!!!

Kite Beach

While all of you are layering and putting your boots on, we are shedding our clothes over here.

Okay, that sounded weird. What I meant to say was winter spring has arrived!!! Now that it's cooled down to 80 degree weather, we can actually enjoy outdoor activities. Hip hip hooray!

We are lucky to live in a city where there are multiple beaches only 15 minutes away.  Dubai has many faults, but I can't fault them for this one! So we packed up Friday morning and headed off to Kite Beach. Riya has been to two beaches before the age of 1 (spoiled!) but we never really let her get down and dirty in the sand and ocean.

There was a beautiful breeze and the water had a slight chill, but Riya had a blast.

The good times only last 45 minutes (thank god we live close by) but I definitely think that was a good start! It just sucked because our friends were running late so shortly after they arrived, Riya was ready to go. We hope over the course of the next few months we can make this a monthly, if not weekly, activity. Next time we hope to be able to participate in some of the activities they offer- kayaking, paddle boarding, kite running and check out some of the food trucks.