"When I'm 64"

Remember that Beatles song "When I get older, loosin' my hair....la la la....When I'm 64" ?

I always think of old people in retirement homes when I think of that song.  Probably due to the movie "Happy Gilmore".  You know the part at the retirement home..I think that's the show. Am I right?  

Well, my dad turns 64 today.  What?  I feel like my dad is not old at all!!  He is active, adventurous and still young in mind and heart!

This is us yesterday for a little birthday dinner.  My dad delivered my cousin Joel when he was born.  He is in the Air Force and leaves for Afghanistan just after Christmas.  We love him!
We have a family tradition to tell the person whose birthday it is something that they like about them or a fun story.  The reoccurring theme for my dad was that he is patient, kind, giving, charitable, and dedicated.  All of us said we have hardly never, if ever, seen him mad.  How would you like that said about you after 64 years?  A goal we could always strive for!  
Every year I decorate the mantle and tree for my mom.  This year we had Alana's expertise in the mix.  We had so much fun decorating!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD...YOUR THE BEST!!

Good one

So who wants to wake up saturday morning to NO CAR?  That's right, my car was towed last night.  Good one.  Let me just tell you that I have the WORST parking situation here at my condo.  There are only 4  GUEST PARKING stalls and you can only park for 2 hours then guess what...yep, your car gets towed.  Oh real smart people.  I want to know who designed this place.

The reason why I didn't park in my space is that I had borrowed a truck to move some things and left my opener in my car.  I was SO TIRED and a little SICK and just worn down from the week that I decided to just park out front and vowed that I would move it before 2 hours was up to avoid the towing consequences.  

Well, I clunked out without realizing it and woke up at 3 am in a panic, ran outside to find my car gone.  Good one.  So I politely waited till 9 am to call the towing company. 

Me:  "So my car got towed.  Where can I come pick it up?"

Mean man:  "You can make an appointment after 3 pm."

Me: "What?  I need it like right now.  I have to play the harp this afternoon at a Christmas party, I need to move things all morning etc."

Mean man:  "Sorry"

Me:  Crying

1/2 way Mean man:  "Fine I'll do noon. AND THAT'S THE BEST YOUR GOING TO GET!!"  

Me:  "Ok, where is it?"

Mean man again:  "I'LL TELL YOU AT NOON!!" ....dial tone

Good one!  People can be so mean sometimes!  I've been listening to this seminar on CD called "Becoming Spiritually centered".  The presenter says that all these things that 'bug' us are just 'incitements'  in our lives.  They are designed specifically for our spiritual growth.  So when we get an incitement (like my car being towed, someone cutting you off, someone yelling at you, something annoying you), it is just to see if you'll handle it in the spiritual dimension or temporal dimension.  

I'm still trying to figure it all out.  I don't know if blogging about it is handling it spiritually or temporally :)....but I'm actually feeling better already.  

So since the '1/2 mean man' said I can come get it at noon, I will make it to my harp gig.  It's been a crazy week since returning home.  I have been booked out to play every night at Christmas parties and weddings.  It's interesting that Christmas is my busiest time for playing out.  You would think summer would be with all the weddings.  Anyways, I am very grateful!  Now I can pay off some of the trip :)

Last night was my first night off of playing for something.  So, Becca invited me as her 'date' to her work Christmas party.  They had the best chicken Cordon blue EVER!!  I love me some good chicken cordon!  It's funny because her work is probably starting to wonder since she invited me last year to the Christmas party as well!  :)  Ok, off to get things done for the day!  MERRY CHRISTMAS ....TIS THE SEASON!

Almost done...

Ok, ok I am ALMOST done posting pics about Dubai. However, I had to include some pics about this incredible beach club that we were able to spend a few days at basking in the sun.
It was so swanky with all the big yachts and beautiful setting.
When the workers saw you walk onto the beach they asked where you wanted to sit and would drag over lawn chairs. While laying there, they would come up and bring you FREE POPSICLES to eat. HEAVEN!

My first time swimming in the ARABIAN GULF!
We were eating lunch just LAUGHING, not believing the atmosphere.

Ok, so this is the AMAZING hotel next door. All the stars stay here I guess. The boat man was telling us that George Clooney and Bill Clinton were there last week.
Don't worry, you just rent out one of these condo things and the only way to get to and from is by these little boats. So cool!




Thanks to Alana's family for letting us come to the beach club. We loved it!

Tallest hotel in the world!

I will definitely always remember this view! oh, ps the water was way warm like Hawaii. Love the beach in November :)

Today I am grateful for CULTURE!

The MUSLIM CULTURE: Alana and I were able to attend a mosque and learn alot about the muslim faith.

I learned that the abaya (the dress and the head covering) is worn because of TRADITION and MODESTY. I was trying to dig deeper when I was talking to the muslim man who was answering questions. I thought that the veil and clothes would represent something or were symbolic. They were just designed by the muslims living in the desert to protect from sand and the sun. The muslims in the gulf area wear the abaya, but muslims of India, Turkey,Eygyt, Jordan,etc wear different things or muslims that live in America could wear jeans and that is totally up to them and their relationship to God.

There are alot of misconceptions that people have of Muslims. The man giving the tour would joke about what we see on CNN. The Muslim faith is the 2nd largest religion in the world after Christianity and there are a lot of good people that are muslims. It is too bad that a group of them ruin many people's view of the whole religion. As I was learning about the Muslim faith I couldn't help but to relate it to the LDS faith and find some similarities.

MUSLIMS: They are to pray 5 times a day at mosque in order to connect with God. They can also pray any other time of the day that they want. The women are not required to go to mosque in order to take car of their family and household responsibilities.

LDS: We are taught to pray always and keep a prayer in our hearts.

MUSLIMS: They believe in one holy creator of the world. They believe in Christ as a prophet.

LDS: We believe in God the Eternal Father and in his son Jesus Christ and in the holy Ghost.

MUSLIMS: They have a washing ceremony they do before mosque. They only do it once a day (not before every mosque). This represents being cleansed from sin.

LDS: We have the sacrament we take once a week that is a cleansing for the remission of sins.

MUSLIMS: They believe children reach an age of accountability which is at about 13 or 14. There is no formal ceremony (like a baptism) to enter the religion.

LDS: We believe that children are innocent and come to an age of accountability at 8 years old when they are able to enter the waters of baptism.

This is part of the mosque ceremony. When they put their forehead on the floor it means a total submission to the God who is Allah. Beautiful mosque below!

I am grateful for the culture of INDIA!!

They are the ones that brought YOGA to me and Lane!

I am grateful for AFRICA OR THE NORTH AMERICA? Some say that camels originated in Africa and some say in North America although they are not currently found there.

Either way the camel is considered a blessing to the people of the desert. It can hold a lot and is very strong and doesn't need much food or water. It can go for 3 weeks with out food or water!
We loved riding the camels!

I'm grateful for THE USA for inventing snowboarding (this is sandboarding) and jeep riding! (This is land cruiser riding in the desert)

Our driver was from Pakistan and boy, was he driving crazy. We were so scared we were going to roll that we were holding each others legs the whole time!

Traditional Arabian dinner.

Also grateful for any culture that has clean bathrooms! This was so funny when we tried to go to the bathroom in the middle of the desert, I looked at Alana just standing in the doorway saying "Stressed!" She was a little stressed about using such a dirty bathroom with no toilet paper. Oh, the sweet pleasures of living in the USA.

I'm grateful that we got to have THANKSGIVING DINNER with people from a few different cultures. Thankful that the CANADIANS brought this award winning pumpkin pie!

The Australians brought some great dressings as well!
The AMERICANS of course did the turkey and the ice cream!


We had a wonderful THANKSGIVING...AND I HOPE THAT YOU ALL DID TOO!

I am so grateful and happy to be alive! There is so much beauty in the earth to experience and learn from to help us be more of a loving and understanding people. I really liked this quote I found on lds.org.

"Gratitude is a feeling of thankfulness for blessings or benefits we have received. Grateful people are quick to acknowledge the kindness and help they receive from our Heavenly Father and others around them. Where there is gratitude, there is courtesy; there is a concern for the happiness and well-being of others"

I hope to have more and more gratitude everyday! Happy holidays everyone!

SKI DUBAI

I was SO SHOCKED at how good the skiing was at this largest indoor skiing place in the world.  The snow was AWESOME!  We had a blast.

It really is a good deal because your pass includes a rental of all of your gear.  

It was so fun to have Alana's brother Nate with ski with us.  They have this book kinda like the happenings book that has given us 1/2 off almost everything we have done.  It's been the best to come visit her family that know the ropes and have the hookups!

So crazy to just throw your coat on over your summer clothes and go hit the slopes when it's 85 degrees outside!
So Alana decides to learn how to ski in Dubai...not Utah where we have the greatest snow on earth!  Her first run was a little rough as she headed straight into the wall:)


But then she totally got the hang of it and was going down with ease!  It was so funny, I told her to think of the position like a yoga pose in order to get her feet apart and do the pie thing.  She said:

"This is great!  I finally got it when I related it to yoga!"

It actually felt really good in there.  I was like "this is like stepping into a freezer full of frozen foods"  I guess that is just what it is...I giant freezer...only you can ski in it!

They had a pretty good decend
I loved talking to one of the ski instructors from Russia.  He was adorable!  His name was Dennis like my dad!

Loving life skiing together!

Best hot chocolate ever!  It had whipped cream and M&M's on top.  
After this we went on some adventures in the desert.  It was quiet the day.   For now I wish you all a HAPPY THANKSVIGING!!!!

Monday in Dubai

Monday morning Alana and I hopped on a bus to do a city tour.  The weather is about 80 degrees and so nice!  
This place is an architectural dream!

The buildings are so interesting.  I was clicking away every second.



Tallest building in the WORLD!  This is out of control.  I got some better pics I'll post later that have other buildings beside it so you can kinda compare.  Whoa.

You know we did the History of Dubai Museum.  Very interesting.
Dubai was originally part of Oman.  It became a small area for pearl catching and fishing.
When you get me on vacation:  Where ever there is a good shot... you'll find me there!
Original Dubai homes.

I found a  an old HARP here!  Now I can write the trip off :)  Kidding, kidding... only kind of...
Us with the sailer man.  Looks a bit like Disneyland to me :)
When the people of the city found out that it was laying on top of tons of oil, the fishermen took a break and Dubai grew and grew to where it is today.  BIG and BIG and RICH and MORE RICH. 
Modern day boats from in the Dubai creek.  
The Creek was the nucleus for the city's development.  
These boats are still the main tools for trade in the Emirate.  



They trade a variety of goods with Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Turkey, etc.

Back on the bus!  We loved it on the top deck seeing all the sights.

Ok, now here was the real heart of the day.  We took a stop in KARAMA.  You want shopping, you get shopping.  

We totally got SWINDLED  into trying on 80 Rolex's.  It was so funny..and fun.  Everyone is so nice here.  It's awesome.  A lot of the people working in these shops came from India, and then the rest mainly from all over Europe. 
Alana... ON A MISSION!!  She heard the word hand bags and all the sudden we were in some secret hallway going to a secret room.  I was a little  sketched out about it at first, but it turned out just fine :)  They do this in NYC all the time right!
Lane in HEAVEN!

We had so much fun here.  She tried to talk the guy down and he gave her a good deal.  Then at the last min he threw in a wallet for free that she was LOVING.  It was like she won the lottery!
My cute find was these little numbers.  Got these pants for way cheap and LOVE THEM!
The bag she ended up getting.  So cute!

Just a little peek at what shopping looks like in DUBAI!  
I spotted this shirt from far far away and loved it.  I am wearing it right now!  


WE LOVE DUBAI!

Just a mall in Dubai.  Little different than our malls.  This is just a sneak peak...more to come.


Stopped to eat at the MALL OF THE EMIRATES.  We had a great view of the indoor skiing.  The jet lag hit us hard right then so we decided to go ski another day.  Instead....
WE HIT UP THE CANDY SHOP!  Best.  Candy.  Ever.  I was SO EXCITED!  

Lane dying of laughter and loving the candy.  Best quote of the day:

"Nobody even knows how much this costs....and nobody cares!"

(trying to figure everything out in Du rams all day got us in the state of 'nobody cares')

Kid in a candy shop ;)

Hoppin' out of the taxi after a long, fun day!  We are LOVING IT HERE IN DUBAI!

Safe arrival in..

Goodbye Salt lake!
Traveling hours on end with no sleep got us in a laugh attack that lasted quiet some time!  I love getting Lane on vacations.  We just laugh it up the whole time:)
So, on our layover in Atlanta, we decided to get a Pedicure at the airport Spa!
Best massage recliners ever!  
We were saying how we wish we would have had time to get a pedicure before we left.  Good job Atlanta Airport.  Smart idea!
Relaxation time!
We were a little nervous before we get on the plane.  There was definitely no one that looked like us that was flying over to Dubai!

So excited!
Arguably the best part of the trip so far....it was a 14 hour plane ride from Atlana and Alana needed to get out from her middle seat on the airplane.  The obstacle was the sleeping man next to her.
She sat here in this crouched position for a good while as we laughed and laughed about her jumping over this Indian guy that was asleep next to her.

Lane: "What do I do?  Just hop over him?  What if he wakes up and I am straddling him?"
She made it over him and then after some sleep, movie watching and lots of talking we made it safe to Dubai!
Everyone is all 'veiled up' here.  It is so different!
About to go through customs.  Wow, the security is very low in the airport here compared to the US.  Hhmm....
We are staying with Alana's brother and family.  This is her cute niece Eliza dressed up for the next day at school which was their 'National day'.  

Her sister-in-law showing us the ropes of the city on this map of Dubai.  Can't wait. 

It is 11 hours different here so it's like 5 am (6 pm our time) and I can't sleep.  You know the jet lag drill.  So here I am on the blog.  I guess people are blogging it up here in Dubai because when I flipped to the blog page its all in Arabic!  Luckily I guessed right and could figure out how to do a new post.  Well, we are off to explore the city today.  Stay posted for some pictures later!