Mitch’s Monday Happy Hour – December 15

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If we were gathering for Happy Hour this week, we would be gathering at my favorite bar in Minnesota . . . . The Corner Bar in Bemidji!  I’d order a big juicy cheeseburger with fried onions and side of cheese balls. (one time I went to the Corner Bar and ordered my favorite “bar burger” twice in one day, for lunch & dinner!)  To drink, we’d have a big ass pitcher of Labatt Blue in honor of all of our Canadian followers! (Hello Mrs. Sanford!) It’s been another great week here in the desert.

The winter temperatures have settled in (75 degrees everyday) as the countdown to Christmas has officially begun! We have one more week of work, before our Winter Break, and our two and a half week vacation to Sri Lanka & the Maldives.  The date tells us that Christmas is coming, however it feels like September around here. Occasionally we will see some Christmas lights on a house or holiday decorations at a store, but it definitely doesn’t feel like Christmas is only a couple of weeks away.

  • Last weekend was jam packed with Holiday parties!  On Thursday night we hung out with some friends here in our apartment building.  They threw an awesome party, and it felt so festive. They had a super nice Christmas tree, ugly sweaters, and even egg nog!  On Friday night, we had our school Holiday party where about 150 of us gathered for a fun evening.  It was an outdoor party, with a social hour, dinner, and dancing.  They catered-in dinner from our favorite Lebanese restaurant, and it was soooo good! It was a great way to get everyone together from all of the different schools in our school system to celebrate the holidays and see everyone before they depart on their vacations.  The last holiday party we had was on Saturday afternoon, and was hosted by one of my fellow umpires from the Little League Baseball program that I’ve been working with.  It was fun to spend the afternoon outside, standing around a charcoal grill with some big slabs of meat working towards perfection.  It was a crazy busy weekend running around to all of the parties, but it sure makes us thankful for all the friends we have made here, and it was great to celebrate the holidays with them!
  • This weekend, I also officiated my first high school basketball game.  The boys varsity team at our school had a scrimmage game, and the head coach asked if I would ref the game.  It was great to be back on the court again, and I had a ton of fun. I was hoping to get involved during the regular season too, however it sounds like it’s going to be nearly impossible for me to get involved with the local association. I still had a great time, and told the coach that I’m always open to ref if they need someone.

Cheers, Mitch

The World’s Greatest Cookie

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We had to travel nearly 8,000 miles from the lakes of Minnesota to the desert of Kuwait, in order to find THE greatest cookie IN THE WORLD!  Come to find out though, the cookie is actually from Australia!  This post is sure to make your mouth water . . . so quick . . . . go grab a big glass of milk before reading on!

Introducing the Tim Tam!

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We were only in Kuwait for about 12 hours before we were introduced to Mr. Tim Tam.  We were just getting settled into our new home when we heard a knock at our front door. It was our next door neighbors who were stopping by to introduce themselves and welcome us to Kuwait.  They brought us a house-warming gift: Tim Tams!  They asked if we had ever had them before, and we explained that we hadn’t even heard of them. Our neighbor is from Australia, and she began telling us about how popular they were back home and how everyone just loves them.  We accepted their kind gesture and considered ourselves so lucky to be living next door to such awesome people.

We immediately busted open the pack and couldn’t wait to judge for ourselves the quality of the cookies.  Let me tell you . . . OMG!  Hands down, they were the best little cookie i’ve ever had!  As I sit here at the computer, I’m completely speechless on how to describe them, they would just melt in your mouth. So after a quick google search, here’s what I found: “A Tim Tam is composed of two layers of chocolate malt biscuit, separated by a light chocolate cream filling, and coated in a thin layer of textured chocolate.” (thanks wikipedia!)  The only bummer about the Tim Tam . . . . there’s only 11 cookies in each pack!  So with every purchase, we know that one of us is going to get screwed by only getting 5 cookies, while the other person gets 6!

cookie

Photo courtesy of http://www.bandt.com.au

Just when we thought the Tim Tam couldn’t get any better, we discovered that he has a few friends. Including:

  • Double Coat
  • Chewy Carmel
  • White Chocolate
  • Turkish Delight
  • Dark Chocolate Rum & Raisin
  • Dark Chocolate Mint
  • Honeycomb
  • Double Chocolate Vanilla
  • Chocolate Orange
  • Dark Chocolate Classic

We’ve tried the Carmel Tim Tams and the Double Dipped Tim Tams. Both are great, but I still prefer the original!

After a few weeks of enjoying this Aussie cookie of goodness, I discovered the Tim Tam Slam.  This is where you bite off opposite ends of the cookie, put one side in your coffee and the other end in your mouth. Then your slurp up your coffee through the cookie. The heat from your beverage slowly melts the chocolate of the cookie, and you end up with a chocolate/coffee concoction that tastes great.

Here’s the good news for all you folks back in the States: They’re for sale in the US by Pepperidge Farm and mainly available at Target. Apparently they are not as good as the original Tim Tams, but they are worth a try if you are looking for a sweet treat.

Pepperidge

Photo courtesy of http://www.buzzfeed.com

I’m going to leave you today with 7 Fun Facts about a Tim Tam that I found on Buzzfeed:

  1. Australians eat 45 million packs of Tim Tams a year.
  2. Tim Tams went on the market in 1964, 50 years ago! (why I haven’t I heard of these)
  3. They are named after a horse who won the Kentucky Derby in 1958.
  4. The chocolate used to coat the Tim Tams is supposed to have a slight carmel taste.
  5. There is a cheese flavored Tim Tam available in Indonesia (yuck!)
  6. The Tim Tam factory in Sydney, Australia produces 3,000 cookies a minute.
  7. One in every two Australian households contains a pack of Tim Tams.

Mitch’s Monday Happy Hour – December 8

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Cheers, let’s go to happy hour!  If we were back home, we’d meet at Buffalo Wild Wings. I’d be drinking a big ass glass of Blue Moon on tap with 12 boneless buffalo wings! (1/2 mild & 1/2 parmesan garlic if you were wondering).  Holy smokes, my mouth is watering so much right now!  I’ve been craving Buffalo Wild Wings for the last 3 months.  Here’s what’s going on with us this week:

  • We had an absolute blast last weekend in Dubai for the Rugby 7s tournament!  It was a quick trip, but a great way to re-energize before these next two weeks of work prior to Christmas Break.  We went with some great friends and had a ton of fun meeting and celebrating our weekend with people from all over the world.  We also got a good dose of beer and pork ribs (both of which are prohibited here in Kuwait) during our vacation.  It was awesome!  We’ll post more info and pictures from our weekend soon.  In the meantime, here is a quick pic of the main stadium at the tournament.
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The picture looked good on my iPhone 4 when I took it over the weekend. However now that I am sober, I’m realizing that my sight must have been a bit blurry from all of the Heinekens I was drinking.

  • I used to hate Mondays. It was that stupid day after Sunday, that would ruin every weekend. However in Kuwait, I think it’s my new favorite day of the week!  Our work week here is Sunday-Thursday, so it no longer ruins our weekends anymore. I also like it because it’s the day our maid comes! Her name is Lily and she comes once a week. We leave for work and our house is a complete disaster.  When we get home . . . . VIOLA!!! All of our dishes, laundry, ironing, cleaning, and everything else is done. It is so fun to drive home from work on Mondays, with the anticipation of walking into a spotless apartment!
  • For the last couple of months, Rachel has been teaching an iMovie Club to a group of students at school. The school offers a ton of different after school activities for kids, and they meet once a week. She basically taught them how to use iMovie on Apple devices, and showed them some tricks and tips they could use to make some fun videos. She had a great group of about 10 kids from grades 3-5.  Apparently she was the only one who didn’t own the new iPhone 6, and the kids couldn’t believe that her antique phone (iPhone 5) still worked because it was soooo old!
  • For about the last month, I’ve been searching for a jar of Miracle Whip (mayonnaise).  Everyday for lunch I my wife makes me turkey sandwiches with Miracle Whip.  Not only is it my favorite, it is also the ONLY kind that I like.  When we first moved here in August, we found some at one of the grocery stores.  However since then, I haven’t found it anywhere!  I’ve tried a couple of different “local” brands, and they taste almost sour or something. NASTY!  We’re slowly realizing that when you see a product you like at the grocery store, it’s best to buy about a dozen of them because you never know if they will ever have it again. In case you are wondering, I still haven’t found another jar of Miracle Whip, therefore I have no idea what i’m eating for lunch tomorrow!

I’m still daydreaming of a Blue Moon and boneless chicken wings from Buffalo Wild Wings! See you guys next week.

Living vs. Vacation

Posted By: Rachel, View all 2 comments

I love to travel.

I love experiencing new things.

I love getting to know other cultures.

I love seeing all the different forms of beauty all across the world.

I am spending this year traveling.  I have the opportunity to experience a culture in a way that I never have had the chance to do before, full immersion.  I am living in the Middle East.  I am not on vacation.

I have realized in my few short months here in Kuwait that there is a significant difference in traveling for vacation and traveling by living in a new country.

When you are on vacation you stay in the most beautiful areas; a beach resort, a mountain chalet, a tree house in the rain forest.  When you are living somewhere, you stay with the locals.  We live in an apartment; not on the beach or with ski in/ski out capabilities.   Just a regular 2 bedroom 2 bathroom apartment.

When you are on vacation you get a surface level understanding of a new culture; they wear dishdashas here, or the Mosque plays a beautiful call to prayer.  When you live somewhere you have the opportunity to talk with people and have discussions about their culture.  You learn about Allah, Haram, what is being sang when the call to prayer goes out, and how they feel about stereotypes within the American culture.

When you are on vacation life is a party.  You are in a constant staying of eating, drinking, exploring, and just all around being happy.  I have never woken up on vacation with my crabby pants on.  While you are living in a place you get up, go to work, have stupid fights with your spouse, miss your family like crazy, and have days of just plain old waking up on the wrong side of the bed.  We are experiencing all the typical emotions of life, we just happen to be on this side of the world.

When you are on vacation you go.  You go exploring, you go to the beach, you go out to dinner, you go on a hike, you just go.  When you live somewhere you can’t go all the time at that pace.  You binge watch Homeland, you lay in bed and read a book on a lazy Saturday morning, you work on your Pinterest boards, you clean out your refrigerator, and you go grocery shopping.

When you are on vacation some place you check out the touristy places.  You read Lonely Planet or Trip Advisor and learn what are the “must see places.”  When you live somewhere you get to the local fruit stand, the awesome Thai place with only four tables in it, or the market that would never make its way into a guide book but is so amazing.

While I am so so happy in the life we have right now I have to remind myself from time that I am not on vacation. I need to let myself be OK with the idea that our life here isn’t going to be a constant vacation but rather a slow travel where we dig deep, form relationships, and truly live while we are here in Kuwait.

Weekend Plans: Heading to Dubai

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We’re super excited for tomorrow, we’re heading to Dubai for the weekend!  It has been about a month and a half since our last vacation, so we are eager for our upcoming trip.  There is a group of 8 of us going this weekend for the annual Dubai 7s Rugby Tournament.  I don’t know the slightest thing about rugby, and to be honest with you, I probably won’t watch much of it this weekend either.  Instead, we’re going for the party!

The game of rugby is huge all over the world (except North America).  This is one of the largest annual sporting events on this side of the world.  The international teams from 20 different countries will be represented in the 2-day tournament, being cheered on by thousands of people from all over the world.  The games begin each day at about 9am, with a new match starting about every 20 minutes until 9pm.  Apparently a lot of people prefer 7s rugby over the traditional sport, because it is faster paced, more scoring, and the matches are much shorter.  The best part of the tournament begins when the matches are over . . . . apparently there is an outdoor concert at the conclusion featuring live bands and more partying! I read online that there is 7 different beer gardens 🙂  We’ve been in Kuwait for about 3 months now, and my liver is about dried up since there is no booze here.  I’m going to try my best to rehydrate Mr. Liver this weekend with as much beer as possible to jump start him again!

We rented an apartment through airbnb.com in the Dubai Marina area again.  We stayed in the same area during our visit in October and totally loved the accessibility to everything.  Dubai is an awesome city, with great public transportation, and so many cool things to do and see.  We’ll be sure to take a bunch of pictures and share experiences from Dubai on here next week. Cheers!

Mitch’s Monday Happy Hour – December 1

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Hey everybody, welcome back to our weekly gathering at happy hour!  It’s been a busy/awesome week for us, and we have lots of news and info to share with everyone.

  • First, we bought a car!  We’ve spent the last 2 months getting the appropriate drivers license, researching cars, then doing all of the paperwork etc. to finalize the deal.  We bought a used Dodge Durango from an expat from Austria.  We’ve only had it a few days, but have totally enjoyed the freedom it has brought us.  We no longer feel tied down, or in constant search of taxis every time we want to go somewhere.  We’ve been out exploring a couple of times and it is so nice to just go on our own schedule.  It was quite the process to purchase the vehicle, which I’ll explain in more detail in a future post. In the meantime, here is a picture of our new wheels:
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You are probably wondering . . . . “what the heck is that big thing on the back?”  Leave your guess in the comments section below, and the first person who guesses correctly AND the person with the most “creative” guess will win a mega-high-5 from me the next time we hang out!

  • This week, we celebrated our first major holiday since moving to Kuwait: Thanksgiving.  It was sad not spending the holiday with our families back home, but we still made the most of it, spending it with our close friends here in Kuwait (our new family!)  We were super fortunate that we were invited by one of my student’s families to have a Thanksgiving dinner with them at their home.  So after a day of work, we headed over for an outstanding meal featuring turkey, mashed potatoes, yams, cranberries, green bean casserole, and all of the other typical dishes featured at an American Thanksgiving dinner.  They were super hospitable, and we were so thankful for their generous offering and kind invitation.  Over the weekend, we had another Thanksgiving potluck with a bunch of our co-workers here at our apartment complex. I couldn’t make it to that meal, but Rachel said the food and company were great!
  • With our new wheels, I finally made my first trip to Ace Hardware last weekend!  The store here is about half the size of a Home Depot from back home . . . way bigger than any Ace Hardware I’ve ever been to.  Based on the items you can buy there, it’s like they literally picked up a store in the midwest, and transplanted it in Kuwait.  The craziest part was the huge selection of lawnmowers they had, including riding lawnmowers!  Since we’ve been here, i’ve yet to see a house with a yard that includes anything close to grass (everything is either concrete or sand).  I could’ve spent hours in there and about a million dollars in goodies.  However I refrained so that I have a reason to go back there every weekend when I’m bored.

That’s a quick recap of a few of our weekly highlights. I hope all is well, we’ll be seeing you next week!

Recommendations on a Travel Pack

Posted By: Rachel, View all 2 comments

My in-laws are coming to Kuwait!  Whooo hoo!  Their tickets are all booked and they will be touching down in Kuwait City at the beginning of April.  We are going to spend a few days in Kuwait showing them where we live/work/hang out and then the four of us will be heading to Jordan together to explore Petra, Wadi Rum, and the Dead Sea.   We are going to embark on a great Middle Eastern Road Trip.  I can’t wait!

Since we will be moving from one location to another on this trip, and will be spending time in the desert where there aren’t roads much less sidewalks to roll your suitcase along it makes more sense to travel with a backpack.

After we booked Kraig and Jody’s plane ticket’s to head to the desert one of the first questions Jody asked was; “What kind of suitcase do I need”  So the following is my advice. This post is truly intended for my Mother-in-law, however it is super awesome if this info is helpful for you as well.

First of all, get a backpack, carrying a wheelie bag for extended periods of time sucks, like really sucks.  The only time you are going to wish you had wheels is at the airport after that you will be super happy that you are hands free.

Mitch and I each have a backpack that we each LOVE.

I have the Tortuga and Mitch has an Eagle Creek backpack.

tortuga

Rachel’s Bag

 

eagle creek frong

Mitch’s Bag

 

 

Things we both look for in a bag

  • Front Loading: no one wants to take everything out of their bag to find the pair of socks at the bottom of their bag, NO ONE.  Get a front loader, a bag that opens up like a typical backpack rather than a hiking pack.
  • Price Point: We use our luggage a lot but we still don’t want to spend a small fortune on our bags.  Both of our bags are under the $200 price point.  Mine just barely made the cut at $199 and Mitch’s was $150
  • Carry on Size: In my opinion checking bags is the pits, it is too expensive and waiting for your bag once you arrive at your destination stinks.  Sometimes I can’t avoid checking bags: like when we moved to the other side of the world but having the option to carry on is great.

Things I look for in a bag

  • Easy Access Pockets: I think every couple must settle into traveling roles, every person has aspects of the vacation that they are in charge of.  For Mitch and I, he is in charge of the logistics.  Things that involve maps, bus schedules, or researching if it is Monsoon season are totally  his thing.  Finding unique lodging, activities to do, and taking care of the passports and boarding passes is my job.  External backpack pockets were a must for me so I could have our passports and boarding passes easily available and I could be crazily checking to make sure I still had them without having to take my pack on and off.  The Tortuga has the perfect pockets for the job.
  • Hip belt: I may look like a dork wearing it but the amount of pressure that is taken off my shoulders and back by having a bag that has a hip belt is awesome.
  • Dedicated Spot for Technology: We typically travel with a computer, iPad, and a nook.  I knew I wanted a specific, padded location to keep my devices in.
tortuga hip belt

Sweet looking Hip Belt with space for boarding passes and passports.

 

tortuga technology pouch

Dedicated space for computer.

 

Things Mitch Looks for in a bag

  • Security: If we have a safety captain in our marriage it is definitely Mitch.  He is the one who remembers to lock the door at night, who thinks to put important documents in a safe, and picks up my wallet off of the deodorant shelf when I have left it there at Target.  So it makes sense that he is concerned about the security of his backpack while we travel.  His backpack is designed in a way that the zippers and spaces that open are tucked against his body when his backpack is on.  The part that is facing outward toward the world is a solid piece with no access to anything that is inside the bag.
  • Minimalist: While I love the external pockets and things that are on my bag, Mitch is more of a minimalist bag kind of guy.  He doesn’t like all those pockets and wanted a bag that was pretty simple and sleek.
eagle creek

No hip belt or external pockets for Mitch, just the way he likes it!

 

eagle creek back

Outward facing side of Mitch’s bag.

 

 

We both searched quite a bit and read quite a few reviews before we chose our bags and neither of us have regretted the packs we are carrying at all.

So there you go Jody, options on backpacks you could bring on our great Middle Eastern Adventure.  Can’t wait to see you, only a few more months!

*Pictures from here and here.

Follow Us

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We had great intentions with our blogging schedule.  We planned on having three posts a week go up on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings and then life happened.

We totally failed at keeping that schedule and before we knew it long stretches of time would go by without either one of us have the time or creativity to put together a decent blog post.   We realize this can be annoying when you are checking back in with a blog only to find the same post at the top of the feed, or maybe you are the type of person who forgets to check in with a blog, only to find 68 new posts have been put up since the last time you read it!  If you are looking for a solution to either of those problems let me help you out: subscribe!  Once you are subscribed to our blog you will get an e-mail to your inbox to let you know we have something new for you to read.

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Step one: click on the plus sign next to “follow” in the bottom left hand corner.  See the red arrow.

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Mitch’s Monday Happy Hour – November 24

Posted By: Mitch, One comment

Hey everyone, welcome to our 2nd Happy Hour!  Here’s a few quick tidbits on what’s going on in our lives this week:

 

  • We bought a crockpot (woohoo)!  We’ve been looking for one for the last couple of weeks, but couldn’t really find one that we were interested in at any stores.  However, just when we were ready to give up our search . . . . we found out one of our co-workers was selling hers!  For just a couple of bucks, we got a huge “like-new” one.  As soon as we got it, we got all of the ingredients we needed to make a batch of homemade chicken noodle soup.  Without a doubt, the best part of using a crockpot for dinner is the smell in your apartment when you get home from work!  We are looking forward to using it lots this winter.
  • With American Thanksgiving coming up next week, we’ve started putting some plans together with friends to spend the holiday together.  In order to save both time & effort on preparing the turkey, I decided to look into the possibility of ordering one precooked.  I heard you could buy one at the BBQ restaurant down the street from us.  I gave them a call to check on pricing, and it was like $100 for a turkey (Yikes!)  However right across the street, you can buy a rotisserie chicken for like $2.  Needless to say, we might be eating chicken instead of turkey this year for Thanksgiving!
  • Last Friday night one of our friends invited us over for dinner and a presentation about a non-profit organization that he helped create called Empowering Learners.  This non-profit group helps support schools, teachers, and the students of schools in Namibia, Africa.  They have provided everything from books, technology, and now their working on building a new schools too!  It was great learning so much about an organization that is providing and empowering so many people to succeed.  For more information on Empowering Learners or to find out how you can get involved, check out their website: www.empoweringlearnersnamibia.org
  • We had a Kuwaiti happy hour with some friends last week after work to kick off our weekend.  Of course you will remember that the happy hours here are a bit different, and don’t include any booze.  Instead, we find a nice sheesha bar along the beach, and just eat food and smoke out of a hookah pipe until it gives us a headache. It’s still a great way to spend time with our friends!

Well that’s our week in a nutshell, hope to see everyone again next Monday!

We Discovered Something Awesome . . . .

Posted By: Mitch, Uncategorized, , Leave a comment

Just before we moved to Kuwait, Rachel wrote a blog post entitled Things I Will Miss.  She listed a few of the things she was going to miss the most about Minnesota.  One of the things she mentioned was her favorite restaurant: Chipotle. We have only been in Kuwait for a couple of months, but we have already made a plan to visit Chipotle as soon as we return home next summer. We’ve promised each other that as soon as we arrive at the airport, we are going straight there!

Well, a couple of weeks ago we discovered something awesome!  A friend of ours discovered a new restaurant that just opened a few days earlier called Adobo Burrito.  He described it as similar to Chipotle, and we both thought to ourselves, riiiiiiiight! We both knew that there was no way possible that a place could be even close to as good as Chipotle was.  However we have been craving it since we got here, so we went to give it a try.

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Kuwait City is a major metropolitan area, but we were lucky to find out that Adobo Burrito was only about a 15 minute walk from our apartment!  As soon as we walked in, our jaws dropped!  Inside, it looked almost exactly like Chipotle.  It was laid out the same, similar decorations, and had that same “industrial” look with the corrugated metal on the walls. We were immediately greeted by the owner, a young Kuwaiti guy who just moved back here from Washington D.C.  We checked out the menu boards and the food line, and it was just like Chipotle!  You could order a burrito or a bowl with cilantro-lime rice, beans, fajitas, corn salsa, pico de gallo, cheese, and everything else!  They also had homemade tortilla chips with fresh guacamole that tasted so good!  To be honest, I don’t think it was quite as good as Chipotle, but it was dang close.  We definitely enjoyed it, and it will keep us going until we get back to Minnesota next summer.

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Since that first trip there a couple of weeks ago, we haven’t been back yet. Oh but don’t worry, we’ve had it at least once a week. Here’s the best part about Adobo . . . . . . THEY DELIVER!!  Yes ladies & gentleman, you can have a Chipotle/Adobo burrito delivered to you on your couch! #bestcountryever