THE JOURNEY BEGINS



In 2017, I wrote down 14 goals for the year, one of which was to hike in 3 state or national parks. I didn't meet that goal. I hiked in one, Garner State Park in Texas, but didn't hike any other time that year. I typically set my goals too high, but I really thought this one was manageable. Husband Tex and I even gave each other great hiking boots for Christmas in 2016. We talked about it, but never made it happen.

 At the trailhead with family in Garner State Park, March, 2017
Left to right: Me, Footloose (No. 1 Son's girlfriend), Calvin, Hobbes (Calvin's wife), Fourth (the best grandson on the planet!), No. 1 Son, Language Lass, Reveille (Baby Girl's hubby), & Baby Girl.
A scenic overlook along the trail
Language Lass, Baby Girl, Reveille, Fourth, Calvin, Hobbes



Usually when I get to the beginning of a new year, and I haven't met my goals, I "roll" them over to the new year. They become new goals. When you set high goals, this happens a lot, and in 2017, I met less of my goals than usual. So I should plan to hike more in 2018, right? Nope, I've got a much more exciting plan. Instead of hiking in 3 parks, the 2018 replacement goal is to get 3 new stamps in my passport. Given the fact that between June 2013 and October 2017 I had only gotten ONE stamp in said passport, this would seem like one of those overly optimistic goals. HOWEVER, things changed in October, and so much so, that daughter Language Lass, when hearing this 2018 goal, said to me, "Mom, don't you think that's going to be too easy to obtain to call it a goal?" Perhaps, but I'm playing it safe for 2018.....at least in this area of my life.

You see, things changed a lot in 2017. In September, Tex, an engineer, was approached about going to Saudi Arabia to lead a team for his company. After a lot of discussion, we decided that he should do it. Things moved pretty quickly after that, and by late October, he was living in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This was going to be a short-term project, which meant he would have a temporary visa, which meant we couldn't apply for a visitor visa for me. The plan was for me to fly to Bahrain (a one-hour commute from the city where he now lives) when I could, and for him to fly home when he could........or for us both to fly somewhere in-between when we both could. We had never been apart for more than 10 days in our 35 years of marriage, so this was going to be a new, difficult experience for us.

Once Tex arrived in Saudi, it was decided he should have a long-term visa, in case he ended up staying in Saudi longer. That meant I could get a visa and join him. Yay! Much rejoicing! But the long-term visa takes time and a lot of paperwork. It wasn't going to happen quickly.

We decided that 6 weeks was long enough to be apart, so I went to Bahrain for 3 weeks. Tex commuted while I was there. While I was concerned about him driving across a 16-mile bridge every day twice a day with extremely aggressive drivers, we both agreed that it would be more than worth it to be together. I'll write about Bahrain in another post.

Hanging out with the royal camels in Bahrain.

While in Bahrain, I posted pictures of all the fun on Facebook. After I got back to the states, several people asked me to keep posting or start blogging when I joined Tex in Saudi. They loved learning about that part of the world. That's how this blog was born.

Now Tex is back in Saudi, and I'm in the states. The visa process is complicated, but I finally have it. I'll be heading to the middle East in  to join him next week. 

It's been a crazy 6 months. Crazier than perhaps we've ever had. And it looks like the rest of 2018 will be even crazier, but that's okay because we'll be together.

Adventure awaits........

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