The Ducks are Going to Rose Bowl!!!

Ugh I haven't been this homesick for a long time. I just miss being in the crowd at Autzen Stadium as we win a game. There's no feeling quite like being in sea of green and yellow, all cheering for the same team (except for the little patch of away fans) and the excitement that builds as we get closer and closer to winning the game.

December 3rd marked the Civil War between the University of Oregon Ducks and the Oregon State University Beavers. This is always a huge game for us as it gives the winner an entire year to hold it over the loser at various family functions and other football events. This game nearly divides the Oregon population in half as they stand up for the team they have cheered for for years.

The thing that made this year's Civil War even more exciting and pressurized (I'm pretty sure that's a word) was that the winner of the Civil War would be invited to play at Rose Bowl! ROSE BOWL! In Pasadena! It's exciting for any team to get so close to playing there but to have it be Oregon vs. Oregon State that decides it is just crazy!



So as I went to bed last night I put on my Duck pj's (they would be playing while I slept) and hoped that when I woke up it would be good news.

AND IT WAS!!!

The Ducks won over the Beavers 37 -33 at Autzen Stadium

(Autzen Stadium on game night)

We're going to Rose Bowl!!!
happy dance


images from KGW.com

Pink Glove Dance

Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland Oregon (A hospital I am particularly fond of) put together this video dubbed the Pink Glove Dance to raise awareness for breast cancer.



Isn't it fantastic?!!?! I love Portland!!!


Oh and on a side note - The University of Oregon Ducks have a very important Civil War game against the Beavers this weekend. The Pasadena Rose Bowel is the prize for which ever team wins this game.

Here's rooting for the Ducks!!!!!

All about the swap

If you ever want to squeal like a little girl who just got the pony they had always dreamed of just join a knitting swap with your closest friends....

I imagine all swaps are great but the bonus of doing swaps with your friends is that they know you and pick up on the things that matter most to you making the swap even more special.

The two knitting groups in UAE (the Abu Dhabi U-Knitted Amiras and the Dubai Knitters) got together for a second swap as the first one went so well that we could hardly wait to start another. Perhaps it's because it involves two of our favorite things shopping for yarn and other knitting goodies and receiving yarn and other knitting goodies. But to keep things interesting we added a theme to the "Swap Round 2": Books!!!! Add a book to the swap gift and even try and get gifts that might relate to said book! SO MUCH FUN!

Well we finally got together for the official Swapping of Swap Gifts and here's what my good friend Rama got for me.........

First I got yarn! That she dyed!!!!!

This one she named Strawberries N' Cream - how did she know I like pink? hmm? who told?


And this one is Lavender Fields - are those colors not AMAZING together?


Then there were these little beauties! My first thought: I can use these as knitting diaries!! (best of both worlds Knitting and Twilight!)


And THE book! Dracula The Un-Dead by Dacre Stoker More vampires!!!


Then I opened this! Another Book! Cupcakes recipe book... The photos are amazing in this book. It looks like you can pick up a cupcake out of the page and eat it! I have never been more inspired to make cupcakes...


But I didn't have to! She made me cupcakes!! Yummy lemony tasty cupcakes (YUM!) that were green and yellow cake with green and yellow icing for the DUCKS!!!!

The Ducks have been doing so well that there's a chance that we could go to THE BOWL (not going to say it til it happens)! I KNOW! So I was feeling a little left out seeing all the fun pics from the games back home that we were winning so much! and this was just the thing to get me in the spirit for kickin' some Arizona a-- er um tush!!!

Needless to say I REALLY enjoyed my swap and have been playing with my new goodies loads! I feel so spoiled! I got pink and purple and ducks and vampires and cake... seriously fantastic!

Seriously Ducks?

I know I wasn't the only duck embarrassed by the game against Boise State on Thursday and I don't mean by just the beating we received on the field but rather we were embarrassed by this little development after the game

Oregon RB throws punch after season-opening loss to Boise State

Oregon suspended star running back LeGarrette Blount for the remainder of the season on Friday for punching Boise State's Byron Hout.
In their home opener, the 14th-ranked Broncos ran over the 16th-ranked Ducks, as Kellen Moore threw for 197 yards and a touchdown to cap a 19-8 Boise State win Thursday night.
But all didn't end quietly. As the Broncos started celebrating their victory, defensive lineman Hout yelled in Blount's face and provokingly tapped him on the shoulder. Broncos head coach Chris Petersen responded immediately, but before he could pull his player away, Blount snapped and punched Hout in the jaw.
The 6-foot-2, 240-pound Blount then hit one of his teammates before police and team staff escorted him off the field, holding him back as he tried to swing at heckling fans.
"It was just something that I shouldn't have done," said Blount, who had eight carries for a loss of five yards. "I lost my head."
Lt. Bryan Hagler said Boise police would not get involved in the scuffle, though there were rumors Blount may get arrested.
Oregon coach Chip Kelly said he wanted to review the tape of the bunch before making a decision on Blount's punishment, and his future. On Friday, Kelly chose to keep Blount off the field for the rest of the season, including any bowl games. He will, however, remain on scholarship.
Mike Bellotti, Oregon's former head coach who stepped down last summer to become athletic director, said the Pac-10 was consulted about the pushiment -- commissioner Larry Scott was at the game -- and supports the school's choice of punishment.

Not only was this Blout guy just a big a$$ embarrassment to my school and all the other people that go there but he was an embarrassment to him self.... saying "It was just something that I shouldn't have done," isn't good enough... being suspended for the rest of the year isn't good enough... retaining his full ride scholarship ISN'T good enough!

What other kid with a full scholarship could walk around campus and punch someone, on school property no less, and NOT loose their scholarship!!! Once again this is the university showing their biased towards their football starts rather than the students working hard to pay for college and get a good education. Give the scholarship to a kid who is working two jobs and going to school full time and will STILL walk out with their degree and tens of thousands of dollars of debt yet also manage to never punch someone in the face because they are a poor sport.

I'm just sayin'

3 years today

A couple of days ago was my 2 year blogaversary and now I have another anniversary to celebrate already! Three years today I moved to the United Arab Emirates.

THREE

TRES

THALATHA

TROIS

SUN

TRE

THREE eh?

(That last one was Canadian incase you were wondering ; ))

I can't believe it's been three years since I got on a plane and flew literally to the other side of the world.

I moved here just two weeks after I had graduated from the University of Oregon. I had one week to spend moving everything out of my apartment in Eugene and up to my mom's house and then I flew to Washington D.C. and New York for the week. I went there first to spend time with my sister and look for the neighborhood I wanted to move to when I was back from my 4 month trip to Dubai. That's right! I was only ever moving here for 4 months. I just wanted to check the place out and do a little exploring before I started working and living in the "real world"

I remember sitting with my sister in her living room and I said "What temperature in Fahrenheit is 40 degrees Celsius?" 40 is the average temp for Dubai this time of year
She said "I dunno..." and asked her husband
Her husband said "I think it's something like 104 or 105 degrees"
My sis and I looked at each other and laughed.... that couldn't be right. 104 what kind of place has an average temp of 104.
I heard her husband clicking away at his computer and then I hear "Yup 104 = 40"
I think my face fell and that was the moment I first thought to my self "what am I getting my self into"

See I hadn't really been able to think about any of the realities of moving to a far away land that I hardly knew anything about. I was way to focused on graduating. I was working full time and going to school beyond full time. I was taking 21 credits for the last two terms just to make sure I got done (12 credits is considered full time enrollment btw) on time. Someone put the idea in my head that I should check out Dubai and without thinking too long about it I just started planning. School and life was so hard that I was just looking forward to taking some selfish "me" time. I wanted to worry about me and only me.

What's the easiest way to move to a new land you ask? Well for someone whose been a student for the last forever years then the natural conclusion is to go be a student in the new land! I didn't want to worry about a place to live. I didn't want to worry about visas (whatever those were) and I wanted to be at least a little responsible and learn something while I was on my endeavor. So I enrolled my self for the fall semester at American University in Dubai. I enrolled in Arabic 1 and Middle Eastern Politics and that was it. I wasn't looking to get a degree so I didn't need to over load my self. Plus I wanted time to explore and seriously just relax. I had forgotten what it was like to do nothing.

The night before I was to take off from New York for the INSANE flight of 14 hrs my sister pulled out a world map... She said "you know where you're moving right?"
"Oh yeah I'm going the Middle East!" I beamed back at her
"Do you know where in the Middle East?"
I think I met that question with a blank stare...
She said "well just so you know" and she pointed out all the neighbors of UAE to me.

That was the second moment I wondered what I had gotten my self into.... Oh well I had a return ticket I could come back when I was ready. I didn't have to go the whole 4 moths if I didn't want to. I was a grown up now I could figure it out as I went.

When I finally made it to Dubai there were some people waiting for. Not people I had ever met before but people who were family of a friend of mine (later I learned people do this here because we're all expats and we all arrived not knowing anyone). They kindly scooped up all my baggage and hauled me off to get some dinner and show me Mall of the Emirates for the first time. That was the first time I saw men and women in the local dress. For some reason it surprised me. I guess I never put two and two together and realize that this land was "that" land. At the mall I also got my first glimpse of the over indulgence of Dubai. I mean seriously I was having dinner next to and indoor ski resort. CRAZY!

I went to my new little dorm room that I would be sharing with another student from Pakistan who was so nice and showed me all around campus.

Then I was quickly informed of the rules of the girls dorms by the mistress of the house.
No Boys past the security guard
You must sign in and out every time you enter or exit the dorms
You need a form signed by your parents to stay out past nine
You need a separate form signed by your parents to stay out all night

Seriously? Do they know where I'm from? I haven't had a curfew since I was 15!!! I didn't move all the way out here just to have to be home at sunset! I came to explore!
I looked at the lady, sighed, and said well ok I'll send it to my mom and get her to sign this for me I guess (boy did my mom have a laugh about that one)... "How old are you" she demanded. "ummm 25"
"Well lucky for you 25 years is the cut off... no need for a permission slip"
"great" i thought to my self... 25 just barely squeezed by...

I basically slept for the next three days letting my self get over the jet lag. On the 4th day was the first day of class. I showed up to arabic 1 where I quickly realized that arabic 1 was not for people who knew no arabic but rather for those who knew it but wanted to get an easy grade. I realized quickly that I was already behind the rest of the class and we had barely made it through the first hour.

Towards the end of class this really tall beautiful girl with an incredible accent came up to me. She was from Croatia staying here with her father. It was ladies night at most of the clubs the next night and she had a friend who knew all the great places to go to... I should come.

I said sure. It was not my usual to go and hang out with people I didn't know and go to places I didn't know but seriously WHO did I know? No one. She seemed nice and Hey I got lost in New York and survived that I can go out and have some fun in Dubai and survive that too....

So the next night I met up with her at Wafi City and we sat at a tapas bar and waited for her friend.... About 20 min after we arrived he briskly walked through the door waiving absently at the bouncer on his way. I thought to my self... that cant be the guy. Then my friend turned around and said "Hey! He's here!" He walked up to our table and did the three kiss lebanese hello with my friend and then held his hand out to me...

"Hey what's your name?"
"Lindsay" I replied with a smile on my face
"Where are you from?" He asked skeptically
"America" I replied "You?"
"Lebanon... and I don't like Americans by the way"
I smiled, "Well I'm not a fan of the lebanese so I guess we're equal" I retorted in my usual if-you-say-something-about-me-i'll-definitely-say-something-back way.
He smiled.

A year and a half later we were married

So for me, as you can guess, this move was life changing. It was never my intention to be here for three years but life has a funny way of happening when you least expect it. I have been very fortunate that the people around me always help me succeed and have my best interests at heart.

3-0!!

i just had to update that University of Oregon Ducks prevailed! my sis brought it to my attention that the Ducks won yesterday!!!! we beat purdue 32-26 woot woot!!! so the season is off to a great start!

next week: uhh ohh sydney next week we are playing Boise State. but it should be a great game!

summer vacation is over

yep it's all over.

we are now on the decent in to fall. and i'm looking forward to it. it's so flipping hot and boring here and i'm ready for normal weather. i was talking to my dad and he was saying that back home, in the Pacific Northwest, it had been pouring rain. i was jealous. jealous i tell you! i miss the smell, i miss the sound and i miss the feel of the air. this ridiculous heat out here is just no fun. there's no leaves changing color or rain jackets (we don't use umbrellas where i come from), no pumpkin picking or fresh apple pie, no nip in the air as we get closer to winter.... :::sigh:::

but then something wonderful happened as i was driving down Sheikh Zayed Road complaining to my dad... it rained. here. in the United Arab Emirates. it was like 8 drops, not even enough to wet the car or the roads but it was rain i tell you. glorious rain! rain that us Ducks just can't live with out! rain that cleans the air and nourishes the plants! of course it was rain planted as an experiment by the government but rain none the less.

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the end of summer also marks another important event. the beginning of (American) football season. yes collage football season has begun and i'm proud to say that my team, the University of Oregon, Ducks, have gotten off to a good start.... by winning. i'll keep you posted as the season continues