Ghassan's, part II

We have some furniture. We have a few spots in our home where we decided we would like some furniture. We got a piece of cheap cabinetry for the printer stand that should work well enough. Some of our other pieces, however, we wanted to be a bit more durable than flimsy pressed "wood." After seeing some interesting pieces of furniture at friends' homes, we decided that we needed to check out Ghassan's. We figured it would be worth paying a little extra to get furniture pieces that are interesting and we like and that we plan on keeping for a long time, rather than paying extra for furniture that is ordinary and somewhat durable. We figured that if we planned on keeping something for a long time (aka, shipping something back to the US), we better like it a lot.

We found several pieces at Ghassan's that we really liked, but not being the type of people who make millions in their sleep, we had to narrow it down a little. We got a large cabinet/bookcase, a phone table/bench, a small stepped dresser, a small bookcase, and a clock.

The clock. My (Travis') grandparents had a simple but handsome farm clock that I always thought was so much fun. Well, one of my uncles inherited that, so I need to find one of my own. I had seen a few clocks with Arabic numbers and decided that I wanted such a clock. So, we got a nice clock with a pendulum and Arabic numbers. I may still want a farm clock one day, but this one is definitely fulfilling the desire for a good-looking clock.

The small bookcase. Ghassan called it a fruit basket. It's certainly not a basket, but I could see how someone might store fruit on it. However, we plan to put it in Leoni's room to hold some of her books, at an angle.





The small stepped dresser. Ghassan had two of these and we really liked both. The one that we did not get was bigger and angled the opposite direction. The one we got fits better in our home, and it has half as much glass, which we need to consider at this point. It is made of shisham (Dalbergia sissoo), or Indian Rosewood. The workmanship is very precise and beautiful.

The phone table/bench. We really liked this, but weren't sure of its practicality in our home. After discussing the need for something in the corner to contain our telecommunication devices, we realized that the cabinet (next to be discussed) wasn't the answer we were hoping for, but combining the cabinet with the bench would work really well. The bench is also made of shisham.

The large cabinet/bookcase. The main reason we went to Ghassan's was to pick out a piece made with repurposed, antique wood. Most of the cabinet pieces were big with only a few shelves, working well as a linen closet, which we don't really need right now. This one provides out-of-sight storage (behind the well-preserved, repurposed, antique doors) along with a practical display (toward the top, out of baby-reach) and some drawers. The dark wood is similarly aged wood restored from some other pieces to create this one piece.

All of these pieces are beautiful, well made, durable, and heavy. It'll be a chore to bring them back with us when our time overseas is over, but it'll definitely be worth it.

Standing for Something...

Leoni after a successful attempt to pull herself from sitting to standing

...or just for herself. Since she was about 2 1/2 months, Leoni has wanted to stand more than sit. Stubborn streak-don't know where that came from. She would make her body rigid when we would try to pull her into a sitting position, so she instead would be pulled to standing. We had a hard time getting her to bend at the waist or knees after that. Now that she is sitting alone and mobile (army crawl, which is hard to catch since when the camera comes out she just stops to pose), she is loving climbing up anything and everything that will help get her into a "standing" position. I think that means trouble.

Her favorite position on the couches, which unfortunately also involves tiptoes and trying to reach over the edge

Caught in the act of climbing up dad's bag to get to the garbage can

Right before getting frustrated because the arches of the playmat wouldn't support her wait while trying to move from kneeling to standing

Utilities--Gas

So the utilities in the Middle East are done a little differently than in the U.S. The only natural gas in our house is the stove/oven (which is actually a gas/electric combo). I was excited to finally have a gas stove/oven again after years in college housing with only electric. Well, last night, the gas ran out in the middle of cooking dinner. Slightly inconvenient. Luckily, it wasn't anything too fancy, and we were able to finish cooking our chicken burgers in the toaster oven. You may ask, "How did the gas run out?" Well, because nothing else runs on gas, this is where the gas comes from.


Yes, that is on the other side of the kitchen wall. Travis moved the "protective" cardboard boxes for the picture. I guess to shield it from getting overheated?!? Travis has to take the tank to the "gas truck" and get a new canister today. Of course, being Qatar, which has one of the world's largest natural gas fields, it only cost 15 QR (about $4) for a refill, and this is the first time we have refilled it since arriving 2 1/2 months ago. Not bad. I think we'll be purchasing a spare canister, however, in case we ever run out again while cooking.

We have a breakthrough

Lower left central incisor to be exact
It appeared on Monday, November 9th.

Announcing

Because we only sent out a small handful of announcements, I figured we would post it here also, but we were waiting on our scanner to arrive. So, she is 6+ months now. No big deal, right? (sorry the quality isn't too great)

Sharing advice

Our experiences teach us, but they also prepare us to be able to teach others. What I have learned through trial & error might help someone else avoid some of the pains involved with learning or at least cut down the time frame.

Another young mother in my ward sent out an email for anyone interested in sharing Family Home Evening ideas. I responded, since I haven't done a lot of FHE lessons with children, and I figured I could start gathering ideas now. To my surprise, I was the only one who responded. We met a few days ago. Hopefully, others will hear and want to join with us in sharing ideas. We can be such a great resource to each other.

My cousin was recently called as the Primary Music Leader. She has decided to start a blog with ideas for Primary Music Leaders.

http://ldsprimarysinging.blogspot.com

Another great idea, and I hope that she'll be able to pool experience and resources for herself and others.

As a new mother, I am "learning the ropes" of motherhood. Sometimes, it is just nice to be able to talk to a friend about what they have tried (thanks, Angela). I know every child is different, as well as every mother and situation, but the more ideas you have to try out, the sooner I can find the one that works for me.

I hope I will always keep in mind ways to share what I have learned. And, I hope that others will feel like they can share with me and are willing to ask me, knowing that I am willing to share, also.

Tribute to the King

There is something slightly Elvis-esque about her. OK, not really, but for my personal entertainment, she sometime sings Hound Dog and naturally, Viva Las Vegas when wearing her "Aloha Jumpsuit."