When my husband asked me 20 years ago to consider a move to Kuwait, I emphatically said NO! It took 6 months of talking, tear shedding and discussing with family and friends before I was finally able to agree to try it for at least two years. I remember all the questions I asked at that time ...
is there grass and trees (after all, I was coming to the Middle East); where would we be living (with his parents at first), would we have a washer and dryer (turned out be a manual washer and the roof and sun as a natural dryer) and so on.
The hardest part at the time about the move was not leaving my job at the law firm in New Orleans, or the selling of personal items and packing things up, it was leaving behind my 3-year old wire-haired fox terrier, Scooter. A friend in Dallas had recently lost her cocker spaniel and agreed to care for him, so I was very happy about that, but putting him on an airplane from New Orleans to Dallas was heartbreaking. I framed his picture and keep it the tv room.
My husband and I tied the knot on October 20, 1994 and then road tripped it in a U-Haul to Woodridge, Illinois where my belongings were going to be stored in my best friend's basement. I also had to stay there (and worked in the same law firm as my girlfriend) while my husband returned to Kuwait with paperwork for my visa. That whole process took a couple of months and I finally arrived in Kuwait a few days before Christmas in 1994. To say I traveled light is an understatement. I came with only a storage trunk -- one of those that you can buy at WalMart or Target. The trunk is now on top of a cabinet and being used for storage. I have absolutely no idea how I decided what to pack. I do know that I brought warm clothes and was glad that I did as that first winter was one of the coldest I've experienced here. (Or maybe it just felt colder because I wasn't used to living in concrete buildings with no insultation and no central heating.
After about 7 years of being in Kuwait, and afer having just moved to a new apartment, my husband surprised me by bringing home around 30 of my boxes that he had shipped from his parents' house in Canada (that is where my things had been moved to when my friend decided to sell her house). I was not happy about the prospect of going through it all after that many years. My decorating style in the 80's and early 90's was country with blue and mauve and sage green, rabbits and teddy bears and ducks (all the rage back then -- does anyone remember the home based decorating parties for Home Interiors? ... yep, that was me). Country was definitely not my style anymore.
There are still touches of country and Americana here and there but my decorating style has definitely changed. After all these years, after all our travels, I tend to like an eclectic mix of styles. Easy to do when you have access to Middle Eastern, Indian and Asian furniture and decorations.
Everyone who visits say they feel like they are in a museum or Aladdin's cave. Their comment is that they can't take it all in at once because there is so much to see. Every time they come back, they think they are seeing something new even when I haven't bought or changed a thing.
Sometimes it actually freaks people out. Yes, I admit, there's a lot of stuff, which may not be exactly ideal for a dusty, desert climate. But I can't imagine living with bare walls and empty spaces, so I embrace the dust (sort of).
It's now the year 2014! It goes without saying that I made it through those first 2 years and 19 years later, we are still here, along with a college boy, a high school boy and a cat named Jingles. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought this is where I would be, for this long. My husband says that God sent him all the way to New Orleans on a blind date in June of 1992 just to meet me. Life is funny that way.
Blogging itself has been a journey that I have enjoyed so much. Isn't it wonderful that with just a click we are able to travel to foreign lands and meet such lovely friends along the way?
Thank you Maureen for inviting me to be a part of your dream, your new adventure at The Moksi Homes.
Blessings to all,
Tammy
Never make your home in a place. Make a home for yourself inside your own head. You'll find what you need to furnish it - memory, friends you can trust, love of learning, and other such things. That way it will go with you wherever you journey. -- (Tad Williams)
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{visit Tammy at T's Daily Treasures}
* all photo's by: Tammy