Ahmad and Allison's Adventures

Saraya is going to be a big sister!

2011-10-30T00:12:00.003-04:00

We are officially expecting a new baby in April of 2012. Saraya will be just over 2 years if this baby stays put until my due date.

What is even more exciting...we are having a boy! This will be the first boy for my family and I already feel sorry for him when he has to deal with his older sister and two older girl cousins one day!

We are really excited and I hope to post more soon. Saraya has been doing amazing things lately and we are all anxiously awaiting the arrival of her new little brother!

Italy Summer 2011

2011-07-22T12:18:00.005-04:00

Nana, Papaw, Saraya and I recently traveled to Italy for a wedding in Tuscany. I made a Mixbook photobook of the trip. We had an amazing time.

I will try and post some about our trip soon but for the meantime, enjoy the slideshow!

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Final Jordan Photos

2011-05-25T16:00:00.001-04:00

One of my favorite things to do in Jordan is to visit the local bakeries. They are pretty impressive with their assembly line processing of some pretty amazing bread. Saraya apparently was fascinated as well. One of the guys who worked at the store gave her this piece of bread after she smiled and laughed at him and his co-workers. She enjoyed it.

This picture shows one of my favorite times of this recent trip, actually of any trip I have taken to Jordan. Here is Saraya surrounded by 4 of her aunts (Abeer, Kowkip, Hanadi and Sawsan) and 3 of her cousins. What I loved about this lunch was that it was one of the few times I have had to spend with just the girls in Jordan. It was such a great lunch and Saraya loved all the attention from the ladies. What is even more inspiring is that at this table there is a school principal, a lawyer and a future lawyer, a civil engineer, a computer engineer and a musician. Now those are some great role models for Saraya!

While Saraya had a great time on our trip, she was ready to get home and see Daddy.

Here is one final shot of her. Even after 20 hours of traveling, she was still a trooper.

More Jordan Pictures

2011-05-23T16:55:00.000-04:00

Here are some more photos from Jordan.

Aunt Sawsan and Saraya

Shopping for gold for Jiddeh (Grandma)

Playing with Uncle Mohammed

Saif and Saraya

Aunt Abeer and Saraya at the Citadel

International Traveler

2011-05-22T18:23:00.005-04:00

From the day she was born, Saraya has been a wonderful baby. She is generally happy, rarely upset and she never seems to meet a stranger. If I wasn't already convinced of that, our recent trip to Jordan certainly solidified her status as the "World's Best Baby Traveler."

She was such a pro. I have to admit, I was a little apprehensive to tackle a 24 hour plane trip with a 14 month old all on my own. But it was necessary in order for Saraya to meet her Jordanian family and so off we went.

She was such a good girl. She flew well, even though we spent 9 hours in flight from Cincinnati to Paris and then 5 hours in layover in Paris and then another 5 hours from Paris to Amman. And even more miraculous, when we got there she immediately adjusted to Jordan time even though it was seven hours ahead of EST. I couldn't have asked for a better baby to travel with.

Here are a few snap shots. Try to check back and I hope to post some more pictures and perhaps a video or two soon.

Here she is in front of the Roman ampitheater ruins in downtown Amman.

This is the same hill as the previous picture, only from the other side. It is one of my favorite spots in the whole world. I am so glad I got to share it with Saraya.

Same spot. That large flag can be seen from much of Amman. Our apartment is just behind the flag.

Playing outside in our driveway. Notice the large lemon trees in the background.

Playing on the balcony. She LOVED Jordan!

Spring is here...

2011-04-15T00:11:00.004-04:00

And we love enjoying the beautiful weather!

Saraya learning to walk

2011-03-23T22:43:00.000-04:00

The Zoo

2011-03-22T21:21:00.003-04:00

We recently visited the Louisville with Saraya. She has been once before but she really enjoyed looking at the animals this time. This time she was absolutely fearless when it came to the animals and she would have jumped into each enclosure to touch the animals if we would have let her!

She even got up and close with a silverback gorilla! Here are some shots from the zoo.

Snow Time

2011-02-10T17:14:00.002-05:00

Saraya has been a little under the weather with first the flu and now a wicked cold so she hasn't been able to get out and enjoy the snow. She does, however, enjoy looking at it and for some reason she laughs hysterically when we say the word "snow."

Needless to say, we are looking forward to spring. I can't wait until we can get outside and play again. It's been too long!

More Bahamas...

2011-01-31T16:30:00.001-05:00

Fish!

2011-01-30T14:00:00.003-05:00

One of Saraya's favortie things on vacation was looking at the fish. There were several aquariums and fish tanks and she loved watching the fish swim by.

Nurse sharks...look how close they are!

More fishes!

She loved looking at this big grouper.

How cute!

If you're happy...

2011-01-29T22:52:00.004-05:00

I apologize for the dreadful singing in this video but the cuteness hopefully will make up for it.

While we were in the Bahamas earlier this month, Saraya learned how to clap. She also learned how to crawl, how to feed herself and she said Mama for the first time. We decided she must be a warm weather baby.

More pictures from our vacation to follow. Stay tuned!

Christmas Morning

2010-12-26T16:17:00.004-05:00

Santa certainly visited Saraya on Christmas Eve! She had lots of new toys to play with on Christmas morning. Nana and Papaw came over to see what Santa brought and Saraya showed off her new toys and opened her gifts from us.

My very own name book!

She finally got the hang of opening the presents.

This paper is pretty...and it tastes good, too.

A new car!

More Christmas pictures to follow soon!

Christmas Card Outtakes

2010-12-16T20:21:00.005-05:00

Outtakes from our Christmas card photo shoot:

These first two were almost good enough to make the cut. There were so many good shots to choose from. I love the second one!

This one was really good of Saraya, but Ahmad's hand replacing the ornament was not the look we were going for.

Ahmad was standing behind me singing and laughing and being really silly. In this one she just looks like she's thinking "Dad, what in the world are you doing?"

There were lots of shots of the back of her head. The tree was too tempting.

And so were the ornaments.

In the end, we had several fabulous shots and I couldn't narrow it down to just one so I put three on our card!

Sitting with Santa

2010-12-08T22:44:00.003-05:00

Saraya's first visit with Santa. She wasn't quite sure what to think of it at first...

But then she decided Santa was fun. She particularly liked his beard!

My Greatest Blessings

2010-11-24T21:17:00.003-05:00

I have always loved Thanksgiving. It ranks up there in my most favorite of holidays. There are a lot of reasons why. I enjoy just relaxing with family and not worrying about gifts or decorations or the hustle and bustle. Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite days of the year.

Last year, there was a whole new reason why. As I lay on the couch after eating too much of Mom's wonderful cooking, I felt Saraya move for the first time. I was about 18 weeks pregnant. It was the most magical feeling I had ever felt.

Fast forward to this year. I have such wonderful blessings to be thankful for. First and foremost, Ahmad and Saraya. I could not have asked for a better father for Saraya than Ahmad. He has changed as many diapers as I have, washed little hands, given baths, laughed, cried, and just been plain silly with Saraya since the day she was born. He is simply the most amazing father for my little girl. For that, I will be eternally grateful.

And speaking of my little girl. She has brought me more joy in the last 8 months than I could ever have imagined. She is simply the greatest gift and fills our lives with so much wonder and joy. This year has flown by and I think back to last Thanksgiving when I was wanting time to hurry so I could meet her. Now I find myself wishing time would slow down so I could enjoy this brief time when she is a baby a little longer.

Here are a few recent pictures of Saraya and her dad. I cannot begin to say how thankful I am to have both of them in my life.

Saraya is helping Dad study

Napping on Dad with her new baby doll

Hairdo...

2010-11-10T09:11:00.003-05:00

This is what happens when Daddy fixes your hair...

Huber Farm

2010-11-07T19:41:00.007-05:00

This fall we all took a trip to Huber Farm. Papaw was here and the whole family went pumpkin hunting. Here are a few of the shots from that day.

Meredith and Michael fishing

Saraya enjoyed watching them fish.

Meredith and Saraya on the tractor!

Now Meredith is taking Laurel for a spin.

Driving all by herself!

Petting the baby goats.

Give Peas a Chance

2010-09-24T16:08:00.002-04:00

Saraya's first shot at eating peas. Perhaps I should introduce new food when she isn't so sleepy!

Summer Days

2010-09-07T18:22:00.003-04:00

Ahmad and Saraya recently enjoyed a beautiful summer day outside. Here are some great shots of them playing in the grass and loving the weather. I will be sad when summer is over!

Beach Baby

2010-08-23T11:11:00.003-04:00

We took our first vacation with Saraya in August. We went to Myrtle Beach and Nana came with us! It was Saraya's first time at the beach and she seemed to like it. She was mildly scared of the waves but really enjoyed the water and being in the pool. The weather was perfect and we all enjoyed the rest, relaxation and sun! We even made it down to Charleston one day. We had one of the best meals I have ever had while we were in Charleston. If you are ever in the area, go eat atMagnolia's. The food was amazing!

Here are some pictures of Saraya at the beach. Enjoy!

Meeting Papaw

2010-08-19T17:44:00.002-04:00

For my residency graduation my parents came to visit Rochester. For Papaw it was a very special trip as it was his first time meeting Saraya. Needless to say, he was happy to see his third little granddaughter in person after seeing her so many times on video via Skype.

Papaw and Saraya had a great time. I think he wore pink just for her!

2010-07-28T21:57:00.000-04:00

She's Already Proving Us Wrong...

2010-07-28T21:51:00.002-04:00

Saraya had her 4 month appt today, complete with 3 shots! She cried during the shots but otherwise was great. She is 10 lbs, 10 oz (10th percentile) and 24 inches in length (25th percentile).

The doctor was going through the routine development questions and she asked us if Saraya had rolled over yet. We told her not totally but that she had made it 3/4 of the way from her belly to her back but not all the way. Well, she must have heard us because she rolled over twice tonight! We

caught the second one on video, but I can't seem to get videos to post on the blog. Maybe someone has a tip?

Instead, here is a picture of Saraya "reading" in her Bumbo seat!

4 Months Tomorrow

2010-07-22T23:17:00.000-04:00

Hard to believe, but Saraya will be 4 months old tomorrow. She's doing great. She's growing like crazy, especially in length. According to our measurements, she's in the 75th percentile for length despite being 5 weeks early. When I plotted her at length as 3 months old (her gestational age) she was at the 100th percentile. Maybe she'll be tall?

Here is a recent picture of her with her Aunt Laura. She's practicing for our upcoming trip to the beach!

A New Room!

2010-07-22T18:55:00.003-04:00

Ahmad, Saraya and I just recently moved back home. We have a new house and we were finally able to make a nursery for Saraya. I had been planning this for months and I am so excited to see that the final product is even better than I imagined. Ahmad, as always, did a great job painting and putting everything together. We painted her room yellow and painted one wall with stripes of blue, green, yellow, red and orange. The safari animals are stickers that come in retro patterns. The elephant, for example, is red paisley and the lion is a yellow plaid pattern. I LOVE them. Check out the room. There is even a peak at Saraya in one of the pictures. Tomorrow I promise more pics of Saraya!

Here are the strips in progress....Ahmad did an amazing job. It certainly wasn't easy!

I Am So Proud...

2010-06-10T15:27:00.002-04:00

Last week Ahmad got his Associates Degree from Monroe Community College in International Business. I am so proud of him, not only because he graduated with honors, but also because he did it in English which is not his first language. I can't imagine finishing a business degree in Spanish much less Arabic with an entirely different alphabet. I am so, so, so proud of my graduate. And so is Saraya!!! Here she is with Dad on graduation day. She did great at the graduation ceremony (which was about 3 hours long) until she decided to spit up her entire meal onto both her and my dress.

Congratulations, Ahmad! Saraya and I are so proud of you!

2010-06-01T23:37:00.003-04:00

Saraya is such a good baby but she is particulary happy in the mornings after she eats. She loves to play and laughs and smiles and talks to us. Here are some pictures from this morning. Last night was her first night sleeping in her sleep sack and she must have loved it because she woke up as happy as she could be.

Getting Big

2010-05-31T11:42:00.002-04:00

Trying to help Dad hold the bottle. Saraya and Ahmad are enjoying their time together while Allison is back at work.

Spending Time with Mom

2010-05-30T22:02:00.001-04:00

Here are a couple of pictures of Saraya and I spending some quality time together. She loves to read books!

My Apologies

2010-05-29T08:27:00.004-04:00

So I realize that I missed the first day of my promised 7 days of photos! Here are 4 pics, 2 for yesterday and 2 for today!

Napping with Daddy

First Walk in the Stroller

She's mastered the pout already!

Two Months Old!

2010-05-27T17:41:00.004-04:00

It's hard to believe but Saraya is 2 months old! She is growing so fast. At our last doctor's visit she was 7 lbs 11 oz and 21 inches long. That's 3 and a half pounds and 4 inches bigger than she was when she was born!

The most exciting thing about being two months is that she is starting to interact more. She smiles (mostly for her Daddy) like crazy and babbles to us all the time. She's sleeping for at least 5 and sometimes 7 hours at night which thrills me since I have started back to work and have to get up early in the morning.

In honor of Saraya turning two months old...I'll post pictures everyday for a week starting today! Enjoy!

One month old...

2010-04-27T10:47:00.003-04:00

Saraya had her one month check up yesterday. She officially was due to be born today and she has rapidly made up for that fact that she arrived 5 weeks early. She weighed 6 lbs 11 oz yesterday which means she gained a whole pound in the last 10 days! She also has grown 2.5 inches since she was born and is now 20 inches long! Most importantly, she's healthy and meeting all her developmental milestones at or ahead of schedule. We are so blessed!

Napping with Daddy

Is there anything more precious than a sleeping baby?

These are my favorite moments as a mom. I love it when she just looks at me and it seems that she is really listening to what I am saying.

4 Weeks Old

2010-04-22T17:32:00.002-04:00

It's hard to believe, but yesterday Saraya was 4 weeks old! She's growing so fast and the time is flying by! I can't believe she's been home for 3 weeks!

She has started to smile at me and her Dad in the past couple of days. Her smiles certainly are precious. She's developing a little personality, too.

Here are some pictures from yesterday as she celebrated her 4 week birthday!

I Need a Nap

2010-04-19T00:11:00.003-04:00

I think this is Saraya's way of saying...

It's a hard life...sometimes a nap is all that will do!

She frequently sleeps with her hands like this, covering her face. It is fitting, actually, since in every ultrasound I had before she was born (and there were a lot of ultrasounds, believe me...) she had her hands in front of face preventing us from getting a good luck at her face. In the past few days we have caught her sucking her thumb at times, too. It's all too cute.

Ahmad and I are loving every second of being Saraya's Mom and Dad. She is such a little bundle of joy!

Doctor's Visit

2010-04-16T22:24:00.003-04:00

Saraya went to the doctor today for a weight check. Just as we suspected, and as you probably can see in the following pictures, she's gaining weight like a champ. She was up to 5 lbs 11 oz today which means she gained 11 ounces this week! Her cheeks are really starting to fill out and she even has a little double chin now. Here are some pictures from today:

Getting ready for her doctors appointment.

Talking to Daddy

She's supposed to be taking a nap, but instead is wide awake, taking in the world.

Saraya's First Visitors

2010-04-09T15:03:00.004-04:00

This week Saraya had her first sleepover with her cousin, Laurel. Aunt Laura, Nana and Laurel came to Rochester to visit Baby Saraya. We all had such a good time! Saraya particularly enjoyed the hugs and kisses from Nana and Aunt Laura.

Ahmad and I enjoyed spending time with Laurel. She is five months old now and has grown so much since we saw her last. She's such a big girl and she smiles all the time!

It was really fun to see Saraya and Laurel side by side. You can really appreciate the difference in size when they are so close.

Finally, Saraya had her two week doctors appointment today. We were thrilled to learn that she is now almost 5 lbs (4 lbs, 15.5 oz.). She gained 9 oz in just one week! She's doing great and is already ahead of a few milestones! She's such a good girl!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T18:36:00.003-04:00

Here are some new pictures of Saraya. Her Easter basket is bigger than she is. That just means more candy for Daddy and I to eat!

She's Here!

2010-04-02T19:23:00.003-04:00

Ahmad and I would like to introduce our daughter, Saraya Renee. Despite arriving early at 35 weeks, she is doing amazingly well.

I'll spare most of the details, but I admit that a four day induction of labor wasn't the most fun thing I have ever done. In the end, though, we were blessed with this beautiful little girl who Ahmad and I fell in love with instantly. Nana was there with us and Papaw was able to see her right after she was born even though he is in Iraq thanks to Skype.

Saraya has done great for being kicked out of the oven so early. She's eating like a champ (wonder where she gets that from?) and gaining weight everyday. She came home after only a week in the Special Care Nursery (a step down from the NICU) and has done great at home so far. We are blessed that she sleeps in four hour blocks so Ahmad and I are getting plenty of rest aside from the fact that I am either feeding or pumping for an hour and half every 3 to 4 hours.

Here are some pictures from her first few days at home.

Books I Read in 2009

2010-03-08T17:23:00.003-05:00

Wow. It's been a long time. I am going to start posting more often now as Ahmad and I are expecting our first daughter in just about 6 weeks. I thought I would start off with a list of the books I read in 2009.

The list is long, I think in part because I got a Kindle for Christmas (thanks Mom and Laura) in 2008 and it without a doubt increased my reading capabilities. It changed my life, but that's a different story.

I read a lot of books this year. A lot of great books, actually. Here they are:

1. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

2. The Arabian Nights by Annonymous

3. Born to Run by Christopher McDougall

4. Duma Key by Stephen King

5. Focault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco

6. The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade by Ann Fessler

7. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

8. The Help by Kathryn Stockett

9. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano by Olaudah Equiano

10. The Island of the Day Before by Umberto Eco

11. Just After Sunset by Stephen King

12. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

13. Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

14. The Qur'an

15. The Reader by Berhard Schlink

16. Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson

17. The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid

18. Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates

19. The Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

20. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

21. The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

22. The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman

I enjoyed them all, but in particular, I loved Born to Run, The Reader, The Alchemist and The Zookeeper's Wife. I LOVED The Unbearable Lightness of Being, as well.

Enjoy! And visit my library over at Librarything.com if you're interested!

Iran's Disputed Election - The Big Picture - Boston.com

2009-06-15T16:30:00.002-04:00

I love the blog "The Big Picture" which is a collection of photos from news agencies around the world covering specific topics from hurricanes to space exploration to children in Afghanistan.

Today, there is a collection of photos from the protests in Iran over the contested (many would say fraudulant) presidential election.

Iran's Disputed Election - The Big Picture - Boston.com

I was literally crying as I looked at them. What an amazing display. Please check them out. I promise you will be glad you did.

Costa Rica Zipline

2009-03-28T17:34:00.004-04:00

Here's a clip of the zip line we went on in Costa Rica. It truly scared me to death, but I am so glad I did it. We had a great time with lovely views and fast, fast ziplines! As I said in the previous post, the highest was about 600 feet and the longest was a quarter of a mile!

Costa Rica

2009-03-22T22:08:00.014-04:00

For our quarterly blog post, a recap of our trip to Costa Rica.

We traveled to Costa Rica in February and had a wonderful time. We flew into San Jose and then drove up into the mountains, through the cloud forest, and to Arenal volcano. The drive was interesting (and beautiful), to say the least. We were literally driving through the clouds...a first. Only on the drive back, which was clear, did we realize just exactly how dangerous the drive was. Here's a picture of the road we drove on on the way back down three days later. Keep in mind that as we were driving up the mountains, we couldn't see more than 20 feet ahead of us because of the clouds.

We arrived in Fortuna and stayed at a lovely new hotel set overlooking the Arenal volcano, which is the most active volcano in Costa Rica. While we didn't see any lava flows, there was plenty of smoke continually coming from the top of the volcano.

Arenal volcano in the background of the bar in the pool

The hotel had natural hot springs fed by the waters heated from the volcano. It was amazing. The views were spectacular, the water was warm and the forest surrounding us was amazing. We saw lots of birds and an occasional monkey and one huge spider. Later, on a drive around Arenal lake, I scared Ahmad by getting out of the car to take pictures of these curious little animals which looked like a cross between a possum and a raccoon. I think Ahmad was scared that I would get bitten, and in all honesty, the little guys were running towards me. I escaped unscathed, however.

While in the Arenal area, we went on an amazing zip line adventure. The longest zip line was almost a quarter of a mile long and over 600 feet off of the ground. Those of you who know me well know that I am scared of heights, but I conquered my fear and we had the most amazing time. I'll try and post a clip of one of the lines later.

We then drove to Quepos on the Pacific coast to the Manuel Antonio national park. We stayed in the only hotel directly on the beach. It was gorgeous. We took a hike through the national park and saw lots of monkeys and sloths and birds. I was hoping to see some tree frogs or snakes but we didn't. I think Ahmad was just fine with that. There were lots of monkeys, sloths and large iguanas at our hotel, too. We spent a lot of time on the beach just relaxing.

While in Quepos, we took a catamaran sailing trip. To everyone's surprise, we found 3 humpback whales, two adults and a baby. Mothers who have had calves spend the winters near Costa Rica while the calf learns to swim and gets fat for the trip back to colder waters for the summer. It seems that it is pretty rare to actually see them as the crew on our boat was just as excited as we all were to see the whales. One swam a foot underneath me as I was standing on the net on the boat. We felt so lucky to have been able to see the whales so close, within feet of the boat. I was too busy standing with my mouth open in amazement to take any pictures. Luckily, I am married to Ahmad, who not only took pictures but also shot some great video of the whales. Here's a short clip.

The trip was fabulous. It was great to get out of the snow and cold and to just relax together. Here's a slide show of the rest of the pictures.

A Year in Books

2008-12-31T00:01:00.005-05:00

As I posted previously, I now use LibraryThing to keep track of the books I read.

I read, by my count, 26 books this year...although I feel like I am missing a couple.

Here's the list:

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
The Best American Short Stories edited by Stephen King
The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
The Dark Tower (Books 1-7) by Stephen King
The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding (for the third time)
March by Geraldine Brooks
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Rebecca by Daphne de Maurier
Snow by Orhan Pamuk
Stanger in the Forest: On Foot Across Borneo by Eric Hansen
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace, One School at a Time by Greg Mortensen
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmeal Beah
The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff

I just started to list my favorites of the year and I realized I was going to copy half of the list. I really enjoyed almost all of the books I read this year.

If you haven't read it, you MUST read The Poisonwood Bible. It's haunting.

Bel Canto is a great tale, as is Water for Elephants.

The Golden Notebook was fabulous, as was The Name of the Rose. I loved Umberto Eco's style of writing and the historical aspect of the story.

I actually read more non-fiction than normal this year. Stranger in the Forest I read before we took our trip to Malaysia and I loved it. What a great tale of travel and immersion in another culture. I wish I was as brave as the author is when it comes to just letting it all go and living a totally different life. Three Cups of Tea was fascinating and made me realize how much more I could be doing to help change the world. Inspiring.

What did you read this year? What would you recommend?

Feel free to check out my library over at LibraryThing.com.

Meredith's Birthday!!!

2008-09-06T15:12:00.003-04:00

As I alluded to in my last post, I went home to Kentucky in July. I didn't go just to visit family, although I certainly was thrilled to see everyone.

I went home for a very special day....my niece Meredith's first birthday!

Laura and Michael had a wonderful party at their house to celebrate this momentous milestone. I was so glad to have been able to travel home to be there on her first birthday. It's hard to believe that she is one year old now.

I know I am a little biased, but she is just the cutest thing ever! Here's some pictures from her birthday party on July 26, 2008!

It's been a long time...

2008-09-06T14:37:00.010-04:00

I suck at posting. Let's just get that out there. Okay, I feel better now.

We have had an incredibly busy summer this year. We traveled to Orlando, Malaysia, Jordan, Kentucky and Las Vegas. We have one more trip in a couple of weeks to New Mexico and then we will stay put here in Rochester for awhile. At least until I can dream up a reason to go somewhere else.

The trip to Malaysia was fantastic. It was 18 days of no pager, no cell phones, no television, just uninterrupted time together in the hot sun.

We spent 5 days in Kuala Lumpur and had a great time eating wonderful food and shopping in Chinatown. Then we traveled to Tioman Island, which was the most amazing place either of us has ever visited. We spent the days laying on the beach, hiking in the jungle, snorkeling right off the pier and getting massages. Who could complain about that? Our final destination was Penang where we visited a snake temple, lounged around the pool and ate some amazing street market food. All in all, it was a wonderful trip and we can't wait to go back! (Pictures from Malaysia are in the previous post!)

We also visited Jordan and our family there this summer. We had a great time relaxing in Aqaba with Ahmad's brother and his wife and their adorable son, Hashem (2 and half years old). We also went to two weddings and ate a lot of home cooked meals that were out of this world.

Ahmad and Hashem building a sandcastle in Aqaba.

Delicious!

Virginie, Sufian and Hashem

Ahmad and our nephew, Hashem. He is the son of Ahmad's younger brother, Sufian, and Virginie, Sufian's wife from Belguim.

Hashem

Finally, we just got back from Vegas this past weekend. We met Shannan and Aleco there and had a great time gambling, watching Ka and Chris Rock and eating at Tao (the best meal any of us have ever had!). We didn't win any money, but we didn't lose any either, so I guess we can't complain.

In front of Paris hotel in Vegas.

Shannan, me, Ahmad and Aleco shopping in Vegas.

Our trip to Malaysia

2008-06-13T18:54:00.006-04:00

As promised...pictures of our trip to Malaysia.

We had such a wonderful time. The trip was absolutely perfect and we fell in love with Malaysia. We can't wait to go back!

Click here to see a larger slideshow, or just watch the one below.

Just a Little Note from Paradise

2008-06-01T04:44:00.004-04:00

I don't know if anyone even reads this blog anymore...but if you do and you wonder where we have gone to...

Ahmad and I are laying on a beach in the middle of the South China sea as I type. The water is crystal clear, the breeze is light, and the sun is hot, hot, hot. It's truly the most beautiful place I have ever seen.

We'll post lots of pictures when we return, but for now, greetings from Tioman Island, Malaysia!

Feel like a shopping spree?

2008-05-15T23:20:00.003-04:00

I was perusing another blog and came across a link to this site.

We've all heard the 3 trillion dollar figure...apparently that is how much money we have or will have spent on the Iraq war.

I don't want to get into my thoughts on the Iraq war as most of you know them already and I don't feel like getting myself angry tonight.

I do, however, want you to take a look at http://www.3trillion.org/. What a fascinating website.

We know 3 trillion dollars is a LOT of money...but I now you can find out just how much it really is. The website gives you a budget of 3 trillion dollars and then offers you everything you can think of...and guess what? It's hard to spend 3 trillion dollars.

I have spent almost 2.5 trillion and I am having a hard time spending the rest. Here's a sample of some of my "purchases:"

For the good of humanity:

End our dependence on foreign oil
A Raise for every teacher in the US
Converted completely to solar energy
Cured two deadly diseases
Universal literacy
End world hunger for one year
Assist Iraqi children displaced, mamed or orphaned by the war
Universal Health Care for every American
New clothing, school supplies and books for ten million children
Finish repairing the damage done by Hurrican Katrina
Plant one million trees
Educate the world on sustainable agricultural practices

And I would send every man, woman and child in the US on a three week foreign vacation. This is a critical one, I think. If we all were more educated about the rest of the world, perhaps we would be less inclined to support policies which destroy it.

For you, my friends and family:

A bought a private island in the caribbean so we can all vacation when we like
A house for all of my family and friends
A luxury yatch...again, you're welcome to borrow it!

And finally, for myself and Ahmad:

New shoes every week for life
A really nice digital camera
Two iPhones
The entire Ann Taylor clothing line
Our dream house
My own personal library
And a car for you, Ahmad...your Mercedes 600!

Finally, I paid for the salary of 8 new weapons inspectors...so perhaps we can avoid this entire disaster in the future...well, at least once Bush is out of the White House.

Enjoy!

My New Favorite Thing

2008-05-01T08:10:00.003-04:00

Earlier this year, Stephanie and I discussed books we had read in 2007.

As always when I talk about books with anyone, I started to feel guilty that I hadn't kept up better with books I have read.

I always tell myself I should keep track of the books I read, along with when I read them and what I felt about them. I even have more than one empty journal taking up space in my cluttered office for doing just that. The key word there is empty. Despite my best intentions, I never write anything in those stupid journals.

This year, I started to keep an Excel spreadsheet with the books I read and I even blogged about it in my very first post on this blog....until I found this.

This is my new best friend. It's called librarything and it rocks my world.

Seriously, it is awesome. I have archived most of the books that are on my overflowing bookshelf (although I haven't tackled any of the ones in the boxes in my closet) and I have lists for each year.

You can apply tags to the books that you enter that help you keep track in various ways. For example, I have "Books I read in 2007" and "Books I read in 2008" and "Books read more than once" tags. I also have a "Favorite" tag.

The other really nice thing is that you can see how many people have the same books that you do and you can peruse other people's libraries.

In other words, I am in love with LIbrarything. Check it out. And you can find my lists with my username: acardin11.

Happy perusing.

Busy, Busy

2008-03-30T18:14:00.006-04:00

Ahmad and I have been very busy these last couple of weeks. He had several tests which of course were all scheduled the same week and I have been working a lot lately.

This is all in preparation for our trip to..........Malaysia!

We are going for two weeks of uninterrupted sun, sand, spicy food, and snorkeling/scuba diving.

Did I mention we are also going to do a couple of day trek through the Malaysian jungle? There are Asian tigers, wild boars, vipers, leopards, orangutans and even elephants. The likelihood of us actually seeing most of those animals is remote, as the jungle is huge and the animals are naturally skittish and hide deep in the jungle, but I can dream, right?

We will probably see lots of very large insects and a lot of leeches! Apparently, they are pretty much everywhere in the jungle and from all I have read, they are fantastic at jumpling onto you as you walk through the trails and then wriggling their way up to who know's where to attack themselves and drink. Sounds like fun, huh?

Kuala Lumpur is the capital and there is great diving in Malaysia with lots of turtles and sharks!

I hope we will have lots of interesting stories and photos to post after we get back....but until then we have two more months of work and school before we leave.

Home Work

2008-03-15T12:53:00.011-04:00

It's been a busy week here in the Cardin/Almasarweh household, which doesn't really differentiate it from any other week. Too bad none of what we have been doing is really that interesting. I have been working on a new research project which is really neat, but unfortunately I can't disclose what it is on the internet! Anyway...

I thought I would post some pictures of our house since most of you have never seen it. We only have 2 more years here, so like I told Stephanie the other day, you better get busy making plans to visit if you want to see us here!

Ahmad and I have done a lot of work on the house since we bought it. One of the big projects was building a patio for the backyard. Mom and Dad came up to help us last summer and we worked for two days solid on this project.

As you can see, the guys did most of the laying of the stone so we could blame them later if it didn't turn out right. Mom and I carried every single piece of stone to them, though, so over the course of the day, we moved a ton of stone together. It was hard work, but we had a lot of fun, and as you can, the finished product is amazing. We've already thrown several cookouts and the patio is a big hit.

The patio turned out great. And this picture also illustrates the huge cherry tree we have in the backyard which in the spring fills up with cherries that are bright red/yellow and taste delicious.

The jungle (see the previous post) is also visible, as is some of the landscaping we did on the back yard. My project for this year is to landscape around the patio. I can't wait. I have to admit, landscaping and working outdoors is my favorite part of home ownership.

And here is the landscaping we did on the front of the house. We have single handedly kept our local Home Depot in business!

Lastly, Ahmad remodeled one of our bathrooms. It was sorely in need of a lot of work when we bought the house. Here's the before and after pictures.

More Political News

2008-03-11T05:30:00.004-04:00

Our illustrious governor, Eliot Spitzer, was apparently caught on tape soliciting a prostitute in a prostitute ring in D.C. This, after he ran as a champion of removing corruption in our oh-so-corrupt New York state government.

While everyone seems to be really shocked (he apparently had everyone fooled into thinking he was squeaky clean), I am not. Not because I have some inside info on Spitzer, but mainly because there is no one I trust less than a politician.

Two things I don't understand:

-Why, oh why, would you solicit a prostitute if you were the governor? Can't you just have an affair or get a divorce and sleep around or something, besides PAYING for sex?

-Why would his wife go on stage and stand behind him while he gives a press conference confirming what everyone already knows at this point, that he not only cheated on her, but it was with a prostitute in a prostitution ring? Why would she stand behind him and "support" him while he announces to the whole country how he screwed a prostitute and now his career and possibly his marriage are over? Wouldn't it be better for her to have her own press conference where she announced to everyone what a jackass he is? At least, that is what I would do.

And the campaign rolls on...

2008-03-05T23:17:00.004-05:00

Mom sent me this funny cartoon and I had to post it. I don't know how much more of this election I can take!

Courtesy of Walt Handelsman from Newsday.com.

Robotic Training

2008-03-01T18:46:00.008-05:00

As I stated in my last post, I went to Hackensack New Jersey for a davinci robotic surgery training course this week. Since I am always talking about robotic surgery, I figured I would give a little course of my own. Seriously, if you want to see what I am talking about when I say "robotic prostatectomy", here you go.

This is the general set-up for a robotic prostatectomy, courtesy of Boston.com. The surgeon (that's me), sits at the console and performs the surgery via the robot, which is that big thing towering over the blue drapes in the background.

First the ports are placed into the patient by the surgeon, similar to any other laparoscopic surgery. Then once all the ports are in place, the robot is wheeled over to the patient and is attached to the ports. Long instruments are placed through this ports and they can be changed depending on what the surgeon needs.

A camera is placed through one of the ports. It actually has two lenses or cameras in one, so that the image the surgeon sees through the console is in 3-D. The image is magnified about 10 times normal so that all of the structures are very clearly visualized making surgery a lot more precise. This allows us to see vessels and nerves that are difficult to see during a regular surgery.

Finally, as you can see in this picture, we use two funny looking contraptions to operate and move the robot inside the patient. It allows better movement of the instruments than even our own wrists and fingers could. There are also 5 pedals that we use to do various things.

So, that's the robot in a nutshell.

Odds and Ends

2008-02-26T06:22:00.009-05:00

We are expecting the biggest winter storm of this year in the next two days with snow accumulations of up to 16 inches by tomorrow afternoon.

I just drove home from working overnight (yes, moonlighting!) and it's already starting to come down. I have to say, I love the snow. My feeling is, as long as it's going to be cold, there might as well be a pretty blanket of snow to go with it.

I am traveling to the oh-so-exciting state of New Jersey tomorrow for a Davinci robotic training course and I just hope the weather doesn't interfere with my travel plans. My co-resident Jonah and I have to complete this training course prior to starting to work at one of the hospitals next year (this despite the fact that I have already done about a 150 robotic prostatectomys already at Strong Memorial, but who's counting) and it's been a nightmare to plan. I really hope we don't have to reschedule.

Ahmad starts back to class today after winter break. Apparently here in the northeast it's quite common to have both a winter and spring break, the former I suppose so students can take skiing trips.

We didn't go skiing this week, but we did attend a private piano concert performed by a friend of a friend which was spectacular. Michael Tan was the pianist and he trained at Juilliard and is now doing some post-graduate training at the Eastman School of Music here in Rochester. It was an amazing concert.

Finally, Laura and Michaels daughter and our niece, is now crawling. Or scooting, as Mom described it. Here's a recent picture of her for those of you who haven't seen her lately (or ever!).
I am a little biased (just a little...okay a lot!) but she's pretty darn cute, huh?

Hopefully we will get back down to KY to see her soon.

Helping a Neighbor

2008-02-22T14:01:00.007-05:00

My mom told me about this article and I wanted to share it with you.

Apparently, UK Men's Basketball coach Billy Gillespie was listening to the "General Store" radio program from a station in Stanford KY when a woman called in. The premise of the show is that people call in selling all kinds of things from prom dresses to chickens, to tailgates, according to the article. A woman called in wanting to sell her car for $600 immediately so she would have the money to attend her father's funeral in Ohio.

Gillespie called the station and identified himself as only "Billy" and offered to help the woman with her expenses so that she could keep her car. He and the host of the radio program talked after the show off air and confirmed that the woman's story was true and he sent a personal check overnight to the radio station to cover the cost of a new outfit for the funeral, transportation, food and a hotel for the woman. His identity was revealed only later, after the woman returned from the funeral, by the host of the show who had noticed that the caller ID was "Billy Gillespie." He never identified himself as the UK coach to the host. He states "I didn't do this for attention, I was just trying to help somebody out."

Regardless of whether he wins a lot of games this year or not, his stock just went up in my opinion.

My Hometown

2008-02-16T00:14:00.005-05:00

This video shows part of Amman for those of you who have never been. While we have camels and sand and the hot, hot sun, we also have a beautiful city built on 9 mountains. In the middle of all of these mountains is downtown Amman with a wonderfully kept Roman ampitheater and lots and lots of shopping. Just ask Allison, she's haggled there with the natives.

Pay close attention at the time 2:37 to 2:40. You can see a very large Jordanian flag which is 1 mile from our house.

Enjoy! And if you like what you see, just let us know. We'll be happy to show you around in person!

The song is about someone who left his or her country and how much they miss the country and the country misses them as well. It also speaks about the beauty of the country and the memories they have there.

Winter Birds

2008-02-14T00:21:00.011-05:00

Ahmad and I have a crazy neighbor lady who owns two empty lots between our house and hers. While she's certifiably crazy, she also keeps those two lots filled with trees...except for the middle in which she has made some sort of garden/bird feeder/squirrel haven.

Here's a picture of what we lovingly refer to as "the jungle."

All of this is fine by us for several reasons. One, we love the privacy of having "the jungle" next to us and not some other house. Two, the animals are nice, except when she leaves out donuts for the birds and squirrels. The squirrels love to bring the donuts to our front porch and try to hide them in our chairs. But that's another story. Three, she leaves us alone despite the fact that we use about 7 feet of her property as part of our yard. Plus, the "jungle" makes a great place to blow all of our leaves in the fall without having to pick them up and put them into bags!

Due to the fact that she religiously feeds the birds, we have 5 or 10 cardinals that spend a lot of time near our windows...and the view is beautiful especially when the trees are white with snow. Here's some snapshots of cardinals I took today:

Winter Blahs

2008-02-10T19:18:00.000-05:00

So it is definitely still the middle of winter here. Apparently, there was a 36 car pile up today in Rochester due to white-out conditions on the highway. It wasn't even snowing...just white-out from the wind (the horrible wind!) blowing. It's freezing. Today, Ahmad commented that he really misses working outside and I have to agree. I miss our flowers and lilac bushes and shrubs. I miss our beautiful trees and the delicious cherries that grow in the backyard.

So, I decided to post some pictures of the lovely plants from last summer. Rochester really is amazing in the summer...but it's hard to appreciate when it's currently 10 degrees outside with a windchill of who knows what.

Until May, this will have to do:

This is our lilac bush. It has grown by leaps and bounds. Notice the bug? I LOVE my new camera!

Our mums were equally amazing this last summer. I swear, they were at least 2 and half feet tall.

Those of you who know me know that tulips are my favorite. We have a few, but these pictures were actually taken at the Lilac Festival here in Rochester which is held every May.

Only 2 more months (okay, I may be being a little optimistic here, but so what!) until Spring!

Dean's List

2008-02-05T16:56:00.000-05:00

As most of you know, Ahmad just finished up his first semester in college in December. He's taking 14 hours this semester and loving it.

I can't help but brag on him a little bit. Last semester, he made the Dean's List! Isnt' that exciting?

In honor, here's a few pictures of my scholar:

Don't you love the white goatee??? What was he thinking?

He also learned how to dive last year in Aqaba. For those of you who were present at his first swimming lesson in Louisville (Steph, Shan) you know what a big accomplishment this is! Ahmad wants to know if anyone can dive as well as he can?

This is from our trip to Egypt last summer.

Finding Friends on Facebook

2008-02-05T06:22:00.000-05:00

As if we weren't busy enough already, in addition to starting a blog...we also started to spend more time on Facebook.

If you haven't joined yet (Kasey), you should. I was skeptical at first. But through Facebook, I have reconnected with lots of old friends from college and med school. I even reconnected with one friend from all the way back to Elementary School.

Shannan just joined and true to Facebook spirit, she's already posted several photos from our time living it up in Louisville. Here are a few I wanted to share:

I guess we had a wild night and somehow ended up in Krispy Kreme hats!

Shannan and I helped Laura (my sister) move to San Antonio one summer. Now if I only had video of Shan and I trying to two-step.

Here are Stephanie, myself and Shannan at a wine tasting.

And finally, my favorite two pictures courtesy of Stephanie. The first is at Kristina's wedding and the second is from our wedding rehearsal. You girls are beautiful!

More pictures to come later...including one of Ahmad with a white goatee!

Yes We Can

2008-02-03T12:59:00.000-05:00

I can't remember a presidential election that I have ever been excited about...until now. I love Obama...and I love the message of hope and the thought that maybe things can be different. Maybe we don't have to put up with the old Washington politics anymore. Maybe someone who is in a position to become President of the United States does actually feel the way that I do.

Here is an awesome video highlighting the "Yes We Can" speech that Obama gave. It will bring tears to your eyes...and hopefully some hope!

Election Insight

2008-01-31T02:10:00.000-05:00

Take a gander at this chart which definately provides some food for thought. It summarizes all the candidates (both Dem and Rep) on a multitude of issues.

The most ironic thing of all to me: how republicans (conservatives) can be simultaneously opposed to background checks for purchasing guns and at the same time support the patriot act.

Aren't those two things diametrically opposed?

Overheard: The Problem with Medicine Today

2008-01-31T01:40:00.000-05:00

I was just in the Emergency Room seeing a consult when I overheard the ED attending say the following to one of the patients:

"Your test results are back. Your chest x-ray is normal, your EKG is normal, your white blood cell count is normal, your electrolytes are normal and your D-dimer is normal."

At this point, I glanced over towards the curtain he was standing at, and in the bed I see a young girl who couldn't have been more than 22!

Clearly, she had complained of chest pain...and had gotten a million dollar (okay, probably more like a few thousand dollar) work-up. What's wrong with that, you say?

Here's what wrong with it:

1. It's 2 in the morning and this is not an emergency.

2. She is not having a heart attack...nor does she have pneumonia, or a pulmonary embolism...

3. ALL of the above should be ruled out by history and physical exam in such a young girl.

Maybe when I am practicing on my own I will feel differently, but there is no way this work-up was justified. Clearly, he was trying to cover his ass on the one-in-a-billion (and it really is one-in-a-billion) chance that there was something wrong with her. And someone (her, you, me, the hospital) is paying for it.

Iraqi Refugees

2008-01-26T02:20:00.000-05:00

Ahmad, as posted previously, had a wonderful trip to Jordan. He got to spend a lot of time with his family and ate a lot of amazing meals.

He also, inadvertently, got a lesson in just how dire the situation of some Iraqi refugees is. He was fortunate enought to meet several Iraqi women refugees. Quite a few of them were Iraqi women who were raising their children (or grandchildren) without their husbands either because their husbands weren't allowed to leave Iraq or more often because their husbands had been killed in the violence in Iraq. He was awe-struck by the depth of gratitude these women felt when he was able to help them with groceries or some money. The stories he heard and the things he saw would make you cry, but the problem is so much deeper than the few women he was able to help.

Since he returned, I have done some investigating on my own. I already knew that the Iraqi refugee situation was bad in Jordan. We have seen Iraqi women trying to sell whatever they can on the side of the street just to put food in their mouths. There are hundreds of thousand of Iraqi's living in Jordan and a great deal of them are living in abject poverty. It doesn't just affect the refugees, either. Our nieces and nephews have to attend school in shifts because there isn't room for all the students at once now that there are so many Iraqi children attending school in Jordan (but thank God the Iraqi children are now allowed to attend school). And the schools were overwhelmed with the number of students and half of the kids we know did not have books two months into school because there weren't enough to go around. The cost of living in Jordan has risen dramatically since the war began but Jordanians aren't making any more money than they were prior to the war. We even felt the difference when we were there in August, and we certainly have more disposable income than most in Jordan. Finally, there are refugee camps where conditions are much less than ideal.

I recently was reading the webpage for Refugees International and I came across these facts:

Over 4 million Iraqis have been displaced from their country by violence
1.5 million are now living in Syria
1 million refugees inhabit Jordan, Iran, Egypt, Lebanon, Yemen, and Turkey

I don't know what the solution to these problems is, although I am sure that the trillions of dollars that have been spent on the Iraq war could go a long way towards helping solve some of the problems. We created this refugee crisis, whether intentionally or not, and I think it behooves the US to fix it. Not only will it improve our image around the world, but it's simply the right thing to do.

Back from Jordan

2008-01-22T19:45:00.000-05:00

Ahmad returned from Jordan today after an unscheduled overnight layover in Chicago. He had a wonderful trip and got to spend a lot of time with his family. Here are some pictures from the trip:

Some of our nieces and nephews. They were thrilled to see Uncle Ahmad!

Driving to Irbid from Amman

What is this guy thinking?

Everyone was sad to see Ahmad leave, especially his nephew Ahmad.

And just for you, Stephanie: mensef.

Oh, the Weather...

2008-01-22T19:38:00.000-05:00

So here is the scene from our front porch right now. And it's supposed to keep snowing for the rest of the week. Lucky for me, Ahmad is back to shovel the snow!

Arab-American Comedy Festival

2008-01-21T05:46:00.000-05:00

Here is a really funny video clip from the Arab-American Comedy Festival which is going on right now in NYC. This guy is from New Jersey and is is half Italian, half Palestinian. He has some good insights!

Here We Are...

2008-01-20T22:30:00.000-05:00

I guess we'll join the craze. I don't know how interesting it will be, but at least all of you far away (which, let's face it, is everyone) can keep up with what we are getting ourselves into.

Like Stephanie, I thought I would post a list of the books I read in 2007.

· Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
· Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
· House of God by Samuel Shem M.D.
· Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
· Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky
· Drowning Ruth by Christina Schwarz
· The World According to Garp by John Irving
· The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant
· Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women by Geraldine Brooks
· A Wedding in December by Anita Shreve
· Lisey's Story by Stephen King
· I Knew a Woman by Cortney Davis
· Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
· Charming Billy by Alice McDermot
· 1408 Everything's Eventual by Stephen King
· House of Leaves by Mark Danieleski
· Local Girls by Alice Hoffman
· More than Enough by John Fulton
· Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
· On the Beach by Nevil Shute
· A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
· Sisterhood is Powerful: An Anthology of Writings from the Women's Liberation Movement edited by Robin Morgan
· The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
· Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan

Standouts were Eat, Pray, Love, The World According to Garp, and Suite Francaise. (Click on the books if you want to see more...)

My first book of 2008: Anna Karenina, which I struggled to get through and finally finished a few days ago.

What did you read last year?