To a dear friend on her wedding day

Dearest Urszula,

Today you get married! I welcome you into the club of globe-trotting, mixed heritage married couples. 

It's club filled with people who decided that their love outweighed the challenges they'd face: differing expectations, ever-present communication problems, hard decisions about places (where to live? who to visit?), names (change it or not? baby names that everyone is happy with?), and so much more. You've met with some of those challenges already, but trust me, more are on their way. Mixed couples have it hard, and many things that wouldn't be a struggle if you married the boy down the street will crop up as major speed bumps to get over. 

So why do we do it? Why are there ever more people joining this club full of arguments and tears and misunderstandings? Why are you doing so today?

Because.

Because the love that drew you to this man, so different from you in so many ways (yet so alike in others), feels stronger than any you could have for anyone else.

Because the struggles that we face as mixed couples truly only do make us stronger, and solidify the bonds that we started forging years ago.

Because mixed couples go into marriage with their eyes wide open, knowing they'll have to fight for their love. And sometimes that makes all the difference.

Because the richness that your partner will bring to your life (yes it will increase!) will come in many forms: new places and foods, new languages to conquer, new points of view to understand, new realizations and greater empathy. He will be by your side through those experiences and help you make sense of them and see the beauty in them. 

Because you'll get to do the same for him.

Because your table will be filled with foods from differing corners of the earth (and I know you like to eat).

Because like attracts like, and the other mixed couples you'll meet in upcoming years will be among the most interesting and compassionate people you'll ever know. And you'll immediately be drawn to them, and they to you, and you'll be able to discuss all those struggles and hardships with your new friends, and they will understand like no one else can. They are the rocks you'll learn to lean on. Because couples need couple friends. And again, the richness of your life will multiply.

Because mixed couples make beautiful babies, who grow up with empathy and a unique perspective, who grow up multilingual, multicultural, and as true citizens of the world.

There are so many reasons that this club is a good place to be. I've only been in it for three years and have seen what incredible joy it has brought me. I'm so happy that, starting today, it will bring you the same. Welcome.

Channeling creativity

As a really original and fun birthday present this year, my mother-in-law took me to a scrapbooking workshop last week. I had been sick all weekend and had to take the day off of work on Monday (my actual birthday) and cancel what celebration plans I had, which was a bummer. So I was really pleased that I was better by that stormy and blustery Wednesday and able to go out with her for a lovely afternoon!

 

The workshop was led by a French-Moroccan lady who came over from France. She brought all the materials and had an example project finished, but she really encouraged us to stray from the pattern and make it our own which I appreciated! Here's what I had to work with:

There was even a delicious spread of snacks to keep us going!

There were six of us ladies, mostly teachers, who spent a really lovely afternoon creating beautiful keepsakes ready to frame afterwards! It was new and fun and I really enjoyed the collaborative and creative aspects. Here's what Othman's mom made:

And here's mine:

Merci beaucoup belle-mère pour une superbe après-midi!

15 for '15

So far...

1: very happy New Year's Day, mostly spent on a day-trip to Sioux Falls, seeing the third installation of the Hunger games (and being pleasantly surprised!) with Tessie and Isabel, lunching, shopping at Barnes & Noble and Target, and finally ending the day with a lovely get-together of many families at our friends the Gerdes' house.

Probably the only movie I've seen yet that beats its book.

2: new jobs—I'm back at British Council and will be starting on Monday with my friend Carrie's company, Locus English. I really truly loved teaching Kindergarten, but things didn't work out with the school. Hopefully I'll get another chance to teach little ones again in the future though, because it was so fulfilling and energizing. But for now I'm happy to be back at BC and to be starting something new!

3: times eating Dominos gluten-free pizza while at home over the holidays! A bit overkill maybe, but after never eating pizza for years and then this summer discovering their gluten-free crust and white sauce didn't upset my body too much, I couldn't get enough.

4: working days since I've gotten back from the US. After my Odyssey of a trip (see #7 below) they've been pretty rough. It's not that I'm suffering from jetlag, it's more like I'm suffering from my-body-has-no-idea-what-time-it-is.

5: seasons of Dr. Who that Othman has already powered through since lil sister Tessie turned him onto it during the last days of 2014 while I was in the US. Countless headshakes from myself since.

He likes these lil guys a bit too much and has taken to saying that a bit too much.

6: little five-year-old faces that I've been missing. Also 6 movies that I watched on my flights back to Casablanca, the highlights being a BBC miniseries of Death Comes to Pemberley (loved it) and this movie, recommended by my mother, and now that I've seen it, by me too! I loved all the different languages in it especially. It was light hearted and cute, and good family viewing.

7ty two: hours getting back to Casablanca from home. I'll let my Facebook status recap:

The 2 airlines I flew with got some nice long complaint emails.

8: family members I got to be with during the holidays, who I was so overjoyed to see and spend time with! It was truly the best of Christmases. I also got to spend time with one future family member, which brings me to:

9: months until lil brother Gus and the lovely Emily tie the knot!

10: days into January so far and I haven't had the time to take down the Christmas tree yet. Guess that's what happens when you arrive a day and half later than you were supposed to, after Christmas break.

11+: hours of Lord of the Rings—an extended edition marathon with sister Maria on New Years Eve (it counts as 2015 because we finished the five endings of the Return of the King in the new year). I had never watched them all back to back before, and it was absolutely fabulous reliving my teenage dorkdom. But our marathon probably wasn't the full 11 hours, since we fast forwarded most of the battle scenes....

12 cents plus one dollar: how much we paid for a beautiful, ripe pineapple earlier today, and then enjoyed for dessert. It was absolutely delicious, and oh so wonderfully cheap. Thanks Morocco.

13- 14: the ages of my students who absolutely astounded me today with their knowledge of world events as we brainstormed about 2014 in review (they got basically every big world event—if you haven't checked out an article about what an important year it was yet take a look at this one, and its top comment. This map is pretty cool too.) and made predictions for 2015. The predictions were all positive and uplifting, many were realistic, and they showed deep humanity and insight. From finding a vaccine for Ebola, to the Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 and its survivors being found on an island, to new scientific breakthroughs about the Big Bang thanks to information received from Philae, to an Israeli-Palestinian peace treaty, to the completion of the periodic table of elements, their predictions made me feel better than I have in a long time about the up-and-coming generation.

15: pictures taken so far on my new smartphone that hubby gifted me for Christmas. I guess I've joined the ranks. But I do have to admit... it's been useful.

Here's hoping the rest of the year is as good as the highlights of these past 10 days, and that the lows don't stoop quite as low as that plane trip!

Happenings and gifts

I've been having such a lovely visit home these past two weeks... the four travel days are totally worth the time I'm to spending with my family!

Between stomping in the snow, antiquing and thrifting with my sisters, eating out at restaurants,

taking sister selfies,

doing wintry art projects,

shop shop shopping (which is an activity I'm not particularly fond of, but after many months in Morocco the US stores are such a nice change!), and eating my mom's homemade food, I received a package in the mail enclosing a late wedding gift! Our adorable flower girl's family apparently had never given us one, not that we had noticed, and sent it once they found out I was home for the holidays.

Little Marguerite is the daughter of very good family friends!

These kitchen towels are very high quality and soft and are adorably hand embroidered by said flower girl's mom, and I absolutely love them!! 

They're all wonderful, and I can't wait to use them, but I think this one is my favorite.

They also gifted us this ceramic cicada which is from her dad's region in southern France and which we thought was just too fun.

I also got a late Christmas gift from a sister who was annoyed at my constantly using her waterbottle...

and have continued to add to my turtle collection!!

It's been a good trip so far!!

Happy birthday to my love

Warning: this is a picture heavy post!! 

Today is my lovely husband's birthday, and for this special day I wanted to focus on the two of us throughout the years... we've traveled to three continents together, had two weddings, and shared so many adventures and smiles. These pictures can say it better than I can, so without further ado, here is the hubby I love so much, 2010-2014, who keeps getting older, but not looking older!

2010: France, Mayotte, Morocco, USA

 

2011: Morocco

\

2012: Morroco, USA, Morocco

2013: Morocco, USA, France

2014: Morocco

Happiest of birthdays to you lovey, and here's hoping that the next four years together are just as wonderful and wonder-filled as the last four. Je t'aime.

(Looking through this I've realized this post could alternatively be called "Othman's hair--how long is it now??" Hehehe.)