MHandMB

We're having a few family and friends over for a cookout and to do a little swimming. I get to see my 1 yr old niece and my best friend who lives 8 hours away. I'm excited! We'll probably also go over to Patriot's Point to watch the fireworks later that night.

Good morning everyone!

Jackie, I have to agree with what seems to be the consensus so far: don't quit until you have another job lined up. This market is really tough right now, and you don't know how long it will take to get another offer. You might get something right away, or it might take a few weeks, and you don't want to be out of a source of income for a while. If you're sending out applications and going on interviews, I bet your outlook will be a lot better because you know you're doing something to make your situation better.

I worked at the same job for 5 years and loved my boss and my co-workers, but a new supervisor was hired who was a nightmare to work for. I was miserable, making barely any money, and didn't know what to do. I had good job security, so I didn't want to quit until the right opportunity came along. I sent out my resume, had a few interviews, and 6 weeks later, I was offered a job with a huge firm with much better benefits and a pay increase. I then gave my 2 weeks' notice, which seems to be pretty standard around here, and told my new employer that I needed 2 weeks before I could start, and it wasn't a problem.

Good luck... I'm sure everything will be great!

Hope everyone is having a great Monday!

I didn't know Dawn that well, but I do remember her being such a positive and helpful person here on VJ. Ever since I heard the news, I have been so incredibly sad. Her husband arrived in the U.S. around the same time as mine, and it breaks my heart to think of them being separated so soon when they just began their lives together.

I know it could happen to any of us at any time, but it seems so senseless, especially knowing the circumstances. My heart goes out to her friends and family. I really hope Hatem is able to pull through and that he realizes that Dawn loved him a lot.

Hey everyone, just popping in to say hello from Algeria! We are hqving q greqt time so far. Amed,s family is so gracious. I will give details when I get back next week. Happy Tuesday!

Hey everyone! I haven't posted much lately, but I have been popping in from time to time to see what is going on. It's so great to see so many new babies around, and so many people finally getting their visas!

I have been super busy lately. We are leaving tomorrow to go to Paris for a week and then we're leaving Paris to go to Algeria for another week. It will be my first trip to Algeria, and I'm so excited! It's also my dad's first trip overseas. He travels quite a bit for work, but it will be his first time using his passport. I've been trying to get my dad to go to France for 7 years, so this is a really big deal.

We've just been trying to get everything ready these past few weeks. We've been buying presents for Amed's family for months now, and we were still out at the mall last night trying to get some last minute things. Plus, I've been trying to find weather-appropriate clothes that I can wear in Algeria and still be covered enough to be respectful. I'm pretty conservative as it is, but I am used to wearing short sleeved shirts when it's hot out. For those of you who have visited the family in ME/NA after you were married, did you wear your normal clothes, or did you have to modify your wardrobe a little bit? For those of you who don't normally cover your head, did you do this when you went to your husband's ME/NA country? I think that's an interesting topic.

Happy Tuesday, everyone!!

Congratulations! I know you must be so happy!

Yay!! Congratulations on your baby boy! I know he was worth the wait!

You MENA women would be lucky to have an American man like me. But of course you wouldn't be walking around in public wearing a black bag......it's called assimilate into the culture....no need calling me...I'm already taken.

Hmmmm. The only time I ever walked around in a black bag was at Girlscout camp at Lake Lemon. We made these temp raincoats out of black trashbags. So are you saying that as an American if I were married to you, our girls and possibly myself would be banned from Girlscout camp where you get to wear black bags and walk around? Or that Girlscouts aren't assimilated into the culture?

Is my Stewie bumper sticker not assimilated either? Dude, don't mess with the bumper sticker. It's totally awesome.

And what, exactly, would make us lucky to have you in particular? You seem kind of stuck on yourself. Please explain why you're awesome, and why I should want you. Right now you remind me of the guy with his giant dually who tried to merge into me while I was stopped, in traffic, in the right turn lane, and then flipped me off... for... existing? I'm not sure what his logic was either.

That was so great!

I work for a law firm that does mostly plaintiff's litigation. We have French, German, Portuguese, Spanish, and Arabic translators on staff, and there are also several ppl. who are bilingual who help out with translations from time to time.

If you can get certified to handle legal translations, I think you'd have a lot of options, actually.

Congratulations, everyone!!!! This is such good news!

Cheryl, I don't know how big your dog is, but Delta and AirFrance, in my experience, have the best policies on allowing animals to travel in the cabin. Let me know if you want further info.

Have a wonderful day, you guys!

I had some Mexican food in Germany. It was very...interesting.

My husband doesn't like me to cook with alcohol, so I try not to, but I love making chicken marsala, beef bourgignon, etc. I'd love to find a recipe that gives me some of the taste without the alcohol. Anyone have any tips?

I am so happy for you!! After all of this time, he's finally coming home to stay! I can't wait to hear details about his homecoming.

Good morning everyone. Not too much going on here. I'm working far too much, but I have lots of overtime hours!

I'm really looking forward to next week. Thanksgiving is so much fun, and the day after is almost as good! I see shopping in my future...

I hope everyone has a terrific weekend!

We met in Paris in 2001 when I was on vacation and he was living and working there. I walked into his store and we struck up a conversation, and arranged to meet at Versailles the next day. We hung out together, went to Nice, and I thought it was a nice holiday romance. When I got back, we talked all the time. I went back 4 more times, and finally moved there in 2004. In 2005, he proposed, I moved back to the U.S., and he followed shortly thereafter.

Hey you guys! Hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend. I just finished having a nice brunch with some out of town relatives, and now I am at the office waiting for a client so we can go over some paperwork. This weekend has been a sucky one full of work, work, work. Oh well. At least that means overtime pay, which I will put toward our trip in May.

Happy Sunday!

Hey everyone! Happy Friday!

I am SO looking forward to this weekend. Amed just got back from a 3 week trip to Algeria on Wed. night, and we are leaving today to go to Asheville for the weekend because it's our one year anniversary! Yay! We are staying at a B&B and are going to tour the Biltmore house and ride around and look at the fall colors in the mountains. It's a much needed weekend away for me, and a nice getaway for the two of us to spend some time together.

I hope everyone is doing well. I love hearing about VJ reunions, so hopefully we will have some more good news soon!

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

Shag

Love Actually

16 Candles

Well, I'm the American part of our couple, and evam *I* have a hard time meeting new people. It's just not as easy as being in college or high school when you could meet people in class or study groups. My closest friends have all moved to different parts of the country within the past few years, so it's been kind of difficult. I started a new job at a large company, so I am definitely meeting new people at work, but it's sometimes difficult to take the next step and get together after work.

My husband has met several good friends at the mosque, and they are all Algerian. 1 of them has had to go back to Algeria, but the other 2 are just great and he has felt like he has a piece of home here in the U.S. He doesn't really have a lot of American friends yet, although he does really get along with some of my guy friends, and my best friend's husband. He clicks the best with his Algerian buddies, though. I honestly think it;'s helped him to adjust more smoothly.

wow, that's so pretty! You must be very talented. That takes a lot of work.

Amed's groom's cake

Our wedding cake. We had 3 tiers with 3 different flavors. The groom's cake was chocolate cake with lemon curd filling, and it was SO yummy! We get a complimentary cake for our anniversary next week and we're getting the same flavors because it was so good.

Hi everyone! I'm just popping in to say hello. I started a new job last week at a big company, and they keep track of internet use, so I'm trying to be really good about not logging on during the workday. I still stop by from time to time in the evenings to see what's going on. I hope everyone is doing well!

This is a good post. We just bought a house, and most of our neighbors are just fine- they take care of their yards, and mostly keep to themselves. However, we have a neighbor across the street from us and a couple of houses down that fit numbers 1,3,4, and 5 above. They have 3 dogs that they basically let run loose in the street. One of them has jumped our fence and has been in our backyard. They also have random junk in their front yard: an exercise machine, a beat up grill, various toys. They have get togethers and stand in the middle of the road while drinking beer.

We're just glad that they don't live next door and/or directly across the street.

That's so exciting! Hawaii is beautiful. My husband and I honeymooned there in November, and it was perfect!

I recommend Hanauma Bay for snorkeling for sure. I heard all kinds of stories about the wait to get in, the amount of people, etc., so I hadn't planned on going. However, we were in the area late one afternoon and decided just to stop by and see if we could get in. At that point, there was no line, and very few people there. We only had about an hour, but it was so worth it. Just beautiful!

We also really enjoyed Kualoa Ranch. They filmed a lot of TV shows and movies there (Jurassic Park, Windtalkers, etc). The mountains are breathtaking, and you can take an ATV ride, horseback ride, go canoeing, etc. It's pricey, but gorgeous.

We also stayed at Ko Olina, which is where a lot of locals with children go to the beach. There are man made bays which were constructed by semi-closing in the beach with rocks which protect the beaches from a lot of waves and erosion, and it's a great place to swim with kids, or even without kids.

I highly recommend the north shore. It's a lot more down-to-earth, and there are some great seafood restaurants. There's actually a really cool shrimp shack on the way to the North Shore. I can't remember the name of it right now, but it's a red building on the side of the road with some tables set up outside. It was recommended to us by several locals, and it was really yummy. When you get to the North Shore, be sure to get a Hawaiian Ice at Matsumoto's.

Waimea Audobon Center looked really really cool, but we got there right as they were closing. We saw peacocks in the parking lot!

I hope you have a great time!

I think it's natural to worry about your son, especially since he's in a new country and doesn't know a lot of people here. However, you're probably being just a little overprotective.

I don't know much about your neighborhood and safety issues, but I took the bus to school when I was a kid and always waited at the bus stop by myself with the other kids. If my mom had waited at the bus stop for me, especially when I was in high school, I probably would have been embarrassed. When I was 16, I began driving myself to school, so after that point I didn't have to worry about waiting at the bus stop.

I'm not sure what the deal is with umbrellas. A lot of people don't carry them anymore, but a lot still do. For me, it's not a matter of "looking cool" by not carrying one, but just that I simply forget to take one with me a lot of times. If I have one handy when it's raining, I use it. However, if Robin prefers not carrying one, maybe you can get him a hooded rain jacket? That would keep him dry, and he wouldn't have to keep track of the umbrella all of the time.

As far as getting up early with your son, that's certainly your choice if it's something you enjoy. However, I would be careful of him getting too dependent on you for certain things, since this is usually the age where kids are learning responsibility and preparing for adulthood.

In general, it's about how comfortable you feel with doing things. You've been raising him all this time, and it seems like, from your posts about him, you've been doing a good job so far, so I'm sure you'll continue to do so!

I'm so sorry to hear this! I'm just glad the two of you are ok.

Do you have uninsured coverage with your automobile insurance company? I'm not a sue-happy person, but if I were you, I would be careful before signing any final disbursement papers with them. The effects of an accident can take a very long time to go away, and you don't want to sign away your right to have your future medical expenses paid for.

I hope you feel better soon!