Adventures in Housing...part 2!

Last I left you we were preparing to have an apartment inspected by the company and hoping to get it approved so we could move out of the hotel. Well...it wasn't that easy! (If you missed it read part 1 HERE).

We submitted the papers on Wednesday evening and the flat was inspected on Thursday morning. The company decided that they didn't agree with the Landlord on the value of the property and they were going to see if they could come to an agreement. They sent hubby home for the weekend and said they would be in contact on Sunday. We were quite depressed about this so we went out with friends for the evening.

Friday we went to church and Hubby, Unicorn and I all gave talks in Sacrament meeting. Ladybug gave a talk in Primary and Monkey gave a scripture and said a prayer in Primary. After church we had a potluck with the members. After church we went back to the hotel and relaxed.

Saturday we decided to take a drive to Dubai and go shopping at IKEA. It was a nice distraction and we got some stuff for our new place.

Driving to Dubai

The tallest building in the world. The Burj Khalifa.

Sunday we went and looked at another apartment and decided to rent it but just before we got our paperwork in someone else rented it. Then at 8 pm we went out and looked at one last apartment and decided to go for it. We were running out of options because if we couldn't find something that would work for us then we would have to go with what ever the company had available. We got the paperwork together to submit Monday morning.

Monday hubby submitted the paperwork and the company did the inspection that day. Thankfully, they approved it! The kids also had their ice skating lessons.

Tuesday we got keys and started moving some stuff in.

Wednesday we got the utilities turned on and moved in more stuff.

Thursday we checked out of the hotel (after 54 days) and our appliances were delivered.

Friday was church and Unicorn spent the night at a friend's house.

Saturday we got internet and had someone come clean the apartment.

Sunday the kids IKEA furniture was delivered and assembled. We also had some fun watching jets fly over our place!

Monday the kids had ice skating lessons and we had yummy chicken Parmesan for dinner.

Today we get our wi-fi and roku set up!

I am grateful Spring Break is 2 weeks so we can do some fun exploring next week!

Here are a couple videos of our new place. The first one was filmed before we had electricity or all our stuff in it but Ladybug wanted me to share it with you anyway...she is your tour guide! ;)

Abu Dhabi Update ~ Golden Tickets

I can't believe it! It is really happening! Oh my, where do I start with packing! and Man, am I tired! are all thoughts that have been going through my head since yesterday.

Around 10:30 am on Tuesday, January 28, hubby got his itinerary. At that point I responded to the email and asked the travel agent to add the rest of our family and I attached copies of our passports. Then we waited...and waited...and waited. Then at 3:30 am on Wednesday, January 29, we got an email. A reminder to confirm hubby's info. WHAT?!? They hadn't gotten my reply! PANIC sets in as I quickly forward my original reply to them (and BCC myself). Ten minutes later they reply and ask for all the passport info in a different format (not sure what happened) so I spend 20 minutes fixing it and send if off again. More waiting, and waiting and waiting. Finally, at 10:30am (almost exactly 24 hours after the original email from them) we get our Golden (e)Tickets!!

We leave Saturday, February 1 from Phoenix, Arizona. Then after a 6 hour lay-over in Chicago we will arrive in Abu Dhabi around 7:30pm on Sunday, February 2!

After we got our tickets I emailed family and friends with the info and then took a 4 hour nap! It is exhausting to check your email every 30 minutes or so every night for a week! ;)


Posts might be spotty here for a couple weeks but I hope you hang in there with us because we are about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime!

Weeks 2 & 3 - Moving

We spent most of last week getting ready to move.

Since Math is my daughter's weakness we made special effort to at least get a math and reading (her favorite subject) lesson in each day. Everything else is on hold until we finish moving.

Saturday (with the help of some men from church) we moved all the big, heavy items. This week we are moving all the smaller items and hope to be mostly moved in by the weekend. Next week we will finish up the move and prepare for our huge garage sale. Since we are moving to a place with 1/2 the square footage there will be a lot of stuff to sell.

Hopefully, we will be back on schedule (with regular posts and pictures) the first week of May!

Stay tuned! :)