My First and Last Brunch in Dubai - Bleu Blanc

As our friends in Dubai began hearing of our upcoming departure, we received the greatest outpouring of love and support. While everyone living in Dubai is all too familiar with the coming and going of expats year after year, every once in a while these moves sting a little more than usual. That's what we were told over and over by our church family, our close friends from Dubai Little League, Jeff's work buddies at his office, and our school community. Even though our time in Dubai had been relatively short, we had made some lifelong friends and the goodbyes seemed to get harder with each day.

My close group of girlfriends were so sweet and thoughtful and asked me about planning a farewell activity on my behalf. Of all of my time in Dubai, I had never been to one of the famous Dubai brunches hosted on the weekends. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to get together with friends for a last fun day together. They made our brunch reservations at Bleu Blanc in the downtown area, which couldn't have been a more perfect spot for the special occasion. We arrived and took the opportunity for some fun photos in the beautiful ambiance.

Each Dubai brunch experience is unique and offers different amenities. At Bleu Blanc, the format of the brunch was family style with 10 courses of incredible homestyle dishes. We sat at our beautifully decorated table, enjoyed some cocktails, and then the servers began bringing dish after dish of nonstop fabulous food. Salads, sides, several options of mains, and delectable desserts...we were all blown away by the dining experience. It was SO YUMMY, every bite! I'll always remember the truffle mac and cheese, which was the table favorite along with one of the chocolate desserts. Heaven!!

We spent 3-4 hours at the table enjoying our meal and the special time together. I felt incredibly overwhelmed at the ladies' generosity of their time and conversation to spend such a wonderful day together on my behalf. They even presented me with a beautiful gift - a gold necklace spelling out "Blessed" in Arabic lettering.

I was so touched and moved by the kindness of this amazing group of women. We had experienced the craziness of life together in unfamiliar surroundings, but we made our way together and could always count on each other along the way. I indeed felt blessed by our special day together and to have these lifelong friendships that I will cherish forever.

Wrapping up the Basketball Season

Before we knew it, Kaitlynn's last basketball tournament for the ASD Mini Falcons was upon us. It was held after school on one of her last days to attend, and we were so thankful that she would be able to complete her season before our big move. Jeff and I cheered on our little defensive beast. It was so fun to watch her do her thing!

It was a fast and furious season but the perfect introduction for a new sport for our girl. She played hard, made new friends, and really developed a love for the game.

One thing that I think I'll always remember about Kaitlynn's last basketball tournament is this: as we were leaving the ASD gym, I was telling Kaitlynn how proud I was of her for trying a new sport and giving it her all on the court. As we walked down the sidewalk and toward the car, Kaitlynn began telling me that she was sad it was all over. I assumed she meant her basketball season. Suddenly, she burst into tears, saying how much she was going to miss her school and all of her friends there. It was a surprising and unexpected show of emotion seemingly out of the blue, but no doubt those feelings had been hovering under the surface for quite some time. Amidst the chaos and busyness of moving and planning and nonstop activities, there was still the hard realization that our time in Dubai and at ASD was quickly coming to an end. Kaitlynn felt it strongly that evening, and I just held her as she cried and cried. It seemed that our last night of ASD basketball was symbolic of so many other "lasts" to come.

Hotel Living

Once the moving company arrived to pack up our villa, we moved into a hotel near Jeff's office. The Pullman Hotel in Jumeirah Lakes Towers would be our home for our final 2 weeks in Dubai as we wrapped up the moving procedures and final school activities. We had a fully furnished 2 bedroom apartment with kitchen, and it was the perfect spot for our family. I'm not going to lie, with the daily cleaning service and food delivery, it wouldn't be hard for me to get used to hotel living all the time!

The kids have always enjoyed staying in hotels, and they were even more excited to live in one. The kitchen bar was the perfect spot for quick meals before and after school. Connor felt especially spoiled by drinking his morning orange juice from a wine glass, ha!

Our suite was on the 24th floor. so we were able to enjoy the amazing views of the Dubai Marina and beyond. On a clear day, you could see the Burj Al Arab and Burj Khalifa. Beautiful!

One night or two, we took advantage of some nearby spots for dinner and light shopping. We were soaking in the views and the experience for our final days of living in Dubai.

And So it Begins (The Move Back Home)

The reason we hosted Kaitlynn's birthday party a month early was a big one. Less than a week after the party, another big day was finally here: Moving Day.

We had been planning for and working toward this goal for quite some time. After living in Dubai for almost 2 years, Jeff had made the decision to step back from his stressful job. It was time for us to return home as a family, and home for us has always been back in Texas. On my previous trips to the Houston area, we had found and purchased our new home in Katy. The final step was the big move, and luckily Jeff's company helped us tremendously yet again. And so it began.

The movers arrived early on a Sunday and began packing up the villa. It ended up taking them a total of 4 days to pack everything and then load the truck. It is quite the process watching it all unfold. We relocated to a hotel while the moving company packed box after box, item after item. When it was all said and done, we had 289 pieces to be moved across the globe.

On day 4, the 40 foot shipping container arrived and the loading began. It's so interesting to watch the moving crew load the container. It's the coolest game of Tetris ever played! They get those items stuffed top to bottom, front to back, making the most efficient use of the space. Fascinating! We ended up filling the truck quite a bit more than our prior move - not surprising, considering we bought several things in Dubai to furnish the large villa.

When the last item was loaded, we completed the paperwork and the container was closed. The next time it would be opened would be thousands of miles away across the globe, symbolizing a new chapter for our family once again. It's no wonder that these dang containers always seem to trigger my emotions!

Seeing the empty villa triggered my emotions as well. Our family experienced so much within these concrete walls, more than we had ever dreamed or imagined. The good, the bad, and everything in between... and now it was time to say goodbye.