Saturday, July 22, 2017

Lebanon Date Night

After a hiatus for a few summer vacays, I was back on the international date night train.  It's quite enjoyable for us both actually, so I was really excited.  Our first country to visit since we've been back is Lebanon.  Travel with me as we explore this old land!! :)


Lebanon, officially known as the Lebanese Republic, is a sovereign state in Western Asia. It is bordered by Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus is west across the Mediterranean Sea. Wikipedia
Population6.007 million (2016) World Bank

Fun Facts!! :
1. Lebanon has 18 religious communities.
2. It has 40 daily newspapers.
3. It has 42 universities.
4. It has over 100 banks (that are banks and not branches of a bank).
5. 70% of the students are in private schools.
6. 40% of the Lebanese people are Christians (this is the highest percentage of all the Arab countries).
7. There’s 1 doctor per 10 person in Lebanon. (In Europe and America, there’s around 1 doctor per 100 person).
8. The name LEBANON appears 75 times in the Old Testament.
9. The name CEDAR (Lebanon’s tree) appears 75 times too in the Old Testament.
10. Beirut was destroyed and rebuilt 7 times (this is why it’s compared to The Phoenix).
11. There are 4.5 Million Lebanese in Lebanon and around 18 Million Lebanese outside Lebanon.
12. Sky Bar voted number 1 night club in the world.
13. Beirut is the 10th most popular shopping destination in the world.
14. Beirut was named “World Book Capital” in 2009.
15. Lebanon, the country, was occupied by over 16 countries (Egyptians – Hittites – Assyrians – Babylonians – Persians – Alexander the great’s Army – the Roman Empire Byzantine – the Arabian Peninsula – The Crusaders – the Ottoman Empire – Britain – France – Israel – Syria).
16. Byblos (city in Lebanon) is the oldest continuously living city in the world. 
17. The country’s name is known to be the oldest in the world and has remained unchanged for over 4000 years.
18. Lebanon is the only Arab and Asian country that has absolutely no desert.
19. There are 15 rivers in Lebanon (all of them coming from its own mountains).
20. Lebanon is one of the most populated countries in its archaeological sites in the world.
21. The first alphabet was created in Byblos (city in Lebanon).
22. The only remaining temple of Jupiter (the main Roman god) is in Baalbeck, Lebanon (The City of the Sun).
23. The name of BYBLOS comes from the BIBLE.
24. Lebanon is the country that has the most books written about it.
25. According to Christianity, Jesus Christ made his 1st miracle in Lebanon, in Sidon (The miracle of turning water into wine).
26. The Phoenicians (Original People of Lebanon) built the 1st boat, and they were the first to sail ever.
27. Phoenicians also reached America long before Christopher Columbus did.
28. The 1st law school in the world was built in Lebanon, in Downtown Beirut.
29. People say that the cedars were planted by God’s own hands (This is why they’re called “The Cedars of God”, and this is why Lebanon is called “God’s Country on Earth”).
30. Lebanese are trilingual (They speak 3 languages: Arabic, French & English).
31. The creators of Tom & Jerry are originally Lebanese. (Joseph Barbara & William Hanna)
32. King Solomon’s temple was built with Lebanon’s cedars.
33. Egypt’s Pharaohs imported Lebanon’s cedars, marble and timber.
34. Lebanon is the first Arab country that had a constitution.
35. Lebanon, which represents 1/40 of the total area of the Arabic Peninsula, produces 70% of the publications in the Arab world.
36. In springtime, and on the same day, you can ski in the mountains and/or swim in the sea.
37. “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”. Most people associate this quote to a speech made by US President John Kennedy in 1961. In fact, it came from one of Gibran Khalil Gibran’s books. (Lebanese writer and artist)
38. The creator and the production manager of the iPod is originally Lebanese. (Tony Fadel)
39. The richest man in the world comes from a Lebanese descent. (Carlos Slim)
40. The lebanese Hassan Kamel Al-Sabbah was a technological leader whose inventions in electricity had a great impact on the development of the 20th century technology and he was the first one who was working on creating electricity from sunlight.

Menu:
shish tawook, batata harra, syrian salad, Lebanese bread and Lebanese namoura cake for dessert.

The cake used tahini to 'grease' the baking dish.  I was worried that I was goingto hate this cake because I DO NOT like sesame seeds-at all, so considering tahini is sesame paste...I was concerned.

You then press the dough into the pan- it's almost like a really thick polenta.

You then cut it into squares or diamonds, press and almond into each piece and bake it. After you bake it you take it out of the oven and pour a simple syrup over it and let it soak in.  It was pretty good- odd texture, but good.


The bread, basically a flat bread like a pita, yeast bread, but rolled into disks and cooked stove top.











Friday, July 21, 2017

2017 Photo Dump VI

I was trying to send Louis a picture of Mazzy's hair...she gets very brave in her sleep!! See her razor back fierceness?!

I saw this in Zoe's comic sketch book....ahem.... :)  I laughed until I cried at this one

I may have a sickness.....7 bags of chips....I love chips

I think my car may have been having a bad day....

B Bop in action at her testing foe her orange belt

get em girl!! Im so very proud of her!

what a bad dog!!!


a bit of our farmhouse decor....coming along very, very slowly....





I will re-do the girls bathroom in our new house so I started purchasing the stuff for that.  I wanted to paint little canvas art to go on the wall to match their bathroom set.



eating dinner in Seattle

4th of July. The only picture I have of any of us.

I was stopped at a light by the airport and saw someone on a motorcycle beside me taking a picture, I looked over and behold what I saw- a Ford F-150 up in flames.

The girls had a dentist appointment- good news and bad news-good news first- no cavities for either one of them- still! yay!! 9 and 11 and still never a cavity!!! Bad news- its time for braces!  Bella has an appointment on August 1st to get braces put on....quite the accessory to start 6th grade with.

Lunch at the OG with nana.  We decided to feed our faces before heading to the mall to shop till we dropped for school clothes, which kudos to me- I'm all done with!! YAY! Now just shoes and supplies!


I know this picture is blurry but its just such a rare one to catch them both candidly smiling in the same photo

At the mall they have all these awesome lego monuments built.

A typical summer night dinner around here-its too hot to cook anything!

movie time


white wine sangria....the best summer time drink

at the pool 


Marci and baby Hendrix and Marcus joined us one day!



lunch time



Zoe came home and made a pound of slime, with beads

looks like they had a rough night..... :)