Merry Christmas!

I spent Thursday night and Friday morning baking cookies to take to J's office. Jason and I spent Friday night at another Christmas party that was for his work. Saturday night we went to a Chris Brown concert. However, he took too long to show up so we ended up leaving before he even got on stage (such a diva!). We did get to see some good Nigerian opening acts. Sunday night we had dinner with several other couples at a very good steakhouse in Nigeria, dessert and all. I gotta start working out more after all of these Christmas parties!

On the black carpet at the concert

Chris Breezy!

For Christmas eve, I cooked a big meal of fried chicken, cream gravy, mashed potatoes, black eyed peas and cornbread muffins. I tried to bring some good Southern food to our Christmas tradition. Then we watched Christmas movies while cuddled on the couch.

Christmas Eve dinner

Our advent calendar and Christmas card from J's caddy

a couple of presents under the tree

our night of Christmas movies

Christmas morning, J cooked breakfast and then we opened presents. We spent the rest of the day relaxing at the pool, baking Christmas cookies, grilling out hamburgers, and doing a lot of dishes :) Then we enjoyed more Christmas movies that I had DVR'd over the past couple of weeks.

J waiving to the camera

cooling off in the pool on Christmas!

Second round of baking

our gift to the security guards working on Christmas

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Last Tuesday night, we were invited over to our friends' house for dinner and homebrewing. They have been here for several years. She is a wonderful cook and her husband brews lots of different beers. We got to taste some apricot and pumpkin flavored ones that were delish! We had a great meal of sausage stuffed pork chops, salad and homemade biscuits. We also watched a slideshow of their pictures from gorilla hunts in Rwanda and Uganda and sailing in Greece. I can't wait to do all of that!

Friday night, the same couple hosted a Christmas party at their complex pool area. They went all out with a live band, shot block, and Santa arriving bearing gifts. Saturday we had 2 more Christmas parties! Jason's work Christmas party for all of the staff was full of Nigerian food and music. Afterwards we went to another party to meet up with some more friends. Needless to say, after a weekend full of parties, it made for a very lazy Sunday watching movies and football (Go Texans!)

Decorations in the roundabout, with our apartment complex in the background

another view of the tree

elfs doing circles in the parking lot prior to santa's entrance

Santa arrived on a bike in Nigerian santa suit

Santa handing out presents

the band that played "Santa Clause is coming to town" prior to the entrance

Nigerian taxi bus with elf driver

Our photo op with Santa

The hostesses of the party

our driver dressed in his holiday best :)

Hawkers selling Christmas trees and santa hats during the go-slow (traffic)

Also, a Christmas present that arrived today was the bedroom furniture that we had built. Merry Christmas to me, I'm glad to finally stop sleeping on the floor!

Our dresser/ TV stand

Master bed

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

....even though it doesn't feel like it! Still about 90 degrees everyday, but it has been cloudy so a little bit of relief. Perfect pool weather but too hot to run errands or play outside.
Sunday night, we watched the Texans beatdown of the Titans! Luckily they didn't score too many points though so I could still win the week in fantasy football against Cam (he has all the Texans :) ).
Monday I finally went shopping for the Christmas tree. I got one and all the lights, ornaments and tinsel at a store called Game. It is a big store like Target that has almost anything.

our pretty little Christmas tree

the star tree topper

Some candles I made for the dining table

Tuesday I started at the orphanage. I had a lot of fun with the 3-5 year old group. We played outside in the driveway for about an hour with a lot of bikes, wagons, little fisher price cars, etc. Then after getting very hot and sweaty, we went inside to settle down and watch a DVD. Then was lunch followed by naptime. They have a strict schedule that they follow, but when its not so hot outside, we will have dance class after playtime instead of DVDs. I am definitely looking forward to that. I was exhausted after just the 3 hours with them, but playing with 9 toddlers full of energy is a lot of work!
Tuesday night we went to a restaurant with some guys that Jason works with. There was a  very pretty view outside by the water. It was a sushi and Lebanese restaurant (Lebanese owner so they offer some of what they know best). Wednesday I went to get some artwork framed that I had bought and also did some grocery shopping. On Friday night, we went to a Christmas party. It was at a couple's house that works at the American Consulate. It was nice to meet a few more people and get to know some others we had already met. The food was also great!
On Saturday, Jason went with me to do some grocery shopping after sleeping in late. Then we went to dinner with another couple. We went to Ocean Basket, which is actually a chain from South Africa and has a lot of seafood and sushi options. We went to Thistle bar afterwards because they have a live band. It was a lot of fun and they played a lot of American tunes. After 2 late nights out, we slept in on Sunday, went to the pool to lay out, and then watched some football. Overall a busy and productive week in Lagos.

Christmas decorations in the roundabout on the streets of Lagos

Daryl, Laura, me and J out at Thistle

Wine Club Tasting

This week was sort of a waste, because I had a cold. I didn't feel like running around town, since my nose was constantly running and head was congested. But thankfully, I didn't have the flu or fever or anything too bad. I rested most of the week and started to feel better by Thursday. On Tuesday and Thursday mornings, the curtain guys came to install curtains throughout the house. This was an all day project, so it was probably best that I was sick and at home to supervise.

bedroom blackout curtains

close up of the detail of these grey curtains in the bedroom

living room curtains

dining room curtains (same throughout main living area)

kitchen curtains, my fave

close up to see the details of this lace type curtains in the kitchen :)

just white sheers in the front storage room

 On Friday I decided to pull out the ol goggles and Speedo and swim some laps. It felt amazing to be in the pool on a hot day! No one is ever out there during the week, as only 2 other ladies go to the pool and only one goes to the gym, so it's pretty much a private pool and gym for me! So now I am excited to start swimming more frequently during the week to get my workout and tan at the same time :)
After not having much of an appetite during the week and having a little cabin fever, we decided to go out to dinner on Friday night. Well I definitely made up the calories for the week because we went to a Mexican restaurant called Bottles. I was surprised they had one, but J said that some expats started it a few years ago and then sold it when they went back to the states. So its pretty authentic, with brightly colored walls and chairs and Mexican décor. After my strawberry margarita and chips and salsa, I indulged in delicious spinach enchiladas. I was very impressed at how good they were. I still miss my queso, but the cheesy enchiladas were a very pleasant surprise that hit the spot!

Saturday morning we went shopping to buy some small appliances for the kitchen as well as jugs of water for our water cooler. This was after being woken up at 7am by the carpenter delivering some of the furniture. It was exciting to finally have some more organization in the house, but we still need so much more to be complete!

Entertainment center

book shelf in office (I still need to decorate)

my vanity in our bedroom

bedside tables for the guest room (I tried to show a little bit of the curtains in here as well)

Saturday night was an event for the Lagos Wine Club (that we are proud members of) as they host about 3-4 tastings a year. It was held at the Managing Director of Exxon's house, so given he is the head for West Africa of one of the largest companies in the world, it was a pretty huge house. The vent was held was outside by the pool (and the tennis and basketball courts) and it was a very hot night. Therefore, after lots of wine and sweat, some people decided to jump in the pool! I guess its not a party until someone ends up in the pool, but it was very entertaining to say the least. Arra is a South African wine company that sponsored the event and provided the wine. Very Tasty! Lots of food and drinks and fun had for all, just wish I would have taken some pictures!

cooling off in the pool

St. Andrews Ball

Another week flew by! I cannot believe that I have been here almost 3 weeks. I just know that the next couple of years will fly by too!
Last Saturday was a lazy day as we recovered from the Marine Ball. Sunday, we went to the GQ (American club) to eat dinner with Jason's boss and his family (wife and 2 kids). It's always good to have some normal food, like chicken quesadillas, club sandwich and french fries. Then we stayed up on Sunday night super late to watch the Texans overtime win. And we did it again on Thursday night, 2 times in one week they gave us a heart attack at 11pm. At least they won but I do not like these close games that make me stay up too late!

On Thursday, I had a tour of the Living Fountain Orphanage here in Lagos. It is a great place where they have worked hard to really give the kiddos an experience similar to growing up in America. It is only for babies and toddlers up to age 5. I will start volunteering there every Tuesday. I will work with the 3-5 year old group and get to help with snack time, play time, dance lessons, and lunch. I am so excited to meet the little ones and help them grow.

Thursday night we went over to a couple's house that have been in Lagos for 15 years and we enjoyed the company of about 20 others for a feast. They cooked everything American for Thanksgiving including: ham, turkey, dressing, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, cranberries and homemade rolls. We even had pecan and pumpkin pie with cool whip! They had NFL Gamepass, so we watched the whole Texans game, including overtime. That made it feel like a real Thanksgiving. I will admit that I was the only lady watching the game, but I can't deny my Texan roots and love for football!

A very yummy Thanksgiving feast!

On Friday, I was invited to a younger ladies' happy hour. There are about 8 of us that are around the same age (late 20s and early 30s). So it was nice to meet all of them and talk about normal things (not quilting or grandkids). Friday night when we got home we had an excellent surprise: Christmas came early!!! Our air freight arrived much earlier than we expected it. We spent the night unpacking boxes of shoes, clothes, Xmas stockings, pillows, comforters, and many more things that I had forgotten we packed. It seriously was like Christmas and opening up all kinds of presents! Jason put together the grill, while I organized my closet. Our couches had come on Thursday morning so we also had those and the king mattress. It makes a world of difference now not to sit on dining room chairs to watch TV. The couches are so comfy!!

Air freight arrived!!! 14 boxes total and about 400 lbs.

Jason patiently putting together the grill :)

On Saturday, after some more shopping, we went to the St Andrew's Ball. This is put on by the Lagos Caledonian Society and they host 3 balls each year. We learned some new Scottish dances and then partied till 2am!

bagpipe players and introduction of the Chieftains of the society

bagpipe players



the band that they flew in from Scotland

very sweaty after lots of dancing!

Marine Ball

Last week flew by pretty fast. I spent the time working out at our gym, tanning by the pool, grocery shopping, and eating lunch and dinner with J. I also had my first experience at the market, shopping for fabric to make our curtains. But all week I was looking forward to Friday...

And we had so much fun on Friday night! It was the black tie event to celebrate the 237th birthday of the Marines. There are some Marines stationed in Lagos that I had the chance to chat with, some as young as 21, and it's so crazy that they are here. But we had a good time meeting people, eating dinner and dancing!

the beautifully decorated ballroom at the Civic Center

All dressed up in our formal wear

The band was pretty awesome

just look at those shades!



Jason and his co-workers

My photo op with all the young Marines

presentation of the flags

presentation of the flags and playing the national anthem

cutting the cake with a sword

The oldest Marine present eating the second piece of cake and then passing to the youngest Marine there

the cake

seated at our table for dinner