First Step...

Well, I am in New York City with my friends Kristina and Sameer getting ready for our staff training for National Model United Nations. I am excited because this is the first time of all my trips to NYC since 8th grade I am here for a week but am not totally swamped with planned activities!! We have training stuff at the Marriot Marquis in Times Square (such a nice hotel, Times Square is annoying tho) Friday-Sunday but thats it!!! All day tomorrow the three of us are chillin in the City and at Kristina's place in Brooklyn and then Monday and Tuesday during the day we're hanging out!

I have a red eye flight out of JFK Tuesday night so I'll even have all day then! I am just soooo excited! It definitely hasnt hit me that I left home yet though. I am with one of my best friends from college, hanging out in my fave city (and hopefully my home for a year or two after my MA), going to see the UN again...definitely hasn't sunken in yet! Not to mention I was so stresesd before I left, could hardly get a tear out saying goodbye to the fam! When I left for 3 months I was water works at the airport!!

I am pretty excited to get back to Lebanon and back into school. (wow did I just say that?!) Kristina gave me all sorts of awesome materials on women, peace and security for my MUN background guide (aka a paper Im writing) but it also is going to help a TON with my MA Thesis! Kristina works for an NGO that works with the UN On trackign the Security Council and women's issues! SOOO COOL! So I was really excited about that (we're such nerds I KNOW) ;)

ANYWAY Time for bed!!

Much love,

Sash

Tickets have been bought...

It is official, last night dad bought my plane ticket to Beirut from NYC! So, September 16th I am going with Carly and Sonia to the Miley Cyrus concert in Seattle, then flying out to NYC for training the 17th-22nd and hanging out with my NMUN friends and celebrating Kristina's birthday a day early, then heading to Lebanon from NYC! I am pretty excited I finally made a concrete decision!

The Cities

Well...I am happy to report that despite an extremely busy Friday last week, I managed to FINISH my scrapbook by 2:50pm before the chaos preparations even began!! This was indeed a huge feet since we were worried I wouldn't finish at all! :)

The weekend was full of family, friends, baseball, baby shower, drinks and lots of food! It was an exceptional weekend I'd say! The Rox (John's baseball team) won both their games and are going to the big play offs this next weekend! I think they are in first even! I started to re read Harry Potter 3 in hopes to jog my memory and begin book 4 when I return home...however in the cities it has been difficult to schedule in Harry time...although maybe after tonight I canone speed read the rest...hmm.

We (Kelsie, John, Sonia, Lynn-and later after a baseball meeting Ron) came down to the Twin Cities Sunday after the ball game. On the way down we enjoyed the BEST burgers ever at a joint called "5 Guys" I am addicted. Since then we've had an exciting stay! Monday Sonia and I went to school with Kelsie (which doesn't sound exciting but it was a good thing we went)...I got a TON of research done for my Model UN topic outline that is due at 11pm tonight and printed some good sources. Then during her break we went to a great cheap store Plato's Closet and spent too much money, but got great deals on name brand clothes that would be triple the price in stores! And I got fall/winter stuff in preparation for Lebanon...it all worked out well! Then Kelsie scanned Sonia and my heart for practice, I admit it was pretty cool!

Yesterday (Tuesday) we spent the whole day at the amusement/waterpark ValleyFair!! It was SOO fun! Despite rumors about being Thunderstormed out, only one hit us and it lasted a mere 20 minutes! No big!! We did all the rides and some multiple times! We were there from 12:30pm-9:30pm so we got our moneys worth out of it for sure!!

I am up finishing my outline, well the annotated bibliography for it anyway and Kelsie is at school and John and Soni are sleeping. We are going to go hang out with Jim, Stacy and Lynn today! Should be fun!

Much love,

Sasha

Busy day ahead...

With Finn's baby shower quickly approaching and the family coming up from the cities this weekend, oh and 2 baseball games to attend! The weekend is not only just around the corner but we have TONS to do to prepare for the occasion!!

Lynn is doing a cool decoration for Finn's shower (shouldn't give it away in case Stacy reads this since Im not sure if its a surprise) that we need to take care of in the early morning. I need to finish my LONDON pictures (yes I have FINISHED my Lebanon part of my scrapbook and am on London!!) tomorrow so we can clean off the table tomorrow night before everyone arrives! We need to run Tiko to the kennel tomorrow afternoon, and strip, wash and replace the sheets in the beds before everyone needs to play musical beds and sleep Friday night!! whooo long day!!! I am doing some pre-tomorrow things as well as starting a little research for my National Model UN background guide right now, but am getting tired so probably will be asleep soon! Scrapbooking is tiring!!! I have seriously gotten into this thing!! haha I am planning on turning this scrapbook into my "summer adventures" scrapbook and will hopefully be able to scrap book last years 21st birthday extraveganza which includes a big trip to Vegas, Disneyland and Mexico before I head back to Lebanon this fall...we'll see. Since I also want to read Harry Potter books 3-7 before I go too!! hahaha How many weeks left?!!

Well I better get to bed!!

Much Love,

Sasha

Time flies when you are....

SCRAPBOOKING??!! Yes, Scrapbooking, I Sasha Sleiman am scrapbooking with my Auntie. AND BONUS I am enjoying it!! hahaha wow!!! (this is where you oo and ahh) I have 12 pages done already, which is exciting but I have SOOOO much more to go! I brought over 200 pictures from Lebanon and London (which was just a fraction of what I have on my computer!) So needless to say Auntie Lynn and I are VERY busy!! Just to give you an idea of our days here is what we've been up to:
Yesterday I woke up around 10, had a bagel and got right into my scrapbook. At 12 we went out to lunch with a friend of Lynns to a new cafe which was really delicious! We got so wrapped up in conversation we were there until 2pm! By 2:30 we were scrapbooking again (well Lynn is working on thank you cards and graduation cards, but shes near by for crisis and creative help). We took a grocery store then dinner/Harry Potter #1 watching break around 5:30. We got right back into scrapbooking again (any pattern here?) and by 9:50 pm we were off to pick up a girl from the neighborhood Amy and went to wait 2hrs for the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Half Blooded Prince!! It was SOOOO GOOD!!! (yes grandma she was fine and in fact it was Lynns idea!! We slept in though this morning to get energy back up). We are planning on seeing it with Kelsie and Soni either this weekend or early next week in the cities! Since Kels NEEDS to see it ASAP!
Then today, I slept till 12...shocking. After "breakfast" and dishes Lynn and I picked fresh rasberries (yuuummm) and as a reward for our work we had a bowl of ice cream with our rasberries!! Then...you guessed it...back to scrapbooking!! This is our first break since then and it is 5pm now. We're waiting for Ron to come home to bbq for us then Lynn is going to get Granny and go to a church thing. I think Ron and I will be watching a movie or two. And yes, I didnt just skip details or thing it was too much info to write it, its true, I haven't showered at all since the scrapbooking began. Discusting! Tonight before starting the movie I am vowing to myself I'll get in! :) hehehe I am sure I smell great!

Gotta get back to my scrapbook! Lots to go!

Much love,

Sasha

Minnesota

So I had thought I wouldn't write on my blog again now that I am stateside, but it dawned on me today, technically I am still traveling! :) I am Minneapolis this weekend and off to Ortonville this afternoon for a wk then back to Minneapolis next Monday! I am here visiting my mom's side of the fam this time! I have been with cousins Jim, Stacy, baby Finn and Kelsie. We have had a great weekend already!! I met Finn which I have been waiting 6 months to do and he is just the most precious child I have ever seen!! He has been such a good boy this weekend despite a recent stint of colic which has been tough on Jim and Stacy. He seemed to take a little break with it this weekend though. I have decided we are best friends now because we had a few good long holding moments and I even changed a diaper and put on his pjs once! I am not nearly as coordinated while holding him as his mommy so I mostly just sat with him unless he was squirmy and wanted to walk around...being the clutz that I am I didnt dare "multitask" with him, which I told Stacy I think is an art only known to parents!
Saturday was a lazy day turned epic. Kelsie and I got up early (despite our mind and bodies desires) to go shopping at a second hand store that only sells name brands. They had this $10 bag sale and anything you could fit into this small plastic bag you could buy for 10 dollars!! We did pretty good too, we both rolled our clothes up tightly and got a lot in there! Kels got 2 pairs a of jeans and like 4 or 5 shirts and I got a pair of American Eagle sweat pants and 6 shirts!! So basically everything I got was just over a dollar!! And I got a really great silk, nice shirt thats good for going out AND work! BONUS! and some wintery shirts that will be good for fall in Lebanon! YAY We were pretty tuckered out from our shopping trip and our Friday night drinks with Jim the night before so we came home and layed out in the sun trying to catch a tan then watched Enchanted (well "watched" is relative since we slept thru most of it). Before heading off to Jim and Stacy's place Kelsie cooked us a great dinner of grilled corn, pork chops and tator tots!! YUMMY! Stacy's sisters came over Saturday along with her mom and all of us and Kelsie and Jim went on a "walkabout" as they call it! It was really fun, walking from bar to bar for a few hours! We got to have a good "grown up" night while Jim's aunt and uncle Les and Deann baby sat Finn and Stacy's nephew Austin for the night! Sunday I spent the day with Jim, Stacy and Finn since John was still playing ball in Ortonville and Kelsie had to work. We had a bit of a lazy day watchin movies and hanging out with Finn. We took a nice long walk to calm Finn down and return our movie too! Finn LOVES walks outside! He is so precious!! Well, Kels just got home from school! Time to go to Ortonville!!

Much Love,

Sash

Home

Hello everyone! At the request of my grandma I just thought I'd let everyone know I've made it home safely and am glad to be here!! The summer is going to go by super quick! I am headed out on Friday to spend 2 weeks with my Auntie Lynn and Uncle Ron and my cousins John and his wife Kelsie and Jim and his wife Stacy and their beautiful baby boy Finn! I am really excited! Then its back to work for a month and a half then I am off to NYC for 3 days in September followed directly by Lebanon!

I am going to keep this website up and start a blog about living in Lebanon when I get there and start my M.A...so keep checking it starting in October!! Thanks for everyone's support!

Much love,

Sasha