The "Soon To Be" Wifey visits Abu Dhabi!!!

December 15, 2010 – January 5, 2011

My Future Wife’s Visit

On December 15th, 2010, Cassie arrived in Abu Dhabi. It took too long for her to make her way out of baggage claim and into my arms. She had a missing bag and I was left waiting out in the lobby. After an hour after her plane had landed and all of her fellow plane acquaintances, I finally got to see the girl I had been waiting 4 months to see. Because of our time apart and her being unfamiliar with the area/what she would be allowed to do, she restrained from giving me too big of a hug. I made sure to clinch her tight in my arms and kiss her on the forehead for a good 2 or 3 minutes. We made our way out of the airport, hand-in-hand, and out to my rental car to begin a three-week adventure together that will never leave our memories.
It seemed to take a day or two for us to be completely comfortable being around each other again. It had just been too long and we had both gone through so very much during that 4-month period of separation. After the somewhat awkward and tip toeing moments around each other, it was time to make our way to Dubai for the day/night of our lives. A day I have been waiting 4 months to arrive. We woke up at a descent hour and before we left, we received a phone call from the airport telling us that her bag that was “lost” was on its way to my apartment. She was thrilled to have all of her make-up, heels and whatever else was in there ☺.
We made our way out the door and after a quick stop at Krispy Kreme, we headed up to Dubai. Upon arrival in Dubai, I gave her the brief tour of the city and it’s major landmarks/sites to see. After some time being tourists, we headed to find the hotel we were staying in. After changing, getting settled, and cleaned up, we made our way to dinner. Dinner was reserved at The Meat Company, sitting out on the patio, looking over the largest water fountain show in the world. The view didn’t stop there. We also were staring at the tallest building in the world across the fountain pond.
Cassie seemed to be suspecting something was going on, I obviously seemed a bit nervous. At dinner, she asked me, “are you shaking?...let me see your hands!” I played it cool, stuck out my hand and it was steady as ever. We continued on with dinner and observing the amazing fountain shows while we ate. She began to get cold and asked me if she could barrow my sports coat. I replied “No! I am cold too!” I don’t ever say no to her taking my coat when she was cold, but I had the ring and box in my sports coat pocket. I didn’t know what to do. She replied “What?!?!” haha. I got up and said, “Sure you can wear it but I have to put it on you.” I quickly took it out of the pocket and put it inside my pant pocket. I thought I was smooth, but after talking with Cass…I wasn’t!
She repeatedly was saying how bad she wanted to go to the top of the building. After dinner, I said I had a surprise for her, that we were in fact going to the top. She immediately was thrilled and we made our way across the footbridge and into the largest mall in the world (Dubai Mall). In there, we met up with my friend J.J., who is responsible for all the great photos of the engagement. After entering the facility, I was faced with yet another problem. By now, I had already gotten my coat back , but faced a security/metal detector check ahead. I began searching for someone to talk to concerning what I had planned and before I could get an answer, Cassie walked up behind me. I interrupted the man who was talking me and I said, “Thank you…thank you for your help.” We made our way to security and I chose to just put my whole coat through.
After successfully making it through, we entered the elevator that would take us 124 floors up on the tallest building in the world (The Burj Khalifa). The elevator went up three floors a second and we arrived at the top in one minute. As the doors opened, I began to get more and more nervous. I was not only blown away by the most spectacular view in the world, but I was anticipating what was about to happen.
After a couple normal pictures together and with J.J. as well, I asked J.J. to take one more. As she was looking out at the view, I proceeded to get down on one knee and pull the ring box out of my pocket. As my knee hit the ground, I lost all memory of what I had wanted to say to her in the moment. I began to tell her/stutter to her repeatedly how much I loved her and remind her of all that we have gone through, how hard these four months had been and how long I had been waiting to do this. She later told me, she had never seen me so nervous in her life.
Following my brief jitters/rambling, I asked her the final question, “Cassie…will you marry me, will you marry me?” With her hands covering her mouth in shock, she repeatedly responded, “seriously? Seriously? SERIOUSLY?!?!” and followed saying, “Of course I will!” I then took the ring I had bought over two months prior out of the box and placed it over her finger. My jaw hurt from how big my smile was during the whole process. We embraced each other with hugs and kisses and that was that. We made our way around for a few last views from the top and I told her about the ring (specifics). She asked whom all knew about it and we began reminiscing on everything that had just happened and that was going on.
After making our way to the bottom and thanking J.J. with hugs for all his help, we made our way back to the hotel to start sharing with friends and family the good news! By the end of the night, we both passed out and got our rest before another full day following.
We took advantage of where we were and the sunshine upon us, and made our way to one of two Atlantis Resorts in the world for the day. We spent the day out at the Palm Atlantis Water Park, which sits out on the Palm Jumeriah (the man made palm out in the gulf), and enjoyed lots of sun, laughs, smiles and screams down water slides. Throughout the day we could not stop “planning”, and reminding each other that it was for real and we were getting married. It was an amazing weekend all in all and we had a story/pictures to carry with us for a lifetime.
After a couple days together, we made our way to my school so she could get a feel for the atmosphere and see where I taught. She sat in all my classes, endured a detailed interview from both of my classes and got to see her future husband at work. When school was finally over for the week, my winter break was in full affect and we were ready to spend a solid week and a half of just time together, not to mention a trip to Egypt for three days following our first Christmas together.
We found ourselves together a day prior to Christmas Eve and missing family and regular traditions we took part in with our families. We decided to take a trip to Dubai for Christmas Eve and experience Ski Dubai (the indoor snow/ski slope) in one of the Dubai malls. After freezing our butts off for 3 hours, reminded of why we do not like the cold, but yet satisfied with the feeling of it actually being Christmas time, we headed home to take part in Cassie’ family Christmas Eve tradition…Pizza for dinner and a movie (The Holiday)!
We pigged out on pizza, watched The Holiday,and Skyped a bit with family back home before bed. After waking up at our leisure, we headed out to our little Christmas tree to open gifts from family that were sent over with Cass for us to open. We were fortunate enough to get to Skype with my parents and Jon (Cassie’ Dad) during the opening of the gifts. Christmas was different, but it was good. I am thankful for so many amazing people in my life and so incredibly thankful to have my fiancé with me during this holiday.
Christmas night we headed to the airport for our flight to Alexandria, Egypt. After arriving in Alexandria after mid-night, we caught a cab to our hotel where we were only staying for the one night. We woke up and headed to the train station for our trip to Cairo. After getting to the train station at 8:00 in the morning, we struggled to find someone who spoke English and finally were told, “all trains are full until 12:00.” We had to find a way to kill 4 hours. We began walking the absolutely filthy, chaotic streets of downtown Alexandria in search of a money exchange office and café to both eat and search the web.
After pulling a suitcase behind us for about 5 blocks, we found both and were able to Skype with both my mom and Cassie’ dad. We updated them, ate a small pizza together, and made our way back to the train station for our journey to Cairo.
After boarding the train, we sat for a few hours until we were in Cairo. Once in Cairo, and after being ripped off by an Egyptian taxi cab driver for the second time, we were finally at our guesthouse. As we entered, we looked at each other and began to think, “There is no way this is where we are staying!” After finally being greeted by the reception desk and shown to our room, we were pleasantly surprised with how nice it was.
We rested up shortly until we were ready to walk out into the streets of downtown Cairo and begin getting heckled by every Egyptian that spotted us white folk out of the crowd of people. Within steps we were brought into a souvenir shop owned by a man named Khalid. We were at first irritated with the fact that we were convinced to go in until we saw all he had, along with the stories he had to tell us. We spent a solid three-hours talking with him, snacking with him, being educated by him, and shopping for our family back home.
We ended up back at the guesthouse before our “Nile Dinner Cruise” that was scheduled for 10:00 at night. We were both so very tired and had no desire to dress up in any way. We took our cab over to the loading dock and from the outside of the boat we thought, “This looks nice.” We then walked in and got our food, which was cold, and watched the entertainment (a belly dancer, a small twirling man, and a large twirling man), which were NO good, and realized we had once again been ripped off haha, but were able to say we had dinner on the Nile River. We left in a hurry to crawl into our beds.
The following day, we had to wake up early in order to start our tour of Giza and Shakkara. Our cab driver/guide took us to a place to “rent” a camel ride for the tour. We decided to take part in the “long” camel ride of two and a half hours through the desert and around the pyramids/sphinx.
After boarding our two camels, that I am sure we again got ripped off for, we made our way out into the desert, on our way to what we had come all this way to see. What a trek it was, but once we had arrived, it was definitely a site to see. To stand there/sit on our camels and be amongst the great pyramids of Giza, along with the Sphinx was surreal. We were standing in the middle of Egypt looking at one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Pyramids that took decades to complete by hand, statues that took years to carve and tombs that were used to store/burry kings and pharaohs alike. We tried our best to soak it all in and get as many meaningful pictures as we could, but don’t think it actually soaked in until the end of our trip. We had just visited THE PYRAMIDS and THE SPHINX. We rode our camels back to there home and headed to our next stop Shakkara.
Shakkara is the place/home of the first pyramid ever completed in Egypt. King Imhotep was responsible for this feat and it was truly a sight to see. We then made our way into a smaller pyramid built for tombs as well and into a tomb itself full of the original hieroglyphics on the walls still in tact for us to view. Before we knew it, our trip was over and it was time to head home, relax and head to see our friend Khalid one last time before we left. We finished up some last minute shopping, grabbed dinner and made our way back to the hotel for an early bedtime. Morning came very soon and we then made our way to the train station, back to Alexandria, and onto our plane headed back to Abu Dhabi.
Egypt was a very short, but an amazing trip. One of many to come. One that I got to experience with the person I love most, an absolute trooper when it came everything. Not many girls are willing to take the cheap route (that turned out spendy) through a place they have never been before. I couldn’t have asked for a better partner through it all. Egypt is a very dirty, loud, obnoxious, crowded place that I am so very very thankful I got to see, but don’t have much desire to return to. One more thing checked off my bucket list.
Once we finally arrived back in Abu Dhabi and got to smell the FRESH air (unlike Egypt), we were both amazed by how much it made us not only appreciate the U.S.A, but how much it made us appreciate Abu Dhabi. The cleanliness here is unreal compared to most other places, the fresh air, the lack of honking in comparison. It just feels more normal.
New Years Eve arrived in a hurry and the two of us decided to just hang tight at my apartment and enjoy the night together with a movie and games. When it got to about eleven o clock, we made our way down to the corniche, to watch the firework show over the gulf and city. We enjoyed a nice walk hand-in-hand and talked about the future, the wedding, etc, and then before we knew it, the horn rang and off went the fireworks over the Emirates Palace. We gave each other a New Years Kiss and admired the colors and city lights.
I was very thankful to have someone, someone so close to me to share both Christmas and New Years with here in Abu Dhabi. The last week seemed to fly by in comparison to the first two weeks. Up came her interview, and it became pretty clear that this was all in God’s plan by the way things were falling into place. She was offered a 3rd or 4th grade position by the end of it, and the paperwork was ready to be filled out. I got to enjoy her presence in the school, in my classroom for few days and she began to really get a feel for what it was like to live in Abu Dhabi/work at The Glenelg School of Abu Dhabi.
All in all, this trip was simply amazing. We did so much more than we ever would have thought we could/would have and enjoyed every second we had with each other. So many amazing memories were made together here. God has an enormous plan in store for us and we are anxious to see what happens along the way. We are both very sad and heartbroken to say good-bye, but are going fight the good fight and finish this race together. God is good…All the time…All the time…GOD IS GOOD! Lonely times are times meant to spend with Him, for he is waiting to have one-on-one time with each and every one of us.

The Beach!

Sorry, I know it has been far too long! NOV. 13, 2010

Pictures: Scenes from the Beats at the Beach Concerts, a couple of my new rides my students gave me...and the sunset over the mangroves looking away from the city with the worlds most leaning tower in the back right corner.


Well I know that it has been too long. I got in a bit of a routine here and thought there is nothing really interesting going on here for people to read about back home. However, after talking with people back home, I have come to realize, even the little things I do or see here are interesting to you back home. I am in a country that was a third world county 39 years ago and has jumped to a first world country and has seemingly skipped over a lot of the basics. I live in a city that does not believe in multi-story parking garages. I live in a country that has 1.6 million people in it and does not believe in parking garages haha. They decide to build, build and build some more. They decide to break every building record known to man, but they wouldn’t dare want to build a parking garage. It is a known fact amongst everyone that parking downtown is un-believably tough to find. When they run out of parking, they just decide to literally park in the middle of the street. One person starts the trend then everyone joins in, it is quite amusing.
This week is the Yas Island Formula 1 Race and has brought in a whole new group of people for the event. This also stirs up a thing called Beats on the Beach. The city decides to pay a few big artists some big money to come and perform on the beach for free. The list consisted of Kelly Rowland, Sean Paul, Kelis, Fabolous and more from around here and the states. As I went to the concerts each night, I had a chance to step back and look at where I was and was reminded of what an experience I am having and the opportunity I have been given. I was standing on the beach with these big name artists in front of me, the gulf to my left, the city to my right and the Emirates Palace behind me. It was close to midnight and 75 degrees with a cool breeze and gorgeous. On the contrary, you can drive down to Yas Island and pay some money to go listen to even bigger names, Kanye West, Jonas Brothers, Linkin Park and many more. As most of you know me, I have not been to many concerts period and as bad as I wanted to see Kanye, I said I will take the free route haha.
I got to save, got to save! Don’t get me wrong I have treated myself to some things and what not, but have big plans for the big visit from Cassie in about a month. For those of you who don’t know, I planned a trip for us over Christmas. We are going to EGYPT for 3 nights/3.5 days. We are going to leave early Christmas morning out of Abu Dhabi and fly into Alexandria. We then will take the train to Cairo and spend the day around the city. That night we are going to take the sleeper train with bunk beds to Luxor. In Luxor we will be able to visit the Valley of Kings and Queens and many historical temples. That same night, we are going to take the sleeper train back to Cairo. In Cairo we are going to visit the Pyramids of Giza, the Sphinx, ride a couple camels, and go to the Nile. That night we will explore the city and crash in a local Hotel. The next morning we will be catching the train back to Alexandria to fly back into Abu Dhabi. I am a big saver, but you only live once and you never know if you are going to have the opportunity to do something like this again.
That trip and a whole lot more is planned for us. There is so much I have even yet to see in this city. I figured, why go see it alone when I can go see it with the person I love for the first time. I have been putting off seeing a lot to be able to experience it together. Dubai is waiting for us as well and that’s a whole new story with what there is to see up there. When New Years roles around we are going to have quite the concert to attend as well. In the past years they hold a big New Years party at the Emirates Palace with big name artists (Rhianna, Christina Aguilera, Nickel Back, Maroon Five etc.) and have yet to announce who is coming this year. Cassie is hoping for the love of her life, Michael Bubble and/or Chris Brown. It is amazing the money this place throws at people in order to get them to come and perform for everyone here.
I have found a couple really good restaurants here in town and look forward to finding some more. I am in love with Indian food, specifically Chincken Tikka Massala and it is super cheap. Lebanese food is amazing too. I fell in love with this chicken sandwich they make with this garlic paste they put on it mmmm mmm mmmm! For the most part though, I am making my food at home…a whole lot of eggs, turkey sandwiches, chicken burgers, pasta and peanut butter/crackers and VITAMIX’ yummm.
We are now only 31 days away from finally getting a visitor and one that you all know I cant wait to see. I am not going to lie, this past week I had fallen into a bit of depression. I have never talked so much during the day (with my students) only to then come home to myself and have no one to really talk to. I laugh with Cassie telling her the tortilla’ and apples have become some close friends of mine, they have a lot of good advice. I know to a lot of people back home, it may look like I am becoming a bit soft, or whatever. The truth is, I was unaware of how difficult this would be. No one back home can truly relate unless they have done something like this overseas. I know I need to man up a bit though and turn this thing around.
It would be easy if I had no one to miss, but I have a lot of people to miss back home and am used to being able to hangout with Cassie, Family and Friends on a regular basis. I began to let myself get hit with wave after wave of depression, till today! I woke up a bit down, but as soon as I got out of bed, told myself…its time to take this thing on and beat it. I have had the privilege of Skyping Eastside Faith Center back home for church and that has been very helpful. That is not enough though; the Lord is calling me back into His Word. I have fallen behind and need to jump back in. I only have 31 days left and need to continue to prepare a place for her, a place/experience to share with someone. The days aren’t going to go faster and I need to just suck it up and face it. There is a lot that needs to still be done and I need to continue to turn my classroom into my sanctuary. Those kids deserve my all and they will continue to get it.
We are on holiday break right now for a week and everyone else is traveling to either Jordan, Oman, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Cypress, Lebanon or wherever, but I got a big trip of my own coming very soon!!!! It is time for me to get back into shape and enjoy the time off, go to the beach, go to Dubai and seek the Lord. The weather is amazing now (85 degrees in the day and 70 or so at night) Thank you for all of your prayers and support back home and keep them coming.

Oh I almost forgot...so the way they rank you here by your wealth is very interesting. Everyone wants everyone to know how rich they are. A way they make sure people know is the license plate number on their car. The lower the number you have the more wealthy you are. It also is determined by the color in the middle. If that color is red, you are more wealthy too. Anything with 3 digits or less means your pretty much loaded beyond belief haha. A certain number of these low digit numbers are set aside for the wealthy but they also come with a cost. The owner of the number 1 license plate recently auctioned it off to someone who was willing to pay 20 million U.S. dollars for it. They payed that for the plate alone. hahaha

Slowly but Surely!

So far so good. After 12 nights on that stinkin flower pad thing that acted as no comfort assistance at all...I finally have some furniture in my new apartment. Take a quick peak. It is not much but it is getting there. Gonna wait for Cass to show in December to help decorate the rest and pick out the odds and ends. I am not much of a decorator...im lucky I am lucky I matched my sheet with the comforter I brought with me. A&F

Beard to Mustache !!!!

It's all for the kids, for C-7 (my motivation), Cam, Nick, J-Whit/Chap (the two wildest west beard growers of them all) and of course Cassie because I know you think a nice stache like this is hott! So I went 1 full month without shaving and got a (if I do say so myself) gorgeous beard to grow on this Ahrens face. The main problem was for some reason my face produces red-hair. No where else on my body is there red-hair and no one in my family has it...but for some reason I do! Then....theeeeeeeeen at the gym tonight, a man came up to me and asked me where I was from. I told him America and he said "are you sure you are not from Ukraine?" and I said, "Yeah I am pretty positive!" lol...he proceeded to tell me that he mistakened me for being from Ukraine because of how red my beard was. That was my sign to say SHAVE THE BEARD! I wanted to have some fun with it when shaving and wanted you to join me on the Beard to Mustache EXPERIENCE...ABU DHABI STYLE! I went from beard to chops and goatee to goatee only to mustache and soul patch! I decided to keep the soul patch for a day or two to let the kids at school have some fun seeing it! :) Hope everyone is good and healthy back home! 56 days Cass ! ! ! A&F

Inside The Emirates Palace @ The World-Wide Premiere Abu Dhabi Film Festival

Thats Adrien Brody with the little gray hat cocked to the side (dunno if I am a huge fan of his after this film and his stage presence/conversation skills after).

The Gold Box is the worlds first Gold ATM. It dispenses 24k Gold chips with Emirates Palace Logos on them. The cheapest one goes for 200,000AED aka 56,000$ and is the size of my big toe-nail!

I AM SO PROUD OF HER!

Everyone....check out my lady' photo shoot at NCU for the poster. I am so very proud of her and so very thankful to have such a gorgeous and talented girl in my life :)! Way to go babe!