- We completed our first season as the coaches for the TAMUQ Women's Basketball team.
- The team (TAMUQ Challengers) we put together to compete in the Maersk Oil/QP Challenge Race received 9th place out of 27 teams.
- We finished another round of the Filipino Tennis League.
- We attended 5 Thanksgiving celebrations in November.
- I put up our Christmas Tree.
- We are currently wrapping up a successful Fall 2013 semester.
Our season started off with a really difficult game against Qatar University who had a roster full of Qatar National Players. Needless to say, they were quickly eliminated from playing the season because the agreement was that none of the teams would include national players on their rosters. Even though we did not win many games, we progressively showed improvement and the girls played hard throughout the season. We are all looking forward to next season now that we have a little experience under our belts. We still have much to learn and will have to incorporate a bit more conditioning in preparation for next season! 
Maersk Oil & QP Challenge Race
At the beginning of the semester, we were asked to put together a team to compete in the Maersk Oil & QP Challenge Race scheduled for late November in the Zekreet Peninsula to help raise funds for diabetes research. It was our understanding that TAMUQ tried to field a team in 2012 but couldn't find interested individuals given the amount of physical effort required. As a result, we opened registration to both former and current students. We had over 35 people who responded to our initial email so efforts began to narrow down the candidates to the top 5. We did an initial evaluation day which narrowed down the field to 11 candidates then we organized a GPS orienteering challenge and a Pentago tournament which helped us decide on the final 5 plus an alternate. The TAMUQ Challengers participated in the race on November 16th - 17th and did very well. They placed 9th out of 27 teams and received strong praise for their classy presence throughout the race. They exceeded expectations and set a great example for future teams. John had the privilege of being a course marshal and was able to snap a few pictures along the way!Filipino Tennis League
Our FTL team did not make it to the semifinals or finals competition this season but we played hard and had some really good matches. Playing with the FTL team has given me a new perspective on things. Many of the FTL team members have family back in the Philippines that they may only see once a year. In addition, when Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines, I truly saw and felt the impact here. One of our team members had no idea whether his 10 month old son and his in-laws were alive for at least a week after the storm cleared. While many of the FTL player's families were affected, donations were still given so those going back home to help could deliver them to those most in need. Being a part of the FTL is not just about playing tennis!
Thanksgiving Celebrations
We were privileged to be invited to 3 family Thanksgivings and also attended the annual TAMUQ Faculty & Staff Thanksgiving. For our fifth Thanksgiving celebration, we helped support a gathering to honor our troops here in Qatar. We had over 100 servicemen and women with whom we shared a Thanksgiving feast. It was great to meet many of them and hear their stories. It was a beautiful day by the pool and a real treat to be able to say thank you for the work they do and the protection they provide. We could truly sympathize when they talked about how they missed their families back home. In the future, no matter where we are for Thanksgiving, we will always look back and remember these times and be thankful for all of our friends both here and at home!Decorating the Christmas Tree
For several weeks, I debated about putting up the Christmas tree. I thought that by going to a Christmas bizarre and seeing some of the decorations start to popup, I would get into the Christmas spirit and be excited about putting up a tree. The more I thought about the process, the more the emotions started to surface as I realized that this would be the first Christmas we have ever spent away from family. I finally gave in and put up the tree and did so with tears in my eyes as I remembered our past Christmas celebrations. I must admit that I did have one scary moment in the process of finishing the tree. I plugged the lights into one of our small converters and all seemed well. After about 5 minutes, I hear this small hissing sound and it started to smell like something was burning. Before I had time to react, there was a loud POP and the lights on the tree go out. I think my heart stopped for a split second and then I realized that I had burned up the converter and was hoping that the lights didn't blow as well. I built up the courage to remove the converter (with a hotpad so as not to burn my hands) and took it outside with the hope that the smell would dissipate before John got home. Then I realized that the breaker tripped as well so I flipped the breaker and tried again. I retrieved one of our larger converters, plugged in the lights, and viola - we had lights. So far so good! Now that the tree is up and I've been listening to Christmas music on my iPad, I'm truly getting into the Christmas spirit. This Christmas will be a new experience for John and I and we are looking forward to just enjoying the time together. We hope that everyone back home has a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
2013 Fall Semester
Well, our second full semester here in Qatar is coming to a close. It has been another successful semester and we have gotten to know many students. Since we really only have about 550 students at TAMUQ, it's like a large high school so it's really not difficult to get to know many of the students on campus. The one thing that always comes back is that students are students no matter where you are in the world. They have the same stressors, same fears, same needs and are just looking for people to help them learn not only about the subject matter but also about life. We have really enjoyed getting to know our students and are looking forward to next semester.
