I woke up on my birthday in a foul mood. I had decided in advance that it was going to be a crap b-day because: a.) My bday fell on a Monday this year b.) I have no friends here yet (please note the drama) c.) I had ZERO plans for the day d.) I had to go to class for 2 hours e.) Nick was...
I meant to do a real write-up of our trip to Huaraz but this last week got away from me. Sorry for the delay! Here goes… We left Lima on Wednesday night at 11 PM on an overnight bus (Movil Tours) and got in around 6:30 AM. As I mentioned in the other post, it was surprisingly...
This video is dedicated to Auntie Emily, who has been begging and begging to see footage of Nia on the move!
These are about 10 days late – oops! She’s definitely starting to explore her world, as reflected in these photos.
Hi All – Miss me? We just got back from a SENSATIONAL four-day trip to the Peruvian Andes. We went to Hauraz, location of the Cordillera Blanca and Cordillera Negra Mountain ranges. I wouldn’t call myself a mountain person, but I may just be a convert after this trip. The...
My first month of Spanish came to an end today. The sad part is that most of these amazing people won’t be in my next class (they’re staying in the morning, I’m going to try afternoon). The good news is that I PASSED!!! No repeating Basic Spanish 3 for me! I tell you, I...
A little something new from Ms. Nia that we have termed “Lizard Tongue”…
As a viral internet sensation with over 40 million views, I’m sure most of you are familiar with Matt Harding, dancing star of the Where the Hell is Matt? videos. Well, he’s back at it again, this time with new countries (North Korea!) and scenarios (underwater dancing)...
We’ve been in Lima for over a month now and decided it was high time we did some ‘touristy’ stuff and saw the rest of the city! We picked the oh-so-popular Turibus Tour (complete with flag-waving tour guide and everything) and for $30 a person got a 4-hour tour of the...
At every post with a hardship designation, there is inevitably something that the Security Team scares the bejeezus out of us about (with the intent of keeping us safer, of course). They go over-the-top at the beginning in the hopes of instilling good habits and a sense of cautious...
I was more than a little nervous to start up Spanish classes again. I mean two hours a day, five days a week is a LOT of Spanish. That two hours could really go by slowly, especially if I’m buried in overwhelm. To my delight, it has been a absolute blast! Most of the credit goes to...
This week’s Saturday date coincided with an Embassy-planned outing to La Mar Cevicheria. Instead of going solo, we met up with 10 other ceviche-lovers at what could arguably be called the most famous Cevicheria in the world. Why is this one so famous, you ask? Well, first off, it...
I am trying so, so hard NOT to compare everything here to the Philippines. And the harder I try not to, the more I miss the Phils. The funny thing is, I really like Lima. It’s just not Manila (Um…DUH Sarah). Let me try and explain, okay? Metaphorically, Manila is the...
First time I’ve seen this group (the Capital Children’s Choir) and WOWZERS did they give me goosebumps – must be the combination of the children’s voices, those British accents and Florence’s haunting melody. Makes me miss my choir days! It’s been far...
This week might as well have been called the “Week of Gluttony”. I swear, all we did was eat amazing food. It started back on Monday with our lunch date at Pescados Capitales. As you’ll recall, it was our first day with Lupe (our new household helper, called an Empleada...
So, so proud of Mr. Nicholas. Yesterday he found out that he got tenured, which essentially means he can’t get canned (unless he does something so bad he loses his security clearance). When you first join, you’re appointed for a five year term. With tenure, the time limit on...
Today I’d like to tell you a little story. Once upon a time there was a girl named Sarita. Sarita began taking Spanish as a freshman in High School. She initially loved the subject, dreaming about all the amazing things (travel, new friends, unique experiences, etc) that would be...
Hola Blog Readers — Hope you had a wonderful, relaxing Memorial Day Weekend (for those who celebrate it). We were initially going to go away this weekend for our first official getaway but weren’t feeling settled enough to actually go through with it. Instead we had an...
Can you believe it? Little Nia is 7 months old! Where did the time go… My little girl is getting big – and FEISTY! :) She refused to sit or lay on her back long enough for me to get more than a few pictures of the sticker. She’s very keen on tummy time right now.
Well folks. One week down, 103 to go. As with any new place I arrive in, there’s always a few things I love, a few things I hate and a few things that just make me scratch my head in bewilderment. Without further ado, here’s my list of The Good, the Bad and the Bizzarre of...
On Thursday Nia and I took our first taxi cab ride (our car won’t get here for three more months). Sounds simple, but as with most things in a 3rd world country, it proves to be far more difficult than it appears on the surface. The first thing to note is that most cabs don’t...
As I’ve mentioned before, Nia is VERY popular here. Almost too popular, if I’m being honest (although who am I to shy away from attention). This outpouring of love for her shows up in a variety of ways, most of which would make an American parent squirm. Today, for instance...
You know me, I’m not much for wasting time. Might as well just jump right in. I woke up Friday morning feeling energized and ready to see the town. Nia and I started our day with a walk to a nearby cafe, where we met Janeth (pronounced Ha-Net), our server. She was quite taken with...
Hola from Peru! It’s been a chaotic 48 hours of transit and orientation to our new home. I had forgotten how humbling it is to struggle with communication and completing basic tasks. That being said, small wins (like successfully ordering a latte), make you feel like a million bucks...
Well, what do you know?! It’s Moving Day at Apartamento Novak! We are not-so-patiently awaiting the arrival of the movers, at which point chaos will ensue. Here’s a snapshot of what our place looks like at the moment. Above: The Air Freight (cross your fingers that it’s...
It was a wild weekend here on the home front. We are a mere one week from our international move now and for some reason (back in January) we thought it’d be a grand idea to schedule Nia’s baptism in the midst of all our shopping and packing. Chaos adds to the fun...
So, my subject wasn’t into our 6 month photo shoot. She was too distracted by the sound of all that rushing water behind her. Mistake number two was shooting at 3 o’clock in the afternoon in high sun. Oops . . I guess I should feel lucky that I got any shots at all!
We’ve got new tricks to show off. In video 1 – pushing up onto our hind legs. In video 2 – “fake chewing”.
Greetings all – We’re less than 30 days out from Peru now and the reason you never hear from me is that every spare moment is going into our pack-out preparations. Any advantage I’d have this time around as a veteran is more than mitigated by the fact that we now...
Tonight we had our first go at solid foods. Nia sampled both pureed Pears and a Mum Mum, which is a Rice Paper flatbread. Nia made a big ole mess and wasn’t too sure what she thought about it all. She’s nearly 6 months now, so we plan to start adding this in on a daily basis...
Here’s Nia doing her new favorite thing – playing with her feet! I found these great Lamaze “Feet Finder” rattles to make her play twice as fun…
Well, here she is in all her drooling glory! We garnered quite a few looks from the passing Business People as we went about our afternoon ‘photo shoot’ in front of an office building that had this lovely bed of tulips! I mean, how could I not shoot there??? Hope you enjoy...
Nia and I recently started attending Mommy & Me Movie Days at the Regal Potomac Yard Theater in Alexandria (now closed). They take place every other Tuesday for the first showing of the day (usually around 1 PM). There is one designated Mommy & Me movie on that day and the movie...
Had to share these adorable photos from a fantastic week with Grandpa and Grandma Novak! We are so lucky that they’re willing to travel all the way from Oregon to see us!
In the life of a Foreign Service Spouse, there are certain involuntary breath-holding moments that occur in response to the ambiguity of this lifestyle. One of those moments is the day you get a post assignment. The other is the day you get your housing assignment. As you might expect...
Stats don’t lie. Consider this: One in two marriages end in divorce¹ One third of adults are obese² One in five adults smoke³ Nearly half the US Population has a chronic disease Over fifty percent of adults report that they are unhappy with their lives Many of us can rattle these...
We’ve hit the 4 month mark! We celebrated this milestone by retiring the first of our 3-6 month clothes that she’s already outgrown. Our little girl is growing steadily – she’s 14 1/2 pounds (75th percentile) and 24.5 inches (60th percentile). Her happy-go-lucky...
No lie, this African-inspired version of Coldplay’s Paradise by the Piano Guys is hypnotically entrancing. I hope you delight in it as much as I did. It’s hard not to feel your spirit lift when taking in all that beauty! Sure hope a trip to Africa is somewhere in my...
We are pleased to report that we made it (mostly unscathed) through the first 100 days with our little one. We attribute our success to 1.) Our parents’ assistance, 2.) Caffeine and 3.) These 5 Amazing Products. I’m not one to keep great things a secret, so bookmark this link...
Big week in the Novak house – Nia has learned to roll at 14 weeks old! What amuses us most about this is that she has to get really agitated before she’ll start contorting her body enough to do a complete roll. The not-so-amusing part is that she hasn’t yet figured out...
Love the contrast in this video: The lyrics tell the story of suffering and separation while the ensemble models collaboration and connection. No wonder it’s been watched over 42 million times already! BRAVO! A shout out to Kate for introducing it to me.
Yowzers, what a week! I just got back from a mind-blowing 6 day Leadership Retreat in beautiful (and rainy!) Sonoma, California. The course was an advanced Leadership Program put on by my Coaching School, the Coaches Training Institute (CTI). It was a live-in program that started at 7 in...
So we started at the gym this week. I was beyond excited to find a place that would accept an 10-week-old. I’m allowed to leave her for one hour, which is the perfect amount of time for me to do a class (or so I thought). Unfortunately, Nia isn’t so keen on being in daycare...
Every year I choose a theme song to help keep me focused on what I want the year to bring. However, the problem with this year is that I feel so unfocused that I can’t even select a theme word for my year. Instead of beating myself up for what feels like mush brain, I’ve...
When we’re in the States, it’s easy to get lulled into the familiar routine and forget that we’re heading back overseas soon. By the time we leave in May, I’ll have been here for almost a year and Manila seems but a distant memory. In fact, with all the Nia...
Much like Christmas, our New Year’s Celebration had a bit of a different feel to it this year. The biggest difference would be that it all took place on New Year’s Eve DAY since we knew we’d be fast asleep by 9 o’clock that night and too sleepy to party the night...
It was a very DC Christmas for us this year. Nick wasn’t allowed to take any vacation days during his language training, so we spent the holiday in DC instead of traveling to see our families. Thankfully, this lifestyle has taught us how to make do with whatever circumstances...
Just wanted to share one of my favorite holiday songs with you to celebrate. It’s not very well-known, so perhaps you’ll love it so much that you’ll have to add it to your collection! Wishing you all a wonderful holiday, wherever you may be…
Since Nia and I are spending Christmas Day with Nick in DC, we celebrated early with the Miller family. Nia was the belle of the ball in her new Christmas dress (and by new I mean ‘new to us’ – that’s right, this Baby Gap beauty was $4 at a Garage sale)! We had a...
