Miller Sisters at the Groom’s Dinner. L to R: Beth (3rd), Emily (2nd), Jenna (4th), Sarah (1st) It was a big weekend in the Miller Household. Â Emily Miller (second oldest) married her...
Best of Novakistan
This is a compilation of the posts I feel deserve the “Best of Novakistan” title. They cover the entire 15-year span that I’ve been writing.
Owning a cabin is pretty dang amazing. Â I mean, there was nothing like the ‘cabin lifestyle’ in Manila. Â Hence, I am appreciating all my glorious time here. Â As you might imagine, the...
One of the best pregnancy benefits I’ve experienced thus far has been an increased awareness of my body. Â I think this occurs naturally for most pregnant women, but to varying degrees...
As I wrote yesterday, I’ve had a fascinating time tuning into my body over the course of this pregnancy. Â I’ve realized that my physical body is just another way that I receive messages...
Hi Blog Readers – I just got my first US ultrasound done last thursday. Â Boy was the tech surprised when she casually asked if this was my first ultrasound and I replied that it was actually...
On Sunday afternoon my Mom and Sisters threw a Baby Shower so our friends and relatives could celebrate the upcoming arrival of Baby Nia. Â Given that my Mom was in charge, guests knew that they...
Have I mentioned that my husband amuses the heck out of me? Â Get this. Â He’s been begging me for months to find him a baby that he can practice diapering and swaddling on. Â He initially...
Nick and I spent the last week hanging with my family at our cabin in Turtle Lake, Wisconsin. Â While our ultimate goal was just to relax and enjoy each others’ company, Nick managed to try out...
What a fantastic second week in Bend, OR! Â We got to check out a couple of the hot spots including Smith Rock (top 3 photos) where rock climbers do their thing. Â Unfortunately we went at a time of...
It’s been a heck of a week folks. Â Last Friday we pulled out of MN at 6 AM, headed for our nation’s capital. Â Given that I feel like humpty dumpty now at 34 weeks pregnant, I convinced...
A Brief History of My Relationship with My Body I’m sure you’re wondering what the heck I’m talking about when I say “my relationship with my body’. Â Surprisingly, we...
In case it isn’t obvious, I’ve got some MAJOR control issues surfacing around this whole birth thing. Â This is frustrating for a variety of reasons, but most notably because I’ve...
We are delighted to announce that after a 14 hour labor, we welcomed a healthy baby girl into our family. Her name is Nia Marisa Novak and she weighed in at 7 lbs 8 oz. She was 20 inches in...
It’s hard to believe, but Nia turns one week old today! As most parents would attest to, it’s been a complete and total blur. Nothing could have prepared me for the delusional state...
So, I’m afraid I’ve hit my max. Â With a diagnosis of Shingles yesterday, a dead car battery today and Nick going back to work on Monday it’s just not looking so optimistic for Mama...
Oh friends, it’s starting to become laughable how many things have not gone according to plan. Â Of course, I’m still shedding a few tears over each miss but I expect that I’ll...
So last night I decided to make my first solo trip out to Target to get some miscellaneous baby items I needed in Minnesota. Â My Mom was happy to watch Nia for a bit and I was excited to get out...
Nia got to meet her Minnesota Aunties for the first time this past weekend. Â They’re helping me take care of her while I get a hang of this parenting thing. Auntie Emily Auntie Beth Auntie...
Well, we finally got Nia’s Photo Shoot proofs back. Â Actually, they were better than I expected given how uncooperative she was. Â You can see all 16 final shots HERE. Â Would love to hear...
“Hey, where are we? Â Who are all these other babies? Â I’m going to be extra cute to make sure I get noticed!” “This yoga stuff is a piece of cake. Â All I have to do is lay...
It was a very DC Christmas for us this year. Â 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...
So we started at the gym this week. Â I was beyond excited to find a place that would accept an 10 week old. Â I’m allowed to leave her for one hour, which is the perfect amount of time for me...
Yowzers, what a week! Â I just got back from a mind-blowing 6 day Leadership Retreat in beautiful (and rainy!) Sonoma, California. Â The course was an advanced Leadership Program put on by my...
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...
Hola from Peru! It’s been a chaotic 48 hours of transit and orientation to our new life as Limeños. I had forgotten how humbling it is to struggle with communication and completing basic tasks...
As I’ve mentioned before, Nia is VERY popular here. Â Almost too popular, if I’m being honest (although who am I to shy away from attention). Â This outpouring of love for her shows up in...
Today I’d like to tell you a little story. Once upon a time there was a girl named Sarita. Â Sarita began taking Spanish as a freshman in High School. Â She initially loved the subject...
I am trying so, so hard NOT to compare everything here to the Philippines. Â And the harder I try not to, the more I miss the Phils. Â The funny thing is, I really like Lima. Â It’s just not...
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...
Hi All – Miss me? Â We just got back from a SENSATIONAL 4 day trip to the Peruvian Andes. Â We went to Hauraz, location of the Cordillera Blanca and Cordillera Negra Mountain ranges. Â I...
I meant to do a real write-up of our trip to Huaraz but this last week got away from me. Â Sorry for the delay! Â Here goes… We left Lima on Wednesday night at 11 PM on an overnight bus (Movil...
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...
Seriously, who flies 6 hours to see big stone heads?! We do, as well as the other 50,000 people per year that get to Easter Island, the world’s most remote inhabited island in the world. I can...
Saturday was our last full day on the Island and Paul of Tekarera Tours had a real treat in store for us. He took us to Rano Raraku, which is the name of the volcanic mountain that the rock was...
It’s hard to believe, but our little girl just crossed the one year mark. I’m not going to lie and say that the entire year flew by because there were days in those first 3 months that felt...
Here are the best of Nia’s 1 Year Photo Shoot! We had them done by Vanessa of Luz + Letra here in Lima. It was a fantastic experience that yielded over 100 beautiful shots of Nia! If you’re...
At last, our long-awaited trip to Galapagos is here. The expectations were sky-high and damn if they didn’t blow us away on the very first trip to shore. No honestly, if they sent me home after...
One of the best surprises on this trip has been how many babies we’ve seen (and up really close too)! The Mom and baby above are Blue-footed Boobies. This baby is estimated to be 1 week old...
Today we eagerly jumped off the boat, excited by the possibility of seeing land tortoises (different than the sea turtles we saw in the water). As usual, we saw an abundance of them. We have a...
What would Jenna’s visit to Peru be without a road trip? Especially a trip with a shrieking 1-year-old! Yes, that’s right. Bet you didn’t know Nia’s lungs have the capacity to sustain...
There’s never a dull day on the Malecon (our ocean-side park near our house) and since we go out there several times each day, we inevitably run into lots of fun adventures. Like yesterday, for...
One of the activities Jenna was most excited to try during her stay in Lima was a Chocolate-making Workshop at the Choco Museum in Lima. This was my first time going as well, so we made for quite...
January has been plum full of visitors! My sister Jenna was here from January 2nd to the 12th and then my dear college friend Rachel arrived on the 12th and stayed until the 21st. Talk about non-stop...
Just got back from a 4 day trip with Rachel to the Sacred Valley of Peru, home of the infamous Machu Picchu. Can I just start by saying that it’s a b*tch to get there! Yup, we’re talking plane...
I get a lot of comments about how much Nia looks like me because of the blue eyes/blond hair thing. Â What you can’t tell however, is how much Nia looks like Nick when he was a child. Â Check...
 On President’s Day Weekend we ventured 3 hours south on the Pan-America Highway to Lunahuana, a country-esque area know for its adventure sports.  It’s located in the middle of a...
Nia and I decided to take advantage of our relatively-close South American location and join the family for the annual trip to Puerto Vallarta. My parents have owned a time share there for 3...
As I’ve mentioned before, Embassy Lima does a great job of putting on festive holiday celebrations. Â Holidays tend to bring up additional feelings of homesickness and events like this really...
We’ve had helper drama lately. Â I haven’t written about it because I wasn’t sure how it was going to be resolved, but I’m ready to give you the full lowdown now. In early...
Today we took a family field trip into downtown Lima to see Parque de Las Reserva (or the “Fountain Park†as it’s called when you can’t remember the Spanish name). We’ve been meaning to...