I remember when we lived in the Philippines I was impressed by how resourceful people, especially children, could be. One of the memories that sticks with me most was from my visit to Tondo...
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.
Ladies and Gentleman- We officially have a Kindergartner in the family! Nia loved going to preschool, so we made the assumption that the transition to Kindy would be easy peasy. Man were we wrong! We...
Hello everyone — This post was supposed to go out Saturday, September 2nd but never did for some reason. I decided you probably won’t mind that it’s a little late, so I’m...
So, if you remember back to one of my earlier posts, we decided to part ways with Davie, our Gardener/Driver. We found a replacement gardener/driver relatively quickly but unfortunately he crashed...
I’m pretty sure my Dad breathed a sigh of relief as Jenna Miller, the 4th and final Miller gal to get married, walked down the aisle last Saturday. With all four of us officially handed off and...
I’ve noticed a fascinating new trend lately. My daughter is no longer interested in playing with children her own age, she has become obsessed with befriending “Big Girls”...
Hi everyone – Sorry for the break in posting. We’ve been busy showing my parents the best of Africa. Of course, no trip to Africa would be complete without a safari, so after a few days...
Novakistan Readers – How are you? Has it really been a month since I last posted?! Whoops. That might need to be a New Year’s Resolution… Well, let’s just jump right in, as I...
We recently got back from Cape Town, one of our favorite places on earth. This was our third time there, but this trip was markedly different because for 11 straight days we were kidless in wine...
While Nick was off shooting these beautiful underwater pics in Lake Malawi, Nia and I were busy frolicking around town (more like village, really). The whole weekend was magnificent, but the event...
Back in August of 2016 when we moved into our current house it was the height of dry season. The grass was nearly dead and the bushes and plants were in need of major pruning. Having never had a yard...
I have less than four weeks of work left and in typical Sarah-fashion I jam-packed them with events. On the calendar for May is an adults-night out at a local restaurant, a three-day-trip to the lake...
Blog Readers – I know you think I forgot about you, but I swear, I didn’t. It’s just been so. dang. busy. You know how I know that the stress is getting the better of me?? I keep...
Hello again! Aren’t you impressed that I’m posting for the second time in 24 hours?! We unexpectedly got pictures of our new place and I didn’t think it would be right to keep them...
We’re down to our last days in Malawi and in between giving out goodbye hugs and packing I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting about the many things I’ve enjoyed about this tour. If...
So a few days ago I told you about my beloved Weekend Walking group I started on Sundays. In that post I eluded to my other walking group, the Walkie Talkies. This post is devoted to them! The Walkie...
We’re about 60 hours in to our stay in Mumbai and man oh man am I feeling optimistic. Jet lag’s a b*tch, as usual (it’s currently 3 AM) but even that can’t bring me down...
My daughter has no idea how lucky she is. Her new school, the American School of Bombay, is the creme de la creme. Every aspect of her education has been carefully crafted and shaped around the...
My general approach to life overseas is to say yes to as many opportunities as I can, even if I have little information about what I’m getting into. As long as there are no safety concerns...
Nick & I went out for a city tour on Labor Day (Monday, September 3rd), which happened to be the day after Janmashtami (see my last post). Dahi Handi is celebrated in the Maharashtra State (where...
The Hindu deity Ganesh (the God of new beginnings and remover of obstacles) is the patron saint of Mumbai. Mumbaikers LOVE him. Today marks the beginning of the 10-day Ganesh Chaturthi festival which...
Awhile back I posted the initial photos we received of our Mumbai apartment. If you’ll remember, it was pretty dang barren and the lighting wasn’t great (although, don’t get me...
Ughhhh. Not gonna lie. This week sucked. People who were gonna show up didn’t show. Orders that were supposed to be delivered were incorrect. Salads that were supposed to go down easy came up...
Twas a week of firsts, dear readers! The highs continue to be very high and the lows, while less frequent, still feel very low at these early stages. I will prevail though, so don’t you worry...
Hello friends – Can you believe I’ve been in India six weeks already? I continue to be shocked by how fast the time is moving and how each week seems to hold some fascinating new learning...
There is rarely a dull moment when taking Nia out in public here. She attracts loads of attention as a fair-skinned, blonde child (a rarity here, I’ll admit). It’s almost guaranteed that...
Oooh, I am embarrassed by how behind I am on posting this. Totally meant to get it up before going to Malawi (and then while I was in Malawi) but the time never materialized. But better late than...
Muli Bwanji Readers (that’s Hello in the Malawian language Chichewa for those of you who didn’t know). Why am I speaking Chichewa to you when I’m posted in India, you might ask...
Nia turned seven in October, and ever since she’s been struggling to define herself as a big or little kid. On one hand, she desperately wants to be seen as a big kid doing cool, big kid things...
I’m so excited to share this all with you. We just finished up what will undoubtedly be one of the coolest cultural experiences of our lifetimes — a 5 day wedding in a rural village in...
The food experience in Gujarat definitely merits its own post. For starters, it was all vegetarian, all the time. What was surprising was how many different distinct dishes they could make out of...
On the day we arrived they were doing Mehndi for the ladies. Mehndi is what we would call a henna tattoo in the States and is very common before an Indian wedding (for both the bride and the women...
Nothing excited me (or freaked me out) more than the clothes. I was given this basic information in advance: – There will be five events over three days. – People change clothes for every...
Hello Readers! This is the 5th and final installment of my Gujarat Wedding series. Today’s post will be on the various ceremonies that we got to witness as guests. I’m gonna be honest, I...
So I’ve been hard at work decorating for the last month. I’ve had furniture and mirrors hand-carved, slipcovers made, custom pillows & runners made, tons of painting done and 16...
Parenting is hard. Like really hard. Just when I think we’ve gotten through one issue, the next comes on full force. I find that aspect of parenting really exhausting. However, it has helped to...
Hello everyone – Greetings from frigid Mumbai (overnight lows of 70 F). It’s no Minnesota snowstorm but we’re staying warm with extra layers. The Indians just can’t get over...
Hey Everyone – I’m short on time tonight, so no narrative along with this post. I will, however, come back later in the week and show you some more close-ups and explain what I was going...
I’m glad so many of you enjoyed my recent post about how I had decorated our apartment. I thought for today’s post I’d go into more detail about my design vision, the unique items I...
I’ve never been one to take many risks when there was the potential for injury. I was so injury averse, in fact, that I earned myself the nickname “Safe Sarah” from my family during...
As you learned from Nia’s post yesterday, we just returned from a seven-day-trip to Egypt. And I definitely agree with Nia, it was a pretty fantastic trip. It’s just impossible to do...
It was truly an incredible trip folks. Egypt really does live up to the hype. Nick did a great job crafting our eight day/seven night trip. We worked with a tour company called Cleopatra Tours out of...
Hello again. Hopefully you aren’t sick of Egypt yet, as I still have one more post to do. Here are the first three in the series, in the event you missed them: Nia’s Blog Post (As in, Nia...
Three months ago I noticed that I had this strange little scratch on my chest. What was odd was that I didn’t remember scratching myself. So I slathered it with ointment each night, waiting for...
So unfortunately the surgery thing didn’t go as planned this morning. We got to the hospital at 7 AM and they were VERY disorganized (seemed to be just opening but I can’t imagine how...
I’m sure you’re wondering why I haven’t been writing these last few months. Well, it was a combination of things – lots of end-of-year activities, still finding work/life...
As I mentioned yesterday, I’m a wee bit behind on my blogging due to my computer dying. But I didn’t want you to miss all the excitement from April and May, so I’m just going back...
After 35 days away, I am finally reunited with my family and back in my own bed again! And boy oh boy does it feel good. As you might imagine, being away was quite novel at first… no demands...
Twas the night before Disney and wouldn’t you know it, a frickin’ tornado hit the cabin, took down 10 trees and forced my parents to have to back out of the trip. There were lots of tears...
Like many children, I have strong memories (and emotions) tied to Disney World. My first visit to Disney World in Orlando, Florida took place in the Fall of 1991. I was 11 years old and not only was...