This weekend brought excitement a little bit too close to home. Our beloved Greenbelt 5, which is a 2 minute walk from our place, was subject to an armed robbery. The 7 person team of robbers...
This weekend brought excitement a little bit too close to home. Our beloved Greenbelt 5, which is a 2 minute walk from our place, was subject to an armed robbery. The 7 person team of robbers...
There are few things in the world that I’m more passionate about then my undergraduate experience at the College of St. Benedict (CSB) and its partner institution, St. John’s University...
Oh my goodness, Oh my goodness, Oh my goodness!! I FINALLY got the one thing that I’ve been pining my whole life for (besides a husband and a blow-out wedding). I wanted what every little...
As you all know, while the location and view of our condo were fabulous, I had quite a bit of work to do to create an environment that felt “homey” to us. I’ve been laboring for...
All I can say is WOW. I am still reeling 5 days after seeing Michael Jackson’s This Is It. I can’t seem to get it out of my head… I struggle to even write a review of it, as the...
Friends, it’s been a long few weeks. I swear, our house is plagued by disease and injury. As you know, I picked up the nasty whooping cough in Hong Kong two weeks ago. It’s finally...
Manila is big on bazaars. There is always one a month for the American Women’s Club of the Philippines. The US Embassy Club does 2 annually as well. And then there’s the myriad of...
Last night was a big one for the Novak family – our first ever Marine Ball! Just to give you a little history, the Marine Corps Ball is an annual event that is celebrated each year on the...
Yes, it is true. We are still sick. New symptoms seem to be showing up each day. I haven’t kicked my cough yet despite all the various remedies I’ve tried. And then Nick woke up...
On Sunday we attended a baby shower for our good friends Andrea and Brian. Nick and Andrea trained together in Washington, D.C. and have been inseparable ever since. Andrea and Brian are also...
After purchasing 5 sets of pearls for friends and family, I just couldn’t resist anymore. The pearls were calling to me. But not just ANY pearls, the Ralph Lauren set of Pearls… And...
BIG WEEK for Embassy Manila last week due to an impromptu visit from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. It was a whirlwind day and a half visit for her while on a tour of Southeast Asia. ...
We had set the intention to put up the Christmas decorations this past weekend. Like most things in Manila, it didn’t end up going at all according to plan. The first problem we had was...
Nick took up golfing in Manila recently and even joined the Embassy Golf Club! Last night he played his first round of night golf at one of the few public courses in the heart of Manila. The...
As I lay in bed writing this post, I can honestly say that after 5 hours with 35 eleven and twelve year olds, Nick and I are officially exhausted. But it’s a good exhaustion, one of those...
I’ve had some fun holiday-related experiences recently that I thought I’d share with you…been running short on time to blog lately, but I’ll try to do better next week! 1. ...
I was in charge of designing a holiday party for the Friendship Home kids. I was determined to make it highly memorable, introducing the kids to a few new holiday activities. It didn’t take...
Sadly, as seems to be the case with our family lately, sickness rained on Nick’s birthday parade. :(  Not exactly how you want to spend your 30th. It was just stomach issues, so we...
I know you remember the horrible “biscuit” faux pas I made at my last tea party – well not this time! I knew a scone when I saw one and dabbed it with clotted cream and jam. Now...
Ah, what a strange time it’s been lately. Holiday events wrapped up around the 15th because 50-60% of the expat population was going home. I was doing really well up until the activity...
I swear, we tried our best. There was a solid plan, we stuck to it steadfastly and yet…nothing quite turned out right. Guess we’ll just chalk it up to that old adage “The best...
The 24 hours leading up to Rachel’s arrival in Manila were filled with non-stop pacing and a few mini panic attacks. The mix of anticipation, concern and lack of control threw me into a tizzy...
Day 2 was a huge success by all accounts and measures. We completed our first massage (a Lymphatic Drainage Massage at Neo Spa) and took in Mall of Asia. Avatar at the Imax surpassed all our...
Just got back from 5 glorious days in Bohol, an island in the Southern Philippines. As you know, my friend Rachel is visiting and we wanted to take her somewhere that would give her a feel of the...
Made my third trip to the ER in 6 months today. Instead of accompanying Norma or Nick though, this time it was me checking in. I wish I had some fabulous glory story to tell about what...
Greetings- It’s been a full couple of days and I’m horribly behind on my posting. Just got Rachel off on the airplane this morning, so now I have a moment to catch you up on the rest of...
I’m sure it won’t come as a shock when I say that I’ve been a bit down lately. The 6 month mark hit hard, compounded by the Christmas factor. Thank goodness for Rachel’s...
We had the pleasure of being invited to a Worst Gift Exchange Party on Thursday night. The objective was to bring the worst thing you had in your house and wrap it up for someone else’s...
The big news in our neighborhood this week was the opening of St. Luke’s Global City, a new hospital in Fort Bonafacio. With 600 rooms and 400 doctors’ clinics, it’s sure to give...
WHOA – I was just sitting back this weekend reflecting on the fact that Nick and I just crossed the one year mark for our Civil Ceremony that took place back on January 2nd, 2009 in a Maryland...
This is a great example of a constructive use of “exercise time” at the Cebu Prison in the Philippines. You may be familiar with previous videos of Michael Jackson’s hits...
Just wrapped up part 2 of our two week Valentine’s Day celebration at Friendship Home. My Mom and Dad helped me kick it off last week when they were in town. Last week’s party was 1/2...
Today was a big day. It was the start of my pro-bono coaching work at Carewell, a local Cancer Resource and Wellness Community. If you remember back, I found Carewell in the midst of a personal...
After 8 months of painful waiting, I was finally able to have my first taste of Tater Tot Hotdish overseas. Despite the simple ingredients in the recipe, it was surprisingly hard to execute. I...
I really like the Chinese concept of “Year of the …”. I think that fits well into everyone’s lives and allows us to concentrate on key priorities for that year. For Nick...
You can’t help being inspired by this couple, who still know how to have fun with each other after 62 years of marriage. Add to that the fact that it happened at the Mayo clinic and it became...
There are times when it’s easy to lull yourself into a false sense of security with this lifestyle, telling yourself that there’s no reason the bad guys would want to hurt little old you...
Today I was privileged to get a tour of the garbage dump Tondo, home of 1.5 million of Manila’s residents. It was one of the most humbling and disturbing experiences I’ve ever had and I...
Picture from Rage.com Instead of engaging in my typical St. Patrick’s Day activity of beer drinking and social events, I had the opportunity to do something vastly different this year. I was...
I’m having a hard time letting go of this experience, feeling that my sharing is still incomplete. I’m hoping that in doing one last post, I’ll feel like I did Tondo the justice...
Here are a couple of great videos about Tondo that aired on TV in London last week. Â Lynie, who led our tour is featured. Â You’ll recognize many shots from my pictures. Â And I promise, no...
Have I mentioned how much I love you, my blog-reading public. Last week we reached a new high, with over 550 of you visiting in one day! Thank you for the L-O-V-E… I know you have many...
Well folks, I can now add another natural disaster to the list of things I’ve survived in my life, which currently includes: 1. Tornadoes 2. Blizzards 3. Golf-ball-sized hail storms...
I recently stumbled upon another EFM (translation: Foreign Service Spouse) Blogger named David that’s heading to Hermosillo, Mexico with his wife. I’ve really been enjoying his...
Wow, it’s hard to believe, but I just crossed the 1 month mark at Carewell. In those four weeks I was able to hold seven different group coaching sessions not only for cancer patients, but...
I have mentioned before that the Philippines has a largely Catholic population, with roughly 83% practicing. And these are not casual church-goers either, but devoted followers of Christ. While...
I’ve come to a very important realization in the last few weeks. Â Cold temps I can do, but extreme heat is an entirely different story. Â And I’m not talking the 90’s here people...
For the last few years I’ve been hearing about these things called “TED” talks popping up in conversations and occasionally being circulated via Facebook and other social networking...
Life doesn’t get much better than spending an afternoon in the country with my new-found Carewell friends. And although the gathering was set up “just because,” there ended up...