So for weeks and weeks I’ve been hearing about this S&R place. People would RAVE on and on about it and I was getting a bit tired of not knowing what all the hype was about. So last weekend...
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Ahh, some days my new life amuses me. Like today, when I was invited to “High Tea” at the Peninsula Hotel. Can’t say I’ve ever been to “Tea” before, let along...
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 girl...
All I can say is WOW. I am still reeling five 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...
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 two annually as well. And then there’s the myriad of...
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...
There once was a house that fell ill And racked up an emergency room bill. They hacked all day and night With no end in sight, Thank God the Neti Pot works better than a pill. WE LOVE YOU NETI...
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...
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...
With my Manila adventures becoming more routine, I thought I’d begin sprinkling in a few of the “must share” ideas and products that I come across. This one is beyond cool...
Must give all the credit to my talented husband for this great video and the underwater shots. My coordination is definitely not at the level where I can keep up with a shark and shoot video of it at...
On Monday we got back from what could surely be titled one of those “once in a lifetime” adventures. We had left early Saturday morning and flown to Legazpi, on the Southern part of...
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...
Zoom in on me, looking VERY CRABBY as I waited to board our boat to Sabtang Island. Here’s the back story…I woke up at 5:30 AM so that I could be ready to join the group at 6 AM to leave...
I know that I have a tendency to over-hype things, but I tell you, this one merits the hype. You see, in the last few weeks, Nick and I have become totally and completely addicted to Jamie...
Our last two days have been pretty bi-polar. Friday was devoted to our first (of two) day trips. We were off to see Hidden Valley Springs, a stunning rain forest paradise a few hours from Manila...
Nick recently started physical therapy for an old/back neck injury he got 10 years ago, so part of our Saturday routine now includes him going to therapy for 2-3 hours (for the unbelievable cost of...
Dear Sam, I’m afraid I must let you know that your singing makes me weak. How can you be so talented and barely even able to legally drink? And just when I thought I’d heard your best...
Wow, big day for this girl. First ever Acupuncture treatment! Truly, I’ve been wanting to do this for years, but never had the courage. Maybe I was just being cheap too because now that...
A week ago I couldn’t have even told you where Sri Lanka was (right off the Southeastern tip of India, by the way) but now I’m checking out flights there. Why, you ask? This beautiful...
Since it’s become obvious that I can’t stop time and prevent the one year mark from happening, I’ve decided that for today’s one Year Commemorative Post we’ll take a...
The following is from DailyOm, a personal development site my friend Liz introduced me to that provides a daily dose of wisdom or inspiration. What amazes me is how succinctly the authors can write...
Our good friends Andrea and Brian gave me a very cool birthday gift this year – a $25 gift certificate for a loan to give out on Kiva.org, a micro-lending site. (Check out this post I wrote on...
Once upon a time a girl named Sarah went out on a second date with a boy named Nicholas (a rare occurrence indeed). When the boy named Nicholas arrived at Sarah’s door, he delighted her by...
As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, Nick and I took a trip down to San Pablo this weekend, both for a little R&R and to capitalize on potter Ugu Bigyan’s Birthday Sale (see previous...
It was an exciting day at Friendship Home. We did a fun science project exploring thermodynamics by making ice cream from scratch using only ice and zip lock bags. While the entire process was fun...
Forgive me, I’m feel like a little cheesy High School Musical today…
I’m proud to report that a mere 24 hours after arriving in Minnesota, I was happily strolling the grounds of the Great MN Get-Together, the Minnesota State Fair! Now mind you, I’m not an...
Just one week before we left for Hong Kong Nick and I were having one of our nightly debates/discussions. The question was: Which sense would you LEAST like to lose? I insisted that sight would be...
This will be my third and final post about Hong Kong. Today’s post will actually focus on Macau, an island that is a one hour ferry ride from Hong Kong. Macau is best known as the Vegas of...
I know I said that sailing past the Sydney Opera House was as good as it gets, but I’m going to have to retract that because the last 24 hours topped it. This last day was out-of-this-universe...
After we got done with our helicopter ride, we continued driving south to Fox Glacier where we had booked lodging at a 700 acre working farm/bed and breakfast called Clearwater B&B. We had never...
We had just wrapped up our stay at the B&B/Farm when Nick threw another surprise my way – he told me we’d be spending two nights in a private apartment on a vineyard in the Otago...
On Monday we had the pleasure of taking Nick’s parents to Ocean Adventure in Subic Bay for an up-close-and-personal encounter with the dolphins. Nick and I did this back in May of 2010 and...
Lately Facebook has been abuzz with talk about an exercise class called Nia. Whenever I hear something come up again and again, I just trust it’s a sign that I’m supposed to explore it...
If you’ve been reading for awhile, you’ll recall that on Day five of being in Manila I started a Basic Photography Class in Fort Santiago. Just five weeks later I was a Proud Graduate of...
It is decided. We’re going ALL-OUT for our final trip in Southeast Asia. I can’t even begin to explain the ginormous amount of pressure we had placed on planning this trip… You see...
Hi all- please forgive the lack of posts this week. I have felt like absolute crap and needed to use all my available energy to drag my butt to a 10 hour Photoshop class on Friday and an 8 hour...
Can I just say that I am thoroughly enjoying my Photoshop Class and all the cool new tricks I can apply to my photos. And no, I do not consider that ‘cheating’, it is merely ENHANCING the...
So here’s how we’re divvying up the overwhelming amount of baby-related information to learn in Novak land. It’s really quite simple, I take care of anything that has to do with my...
Honestly, I can’t say enough good things about ABC’s new show Secret Millionaire. I first heard about the show through my coaching network, as several of the Millionaires are motivational...
I’m all about trying new alternative therapies (especially after having such amazing results with Network Spinal Analysis a few years back), so when my friend Selina suggested I check out an...
I’m well aware that I owe you a MAJOR apology for not posting for the last week. It’s just that I’ve been so damn tired and I had to go on Medevac to Singapore for three days (more...
A Joint Labor of Love One of Nick’s many roles in Manila is President of the US Embassy Club (USEC). USEC is the charitable arm of US Embassy – Manila that supports 13 local charities...
Me and heart-touching stories go together like peanut butter and jelly. Suffice to say, this is one of the most remarkable I’ve come across in some time… Please allow me to introduce...
I know I’ve been MIA for too long by the large number of emails and FB messages I’ve been getting about why I’m not posting. Thank you all for being such devoted readers who...
Big day today. After an extensive search, I finally selected my Prenatal Yoga Studio. I ended up choosing Blooma in St. Paul, which is devoted exclusively to Pre and Post-natal Yoga, in addition to...
I’ve been a girl on a mission this last week. While the setting up house was important insomuch as it made Nick and I feel more at ease, the critical issue at hand was putting together our...
I had an experience on Wednesday that gave new meaning to the phrase “Rolling Out the Red Carpet.” It was, hands down, one of the most exceptional service experiences I have ever had. I...
Patience has never been one of my strong suits and honestly, these last 10 days have been downright torturous for me as I await Baby Nia’s arrival. So much open space on the calendar and...