The Top 10 Highlights from our 1st Five Years in the Foreign Service

Can you believe it’s been 5 years already?  I know, shut up, right?!?  I feel like it was just yesterday that I was purchasing those piles and piles of ravioli and diet coke.  In case you couldn’t tell by my blog posts, we’re pretty enamored with our lifestyle.  Diplomatic life suits us (what’s not to like!?) and we can hardly wait to see what the next 15 years brings us!  In celebration of all our magnificent adventures, we’ve compiled a list of our top 10 memories (in no particular order) and our top 5 trip destinations (in ranked order).  See how many you remember!

Our Top 10 Highlights from Our 1st Five Years in the Foreign Service:

1.  Swimming Experiences with Animals: Whale sharks in Donsol, Dolphins in Subic Bay and Sea Turtles and Sea lions in Galapagos.

2.  Nia’s birth

3.  Our church wedding complete with a calypso band, painter, train station and ice cream buffet

4.  Getting our first assignment on Flag Day

5.  Flying in a Helicopter and landing on top of Franz Josef Glacier

6.  Providing 100 Filipino children with Christmas gifts during Presents for Pinoys

7.  Meeting Nia’s namesake & guardian angel Marisa & having her daughter Patricia attend Nia’s baptism celebration

8.  Mind-blowing food experiences: Mistura & 20 course meals

9.  Nia’s 1st Birthday

10.  Getting Our Wedding Published in MN Bride Magazine

 

Top 5 Trips We Took in the Last 5 Years:

5.  Machu Picchu & the Sacred Valley

4.  Galapagos

3.  Easter Island

2.  Cambodia

1.  New Zealand