Our first full day in Africa (Tuesday) started with a doorbell. We have several rotating guards that patrol the property 24 hours a day. We had forgotten to tell the one on duty that the gardener was starting that day, so at 8:30 AM he rang to tell me there was someone at the door...
I’m embarrassed to admit this, but in the back of my mind I was totally picturing that Lilongwe (our new city) would look like a scene out of the Lion King. In case you had that misconception too, let me confirm for you that it is vastly different. There’s dirt, for starters. Lots...
Hard to believe, but today’s the big day. Nine months of waiting over. Now all that’s left is to make it through the 20 hours of flying with the 4-year old. Fear not though, we’re prepared! We took some tips from our other foreign service friends who’ve done long...
This is my third post in a series celebrating my six month anniversary of going sugar free. If you’re just starting to read, you’re best off reading Post 1 and Post 2 first. In my second post I mentioned that one of my biggest challenges with going sugar free was the meal...
This is part two in a series about my experience giving up sugar six months ago. If you haven’t read part 1, you should really start there for some background info. This post is going to focus on the challenges I experienced and the results achieved. The First Few Days Day 1 of the...
Six Months ago today I started something that I honestly wasn’t sure I could complete. I decided to join a program that would help me cut sugar out of my diet and more importantly, help me free myself from what could only be called a sugar addiction. When I think about how I got...
Hard to believe but the movers come one week from today (Deep breath, everyone). As you might expect, the beginning of June was a whirlwind of graduations, good-byes, shopping and coughing (great timing for a sinus infection, right?) Grrr. Some days I feel totally in the groove, cranking...
I can’t place my finger on exactly when it happened, but sometime in the last week we kicked into full on prep mode. I was hoping to have 10 more days or so until the insanity hit, but ready or not, it’s planning time! I’m pleased to report that we had a very productive...
Remember back in 2009 when I was newly married and getting ready for our first overseas adventure? Funny how long ago that seems. Well, back before we shipped out, one of the posts that prompted a lot of conversation was the one I wrote about our Escape Bag or “Go Bag” as we...
Let’s start with the good news. WE WENT CAMPING! Yay us! Now for the bad news. We bailed after 24 hours. Here’s how it all went down: We left Friday around lunch, right after picking Nia up from preschool. We were headed to Jellystone campground in Luray, VA, a 90-120 minute...
We’re about 90 days out until “wheels up” for Malawi, which means it’s crunch time. It sounds like a lot of days, but I know from experience that it will evaporate in no time. Nick’s going to be focused on wrapping up his current job and starting his mid...
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Happy Holidays blog readers! Soooo, I was ridiculously lucky to kick off my holiday season in style with tickets to the National Christmas Tree Lighting (courtesy of cousin Kyle who works at the National Park Service). Not only did I get a ticket to this hard-to-attend event, but I also...
I started back up again at the hospital as a chaplain after taking the summer off to travel to MN. As I mentioned in an earlier post, back in May I wanted to quit because it felt too frustrating to be a beginner. I’m glad I came back though, because while it’s still hugely...
Remember when we moved to Peru in May of 2012? Seems like forever ago (look how small Nia is!) Happily, it’s that time again. I’m pleased to announce that our next adventure will be . . . Lilongwe, Malawi: July 2016 Get to Know Our Next Home: Where It Is: Malawi is a...
Happy Friday all! This is BREATH-TAKING. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did! Thanks for sharing it Laura!
Only one sleep ’til Daddy comes home and three sleeps ’til we get our next assignment!
October is definitely Nia’s month. She comes off a week of Birthday celebrations and heads straight into Halloween fun. The festivities began on Thursday with a Halloween parade and concert at her preschool. Friday she got to trick-or-treat at a middle school with her other...
It seemed fitting that our adventure-filled birthday extravaganza week should wrap up with a bang. And what better way than a tour of the White House, right? So that’s exactly what we did, courtesy of my generous relative Kyle (see background on Kyle HERE). The tour was self-guided...
It has been a week of non-stop birthday festivities in celebration of Nia’s 4th Birthday! I didn’t want to leave you out on the fun, so here’s a recap of all the action! Nana and Papa (Sarah’s Parents) arrived on a flight from MN late Friday night. Nia had been...
So, as I mentioned in my last post, my parents, sister and nephew were here for the weekend to celebrate Nia’s Birthday. And what weekend in DC would be complete without a little sight-seeing, right? The tricky thing is, they saw most of the “biggies” last time they were...
So this happened last Sunday! Every year the White House opens the South lawn to the public for a Spring or Fall Garden Tour. Having never been beyond the fence of the White House, I must say, it was ridiculously cool to be up so close. The timing was perfect too, as my parents, sister...
This morning I had the great honor of seeing Pope Francis after his address to Congress. This opportunity meant so much to me and I will always be grateful to MN Senator Amy Klobuchar for donating the tickets to my Alma Mater, St. Ben’s. How fortunate that I was able to get one of...
Hey folks – Long time, not talk, I know. I’m just not feeling it when it comes to blogging lately. Hopefully you’ve been getting along fine without my regular updates. :) So let’s get on to the updates, shall we??? First off, some good news – our family did...
As many of you know, Thursday was my birthday. The big 3-5. WHOA. To celebrate this momentous day, I crammed in a whole bunch of my favorite things – Caribou mocha-drinking, garage-saling, movie-watching – in addition to one new adventure, a trip to Fawn-Doe-Rosa Animal Park...
Being on the farm.
Getting to pick with your very own “Nia-sized” container.
Finding the “perfect” berry.
Strawberry juice running down your chin.
Eating a few strawberries right from the plant.
Being out in nature with people you love. xoxo
Ahoy mateys! We had the pleasure of venturing out on a pirate ship on the mighty seas (of the Potomac) this weekend. This kid-oriented 1-hour cruise was ridiculously fun, for adults and kids alike. Upon boarding, we worked on our pirate vocabulary, mastering words like scallywag, booty...
Last night we had the amazing good fortune of seeing MN-based singer/songwriter Peter Mayer perform in concert. My first introduction to Peter was back around 2000 when I saw him in a coffeehouse performance at St. Ben’s. I became an insta-fan and have been following his work ever...
DC got somewhere around five inches of snow last night and because it’s DC and they don’t deal with snow well, they closed the government and the schools for the day. We decided to take advantage of the fresh snowfall by heading out to play with our neighbors. It was an...
Saturday was my long-awaited chaplaincy training at the hospital. It was an 8-hour affair and required some serious focus due to the massive amount of information that we received in that short time. There were three other volunteers being trained as well, all women in their late...
The excitement is building folks. I’m just three days away from my 8-hour Chaplain volunteer training at the hospital! Today I met up with a chaplain (paid, not volunteer) and CTI-trained Coach who works at Georgetown University Hospital (thanks for the hook-up Christine)...
Warning: This post references poop. A lot. Skip it if you’re not into reading about that sort of thing… Potty-training hasn’t gone well for us. Our Peruvian Nanny started training Nia when she turned two (about the time of this picture) and had good success with getting...
We decided to stick around DC for Christmas this year, largely due to Nick’s lack of days off and the fact that we’ll be seeing our families in Feb & March. We’ve gotten used to quiet Christmases overseas, so this wasn’t all that different. Hopefully next year...
I’m sure you thought I was going to post about Christmas and I will soon, I promise. In the meantime, here’s a little look at Nia’s room make-over, which was six months in the making. We’re really trying to limit how much stuff we buy (especially furniture) so...
Today I had an interview for a volunteer Chaplain position. I wasn’t really sure what I was signing up for, nor did I know if I was qualified, but my intuition told me that I needed to pursue it. I met with the Director of the program who was a retired nurse and Episcopalian...
As you’ve probably read here or on Facebook, it’s been me and the Nia-meister for the last eight days while Nick was away in Russia and Ukraine. I was definitely nervous about how the week would go, so I deferred to my tried-and-true strategy, the book-every-minute-with...
Hi everyone–If you’ve been following Facebook you know that I’ve been solo parenting for 8 days while Nick took a work trip to Russia and Ukraine. He did plenty of working, but in his spare moments he made it to the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg (above) and Red Square...
It was a lovely, quiet holiday weekend for the Novaks. Nick made us a Thanksgiving feast complete with homemade pumpkin pie, turkey, mashed taters and gravy. I was totally spoiled! It was our first ever turkey and a major upgrade from the Dominos Pizza we had last year! Other Thanksgiving...
In this HILARIOUS video California Residents tried five Minnesota-y foods which included JELLO Salad, Lutefisk, Tator Tot Hotdish, the Juicy Lucy and a Nut Goodie. I almost died laughing watching them eat the Lutefisk. :) This is a must watch folks. PS – I am not surprised at all...
Hard to believe, but we are already halfway through our child-free getaway to the Mexican Riviera. We’re staying at a beach house in Akumal, which is located between Tulum and Playa del Carmen. I have to admit, we’ve been pretty lazy. There has been lots of napping, eating...
I sit here in bed writing this, not quite sure what to do with myself after coming off a jam-packed weekend with my parents in town. The “not sure what to do with myself” part comes from the fact that our daughter left with my parents on the airplane and it’s eerily...
Last weekend we took a family road trip to Philly. This was a very kid-centric trip and we had two specific destinations on our agenda. The first was Sesame Street Place, a Sesame Street theme park with rides, shows, and character meet-and-greets. Think Disneyworld, but with Sesame Street...
Nia and I just got back from a one week trip to Minnesota to attend Beth & Jim’s wedding (the 3rd of the 4 Miller gals). The festivities began on Friday night with the rehearsal and 50 person boat cruise on Lake Minnetonka for the Groom’s Dinner (Beth may have stolen that...
We decided to spice up Labor Day 2014 with a little trip to the countryside. We had intended for it to be a family trip, but Nick had to bow out at the last minute because the hot water heater was leaking. So it ended up just being Nia and I. After doing a bit of research we went with...
Once upon a time there was a coffee table (originally owned by a beautiful, blonde-haired lady). In its day this table was the center of girl chats, group board games and many a memorable dinner party. Sadly, it got abandoned to a warehouse when the beautiful, blonde-haired lady married...
It was about this time last month that I found myself in a bit of a conundrum. We were in the process of setting our new apartment up and it was very obvious that there was no room for my beloved custom-designed chaise lounge from the Philippines. I was heartbroken. I resigned myself to...
An Overview of Foreign Service Institute Courses The Foreign Service Institute is a sprawling complex located in Arlington, VA where Diplomats go to school. It is here that they may enroll in over 600 different Foreign Service Institute courses in leadership, job-specific training, area...
Okay, I have to share a delightful little thing I’ve stumbled upon. It’s called FreeCycle and it’s basically a place where you can give or get things for FREE. You simply go to the FreeCycle website to find a group near you (there are over 5,300 groups in the US, by the...
Hey all–Perhaps you’ve noticed I haven’t been writing much. Well, it hasn’t been for lack of interest, it’s just that I prefer to jump into the deep end quickly when arriving in a new place, as I’ve found that it makes me feel more connected and settled...
After a couple of frustrating weeks filled with ups and downs, I am pleased to report that we’re finally starting to gain some traction here in DC. Of particular note: We signed a lease in Crystal City (in Virginia) and move in during mid-to-late July. Grandma Janet is coming out...
If you’ve lived in DC in the summer, you know that it’s a muggy, sweaty mess. There are only two sure-fire options to beat the heat. 1.) Run from air-conditioned place to air-conditioned place or 2.) Get in (or on) the water. Given that we have a toddler that needs space to...