Meet Grace Banda. Grace is a ridiculously talented massage therapist who provides in-home massage in Lilongwe. I estimate that I’ve had around 250 massages in the last seven years, so I consider myself a pretty discerning consumer. This is good and bad. Good because I appreciate...
It’s a big week here at Casa de Novak. Not only does our new nanny Esther start tomorrow, but Scholasticah and her two daughters moved into the quarters on our property, where they’ll be living for the next two years. Please allow me to introduce them to you. The nine-year-old...
This past weekend was pretty much nonstop social engagements. We started the weekend with an Embassy-wide party at a mission member’s home. The party started around sundown (around 5:30) and invitees were asked to bring wine or a dish to pass. The Marines were also grilling hot dogs...
One of the things I love most about our life is the ability we have to see the world. Having two years on a continent really gives you time to dive deep into your host country and often the surrounding countries too. Nick and I both love to travel, so we make it a priority to start seeing...
I’ve been driving all of 10 days by now, so I thought I’d share what I’ve learned about the rules of the road here in Malawi: 1. Avoid hitting livestock that’s crossing the road (remember, that’s someone’s livelihood!) 2. Along those same lines, avoid...
So last week my neighbor Alison decided it was time for me to visit the fabric market. The fabric sold here is very unique – it’s all brightly colored and has wax in it. They call it chitenge. I had been hearing about this massive fabric market for weeks and was eager to go...
I know I’m not going to get much sympathy on this one, but I’ve been super stressed the last two weeks trying to find the right staffing fits for our household. If you remember back, I hired Davie (our Gardener) prior to getting here and he showed up for work the day after we...
Today was Nia’s first day of preschool in Lilongwe. School starts early here, around 7:15 AM, and gets out around noon. I am the family chauffeur now, needing to get Nia to preschool and Nick to work by 7:30. I am insanely proud of myself for pushing through the nerves and getting...
As many of you know, I like to jump right in when I get to post. If you remember, I was at Photography class on Day 5 in Manila and Spanish Lessons on Day 7 of Lima. In Malawi, my goal was to get out to see some legit African animals as soon as possible. Well, I’m pleased to say, we...
Apologies for the delayed post, the internet has been a bit wonky the last few nights when I’ve been trying to write. That’s Africa, I guess. Speaking of Africa, we’re coming to the end of our second week here. Crazy, huh? We’ve been at some fabulous posts with...
Hey All–I’m beat after a long day but didn’t want you to think I forgot about you, so today I’ll share a few funny stories and then give you a longer post tomorrow when I’m feeling refresh. Story #1: I was introducing myself to someone who was working on our...
Hey blog readers – Thanks for all the interest in our adventures. I’m really enjoying sharing our experiences with you. Thanks especially to those who’ve left comments on Facebook. Keep ’em coming! We’re coming off a wonderful weekend. We had two great...
Hi all–I was hoping to post pictures of our yard today, but I’ve been delayed. Hopefully I’ll have some up early next week. We have a big weekend coming up. We’ve been invited over for two BBQ’s/Dinner parties, which we are looking forward to immensely...
Day 2 started with (you guessed it) the doorbell ringing at 9 AM. Once again I was still in bed and groggily stumbled to the door in my pj’s. This time it was my neighbor (the one who had popped over the prior night). He had brought the most spectacular welcome gift–his wifi...
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...