There is rarely a dull moment when taking Nia out in public here. She attracts loads of attention as a fair-skinned, blonde child (a rarity here, I’ll admit). It’s almost guaranteed that...
Foreign Service Life
Oooh, I am embarrassed by how behind I am on posting this. Totally meant to get it up before going to Malawi (and then while I was in Malawi) but the time never materialized. But better late than...
Muli Bwanji Readers (that’s Hello in the Malawian language Chichewa for those of you who didn’t know). Why am I speaking Chichewa to you when I’m posted in India, you might ask...
Nia was off last week for Diwali Break so she accompanied me to Lilongwe. Oddly enough, I didn’t spend much time with my daughter, as she had a totally different social calendar than I did...
Last Saturday we had the pleasure of attending the American School of Bombay’s Incredible India annual celebration. I continue to be in awe of the level of quality at which ASB does everything...
Nia turned seven in October, and ever since she’s been struggling to define herself as a big or little kid. On one hand, she desperately wants to be seen as a big kid doing cool, big kid things...
Happy 2019, my dear readers! If your December was anything like mine, then it is only a hazy blur in the memory. And the weirdest part is I can’t even think of what we did that kept us so busy...
I’m so excited to share this all with you. We just finished up what will undoubtedly be one of the coolest cultural experiences of our lifetimes — a 5 day wedding in a rural village in...
The food experience in Gujarat definitely merits its own post. For starters, it was all vegetarian, all the time. What was surprising was how many different distinct dishes they could make out of...
On the day we arrived they were doing Mehndi for the ladies. Mehndi is what we would call a henna tattoo in the States and is very common before an Indian wedding (for both the bride and the women...
Nothing excited me (or freaked me out) more than the clothes. I was given this basic information in advance: – There will be five events over three days. – People change clothes for every...
Hello Readers! This is the 5th and final installment of my Gujarat Wedding series. Today’s post will be on the various ceremonies that we got to witness as guests. I’m gonna be honest, I...
So I’ve been hard at work decorating for the last month. I’ve had furniture and mirrors hand-carved, slipcovers made, custom pillows & runners made, tons of painting done and 16...
Parenting is hard. Like really hard. Just when I think we’ve gotten through one issue, the next comes on full force. I find that aspect of parenting really exhausting. However, it has helped to...
I’ve mentioned in previous posts how much we love Nia’s school in Mumbai. They just go the extra mile in everything, which never fails to impress me. Take STEAM (Science Technology...
I have to say, I’m a bit embarrassed to be posting this so long after our tour ended in Lilongwe but better late than never, right??? If you’re interested in seeing the recap of our...
Hello everyone – Greetings from frigid Mumbai (overnight lows of 70 F). It’s no Minnesota snowstorm but we’re staying warm with extra layers. The Indians just can’t get over...
Hey Everyone – I’m short on time tonight, so no narrative along with this post. I will, however, come back later in the week and show you some more close-ups and explain what I was going...
I’m glad so many of you enjoyed my recent post about how I had decorated our apartment. I thought for today’s post I’d go into more detail about my design vision, the unique items I...
I’ve never been one to take many risks when there was the potential for injury. I was so injury averse, in fact, that I earned myself the nickname “Safe Sarah” from my family during...
We recently learned about the Cat Cafe Studio in Mumbai (near Versova Beach) and decided to check it out one Sunday. The premise of the cafe was simple — come sip coffee and munch on some food...
Three months ago I noticed that I had this strange little scratch on my chest. What was odd was that I didn’t remember scratching myself. So I slathered it with ointment each night, waiting for...
So unfortunately the surgery thing didn’t go as planned this morning. We got to the hospital at 7 AM and they were VERY disorganized (seemed to be just opening but I can’t imagine how...
I’m sure you’re wondering why I haven’t been writing these last few months. Well, it was a combination of things – lots of end-of-year activities, still finding work/life...
As I mentioned yesterday, I’m a wee bit behind on my blogging due to my computer dying. But I didn’t want you to miss all the excitement from April and May, so I’m just going back...
I feel someone tapping me and catch sight of the clock – it’s 5:58. “Mom, wake up!” Was it Christmas? Oh heck no. Even better. It was self-led conference day. What are self...
After 35 days away, I am finally reunited with my family and back in my own bed again! And boy oh boy does it feel good. As you might imagine, being away was quite novel at first… no demands...
Wasn’t expecting to write again this soon but jetlag has kicked in full force and I am wide awake as of 3 AM today. Speaking of early mornings, I wanted to introduce you to a new 2019 practice...
Greetings all – The Novaks are a little over halfway into our month-long R&R trip. We kicked things off by parting ways in Mumbai with Nick heading to South Africa for two weeks of diving...
We just wrapped up our fourth and final week of our 2019 R&R trip in a place that was about as opposite as you could get from Minnesota and Florida–Innsbruck, Austria! We found a lovely...
It’s my favorite time of year in Mumbai – Festival Season! For the next three months it’s non-stop festivals. This week is Janmashtami (Lord Krishna’s Birthday) & Dahi...
Oye. How did another month pass without me blogging?! This full-time working thing is getting in the way of me keeping you updated! I’d apologize, but it’s really work’s fault, not...
If you have been reading for awhile, you know that I like to keep it real. Mostly because keeping up a perfect facade is EXHAUSTING and I thankfully learned that lesson early in life (hello...
October has started out in spectacular fashion. The nine-day-festival of Navratri just came to an end on Monday. During this festival Mumbaikers honor the divine feminine by worshiping a different...
October has been such a stellar month. We’ve had three four-day-workweeks in a row. And here’s the best part – Nia had school on two of the three days we had off of work! You know...
What do you think of when I say the words “Hare Krishnas”? Most likely, you think of orange-clad devotees singing and proselytizing in airports in the 1970’s. And yes, you’d...
We were delighted to welcome our first visitors to India last week — my parents! Since all of us are working full-time, we had to jam a month’s worth of fun into a 10-day-trip. Thankfully...
Hi – This is Nia. This is my second blog post. We got to go to Bhutan last week and see this really cool Dzong (or fortress) in Punakha. I’m going to tell you about it in this post. And...
Happy Holidays all. I hope things are grand in your world. We just wrapped up a one week trip to Bhutan, also known as the Kingdom of Happiness. Since most people haven’t been to the Kingdom, I...
As I’m sure you can tell from the pictures and blog posts I’ve shared thus far, Bhutan as a whole was pretty darn special. However, there are three experiences we had that stood out from...
Hello everyone!! What happened to January?! I could have sworn I’d blogged last month but I guess that wasn’t so. Sorry ’bout that. Will try to compensate for that in February! When...
I haven’t written about Nia in awhile and I know she’s one of your favorite subjects so today I’m devoting an entire post to her! Nia is eight now and continues to evolve as a...
Hello dear readers – Goodness gracious, can you believe it’s mid-February already?? Everything feels like a blur lately, which is largely because work has been so intense. Happily though...
My 40th birthday is just around the corner (July 9th) and as a result, I’ve been thinking a lot about the concept of aging. I had a sobering moment the other day when I heard an old favorite...
I was feeling so good about things. Virus reports everywhere, yet nothing in Mumbai. Mind-blowing, given how many people are in India and what close proximity they live in. Now, it may just have been...
Uff da. It’s been a hard four weeks hasn’t it? I, for one, am EXHAUSTED. Trying to work, oversee school and cook/clean left me feeling hopelessly ineffective at all three. There’s a...
As promised, here are the details of our repatriation flight from Mumbai back to the U.S. If you haven’t read my last post then you should probably start there. That way you’ll have some...
I typically have a very positive outlook on life and can discover beauty in even the most challenging situations. This COVID-19 pandemic is really pushing my limits though. I’m having a hard...
One of the things that made me a great Life Coach was that I was deeply empathic, meaning that I could feel others’ emotions (especially pain) quite intensely. This served me well in coaching...
We transferred from Bend, Oregon to Minnesota on October 3rd. I knew it was risky coming back to MN in the fall but I was hoping for mild weather since we have no winter clothes along (who knew...