traditions

I'm en route to Utah at the moment (currently above Boulder, CO), and I am so excited to spend Christmas with my family, especially considering we will be in Africa this time next year. Tonight we will be going out (ordering in?) for Chinese, having our annual book exchange, the kiddos will be putting on the Nativity play and I'm sure I'll spend many hours helping my sister wrap presents. Tomorrow we get to watch a bunch of cute kids open presents, and then eat our traditional Christmas brunch made up of baked apples, lil smokies and orange rolls (an integral part of the feast, Mom). It will be great.

Who knows what next year will bring. Will I be desperate for things to be exactly as I remember them (I can see myself demanding my mom send me a package of lil smokies and whatever familiar ingredients we won't be able to find in Guinea), will we adapt the holiday to be Africa friendly, or a mix of the two? I can't wait to find out.

Christmas came early!!! (for real this time)

Because we're headed to Utah before the sun rises tomorrow, we celebrated our little Christmas today.



I kind of struggle with gift giving, so every time Mister would mention something he wanted, I would run out and buy it. Sadly this meant that he found out what most of this presents were, because when he suggested we go to the store to buy said items, I gave him a look that he correctly interpreted as meaning that I beat him to it. Despite the lack of surprise, he was pleased with the gifts he received.

Here he is wearing practically all of the clothing items he received. Love that the camera's flash made him look like the movie Tron.



Here I am wearing a few of my presents. The hat was one of those things I mentioned in my last post that I wrapped just so I would have lots of presents to open. The sunglasses are my first real pair (meaning they cost more than $10) and they are RAD. They double as mirrors. I may or may not still be wearing my hat.



This picture is blurry, but it totally captures the frantic way Mister opens his gifts. It's quite funny.



Lastly, a little video of my handsome fellow.



Merry Christmas everyone!

footwear

I so wish these slippers were appropriate to wear in public. They are like wearing a warm hug. A very ugly warm hug. I love them. You probably need a pair of your own.

December happenings

-I was feeling like a grinch last weekend, so Mister and I went on a tacky lights tour. We saw some doozies, including one set to music. Here's a little taste:

-In all the years I've lived in DC, I've never seen the National Christmas tree, until this year. Here's the artsy fartsy semi-successful photo I took. Can you spot it?

-I've been living off clementines, peppermint ice cream with homemade hot fudge, and candy cane joe-joe's this week. Totally worth the 5 or so pounds I've likely put on.

-The one exception was the Thai Ginger Chicken Burgers I made one night. They were unique and delicious! If you'd like to try them out, let me know and I'll send you the recipe.

-To off-set the above, I've actually been running (shuffling). I went 5 times this week, ranging from 2-4 miles each time! The weather has been less than pleasant, including one day when I spent more time running sideways and backwards, thanks to the wind. (At least with treadmills you're covering some distance, instead of going a negative distance when you're being shoved back by the wind). Still, I'd much rather run outside in horrible conditions than on a treadmill.

-We bought Mister some cold weather running gear so he can go with me, including running tights. His legs are better looking than mine.

-Speaking of running, I'm not sure if I'm building up some stamina or if it was pure luck, but I ran so much better today than I did the other times this week. I could go farther on my running stretches and it felt a little easier. Yay for me.

-On New Years Eve, we're going to run a 4 mile race with our friends Ben and Erica. Instead of a t-shirt, they're giving us sweatshirts. I'm kind of excited about that.

-We saw Tron Legacy last night. I really enjoyed it. Especially the 80's-esque techno soundtrack and the Daft Punk cameo.

-There are a handful of people in training right now that are headed for Conakry in the next 8 months and we had an opportunity to meet a few of them at a little happy hour on Thursday. They all seem really great and I'm looking forward to getting to know them better.

-I am almost done with my Christmas shopping! I just need to get my mom's present (I already know what it is, I just need to go get it) and finish the scarf I'm making for Mister. (shhh...don't tell him.)

-Maybe I've been wrapping the things I've bought for myself this month (not necessarily intended for the holiday) and putting them under the ficus tree so that I have more things to open on Christmas.

-Oh, we strung lights up on the fake ficus in our apartment. Very festive!

-I took an English teaching seminar a few weeks ago. One of the little segments was taught completely in Russian so that we'd have a little taste of what an English language class might be life. It was terrifying and practically impossible. If French class is anything like that I'm basically screwed.

-I went to the travel office to see what immunizations I need to get before we head out in August. The grand total? 7 immunizations, but 10 shots total. My poor arms!

-Speaking of leaving in August, I was talking to another guy headed to Africa as an ARSO about it, and he said that if Mister gets a 2/2 (speaking/reading) proficiency on any of his progress tests (that's what he has to test at before we go to Guinea), they might send us sooner. Oh please no. I am mentally prepared (but not really) for an August departure. I don't think I could handle leaving any sooner.

-I'm counting down the days until we fly out to Utah for Christmas. (6 days!) I love Christmas with the nieces and nephews. They're so much fun!

Christmas came early!!!

Emergency preparedness is one thing, but this is ridiculous!

running in place

Today I learned that running into 25 - 35 mph winds is not quite as effective as running on a treadmill.

I'm POOPED!

Coming to a fridge (or holiday card pile) near you.

When I ran my first marathon in 2007, I was so proud of my accomplishment and wanted to share it with my friends and family. I was at a friends house, showing off my medal, and she suggested that a Christmas photo card would be a fun way to do it. We went online, found a card that I liked at Shutterfly, uploaded a few pictures of me on race day, added a catchy little greeting and called it good. The process took all of 20 minutes, and a few days later I was on my way to showing the world how amazing I was. (I'm so humble.)

As you know, we're moving overseas next year, and I think that sending Christmas cards would be such a fun way to stay connected, especially to those who don't read my blog and know what I've been up to all year. I don't know about you, but I absolutely love reading the family updates that many people include with their cards, especially when they're clever and funny. I'm not so much either of things, and I don't really think Mister and I would have enough stuff to fill an entire page, so I love the idea of these holiday story cards. You get to include a little bit of what you've been up to, but don't have an opportunity to get long winded. 

 Christmas Letter Christmas Card

Love 2010 Christmas Card

I thought that it is never too early to get in the habit, so Mister and I have decided to send cards out this year too. Shutterfly has TONS of options. Thankfully, you can easily narrow them down based on your preferences. Here are some of our favorites for this year:

Scrapbook Style Blue Christmas Card

Cinnamon Sweet Stars Christmas Card

Gifted Tag Christmas Card

Charming Holly Wreath Christmas Card

I think we've figured out which one we'll use, but the trick will be finding a picture of the two of us that doesn't emphasize my mullet non-haircut. Cross your fingers for me!!


Hey bloggers...would you like 50 free photo cards? Check out Shutterfly's cool promotion here!

Catch-up

I guess it's time for my bi-monthly recap. I'm not quite sure why I'm having such a hard time blogging...I basically spend all of my time watching TV in my pajamas. Well I guess we have the problem and the answer all wrapped up in a pretty bow. Actually I have done some things worth talking about lately, but I had a busy week going to classes at the Foreign Service Institute. If you are a foreign service spouse I highly recommend taking advantage of them. I've learned a whole lot about what I'm getting myself into.

Well, let's back up a week or two. Veteran's Day was such a beautiful day here in the greater DC area. I grabbed my awesome new (very old) camera, and Mister and I went to Arlington Cemetery to honor our Veterans.

I love that place so much. We were able to watch the French lay a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier and Mister recognized a former Secretary of Defense in full dress uniform as we were leaving.

On Friday, my friend Abbie and I drove down to Richmond to participate in their marathon series. Abbie ran the half marathon and I "ran" the 8K. We had a great time checking out the expo, watching a girlie movie, enjoying some good old fashioned girl talk, and of course running the race.

 (not Abbie)

Mister and my anniversary was on Sunday. We celebrated the day largely apart thanks to a work outing Mister had in the morning. The rest of the day was lovely though. The darling kids we teach at church wrote us a big note on the chalkboard, and then we had a delicious and very fancy dinner at Kinkead's. If you like seafood and feel like splurging on an amazing meal, you should go. We had the crabcake appetizer and the cod topped with lobster and crabmeat as our entrees. It was amazing.

We tried to incorporate a bunch of things from our wedding day into our anniversary. We had the same caramel apples we gave out at our dinner (thank you Betsy!), I wore the perfume I got specifically for the big day, I wore my something borrowed and something blue (my grandma's brooch), and Brian was sick. At least this year it was just a cold sore (so no kissing...boo) instead of the swine flu. And actually...I wore one of our wedding colors too. Unintentional, but totally appropriate.

The classes I've taken at FSI really have been so informative, learning the in's and out's of moving overseas. I really feel like I'm better prepared to go now, even though I still have a lot to do! Two tidbits that DIDN'T make me feel better about going? Seeing Conakry specifically named in a slide during the post evacuation session, and the Med Unit suggesting we all consider being part of the DNA identification program. You know, just in case.

On this day, exactly one year ago

Happy Veteran's Day!

I'll admit, in years past, I haven't given Veteran's Day a second thought. All it meant to me was a day off, or when working in the private sector, a day I wished I still worked for the government so I'd have a day off. You see, I've never really known anyone personally who had served in the military. Well, that's not true, my grandpa did serve in WWII, but I had never heard him talk about it. And, being the self-absorbed person I am, if something isn't affecting me personally right in the moment, it isn't really on my radar.

Then I met Mister and heard his stories about the many years he spent serving in the Army, how proud he is of the things he accomplished during that time, and learned how his experiences changed him as a person. I came to understand the sacrifices he made to serve our country and the sacrifices that his family made by sending him off to foreign lands with hopes that he would return home safely.

Now I better understand the importance of today; to honor those among us who have sacrificed so much to protect the freedoms that we all enjoy. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Happy birthday?

My 30th birthday last year was a quiet one. Mister and I had just moved to the area a few weeks before, so we had a nice dinner out (complete with a flaming orb of cotton candy for dessert) and went to see a movie afterward. While I had a great time with my favorite person in the world, I was a bit bummed that we were so far away from all of our friends and family (we hadn't yet met our favorite Houston friends) for my big 3-0.

If all goes as planned, we will arrive in Guinea one day before my birthday next year. Being in a strange country is not how I would prefer to spend my day, in fact I'm kind of dreading it. (I'm predicting I'll spend it in shock and/or tears.)

I know it's still 9 months away, but any ideas as to how to make the day a good one?

This time I'm serious

I've posted several times in the last year or so that I'm getting serious about running again, only to not get serious about running again. Well this time I'm actually serious. How could I not, with the fabulous W&OD trail (second only to the Mt. Vernon trail on my list of favorite running trails) a measly 1/2 mile away from my apartment?! Unfortunately it's at the bottom of the hill that leads to my complex, making that final walk home quite dreadful.But add to that the cutest cool weather running shirts and the *cough* 70 dollar custom made insoles and brand new shoes I just purchased, I'm ready to forget the dreaded climb. I even have some races in the pipeline that I may or may not be ready for, like the Richmond 8K this weekend, the Jingle All The Way 10K December 12, and possibly the Quantico Turkey Trot 10K on Thanksgiving. Right now I'm up to 4 miles of walking/a motion slightly faster than walking intervals. Not too bad of a starting off point. Things can only get easier right? Bring on the blisters and shin splints!

Utah

My fam, minus Matthew and Mister

One of the great things about having literally no responsibilities (and one final paycheck to burn) is that I could just drop everything (or in my case nothing) and fly home for important events like my dad's surprise birthday (the big 6-5) and Caroline's 3rd at the age appropriate Bouncing Off the Walls and celebrating All Hallow's Eve with a barbie, a sassy cat,

nacho libre, a sumo wrestler, hermione granger, harry potter,

a hippo, a monkey and two other costumeless kiddies. I especially enjoyed teaching the art of candy sorting and trading to Abby and Thomas. I couldn't let them go one more year without letting them know that bartering is so much more fun (and rewarding) than just giving their candy away.

I loved running errands with these little guys and contorting myself so they could each hold a hand on the drive. We have come a long way from past trips when they would burst into tears just by looking at me.

I'll never forget the "trick" this iguana played on us at the zoo. We were just minding our own business, checking out all of the birds and turtles when all of the sudden, THUD! this not so little guy drops out of the sky, missing Ab and Thomas by mere inches. We're laughing about it now, but it scared the crap out of all of us.

I got to catch my 8 year old nephew Jake's soccer game while we were there. I tell you what, I can't handle things like that. The anticipation, the excitement is just too much for me. I told Brian that our kids will only be allowed to play organized sports if he'll take them to the games.

It was a great trip. I can't wait for Christmas to do it all over again, this time with Brian in tow. I know the kiddos missed him. (I think they like him better than they like me. Probably because he gives them cool things like badge pins and teaches them all of his fancy handcuffing techniques.)

And in other news, I've lived here for three weeks now and this is the state of my freezer. Can someone PLEASE teach me how to grocery shop? I'm hopeless. Too bad I can't include ice cream in my consumables shipment. It's the only thing I know how to buy. 

Good eats

Seeing my old friends again was top on my list of reasons I was so excited to move back to DC (or rather Northern VA), but food was a not so distant second. I haven't tried lots of fancy things and generally don't make it out of Fairfax and Arlington, but I just have to share my favorites (they're too good to keep to myself). These are not to be missed (in my humble opinion)! :)

Lost Dog Cafe: Before their recent renovations (and still a bit even now) Lost Dog was a hole in the wall, but those generally make the best restaurants don't they? This place serves (cheap) gourmet sandwiches and pizza. My favorites: The Big Dog, HCBLT, and the San Diego with chicken salad. Delish. Fun fact...I was introduced to a certain handsome fellow there one fateful January evening.

Nielsen's Frozen Custard: The east coast sister of the Nielsen's chain in my home state of Utah; their custard is delightful (I prefer the vanilla, but caramel cashew is delicious), but I go there for their sandwiches. I always get the turkey and avocado with a side of fries (and for all of you displaced Utahns looking for a fix, don't forget the fry sauce(!!), ).

The Italian Store: Nestled inside a wee little Italian specialty store are the most delicious italian sandwiches and pizza. I once had my parents fly one back to Utah for me they're so good. The milano sub and their white pizza are my favorites. They also have delicious cannoli.


BGR The Burger Joint: Mister and I just discovered this tonight, but it's worth mentioning. A titch pricy for a burger, it's worth every penny. Mister got their hoity toity best seller, the Wellington, which he declared the best burger he had ever eaten and I got The Burger with American cheese, and am still dreaming about it 4 hours later. Next time I go there I'm going to get a side of The Green Standard, which is grilled asparagus spears sprinkled with parmesan cheese. One of the employees there had whipped up an order for himself and so kindly let us try them. They were amazing!

Tacklebox: The most buttery, mouth watering fish tacos I've ever had. Worth fighting Georgetown traffic to eat there.

While you're in Georgetown, you might as well grab a cupcake (or a dozen) at Georgetown Cupcake. There's usually a line, but I'll do pretty much anything for a good cupcake. Their chocolate hazelnut, strawberry, and milk chocolate birthday are yum, as are the toasted marshmallow (but only if you find yourself there in January).

2Amy's Pizza: They are one of the only restaurants certified to use the ingredients necessary for an authentic Neapolitan pizza. I like the traditional margherita, especially since there is no oregano or dried basil to be found (not a fan).


Great American Restaurants, specifically Coastal Flats and Carlyle Grand. I ate crabcakes for the first time at Carlyle and cried tears of joy, and once had a mahi mahi dish that was so good I wanted to lick the plate clean. I got an insider tip at Coastal Flats and get the sauteed shrimp with grit cakes, hold the grit cakes and add angel hair pasta. If you happen to save room for dessert, their banana pudding is to die for.

Eastern Market: It's an outdoor market, but inside the food hall is the most delicious breakfast ever. Basically it's all good.

Next time you find yourself in the DC area, check these out (and pretty please invite me to tag along...)

Improvisation

Our apartment came fully furnished, which was very helpful considering most of our belongings are (hopefully) in a storage facility somewhere in Maryland. Unfortunately though, the Oakwood's idea of what is a necessity is slightly different than mine. I had to buy* a hand mixer, a cooling rack (and who knows what else before my time is up here), and had my dinner guests bring their own blender so that I could pulverize their soup before they ate it. Because we had guests, I of course bought flowers. What do you think of my vase? (Oh, and our color coordinating napkins came from none other than Taco Bell. We're so classy!)

*When this whole adventure is over, 20 years down the road, it will be interested to see what we've accumulated over the years. I have a feeling we'll have like 6 hand mixers, 27 cookie sheets, 68 towels....

Catch up

Whoa, the last few weeks have been BUSY! I'm now in DC and settling into my new (temporary) life here. I didn't realize how stressed out I was until I noticed how much I had been laughing since we've moved. Now that  I'm here I have to figure out what to do with my time. I swear, being a lady of leisure isn't all it's cracked up to be. I need to figure out a routine or something. I haven't managed to do much of anything besides sleep in and watch lots of TV.  I need someone to give me a reason to take a shower and brush my teeth before 5pm. As for Mister, he's having a hard time staying awake during class, but loves not having any real responsibility. I have a feeling he's going to have a rude awakening when we finally make it to Guinea and he actually has to DO something!

Before we left TX, our friends Danielle and TJ threw us a little goodbye party. They are THE best at throwing parties. There was a safari theme and even party games; a safari (gaming? poaching?) with marshmallow guns and a trivia game "Which Guinea is My Guinea." We had so much fun and we're going to miss our great friends in TX.

Our movers came Tuesday (taking the entire day to pack up our 1000 sq ft  apartment that we had already half packed) and we borrowed an air mattress from our friends to get us through to our drive out date of Friday. Well, I forgot to set aside a few blankets so it was a bit of an uncomfortable nights sleep, so we decided to roll out late Thursday night (like 11:00 pm) after we had said goodbye to our jobs and our friends. The drive was mostly uneventful, with no incident until the final two hours. Mister and I each drove a car out here, and in an effort to keep other cars from getting between us, Mister employed his motorcade driving skills, which meant that when a car approached us, depending on where they were or what they were doing, Mister would either pull up right behind me (definitely not within the acceptable three car lengths), or pull to the right or the left of the lane. Just outside of Winchester, VA Mister was pulled over for drunk driving. He wasn't of course, so he didn't get a ticket, but the officer wasn't amused or impressed with his driving technique. I was though, it made me feel important. Driving into DC felt so normal, as if I had never left. My friend Erica said that it's as if I just took a year long vacation to Houston, and it really does feel that way.

your recommendations please

Last weekend Mister and I caravanned up to his mom's house in Arlington, where he'll be storing his baby car while we're in Africa. It was the perfect dry run for this weekend, when we caravan up to DC . I learned something very important on this trip, and that is that Mister's toes are made out of feathers and mine are derived from lead. So either we're going to have to determine our stopping point at the beginning of each day and drive at our own leisurely pace (our definitions of leisurely being totally different), or figure out some way to merge our driving styles. I don't think he'll let option A happen, so compromise it is. What this equates to is more time in the car for me (although maybe I can convince him that driving faster is better, considering we don't have anyone to swap out for a rest).

Since I'll be spending at least 22 hours in a car all by my little lonesome, I will need lots of things to listen to. I have some awesome songs on my iPod(s), but I think I need something fresh and new for the drive. Would you do me a favor and pass along your best roadtrip worthy podcasts, audio books and music recommendations? I would really appreciate it!

Treasure hunting

Mister and I spent Saturday morning clearing out his old storage unit in preparation for our big move. There were so many interesting things in there, like a box full of phone numbers on napkins (some written in lipstick) from the good ole days, and also some actually awesome things, like darling pictures of him as a little kiddo (he looked like Spock from the Star Trek movie that came out last year), a Texas A&M plaque he found in an antique shop in Turkey, notes from his patrols in Iraq, and this:

What is that you ask? That is the first guidon banner (like a unit specific military flag) used by the Afghan National Army. Why does he have one? Well, he was deployed shortly after September 11th to help train the first battalions of the newly created Afghan National Army, and was tasked to design the banner because he was the only American at the Kabul Military Academy who could read and write the Arabic script. He says it may be in a museum one day. Isn't that neat? He doesn't like to brag, but he's done some pretty amazing things in his life. Good thing he has me to do his bragging for him...

Speaking of his life, it's his birthday today (10/10/10). Happy happy day to him!

Doppelganger

There was a trend on facebook several months ago that had everyone changing their profile pictures to one of a famous person they've been told they looked like. I did not participate in that trend (kind of because I just don't do what everybody is doing) but also because I don't look like anyone famous. Well, until now. I FINALLY found my doppleganger.

Behold:

Heading out - a list of sorts

Mister was finally HR paneled late Thursday, so we are a go for Guinea. Mister and I have decided that instead of having me stay in Houston for a few months, I will drive out to DC with him, oh, next Friday. With about a week and a half to go before the movers come (provided the can come on that short of notice) we're a little overwhelmed with things to do.

We/I have:
*purchased the car we'll take with us to Africa
*gone through the boxes we never unpacked when we moved to Houston a year ago (finally)
*sent two trucks full of unwanted things to goodwill
*given our squeaky spare bed to a nice Mexican man
*thrown countless bags of trash away
*picked out classes for me to take in DC (including a 6 month French class)
*met with Mister's boss to discuss important things about moving/living overseas
*told my supervisor that I will be leaving soon
*started to sort our belongings into different piles according to where/how they'll be shipped
*had dinner with our friends who are moving to Uganda in January (and have been extremely jealous that they have the luxury of time)

We still need to:
*have the orders cut, (so we can)...
*schedule our move
*get insurance for our belongings
*confirm that the lien holder on our car will allow us to take it overseas, if not, transfer the loan to someone who will
*finish sorting our stuff
*make an inventory of all of our belongings, sorted by shipment
*get my car inspected & registration renewed in TX
*give the leasing office our notice
*figure out if we need to have everything we're sending to Africa ready before we leave Houston
*if so, buy spare parts for our car, shloads of laundry detergent and dryer sheets, and other various things
*cancel our utilities
*purchase converters & UPS' so our electronics don't get fried
*break the news to the people I support at work
*drive Misters car to his mom's house in Arlington
*spend time with family/friends in Arlington
*clean out Misters storage unit in Arlington
*celebrate Misters birthday
*say goodbye to our Houston friends
*probably several more things I'm not aware of/can't think of right now

This is the most overwhelming thing EVER. I can't wait until the moving van pulls away so I can breathe again!

nothing

No news. Stupid panel.

Now I have to try to make it through the weekend with my future just out of reach and my husband a thousand miles away. He comes home on Monday only to leave again for good ( or at least until I join him in December/January) in two weeks if/when he gets his assignment. All I can think about is that my time with him is likely limited and I can't even be with him right now.

I'm a mess.

adventures of a freckle faced girl

The funny thing about this blog is that it's supposed to chronicle the adventures of a freckle faced girl. While I do have a plethora of freckles on my face, the truth is that I'm just not very adventurous. I mean sure, I'll drive 6 hours to visit my boyfriend (now husband) on a moments notice and I'll participate in a 200 mile relay, but I thrive in a stable environment and I'm allergic to adrenaline. I like travel, but only to destinations where the locals speak the same language as me (which is why I just got my passport last year at the age of 30). Well things are about to get (truly) adventurous up in these parts, because Mister and I are learning francais and heading to*....



Drumroll please....



....



....



Conakry, Guinea!




*provided nothing goes wrong in his impending HR panel.

deep breaths, part 2

It looks like Mister will indeed be paneled this Friday. Between the email he forwarded me and a conversation he had with his career development guy, I'm guessing that the panel will end with a handshake. If I'm right, his training will begin in less than a month.

Since it's basically a done deal, I'll give you guys a hint as to where we might be headed. Well, not so much a hint, but narrow it down to one continent...Africa. He's got one bid on each the east and west coast.

I know I sound like a broken record, but I'm freaking out. This is so scary to me!

Deep breaths

Mister just told me that there is a big panel* being held on Friday for several of the folks bidding on NOW positions. If Mister is paneled, they'll look at his bids and qualifications to see which, if any, is a good fit. This means, come next week, there is a good chance we'll know what our future looks like, whether it be staying in Houston for another year (or until some other NOW positions come up worth bidding on) or moving to DC in November for training, where we'd be for three to nine months depending on whether or not he gets the French speaking post he bid on.

Oh, I hope he gets paneled on Friday. This is killing me.


*this is foreign service speak for the group of people who make the assignments (or something like that).

bulletpoints (random thoughts and travel edition)

*The most amazing accident happened today. I grabbed my cell phone off my desk and it launched out of my hands, did a flip and landed in the side pocket of my purse, exactly where I would have put it if I didn't have butter fingers.

*Mister and I went to Richmond, VA for our friends wedding over Labor Day. The bride and groom met at our wedding last year and the rest is history. I was kind of a wreck because I had just found out my grandpa had died, but the day was lovely.

*I was a bridesmaid and may or may not have gotten my heel stuck on a little pile of dirt and stumbled my way down the aisle. Completely embarrassing.

*After Richmond we went up to Arlington for a few days. Mister and I pretty much recreated the week we met, eating at the lost dog cafe and visiting the monuments at night. The only thing we were missing was a visit to the ping pong table where we had our first kiss!

*Most everyone we know in the DC area was gone for the weekend, but we did get to hang out with our friends Erica and Ben and cousin Betsy. It was so nice to see some familiar faces. Oh how I miss DC.

*My friends here have started a dinner exchange. I have been gone the last two weekends and had completely forgotten about that. Imagine my delight when I realized I will only have to cook once this week, but have a week full of delicious meals. I'm giddy just thinking about it!

*Mister was supposed to be gone for a whole month with back to back work trips, but it's looking like he may be able to come home a few days early before leaving again. Yessssss!

*Sadly the second half will keep him out of town for his birthday which he's completely bummed about but oh do I have some tricks up my sleeve. It's going to blow his mind!

*I went to Utah the week before last for my grandpa's funeral. It was so great to spend time with my family and to hear so many stories about his very full life. He truly was an amazing guy. I'm a lucky girl to have him as my grandpa.

*I'm going to miss this house. I have very few memories of my childhood, but the ones I do include this hill. Rolling down it, and watching fireworks from it.

*The siblings are clearing out the house to get it ready to sell so we all got to go through and look for treasures. Mister took the job seriously and found some really neat things while donning his first find, this safari hat (he seriously wore it for hours), like this mink collar.

*Here's a close up. Isn't it the most disturbing thing you've ever seen?

*There really were actual treasures though. Next to the mink collar (actually there were two of them) was my grandpa's hat and dress uniform from the Army. It's so neat. I'll have to take pictures.

*Here are the girl cousins, aren't they all so pretty? I was so lucky to have so many cousins close in age. I even have one on my mom's side of the family.

*Mister may just think it's business as usual, but he has a really cool job.

*Not knowing where we'll be in the next few months (due to some outstanding NOW bids) is starting to get on my nerves. I want to make plans (like flights home for christmas) but can't. Ugh. Just tell me already!

*I found about a kabillion blogs written by people in the Foreign Service. On one hand I love hearing first hand about their experiences, but it also makes me feel like I don't really belong. I mean, they're living in exotic places (or are about to be living in exotic places, or just come back from living in exotic places) and are all interconnected and I'm just in Houston, living my normal boring life.

*One good thing about living in Houston though is Blue Bell ice cream. Their new flavor, snickerdoodle, is incredibly delicious.

*I am so happy that the fall TV season is here. I'm even happier that I have the capability of recording four shows at once on my DVR. I don't have any conflicts in my schedule, even after I added the new shows I'm interested in. Booyah!

Grandpa Scott #2

The TV station my grandpa worked for forever aired a little tribute on the news last night. How great is that?!

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Grandpa Scott

I'm going "home" tomorrow to say goodbye to my grandpa Scott who passed away last Thursday. He was a wonderful person and I'm going to miss him.

Scott R. Clawson 1917 ~ 2010 Scott Romney Clawson, age 93, died September 2, 2010 in Salt Lake City, in the presence of his three children. Scott will be remembered for his devotion to his family and church; for never uttering a word in anger or saying one bad thing about another human being. His sweet sense of humor is his legacy to all who knew him. But above all his love of Agnes will live for the ages. Scott was born April 6, 1917 in Salt Lake City, Utah to Shirley Young Clawson and Gertrude May Romney Clawson. Scott attended local schools, and four years at the University of Utah. He served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the British Isles from 1937-1939. Scott married Agnes Madsen in the Salt Lake LDS Temple, April 11, 1941. Shortly thereafter he was called to active duty in the Army and his division was one of the first to be shipped to the South Pacific after Pearl Harbor where his outfit participated in the New Guinea campaign. After the war he returned to KSL Radio in the Sales Department and in 1949 was one of the original founders of KSL Television. He retired after almost 45 years. His career included Production Manager, Program Director and Vice President of Programming. Beside his professional career he taught and supervised early morning LDS seminary at South High and Bryant Jr. High Schools for 28 years and taught English in a community adult education program. Scott's LDS Church service included being a guide on Temple Square, a teacher in various organizations and a ward historian. He served in various priesthood quorum presidencies, as ward membership clerk, ward executive secretary, bishop's counselor, stake Sunday School president, and on the Ensign Stake high council. Scott is survived by his three children, Bradley M. (Linda) Clawson, Cathy Brady, and S. Dennis Clawson; 10 grandchildren; 11 great-grand-children, including one set of triplets and two sets of twins; and brother Grant R. (Irma) Clawson. He was preceded in death by his wife Agnes, sister Frances (Lee) Jepperson and brothers Douglas R. (Alex) Clawson and Richard R. (Dorothy) Clawson. A special thanks to Intermountain Homecare Hospice for helping Scott to fulfill his wish to stay in his home. Friends may call at Larkin Mortuary, 260 E. South Temple on Thursday, September 9th from 6:00-8:00 p.m. Funeral services will be held Friday, September 10, 2010 at the LDS 20th ward (2nd Ave and G Street) at Noon, where friends may call from 11:00 a.m. Interment at the Salt Lake City Cemetery, 4th Ave. and N Streets. Online Condolences: larkin@larkinmortuary.com

bidding - plan b

Word on the street is that there are more people bidding this cycle than there are positions available. Like, three times more, and Mister is last on the priority list. So basically, he's not going to get any of the positions he's bidding for. Which means if we just wait it out we'll likely be sent to DC, which as far as I'm concerned is a great thing, but for Mister and his career, not ideal. So we're attempting to take back control of our future and are currently seeking out NOW positions (assignments that are available immediately), preferably ones that are hard to fill/critical need with a language requirement and not Saudi Arabia or Yemen. We've (or rather Mister) has bid on two so far, one of which he has a fairly decent chance of getting, as in he's the only person to bid on it so far.

I don't want to jinx it and tell you where it is, but I will tell you that it is NOT in the Middle East. Cross your fingers for us. (And if you could please reassure me that everything will be ok? I'm kind of freaking out.)

Birthday!!

I love having a birthday in August! I especially loved it growing up because school didn't start until after Labor Day, which meant a day full of whatever I wanted (and presents every hour). It's been a rough transition to adulthood where I'm expected to actually work on my birthday. This year, I returned to my roots and both Mister and I took the day off. The birthday festivities included cake (of course), the most delicious BLT I've ever had, the Downtown Aquarium (complete with a ferris wheel, carosel and some sort of brain scrambler), birthday wishes via facebook, email, phone, postal mail and Mister's various impersonations (Jimmy Stewart being my favorite), several naps, Misters birthday wish of a train ride coming true, and the (ongoing) anticipation of a Kindle. It was the perfect day.

Birthday BBQ

The company I work for gifted each employee with vast amounts of meat perfect for grilling as what I'm assuming is a congrats for making it through the last few hard years. Sadly, Mister and I have neither the freezer space, a grill, or really the appetites to eat it all ourselves (wait, strike the last one, we definitely have the appetites). What we do have are great friends willing to let us use their home and grill and to help us eat it. It just so happened that the meat would arrive within a week of my birthday but since I am weird about parties in my honor, I didn't want it to be a birthday party. I did, however, give Danielle permission to make a birthday cake. I was surprised (and delighted) when our little bbq turned into a full blown birthday celebration complete with balloons, streamers, birthday games and birthday presents (a cute shirt that says "It's ok to love Houston" and a rad pull down map of the world straight from someones classroom). It was great fun. Thanks everybody for making me feel so special!

Here are some pics from the evening:

My traditional birthday meal (burgers, baked beans, watermelon, clam dip and chips). Not pictured because I lack the ambition to make it: Grandma's potato salad.

Shots from birthday game #1: pass the parcel:

Jess when she discovered the magic dinosaur pill would not dissolve in her mouth as she had hoped:

Not pictured: photographic evidence of birthday game #2, which is a shame because it was so fun! If I can figure out how to compress a video, I'll post one of Conor and his unsuccessful but awesome attempt at acting out Winnie the Pooh (or rather Christopher Robin).

Here's the first attempt at a birthday cake picture, which captures possibly the second of four rounds of "Happy Birthday" (a stalling tactic so that we could take pictures before I blew out the candles).

And finally, success!