And I don't just miss the (somewhat) frequent posts I used to put on my own blog. I miss reading other's posts and feeling connected to other's lives.
This isn't me declaring that I'll be better about it, because I probably won't. I'm just saying. I miss y'all.
We're spending Memorial Day weekend with my in-laws at their house which is on a lake that's West/North West of Minneapolis. This is possibly the most relaxed I've been since coming home from our Disney/Universal week. There are many memories of spending time here with John before we moved to Texas back in '03. Then we'd come here any time we could on our vacations. Also, there are grandparents here to help with all the grand children (let me tell you...a house full of a six year old, two two year olds, a one year old, and a newborn is really, really crazy sometimes). The littles are really comfortable here because they were in this house when John, Malachi, and I were in FL. Simon was especially excited when he found out we were going to grandma and grandpas house. Coen got in the house on Thursday and proceeded to smile happily.
It unfortunately isn't super warm here. John's parents bought sea-doos right before we came up and I haven't been on one yet since it's so cold outside! Not to mention that the lake water is still super, super cold. That doesn't make for excitement to possibly be thrown in.
Yesterday I drove my first go-kart. It was fun, a bit terrifying, but fun. I think if I was provided a helmet I would have been a bit more adventurous.
Today we're getting together with John's aunts and uncles and cousins whom we haven't seen in years. The last time I remember seeing them was when Malachi was Coen's age. Crazy.
The kids were sick when we got into MN a couple of weeks ago, and I finally am showing signs of a cold. Blech. Hopefully it will go away by next Wednesday when I have the kids to myself for four days.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Still on Home Leave
We've gone to Disney World and Universal's Islands of Adventure
We've seen family and friends
Said family and friends have met Coen, and some even met Simon
We've learned of a fun new game (Dominion) and taught it to family
We've eaten more great food (and we started to eat more meals in my brother-in-laws house):
Famous Daves (MN BBQ is not as good as TX BBQ)
[More] Jimmy John's
Papa Murphy's
Probably others that I can't think of right now
We went to the lake to spend a night at John's parent's house to pick up the kids
We've watched movies in my brother-in-law's home theater
We fish-sat
We puppy-sat (for about a day)
We've done dishes (BTW washing dishes by hands has proven to be very cathartic during Home Leave)
I've washed laundry (and not folded or put away, per tradition)
Once we're done with home leave I'll post more about it and how I feel about it, currently though, the outlook isn't great.
I was going to post pictures, but I can't seem to get the computer to read the card. :/ Hopefully John can get it to work.
We've seen family and friends
Said family and friends have met Coen, and some even met Simon
We've learned of a fun new game (Dominion) and taught it to family
We've eaten more great food (and we started to eat more meals in my brother-in-laws house):
Famous Daves (MN BBQ is not as good as TX BBQ)
[More] Jimmy John's
Papa Murphy's
Probably others that I can't think of right now
We went to the lake to spend a night at John's parent's house to pick up the kids
We've watched movies in my brother-in-law's home theater
We fish-sat
We puppy-sat (for about a day)
We've done dishes (BTW washing dishes by hands has proven to be very cathartic during Home Leave)
I've washed laundry (and not folded or put away, per tradition)
Once we're done with home leave I'll post more about it and how I feel about it, currently though, the outlook isn't great.
I was going to post pictures, but I can't seem to get the computer to read the card. :/ Hopefully John can get it to work.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
My First Home Leave
So far we've...
Eaten at:
Celebration
Campuzano
Jimmy John's
Krispy Kreme (twice)
Mama's Daughter's Diner
Breadwinner's
Hard Eight
Quick Thai Bistro
Papa Murphy's a.k.a Cafe Moore's
Cafe Dunham's
and some insignificant places.
We've seen lots of friends, a few family members, and missed out on some sick family members. We've driven almost 2,000 in our brand new Mazda CX-9.
It's been fun, and it's been exhausting. Being stuck in a small room with all three kids is a challenge. We've said good bye to the littles, and prepared for my and Malachi's first trip to Disney and we take off early tomorrow for that.
I don't know how people keep up with blogs during home leave! It seems like an impossibility at this point.
Eaten at:
Celebration
Campuzano
Jimmy John's
Krispy Kreme (twice)
Mama's Daughter's Diner
Breadwinner's
Hard Eight
Quick Thai Bistro
Papa Murphy's a.k.a Cafe Moore's
Cafe Dunham's
and some insignificant places.
We've seen lots of friends, a few family members, and missed out on some sick family members. We've driven almost 2,000 in our brand new Mazda CX-9.
It's been fun, and it's been exhausting. Being stuck in a small room with all three kids is a challenge. We've said good bye to the littles, and prepared for my and Malachi's first trip to Disney and we take off early tomorrow for that.
I don't know how people keep up with blogs during home leave! It seems like an impossibility at this point.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Chaos
The BRU over at Jill's blog this week is about chaos. Check it out on Friday. My entry is a photo essay. I think you'll understand.
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| What did they pack up?! |
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| Crib parts and other random junk |
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| My child's bedroom on a nutshell...or multiple boxes |
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| They took the sheets with everything else! |
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| Suitcase stuff in my closet |
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| They hadn't finished here before their lunch break. |
Thursday, April 12, 2012
kitchen is "organized"
Tonight John and I went through every inch of our kitchen and made three lists: UAB (air/fast-ish), suitcases, and get rid of. Anything that didn't make it on those lists is going HHE (ship/slow).
It's nice to have that done, to know what is going where. And that's the only room in the house that's completely organized. But upon thinking about our house, we've realized that we really don't have that much stuff. It feels like we do, because we have a full house. Most of the furniture is from the Embassy, though. We got rid of a ton of stuff at the garage sale, and still have more to get rid of.
We probably won't get close to our weight limit on this end.
But the shopping...
We're going to do a ton of shopping in the States. We might close up the gap in D.C. We also plan on shipping some stuff to ourselves in Manila.
I'm still a bit sad about leaving, but I'm getting really excited about the time we're going to spend in the States. And I'm excited to go to Manila. I really am.
We don't have sponsors assigned yet, that I know of, or a housing assignment but once we hear about those, I'll be even more excited.
I had a job interview tonight for a position in the Consular Section and I'm pretty excited about it. I'd be doing fingerprinting, which sounds like the exact amount of mental stress that I want the next two years: none.
I feel like I did really well, and I look forward to hearing back from them.
It's nice to have that done, to know what is going where. And that's the only room in the house that's completely organized. But upon thinking about our house, we've realized that we really don't have that much stuff. It feels like we do, because we have a full house. Most of the furniture is from the Embassy, though. We got rid of a ton of stuff at the garage sale, and still have more to get rid of.
We probably won't get close to our weight limit on this end.
But the shopping...
We're going to do a ton of shopping in the States. We might close up the gap in D.C. We also plan on shipping some stuff to ourselves in Manila.
I'm still a bit sad about leaving, but I'm getting really excited about the time we're going to spend in the States. And I'm excited to go to Manila. I really am.
We don't have sponsors assigned yet, that I know of, or a housing assignment but once we hear about those, I'll be even more excited.
I had a job interview tonight for a position in the Consular Section and I'm pretty excited about it. I'd be doing fingerprinting, which sounds like the exact amount of mental stress that I want the next two years: none.
I feel like I did really well, and I look forward to hearing back from them.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Our last CR vacation
The topic for the BRU this week is vacations.
In February we went to Tamarindo for our third and last time. We dubbed it our favorite place in Costa Rica, and chose it as a good place to meet John's parents who flew into the Liberia airport.
It was fun, but a bit bittersweet knowing that it was our last trip there. We didn't get awesome photos from that trip unfortunately, but I'll share a few.
In February we went to Tamarindo for our third and last time. We dubbed it our favorite place in Costa Rica, and chose it as a good place to meet John's parents who flew into the Liberia airport.
It was fun, but a bit bittersweet knowing that it was our last trip there. We didn't get awesome photos from that trip unfortunately, but I'll share a few.
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| Simon climbed into Coen's bed |
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| Yes they are...and they're amazing |
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| A cold beer on a hot day |
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| A cold lemonade on a hot day |
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| Simon being awesome |
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| Coen copying Simon |
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Insurance Fun
One thing I love about the Foreign Service...Insurance.
Now, if you're Jen you'll completely disagree. But I've had nothing but good experiences from the Foreign Service Benefit Plan.
I love the system of paying upfront and then sending in receipts to get reimbursed. I love not having medical bills to worry about. I wish I could do this in the States as well, but health care in the States is so expensive, I don't think it would work.
Health care costs in Costa Rica:
Pediatric Visit: $80
Physical Therapy Appointment (for baby): $34
Complete blood count (nurse friends help me here: Why is it called complete and then they need to order other things? It doesn't seem so complete to me.) and extra labs for pediatric neurologist: $87
Prenatal Exam: $70
Prenatal Ultrasound $50
Being able to call the Dr's on their cell phones at any time: free (and priceless)
I have to say, I really am going to miss the private health care system in Costa Rica.
Now, if you're Jen you'll completely disagree. But I've had nothing but good experiences from the Foreign Service Benefit Plan.
I love the system of paying upfront and then sending in receipts to get reimbursed. I love not having medical bills to worry about. I wish I could do this in the States as well, but health care in the States is so expensive, I don't think it would work.
Health care costs in Costa Rica:
Pediatric Visit: $80
Physical Therapy Appointment (for baby): $34
Complete blood count (nurse friends help me here: Why is it called complete and then they need to order other things? It doesn't seem so complete to me.) and extra labs for pediatric neurologist: $87
Prenatal Exam: $70
Prenatal Ultrasound $50
Being able to call the Dr's on their cell phones at any time: free (and priceless)
I have to say, I really am going to miss the private health care system in Costa Rica.
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