Sunday, August 28, 2011

Sorry you can't tag along


The hardest part of going on a trip is leaving this little guy behind. If I feel like this over our dog, I can't imagine how I'd feel if we had kids.

Friday, August 26, 2011

Paris, ici i!


After 23 years of waiting, my dream is coming true. On Monday I board an 8 hour flight to the most romantic city in the world. Yes, Paris! Ever since I was 13 years old I've been wanting to go to Paris. I used to have a huge poster of this exotic city in my bedroom, and I would dream of walking along the Seine River, taking pictures of the Eiffel Tower, and seeing the Mona Lisa in the largest art museum of the world, The Louvre.

Now as an adult, I still plan to do all that and then some. But what I mainly want to do is walk around the city, take tons of pictures, sit and people watch, and have fabulous food and wine with my wonderful husband. And of course, I can't forget the chocolate croissants, which everyone raves about when they go to France.

Right now the thought of me going to Paris is still surreal. Once the wheels of the plane hit the runaway of the Charles De Gualle Airport tears of joy may actually run down my face. Oui, oui, Paris, here I come.

Getting Down & Dirty Does the Body Good

This past weekend Billy and I competed in the Merrell Down & Dirty, 10K Mud Run in Richmond, Va. I never thought I could incorporate 10 military style obstacles to a 6.2 mile run, all the while being covered in mud. My goal was not to walk once and not to bypass any obstacle course. I am proud to say, "mission accomplished". When I crossed the finish line I definitely felt bad ass and proud of my accomplishment. Now on to the next challenge, "Tough Mudder"!

Monday, August 8, 2011

Savoring the moment


Lately I've been on cloud nine. Billy is home and doesn't have a trip scheduled until late August, which I'll accompany him on, so this is definitely a good thing. It's been great to have him home. We've always been such close friends and enjoy each others company.
One more year of his coming and going then we'll be getting ready for our next assignment; hopefully overseas (keeping our fingers crossed). But for now I'm cherishing every minute of having him home.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Bidding on the future...

The summer bid list is finally out and we need to choose wisely. Especially if we want to go overseas, which has been our goal since the very beginning. Out of 150 current available posts, we need to narrow our search down to 15. Then let the politicking and paneling for a particular city/post begin. Rank, language training, evaluations and letters of recommendation from supervisors play a big part in the paneling process which then leads to a final hand shake from the higher ups. Once we get the hand shake there's no turning back, unless there's a life threatening emergency, otherwise we're going to that country. So, it's vital to do as much research on a country before placing a bid and hope that a 2 year post is not a regrettable one. But how does someone truly know until they get there? It's a leap of faith. And even though, such places as Prague, Paris, Bern, and The Hague are options which entice us, realistically we will not be wasting our bids on them because we will not get such places, especially it being our first post overseas.

With all that being said, we've decided since we're healthy, have no children and don't mind roughing it for a couple years (I always wanted to be in the Peace Corps). We're narrowing our list to primarily African countries with a splash of South Asian and a dash of 1 South American country. No sipping Caipirinhas on Corcovado Beach for me this time around. Instead, an eye opening, self reflecting experience with an exposure to seeing what true hardship is. If we don't get paneled for places, such as the Ivory Cost, Congo, Bujumbura, etc...then the gods are truly telling us to stay put for a little while longer.