Stonehenge, Big Ben and an announcement.

How is that for a loaded post? 

I went to London for two weeks because my dear friend, Dasha was expecting a baby.  She is currently living in Bulgaria, but decided to have her baby in London. I happily volunteered to come help to make sure that her girls were taken care of when she and her husband went to the hospital.  You know, I am just so magnanimous.  Or I really wanted to see Dasha and go to London.

Anyway. We had a great time, and one weekend we even had Kelly cross the English Channel with her two girls, and so for that entire weekend it was EIGHT girlies and Dasha's poor husband, Matt. He might not have had a great time, there may have been a vomit incident in the car where his daughter barfed on his FACE- GROSS. BUT the girls did.  We went to Stonehenge, saw Frozen, and just had a great girls weekend. 

The rest of the trip we went shopping, walking, went to the parks, drank hot chocolate, had Chipotle, ate soup. It was so much fun to hang out with Dasha and her family. 

I was able to see Big Ben and pay tribute to my own darling husband, with the same name. *wink wink*

AND the best part was little baby girl Sonia came while I was there! 

NOW for the announcement part of this post. 

Have I told you our next assignment?  You know, where we are moving this summer? No, well, we are going to 

GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA 

USA

To answer some questions:

Yes, this is with Ben's current job. He works for the State Department in Diplomatic Security, and they have offices all over the United States, and Greensboro is one of them. 

Yes, we are excited.

AND we are not that far from Washington DC, so we are hoping for a few road trips up there. 

Or perhaps you would like to come to NC for some beach time?  Yes?!?!  North Carolina is A LOT closer to almost all of our friends than Sri Lanka, just sayin'.

All the girls. 

So much different from the two boys I have at home, but SO MUCH FUN!!!!

Emma (Dasha's oldest daughter) and me in front of Big Ben.  We were there right when it struck 12, which was pretty sweet.

Count your blessings.

Remember in the classic movie "White Christmas"? It is one of my favorites, and one of my favorite songs is about about when you can't sleep, count your blessings.

Last night, I couldn't sleep, and started counting my blessings. It very quickly turned into thinking about all my friends and family that have blessed my life. Then I started writing letters to all those who have played a part in my life. The letter started getting long, and I was afraid I was leaving someone out. I was going to simply write a Facebook post saying how grateful I am for my friends and family, but several friends and family members aren't on Facebook.

 

So I am taking this opportunity to say I am so grateful for all of my friends and family. I have been blessed with amazing people in my life.

I could never thank you enough.

And I want to say that it doesn't matter if I have known you for years, or if we have just met, or never met in person, friends are friends, and you have still made a difference.

 

Love you lots and lots.

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Bonfire on a beach.

 

The Embassy community gathered to welcome all of our newcomers this weekend. This event did not disappoint. The highlight for me was the food, and the bonfire. There was a contest of who could bring the most interesting thing to burn (within reason). And since I am incredibly shy and generally avoid anything that would bring added attention to myself, (really? are you buying that? Didn't think so.) I brought an old bra. It brought a few laughs and I won a bottle of wine. Since I don't drink alcohol, I donated it to a friend.

It was a good night, and I will tell you, that now is a great to live in Colombo. There are some amazing people here right now. Not just in the Embassy community either. Everywhere I turn, there are fabulous people.

Hurry, hurry, if you are in the Foreign Service, and Colombo is on your bid list, I TOTALLY recommend it.

 

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Turning around.

We have been back a few weeks now, and as most of my friends told me would happen- I remember why I love living here.  

Jet-lag has been conquered, we have been hanging out with friends, and school starts for Jack tomorrow.  

You could say that things are looking up for our family.

Some pictures of our lovely adventures.

Sri Lankan food at a friends house. 

String hoppers, dhal, sambal, and other curry yummies.

These are our friends who had us over for dinner and the missionary couple assigned to Colombo.

Then we spent the day at a beach resort with some friends.

Playing by the pool:

The view of the beach from our pool loungers:

Entertaining the boys while eating at the hotel restaurant:

Vacation is good.

Let's just jump right into it.  Last you read, we were preparing for our trip to Utah.  That time has come and gone, and we are back in Colombo.  As we speak I am struggling with a strange mix of jet-lag and uber disgusting digestive issues.  Welcome home.  Welcome home.

However, let's not dwell on the negative.  Let's talk about vacation.  This was probably the best vacation we have been on as a family.  Some highlights.

• Ben and I went on a cruise to Mexico.  Just the two of us, and it was wonderful.  We even ran into a family I knew from Moscow way back when. Crazy small world. 
• We spent a week in Salt Lake seeing family and friends.
• We spent the rest of the time on top of a mountain in a lovely place called Bear Lake, Utah.  Probably the most beautiful lake I have ever seen.  
• Ate some seriously good food.
• Celebrated the boys birthdays.  Ben and I are now the parents of a 4 year old and a 6 year old.  
• Spent time with family and friends.
• I went blonde for about a month, but it is back to brunette now.  It was a fun change, but you know, I like having brown hair.  

Some of Ben's family:

Our family at Temple Square:

Friends from my mission in Rochester, New York:

Some of the kids from the ladies above:

Jackson and Addie:

Cousins:

Fourth of July fun:

Taylor and Thomas:

I'm totally prepared for these crazy kids to date in the future:

I have more pictures, however, most of them are on facebook and instagram.

It was an awesome summer, and I am so grateful for the time that we had with friends and family.  We have been seriously blessed.

Spring Break, Sri Lankan Style

The boys had spring break last week, and we lucked out when some friends invited us to stay with them at a beach house. It was AMAZING!

 

We walked on the beach.

 

 

We played bocci ball and swam in the pool.

Thomas rolled around in the black sand.

I drank coconut water.

Jack ate pancakes.

We ate really well.

 

 

We had an awesome time. Although I learned that packing for a beach house is different than packing for a hotel...good thing our friends came prepared.

I hope to go back. I promise to pack better.

 

All this can be yours, if you come visit.

*hint, hint*

*wink, wink*

*nudge, nudge*

*kisses*

 

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Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Traveling Pants.

I love reading books about women/girls that are BFF. Especially ones that have grown up together and share everything, including a magical pair of pants. I am always a little jealous of these stories of lifelong friendships, as moving around my entire life has not really produced this type of life story. Don't get me wrong, I have friends from when I was 12 (Happy Belated Birthday, Lindsey!), that even though we don't see each other very often, I still consider to be good friends. I have been blessed with some of the most amazing friends in my life and for that I am grateful.  However, the thousands of miles makes it hard to get together. 

When the opportunity came up to see two of my best friends, I jumped at the chance. Both Kelly and Dasha are part of the Foreign Service community, and so not only are we good friends, we are able to share stories that few people understand. 

Of all the good about getting together with friends, my favorite part is that we are totally able to be ourselves around each other, and know that despite our many imperfections, we will be loved. 

It was one of the best weeks ever. We spent most of our time in Paris (where Kelly currently lives) and a few days in Ireland. We laughed, and ate, and took pictures and walked and took pictures and ate and laughed. 

I give you some of the highlights of our trip. The first two pictures are courtesy of Kelly.

 

 Kelly, Dasha, and yours truly in front of Blarney Castle. 

I have now kissed the Blarney Stone, and according to tradition will now have the gift of eloquence. Just watch out.

What do I want you to take away from this post?

1. Paris is awesome!

2. Ireland is enchanting, and everyone should go. 

(I would suggest staying with Kelly's aunt, she is the best hostess EVER.)

3. Girlfriends are awesome.

4. A girls trip at least once a year is a must.

5. I have been incredibly blessed with amazing friends.

6. Sri Lanka is a great destination for a girls trip, I'm just saying- any takers?

7. Ben is an awesome husband. The day I got home, Ben went to the doctor and found out he had pneumonia, but I never heard him complain at all that I was gone and he was watching the kids.