apparently do not mix. I ventured into my first salon on Monday to get a much-needed trim. As I previously mentioned, I already stick out horribly amongst the dark-haired, dark-skinned Filipinos...
Best of Novakistan
This is a compilation of the posts I feel deserve the “Best of Novakistan” title. They cover the entire 15-year span that I’ve been writing.
I am proud to say that I successfully hired my first household helper. In the US we would commonly refer to this as a maid, but she’s going to do so much more than just clean that it...
Sadly, my 5 week photography class came to an end yesterday. Hard to believe that it’s over already! The good news is that we formed a Photography club and have our first meeting already set up...
As of Friday, we are officially 3500 pounds heavier. Round One of our “stuff” arrived on Friday. In case you hadn’t already guessed, this is a BIG DEAL. My chance to set up shop had...
Nick and I hosted what I would consider our first Manila dinner party. Well technically it was lunch but we served enough food for an army. An Army of 12, that is! We invited over our long-time...
Awesome news – Our car has finally cleared customs at the port and is available for us to pick up! After celebrating for a few moments it dawned on me that I had no idea how I was going to get...
When we were in training classes getting ready to head overseas, they presented a bell curve graph that showed the different phases of cultural acclimation. First was the honeymoon stage, in which...
Oh my goodness, Oh my goodness, Oh my goodness!! I FINALLY got the one thing that I’ve been pining my whole life for (besides a husband and a blow-out wedding). I wanted what every little girl...
Last night was a big one for the Novak family – our first ever Marine Ball! Just to give you a little history, the Marine Corps Ball is an annual event that is celebrated each year on the...
There once was a house that fell ill And racked up an emergency room bill. They hacked all day and night With no end in sight, Thank God the Neti Pot works better than a pill. WE LOVE YOU NETI...
As I lay in bed writing this post, I can honestly say that after five hours with 35 eleven and twelve-year-olds, Nick and I are officially exhausted. But it’s a good exhaustion, one of those...
I swear, we tried our best. There was a solid plan, we stuck to it steadfastly and yet…nothing quite turned out right. Guess we’ll just chalk it up to that old adage “The best-laid...
Just got back from 5 glorious days in Bohol, an island in the Southern Philippines. As you know, my friend Rachel is visiting and we wanted to take her somewhere that would give her a feel of the...
Greetings- It’s been a full couple of days and I’m horribly behind on my posting. Just got Rachel off on the airplane this morning, so now I have a moment to catch you up on the rest of...
I’m sure it won’t come as a shock when I say that I’ve been a bit down lately. The six month mark hit hard, compounded by the Christmas factor. Thank goodness for Rachel’s...
Delightful, delicious Bangkok. Like Manila in many ways, but about 20 years ahead from an infrastructure standpoint and with way better food (No offense to my Filipino friends, there’s just...
On Monday we got back from what could surely be titled one of those “once in a lifetime” adventures. We had left early Saturday morning and flown to Legazpi, on the Southern part of...
Today I was privileged to get a tour of the garbage dump Tondo, home of 1.5 million of Manila’s residents. It was one of the most humbling and disturbing experiences I’ve ever had and I...
Picture from Rage.com Instead of engaging in my typical St. Patrick’s Day activity of beer drinking and social events, I had the opportunity to do something vastly different this year. I was...
I’m having a hard time letting go of this experience, feeling that my sharing is still incomplete. I’m hoping that in doing one last post, I’ll feel like I did Tondo the justice...
Here are a couple of great videos about Tondo that aired on TV in London last week. Â Lynie, who led our tour is featured. Â You’ll recognize many shots from my pictures. Â And I promise, no...
Honestly, I can’t say enough good things about our recent trip to Batanes. What a stunning, remote location! It was like something that time forgot, but in an oh-so-wonderful kind of way. ...
Zoom in on me, looking VERY CRABBY as I waited to board our boat to Sabtang Island. Here’s the back story…I woke up at 5:30 AM so that I could be ready to join the group at 6 AM to...
As many of you know, my friend Karolanne is in town for 6 days, following her 2 week tour of China. Â Given the short duration of her stay, we’ve been cramming in the fun double-time...
Since it’s become obvious that I can’t stop time and prevent the one year mark from happening, I’ve decided that for today’s 1 Year Commemorative Post we’ll take a more...
As most of you know, I am less than 30 days away from my visit to Minne-SOH-ta. Â My energy has been ramping up for weeks and I’ve found myself talking non-stop about all the things I’m...
Ahhhh, home sweet Manila! Boy does it feel good to be back. Don’t get me wrong, I had a sensational trip, but there’s just something SOOOO sweet about arriving back home...
Ok, let’s start with the facts. I adore Christmas. Not just any old Christmas, but the snow-covered, sweater-wearing, eggnog-drinking, fireplace-roasting type. Perhaps some would call...
So after 3 days in Hong Kong, Nick and I can say without hesitation that we prefer to live in big Asian cities rather than visit them. Â It’s not that they’re bad by any means...
This will be my third and final post about Hong Kong. Â Today’s post will actually focus on Macau, an island that is a 1 hour ferry ride from Hong Kong. Â Macau is best known as the Vegas of...
One of the many volunteer hats I wear is that of Worldwide Recruitment Specialist (my self-appointment title) for the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University (CSB/SJU) in Minnesota...
On Saturday Nick and I were graciously invited to join a group of Filipinos who were traveling 2 hours North to Pampanga to experience the food, churches and handicrafts of that region. Â It was one...
After our patience-trying flight experience, we needed things to take a turn for the better. Thankfully, that’s exactly what we got. We arrived in Sydney and took a cab to Darlington, a suburb...
I know I said that sailing past the Sydney Opera House was as good as it gets, but I’m going to have to retract that because the last 24 hours topped it. Â This last day was out-of-this...
After we got done with our helicopter ride, we continued driving south to Fox Glacier where we had booked lodging at a 700 acre working farm/bed and breakfast called Clearwater B&B. Â We had...
Nick put together a 5 minute video of our helicopter ride over the Glaciers in New Zealand. It’ll give you a better idea of what this majestic experience was like. Enjoy!
We had just wrapped up our stay at the B&B/Farm when Nick threw another surprise my way – he told me we’d be spending 2 nights in a private apartment on a vineyard in the Otago Valley...
I take risks in many ways in my life but the physical realm is not one of those areas. So you might imagine how out of place I felt in the Adventure Capital of New Zealand, beautiful Queenstown! ...
After all sorts of moving around, Nick and I decided to base ourselves in Auckland for our final week. Â It’s been a nice change of pace, even though the lack of moving has made me a bit antsy...
Today was our annual Holiday party with the kids from Friendship Home. Â Each year we take them out to do something ‘special’ during the holidays. Â In December of ’09, if you...
WAHOOOOOO! Â Presents for Pinoys was a SMASHING SUCCESS! Â I will have lots and lots more photos for you tomorrow morning, but bed is calling my name right now. Â More later… In the meantime...
The night I had been waiting for months to arrive was finally upon us! Â After all the fundraising, all the wrapping and all the transporting, it was finally time to give out the gifts… and...
On Monday we had the pleasure of taking Nick’s parents to Ocean Adventure in Subic Bay for an up-close-and-personal encounter with the dolphins. Â Nick and I did this back in May of 2010 and...
I know we’re new to this Foreign Service thing, but I have a hard time imagining that we’re going to find household staff in other countries that love and care for us as warmly as Norma...
In accepting this cancer work, I knew that facing loss was part of the deal . . . although part of me was hoping I wouldn’t have to deal with it so soon. Â Sadly, I lost my first cancer client...
I think one of the coolest ‘take aways’ from our time in Manila is an honest-to-goodness appreciation of the concept LESS IS MORE. Â Now, don’t get me wrong, I’ve known that...
Two weeks ago my dear client (and friend)Â Magne died of cancer. Â She was only in her early 50’s, so her death left many young children and grand-children behind. Â I knew it was important for...
If you’ve been following me on the blog or Facebook lately, you’ll know that I’ve been very vocal about my top goal for 2011 which is (Drumroll, please….) TO HAVE A BABY...
Last Saturday I had the privilege of having an impromptu photo shoot with these lovely little girls who were playing in Fort Santiago.  The photos were simply stunning and as I was uploading them...
There’s nothing like a little end-of-the-week baby scare to get a soon-to-be-parent’s heart beating faster… Earlier in the week on Tuesday morning I had a bit of dark spotting (for...