Hello friends – Can you believe I’ve been in India 6 weeks already? I continue to be shocked by how fast the time is moving and how each week seems to hold some fascinating new learning...
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.
There is rarely a dull moment when taking Nia out in public here. She attracts loads of attention as a fair-skinned, blonde child (a rarity here, I’ll admit). It’s almost guaranteed that...
Oooh, I am embarrassed by how behind I am on posting this. Totally meant to get it up before going to Malawi (and then while I was in Malawi) but the time never materialized. But better late than...
Muli Bwanji Readers (that’s Hello in the Malawian language Chichewa for those of you who didn’t know). Why am I speaking Chichewa to you when I’m posted in India, you might ask...
Nia turned 7 in October, and ever since she’s been struggling to define herself as a big or little kid. On one hand, she desperately wants to be seen as a big kid doing cool, big kid things...
I’m so excited to share this all with you. We just finished up what will undoubtedly be one of the coolest cultural experiences of our lifetimes – a 5 day wedding in a rural village in Gujarat...
The food experience in Gujarat definitely merits its own post. For starters, it was all vegetarian, all the time. What was surprising was how many different distinct dishes they could make out of...
On the day we arrived they were doing Mehndi for the ladies. Mehndi is what we would call a henna tattoo in the States and is very common before an Indian wedding (for both the bride and the women...
Nothing excited me (or freaked me out) more than the clothes. I was given this basic information in advance: – There will be 5 events over 3 days. – People change clothes for every event...
Hello Readers! This is the 5th and final installment of my Gujarat Wedding series. Today’s post will be on the various ceremonies that we got to witness as guests. I’m gonna be honest, I...
So I’ve been hard at work decorating for the last month. I’ve had furniture and mirrors hand-carved, slipcovers made, custom pillows & runners made, tons of painting done and 16...
Hello everyone – Greetings from frigid Mumbai (overnight lows of 70 F). It’s no Minnesota snowstorm but we’re staying warm with extra layers. The Indians just can’t get over...
Hey Everyone – I’m short on time tonight, so no narrative along with this post. I will, however, come back later in the week and show you some more close-ups and explain what I was going...
I’ve never been one to take many risks when there was the potential for injury. I was so injury averse, in fact, that I earned myself the nickname “Safe Sarah†from my family during my...
As you learned from Nia’s post yesterday, we just returned from a 7 day trip to Egypt. And I definitely agree with Nia, it was a pretty fantastic trip. It’s just impossible to do anything...
It was truly and incredible trip folks. Egypt really does live up to the hype. Nick did a great job crafting our 8 day/7 night trip. We worked with a tour company called Cleopatra Tours out of Cairo...
Hello again. Hopefully you aren’t sick of Egypt yet, as I still have one more post to do. Here are the first 3 in the series, in the event you missed them: Nia’s Blog Post (As in, Nia...
Three months ago I noticed that I had this strange little scratch on my chest. What was odd was that I didn’t remember scratching myself. So I slathered it with ointment each night, waiting for...
So unfortunately the surgery thing didn’t go as planned this morning. We got to the hospital at 7 AM and they were VERY disorganized (seemed to be just opening but I can’t imagine how...
I’m sure you’re wondering why I haven’t been writing these last few months. Well, it was a combination of things – lots of end-of-year activities, still finding work/life...
As I mentioned yesterday, I’m a wee bit behind on my blogging due to my computer dying. But I didn’t want you to miss all the excitement from April and May, so I’m just going back...
Like many children, I have strong memories (and emotions) tied to Disney World. My 1st visit to Disney World in Orlando, Florida took place in the Fall of 1991. I was 11 years old and not only was...
It’s my favorite time of year in Mumbai – Festival Season! For the next 3 months it’s non-stop festivals. This week is Janmashtami (Lord Krishna’s Birthday) & Dahi Handi...
If you have been reading for awhile, you know that I like to keep it real. Mostly because keeping up a perfect facade is EXHAUSTING and I thankfully learned that lesson early in life (hello...
October has started out in spectacular fashion. The 9 day festival of Navratri just came to an end on Monday. During this festival Mumbaikers honor the divine feminine by worshiping a different Hindu...
What do you think of when I say the words “Hare Krishnas”? Most likely, you think of orange-clad devotees singing and proselytizing in airports in the 1970’s. And yes, you’d...
We were delighted to welcome our first visitors to India last week — my parents! Since all of us are working full-time, we had to jam a month’s worth of fun into a 10 day trip. Thankfully...
Happy Holidays all. I hope things are grand in your world. We just wrapped up a one week trip to Bhutan, also known as the Kingdom of Happiness. Since most people haven’t been to the Kingdom, I...
As I’m sure you can tell from the pictures and blog posts I’ve shared thus far, Bhutan as a whole was pretty darn special. However, there are 3 experiences we had that stood out from the...
I haven’t written about Nia in awhile and I know she’s one of your favorite subjects so today I’m devoting an entire post to her! Nia is 8 now and continues to evolve as a little...
Hello dear readers – Goodness gracious, can you believe it’s mid-February already?? Everything feels like a blur lately, which is largely because work has been so intense. Happily though...
My 40th birthday is just around the corner (July 9th) and as a result, I’ve been thinking a lot about the concept of aging. I had a sobering moment the other day when I heard an old favorite song...
Uff da. It’s been a hard 4 weeks hasn’t it? I, for one, am EXHAUSTED. Trying to work, oversee school and cook/clean left me feeling hopelessly ineffective at all 3. There’s a reason...
As promised, here are the details of our repatriation flight from Mumbai back to the U.S. If you haven’t read my last post then you should probably start there. That way you’ll have some...
One of the things that made me a great Life Coach was that I was deeply empathic, meaning that I could feel others’ emotions (especially pain) quite intensely. This served me well in coaching but...
A lot has happened this I last wrote from Bend. In late May we decided to make a cross-country trip from Bend, Oregon to St. Paul, Minnesota. We broke it up into 6 days and took a day of rest in...
I’ve been a bad, bad blogger. Forgive me. It’s just that I don’t feel much like writing lately. Mostly I blame COVID-induced malaise. And the fact that I’m rarely without my...
Ughhh. I’m embarrassed to write because it’s been sooooo long. Was my last post really in October?!!? All I can say is that COVID fatigue has hit hard and writing feels like way too much...
Howdy blog readers! Happy Tuesday to you all. Please note that I am writing my third blog post in two weeks (woot woot). Really trying hard to write consistently and get back in the habit of blogging...
Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash Have you noticed how during the pandemic there don’t seem to be any “good” options anymore? I definitely have. So much so, in fact, that I even coined...
I bet you didn’t know that Iceland has it’s own set of islands just off the Southern Coast! They’re called the Westman Islands (also referred to as Vestmannaeyjar). The largest...
Hope and I have had a rocky last year and a half. You see, I placed all my trust in her, counting on the fact that she’d come through for me like she had in the past. In August 2020 I was sure...
Since my last post was all dramatic and depressing, my goal for this one is to keep it a bit lighter. No promises though because my general mood lately has been very “angsty teenager-esqueâ€. On...
Photo by Greg Rosenke on Unsplash It’s that dreaded time of year folks . . . bidding is upon us. Instead of just complaining about how stressful it is, I thought it’d be fun to give you a...
I thought parenting would make me a better play-er. When I give my daughter the option to choose an activity for Mommy/Daughter time, she inevitably chooses imaginative play with some combination of...
I have long been fascinated by generational differences, especially in terms of how they show up in the workplace. I was born in 1980, which means I straddle two generations (Gen X and Millennials)...
Pic by Kristen Our auto-rickshaw sped through the streets of Jodhpur, careening this way and that, locked in a tight race for God-knows-what with the motorcycle next to us. I close my eyes as I’m...
Hey All – It’s good to be back with you again. I’m thrilled to report that Nick is home after 22 days in Abu Dhabi. We missed him immensely but were so proud of the amazing work he was...
Photo by Aung Soe Min on Unsplash Greetings dear ones – Happy Monday. I am here with exciting news. Not the news you were likely expecting about the location of our next tour, but a different kind...
Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash The idea of writing and publishing a book is such a daunting task for most people that they immediately dismiss it outright (which is what I did for a long...