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...
Philippines
This is a collection of posts from our tour in Manila, Philippines from July 2009 to June 2011.
Can I just say that I am thoroughly enjoying my Photoshop Class and all the cool new tricks I can apply to my photos. Â And no, I do not consider that ‘cheating’, it is merely ENHANCING...
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...
I feel misled. Â I was told that pregnancy was magical. Â And I believed it – hook, line and sinker. Â I was ready to GLOW from within and feel an INSTANT BOND with my unborn fetus. Â Instead...
Nick here. I very rarely post on ‘our’ blog as it’s Sarah’s pet project and I want to keep it that way. As always, my views are my own and don’t necessarily reflect those of the US...
Hilarious, helpful tutorial on the “Filipino Accent.” No lie, I run into comprehension problems on a daily basis … now I can decode better!
So here’s how we’re divvying up the overwhelming amount of baby-related information to learn in Novak land. Â It’s really quite simple, I take care of anything that has to do with...
If you remember back just 3 short weeks ago, Baby Novak was a 1/4 inch, lentil-sized blob with a little flicker of a heartbeat in the middle. Â Fast forward 3 weeks and we’ve got a 1 inch...
After MANY, MANY weeks of being cooped up in the house, my dear friends Andrea and Brian took pity on me and invited me on an overnight with their family down to San Pablo (Nick was busy working all...
It’s hard to believe, but it’s T-minus 3 months until I leave Manila for good. As one of my parting gifts to you, my loyal blog readers, I’d like to bestow upon you a list of...
Bohol Beach Club This is my second and final installation of ‘Best of the Philippines’ where I sum up all I’ve learned in the last 21 months of living here. Â I know you’ll...
I’m all about trying new alternative therapies (especially after having such amazing results with Network Spinal Analysis a few years back), so when my friend Selina suggested I check out an...
So last week I had the chance to go on my first-ever Medevac for the Foreign Service. Â The term sounds a little scary and that’s because usually it is just that – A Medical...
On Tuesday at 12 noon Nick and I watched as a massive black cloud began to rise from an area called Guadalupe, which is part of Makati City (where we live) and blocks from where many of our Rockwell...
How freakin’ cool is this that I can share our photobook online?!? Â Nick made this one, but I’m on Year 2 (which will be released sometime in the next month). Â Hope you enjoy...
Baby Novak’s Brain! (a top view) As you all know, I’m quite impatient in general, so this whole baby gender thing has been on my mind since we found out we were pregnant 11 weeks ago...
A Joint Labor of Love One of Nick’s many roles in Manila is President of the US Embassy Club (USEC). Â USEC is the charitable arm of US Embassy – Manila that supports 13 local...
Our Tentative Travel Schedule I’ve been getting lots of questions about our schedule for the next year from friends and family. Â Although we do not have our official orders yet (which means...
I used to think of moving as a simple (but annoying) process where you threw everything you had into boxes, stuffed them into a Uhaul, drove across town and then unloaded those same boxes into your...
24 years my senior, I never expected for Marisa and I to become so close. Â I originally met Marisa during my volunteer work at Carewell. Â She was a frequent attendee and ended up...
Over the weekend I had the privilege of touring a Garment Factory that one of my expat friends owns. Â It’s a large-scale production, producing roughly 25,000 pieces per day and employing...
Click the photo to check out the highlights from our most recent photo book!
This is very amusing (and definitely makes me sound more important than I am). Â Browhaus, my favorite eyebrow threading place in the Philippines, turned my blog post into an endorsement of...