We decided to stick around DC for Christmas this year, largely due to Nick’s lack of days off and the fact that we’ll be seeing our families in Feb & March. Â We’ve gotten used...
Holidays/Events
This morning I had the great honor of seeing Pope Francis after his address to Congress. This opportunity meant so much to me and I will always be grateful to MN Senator Amy Klobuchar for donating...
It has been a week of non-stop birthday festivities in celebration of Nia’s 4th Birthday! I didn’t want to leave you out on the fun, so here’s a recap of all the action! Nana and...
October is definitely Nia’s month. She comes off a week of Birthday celebrations and heads straight into Halloween fun. The festivities began on Thursday with a Halloween parade and concert at...
So our little lady turned 5 this past weekend. She is becoming such a cool little person and I’m eager to see what year 5 will bring us. She’s very inquisitive, kind and been really...
Halloween is a big deal to Americans overseas, as it gives them a taste of home. The Embassies we’ve been at have always excelled at Halloween and Embassy Lilongwe was no different. In fact, we had...
Last Friday we attended an embassy holiday party at the Ambassador’s House. It was a lovely affair and included holiday traditions like cookie decorating, eating copious amounts of food and my...
Our first Christmas in Malawi has come and gone and was quite delightful, if I do say so myself. The weather cooperated (mid-80’s, no rain) as did our little lady (mostly). I still struggle...
It’s been a week full of Easter-related fun and while it’s brought much delight to the young’uns, it’s brought MUCH exhaustion to Mommy. The week kicked off with our Embassy Egg Hunt &...
Ladies & Gents – It’s Derby Day here in Lilongwe! This is no small deal, as I’ve been waiting my whole life to go to a Kentucky Derby Party. So of course we had to go all out. :) Nia and I...
I know you all are dying for a little Nick update, so here goes. The first few days were rough. He only felt comfortable on his belly because that relieved the pressure on his spine. We were...
I’m pretty sure my Dad breathed a sigh of relief as Jenna Miller, the 4th and final Miller gal to get married, walked down the aisle last Saturday. With all 4 of us officially handed off and the...
I’ve been doing a lot of “adult-ing” lately, which it turns out, is ridiculously fun. So fun, in fact, that I recommend you drop everything right this minute and go try it yourself...
Novakistan Readers – How are you? Has it really been a month since I last posted?! Whoops. That might need to be a New Year’s Resolution… Well, let’s just jump right in, as I...
While Nick was off shooting these beautiful underwater pics in Lake Malawi, Nia and I were busy frollicking around town (more like village, really). The whole weekend was magnificent, but the event...
I have less than 4 weeks of work left and in typical Sarah-fashion I jam-packed them with events. On the calendar for May is an adults-night out at a local restaurant, a 3 day trip to the lake...
So a few days ago I told you about my beloved Weekend Walking group I started on Sundays. In that post I eluded to my other walking group, the Walkie Talkies. This post is devoted to them! The Walkie...
My general approach to life overseas is to say yes to as many opportunities as I can, even if I have little information about what I’m getting into. As long as there are no safety concerns I’m...
Nick & I went out for a city tour on Labor Day (Monday, September 3rd), which happened to be the day after Janmashtami (see my last post). Dahi Handi is celebrated in the Maharashtra State (where...
The Hindu deity Ganesh (the God of new beginnings and remover of obstacles) is the patron saint of Mumbai. Mumbaikers LOVE him. Today marks the beginning of the 10 day Ganesh Chaturthi festival which...
Twas a week of firsts, dear readers! The highs continue to be very high and the lows, while less frequent, still feel very low at these early stages. I will prevail though, so don’t you worry...
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...
Last Saturday we had the pleasure of attending the American School of Bombay’s Incredible India annual celebration. I continue to be in awe of the level of quality at which ASB does everything...
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...
Happy 2019, my dear readers! If your December was anything like mine, then it is only a hazy blur in the memory. And the weirdest part is I can’t even think of what we did that kept us so busy...
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...
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...
After 35 days away, I am finally reunited with my family and back in my own bed again! And boy oh boy does it feel good. As you might imagine, being away was quite novel at first… no demands...
Greetings all – The Novaks are a little over halfway into our month-long R&R trip. We kicked things off by parting ways in Mumbai with Nick heading to South Africa for two weeks of diving...
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...
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...
October has been such a stellar month. We’ve had three 4-day-workweeks in a row. And here’s the best part – Nia had school on 2 of the 3 days we had off of work! You know what that...
We transferred from Bend, Oregon to Minnesota on October 3rd. I knew it was risky coming back to MN in the fall but I was hoping for mild weather since we have no winter clothes along (who knew...
I reached down to grab my first handful of gulal but stopped short as a blast of yellow hit me square in the chest, the excess disappearing between my cleavage, tickling my torso as it tumbled its...
Hi Everyone – If you haven’t read PART 1, you should definitely start there, as it provides some great historical context for this post about our time in Amritsar...
Happy Easter All! Today I wanted to share a bit about a unique experience Nia and I got to take part in last weekend. As I’ve mentioned before, Nia’s public school is the equivalent of a...