Becoming Housing Experts

It recently occurred to me, that like it or not, we really are becoming real estate "experts" and with the new job, that experience will only broaden as we live in various homes, in differing climates and locations. Looking back, we've already made our debut as domestic nomads, living now in our 7th home in 7 years!

To break it down even more, we covered 4 different states in those 7 years - 1 home in California, 4 in Arizona, 1 in Colorado and now 1 in Virginia. The houses have varied in other ways - some located not far from the ocean, others in the dessert, the last at an altitude of 6,300 feet and now in what used to ultimately be swamp land. The houses have also varied in looks, styles and ages. We had 2 brand new homes (1 that we built and picked out every last item), 2 semi-new (5-10 years old), 1 from the 90s another from the 70s and now this one from the 60s. We’ve had 3 two story homes, 3 ranches and 1 tri-level along the way.

We’ve learned so much through all the homes and have learned to love each and every one of them, concluding all houses have their positives and negatives. For example, as much as I completely love the wide openness of our last home in Colorado (and the one we built in AZ), I have to admit that I have actually liked having closed in rooms again . . . to put it as simply as I can . . .it's kind of nice to not be a part of everyone else’s business (i.e. tv shows, video games, lunch, snack, etc.) all the time. By having the rooms more closed in and a little less openness, it actually allows (in my view) a little more privacy for us all. Also, somewhere along the line the building codes allowed for less and less water pressure in showers. Now we always "fixed" this in our newer homes after inspection, but there's just nothing like this old plumbing that barrels out water like no other and it very quickly gets hot (this was another thing that got pushed away in the recent years, most likely to save energy and make for a greener planet or something) . . . awwww makes for a nice and relaxing shower. . . the kind that I remember having as a kid (by the way I was not quite a kid yet in the 60s, but this was the plumbing I grew up with and it's been very much missed!).


So, with all this said, I had the idea that I'll post a little about each of our homes as we go through this journey of addresses unknown and maybe we can all learn a thing or two for future home purchases, as these addresses actually do become known. And maybe if you ever have a question about a thatched roof in the middle of Africa (or maybe you’d like one in middle America) one day or how a swamp cooler works on a patio in the hot desert, we would be more than happy to give our two cents worth because with all this moving and now taking our domestic nomadic nature global, we might pick up a thing or two that could be useful someday!

This is the lovely home we’re renting in Northern Virginia (OK I removed the pic for social media safety- sorry). We love it!
Besides the relaxing showers and privacy, the home is set back from the street, allowing our boys to play on the long driveway, riding on their bikes, scooters, etc. without us having to worry much about cars and traffic. Also, the house it set up under some amazingly beautiful, mature trees, not far (in Kentucky I think we would say a “stone’s throw away”) from a really nice nature trail. And speaking of nature, it’s rare to go even a day without seeing deer in our yard. Last Sunday we awoke to a family of 5 grazing in our next door neighbor’s front yard.

And I'm Proud to Be An American, Where At Least I Know I'm Free. . .

Last week, we took the boys on a driving tour of D.C. and a walking tour of Arlington Cemetery. It was great to introduce them to the concept of freedom and all that our country stands for. Service to country will be a big part of my new job, but I generally tend to focus more on the humanitarian aspect. Needless to say, arriving in D.C., getting a look at the new building where I will be working and the essence of freedom screaming throughout the grounds of Arlington cemetery, made me never more proud in my life to be an American citizen and I'm fired up more than I could have ever imagined, to give it all I have! I can't wait to get started and have to say I'm proud to be a part of it! I have never been more honored, than to be a representative of this, THE BEST country in the world!

I mean really, how can any U.S. citizen NOT come to D.C. and NOT get fired up about the USA! It was a privilege to share such loyalty and enthusiasm with my boys! And they embraced it with all they had! I think now we're ready (well after a bit here in D.C. we will be at least) to now learn about what "true" freedom really is as we explore the world and what is so special about the U.S. compared to other countries. Just a prediction, but my guess is we will only become more and more thankful and blessed to be Americans!

GOD BLESS THE USA!!

We are VERY Happy to be here in D.C and even more happy to be Americans . . . Let the journey begin . . .we're ready!!!

Kindergarten and Pre-K3 Big Boys!

First Day of School 2013/14 Cuties . . . .

Bye Bye Colorado and Hello D.C.

Last Sunday, we left Colorado bound for D.C. Our boys were absolutely great during the adventure, loving every minute of their first airplane ride (although it was really RJ's third time and he just couldn't remember)! I took notes on what worked and didn't as far as traveling with kidos, in preparation for the much longer flights in our near future. The boys are loving D.C. and their new school (they were only 3 days late for the start!).
Just before we got on the plane . . . .

Bye Bye Colorado (for now) . . .

Best Buddies Say Goodbye

We are going to miss you Will!

Bye Bye Bashie on Mashie!

We have had THE best neighbors we could have EVER asked for while here in Colorado. On Saturday, they threw us one of their renowned parties (one last time)! We had SUCH a blast! We will miss everyone here SO much and this will ALWAYS be THE neighborhood to top ALL neighborhoods. We love you guys and will be back to visit before you know it! Wink, wink . . . more bashies on Mashie!

Why USAID For Us?

So sorry I haven’t posted in a while, things have been a little busy getting ready for the move. So, here’s a warning, this will be a little longer post than usual, to make up for some lost time.

The two main agencies with Foreign Service are the State Department and the USAID (US Agency for International Development). I’m a proud member of the USAID with the functional role (backstop) of Financial Management Officer (a.k.a. the controller/accountant). This is the U.S. federal government agency primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid. USAID provides economic, development and humanitarian assistance around the world in support of the foreign policy goals of the United States and operates in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe. When crisis strikes, rights are repressed; hunger, disease and poverty rob people of opportunity; the agency acts on behalf of the American people to help expand the reach of prosperity and dignity to the world's most vulnerable. Some examples include:
• Investing in agricultural productivity so countries can feed their people
• Combating maternal and child mortality and deadly diseases like HIV, malaria and tuberculosis
• Providing life-saving assistance in the wake of disaster
• Promoting democracy, human rights and good governance around the world
• Fostering private sector development and sustainable economic growth
• Helping communities adapt to a changing environment
• Elevating the role of women and girls throughout all our work

I believe my interest for world humanitarian efforts really began a long time ago, when I had the pleasure of working in Puerto Rico and traveling to many of their Medicaid clinics throughout the island. It was the first time I realized how happy and fulfilled people where, even though they didn’t have much (remember though, Puerto Rico is not even a third world country, but rather a U.S. territory). The mothers would sit all day in these clinics, just for the chance for their children to be seen by the doctors. And they were so polite and appreciative.

A few years later, Rob and I were married in the third world country of Belize, and as we drove through the crumbling poverty stricken villages, again I observed how joyous and simple life can be without “things.” We observed children laughing and enjoying playing ball in the street, with no gloves and a hand carved bat made from what looked like a tree limb. How could they be having so much fun without real baseball gloves and bats? This type of lesson could rarely be learned, other than by exposure to other cultures, in different socioeconomic areas of the world. There is no classroom, not even the Ivy League, where this lesson could be learned, and we knew it was something we would want to share with our kids one day.

We came home from Belize with a desire to go back or help in other third world nations one day. We knew that although Belize was considered third world, it was actually better off than many other developing nations in the world (Rob had traveled to India for work and explained conditions there were probably ten times worse). But, I could barely comprehend it, as it was the worse conditions I had ever seen. I had asked Rob one day when we were in Belize, why all the kids were hanging out in the middle of the streets (they literally had to sometimes clear the way for us to drive through). He asked me, what are they going to do, hang out in their houses and watch TV? And then he pointed to a typical house, which looked much like what many Americans would call a shed (although my guess is sheds these days are actually nicer and larger than what they were living in and sheds most likely don’t have dirt floors). Oh my gosh, if that’s not an eye opener for a typical American, I don’t know what is! How many American kids do you think could survive life these days without TV, without video games, without a floor, without “things”? But again, let’s not forget, these kids were as happy as can be, which is what really intensified our desire to go back and help make sure they (and other kids just like them) had their basic needs met.

Although we had this desire for mission work, it was really put on hold until we had kids, and then we always knew we would go back to it, some way, somehow. In the later part of 2011, Rob started having concerns that his company might have to do some layoffs (the economy was not so good) and we lived in sort of the middle of the dessert (middle of nowhere, but stunningly beautiful) Arizona (sorry Havasu, but how else do I describe it?), with not many jobs in his field (IT/Program Management), so we began once again thinking out of the box, about maybe moving abroad and then somehow Rob (being a U.S. civil servant with the Navy in his past) thought hummm . . .I wonder how you get a job as an Ambassador, which led us to the discovery of the entire foreign service concept. Soon, we were following blogs of FSOs, which led us to discover USAID and we knew right away, that it would be a perfect fit for our passions, to help in these countries, while at the same time teach our kidos these invaluable lessons, that just can’t be taught in a classroom setting. And the rest is history . . . my personal application timeline looked like this . . . .

Applied January 2012

Oral Assessment September 11, 2012 (yes when the Benghazi attack happened)

Appointment as an FSO August 2013

Our entire family is just so excited about this opportunity and can’t wait to get started! Thank goodness, (to quote a great friend of mine) “our boys take after our adventurous side” and they ask about when we’re moving to D.C. every day! RJ has already asked when he will get the opportunity to learn a new language!

First stop for this new FSO family is D.C. for orientation, then on the job training, followed by (if needed) language training. We will be leaving Colorado next Sunday and it will be very bittersweet (we love, love, love it here). We found a terrific house in the suburb of Annandale, Virginia, not far from the boy’s school. They will feel at home again this year in the Montessori environment. When we go abroad, they will attend American International Schools.

Many folks have asked when we will know what country we’ll be assigned. In a future post, I’ll outline the details of the USAID bidding process, but basically, new hires are expected to be assigned their post sometime in April.

Matthew 25:40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”