Lingering Leftovers

Before we moved I didn't get a chance to post about a couple of more things that I wanted to document about our time in DC. So if you will indulge me, I will gladly do it now. I would like to call this portion "Two good things I got from Oakwood"! Well, I personally got more than two good things from living in Oakwood, but in this post we'll just focus on these. First of all: Syrup. Yes, that's right. I said Syrup. Growing up my dad made us pancakes and french toast all the time. They were some of my favorite foods, and I will always have fond memories. My boys now also love pancakes, and can really pack them away! In all of this breakfast food enjoyment one common problem has always been running out of syrup. It is always something that I forget to buy, and then don't have any when I have already made a whole batch of pancakes! Now, while living at Oakwood, for the first time in my life I didn't even have to consider running out of syrup! A perk of all my neighbors moving out in relatively short to medium time frames was getting a few leftovers. One common denominator was the syrup. Including the one we bought for ourselves when we first moved in, we were left with this collection to pass on.

(also not pictured some delicious blueberry syrup that was in the fridge)

Next on the list...Headstones. Yes. Headstones. Now outside of our particular apartment we had a view of this little family of headstones. (Our building looked out onto the cemetery). Now in my observation I was always drawn to this little grouping. I never did actually go and observe them closely, but I am assuming they are a family. They are kind of by themselves, and under a nice tree. The thing I like best about them though, is that at some point, someone planted some beautiful orange day lillies all around them! They bloomed beautifully in the long spring that we had, and then the rest of the summer, then just had a nice bloom of leaves. But how nice! The minute I saw them blooming, I decided that I wanted something like that. Without any special effort from anyone in the future, gorgeous, refreshing flowers just appear every year to beautify their collective occupied space. So there you have it folks. I have a new wish for when I die. Please plant some flowers around me. I prefer tulips, purple tulips at least- but actually I love all the spring variety of flowers, so do them all if you wish! You know, whoever you are....

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Well, we have officially arrived in Istanbul!!!!! Our adventure officially started when we finished packing up our bags-officially we had 18 pieces with us including car seats and carry-ons! Our fantastic friend Steve graciously offered to drive us to the airport, and we loaded up and were off! Time flew those last few hours of last minute re-arranging and it when it was time to go I still thought we had an hour, ahh!! Needless to say, I was sad that I didn't get to make any last minute runs to say goodbye to a few folks. (sorry guys, just know that you will be missed) Anyway, we loaded up and were off!

(this photo does not include my huge purse, noah's bag, or the boys backpacks)

(Ronan closed the door the last time for us. Goodbye Oakwood and friends, we will miss you!)

Check-in all went smoothly and we were thrilled to see a Potbelly's Sandwiches directly across from our gate! We all enjoyed some delicious sandwiches for our last meal in America and settled into to wait for our turn. The boys made up a great game with their straws and lids from their soda bottles that kept them busy for most of the wait. They called it "hockey-pockey". It was pretty cute.

(they were hilarious, all stretched out. Literally, Ronan's feet were IN Porter's face half of this time! If only we could all be this way on planes!)

The boys watched DVD's and sat nicely for the first 4 hours, then we turned the movie off and told them it was bed-time. It was a gamble that actually paid off! They each snuggled up next to one of us and closed their eyes! They slept the entire last 3 hours and through the landing! We had to wake them up to get off the plane. Good job boys!! We got a little snack on our layover and tried to corral the boys for a little while. This was the most difficult part of the trip I think, as they were both wound up all of a sudden and it was a packed waiting area. Not my idea of fun, but we made it through. They gave the boys coloring books and a little stuffed animal for the last flight and we popped in another DVD now that they were awake, and they made it like champs!


When we arrived in Turkey we were thrilled that they had a special diplomatic window and we got to walk right up! It was awesome! We got all of our luggage and met our sponsors who were there to pick us up. They loaded us into the van and we were off. We got our first adventure in Turkey though, as a few minutes later (probably from the weight of all our luggage:) the tire on the van blew out! They needed a different tool however I think than what they had though to change the tire and we had to wait until another gentleman from the the motor pool was able to come help out. So yup, we were chillin in the van on the side of a Turkish highway for like an hour. I mostly felt bad for the driver, because he stood outside waiting/looking out for the other guy to get there and it was really hot outside!! Poor guy...what a trooper. Anyway, after they got it fixed we were back on the road and home in just a few minutes more! Our place is gorgeous, and our sponsors had washed the dishes, put food in the fridge and made the beds for us! It was so nice to get there and to realize we could just relax for a bit and settle in. We took some showers, and in an effort to stave off the jet-lag we took a little walk around to explore the neighborhood! It was a good use of energy and helped us stay up until a reasonable dinner time. Our sponsors also made us dinner for the evening, so we chowed down then tucked ourselves into bed! phew. We made it, and are so excited to finally be here and starting this new adventure! More to come soon....

Packin up and Shippin Out

(Pardon the storage containers blocking up my picture-they are doing major renovations and the parking lot has a lot of them right now)

So it is really happening. Our packout has come and gone. We had our UAB (air shipment) packed out 3 days before our HHE (household effects/ ground shipment) and car pickup...but they are all done now!! We have just been finishing up the last minute details and packing our suitcases! It has been hard for me to remember this week that we are officially carless for a little while! I wanted to make sure I got a picture of the car being taken away. sniff sniff. There she goes, and we will be missing her for the next few months!

Our UAB shipment was great this time! The packers were super nice, great with the boys and made our day when we were able to put about 100 extra pounds of stuff I wasn't planning on into it with some room to spare!

Our HHE went well too...my only question is, how on Earth did we still have so much stuff AFTER the UAB had been sent?! What will do when we get the rest of our stuff that has been in storage? It sure seemed like a lot when they were boxing it up to me! They did tell me though, that it all fit in one large shipping crate. We are not sure if we believe them. There was a lot of stuff in this room....

Either way, it was nice to get it done and ready to go. A HUGE piece of the moving puzzle has been set, and it just means that we are SO almost there. Love it. Love this life. Love my hubby who got this amazing job, and is giving us some amazing opportunities!

Wish us luck!

(And, packout early-tip for the future. Give yourself time to relax a little)

Guess Who's 5!!

Guess Who?

I know, it's hard to guess-he is incognito here ya know!

But yes, our darling little man is Porter!

So our little guy has done it. He's turned 5 years old!!! How did this happen? I'm still trying to figure it out. I used to think parents of kid's who were 5 were like old pros or something. It seemed so far off in my future. Ridiculous, I know. But still. It really did come up on me MUCH faster than I was expecting.

But I digress. Per his request, we threw him a fabulous Secret Agent Party, complete with a secret mission to Mexico pinata (also, per his request). Being that we packed out for Istanbul two days after his birthday, I must say that I was extremely pleased with the outcome! We just had some of our fun neighbors over (Izzy was his main requirement and we were thrilled to have the rest of her great family as well). It was a little tough on him this year going over his guest list, he had multiple people he wanted to invite, sadly though everyone but Izzy had recently moved or was out of town at the time. Poor kid. Hopefully, we will be much more settled for next year's adventure.

The cake turned out pretty cute I think considering the amount of time and attention I had to put into it this year. I envisioned it being much more detailed-but it still worked great.

He got a big bin of legos that were from Daddy's childhood, and some other great toys as well. No clothes this year though...I think that is actually a first!

In keeping with the theme we put footprints on the walls, gave the kids each some good spy gear, and even tried to show them how to fingerprint.

This is cute little Izzy. She is in Porter's primary class at church. Besides his best cousin Alli, she is the only girl ever that has earned Porter's distinction of "pretty cool".

They went on a secret mission to Mexico, to find and destroy the Pinata, (filled with taffy's and Kit Kats-Porter's favorite)

Porter and Izzy, almost got two great smiles from them. I guess this is how 5 year old secret agents roll though...

We love you SO much buddy!!Happy Birthday to our most awesome little

Special Agent OOP! (yes, he came up with his own code name:)

A Fabulous Farewell Weekend

Last weekend we were able to do one last great "farewell tour" of sorts. Luckily we were within only a few short hours, and able to spend the last weekend before our packout with some of our very, very favorite people!!! We were first able to spend some good quality time with Noah's parents. Much to my delight, we were initially greeted by Pop-Pop's stunning hydrangeas!! (they had transplanted them from his yard after he passed several years ago) Aside from tulips, these are my absolute favorite! These were my favorite color as well. Loved it.

We celebrated Porter's birthday a few days early with a delicious strawberry shortcake

And, my MIL and I had a FABULOUS time out for a little girl's night shopping; where she spoiled me rotten with this beauty for my birthday/going away gift! Wowzers, huh? Isn't she a beauty?! And, in my signature color. I am in love:) I am also one VERY lucky girl. Thank you, thank you again! Now to take it on it's first big maiden voyage...only 5 more days!

We also got a terrific surprise of finding out that Shelly and Kendall (some of our besties from the college days & officially the only couple who we also double dated with when neither couple was yet married) were going to be in the area visiting from Texas!! AND we were able to finally meet baby Kaitlyn, being 10 months old already! What a cutie she is!

We were able to go into Manhattan with them for the day, and had a wonderful time! We went to Dylan's Candy Bar for Cupcakes and ice cream, then Gray's Papaya for lunch (ya, that's how we roll:) Then we buzzed to Time's Square for a trip to Toy's R Us, and sadly to discover that ESPNZone has now closed. The men were disappointed. It had been too long since since we'd seen these guys. Far too long. I was SO happy that we got to get in some time with them before we left. Perfect timing guys!!

And last, but most definitely not least we were thrilled not only to see Tim and Ashley (can I say again how much I love that they moved closer to DC?!); but Baby Gavin Noah was kind enough to arrive just in time for us to see him!!! I'm so glad that we didn't miss getting to meet him.

The timing was perfect, as we were able to watch the World Cup Final together, and Ash and I got in some great last girl chat time too! Gavin is SOO handsome and oh so brand new. These are the moments that make me baby hungry. So here we have it, the whole crew...boys, boys, boys! Ash and I will have to stick together for sure!

And yes, apparently we are so in tune with each other that we all decided to wear a shade of blue for the picture!

We have been so blessed in our lives to not only have great families, but also tremendous friends that we count as family as well. It was so wonderful to see everyone this weekend, and made for a perfect send off!! It also makes it a little harder though, I must admit. I don't know that I will get "homesick" really, but more so "people-sick". This phenomenon though is one I have already been learning to handle for years. If only my ideal set of friends and family lived in one place instead of spread across countries and continents. Ahhh. A girl can dream though. Anyway, loved seeing you all this weekend. Can't wait for visitors in Istanbul!!

Cuteness in the Madness

If you know me well, you know I would have to make something cute to go along with all of our crazy adventures and globetrekking! I wasn't able to convince Noah that he needed one too, but I did whip up some great passport covers for me and the boys. I'm the mom. I can do that. Mine is a tad fancier, the boys are just one fabric on the outside. I love them. They turned out really darling, and they just make me happy! We each have two passports now, and this way I can keep each person's together.

I'm sure I will drive my boys crazy as the years go by with all my ridiculousness. But until that day... they love it! I know they do.

Passports. check. Visas. check. Super awesome covers for said passports! Check!

Istanbul, here we come!

Friends, Fun and the Fourth!

What a great week. The one we just had was truly awesome. We were thrilled to welcome some more visitors (this time some of our pals Craig and Kristi were able to come out)! It has been so much fun to spend so much time with friends and family over the last little while. They were able to pack in the sightseeing, and my boys and I were loving joining them for parts of their fun downtown. Any excuse to hit the Spark Lab or the Natural History Museum is good for my boys! I will definitely miss having this option to just buzz downtown for some amazing museums. And yes, I know there will still be amazing museums in Istanbul; just of a different variety. We'll have to work our way up to going to them on a regular basis I guess. The weather was just gorgeous all week, and didn't get too hot until Saturday. Nice. SO nice.

I was also able to squeeze in some other fun times, with other friends and favorite past times too this week (a separate post to come shortly), making it all just one of those feel good weeks.

I've decided there is no better place to celebrate the 4th of July, than here in Washington D.C. You can feel the excitement in the air, and it is truly just awesome to be able to do things like -SEE THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE on July 4th weekend! This had been on my list forever. With our visitors in tow, we finally made it to the National Archives! It really was so cool to see the "Charters of Freedom" (Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and the Bill of Rights) under the Rotunda of the Archives. They were all beautiful and inspiring. Sorry, no photos allowed. But I will say, that the Declaration was actually much more faded than I thought it would be. Apparently displaying it proudly as a symbol of our freedom has taken it's toll! But still, amazing. We are truly blessed. The Founding Fathers were amazing! We hit Mount Vernon as well, and I finally saw "General Washington's" tomb. Tip of the week- be on your best behavior while visiting Mount Vernon, and don't call him just "George"! The tour guides take their jobs very seriously we learned! Good times. Good times.

We rounded out the week with some A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. cuisine...thanks again guys!! It was awesome!! And, last but never least in our house some great sports! Noah and Craig were able to get in some tennis and a great bike ride on the W&OD, and we all hit the Nationals/Mets game to round out the fun! We even got to see Strasburg pitch! (the rookie phenom, I'm told)

Cute Kristi and Craig

And our family sporting some Washington DC love! I know, can you believe it? Noah decided we could switch for the day-and I say whenever we aren't needing to directly support the Philllies!

We really had such a fun time, and are definitely looking forward to more good times with visitors both here in DC and in Istanbul in the future! As our weeks are coming to a close here in the States, we have been lucky to have such great memories with wonderful people to hold us over till we see you all again! Thanks again guys, we could not have had a better time! Anyone else?! 17 days and counting!

p.s. we took to long to decide upon our actual firework plans to hit the main show downtown. So we settled for watching "A Capital 4th" on PBS, and then raced to our local Falls Church display! Although, we didn't make it to the actual BIG event; having ventured downtown three times last week we figured that we can just pretend we were there for the rest. At least it felt real this year, instead of watching an unknown type thing on tv. I have loved getting to live in DC. What a great experience we have had. God Bless America!! Happy 4th!