Time Flies!

I haven't posted in a while, and a lot of things have happened since May:

First, Tomas got a TDY in Barbados and I fell in love; in love with the country, in love with the fact that I could drink the tap water, eat the fruit and veggies with out washing them in a bleach solution, completely in love with the peace and quiet and having a pool in my back yard. Now I wouldn't give my left arm to be posted to Barbados for 2 years, it is too expensive and it takes way to much effort to get pets in to the country, but it is a small island with a small crime rate and even better driving! Let me also just say that it is very refreshing to be able to hail a cab, any cab on the street and not have to worry about getting mugged, same goes for taking a bus. For people who don't live in a high crime city you might not understand why this is important, but come to the D.R. where there are so many restrictions and you would jump for joy too!

Second, while we were in Barbados I got hired for the job that I have wanted since moving to Santo Domingo. Human Resources! Yes! Tomas and I went out for a very yummy dinner at a beautiful beach front restaurant. I have been working since the beginning of September and while it is nothing like I am used to, I find that I am enjoying the challenge. I also tutor a 7th grade boy three times a week, so I get to teach still and on my terms.

Third, My parents came to visit at the end of August and it was really great to see them and spend time sightseeing and enjoying each other's company after 6 months of being apart. They really enjoyed it here and thought our house was great. We (Tomas, my parents and I) went away for the weekend to an all inclusive hotel and relaxed by the water and soaked up the sun (or I did).

Fourth, Tomas is the best husband in the world for many reasons, but most recently for this-When my parents were here visiting I took them out for the day, but not before I mentioned to Tomas that I really wanted one of the chihuahua puppies in our embassy newsletter. He had been saying that we had a really good thing going with just having Bailey here and we didn't need another dog, so I got used to the idea that Bailey was it for us (dog wise). Well, Tomas came home after picking Bailey up from the pet hotel she had been staying at while we were away and he also brought in the SMALLEST little tan chihuahua puppy that I have ever seen and he handed him to me. I started crying and he told me that he wanted to surprise me and that this little guy was the last one in the litter.

Cuervo is now 11 weeks old and he is full of energy and he, like Bailey, is named after a liquor (Tomas said that he is tan, and he is a chihuahua and they are from Mexico and he is the color of tequila so he should be named Cuervo). He also, like Bailey, has a personality that can only be described as hilarious! They love each other very much. He is so little, only 2.5 lbs at his last dr. appt, Bailey is small too, but she is 20 lbs of pure muscle.

I can truly say that I love my life, every day I am feeling more and more secure with our decision to live abroad in the FSO lifestyle. Sure there are things that I wish were a little different; I miss my friends, family, seasons and Starbucks, I hate the driving here, its crazy and I won't attempt it, but I am happy, we are healthy and life is good.

A Little Overwhelmed!

I really hope that the leak in the dining room ceiling gets fixed soon, I am really tired of holding my breath just waiting for the ceiling to open up and water just start raining down on the marble floor. Its hard because Tomas is at work and he has given the workers detailed instructions about what he wants done, and he has passed these instructions on to me but I am not that handy and I don't know how to tell the workers what I want and when I ask if they have done such and such a thing they say "Si". My tutoring session went well yesterday and I was excited with the amount of Spanish I knew, but I was discouraged by how much I had forgotten. I can't remember almost any of the verbs and I know that when I am talking to the workers I am making huge mistakes. For example I told them that the bathroom in my bed was working fine. The bathroom in my BED?! Goodness what they must have been thinking, at least I got a smile out of them. Of course they were kind enough to correct me. So long complaint short- I am discouraged with my lack communication skills and what is more annoying, I know the language for the most part! Its in my brain, I studied for 5 years and its just coming back to me more slowly than I had hoped. Also, I am bummed about my ceiling with its pretty crown molding getting messed up!

Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo, so we are gonna have a blast at the embassy so I'm will post more!

Em

6 weeks into our new life!

I has been a whirlwind of activity since moving to the Dominican Republic! I turned 26 and Tomas and Yesenia threw me a surprise birthday party at a beautiful restaurant on the water. I love living here so much and we have only just begun to explore all that the D.R. has to offer. We have made some really great friends already and have gone to wonderful parties. For the first month we lived in temporary housing, the house that we lived in temporarily was HUGE, way too big for us, although I miss the walk in closets a little...Our new and permanent house is equally amazing. It is a lot bigger than our house back home, but not as big as the one that we were staying in here. It is just right for us, and we absolutely love it! Tomas is working really hard and I am enjoying being a stay at home wife. I am thinking of starting my own tutoring service for embassy children, that way I can work from home and make my own hours and get a little spending money. Bailey loves living down here, her hair has gotten shorter and thinner which is great for me because she isn't shedding anymore. She also chases lizards now, Tomas says that she caught one the other day but it got away. I have started working out three times a week with a personal trainer and my lovely friend Yesenia and I am also starting to take Spanish lessons with a tutor and my other lovely friend Gosia. I was told today by the A.C. guys that my Spanish isn't that bad, but I am not ready to go have any deep conversations or anything.

I really miss my family and friends back home, but there is so much to do here it is really easy to not focus on missing people and so I haven't been totally homesick. I have told all of my friends and family that as soon as our house is unpacked we will welcome anyone who wants to come visit. I hate unpacking, Tomas is much faster at it than I am, I prefer the decorating!

Thats all for now, I have more contractors coming and I need to make sure that I keep an ear out for them since they don't ring the doorbell all the time!

Em

Goodbye USA-Hola Dominican Republic!!

Tomas and I flew from a rainy D.C. to sunny (and hot!) Puerto Rico, it is only a 4 hour direct flight however, we had a layover in Miami so our whole trip took a lot longer. We had 7 bags checked between the two of us which cost us a pretty penny, but when you are moving to another country you need a lot of things! Saying goodbye to our parents was the hardest part for me, I cried when I hugged my parents goodbye but the tears soon turned to excitement as Tomas and I got in the security line. I fell asleep on both legs of our trip, so I must not have been too anxious! When we got outside the airport in Puerto Rico, even at almost 9 pm it was hot! We checked into our hotel and went to the hotel restaurant- Outback Steakhouse- I had never been there before and it wasn't half bad! We fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow. We woke up early because we thought that Tomas had to get to his consulting session early, but he didn't (YAY!) so we ate breakfast and went in search of cheap sunscreen (we didn't find any, $15.00 for a spray bottle of SPF 50). We walked to the beach and saw the resort that we stayed in on our honeymoon. I love Puerto Rico, its beautiful war, and it has a lot of great memories for Tomas and I.

After three nights in P.R. Tomas and I hopped a cab to the airport and had to pay (again) for our mass amount of luggage, we were on our way to our new home for the next two years!! It was exciting and the flight only took 30 min! We looked out the window the whole way there, when we saw land it was so wonderful to look out and see the island. After landing our sponsor Don, met us at the gate because he has the golden ticket ( a special badge) and we were ushered through all of the lines and it was amazing (and a little odd because it is so new to both of us). Don and his wife Yesenia took us on a nice tour of the D.R. coast line to our hotel where we checked in!! So far I really love being here, I can't wait for our house to be ready so we can get our UAB and start to really settle in!

Thats all for now, we are going out to dinner!

Emily!

Three Weeks Away

The time is really moving so fast! I can't believe that we will be relocated to the D.R. in three weeks! The movers come in 2 weeks and then we will be moving in with T's parents for a week. This week is my last week at work, I am going to miss everyone a lot and I don't want to say goodbye to my students! I know that I am going to be taking time off to get us settled in our new life so this really is my last week of work for a while, but I fully plan on working while we are there.

I have been doing my favorite thing, the one thing that makes me super excited for the move, SHOPPING! I have been buying sheets for the guest rooms and looking for fun and pretty decorations for the walls. Since the house is furnished I need to add things that make it our house. I have no idea what kind of bulk items Tomas and I need to ship down, I'm not picky about food and will try anything(Tomas says that makes me a perfect FSO wife)! I think I'll buy stuff like contact solution and medicines that we might need, and dog food for Bailey.

Anyways that's all for now I have to go through more stuff for the movers!!

Em

There is a mouse in my house!!!

THERE IS A MOUSE IN MY HOUSE!!! A very tiny field mouse that crawled out from under our stove

. Great so now on top of getting our house rented we have to "demouse" our house!! Lets add it to the list of already a million things to get done before March...

Emily

Almost a month away!

Hey all!

Tomas and I are being posted (although I say we are moving but that's wrong and T has since stopped correcting me) to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on March 16th!!! At first I wasn't excited at all and I still have moments where I feel completely overwhelmed but today? I'm excited. Our parents are throwing us a going away party this Saturday with as my mom puts it-typical Dominican drink-which means rum! Anyways, I am very new to the blogging scene and I am sorry for my lack of a good post!!

Here's our life, Welcome to it!!

Emily