Update and Changes on the Horizon

I guess it is fairly obvious that I am not very good at updating this blog. Life has been such a whirlwind since my last post in May - it was almost too overwhelming to try to sit down and write about it. A quick re-cap:

Departure
We finally left Nigeria in June. While we were glad to be moving on it was very sad to say good bye to all our friends. At least we know we will see some of them again in D.C. The pack out and departure, while stressful, went fairly smooth and all our belongings are now sitting in storage in Antwerp until we go to Bogotá next year. Living without your stuff can be hard but also liberating. The trip back to the states was good and we made it back to Georgia for a few weeks of R&R.

Home Leave
We had six weeks of home leave - but it went by so fast. We spent three weeks in Augusta and three weeks in Helen - with a few side trips to go camping, visit the Biltmore Estate, Hilton Head, etc. Unfortunately, we also had a lot to do, like buy a car, catch up on doctors appts, and stuff like that. It was so wonderful to be able to hang out with family... and to share the good news in person that we are expecting a baby in March!

Training
In July we headed to Virginia/D.C. where we will live in temporary housing until next year. Eric and I are currently in Spanish training all day, every day. It is pretty intense and more exhausting than I thought possible. However, it doesn't help that I have been suffering from severe nausea and "morning sickness" all day and night. I am barely functional so having to spend six to eight hours a day learning Spanish makes my brain feel like it is melting. BUT - I love it. It is a wonderful opportunity to be able to spend six months learning a language, as my job. SO, I cannot complain and I feel very lucky.

The Baby
We are having a little boy - despite the fact that most people were certain it was going to be a girl (me included!) I am due March 5th - just two weeks after I am scheduled to finish Spanish training. Hopefully the little man won't make an early debut. As soon as we are done with Spanish, we will head back down to Georgia to have the baby. I will have about 12 weeks of maternity leave before we head to Bogotá sometime in May. Next week we have another ultrasound (I will be almost 22 weeks) which should give us some pretty good pictures to post . In the meantime, these are the pics from the first sonogram at 12 weeks:





Bogotá
We are getting more and more excited about going to Colombia. One of our Spanish teachers is from Bogotá and has been sharing all the wonderful things there are to do there. Plus, we have already met a bunch of people that will be going to Bogotá as well and they all seem great. Another couple heading there in March is having their first baby in December - and there are apparently a lot of other people with babies there too so it should be a fun environment. As an added bonus, we found out that friends of ours from Abuja have been assigned there too! It is comforting to know that we will have a great community of people to hang out with in Colombia. Hopefully, we will get lots of visitors too (hint, hint)! For those of you still on the fence, check out the new tourism website (be sure to watch the YouTube video on the left side of the page) highlighting the new slogan Colombia, the only risk is wanting to stay!

Changes
Since I have been so terrible at updating this blog - and since I am no longer just a "lady" vagabond but a wife and soon-to-be-mother too - I am thinking that this is a good time to close up shop here at this site. However, Eric and I will be creating a new blog together where we can both update. With a new baby on the way and preparing for a new destination (in a city where there is actually high speed internet!) together, it only makes sense that we start blogging together. I think the baby and being in Colombia will give us a lot more to write about as well. As soon as we get our act together and set the site up, I will post the link here.

Until then...