Happiness? Least Happy? Happiest??

Happiness. An elusive state for many. A difficult concept to define. So many variables. If you ask the googles about happiness, you get “Happiness is a mental or emotional state of well-being defined by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. A variety of biological, psychological, religious and philosophical approaches have striven

And the winner is…

Not that I want to be accused of being like that elementary school soccer team where everyone who shows up gets a trophy, but we have lots of winners here! Felicidades to every one who entered!  As of this writing, just over 24 hours after posting the contest, we’ve had 37 contestants with 47 different guesses

Happy Guessing

And may the odds be ever in your favor. The handshake has arrived. Our fate, well, at least our destination for the next two years, which has been in the hands of others, has finally been revealed. But before we celebrate the elaborate GeoReveal (like a gender reveal, only different), let’s have a guessing contest! Here

Musical Continents

First, disclaimers: Disclaimer #1: OK, so I stole the title from our very witty finance guru; it was the phrase he used when he dispersed our travel authorizations for yet another Ordered Departure. It does aptly describe the game we feel we are playing. Disclaimer #2: Much of this news has already made it to FB

Handshakes and Contests

Two years ago when I was preparing to leave my beloved Denver and head off to DC for some brief training, and then on to Destination Unknown, we agreed that we would be gone for one two-year tour. At the time, that sounded like adventure enough. (Little did we know what was to come….) But

Oh, What a Year!

A year ago today, Adam, Todd, and I were completing the last 12 or so miles of our trek up (and down) Kilimanjaro. It was a quintessential bucket-list accomplishment, a once-in-a-lifetime experience, of which, in actuality, we’ve had plenty. (Once-in-a-lifetime experiences, that is. Some of them we could’ve done without.) And what a year it has

No News Is…

We’ve all heard the maxim: no news is good news. Unfortunately, here in Bujumbura of late, I’m going to have to go with no news is…well, no news. I should end this blog post here. That would sum it up nicely. (And no one could call TLDR* on me.) The sad reality is…I have no

Update or Outdated?

Things are so uncertain here that this update may become outdated between the time I finish typing it and when I hit publish. Nonetheless, here’s the latest: My son likes to tell people that when his mother tells a story, she likes to start with creation and move forward slowly. His hyperbole is impressive but here’s

Around The World 5K

I belong to a Facebook group called We Run The World. It’s comprised of runners (no surprise there) from the Foreign Service from (again, no surprise) all over the world. It’s quite inspirational and sometimes informative, as people ask questions, post achievements, and throw down challenges. If you follow this blog you may remember this challenge

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!

Happy Anniversary to us! A year ago today, we landed in Bujumbura, wondering what the heck we’d gotten ourselves into. And what a year it has been! At the end of January, I celebrated my one year anniversary of leaving Denver and joining the State Department in this blog post. It was full of updates,