Phuket All!

Hello friends and family!

We are gearing up for our trip to Thailand.  We leave on Friday, October 26th and return on Friday, November 2nd.  We never took a honeymoon, so this is a birthday/anniversary/Christmas present for us.  We are both very excited - it's our first trip of many while we live over here and we plan to make a LOT of memories.  I'm going to play with monkeys, ride elephants and scuba dive!

Today is my birthday and every time someone new at work would sit at our lunch table, everyone would sing me Happy Birthday again.  Brian got me a KitchenAid mixer - which I have wanted since I was in college.  I am officially an adult.  I think the KitchenAid mixer signifies adulthood...I don't know why, so don't ask.  My  Mother got me a gift card for stained glass...I got 50 pieces of glass and they are on their way.  I also got some money from my MIL, Karen, and a spa gift card from my BFF in Qatar, Jen.  I made out like a bandit!  (kidding).  Just being around friends and my tiny family here (Brian and Joon) has made it all a perfect day.

Not for the paragraph about what many of my friends call "White People Problems."  It's a joke, but I have been complaining about not having a car lately, so here goes:  We have FINALLY decided on a car.  It took us over four months, but Brian and I have come to an agreement on what we both like.  As most of you know, I do NOT like to make decisions.  Like purchasing a car, for instance.  I will not pick one and make a decision to buy it, but if you show me one that I don't like, I will tell you...well, I don't like any cars except Volvos and Land Rovers.  Oh, and the Porche Panamera, but that is totally out of our price range.  The other day, we were leaving the Embassy and we walked by our friend Jared's car.  Brian always leaves him little drawings in the dust on his windows, so I see it often before and after work when he's defacing it.  I love his car!  So does Brian!  It's a Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited 4x4 and we are getting one!  :)  The end.

It looks like I'll be going to DC for a month and a half after the New Year for a Consular Course at the Foreign Service Institute.  This job will open many doors after we are through in Doha and I'm looking forward to the career shift, as well.  I wish I had been smart enough to apply to the State Department when I was younger.  There is so much opportunity out there to travel and see the world and get PAID for it.  You make lifelong friends and create memories that most people can only read about.  I'm very excited about our future and the places we will go!  So parents - urge your kiddos to go State Department after college.  It's awesome...and you could end up with Australian/British/German in laws...free places to stay abroad!  ;)

Until next time...everyone have a good one and I'll post about our trip when we return!

  

Not a happy post, but a needed one.

As most of you know, at this point, I suffered a miscarriage a few weeks ago.  For those of you that didn't, this is just my way of venting and making a record of my feelings at this point.

I had made it to 10 weeks, but the baby had stopped growing at 6 weeks.  The doctor's here were very supportive and helped me through everything.  The first ultrasound was normal.  The baby looked small, but was there and the doctor wanted me to come back in a week to monitor the growth.  The following week, I went back to her and she said there had been no growth and could not hear a heartbeat.  She told me it was most likely a "missed miscarriage."  So, she sent me to radiology for a "better" ultrasound than the equipment she had in her office.  Radiology found a heartbeat!  I was beyond excited.  I was crying and told Brian that my doctor was crazy because I had just heard the heartbeat.  My joy was shortlived.  I returned to my doctor after the heartbeat news and she informed me that it was most likely my heartbeat reflecting off of the gestational sac.  My roller coaster continued.  She told me to come back in yet another week.  I waited, very impatiently, but I made it.  We went back, but this time we went straight to radiology where she told me there was definitely no heartbeat and I had indeed miscarried.  In all honesty, I had prepared myself for the worst, so I wasn't a bucket of tears this time.  My doctor gave me my options to either wait and let the miscarriage happen naturally or perform a D&C.  She urged me to have the D&C since it had been three weeks with no miscarriage symptoms.  So we scheduled it for two days later.

The D&C was painless.  I was asleep the entire time and Brian stayed in the hospital with me all day.  Brian has been my rock.  He didn't know what to do at first, but he's been so strong and held my hand through it all.  I could not have done this without him (literally).  :)  That was a joke - trying to lighten the mood here, folks.

I have also had many friends to talk to here who have been through the pain and have continued to have healthy children.  I'm keeping my hopes up and taking care of myself.  Hopefully we will have good news for you soon!

XOXO