Packing Day

I am writing this at 6:30am on April 22, 2013.  Packing Day has finally arrived.  I can't believe it.  In a couple hours, the movers will come and pack up all of our stuff, and we'll fill our car with all the clothes and other gear we need when we arrive in Mexico.  It's been a crazy week; visiting family, saying goodbye to friends at church, getting every item either cleaned, sent to Goodwill, or thrown out, etc.  But I feel like we are actually ready for today.

The next week should be fun.  With border assignments, you have the option to drive to post, which we opted to do so that we could have our car right from the get-go.  On Wednesday, we'll be driving to Savannah, GA.  On Thursday, we'll drive on to Birmingham, AL.  I've scheduled it this way so that we can arrive in New Orleans, LA, on Friday night and spend the weekend there.  Monday, we'll get back on the road and head to San Antonio, TX.  Finally, Tuesday night, we will roll in to Ciudad Juarez for the start of this crazy adventure.

I'll do my best to update the blog a bit while we're on the road, but more than likely, the next time you hear from us, we'll be living in Mexico.  Vaya con Dios! 

America! Woohoo!

Well, a week from today, Sarah and I will be arriving in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico (affectionately referred to as CJ).  As a result, we are doing our best to do as many American things as possible.  So, of course we went to a Washington Nationals game, and I ate a chili dog.

We had a great time with Sarah's mother and grandmother.  I'm a bit bummed to be leaving at the start of the season now that the Nats are actually decent.  Hoperfully they will still be good two years from now when we come back to the area.

We also made one last trip to New York City, which I think makes this probably the 10th time we visited in the five years that we have lived on the East Coast.  We originally meant to go in February, but had to postpone it until the week before we leave (not ideal).  However, the weather was great.

I had never been in NYC around springtime, so it was nice to be able to walk around a bit when everything's blooming.  We managed to eat at all our favorite places (Shake Shack, Caracas Arepa Bar, Magnolia Bakery) and buy a bunch of new clothes for the little guy.

We also took a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, which is something I always wanted to do.  It was the perfect day for it.  It only takes about 45 minutes. 

We'll miss NYC a lot, as it was nice to be so close.  But we know that it will always be near our home base in Arlington, VA.  Plus, there's a chance I could even work there someday at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations.  Who knows!

It's a BOY!

Sarah and I just got back from the ultrasound appointment, and it looks like we're having a BOY!  We are so excited to meet the little guy, and to finally know what we're having.  In fact, I think everyone in the family is excited to finally know.  Unleash the baby-clothes-purchasing grandparents!

The baby looks healthy and happy, although perhaps a bit lazy (he seemed pretty chill in there, just reclining and scratching his face).  Just a few more months, and then we'll finally get to meet little Fulgencio.  Tranquilo, hijo mio, Fulgencio.  Vamos a conocerte en unos meses mas!   

What's It Gonna Be?

It's getting a bit late on Sunday evening, but I managed to update the blog a bit.  Be sure to read the two new posts below if you want to keep up to date on the latest Peterson happenings.  Things are definitely busy right now, as we creep closer to our departure date at the end of the month.  It's definitely tough saying goodbye to all of our friends and family here in Arlington, to head into the unknown south of the border, but I suppose the fact that we're both insanely busy will keep us from getting too sad.

In other exciting news, we find out the gender of our little baby on WEDNESDAY!  Sarah's pregnancy seems to be going pretty well for the most part.  She is 19 weeks along and feeling pretty good.  We're both incredibly excited for the sonogram on Wednesday, and I'll do my best to update the blog once we find out.  So, what's it gonna be...

 An adorably humongous (over ten pounds) red-haired boy...

Or an equally adorable brunette girl.  Stay tuned to find out!

Our Farewell Party

I'm somewhat embarrassed about this post, mainly due to the lack of photographic evidence.  Our wonderful friends for the last four years, Lake and Elysa Dishman, offered to throw us a little "going away" party over the weekend, as our departure date of April 24th speedily approaches.  It was so kind of them to offer and we had a great time catching up with some of our old friends.  We even had the whole event catered by Cafe Rio!

I started the evening off strong with my goal of taking pictures of all of our friends to save in some scrapbook someday.  I managed to take two pictures of the food, and then neglected to take any photos for the rest of the evening.  So what I mean to say is, sorry lifelong friends, but all I have to remember you by is this picture of tortillas and pork barbacoa.  Maybe it's better this way...

However, as an afterthought, I did get a photo of the tasty tres leches cake that Sarah and I whipped up.  In all seriousness, thanks so much to all of the wonderful friends we have here in Arlington.  Although we're sad to go, there is some comfort in knowing that Arlington will always be our home base for years to come.  And a BIG thanks to the Dishmans (not pictured) for throwing us such an awesome party.  We'll miss you all!

A Visit from My Folks

Although it's been a very busy month for all Petersons both young and old, my parents were able to find time to come visit us here on the East Coast.  We had a great time with their visit.  Since I'm still in the mandatory portion of Consular training, I wasn't able to take too much time off, but we still got to see some sights.  They came to see the Cherry Blossoms, which sadly still aren't blooming due to the odd cold front here in DC, but it warmed up a bit over the weekend while they were here. 

We took them to Baltimore on Saturday, where we got to visit Fort McHenry (where Francis Scott Key wrote the poem that would become our National Anthem), as well as see some of the sights in the Inner Harbor, like the awesome National Aquarium.  I highly recommend a trip to Baltimore if you're ever in the DC area. 

We also managed to get all the in-laws together for Easter dinner, which was a lot of fun.  Thankfully, no one made any "Last Supper" jokes before we head off to the great unknown in Juarez.  Overall, we had a great visit.  And thanks for the tie, Mom and Dad!