Countdown to Juarez

Hey everyone!  Sorry it's been a month since the last post on the ol' blog here.  It's crunch time for the Petersons, as we are getting ready to move to Ciudad Juarez with the Foreign Service at the end of April.  So the last few weeks have been filled with applications for diplomatic passports, immunizations, visa applications, and so on and so forth.  Now that I'm done with Spanish, I've moved on to Consular training, which is a six-week course designed to teach us everything we need to know about Consular work at our first assignment.

Consular work consists of three main areas: Immigrant Visas (people who are coming to live in the U.S.), Non-Immigrant Visas (people coming to visit for a few months), and American Citizen Services.  It's all pretty interesting, and involves reading lots of statutes and federal regulations, which I'm ashamed to say is pretty exciting for an attorney like myself.  

But we have managed to fit in some fun stuff as well over the past few weeks.  Here's a brief recap of what we have been up to (or more accurately, what we've been cooking):

Sarah had a sinus infection the week of Valentine's Day, so we held an observance of the holiday the following week.  I don't know if she appreciated my Mexican-themed card, but I felt like it was one of my best.  Perhaps one day I should just do a post on all the cards I've made for her over the years.

However, something we can both agree on is the traditional Valentine's Day surf n' turf dinner that we've been making for years.  It includes braised short ribs and scallops, and this year we added brussel sprouts and mashed potatoes.  Topped off with molten lava cake, as per usual.

We also had a snow day last week!  Sarah and I were snowed in on Wednesday, which meant I made scones and bacon, and then we sat on the couch and watched "Wreck-It-Ralph."  I've decided I'll just start taking every Wednesday off as a nice mid-week break.

Finally, some friends of ours invited us to an "Iron Chef" event at their place.  For those who haven't seen the show, two chefs compete to make meals with a certain secret ingredient.  For this party, the secret ingredient was lemons, and Sarah and I blew up the dessert category with a lemon meringue tart.  It was especially satisfying since we made this dessert once before and it was a complete catastrophe.  Redemption!

So that's it for now.  Hopefully, I'll find some more time to update the blog before we head south of the border.  Adios.

Yo Hablo Espanol!

Hey, everyone!  I thought I would provide you with a quick update on how my Foreign Service training is going.  Every week somebody asks me "How do you like working for the State Department?" or "What kind of work do they have you doing?"  Which is funny, because I still don't really know the answer to either of those questions, since I have been in training for the last five months.  But I'm sure I'll do some actual work at some point, right?

On the plus side, I have hit another milestone in my training schedule; I have passed my Spanish exam!  After 15 weeks of language training, I passed my final speaking and reading exam, which means I speak well enough to hand out and deny visas just south of the border.  So on to the next stage of training.  Next up, I have three days of training on security issues (I think the title of the class is "Don't Get Into Any Weird Vans and Other Tips for Surviving Life Outside the U.S.).  After that, I have six weeks of Consular training, where I learn how to process visas, get Americans out of jail, and spot fake documents.  After that, it's one more week of security training, and then we're on our way to Mexico.

Also, we now have an official departure date.  On Wednesday, April 24th, we will begin our sojourn down to Ciudad Juarez, arriving on Tuesday, April 30th.  So if you plan to talk us out of this whole adventure, you'll need to make your final arguments before then.  Thanks for reading!

P.S. Now that I speak Spanish, I can finally understand what Chris Farley was talking about here.    

Welcome to the DC Bar

I was sworn in to the DC Bar yesterday.  The District of Columbia makes it easy; as long as you've taken the bar exam in some other state, they will usually admit you as well after their own background check (which takes forever).  As a result, I can now practice law in Virginia and DC.  I may not be doing it anytime soon, but it's a good thing to have, especially since once you get into the DC Bar, you're basically in for life.  Woohoo!

P.S. Is it just me or do my hands look "Incredible Hulk"-sized in that photo?  They look weird, right?

We Survived Birthday Week

That's right, folks!  Sarah's Birthday Week is upon us!  I say that simply because over the last five years, she has managed to stretch out the celebration to just over a week.  Seeing as this was one of our last big hurrahs here in Arlington, we decided to go all out, starting with birthday party with tons of food.

 

We had a pretty tasty greek yogurt parfait-type-thing, along with a salad with tons of bacon, and some goat cheese tartlet things.  

Oh yeah, and some "Irish" scones (apparently some special type of butter, not alcohol, makes them Irish), candied bacon, and white chocolate and apricot oatmeal cookies.

Along with a gigantic three-tiered homemade caramel chocolate cake.  It fed twenty people and we still had enough leftover to last us the rest of the week.  Overall, the party went great.

Ellie Goulding was also in town the week of Sarah's birthday, so we went to a concert at the Fillmore in Silver Spring, MD, as well.  She put on an awesome show.

Sarah and I must be getting old, because rather than the stand with the masses in front of the stage for three hours, we paid a couple extra bucks to get actual seats on the second level.  Sadly, we're not as hip as we used to be.

But wait, there's more.  Sarah's actual birthday, the 26th, happened to coincide with the J.Crew Warehouse sale down in Lynchburg, VA, where they open up their entire warehouse and sell tons of stuff for about 5% of the retail price. As you can imagine, people getting pretty pumped for this thing, which means you need to show up early to get in line.  Sarah played the "I'm getting over the flu" card, which meant I got to camp out in the snow for four hours.  Is Birthday Week over yet?

Not quite.  The sale was a success, and Sarah found plenty of nice stuff, while I found some new shirts to wear to work to impress the fine people of Ciudad Juarez while I deny their visas.  After that, we spent the afternoon with Sarah's family and opened presents.  Finally, when we got back to Arlington, one thing remained; the annual birthday dinner.  This year we made beef bourguinon and potatoes au gratin, which has been a favorite of ours for years.  And with that, Birthday Week drew to a close.  Happy birthday, my love!

An Ode to Jean the Honda Civic

Dear Jean,

How can I put into words what a wonderful car you have been.  I've done my best to take care of you since the day I brought you home from the dealership.  I was so excited about my new little 4-cylinder.  And look where we are eight years later; we've been through so much together.

We spent a horrible summer together in Gilbert, AZ, selling Living Scriptures DVDs.  We survived the ice storms of Utah, and a cross-country trek to Virginia.  You've rear-ended someone in Utah, been backed into in Arizona, been run off the road in Kentucky, and been scraped by a garage door in Virginia.  Who knows, maybe there were even a couple speeding tickets along the way.  You did always like to go fast.

I wish our days together could last forever, but alas, Ciudad Juarez is no place for a Honda Civic, even one so brave and sturdy as you.  Believe me, we're saving you from a worse fate.  Juarez is filled with potholes, flooded streets, crazy drivers, and car thieves.  It's better that you stay here in Virginia.

Jean, please don't think for a second that we're trying to replace you with something better.  Sure, the new Rav-4 is cooler, newer, has more bells and whistles, and is all-around awesome, but you will always have a special place in our hearts.  May you bear your new owners well.

Sincerely,

Ryan & Sarah Peterson    
 

Dear Ravi the 2011 Rav-4,

Welcome to the family! We are excited to take you down to Ciudad Juarez.  The Mexican government requires that we bring a vehicle no more than five years old, and the Consulate recommended an SUV, so you fit the bill perfectly.  Sorry we're taking you to such a crazy place across the border, but you were bred for adventure. We look forward to working with you for the next few years!

Ryan & Sarah Peterson

P.S. In case you were wondering, you were named in honor of one of our favorite Arlington restaurants, Ravi Kebab.  It suits you well. 

Christmas in Arizona

In case you haven't been watching the news lately, the East Coast is under some sort of FLU EPIDEMIC!  Run for your lives!  Anywho, three of the four people in my Spanish class came down with the flu on the same day, including me.  As a result, I have been sitting at home for the last two and a half days.  On the plus side, I've been reading a lot, and I finally have the chance to update the blog.  We had a great time visiting my family in Arizona.  And for the record, I put this sweater on first, so it's technically Sarah that copied my outfit.  We weren't trying to dress as twins, I swear.

Most importantly, we got to meet the newest member of our extended family, Penelope, who was born a few months ago.  She's pretty cool, although she doesn't do a whole lot right now. 

Sarah and I gave each other some pretty rad gifts as well: an iPad mini for me,

And a pair of Tory Burch shoes for her.  Woohoo!  Arizona Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Happy holidays, everyone!  Sorry there haven't been too many updates as of late.  In all honesty, Sarah and I have been taking it easy for most of December.  After the madness that was the month of November (see below), we were glad to have sometime to relax and bake some cookies.  At the very least, however, we did go out and get a real Christmas tree this year, which is a first for us!  Even better, the Christmas tree lot was just down the street from our house, which meant I could just carry it home.  This is a visual approximation of how I looked:

Anywho, we hope you all have a wonderful Christmas.  We're headed out to Arizona, but will be back to celebrate New Year's at home.