Ha Noi it Is!

We apologize for not writing more during the past couple of months.  With A-100 (the basic training that begins every diplomats career), Nicole settling into her role at Down Dog Yoga , meeting the great people in DC, and traveling to Arizona for the holidays, we have barely enough time to kiss each other good night much less update the blog.  So here as we head into a new year filled with untold surprises and travels we want to let everyone know that we are headed to Hanoi, Vietnam!

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When we told our families that we were headed to Vietnam a number of different responses came up.  More than anything was the excitement of the exotic land to the East wrapped in a culture thousands of years old with untold delicious treats (e.g. all the pho we can eat).  However, there was also just a hint of apprehension.  It was an apprehension based on history of how much Vietnam (just a mere 35 years ago) has dominated the lives of America's youth. Whether that be hoping to avoid the draft, signing up, or having a friend that was deployed...it has been a sore spot to talk about.

With this thought being so prevalent, I wondered what the new generation of Vietnamese (growing up after of what they call the American War) thought about Americans. Do they harbor a hatred toward Americans? Will we be welcomed or despised? Well from everything that I have read thus far the answer is unequivacally...NO!

So while, I appreciate the history (both the Vietnam War  and before), I realized that part of the excitement of heading off to Vietnam is in the exmining of the past as much as planning for the future.  There are so many things to look forward to in Ha Noi (the proper spelling of the city) that its hard to even list them in a top 10 list. 

There will be more to come shortly, but here is a quick reading list of what we are investigating before we start our Vietnamese language training.

Vietnam, Now: A Reporter Returns by David Lamb
A Better War: The Unexamined Victories and the Final Tragedy of America's Last War by Lewis Sorley
George F. Kennan: An American Life by John Lewis Gaddis
The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker

On a final note, thank you to both of our families for making this holiday so special and we look forward to all of you coming for a visit in 2012.

-Chris

compare & contrast

So, we moved from a 400 sq ft studio into an 820 sq ft one bedroom apartment. Here's some before/after shots:

Our former bedroom/living room space

yes, we are newlyweds;)

Our former "office" space

My "Carrie Bradshaw" walk in closet that led to our mini-bathroom

What else goes with a mini-bathroom but a mini-kitchen?

The mini-fridge

Do you understand why we never had people over to our house in Denver?

Our new fabulous apartment: from the entryway. Is that a dining room table? What is that for?! Our balcony overlooks the parking lot, and the cemetery behind it which is actually quite pretty.

My handsome hubby and our fab new kitchen! We now have a dishwasher, garbage disposal & HUGE fridge with TONS of storage space!

Yea, it's king sized. I think it's the same size as our old apartment.

The bathroom/vanity area. The washer & dryer are in the closet to the right. Flipping sweet.

The view from the desk:)

It's amazing how luxurious an apartment can feel after you live with next to nothing for awhile....Let's just hope our furnished apartments abroad are half as nice!

Now, come visit us!

Love, Nicole & Chris

3 time zones & 6 states in 3 days....

Greetings from Toledo, OH!

We ran out of Denver on Tuesday to avoid Wednesday's blizzard & made it to Omaha in the wee hours of the morning, thank you Emily Neve for staying up for us! The roads have been good to us, just some rain yesterday and today and so far NO SNOW. Tomorrow we will land in Washington, D.C. and on Saturday we will move into our apartment in Falls Church, VA. Sunday is an opening reception for all Foreign Service officers and their families and Chris and I both start work on Monday. Wowza. It's all a blur.

I have learned the best way to learn to drive a clutch is to jump right in, I have only killed the car 3 times, twice was at a toll road in Indiana and the toll attendant got a few giggles. I can only hope we made her day, I guess I will always be an entertainer at heart.

That's the latest update, we are off to live it up and see what Toledo has to offer....yee-haw!

-Nic

the universe provides....

13 days until D.C. and I am happy to report that I am employed at Down Dog Yoga studio! I will be the "Team Lead" aka Management Team at the Georgertown location. I start on 11/7--the same day Chris starts at the Foreign Service and brother Jerm starts his new position at Pay Pal. Life is good for the Schrader kids. We are so grateful for the many blessings of 2011, and look forward to the future!

~Nic

18 more days in Denver....

Today was one of the 300 days of sunshine that Denver gets every year. It was absolutely beautiful. I cannot believe that we only have 18 days to go. In February, we drove from Phoenix to Denver to move Chris here, and in 18 short days we will embark on the trek from Denver to Washington, D.C. Chris has been waiting for over a year for this dream to be actualized. It has become a daily request that I ask someone to pinch me since we found out 3 weeks ago that his training begins November 7th! I am so proud of my amazing husband and cannot wait to begin our next adventure in the Foreign Service! We must STAY PRESENT to enjoy the last few days, the sunshine, the mountains, and the amazing family we have built here in such a short time. We love you all so much, and you will be forever in our hearts as we travel and live abroad.

~Nicole