Where we are- State Dept Round Up

This week’s round up theme was “Where I am now.” I thought of it when I posted about my own reflections on where I am lately. The pink posts idea started about the same time when we were driving to church on Sunday and saw them painting our international bridge pink. We were talking about why on earth they would do that and decided that it must be for Jen. And thus began the worldwide hunt for pink things.

So without further ado, here are the awesome submissions we got this week.

(And every one was submitted except one or two. Great work all. It makes the round up so much easier. Next week is submissions only, so go start working on those self -promotion muscles.)


You all get major points for some awesome posts and pics. We’ll save the bonus pink points for last though.

First up is a beautiful photo essay at Sherwood Family. It explains in pictures and words right where she is. Love it.

Another gorgeous photo is from Spectrummymummy:
She says, “Where we are now (developmentally) is my daughter taking enough interest in my son to push his swing for him. We're behind the curve of other siblings, but we're on our own track.
I love the pink idea for Jen, and can't believe my girl isn't wearing her favourite colour in this pic, even though she picked her outfit and dressed herself. Go figure.”

NOMADS BY NATURE are in Maputo but are thinking of Texas and Paris this week. (Some of those Texas photos had us laughing out loud. And the Maputo photos on other parts of the blog may just convince you to learn Portuguese.)

Another awesome photo spread At Nick and Liz Go Global to go along with the drama in Kabul. Interesting read.

And then we have Zoe at Something Edited who has the world’s most artistic commute.

Whale Ears features a day in the life of expat cats. (My husband and I have to know, do they actually go for the flame under the pot or just look at it?)

KG at Diplodocus was in a place we all understand, feeling kind of alone and away from family. Happened in a way you wouldn’t expect though. We’ve been thinking of you and hoping that all would go well. Glad to hear you are on the mend a bit now.


Meandering Memos is in the process of settling in and checking out the Equator, as well as some local flora and fauna.


Now a brief PSA before we announce our bonus points:

If you want to know what FS furnishings are like (or which post will not only let you put a fridge in your living room but also provide a full freezer), head on over to Adventures in…

If you need a great place to order parts for your car or need some good recipes and validation for choosing whatever path you are on, head to Connie’s. (Yup she can do anything. No wonder her cats are so happy.)


If you want to know just how much the FSI will fry your brain, Lifeafterjersulem will always be there to give you all the imagery you need. She’s both here, at the FSI, and there, moving on to post.
(AND she gets honorary bonus points for having pinkish text.)

For really cool cake decorating prowess , your one stop shop is Cyberbones.

And for those of you who have stayed in Oakwood Falls Church or who may be considering it in the future, check out the new remodel on What Were We Thinking. Oakwood is breaking them in good by making them move again BEFORE they even hit their first post. You’ll also notice that they have already figured out a cardinal rule of life in the FS with small children:
Hide all the head bashing lamps ASAP.
(Hotel phones too. Or is my 3 year old the only one who manages to call the front desk before I can even take my shoes off?)

NOW FOR ALL THINGS PINK!


The “Pink Ribbon” Bonus Points Awards go to:

Emily at Our Life. She not only has a pink ribbon for Jen, she also has a photo that I can’t quite put words to. But to me it just sums up the border so well. A line dividing two places that are so similar and so different at the same time. We are thinking of you there and hoping that things calm down for you soon so you can enjoy those wonderful border pluses even more.

Another pink ribbon to Lydia at Here, There and Everywhere. She has a really cool photo collage up that even includes an organically grown pink ribbon :) 



The “Post Envy Inducing Pink Photo” Bonus Points Awards go to:

those bloggers whose amazing pink photos make you suddenly wish for a change of station.

First head over to I’ll take Mine to Go who has amazing pics of Jamaica.

Then travel to Dhaka with Denise at Beyond the Cornfields.  I linked to a photo collection she has there (with lots of pink in it!) but you really should check out the whole site. She takes amazing photos.

(Please tell me I am not the only one who always wants to go to posts where I can take cool pictures? State Department blogs always give me wanderlust...until they involve hairy spiders crawling out of drains.)



The “Pink Sock” Bonus Points Awards go to :

Whale Ears though I’m not sure if this award goes to Connie or the cat. Joint achievement award maybe?

And our Floridian, turned Texan, turned NOVA resident who is learning how to warm her toes with some pink new additions over at Daring Adventure.


The “Other Pink Items” Bonus Points Awards go to:

Sass and Sweet (who if I am not mistaken hails from the Northern border). She sent Jen a beautiful flower and has an awesome post on the many places she finds herself these days. Check out some great pics on her site as well.

Jill and the cutest pink-wearing kiddos ever are sending love from the Pearlman Update.

Bfiles also found some pink to share as she prepares for A-100.

And Donna at Email from The Embassy totally had me convinced that I was going to be seeing dancing fish. I’ll let you discover what really happened with "Talented Salmon."



The “LOL at That Pink Object” Bonus Points Awards go to:

Tuk & Tam with, well, you just have to see it yourself. But I agree that having clones would definitely be the way to go. Especially when blogger eats your round up and you have to start over. Ahem. Moving on to:

LOL item number two is from Kate at Pulling Stakes. They are getting settled in their new home. (Awesome backyard! Sorry it attacked you.) And again you are just going to have to see this one yourself. Words don’t do it justice.

And last but not least we have Zoe who fought a horde of tourists in Milan to get a picture of….something. Go see. I promise it will make you smile. Definitely a good prize in this for you Zoe but all I can think of is a My Little Pony for some reason.



And finally for the “Over the Top” Bonus Points Awards we have:


Sara at Wife Mommy Woman who asked for double extra credit since not only did her “Where I am” photo have pink, but she also has a pink blog. I agreed only on the condition that

Diplopundit get TRIPLE bonus points because that blog is all pink and

that the cyberbones folks get OCTUPLE (hey dictionary.com says it's a word) bonus points for having both a picture of darling baby monkey ears AND a blog that requires sunglasses for long term viewing. Awesome beyond words.

Kind of like Jen. Who has always given much to the State Department community. (As has her husband.) From what I can tell, the whole department is pulling for you. Which means the whole world is pulling for you. Hang in there! We’re all cheering for you. And for all the other cancer fighters and survivors out there.



*Note: Next week’s blog round up will be…here again. Check here for more details. 

Also I had a blogger crash and lost all the links and my original post here. I think I recovered them all but if I missed yours, please let me know in the comments section so I can fix it.