On putting Christmas (and life) on hold for the State Department

…the show must go on!

My Christmas decorations are being held hostage by the State Department in a storage facility in Maryland. We can’t get into the storage facility until some long-overdue paperwork gets stamped by several bureaucrats, so I am left with a few choices:

1. Skip decorating altogether. This is the preferred choice of those in Tres’ language class. If you’re a grinch, it’s a great excuse not to fight pine needles for the next month.
2. Cross my fingers and hope that the long-overdue paperwork arrives in a timely way so I can decorate with my carefully curated ornaments and hand-sewn tartan stockings.
3. Head to Target and get on with the show.

We have spent a long time waiting for Tres to get this job, and one of the biggest lessons is that you can’t put your life on hold for the State Department. I went to grad school and we both pursued new and challenging jobs. We did not sit around and mope for the years it took him to get here, and I will not sit around and mope for the month of December hoping my decorations get set free. Sure, I totally imagined that I’d be listening to Christmas music sewing Osito’s stocking to match our set, but I’m pretty sure he’ll have no idea that his stocking for his first Christmas was from Dollar Tree. We invested minimally in cheap ornaments, made a paper chain garland, and picked up some fresh greenery at Trader Joe’s.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

On choosing a name for a blog…

… it isn’t as easy as it seems!

I have dreamed of this blog for half a decade. It would start with Flag Day and take my family, friends, and admirers along our journeys in the Foreign Service. I would share how overwhelmed I was during pack out, just like all the bloggers I followed, as well as all the best recipes at whatever exotic post we found ourselves at. While my husband studied away and persevered year after year in his quest to become a Foreign Service Officer, I largely daydreamed about this blog but never started it because that would jinx us for sure.

So when my husband finally got “the call,” which was actually an email, I was ready to share my emotions with the internet. But I had one problem that has plagued me the past four months- you can’t really start a blog until you have a name for that blog. In all my daydreaming I had never arrived at a proper name. It seemed like a small oversight until I actually had to put fingers to keyboard.

It’s harder than you might think. The best names are already taken either by other travelers or Foreign Service bloggers. I’d also like to preserve some privacy for my family so anything with our names is a no-go. It can’t be country-specific since I intend for this to follow us along to all our posts. After testing out a few duds on my very honest friends, I am moving forward with this.

“Oh the Places We’ll Grow” reminds me that it’s not just about the destinations, but the self-growth that is bound to happen with this type of lifestyle. It’s a reminder that challenges are opportunities for growth, and we are not in this for the wealth or fame (hah!) but for the rich experiences and public service. It also makes me think about all the places our son will literally grow up since he was a newborn when we made the decision to accept the offer and move to DC (and beyond!).

Just to put it out there, because I’m the kind of person that puts it out there, if you google the name of this blog you’ll get lots of hits for a book called “Oh the Places YOU’LL Grow,” which is a board book about a penis. I’m not kidding. Google it, or just trust me. I can’t have a blog name that is available, acceptable to my friends, preserves our anonymity, and is not post-specific without some sort of sacrifice, and this is it. Penis book or no penis book, I am keeping this domain name.

This blog is intended first and foremost as a way for my friends and family to keep track of what we’re up to. I’m also happy to serve as a resource for Foreign Service wannabees, since the blogs of other families were really helpful for me as we went through the process. What I’m trying to say is… be patient with my amateur blogging skills!