For the Love of COFFEE! A Fully Portable Espresso and Coffee Bar for Our Home

A focal point for my love of coffee.

So, we're renters here in NoVA.  Which I love.  Because we've already done the whole "Ohhhh!  We need a house!" and we bought such a house -- in Ohio -- when we got married {16 years ago} and now we still own that house, but are currently renting it to friends.  It's our home of record, having established it so very long ago.

But anyway, when the fab hubby got assigned in DC two years ago, we had absolutely no interest (or the down payment for that matter) in buying a house.  So we rent.  And we got incredibly lucky -- wer're renting from some very, very awesome FS friends.  We never even had to navigate the "fun" of the rental market in DC/NoVA/MD.  Score!

One of the projects I've been dreaming of establishing in our home is an espresso/coffee bar.  But, because we rent and because we move so frequently {Please, PLEASE let the bidding gods be kind to us this summer!}, it needed to be, above all...portable.

Of course, the fab hubby in all of his fabulousness, knew that I'd been dreaming of such a project.  And for Mother's Day this year, I received this...

Shiny!  My newest hobby.

And well, that machine morphed into this gorgeousness in our kitchen.  100% portable and ready to go, anywhere in the world!  As if my espresso fixation wasn't enough before, I now have the machine and the space to tinker with the greatest, most delicious substance in the world.  Coffee.  And with the fab hubby gone in Iraq over the next year, it's so nice to have a new hobby I can obsess over...

Check out this gorgeousness!  A fully portable espresso/coffee bar.
With useful space underneath!

Homemade creamer!  Getting my domesticness on.

Hee Hee.  Truth.
And oh, my!  I made that delicious latte.

Another view.

And yeah.  Another view.

Well, the shirt says it all.

Our First Ball

What to say?  It was absolutely perfect.  A night out with friends, swanky dresses and tuxedos, and a beautiful hotel hosted the party.

It is the Marine Corp's 236th Birthday this year, and the Ball is in celebration of them.  We all need to take a moment to stop and think about all they have done for our country. I see them every day at the Embassy and I am proud to know them.  I didn't realize that this year was both the 70th anniversary of Pearl Harbor and the 10th anniversary of 9/11.  Sobering.

For me, prep for the Ball actually began way back in July when my dress arrived in the mail and I had it altered to perfection just before we left from Ohio.  Of course, I totally goofed and had the dress packed in with our HHE (boat shipment) and not our UAB (air shipment).  I was sweating bullets two weeks ago when our HHE had not yet arrived.  Thankfully, it arrived and I didn't have to do the last minute oh-my-gawd-I-don't-have-a-dress shopping escapade.


Shoes arrived two weeks ago as well.  And not only did they NOT fit, they were 4 1/2 inch heels.  Which sounds so innocuous.  Until I put them on.  And while they looked smokin' hot on me, I did NOT look smokin' hot walking in them.  Or should I say clomping in them.  I ordered a different pair from amazon.com (who I will very shortly profess my love for) and they arrived two days before the Ball.  I really *heart* you, amazon.

Got my nails done the night before the Ball.  Left work an hour early and couldn't flag a taxi down no matter what I did.  They were all full.  So I walked it.  It's only a couple of miles from work, but you can imagine the look of desperation on my face as I walked along a busy road to get to the nail salon in time for my appointment.  All in the name of beauty.

4 1/2" Heels.  Never gonna happen.

I'd also like to take a moment and point out that threading is NOT for the faint-of-heart.  Thought I'd have a nice time getting my eyebrows shaped and wasn't feeling the love for wax that day.  I had heard about threading and asked them to do that instead.  Oh, Momma.  My eyes teared during the entire traumatizing and painful process.  To be fair, I hadn't shaped those brows (or should I say "brow"?) in a few months, so there was some serious work to be done.  Again, it was all in the name of beauty.

The day of the Ball prep was easy.  Had the kids taken to the local American club a few hours before we had to leave so there would be no meltdowns while we were trying to get ready.  Smart, really smart!  Cuz we were still lacing up Jason's new shoes minutes before we had to walk out the door to catch our shuttle to the Ball.  Thankfully, we had no boogers to be wiping off icky kids' faces in between the laces.

At the Ball itself, we got to meet up with our friends.  The reception area was gorgeous, and since I'm (woefully) allergic to alcohol, I downed lots of fresh strawberry and mango juice.  Delish.

Manageable.

The Marines were smart in their uniforms and sharp in their ceremony.  It was lovely meeting the Ambassador and the guest speaker was fantastic as well.  Of course, the food was amazing.  And, the coffee perfect.  Sadly, the waiters took my desert AND my coffee before I was done with it.  ::sigh:: But, I'm sure I'll recover somehow.

On a positive note, I totally made it through the night without taking off my shoes once.  And although they weren't the 4 1/2 inch heels, they were a towering 3 1/2 inches.  I'm not a heels kinda gal, so it was a struggle.  All in the name of beauty.  Again.

Danced with the girlies (in those shoes, no less!), drank some more strawberry juice, and enjoyed the time with my hubby.

Since I turn into a pumpkin at precisely 11:25pm every night, we took the first shuttle home at 11:00pm.  I nearly fell asleep in the van.  Our friends, however, are much better partiers than we.  They stayed until 1:00AM.  Dang, I feel old.  But can't fight it.  The shuttle dropped us off at our doorstep (amazingly) at 11:23pm.

Like I said.  Perfect.

Cheesy American touristy photo.
I can't help myself.

Me and my posse.

One Last Night

One heinous day of packing our airline luggage, two days of packout, and now I sit in an empty house in Ohio, save for three beautiful children sleeping upstairs. Jason is out enjoying some much-deserved time with some friends; I got to enjoy time with my besties last night. Everything is suddenly real. We are moving. 14 hours to wheels off the ground; our year-long dream of moving to Cairo now a reality. Jason's assignment in Iraq now seems so long ago. He's been home for six weeks and one day.

We'll hit the airport tomorrow with 10 checked bags, 5 carry-ons, and 4 personal bags. A dog, a stroller, a gigantic baby car seat, two kids, one baby. One very excited family.

Both Owen and Abby spent the day with friends, tromping all over our small town. I think they are ready now as well. It's hard saying goodbye, but the lure of adventure is pretty exciting and hopefully makes up for it a little bit.

I'm thankful for our neighbors who helped out so much with the kids today. I didn't have any mouths to feed at lunch or dinner, and they had a blast with their friends. The baby got to spend a special day with his grandparents, and didn't risk any chance of getting packed up or shipped to storage. Whew.

My espresso machine is one its way to Cairo via USPS, as are two baby gates. Here's hoping our UAB arrives as within 2-3 weeks! But no worries, because in our 10 bags, we have enough to get by without more stuff (except groceries) for at least 6 weeks.

Pittsburgh airport hates me - no Starbucks! But we're also traveling through NYC, so fingers crossed they'll be one at the airport there. Otherwise our 5-hour layover will seem even longer.

Just one more day to our arrival in Cairo. I can't say I'm looking forward to the 11 hour final flight, but I am looking forward to our adventure.

[Somehow] It Ended Up Exactly As Planned

Spending a stress-free moment with the little man.

After a bit of a snag, and a whole lot of worry, our passports and visas arrived via FedEx today.  No fanfare; no cheering.  In fact the FedEx dude casually dropped the package on our front porch without even a knock on our door.  Which, in hindsight, was probably a good move on his part - had he knocked, I likely would have opened the door, burst into tears and covered him with sloppy kisses while chanting "thank you thank you thank you!"

Turns out that it's not uncommon for visa stamps to hiccup along the way to their final destination (that would be to our passports and then to us).  But without that stamp, we couldn't have entered Egypt legally.  I spent a few afternoons last week calling special issuance and asking them eagerly if they'd heard from the Egyptian Embassy about our visas.  Much to their credit, they were incredibly patient with me, explaining the process and letting me know that sometimes it takes a bit longer than usual.  I panicked and emailed some spousey DS friends, who confirmed all of what special issuance told me.  

But me and my type-A-psychotic-need to have it all done exactly the way we planned got the better of me. If the visas didn't process in time, we'd have to change our travel dates. 

CHANGE OUR TRAVEL DATES? It screamed over and over in my head.  

How can that be? We have to leave on the day already set - we have someone moving into our house literally the day we are scheduled to fly out.  And packout is just two days before we fly-out.  Everything needs to occur precisely along the timeline we've established.

UNACCEPTABLE! It screamed over and over in my head. And over and over and over.

I was sick, nauseous, couldn't sleep.  I felt as though we had lost control over everything we had worked so hard to get in order.  It's hard planning this so far away from Main State - we haven't done it before, and everything is new to us and takes probably three times as long to figure out.  (Maybe we'll look back at this on our next move and laugh?!).  Where would we go for that time while we waited - a hotel?  But we wouldn't have a car?  We'd need a rental.  But I'm supposed to start work the 11th in Cairo; I'd already put in my notice at work in Ohio.  How would we get the kids to school here in Ohio if we weren't in the district (because of the hotel)? When would we find out when we actually could fly out? How would I get the dog's international travel papers re-vouchered since it has to be 14-days or less before flying, if we only had a few days notice?!  This is only a small sampling of the questions reeling through my mind.

Somehow I'd forgotten that things have a way of falling together.  Everyone told me to relax, that most likely they'd arrive in time for our set plans, and if not we'd figure everything out.  It always works out that way in the end.  But I couldn't accept it.  I couldn't let it go.  The feeling of losing of control over everything suddenly was overwhelming, suffocating.

I wish I could say I did just got over it and accepted things the way I should; that I found I could let go and not be so perfectly in control over every detail to the way I envisioned it.  But I'll never know if that is ultimately how I'd respond (although I truly hope it would be).  Because we got an email yesterday about the visas stamps being en route to our home via FedEx.  Which arrived so very quietly today.

*Happy Dance* 

Now our plans continue along the path we set, and things seem to be coming together the way we planned.  I know that I need to figure out a way to deal with things like this because honestly, these are the kind of things that are likely to happen multiple times over the span of our FS moves and the hubby's career.  Maybe next round of visas and packout planning...I'll learn to let things just...be.

But I'm going to have to save that for next round.  

Having been able to [finally] relax, I asked the fabulous hubby to take the kids and me to the lake today for a nice afternoon in the sun.  He was just glad to have me NOT asking questions about our upcoming move and enjoying something other that the arrival of our passports with visa stamps.  I was, too.

Back to the Crazy

Ridiculously comfy robe and slippers.

It's been something like seven years since Jason and I had a couples-only vacation.  No kids, no kids, and uh...no kids!  We spent four glorious days in Old Town Alexandria, VA.  Leisurely lunches and dinners everyday at beautiful restaurants. Thai food, sushi, seafood, yum! Starbucks galore.  Running along the Potomac.

A romantic river cruise.  Catching up with FS/DS friends. Raiding the mini-fridge at our hotel. Wearing the ridiculous, yet oh-so-comfy hotel-provided zebra robe while watching overpriced pay-per-view movies.  Sleeping in late.  And more Starbucks.  In fact, Starbuck went with us on vacation.  Sweet little pup enjoyed the kid-free time, too.

Such a difficult choice.

But like all good things, it had to come to   an end.  And with the end of our vacation was the return of the "crazy." Oh, back to reality we go.  Back to the prep for our Cairo move.  Which is only 2 weeks away.  Back to UAB, HHE, and OMG (yeah, that one NEVER gets old, right?).  Back to being consumed by non-consumables (Oh, yes, I DID go there! I got more jokes where this came from, folks.  Lots more.)

[Side note: I guess we're actually really lucky not to be consumed by consumables like my friend at A Daring Adventure.  I'm pleased not to drop $3K into toilet paper and Downey fabric softener.  My stock-up for our non-consumables assignment Cairo includes my favorite store brand diapers for Kellen, a few good Yankee Candles, and Luna Bars.  I know where my priorities are. Thankfully, not in t.p.!]

A VERY difficult choice!

Back from VA and getting ready for the dreaded packout.  We've done it twice before. But not for an international move.  So I'm a wee bit stressed, I'll admit it.  Thankfully, the stars have aligned just right and granted us a freebie:  Kids are going to be in school here in OH next week starting Wednesday and we don't packout for another week and a half after that, so....I can organize without the big kidlets vulturing all over me. Sure, the baby will be around, but honestly, by the time you get to the third munchkin you start to realize that life was truly easier with just one hanging on to you.  I can go through the big kids' stuff and *cough cough* "ORGANIZE" (translation...throw some of their excess stuff OUT or send to a donation center).  I can pack suitcases for us to live out of for 5-6 weeks.  I can FINALLY decide what needs to be air shipped with our UAB.  Let's see...#1: Espresso Machine.  #2: Uhhh....Everything else, I can figure out later.

So long vacation, you were super awesome.  Hello [dreaded] packout! But soon, yes VERY soon. We'll be in Cairo.

I promise, PROMISE! To take some pictures of our "organized" piles of stuff as we get closer to PDay (That's Packout Day, Peeps!). I KNOW you're dying to see the crazy.  But until then, enjoy the non-crazy...

On our Potomac River Cruise.  Awesome.

Happy to be back to this...

...and this...

...and of course, this.

The Passports That Almost...Weren't

Four weeks.  That's the current countdown to Cairo.  And before 0900EST today we didn't have our required diplomatic passports for State-ordered travel. Well, the hubby did. But he's been doing this whole travel under orders things a whole lot longer.  But the rest of us - that's me and our three darling munchkins - only had regular travel passports.

Way back in April...that's when I first become cognizant that I needed to light a fire under my bum and get things in action.  The kiddos and I had neither regular nor dip passports.  Meaning the furthest we could travel would be California. Or Maine. Or Florida.  You get the picture.  After my small meltdown, I finally got all the stuff needed to get our passports.  In late May, Jason and I took the kids to the post office and officially applied for the needed NINE passports for our family (regular and dip).  But I only had official birth certificates to send for one or the other.  Regular passports are processed at a different facility from dip passports.  So the postal clerk chose to send our birth certs with the regular applications and not the dip applications.  Not what I would have chosen, but it was what it was...

Two weeks later, I got a call from Special Issuance - they couldn't process our dip passports without certified copies of birth certificates.  HOWEVER, since the regular passports were in process, they could in fact process them as soon as the regular passports processed.  A mere week later, I received all of our regular passports.  I was feeling all confident and secure that our dip passports would follow behind.  Nada followed.

Fast forward to July.  Jason was one week out from arriving back Baghdad.  It had been seven weeks since our original application for all passports.  I called Special Issuance.  Explained that we had received our regular passports and wanted to know where the dip passports were.  Oops.  They forgot to contact us and let us know that the copy of orders for Cairo they had on file were preliminary and not official.  Thankfully, I had the official in my email, so I forwarded them that day.  I even made a follow-up call to make sure the email arrived.  The person I spoke with told me "I don't see them here, but I'm sure someone else in the office has them. Thank you." Umm...

Jason arrived home two weeks ago and I'll admit passport stuff was pretty much all forgotten.  It's been so nice just being a family, that actually, almost all has been forgotten!  But here we are now a month out, and talking about our move.  Figuring what days to packout.  What to take.  Double checking with the kid's school in Cairo, getting the stuff we need.  New bedding.  A mattress pad/cover (Thanks Jen and Becky!).  Visa stamps to Cairo.

WAIT! VISA STAMPS TO CAIRO!?!?

I speed-dialed Special Issuance.  No answer (well, it was 4:00pm on Monday).  Jason called them the next day.  It was lunch time.  He called again in the afternoon.  Voicemail only.  Wednesday came and I called the office first thing at 0830 (the magic day for getting things done in government, I swear!).  I got a live person.  Who pulled up our files and said there was a note that the supervisor had denied the passports.  But didn't say why.

WHAT!? WHAT!?! WHAT!!!!  But we need Visa Stamps and we can't get them put on something like a napkin you know! We must have those passports and we need them now - it take two weeks for Visa Stamps to process, and we only have four weeks until we move, and I need an extra week cushion for my own sanity and for the governmental hiccups!

She calmly told me I needed to send an email to the generic address that she recited over the phone.  That I needed to put all our names in the email with our DOBs and departure date.  REALLY!?  This is what you need?  Because it's all in the computer - with our applications and travel orders!  Still, I frantically typed out an email that went something like this...

Dear Person-Who-I-Hope-Can-Actually-Help-Me,
I'm freaking out because we leave for another country in one month. I don't know if we'll be able to actually enter said country because although I was told that dip passports process faster than travel passports, I have yet have to receive them.  It's been 2 months since we applied for these.  Here's the information you requested, even though you already have it in front of you.  If you'd like, I will happily send it in a follow-up email should this first one mysteriously end up in the wrong department.  Enjoy your lunch.  Please contact me for any other duplicate information you might need.  PS I need these within the week.  
Sincerely, Psychotic Heather


Ok, obviously, this isn't what I wrote. (I'm not usually anywhere near this sarcastic, but at the moment, that was all that went through my head!)  I actually wrote a nice, desperate email pleading our case, with the requested info.  And followed up the email with a call.  That got me a different person - and I wish I could remember her name - who was very helpful and after putting me on hold (instead of asking me to call back!) told me someone was working on our applications and should have it figured out by the end of the day. She asked that I please call in the AM for a follow-up.  YES!  Thank you! I *heart* you!

This morning, I got up and planned to make my 0830EST call.  But Jason stopped me.  Because in his hands...he had the passports.  Our super awesome Special Issuance contact had Overnight Shipped them through FedEx and they arrived today!

Looking back over the two months...where I went wrong (can't blame it all on the system, now can I?)...I should have made a note in my calendar and made phone calls in late June, not mid-July.  We would have had them much sooner.  But all's well that ends well.

Really, had we known about the process way back in the day, we would have applied through FSI (here's A Daring Adventure's take on it) when Jason was training in D.C.  But hindsight is always 20-20, right?  At least we got them.

Now we just need to get our Visa Stamps...

A family of passports.

Viva La Packout! FS Blog Round-Up Week-ending 7/29/11

UAB, HHE...OMG.  It's summer, and while for many in the FS, that means vacations and home leave, for others it means PACKOUT.  If you're like us, no matter how excited you are about the next post, you dread the deadly PACKOUT.  Because you know that despite the best of planning, many things will be lost, broken, eaten, forgotten.  You will ship the wrong things and store the items you need the most.   What you think should get there quickly (UAB) will end up being NOT AT ALL WHAT YOU NEED.  Four months later, the stuff you really wanted and needed...will end up arriving with your HHE.

Or how about the $$$ you unload out-of-pocket before packout getting all the stuff you need for your next post?  Target, Walmart, Sam's Club, Costco.  We've all been there and we've all spent Way. Too. Much.  And then thought of more of what we'd need after leaving the store.  Now, I'll admit - we're newbies to the overseas packout.  We have, however, made two domestic moves in 1 year, and it was...painful.  The first move, we got our orders a mere three days before the moving company arrived to pack our stuff from Ohio to Los Angeles.  I, personally, was PSYCHOTIC.  The fact that my husband still speaks to me to this day after the way I reacted to the first moving cluster circus really speaks of his awesomeness.

On arrival to L.A., our UAB arrived just a few days after us.  The moving company (only one guy) arrived with our TV (65 lbs) and our two boxes of clothing that we thought we'd need.  The clothing boxes were encased in a metal cage.  Not to mention the moving dude refused to haul the TV up the stairs to our second floor condo.  I told him I wouldn't sign for delivery until it was in my living room.  Needless to say, he figured out a way to get it up the stairs.  As for the boxes encaged in a weird metal-basket-weave thing (why I didn't take a photo, I'll never know), I used a crowbar to cut into the open spaces and dug our items out.  One by one.  Ah. Memories.  Thankfully, our move back to Ohio just one year later was uneventful and easy.  Although 1 1/2 years later we still have many things still in boxes.

So here we are.  Just 5 weeks out from our first overseas packout.  I thought this week, the theme for the FS blog round-up could be packout, since my mind is certainly on it, and so are so many other's...

The McDaniel Family is a good seven months from packout, but already losing sleep over it.  I feel your pain!  However, Juliana is much smarter than I - she's got her lists in an excel spreadsheet.

Nomadic Dan at 110to220 has a great archive of blogs, beginning from May when he arrived back in the States but his unaccompanied luggage did not.  My favorite?  The adventures of his car going mudding. But don't giggle too quickly, because here's what happens when things go wrong.  Thankfully, every State Department fairy tale has a happy ending, and shortly he will be reunited with his vehicle and scooter.

Rebecca at S as in Smylie pulled an archived feed for packout shopping/retail therapy support!

The Benily Family has had some difficulty in the past with their packout's transit when some much-loved items never arrived.  Sadly, later when they went to inspect some items in storage, they were moldy and ruined.

As for suggestions for packout success, the Kern Family provides visual aids! Lists! And tips!  I will be using their system for sure next month.

Becky at Small Bits pulled an archive for us, from recent organizing and downgrading and sorting in prep for their packout.  They're in transit from post to in-between-post to post.  I also love the ideas and suggestions she has for keeping kids busy with minimal stuff while waiting for transit!

Special thanks to Sadie for taking the time to put into words her emotional experiences with packout.  Her 1-year anniversary in Saudi Arabia is coming up very soon.  Sadly, her very sweet pooch, Hattie, passed away this time last year.  Here is her touching tribute to her wonderful pet.

What about pack-in?  Hello Talaly has received their UAB!  Merry Christmas!

Well, That Was Different is currently in 'recovery' from their packout and arrival to post.  As they like to point out, things happen in three's.  And here they are, coming up for air!  I like how this blog points out that nowadays it's so easy to keep in touch that goodbyes are different than they used to be.

Got kids?  (We do!)  Here's 3rdCultureChildren's post on dealing with packout and suggestions on how to let your munchkins be involved.  Really really good stuff!

And lest you start to think packout is all work and no play, There is Fun to Be Done's poetry about the 'Night Before Packout' reminds you to stay sane.  And happy.

In other non-packout related news...

I've received a couple of recommendations on this post.  Hannah at Young Millimania Across the Globe writes a great piece about how she is feeling right now with her Dad in Iraq while she's in Amman.  I love this blog.  She touches on some really great points about what's 'home'.  Thanks, Hannah!

Ok, I'm outta here.  Thanks for all the submissions, FS Bloggers.  You make this Round-Up thing easy!

If you would like your blog to be added to this submission or if you have a recommendation for an add-on, please email me! I will happily add it to the feed.

My hubby's UAB from Baghdad.
Obviously still in the living room nearly a week after
he's home. But why unpack what's just going to be re-packed
in a mere 5 weeks? Besides, it's an awesome shelf for keeping
stuff away from sticky baby fingers.  Obviously.