Wow. July was a very
eventful month.
While there were some very
fabulous moments, there were also some lows. The main bad thing was work
related, but that made its way into my personal life too.
While I will not get into
specifics (struggling to take the high road!) I will say that sadly, someone
who I had trusted completely turned out to be someone who did not deserve that
trust at all. Betrayal really sucks but there isn’t much one can do except pick
up the pieces and move on. Thankfully, while we had to iron out some issues at
work caused by this betrayal, I can honestly say that ROH is stronger than
ever, and staff morale is high. We’re all looking forward to our 4 year
anniversary celebration next month, and are excited for all that is to come for
the organization in the coming months. We are soldiering on!
In happier moments from
the month, we had an awesome visit from old and dear friends Matt Mclaughlin
and Dan Hew from our New York days, with the added bonus of two super lovely
ladies, Matt’s sister, Cindy and girlfriend, Beth. The four of them were so fun
to have around and it was a really special visit. Not only did we get to spend
lots of quality time together, but Matt and Dan got to know our kids better.
While the guys were equally awesome to both kids, I especially loved seeing
them interact with Aliya, who they are both godfathers to.
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| Beth, Cindy, Matt, Marcus and Dan before our firefly tour |
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| Dan, Cindy, me, Beth, Marcus and Matt |
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| Ninong Matt and Aliya |
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| Ninong Dan and Aliya |
Marcus also had a
birthday! Hooray, we’re the same age again! Haha. To celebrate Marcus’ 34th,
we had a nice dinner at a fantastic, super authentic Italian restaurant here in
Puerto called La Tana. The Italian owners, Nick and Tina, really went out of
their way to make sure the party was perfect and they did such a great job.
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Happy birthday Marcus! (With Tina and the amazing birthday cake she and Nick made!)
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Soon after that we had
more fabulous visitors – the Berroth ladies!! Katie Berroth is a beloved friend
from Wellesley and godmother to both Luke and Aliya. She is a sister to me and
I love her and her sister Margeaux and mom Peggy to bits! Katie has been living
in Hong Kong for the last few years, which has been awesome. Sadly for me, she
is moving to New York for 2 months then Ghana for 10 months as she won a
prestigious Acumen Fund fellowship. While sad that she won’t be in Asia
anymore, I am so super proud of my amazing girl. Jacqueline Novogratz started
the Acumen Fund and I have been a fan of the organization since I read Jacqueline’s
book The Blue Sweater. I was so excited when Katie told me she’d applied and
beyond thrilled as she progressed in every new selection process round, and
finally was told she’d won one of the 12 fellowships. Amazing. We’re planning
on visiting Katie in Ghana when we go to South Africa in early 2014. Can’t
wait!!
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| Flying baby!! |
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| Lukey and Ninang Katie |
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| Gogo with the kiddoes |
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| Peggy checking a client's blood pressure in Aplaya |
So… even with the unfortunate events at work, overall
July was pretty awesome. Looking forward to hopefully more happy things to come
in August!!
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| Family photo in Sabang |
