Best Day Ever!

Well, I was planning on writing a post when I got home tonight anyway, but now it will include so much more happy news! First, the original content I was planning...

My quad-cube is a much happier place now. I'm sure you're wondering, why? Well, in the past week, my cube-mates and I have acquired a Brita water pitcher, an electric kettle, a French press and a plethora of teas and coffees. We now have an unending supply of hot beverages at our fingertips! No more running out to the galley every time we are thirsty, standing in line to microwave some water, and dealing with the danger of unlocking the office door with a hot beverage in hand. It has changed our lives!

Secondly, one of my fellow trainees and I completed an economic analysis piece for one of the USAID missions and our supervisor gave us lots of praise for doing a great job! Wow, I am not used to that! It was so nice to, a) do something that is of great value to our coworkers, and b) be recognized for it!

And lastly, I GOT MY POSTING! An unassuming email arrived this morning from a HR employee that I don't know. I was cc:'d on the email and after sorting through it, I could tell it was my assignment. It was addressed to some of the mission staff, but nowhere in the email did it say the name of the country. Luckily, I noticed that the labels on the mission staff's emails was Tbilisi. Now, to be honest, I had no clue where Tbilisi was, so I had to look it up, and I found out that Tbilisi is the capitol of Georgia! So Eurasia here I come!

This was completely out of left field for me. I had been assuming I would be posted to a Feed the Future Initiative country, so Africa or Southeast Asia most likely. But don't get me wrong, I am SUPER excited about Georgia! I have to read more to figure out what's going on at the mission and learn as much as I can about the region. They've recommended 7 months of French training, with a short Russian course, as far as language. The weird thing is that most of the population speaks Georgian, for which I will receive no training. But I suppose I'll get by with English and basic Russian.

So everyone start saving now to come visit me in beautiful Georgia! I can't wait to find out more about my future home!

Some pictures to share...

So, I don't have anything too exciting to share, but I have a few pictures from the past couple days that I know a few people will be interested in...

Birthday flowers from Chris!

My new, huge purse....Wally is included in the photo for scale. I'm looking forward to carrying only one bag to work every day!

New rain/snow boots!

This was today's page on my calendar at work. I wish I'd had this at my previous job...where I was known to hit my co-workers (all in good fun, of course!)

Birthday Week

Well, my birthday was on Wednesday. My parents were in town to celebrate with me, so that was nice! They got here last Saturday afternoon and were here until Thursday. We went to the Holocaust Museum, the Museum of Crime & Punishment, and the Portrait Gallery last weekend before I had to head back to work on Tuesday. Plus, they helped me hang a large shelf in my apartment which was too big for me to do alone. So now I think the apartment is complete.

We ate dinner out every night while they were here, which was nice because I rarely go out to eat - it's not much fun when you go alone. We hit Ruby Tuesday, Old Ebbitt Grill, Cafe Italia, Fogo de Chao, and Founding Farmers...all of which have now been reviewed on Yelp :)

I got some super cute rain/snow boots from my parents, which I haven't had an opportunity to wear yet, but maybe this week. Also, some beautiful flowers from Chris were delivered to my office on Wednesday. Thanks to everyone who sent me cards or wished me well on Facebook! It was a good birthday, and hopefully the start of another good year!

Oh, and also, my blog got a mention on the Weekly State Department Blog Roundup last week! I'm moving up in the world! Maybe that will encourage me to blog more frequently...we'll see....

Haircut...and country assignments for some...

Well, since the last post, I did get my hair cut by Marsha at Tracy & Company salon...I love how it turned out! Marsha and the salon got a good review on Yelp!

This week is kind of like a DLI15 reunion because we are in "consolidated training week." We'll spend the week taking a bunch of required trainings. Yesterday we had a mini flag ceremony because half of the class finally had assignments! We knew that a number of people were already aware of where they were going, but everyone was hoping that maybe they'd have a surprise during the ceremony. Unfortunately, still no assignment for me - boo! But lots of others got theirs, including about four of the aggies, who are going to Bangladesh, Ghana and Kenya. I'm hoping my day will come soon!

It's snowing!! I'm hoping for some real accumulation this time...and a snow day tomorrow! A girl can dream...