I am the worst blogger ever

So I kind of gave up on the blog. It takes so long to upload photos and at some point, I will do it. I am posting photos and updates on Facebook everyday. Hopefully you will see something here soon.

Albania really DOES border the Adriatic

Thanks to the tv show Cheers I already knew this but now I have seen it myself!

I arrived in Tirana on Thursday around midnight and I was so tired from the 24 hour trip. I met my partner Gernot Eberle from Austria the next morning. We were both thrilled to be going to Durres. All the other LTOs, when they found out where we were going, said, "Oh! We were hoping for Durres." I told them that one of the areas by the sea was mine before I even stepped foot in the country because 2 years ago I was in Kukes freezing my butt off during the winter with no electricity. The Deputy Head of Mission kept his promise when he sent me here.

Gernot actually lives in California with his wife who is American. Basically he acts and talks like someone from California so it feels like I'm with an American anyway. Right now we are in a hotel for a few days but our driver and interpreter are going to help us find an apartment. The hotel rooms are really small and we will go nuts if we have to stay here for 7 weeks. Besides, we are both healthy eaters (him more than me) and we want to be able to cook our own food.

It's pretty hot and humid here and that makes my hair do weird things. I'm definitely getting good use of my insect repelant and sunscreen. It was very wise to bring both.

Last night before we all got deployed, all the LTOs got together for dinner. It was fantastic--kabobs, grilled veggies, lots of fresh salads, cheese galore, and bread. The cheese here is so good. I think it's feta cheese but it is very salty and I love it. Tonight I had fried cheese which I was introduced to last time I was here. (Did I say I was a healthy eater? Well, all except the fried cheese.)

My driver and interpreter are going to help me get to church tomorrow. We have Sundays off (at least until right before the election) so I am going to attend each week if possible. The first actual LDS meeting house was built in Durres so I can't wait to see it.

We start really working and meeting with the local government officials on Monday. I am anxious to get started.

Two weeks of parties

I'm leaving for Albania today and what have I been doing for the last 2 weeks? Partying of course! Here are photos from some of the highlights:

Amy, Rob and Christy celebrating Rob's birthday and Amy's going away. We went Lindy Hopping at the Turnverein and then out for Japanese food.














Amy and Evan



















Renee' and Mauricio














I also went to a coop warming party for some chickens who were getting some fancy new digs. This is Elaine placing the chickens in their new home because they wouldn't go voluntarily.














Maci, Renee', Jason and Theresa at the coop warming party.














I also went to a Colorado Rapids game. It was my first Major League Soccer game. They played Real Salt Lake. The Rapids won 2-0 and Dave had a fun time explaining the game to me. :)














The crowd was pretty sparse because it was freezing cold and raining.














My birthday was Monday, May 4 so I made a Barbie cake for myself to take to work.














Had a fun weekend with the family celebrating my birthday and Mother's Day. This is what Megan would call the "silly picture." Melissa, Tony, Mom, Grandma, Kimball, Amy and Logan.














Amy and my boys--Ethan, Sagan and Mason.














Last but not least...one more night of ballroom with my incredibly awesome and cool dance partner John.














My ballroom dance friends: Angie, Carlene and John













Next post will be from Albania!!!!

One week to go

I got my itinerary for Albania and I leave a week from today--Wednesday, May 13th. I had a great birthday on Monday and a great weekend of fun things going on. I'll post photos later.

I have so much to get done before I leave. I am taking a very quick trip to Utah this weekend to say goodbye to the family before I go. I have to wrap up my work stuff, seminary, pack and clean before Wednesday AND be gone this weekend. Not sure how it's going to come together but it's going to have to.

More weekend fun

I had a great weekend and got tons of stuff done to get ready for my trip. Saturday night I went to a singles dance and for the first time in my life I actually had SOOOOOO much fun. There are a few of us middle singles who have been ballroom dancing together twice a week for the last 2 months. So we all know each other and now we can tear up the dance floor. We danced from 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. straight. My feet were killing me and my cheeks hurt from smiling. Never thought I'd hear myself say that I had a BLAST at a church dance.

After the dance a bunch of us went to Denny's to eat. I got home about 2:00 a.m. which meant I got all of 4 hours of sleep since my body wakes me up early anyway. Here are some photos.

The group who went out after the dance. I don't even know half these people.













John, Amy, Mike, Angie

Albania--Third time's a charm

So I am headed back to Albania for the 3rd time. I'll be going as a Long Term Observer and doing the same thing I did 2 years ago--observing the overall elections preparations. I'll be leaving on May 13th and returning to Denver on July 7th. (This is not part of my Foreign Service assignment. It's totally separate.)

All indications I am getting from the Foreign Service are that I will be reporting to Washington DC in either August or September. They can't say for sure (and it could be later) but I'm hoping to just come back here and pack up and spend some time in Utah before I go.

I attempted to quit my job yesterday but they asked me to take an unpaid leave of absence and come back. I agreed but I think it's really stupid. They are really freaked out right now but I think after they live without me for 2 months, they will be fine. I told them I might only come back for 2 or 3 days but I guess it's job security...

So this is why I closed my blog. I will post Foreign Service details here from now on. Stayed tuned...it's a roller coaster ride!

Fun times

I've had a couple of fun nights lately.

Monday night our middle singles group went ballroom dancing again. I've been learning the night club two step the past month and I don't really enjoy it that much but it is something. I really love being with this group of friends.

Here we all are: L-R Carlene, Angie, John, Kristen, Amy, Charles, Joan. Bret is standing.













Tonight I got to go to a really cool thing that my stake put on. All the graduating seminary students (seniors) got to honor one of their high school teachers at a "Teacher Appreciation Night." Our stake public affairs committee put it on. It was a great evening.

I have one graduating senior in my seminary class. Albertine paid tribute to her Multi-media Arts teacher Mr. Sheppler. It was cute because she got all choked up giving her tribute. It was a neat event for the students and great for the teachers to be in our church to see what we do. Our stake president gave a talk on how much we value education.

Mr. Sheppler (Albertine's teacher), Albertine, Brother Lambert (from Albertine's ward) and Bishop Romney













Albertine and Sister Naccarato














Albertine is the only member of the LDS church in her family. She and her dad are from Liberia and Albertine joined the church at age 14. When she graduates she will have her 2 year seminary certificate and she's headed off to CU Boulder for college in the fall. I am so proud of her.

Old friends are the best

This week I had the chance to reconnect with some old friends.

On Tuesday night I got to see my friend Danette Odenbach (and her boyfriend Dan) from North Dakota. Danette works elections in North Dakota and we met many years ago through the National Association of State Election Directors. Danette was in town for an elections meeting that was going on here this week. It was fun to catch up with her and reminisce about the good old days.













On Thursday and Friday I attended an Election Center Conference here in Denver and got to catch up with many elections friends I have known through the years. I got to see Doug Lewis who heads the Election Center, Tom Wilkey from New York and Gary Smith from Forsyth County, Georgia. It is great to see people who were instrumental in my elections career. These people really encouraged me and supported me the whole time I was Elections Director in Utah and I am so glad I still get to see them periodically.

My dear friend Sara West was also in town but not for the elections conference. Sara and I worked together for many years in the Utah Elections Office. She is from Denver so she was here visiting her dad. She and her husband and 3 kids now live in San Diego. We had planned to get together on Friday night but had to cancel because the roads were so bad. I met her this morning before church and we chatted for awhile. I miss Sara!

Doors Sort of Open Denver

On Friday and Saturday we were having lovely spring weather--a blizzard. Too bad it happened the weekend of my favorite event--Doors Open Denver. The event went on but people really stayed away. It snowed all morning and around noon it turned into drizzling rain.

This year I signed up to work at the Zang Mansion which is one of the historic homes in Denver. It was built in 1903 and it's pretty much the same style as the Utah Governor's Mansion with parlors, dining rooms and a ballroom on the 3rd floor. Everything in the home is original because it's only had 2 other owners besides the Zangs who built it originally. I found out when talking to the current owner that the second owner was the LDS Church. The mansion was owned by the Church for many years and was used as the mission home for the Denver Colorado Mission. Who knew?

Anyway, the owner was on hand to answer questions and he also fed me a peanut butter sandwich. We had 93 people come through in 3 hours time, which was pretty dismal turnout. The event continues tomorrow and the weather is supposed to be good so hopefully people will turn out tomorrow.

Here is a photo of me in the entry way. All the woodwork and the stained glass window is original to the home.

Good News!

Maybe the black cloud that has been following me around is finally going away.

My security clearance is finally complete. I got an email on Tuesday morning. It is such a relief to have that done. I talked to the registrar at the Department of State and it does take a few more weeks before all the final paper work is done. Needless to say I am still not on the "list" of hires just yet but I am getting closer.

I also received word from my insurance company that the car accident is settled and it wasn't my fault. I knew that anyway, but I still had to pay upfront until they could prove it. So I am getting my $500 deductible refunded.

I still haven't closed my blog only because I haven't had the time or energy. I am still trying to recover from my illness. Unfortunately it turned into a sinus infection and I've been on antibiotics for a week now trying to kill it. I am feeling better and things are looking up!

This blog will go private

Not that I really have anything interesting to say on this blog...but events in my life with my career have made it necessary to close this blog to invited readers only.

I really don't mind giving people access, even if I don't really know you that well, so please email me if you want me to add you to the list. I'll most likely make this blog private next weekend.

I'm sure you won't miss much because my life is really quite boring. The problem is that it's about to get not boring (hopefully) and, well, I'll explain later.

Amy

amynaccar@yahoo.com

I should never leave my house again

Do you know what this is? Yeah, that's right. It's a donut tire. If you can't handle another story about my bad luck with cars, do not read any further!













I've been holed up in my house since Wednesday afternoon with this monster of a cold. Normally I bounce back pretty fast but this one is a doozy and I have just been knocked flat on my butt.

This morning I needed more cough medicine and even though people have offered to get it and bring it to me, NOOOOOOO, I'm too stubborn and have to do it myself. So this morning I went to drive to Albertsons which is literally 3 blocks from my house. I ran over a curb and could tell something was wrong. I pulled into a park and sure enough, my back tire was flat.

All I could do was laugh. I was standing there in my sweats coughing uncontrollably and blowing my nose. Some good Samaritan named Leo stopped and put the spare on my car.

Earlier in the day, my sister posted this comment on my Facebook page: "maybe you could get in your car and go for a drive, then something bad might happen to your car and it would take your mind off your sickness! Sure love ya"

She had no idea that it would really happen. Yes, my mind is off my sickness because I now have to worry about a tire. However, as much as I wanted to run right out and get it fixed, the flesh is way too weak. It's not like I'm going anywhere this weekend since I'm stuck in bed with this crap! I'll have to deal with it on Monday when things are back to normal.

I just got my car back on Wednesday after it was in the shop for 10 days after the wreck.

Let this be a warning to all of you! Stay away from me because I am a walking catastrophe! When does my run of good luck start?

More of Sagan

I'm finally getting around to posting this cute video of Mr. Sagan Man on his first birthday. Such a happy boy!

And then we have the crew of Helpy Helpertons...

Kleenex Wasteland

I have come down with a brutal head cold that came out of nowhere on Wednesday morning. I felt fine Tuesday night and had no idea I was about to get slammed.

I didn't sleep well last night because I swear I was blowing my nose every 20 minutes. Apparently when I was done with the Kleenex I would pitch it off the side of my bed and grab a new one. This was what my floor looked like this morning. Amazingly they all landed in roughly the same spot. What exactly does this say about my pitching arm?

Sweet Sagan turns ONE!

I went to SLC this past weekend because it was Sagan's first birthday party. He is the happiest kid you have ever seen in your life!














We also got some good photos of the family.













And the Naccarato siblings.














So here is what I did on my whirlwind weekend in Utah:

--Left Denver in a blizzard
--Had a sleepover, a dance party and a game night with Tony and family
--Went on a Utah Heritage Foundation Home Tour and ate at Cucina with mom
--Had a nap
--Loved the birthday party
--Slept in on Sunday
--Went to church with mom
--Had dinner with Joel Macey and family, Ben and grandma Macey for Joel's birthday
--Left Salt Lake in a blizzard

Spring Blizzard

Our wonderful 70 degree winter/spring was rudely interrupted by a major blizzard today.














This photo is right outside my door and it really doesn't due justice to what was going on. For example, you can't tell that the roads are a sheet of ice and you can't tell that the wind is blowing the snowflakes horizontally.

Pretty much the entire city (schools, govt, libraries, shops, etc.) shut down. They closed Arapahoe County at 2:00 but those of us who live farthest away got to leave earlier. I left work at a little after 12:30 and got home at 3:30.

Growing up in Utah I could never figure out how snow could cripple an entire city. After living here, I can see why it does. The wind up here at this elevation on the top of the mountains is fierce. The snow in and of itself would be fine but add the wind and you get iced roads and blinding snow. It's supposed to continue snowing all night. The county is not opening until 10:00 so I also get to sleep in!

Snow days were much more fun when I was a kid. You got out of school and could play in the snow all day. It wasn't so much fun white knuckle driving in my rental car that I was so paranoid I would wreck. THAT would be all I needed to top off this week.

Ballroom Dancing

We have quite a little group of dancers coming to our Middle Singles Ballroom Dancing night. We go to the Denver Turnverein which is the same place I salsa dance on Wednesdays.

On Monday nights they do all types of ballroom and each of us knows something a little bit different. I'm more of the salsa/cha-cha person, some are more into swing, some are into traditional ballroom (waltz, etc.) and others are beginners. It's great because we can all learn from each other.

Back row: Carol, Charles, Amy, John, James
Front row: Carlene, Kristen, Kevin














John is my favorite student and I am his favorite teacher :)














Carlene with the guys: James, Kevin and Charles. Two words for guys who can dance YUM-MY!

Call back every 10 days

I checked on my security clearance again today. "Call back every 10 days from now on" is what I was told. I try to get a reading on if this is good news or bad news but I honestly can't tell.

I started keeping a log each time I call so I know exactly when to call again.

Lots of salsa dancing at this wedding

Yesterday I attended the wedding of two of my salsa dancing friends Jason and Theresa. The wedding, dinner and party were all lovely and so much fun. I have enjoyed getting to know Jason, Theresa and the "group" over the past year.

Several of us arrived early to help with the decorations, favors and programs.














Evan, Jason (groom), Theresa (bride, obviously), and me.












And even salsa dancers do the chicken dance! (I won't--bad memories of the chicken dance that only Tony will understand.) Audra, Greg, Christy, Renee' and Renee's daughter Macie.














Renee' and Mauricio Leon with Jason and Theresa. Renee' choreographed Jason and Theresa's wedding dance which included a waltz, cha-cha and lindy hop. They surprised their family and friends with their dance skills but we all knew what they were capable of because we dance together once a week. Fortunatly for us there was lots of salsa music during the open dancing.














I'm so happy for Jason and Thersa. Love them!

Is that ANOTHER rental car?

Why yes it ! So what happened this time? Well, this morning I was going to get manicure because I am going to a wedding tonight. I was driving through a pretty empty strip mall parking lot at 9:00 a.m. I went to turn right into a parking space and some idiot young guy behind me didn't think I was going fast enough so instead of going around me on the left, he tried to pass me on the right through the empty parking spaces. The only problem with that is I was turning into one of them.

It was totally his fault and he wouldn't admit it, not even to the police officer. Unfortunately the accident happened on private property so they can't do anything about it and they don't give tickets. She told us we would have to duke it out with our insurance companies about fault. FORTUNATELY for me, a young lady who works at the hair place next to the nail salon saw the whole thing and came out and told me that she saw it and it was totally the guy's fault and she was willing to be a witness for me. Awesome! Thank you Annie H!

The police officer told me to try to drive my car because my front passenger tire looked very bent. Turns out the car is undriveable because they tire is very damaged. I had to use my AAA towing and have it towed to a repair shop. The idiot guy insisted to the officer that it wasn't his fault and he said "She hit ME" which was technically true but why was he speeding past me on the right in a small parking lot. I think the officer knew it was true and she pulled me aside before she left and said, "Go into that barber shop and make sure you have Annie's contact information."

So I did get my nails done. I then got my cardio in by walking 30 minutes to my home. The rental car place paid my cab fare for me to come get the car and AAA insurance is ON THE CASE. If they can prove fault on the idiot guy I won't have to pay any of the repairs. And my insurance covers the rental car no matter what.

Boy, what a contrast from my transmission experiences. I hate to say it but it's much easier and cheaper to be in a minor car accident than to have your car break down.

Now I am going to go have my makeup done and have fun at Jason and Theresa's wedding tonight. I"ll look dang good in my Chevy Malibu!

The Gospel is funny

Please forgive my irreverence but it's been a funny week at seminary. We started the week off talking about charity. We talked about all the things that charity is: kind, not puffed up, seeketh not her own, etc., etc. from 1 Corinthians 13. We talked about how Christ was the ultimate example of charity and everything he did was unselfish. At this point I had one student disagree with me and say that Christ's atonement really was selfish on his part because he really did it so he would not be lonely in heaven. In other words, it wasn't about us, it was about him having companionship in heaven. Hmmm....interesting take on the plan of salvation. I said the only thing a good seminary teacher says when my kids try to teach false doctrine: "If you can find a scripture or a prophet that backs you up, I'll believe you."

Then we tried to do some practical application of charity. I had the kids role play a student getting teased. So there were the kids teasing her and the kids who showed kindness and charity. After the skit the kids tried to tell me that the ones who were making fun of the girl were most charitable because they were actually HELPING her by pointing out her flaws. That way she could "correct" herself and not get made fun of so much. Hmmm...another interesting take on a gospel principle. I then said the second thing they hate to hear out of my mouth: "Really? How would Christ have handled that situation." Yeah, not like that!

The kids initiated a good discussion on how to tell where the line is between good and bad. We got into a discussion about movies and the kids had some very perceptive questions and shared their experiences with each other about times when they felt uncomfortable.

Friday I brought 20 Wing Steet chicken wings for breakfast at the request of one of my students. She got her braces off on Thursday and I told her I'd bring a treat. I asked, "What do you want to eat that you haven't been able to have since you've had your braces on?" I was thinking caramel popcorn or maybe taffy. No, chicken wings. They have no problem eating anything at 6:00 a.m. Old teacher here ate one wing and had serious heartburn the rest of the day.

Tonight I went to the adult session of stake conference with my single friends. The entire session was about strengthening your marriage. Well, so much for that. It was a funny end to a funny week of gospel discussions.

Fire scare

Today when I was driving home from church I could see a huge column of thick black smoke coming from the direction of my apartment complex. Traffic was at a dead stop so I had to do some fancy maneuvering through the back roads in order to get home. Turns out the fire was in the grassy field behind my apartment complex. It's been so warm and dry here and the fire danger is so great. There are acres and acres of dry brush in the open space behind the complex.

Here are some photos I took from my balcony. Thankfully the fire was mostly contained before I got home. I couldn't see the flames from my balcony but it's true what they say: "Where there's smoke, there's fire."







































After they contained the fire they dowsed the hill in water so that there wouldn't be a chance that the dry brush on this side of the dam would catch fire. We were all very lucky that they got it under control and didn't have to evacuate any of us.

As I was out on the balcony watching this happen it occurred to me that a better use of my time might be to get out my 72-hour kit and take a look at it and make sure I'd have what I needed if I needed to leave. Turns out my kit could use a little updating. I also started to think about what possessions I have that are so valuable to me that I would have grabbed them and put them in my car if I had to leave suddenly. I was making a mental checklist of what I'd take and I'm glad I didn't have to put that plan into action.

I am thankful that a trained fire department knew what to do to keep people and homes safe. Tomorrow I'll venture out and take some photos of the scorched earth. It was a little too dark to do that by the time the fire trucks left. I'll be cleaning ashes out of my house for awhile.

No Karaoke for You

It was my friend Theresa's birthday so we all went out for karaoke. Normally I am totally up for sharing my horrible singing with the world but I have had a cold and I couldn't really talk, let alone sing. So, I just hung out and watched everyone else and quietly drank my ice water (and took pictures).

I feel so lucky to have such fun and great friends that I enjoy hanging out with. This particular group I met mostly through salsa dancing and I am just so fortunate that a group of such different personalities has really bonded.

I left early and I heard I missed a midget and a tennis team doing karaoke but these are a few of the photos I did manage to get of our group.














Jason and Theresa entertain the crowd.













Me and Dave. Do I look like I just took a decongestant?















Evan and Christy

Party like it's Mardi Gras

Last night my friends and I went to a Mardi Gras party at Darcy's Pub. I'm not sure why an Irish Pub was celebrating Mardi Gras, but that's beside the point. We were actually celebrating Evan and Christy's February birthdays.

We had dinner and a cake and then we danced the night away to a band that played New Orleans-type music and then other random stuff. This is the group of friends that I met through salsa dancing so we had no problem getting out on the dance floor and just going for it. Dance is dance and we just did our thing. It took awhile for the rest of the people at the party to get into it. I am so lucky to have awesome friends!

Here are a few highlights from the evening:













Back: Rob, Evan, Theresa, Jason, Renee, Amy
Front: Christy, Laura













Party girls: Christy, Amy, Renee














Birthday girl Christy and Birthday boy Evan














The band

Salsa dancers getting the party started

Call back in 3 weeks

That is the latest I have from the FS. My medical clearance is done but the security clearance is still pending. Today the guy said "Call back in 3 weeks." I wanted to ask what in the process is still pending that MIGHT be done in 3 weeks but I don't really want to mess with these people. So I keep waiting...and trying not to stress out about the future.

I Never Promised you a Rose Garden

Today's adventure (day off work for President's Day) was a trip to the Botanical Gardens. It was free entry day for Colorado residents too. (They do that every so often because we all pay sales tax to fund these places.) It was a lovely 50+ degree day and a great day to be out. But I have to say...the Botanical Gardens in winter? Not so spectacular.

Let's start with the good...The Japanese Gardens were lovely.
















The Rose Garden, now that should be nice. Well, maybe if it's only meant to be a garden of thorns.



No? Let's try the Romantic Gardens.




Noxious weeds? Well at least THEY are blooming.








The verdict? Go back to the Botanical Gardens in the summer. Or maybe not; I've already checked it off my list.