I was welcomed back to Malongo by what feels like 99.9% humidity and 95F, which was a nice change from the cold, dry air back home. It’s safe to say that my 24-hour commute to work has officially become the norm. The past two trips I’ve been excited/anxious about getting on the plane with all my activities and getting cozy in my seat to prep for the 15-hour flight. This time I went to the airport in the equivalent of my PJs, boarded, sat down, put my neck pillow on, ate my dinner, pulled my eye mask down and went right to sleep – probably with my mouth open. Needless to say I was not excited about this trip. I had such a great time off that was jam packed with family and friends, and it just went by entirely too fast! On the up side, I did receive a warm welcome from all my co-workers that included a Saturday night dinner of fried alligator and alligator gumbo – clearly prepared by the coonasses in camp :) I had my doubts about alligator, but it was pretty tasty!
Arriving in camp on Saturday has it's perks, mainly that the next day (Sunday) is just a half day. It's especailly nice today because I'm feeling a bit under the weather, so I'm planning on taking 2 Benedryl and napping all afternoon! I promise I'll have more to share next week :)
2 days down, 29 to go! xoxo...
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Saturday, November 30, 2013
ciao ciao
PREFACE: As you know, I work with a bunch of Italians over here. In Italian, the word “ciao” means both hello and goodbye. This, however, is not the case in Portuguese where ciao only means goodbye. Since I am completely fluent in both Italian and Portuguese I often confuse everyone I work with by saying ciao for both hello and goodbye. So, for reference, the title of this blog – ciao ciao – means bye bye in both Italian and Portuguese :)
I consider myself a pretty adventurous person, but I have to admit that I was terrified my entire helicopter flight offshore – both ways. I don’t know what it is, but those things just do not seem safe enough to me. The pilots are extremely qualified and yadda yadda but it’s still scary. Anyways, my first experience offshore was a good one. There are only 170 people that live on the platform, so it’s a very close-knit groups of folks. I went to the morning safety meeting, and each person who spoke addressed the crowd as family, which I obviously LOVED :) One of the guys (from Louisiana, of course) that was taking me on tours kept saying “LG Baby.” In my normal fashion, I pretended that I knew exactly what he was talking about when, in fact, I had no clue. So I finally asked him what he was talking about and he just simply said – Life is Good, Baby. Life is Good. What a great way to kick off Thanksgiving week – LG, baby!
After tours all day, walking up and down thousands of stairs, I was completely exhausted. There is no wifi in the bunk rooms, so I went up to the top deck watched a storm roll in and read for two hours. It was soooo nice! Maybe I'll make a New Year's resolution to spend more time away from my phone/ipad/computer and try to live the Malongo-life when during my time off - minus the bugs and mess hall food, or course :)
Thanksgiving in Malongo seems like just another day, and feels NOTHING like Thanksgiving at home because it is SO stinking hot – 98F on Thanksgiving Day! However, I was able to uphold my yearly tradition and eat entirely too much. I actually went to 3 different Thanksgiving dinners: the mess hall, the prison yard, and the slab. I had everything from fried turkey to steak to hot links to papaya – no pumpkin pie though so you better believe I will catch up for lost time over Christmas. A few photos from Malongo Thanksgiving, clearly there was no shortage of turkeys...
Tomas, our civil inspector, calls me Mother all the time because I do this super annoying thing where I check up on everyone all the time – usually over the radio. I’m actually surprised that I haven’t gotten reprimanded yet for taking up too much air time on our project radio frequency. Anyway, this past week Tomas, Jose (from Cabinda), and Prabhu (from India) all went to the Malongo driving school and got their driver’s licenses. Turns out that I’m not the only one who was a little rusty on a manual transmission. I have no clue how these hooligans passed the driving test because they are terrible – 10 times worse than me. I feel like the mother of three 15 year old boys teaching them how to drive a stick shift. Friday morning we got in the car with Tomas driving and Prabhu in the back seat, and all I could do was laugh. Tomas said he was getting so good at driving that he could take us anywhere we wanted to go. Mr Prabhu, in his very thick Indian accent, replied “Mr Tomas please do not take us to the clinic” and then proceeded to give Tomas driving instructions from the back seat (sounds like someone else I know – LISA JOHNSON). Thank goodness the maximum speed in camp is 40km/hr (25mph)…
Some of our team left yesterday, and we will have new folks coming and leaving (including ME!) next week. Those of us that are left are heading to Petromar’s camp in Cabinda this afternoon: Angela our logistics coordinator from Scotland, Danny Angela’s back-to-back from England, Jose our document controller from Cabinda, Dialla our HES lead from England, and Tomas from Luanda. We are going to have an early Christmas celebration lunch with good company and good wine :)
More obligatory photos around camp....
24 days down, 4 to go! xoxo…
I consider myself a pretty adventurous person, but I have to admit that I was terrified my entire helicopter flight offshore – both ways. I don’t know what it is, but those things just do not seem safe enough to me. The pilots are extremely qualified and yadda yadda but it’s still scary. Anyways, my first experience offshore was a good one. There are only 170 people that live on the platform, so it’s a very close-knit groups of folks. I went to the morning safety meeting, and each person who spoke addressed the crowd as family, which I obviously LOVED :) One of the guys (from Louisiana, of course) that was taking me on tours kept saying “LG Baby.” In my normal fashion, I pretended that I knew exactly what he was talking about when, in fact, I had no clue. So I finally asked him what he was talking about and he just simply said – Life is Good, Baby. Life is Good. What a great way to kick off Thanksgiving week – LG, baby!
After tours all day, walking up and down thousands of stairs, I was completely exhausted. There is no wifi in the bunk rooms, so I went up to the top deck watched a storm roll in and read for two hours. It was soooo nice! Maybe I'll make a New Year's resolution to spend more time away from my phone/ipad/computer and try to live the Malongo-life when during my time off - minus the bugs and mess hall food, or course :)
Panoramic view from the helideck
Watching a storm roll in
Does rain make noise when it falls on the water? The answer is YES
Compressor down?
Nothing for MILES
Sanha PPP
Thanksgiving in Malongo seems like just another day, and feels NOTHING like Thanksgiving at home because it is SO stinking hot – 98F on Thanksgiving Day! However, I was able to uphold my yearly tradition and eat entirely too much. I actually went to 3 different Thanksgiving dinners: the mess hall, the prison yard, and the slab. I had everything from fried turkey to steak to hot links to papaya – no pumpkin pie though so you better believe I will catch up for lost time over Christmas. A few photos from Malongo Thanksgiving, clearly there was no shortage of turkeys...
Chefmaster Jimmy. He loves gin (both the drink and the card game) and the Cowboys, we get along great
Tomas, our civil inspector, calls me Mother all the time because I do this super annoying thing where I check up on everyone all the time – usually over the radio. I’m actually surprised that I haven’t gotten reprimanded yet for taking up too much air time on our project radio frequency. Anyway, this past week Tomas, Jose (from Cabinda), and Prabhu (from India) all went to the Malongo driving school and got their driver’s licenses. Turns out that I’m not the only one who was a little rusty on a manual transmission. I have no clue how these hooligans passed the driving test because they are terrible – 10 times worse than me. I feel like the mother of three 15 year old boys teaching them how to drive a stick shift. Friday morning we got in the car with Tomas driving and Prabhu in the back seat, and all I could do was laugh. Tomas said he was getting so good at driving that he could take us anywhere we wanted to go. Mr Prabhu, in his very thick Indian accent, replied “Mr Tomas please do not take us to the clinic” and then proceeded to give Tomas driving instructions from the back seat (sounds like someone else I know – LISA JOHNSON). Thank goodness the maximum speed in camp is 40km/hr (25mph)…
Some of our team left yesterday, and we will have new folks coming and leaving (including ME!) next week. Those of us that are left are heading to Petromar’s camp in Cabinda this afternoon: Angela our logistics coordinator from Scotland, Danny Angela’s back-to-back from England, Jose our document controller from Cabinda, Dialla our HES lead from England, and Tomas from Luanda. We are going to have an early Christmas celebration lunch with good company and good wine :)
More obligatory photos around camp....
"Hey Mom, wait for me!!!!!!!"
It's taken me 2 months, but I finally got a baby with her Momma. So cute I can't even stand it!
"Do not touch the wildlife"....
woops!
24 days down, 4 to go! xoxo…
Saturday, November 23, 2013
alli the ostrich
The blog is a day early this week because I’m going to be back up in the air tomorrow! I got an opportunity to take a trip offshore tomorrow. I’m really excited and slightly nervous for my first helicopter ride to one of our offshore platforms. I’m leaving around 5AM tomorrow morning, and will head about 30 miles mostly West and a little South of the Malongo camp. I’ll be touring the area and looking at some of the points where our project will be connecting to the existing platform, spend the night, and then head back into camp on Monday afternoon. I’ve heard that the food on our platforms far exceeds the mess hall on camp, so let’s be honest – I’m really just on this trip for the food…and to take a bunch of awesome photos from the helicopter ride :)
This past week has been super busy. We finished up a major construction milestone, our first pipeline road crossing. I was so excited when I got to send out an email to all of the major stakeholders – supervisors and superintendents in the area. When I sent the email I attached a few photos to brag on how well my crews did, completing the job a day early! After I sent the email I went back to look at the photos just reminiscing on how awesome we are and got smacked right back down to Earth. I had attached one awesome photo of the crane placing one of the casing pipes and another photo of me – yes JUST me – in front of the ocean view near the site work (which I was sending to Mom). For clarification, what I am trying to say is that I sent a “selfie” to about 30 very important people. Most of yall know that I don’t typically get embarrassed very easily, however in this case the word mortified is an understatement. I scrambled to recall the message, but since I had sent the email with a high importance flag, my recall was a failure in most cases. Luckily, the relationship with folks that received my super cute picture is at a point that they can openly poke fun at me for doing stupid things – however when I finally see our portfolio MANAGER that received my picture, I am probably still going to want to hide my head in the sand. Just another day in the life of Allison Johnson…
On Friday we had an awesome barbeque celebration for all of the workers to reward them for completing our first road crossing without incidents and ahead of schedule. The same company that provides food for the mess hall does all of the catering around camp as well, but usually the food is higher quality than what’s offered the mess hall. I was SO excited when I saw that there was what appeared to be a ball of fried cheese – like a mozzarella stick. Naturally, I put 3 on my plate and took a gigantic bite as soon as I sat down – NOT cheese. It was a fried hardboiled egg. It took everything I had first, not to puke and second, not to spit it out right back on to my plate. Lesson learned – do not assume anything is normal in Malongo. Other than that the celebration was a complete success! Note: We were giving out hats, and I was forced to participate...please disregard the fact that I look like a boy.
At 26 years old, this coming week will be my first holiday away from home. I’ll be missing everyone just a little bit extra as we celebrate Thanksgiving – and HOPEFULLY a Texas Tech win over Texas! I’ve talked to a bunch of folks, and they have reassured me that there will be PLENTY of turkey available on Thursday. Unfortunately, I think my hopes for a pumpkin pie are out the window but I’ll just load up on that during Christmas at home! I have SO much to be thankful for this year. Most importantly my amazing friends and family back home...I couldn't be living this crazy life without your support :)
Past the halfway point – 17 days down, 11 to go! xoxo…
This past week has been super busy. We finished up a major construction milestone, our first pipeline road crossing. I was so excited when I got to send out an email to all of the major stakeholders – supervisors and superintendents in the area. When I sent the email I attached a few photos to brag on how well my crews did, completing the job a day early! After I sent the email I went back to look at the photos just reminiscing on how awesome we are and got smacked right back down to Earth. I had attached one awesome photo of the crane placing one of the casing pipes and another photo of me – yes JUST me – in front of the ocean view near the site work (which I was sending to Mom). For clarification, what I am trying to say is that I sent a “selfie” to about 30 very important people. Most of yall know that I don’t typically get embarrassed very easily, however in this case the word mortified is an understatement. I scrambled to recall the message, but since I had sent the email with a high importance flag, my recall was a failure in most cases. Luckily, the relationship with folks that received my super cute picture is at a point that they can openly poke fun at me for doing stupid things – however when I finally see our portfolio MANAGER that received my picture, I am probably still going to want to hide my head in the sand. Just another day in the life of Allison Johnson…
BEFORE...
AFTER!
On Friday we had an awesome barbeque celebration for all of the workers to reward them for completing our first road crossing without incidents and ahead of schedule. The same company that provides food for the mess hall does all of the catering around camp as well, but usually the food is higher quality than what’s offered the mess hall. I was SO excited when I saw that there was what appeared to be a ball of fried cheese – like a mozzarella stick. Naturally, I put 3 on my plate and took a gigantic bite as soon as I sat down – NOT cheese. It was a fried hardboiled egg. It took everything I had first, not to puke and second, not to spit it out right back on to my plate. Lesson learned – do not assume anything is normal in Malongo. Other than that the celebration was a complete success! Note: We were giving out hats, and I was forced to participate...please disregard the fact that I look like a boy.
My people...
Cruz (trying to avoid the picture), Francesco, David, and John (one of the super important people who received my "selfie")
Handing out awards...clearly, no one takes me seriously
Tomas - my main man
At 26 years old, this coming week will be my first holiday away from home. I’ll be missing everyone just a little bit extra as we celebrate Thanksgiving – and HOPEFULLY a Texas Tech win over Texas! I’ve talked to a bunch of folks, and they have reassured me that there will be PLENTY of turkey available on Thursday. Unfortunately, I think my hopes for a pumpkin pie are out the window but I’ll just load up on that during Christmas at home! I have SO much to be thankful for this year. Most importantly my amazing friends and family back home...I couldn't be living this crazy life without your support :)
I couldn't post a blog without some wildlife - tiny pretty blue bird
Past the halfway point – 17 days down, 11 to go! xoxo…
Sunday, November 17, 2013
odds and ends
There are lots of weird things about Malongo – food, scenery, wildlife, hair styles (thanks humidity), just to name a few – but I think the oddest thing is the constant arrival and departure of folks on camp aka “crew change.” I am so used to coming going work and seeing the same faces day in and day out, but that’s not the case here and I’ve decided that I have a love/hate relationship with the constant crew change. As most of you know, when I meet someone I need to know everything – where they are from, wife’s name, how many kids they have (plus names, ages, hobbies), past work positions/locations, our 6 degrees of separation, favorite color – you catch my drift. By the time I even get people’s names down, they are gone (without saying bye, because that’s impossible) and their back to back is here. So I’m back to square one. And what’s REALLY not fair is that everyone knows my name, because there are about 15 total women here and curly red hair isn’t very forgettable. On the plus side, things are always changing and the world is becoming smaller and smaller – six degrees is more like 3 over here.
Not much has gone on around here this past week. LOTS of eating delicious food made by Chef Lefort (my construction rep). Thank goodness he headed back to Louisiana on Saturday - now its back to the mess hall with hopes to loose the 2-5 lbs that I packed on in my first week and a half here! The weather has been oddly wonderful for this time of year. I keep hearing about the monsoons that are coming, but all we have had is a little rain in the mornings and at night with clear afternoons. I'm currently knocking on wood because this weather has been wonderful for our construction schedule.
Here are some photos from last week - snakes, clear skies, and the circle of life...
Not much has gone on around here this past week. LOTS of eating delicious food made by Chef Lefort (my construction rep). Thank goodness he headed back to Louisiana on Saturday - now its back to the mess hall with hopes to loose the 2-5 lbs that I packed on in my first week and a half here! The weather has been oddly wonderful for this time of year. I keep hearing about the monsoons that are coming, but all we have had is a little rain in the mornings and at night with clear afternoons. I'm currently knocking on wood because this weather has been wonderful for our construction schedule.
Here are some photos from last week - snakes, clear skies, and the circle of life...
A couple times a week I walk down and back up the main hill during lunch time, this is from one of my walks. You can barely see one of the flares offshore in the picture
It took me about 30 pictures to get a good one of this little guy. I think he thought I wanted his lunch...
This is a baby green mamba snake, it's about 18" long (I zoomed in quite a bit). We have black and green mambas in camp that can 8-10' long, yuck.
Saturday, November 9, 2013
back on the grind
I am back safe and sound in my 3rd home away from home! The trip this time was a million times easier than the first time around. My return flight was pretty much the same group of folks that I returned home with back in October, so it was nice to walk into the airport with a bunch of familiar faces. Once I get a consistent schedule I will “crew change” with the same group of folks each time I come to and from Malongo, which means everyone will get used to me roaming the aisle of the plane in my PJ’s for most of the 15 hour flight :)
When I arrive back on camp, it’s around 13:30 (6AM Texas time) and most everyone goes straight to the salad bar to get the last of any cold cuts or lettuce since the dining areas usually close at 13:00. My lunch on Thursday was lettuce (no dressing), rice and beans – that’s when it sinks in that you’re really back in Malongo. During lunch time there are two options for food: salad bar and mess hall. The mess hall is true Angolan food geared towards the ~3,500 nationals that come into camp for work each day. I went there once last hitch to give it a try and chose one of the beef/bean stew options. Things didn’t go well, so I stick to the salad bar most days.
Thursday and Friday night were the worst because I was going to bed too early and waking up between 1 and 3AM, but I am pretty much adjusted to the time difference now. Yesterday afternoon my construction coordinator, Phil, came into my office asking if I had a minute. That minute turned into about an hour because he got me into the kitchen to learn how to make roux for the gumbo he was making. For those of us who aren’t coon asses, roux is the heart of any gumbo and if you mess it up the whole pot is ruined. It was a lot of pressure considering that the folks we were cooking for were about 97% Louisiana born and raised. Thanks to Phil’s supervision, I have to say that the shrimp and okra gumbo (fun fact: okra originated in West Africa) turned out pretty well. With a few more lessons from Phil in the kitchen and a couple more rounds of Bourre (boo-ray) I will fit in with the rest of the Bayou folks around here.
Leaving home is tough, but everyone here makes it much easier. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hearing the stories all these guys have about the good ol days from first jobs as gandy dancers to bartering with natives while drilling exploratory wells in Sudan...
3 days down, 25 to go! xoxo
When I arrive back on camp, it’s around 13:30 (6AM Texas time) and most everyone goes straight to the salad bar to get the last of any cold cuts or lettuce since the dining areas usually close at 13:00. My lunch on Thursday was lettuce (no dressing), rice and beans – that’s when it sinks in that you’re really back in Malongo. During lunch time there are two options for food: salad bar and mess hall. The mess hall is true Angolan food geared towards the ~3,500 nationals that come into camp for work each day. I went there once last hitch to give it a try and chose one of the beef/bean stew options. Things didn’t go well, so I stick to the salad bar most days.
Thursday and Friday night were the worst because I was going to bed too early and waking up between 1 and 3AM, but I am pretty much adjusted to the time difference now. Yesterday afternoon my construction coordinator, Phil, came into my office asking if I had a minute. That minute turned into about an hour because he got me into the kitchen to learn how to make roux for the gumbo he was making. For those of us who aren’t coon asses, roux is the heart of any gumbo and if you mess it up the whole pot is ruined. It was a lot of pressure considering that the folks we were cooking for were about 97% Louisiana born and raised. Thanks to Phil’s supervision, I have to say that the shrimp and okra gumbo (fun fact: okra originated in West Africa) turned out pretty well. With a few more lessons from Phil in the kitchen and a couple more rounds of Bourre (boo-ray) I will fit in with the rest of the Bayou folks around here.
Leaving home is tough, but everyone here makes it much easier. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hearing the stories all these guys have about the good ol days from first jobs as gandy dancers to bartering with natives while drilling exploratory wells in Sudan...
3 days down, 25 to go! xoxo
Monday, October 28, 2013
second home
I never in a million years thought that I would say it, but I have to admit that Bakersfield will always be my second home. It is so nice to come back and pick up right where I left off with all the great friends that I made during my four years here :) I cannot believe it's already been almost 5 months since I left. Dear time, STOP flying!
I started the week off by having lunch with one of the best mommas around on Monday. Christine and her husband, Tyler, moved to Bakersfield about 3 years ago and I don't think they were quite prepared for the fact that I already considered them family. During my summer internship in Bakersfield I lived with Tyler's younger brother's girlfriend (now wife) plus they are both Texas Tech Alums, so we are practically related, right? Makes total sense in my head. Whether they liked it or not, they agreed and took me in as family. They are proud parents to the most adorable 18-month old little boy, Curt, and as of last Tuesday a sweet baby girl, Rosalie. So if you're doing the math, Christine at 39-weeks pregnant came and picked me up for a lunch date less than 24-hours before she was scheduled for her C-section. I'm telling you, that woman is amazing! I closed out my week spending a few hours with the new family of four AND getting to meet my friend Katie's baby girl, Bailey. Here are a few of my favorite pictures of those sweet baby girls!
I spent the rest of the week covering Chad's house in pink paraphenelia to get ready for Carrie's baby shower. I felt like a true housewife just spending the day crafting waiting for my boy to get home for dinner. On Thursday night I even got to be Chad's date to the 2013 Oil and Gas Awards for the West Coast region. He came away a winner representing his company as Engineering Company of the year…more info click HERE! We are awful at taking pictures together, but I did snap one of his interview after the ceremony…
After months of planning with my partner in crime, Rachel, (and help from Braidon), I think Carrie and Cody's baby shower was a success! I still can't believe that it is almost time for Baby Grant's arrival. Her due date is December 10th, but after seeing Carrie's belly my guess is around December 3rd. As usual, Carrie has not slowed down one bit. In fact, at 7+ months pregnant, Carrie made the time to finish a t-shirt quilt that I started 4 years ago that she volunteered to finish when she saw that after 3.5 years I had made very little progress. Needless to say, there is no doubt in my mind that Carrie is going to make one AMAZING mother!
All in all my week in Bakersfield has been wonderful! I'll be enjoying a few more days here before I head back to Houston on Wednesday morning. Although I'll be sad, yet again, to leave my friends and sweet boy, I'm excited to spend my last week in the states in Houston. I'm looking forward to a week full of family, friends and lots of love as we celebrate my cousin Kristopher and his sweet fiancé, Julie's, engagement!
Until next time, xoxo!
I started the week off by having lunch with one of the best mommas around on Monday. Christine and her husband, Tyler, moved to Bakersfield about 3 years ago and I don't think they were quite prepared for the fact that I already considered them family. During my summer internship in Bakersfield I lived with Tyler's younger brother's girlfriend (now wife) plus they are both Texas Tech Alums, so we are practically related, right? Makes total sense in my head. Whether they liked it or not, they agreed and took me in as family. They are proud parents to the most adorable 18-month old little boy, Curt, and as of last Tuesday a sweet baby girl, Rosalie. So if you're doing the math, Christine at 39-weeks pregnant came and picked me up for a lunch date less than 24-hours before she was scheduled for her C-section. I'm telling you, that woman is amazing! I closed out my week spending a few hours with the new family of four AND getting to meet my friend Katie's baby girl, Bailey. Here are a few of my favorite pictures of those sweet baby girls!
Rosalie cuddled up in a blanket from Aunt Alli!
Just showing off her long skinny legs
I gave her a pep talk to be prepared for everyone to make fun of her long skinny toes...
She's smiling, I swear!
Little Bailey after she fell asleep in my arms
I had to wake her up before I left, sorry Mom!
I spent the rest of the week covering Chad's house in pink paraphenelia to get ready for Carrie's baby shower. I felt like a true housewife just spending the day crafting waiting for my boy to get home for dinner. On Thursday night I even got to be Chad's date to the 2013 Oil and Gas Awards for the West Coast region. He came away a winner representing his company as Engineering Company of the year…more info click HERE! We are awful at taking pictures together, but I did snap one of his interview after the ceremony…
After months of planning with my partner in crime, Rachel, (and help from Braidon), I think Carrie and Cody's baby shower was a success! I still can't believe that it is almost time for Baby Grant's arrival. Her due date is December 10th, but after seeing Carrie's belly my guess is around December 3rd. As usual, Carrie has not slowed down one bit. In fact, at 7+ months pregnant, Carrie made the time to finish a t-shirt quilt that I started 4 years ago that she volunteered to finish when she saw that after 3.5 years I had made very little progress. Needless to say, there is no doubt in my mind that Carrie is going to make one AMAZING mother!
Pumpkin babies!
Note: Disregard Carrie's outfit, she was putting on t-shirts to prove that she could still fit into a size Medium :)
Clearly, we still can't believe it...
Diaper Cake
My pumpkin babies
LOVE my t-shirt quilt...proof that Carrie is amazing!
All in all my week in Bakersfield has been wonderful! I'll be enjoying a few more days here before I head back to Houston on Wednesday morning. Although I'll be sad, yet again, to leave my friends and sweet boy, I'm excited to spend my last week in the states in Houston. I'm looking forward to a week full of family, friends and lots of love as we celebrate my cousin Kristopher and his sweet fiancé, Julie's, engagement!
Until next time, xoxo!
Sunday, October 20, 2013
home: naps, parties, and football
Whoops - I missed a week! I feel like I have been in a time warp since I landed in America a week and a half ago - Cabinda to Luanda to Houston to Las Vegas to Bakersfield to San Diego to Houston and today back to Bakersfield! It's hard to believe that just two weeks ago I was sitting on the beach in Cabinda with my amazing co-workers. Here are a few photos from my escape from camp the Sunday before I left...
I can say whole heartedly that America is the best country in the world. Last Friday morning when I touched down in Houston all I could think about was how blessed we are to live in such an amazing country - minus the whole government shutdown nonsense. My sweet brother knows how much I love being greeted at the airport by a familiar face, so he picked me up from the airport at 6am. He also knows that I would have griped at him endlessly if he hadn't been there since I have made more than enough trips to pick him up, most memorably at 3am. First thing I did was take the most wonderful shower, sans shower shoes which is a requirement in my shared Malongo shower. I jumped back in the car [freedom] and had a delicious breakfast of about 6 breakfast tacos at the Taco Cabana up the street, followed by a nap because I can do that now :) Then it was time to head to Vegas…
I met 3 of my favorite Bakersfield girls for a little Vegas get away. I can't say much about the weekend because as they say - what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, so here are a few pictures collages made by the Rolow's instead…
We got up early and booked it out of Vegas to avoid all the Vegas to California traffic that typically turns a 4 hour drive into a 6+ hour drive. I also just really wanted to get to Bakersfield to see my boy! Needless to say, I was 100% worthless for the two days that I was in Bako. My activities included napping, catching up on TV shows, getting a massage, and watching Chad cook dinner.
Next stop - University of California San Diego in La Jolla, California just North of San Diego. For those of you who haven't been to this part of the country, plan a trip ASAP. It is breathtaking. Clear skies and 70-something degrees year-round, ranks pretty high on my list of favorites...
belissimo!
Chef David and his friends
Just your average Italian meal...more bottles of wine than people
bon appitite!
Stroll on the beach after lunch soaking up the sun!
"Alli, enough with the pictures!"
I can say whole heartedly that America is the best country in the world. Last Friday morning when I touched down in Houston all I could think about was how blessed we are to live in such an amazing country - minus the whole government shutdown nonsense. My sweet brother knows how much I love being greeted at the airport by a familiar face, so he picked me up from the airport at 6am. He also knows that I would have griped at him endlessly if he hadn't been there since I have made more than enough trips to pick him up, most memorably at 3am. First thing I did was take the most wonderful shower, sans shower shoes which is a requirement in my shared Malongo shower. I jumped back in the car [freedom] and had a delicious breakfast of about 6 breakfast tacos at the Taco Cabana up the street, followed by a nap because I can do that now :) Then it was time to head to Vegas…
I met 3 of my favorite Bakersfield girls for a little Vegas get away. I can't say much about the weekend because as they say - what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, so here are a few pictures collages made by the Rolow's instead…
Night #1
Night #2
We got up early and booked it out of Vegas to avoid all the Vegas to California traffic that typically turns a 4 hour drive into a 6+ hour drive. I also just really wanted to get to Bakersfield to see my boy! Needless to say, I was 100% worthless for the two days that I was in Bako. My activities included napping, catching up on TV shows, getting a massage, and watching Chad cook dinner.
Next stop - University of California San Diego in La Jolla, California just North of San Diego. For those of you who haven't been to this part of the country, plan a trip ASAP. It is breathtaking. Clear skies and 70-something degrees year-round, ranks pretty high on my list of favorites...
Successful Career Fair on the beautiful UCSD campus
Morning hike in SD...absolutely gorgeous. Anyone please feel free to buy me the house featured in this photo :)
After a long 3 days of recruiting, it was time to head back to Texas and actually sleep in my OWN bed! First, we had to celebrate one of my favorite couples on their engagement. Kelly's parents opened their home to celebrate the future Mr & Mrs Kilcrease. Kelly has basically been a part of the Johnson clan for her whole life, growing up across the street from Laurel and Kristopher. I feel so blessed to have been able to really get to know both Kelly and Robbie since moving to Houston. It was a great night with great people, and I can't imagine two people more perfect for each other :)
Adorable Thoreen/Kilcrease family!
"Chad can you please try to take a normal picture???"
Success!
We spent most of Saturday recovering from the long night and watching Texas Tech pull out a win against WVU, which was a little too close for comfort. I can't even begin to explain how much I have missed college football Saturdays!
Chad and I are heading back to Bakersfield tonight, and I couldn't be more excited. I am going to spend the week finishing up planning for my dear friend Carrie Grant's baby shower! She and her husband, Cody, are getting ready to welcome their baby GIRL this December and I cannot wait to spoil that little thing! It's just a bonus that I get to plan with my old office-mate and party-planner extraordinaire, Rachel Waggoner - who I miss terribly on a daily basis! Nothing like going back to my second home :)
Until next time...xoxo
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