Category Archives: USA

And, onto 2013 on the blog!!!  After ringing in 2013 at a beautiful wedding in Kentucky, we spent a few days there before heading back to Florida and enjoying a mini-Candeto family vacation (minus a few family members) with Steve and Lucy on a short cruise in the Bahamas.  One major perk of living in Florida is easy access to cruise terminals.  It is so easy to drive from Orlando to Port Canaveral, be on the ocean for the weekend, then head straight back to real life in time for your first Monday morning meeting.  Points for Florida!!

We started at Port Canaveral–a hour’s drive from Orlando.

A little gray and chilly, but who cares? We are on holiday!

I think we are in trouble with Lucy driving…

First stop:  Nassau!!!

Of course, we had to stop at Senor Frogs!

Enjoying the warm weather in the open air bar!

Greetings from the Bahamas!

Next stop, CocoCay!!!

Touring around the island

Experiencing the wildlife

Yeah, not sure what that was. But it was gross.

On an adventure!

Exploring is hard work…

Cool underwater shot!

Having a great day in CocoCay!!!

This is the life!

Beautiful Lucy enjoying a delicious meal!  It’s pink!  🙂

It’s such a small world!!  I ran into one of my sorority sisters from college:  Ashley Kolb Topham.  How funny we ended up on the same cruise!

So great to see you!!!!

The next morning, we were back in Port Canaveral–our short sunny holiday came to an end!

Leaving the ship…

Steve, Lucy, we had such a fantastic time with you guys!!  Looking forward to another Candeto Family Vacation in the future–hopefully with the whole family 🙂

As always, thanks for reading–more to come soon!!!

On Christmas Eve, we flew in to Orlando narrowly beating Santa Claus to the sunshine state!  On Christmas we opened presents, then headed to Disney World for a delicious Christmas dinner.

Yummy cinnamon rolls breakfast on Christmas morning!

Our precious niece, Lydia, in her princess dress carrying her koala bear!

On to Disney!

The men (minus Matt) in front of the gingerbread carousel.

LOVE this girl!

Merry Christmas, from the Candetos!

The next morning, I took off for Kentucky via Cleveland and a massive snow storm.

This what it looked like when I landed in Cleveland…

A light dusting…

Not looking good…

…but Louisville is still looking ok…

And, when we took off…

Pretty decent snow cover for an hour-long layover.

Fortunately, I made it safe and sound to Kentucky.  John followed the next day through much less snowy conditions.

While in Kentucky, I had a chance to catch up with some friends and spend time with family.

Reuniting with good friends from high school!

Celebrating Christmas with the Wallace/Allen clan!

I also had the chance to stop by my dear friend and former roommate, Whitney’s, house to meet her new little girl!!  She is so beautiful–such a sweetheart!!  Had such a great time meeting her and loved holding her!

Whitney and me with her sweet baby Caroline!

On New Year’s Eve, one of my closest childhood friends got married and I had the honor of being a bridesmaid in her wedding.  It was so gorgeous and she looked absolutely stunning.  Jessica and Danny–John and I wish you all the happiness in the world!!!

Shelby County girls at Jessica and Danny’s rehearsal dinner!

Bridesmaids Brunch! Hostesses with the beautiful bride!

Friends for 25 years. I remember dreaming about our wedding days when we were little girls!! 🙂

The wedding and reception were a ball!  We rang in 2013 on the dance floor–a very memorable night.

And so ends 2012–a good year in the life of the Candetos.  We did tons of traveling, got settled in London, and spent some great time with friends and family stateside.  2013 has been good to us so far–looking forward to catching you up on what has happened so far.  And, looking forward to what else this year may bring.  We are truly blessed:)

Shortly after completing our road trip, John and I hopped a plane and headed to Seattle, Washington to see our dear friends Landon and Dani and meet the latest addition to the Mossburg family:  Chase!  Landon is John’s closest childhood friend and they have remained friends over the years, including overlapping a few years at Accenture in Singapore.  Dani and I met in Singapore and became fast friends.  And now, sweet Chase has arrived!!!

Dani and Chase at the market!

Our first morning in Seattle, of course our first stop was the famous Public Market.

Loved the market!

And let’s not forget Starbucks.  So great the visit the birthplace of where we spend a ton of time, regardless of the country we are living in.  Somehow, no matter where in the world we are, it feels like home!

From the Mecca of SBUX

Enjoying our coffee!

Obligatory Space Needle Photo

Then we drove past the famous Space Needle on our way to the Ballard Locks.  Landon and Dani live in Ballard, so this is right in their back yard!  The waterway is the natural habitat of salmon and the locks complicated their migration.  So, the fish ladder was built to help salmon and other fish navigate the locks and swim upstream.  Pretty cool!

Reliving our days in Asia…

Go fish go!

The next morning, we got up and decided to go to Canada!  Vancouver is a short drive from Seattle and Chase was quickly approaching two months and had not been out of the country yet.  Obviously Uncle John and Aunt CB had to be present for this!

International Baby!!! How cute is he?!?!?

As we crossed the Canadian border, Chase started to get a little fussy.  Dani to the rescue!!!  She kept him occupied and we had a happy baby the rest of the way to Vancouver!

Almost there!!!!

First stop, Stanley Park!!!  Absolutely gorgeous!

Beautiful family!

Later that night–downtown for dinner!  Delicious street food 🙂

O Canada!

Loved Vancouver–great city!

The next day back in Seattle, we spent some great time with Landon, Dani and Chase.  John and Landon played video games, Dani and I took a walk to the beach (yes–walked from their place to the beach!) and we all got to love on Chase.  So wonderful to be in the same place, at least for a few days.  We really really miss you guys!!!

John and Chase bonding time 🙂

Handsome little guy at 2 months old!

For dinner on our last night, Landon and Dani took us to a beautiful seafood restaurant with an amazing view.  We caught it just at sunset.  The food was spectacular and there was such an beautiful view into the sound.

Gorgeous.

Thanks so much for making our first time to the Pacific Northwest so incredible, you guys!  Miss y’all tons–looking forward to more adventures soon!  🙂

Between legs of our trip, we had a chance to spend a few days in Kentucky with my family.  It was during this weekend we had another mishap with our wedding cake…

For those of you who don’t know, the cake at our wedding was wrong.  The only thing right about it was the monogram (thank goodness that wasn’t wrong–that would have been VERY noticeable).  The cake was the wrong shape, the wrong number of tiers, the wrong design, AND the wrong kind of cake.  We couldn’t use the cake stand we intended to use, so the cake had to sit on it’s wooden board.  WRONG WRONG WRONG.  If you know me well, you know I LOVE cake, so this was a big deal.  Thankfully, our florist and my former Furman cheerleading sponsor, Mr. Bush, came to the rescue.  He had created a beautiful flower arrangement that sat right in front of the cake.  Fortunately, the eye went straight to the gorgeous flowers instead of to the wrong cake.  This prevented a meltdown.  His shop, Expressions, is amazing!!!  If you EVER need any flowers or anything for any type of occasion in Greenville, SC, go see him.  You can find contact info here.

Looks fine on the outside…

You may be asking, why is this important?  That was 4 and a half years ago.  Well, the cake came back into our lives the weekend before we left for Seattle.  John and I have been living abroad since we’ve been married.  As a result, we haven’t eaten our anniversary tier.  Traditionally, it’s the top layer of the cake, however, the bakery we used bakes a fresh one and sends it to you on your first anniversary.  Because we were in Asia and cake doesn’t ship well over the Pacific, it was sent to my mother who promptly put it in the freezer.  Fast forward a few years–John and I had almost completely forgotten about it until my mom ran across it in the freezer.  So, we pulled it out and let it thaw.

Preparing to cut our cake

You may be thinking, CB, why would you eat 3.5 year old possibly freezer burned cake?  All I can say is, I’ve eaten a lot worse.  It’s better than chicken feet.  Plus, I really liked the cake that we had selected for the wedding.  Surely she got this right–I mean, this was baked a year later from our order sheet.  Right?

Struggling to cut through the freezer burned goodness

WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not so attractive picture with the WRONG cake–John doesn’t seem nearly as concerned.

Banana nut cake?

To give you an idea of how wrong it was, when we sliced it open, I was expecting the see the unmistakable scarlet red of red velvet cake.  Red velvet cake is my absolute FAVORITE!!!  It’s a southern US delicacy–a cake with chocolate and enough red food coloring to make it glow all topped with rich cream cheese icing.  I have fond memories of eating red velvet cake every Christmas since I was a little girl and on every trip to my grandparents’ house in Tennessee.  This was getting personal.

But instead of bright red harkening me back to the days of my childhood I saw boring brown.  It looked (and tasted) like banana nut bread.  How can you get banana nut bread from red velvet cake?  NOT THE SAME THING!!!!!!  Both are delicious but one is a breakfast food and does not belong on a wedding cake stand.  So, needless to say, I did not eat more freezer burned cake that night.  Probably better that way.

After all of the cake drama, I had to laugh at myself.  What a first world problem.  I’m just grateful that I got the right groom, because, honestly, that’s what really mattered that day.

For those of you who haven’t heard, WE ARE STAYING IN LONDON!!!!  John has finished up with school (he graduates in about a month).  He got a job offer from a London-based consulting firm and accepted!!!  So, we are staying. 🙂  I’m still working part-time at the American School and searching for work to fill the rest of my days.  I’ll be sure to keep you posted!

John finished his dissertation in early September and didn’t start work until late October, so we opted to take a month and spend some time in the US.  While there we visited ten states and Washington D.C. to see family and friends.  It was so wonderful to see everyone–some people we haven’t seen since our wedding!!!

First stop:  Shelbyville, Kentucky where my parents live.  We landed there, had a few days to recover from jetlag and spend time with my parents before embarking on our three week road trip.  One day, we got a phone call from Projjal, a dear friend from Singapore.  He thought he was calling us in London just to tell me he was in Kentucky.  Turns out, he was driving right through my hometown.  So we met for dinner at Claudia Sander’s Dinner House.  He really wanted some fried chicken 🙂

Projjal in Kentucky!!!

While in Shelbyville, we made a trip out to Bagdad, KY to visit Newt at the B&N.  The B&N is a gas station with a little diner in the back.  John loves the bologna sandwiches and I love the fried fish sandwiches.  Believe it or not, it is vastly different that the fried fish that comes with fish and chips.  I guess I’m just a fried fish fan.

With Newt at the B&N in Bagdad. Such incredible food!

The next day, we took off on our road trip…

Brunch with Mom and Daddy at Wild Eggs in Louisville, KY

Wait—wrong London!

Next stop:  Knoxville, Tennessee to see my grandparents!  We stayed there for a few nights, enjoyed lots of American football, and ate some incredible food.  Had such a great time with them!

John’s birthday dinner with my grandparents

Next pitstop:  Chattanooga, Tennessee!  My college roommate and sorority sister, Caroline and her husband John (in John’s fraternity) live in Chattanooga.  We were lucky enough to be able to see them on our way through.  Thanks for coming to meet us, guys!!

The Jantzes and the Candetos!

Next stop:  Atlanta!  We stayed with our friends Dan and Frances and had a chance to see many more friends at a pub.  What a fantastic night–we really liked Atlanta!

With Frances and Dan–the (relatively) newly engaged!

Frances, Kate, and Leanna all came out! So great to see you, ladies!

The next morning, on our way out of town, we had breakfast with Sissi.  Sissi is a friend from Singapore who has recently moved back to the US.  Great to see her!

Breakfast with Sissi

Next pitstop:  near Birmingham Alabama to see Kel!  Kel is the brother of Landon–John’s childhood best friend.  We hadn’t seen Kel since before we were engaged, so it was great to have lunch with him!

Loved hanging out with Kel!

Next stop:  Auburn, Alabama!  There we got to see Landon’s parents and our dear friends and adopted parents Kelley and Debbie Mossburg.  They both went to Auburn and have recently moved back.  They took us for a fabulous birthday dinner (for John) and we chatted and caught up for most of the night.  Great to see y’all–we miss you!!!

Fantastic dinner with our sweet Alabama parents!

Next stop:  Tallahassee, Florida to visit John’s grandparents!  This was my first time to Tallahassee–I enjoyed it!  John played golf with his granddad, while grandmommie and I had tea and chatted for most of the day.  Granddady cooked an amazing meal one night.  The night we got in, they drove us to the coast to their favorite restaurant.  Great couple of days!

Birthday dinner with John’s grandparents

Next stop:  Orlando, Florida–John’s hometown!  While there we had a chance to spend time with Steve, Lucy, Caroline , Matt, and Lydia and friends we have in the area!  We went to a football game, shared some fantastic meals, and got to spend some great time together.

Lucy, Steve, and John after a UCF victory!!!

The next night, we grabbed some drinks with David and Mandy Drinkard.  David was one of the first people I met at Furman and Mandy is one of my sorority sisters.  They moved to Orlando a little while ago–so glad we can see then when we’re in town!

Drinks with Mandy and Drink

The next morning, we went to our friend Lee’s art studio, where she creates beautiful glass works of art.  Check out her website.  She let us play with some glass and create some cool pieces.  She is very talented and has new designs coming out all the time.  Be sure to check out her cross collection and her Christmas ornaments.  They are beautiful and make great gifts!

John working with the glass, while Lee instructs

The family 🙂

Next stop:  Greenville, South Carolina where we stayed with Tyner, Zeke, and Adleigh Lollis (Tyner is one of my sorority sisters and was my Maid of Honor in our wedding) and saw lots of great friends!

I miss my sweet friend!!  So happy to be together!

How cute is this little girl? Love Miss Adleigh!

We got to see Scott!

Across the hall roommate came as well!

And…we got to catch up with Happy Meal!!!!!

Next stop:  Richmond, Virginia to see my baby brother, Patrick.  He works there as a lobbyist and political consultant.  It was our first time to Richmond since he moved there a year ago.  He showed us a great time in his new city!

Patty gave us a great tour of the Virginia Capitol.  I love my baby bro!

Drinks overlooking the James River 🙂

Next stop:  Washington D.C. where we stayed with Matt and Elizabeth Kuhn and saw lots more friends from university.  Matt was John’s roommate for three years at Furman and Elizabeth is a dear friend of mine and a fellow Kentucky girl.  We’re destined to be friends for a long time…:)

Beautiful night in DC!

Love this girl!!!!

Fantastic dinner with fantastic friends!

After dinner, they took us to a rooftop with a fantastic view of the US Capitol.

Great view of the US Capitol Building!

The next day, we were on our own to do some exploring.  In true Candeto fashion, we fit in four museums, lunch, and the National Archives.

The Air and Space Museum

After exploring we met Matt and Elizabeth for dinner, where they had invited lots of our friends!

So great to see you, Jess!

Furman girls…best in the world!

AFS love!

So glad the Yetters could make it!

And after a wonderful evening of delicious southern food (yes, in DC!) and dear friends, Elizabeth and I just had to top it off with something sweet–in true KY girl fashion!

At the cupcakery!

The next morning, we drove back to Kentucky.  What an amazing trip we had.  A big THANK YOU to everyone who hosted us, came out to see us, etc.  We are truly blessed to have so many great friends.  We love you all!!!  Come see us in London!!!  🙂

At the end of May, Lucy graduated from high school!  Of course we had to be in town for this event, and since John had exams and would be shut up in the library here in London for a few weeks, I took the opportunity to spend some time at home in Kentucky and at my grandparents’ in Tennessee.  Here are a few pictures from my time there and our time in Florida for Lucy’s graduation!

First stop–Knoxville, Tennessee home of my grandparents.  Patrick even came down from Richmond to hang out for a couple of days.  We had a wonderful time shopping at the outlet mall, eating, and generally spending time with family!

My precious grandparents at one of our final dinners at Silver Spoon (they closed) 😦

Patty came in as well!

After another stop in Kentucky, I met John in Florida for Lucy’s graduation and to see the rest of the family.  Lucy–we are so proud of you!!  She looked absolutely beautiful and is off to University of Central Florida in the fall where she is planning to study Hospitality.  Can’t wait to hear all about it!

Yay!!!!

Graduating class

I had a great time in Kentucky, as well.  I got to spend lots of time with friends and with my Mom and Daddy.  On one of my last days there, we went to Churchill Downs for a truly “Kentucky” experience.  I had a great time in the US–looking forward to coming back again!!

Momma and me at the track!

Greetings, all!

John and I are going to the US for a visit on 26 May and returning to Malaysia on 11 June.  Below is our schedule–we’d like to see all of you!!!

26 May-5 June:  Orlando, FL for Steve’s Graduation and the annual Candeto  family vacation

5 June-7 June:  Greenville, SC to see Patrick, friends who live in Greenville, and FU

7 June-8 June:  Knoxville, TN to see Grandmother and Papaw Allen

8 June-10 June:  Shelbyville, Kentucky to see family and friends

10 June-11 June:  Back to Orlando, FL

If you are going to be any of those places during the time that we are, we would love to see you!  You can email either one of us or call our US phone number and we will do our best to arrange it!

Thanks for reading and we hope to see you soon!!!  🙂

As some of you may know, my grandmother passed away in December, hence my unexpected trip back to the States.  I decided to spend Christmas with John in Asia and then head home the next day for my grandmother’s memorial service.  Although the reason I had to go back to the States was sad, it was very nice to get home and see some family and friends.  She had been suffering with cancer for a while and it’s comforting to know she’s not hurting anymore and she gets to see my grandfather again.  Her memorial service was a celebration of her life–she would have been truly happy to see it.

Although I was home for my grandmother’s service and to be with my family, it turned out to be a joyful trip, after all.  I got have ribs with family friends, have dinner with Whitney and Chris (I was in their wedding this summer) and even go to a UofL basketball game with my Daddy (thanks, Kate!).  Patrick and I got to spend some great time together and Mom and I bonded over chick flicks and shopping.  It was great to see my grandparents and cousins as well.  We all went to see “A Christmas Carol” in Lousiville.  I think we’ve seen the show every year for the past two decades, at least.  It was a great trip home.  The only thing that could have made it better was having John home with me!

At home, I also got make some fun plans!  My parents are coming to Asia to see us in March.  We’ll be doing Singapore, KL, and Hong Kong/Macao.  I can’t wait!  John and I also found out that we’re going to be an aunt and uncle to Baby Newkirk–Matt and Caroline’s baby on-the-way!  Steve, John’s younger brother also made a big decision.  He’ll be attending Furman University (John and my alma mater) in the fall.    Long story short, 2010 will be an incredible year full of blessings and amazing changes.

I hated that John couldn’t come home with me–I know that he misses the US, particularly our family and friends from back home.  Our adventure over here is absolutely incredible.  We are loving every minute of it and have been blessed with incredible friends in Asia, as well.  But I do know it’s just as important to have roots as it is to have wings and I am grateful to have a wonderful home, family and friends to come home to.

Stay tuned…John will be posting an entry on the weddings we’ve been to and his trip to Hong Kong soon.  Yesterday, I went to Thaipusam (the Hindu festival where they pierce themselves) so I’ll be posting about that.  Thanks again for stopping by–we miss you all!

Dear friends,

We have returned to Singapore after a brief visit to our homeland!  As you can see from the schedule posted in our last post, we certainly kept ourselves busy.  Between weddings, job training, and family time I’m not sure exactly when we rested:).  Our trip back to the US was wonderful–it was great to see so many family members and friends and do a little bit of traveling on the side!  Below are just a few highlights from our trip Stateside.  We did so much it would be impossible to mention it all here…

I flew back a few days before John and was able to spend a couple of very relaxing days with his family (now my family too:) in Orlando.  Steve and Lucy even picked me up from the airport in a pick-up truck while playing country music.  I really felt like I was coming home:).  After a lovely couple of days of watching “Wife Swap” with Steve, hanging out with Lucy, and reading magazines with Robin, I was off to Greenville, SC to see my brother for a night!  Patrick was such a gentleman–he took me to get cheap Mexican food, chocolate chip pancakes, and to Atlanta Bread Company.  He also accompanied me around Furman to see a few friends on the faculty and staff.  It was a jam packed 24 hours, but it was so great to see him!

The next day, from Greenville, SC, I embarked on an adventure with a group of five other girls to nowhere else but New York City for Tyner Ray Lollis’s bachlorette party!!!!  Still at bit jet lagged at this point, I boarded the fifth plane in four days I was just happy to be on a plane with someone that I know!!!

The view from our hotel room!

Tyner, Leanna, Mandy Lee, and I flew up to NYC to meet Megan and Lauren for a grand weekend adventure.  To start, Leanna found us an AMAZING hotel room in Times Square–in fact, our room overlooked the famous center of town!  After a nice night’s rest, we were up (by 11:00) and off to Central Park where we watched some Michael Jackson impersonators (this was shortly after his death) and had a brief photo shoot!  Then, we headed to a Thai Restaurant for lunch (the only Asian food I ate while in the States–I love you girls!!!:) and then to Anthropolgie for two hours for some “power shopping.”

I was still jet lagged, so power shopping for me included grabbing a seat and watching the other girls try on some dresses.  That night was the big “night out.”  So we gave Tyner a few gifts, then headed out on the town!  We started out at a nice little restaurant and bar and then went dancing!

Girls in Central Park!

We even found a few NYC fire fighters to take pictures with our group!!!  We didn’t arrive back at our hotel room until 4:30 am.  We proceeded to chat until 5:30 when we looked out our window and noticed the sun was coming up over Times Square.  So, what do we do?  We go back out!  We were in our pajamas and skipped down the street, did cart wheels across the middle of the road, and Lauren even got a talking to from a police officer because of her “FU” shirt.  We didn’t got to bed until 6:00 am which pretty much put me back onto Singapore time.  Hello jetlag…again.  Despite that, it was very much a weekend to remember.

After NYC, I flew home to see my parents (finally!!!  after seven months!).  We grabbed some dinner (at Applebees–yum!) then headed home to see grandmother who lives next door!  I spent the week shopping, seeing my grandparents (who came all the way from Tennessee to see us), having a little party for Whitney and just enjoying being at home with family!

That weekend, one of my dear roomates from school Whitney Hoagland Byrley married Chirs Byrley!  The wedding was beautiful, held in a church in Louisville and the reception was at Louisville country club!  The day before the wedding, we had a little bridesmaid fun at the nail salon, then a bridesmaids brunch and then had a delicious rehearsal dinner at an old house near downtown Louisville.

Whitney with her sassy bridesmaids!

Since John was at training in Chicago, Mom was my date.  She was one hot date;).  The next day, John flew in (we happened to run into Dan Ennis and his sweet girlfriend, Lauren, while at the airport) and I headed to Whitney’s house to prepare for the festivities!  We wore beautiful gold dresses and crystal earrings Whitney had made for us just for the occassion!  It was a beautiful wedding and reception!  After the reception, we tried to make it back to Shelbyville for some of my high school friends’ wedding, but a terrible storm blew up and we never made it (sorry Tory and Mallori!).  The next morning, I put John on a plane back to Chicago and met Courtney for breakfast.  Then, back home for me to take a nap:).

The next week brought lots of rest and relaxation (and preparation to go back to Singapore).

Daddy and I not watching horses at the Shelbyville Horse Show

We even got to go to the Horse Show on Wednesday night where we ran into lots of Shelbyville friends including the Deckers (Jessica and I went through high school together and were pretty much best friends on the cheer squad.  I think we were sanity partners:).  I had forgotten how much I missed going to the Horse Show!  I don’t think I saw very many horses:).

On Thursday, my parents and I left Shelbyville to start the drive to Charleston, South Carolina for the wedding of Tyner Ray Lollis and Zeke Lollis.  We stopped halfway at my grandparents house in Knoxville, Tennessee for the night–it was so great to get to spend a little extra time with them!  After a nice long drive to Charleston, we made it in plenty of time for the rehearsal dinner.  John was still in Chicago, so I went solo until I realized that Mr. Simon Lehtinen was also there solo.  We decided to be dates for the evening:).  After the dinner, we went to South End Brewery where my parents met us after their date night!  I was so impressed–they stayed there with us until the place closed down!!!

The next day was wedding day–we went to a beautiful historic home in Charleston for the Bridesmaids Luncheon and to get ready for the big event!  I had my hair done at 12:45–and had to keep it nice all day!!!  I managed, but if you know me you know that was a tall order:).  Once everyone was ready, we were ready to get Tyner down the aisle!  We wore navy blue dresses (each style was different) and pearls–very pretty!

Bridgette and I are ready to Bridesmaid!

The wedding was held in a beautiful chapel at MUSC (Medical University of South Carolina), very close to the historic home where the reception was also held!  We had a great time, enjoyed some southern food and danced the night away (including a little David Allen Coe action).  After the reception, we all went out and spent some more time together at a swanky little bar until it was time for bed.  I stayed with my parents that night and upon arriving back at the hotel, I learned that they had also just returned–they had gone out after too!!!  They were a couple of party animals that weekend:).  I am so proud!

The next morning, after a tearful goodbye to Mom and Daddy, John and I were off to spend some time with Furman friends at lunch and then Matt Kuhn and Elizabeth Goss for the afternoon!  It was so great to see you all again!!!!

Simon and John at the swanky bar!

That night, we drove to Savannah to have dinner with Landon Mossburg and finally, the next day we headed back to Orlando!  Our time in Orlando was spent relaxing, golfing (John), shopping, and stock piling tortillas for our trip back to Asia (they are now frozen in my freezer in Singapore).  It was so great to see Lucy, Steve, and Robin again.  And….Lucy took us for a ride in the car:). Our last night there, we spent with Miss Mandy Petitt (soon to be Drinkard) at City Walk at Universal Studios.  She got to share in our final US Moe’s experience for a while.  It was epic.

Early the next morning, we were off to the airport and twenty-eight delightful hours later, we were back in Singapore.  Our trip back to the States was AMAZING and made us realize how much we really do love the good ole US of A and especially our friends and family back there.  We are loving out Most Excellent Adventure over here–but can’t wait to see everyone again!

Next entry, I’ll update you on everything that’s been going on in Singapore for the past few weeks–it’s a lot.  We’ve moved and John is working in Malaysia for at least a month.  More to come on that soon.  Keep reading!!!!!:)