One full year for Amy!

I suppose the title of this post could once again be along the lines of "Too Long". It has been since last fall since I have updated...yikes where has time gone! If you are friends with us on Facebook, you have been able to see how we have been doing in the wonderful country of South Africa. Everything has been going smoothly for us! We were blessed to have family come for visits and then Mark and I also took an amazing holiday to Mauritius. I will break down our last 6 plus months "just now" (a common phrase used here).


Our Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays were spent with our great friends here. We made great use of our pool and the grill! It was strange to have holidays without snow! Mark's side of the family spent Christmas in the airport, hoping to finally make it to South Africa. They landed with big smiles...It was great to have them here! We spent a nice amount of time in Cape Town, enjoyed great wine and food, and great company. When we got back to our house in Pretoria, we enjoyed seeing some animals and spending time around the house! Time went to fast though and soon they were on their way.

A month later my sister Chris and her husband Adam showed up. They forgot to put Mallory in their carry-on luggage but we all still managed to have a great trip after all! We spent a weekend up in the Mpumalanga/Limpopo area hiking, quad-biking, and going on game drives at a safari lodge. It was extremely warm but worth it! Then we headed to Cape Town to make sure they could experience the beauty it had to offer. Once again, time went to fast and they were on the plane to go home.

A month later, my parents came for a visit! Again, we enjoyed seeing all of the tourist areas of South Africa. We walked with elephants and ran all around to see the most that we could while they were here! Mom and Dad really had a good time and it was sad to see them go.

As soon as my parents left, Mark and I jumped on a plane and flew to Mauritius. It was a very tropical and relaxing vacation. We enjoyed the sun, water sports on the ocean, laying by the pool, and not having too may responsibilities!

The rest of April and May involved staying around our house....something new to us! We relaxed, went on some hikes, did some dog sitting, and went to movies. All right, we did go away one weekend though. We went up into the Drakensberg Mountains again with a group of friends. Mark got to do some kite boarding and I got to enjoy a nice hike with our friend Alicia.

Now that it is June, we are getting ready for the World Cup and the madness it is going to bring to SA. We will be going to one USA game with our friends. Otherwise, we will watch the rest of the games from the comfort of our own home!

In conclusion, life is going well for us. Mark continues to work hard every day and I pass the days with reading, going to the gym, meeting up with the other ladies, and volunteering. Our time here is going extremely fast. Before we know it, we will be back in the States! Oh yeah, and we can't wait for Mark's brother to come back for another visit!


Cheers :)

Too long....

Wow guys, it has been a LONG time since we have updated the blog :( Sorry!!! Hmm where to start....

August was a great month for us! We celebrated our one year anniversary, which made us think about all of the adventures we have been on over the past year....Crazy!!! Mark and I both spent time back in the States. I was there for a little over a month. Mark made it back for a very quick 8 days. Throughout the month we were involved with weddings, we gained an awesome brother in-law, got to see many friends and family members, traveled the Midwest, and got to spend time with our dog Kacey! It was nice to be back for a little bit but by the end of my stay, I was ready to come back to our home in S.A.

September was the start of Spring. I came back to green grass, flowers blooming, and warm weather! It was another great month!! We took in the beauty of South Africa by going to the botanical gardens, hiking to the top of a waterfall, and to the beach! Our friends and I took a long weekend trip and went over by Durban to a place called Tinley Manor/Beach. Eleven of us stayed in a beautiful house off of the Indian Ocean. I have never experienced the sound of the waves crashing 24/7...it was amazing. The dolphins and whales were also enjoying themselves as they swam past our house.....so cool to see! Pictures from the month of September are up....follow the link below.

The braai season has begun! Yep, I said braai (see I am learning Afrikaans!). It is similar to "grilling out" or having a "BBQ". We have spent many nights with friends at gatherings enjoying the warm weather and company while having braais. Did I mention how warm the weather has been? It has been up in the 90's....sorry to all of those who are freezing and sitting by their heaters! The rainy season has also started (which isn't as bad as it sounds)! The storms are very different here. It will be sunny and then all of a sudden the wind will pick up and it will rain for maybe 2-5 minutes. It has rained all night once or twice...which was needed! We did go hiking last Sunday at a place close to our house....it is always nice spending the day outside!! Otherwise, next weekend we will be taking a trip up into the mountains and staying at a place with a golf course, rock climbing walls, hiking trails, and more! I am thinking I will have TONS of pictures to share from that weekend and I promise it wont take us so long to post it this time!

We recently got a Minnesota phone number from Skype. This means you can call us from your cell phone just like you call any other number with no extra charge. If you are interested in getting that number, please email me and I will send it to you right away! (powalishamyl@gmail.com)

Link to pictures from our trip to the States:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2197114&id=63901203&l=c1e4ee758c

Link to pictures from the month of September:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2198815&id=63901203&l=39b9acffbd

We miss everyone and hope all is going well!!

Safari Weekend

Hello! We can't believe that the month of July is already coming to an end. Mark planned a birthday get-away weekend for my birthday! He did great! It started with me picking him up from work at the job site. WOW, it is truly a huge project. I was very nervous driving around all of the big trucks and workers....but in the end it was just really nice to finally see where Mark spends most of his time!

The first night we stayed at a lodge in Dullstrum (Mpumalanga region of S.A.). Upon arrival, we found out that we were going to get to celebrate Christmas in July! The town was a very cute small town with lots of shops and places to go fly fishing. We hope to return there for another short weekend trip. We then continued on through the mountains and made our way to a private game resort close to Kruger National Park. We were in the Limpopo region of South Africa. Back home when we are driving, we are so used to watching out for deer running across the road.....on this trip we had to watch out for baboons!! We saw two run across the road :)

We stayed at Tshukudu Game Reserve. It was Awesome!!! This reserve allowed us to have close encounters with rehabilitated (orphaned) and wild animals. We went on two Safari game drives (one was at night) and a bush walk with two lion cubs. The game drives consisted of tracking the lions and searching for them for at least two hours......when we finally found them, it was so powerful! The roar of a lion really can leave a lasting impression......you could feel the vibrations from it!

On the way home, we stopped at the Potholes of Mpumalanga......what a great site to see. It was a beautiful day, we got to do a little hiking, and of course we got to shop at the markets!

Here is a link to all of our pictures from this trip!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2187300&id=63901203&l=e0dacc89a5

Panoramic Route

Mark and I took a short weekend trip that showed us the beauty of the country. We drove along the "Panoramic Route" of Mpumalanga and stayed in the Flycatcher Castle in a town called Graskop. The scenery on the route was amazing. It took us along the Blyde River Canyon which is said to be the 3rd largest canyon in the world. Each attraction along the route had a market. We were able to do some bargaining and get some great deals on South African crafts! At the castle, we were treated like royalty! Each room had decor from the 17th century, there was an art gallery displaying the owners work, and there was a chapel with seats and decor from an original church in Bethlehem. The food was also amazing and over whelming! We can't wait to go back (hopefully with family and friends!).

To see more pictures from our June adventures around South Africa, use the link below!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2183948&id=63901203&l=e624999ecf

Amy's experience so far

Hello! I am going to have to admit that Mark has been doing all of the updating of our blog so far. Surprisingly, time has been going really fast for me. I love being able to be here with Mark. The country is absolutely beautiful and it is such a great feeling to make the people here smile! During the day, my favorite thing to do is sit on our balcony reading a book and looking at the beautiful mountains in the distance. I also enjoy going on walks in our development looking at the other amazing houses. There are several other wives and their families that live close by. Often we will get together during the day to do our grocery shopping and lunch. I have met a lot of great people here so far! I also have mastered (well maybe not completely) the art of driving here! A favorite thing for Mark and I to do is cook on our new grill and then have a fire afterwords. We also just purchased a ping-pong table that will be arriving on Friday. I am also in the process of setting up volunteer opportunities for me that would start in September. I believe I will be getting involved with the Down Syndrome Association and going out into the community with the SLP students from the University of Pretoria to get exposed to the culture.
More to come....

FIFA - USA vs Italy

On Monday night we had the opportunity to go to Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria to watch the FIFA Confederations Cup (South Africa 2009) USA vs Italy. It was nice to here the national anthem of the United States of America in South Africa. Amy really enjoyed the blow horns and wished we didn't ban them in the US. However, they sure can do the wave! USA lost 3 to 1 but it was still fun dodging soccer balls behind the goalie.

Apartheid Museum

We went to the Apartheid Museum this weekend and learned
the history of Mandela, the rise and fall of the Apartheid, and
the first democratic election. What a great history experience.