Istanbul

Istanbul was an exciting city to be able to explore and relax in for a few days.  It is an incredibly historic city at the cross roads between Europe and Asia. We stayed in and spent the majority of our time in 'Old Istanbul' or Sultanahmet which is a world heritage site packed with many wonderful sites such as Aya Sofya, Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, Grand Bazaar, Spice market, etc... A few photos have been uploaded to our  Photo Gallery.

Jon

Bangladesh

Jon and I are en route to Bangladesh where we will be project mangers for a hospital construction project in Malumghat for approximately 2 years.  We will give updates here periodically (hopefully frequently).  We will be stopping in Istanbul, Turkey for a few days before arriving in Dhaka, Bangladesh on Monday morning (local time).

Jon spent 1.5 weeks in Bangladesh in the summer and he added photos to the Gallery (I met him in New York City for a couple of days on his way back home).
Holly

Iceland

Holly and I have been in Iceland for a week now. We have completed the bulk of the ring road and now have a few last days to relax a bit more and try to get in some more great hiking. The weather has been typical Icelandic weather... Overcast and rainy half the time, although with that the temperature has been above seasonal. We have a number of photos uploaded to our photo Gallery above.

Jon

Building Update

The progress on the house is coming along well. Most of the major outside changes (other than decks and a bit of remaining fascia/soffit) for the house have been completed. The insides are still fairly rustic, although sizable steps are being made there as well. Hopefully by the end of the month it will be wired, plumbed, heated, vented and insulated (just as spring is on it's way) so we can start drywalling and all the interior work (ok, this may be a bit optimistic). Overall things are looking good and moving forward. Having a full time day job definitely slows progress, but that's what evenings and weekends are for....

Jon

Ottawa

Holly and I went up to Ottawa this past weekend to visit Holly's sister Katie. It was a long drive there and back for a weekend, but we had a great time visiting and enjoying Ottawa during their winter carnival week (and Valentines day).

Quilt

It's been a long time coming, but finally I have uploaded a few photos of the quilt that Cindy and my Grammy made for Holly and I. I don't know if Cindy realized what she was getting herself into when she gave us the idea of collecting fabric from our travels in Africa... or if she actually realized that Holly and I would take her up on her offer. For Holly and I it was a surprisingly fun experience finding that perfect piece of fabric in every country. Whether we went to a local tailor for some unique scraps, saw a color in a market stall that caught our eye on passing, asked some friends along the way for pieces that they felt where representative of their individual country or quickly tried to find that perfect color as we where about to cross the boarder into that next country. In the end we never did actually weigh how much fabric we brought home, I just know instead of our packs getting lighter along the journey we where definitely accumulating some added luggage. Cindy and Grammy, Holly and I just wanted to thank you again for giving us this great idea and then creating this incredible memento for our travels together in Africa, Thank you.

Jon & Holly

Progress....

Well it feels like the house is finally taking a big step at the moment. The windows just came in today and we have been working on the siding for a few days so hopefully in the next week or so the exterior will basically be done for now (until the summer arrives and we can throw some more paint on it). (more photos uploaded to picasa - link above - gallery)

Our Wedding

We are married... well actually we have been married for two months now, just a bit slow on the uploading lately. If we get around to it we may upload a few cruise picts from our honeymoon. Here are a couple photos of Holly and I on our wedding day.

Week 5 (or so)

The house is coming along well... We have a new foundation poured and re-framed a number of sections. The big news these days though is that I'm getting married at the end of the week (November 27th) which is extremely exciting.

Jon

Week 3

Construction on the "lot" is coming along.

My time estimates may have been a bit optimistic. I may not have accounted for having a full time job at this time as well, which severely limits my available time to work on the place. There is only a bit of shingling left before we can start working on the foundation and siding.

(Photos: Views from the roof of the building, a shot from my car as I was heading home one evening, Shingling... a lot of angles...)