The highlights of 2006

This year has been eventful to say the least: full of travel and change. But to preface the events of the year you need a little background.

At the end of last year Dan received an unexpected invitation to attend the Foreign Service orientation class in January 2006. While this was a wonderful opportunity we were a bit unprepared as we didn't expect such a call for another year or so (if we got in at all!)

Because we were not expecting the job offer we had made several commitments to Utah. We had just signed a contract to build a house in a beautiful community right by Park City and I still had one more semester at BYU. Also, Dan was working at a software company that had very exciting possibilities. Despite all of the reasons to turn down the offer in hopes Dan's name would come to the top of the hire list again, we knew that we had to take it.

So, come January, Daniel moved to Arlington, Virginia to begin his training to become an officer in the Foreign Service. I stayed in Provo, Utah to finish my last semester at BYU while working as member service/ loan officer at a local credit union.

February was a crucial month, one we had been counting down to – literally! February 14th was the day we were assigned our post. And where did we end up? Muscat, Oman! We were a little surprised at first, maybe even a little disappointed, after all, who has heard of Muscat?! However, the more we learned about this quiet little country the more excited we became to go there. The city of Muscat is clean (4th cleanest city in the world), developed and beautiful (check out www.myoman.com). Oman boasts diving, turtle beaches, caving, hiking, dolphins, desert and beach camping, and so much more.

Another thing that made February so great is that I flew out to DC for Dan's swearing in ceremony. Held on the top floor of the State Department building in a lavish ballroom, it was fantastic! Seeing Daniel up there with his classmates, repeating their oath; I even got a little teary eyed.

In April I graduated from BYU, getting a degree in Middle Eastern Studies and Arabic. My major comprised courses on the religion, history, geography, politics, culture and language of the Middle East. Dan flew in from DC, his family from Arizona and my Mom from Canada to attend the event. It was so nice to have them all there to share my accomplishment with.

After graduation I stayed to pack our stuff up for the move to DC while Dan flew back to continue language training. Once the nightmare of moving was done I flew out to Atlanta to spend a couple weeks visiting my friend Ashley. Ash and I have been friends since we were four. With our birthdays only a month apart we have been more like sisters than just friends. Knowing it would probably be a few more years before I would have the chance to see her again I jumped on the opportunity to see her.

We had a blast! Ashley and I hung out, went to concerts and made a road trip to Florida. Lying on a sandy white beach with a best bud, what more could I ask for? Well, Daniel had an answer to that question - to be reunited with her hubby! I flew in DC mid May to a very happy Dan; he was fed up with the single life - as was I! I discovered that living alone just doesn't suit me. I couldn't convince myself to make food for just one person and so I found myself just eating cereal or fruit for every meal of the day, or worse - weird combinations of what was left in my fridge. Yuck! I was more of a bachelor than Dan who would tell me over the phone about the lovely, home-cooked meal he'd just made as I looked at my Rice Krispies.

Back with Dan and living in Arlington I enrolled to take language classes at the Foreign Service Institute. The State Department offers classes for family members of employees which allowed me to get some more Arabic practice. The situation was perfect: small classes with native speakers.

Come June though, I found another excuse to leave Daniel alone once again. My younger sister Emma was graduating from high school and I flew up to surprise her. Unfortunately the surprise did not go as well as I would have predicted. I thought I would get happy yells and surprised shouts but instead I got shocked, frozen faces: unsure what to think and if they were really looking at me. I was even poked a couple of times to see if I was real. ;) Emma, looked gorgeous for her grad and is so glad to be done with school. She is currently considering her options for the future. She is an amazing chef and cake decorator and is thinking that she may pursue culinary arts.

After spending time with my family in Winnipeg it was back to Arlington and Arabic study. Living in this area made me feel like we were in a movie. We would take the metro and eat lunch in front of the White House. We would visit monuments and museums and I felt like I was in the movie National Treasure. I love the DC area! There is so much to see and do and it has such a dynamic energy. It is good that I like the region since it will be like a 'homebase' for us. It is where we will return for training between tours and be assigned occasionally. We'll probably even end up buying a house out there.

House? Yes, I know what you are thinking, "What ever happened to the house you were building in Utah?" Well, due to supplies shortages from increased housing demand and hurricanes Rita and Katrina our completion date ended up being 9 months late! The house was finally completed in September and we turned around and sold it in November. (With the extra effort from our fantastic real estate agent and friend Mindy!)

The house was bought and sold just in time for us to pack up and move again for Muscat - another nightmare! The frequent moving is one thing that will make this lifestyle hard for me. I just hope nothing is broken or lost (and if it is I hope it wasn't too sentimental!). We'll see when our stuff gets here in a couple of weeks.

After the pack-out we flew to Tucson, Arizona to spend American Thanksgiving with Dan's family. We really enjoyed the chance to spend the time with Dan’s entire family. From there we flew to New York and spent a couple of days there while Dan attended some meetings and consultations. We visited some of the sights of the city as I had the rare opportunity of showing Dan, the guy who’s been everywhere, around town (this was Dan's first time to NY). From NY we headed off to Muscat. It seemed so odd, this was the moment the entire year had been building up to and it finally arrived.

We got into Muscat late at night on November 29. We have now been here for one month and are loving it more every day. Our housing is fantastic as are the people. The community has really gone out of their way to make us feel welcome.

We have made great new friends and are quite busy. There are a number of social functions to attend at the embassy and various clubs here. I have started to look for job opportunities, hoping to work with a local NGO (non-governmental organization).

All in all it has been a wonderful year. It has been hard to leave our friends and family but we are excited about the adventures that lay before us.

And remember; our house is always open to friends and family who want to come and enjoy the sights of Oman and are looking for some experienced tour guides.

Keep track of us on our new website: www.phelpsfootsteps.com.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, عيد مبارك (Eid Mubarak), & Happy New Year!

Katie & Daniel Phelps