In the end... and then the beginning...

In the end... and the beginning...

We ended our time in Africa by going to a little local dive with some friends for a drink.  It sits right on the lagoon and at night has a great view!  There was supposed to be live music but for some reason they weren't playing that night.  So we just sat in the dark and had a few drinks and talked.  We decided to order one poulet to snack on and this is what we received!  It was pretty good!  We think they went to another restaurant to get it though because they didn't have any food at this one they told us! :)  When we were leaving we saw them cooking some chickens over a little fire outside so I'm guessing that is where ours came from too!

Thank goodness for a camera flash so you could actually see our food!  I turned my camera on and faced it towards the chicken so we could use the little bit of light to see what we were eating!  No plates or napkins either...just messy fingers!

Us sitting by the water

It was crazy when we would see cars that were covered in bullet holes from the war last year!  I am thankful to be out of war zones for awhile!!

Laundry day!!

And then it was finally time to say goodbye!  To our home for the last 5 months and great friends!

HELLO MALTA!!!

I am SO excited to be back in this beautiful country!  My friend Cyd and I went to lunch in this palace garden place and it is just so beautiful!!!  I had the BEST chicken BLT sandwich!  I am taking Marshall back there today because I have to have one more before we leave!!  I'll take a picture to show you on my next blog!  They also mixed like shredded lettuce with some sort of mayo/dressing sauce!  I will find out the recipe so we can all give it a try!

We feel sooo lucky to have such awesome friends!!  We missed everyone so much and are LOVING each moment we can spend together before we leave tomorrow!  We had a great night at our favorite sushi restaurant with lots of laughs and yummy drinks!!

I love this boy!  Check out his finger!!  CRAZY!! :)

 On Sunday we went to the beach.  Even though its the peak of summer, super packed, and crazy hot out, we still had a great day!  How could you not with these views from the beach!! :)

Malta has some of the most beautiful castles and churches and really old buildings!  I love just driving around to take in the view!  (Well as long as I am not driving...its too stressful here!)

My momma and sister are the BEST!  They both sent us such sweet care packages for our wedding/honeymoon!  Katy sent me some new books to read, fun toenail stuff, our favorite candy and snacks, and most importantly my soft lips chapstick!!!  My momma sent me this beautiful card and ring that has these little beads on it.  It's called a worry ring and when I get nervous I love to have something in my fingers to play with so it is PERFECT!  My momma also just sent us this box of sparklers for the beach after we get married, fun snacks, and a rope to do the fisherman's knot during the ceremony!  They are so great about making the boxes so fun to open with tissue and confetti too!  I kind of feel bad because I opened this box in the marine office and now they have pink and white heart confetti all over their floor! ;)

Marshall and I walked around Valletta yesterday and just took in how awesome of a city it is!  I love how "local" everything is and everyone is just relaxing and enjoying their days!  There are so many outdoor cafes offering fun little platters like this:

A trip would not be complete without checking out the view at the Upper Baracka Gardens!  It is the most amazing view of the Three Cities and the Grand Harbor!  We LOVE it here!  Although the heat made it easy to keep walking, we definitely love this spot!

Today we are finishing up some last minute things and tomorrow we are heading out to the BEAUTIFUL country of THAILAND!!!  We will be spending a few days in Bangkok, Phuket, and then 12 days in Koh Samui!  I can't wait to share all these cities with you guys!  I'm going to blog after each place so check back this weekend to see the first blog of the floating market and crazy Bangkok!!

Have a great week everyone!! XO

African wedding video

AFRICAN WEDDING! :)

We are married!  I am officially Jessica Blair!  It still seems so strange seeing my new name!  Just to clear a few things up because I think some people may be confused...  Since Marshall is in the Marine Corps, we decided it was best for us to get legally married 2 weeks before Marshall was off the MSG program.  (What we currently are in.)  This allows me to get on his orders to get home which, after almost 3 years of paying for all my own plane tickets and stuff...it was SUCH good news!!  

Our "real" ceremony will be in Thailand on August 7th.  I am beyond excited for this!  I get to see my good looking man in his Dress Blues, and I get to wear a pretty dress! :)  We are also going to write our own vows which I'm thrilled about!  

Back to Thursday when we went to the court house here.  I just had to share the videos of our day (even though they are a little random and shaky)!  We went before the mayor and she went through some different information for us.  We had our driver translate, which bless his heart, he really tried.  Some of the translations are really funny though...  you can hear them in the first video! :)  

There were a bunch of random people who would come in and out of the room, and a guy that took our camera to take pictures because he wanted a tip.  

This is the table they set up for us to sit at.  

Us, with our witnesses and the mayor who married us!

After the ceremony was over, our dear friend Carol who was one of our witnesses, surprised us with a bottle of champagne!  It was so so sweet of her!  So we decided since there are no parks or places to just sit and hang out we were going to go to the former presidents palace because it is more of a historical site now!  Last year it was blown up in the war here, and Marshall and I hadn't seen it yet.  So we drove there, parked the car, and had a great champagne toast!

That evening, Marshall and I went to get sushi and had a great night together!  I just cannot believe after this long journey we have been on, he is finally mine!!  I feel like the luckiest girl in the world!  I couldn't ask for a more perfect man for me!!  I love him with every piece of my heart!

What we have been up to...

What we have been up to...

I know it has been awhile since I've updated.  I think the lack of a consistent internet connection has made me too lazy at attempting to post a new blog!

We are still in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire and Marshall and I both leave next week for Malta!!  He flies out two days after me, and we will visit with friends in Malta until the beginning of August when we leave for THAILAND!!  We have to fly back to Malta because all of our stuff is there and Marshall needs to complete the official "pack out" so they can ship it all home for us.

I am so excited to meet up with some of our favorite people along with eating the best Salmon Sashimi I have ever had!!

I can't believe our five months in Abidjan is coming to an end.  We have met some of the most amazing people here and we are so sad to say goodbye!  Since Marshall and I went to the court house to sign our marriage papers on Thursday (Finally Mrs. BLAIR!), our sweet friends wanted to throw us a wedding party on Friday night!  They went all out with some of our favorite American foods, gave me a bouquet, bought us a cake to feed each other, had a champagne toast and even played our song while we danced!  It was such a special night!!

They made AMAZING food!!

It's a "cake smash" right?! :)

Since so much of our heart lies within this continent, we will definitely miss the beauty of the land and people!  Who knows if we will ever make it back here, but I am trying my best to take in each moment and really treasure it!

Two weeks ago I also met an awesome girl who was visiting her husband here.  Keela and I became instant friends and I'm so thankful to have had such a sweet girl to spend my days with!

Last week our awesome friend Carol got a hold of a Japanese woman who is living here and set up a day for us to learn how to make sushi!  It was something I had been wanting to learn for so long and I'm SO glad she gave us a hands on class!  I can't wait to keep practicing until I'm brave enough to make it for a dinner party!!

All of our rolls by the end!  We had so much sushi!

I am definitely looking forward to shopping at Target soon instead of like this... :)

HAPPY SUNDAY!!! XO