Gezuar Vitin e Ri nga Kosove!

New Year's fireworks over Pristina

Happy New Year!

I hope whatever your 2015 was like, whether awesome or awful, that 2016 is even better.

I have to confess my 2015 was pretty awesome. Except for that little language test hiccup and the drama of getting my dog to post, both of which were ultimately overcome, things in 2015 were pretty awesome. We spent time in our new house, found a church we love, made lots of friends both at work and outside of it. We and our animal children are all healthy and happy, as is much of our family. My wife even managed to stick in another half marathon this year. And of course, the Supreme Court on June 26 ruled that marriage is a civil right. No more worrying that our marriage won't be recognized when we cross state borders!

Since we got to Kosovo, we have been able to travel more, already adding six countries to the list of places we’ve been. Just since our trip to a winery in Stobi, Macedonia, we have visited Neuschwanstein in Germany, Munich twice (the second time for the Christmas markets), Salzburg, Austria (also for the markets), Sarajevo, Bosnia (for a public diplomacy offsite), as well as a road trip through Albania and Montenegro on our way to Dubrovnik, Croatia.

But the purpose of this post is not to give you the abbreviated version of my Christmas letter. The purpose it to try to jumpstart my blogging again. If you have read my blog for any length of time, you know I kind of suck at New Year's resolutions. But this year I am resolving to do two things: blog more and read more.

After my lapse in blogging, I considered hanging up my blogger hat and walking away. But a few folks asked me not to, plus there is still cool stuff to share. So for the blogging, I am going to try to fill in a few things I have done personally and professionally over the past few months. For example, never mind that I haven't shared any pictures from our cool travels, I don't even think I mentioned Randy Berry, the LGBT envoy, came to post.

And then I am resolving to post at least once a week. Hopefully.

And on reading, I am going to shoot for at least 25 books this year. Preferably real books (I want to wean myself away from reading the iPad in bed). My hope is more, like one a week, but I am a notoriously slow reader. So I am not going to set myself up for failure.

So for now, I will leave you with this, a video that we did as a New Year's message from our Ambassador. And like him I wish you a Happy New Year!!

Houston, we have an Ambassador....and I have my puppy!

Our new Ambassador, Greg Delawie, arrived Thursday. I am looking forward to working for him, because everything I hear about him is great.

Have you seen his video? If not, check it out:



I met him at the airport. That was pretty fun. But even cooler was getting to go to his credentialing at the President's office.

Amb Delawie handing his credentials to President Jahjaga
Photo courtesy of U.S. Embassy Pristina

The other exciting thing that happened this week was the arrival of my puppy. Okay, she is not a puppy (she is 14), but she is definitely my baby.

She wasn't able to fly with me because only one pet was allowed in the hold at a time and I had to bring my parrot. I wasn't choosing my parrot over my dog, but it seemed like it would be harder to get a parrot in by a shipper than a dog.

Turned out getting a dog here was hard too. It took two weeks. Two weeks where I tried to hide that I was secretly miserable.

But now she is here. And happy and healthy.

And I am happy too.

Greg Delawie Confirmed as Ambassador to Kosovo

In all the excitement over the Supreme Court decision, I forgot to mention that the Senate confirmed our new Ambassador to Kosovo, Career Foreign Service Officer Greg Delawie.

I talked about him a bit here. But the short version is I hear great things about him and am looking forward to working for him in Kosovo. He will be sworn in this Friday and is expected in Kosovo next month.

He has his own twitter account, by the way. I encourage you to follow him at @AmbDelawie if you are interested in what is going on in Kosovo and our embassy there.

Confirmed at the same time was Julieta Valls Noyes as Ambassador to Croatia. Julieta is currently Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, but I knew her when she was in charge of the Operations Center. I was working on INR Watch at the time, and I watched her support her people in a way they hadn't been supported before. Morale improved considerably under her direction, and many of the ways I try to manage my staff come from watching her. Her embassy is incredibly lucky to have her.

Greg Delawie Nominated as Ambassador to Kosovo

So we got word yesterday that the White House has nominated Greg Delawie, the current Deputy Assistant Secretary for European Security, Technology and Implementation in the Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance (AVC), to serve as the next Ambassador to Kosovo. He will replace current Ambassador Tracey Ann Jacobson.

I hear GREAT things about Ambassador-designate Delawie. He is a career FSO with tons of experience and according to some friends whose opinion I trust, is a smart, broad thinker with a great sense of humor. Like me, he is part of a tandem, and people LOVE his wife as well.

According to his State Department bio, Ambassador-designate Delawie is "a senior Foreign Service officer with nearly 30 years of experience and is an expert in national security, diplomacy, and political-military affairs. From 2009 until 2012, when he assumed his duties in the AVC bureau, Mr. Delawie was Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Berlin, Germany, where he served as chief operating officer of one of the United States’ largest missions abroad. Prior to Berlin, he was Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, where he was the State Department’s lead on counter-piracy issues and managed programs regarding humanitarian demining, negotiation of status of forces agreements, and the State-Defense relationship. Mr. Delawie also served abroad as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Zagreb, Croatia, and in various positions in Rome, Ankara, and Frankfurt. In other Washington assignments he worked on bilateral trade issues; human resources policy; aviation security; European regional affairs; and as a Watch Officer in the State Department Operations Center."

Ambassador-designate Delawie speaks at least four foreign languages, including German, Italian, Croatian, and Turkish. I hope he will come study a bit of Albanian with us as well.

I am really excited to have the opportunity to work with him when we get to Kosovo this summer. Let's hope for an easy confirmation!