Nicole's Adventures

Another trip, means another blog post! :) Joel and I found a good deal on direct flights to Cape Verde and couldn't resist a short trip to escape the cold and use up those last holidays for 2019!  We booked the trip in July and decided as we usually do not to pay extra for the refundable tickets... which later we regretted because we found out in August that I am pregnant! My obstetrician had no problems with me going, but we were concerned as Cape Verde had cases of Zika in the past. After much research, and speaking with the travel doctor, we decided the risk was very low and to still go for the trip. There hadn't been cases of Zika for 2 years, and the island of Sal (where we stayed 4 nights) never had any reported cases of Zika. So we just had 4 days of extra caution with mosquitoes. When we visited conditions were very windy and dry! So we only saw maybe one mosquito the whole time and neither of us had any bites. YAY.  We arrived on the island of Santiago, and the cap...

We arrived in Rapid City after a delay on our stopover in Denver, a bit tired... but no time for sleeping when you have family to visit! My parents and Cody picked us up from the airport. First we needed to fuel up and  found a "Mexican" restaurant (according to google) on our way to Spearfish. This Mexican place only had picnic benches which were on outside of someone's trailer. Or that is the best way I can describe it. But whatever, the food was pretty delicious, and very MEATY! Then of course, one must always stock up at Walmart for the essential American goodies, like carrot cake oreos, beer, and sweet corn on the cob! I didn't realize my first year in Portugal but years later I was curious why there was never any corn for sale in the supermarket. Corn on the cob was one of my favorite things to eat during the summer. Way back in the day on Chandler Boulevard, until I was maybe 7/8 years old they had a huge corn field and you would go and pick out the corn dir...

A while back Joel and I agreed it was time to make my return to the VanDewerker Family Reunion. I had not been to one since I was 12 years old, plus what a great way to visit many family members all in one place! More on that later.... Our first stop was in New York City! I won't lie... I didn't have very high expectations of the Big Apple. I had been when I was 13 ishh and remember being indifferent to the trip... maybe my mom will say otherwise? Anyways I was pleasantly surprised by the city. When we arrived we headed straight to meet Daniel at his place in Williamsburg. He offered to let us stay with him. He took us around the neighborhood and there was the most PERFECT colorful sunset with the Manhattan skyline so perfectly defined. The next day we moved our stuff to a hotel in Manhattan. There were already a few people at Daniels place and we just wanted to be a little closer to everything. So we dropped our bags and headed out for our day. First t...

I have been a super slacker on my posts lately. I am currently sitting in a student no show, so thought no better time to use my time than to upload some recent photos of the past six months or so, and get some memories in writing. On our recent visit to the US, I had the opportunity again to visit my Grandma Ryder.  She wrote in her dairy from when she was very young. It was so interesting to read and listen back to the details of her day to day life. So I am inspired to get back to writing, even if the details seem minute and boring to me now, I am sure one day, I will look back and laugh and have great memories. We spent Christmas with Joel's immediate family in their family home. The weather was chilly but still sunny. Each morning while we were there I enjoyed walking Mel outside and letting her run free. One afternoon we met with Joel's friend Pedro and his dog Bulma for a walk together. I forgot what breed Bulma is but she is as big as Mel but with white long hair. ...