Ahhh, home sweet home. Was great to get away but oh-how-fantastic it feels to be home. And with a sweet welcome from the girls too! Our last two weeks in Denmark and Greece flew by. In Denmark we...
Photography
I’m pretty sure my Dad breathed a sigh of relief as Jenna Miller, the 4th and final Miller gal to get married, walked down the aisle last Saturday. With all 4 of us officially handed off and the...
Hi everyone – Sorry for the break in posting. We’ve been busy showing my parents the best of Africa. Of course, no trip to Africa would be complete without a safari, so after a few days...
We recently got back from Cape Town, one of our favorite places on earth. This was our third time there, but this trip was markedly different because for 11 straight days we were kidless in wine...
While Nick was off shooting these beautiful underwater pics in Lake Malawi, Nia and I were busy frollicking around town (more like village, really). The whole weekend was magnificent, but the event...
Back in August of 2016 when we moved into our current house it was the height of dry season. The grass was nearly dead and the bushes and plants were in need of major pruning. Having never had a yard...
Seriously people. It just keeps getting better… Yesterday I joined a shopping tour that our Community Liaison Officer (CLO – my former job) put together. It consisted of 3 shopping stops + lunch...
Nick & I went out for a city tour on Labor Day (Monday, September 3rd), which happened to be the day after Janmashtami (see my last post). Dahi Handi is celebrated in the Maharashtra State (where...
The Hindu deity Ganesh (the God of new beginnings and remover of obstacles) is the patron saint of Mumbai. Mumbaikers LOVE him. Today marks the beginning of the 10 day Ganesh Chaturthi festival which...
Muli Bwanji Readers (that’s Hello in the Malawian language Chichewa for those of you who didn’t know). Why am I speaking Chichewa to you when I’m posted in India, you might ask...
I’m so excited to share this all with you. We just finished up what will undoubtedly be one of the coolest cultural experiences of our lifetimes – a 5 day wedding in a rural village in Gujarat...
The food experience in Gujarat definitely merits its own post. For starters, it was all vegetarian, all the time. What was surprising was how many different distinct dishes they could make out of...
On the day we arrived they were doing Mehndi for the ladies. Mehndi is what we would call a henna tattoo in the States and is very common before an Indian wedding (for both the bride and the women...
Nothing excited me (or freaked me out) more than the clothes. I was given this basic information in advance: – There will be 5 events over 3 days. – People change clothes for every event...
Hello Readers! This is the 5th and final installment of my Gujarat Wedding series. Today’s post will be on the various ceremonies that we got to witness as guests. I’m gonna be honest, I...
I have to say, I’m a bit embarrassed to be posting this so long after our tour ended in Lilongwe but better late than never, right??? If you’re interested in seeing the recap of our...
It was truly and incredible trip folks. Egypt really does live up to the hype. Nick did a great job crafting our 8 day/7 night trip. We worked with a tour company called Cleopatra Tours out of Cairo...
Hello again. Hopefully you aren’t sick of Egypt yet, as I still have one more post to do. Here are the first 3 in the series, in the event you missed them: Nia’s Blog Post (As in, Nia...
Like many children, I have strong memories (and emotions) tied to Disney World. My 1st visit to Disney World in Orlando, Florida took place in the Fall of 1991. I was 11 years old and not only was...
We just wrapped up our 4th and final week of our 2019 R&R trip in a place that was about as opposite as you could get from Minnesota and Florida – Innsbruck, Austria! We found a lovely...
A lot has happened this I last wrote from Bend. In late May we decided to make a cross-country trip from Bend, Oregon to St. Paul, Minnesota. We broke it up into 6 days and took a day of rest in...
I’ve been a bad, bad blogger. Forgive me. It’s just that I don’t feel much like writing lately. Mostly I blame COVID-induced malaise. And the fact that I’m rarely without my...
I bet you didn’t know that Iceland has it’s own set of islands just off the Southern Coast! They’re called the Westman Islands (also referred to as Vestmannaeyjar). The largest...
Yes, Minnesota may be the land of 10,000 lakes but I think Iceland should get it’s own distinction: “Land of 10,000 Waterfalls”. I kid you not, there are waterfalls EVERYWHERE here...
I reached down to grab my first handful of gulal but stopped short as a blast of yellow hit me square in the chest, the excess disappearing between my cleavage, tickling my torso as it tumbled its...
Hi Everyone – If you haven’t read PART 1, you should definitely start there, as it provides some great historical context for this post about our time in Amritsar...