Long time, no blog

We’ve been super busy over the past few months, and as a result, we have completely neglected our blog. Now, I know what you’re thinking…"Don’t worry Nicki, really, nobody’s even noticed!" But hey, our one dedicated reader (a.k.a. my mom) was asking about it, so I’ve made a promise to her that I’d get back in the groove.

4 month update (this could get windy): I flew back to Iowa in April for a wedding. My friends from high school, Anna and Tom were tying the knot in Des Moines, so I took a week off of work and headed back to the U.S. I was expecting to be greeted at the airport by some major culture shock after living in Latin America for a year, but other than the mind-boggling politeness of the Iowa drivers (after you….no really….after you!) I wasn’t too fazed. I had an absolutely phenomenal week catching up with friends and family. I got to see some friends from way back when and I also got to meet Sarah and Cam’s super cute new baby boy, Eddie. The wedding weekend was absolutely fantastic! I was lucky enough to have gone to school with Anna since junior high and with Tom since high school and we were all panthers together up at UNI. So, while the wedding weekend was definitely a celebration of those two, it also felt somewhat like a school reunion. It was so great to see faces I hadn’t seen in over 10 years. Congrats Tom and Anna!


Tara, Robyn, Anna (the bride), Heather, and me



Eddie Hybels doing what he does best--looking super cute!

Towards the end of the week my sister flew in from Chicago along with her hubby and their (not-so) little fella, AJ. They went to the wedding along with my mom and brother. I hadn't seen A.J. since he was three weeks old, so I was in heaven watching him make silly expressions and trying to walk on his own. He has since become an expert at it, but at the time he was just starting to think about it. A.J.'s godmother threw him a birthday party for his 1st birthday, and I got to squeeze in an hour or so there before heading back to the airport. We’re having a great time living in Chile, but the hardest part is definitely being so far away from friends and family. Skype is a good way to get a fix, but there’s nothing like holding your one year old nephew while he falls asleep on your shoulder. After the week- long trip in the U.S. I headed back down South for another two months of teaching. The end of the year was pretty darn crazed, as we were trying to wrap up the school year, move to a new place, and plan our July trip back to the States. We barely made our flight, but once we did it was smooth sailing for a month of summertime fun!

A.J and me laughing at our goofy selves!