Every morning since we moved in here, I get up and the first thing I do is go look out at the water. Yes, even if it is dark I look out at the water hoping to see something interesting. If I had a stool, I could sit and look out that window all day, with the window open I can hear the waves and feel the sea breeze. So, as usual this morning, I went and looked out. The waves were HUGE! Even bigger than the pictures of the big waves I posted before. These are a few of the pictures I took out the window this morning. Keep in mind that while I did zoom in, the water is about a 1/4 - 1/2 mile away and there is a cliff that is probably about 60 - 80 ft high. If they are this big from here, I can imagine how big they are closer up.

Here are a few pictures that I took this morning and just the other day. Sunday, November 19th we went for a little drive and ended up at this little marina in Angra do Heroismo.


These are the fishing boats that were in the marina.
These are parts of the fortress that is left in Angra. I am not sure of the name of it but I am sure we will be exploring it more in the spring. It continues onto the hill that you can see on the other side of the harbor.

It was pointed out to me (by my mother)that I have been neglectful in posting new pictures. So, here are some new pictures! Since we have a view of the water and I get up before the sun rises, I like to look out and watch the sun rise. Usually, I open the window so I can hear the rooster and the cows and the waves. How many times will I be able to say that I can do that without leaving my kitchen! Anyway, here are the pictures, they were taken on November 4, 2005


I ended up throwing some clothes on so that I could go outside and take some pictures. By the time I was dressed though, I was going to miss it. I ended up out on our balcony taking pictures which is where the one to the right and below were taken. The one above was taken from the kitchen window.





I am sure I will have some more sunrise and some sunset pictures.I keep telling Stephen that one day I want to drive to the other side of the island so that I can see the sunset too!

Here are some assorted pictures:

This is one of the candle holders that I bought myself a couple weeks ago. They were handpainted in Portugal. I am planning on getting some of the other matching pieces too! This is about 12 inches tall and they look so nice sitting on the dining room table!

Yes, another cow picture. These cows are my "neighbors" though. They are in the field just on the other side of the fence.

This is the front of our building. Nothing spectacular. Typical Air Force colors (everything on base is painted the same color! cream color with dark brown trim) We are on the top floor. The double window is our bedroom and the single window is Dec's bedroom.

Hello! Sorry, no pictures this time, just thought I would write a quick update. Things are going well here. We are all getting adjusted to living on a little island. I think it is the shopping thing that is hardest for me. I am going to have to order ALOT of stuff. Stephen won't have a problem finding clothes. It is Dec and I that will have a problem. I did find a store out in Praia that does have some pretty nice stuff and it isn't too expensive. They had real wool sweaters for 19 Euros. That is like $22!

Stephen FINALLY started work this week. He is working nights till January and then he will be switching to days. He seems to like it but is going to have to get used to not being busy all the time. He registered at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University last week so he is officially a part time student. He has enough credits to get his Associates degree through the Community College of the Air Force, so now he is working on his Bachelors. He is hoping to be pretty close to completing it when we leave here.

I think that I am going to take some classes too. The other day I took the English composition CLEP practice test and if it was the real thing, I would have passed and gotten college credits for it. I just need to get up to the education center and do it. I will probably wait till after the holidays though. All of our stuff should FINALLY be here the week after Thanksgiving and I want to have it all unpacked and boxes gone pretty quick! I have a feeling that we will be unpacking saying "Why did we bring this?". That is OK though because they have a "flea market" once a month on base and there is always ebay! (I have been spending enough time on ebay lately, I might as wall make some money rather than spend it.)

Declan is doing pretty good. He seem to be doing better in school. There were a few problems the first couple weeks but this week he got a stamp everyday for being good. So, since he was good all week, we are making chocolate chip cookies this weekend. I think that part of the problem he was having was that everything was new. Now he is making friends and enjoying things a little more. Now we go on base and he is waving away to all his friends he sees. We went to the Sunday Brunch that they have at the Enlisted/Officers club and I think he saw more people he knew than Stephen did. The brunch was pretty good too!

That is about all from here. Hopefully next week I will have some pictures. Depending on how the weather is maybe we will take a drive somewhere. One night I want to go out after dark to see all the holiday lights in Praia. They were putting them up the last time we went down there and it should be very pretty.

Here is the latest round of pictures for you! On Saturday, we took a drive to see the volcanic origins of the island. (From what I understand, they still classify this vocano as an active one.)There is a large cave in what was the cone of the volcano that we went to see. However, it was closed for the winter and will reopen in the spring. I did take a few pictures of what we could see though. Here they are:
This (left) was taken at Algar do Carvão. We will go back in the spring when it is open. That "wall" you see, I assume was the wall of the volcano. It goes STRAIGHT up.
This picture (right)was taken at Furnas do Enxofre. From what I gather, they are natural vents for the steam. There were some hiking trails but we did not venture on them because they were not in the best condition. Another place for us to explore in the spring. There were cows grazing in the fields, so I natuarlly had to take a couple pictures for Mom.

This is a picture (left) I took on the way back down the mountain. It is so beautiful here!












When we came down the mountain, we decided to drive up Serre do Cume another mountain on the island. There are gorgeous views from the top of all the surrounding area. Here are a few pictures:

This is a view of Praia da Vitoria. Over the city you can see a hill. That is where I took pictures from last week!

This is a picture I took from the car when we were finding somewhere to turn around. In the fog beyond the fields you can see Split Rock which is in Angra do Hermoismo on the southern side of the island.


Even Jake enjoys the view from our windows. Here he enjoying the fresh air.

Hello!

I just wanted to post some new pictures. Today we went to Praia da Vitoria. It is the next town over and is one of the 2 cities on the island. There is a statue of the Virgin Mary on the hill that overlooks the harbor. From the hill there is a GORGEOUS view of the city. Here are some of the pictures that I took:





In this picture is the ship that the rest of our stuff is on! We hope. If it is on this ship, we should have it all by this time next week.





And one last picture. There were some American's enjoying the view also so I asked them to take a picture of the 3 of us.




Before I forget, I will also be posting a picture of Darth Vader on Halloween on Declan's Days so be sure to check it out! http://declandays.blogspot.com