2026
- Travel highlights
- First skiing trip to Sarajevo, via Zagreb β particularly enjoyed being a beginner again
- Paris with Kevin
- πΏπ¦ Addo Elephant Park + Plett (the more things change, the more they stay the same π)
- ποΈ Black Forest
2025
- Said goodbye to Wilco πΊπ
- Adopted Zola π (a gorgeous girl from Greece, both too soon and perfectly timed)
- Ario started school π₯Ή (make this train slow down)
- Travel highlights
- Met up with old friends in the Balkans (Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro)
- ποΈ Noorderloo (got an Explorer EV, a tent and a Natuurkampeer card)
- ποΈ Belgium, Luxembourg, Ardennes
- πΏπ¦ Home
2024
- Became a Dutch citizen (and a Bakfiets-mom)
- Doubled down on Koogtown and kicked off a never-ending renovation
- Wilco πΊ got sick
- Travel highlights
- Antwerp (kid wanted to go to the zoo, but what a gem)
- Spain (Andalusia)
- Italy (Tuscany with Oupa + Ouma)
- πΏπ¦ Home
2023
- Ran our 100th Parkrun π and completed several races, the most memorable being the Connemarathon,the Heuvelland Marathon with Kevin and the Zandvoort Circuit Run with old friends
- Travel highlights
- Iceland, via Ireland (Ring Road in a little van with Kevin & Ario)
- Portugal (Algarve, Lisbon, Porto) with my sister & co
- Cologne (we seem to have a soft spot for Germany)
- Prague (work)
- πΏπ¦ Home
2022
- Started consulting as Aandblom Digital and working alongside the incredibly talented team at 4me (The Complete Service Management Platform)
- Ran the Amsterdam Marathon
- Travel highlights
- France (boat trip on De Garonne + French Riviera)
- Berlin with Ouma and Ario
- Brugges to visit friends
- Saxon Switzerland
- πΏπ¦ Not taking this one for granted again
2021
- Moved to Koog aan de Zaan and, for the first time in a long time, into our own place
- Completed my dissertation (Utilising modern, browser-based machine learning technologies for data-driven cognitive accessibility research) and graduated my BSc (Hons) Computing degree with a First Class Honours
- Proudly became newborn parents as we welcomed Ario into the world
- Travelled home (πΏπ¦) for, like many other expats, the first time in over two years
2020
- Somehow managed to move from Ireland to The Netherlands amidst a global pandemic
- Joined the talented team at CLEVERΒΊFRANKE and pivoted back to purely frontend development
- Travel highlights
- Wicklow Mountains with Wilco
- Ontario (Toronto, Niagara Falls) + New York State (Finger Lakes District, NYC)
- Bear Island for the iconic Parkrun + Carrauntoohil
- First visit to Het Bos Roept β possibly our favourite corner of The Netherlands
- Not a great year for traveling or running, but we went on several trips throughout The Netherlands and ran a couple of PBs pre-pandemic
2019
- Ran my first marathon (Dublin, 4:18:04), 50th Parkrun (March 2019) and fastest 21km, 10km and 5km
- Travel highlights
- Wicklow Mountains with Wilco
- Ontario (Toronto, Niagara Falls) + New York State (Finger Lakes District, NYC)
- Northern Ireland + Wales
- Copenhagen and Sweden (Malmo and Stockholm) with running friends
- πΏπ¦, naturally
- Travelled throughout Ireland and hiked in the Wicklow mountains with Kevin and Wilco πΊ
- Started studying at the University of Derby Online (BSc (Hons) Computing and Information Technologies)
2018
- Moved to Limerick, Ireland with Kevin (the husband) and Wilco (the dog)
- Made some new friends at Leaf and started working remotely full-time
- Travel highlights
- The Netherlands (Amsterdam, Zeeland to visit Oma + Opa)
- Paris + Brussels
- Germany (Munich, Rothenburg, Heidelberg), Prague + Budapest π
- Copenhagen and Sweden (Malmo and Stockholm) with running friends
- Canterbury (work)
- Learnt and applied Elixir, Phoenix and React-Native
- Completed 28 parkruns in 4 different countries
2017
- Joined the tech team at Babylonstoren
- Primarily focused on JavaScript, React and frontend architecture
- Travelled to Greece & Turkey (sailing trip with the family)
- Adopted Wilco (the dog) πΊ
2016
- Started working at Cybercellar as Ruby on Rails Frontend Developer
- Moved into our first home π‘
- Travelled to Mozambique
2015
- Married a trooper π
- Departed Primedia Broadcasting to focus purely on coding skills
- Contract-based work (Frontend / Ruby on Rails)
2014
- Travelled to the UK (and attended the Next Radio conference)
- Agile Fundamentals Workshop, Thoughtworks
- Still freelancing part-time as a web developer, picked up some international clients
2013
- Started working at Primedia Broadcasting as a Digital Product Owner
- Project Management & UX Course, by @RianVDM
- The Bookmarks 2013 Shortlist, Best Student
2012
2011
- Mostly a combination of studying and freelancing
- Completed the Certificate Wine Course at the Cape Wine Academy
- Met Kevin, the
boyfriend fiancΓ© husband πΊ
- Worked as a Digital Intern at Saatchi & Saatchi
2010
- Started studying Design & Art Direction at Red & Yellow
- Started freelancing as a web developer
- Completed the South African Wine Course at the Cape Wine Academy
2009
- Gap year
- Completed a Comprehensive Web Design course at City Varsity
- Worked, travelled (and bought my first MacBook Pro π©πΌβπ») in the US
- Started working as a Junior Web Designer at a small agency in Cape Town