Annie and Jake

One year later

2010-10-05T13:20:00.000-07:00

Well, it's official. This week marks the one-year anniversary of our moving back to Seattle. It is a tough milestone for me since it means that I have been tirelessly applying to and interviewing for jobs for one whole year. I never imagined I would be jobless still a year after the move. I am convinced that there are few tasks in life that are as painstaking as “the hunt”. I have grown to hate it. I used to kind of like it because when the economy was better you could just quit your job if you didn’t like it and try on something else for size. Obviously, times they are a changin’. I have now had quite a few interviews and despite promising feedback I don’t end up with an offer. Each time that happens, try not to as I might, I can’t help but wonder what’s wrong with me, what I could have done differently and better, etc. It’s all very disheartening and I feel like my self-esteem gets knocked down a notch each time I get the bad news. Worst of all, however, is the proverbial question that everybody asks me when they see me: “How’s the job hunt going?” I used to hem and haw and explain myself out of embarrassment but now I just answer abruptly and change the subject. Rude? Perhaps. I know people care but there’s only so much pity and “helpful advice” one person can take. I feel like wearing a sign on my forehead that says, “Please, please just don’t ask.” I get a knot in my stomach just thinking about it all…. But, despite the aforementioned misery, I am somehow still optimistic that something will work out. People say there’s a reason for everything and although I can’t see that reason just now I think it will all become clearer later on down the road.

This not working thing does have its advantages, however. I get to cook and I always find cooking (or is it the eating part I really like?) to be a therapeutic and rewarding chore. I recently tackled a Creole favorite—jambalaya. It doesn’t make for an appetizing photo but this was the end result:

We still really want a dog but we have decided that we (meaning I) just can’t really compromise on the breed and we simply don’t have the right space at the moment. Someday, however, we’ll get a golden retriever and I know it’ll be really fun. For now, we’re the weirdoes who go to the dog park every weekend to spy on others’ dogs, haha. Besides, it’s a great excuse to get out of the city, go for a walk and get some fresh air. I did, though, recently babysit the little Havanese (disregard his unfortunate haircut) dog I wrote about a while back. We had a great time. Here he is pre-walk and post-walk:

My Paralegal course is going very well still. I am in my sixth and final class, Complex Litigation, and will get my certificate in December! I can’t wait. It has been personally rewarding for me to have something to focus my energy on other than the job hunt and I have really enjoyed it.

Not much else is going on these days. I can’t believe it’s already fall. I love fall—definitely my favorite season. I’ve been walking to the market to get beautiful fall flowers like these:

More to come…

Meeting Colin

2010-07-28T12:58:00.000-07:00

Meet Colin. Born July 12, 2010.

Jake had some well-deserved time off of work so we drove home to Idaho to meet our new nephew. He is the cutest thing ever! (I might be biased).

We had a great time. I seriously love Idaho summers. I think it even smells good in Idaho in the summer--that sagebrushy kind of dry, hot, fresh cut grass smell. Jake was able to go golfing with the dads twice. I got a little girl time in with my mom during a mani/pedi. We got to see both of our families, celebrate a birthday and hang out with the baby and with my grandma who now lives in Twin Falls. Perfect.

I'm back in Seattle now catching up on homework (or, perhaps, blogging instead) and cooking up new recipes with whatever comes in the produce box. Last night's dinner was corn chowder with roasted peppers and fresh herbs with a side of spinach and roasted beets and fennel salad with walnut basil dressing. I think it is so fun to try new things. It was my first time roasting my own peppers and beets. But, that is a lot of veggies! We were kind of feeling like we ate the whole farm!

Cold feet and a shout out to organic produce

2010-06-29T12:44:00.000-07:00

Why I have this:

But not this:

So, I was all set to get the dog. I had read everything I could get my hands on. I had researched countless breeders and thought I had found the one. When I got a picture of “Patches”, a 14-week old male Havanese, I really thought I would be bringing him home. He was so cute! Jake and I went to Pet Smart, bought toys and a food bowl, puppy proofed the apartment and set out at 5:30 on Sunday morning to drive down to Portland to go get him. I was so excited I couldn’t even sleep on Saturday night. That’s why I can’t explain what happened when I got there… Patches was everything I had imagined but for some reason I got cold feet and didn’t buy him. I can’t explain it. It was such a letdown to make the drive home empty-handed. Not at all how I had pictured the day going. What is my problem!? All I could think about when I was holding the puppy was what happens when and if I finally do get a job and he has to be alone all day? Or what if we want to go on vacation and he has nowhere to stay? What do I do if he eats something he shouldn’t? Etc. Etc. Etc. I wish I didn’t think about “what ifs” so much sometimes. I want a dog so badly and I practically ran out of the breeder's house. I think I really left her scratching her head. After all, who drives all the way from Seattle and back to pick up a dog and then changes her mind?? Apparently I do. Maybe I just need some more time to sort out all of my “what ifs”.

Changing gears… has anybody else read the book, In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan? I know it has been in the news a lot lately but I read it for myself about 6 months ago and loved it. It inspired me to join a CSA—a community sponsored agriculture—club thingy where I get an amazing box of fresh, organic produce delivered to my door every other week. It has been so much fun getting all sorts of produce and trying to work ‘em all into various recipes. We are eating healthier than ever mostly because I would never think to buy most of the stuff that comes in the box. I recommend it if you live in a place with a similar service. Check out today’s delivery items:

My own urban herb garden. It's so easy and way cheaper than buying the prepackaged herbs at the store:

Puppy Love

2010-06-23T10:42:00.000-07:00

We’re thinking about getting a dog like the one in the picture (only I’m pretty sure ours won’t come with an adorable winter coat). I think we’re finally ready to take on a little more responsibility and get a puppy! I have wanted a dog for SOOO long but the problem is that I have wanted a golden retriever and nothing else. Sadly, a golden retriever wouldn’t fit very well into our tiny one bedroom apartment. And I wouldn’t even entertain the idea of getting a different breed until recently when I went over to a friend’s house and met her cute and hilarious little Havanese. Her little dog completely stole our hearts and I have been busy researching them now for a couple of months. Everything I read about them seems to suggest that it would be the perfect addition. They are a long-living breed (as in 16 years!) so I want to make certain that it is something we can handle. Obviously, I don’t take getting a dog lightly. I have books on them and I am tirelessly interviewing breeders to make sure that I get the healthiest and best tempered one possible. We are going this weekend to meet some puppies and see if one of them could be THE ONE! I’m excited but nervous about the potty training since we’re renting and I would rather not have our place destroyed (I’m sure my landlord would agree). I have read up on all sorts of potty training techniques but I live in a condo building—it’s not as if I can just catch the puppy mid…well, you know…and open the back door to the yard. We have to walk down the hall, get in an elevator and run through the lobby to get outside. And there is no grass out there! I guess he or she will just have to be a true city dog and learn to do his or her business on the street. I’m not sure whether all this worrying before I even have the dog makes me completely neurotic or just better prepared. : ) In any case, I’m really excited and hoping to have a little fury bundle of joy home soon-ish!

Oh, we could use some help with the name. The dogs are of Spanish/Cuban descent so hence some of our choices…

Boys: Javier (“Javi” for short), Ernesto (“Ernie” for short), Jose, Pedro, Ignacio, Bentley.

Girls: Isabella (“Isa”), Frida (after Frida Kahlo, the Mexican painter with huge eyebrows!) Gloria, Girona (My mom’s cute suggestion—after my favorite town in Spain)

Thoughts?

Since I last wrote

2010-03-30T12:04:00.000-07:00

In no particular order...

I celebrated my 27th birthday.

Jake celebrated his 30th birthday!

I aced my final exams (phew!) and began my 2nd quarter in the paralegal program.

I finished my temp. job and landed a job interview at a company I would love to work for (it’s tomorrow—wish me luck, I’m nervous!)

We went to Mexico with friends and family!

We found out we’re going to have a nephew!!!

I finally picked up my Christmas gift in Oregon and have been doing lots of baking!

Good friends came to visit and we acted half our age! :)

So, all is well. Not much has changed.

Life as of late

2010-01-30T18:53:00.000-08:00

I’ve been on a bit of a hiatus from blogging lately. Sometimes I want to just get rid of my blog all together now that we’re back from Spain and life is back to “normal”. But then something interesting might happen and who would I tell about it!? :) I guess I’m just kind of over the whole blog thing. I feel like such a narcissist talking about myself all the time. I can see the point if you have kids or at least a pet to talk about….but there’s not a whole heck of a lot to say when you’re just two people who get up really early and go to work, come home exhausted, and try to think of something for dinner before collapsing in bed. Then…repeat, repeat, repeat.

But what the heck…I’ll fill you in anyway. (You’re on the edge of your seat, I know…. “I wonder what Annie is doing RIGHT THIS MINUTE!?!?!") :)

Well, I’m procrastinating, that’s what I’m doing. I have a fair amount of homework I should be doing but am not. You see, I had been incredibly bored so I thought school would give me something to do. But I ended up getting a full-time, albeit only temporary, job and both the job and school started on the very same day. Since then I have been waking up at 5:15, taking 2 buses (1+ hour) to work then 2 more buses (1+ hour) home from work…making dinner….then cracking the books and trying my hardest to stay awake long enough to get my assignments done. It is not easy. I knew it wouldn’t be but I’m so tired I constantly feel like I’m in a mental fog. The good news is that I really do enjoy both work and school so it seems worth it.

Jake, on the other hand, is away on business for 10 days…in Colombia. Beautiful place but yikes. I’m excited to see pictures and hear stories from his trip…but mostly I just want him back home with me! I spent the day feeling a little sorry for myself that he wasn’t around to hang out with me…we are normally glued at the hip, especially on the weekends….but I took advantage of the alone time and walked around downtown for 3 hours by myself today. It was fun until I went to Banana Republic to get a new pair of pants only to discover that the size I was when I left the US a couple of years ago is not the size I am now…nor am I one size bigger….I seriously could have sat down on the floor and cried. I have been avoiding buying pants as I sort of had a feeling…but the reality was much worse than I expected. It took the wind right out of my sails! I bought a swimming suit cover-up instead, haha. I walked home totally deflated (well, not really) and mad at myself for making pizza for dinner last night. I keep telling myself that life is too short to worry about stuff like this but it isn't making me feel any better. So, here I sit pouting. And hungry for dinner…

A little tour

2009-12-18T16:47:00.001-08:00

Some of you have asked for pics of our new place. It's not really ours since we're renting but it feels like home nonetheless.

I spent the day making these little holiday goodies...I wonder why I have gained 13lbs this year!?

The kitchen table. Small, yes. But after our tiny apartment in Spain it feels plenty big.

The new-ish TV!

Hmm. That wall is looking a little bare...

The kitchen. Love it. Cook a lot in it. Eat a lot in it.

You all know my favorite...the bed!! And she's all dressed up for this photo.

The view from our little balcony. If you stand on your tippy toes you can see the water! :)

An early Christmas gift

2009-12-18T09:23:00.001-08:00

Jake and I have decided to take sort of a non-traditional approach to Christmas gifts this year. Instead of getting things for one another we agreed that our money would be best spent buying something we needed for the house. Nope, it’s not artwork. It’s not something for the kitchen (although we all know I would love that)….it’s…a bed!! We have not slept in a bed since we moved here in October and yesterday our Christmas gift was delivered. (By the way, thanks to our friends who lent us a very comfortable blow-up mattress…we will finally be getting that back to you now!) I actually did a little celebration dance by myself in the bedroom after the delivery guys left the apartment. I think Jake called from work about 3 times to see if it had arrived yet, ha. Can you tell we’re excited!? It took me a LONG time to build the bed frame by myself—I am so bad at assembling things like that. My dad called in the middle of the assembly and I begged him for help…not sure what I thought he could help me with over the phone but he tried anyway. Such a good dad.

I know…you’re just dying to see it : :)

In other news, I have finally decided to go back to school! I am starting classes in January to become a paralegal. It will take a full year but I’m excited to be doing something productive again. I am still applying daily for jobs but nothing is happening so I figured I’d use the time to earn a certificate. The course is 100% online through the U. of Washington so it is going to take some serious self discipline but I’m hoping I can get through it. I think the real challenge will be working and going to school at the same time when I do finally start working again. I spent all day yesterday (while waiting for the bed to arrive) pricing the textbooks I need on various websites. Yikes. I had forgotten how expensive textbooks are.

We’re going home to Idaho for Christmas this year. We spent the last two Christmases alone so we are very happy to get to spend it with family this year.

Happy holidays!

Turkey Day

2009-11-27T10:07:00.000-08:00

My mom came to visit a couple of weeks ago. We, as always, had a great time. She spoiled us rotten as usual! I took this picture at the entrance to Pike Place Market one evening--I think the clouds look cool.

Jake and I spent Thanksgiving on our own this year. I made a few dishes while Jake enjoyed a day off from work and it was an all around great day although we would have preferred to be home in Idaho with our family. We debated going somewhere but it just wasn’t worth it since Jake had to get up early and work today. I haven’t been home for Thanksgiving in 7 years! How can that be!? For one reason or another I have spent the last 7 Thanksgivings away from home: twice in Spain, once in Mexico, in Canada, on the Oregon coast, in Ecuador and now in Seattle. Sorry mom. :) We're looking forward to Christmas with you!

We have moved!

2009-10-15T12:56:00.000-07:00

Good news! As most of you probably already know, Jake accepted a job in Seattle, WA and we moved here last week…I think…I’m losing track of the days it all happened so quickly. He got the offer on a Thursday, accepted on Friday and we moved just a few days later. We loaded up all of our stuff in a u-haul and made the long trek to Seattle. Since Jake had to drive the truck, I drove our car and I’m pretty proud of myself because I hate driving that far by myself (although I followed him so closely the whole way I’m surprised I didn’t run into the back of him!). Oddly enough, the winding roads finally got to me in the last 10 minutes of an 11 hour drive—I didn’t know it was possible to get car sick while driving. But, I managed and our friends let us stay at their place for the night since our move-in date wasn’t until the next day.

Before we moved we had to reserve a place to live via pictures and phone calls from a realtor. I don’t recommend that method in case anybody is wondering. It was really stressful to be more or less locked into a lease when we had never seen the unit in person. The only reason we did it was because our friend owns a unit in the same building and Jake had visited him there when he was in Seattle interviewing so we at least knew the location and building, even if we had never seen the unit. The building is relatively new and it is so nice. We are loving it so far and we feel lucky that we are able to live in such a fun neighborhood—it’s only a 15-minute walk to Pike Place Market and very close to the Space Needle.

We have been busy the last few days unpacking boxes and buying what little furniture we can at the moment. If there’s a down side to living such an urban life, it’s that with one little car buying furniture is the biggest pain. We had to rent a u-haul pickup just to drive 7 miles because the furniture wouldn’t fit in our car! So frustrating! We still need a bed, a desk and a TV stand. Oh, and a TV. We have cable (part of the internet package) but no TV, haha.

Jake started working today. He was excited to go “be productive” again. I woke up early and made steel cut oats with blueberries for his big first day. First days are hard. Actually, the first few months of a new job are hard. I hate feeling like I don’t know anything—even where the bathroom is or how the phone works, etc.

As for me, I’m at home doing laundry and making a pot roast. I have been having so much fun opening all our wedding gifts and USING them for the first time since we got married 2.5 years ago! I wish I could write thank-you notes all over again because we are lucky to have such nice things! It was hard to leave all the fun things in boxes and just put them in storage after the wedding (we left right away for Spain) so I have been looking forward to this day for a long time.

And now…my own job hunt begins. As much as I love staying at home I knew it would only last so long so I have been savoring the experience. It is pretty nice to actually have time to do laundry and make dinner when I’m not already exhausted from work. But, I really am looking forward to a job. I hope I find a role that is interesting and that I can contribute meaningfully to in some way. I’m a little worried about how employers will look at my two year stint in Spain. Although I had a good job I’m not sure how meaningful it will be in a non-academic setting. It’s got to be a conversation starter if nothing else that I worked for a prince, right? : )

Speaking of the school…if I might brag about my husband a little…today for the 3rd time IESE Business School was ranked #1 in the world by The Economist. Not bad, huh?

Oh, and one final note, I really would like to make this blog private. It was fun for me to share my experiences abroad with family and friends but I’m not sure I want anybody and everybody out there reading the silly and sometimes personal things I write—especially as I begin my job search. So, once again, if you’re interested in continuing to read my blog (and thanks if you are, I’m glad you care) please leave your email address. Also, if any of you have made your own blog private and can tell me how to do it I’d appreciate the advice. I’d hate to accidentally delete everything! Do you really have to have a gmail account to read private blogs? How does it work?

Homemade chicken stock = bigger ordeal than one might expect

2009-09-10T20:10:00.000-07:00

Today I learned a bit of a life lesson. Mind you I am bored and I set out with the idea to make chicken stock as more of a project than anything but after an entire day of herb snipping, veggie chopping, chicken boning, broth simmering, impurity skimming, chilling and defatting it seems buying the boxed stuff at the grocery store is simply the better way to go. I’d love to “be” organic and homemade all the time but an entire day of my life for 12 cups of liquid gold just doesn’t seem worth it. Though I did have fun and I did learn how to cut up not one but two chickens into individual pieces. However, it's not as easy as the recipes would have you believe...

On another domestic (read: I’m bored) note: I was shopping online at one of my favorite kitchen websites the other day and came across a wooden placard with a Julia Child quotation painted on it for $40. I thought it was kind of cute (but so not worth $40) so I decided to make my own craft store version. It’s a bit more country bumpkin but I think it came out pretty well:

Garden fresh

2009-09-01T17:30:00.001-07:00

One of my favorite things to do is to make meals with fresh produce. Today Jake and I went to my dad's (and his friends') garden to gather beautiful roma tomatoes right off the vine. My talented mom-in-law--the best cook I know--taught me how to make a delicious marinara sauce.

The garden:

My handsome hubby picking tomatoes:

A cheesy picture of me holding the 40+ tomatoes we picked:

At home in an apron pressing the baked, herbed tomatoes through a mill:

The delicious finished product:

I get such a kick out of picking produce and making something great with it all in the same day. This sauce is going over grilled chicken and pasta tonight with a side of asparagus. Yum!

So hot

2009-08-28T14:48:00.001-07:00

Just when I thought it couldn't get any hotter....it is currently 118 degrees. I'm melting.

Palm Springs

2009-08-26T14:25:00.000-07:00

Annie here writing to you from sunny and HOT Palm Springs, CA. Jake and I drove down here on a whim just to get out of Twin Falls for a little while because we were going a little stir crazy. We drove to Las Vegas on the way down last week and stayed the night at the Luxor. My thoughts on Vegas? Fun for a night or two but I wouldn’t really need to stay much longer than that. We had some good food and gambled the jar of loose change my father-in-law was so nice to give us to try out our luck. We are apparently very unlucky because we lost all $87.00 in about 10 minutes, ha. Such is Vegas, I guess. I was obviously hoping to win it big but it wasn’t in the cards. : ) I did really enjoy the fountain show at the Bellagio. I think it’s worth seeing if any of you are in Vegas anytime soon.

This was our hotel. It was a nice place but I really do wish the walls were just a little thicker because we had some very busy neighbors. Yuck!

This, in fact, is just how hot it is according to the thermometer in the car:

Yes, that says 112 degrees!

We have been hanging out here in my late grandparents’ house in Palm Springs. We take dips in the pool throughout the day but otherwise stay inside in the air conditioning--though we did manage to get 18 holes of golf in last week.

We took a day trip to L.A. just to check it out. We went to Rodeo Drive and Beverly Hills. It is crazy nice but way too overwhelming for a small town girl like me.

We made a stop at the Santa Monica Peer:

Tomorrow we’re going to buy fresh dates. I’m very excited about that. We keep thinking we’re going to leave “tomorrow” but tomorrow keeps getting pushed back since we have no pressing reason to get home right away. So, we'll see what the rest of the week brings..

I need to get a life!

2009-08-17T15:02:00.000-07:00

I suppose I should update the blog since it has been a while. I don’t know why I feel obligated because my life, while enjoyable, is not that exciting right now.

Over the weekend I met my dad and his friends at a garden they all work on together just for fun in the summer. I helped pick corn, carrots, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc. bright and early on Saturday morning and we had so much produce they decided to have a little “garden party” that same night. So, I took a garbage bag full of carrots and cucumbers home and ended up making a yummy carrot cake and a cucumber salad for the party. I think they turned out well—at least people were nice enough to say so and I guess things don’t get much fresher than that. It was a lot of fun and a good way to spend the day and use up all that produce. Unfortunately, I didn’t take any photos but I’ll do that next time I go to the garden.

Since Jake and I are still jobless, I am filling my days doing whatever strange activities I can come up with while he continues to work hard to find gainful employment. Today, for instance, I decided to organize my shoes. So, I went to Target and got $.97 plastic shoe boxes—went home, took photos of all my shoes, and then went to Walgreen’s to have them printed. Finally, I taped my pictures to each box (though I still need more—I’m a girl after all) and the end result is a nice little stack of shoe boxes with photos on the outside of each one so that I no longer have to hunt for each shoe in the morning. Not exactly a genius idea but it filled up my day and I do love to organize! I know what you’re thinking—I have a lot of time on my hands and you’re right! I figure I might as well take advantage of all this time while I’ve still got it. But I sure do feel nerdy.

I’m a bit sad to see summer coming to an end already. It is getting darker much earlier now and it is not as hot but that is a welcome change as far as I’m concerned. It’s fun to see all the school supplies in the stores and all the excited kids getting new backpacks and such. Sometimes I miss school—but not really. It should come as no surprise that I used to organize and reorganize my school box weeks before classes even started. I had pens in every color of the rainbow and I’m pretty sure I concentrated more on the fun colors of my notes from class than the substance of my notes. Oops.

Anyhow, all is well. Jake and I are considering a road trip to Palm Springs, CA and staying the night in Las Vegas on the way there. Should be a good time. Although I am not the biggest fan of gambling and really hot weather so we’ll see, ha. It’s more of a chance to get out of Dodge than anything.

To be continued…

Portland

2009-07-30T14:21:00.000-07:00

My brother and sister-in-law were nice enough to invite Jake and I to tag along with them on a road trip to Portland, OR over the weekend. We had a blast. Saw a concert, had a BBQ at my aunt's and saw a bunch of old friends--pretty much a perfect couple of days. And, the weather was amazing. I wanted it all to last forever.

Dog days of summer

2009-07-06T08:58:00.000-07:00

Wow, is it really July already? Where is the time going? We are still here in Idaho looking for jobs. We’ve got a few things in the works but I won’t blog about them until they are more certain. So, for now, we’re still working hard and hoping to move on with our lives soon.

These last few weeks have been a great opportunity for us to spend time with family—we’ve now driven to Boise 4-5 times to stay with my brother and sister-in-law. Thanks for having us, guys! We got to see Jake’s sister and brother-in-law when they came to town and we, of course, see our parents every day still.

The weather has been so strange this year. It is hot but we’re having regular afternoon/evening thunderstorms and yesterday I caught this little funnel cloud forming! Look closely...see it?

<---

I’m in love with the sunsets here. We walk a lot in the evenings and just can’t get over the colors in the sky and all the open space. We went hiking around the hidden lakes in the canyon and had a great time although we wished we would have picked a cooler time of the day because it was HOT!

I mentioned in my last post that Jake’s parents got a new puppy a couple of months ago. We have had so much fun with her although she can be a lot of work. Yesterday we took her swimming for the first time in the pond! She has been practicing getting her face and paws wet in the kiddy pool my mother-in-law bought her but yesterday we discovered she is a fantastic swimmer. So cute! And just look at how much she has grown since we’ve been home!

One of our first days home with her back in May:

And now a more recent photo:

This and that

2009-05-27T08:46:00.000-07:00

We have been back in Twin Falls for about 3 weeks. It feels so good to be home. We are staying with Jake’s parents but we trade off having dinner with each of our families every other night. Mondays and Wednesdays are spent with my parents and Tuesdays and Thursdays are with Jake’s folks. It works out well for all of us. We are getting spoiled!

It has been quite an adjustment being home. I love the peace and quiet of small town life and so far I really don’t miss the noise of the big city although there is a lot I do miss about Barcelona. At the moment we’re just enjoying the start of summer and being with family while we continue the job hunt. I have come back with a new appreciation for America (boy, do we have it good!) but I also have a bit of a critical eye and I’m trying not to be too critical of things that bother me about our culture now that I’m able to see things from a slightly different perspective.

Since coming home, we’ve helped my parents with some benefits for the cancer walk called Relay for Life, spread new bark in the yard, gone to Boise to help my brother and his wife move into their first home, and spent lots of time with the newest little Werbeck (Jake's parents', that is)….a 12 week old mini Australian shepherd with a mind of her own but who is very cute and loveable. My favorite activity so far? Shopping! We went shopping in Boise since we needed new clothes desperately and it was so much fun. Imagine, girls, we went nearly two years without shopping (a few exceptions were granted) since the Euro was just killing the dollar.

We celebrated our 2nd anniversary yesterday! We went out to dinner at a new restaurant that overlooks the canyon and enjoyed the perfect weather and good food. We have no idea how long we’ll be in town as we plan to go wherever the wind blows us next. So, if anyone is around and wants to hang out we’d love to have a social life again!

Graduation and the journey home

2009-05-04T10:30:00.000-07:00

My parents came to visit and help us with the move home. We rented a car and drove to the Basque country and really enjoyed our time there. It was a beautiful drive and we were lucky enough to get a hotel overlooking the ocean.

Jake graduated on April 30th. It was a really nice ceremony and I’m glad we made the decision to stay for it. It was hard to say goodbye to all the wonderful friends we made while in Spain but I’m sure we’ll be in touch with many of them for a long time.

The journey home was so surreal for us. Leaving was exciting and devastating all at once. We flew from BCN to Paris and then from Paris to Salt Lake and drove home from there. It was the longest, most sleep deprived 30+ hours of my life but we made it and amazingly so did our NINE pieces of checked luggage, ha! We were quite a sight to behold maneuvering all the luggage around the airports!

When we landed in SLC and stepped outside I was blown away by the peacefulness of the moto-free streets and the freshness of the air. I missed it. I love being home. It’s a lot to get used to and it is strange that we’re not going back…at least for now. We’re currently staying with Jake’s parents and our job hunt continues. Where we will live is yet to be determined. We’re excited and optimistic about the next phase of our lives and we will always look back at the two years we spent in Barcelona with such fond memories. What a worthwhile endeavor—it was quite a ride!

Turkey

2009-04-07T01:15:00.001-07:00

We just got back from Turkey. What an incredible place! It was such an eye opener for us since it was the first time either of us had visited a Muslim country. We had such an amazing time touring the mosques and the palace and the Bosphorus. Istanbul is HUGE. There are about 13 million people there. 13 million! Four days just wasn’t enough to cover everything but we did a lot and had so much fun. We met our friends Matt and Gamze there for an evening. Gamze is Turkish and was able to show us around and was a really great hostess to us. It took us the entire time just to remember how to say "thank you" in Turkish, ha. We finally got it down just before we left! All the people were excitedly gearing up for President Obama’s visit yesterday just as we were leaving. We were hoping to catch a glimpse of his car or plane but no such luck. We can’t wait to go back someday.

The call to prayer happens 5 times a day starting very early in the morning. It was something really different from anything I'm used to. We were so intruiged by it that we didn't even mind being awakened by it really early every morning.

He's Done!!!

2009-04-01T02:50:00.001-07:00

Well, he did it. Jake had his very last class yesterday and turned in his final paper. He is completely finished with his MBA! Hooray! He has worked so hard and has done really well in school and we are really looking forward to his graduation. Bien hecho!

Ben and Katy come to visit!

2009-03-29T03:20:00.000-07:00

For Jake’s birthday we went with some friends and my brother, Ben and sister-in-law, Katy to our new favorite tapas restaurant called Inopia. It was written up in the New York Times recently; check it out here. We had a fabulous time! The food is seriously amazing so we left very happy and full.

On Monday I took my brother to the Boqueria, the famous farmers market here in Barcelona. The colors are always so spectacular. I was excited to find calçots on sale. This time of year calçots (a type of scallion) are a popular local favorite eaten roasted and dipped in a delicious sauce. Yum!

On Wednesday B, Katy and I took the train out to Figueres (a town outside of BCN) to visit the Dali museum (Dali was born in Figueres). It is such a weird and interesting place and totally worth the slow train ride out there to see it. The outside of the building seems just as strange as many of his paintings.

Jake didn’t have any classes on Friday so he was able to join us for our adventure to Montserrat—a mountain about 30 miles from the city. I know I’ve mentioned Montserrat on the blog before since my mom and I went when she came to visit in 2007. This time, however, the weather was perfect and it was a beautiful sunny day so we could see forever from the top of the mountain.

A view from the bottom:

Waiting for the train:

Going up the mountain:

At the top, outside the monastary:

Prayer candles outside the Monastary:

B and Katy left yesterday at 4:00 in the morning. Yuck. I’m sure they had a long, tiring trip home but we’re so glad they could come. We’ll be able to see them soon enough though! Have I mentioned we’re going home in just 5 weeks? : )

Catching up

2009-03-24T02:52:00.000-07:00

My aunt and uncle came to visit us last week and spoiled us rotten! We had such an amazing time with them!

They treated us to lots of dinners, bus tours, tickets inside the cathedrals we'd never been in and even concert tickets at this beautiful concert hall, called the Palau de la Musica:

I showed them around Gaudi's Parc Guell one afternoon:

Jake was able to show them the view from his school:

The week went way too quickly and it was so sad to see them go. But, luckily for us, my brother and sister-in-law are here now so the fun continues!

Yesterday while Jake was at school I showed them the famous Sagrada Familia:

And, of course, we rode the tour bus around town. It was a splendid, sunny day!

We were walking around yesterday and I came across this cute little guy standing guard outside a shop and I just had to take his picture:

More pictures to come! It is Jake's 29th birthday today so we'll be celebrating with friends tonight and I'll post more about that soon! Happy birthday, Jake! For those of you keeping track, he only has 3, THREE, classes left! His very last class is one week from today. Then we're off to Turkey before my parents arrive for graduation. We are so lucky and having so much fun these days!

Weekend outings

2009-03-08T08:52:00.000-07:00

On our way to an event on Friday evening we passed by these fountains in town so I stopped to take a picture. It was such a pretty night.

Today Jake was busy with school work so I tagged along with some friends to the aquarium. It was pretty fun. I can't remember the last time I went to an aquarium for the afternoon. The sharks were pretty cool!

Oh happy day

2009-03-02T01:45:00.000-08:00

Since Friday was my last day of work at the school I woke up this morning with absolutely nothing on my agenda. I'm loving it! I'm catching up on emails and laundry and planning meals for the week. It's pretty dang nice not to have anything to worry about at the moment. It makes my whole life feel more organized when I can catch up on things around the house. I hate the feeling of leaving for work when the laundry is piled up and I haven't had time to get to the grocery store for healthy food in a week!

I just can't believe that Jake only has 4 weeks of class left! Although homesickness has crept up on me now and then during my time here I am now starting to get really sad about having to leave. It's funny how that happens--we always think the grass is greener on the other side--I have to be careful to just relax and appreciate what I have at the moment and not always think about what's next.

Tomorrow is a big day for me! I turn 26! That honestly feels really old to me. I met Jake when I was 20--how can that much time have gone by already!? This is the first birthday I haven't really been too thrilled about. I know 26 is not really old but it is sounds so much more adult-ish to me. Plus I feel like I'm looking old all of a sudden. Not to mention I'm becoming more and more like my parents everyday. I hear myself saying things they used to say to me that drove me nuts. Yesterday, for instance, I scolded Jake for "leaving every light in the darn house on". I could hear my dad's voice even as I said it. I'm also kind of getting more emotional. I am normally stone cold when it comes to crying. I have just never been comfortable with it but now I seem to cry easily over the dumbest things. I remember how my grandparents used to cry every time our family would pull out of their driveway after a visit. I thought it was so silly but I can see that I'll probably be doing the same thing. Gosh, it all goes so fast!

My belated New Year’s resolution (and more info than you ever wanted to know about me)

2009-02-19T14:14:00.000-08:00

What I want to accomplish in 2009 is to get back to my old self. For the last few months I have been in a pitiful state of worry and doubt about a heart issue that seems not to be a heart issue at all. It all started a few years ago when I started feeling sick while studying abroad in Ecuador. I started feeling dizzy all the time and fainted while on a trip to the Galapagos Islands. Bad place to need medical attention, I can tell you that. I woke up with an IV in my arm in a makeshift hospital on one of the islands. They figured my blood sugar had just gotten too low so they made me eat a bunch of candy and pumped some stuff in my veins and sent me on my way.

I thought it was just a random occurrence until a few weeks later I started feeling the same symptoms and just could not get rid of them. I returned to school in Oregon a few months later as scheduled and continued to have dizzy spells. Over the summer between my junior and senior year I felt worse than ever (my goal for that summer was to be able to walk to the mailbox without needing to sit down) but continued trips to the Dr. turned up nothing abnormal. I went back to school for my senior year and tried to continue life as usual but to no avail. I woke up one morning with a stomach ache and just after I got in the shower I fainted. I woke up on the floor of the shower with a huge bump on my head from falling and I have no idea how long I had been there. For living in a sorority it was oddly empty that day and the only person around was a janitor who took one look at me and called security to drive me to the hospital. Where, of course, the tests came back normal.

Since that day nothing has changed. I have been in a frustrating cycle of dizzy spells, going to the Dr., tests coming back normal again and again. About a year ago I started having heart palpitations along with the dizziness once in a while but those have turned into a frightening daily occurrence. I am convinced it’s all anxiety but even a psychologist told me it’s not. I have read numerous self-help books, have practiced meditating, yoga, iron supplements, you name it…I’ve tried it. I have been seeing a cardiologist here for a while and extensive tests show nothing weird, even though I nearly fainted only 6 minutes into my 30-minute treadmill test. They just cannot figure out what is happening. It is so dang frustrating! The scary part is that my left arm and hand are tingling like crazy all the time now so I am being sent to yet another specialist next week. To add to these already stressful circumstances, I am having to try and do all of this in Spanish! I am getting better than I care to be at medical terminology in Spanish but it is all still such a bewildering process.

Now, to get back to the point of my rather long post—my New Year’s Resolution—is to start running again, no matter what. I used to run about 3 miles a day and LOVED it and I really miss it. I have tried off and on over the last couple of years to get back into it but the heart thing happens and I give up. But, I figure if I have taken all possible steps to ensure that my heart and health are fine (and if I get the “go ahead” next week) then I can give it a real try and see how it goes. Who knows, maybe it’ll help calm my mind and my body will heal itself as a result. Time to dust off my running shoes! I’m crossing my fingers!

Here’s an extra pitiful visual for you of me sitting at home with a heart monitor feeling very sorry for myself!

Stopping to smell the roses

2009-02-19T12:11:00.000-08:00

Winter in Barcelona is really mild but somehow I am still so excited to see signs of spring. Today there was a nice breeze and a perfectly blue sky awaiting me when I stepped outside to walk to work. I took these pictures a few days ago when it wasn't quite so sunny but I love the blooms. In a city this crowded and chaotic nature really stands out and breaks up the sea of structures and cement.

I love this tree outside our apartment:

And this one right by the school :

Dining out

2009-02-15T06:12:00.000-08:00

On Friday we went out with some friends to a local Chinese restaurant. We hadn't tried Chinese here so it was fun to have something a little different (these days Chinese is something different!). The food was fantastic and it was a really nice evening.

We didn't do much for Valentine's Day this year. We decided to save our money and not buy cards, chocolates or flowers--just enjoy a Saturday together. Our friends invited us to their house for dinner so we got together with them and I made a 7-layer bean dip to take as an appetizer. It's funny how being married has changed our social lives--eating dinner at another couple's house was not something we did for fun when we were dating--we always met friends downtown Seattle for dinner or at the movies, etc. Now I can hardly stay awake until midnight. We're getting old!

Some pre-Valentine's Day Thoughts

2009-02-12T10:15:00.000-08:00

If only every woman had a guy like Jake.

I think the world would be a better place.

Women everywhere would be loved and supported and cherished and respected and what else can a girl ask for?

Until I met Jake I didn’t even realize life could be so good—didn’t even know anything was missing. I look forward to the tiniest details in my day-to-day life now. Like the sound of Jake’s laugh when something suddenly strikes him as hilarious. He throws his head back and laughs with a huge open-mouth grin on his face. Totally uninhibited, no matter where he is or what he’s doing. It looks so liberating to me.

I admire Jake’s confidence. Man, can he debate. He will eloquently, calmly, rationally and almost always correctly make his point. It’s not easy to win arguments with him. He is full of random facts. From geography to government and back again he has the weirdest and most extensive mental library of anyone I know. Quite impressive, really.

Jake is an eternal optimist. He is NOT a complainer. He once had the stomach flu set in while we were shopping for registry items before our wedding and got violently ill in Macys. He calmly told me he wasn’t feeling well (which I could see), grabbed a bag from a kiosk in the mall and drove us 30 minutes home where he continued to get sick all night without so much as a complaint. I was a total wreck. I was crying because I hate throw up and I felt sorry for him. I insisted on taking him to the hospital when he got so dehydrated his hands cramped up in fists. On the way to the hospital he decided he had to throw up in the car (we had a bag) and I was crying so hard I had to pull the car over because I couldn’t see—he calmly said to me: “Annie, I’m going to get sick, I need you to be a big girl and just keep driving.” You’d have thought I was the sick one! But when we got to the E.R. a bunch of other people were barfing in bags in the waiting room and he took one look at me and laughed and told me he’d rather die at home in peace so we left. By the time I got home from work the next day he was showered and dressed and good as new. He is constantly reminding me to look at the bright side and it’s refreshing to be around such a positive person.

I appreciate Jake’s patience. I am not always quick to do the dishes or pick up my clothes but he is always helping around the house. He could easily get mad at me but he laughs and makes deals with me like I’m a kid: “I’ll take the garbage out and you see how fast you can pick up your clothes off the floor! Ready, go!” He is so funny about it I can’t help but do my chores when he asks me in such a creative and patient way.

After all this time together I still feel a twinge of heartache when we go our separate ways for the day. I find myself counting down the minutes until he’s out of class and we can go home together on the bus. I love that he lets me chatter away at him about anything and everything that comes to mind—how I want a puppy, what should I do with my life, I have a sore throat today, am I getting fat and wrinkly, etc.

As Forest Gump would say, he’s my best good friend. We go together like peas and carrots.

Te amo, mi amor! Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone!

It's official. The end is near!

2009-02-05T10:21:00.000-08:00

Well, we did it! We purchased our plane tickets HOME! For good! I am really excited as I have missed home a lot this semester. Oddly enough this semester has been harder for me than it ever was in the beginning. Jake is already getting sad about leaving and although I have loved our time here I am looking forward to another adventure in our lives—just a little closer to home this time around. We don’t know where we’re moving yet but you can be sure I’ll post a blog about it when we get it all figured out. For now, the plan is just to go be with our families for a while after graduation. Ha, I hope they’re ready for us!

Speaking of graduation… the countdown continues! Jake’s last day of class is March 31 and since graduation is not until April 30th we have some time to relax and enjoy being done. My last day at work is the 27th of this month so we’re going to go on one last trip to Istanbul, Turkey before the big day.

We are so lucky to have THREE sets of visitors coming between now and May 2 when we leave! My aunt and uncle, then my brother and sister-in-law and finally my parents will be making their way to Barcelona within just a few weeks. I’m so happy about that I can hardly stand it! It is fun to show people around—we are looking forward to showing them what we've been up to here—it has been hard work but so enjoyable and we are lucky to have had the chance to live abroad and improve our Spanish.

So there you have it—that’s our life as of late in a nutshell. We’re enjoying what’s left of our time here and looking forward to being home in just 12 weeks!

Chicken soup

2009-01-11T08:26:00.000-08:00

I am somewhat obsessed with learning to cook and learning cooking techniques lately. I spend pretty much all of my free time reading about how to make different kinds of food. I decided I needed to learn a basic but important recipe—chicken stock. I read and read and compared notes about how to make the best and most flavorful chicken stock and I gave it a try for the first time yesterday. I didn’t have anything specific in mind to make with it but I figured I’d freeze it and use it later. However, luck (or unluck…is that a word?) would have it that I woke up this morning with a brand new chest cold! Although I’m kind of achy and miserable I was secretly excited to make chicken soup using my stock. I’m happy to report that it turned out very well and it felt very healing to eat hot and completely homemade soup today!

Our Italian Adventure

2009-01-01T03:02:00.000-08:00

We're trying to take advantage of our last few months here in Europe (and our Christmas vacation) so we went to Rome, Italy this week. We had a really good time. Italy is a very charming place! I made a little video for those who want to see our pictures. Happy New Year!

Christmas

2009-01-01T00:54:00.000-08:00

This holiday season was pretty quiet for us. It was very relaxing but a little hard to be away from friends and family this year, I guess since it's the second in a row away from home. I made a chicken dinner for the two of us on Christmas Eve. We had to shop at about 5 different grocery stores just to get all the ingredients--spices at one store, veggies at another, etc. Then when I finally got everything home I realized I had to finish plucking the remaining feathers on my chicken where the store had left off before I could continue preparing it. I haven't made many whole chickens before--is that normal?? By the time I finsihed plucking this poor guy it was pretty much the last thing I wanted to eat, ha. But, it came out pretty well:

Sitting down to eat...You can pretty much see that I'm thinking I worked all day on this but do I really have to eat it?

We hung our stockings for Santa Clause:

We were so spoiled by our family!! They sent us loads of wonderful gifts and food all the way to Spain! Thanks, guys!

A sleepy looking (but cute) Jake on Christmas morning:

Help us out!

2008-12-16T12:31:00.001-08:00

On the right side of the blog I added a poll--please help us out by voting where you think we should go next since we can't seem to decide. Better yet, if you have a good reason why we should (or shouldn't) live somewhere (eg. there are no jobs there), please leave a comment! We are open to cities not on the list, but these are the ones we think we might like the most. Thanks for your help!

Weekend getaway to the country

2008-12-08T13:07:00.000-08:00

We spent the weekend in a beautiful villa outside of Barcelona. It was hard not to enjoy oursleves--how often do you get to stay in a villa!? Our British friends were nice enough to invite us to their joint 30th birthday party celebration which they planned as a surprise for everybody since we had a 3-day weekend. We obviously knew we were going somewhere but the location was kept secret until just before we left. It was such a pleasant surprise! We spent the weekend by the fire just enjoying the chance to escape from the city. The birthday couple divided the group into teams which were each responsible for cooking a meal for the group during our stay. We were put in charge of the breakfasts but we were lucky to have our Dutch friends cook us an authentic Dutch meal on the first night and we celebrated their own version of Christmas (they celebrate Santa Clause's arrival on Dec. 5) and even did a gift exchange. The second night our Italian friends made some wonderful pasta for us. The Americans (minus us) were in charge of dinner on the 3rd night so we enjoyed big hamburgers and fries, as you might guess.

Here we are on "Italian night":

We took a day trip to see the church in town:

Outside the villa:

Inside the 10 bedroom, beautiful home!:

Christmas Markets in Berlin

2008-12-01T10:19:00.000-08:00

After spending Thanksgiving day and evening at the hospital dealing with a heart issue (the worst Thanksgiving ever!), I was happy to be going somewhere else for the weekend. We went with friends to the Christmas markets in Berlin, Germany and got back early Monday morning just in time for work and school. We had a great time taking in the sights and sounds of the holiday season there but we FROZE! It was so, so cold! In fact, the only purchases we made were two hats, gloves and a scarf--forget about the Christmas ornaments! The food, however, was hearty and warm and really good so that helped. I'm so glad we had the chance to go--it was everything and more than I had been hoping for! The weekend went way too fast though--it felt like visiting Berlin amazing race style...

Charlottenburg Palace:

Hearty, warm and very tasty food:

"Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe":

Checkpoint Charlie:

WeihnachtsZauber Gendarmenmarkt:

Admiring the artistry:

Warming up with a cup of cider:

Sporting his new hat:

Going private

2008-11-16T09:47:00.000-08:00

I've decided to make our blog private so if you'd like to continue reading please leave your email address in the comments and I'll send you an invite! Don't be shy! Thanks!

Early Thanksgiving

2008-11-16T01:20:00.000-08:00

Our friend's mom invited us to her home in Alella again this year for Thankgiving and since we had so much fun last year we didn't think twice about accepting her invitation. It was a beautiful sunny day and we had just as much fun this year as we did last year. Our friend's family is really great and welcoming and it was fun to be with them again. We celebrated early because it's what worked best with everyone's schedule. The food was amazing. I'm almost sad we won't get a 3rd Thanksgiving with them!

Wine Tasting

2008-11-07T13:29:00.001-08:00

Our friends invited us to a private wine tasting class and since I'm really getting into cooking and food lately we thought we'd give it a try. I imagined something totally different than what it was--perhaps a little less formal than it turned out to be. I didn't expect a two hour presentation and a slideshow! Our teacher was a little hard for me to understand (due to his Argentinian accent) but I will say he was very passionate about wine. But, I think I got most of it and even learned a few things. I was terrible, however, at smelling the things I was supposed to be smelling--to me it all pretty much seemed the same. He told me the key is to train my nose so I guess I'll have to work on that.

Waiting for class to start:

The whites:

The reds:

Also, I walked home from work today as I always do, came home, made dinner and when I finally sat down and crossed my legs I found this (warning, it's gross):

...that would be gum stuck to my shoe...a cigarette stuck to the gum...a piece of paper stuck to the cigarette (and I think I see a hair). SICK! Guess those are the hazards of city livin'. Disclaimer: I can guarantee you that none of those things were on the floor of my apartment--except maybe the hair--it does look a little like mine.

Elections and rainy days

2008-11-05T09:55:00.000-08:00

It has been interesting to be in Europe for the US election process. It has really given me some good perspective as to how the rest of the world views us (apart from what US media tell us)—for better and for worse—and I realize now more than ever just how much what happens in the US affects the rest of the world. Political views aside, today (yesterday there, I suppose) was history in the making and that is oh so exciting! Jake and I went to our friends’ house (practically our pseudo family now) to watch the elections until 3:00 AM until we just couldn’t stay up any longer since I had to work today. We had fun hanging out and having some rather heated but good-natured debate. It was fun to wake up this morning and read the results. I bought a newspaper from the newsstand on the corner today—there were a couple in English left by the time I got there—and I’m going to save it. Today was really fun to be an American! What an amazing thing democracy is! Being away from the States for a year-and-a-half now has helped me realize just how lucky we are to call it home.

Jake, arguing his side...

Gettin' the skinny...

Burning the midnight oil...

Side note: The weather has been really unpredictable here lately and I must have been really bored on Sunday because I took the time to get the rain storm on camera!

To kiss or not to kiss?

2008-10-17T02:31:00.000-07:00

I haven’t posted for a while because I don’t really feel like I have blog-worthy news—but, I hate when other bloggers don’t post for a long time because then I have nothing to read all day, ha, so for the sake of writing about something I’ll bore you with my non-blog-worthy thoughts…
Let’s see…yesterday was one of those, “you win some, you lose some” kind of days. It was a “lose some” day…quite literally as you’ll see in a minute. To begin with, it was really muggy and the pollution was horrible which makes everything seem gray and kind of gross overall. To make matters worse, Jake and I got on a really crowded bus to go to school/work and just as the doors closed and the bus took off a girl started throwing up copious amounts of her breakfast all over the floor of the bus. Obviously, I felt sorry for her but the bus was packed and with no ventilation you can imagine how fun that was for everybody else on board…and so the day began. We ended our day with another crowded bus ride home where a man was open-mouth coughing directly into our faces and making absolutely no attempt to be polite about it. (I sound like such a germ-a-phobe) We just laughed about it because it was kind of funny and really what else could we do?

I think Jake and I are each experiencing a bit of a quarter-life crisis at the moment. With graduation just around the bend, I think we’re both a little nervous that we don’t necessarily know exactly what we want to do with the rest of our lives. Jake, obviously, has a better idea than I do about what he wants in a career but I am LOST. I really thought that two years here would give me the perfect opportunity to figure some things out but it hasn’t turned out that way at all. I keep waiting to have a light bulb moment where it comes to me but it isn’t happening. I once applied for a college scholarship in the “undecided” category of the competition (as opposed to biology, physics, etc) and got it by writing an essay on whatever topic they gave me. In college I was undecided for the first two years and finally forced myself to choose a major and minor because I had to. If there had been an “undecided” major, I promise, I would have been great at it! Life was just so much easier when, say, I was finishing up 4th grade and knew that 5th grade came next. But what now!? I’m all out of grades. Somebody, please tell me what to do with my life! Some days I want to go to law school, some days I want to go to business school and some days I don’t ever want to go to school again when I see what Jake goes through! What’s also hard is that we don’t even know where we want to live. We keep debating whether or not it’s best for us to go back to the US or to stay here in Europe. I’m confident that whatever we do will work out just fine (and I know we’re lucky to have these options at all) but it’s hard to make such big decisions.

On a lighter note, we’re looking forward to a weekend away next month to Berlin, Germany. We got tickets for €22 round trip!! We’re going with friends to the Christmas markets there just to get in the Christmas spirit and I am really looking forward to it. It’s fun that so many cool destinations are just a short (and sometimes inexpensive) plane ride away.

My final, and totally random, thought for today is about my recent difficulty with greetings. In Spain, their custom is to say hello and kiss on each cheek. That’s easy, no problem. What’s tricky is at school when people are from all over the place this rule becomes very unclear. Sometimes Spaniards will think I’m uncomfortable doing the kissing thing and they’ll awkwardly hold out their hand. Sometimes a German will lean in for a kiss and I’ll hold out my hand. The American to American thing is actually the hardest, which is odd. Last week I went to hug my American girlfriend and she went for a kiss on the cheek and I ended up trying to improvise and kissed her neck. We laughed about that and thank goodness we’re good friends but man, if only a universal rule existed…it would make life so much easier!

He's back!

2008-09-30T09:07:00.000-07:00

Jake has been home for about a week now and I’m so glad! It was a long summer mostly spent apart so we’re happy that things are back to normal. I have been really busy with work lately so no time to post on the blog but we were able to enjoy a holiday last week called, “La Merce” walking around in the beautiful September weather and enjoying the music and fun festivities. Jake started his classes yesterday (unfortunately, I forgot to take a “first day” picture) and he likes them a lot so far. He’s got a weird schedule this term so it should make for an interesting semester but we’re excited that things are under way once again!

Alella

2008-09-13T00:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went with some friends to a little villiage outside of Barcelona, called Alella. I absolutely love Alella and I am always so excited to go there. The views from my friend's mom's house are stunning! We ended up at this fun little festival where they were doing wine tastings and serving food of all kinds. It was a really fun way to spend the evening and nice to get out of the city for a bit.

Random thoughts

2008-09-12T00:30:00.000-07:00

It has been 20 days since Jake went back to Belgium. He’ll finally come home next Saturday and I can’t wait. We are both very ready to have the internship phase of the MBA program behind us. I think Jake has enjoyed his experience in Belgium for the most part but it has been hard to be apart off and on for 3 months.

A pleasant and unexpected surprise this week is that I went to work on Wednesday and they told me that Thursday is a holiday and, in Spain, when Thursday is a holiday so too is Friday! They call it a “puente”…a bridge. I love puentes. I just wish I would have known about it in advance so that I could have planned something a little more exciting than catching up on laundry, dishes, mopping, etc. Not to mention I have a cold so I’m having to take breaks to blow my nose and let the lightheadedness pass in between chores. Not exactly a thrilling long weekend but I’ll still take it. When I don’t have chores to do or work to go to I get pretty bored these days. At the moment I am obsessed with looking at kitchen gadgets online. I have really started to get into cooking lately and I think maybe because I never got to use the fun wedding gifts we got before we left I am daydreaming about what it’ll be like to use a kitchen utensil that’s not from Ikea. There’s just something to be said for quality sometimes. What? Not all “silverware” rusts after one wash??

Yesterday I called a friend because I just couldn’t take being in the house another minute. Keep in mind it was a holiday and NOTHING is open on holidays (not even grocery stores or pharmacies) so we really couldn’t come up with anything to do. But, we decided to meet each other in the city center and just wing it. We ended up walking to the beach—me huffing and puffing from the cold—but the humidity was making our jeans stick to our legs and it was rather unpleasant all around. We decided just sitting in our favorite plaza and having a soda was a better way to go. There was a plethora of street performers to keep us entertained. Since neither of us had thought about the grocery stores being closed we were desperate for something to eat for dinner. We walked and walked and our favorite tapas place was closed so we ended up back in the city center looking straight at the Hard Rock Café. How long had it been since we’d had a real hamburger?? We decided to split one and it was divine! Normally I try not to go to places like that so that I don’t take being in another country for granted but desperate times call for desperate measures. Walking in that restaurant was like being magically transported back to the States. I left SO full but very satisfied.

Today I’m planning to meet up with a new friend of mine. I really do love getting to know new people. She’s a fellow American here on her own and I certainly know what it’s like to feel a little bored and lonely so I’m sure we’ll have lots of fun getting to know each other better. Plus, I really admire the people I meet here who have come on their own—not even to go to school—just to see what it’s like to live somewhere else for a while. I find their stories fascinating and I always think to myself that I’m not that brave or independent. I bet it is a liberating experience.

This is good

2008-09-05T11:05:00.000-07:00

I love this, check it out:

http://new.music.yahoo.com/videos/--184511935

FYI, it's okay to have lunch with married people

2008-09-03T00:31:00.000-07:00

Ever since I was little I have always hated to see people eating alone. I don’t know why but it makes me so sad. I once cried in a restaurant when I saw a man who looked about 100 years old eating pancakes in a crowded family restaurant on a Sunday morning by himself. I made up this scenario in my head where he and his loving wife had pancakes every Sunday for the 60 years they were married but since she passed away he has had to go by himself and he missed her ever so much…but, let’s be honest, I didn’t know this old man and maybe that wasn’t the way it was at all—maybe he just really liked pancakes and he was actually escaping from his nagging old wife for a few minutes. Who knows?

Anyhow, I don’t know what the deal is with lunch here but it is a very uncomfortable situation for me these days. When Jake is here we always eat lunch together at school just because we can. We’re married and we enjoy each other’s company and why wouldn’t we eat together, right? Well, it seems that our eating together makes others uncomfortable and the single folks at school never sit with us. I think Europeans get married later in life than Americans (I would too if I could live with my parents for free until I was 30) but they seem to think that our sitting together means that we are having some super secret husband/wife time or something because they never seem to want to engage in lighthearted lunchtime conversation—even if we are friends with them. It has become a joke between Jake and me and we try to coax people to sit with us by sitting in different places in the cafeteria but it never fails…nobody wants to eat with the married people. We were laughing about this one day at lunch (actually we were feeling like big losers) and we asked somebody who was actually brave enough to sit with us that day what the deal was and he told us that it’s because they’re afraid they’re interrupting. Interrupting what? We have our clothes on!

Since Jake has been in Belgium I’ve had to adjust my lunchtime routine. Most of the time a friend of mine who also works at the school eats with me but she only works part-time and sometimes isn’t around for lunch. So, that leaves me on my own because the 2nd year students I know aren’t back yet. Yesterday, however, my worst fear came true. I had to eat by myself—I was the old man eating pancakes without my loved one. I started off trying to play it cool—like I wanted to eat lunch alone but that just didn’t work for me. I tried reading my lunch receipt very intently but that could only last so long before my furrowed brow looked less studious and more like I couldn’t read or something. Then I pulled some notes out of my purse and tried to study them but I figured that looked even more obvious. It was awful! It was like being the new kid at school! All the 1st years had taken up ALL the tables in the entire room except for one—I couldn’t find a single seat at a crowded table where I could just blend in and start up a conversation. So, I had to go sit at the “new kid/loser” table all alone. I was relieved when a couple acquaintances stopped by to say hi to me and invite me to lunch with them the today (was I that obvious?). It’s funny how childhood insecurities can sneak up on you one day just when you think you’re all grown up!

Home sweet home

2008-08-28T12:56:00.000-07:00

Jake and I flew back to Barcelona from Brussels last Wednesday. We were really sad to hear about the Madrid plane crash when we landed—I was really worried about our friends who are traveling to and from everywhere right now during the break so I was relieved to know that they were all okay. Still, it’s such a sad thing.

Anyhow, before I left Brussels I remembered to take some pictures of the apartment so that if I ever want to complain about our place in Barcelona I can look at them and be reminded of just what a great place we have! Belgium is a lovely place but I will not miss that awful apartment or that strange neighborhood. Thank goodness the Olympics were on during my visit because all I did while Jake was at work was watch them!

On Friday Jake and I woke up at 5:00 in the morning to let the fun-filled day of immigration (part II) begin. I was not enthusiastic about it but I wasn’t all that upset either because I knew what was ahead of me—which is weird because knowing that should have made me even crankier. Let me explain: Although the immigration/police department that handles the documents and does fingerprints for this process doesn’t open until 9:00, the line outside begins to form sometime around 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning (sometimes the night before). Because they close at 2:00 in the afternoon there is a limited number of people they can process in one day and thus it behooves a person to get a good spot in line. In our case, our current I.D. cards expired on August 21 and since it is illegal to be without (ie: travel) a current card that meant we had to travel on August 20 and apply for a new card the day after it expires (which is the law…for some reason you can’t do it the day it expires). So, there we were at 6:15 AM. It was dark, humid but oddly chilly and waiting in line with a lot of other tired folks just trying to obey the law and get our cards. 9:00 finally came around and they opened the doors and the fun began. The fingerprints (did they really change in one year???), the new photos, the questions, etc. Here’s the catch: It takes 30 days to get the new card and as I mentioned we cannot travel without these ID cards but Jake had to get back to his job in Belgium so we had to go across town to another government building when this police station bit was done (they close at 2pm as well), pick up an official request form to leave and return to the country, fill it out right there outside, go find a bank to pay some tax, and then return to that government building to take a number and…you guessed it…stand in line. Sigh. All of this had to be accomplished on this specific day and before 2:00pm so that Jake could catch his flight back to Belgium on Sunday and be back at work. It is indeed a miracle that we were able to do all of this. And, yes, I’m thankful I won’t have to do it again next year!

So, this pretty much brings me up-to-date. Here I sit alone in my apartment again counting down the days until Jake comes home for good. I’m back to crossing them off on the calendar beside my bed. But, it’s not so bad. I’m happy to feel comfortable in my neighborhood and be able to speak the language again. And, I have some fun things going on at work right now so that helps pass the time. I sent a case I wrote to be published today so that feels great. And, the new 1st year students started classes today! It was amusing to see them eagerly chatting and smiling--they have NO idea what they're in for, haha! As Jake said, "it's SO hard and yet SO rewarding!"

Amsterdam

2008-08-18T02:41:00.000-07:00

This is the Grand Place in the center of Brussels. Every other year they make a huge carpet depicting different themes entirely made of flowers. This year the theme was a French tapestry. It was so pretty and smelled great!

Jake and I spent this past weekend in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. On one hand it is a pretty and quirky city. I have never seen so many bicycles in all my life! It was nice to see that basically everybody rides a bike instead of getting around in a car—it’s much more peaceful and less polluted than many other cities. On the other hand, it is the craziest place I’ve ever been. We saw the “coffee shops” and the red light district and oh man…I don’t even know what to say about that! We also went to the Anne Frank museum which is the actual house where she and her family hid for more than two years before they were captured and taken to concentration camps. It was sad and really moving to go through the museum—it gave me chills to stand in the little rooms and imagine eight people living there in fear and having to whisper and remain still the entire time. So, our trip to Amsterdam was eye opening in many ways and I’m glad we were able to go.

We’re heading back to Barcelona on Wednesday. I am actually really glad because I miss it a lot and it feels like home now. Jake will only be there through the weekend and he’ll come back to Brussels for another month but we have to go through immigration again since it has been a year since we moved to Spain. Hard to believe!

Bruges, Belgium

2008-08-11T00:41:00.000-07:00

We had another fun weekend excursion to Bruges, Belgium. We had heard so many good things about the town and it didn’t disappoint us at all. Bruges is a really quaint and peaceful place with pretty canals and horse drawn carriages. The cute factor was definitely there. The weather started out pretty gray and cold but we were surprised when the clouds lifted and we ended up sunburned! The town is famous for its handmade lace and, of course, the chocolate. I don’t think we’ll have a chance to go back there before I have to return to Barcelona but I’m glad we were able to go because it was a really fun place to see. I took a little video clip while we were on a boat tour of the canals…

Paris!

2008-08-04T12:56:00.000-07:00

The best thing about being in Brussels is that it's close to a lot of other really cool cities. We took a train on Friday night to Paris since we had never been and it was only an hour and twenty minutes away. We had SO much fun! The entire weekend was great! We saw the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, and Notre Dame. At each famous attraction I just couldn't believe I was standing there! It was really, really fantastic and sad to have to come back. I'm already looking forward to going back someday. Two days just wasn't enough but I'm so glad we did it. As usual, I took lots of pictures so I put them in a video. I don't know why my hair is in my face in every picture but oh well. Enjoy!

Chocolate and Waffles

2008-07-29T00:38:00.001-07:00

One thing Belgium is apparently famous for is chocolate! It seems there is a chocolate store everywhere you look. So, last night after dinner Jake and I walked around and checked out many of the stores. We felt we couldn't be here and not try out the chocolate so we splurged on a little box of them. It was fun to pick out every piece that went into the box--even though I couldn't read the labels so I had no idea what I was getting. The guy at the store even wrapped up the box like a gift for us! (We didn't have the heart to tell him that it wasn't a gift and that we were going to tear into it as soon as we walked out of the store) :). Oh boy is it good! I'm going to have to stay away from that part of town or this could get ugly!

On our way home I heard the familiar summer sound of music blaring from an ice cream truck. So, when I actually saw the truck I was surprised to see that here along with ice cream they sell waffles from the truck, haha. I don't know why that is so amusing to me but I got a picture as it rounded the corner!

Brussels, Belgium

2008-07-28T02:05:00.000-07:00

Well, I made it to Belgium at last. Of course, it's great to be together with Jake again. We spent the entire weekend walking around Brussels and eating in cafes along the way. On Sunday Jake took me out for my first authentic Belgian waffles! They were so yummy. Last night we found an entire street of Thai food restaurants and I have a feeling I'll be begging to eat there pretty much every night since we have nothing of the sort in Barcelona. I am particularly excited about the food here because I was getting a little tired of Spanish tapas.

My goal for this week is to venture out on my own while Jake is working. I'm not very comfortable here since I don't know my way around and I can't speak of word of French...or Flemish for that matter. Also, we live in a rather multicultural neighborhood which is interesting but makes me a little uneasy at times (we witnesssed a pretty good fist fight yesterday). So, we'll see how it goes. I know Jake felt the same way when he first arrived but he seems quite comfortable now so perhaps I just need some time to adjust to the change. I'll keep you all updated over the next few days.

And, B, this is for you by request: The famous, Petit Julien!

Sólo quiero mi paquete!

2008-07-23T08:09:00.000-07:00

My mom was nice enough to send me a package in the mail a while back. I LIVE for packages from home! All the good stuff I can´t live without comes in those packages and I can hardly wait for them to arrive. So, I tracked this particular package online until it showed having cleared customs in Spain towards the end of last week. I expected it to arrive on Friday but it didn´t so I knew it would come on Saturday. Stupid me...Saturday came around and I left the house to run to the grocery store and wasn´t gone 15 minutes and wouldn´t you know...the delivery guy had come and gone and he left me a notice saying that he tried to deliver it but couldn´t. Normally they try two times before telling you that you have to go to the post office across town and pick it up on your own. This time, however, the notice said I had to go get it myself even though they had only tried to come once. So, bright and early on Monday morning I called the post office to ask them to try delivering to my apartment again since they had only tried once. Well, they told me I´d have to pay for this "delivery service" but it wasn´t very much so I agreed even though they cheated me out of that second try. (Explaining this was going nowhere) Sometimes it´s just easier to give in. So, the package was scheduled to deliver on Wednesday--today--between 9:00 and 1:00. But, I had to be at work so I asked the door lady to sign for it if it arrived and she said no problem. Well, the package never arrived. What did I do? I called the post office and this time I was told (using the number from the notice they gave me) that the package didn´t exist.

Me: "What do you mean that number doesn´t exist? It´s the number YOU guys wrote on my notice"
Postman: "It doesn´t exist"
Me: "That number worked on Monday when I called to request the delivery...which never happened"
Postman: "It doesn´t exist"
Me: "Hmm. I don´t see how that´s possible--I´m looking right at the number"
Postman: "You´ll have to come to the post office and let me see what they wrote"
Me: (being polite but now getting really annoyed) " What good does coming to the post office in person do if you´re going to read the number I´m telling you right now over the phone? The whole point of the home delivery is so that I don´t have to pay to get across town"
Postman:"Yes, I understand. But the number doesn´t exist"

And on it went...

30 minutes later I had gone to the bank for cash, gotten a cab and made it to the post office. Who did I meet? My friend from the phone! There is NOBODY in the office but me and when I walk up to the counter he says:

Postman: "Take a number!!"
Me: (Looking around confirming that I am indeed the only person in the room and thinking to myself "Are you serious, I have to take a number??"
Postman: (Drumming his fingers on the counter) "436!"
Me: "Weird, that´s me!" (getting a little sarcastic now)
Postman: "Let me see the number they gave you"
Me: (I give it to him)
Postman: (He goes to the back room and rummages around for a while and comes out with...THE PACKAGE!)
Me: "Oh, so you were able to find the package using the number, huh??"
Postman: "Hmm. Let me see your passport"
Me: (I give him my Spanish I.D.)
Postman: (Typing furiously on his computer) "This isn´t the package"
Me: "I see my mom´s handwriting and it has my name and address on it. What´s the problem?"
Postman: "This package just arrived today but you said you got your notice on Saturday."
Me: "Yep, that´s right"
Postman: "Well, I don´t think this is the right package"
Me: (Thinking this guy must be joking--he looks like he´s just loving the fact that he´s making me so angry)
Postman: (Goes to get a co-worker and shows her the mixup..she doesn´t care one bit and says, "give her the package, it must be a typo"). "I don´t think this is the right package"
Me: "That´s the right package! Just give me the dang package!"
Postman: (Shoves it at me.) "Here ya go."

Why oh why must these things be so difficult?

Memories

2008-07-21T12:28:00.000-07:00

I have been really bored lately and reading this post on other blogs has been fun. So, I´m hesitantly doing it as well...although I may end up taking it down if it gets too embarrassing or if nobody remembers me!

1. Add a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I (or Jake) had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments. I can't wait to see what people remember.

I tag everyone!

Internet-less

2008-07-20T04:15:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I´m currently sitting at a teeny, tiny internet café reading emails and such because my laptop went kaput on Friday. There is never a convenient time to be without the internet but right now was an especially bad time for this to happen! I can´t talk to Jake or my family without it! I have one more week of work to go before I leave on Saturday to go stay with Jake in Belgium for a while! At last! I have been crossing off days on a calendar every night and 3 weeks ago the 26th felt like it would never arrive...

Summer in Barcelona has been great so far. I have had some really fun times with girlfriends over the last few weeks going out to dinner, to the markets, cooking for each other, shopping the sales, chatting about work and how much we miss the guys, etc. Yesterday my friend and I braved the heat and went to Ikea. This is no small feat. It took us 3 hours in all because we had to ride the metro, transfer to another metro, ride to the very last stop and then walk a way just to get there. And everybody knows that once you´re actually inside Ikea it´s not exactly a relaxing experience. We decided we´d go against the flow and go in from the back so that we didn´t have to go all the way through the maze. All we needed were new shower curtains and things like that which seem to get ruined easily because of the humidity and mold. So, it was a successful trip but we looked like fools trying to get everything home on the metro! Maybe next time we´ll cab it...

One is the loneliest number

2008-07-10T12:00:00.000-07:00

Jake has only been gone 13 days but it feels like forever! It has been kind of a strange adjustment to be here in Barcelona alone while he’s working in Brussels. I think the first few days were particularly hard for us but we’re getting used to it more and more and it’s nice that we can see each other and talk via Skype every night. (By the way, if any of you are on Skype you should add us so we can talk to you, too!) Jake has settled into his new place in Belgium and likes his internship a lot. The weather there isn’t nearly as nice as it is here, however, so he tells me that he’s missing “home” quite a bit.
I’ve kept busy so far with work and reading books and hanging out with friends in my spare time. I even went to a Jack Johnson concert here a couple of weekends ago which was lots of fun. It has been a gorgeous summer here already and I love going for walks in the evening and just taking it all in. Sometimes I can’t believe how lucky I am to be living here. I have so many “pinch me” moments! I feel like I have a pretty full life here considering the relatively small amount of time we have lived in Barcelona. And although I miss Jake right now it’s satisfying to know that I can do it on my own for a while.
So, let the countdown begin. I will leave on the 26th to go join Jake in Brussels for a while! No puedo esperar!

To the U.S. and back again!

2008-06-24T09:04:00.001-07:00

Jake and I have already gone and come back from the US. We had so much fun! I had been missing home terribly before we left so it was really good for both of us to be able to see our families and spend a little time in Idaho. I didn’t get to see everybody I wanted while I was there but I did the best I could with only a week.

Our journey home began last Friday the 13th. We woke up early and got our suitcases down to the curb and around the block where we planned to get a taxi to get us to the airport. We waited about 30 minutes and neither of us had seen an available taxi drive by the entire time. We called the taxi company to find out what was going on and we were told there was a taxi strike and that we’d have to find public transportation to the airport. Great! We were already running late and we had 3 heavy suitcases which we had to drag down the metro stairs and on the train to the city center where we could find the airport shuttle bus. When we got to the city center we quickly realized that everybody else headed to the airport had the same problem as us and we had to get in the back of a very long line. We only had an hour before our flight by the time we got to the line and we were really worried about missing the plane. Luckily the buses were coming regularly and we got to the front of the line in about 30 minutes. But, that meant we only had 30 minutes until our flight left and it takes about that long to get to the airport. Yikes! We finally got to the front of the line and were getting onto the bus when Jake realized that he had left an entire suitcase behind in all the commotion. He had to run back to the end and look around and he finally located it when he saw a couple of policemen standing near it wondering why it had been left alone. They let him have it back and we made it on the bus just before they closed the doors. The next two bus stops before we arrived at the airport had even longer lines and we were pretty nervous when the door opened and huge crowds started yelling and pushing each other trying to get on the bus. We ended up at the airport with only 5 minutes to spare and we ran to get on the flight just as the last people were loading. It was a stressful way to begin the trip home but we were thankful to have made the flight at all! We had a long way to go: Barcelona to Amsterdam—Amsterdam to Minneapolis—Minneapolis to Boise—Boise to Twin Falls (driving). 3 flights and about 25 hours later we arrived in Twin Falls exhausted but happy to be there.

In one week we tried to do and see everything we had been missing. That’s not easy to do! We ate Thai food, Mexican food, American food, etc. I went shopping with my mom and Jake went golfing with his dad a number of times. The weather was great and my mom and I even took a few minutes downtown to relax and catch up.
Jake and I went down to the falls just to see how much water was there and to get a good look at the place we both grew up. Man, we really love Idaho. It was so great to see open land and stars and sunsets. Every time I go back I appreciate

where we came from even more.

Towards the end of the week we packed up our things and drove to Boise for my brother’s wedding festivities. We stopped at my brother’s apartment where I got to meet his adorable dog, Maggie. Here she is hiding under the table from all the guests.
On Thursday my brother’s fiancé treated all the girls to a spa day! We all went to the spa together and had manicures and pedicures. It was really, really fun! Even my grandma got in on the action. They had a pretty little patio outside where we all sat afterwards to let our nails dry in the sun..
On Thursday night we went to the rehearsal followed by the rehearsal dinner at the Cottonwood Grill in Boise. I recommend it if any of you are in Boise! The dinner was fantastic and we had a really good time sitting outside catching up with everybody. The wedding on Friday was so pretty and so much fun. My brother and his new wife, Katy, are very cute together. We wish them the best! I was honored to be a bridesmaid in the wedding and had a wonderful time getting to know Katy’s sister and her best friend who were also in the wedding. We danced the night away and were sorry to have it all come to an end.

We drove back to Twin on Saturday for a round of golf with Jake’s parents. I’m a terrible golfer but I had lots of fun trying! I was able to snap some pictures of the golf course because it’s so pretty in the summer and since that’s where Jake and I had our wedding reception a year ago. It was really windy that night but the weather held out for us. I had to golf in flip flops because I forgot shoes, haha. I’ll let that be the reason I had a score so high I lost count, haha.

On Sunday we said our goodbyes and headed back to the Boise airport. Another 3 flights and about 30 hours later we were back in Spain. I had mixed feelings about coming back since I miss everything and everybody so much in Idaho. But, Spain has been good to us and we’re going to love the 2nd year, I’m sure. We’re pretty jetlagged so today we slept until 3:15pm and now Jake is unpacking, doing laundry and getting ready to pack again because he moves to Belgium on Saturday. I am going to be so sad without him. We are rarely apart and I am going to try to be a big girl while he’s gone but I’m not much looking forward to it. As I mentioned before, I’ll get to go stay with him for almost a month so that will be really nice since he doesn’t get back until mid-September.
Anyhow, that’s my very long update for now..

One year down...

2008-06-07T07:20:00.000-07:00

and one to go! Jake is officially DONE with his 1st year of the MBA!! He took his last final yesterday morning and we went out with friends for dinner to celebrate! I keep saying this, but I honestly can't believe he is done with his first year--is it really June already? Where has the time gone!?

We had a really good time with our friends at dinner. We have spent quite a lot of time with all of them this year and it has been such an amazing experience getting to know them. It was really strange to be saying goodbye to some of them last night since the guys will be in 3 different countries for their summer internships. The girls are staying in BCN for a while so we will get to see each other but the guys won't be together again until September!

Jake and I leave this coming Friday for the US. We are really excited and can't wait to see our families. We haven't been back since we left last August. We will only be there about a week or so but it'll be wonderful since my brother is getting married! As soon as we get back, Jake has to pack up his things and head to Belgium to find an apartment and his job starts June 30. I will go visit him in July and hopefully stay for a while in August and then Jake will start his 2nd year of school in September. We're already trying to figure out where we want to end up when this is all over next spring. We're thinking Boise because we miss our families and we'd like to slow things down just a little. But, I think we're jumping ahead of ourselves and we'll just have to see what happens in the next year. It's all very exciting.

1 year anniversary!! ..and some very good news

2008-05-26T13:01:00.000-07:00

Today marks our 1st wedding anniversary! It's hard to believe that an entire year has already gone by! We have been so busy and had so many changes that time has really flown but what an amazing year it has been. Jake and I swapped cards (and gifts) today after work and we had to laugh because we wrote almost exactly the same thing to each other--that the past year has been the best of our lives and that we both feel lucky to have found each other. We celebrated by going to our favorite Mexican restaurant! Ole!

Jake was also recently offered the summer internship position he had been hoping for and today he accepted the offer!!! This is big news around here because it has been quite a long process! He will be in BRUSSELS, BELGIUM for the summer and is really looking forward to the challenge and opportunity. Sadly, I will have to stay in Barcelona for most of the summer to work but I do get a fair amount of time off in August so will definitely be visiting him there! It'll be sad to be apart for a few weeks but it's for the best and I couldn't be more proud or excited for him.

Brussels or bust! :)

Visitors!

2008-05-22T07:43:00.000-07:00

Jake's mom, Cheri, and his dad, Dave, along with our friends, Rich and Kathy, came to visit us here in Barcelona this week! We had SUCH a good time with them! They really spoiled us by taking us out for dinner every night! Last night we went to a flamenco opera that was so much fun. Our time with them went way too fast and they had to leave this morning. We really can't wait to see them in a few weeks when we go home for my brother's wedding. Thanks, guys, for everything!! It was so fun to see you!

Canary Islands

2008-05-12T02:21:00.000-07:00

Jake and I took the opportunity of having a long weekend to go to the Canary Islands with some friends of ours. We had such a great time and really enjoyed the nice weather. We really didn't do much of anything except sit by the pool and relax which is exactly what we wanted!

The pool at the hotel...

View from the hotel...

All I can say is that I need a tan!

The coastline..

Gettin' ready to leave :( ...waiting for the bus to the airport..

This was the view of the sun setting over Africa from the plane. Gorgeous!

May day and Labor day

2008-05-01T15:08:00.001-07:00

It's Labor Day around here today so we had the day off from work and school. It was divine! The weather was on the verge of hot so we went to the beach (although we weren't brave enough to sport the swimsuits just yet). It was fun to people watch and just walk around and enjoy the ocean air. Poor Jake got quite a sunburn but he definitely wasn't alone--we went out to dinner this evening and we noticed that LOTS of other people were sunburned too. Guess it's a reminder to start putting on the sunblock. Here are more pictures of us goofin' around today. Happy May!

St. Jordi

2008-04-23T12:52:00.000-07:00

Today we celebrated a new holiday called “El Dia de St. Jordi”. The celebration is a lot like our version of Valentine’s Day. All of the women are given roses from loved ones and the men are given books in return. I had heard about the holiday but I had no idea it was such a big deal until I left the house this morning to go to work and encountered tons of makeshift stands on the streets where vendors were selling flowers and books. They were even selling them at the school. All the busses were flying the Catalan flag today and I thought it was a really fun celebration. All day, no matter where I was or what I was doing almost every woman I saw was carrying a rose. Jake even showed up at my office early in the morning with a rose—my first St. Jordi gift! He had to buy a textbook for school today so we considered that his St. Jordi book, haha. Interestingly, I’ve heard that half of Catalunya’s yearly book sales (around 400,000) are made on this day!
Aside from the exchange of flowers and books it is tradition for sweethearts and families to take an evening “paseo” (a walk). We couldn’t miss out on our first St. Jordi paseo so Jake and I went to the center of town to walk around and were shocked to see how many people were in the streets. It was by far the biggest crowd I have ever been in. The pictures I took don’t do the experience justice. Plus, I ran out of memory on my card so my movies were cut short. But, it was a really fun thing to experience and I’m already looking forward to next year now that I’m a little more aware of the traditions.

April update

2008-04-19T04:05:00.001-07:00

It’s probably about time for an update since I haven’t posted anything this month! Time seems to be getting away from me now that I’m working full-time. I spend my days reading, writing, editing, going to meetings, etc. After work Jake and I take a very crowded bus home, change clothes, walk to the grocery store, lug everything home with us, make dinner, hand wash the dishes, throw some laundry in the machine then hang each and every sock, shirt, undergarment, etc. on the line to dry just in time to sit down for a few minutes and check emails and read the news online before going to bed. Whew! All in a day’s work here in Spain. …Not all that different from life in the States, I suppose, except that this requires a little more energy and elbow grease.
The weather these days is absolutely wonderful. There is still not one day that goes by where I don’t think to myself or mention to somebody how much I am enjoying the sunshine and mild temperatures. I know that the heat and humidity are just around the corner but for now I’m loving it!
Jake is still hanging in there and doing really well in school. He is finding himself with more free time these days since this trimester seems to be a little less demanding. Thank goodness, because he and his classmates were looking pretty worn out! I think I mentioned before that Jake’s MBA class is split into 3 sections in order to keep class sizes on the smaller side. Sections A and B are considered the “international” sections—representing somewhere around 50 countries—these classes are taught in English and Jake has been in section B up until now. The sections A and B students take Spanish classes aside from their regular business classes during the entire 2-year program, beginning classes according to whatever level they entered the program with, until they are able to pass an exam which means that they are considered bilingual. Since Jake passed this exam a while back he was able to apply to section C which is the Spanish-speaking section and now his classes are taught (and all of his nightly reading is done) mostly in Spanish. The students in his section are almost all native Spanish speakers from Spain, Mexico, South America, etc. Jake has really enjoyed his decision to change sections because it gives him the added benefit of getting to know more people in his class and also the chance to speak Spanish all day, every day. After all, one of the main reasons we came here was to get really good at Spanish! Aside from this, Jake has been working hard to secure a summer internship. He has had an offer and some good leads but it’s a big decision since the internship will hopefully lead to a long-term offer next spring and there’s a lot to consider!
In May we both have a four day weekend and we are FINALLY going to go somewhere! We’re headed to the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa! Before we came here we both envisioned frequent weekend excursions to cool European destinations (which we now laugh about) but the reality of Jake’s schedule and the fact that our US dollars are worth less and less over here every day has kept us enjoying ourselves around town instead. But, BCN is a great place to be and there is never a shortage of things to do and see.
I think that’s about it for us at the moment. We’re enjoying the last couple of months of the school year and finding it hard to believe how quickly our time here is going. We’ll be sure to update everybody on where we’ll be for the summer (if it’s not here) and, as always, post pictures of whatever we’re up to!

Happy birthday, Jake!

2008-03-24T01:58:00.000-07:00

Look who's 28 today!! Happy birthday, Jake! I love you tons!

6 months

1 year

2 years

3 years

27 years and 8 months...(close enough to 28!)

Spring Break '08

2008-03-22T02:40:00.000-07:00

Well, this week is coming to an end and, like always, the vacation has gone by way too quickly. We had such a fun time having our friends, Dave and Maegan, here with us. The weather wasn't as warm as we had hoped for but that didn't slow us down!

Annie and Maegan touring the Market...

Dave and Maegan by the sea....

Annie and Jake on the way to dinner...

Elma, to my right, was my "big sister" in our sorority in college. I haven't seen her in more than 4 years and she and her friends were also in town this week for their grad school spring break. We got to meet up with them for dinner one evening. It was so much fun to see her!

Dave, Maegan and Jake just before our hike up Tibidabo Mountain...

There's a restaurant with a great view about half way up the mountain. We stopped for a quick look at the view. This is Jake's voice in the video pointing out where we live....

Annie and Jake on the hike...

View of the top from 3/4 up the mountain...

Finally at the top!

Visiting the Dali museum...

Our last night together...out to dinner in BCN...

Let the break begin!

2008-03-15T14:41:00.000-07:00

Today officially marks the beginning of our Easter break! We have really been looking forward to this week off from work and school! Jake finished up another two day marathon of test taking (12 total hours of exams) on Thursday and Friday so he is now done with his 2nd trimester! We are staying here in town this week and we’re very excited that our friends from Seattle are on their way here to stay with us! We’re thrilled to finally have visitors—it will be so nice to see some familiar faces for a while. We’re hoping the weather stays nice and warm for them! It’s hard to believe we’re wearing t-shirts already over here—today when I Skyped my parents they showed me the new snow they got in Twin Falls today! We, on the other hand, were lucky enough to spend the evening at a friend’s house enjoying his new BBQ on the terrace. Oh, how we have missed grilling…

Tagged!

2008-03-12T11:52:00.000-07:00

Tagged! I was tagged by Laura so that means I will answer the questions that she answered on her blog. Thanks, Laura! I was all out of things to write about so maybe this will get me going again…

10 years ago…
Let’s see…10 years ago I was 15 years old. I ended 9th grade at O’Leary Junior High School and entered 10th grade at Twin Falls High School. Honestly, I strongly disliked (hate is such a strong word) 9th grade and was miserable but it was my only tough year in school (other than 3rd grade when I held the playground teacher’s hand every recess and refused to talk to any of my friends…that’s an entirely separate blog post though) so I can be glad about that. In 9th grade I completely lacked any self esteem whatsoever and really most of my memories involve Algebra class, haha. …Which explains why I was miserable. I put tons of pressure on myself to get straight As and being bad at math was not something I was willing to accept. So, I did hours of homework every night and was pretty much no fun at all. Luckily, however, 10th grade came around and it was significantly better. I met new people in high school and enjoyed the experience…as much as it can be enjoyed. When I was 15 I was also involved in Job’s Daughters and was “Honored Queen” for a semester, which was a good experience. It forced me to practice public speaking which helped the being shy thing a little. In the 10 years since then, I’ve learned to be a little easier on myself and life is a lot more enjoyable these days. I think that’s kind of a normal teenage to adulthood experience though…

5 things I did today…actually, I’ll go with yesterday since I was more productive …

1) Worked
2) Reorganized my dresser drawers and closet…I even used a folding board to make the pile perfect. Yes, a folding board—like you see at The Gap. I can’t fold without it and my husband really loves a nicely folded shirt, ha. Reorganizing, however, is not something I do often so I’m pretty proud of myself.
3) Went out to dinner with Jake…this is also something we don’t do much of these days…kind of an atypical day, I guess..
4) Read a little
5) Shopped online…but didn’t buy anything…just wasting time really

If I had a million dollars….

With one million I’d do all the boring things you’re supposed to do…pay off student loans, invest, put a down payment on a house, save the rest.... With unlimited funds, I’d really have to think because it’s not something I really plan on having and don’t put a lot of energy into thinking about--I do know that I would try to set up a really great university in South America. And give a bunch to cancer research. But beyond that I don’t know.

5 jobs I’ve had….and don’t ask me what career path I’m on because obviously your guess is as good as mine…

1) Research Assistant
2) Int’l ocean import/export logistics
3) C.N.A. during college….receptionist at a Dr.’s office as well
4) Dietary Aide at the hospital during high school
5) A short stint as a milkshake maker at the ShakeOut

Snacks I enjoy…

I just like to snack. I’d like to say that I love celery and soy beans but that would be a lie. I’m really picky about food but if it’s in my house that means I bought it and I’ll eat pretty much anything, anytime

Places I’ve lived…
Barcelona, Spain
Seattle, WA
Portland, OR
Quito, Ecuador
Salem, OR
Twin Falls, ID

My birthday

2008-03-04T06:02:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I turned a ripe old 25 years old! All said and done it was a good birthday. It’s always so special to get emails and calls and gifts. The day started out a little rough…another one of those bus strikes you all know I hate so much….it took me 1.5 hours to get to work. I finally broke down and took a taxi home from work but only after waiting an hour at the bus stop and another hour waiting for Jake to get out of school because, as usual, I didn’t have enough money with me. I have learned my lesson about not having taxi money! Once I was home, though, everything was fine again. I got to open all sorts of emails from friends and family which really made my day. My mom even sent a bouquet of flowers to my apartment. They’re gorgeous! Jake’s family sent me some really wonderful gifts as did my family so I had a lot of fun opening all the goodies. It’s funny to think of the things that have become a luxury these days: peanut butter, magazines, oatmeal, spices, etc. I got all of those in my care packages and more! Thanks, family! After dinner Jake and I had to go look at an apartment we were considering renting for next year but after that my friends took me out for some late night ice cream. So, it was a long day but I’d say it was a good and happy birthday. Thanks, everybody, for making it that way!....P.S. I did not pick out those curtains! They came with the apartment! :)

A little about us

2008-02-27T14:27:00.000-08:00

All of my friends are writing about their partners right now on their blogs since they get so little “air time.” Blogs are great for keeping in touch with what’s going on but they’re also great for getting to know people better so I think this is a really fun post. The pictures are a little random but it's fun to be able to share them so sorry if they bore you or if you wonder what we are doing in them. Here it goes…

Husband’s name: Jake (Not Jacob) David Werbeck

How long have you been married? Since May 26, 2007.

Who said “I love you” first? I did. That’s embarrassing. I feel so forward…but it had been almost a year. Somebody had to say it!

Who is taller? Jake is. He’s 5’10”. I’m 5’8”. I tend to feel taller but it’s not true. I just have a complex about being a “big” girl. I have been this tall since about 6th grade so I have always felt huge.

Who sings better? Jake does. He always sings jokingly but he’s actually quite good. I love to listen to him play the guitar (he’s great!) but sometimes he sings when he thinks I’m not paying attention and he’s wonderful.

Who is smarter? Well, our ACT tests say he is much smarter. I think they’re right. I have moments when I think I am kind of smart but then I usually follow up those moments by saying something really dumb or asking a really obvious question. I’m definitely remedial in math and science. So, he is.

Who pays the bills? Well, we have yet to find out….before we were married we paid our own bills. We have been living in Spain since we have been married and bills are automatically withdrawn from our joint account so….I guess companies pay our bills. It’s really nice!

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Well, Laura had a good point. It depends on whether you are in bed or whether you’re looking at the bed. So, I guess I sleep on the right side if we’re in bed but on the left if you’re looking at the bed. It used to be the other way around but I don’t like sleeping by the wall…

Who mows the lawn? Again, to be determined. We have never had a lawn. I once tried mowing the lawn for my dad but he freaked out when the lines weren’t perfect….I can see Jake reacting the same way…

Who cooks dinner? I do! Jake paces like a caged animal around dinner time if it’s not on the stove… but I don’t mind it and he thanks me for dinner every single night without fail. Sometimes he does the dishes for me too!

Who drives? Jake does…almost always. He drove every minute of the way home when we moved back to Idaho from Seattle. I sat in the front seat with my head out the window ready to barf….the U-haul was pulling on the car making me car sick. Plus I have this weird anxiety about driving—I’m okay if he’s with me but if I’m on my own and I don’t know where I’m going I about have a heart attack so it’s just for the best if he drives….

Who is more stubborn? I am. Jake is very good about admitting when he is wrong. I, on the other hand, am never wrong so it’s much harder for me to admit my shortcomings.

Who kissed who first? Jake kissed me. But not until our 3rd date.

Who asked who out? Jake asked me. We met at a party while we were both back home in Idaho for Christmas vacation and he emailed me a couple of weeks later. I was a junior in college and had just returned from studying abroad. He was living and working in Seattle. I’m not a big believer in “the one” type moments but I must say…we both “just knew.” We exchanged emails for a few weeks and then he drove from Seattle, WA to Salem, OR one night to take me on our first date. He knocked on my sorority house door (very brave of him) holding flowers. He must have wanted to die as my sorority sisters made a fuss over him. I gave him a tour of the house and introduced him to the girls (poor guy) and then he drove me back to Portland where he took me out to a great and very unique dinner (I remember that they had rabbit on the menu). After dinner we walked around not caring one bit that it was pouring rain and then he drove me all the way back to Salem that night. However, on the way back, I had to use the restroom so badly that all I could think about was that and I didn’t notice when we passed the exit to Salem until about 30 minutes afterwards. So, I finally admitted to him that it seemed like an awfully long drive and we found a gas station so I could go and then he drove me back to Salem…dropped me off….and he drove all the way back to Portland to stay the night with his sister. Why he asked me out again, I’ll never know. It was a total blonde moment. We had so much in common right away. We were both from Twin Falls. His sister even babysat me a couple of times when I was younger but I never knew him. We had many of the same teachers in school and laughed about that. We both loved Spanish and traveling and had lots to talk about there. He makes me laugh so hard and for some reason I amuse him as well…

Who proposed? Jake did…in the parking lot of Barnes and Noble. That might not sound romantic but it was. Here’s what happened: Jake and I are pretty good at communicating with each other so the fact that we wanted to get married wasn’t a surprise to either of us. It was just a matter of timing. I figured it would be another couple of years but late in 2006 Jake decided to apply to Business School in Barcelona. The whole time he was applying I was preparing myself mentally for the two year long-distance relationship we were about to have….again. I was sad but willing to do it. But, Jake had already planned to propose in the spring which I didn’t know. So, when he was accepted to school they only gave him 10 days to give them his decision! He expected to have a few months so he had to put his plans into action a little sooner than scheduled. We went home for Christmas and on the Friday before Christmas Jake went to my dad’s office to ask him if he could marry me…and take me to Spain for two years. Clearly, my dad said yes and was really excited although I kept wondering why he was so darn sappy with me that night, haha. He kept saying, “My baby is all grown up,” and I was like, “Dad, seriously, what’s with you tonight?” Then on Christmas Eve….4 years from the day we met….we were driving from my house to Jake’s parents’ house and we stopped for some coffee at Barnes and Noble in between. Marriage had been on my mind and Jake caught me snooping at wedding magazines in the store. So, when we walked out of the store to get back in the car Jake stopped me right there and said a bunch of really nice things…mentioning how he knew that I would hate being asked in front of our families and friends (I’m really shy) ….and then asked me to marry him. I was shocked, indeed, but was also excited and said “yes.” He felt so badly that he didn’t have a ring because of the mishap with the acceptance deadline and all but we had SO much fun doing the ring thing together. Hmmm…perhaps I had more fun than he did but it was special nonetheless. We got married in May and moved to Spain in August and life together continues to be wonderful.

Who has more siblings? I have one older brother. Jake has one older sister.

Who wears the pants in the relationship? I hope neither of us does. Obviously, we’re not perfect but we are good at compromising. We state our sides, listen to the other person’s point of view, make a joint decision and move on! So far so good!

More pictures/videos from the multi-culti!

2008-02-23T03:24:00.001-08:00

Here's a short video of the Indians showing us a traditional dance...

Here are the Spaniards dancing flamenco...

Random pics...

Multi-Culti 2008

2008-02-23T02:23:00.000-08:00

We have been looking forward to the IESE multi-culti for a while now! Even though we were tired from staying up late on Thursday night we pulled ourselves together and attended the multi-culti last night. The event is put on by the students so that people can represent their home countries by dressing in "typical" clothing and bringing food and drinks that represent their culture. The Americans, I'm sad to say, had to dress as truck drivers and hooters girls. It was so much fun to see what everybody showed up in. My favorite group had to be the Germans in their lederhosen, haha. It was a very entertaining night!

MEXICO!

AUSTRALIA!

ARGENTINA!

CHINA!

USA!

GERMANY!

ITALY!

JAMAICA!

CANADA!

BRAZIL!

THE NETHERLANDS!

KOREA!

Section B Dinner

2008-02-22T00:16:00.000-08:00

Jake's MBA class is divided into three groups for the entire first year so that they keep the class size small. He was put in section B at the beginning of the year and he's been taking classes with the same 70 people all along. Last night section B got together for dinner so that they could do something together other than sit in class or study or prepare for exams, etc. Since I work on campus I have gotten to know quite a few people in his section so it was fun for me to be there and be able to talk to everybody and their partners. It is still so amazing to me how many countries people in his MBA program represent. At our table alone last night people were from the USA, Kazakhstan, Brazil, Portugal, Malaysia, Taiwan, France the Philippines and Africa. Isn't that awesome!? Section B has spent so much time together since the beginning of the year that they are becoming really good friends. It's funny to watch them tease each other about things they say in class, or what their countries are like, etc. But, mostly they are really supportive of each other and it's fun to be part of such a diverse group of people. Dinner was really good and it was a fun night but we got home way too late for a school night!

Culture Shock

2008-02-21T08:22:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine recently recognized my culture shock “symptoms” and came to my rescue by sending me an interesting excerpt from a book she read (thanks, Donna!). The book is appropriately called “I’ve Had It” (by Robert Hopkins) and he talks about what culture shock really is, when it can be expected to set in and what can be done about it, etc. I liked the illustration—it makes me laugh—that is exactly how I have felt so far. When I first arrived here I was all smug thinking I wasn’t going to have to deal with culture shock because I’d lived in Ecuador and felt like it wouldn’t affect me since I was “seasoned” at living abroad, haha. Boy was I wrong. Studying abroad and having all your grocery shopping, meals, bills, etc. taken care of is NOT the same as living on your own. While I was reading the chapter I kept thinking, “Yes! That’s what I’m feeling—how does this guy know that!?” I didn’t know, for example, that my ordering American catalogues just to have something to read in English was a symptom of culture shock—I was ordering everything I could find that could be mailed abroad for free. I had no intentions of ordering anything but I wanted to get them in the mail, ha. (Yes, I do feel badly about the paper and postage that was wasted on me.) Anyway, the first few months I was absolutely elated to be here—everything was dreamy and different and exciting. Around January when Jake went back to school and I started working things started to feel a little less dreamy and a little more….realistic. According to the book I can expect culture shock to set in around the 6-8 month mark (guess what…we’ve been here 7 months!... I’m right on schedule!). Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE living here still and wouldn’t trade it for anything but the newness has worn off a bit and keeping some everyday annoyances in perspective is a bit more challenging these days. I don’t know what it is about the bus but, man, is that a struggle for me. This morning I waited at the bus stop very patiently and when it finally arrived everybody crowded around me and pushed and shoved their way through the bus door—I just kept thinking, “what’s so hard about forming a line and getting on one at a time!?!?” Even men shove in front of me—where’s the chivalry? Or, take for instance, the fact that every time I buy groceries and hold out my hand for my change the cashier slams it down on the counter in front of me so I have to pick up each coin one by one. It’s all I can do to pick my jaw up off the floor and not ask her why she can’t just hand it to me! I’m always amazed that people don’t get angry about these things but they seem perfectly calm as if everything is as it should be. This is where the book comes into play--I remembered this book chapter and I reminded myself that there are more ways in the world to do things (other than the American way) and neither is necessarily wrong or right—just different. As the author says, “It’s shocking to find out there are other ways to live and think about life.” So, my goal for the week (and beyond) is to see things with new eyes….starting with the "lineup" at the bus!

Tapas 101

2008-02-18T14:13:00.000-08:00

Since one of my dedicated blog readers asked me what tapas are I thought I'd post a little something about them just in case anybody else was curious... Spanish tapas are basically appetizers--they can be cold or hot. People here order a few of them in lieu of dinner since they eat their big meal around 2:00pm and just a few little snack items for dinner around 10:00pm. I, on the other hand, like to eat a lot at all times of the day! :) Often, whatever tapa you order comes on top of a little piece of bread, sometimes held together with a toothpick. Some typical tapas are fish, cured ham, fried anything or little salads. I have heard that tapas originated out of necessity years and years ago--people started to put little pieces of bread on top of their drinks to keep the flies out. Later people decided it was fun to have little appetizers to go with their drinks and apparently that's how it all started. Interesting, huh? Okay, maybe not, but there you have it!

View of Tibidabo Mountain

2008-02-18T14:01:00.001-08:00

Jake found this link that is a panoramic view of the little mountain we climbed a couple of weeks ago. I didn't have my camera with me when we went so I thought this would be a fun way for people to get to see what we saw. Enjoy! http://www.panoramas.dk/fullscreen/fullscreen33.html

San Valentín

2008-02-16T03:03:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Valentine's Day on Friday at a restaurant called Taller de Tapas. We love tapas for dinner because we get a little of everything we like! We had a good time at dinner and then spent the rest of the evening with friends celebrating the birthday of another IESE student.

The word of the day is "huelga"

2008-02-12T03:38:00.000-08:00

It's always easy to remember a new word in Spanish when not knowing it has caused some kind of problem and knowing it would have been really, really helpful. Today I learned the word "huelga" (strike) because I waited like a fool at the bus stop for over an hour in the cold wondering why in the world the buses weren't coming. I wasn't alone, however, or I might have caught on a little faster. There was a crowd of people waiting with me and we were all equally confused until somebody came up to us and told us there was a "huelga." A lot of people immediately left but a few people seemed to stick around so I figured "huelga" was another word for "behind schedule" or something. I had to get to a meeting and I didn't have any money for a taxi so I waited another 20 minutes until I couldn't take it anymore. I went home and asked my door lady what huelga meant and she explained to me that it meant the buses weren't going to show up at all today. I was really confused until I checked my dictionary and then it all made sense! A strike! I won't be forgetting that word anytime soon!

Anyway...Jake and I had a great weekend. He finished up with his midterm exams on Friday and we finally had a couple of days of free time! On Friday we found a cool pizza place in a funky neighborhood and had a great time there with friends. Saturday we went to our first movie here and saw "Into the wild." It was okay, but mostly it was fun to see a movie in English. On Sunday we set out on a walk just to get out of the house and we ended up hiking up Tibidabo mountain all the way to the top! It took us 2.5 hours and we were pretty beat but it was a beautiful sunny day and we had nothing better to do. There's a really neat church and a hotel and a little amusement park up at the top of the mountain which was fun to see. Since it was getting late in the afternoon we took the tram down the mountain instead of walking. It was really fun though and we want to do it again next weekend...or at least sometime soon.

Time for a change

2008-02-02T03:35:00.000-08:00

I've been feeling a little "plain Jane" lately in terms of my hairstyle so I decided to go get it cut. I don't usually get nervous about haircuts--I figure it will always grow out if it's a bad one. BUT, I've never seen so many mullets in my life as I have here in the last few months. I did not want a mullet so I admit that I was a little uneasy. But, my broken Spanish skills combined with pointing at photo books and gesturing seemed to get my point across to the stylist. And, I think it turned out pretty well. The pics aren't very good but here's the new look (longer in the front, shorter in the back...does that make it a reverse mullet??):

Celebrating

2008-02-02T03:27:00.000-08:00

Jake found out yesterday that he passed both his oral and written final Spanish exams! He's officially eligible for his bilingual degree! We celebrated by going out to our favorite tapas restaurant with a couple of friends.

Bien hecho!

The good, bad and the ugly

2008-01-31T13:12:00.000-08:00

Living abroad has its ups and downs...But, the good things far outweigh the bad. And, what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, right!?

10 Things I like about living in Spain:

1) Amazing weather—it’s incredible to wake up to blue skies every morning
2) The chance to speak Spanish everyday
3) The new friends I’ve made
4) Fresh bread and pastries everywhere I look (these might have to go on the other list if I don’t quit eating them)
5) Living in the city and very near the sea at the same time
6) Spaniards are dog lovers just like me! I love seeing all the cute dogs around—I have to give them credit—they are very well behaved.
7) Window shopping. I can walk for miles up and down all the streets and never get bored of just looking around.
8) I get exercise without meaning to! I have to walk a lot and they do love their stairs here so I get my workout without going to the gym.
9) I like not having to tip 15-20% for everything. It sounds mean, but it saves $!
10) It’s fun to live here and experience something totally different for a while. We already have so many good memories to take home with us!

10 Things I don’t like so much about living in Spain:

1) The constant, unavoidable second-hand smoke I’m forced to inhale because almost everybody here smokes
2) Our neighbors who fight very loudly all day (and night) long...which makes their yappy dog bark all day along with them…I hear them right now actually
3) The long walk from the bus stop to IESE. It is straight uphill. I show up everyday sweating and wheezing. Not pretty.
4) Hand washing every single dish we use. I’d give anything for a dishwasher right about now
5) Taking the trash out. The dumpster is far away and I avoid this chore at all costs.
6) Mean old ladies. I actually got hissed at today by a nasty old woman because I wouldn’t give up my place in line at the grocery store. I’m hungry and tired too! I had to laugh today when I saw an old lady push a grown man out of the way to get on an elevator. We all made it on the elevator anyway but she did the same thing to him as we were getting off, haha. He looked stunned and I can empathize!
7) Having to go to three different grocery stores for most of my recipes. Why can’t they just sell all ingredients in one place!?!? There’s no such thing as loading up the Subaru…I take only what I can carry.
8) Not having a clothes dryer. Our clothes/towels/sheets feel like cardboard after they dry.
9) The only English channels on tv play repeats of the same shows and same episodes over and over. I think I’ve seen the same Law and Order episode 5 times. Can’t they change it up a little? We pay extra for those English shows!
10) Siesta. It is really annoying that everything closes down every afternoon from 2pm-5pm. Those are prime hours for gettin’ things done. It can’t be efficient to open and close a business twice a day, right?

A day in the life..

2008-01-27T09:45:00.000-08:00

Well, today I’m finally starting to get some relief from my cold. I’m still not feeling great, however, so tomorrow I’m headed to the doctor which I’m really dreading. But, hopefully I’ll be able to get over this once and for all and move on!

This morning I woke up and was excited to make pancakes for brunch. Pancake mix is really hard to come by and very expensive (as is syrup) but we found it at the grocery store and splurged just so we had something to look forward to today. Unfortunately, the pancakes didn’t come out at all for some reason and I ended up throwing the batter out because they were so gross. I think I may have converted my grams/cups incorrectly…the grams/ml thing still confuses me :)… Then, this afternoon while making lunch on the stove, we lost power and I was starving and starting to get cranky! But, Jake got it working again so we were back in business in no time. Good thing, because I was not looking forward to cleaning out the fridge and freezer in the dark. Otherwise, today was a beautiful day. It was nearly 65 degrees and sunny and for some reason it just felt really good. We have officially turned off our heater! This afternoon we even opened up the front window for a while. I haven’t been getting out of the house much recently so a friend and I went out for coffee. There’s just something about a friend to gossip with and a cup of warm coffee outside in the sunshine that really lifts your spirits. I think I needed it more than I realized. I spent the rest of the afternoon timing Jake while he practiced a speech he has to give in front of his class tomorrow. Poor Jake—I really hate public speaking so I feel badly for him that he had to spend his day writing/memorizing/practicing. Yuck. I’m sure he’ll do a great job, though. Aside from his presentation tomorrow, he also takes his final Spanish exam! We’re excited because if he passes (which he will) then he won’t have to go to 1.5 hours of Spanish class after his regular business courses everyday!! (One has to wonder why we did this to ourselves, haha) Anyway, Yay! This means he’ll be home at 3:30 instead of 5:30 and it’ll give him a lot more time to do homework in the evenings. I really think this will be a huge help because as it is he’s studying until midnight and getting up at 5:00 every morning. I don’t know how he does it.

My new job is going well so far. I’m conducting interviews and writing case studies, among other things, so it is really challenging but rewarding as well. The plan for me is to focus on one research project (on private equity) for the next year-and-a-half that I’m here in Spain so I feel like I’ll really learn a lot. I’ll also get to travel to London to do an interview in person which I didn’t expect at all. The professor I’m working for is really nice and he also happens to be a prince, which is interesting. So, things are going well and I’m happy to be working again.

...That's about all I can think of for now! Hasta luego!

Feeling sick and homesick

2008-01-21T05:45:00.000-08:00

First of all, sorry for the complaining that's about to happen, consider yourself warned! Today I'm at home having a big pity party. It's pretty pathetic, to be sure, but I have ANOTHER cold/flu! This marks my fifth cold since arriving in Spain (I know because I have been sick once a month since we got here) and I'm feeling pretty dang sorry for myself these days, haha. I can't explain why I get sick so much since nobody around me seems to be sick but if I leave my apartment to go to the store, or get on a bus to go to work, or take the metro it's almost a guarantee that I'm going to end up with somebody's cold! Why is that? I've always been kind of a "sick kid" and I just hate that about me but I guess that's just the way it goes. I'm getting weird about washing my hands when I get home from being "out" just to try and prevent this crumminess but it doesn't seem to be working. I woke up last Thursday with the same old symptoms...really tired, sore throat, tight chest, body aches, the whole 9 yards. I'm the first to admit that I'm a huge baby when I'm sick (Jake would agree) but I feel like I get more than my fair share of the germs. I wash my hands, eat right, exercise, sleep 8 hours a night and still! So, what do I do when I get sick, I get homesick as well. Nothing makes you want your mom more than having to go to the pharmacy (they don't sell any kind of medicine in grocery stores here)and try to describe your symptoms in Spanish...that is vocabulary I have yet to develop but at this rate, I should be an expert in cold/flu lingo in no time. I hate talking to people when I'm sick because I'm soft spoken on a good day and without much of a voice it ends up becoming a game of charades. No fun at all.

Just an update

2008-01-08T12:08:00.001-08:00

This week all the fun and relaxation is coming to an end. I started my new job yesterday and so far so good! It is already challenging (but in a good way) and interesting and I am able to work from home or in my office whenever I want so from what I can see, it’s going to work out really well. Jake goes back to school on Thursday and so begins another long semester for him. He’s getting nervous about all the work ahead of him but he’s done it once and I know he can do it again…well, 4 more times actually since he’s got that many semesters left in the program.
Even though we didn’t end up going to Rome or Paris this break like we had wanted we enjoyed every minute of the time off together. It took Jake a couple of days to relax when the vacation first began but eventually he was able to forget about case studies, exams and internship applications (for the time being) and he seemed to like not doing much of anything for the last couple of weeks.
Highlights of our first Christmas break in Spain were spending holidays with friends, eating LOTS of good food, and seeing a bit more of the countryside while breathing fresh air…meaning air that doesn’t smell like the back end of a moto! I think my personal highlight, however, was reversing roles when I got up and went to work today while Jake stayed home to do the chores. I came home to this:

How can you not love that!? That’s about all the news we’ve got for now but we’ll keep posting as things get going again for both of us…

Day trip to Sitges

2008-01-05T11:14:00.001-08:00

Jake and I started off the new year with a day trip to a coastal town called Sitges. We decided to make the best of a really rainy day and take the train to the coast since Jake hadn't seen it yet. Despite the rain, it was fun to go and get out of the house. It was raining so hard that we ducked into a little Italian restaurant for refuge for a couple of hours and had some tasty pasta which we don't get very much around here. Here are some pics of us doing our best to stay dry...

A look back at 2007

2007-12-31T10:20:00.000-08:00

As 2007 comes to a close, I find myself getting a little nostalgic as I leave behind one of the most, if not the most, eventful years of my life. As with any year, I have experienced ups and downs…although mostly ups…and there have been so many changes in my life that sometimes I am in disbelief about all that has happened. Even though I have been living in Spain now since August, sometimes I wake up in the morning and for a brief second I forget that I am here in Barcelona and not back home in Seattle…or Oregon…or Idaho. Not in the States at all. I find it liberating to be in a position for the very first time in my life where I’m not waking up to an alarm and a day jam-packed with school or work. I know I’m lucky to be in this position, but before coming here I couldn’t imagine what I would do with a day...much less many days…where I didn’t have somewhere to be and someone to report to. School and work pretty much define a young person’s life and not having either of those made me feel like a fish out of water for a while. It sounds trite, but these past few months of “free time” have been life-changing. I decided early on in this adventure that I would probably never have time like this again all to myself (during the day while Jake’s at school) and that I should use it wisely and really appreciate it. So, I made a list in my journal back in August of all the things I have always wanted to do but have never had the time (or at least taken the time) to do. Here are just a few…along with my progress on each of them:

1) Learn Spanish! Not just study it, but become fluent. This one seems like a no brainer but I seemed to have hit a certain point at which I stopped learning (or at least noticing the learning curve) and I feel like I have hit a wall in terms of significant progress. You’d think that living in Barcelona would be an easy place to learn but being that we live in the heart of Cataluña (which is the province)…people here mostly speak, and are proud to speak, Catalan. While people are willing to speak Spanish if I begin a conversation, it’s not what you usually hear on the streets so just “picking up the language” is not as easy as it seems. Nonetheless, I am noticing that my confidence level has improved, if not my vocabulary, and just being willing to try is half the battle. So, the struggle continues…

2) Photography. I have always liked taking pictures for some reason. I like the adage “a picture is worth a thousand words” because it is just so true. I love that in one picture you can see whether somebody is young or old, happy or sad, where they are, what they’re doing , etc. I’ve been taking a lot of pictures during the last few months and perhaps that’s why my blog is mostly pictures instead of words. This is one of my favorites:

3) Music lessons. I have yet to accomplish this one. I’d like to start learning an entirely new instrument, like the cello. I’m waiting to feel more comfortable with the Spanish before I dive into lessons.

4) Join a gym…and actually go! I have already joined a gym here but not long after doing so I started to think I was nuts for spending the money on it in the first place. I walk EVERYWHERE here and I am eating all the time because I’m hungry all the time from burning up calories (no, I’m not losing weight). So, I promptly quit the gym…life’s too short. As long as I’m getting some form of exercise it’s good enough for me!

5) Fill in some education gaps. I don’t really have a specific example for this one but sometimes I feel like I wasn’t paying attention in history and government class or something because aside from Pearl Harbor Day (for some reason that date actually stuck) I can’t remember much at all about American…or European…or any other history. It’s embarrassing and I have a fear of being on Jay Leno someday because I’m one of those people who is CLUELESS about our nation’s history. So, I have taken it upon myself to re-teach myself all the important things that I should know by reading various books, particularly an American history daily devotional. (I’m sure my brother is cringing at this one since he’s got his masters degree in American History).

There’s a lot more on my list including flamenco dancing, sculpting class and volunteering but for now I’m managing to keep busy and I’ll start working in January so all of this self improvement might come to an abrupt halt. In any case, it has been an opportunity to stop and think about what I’m good at, what I want to improve on, and what I want to do next.

Jake, on the other hand, is having an entirely different experience. While I’m learning to relax, he has never been busier. Still, somehow we’re able to make virtually living on different planets work well. He is good about listening to me babble about what happened at the grocery store and I…I think…am good at taking the frustrations of his time-consuming schedule in stride. Since we got engaged at the end of last year, married in May, quit our jobs in June and moved here in August we have had to really depend on each other for support. He asked me the other day whether or not I would make the same decision to come here if I could do it over again and my answer was that I couldn’t imagine life without this experience. His was the same. I fully intend to bore my future children and grandchildren to tears with stories about our time here. I think a lot of what we accomplished in 2007 will carry over into years to come and here’s hoping 2008 is just as full of adventure and love!

Christmas

2007-12-27T04:40:00.000-08:00

On Christmas Eve, Jake and I went to our friends' house for a delicious pot roast dinner. It's nice to have a pseudo family here in Barcelona--especially around the holidays.

Here's our friend, Victor, cutting the cured ham for some pre-dinner appetizers. These ham legs are a traditional Christmas gift here in Spain since almost all families have one in their kitchen at all times.

Christmas day was a lot of fun, even though we missed our families. Jake and I opened all the wonderful gifts our family sent and then we made a non-traditional brunch of Mexican rice, black beans and eggs.

Jake was nice enough to indulge the Harris family tradition (actually an English tradition) of wearing a paper crown (from a "Christmas cracker") during brunch.

And, as part of Jake's family tradition, we saved our stockings until later in the day...

We even got these goofy hats to put on when we skyped our parents...

We went to our friends' house for Christmas dinner...

All in all, we had a very merry Christmas!

On the 26th we went to Girona for another dinner with our Spanish friends' family. It has been so much fun for Jake to be able to see more of the city and the surrounding area since his break began! We woke up early to take the hour train ride..

El Caga Tio

2007-12-23T09:02:00.000-08:00

Here's a picture of what Spaniards call the "Caga Tio". It's a local Catalan tradition (kind of a weird version of our Christmas tree) where families stuff a hollowed-out log full of gifts and then offer it food in the weeks leading up to Christmas. On Christmas day Catalan children cover the log with a blanket and beat it with a stick until it "expels" presents. Hence the name "poop log." It's definitely a new experience for Jake and I this year as people here wish us a big poop...lots of gifts...and a happy New Year!

Our friends gave us our very own Caga Tio as a gift...

Our Christmas tree

2007-12-14T01:54:00.000-08:00

I had to post a picture of our little Christmas tree. It's kind of a Charlie Brown tree but for 7 euros I think it's the best looking tree around. I lugged it home with me on the metro and got some strange looks but I was just so happy to have found a little, inexpensive tree that I could decorate and put our gifts under so that on Christmas we get to wake up to something cheery and all our own. Jake has finals on Mon., Tues. and Wed. of next week and then he's done with his first semester!! I know he's really looking forward to the break. We have been planning to go to either Rome or Paris for a while now but we might stay home and go on a skiing trip in February instead. I'm happy to report that I got the job I had applied for and will start working at Jake's school in January! So, for now I'm enjoying my last couple weeks of free time.

Adventures in Girona

2007-12-13T12:09:00.000-08:00

Before my mom left we were able to see one last town about an hour trainride just outside of BCN, called Girona. Unfortunately, we got a late start so we didn't get there until late afternoon but we were able to have lunch and see just enough of the town to know that we have to go back asap. It was a beautiful canal-type town that lacked the noise and crazy fast pace of Barcelona. Although I love where I'm living, it is so nice to go to these little towns for some fresh air and a little peace and quiet. My mom loved it in Girona so when she comes back we'll definitely be

spending more time there.

Mom's visit!

2007-12-10T14:40:00.000-08:00

My mom is here visiting this week and we have already covered a lot of ground! She arrived early Wednesday morning and since then we have been on the go. We have walked a TON and have had a great time. We rode a double-decker, roofless tour bus around the city and about froze but it was such a fun and easy way to see all the sights. On Sunday we took a regular tour bus outside of the city and went to a beautiful winery. After the winery, we went to a nearly thousand-year-old Benedictine monastery located on the top of a mountain called Montserrat. The basilica there is still in service and it is where the most ancient boys’ choir in Europe still sings. The view from the top of the mountain was stunning but the wind was cold! From there we went to a beach town called Sitges right on the coast. It was dark and pretty cold but we had a walking tour around the city which was a lot of fun at night. Today we shopped ‘til we dropped and tomorrow we’re headed to another small town just outside BCN to tour the DalÍ museum. Sadly, she’s headed home on Wednesday and the week has gone too fast but it was so much fun to have her here and to be able to show her around the city.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2007-11-30T15:09:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited that Christmas lights are starting to show up all around the city. It's fun to be in a new place to see how others celebrate the holidays but I'm happy to know that they are just as much into the lights as we are in the U.S. It's beautiful to walk around at night when all the buildings are aglow.

A little bonding time

2007-11-30T14:52:00.000-08:00

Last night was fun. My good friend did a little networking and was able to get 9 women together for some female bonding. Four of us were "IESE wives/partners," some were "ESADE wives" (another business school), and some are here in BCN to attend cooking school or teach English. It was such a good opportunity to get to know some more girls here in Barcelona and hear about what they are doing and how they are spending their time. The women present represented almost every corner of the U.S. but we instantly had so much in common just by being here. I've been surprised by how many women just like me that I have been able to meet already. We're looking forward to more evenings out together while the boys are at home studying. (It's crunch time for them right now). It really helps to get through this time of year when we're missing our famlies, our hometowns and our old routines.

Elf yourself

2007-11-29T08:59:00.000-08:00

A few of our friends have recently "elfed themselves" so we thought we'd do the same...it's pretty funny--especially since I accidentally made Jake the girl elf and myself the boy elf. Oops: http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9634813191

Love is in the air

2007-11-26T06:30:00.000-08:00

Today is a very exciting day for us. It is, after all, our 6 month wedding anniversary! (No, we didn’t really celebrate it or anything) but I can’t believe how quickly time passes! Today is also my parents’ 31st wedding anniversary. And, so that I don’t leave them out, it is also only a few months until my big brother gets married! Wow, lots of love going around today.
A recent conversation with a friend of mine regarding random blog posts has prompted me to write a little something impromptu today. Not so much for everybody else to read, but so that I have a little diary entry of sorts to look back on in the months to come. There are fleeting moments such as I had today when I feel like our little apartment in Spain and the new life we’re living has really become home. For instance, I got a job offer today!!! Considering that everything works out (there are some loose ends to tie up), I’m hoping to be employed again which is a bigger deal to me than most can imagine. I’m actually looking forward to waking up early again. Nothing like a few months in a tough job market to give a little perspective on the joys of having to get up and work every day…finally, a routine!
Also, and this is strange, but I had a sense of that “home at last” feeling today when I went to the grocery store then stopped by the “Orient Mart”—a hole-in-the-wall Chinese-owned junk store—to pick up an extension cord and a recipe book. (Honestly, you can get anything at this place, it’s weird). Then I stopped at the tobacco store to buy stamps (…no, these places don’t remind me of home…just keep reading). Why do they sell stamps at the tobacco stores? I have no idea, but knowing these little tricks about my neighborhood is fun…like knowing a secret that nobody else knows unless you’re a “local”. Then, on his way home from school, Jake stopped by the bakery to get bread for dinner and when the baker gave him the last, crusty, been sittin’ out all day piece he asked for the bread in the back room and viola! I fresh baguette! A poor, unsuspecting tourist would have had to live with the old bread but now we know how to get what we want around here! Home at last!

Thanksgiving #2

2007-11-25T04:20:00.000-08:00

This year we were lucky enough to have two Thanksgivings. Our friend’s mom invited us to her house just outside of Barcelona for another turkey dinner. It was so nice to get outside of the city for the first time since we arrived here. There were actual houses and open land and fresh air! We arrived at her house just as the sun was setting and when we walked inside the table was set beautifully. Her entire Spanish family had gathered to celebrate Thanksgiving with us. For many people, it was their first Thanksgiving but they celebrated as if they had been their entire lives. They took a genuine interest in what Thanksgiving meant to us and we even had the opportunity to go around the table and say what we were thankful for—just like at home! It was really moving. Not to mention the food was nothing short of amazing—some of the best food I’ve ever had. It was incredible to me that complete strangers would welcome us in their home, talk to us like old friends and help us celebrate a tradition that isn’t even their own with such interest and zest. No matter what happens from here on out, the evening will go down in history for Jake and me as one of our best memories in Spain. We ended up doing the wave at the dinner table and then danced in the living room. I think we may have added some new things to our Thanksgiving traditions!

Thanksgiving #1

2007-11-23T01:49:00.000-08:00

For Thanksgiving Jake and I were invited to a fellow American’s apartment for a potluck-style dinner. The student that hosted the dinner at her apartment was nice enough to invite nearly 20 Americans! Each couple or person at the party was assigned something to bring (we had mashed potato duty since we're from Idaho) and I couldn’t believe how wonderful all the food turned out since finding truly American items can be difficult here to say the least. Not to mention the difficulty of cooking those items without proper utensils, appliances, etc. We had two turkeys (they’re small here and which my poor friend had to pluck before cooking), homemade stuffing, brussels sprouts, pumpkin soup, apple pie…it was the real deal. I think the only thing we really couldn’t come up with was cranberry sauce. It was such a good time and although we missed our families and ate off of paper plates I think we all felt at home away from home. Unfortunately for Jake (and the other students), Thanksgiving is obviously not a holiday the Spaniards celebrate so he was exhausted from being at school all day and worried about the hours of homework that awaited him at home. Sadly, he had to get up at 5:00 this morning to study and get to school. Not quite the Thanksgivings of our childhood but we’ll take what we can get. If nothing else, the evening was a reminder of all that we have to be thankful for—each other, the opportunity to live abroad, and…American food!