Aventura de Espana - Introduccion

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I was presented with the opportunity to take a trip to Spain - an opportunity I couldn't dream of passing up. One of my friends currently lives over there, working as an English teacher and tutor, and after her generous invitation to visit, I happily accepted, booked the trip, and waited for the dream to become a reality.

I woke up early that Thursday morning feeling, well to put it bluntly, shitty. Unfortunately, I developed a bad cold earlier that week, and despite my best efforts at warding it off (drinking a lot of water and orange juice, popping Zicam, and trying to get as much rest as possible) I couldn't shake it before my vacation began. After my shower, I sat down at the table for breakfast. On the menu: a belgian waffle with a side of tears. The idea of being sick as I was about to venture off for a 10 day vacation in another country was not sitting well with me and it frustrated me to the point of tears. After my dad asked if I needed to postpone the trip and I said no, he said (in a loving way) that I needed to stop crying, because that would do no one any good. Knowing he was right, I dried my tears, ate my waffle, and got ready to go.

My parents drove me to O'Hare, I got checked in, we said our good-byes, and off I went. As I went through the security, I was one of the lucky ones chosen to go through the body scanner and after seeing that I had nothing to hide, I continued on towards my gate. After a short 2 hour flight to Atlanta, I arrived to the airport there, and just in case any of you were wondering, I sang (to myself in my raspy voice) "Welcome to Atlanta where the playa's play..." cuz why wouldn't you - hello, I was in Hotlanta, and had to pay my respects to Mr. Dupri. Anyway, after getting that out of my system, I continued on my journey, boarding the Boeing 777 and got settled in my seat for the 7.5 hour flight to Madrid.

The flight went relatively smoothly. I was seated next to a guy who lives in Florida but is from Spain and was going back for a 6 week visit with his family. Minus him spilling his tomato juice (luckily none got on me), he was the dream neighbor to have on the plane - no body odor or any bodily noises to speak of, not overly talkative, and didn't wander over into my leg/arm space.

Another plus was Delta's On Demand system - there were lots of new/great movies to choose from, as well as TV shows, music, and games. I watched The King's Speech (which is excellent) and Unstoppable (okay movie, but kept entertained by watching Chris Pine) and an episode of Glee, and did a little reading and sleeping in between.

I arrived to the Madrid Barajas Airport at 7:25 A.M. Friday morning, as scheduled and after getting mi maleta from baggage claim, I met up with Emily and so began my Aventura de Espana.

Update: Aventura en Espana

I arrived back to EEUU after spending 9 days in Spain - 1 day in Madrid and the rest spent in the Asturias region.

I've been asked lots of questions about the trip and I plan on sharing my experience on my blog, however, the internet is currently not working on my computer. So, all that will have to wait, but stay tuned!

With my limited time right now, I will say this - I am so thankful for the opportunity I had to take this trip and can say that I had an amazing time while there. I tested out my Spanish skills(though I barely had a voice for the majority of my trip), tried many different types of food, met a lot of great people, took advantage of the different stores/boutiques, and enjoyed living the lifestyle of the Spanish people. It was a once in a lifetime vacation and am so glad I was able to go.

Easter Sunday Photos

We had a photo shoot before church this morning. Here are the winners in the "Auntie" category...my nieces are smiling on the inside :)

Karmin

So while perusing the music blogosphere tonight, I am across Karmin. They are a pop duo who do a lot of covers but also have an EP out of original songs. After watching a few of their cheesy videos and hearing a few of their original songs, I'm kinda hooked.

Nick is super cute and Amy's style and her hair - oh her hair - has me sooo envious!!! She even has some tutorials, including a curling iron technique and how to do a mohawk, both of which I plan to try out.

Notable covers include, Look At Me Now, Whip My Hair, and Less Than Perfect.

Toms vs Bobs

I didn't hear about Sketchers' Bobs shoes (established in 2010) until earlier this week, but I was a little turned off by the whole thing (as if their Shape Ups weren't enough of a turn off).



These shoes not only look just like Toms, but the concept behind them is the same - for every pair of shoes you purchase, they donate shoes to children in need.

Now, I'm not necessarily upset that Sketchers wanted to mimic such a charitable program, as we should all be promoting the idea/concept of giving back, but what I'm not so into is the fact that they didn't even come up with their own design.

I'm siding with Toms on this one, for reasons that include but are not limited to originality, creativity, Toms not creating a "shape ups" shoe and the man behind it all:



...need I say more? :)

New Purchase

In preparation of my upcoming trip, I decided a new bag was in order - something that would be close to my body, hands free, big enough to hold all my traveling necessities (passport, phone, camera, money, etc) but small enough to not be irritatingly bulky/heavy. I've been eyeing this bag for a while and finally pulled the trigger tonight. It was a little more than I wanted to spend, but in the end, worth it. I knew I really wanted it when I became disappointed because I couldn't find it in the spot I saw it before. Luckily, I saw one tucked away on a nearby shelf. Phew, crisis averted. It's a great bag and I know I'll use it a lot.

Slob Stopper

I came across this today while on Someecards. So funny.