My Office

I get an office this year at school. Okay, not really, I just get a study carrel in the library as the schools way of saying "you are going to be spending so much time here this year, you should have a place to house all of your stuff."

Yeah, thanks school.

Here it is, the place I spend countless hours writing my long paper, editing articles, and studying:

It even has my name on it . . .

well, at least it is close to a window!

My Brain Hurts

It really does.

But I just watched the biggest loser last night for the first time and now I have been inspired. They pushed through all of their physical pain to get to 500 steps, or run a mile. They did it because they knew it would help better them in the long run. Even when their body said, "stop" they pushed through because they knew they could do it.

In comparison.

I know I can keep studying even if I don't want to or if I think I can't. I can push through the "mental pain" that my brain thinks it is having. I set a time that I can stop tonight, and I will go until that time because I know it will make things easier in the long run. It will be easier to study at finals time, easier to get that A, and easier to get the job because I have that A.

Okay, motivational post for myself . . . now back to studying Agency

Kitchen Chalkboard

We've had this old mirror sitting in the garage for about two years:

I found it in Chris' attic and thought that it would great addition to our house. It turns out the mirror was too far gone for me to be able to use again, but I didn't want to waste such an awesome frame. With inspiration from this girl, who loves herself some chalkboards, I decided to turn the mirror into a chalkboard for my undecorated 10ft kitchen walls!

I ran into some trouble when Chris informed me that this plan would not work. He said that if I were to paint chalkboard paint onto the mirror, it would chip off instantly. Putting anything in place of the mirror was impossible because the frame was so old and we knew it couldn't handle any changes. So I decided to do a "test frame" to see if my original idea would work. I took a tiny frame that I wasn't going to use for anything else and tried it out. Low and behold, if you put enough layers of paint onto the glass/mirror, it holds without scratching (ahh . . . it's nice to be right sometimes).

Here is the practice run:

After proving myself right, I set off to paint the big frame. First I sanded, then I washed, and then I sanded and washed again. Once all was dry I painted the frame a midnight blue to match my plates, and the mirror with chalkboard paint. (sorry I didn't get any inbetween pictures).

We decided to use the chalkboard to keep track of our "settlers season" winners (cause we're cool like that . . .)

I love the way it turned out:

It looks so great in my kitchen (and it covers up some of the holes from the old cupboards.)

As for the rest of my in progress DIY projects . . . my frames are waiting for pictures, which are going to be taken on Nov. 11, so seeing those hanging on the wall is going to have to wait until then. My "big" project just needs some wall decals (which are set to arrive this week) and then it will be complete.

famous . . .

http://www.leonard.com/careers/law-students

. . . okay, not really, but kinda cool anyways :)

Spain Sunday: What I learned

Spain was such an amazing experience filled with many firsts. First time traveling abroad by myself, first time to Europe, first time taking the train every where . . . you get the idea. Spain provided me a wealth of learning opportunities that I hope not to forget.

I learned . . .

• I can safely travel by myself, the world isn't as scary as people make it out to be.
• Traveling smart saves you the headache. I tried not to be a dumb tourist and kept track of all my belongings, this allowed me to come back with everything that I brought :)
• Traveling alone is fun, but traveling with your best friend is amazing. I can't imagine my trip without Chris being there for part of it, he really is my best traveling companion!
• Learning a new language is hard and frustrating, but having your first conversation with a local (and having them understand you) makes all of the work worth it.
• I am really interested in history. At every site I couldn't wait to hear more about the history of it, and of Spain, and of the World. I even bought a book on Spain history so I could learn more . . . nerdy, I know.
• I need vacations. Away from home, away for "my world" vacations. I can really relax when no one can get a hold of me while I am laying at the pool :)
• The world is filled with amazing people, I was lucky to meet some of them on my trip

And so many other things I can't think of right now. I was so fortunate to be able to go on this trip and I can't wait to start planning our next adventure.

Spain Sunday: Food

Well the food in Spain was not the greatest in my opinion. Apparently some people disagree with me because when I was at the doctor's office I picked up a newsweek and they had labeled Spain as the country with the best food! I guess I just don't have much of a taste for seafood, and that was most what they had for specialties.

My favorite food was Gazpacho. It is a pretty simple soup served cold. It mostly consists of tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers ground up into liquid and served with bread. It was excellent for a warm day.

Main meals usually consisted of a HUGE slab of meat. I had some good veal, but most of the beef was chewy and gross. We also had some amazing pork at our favorite Salamanca restaurant which also had the BEST green olives EVER!

Big slab of meat:

Best pork at our awesome Salamanca restaurant:

My other favorite was Catalan soup. This was a garlicky, oniony soup filled with bread. It was delicious:

I also loved the stuffed peppers. I got them everywhere I went, but somehow I never got a picture of them, oh well.

Stay tuned for next weeks last Spain Sunday post!

Spain Sunday: My Favorite Sites

Although my favorite sites in Spain were definitely all of the castles and palaces, there were a couple of other sites that were very cool and are worth a mention.

Spain was a very popular region during the Roman Empire, so the country is speckled with some really awesome Roman ruins. I was in awe of how technological they were in those days. And also in how a single ruin can be filled with so much history. My favorite Roman ruins were:

The Roman Baths

The Roman Theater

And the Roman aqueduct in Segovia that is still in use today. The interesting about this one is that the Romans did not even have a town in Segovia. It is only where their armies stayed to make sure all of the overtaken cities surrounding it were following the laws. They built the aqueduct as a symbol of Roman power.

The other amazing sites were the churches. This was the Pilar in Zaragoza. Unfortunately the lift in the tower was under construction so we could not go up. But it was still a really amazing building.

Next up is the architect Gaudi's last work, the Sagrada Familia. It still is under construction because he died before it was able to be completed and it was lacking in funding for a while. It was really an awe inspiring building fit for a church. You can just see his architectural genius in the creativity throughout the building.

The inside was made to look like trees:

One side of the building depicted the birth of Christ. It was detailed and ornate and filled with nature. Gaudi wanted to show the emotion of the event.

On the other side was a depiction of the Passion. It was less detailed and very somber, again to show the emotion of the event.

There were four towers on each side, one of which had a lift so you could ride up to the top

There were scary rock balconies on the way down the stairs

As well as the most amazing spiral staircase that I have ever seen

And that is all for my favorite sites. Stay tuned for next week's Spain food blog . . .

Happy Birthday!!

My feelings about my husband are best said in a song that I have loved since I was younger . . .

It’s amazing how you can speak right to my heart

Without saying a word, you can light up the dark

try as I may I could never define

what's being said between your heart and mine

the smile on your face lets me know that you need me

there's a truth in your eyes saying you'll never leave me

the touch of your hand says you'll catch me if ever I fall

you say it best, when you say nothing at all . . .

Happy Birthday to the man that I adore. To the man that has taught me so much about life and about myself. To the man who is constantly pushing me to follow my dreams, and doesn't think twice about doing everything to help me along the way. To the man who works so hard to provide for our family. I love you baby, and I can't imagine my life without you, so glad you were born 28 years ago, that is definitely an event to celebrate!

What I missed the most while I was in Spain

This sweet cuddly stinker:

And I think he missed me too (sorry it is sideways, such is life with an Iphone):

You also got to see a little preview of the little snot D'artagnan can be. Yes he was making sure Artemis did not get to say hello to me until he was done :)

Spain Sunday: Chris and I

Chris and I has so much fun galavanting around Spain. It really was a great vacation for us. We got some much needed relaxing and spontaneous adventuring time. Unfortunately, since I am a very untrusting person, I never felt comfortable handing my camera over for someone to take our picture so the only ones we have are those "high school" take a picture of yourself ones. I think they turned out pretty cute though.

Tourist bus in Zaragoza

Barcelona

Tourist Bus in Barcelona

The Sagrada Familia

Barcelona

Bed and Breakfast in Jatavia

At the Alhambra

I can't wait for our next adventure together!

Stay tuned for next week's Spain Sunday Post, my favorite sites!

because people have been asking . . .

Not because I am full of myself and think that you are all so interested in my hair, but I have been getting a lot of questions lately about it. Is it naturally curly, did you get a perm, etc . . . I think this is probably because I've been wearing it in different ways lately, but anyways. All that to say:

Here it is, my hair in all of its natural air dried glory:

A close up so you can really see the frizz:

So I have two options, take the sort of waves and gel them into somewhat of curls, or straighten the heck out of it to remove the waves and frizz. Oh the joys of in-between hair!

(on a side note, black is not my natural color, so technically it is not completely natural in these pictures . . .)