Allie in the South of Spain

Recently Spain celebrated its annual Constitution Day (on December 6th). Though it was nice to have the day off work, I did actually spend some time thinking about the Constitution and what it means. I hadn't really thought about it before but Spain doesn't have a lot of history being a democracy what with its royalty (which is still kicking around) and subsequent dictatorship. I sort of take it for granted that having a constitution and inalienable rights is the norm when in fact this year only marks Spain's 37th year as a democracy (a little history lesson: the dictatorship of Francisco Franco ended in 1975 when he died, then they made a change of government. The Constitution was radified by referendum in 1978). This is why its Constitution Day is so important. For someone who comes from a country with a long history of democracy (USA!USA!USA!), it is weird for me to think that people not much older than myself knew what it was like to live un...

Can you name the movie that this quote came from? One of my favorites! Well, this is a little bit how I am feeling with my apartment. It is only about 760 square feet (if the converter I used was correct) so we are getting creative with decorating and furnishing. Somehow everything seemed to be bigger in my mind during the purchasing process and as Jose and I spent the weekend measuring and taping off space on the floor to see how furniture would work I kept having to tell myself that this is a decent sized place for here in Spain. People just don't have the same kind of spacious homes as they do in the U.S. This means that there is no wasted space. You have to take advantage of it all. A lot of people live in apartments here in Spain and homes that do not share walls (think condo-like) are pretty uncommon. The overall area and available land to build just doesn't exist here in Europe. That means you have to build up. My in-laws could ...

Though we signed our mortgage on Wednesday evening, we didn´t get our keys until this morning. Now we are OFFICIAL , official homeowners (or debtors). Here in Spain buying property is a two step (well actually many) process. First, you sign the papers but then you need to have a symbolic exchange which for us was getting our keys. Done and done. A while ago I visited the work site and broke in to go visit my apartment door. As I was petting it, the day that I would actually be able to open it felt pretty far away. But that day has finally arrived. TODAY!!!! After work we went to visit the apartment and though there was no light or water set up, I got to walk through the place and imagine. Tomorrow we will head back to begin measuring and planning. I will post before pictures when there is some better natural light. As you can see, they weren't turning out very well with Jose's phone this afternoon (this is our bedroom).  

I recently made this wreath to help decorate for Christmas. It is based on one that I made for my sister´s baby shower. I am not the craftiest person but both of these wreaths are super easy! All you need is: -A wreath form (mine came from Target´s dollar spot when it was half off) -A glue gun -Cupcake wrappers (or coffee filters, which is what I used to make the wreath for the shower) -Scrapbook paper to decorate according to your theme (mine was green, red and white) All you need to do is twist up the wrappers and glue them to the form. It takes a while since there is a lot of space to cover so you need to be patient. Make sure to pay attention to any open spaces or gaps in your wrappers as you glue them. My wreath form was red to begin with so I didn´t mind if there was some peaking through. After it is all covered you can add some decorations to spice it up. I added some pinwheel rosettes made from the scrapbook paper and a sign that says "feliz navidad...

Merry Christmas ! José and I wanted to share our holiday photo with you all (since mailing cards overseas is pricey). Please note the little reindeer that Cooper kept trying to eat. We have been truly blessed this year and cannot wait to see what 2013 has to offer. I saw this on another Christmas card recently and thought it was a cute idea. Here is my top 10 list of last year. Top 10 of 2012: 10. Our ever expanding group of family and friends thanks to numerous and very welcomed pregnancies throughout the year. (2012 was a fertile time apparently!) 9. Being able to be at and participate in several weddings of friends and family both here and in the U.S. 8. Working or at least both of us having a job and source of income here in Spain. Also having been able to teach at UofM while back in Michigan. 7. Going on an amazing honeymoon cruise this summer. 6. Rescuing Cooper and adding him to our family. 5. Moving to Spain to FINALLY be together as a married couple. 4. Spending...

Today is a holiday here in Spain so Jose and I didn´t have to work. We decided to have a lazy morning complete with breakfast in front of the T.V. Breakfast here in Spain tends to be pretty simple, a coffee and toast. They do NOT eat eggs, pancakes, bacon etc. For us, this kind of breakfast is reserved for when we are back home in the U.S. (though sometimes I treat Jose over the weekend). Though the same old coffee and toast might get old, I promise you that it is reallllllly good (if you do it right).  Here are the simple (and cheap) ingredients: -Bread -Olive oil -A clove of garlic -Salt -Tomato -Turkey, ham or any other kind of lunchmeat (jamon here is the best but most expensive) All you do is toast your bread and then scrape the garlic clove over it so you get a good taste/smell. Next pour some olive oil over the top. I like less than Jose, I think he sometimes drowns his toast it the stuff. We are lucky that Jose´s family works at an olive oil cooperative so we...

Today we signed the mortgage for our new apartment and we couldn´t be happier!! We were sort of nervious while waiting at the notary (see picture) but things went off without a hitch. My one issue is trying to understand all the legal mumbo jumbo in Spanish. I think I held my own pretty well. We finally figured out financing and after a few hours at a meeting today we will be getting our keys on Friday!! That means we will soon begin the process of moving, painting, decorating and nesting. I cannot wait! Though this is the BIGGEST purchase of my entire life, I am confident that we made a great choice for our little family. My plan is to post before pictures of our apartment soon and then begin to update as we make changes. Since it is brand spanking new we don´t have to do much cosmetically but we are creating our own kitchen which is very exciting. It is hard to make decisions that you will have to live with for a looooooong time but I can´t wait. Thank goodness for the inter...