Allie in the South of Spain

Right after leaving the airport During Holy Week here in the south of Spain my sister Chrissie came to visit us since both Jose and I had off work (the perks of living in a Catholic country). She has been here twice before (read about the first time here and our wedding here ). We drove and picked her up on Monday and spent that day organizing her trip and allowing her to recover from her jet lag.  On Tuesday we headed to Seville to see some of the Holy Week processions that are so famous here. I will spare you the details of what this all involves since I have discussed it before and I sense that this post is going to be long since we crammed so much into such a short amount of time. If you are interested you can check out my Semana Santa post here . In any case, we headed into the city center and while enjoying the beautiful weather and some beers we got to see a few of the pasos come by before heading home again.  Holy Week The following day we headed to Gibr...

Though this is coming a few weeks late (due to a visit from my sister during Holy Week), I celebrated my 28th birthday at the beginning of the month. In terms of birthdays this one was pretty low key as I had to work that day. I was pleasantly surprised, however, to arrive at school and find that my 6th graders had planned a surprise party for me. It was quite thoughtful of them. They were so excited and I have to admit that I had no clue they were doing anything special. Sneaky sneaky. So cool Cards Later, Jose and I went out to eat in our favorite Moroccan restaurant in Seville, Fez. Its food puts all the food we ate during our trip to Morocco to shame. It is a tiny place with maybe 8 tables and whenever we go there are never very many people which means we get great service. This has become almost like a birthday tradition for me (since we went last year too). I can honestly say that so far 28 is great and am  sure it will continue to be. I have started an ...

Hello all! Greetings and apologies. It's been a while, I know. To be honest life has been a bit boring lately here in the south of Spain. Jose and I have our established routines: work, weekend, work, weekend. Nothing too exciting has been going on except my BIRTHDAY which was on Tuesday!!!!! I have decided that this year my motto is going to be 28 is great and will be posting about it throughout the next 365 days. To celebrate Jose and I went to our favorite Moroccan restaurant here in Seville for dinner. The restaurant is pretty small and when we go during the week we are usually the only people there. The food is AMAZING though and is way better than anything we actually ate during our trip to Morocco. Go figure. We also went to one of Jose's childhood friend's weddings last weekend. It was nice for Jose to see friends that he doesn't get to hang out with that often. This couple got married in a church and then had their reception at a cortijo in the middle of t...

Jose and I have really just enjoyed a great weekend. It all started on Friday when we attended a trivia event put on by the American Women's Club of Seville to raise money for its charities. I belong to this club but unfortunately am unable to go to a lot of the things they organize because of my schedule. I was excited to be able to go support a good cause, spend time with our friends (who I talked into coming) and to participate in a trivia contest in a English speaking bar. We didn't end up winning but we did pretty well considering we were the youngest people there. Saturday brought us some beautiful weather so we took Cooper out for a long time before coming back up to our apartment to have lunch out on our balcony. So far my flowers are looking okay, except the yellow ones which for some reason are a bit sad. Any idea why???? On Saturday we went to meet Alberto, the son of one of Jose's co-workers. He was adorable, as all new babies are and was super go...

For the last week or so the weather has been amazing here in the south of Spain. Sunshine, great temperatures and days that are getting longer can only mean one thing: spring is here. Spring can be a fickle season for us; it doesn't usually last very long (before the heat starts to tighten its grip) and tends to be rainy. That means we are trying to take advantage of this perfect weather while it lasts! This weekend we decided to get our balcony terrace ready for use. We have a pretty small space outside our apartment and last year we bought a table and chairs to go out there. During our first warm season in the new place, we didn't take advantage of our outdoor space because we get A LOT of afternoon sun which meant that things were pretty bright and steamy exactly when we wanted to be outside. Now that the association has been established in our complex we can finally get a retractable awning put up so that we be outside without getting burned. This awning will also allo...

The second half of February was pretty blah in that other than work and normal everyday life stuff there wasn't a whole lot going on (which helps explain the lack of posts here on my blog). The last few days of the month were a holiday here in the south of Spain, Andalucia Day, so Jose and I had a couple of days off work. We took advantage and went to Portugal for the long weekend where we relaxed and recharged. When we arrived home this afternoon we went to check on Skittles, our canary. His cage usually hangs out on our terrace, unless it is raining, in which case he stays inside our laundry room. This weekend predicted good weather so we had left him outside to enjoy the sunshine. He had just begun to sing again for us, something he hadn't done in a while. Life seemed good for our little bird. Jose ended up finding Skittles in his cage, dead and pretty mutilated. I would first have guessed this was done by a cat but we live on the 9th floor. Instead we figure he...

Today is not only Valentine's Day but also marks one year exactly since Jose and I spent the first night in our new apartment. There are a lot of days that it feels much longer, probably because of all the work we have put in to making this place a home but it really only has been 365 days. That first night we had a quiet dinner at home (a tradition we will continue tonight) and we slept on a mattress on the floor since we didn't have a bed yet. Check out the post from the very beginning: Our first few nights in the new place It is times like these that I am so thankful that I have documented most big events in our lives on this blog because I am able to look back and see what has changed, how things have come together, our struggles, impressions, excitements, disappointments.  Here are some before and after posts specifically about our apartment from the last year: Bathrooms Kitchen Living room Small bedroom Today I would also like to add a few more after pict...