Allie in the South of Spain

Okay so the last time I checked in with my 30 before 30 list I had changed and updated a few things from the original list I had made. It's a bit crazy that I have been working on these goals for about a year and a half now and that I have about as long left until the big birthday. To get you all caught up here are the posts I have written thus far about my 30 before 30 journey: The original post in May 2013 The first up-date in September 2013 The second up-date in November 2012 The third up-date in January 2014 A revision of the list in June 2014 And now without further ado, on to the latest and greatest things that I have crossed off my 30 before 30 list. 1. Go on another cruise.  2. Learn to cook Indian food . 3. Start a family (read: have a baby).  This is something we are still working on. I wrote a post in September about PCOS and how difficult things can be but we are optimistic that everything will work out for us. 4. Find a job in which I am happy with...

Lots of people close to me know this and then again I am sure a lot don't. Because it is such a personal, often times uncomfortable subject to bring up I have put a lot of thought into whether or not to write this post. However, since September marks PCOS awareness month , I am coming out. I was diagnosed a while ago with polycystic ovary syndrome aka PCOS. Everyone knows that the best way to get medical info is just to google it, so I will leave you to that to get all the dirty details about physiologically why women with this syndrome have irregular periods, easily gain weight (especially in their stomachs), have problems with hair growth and probably most tragically and frustrating, often suffer from fertility problems among other super great symptoms. If you are curious, 2 articles for a quick overview of PCOS can be found here  and here .  My thoughts on PCOS and fertility problems in general: Why the whole thing sucks PCOS is a real bitch. Besides all of the visi...

Since returning to Spain from the USA there has been one big change around here. Allow me to explain: Jose and I flew out from Chicago where we stayed with our friends Jenna and Mike for the night. We had a nice, albeit short, visit with them and the city. It was while we were there for a day that I received an email inviting me for an interview at a school close to our apartment. Originally I had planned on staying at the position I had worked at last school year but had sent out my CV to other places last spring just to be safe. This job interview came out of nowhere. They were looking to fill a position quite quickly and wanted me there for an interview on a Friday. I was offered a job teaching 3rd grade (English, art and computers) on the following Monday. It all happened very fast and so far, so good. I had a hard time leaving my old job because I liked it a lot but this new school is about 5 minutes away from apartment and the schedule is nice. I get to see Jose a lo...

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...

Last year in 2013 instead of making a bunch of resolutions that I knew wouldn't make it until the end of January I decided to choose a word (in that case CREATE) to base my goals around. I wrote about it first here . This year my one word resolution is PROACTIVE. I have found that I need to stop being passive about certain things (especially my health) and start doing things to get to where I want to be, what I want to achieve. In fact, this resolution actually began in the fall of this past year as I finally bit the bullet and got braces again as an adult. My teeth had been bothering me for a while. I noticed that they were moving. It was something that I focused on in each photo or when I looked in the mirror. Most people thought it wasn't that bad, but since it bothered me I finally became proactive and became a braceface again. (Read about it here ). Even though it has been a complete pain in the ass, I am very satisfied with this decision and it has inspired me for th...