Month 1 in review

Well, we've been in Barcelona for a month now.  I thought I would highlight the pros and cons and observations/realizations of living in a new country.

Pros:

• Our family of four is together again
• Weather
• Proximity to the Sea
• Culture
• New experiences
• Our house
• Our kitty

Cons:

• No extended family
• No doggies
• Very few English speaking churches to choose from
• Grocery shopping is sometimes a challenge
• Language barrier
• Small appliances
• Incredible amount of dust
• Legalities (like Visas and driver's licenses)

Observations:

• I love that at the grocery store, you either have to buy plastic bags or reusable bags.  I think this is a practice the US should adopt. 
• 2000 square feet is plenty for our family.  We have plenty of space and even still have rooms that aren't really used that often.  About the only thing I would change about this house is more storage and counter space in the kitchen and a slightly bigger master bathroom and maybe put closets in every room.
• For as laid back as the lifestyle is here, the drivers sure can be quite impatient.
• Having your life be in limbo for 2 years, not knowing what is coming up next can be.....unsettling at times.  I find myself thinking about the future quite a bit.  But, it is times like these that I think are great growth opportunities for my faith.  I know that God will take care of us and I just pray that I can come to realize what His plan is for us.  The struggle I have is finding the difference between what I desire and what He desires (Perhaps they are the same thing.  Only time will tell).

Well, now I will leave off with a few pictures:

"I'm stuck!"

Artie's Blankie

Checking out the camera

 

The Beach

We hit the beach this morning.  Here are some pictures!

The beach is incredibly crowded

Alexis and Kaylee enjoying the Sea

The Spanish Glubby Monster

The sand is different than what we're used to.  It's coarse and really sticks to your body.

We think it looks like cinnamon sugar coated doughnuts

Artemis

Here is the newest member of our family - Artemis.  We picked her up from UPAG; a local rescue group.  She's only two months old and is very sweet and lovable.

Even Daddy likes her

She slept with the girls last night.  Kaylee ended up being a little afraid of her because her claws are really long.  The girls wanted me to stay with them and Artemis last night too.  She is a kitty that loves to snuggle.  I think she would have slept on my face if I had let her.  She slept part of the night on Alexis' tummy.  So far she is a nice addition to our family.

Swimmingly!

Our girls are making us quite proud!  They are adjusting to our new surroundings beautifully...better than their mom I would dare to say.  About the only thing I think they miss right now about home, is having friends to play with all the time.  Having Max and Jack live next door in Avon has been a real treat for them.  Other than the occasional boredom, they have done really well.  Alexis is beginning to help a lot around the house.  She helped me with laundry yesterday.  She even went solo taking a load out of the drier, carrying it upstairs, folding, hanging and putting it all away!  I'm sure it won't continue once school starts, but I'll take it when I can!
I'm enjoying the challenge of cooking here.  It's interesting trying to make the same things that I'm used to making.  But, I've found some new things to make as well.  For example, a creation from yesterday (not my own recipe); Nutella grilled cheese:

The cheese is mascarpone cheese (the cheese used to make tiramisu).  We had some on hand because we were seeking out sour cream at the store and thought mascarpone might be a substitute...it wasn't but it has it's uses. 

About the biggest adjustment I feel I am going through right now is being without my puppies.  I have NEVER been without a dog in my life.  To say it has been rough would be an understatement.  We saw a Viszla on TV the other night and that made me sad.  I washed Kaylee's blankie yesterday and when I emptied out the lent trap it was full of Murphy and Abby hairs...that almost made me cry.  I told Kaylee we needed to save the hair so we could make a little doggy out of it...I was joking of course.  But, the moment I realized I needed some sort of pet was when we came home last Friday night. 

It was a dark and stormy night...it was pouring down rain when we finally pulled into the garage.  I entered the house and turned on the lights.  Instantly, I saw a tiny baby lizard crawling on our foyer wall, making his way up to the rest of the house.  My first thought, "I need something to catch it and keep it in so I can have a pet!" 

A baby lizard...not very cuddly.  And no, we didn't keep it.  So the next day I told Ryan I wasn't going to make it without some sort of pet.  So, even though he has been allergic to them in the past, we are going to get a kitty.  It really took no convincing...Ryan just wants us to be happy while we're here.  We will have some kitty free zones just in case Ryan is in fact still allergic.  But the girls are excited.  Kaylee has always wanted a kitty.  We have a name picked out and everything.  So, hopefully the next time I post, I will have pictures of the newest member of our family!

With that, I'll leave you with a few more pictures:

Girls in the pool...I was on the top floor

Home Tour and Update

I'll start off with the home tour.  Some of you have been lucky enough to get the guided Skype tour...but this is for those of you that haven't.  Starting at the front door:

This is the foyer.  To the left is the garage door.

This is our exercise area in the garage.

View down the stairs to the foyer...steep, no?

Living/Dining area from the top of the stairs.  To the right is a hallway with a half bath.

Another view of the Living/Dining area and the doorway to the kitchen.

Our cute little kitchen

Back in the Living/Dining with the stairs leading up to the 3rd floor
(Sorry some of these are blurry...I couldn't keep still I guess)

Stairs leading to the 3rd and 4th floors.  A little more than halfway up, there is a hallway that leads to the left to the bedrooms.

1st door on the left...the 'closet' room.  The shininess on the right are closet doors.  Only two rooms have closets.

Next door on the left...the master bedroom..

The view from the master bedroom

The 'tight' master bathroom...one person at a time in there!

Next door on the left...the girls' bathroom; much more spacious.  See the bidet?

Next left..the guest room.  We're not expecting any guests until October, can you tell?  No closets in here so there are two wardrobes.

At the end of the hallway is the girls' room.  It's cute!

Girls' bed.  They don't have closets, so we got them some wardrobes.

The stairs leading up to the top floor.

Halfway up these last bit of stairs you can get a view of the backyard

The top floor which is the play room.

Another view.  That's a half bath behind Alexis.
(still in their jammies at 11:30)

Our large top floor terrace...best view in the house!

View the other direction

Our terrace furniture.  This is Mommy and Daddy's 'play room!'

This is our doorbell.  At the end of the drive is a gate and a door.  There is a doorbell outside.  When someone rings the bell, you can see who it is on the screen and pick up the phone to talk to them.  It's pretty cool!

I hope you enjoyed the tour.  Our home is one of very few with central air.  Yesterday, we got satellite service, so the girls are able now to watch some of their favorite shows in English again.  All of our things from the US arrived on Tuesday.  I had trouble communicating with the delivery men, but all our stuff arrived undamaged anyway.  I just had them put everything in the garage and I moved and unpacked the rest.  I counted how many stairs we have in the house...56.  And I climbed them carrying heavy boxes too many times to count.  Needless to say, I didn't feel like I needed to work out that day!  The girls are really enjoying having their things.  I've already made a connection with another Mom over here.  We're all getting together on Sunday afternoon.  The girls have made some friends that live close by and have already been to their house to play.  I'd say for only being here just over two weeks, we are doing pretty well.  I'll try to keep providing updates, especially now that the house is clean and I'm almost done unpacking.