I've been working on this for a while. It's not perfect, and the software wasn't great, but I'm still proud of it. I'm also happy I have a ten minute recap of one of the best weeks of my life! Enjoy! :)
Friday, July 30, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Hot Fun in the Summer Time...
Madeline's school goes to two week sessions in the summer (as opposed to one month). This is cool because Liz takes her out of one session each summer and she gets to spend time with my parents (her Grandma and Pappy) and us! I remember being a kid and spending time without our parents at our grandparents and aunt&uncle's houses! Liz and I were talking about this recently and agreed that some of our favorite childhood memories happened in these magical weeks when we were independent from our parents, and got to need and bond with other family members. Zac and I look forward to this week with Madeline to ourselves so much and plan fun activities for her, so she can develop the unforgettable type of memories that I cherish. I think our time with her this year was even better than last. She is such a SMART and FUNNY girl, as well as caring and kind. I'm so proud to be her aunt. Anyways, here's what we did this year:
Sunday we met my parents for dinner in Waco to make the exchange. We ate at Texas Roadhouse and Madeline was instantly very affectionate towards us.
Sunday-met for dinner in Waco, drove home, went to the park, raced home
Monday-made Mosaics, went to Top Golf (a fancy schmancy and much more fun driving range)
Tuesday-had a playdate with a friend and her kids, drove to McKinney to see the Enrights and Falcos
Wednesday-had lunch with my coworkers for lunch, went swimming at a friend's pool, saw Toy Story 3
Thursday-went to the park (twice!), made cupcakes, and drove to Austin
Friday-lunch with Baw and Eli, then bowling with Eliza and Tatem and Scott, then headed out to Breck's lakehouse, where Liz and Andy and Owen were reunited with their favorite girl! :)
Phew...see how fun and action packed it was? Not to mention all the amazing memories we made (and memorable quotes we got) just hanging around the house in between all the activities!
Sunday we met my parents for dinner in Waco to make the exchange. We ate at Texas Roadhouse and Madeline was instantly very affectionate towards us.
Sunday-met for dinner in Waco, drove home, went to the park, raced home
Monday-made Mosaics, went to Top Golf (a fancy schmancy and much more fun driving range)
Tuesday-had a playdate with a friend and her kids, drove to McKinney to see the Enrights and Falcos
Wednesday-had lunch with my coworkers for lunch, went swimming at a friend's pool, saw Toy Story 3
Thursday-went to the park (twice!), made cupcakes, and drove to Austin
Friday-lunch with Baw and Eli, then bowling with Eliza and Tatem and Scott, then headed out to Breck's lakehouse, where Liz and Andy and Owen were reunited with their favorite girl! :)
Phew...see how fun and action packed it was? Not to mention all the amazing memories we made (and memorable quotes we got) just hanging around the house in between all the activities!
Monday, July 19, 2010
Taking me back to Spain...
Today I woke up homesick for Spain. I know, I know...it was never my "home." But I woke up wanting to step out into the fresh crisp air, to walk down the narrow streets, to hear Spanish floating into my ears like beautiful music. So I looked through some of our pics, but I still wasn't satisfied. So I started looking up some of the sights/sounds that I knew would bring back Spain...the music we loved while we were there. Anytime we were out shopping, or eating at restaurants, we'd hear fun music we'd never heard before. Zac had the TV on anytime we were in the hotel room, and the channel we watched all week was music videos. Here are a few of our favorite songs/videos from Spain, that take us right back to the outdoor restaurants, city buses, to our hotels, and the cute shops we visited. I feel a little better already! Enjoy...
This video is so fun and quirky. Zac said at the end of the week he wished we'd taken a video of each other "running" at every place we visited, so we could make a compilation. That would have been cool! We'll just have to settle for watching this music video instead. It's called "Espiritu Santo" which also means holy spirit, so there are a million songs with that title. In fact, we've been searching for it since we got home so that we could buy it, and could not find it until today! :)
This song is not in Spanish, but it was sooo popular and played everywhere. Zac became obsessed with it, and called it the "accordion song." It's quite catchy. I do think the video might have been filmed in Spain though. Looks a lot like it!
Spain's popular music includes hits by Spaniards, but also a lot from America and England. THIS song also reminds me of our week in Spain.
This video is so fun and quirky. Zac said at the end of the week he wished we'd taken a video of each other "running" at every place we visited, so we could make a compilation. That would have been cool! We'll just have to settle for watching this music video instead. It's called "Espiritu Santo" which also means holy spirit, so there are a million songs with that title. In fact, we've been searching for it since we got home so that we could buy it, and could not find it until today! :)
This song is not in Spanish, but it was sooo popular and played everywhere. Zac became obsessed with it, and called it the "accordion song." It's quite catchy. I do think the video might have been filmed in Spain though. Looks a lot like it!
Spain's popular music includes hits by Spaniards, but also a lot from America and England. THIS song also reminds me of our week in Spain.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
I can't believe it...
I'm not a morning person
I'm cranky when I'm hungry.
I'm fickle, and sometimes a little needy.
My car always has about five outfits and five hundred cd's in it.
I'm messy.
I like to stay up too late, and I love to sleep late.
I have more health concerns than my 91-year-old Granny.
My musical taste resembles that of a 13 year old.
I'm picky.
I'm not even close to perfect....
Yet somehow he loves me unconditionally, and accepts me just the way I am. I love that about him.
Happy Anniversary Zac! I love you more today than I did the day we married. Thanks for being such an amazing man and considerate spouse. I am so proud of the person you are. I'm blessed you are mine.
I'm cranky when I'm hungry.
I'm fickle, and sometimes a little needy.
My car always has about five outfits and five hundred cd's in it.
I'm messy.
I like to stay up too late, and I love to sleep late.
I have more health concerns than my 91-year-old Granny.
My musical taste resembles that of a 13 year old.
I'm picky.
I'm not even close to perfect....
Yet somehow he loves me unconditionally, and accepts me just the way I am. I love that about him.
Happy Anniversary Zac! I love you more today than I did the day we married. Thanks for being such an amazing man and considerate spouse. I am so proud of the person you are. I'm blessed you are mine.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Spain, day four-The Road to Sevilla
We woke up very early on Saturday to catch a bus to Seville. (by the way, it's actually Sevilla- pronounced "Say-vee-yah"-but I know most people just say "Suh-ville" so I'll spell it that way.)
This was our longest bus trip, because it made several stops, including one thirty minute layover in Cordoba (a town we wish we'd visited). It took five hours to get from Nerja to Seville, but we slept much of the way, since we'd woken up at 5:30. What we did see of the drive was beautiful. There were hot pink flowers all over the land, so of course I loved that! :)
When we arrived in Seville, we just left the bus station on foot to walk to our hotel. The only problem was we didn't know exactly where it was, so we (in good moods) walked all over Santa Cruz (the Jewish quarter, where we stayed- the most charming part of the city) with luggage. The wobbly suit case wheels on the cobblestone streets was quite a sight, I'm sure. :)
We finally found our hotel, Puerta de Sevilla (the door of Seville) and checked in to the friendliest desk clerk. I forgot that I'd written online when I booked the room that we were on our honeymoon (please don't think I'm a horrible person for lying, I just wanted to make sure we got the room, and I'd also read that sometimes they treat you better when it's a special occasion). About ten minutes after we got in our room, a lady came up with a bottle of champagne and two glasses for us. It was so sweet. :) So we toasted and had champagne before lunch before we headed out to explore the magical city. Guess which person loved the champers, and which person hated it... hehe
We walked toward the cathedral and did lots of people watching. Since this was a Saturday, there were all types of people out celebrating different things. It was fun to see how traditions differ. This first pic is a bachelorette party. The bride to be was in a jailer costume, and all her friends wore police outfits.
I had to go up and ask one of the men what this was about, because we were so curious. This was a group of doctors from the University of Sevilla, who have an annual tradition of playing music in the streets to raise money. Some of them had just graduated, and some were professors. It was really cool and we stood around and watched them drink and play and socialize for a bit.
Of all the different festivities, this Spanish tradish was our fave. For a bachelor party, the man has to dress like a woman...dress, wig and all! All of the friends wear matching t-shirts with a picture of the groom's face on it. We saw several different bachelor parties taking place, and all of them looked so fun, and did basically the same things American bachelor parties do. (besides the cross dressing, that is). In the pic below, the one in black and red is the future groom.
There were several weddings taking place as well. This little boy stole my heart, and I literally wanted to steal him. Like kidnap him and bring him home with me. But only if he wore that sweet little raw-silk one piece jumper every single day! :) I wanted to take a pic with him, but Zac wouldn't let me. Buggers!
Of all the cool people watching, nothing could compare to the magnificence of the cathedral. It is huge! The third largest cathedral in the world! We took a tour of it a few days later, so I'll share all the fun cathedral facts with you then. Meanwhile, look how big it is compared to me. I'm that little black speck in the bottom right side. This was just one of its many fabulous entrances.
Anyways, we did lots of sightseeing that first day there, and all of those pics can be seen on our Picasa page. That night we wanted to watch USA play England in their first game of the World Cup. Throughout the day we scouted out places, and finally decided on an Irish pub called Flaherty's. It was nice to eat "American food" and it turned out to be an awesome place to watch the big game. It was PACKED with people rooting for both teams and we actually ended up sitting with a group of Americans who'd just graduated from college in New York. It was funny to listen in on their conversations. Look how much beer they drank!
This was the least crowded part of the bar. I couldn't even squeeze in on the other side, where the big screen was!
After the game, we decided to go for a stroll before heading to bed. We walked to the Guadalquivir river, and crossed to the other side. By this point it was probably close to 11pm, but people were just sitting down to eat. Spaniards definitely live life to the fullest, and seem so happy! It was not unusual to see babies and toddlers out this late (and still happy and playful).
As we'd just started heading back to the hotel, we heard a loud band. (I think Zac's exact quote was "Is the Grambling band visiting Spain too?" haha) We decided to check out what it was and see where it was coming from. We wandered through neighborhoods and city blocks until we came upon lots of commotion and this scene:
The streets were SOO full, so of course we were super curious. I asked a local, and she explained to me what was going on. It was very loud, she spoke very fast, and of course it was all in Spanish, but from what I gathered, she was saying it was the 500th anniversary of the Virgin Mary. (something like that?) Another person told me that it was the Anniversary of Conception? I tried looking it up online to see exactly what amazing event we got to witness, but I haven't been able to find it. If any of you do, please send me the link. I'd love to know more! :)
Anyways, the streets were packed...for blocks and blocks. It is soo much to explain, so click on my Picasa link to see all of the pics AND read the captions which describe everything, but here are two videos from the night...
It was such an awesome and amazing and cultural experience, and the best part was we just happened to stumble upon it. If we hadn't gone for a walk to Triana (the part of town we were in), we wouldn't have even known about it. And if we'd turned to go home five minutes earlier, we probably wouldn't have heard the band and wandered towards it. It was cool to just happen upon such a magnificent and grand production. We aren't sure exactly what was going on, or what we witnessed, but we know it meant a great deal to the people who were there, so that made it special to us too! When it was over (almost 2am!!!) we headed home and laid down knowing we'd had an exciting and adventurous first day in Sevilla!
***Exciting update! I just found a link about this parade! I found it here and it basically says that "Extraordinary Procession of Maria SantÃsima of the Star by the streets of Triana, on the occasion of the 450 Original Anniversary of the Brotherhood"
TO SEE THE PICS from THIS day, start HERE and click next until you're done...
This was our longest bus trip, because it made several stops, including one thirty minute layover in Cordoba (a town we wish we'd visited). It took five hours to get from Nerja to Seville, but we slept much of the way, since we'd woken up at 5:30. What we did see of the drive was beautiful. There were hot pink flowers all over the land, so of course I loved that! :)
When we arrived in Seville, we just left the bus station on foot to walk to our hotel. The only problem was we didn't know exactly where it was, so we (in good moods) walked all over Santa Cruz (the Jewish quarter, where we stayed- the most charming part of the city) with luggage. The wobbly suit case wheels on the cobblestone streets was quite a sight, I'm sure. :)
We finally found our hotel, Puerta de Sevilla (the door of Seville) and checked in to the friendliest desk clerk. I forgot that I'd written online when I booked the room that we were on our honeymoon (please don't think I'm a horrible person for lying, I just wanted to make sure we got the room, and I'd also read that sometimes they treat you better when it's a special occasion). About ten minutes after we got in our room, a lady came up with a bottle of champagne and two glasses for us. It was so sweet. :) So we toasted and had champagne before lunch before we headed out to explore the magical city. Guess which person loved the champers, and which person hated it... hehe
We walked toward the cathedral and did lots of people watching. Since this was a Saturday, there were all types of people out celebrating different things. It was fun to see how traditions differ. This first pic is a bachelorette party. The bride to be was in a jailer costume, and all her friends wore police outfits.
I had to go up and ask one of the men what this was about, because we were so curious. This was a group of doctors from the University of Sevilla, who have an annual tradition of playing music in the streets to raise money. Some of them had just graduated, and some were professors. It was really cool and we stood around and watched them drink and play and socialize for a bit.
Of all the different festivities, this Spanish tradish was our fave. For a bachelor party, the man has to dress like a woman...dress, wig and all! All of the friends wear matching t-shirts with a picture of the groom's face on it. We saw several different bachelor parties taking place, and all of them looked so fun, and did basically the same things American bachelor parties do. (besides the cross dressing, that is). In the pic below, the one in black and red is the future groom.
There were several weddings taking place as well. This little boy stole my heart, and I literally wanted to steal him. Like kidnap him and bring him home with me. But only if he wore that sweet little raw-silk one piece jumper every single day! :) I wanted to take a pic with him, but Zac wouldn't let me. Buggers!
Of all the cool people watching, nothing could compare to the magnificence of the cathedral. It is huge! The third largest cathedral in the world! We took a tour of it a few days later, so I'll share all the fun cathedral facts with you then. Meanwhile, look how big it is compared to me. I'm that little black speck in the bottom right side. This was just one of its many fabulous entrances.
Anyways, we did lots of sightseeing that first day there, and all of those pics can be seen on our Picasa page. That night we wanted to watch USA play England in their first game of the World Cup. Throughout the day we scouted out places, and finally decided on an Irish pub called Flaherty's. It was nice to eat "American food" and it turned out to be an awesome place to watch the big game. It was PACKED with people rooting for both teams and we actually ended up sitting with a group of Americans who'd just graduated from college in New York. It was funny to listen in on their conversations. Look how much beer they drank!
This was the least crowded part of the bar. I couldn't even squeeze in on the other side, where the big screen was!
After the game, we decided to go for a stroll before heading to bed. We walked to the Guadalquivir river, and crossed to the other side. By this point it was probably close to 11pm, but people were just sitting down to eat. Spaniards definitely live life to the fullest, and seem so happy! It was not unusual to see babies and toddlers out this late (and still happy and playful).
As we'd just started heading back to the hotel, we heard a loud band. (I think Zac's exact quote was "Is the Grambling band visiting Spain too?" haha) We decided to check out what it was and see where it was coming from. We wandered through neighborhoods and city blocks until we came upon lots of commotion and this scene:
The streets were SOO full, so of course we were super curious. I asked a local, and she explained to me what was going on. It was very loud, she spoke very fast, and of course it was all in Spanish, but from what I gathered, she was saying it was the 500th anniversary of the Virgin Mary. (something like that?) Another person told me that it was the Anniversary of Conception? I tried looking it up online to see exactly what amazing event we got to witness, but I haven't been able to find it. If any of you do, please send me the link. I'd love to know more! :)Anyways, the streets were packed...for blocks and blocks. It is soo much to explain, so click on my Picasa link to see all of the pics AND read the captions which describe everything, but here are two videos from the night...
It was such an awesome and amazing and cultural experience, and the best part was we just happened to stumble upon it. If we hadn't gone for a walk to Triana (the part of town we were in), we wouldn't have even known about it. And if we'd turned to go home five minutes earlier, we probably wouldn't have heard the band and wandered towards it. It was cool to just happen upon such a magnificent and grand production. We aren't sure exactly what was going on, or what we witnessed, but we know it meant a great deal to the people who were there, so that made it special to us too! When it was over (almost 2am!!!) we headed home and laid down knowing we'd had an exciting and adventurous first day in Sevilla!
***Exciting update! I just found a link about this parade! I found it here and it basically says that "Extraordinary Procession of Maria SantÃsima of the Star by the streets of Triana, on the occasion of the 450 Original Anniversary of the Brotherhood"
TO SEE THE PICS from THIS day, start HERE and click next until you're done...
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