Getting Real...

Well, the day has come. Today I go to London, and a week from now I'll be on a plane home to the USA.

I packed last night. It weighs too much. Story of my life.

I'll try to post an update while I'm in London. I have a lot to look forward to:

1. I get to stay with a friend from freshman year.
2. I get to meet up with the amazing Natalie AND fly home with her.
3. I get to go to Jane Austen's home Saturday.
4. I get to participate in a writing workshop at Jane Austen's home Saturday.
5. I'm going to try my darndest to get to Paris for a day or two.

Then, God and airlines willing, we will land in Chicago next Thursday at around 2PM. 

It's becoming real. So real. Painfully real. 

I'm leaving what has been my  home for eight and a half months. And when I get home a really important person will be missing. 

But all of my friends will be there (well, scattered but still). And my family.  

And so, if I don't get to post again before, Happy Mother's Day to my amazing Mommy and wonderful Step-mom. Thank you so much for your love and support throughout my grand adventure. 

Hmmmm...I might have a name for my next blog....

Baci,

Mari

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMMA!

In case you're unaware, Emma is my roommate. She's the Ausome Aussie I've mentioned before. And guess what...

TODAY IS HER BIRTHDAY!!! In fact, she turns 19. Which means she only has one year left of the "But I'm a teenager" excuse.

Isn't she beautiful?

Happy birthday Emma! I'm so glad to get to experience it with you! Thank you so much for everything you've done for me over the past weeks. It has meant so much.

Baci e abbracci,

Mari

Self Portrait

Today I'm participating in a self-portrait challenge hosted by The Paper Mama, my latest blog find. I love her freshness and honesty. I found her via Pinterest - are you on Pinterest yet? 

Currently I'm...

Obsessing over… what to have for dinner. Not an object - though that would have to be new hair-dos I suppose, but my stomach pretty much determines my day...I'm thinking left over soup and a peanut butter sandwich! YUM.


Working on… Videos for another blog I write for. I'm kind of in love with container gardens - they seem so easy! Too easy...also, all my school work for tomorrow.


Anticipating… Getting cards from my family! I have an Irish address, and there's nothing like getting mail from home, especially when you're thoughts are there.


Listening to… the telly (like my local slang thrown in there?). Currently it's on Scrubs reruns. Can you believe I'd never seen a full episode until I got to Europe?


Eating… Well, drinking coffee. About to eat my homemade lentil-potato-onion soup!


Wishing…  I had more time and energy to do everything I want on my blogs, for school, and with my new friends (and old!).


And yes, that is a bright, red, lipstick - Rimmel No. 12 in fact. It's a corral because I thought that would work well with my skin tone. I got several compliments today at school about it. Why, when I am a strong proponent of natural looks, have I suddenly donned a bright red? Confidence. I'm a firm believer that only the most confident women can truly pull off reds. And as a sign of my new found confidence (which, I should let you know is a work in progress) I wore red lipstick today.

What do you think? Does it work with my skin tone?

Baci,
Mari

P.S. There's also this Red Lipstick Challenge. I agree with pretty much everything she has to say on the subject and once I figure out how to add buttons, I'll by announcing my participation in her challenge.

Life

My Dad died yesterday. He was 69. He had many lung problems - he was always afraid he would suffocate, but instead he fell asleep and did not wake up. He had been sick for over 10 years, so while it wasn't unexpected, the death of someone so close is never expected and never easy. You always hold on to the hope that some miracle will happen.

I am not going home for the funeral. He did not want me to come home. He wanted me to stay - and I know that if I went home I would not be able to get on the plane back here. He is not there anyways. He said many times that he wished he could be here with me, travel with me, come see me - now he can.

This semester will be a struggle for me. You will notice this reflected in the blog, I am sure. The nature of this semester is very different anyways - there are no big trips planned, not even weekend excursions. Yes, I will get out and explore Ireland, but not in the way I did Italy. I will be taking four classes, participating in a choir, doing some work online, and focusing on breathing and taking each day at a time.

I have three months and twenty-five days until I touch down in the States again. In 41 days my Roma cohort, the great Natalie, will come to visit me.

I am honored to be going through this journey. I am honored to be continuing this journey. I am honored to have so much support from family and friends. I am honored that you are reading this.

Now, in the words of my stepmom, Sheila, it's time to "lock and load".

Thank you so much, dear readers, for you support and prayers.

Barcelona Day 5 aka My Birthday

So, I turned 21 today. Must say, most useless turning of 21 ever since I have been able to legally drink and purchase alcohol since I arrived in Europe on August. 31…nearly four months ago…

Whoa.

The people that work at the hostel have been amazing! I watched The Pianist with them last night and mentioned that it was my birthday – and all day they’ve been calling me “birthday girl” and wishing me Happy Birthday. Seriously, every time they see me. It’s great.

I returned to Parc Guell today. Brandon (the same who led the trip to Montserrat) led a Gaudi tour today. I 

had someone to take pictures of me!

Me, at the highest point in Parc Guell, Barcelona behind me.

We then saw two other Gaudi creations:

Casa Mila

Casa Batllo

Then I went to Montjuic!

It had awesome views of Barcelona and the sea.

I also got to see the sunset from here!

Then I returned to the hostel, made some pasta, and packed for the farm…pretty good birthday.

Baci,

Mari

Click here to view these pictures larger

Feliz Ano Nueve!

(Pretend there's a ~ over that 'n' in the title please.)

Suprise post from Spain! I can't wait to get back to regular posting, but I am enjoying my time here. Journaling has taken over for blogging it seems - I've written almost as much since Dec. 17 in Spain as I did the entire time I was in Rome!

It certainly hasn't been easy here. I think my hardest problem has been the language barrier. Sometimes I think I understand them and start a task, only to discover I missed a crucial instruction! (I'll tell you about the pine cone incident later).

Right now there's a party raging on the property. It's not just a farm; there's actually a small hotel and tonight it's full! I'm in front of the fire I MADE in the living room though (yeah, that's right, I can officially start a fire in a fireplace. I can also catch chickens).

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! The Spaniards chuckled at me when I wished them Happy New Year instead of Feliz Ano (again, pretend there's a ~). We ate 12 grapes as the Church bell rang out midnight.




Note: the Spaniards I were with were much classier. However, there was confusion as to when to start eating grapes.

I would also like to inform you that I'm currently listening to one dog snore, and watching two other dogs twitch in their sleep. So far 2012 is off to a good start.

But seriously, 2011 was an amazing year. I met a lot of awesome people, started my nine months in Europe (and this blog), turned 21 (in Barcelona), and a million other good things. There were a lot of bumps - a lot - but it ended well.

2012 will be better. How do I know? I just do. Because I'm determined that now matter how good or bad it is sometimes I will try to find the good. I will remember that life goes on and life happens and this too shall pass. Even when you just want to wallow.

Because 2011 helped teach/reinforce a lot of that.

Happy New Year!

Baci,
Mari

Merry Christmas!

Today, I want to give you a hug!

Bon Nadal! Feliz Navidad! Buon Natale! Merry/Happy Christmas!

I want you to know that I didn't spend my Christmas alone after all. Although the family of the farm I'm staying on went to family last night and today, their neighbors came over and we had a wonderful dinner (the Spanish really do eat at 9 at night), wonderful wine, and wonderful conversation (in English and Castellano).

We also watched the end of The Muppets' Christmas and Ice Age 1.

Pictures will come, but probably not until I'm in Ireland - 18 days!!!!

Baci and love this most wonderful holiday,
Mari

Farm in Spain!

Okay guys, here´s the lowdown:

There´s two days of awesome stuff missing from the Barcelona trip - including my birthday! But, due to time and energy contraints they didn´t make it up before I left for Mas de Madalena, the farm where I am wwoofing until January 11. Well, they don´t have wireless here - but since the place is awesome I´ll forgive them.

(OMG, five dogs, two big goats, two little goats, two sheep, lots of chickens, a donkey, a horse, two ADORABLE kids, three rabbits, a very nice and down to Earth couple (Pablo and Bea...Pablo likes to cook), Bea´s parents, some cats....this place is in the mountains....bella. Molta bella.)

In otras palabras, there probably won´t be any posts until I get settled in Ireland around January 13 (Happy birthday Mom!). But I´ll try to maybe give you a couple updates, let you know how feeding the animals and playing with Simone is going (yep, like the busdriver #JFRC) She´s the dog named after one of my favorite Jazz artists Nina Simone.

But here´s the website of where I´m staying: http://www.masdemadalena.com/index.php

And here´s the real Nina Simone:



Baci,

Mari

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Happy birthday.

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Dream often and big.