The Last Year

“Bad Fish” – Sublime

I saved an excerpt from this article about a year ago…

“How to Work: Under every circumstance, work in poise. Work with all the energy you have, but apply that energy in poise; and never permit yourself to violate this rule. Avoid nervous rush, regardless of conditions or demands; and also avoid the habit of doing less than you can do; for remember that we always lose what energy we do not use. Use all the energy you have; use it constructively; use it in poise; and use it in the full conviction that you will immediately receive more. Again, we should consider the great law of expectation. Expect more; expect much; expect everything you want; then live in the absolute faith that all your expectations will be realized.”

This job has really put all this in perspective and is molding my work ethic into something I want to be proud of.

This is a castle in El Puerto de Santa Maria which is along the coast here in Southern Spain where we had the option of taking a bus, train or ferry - also a combination of said transportation - to get there. Haha I still don’t know what to expect in Spain. My everyday motions seems normal with a kind reminder of “no…you’re in a foreign country and yes everything really is making your senses feel heightened to a level you never appreciated before.” Something like that!

A few fun facts about Spain so far:

-I spend my free time researching the latest news (I honestly didn't keep up with the headlines as much as I think we should before I got here) and looking for info on my realistic travel destinations such as the Thankgiving weekend plan for Gibraltar or the London trip we booked for December

-I teach 1^st-6^thgrade Tuesdays-Fridays with 3 day weekends and several private English language tutoring gigs during the week.

-Last Friday, one of my third graders in science class whipped out her giant perfume bottle. It was just the most amusing thing to see how this affected her...and the room's smell.

-In my first grade class, the teacher asked for some examples of "fizzy drink" (teaching the food pyramid, where yes I'd like to draw the world's biggest olive oil container at the top because it sums up their consumption of it here at breakfast alone. In fact, my roomies & I are now proud owners of a 6 liter!) and they screamed Coca Cola while one little girl said CHAMPAGNE in her most eloquent attempt at English.

-We got internet at home last week after waiting since the day we got here. Bittersweet: the night before it was installed, we'd had one of those "how do we entertain each other" nights where everything under the kitchen sink went into our homemade batch of cookies: Jackie's hot chocolate powder mix, some  pecans I'd bought, cinnamon when in doubt, and more: the result was a wonderful smell of Christmas and too many laughs.

-I am about an hour away from the only certified sherry-producing region of Jerez. We toured a bodega last Saturday and the oxidation process/barrels/humidity factors that result in liquid raisin flavored wine is fascinating.

-The sunset view upstairs on our roof is now at 18:30.

-I've realized that Scotland needs to get added to my list: how could I forget about my chance to see Nessie!?

-I sleep about 10 hours a day and it's enough reason to never want to go back to my American lifestyle. Just kidding.

-The Ethnic Food section at the CostCo of Spain is creative:

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive. Then go and do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” ~Howard Thurman

Life’s too short to dwell and not appreciate what you have in front of you. That’s a surprisingly tough lesson to grasp sometimes, but just like learning patience, any new experience allows you to really make the most of your blessings. I am alive. This past weekend I realized how incredible this past year really has been. The people in my life can't even begin to realize what 2011 really meant for me. I'm just really grateful.
Last November I was seriously willing Spain to happen. Honestly by December, I felt like I was drowning in how much I'd settled. So I was giving myself a year or two to make sure I got here. Not there – but HERE because it’s real. I just can’t let myself forget that.

 I still have similar dreams to realize as I did a year ago as well, such as work for a great business and really see it from the top, pursue higher education such as my master’s degree (anyone know in what anymore?!), and most unexpectedly: embrace the foodie in me. I cook so much now with really fresh market ingredients and I love it! So maybe it’s still culinary school like I thought when I was a kid.

More importantly, it was to see unconditional love in many aspects of my life, just like my mom taught me with her own actions. With that said, God was holding me up a year ago and now He’s constantly by my side. I really believe this.

“I could have. What does this phrase mean? At any given moment in our lives, there are certain things that could have happened but didn’t. The magic moments go unrecognized, and then suddenly, the hand of destiny changes everything. But love is much like a dam: if you allow a tiny crack to form through which only a trickle of water can pass, that trickle will quickly bring down the whole structure, and soon no one will be able to control the force of the current. Love is a trap. When it appears, we see only its light, not its shadows.” ~Paulo Coelho