Back to the good ol' US of A

Tomorrow, we're flying to Raleigh for a week and a half in the States. Vacation already? Hardly! While Brendan already has his work visa to reside and work in Spain, Charlotte and I are still here as "tourists". So we must go back to DC to get a little visa stamped on our passports so that we are also Spanish residents.

While I'm not exactly looking forward to 2 trans-atlantic flights within 2 weeks with a 5 month old, I kinda feel like we know what we're doing now. We're cutting out the stroller...we'll see how that goes...and we're not worrying so much about scheduling because it really all goes out the window when you have to change that many time zones!

I am looking forward to spending time with friends and family during our trip. Can't wait for you all to see how Charlotte has grown! And I'm also super excited to get some American food...and I don't necessarily mean burgers and fries (although that's on the list)...I mean food you can only find in America.

Here's my list (these will probably also show up in future gratitude posts :)):

• 5 Guys Burgers - yummm, cajun fries!
• Chick-fil-A - can't believe I've gone so long without it!
• Pei Wei - crab wontons, haven't found anything comparable here
• El Rodeo Grill - ok, so if I was going to Texas this would definitely be Abuelo's, but this is my NC Mexican food alternative

So which one would you choose to eat at first?

One Thousand Gifts - Post #2

Already another Monday...another day to stop and reflect on my growing gratitude list to my Father. To be completely honest, I didn't feel in much of a gratitude mood this morning (or for part of the weekend for that matter). Thankfully I keep my list as the blessings occur, or I might have just given up today and decided that God hadn't really blessed me with anything in the past week! :) Just kidding! But I was in one of those moods where I felt "blah!". Nothing terrible going on in my life...just me letting daily life get me down. In particular, the new increased whiny-ness of my daughter. I'm sure those of you who have older children will just laugh and think "oh just wait until she has words to add to the whiny-ness".

That is exactly where God brought me to this morning while I was just letting the tears roll...because for me letting the tears roll helps even if the tears don't make much sense. I've got to learn to love Charlotte and find peace despite what good or bad may happen. I felt God asking me this morning, "Do you really want to be upset/down/frustrated every time Charlotte does something you don't like?" I'm positive that was a rhetorical question where the answer is "No". I know raising a child (and hopefully more than one) will be full of ups and downs....but I want to rest in my Lord during the downs. And so God put this verse from the 46th Psalm on my heart this morning,

"Be still and know that I am God, I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

The count to 1000 (and more) blessings continues...

15. Electric tea kettle

16. baby girl's favorite teether being her big toes  :)

17. old friends and inside jokes which last for ages

18. my amazing husband who keeps melting my heart

19. that the Spirit intercedes for me - I don't have to know what to pray for, the Spirit guides that

20. softening my heart to those I love by praying for them

21. knowing other believers around the world and keeping up with what they are doing for your Kingdom

22. nothing in all creation being able to separate me from Jesus

23. soft, baby skin

24. a picnic at the park on a beautiful day

25. finding my daughter's ticklish spots

26. Skype

27. cuddling with my baby girl

28. laughing with my husband

29. my parents & grandparents sharing their faith with me through words and action - being spiritual farmers

30. the view of Madrid out our apt window

31. being able to watch NCAA basketball tourney online!!

32. Brendan having the day off work

33. my husband cooking breakfast for me

34. the opportunity to sleep in this morning

35. Brendan watching Charlotte so I can get out for some "mommy time"

36. the sights and sounds of Madrid as heard at "our" park (Parque de Berlin)

37. that my mom shared with me the importance of journaling

38. hearing English spoken - and realizing how much I take that for granted

39. my husband listening to me share my heart with him

40. 5 sweet months with my daughter

41. my husband doing the dishes after dinner while I put little girl to bed

42. for God's financial provision - so glad He foresees what I can't

43. our apartment is not cold anymore - yeah, for warmer weather!

When I started this list I wondered how God would use intentional gratitude to change my life...well today when I felt like not being grateful, God used this list (as I typed it) to remind me that He loves me and blesses me even when I don't feel it. Thank you, Lord, for knowing me as well as you do!


If you are interested in learning about thanking God for 1000 Gifts and where this idea came from (because it didn't start with me :)), click here.

**I'm amending this post shortly after posting it because my Father just keeps on speaking to me today, and I wanted to share it with you. I visited the blog, Holy Experience, shortly after posting and found that Ann's post today spoke exactly to where my heart was this morning. Click here to read it...hope it blesses you too!

Small Victories

I'm so glad Brendan has the day off of work today. We're going to enjoy the three day weekend by watching some NCAA college basketball online, playing with Charlotte, maybe taking some walks if the weather clears up, and just generally being lazy...in a good way! I'm also getting around to writing this post that has been in my mind for a few weeks.

In a previous post I mentioned some of my small victories. "Small Victories" is this little phrase I've coined whenever I (or we) accomplish something here in Spain that helps make life a little more "normal". It could also be said that it applies to accomplishing things that I would normally take for granted - like how I do laundry.

So here, in no particular order, are some of my small victories since moving to Spain:

• Cooking a meal - when we were still in the temp apt and I was learning what was available in grocery stores, I was finally able to put together a soup...if you ask Brendan, it actually turned out more like a pasta dish but it was yummy and homemade.
• Figuring out how to operate the nasal aspirator we bought for Charlotte - both of the awesome bulb syringes we got from the hospital when Charlotte was born broke, so we had to find something here in Spain to clear out her nose. The lady who showed us apts when we first moved here helped us get one at the store called Farmacia (like CVS but NOT b/c EVERYTHING seems to be behind the counter...not cool when you don't speak the language!). This nasal aspirator was not a bulb syringe and the directions weren't in English so we stared at it for quite some time trying to figure out how it worked. When Brendan finally figured it out, he came in to me laughing, "We have to suck the stuff out of her nose!!"
• Laundry in our new apartment
• Riding the bus on my own with Charlotte - I've done this a few times now and have actually gotten the hang of it
• Getting groceries delivered to our apartment - Ok, so this may seem like a luxury rather than normal life, but imagine trying to get a large amount of groceries home without a car and with a baby in a stroller. Brendan and I weren't sure how this was going to work, but we just pushed our cart full of groceries up to the checkout line and somehow managed to get things delivered to our apartment later that day!
• Getting cable & internet set-up - Remember:  We don't speak Spanish...enough said.
• Buying bath mats for our non-heated, very cold, tiled-floor bathroom

One Thousand Gifts - Post #1

Last week, a new friend in Madrid posted on her blog a recommendation for a blog that had been encouraging her recently - Holy Experience. I then spent the next few days digging around on Holy Experience and found quite a bit of encouragement myself.

You see, I've always wanted to be a mom - specifically, a stay-at-home mom. I've always felt that is what God has called me to do, so when Charlotte was born it seemed my dream was fulfilled, right? Well, sort of. To be quite honest, the past 5 months have been anything except what I expected my life as a stay-at-home mom to be. But I believe that's exactly where God has wanted me...because during this time of questioning and discontent God has been slowly showing me WHY he put the desire in my heart to be a mother and homemaker. I'm really just beginning to scratch the surface of the "why" so I'm not going to go into it yet, but the Holy Experience blog has helped me to begin the process of understanding and EMBRACING my God-given role!!

Something I found on Holy Experience that I could not wait to begin was a gratitude journal, a One Thousand Gift List. Today, I began keeping a journal (in list form) of thanks to God for all the gifts He has given me. And every Monday I'm going to share them with you. I don't know how long it will take me to get to 1000 gifts, a year, maybe less, maybe more, but I'm excited to see how purposeful gratitude to God changes my life. I'm sure it will help me be more content exactly where I'm at. So my list begins...

Thank you, Father, for....

1. friends

2. time during Charlotte's morning nap to have quiet time with the Lord

3. Hot tea :)

4. The Chronicles of Narnia

5. a fuzzy lion for Charlotte to cuddle with while I read her The Chronicles of Narnia

6. God's Word

7. a beautiful day...for a walk and for hanging out laundry

{On a walk at Parque de Berlin}

8. never being done with changing me, molding me...and that when you (God) are done, you have a place in heaven prepared for me

9. opportunity and ability to stay home with my daughter and take care of our family

10. my baby girl "talking" when she wakes up

11. Charlotte's sweet, funny giggles

{Giggling despite her first tooth coming in}

12. Brendan coming home early tonight

13. being more familar with my local mercado (grocery store)

14. staying connected with friends and family even though I'm thousands of miles away


Have a beautiful week, dear friends.

Laundry: Madrid-style

Last week was our first week in the new flat in Madrid. You would think that I'd have already gotten used to domestic life since we've been living here for over a month, but our new flat brought with it some more traditional aspects of life in Madrid. One of these that I had to tackle last week was laundry.

As you can see, our clothes are hanging out to dry - not because I thought it would be a fun change of pace in the middle of winter but because MOST homes in Madrid do not have dryers. The temporary flat we were staying in must have been catered towards an expat crowd because there was a dryer in that place. Not so here. So, once I finally got the washing machine figured out - water valve was not turned on; thanks to Brendan's co-worker Charlie for figuring that one out! - I began hanging out our first load. Brendan thought whites would be a safe place to start since we are on the top floor (7th). So far we haven't "lost" anything but it is bound to happen sooner or later.

The first day (and night) was actually pretty successful. One of my "small victories" (more about those in a later post). Two loads of laundry dried!! But Brendan called me on his way to work the next morning and said it was beginning to sprinkle. Ok, so I got everything inside and it was dry so that was fine. But I had soooo much more laundry to do and it didn't look like it would rain anymore. I was wrong. I had Charlotte's clothes washed and hung up and it started to rain. Long story short - I had numerous loads of laundry to do and it rained for a few days straight (quite uncharacteristic of Madrid). They have these clothes drying racks here that you can use inside, but I hadn't been able to purchase one yet. Thankfully, Brendan and I managed to pick one up on Saturday and the laundry could resume.

Doing laundry is actually one of my favorite household duties. Even though its never-ending and that is sometimes annoying, I find find a lot of joy in doing it. I've decided that hanging our clothes out actually adds to the enjoyment...however I think it will be more fun when the weather warms up. Cold, stiff clothes/towels/sheets aren't that comfortable!

Also, doing our laundry this way (so completely different than I'd ever do it in the States) really brings it home that I'm LIVING in another country. I'm not just here on extended vacation; I'm living here. And one of the things God really spoke to me about when I was praying about our move here was that I needed to release my hold on the comforts and conveniences that were holding me back from fully following Him. You may think, "Well, Anne, is doing laundry with a dryer really holding you back from pursuing God?". And I'd say, "No, don't be silly!" But what is holding me back is my desire to have an easy, comfortable life rather than the life God has called me to. Right now, God has called me to give up what was easy and comfortable in the US and live in a foreign country...with a baby. I am daily asking God to help me release my desire for the "easy life" so that I can live the "abundant life" He wants for me.

Another Spanish Adventure

We are now in our permanent residence here in Madrid. (More pics and video to follow this weekend.) Moving is always an adventure; there alway seems to be plenty of unexpected things arise to throw off your plans. Thankfully, our move from the temp apt in Madrid to our new apartment went very smoothly...just a bit differently than our previous moves in the U.S.

First, we don't have an SUV nor any friends with an SUV or truck, so Brendan rented one of the few automatic transmission cars he could find - a Volkswagen Golf. We thought it might take us all day, but I think the Lord miraculously expanded the space inside the car so that we were able to get everything in just 4 trips! And one of Brendan's friends from work, Charlie, helped out so he got everything up the elevator and into the apt when Brendan brought it over. Charlotte and I were able to hang out in the new casa and start unpacking. You can see below that we found an interesting picture hanging in Charlotte's room! I think I've decided to leave it up just because its funny that she has a donkey in her room. :)

{Charlotte & The Burro}

On Tuesday, Charlotte had her first doctor's visit in Spain. Before I even get to the doctor's visit though, I need to praise God for providing insurance for Charlotte (BCBS NC) that covers her overseas! How incredible is that! And they called to make the appointment for her...even better. Soon we'll both be covered by Brendan's new insurance here in Spain but until then it is so great to know that she is covered.

Ok, so we had a little trek to get to the doctor. We took the Metro, then had about a 15 minute walk from the Metro stop to the hospital. Thankfully, I decided to put Charlotte in the stroller rather than in the Baby Bjorn...she's a bit heavy for that (on me anyways). We didn't have a suite number for the doctor at the hospital so we knew we would have to do some searching. It didn't take us long to find where he was located, but we did figure out why there was no suite number. We saw the doctor's name on a door and assumed that this was his office (waiting room, etc). Brendan begins to open the door and quickly realizes that he is entering an EXAM ROOM not a waiting room for the doctor's office! Oops! The doctor came out later to get the next patient and we slowly figured out the Spanish system.

So, the doctor had no nurses or support staff...just himself. And his office and exam room were the same room. Interesting to say the least. But the good news was he spoke English, and Charlotte received her vaccinations...although she was not too happy about that part. :( I am getting more familiar with measurements in centimeters and kilograms - Charlotte weighs 7 kg (~15 lbs) and is 63 cm (~25 in) - something I had to figure out in order to buy her diapers last week. And I think the diapers I bought are Pampers with a different label!

After Charlotte finished crying and we were done with the appointment, she took a good long nap on the way back home then she decided to play around with Brendan while getting ready for bed. We were both very surprised! I'd been telling Brendan about how she giggles now, but he hadn't really heard her do it yet. So out of nowhere, she starts giggling for him while he's playing with her....so cute! And you can see below, she also showed Brendan how flexible she is getting - finally figured out that her toes can go in her mouth too!

{Bandaged up after vaccinations}

{Caught with her foot in her mouth!}