we have a surprise!

Greg and I have a surprise for everybody-but you won't find out until Saturday.. in the mean time here are some clues: 

We also did some exciting things today, 1) we decided what car we're buying-so we'll be getting that on Friday I think.  2) I finally got a cell phone!!!! 3) we ate dinner at Brian and Jodie's... they got their shipment yesterday 4) we found out we're getting our shipment on Friday!  yay for furniture!

We hope everyone's having a wonderful week at home, and miss you all quite terribly!

goodbye gilberts

It's been a lazy weekend, due to the changes in weather my poor husband started getting sick, so we took the weekend to recuperate.  We watched Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers, I made my own popcorn (using oil, kernels, and a pan... can we say going back to basics?!?), and we've each almost finished the Harry Potter books we're reading.  

Unfortunately it's been a sad weekend too, a couple from Richmond is going back to the States on Tuesday.  They've been in Gijon a year, and we're really sad to see them go!  They've taken us to some of the BEST restaurants!  We had a big dinner for them on Friday night with all of the ex-pats and a bunch of Spanish DuPonters.  And today Brian, Jodie, Greg, and I went to lunch with them in a small fishing village called Tazones, about 40 minutes from us.  We had a WONDERFUL lunch!  And a gorgeous view over the coast and the hills (where there were lots of cows resting and grazing).  And then went down into the town, there is a house there that is covered in sea shells (pictured below).  And it smelled very strongly of fish... they have a fish factory right at the edge of town, and the waiters/cooks will head down there to collect more fish if their restaurants start to run out-so you're guaranteed some really fresh food.  They also fish the old fashioned way, in tiny boats with nets and traps (for lobsters, etc).  It was just another glimpse at the beautiful coast of northern Spain, we can't wait to discover all of these little towns!  And we're going to miss Bill and Jean very much!

On a different note, church today was awesome.  Lately the Americans have been outnumbering the others (we have attendees from The Netherlands, Germany, Korea, England, Puerto Rico, Brazil, and Spain) so someone has translated from Spanish to English for those who don't understand, but today Greg and I were the only representatives from the U.S.A, and we opted out of any translating.  Which we discovered-really allowed our Pastor to get into it.  It was amazing, I left church feeling more rejuvenated than I have felt since we moved here!  We were studying 1 John 4:7-21.  And as a group looked at 3 different kinds of love John is talking about: God's love for us, our love for God, and our love for others.  1 John 4:19 says, "We love because he first loved us."  God didn't wait until we were totally messed up and decided to love him to love us.. He always takes the initiative, God loved us before we even had a clue, and not just any kind of love, but a sacrificial/demonstrative/never ending kind of love.  And because of that we are able to love him back, to respond to his call with love.  And I think it's a beautiful picture of how we ought to love others around us.  We don't get to wait until they love us, I need to love others before they love me, in sacrificial ways/material ways/whatever it takes sometimes.  And I know I've failed miserably at this, but there's a way-and God gives that to us through his love, and because of His love... there's gotta be a way, it can't be impossible, ya know?

they love nacho libre

Greg and I ate at a Mexican Restaurant tonight and upon entering noticed that it was covered (and I mean covered) with mexican wrestling masks and posters displaying wrestling matches, etc.  And, as probably only Greg knows-Nacho Libre is one of my favorite movies, which is all about this guy (Jack Black) who works as a cook at an orphanage and wants to be a famous wrestler, I would strongly suggest watching it =)

Some other awesome news, I joined a gym!  They offer a bunch of classes, so I'm going to start doing Spin class this week... hopefully I can burn off some of the ridiculous amount of calories I've consumed in the last 5 weeks.  Today I went hiking with some of the other ex-pat wives.  Tineke is from Holland, and has a knack for navigating, so she started "Walking Wednesdays" Each Wednesday she plans a hike on a trail in Asturias, unfortunately the majority of the trails are overgrown/straight uphill/crazy muddy so it's quite an adventure.  We had a great time today, and I broke in my new hiking boots and split my pants (needless to say I'll be going on a shopping spree on my next trip home!)  

another hiking adventure

Sunday after church, Greg and I called Brian and Jodie to check out their plans for lunch.  They had decided to take the afternoon to drive out to "Cabo de Peñas" which is the most northern tip of Asturias.  We were told that there is a restaurant out there, so we brought snacks just in case, and drove west in search of this cape.  Brian was an awesome navigator and we were there in no time.  

We ate lunch in the only restaurant offered, and they're lucky the view was AWESOME because they were the most unhappy looking staff I have ever seen.  I don't think any of them could actually talk, there was a lot of grunting, and absolutely no smiling-i think it must be forbidden.  The food was ok, I had the best salad I've ever had here before my fish, so that was a plus.  Greg's boss had visited this site a week before and his wife told us there was a cross out on the rock that you could hike out to, but she warned us that the hike probably wouldn't be so easy.  Of course we had to take the challenge, we found what looked like a trail and started climbing rocks/cutting ourselves on foliage (it looked like grass-but would bite you when you weren't paying attention)

We climbed the rocks and hung over the cliffs until we found the tip, Greg beat us there because he followed the actual trail-which was straight up a side of the big rock, I was terrified of this so Brian, Jodie, and I found a bit of a smoother way.  And of course, Jesus has claimed the most northern tip, and we all hung out with the cross for awhile before we trekked back to the bottom.  It was really beautiful, and we're just continually amazed at the beauty of the countryside, I've never really seen anything like it here.

On a REALLY exciting note, my wonderful husband got me a dryer yesterday!  So although no matter what you do laundry still takes forever, I have the joy of being able to dry my own clothes and not hanging them on the line and taking them to Jodie's.  I'm so excited!

  

      

we forgot our skis

 
Ok, well there isn't actually snow in Asturias yet, BUT there are lots of ski resorts.  And in a town about 1 hour south of us (Pajares), there is a ski resort that is open year round.  During the off season, they allow you to ride the ski lift to the top of the peek and do some hiking/sight seeing.  The Cantabrian Mountain Range separates the Costa Verde (where we live.. it's very green and beautiful) from the dry desert like parts of Spain.  

Anyway, after breakfast Greg and I decided we would drive south and visit Pajares.  The drive itself was absolutely beautiful, we had no idea there were so many mountains in Asturias!  We also found out today that there are lots of Grizzly bears here, and big cats-like the Lynx.  We got to Pajares and had a hard time figuring out where to go-but we found the ski resort and paid 5 euros to go up to the peek.  It was breathtaking!  As we were up there I was just thinking about how the mountains were made, and what it would have been like to see the Earth folding over itself and pushing upward and all the rumbling and falling rocks:

"'Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken, nor my covenant of peace be removed," says the LORD, who has compassion on you"

-Isaiah 54:10

I'm not sure what the shaking means in that verse, but I just wonder about the power behind the shifting of the earth to create this huge peaks, and God loves us so much more than that and gives us a peace that is undeniable and unexplainable.  It was awesome to hang out up there with Greg and praise God's creation.

We hiked around for about 2 hours.  There were cattle and horses all over the place, I guess they just have free reign over the mountains, and their owners find them when they need them.  We walked out along the mountain tops and just enjoyed and admired the outdoors and this beautiful province we get to live in for the moment.  It was awesome!  And we can't wait to take you when you come visit =)

ocean 0 schmeers 1

As you know, we live 5 blocks from the ocean.  Every day Greg and I walk past dozens of surfers, and our friends Brian and Jodie have even taken to the waves.  So... we've been feeling the pressure.

Well.. we just so happen to go to church with a family from Brazil who moved to Spain approximately 14 years ago, and the husband, Hiucif, the coolest guy in the world-he makes surfboards for some of the top surfers in the world... and the best part-he totally loves Jesus. 

Anyway, last Sunday after church, he invited Greg and I to go out surfing with him, so in an attempt to make more friends, we took him up on the offer.  So today we joined Hiucif on the beach and conquered the ocean.  Ok... we didn't actually conquer anything, but it was awesome.  We only had one board (and it was a short board, because Hiucif is such a good surfer he doesn't even own a long one, which are usually reserved for beginners) so we took turns going out into the ocean with him to teach us.  I tried to get out of the whole thing, but Greg wouldn't let me.  And it turned out to be an awesome afternoon!  Greg got up on the board his last time in, but I decided to just master the paddling.... 

Afterwards, Hiucif invited us over for tea, and it was just what we needed.  It's been really difficult not having friends to just talk to or have dinner with, luckily Jodie is an awesome cook-so we get to eat with the Lambs a lot, but we miss all of our families from Ogletown!  And this was the first time we went to someone else's home and just sat and talked, a little in english/a little in spanish.  It was great.  And we're just reminded that no matter where you are God is right there with you-whether you're from the same place or not.  Friday, I got to spend the morning singing and praying with women from 3 countries: the U.S, Holland, and Spain.  And it was just this tiny glimpse of what heaven holds in store.  So we're starting to find our groove, and wish you could have seen us tackling the waves =)     

i hate laundry

In my new beloved country of residence, there are many things that I love, for example: living 5 minutes from the beach, public transportation, fruit stands, markets, sidra, the list goes on.  But I have also encountered my arch nemesis... laundry.  Unlike the ease of throwing in a big load of laundry, throwing it in the dryer 30-45 minutes later, and after an hour out comes fluffy comfortable clothing... it is quite a different process in Spain.  My washer can only fit approximately 4-5 kilograms (you have no idea how much that is... approximately 3 pairs of pants, 2 shirts and some underwear). The washing process takes  1 hour and 30 minutes.  For the time being, I don't have a dryer-although hopefully this weekend that will change-so I hang my clothes on a line to let them air dry.  This leaves clothes so hard though!  So Jodie lets me borrow her dryer and I throw my clothes once they're more or less dry to soften them up.  But this past week I got very far behind, so yesterday I had to do 3 loads of laundry!  Consuming my entire day..  I can't wait until I live in the apartment and can just throw in a load every day.  

Other than that, life is wonderful.  Jodie, Brian, Greg and I found a store that is very similar to Wal-Mart last night, so I finally bought an ironing board (for a reasonable price!).  We didn't have a lot of time, but Jodie and I are super excited.

At church this past Sunday, we talked about Ezekial 18, last night while I was waiting for dinner, I took the opportunity to read the whole of the chapter.  I highly recommend it.  God has been revealing to me the freedom that can be found in Him, and his love for those who don't know him. 

"But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die.  None of the transgressions he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done he shall live"

-Ezekial 18:21,22

This is such a great reminder for us when we are so clouded by our pasts.  God forgives us and no sins that we have committed will be remembered, there is no shame or guilt.  It's a wonderful feeling.  So there is much to gain for those who follow Christ....life. 

the metal goose delivered our goods

We finally got our air shipment!!  It's not much, but at 8:15am Friday morning, we got 300lbs of stuff!!  It was mostly clothes, but included 2 air mattresses to be our makeshift furniture until we get the rest of our things.  Greg proceeded to blow out the electrical converter trying to blow them up... I think we've been watching too much Tool Time on Home Improvement.  The Lambs (our neighbors) came to our rescue and let us borrow one of theirs.  That night we ordered pizza (from  Pizza Hut!!!!) and watched Harry Potter in our future bedroom =)

There is a big aquarium in Gijon, and since we had no plans for Saturday-we decided to go check it out.  After I got all excited about the otters and the other fish, Greg told me that he was told there are no live animals at the aquarium (how mean is that?!) and so I got online to see if there were pictures on the website, which I found, but he stuck to his story that they were staged photographs.  The aquarium is on the west side of town, we walked by the San Lorenzo beach, and the harbor.. and we found another beach!  We stopped for ice cream (this happens a lot) and finally made it to the aquarium.  Which was awesome!  For such a small town it was really impressive.  They had it set up so you walked through all the different oceans-starting with the Cantabrian Sea (where we are) and through the Atlantic, the Indian, the Red Sea, and much more.  It was great, and all the animals were alive!  The exhibits were awesomely designed, some had ship wrecks, and others were big caves, Greg's favorite was an exhibit at the end that was just full of trash, to show you what ends up in the ocean that shouldn't, he loved it so much he had to take a picture.  A lot of the exhibits also had little bubbles so you could go under and look into the water, here's a picture of Greg in the otter exhibit:

It also happened to be Brian's birthday, so we went to their apartment for dinner (homemade!), Jodie cooked meatloaf and scalloped potatoes.  And we watched the Dog Whisperer... our favorite dog trainer, next to Victoria Stilwell..

we live in spain

After a crazy summer filled with graduation, getting married, and getting ready to move, Greg and I finally made it to Spain.  As most of you know we now live in Gijon, Spain-where Greg works for DuPont.  

We flew out of Philadelphia on Friday the 22nd of August and arrived in Madrid, Spain at 7 a.m on Saturday where we spent the day touring the gardens and sites of the city.  Greg surprised me with tickets to the theatre on Saturday night where we saw Disney's Bella y la Bestia (Beauty and the Beast)!!  It felt like we were on Broadway... just in a different language.  On Sunday we left Madrid for our new home, and after multiple plane/gate changes (we left 6 hours after our scheduled departure) we headed out and arrived in Gijon for dinner.  

But now that we are here we are quickly making it home.  Until our furniture arrives we are living in the Hotel Hernan Cortes, which is only a block from our flat, where we visit often to do laundry.  This past weekend was the Cider festival in Gijon, thousands of people crowded the plazas to listen to typical music and drink many different types of cider.  The picture is the symbol of this years festival.  Often in restaurants a bottle of cider costs less than a bottle of water.  The waiters hold the bottle in their right hands high above their head and pour the drink into the cup in their left hand which they hold down below their waste in order to aerate the cider (almost as much ends up on the ground as in the cup).  They only pour about a sip at a time, and after you take a sip-you pour the rest out in order to "cleanse" the cup.  It's quite interesting to watch.. by the end of the night the roads were all a little damp from all the pouring and dumping.