New Projects!

Greg and I bought our house in November and are absolutely LOVING it! The couple that lived here before us remodeled the kitchen, bathroom, and living room but didn't get to the basement. When we moved in it was a shrine to the St. Louis Cardinals. It's painted red with black trim and has tin on two of the walls. It also came with a giant bar, which we didn't really have a use for.

This is a picture of part of the basement before we moved in.

We decided over Christmas that we were going to take the plunge into our first DIY project. We have plans to take down the tin, re-paint the walls green, put in new carpet, and change the trim to white.

Since I'm terrible at keeping a blog, I thought I'd challenge myself to document our project. Last night we ripped out the bar (well.. Greg did all the hard work, I carried pieces out to the trash). It was fun to see how much room we're now going to have!

Greg hard at work

Starting to remove pieces

Carrying out the top of the bar was super difficult, it weighed a ton and we had to maneuver it through our narrow stairwell

Tada! no more bar, this space is going to be home to our computer when it's finished

We're really excited to tackle this together! I've never done anything like this, and neither has Greg, so we'll see how many bumps we come across and how we handle them, but I think it's going to feel great to accomplish something that will make our house feel even more like home.

Holland and Paris

Greg and I just got home from vacation, and I seriously slept for 12 hours last night, it's amazing how worn out you get from sight-seeing, I definitely prefer those lay on the beach every day and do nothing sort of vacations. But we had a really great time. We flew to Brussels, Belgium where we were picked up from our friends at the airport and drove to Holland. We were staying with friends of ours, Charles and Tineke, who were living in Spain with us, and moved in June. It was awesome, I absolutely loved Holland, there isn't much to the landscape, it's pretty much flat, but it's covered in green and dotted with windmills. It was so beautiful, too bad we missed the tulips, but it was worth the trip anyway. While we were there we were able to visit with our friends, take long bicycle rides, we visited this place called "Madurodam" which is a park with replicas of famous Dutch buildings in miniature, and we even saw Harry Potter!!! Which of course I had been dying without, but I refused to see it dubbed in Spanish.

Riding bikes in Bergen op Zoom

We're Giants!! One of the windmills in Madurodam

Love the wooden shoe =)

Then we hopped on a train and went to Paris, this half of the trip started out quite hectic, we had no idea how the metro worked, but eventually ended up near our hotel when we realized we had no map of the streets and weren't really sure where our hotel was... so we wandered in the general direction for almost a half an hour just hoping we'd stumble upon the small side street where our hotel was, and we actually did, right when we both were about to give up and grab a taxi, we saw a small sign with labeled "Rue Nicolo". Man was it a blessing! Paris was interesting, definitely beautiful in all of the architecture and history, we went to the Louvre, had crepes in front of the Eiffel Tower, took a boat ride down the Seine River, visited the Notre Dame, but it wasn't really what I expected. In my mind Paris is a city where you sit at cafes and drink coffee with a croissant, etc. But when we discovered that a cup of coffee cost 6 euros, and no that isn't Starbucks, it blew me away! Even a soda at a restaurant was at least 5. It was crazy! The food at Disneyland was cheaper than the food in the city.... and that's sayin' something. We celebrated Greg's birthday at Disneyland Paris, we were there for 13 hours, I have a HUGE blister on my foot and Greg's favorite saying became "my dogs is doggin' me" to inform me that his feet hurt. Gotta love him =)

On the ride, "it's a small world"

Greg in front of the Eiffel Tower

Happy 4th of July... (a little late)

I hope everyone had a fantastic 4th of July, full of good old American bar-b-que, sparklers, fireworks... We did our best here in Espana, but I'll tell you.. I miss s'mores. We had some old marshmellows and cookies (can you BELIEVE they have the nerve not to have graham crackers here?!). But it was a great time. Plus, it was my puppies first birthday, so I (being the total nerd that I am) baked them a cake. Only to find out later that night that my younger brother's baby was born as well! Welcome to the world Liam Michael O'Toole, and he was huge... 9lbs 15oz.

They might have been born in Spain, but they're American at heart

Roasting some marshmellows

Lots of food!

The puppies enjoying their cake

cows are so beautiful

Tineke and Charles moved home to Holland this past week, we were really sad to say goodbye, so sad that we bought plane tickets to visit them in 3 weeks! But I was able to go on one last hike with her and the kids, and it was beautiful! Cows were everywhere, close enough to touch, and they're so beautiful here, I love their caramel color. And the sun was SO bright, I've had the sunburn for a week... I can't believe I forgot to put sunscreen on my neck.

Tijn (pronounced Tine) did not want to walk... at all, this was 5 minutes into the hike.

The DeWolfs

I am so going to miss this place!

hello beautiful =)

The way Spaniards Party

This past Saturday night, Greg and I went out to a "barrio" party in Gijon. The different neighborhoods (more like miniature cities inside the city of Gijon) have fiestas during the summer. During the day they have inflatables for kids to play on and carnival games, and LOTS of food. Two of our friends live in Viesques and invited us to go out with them. So we left the puppies at home and brought towels, food, and sidra (the Asturian cider) and headed over.

(Lola hates getting left...)

At night they have big concerts and everyone stands around and dances, etc. Our Spanish teacher and a friend of hers came with us as well and was determined that we would celebrate "spanish style" so we had tortilla (a potato and egg omelette, my favorite spanish food) and chorizo a la sidra (chorizo=sausage, cooked in the cider, it was delish!) and LOTS of bread.

It was so much fun, but we knew we weren't 'in Kansas anymore'. The music began around 10pm, we left at 1am when the second band was coming on to play until 5am! As much as we're trying to fit in, I was struggling to stay awake until 11 if we're being honest...

Brian and Jodie

Cory and our Spanish teacher Cristina

Paella

Paella is a very traditional Spanish meal, it was originated in Valencia, and is now eaten pretty much all over Spain. There are all sorts of different varieties, mainly fish paella, meat paella, seafood paella, and any mixture. Almost every Spaniard you talk to tells you a different way to make it. And at the end of the day, it looks more like whatever you had leftover in the kitchen. It kind of reminds me of chili. Every American makes chili differently, and if you're like my mom the ingredients are rarely the same, whatever veggies are in the fridge/cabinet. Anyway, the point of the story is-Pam and Glenn (another DuPont couple) bought this awesome Paella grill, and had a bunch of us over for dinner. They have a great patio and yard, so we brought the dogs, and Lola loved standing under the grill and catching scraps. Our Dutch friends, the de Wolffs were there too with their kids, who love the puppies. It was a lot of fun!

The Paella cooking on the special grill

The guys hanging out and eating appetizers (Brian, Charles, and my cute husband)

Tineke and Charles at the table, there were 8 of us and we barely put a dent in that pan

Tijn (pronounced Tine) was putting grass all over Goyo's face, and he just sat there like a puppet, such a cutie

Concerts and Meat

Last night Greg and I went to a concert here in Gijon. Philip Glass is a minimalist modernist composer. What in the world does that mean? I had no idea, but apparently he writes symphonic type music but it's only played with a few instruments. Last night there was a piano, cello, and percussion. I didn't know what I was in for, but it was awesome. The cellist was fantastic! And her arms looked amazing I think I might have to start playing a pretend cello or something. It was cool to have an American do a concert here, and even better he talked in English... =)

After the concert we went out to dinner (we had reservations at 10:30... they eat so late!) at a restaurant that used to be a sidra factory (sidra is the famous cider from Asturias). We always joke about how all of the food here is "digestive." They eat so much of that Activia yogurt and fiber cookies, but it's because they don't eat vegetables. We ordered a Parrillada, which is a big platter of meat grilled together over the fire. Es muy deliciosa! There was sausage, pork ribs, beef ribs, ham, steak... oh it was so good!! The picture below isn't the Parrillada that we ate, but it's a good example of one. And then I had flan for dessert.. yum. It was a very Spanish evening, Greg and I didn't get home until 1:30, and I was lucky enough to translate the sermon at church today.. needless to say it didn't make much sense, I don't function so well without a lot of sleep. =)

Lola loves cows

On our hike this past Wednesday we encountered lots of livestock. My dogs and their best friend Barley (a beagle) decided it is their responsibility to protect us from these weird looking creatures. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera... but if you can just imagine a trail that is so muddy your feet sink into the ground and that gross sucking sound as you try to pull your boots out, that was our wonderful walk....and to be honest, I'm not sure if it was just mud. Gross. Not to mention falling into some bramble-I've got battle scars. But anyway, the best part was while we're walking along we hear some hooves start pounding the ground and see 3 cows bolting across their field and a teeny tiny Lola chasing them. It was awesome.

goats on the mountain

a beautiful waterfall

Greg had off work yesterday, so we went hiking on a different route. And even in the car Lola could sense there were cows, she watched out the window for the entire hour checking to see if there were any cows. It was a beautiful hike, we were walking in a gorge and the rock overhangs were dripping water, there were waterfalls, and we even saw some goats running along the mountain side. We had to leash Lola when we were close to some fields that were filled with cows and their adorable babies, but that didn't stop her from dreaming about chasing them, it was awesome.

isn't she adorable?

Semana Santa

"Young Life brings the good news of Jesus Christ into the lives of adolescents with an approach that is respectful of who kids are and hopeful about who they can be"

Greg and I have both been involved in Young Life throughout our lives, and both met Christ through our leaders and camps. And after high school Greg felt called to lead Young Life, which he did in Chicago and in Newark. This week many students in Europe have off for what we would call Spring Break, and in Spain it's Semana Santa. We were invited to join Young Life on a trip to Poland, and we accepted so we're headed there tonight. We will be working with high school kids from U.S military bases who are going on a mission trip to Poland for their spring breaks. We'll be spending time in English classes at a school near Katowice, Poland. And we will also be rebuilding a playground at an elementary school. We're really excited to connect with some students and spend the week getting to know them and sharing the good news of Jesus. So if you think about us, please pray that we would connect with the students (the U.S ones) during small groups, etc. And also that we would be able to share the gospel with the Polish students as well. I'll be sure to put up pictures and fill you in on our trip when we get back!

Weekend getaway =)

We just got home from a weekend visiting Bilbao and Pamplona (where the running of the bulls is), and it was so much fun! We had to leave our puppies for the first time... there were no tears, thank goodness, i love those dogs! And of course on Friday morning Goyo ate a tea bag - so I was hoping it would pass before he got to the dog kennel, I wonder what they would have thought.. haha. But all is well in dog country, and they're both fine.

Anyway, Carolyn is a coworker of Greg's and is living in Spain for about 3 months, she has a friend who lives in Pamplona so we decided we'd take a weekend trip to go visit. We stopped in Bilbao overnight (about 3 hours east of Gijon), and it's actually in the Basque country, and the language there is crazy, there were so many z's and u's and k's. I had no idea what we were getting into but it was awesome! About 20 years ago it was considered the ugliest city in the north, and they've done a lot of work to it, and it shows-it was beautiful!! They even have a Guggenheim museum, which are also found in: Venice, Berlin, and New York. And the weather was fantastic, we had a wonderful time visiting the museum and walking through the city.

A view of Bilbao's river walk, from a pedestrian bridge (you can see part of the Guggenheim in the backround):

The oh-so-cool Guggenheim museum:

Are we still in Spain? What in the world is this language...!

Saturday night we drove to Pamplona and met up with Carolyn's friend Roberto and his girlfriend Helena. Carolyn and Roberto volunteered together in Thailand a few years ago. Anyway-we took a quick tour of the city, it's pretty small, and watched the end of a sport they play there, it's called Pala and it's almost like Raquetball, wall ball, and tennis all got smashed together. Then we ate a very Spanish dinner (super late, I could barely keep my eyes open!). Sunday we took a tour of the city in the daylight, and it's really cool. It's a medieval town and so it's surrounded by these huge walls, and they've put in an elevator that takes you up into the town through the wall, it's pretty neat. We walked along the path where the running of the bulls takes place, and we had coffee in the plaza where Ernest Hemingway would stay when he visited the city.

The elevator that takes you up through the wall:

A statue commemorating the running of the bulls:

My puppies are all grown up!

Last Tuesday I surprised Greg by taking the dogs to the groomers to get their first hair cuts. Schnauzers have a very particular cut, and I was super nervous because I loved their fluffy puppy hair, but it was getting ridiculously long and hard to take care of. But it was a success and they look adorable!!! They don't sit still for pictures, so here's the best I could do.

Before: Greg has Lola and I'm holding Goyo

Lola after her haircut

Isn't he handsome?! This one is Goyo.

And my dogs love vegetables, so they sit at my feet while I chop hoping for something to snack on, Greg thinks they're weird.

baking and birthdays

The last week and a half I've been baking everything in sight and I've discovered some amazing new recipes. I mentioned the blog Bakerella before, and I love her, but anyway-for Valentine's day she made cookie sandwiches from a cake mix filled with cream cheese icing... we had a few people over for Mexican (I made flautas... they were amazing) and I tried out these cookies with a boxed white cake mix, and they were such a hit! I even took pictures, but I need to load them onto the computer. If you've had oreo cakesters.. these were the same, but only cost me $2 to make.

Refrigeration in Spain isn't as advanced as what I'm used to back home, and when you mix in the lack of preservatives-food goes bad very quickly at the Schmeers. Unfortunately I can't blame the fridge, but I ruined a pound of strawberries last week but still wanted to use what I could salvage from them (I'm on a new kick to try really hard not to let our food spoil). And I made strawberry scones, they were fabulous! My mom made some great scones this summer and I've been meaning to try to make them, I attempted one night for Greg and I and ended up with a huge mess all over the oven, I'm not sure what went wrong. But these were fantastic, and they kept for 2 days! Goodthingscatered.blogspot.com is where I found the recipe and I'll post it later this week. It was so easy... the trick is in the butter.

And my last accomplishment was homemade brownies, I've tried a few different recipes and they just do not cut it. We brought some Duncan Hines box mixes with us from home, and I don't know what secret ingredient they have in those mixes, but nothing beats the boxed mix. But I've finally found a decent recipe. Tineke and Charles are great friends of ours (they're from Holland) and they have 3 kids. Charles had to fly to Holland this weekend because he just found out his dad is really sick, and Tineke was stuck with hosting a sleepover birthday party for her 10 year old son and 9 of his friends! She asked Greg and I to help out, and of course we said yes, we had no idea how much fun we'd have! She's a planner, so the party was planned out to the minute. And Greg and I had a blast playing games with all the kids and keeping them entertained, and we got a free dinner out of the deal! And Tineke was the holder of the secret awesome brownie recipe, who she got from our American friend Amber.

It's almost too simple.. give it a try!

Brownie Pie

1 c. white sugar

1 c. butter or margarine melted

2/3 c. unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey's)

3 eggs

6 tbsp. flour

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Mix sugar, cocoa powder, and butter in bowl.

Add eggs one at a time, mixing well between each egg.

Add flour and vanilla extract, again-mix well.

Grease and flour a 9 inch pie plate (this step is surprisingly important!).

Bake for 30 minutes, or until edges pull away from pan and toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool for at least 5 minutes and cut into wedges.

Enjoy!

Always something new to try

From my last blog, you probably noticed that I'm really excited to try new things. Yesterday I went cross-country skiing! I hate the winter. My dad and brothers love it, and go skiing multiple times a year out west, but I've always been more partial to anything that involves warm weather and the sun. But I got dragged into cross-country skiing and I absolutely loved it! Not to mention you don't have to pay to use the trails at the ski resort... talk about a cheap sport! We rented skis in the morning and drove over to the trail, where some REALLY awesome cross-country skiers were making their rounds. At first I was terrified and barely stood up in time for me to fall over. With the help of Tineke I got up and headed around the small practice track. At most ski resorts they make two lines on the trail that you can ski in if you're new to the sport (almost like a train track). I made it half way down a hill before I realized I was terrified and fell over. But after that fall, I decided I wasn't going to be scared and I was going to just do it (thank you Nike for the inspiration). And I did! No more falling (until we got on the real trail, talk about some wipe-outs.. but only 2!)

I'm sad it's the end of the season, I would have loved to go more often, my arms are super sore today, but it feels great! I had a fun day in the sun and beautiful mountains and got a great workout! I left my camera in the car on accident, but I'll post a picture when Jodie sends me some.

I also tried a new recipe last night, I made my own caesar salad dressing last night! The anchovies made me a little nervous but it was great, and surprisingly simple. I've been reading a bunch of new blogs (1.makingahouseahome.blogspot.com-great tips on recipes, etc; 2. bakerella.blogspot.com-mouthwatering, if you love to bake you HAVE to check out her recipes; and 3. thepioneerwoman.com/cooking). I also made homemade croutons, way better than store bought! I added chicken to make it a meal, and Greg even ate 2 bowls!

New Things

Living abroad always teaches you things, and so far for me it has been an exploration of something unexpected.. me.  Although a lot of things drive me crazy about Gijon, my favorite part is that no one cares about how they look (well, they all dress up all the time... so they do care, but no one is trying to be a supermodel).  They're actually happy with themselves.  And I'm sure people are battling their own thoughts, etc.  But it's nice to live in a place where beauty magazines don't drive us all to feel imperfect all the time.  Nobody's perfect.  

So... I've always been super insecure about trying new things because I hate to look stupid.  But not anymore.  I go hiking and pee in the woods, and I'm becoming an awesome cook.  And on Wednesday, I went snow-shoeing.  We went to a ski resort, hitched a ride up the lift (for 5 euros of course) and went hiking on the top on a mountain.  Ours were the only footprints.  I would have never pictured myself as a girl who did that, but I'm finding out how much I love it!  Nature is so beautiful!  And I feel like I've cheated myself from God's creation not having admired it much in my lifetime.  The mountains and the valleys, when I start to imagine God's hands shaping them, it makes me super tingly!  It's so beautiful, and he did it for us to enjoy.  So I challenge everybody to go see or do something you've never thought about before!  

crazy mornings

I wrote this last Friday, but I saved it as a draft on accident instead of putting it up! Enjoy =)

Gijon is probably the safest place I've ever been in my life, that said... this morning at 5 Greg and I woke up to someone ringing our doorbell and banging on the door.  Well, we got up and went to check thinking maybe Brian or Jodie was having an emergency and needed us.  I looked out the peephole and couldn't see anything, and someone was speaking in Spanish asking us to open the door, of course I totally freaked out, we asked them to turn the light on but they didn't and neither of us knew what he/she was saying in the hallway.  I eventually threatened to call the police, and she said "please no I'm your neighbor!"  Turns out, it was our next door neighbor, she's about 96 years old and thought she was going to the bathroom but actually walked into the hallway.  Unlike in the States, when a door closes it locks, so this poor woman was locked out of her house and we had no idea who to call or what to do.  Greg finally thought he'd give the old credit card trick a try and it worked, he "broke" into our neighbors house!  Unfortunately, we were both heart broken for our poor neighbor, but it is a pretty funny story!

My swimming update, I swam 62 laps yesterday, up 12 since Tuesday.  And I did 5x100 IMs (butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle).  I was pretty impressed, and it felt great!  I loved just being able to think about nothing else except for breathing and counting my laps.  And I was the only person in the whole pool, it was great.

so out of shape

I decided a few weeks ago that I was going to start swimming again. Well today I finally busted out my bathing suit, goggles, towel, cap, flip flops... and took the bus to the pool to check it out. I didn't exactly know where I was going, but I found everything ok...

But I quickly discovered I am WAY out of shape! Last week on our hike, my friend Pam asked me how long I thought it would take to get back into the swing of things, and I thought I'd hop right back in and be fine.. wow was I wrong! I swam 50 laps and had to convince myself that I was saving myself from heart disease and obesity in order to just do that many. So, I'll keep you updated on my progress. The good news-I swam 3 whole laps of butterfly!

winter wonderland

Asturias still surprises me every day.  We have so many different landscapes in a small province.  Greg went skiing last weekend, and was sore for days, but had a great time.  And on Wednesday I went on another hike with my friends in 4 inches of snow.  It was fun to be the first footprints!  And you can't hike through snow without throwing a few snowballs.  I'm always amazed at the way of life here, even in Gijon-the biggest city in Asturias-I have to go to a few different grocery stores to get the things I need and they've never heard of preservatives... chicken goes bad the next day, no pre-made anything.  I'm actually starting to enjoy it.  But out in the mountains where we go on our hikes, I don't know how these people live!  We'll be hiking through what seems the middle of nowhere and come across a little village of 5-7 houses.  My spanish teacher told me that different trucks will travel out to these towns every week or every other week to sell goods (fish, meat, pharmaceuticals, etc).  I'm really glad Greg didn't move me out there... anyway, here are some pictures.

And yesterday (Saturday) we went to a different area to the East where the coasts are met by big cliffs.  This area is known for holes that have been formed because of the water that go from the sides of the cliffs and come out on the surface like these huge geysers.  I had no idea where were actually going and was wearing my nice boots and wool coat, and arrived at this mud/rocky parking lot with water/air streaming out of random holes, luckily my husband had an extra pair of shoes in the back and let me wear his jacket, what a sweetheart!  Here are some pictures from that adventure too.

Our friends daughter running away from the stream of air/water exploding

They went up at least 50ft!

Greg ran to the end of this rainbow..and regretfully informed me that there is no gold. 

A new year!

Sorry I haven't been posting!  A lot has been going on here in Gijon.  The day after Christmas my parents came to visit, and they left New Years day, it was fun to show them around and let them see the town we live in.  We went on a few hikes, toured Oviedo (the oldest city in Asturias) and spent a night in Aviles sampling Spanish wines.  We also spent New Years Eve in the Plaza Mayor (the big square in Gijon).  And getting them out of Gijon was quite an adventure.  Their flight was at 7:30am, and so we woke up nice and early on New Years Day (after staying up nice and late) and were ready to leave for the airport at 6, 5 minutes of 6 the lights went out.  We checked to see if it was just our lights and it was our entire street!  Luckily Greg got me a Harry Potter wand for Christmas, so I used it as a flashlight, and we made our way downstairs with luggage etc, only to discover that our garage doesn't open without electricity (there is a parking garage under our building).  So we ran to the bus station in hopes to get a bus to the airport but because it was a holiday there were no buses until 10.  So we ran back to our apartment hoping maybe the electricity turned back on (remember... it's now about 6:20, they have a flight at 7:30!).  We checked the taxi station near our house and there were no taxis, because all the New Years Eve party-goers were on their way home.  And instead of freaking out, Greg came up with the brilliant idea to go to the hotel we stayed in before we moved into our apartment and ask them to call a taxi.  So off we went on our last hope adventure-and it worked!  A taxi was at the hotel in less than 2 minutes and my mom and dad made it to the airport just in time to get on their plane!  And we went without power for about 2 more hours... what a morning.  But here are some pictures from there visit: