Soundtrack to Life?

While enjoying a few drinks Friday afternoon, Anne posed yet another interesting question: What is your theme song? We realized that this is a really difficult question to answer - I have so many memories of different songs - it's impossible for me to choose just one. Yet it's quite fun to think about what the soundtrack to your life would include!

I associate particular songs with moments in relationships and times with friends and family, as well as songs that remind me of a big moment in my life or day-to-day things. Although it's a work in progress, here is a sampling of some songs that would be part of my soundtrack, for a variety of reasons!

Childhood

"We Built This City" - Starship

"Thriller" - Michael Jackson

High School

"Fake Plastic Trees" - Radiohead

"Wild Horses" The Sundays

College

"Brick" - Ben Folds Five

"Blue" - Eiffel 65

Denver

"Mambo #5" - Lou Vega

"Two Points for Honesty" - Guster

"Don't Stop Believing" - Journey

"Gold Digger" - Kanye West

"Drop it Like it's Hot" - Snoop

"Banana Pancakes" - Jack Johnson

"Be Somebody" - Kings of Leon

Sevilla

"Doesn't Mean Anything" - Alicia Keys

"Breakeven" - The Script

"Forever Song" - Josh Pyke

"Dog Days are Over" - Florence and The Machine

"Clean White Love" - Lisa Mitchell

"Waka Waka" - Shakira

Barcelona

"Giving Up the Gun" - Vampire Weekend

"Acapella" - Kelis

"The Promise" - Tracy Chapman

Hmmm . . .

"Sometimes you are aware when your great moments are happening, and sometimes they rise from the past. Perhaps it's the same with people." - James Salter, Burning the Days (taken from One Day by David Nicholls, one of the best books I've read in awhile)

Diversión en Barcelona

Although the transition back to school has been a little rough, returning to weekend fun in Barcelona has been just the opposite! This weekend was full of variety - dinner and drinks in Gotico, an ASB brunch, a party at Polish Patryk's place from my Spanish class, discotecas, bicing, and live music - wow! Needless to say, it was a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to all sorts of events coming up with old friends and new ones (especially the upcoming calçotadas!) that are presenting themselves . . . What an amazing place to be!

My Spanish class from last term - representing Portugal, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, and Hungary.

It's such an international mix of fantastic people - I love it!

Out with Alan and Tessa - great colleagues and friends!

Live blues on Sunday night, which also included amateur hour -

these people were amazing!

Uff!

I know that as a teacher, we're lucky enough to have (well-deserved :) multiple-week breaks. However, I had forgotten how rough the return to reality can be! It's only Wednesday and I already feel like vacation was months ago!

It's been so great to see my kids again - somehow they seemed to have matured a bit more and become even more hilarious during the winter break. It's also nice to have a bit of a routine again. But, the early mornings and jam-packed school days, followed by Spanish class, or homework club, or English lessons are definitely making the transition back to real life a little difficult! I have quickly been reminded that I have a tendency to take on a little too much . . . especially when hoping to enjoy life a bit as well! Hopefully, it will all seem quite normal in a week or two.

Although I've been a bit tired so far, I still think 2011 is off to a pretty good start!

Hogar, Dulce Hogar

Home Sweet Home - it's so nice to be back in Barcelona! Hearing and speaking Spanish again, mild weather, the Mediterranean, and my apartment make it easy to return. Here a few updated photos of my place after a stop at Ikea, a few additions from Istanbul, and a few things I picked up from Denver. Hope you get to see it in person sometime soon!

(Liz - please note the post-its -- everyone's using them! :)

Love Makes Me Happy

It's hard to believe that my time in the US has already come to an end! As always, time goes amazingly fast. As I sit in the Zurich airport awaiting my last flight of the day, I've been thinking about a couple of things (one being that I have to find a way to sleep on airplanes!).

While visiting with friends and family, there was something that I noticed amongst almost all of them - how happy they seem to be in their relationships. From a couple only dating a few months, to one being together for ten years, with many that are somewhere in between, they all seemed so happy!! And this made me so happy!

I've always known that I'm a bit of a hopeless romantic, but this trip confirmed it. I love seeing people in love, especially when it's people that I love. Because I now only see these friends a couple of times a year, it makes me feel so much better to see how happy they are. Without a doubt, this was one of the best parts of my trip. It's official - in addition to a million other things, I ♥ love :)

A New Year!

It's hard to believe that 2011 has arrived! I was thinking about how 2010 was a pretty fantastic year for me - I can't wait to see if the new year will be even better!

Here are some of my highlights of 2010:

*Amazing trips! A winter tour of Italy with Anna at this time last year, a three week road trip around Spain, visits to Tenerife, Mallorca, Tunisia, and Istanbul, one of the best weekends ever in Stuttgart for Oktoberfest

Prost!

*Friends and family visits to Spain - Megan and Jeff, Liz and Kevin, Meredith, Mike, Megan, Mom and Dad, and Emily - so many fun memories!

Mom, Dad, me, and Sevilla's Cathedral

*Experiencing fantastic festivals - Carnival in Cadiz, Feria in Sevilla, Running of the Bulls in Pamplona

Detectivas at Carnival

Ole! I loved Feria!

Anna and Megan in Pamplona

*The World Cup - one of the most fun months ever, especially because I was in Spain!

Viva Espana!

*New friends in Seville and Barcelona - Anna and Tessa being two of the best I could have asked for!

*Eating tons (maybe a little too much!) of amazing food

*Teaching English and learning Spanish (poco a poco!)

*Getting a job at ASB just when I thought I would be returning home AND then signing an additional two-year contract

*Good health

*Learning lots about myself, life, and love through new experiences, while having so much fun!

If you know me, then you know I love to make lists! So, of course, I have many New Year's Resolutions. :) Here are a couple:

*Visit (at least!) Greece, Croatia, Switzerland, Prague, and Paris

*Consistently exercise again

*Explore more of Barcelona

*Make more friends that aren't American

*Remember all past and future tenses in Spanish

I like to think that all of the above (and more) are possible in 2011!

Happy New Year!

xx