My adorable kids and babies back home...

I miss them so much, and even miss the ones I haven't met in person. The video on this link http://fedellhouse.blogspot.com/2009/03/little-bit-of-laughing-for-auntie.html will make you smile, laugh and wish you had your own little one to be around when they are funny like this. It's a short video of Jack Fedell...my Alicia's little man in VA Beach.

And this little girl is Jasmine. She is the newest addition to our family. I have not met her yet. I will in August and am very excited! Kyle and Kendra are in the process of adopting her!

And my second nephew is still growing inside of mommy Ken Ken! Baby Roehl is due in July! I will get to meet him and hold him and kiss him when he's a month old.

I'm sad that I'm missing all the new additions and growing process of my nephews and nieces, but it's a part of life, especially when you live across a really big ocean!

I got NEW things!

Yesterday, I got a new cell phone because I joined IMM's plan and needed to get a new phone and number. So, I paid 20 euros and got an fancy dancy LG phone, well, it's not really fancy, however, it has many more options, like a phone (only 2 mp, so I won't really be using it much), which I didn't ever have in the states. This phone plan should be much better because pay as you go is not very good.

Here's a self portrait with my new phone. :)

And today...I got this!

Yes, I now have my official Spanish residency card! It all started with my paper work and 2 trips to Chicago to get this guy.

Erin and Vino need to pick there's up too. This is us waiting in line. Erin and Vino will be going back because they didn't bring their passport, which they needed in order to get it. But, I brought mine!!!

After our adventure to the police station, Erin came with me to go to pick up my CAT Scan pics (I got this because I wanted to see if it would help diagnose the Otosclerosis, which the doctor here says I have in my ears) and to my doctors appointment. I'm not very happy with the results...because the doctor said those images do not show the tiny bones that the Otosclerosis is in! It is too microscopic he says. Well, I read that getting a CT scan would possibly help diagnose it. Erin says I shouldn't believe everything I read on the internet. She might be right. I really did it because I just wanted to actually "SEE" that I had this ailment. I just can't believe that having a hearing test could be all the doctor needs in order to do surgery inside of me! Anyways, enough about this for now. I'm annoyed at this entire situation and all it entails trying to communicate effectively and trying to get answers that I trust. I will be contacting nurses and hopefully doctors in MN that I can tell my situation to, and then in August possibly have some more tests or whatever done when I visit a doctor who can completely understand me, vice versa, and who cares about helping me! If my expensive CAT scan pics don't really tell the doctors in the states anything...I guess I have some interesting images of my head, which the doctor says is fine.

Me Amo El Sol!

The month of March has had very nice weather! It makes me happy to sit outside and enjoy the warmth of the sun! I'm already starting to see my white skin become less white...and that's only from eating lunch outside a few times and taking walks! I would brag about the 60 and 70 degree weather here, but I see on my desktop weather and have heard that Minnesota is having a nice week in the 60's. I'm happy for you guys too! Winter should always end in February and March like it does here!

Some art for my bedroom wall

I've wanted to have artwork on my bare wall in my bedroom for a while, but never knew what to put there. A couple of weeks ago, Erin helped me make some decoupage art. That is a picture I took in Sweden or Finland, it's a close up of a lamp. I made it black and white to go well with my room. Each shoe box cover (which is what we used for the canvas) has about 6 pages each of my picture printed on it. After lining up all the images (it's like a puzzle) we taped the backs so it would be easier to put onto the box. With a few coasts of Mod Podge, we created this! Thanks Erin http://erinrodriguez.blogspot.com for being a great, creative help and inspiration!

When our next project is completely finished, I will post pics. I'm very excited to share how I've greatly helped my living area to be a lot more homey and fun!

Siete Meses!!

Today is March 1. I've been here for 7 months. For the past month (because spring is already here, at least the kind of weather I consider to be spring), I've been taking walks up and down the hilly streets of this little pueblo I live in. I'm trying to get somewhat into shape and tone up this body (for the beach!) of mine for my spring break trip with my girlfriends who are coming at the end of the month!!

A couple of properties down from my house is this property, no one lives here, I don't even remember if there is a house. I think there is a small cottage type thing. Anyways, everytime I walk by, I think "wow...this would be such a great place to get married." Of course it would have to be cleaned and primped some, and imagine it without the ugly stairs and building type thing in the background. Imagine white lights strung around the trees, the bride walking up the path to the top of the stairs. It just seems like a romantic, little, Spanish wedding spot.

If you had a hard time imagining what it would look like with out the ugly stuff in the background, with my not so good photoshop skills, I modified the image....does this help you?!

Below is a view of Alcalá de Henares. We have some great views of the city and mountains in the backdrop from the hill we live on. I love mountains. They make me happy.

The past 2 weeks, the weather has been fantastic, in the high 50's and 60's during the day...and sunny! This week doesn't look so good. But it's still on average 10 to 20 degrees warmer than Minnesota!