Reentry

Reentry is always a bit rough after having such a wonderful time away. The night I flew back to Berlin it snowed and because of such low (well below freezing) temperatures the snow lasted for about 10 days. While I love warm and sunny weather more, it was hard to complain when the snow was so gorgeous. 

we didn't want to risk riding our bikes in this so we often all walked in together. While I appreciate the speed of my bike and the extra 10 minutes in the morning the walks to school were a good way to ease into my teaching day. 

While I was I'm Spain Ben got contacts for the first time. Unfortunately, he doesn't see well with them so he has to go back and get different ones. I remember feeling the same way when Josie first got contacts. It was nice to really see their faces again without their glasses blocking their beautiful faces. 

Every year the school puts on a big trivia night as a fundraiser for ISTA. Both kids have participated in ISTA before so it's a fun way to support them and the school. Trivia night is one of the most enjoyable school events of the year. 

Our group didnt win but we did have a lot of fun!

The snowy weather made for down beautiful walks with dogs, friends and colleagues ❤️ 

Valencia

My friend, Ali, and I met up in Spain for the long MLK, Jr. weekend.  This was a do over for two different times we had trips booked to Sicily but both were canceled due to Covid. Even though it was overdue, it was well worth the wait. 

When we booked our tickets back in May we just tried to find somewhere that was sunnier than Londor or Berlin and easy, direct and cheap flights.  Barcelona ticked all of those boxes but we both have been to Barcelona several times.  We decided to fly in and out of Barcelona but train to Valencia and stay most of our time there.  This turned out to be the best choice. 

The train ride was just a quick, comfortable 3 hours and we were transported to the beautiful city of Valencia.  The city was filled with friendly people, beautiful buildings and some of the best food and drinks. 

We went on a walking tour and otherwise just lost ourselves in the streets of the city.  We walked about 10 miles a day and never tired of just wandering. 

I knew that paella was created in Valencia so I knew we had to eat it here.  We learned that Spaniards never order this at a restaurant for dinner (only lunch) and they never order from a restaurant with photos of the food (I knew the no food photos tip before but the not eating paella in the evening was new to me) I'm not sure how it would have tasted in the evening but our mid day meal of traditional Valencian paella was delish. 

Ali found us a great Airbnb right in front of one of the famous Towers - Torres de Serranos,  What a view!!

We at tapas every chance we got.  We fell in love with the tomato, garlic alioli bread!! The picture below is pan con ajo y tomate, grilled artichokes and garlic mushrooms and sangria!

The picture below is a gorgeous building built in the 15th century that used to be where people bought and sold silk. 

No trip is complete without a trip to the local market.  And pictures of stuff in boxes. 

The coffee each morning was amazing!!

Our walking tour guide, Mery, who was so funny, knowledgeable and quirky. 

The Torres de Serranos from the other side. 

Agua de Valencia is apparently their afternoon drink made with champagne, orange juice, vodka and gin.  It sounded way too strong for us so we passed.  Maybe next time!

Such a great time in a beautiful city with my lovely friend.  Until next time!!

Rolling into 2024

Our new year is off to a great start.  Lots of walking and games and puzzles and we all survived the first week back to work and school after our two week break. 

One of my new year's resolutions was to read at least 12 books in 2024.  I read this book, that I had received as a gift for my birthday, during break.  Even after 700+ pages I was sad when it was over.  Such a beautifully interwoven story.  This book sits confidently in my top 10. 

Another goal/resolution was to drink more water and bring healthy options to school.  Here sits two water bottles because the water at school is beyond disgusting (64 oz total) a coffee in my new coffee mug and a fruit and spinach smoothie. 

The puzzle was a really fun challenge.  We worked together many nights after dinner like this and were all there when the final piece (half a piece, actually,  because Mogli got to one piece) 

Long walks in the park near our house have always been a favorite. 

The first week back has been COOOLLLDD  This is Celsius but still.  Way too cold. 

We were at a friend's house and she had received Starbucks Christmas blend for Christmas.  I don't normally crave Starbucks because we don't have one any where near where we live.  Marty surprised me with two bags of this goodness. 💓

I like when summaries of my year pop up like this.  I had forgotten some of the cool places that I had been last year. 

Christmas 2023

It's New Year's Day, we are in the middle of our two week Christmas vacation and I'm super excited to already be starting in on one of my goals for 2024. I've neglected the blog long enough and after a kind suggestion from my friend, Suzy, after saying how disappointedin myself I was for not touching this for 3 years -"No need to kick yourself, just start back up in 2024" And so I am. 

We had a lovely, quiet and relaxing Christmas week. We went to school/work through Friday the 22nd so we didn't have much time before to prep or enjoy the season. 

We did end up going to a couple Christmas markets, ice skating, gift shopping, the kids indugled me by decorating the gingerbread people (some anatomically correct with all the parts- ha! Teens!) and so many long walks with Mogli. 

We received some gift cards to our favorite book store - Dussmanns, and we spent a few hours there too. Love that place!

We puzzled (thanks Tim and Kelley!) 

So thankful to still have another 6 days of vacation and super proud of myself for already ticking the box on the first step of hopefully a lasting habit of updating this more regularly. 

Here are a few more favorite shots from the past week: 

Watching the Barbie Movie

Oh, and NYE was just as crazy and firework filled as usual. This time Marty and Benjamin even bought some and had fun lighting them off last night. 

There is rarely a picture these days where one or both of the kids are not flipping off the camera🙄

Seriously,  some people must spend the equivalent of their monthly rent on fireworks and this is what our nearby park looked like this morning. 

And just down the street

This morning Marty and I went to one of our favorite breakfast places to work on our 2023 accomplishments/2024 goals. We have done this together on new year's day since 2004 and all in the same notebook ❤️  The past few years we try to get the kids involved too. Today Ben met us after he woke up (at 10:30) and Josie met us around noon after returning from spending the night with a bunch of friends. Funny, we used to get a babysitter so we could sneak away and talk through our year and what we wanted to do/see/be in the coming year. It is REALLY fun to see our kids embrace this tradition and especially cool to see all that they've done and want to do.  

Like I said, every single picture 🌞🤣