Adventures in Spain

Spain was beautiful. We stayed at a resort right on the Mediterranean. After our day trips to Rondo, Cordoba, Marbella, or Morocco, we'd head back to the resort and go straight to the beach or the pool followed by a late dinner. And from my parents' deck, we could see Africa across the sea. 

My brother-in-law lived in the southern part of Spain for two years while serving a mission for our church. One night that week, we went over to dinner with a few families from the church where he served. Even though I only understood about 20% of the conversations that night (all the men in our group- Jason, my dad, my brother Sam, and my brother-in-law Ben- speak Spanish, so none of the conversation was in English), this was one of my favorite things that we did. The food was delicious and the conversation was incredibly lively. 

One evening, while walking through San Pedro, we happened upon an awesome parade of some sort. There was a huge band following a group of men carrying... I'm not even sure how to describe it, but it was large. And there was swaying. I noticed that all of the kids a certain age (8? or 10?) were all dressed in white. The girls in dresses. The boys in sailor suits. I thought it was maybe in celebration of their first communion? Anyone know anything about that?

While in Morocco, my dad made a friend. This friend really wanted to sell him an ugly elephant carved out of wood. He followed him around for at least 20 minutes. After about 527 "No thank you's" from my father, the man offered the elephant to him for free and tried to stick it in my dad's pocket. I'm not sure what his intention was with that one. We all got a kick out of watching this guy's persistance. 

And now for the wrap up: Go for the sites, not the food. The very best meal we had was actually at an amazing Italian restaurant. But the traditional Spanish food didn't blow me away. Unless you really really love paella. Then you're set. Or tortillas de patata, which I'm pretty sure Ben had every single day. 

Look What the Cat Dragged In

It's time to ask the all-important questions.

1) Why is it taking me so long to recover from our Spain trip? I'd go to bed at 8 every night if Jason would let me. But then we wake up at 3 AM and Jason's not a huge fan of that. I just fall asleep again and finally get out of bed a 6, which begins the most productive morning of my life. This is coming from a girl who usually wakes up at 8:30 to get to work by 9. Seeing the world before 7 ain't half bad. I've run so many errands before arriving at work this week, I think I've finally earned myself a "housewife of the week" award. I even did the laundry for once. I never do laundry because I wear my clothes a million times before I wash them. And Jason becomes so desperate for clothes that he just does them himself. It's a very nice plan that we've developed. But I finally caved, because after returning from a trip, even if I didn't wear that article of clothing, anything housed in the cramped, stuffy box of a suitcase receives the official stamp of dirty.

2. Why are Taco Bell's bean burritos so much better than the ones I make at home? I have been ordering the same thing from Taco Bell since I was 5. Bean burrito- no sauce, no onion. That comes to $1.28 my friends. And it consists of a tortilla, some powdered beans, and fake cheese. WHY CAN'T I RECREATE THIS AMAZINGNESS AT HOME? Seriously, if someone has the answer, I'm all ears.

3. How did I manage to drop my keys into the dumpster even as I was repeating to myself, "Now be sure and don't drop your keys when you throw this trash in here. Remember, don't drop the keys. Don't drop the keys." And why then for some inexplicable reason did I think I did NOT drop the keys after I definitely did, in fact, drop the keys in the dumpster and go on with my merry life until hours later when for some inexplicable reason, I could not find my keys. And why did I then look a million different places BEFORE I thought to go check the dumpster. The mysteries of the universe, I tell ya.

Skinny Limits Juice Cleanse

1- Pure & Simple: Kale, Spinach, Parsley, Cucumber, Apple, and Lemon.

2- Balance: Kale, Spinach, Parsley, Cucumber, Apple, Lemon and Ginger

3- Green Firefly: Kale, Spinach, Parsley, Celery, Cucumber, Apple, Lemon, Pineapple.

4- Scorpion Lemonade: Lemons, Agave Nectar, Cayenne and filtered water.

5- Green Firefly: Kale, Spinach, Parsley, Celery, Cucumber, Apple, Lemon, Pineapple.

6- Crescent Moon: Raw Cashews, Vanilla Bean, Cinnamon, Agave Nectar and filtered water.

Spain is in one week. So I needed to pull out all of the stops. 3-day juice cleanse baby. I chose to do the Skinny Limits Tropical Juice Cleanse for one reason alone. Pineapple. Two of the daily juices have pineapple in them and I'm a sucker for any juice with pineapple. Which is pretty amazing considering I didn't even realize that I liked pineapple until I was 19. 

Which leads me to this: I am a leeeettle bit of a picky eater. It is my curse. I particularly hate cucumber. And this guy weasels his way into every green juice out there.

So you can imagine how I feel about the first juice of the day. I'd say a little prayer of courage, plug my nose, and gulp until I had to come up for air. Moral of the story: if I can do that, you'll probably drink it and love it.

Juice number 2 is a bit of the same with a little ginger flair. Which I like. It's like a little translucent mask to all that healthy. 

But juice 3 and 5. Well that right there is a little bit of deliciousness. And this picky eater, hater of all things grown in the earth, genuinely enjoyed these guys.

So. Juice number 4. It's spicy lemonade. Now, orange chicken is spicy to me. So this juice was like delicious fire. It burned. Though I'm pretty sure my mother-in-law would love this stuff. She practically carries cayenne pepper around in her purse to add a little life to her food at any given time.

As for juice 6, everything you've heard about cashew juice is true. It DOES taste like horchata. A+ in my book

Then there are the logistics that come from drinking juice all day long.... Well, it is a detox. So don't venture too far away from a bathroom. I felt a little uncomfortable day 1, but felt great day 2 and 3. And I was never hungry. Though that doesn't mean that I didn't crave food. It's also easy because there is no thinking involved. The juice arrives at your door the day before you start and they are all numbered and ready to drink. Easy peasy. 

I'm kind of tempted to do a cleanse each season.

*Skinny Limits sent me the Tropical Juice Cleanse for review. These opinions are very much my own.

Three Years

Three whole years. And with each year it seems that my hair gets darker. By six years, we may be looking at jet black hair. 

People don't like to say that marriage is easy. Because apparently it's not. But I wouldn't really know because marriage to Jason is easy. It's the easiest thing in the world. And the funnest thing too. 

A Lousy Picture is Worth About 348 Words

My cute sister-in-law's mother embroidered this cute towel to wrap my tortillas in to keep them warm. Isn't she the cutest? There is a slight language barrier so when she brought this up to me, it took me a second to realize it was for me. "Por mi?" I said. And she laughed and nodded and didn't correct me or anything. Haha. It basically made my week.

 
Did you know that tres leches cake is the easiest dessert in the world. Step one) Bake a cake. Step two) Poke a bunch of holes in it. Step 3) Pour evaporated milk, half and half, and sweetened condensed milk all over it. Step 4) Chill. Step 5) Cover in whipping cream or cool whip and maybe even some strawberries and eat!

Jason and I went to see Gatsby at a new theater last week. This is one of those theaters where each pair of seats has a table, and a menu, and order cards, and pens, and lots of leg room, and waiters, and really really good food delivered right to you. Because we are idiots and ate before we went (they serve burgers and pizza and even steak!), we just got dessert. A strawberry balsamic milkshake (what?! exploded head) and freshly baked cookies. I wouldn't go there for every movie, but it was definitely a worthwhile experience. (Also, before the previews, they show old movies, which is quite fabulous.) And as for Gatsby, it's been said already, but it can afford to be said again. The soundtrack... The soundtrack....... THE SOUNDTRACK!!!!

Guess who took his very last final yesterday and is a full-fledged Economics grad. Jason. That's who. We found an amazing Japanese steakhouse and sat ourselves right in front of that teppanyaki grill, refusing to move until we thought it might actually be impossible to move from the food comas we ate ourselves into. Mushy stuff about how proud of him I am, and how amazing he is, and handsome, and funny, and kind, and forgiving, and a genu-ine gentleman. I love him.

*Yeah, exactly 348 words. I counted.