week 7.

Sunday, January 12th

Since we have a hanging shoe rack on the back of our office/catch-all room, preventing the door from shutting all the way, so I had to hang a sign last week, informing Luis it was now my private crafting space, as I was finishing up his Valentine's day present.  Yes, I did also translate it into Portuguese, so he didn't have any excuses, and yes I did spend the majority of this afternoon here!

Monday, February 13th
This morning, one of our colleagues sadly informed us that her and her husband had returned from a romantic weekend away to find their house broken into.  Luckily the thieves only stole watches, but the broken ground-level window that they discovered late Sunday night put her on edge, preventing sleep and making for one restless night!  Thankfully, we are blessed to have an empty guest room in our house, so we offered it up to Carina and Marco so that they could sleep in peace, at least until the next day when they could arrange for the window to be fixed!  Marco just started playing on Luis's soccer team and Carina and I have initiated a twice a month movie night while our husbands are out, so this looks like the beginning of a great friendship!  (And I have really been missing having good couple-friends, as we only have a few here in Coimbra!)  (And yes, I did have pinkeye, and yes, you will probably see those glasses a lot more in the next week!)

Tuesday, February 14th

Since Luis Miguel is more of an "acts of service" person and less of a "gifts" person (more on that here), so, with his permission, I decided on a home-made gift this year, which would allow me to love him well -- through the act of service of making dinner!  In our first year living together, we haven't yet found a good system for planning dinners, and find ourselves arriving home at 7.30 saying "What do you want to make for dinner?"  "I don't know... what do you want to make?"  Annoying, right?  Being an avid Pinterest fan, I had found this idea linked from Claire's blog, and though I may have liked another idea better (I did zero research, and she did lots), I decided to run with it.  Our kitchen is navy blue and white, and I have started to accent with mustard yellow, so I thought it was a fun way to allow us to better plan our meals!  It's yet to be hung, since I would like to make a few edits to it... Lack of good materials here in Portugal left me a few items short... like letters, which I drew by hand and cut out, and fabric, which I sadly only had enough of to make horizontal stripes... but I really wanted vertical!  I ended up having almost everything I needed, though, so the total project only cost me 7€50 for the frame!  It'st still sitting on the living room floor in a box, but I'll let you know how the dinner system works out once we get it up!

Wednesday, February 15th
Inspired by a "Famous Couples" guessing game I had made for one of our dinners with friends a few weeks ago, Luis bought these cute (matching!) shirts for me as a Valentine's Day present... complete with a scavenger hunt to find them!  His shirt has the guys names and mine has the girls... sorry about the grainy photo... I set my camera on ISO 1600 (for shooting in dark situations), as we were trying to take a photo in front of the mirror in our bedroom, but after a few failed attempts, we moved in front of the living room bookshelf and I forgot to change the setting back.  Whoops!  Thankfully you can still read it!

Thursday, February 16th
After some post-work plans fell through, I decided to rendezvous alone downtown while waiting for Luis to finish at his part-time clinic.  I love the historic part of downtown with black and white stone sidewalks, old buildings, sidewalk cafes everywhere, and, almost always, some sort of street music!  Near the center square, I found two girls playing accordion and talked with them a few minutes... The music was so beautiful!  I love how unique the accordion is!

Friday, February 17th

My dear friend Suzete (the white-wigged creator of all costumes), who I am blessed to share a hallway with each day, is the art teacher for our students and clients at APCC, and is the perpetual encourager of my creative side.  Late Thursday afternoon, she asked if I planned to dress up for Carnaval, the Brazilian holiday that most all of Portugal celebrates (we're kind of like sister countries, you know...).  All the students were coming with costumes and some of the school staff and therapists were dressing up and throwing an impromptu Carnaval party Friday afternoon.  Normally, I would be the initiator of all things costume-related (after all, I was... ahem... the 4-year winner of most creative costume at the organization I worked for in the States!), but since I didn't bring any costumes with me to Portugal (as my husband assured me that very few adults dress up... SHAME!  This is untrue!), I didn't think I would be able to come up with something overnight.  In emergency costume cases though (which somehow tend to show up in my life in one way or another), I would usually resort to a pirate costume, as I own a lot of black and quite a few red scarves... so after Suzy picked up a sweet skeleton sword for me at the dollar store Thursday afternoon, I was set!  I threw together a scrappy skirt from some fabric she loaned me, and let me tell you... she was thrilled that I would be "wearing the same colors as their group" and could be the "protector of the "Angevils", which they were with horns and angel wings combined.  Leave it to the American to save the group!  I am so thankful for a friend like her and the other girls as well, who have all practically included me as one of their own.  I'm so blessed!

Satruday, February 18th
After showing up at Luis's parents' house in Pinhel dressed as a pirate (just in time for his mom's birthday dinner, which she thought was hilarious!), we relaxed a bit, then headed out to the local "State Fair" that they have, called "Feira das Tradições" (Tradition Fair).  Today, we had a casual lunch, complete with some conversation with a family of canaries that Jose and LuLu have had for about a year now.  (Note: the canaries are hard to see.  Don't mistake them for the big chunks of bread stuck into the sides of the cage! Those are bird snacks!) It is so great to not only hear Jose's special whistle (amazingly bird-like!) that he uses with them,  but to hear how they respond back!  At times we couldn't tell which song was his and which belonged to the canaries!  At one point on our last visit, we had tuned in to a classical orchestra concert on the television that is mounted on the wall directly above the birdcage, and after a few minutes, they all started singing, clearly recognizing the music, louder and louder until we had to increase the volume on the TV!  No wonder they named the papa bird Pavarotti... he definitely lives up to his name!

week 6.

Sunday, February 5th

My mom sent me this cute wreath last year, as it's really hard to find Valentine's Day decorations in Portugal!  It's perfect because it says "Amor", which is Portuguese for "love".  I wanted to paint the letters white this year so that you could read them better, but not sure if I will have time before Valentine's Day!

Monday, February 6th

The fog was amazing as we entered the city today!  I took various photos of the horizon, which were amazing, as it looked like cotton candy growing out of the hills, but this one was by far my favorite.. a bit skewed since we were driving!  It seems as if the bridge continues on into infinity!

Tuesday, February 7th
Another beautiful day to take a walk during our lunch break, but today I was alone, on a mission to find supplies for Luis's Valentine's Day present (which I'm making!) at stores that are within walking distance of our Center.  I pass this wall every day, and it's one of those things that sometimes goes unnoticed, but shouldn't!  Across the street from the Center is a highschool of the arts, and students there painted this wall with reproductions of famous paintings.  It looked especially vibrant  in the sunshine today (even Marilyn's grafitti-ed blue mustache! :(  ).

 

Wednesday, February 8th

This is really not super relevant to daily life at all here, as this car isn't usually in the hallway outside of our office, and the fact that the license-plate says "Snuggle Bug" really won't apply to anyone except for Emily, who has been my official "Snug" (that's short for "Snuggle" or "Snuggle Bug", for the abbreviation-challenged) since our days of sharing beds and bedrooms in host families on choir tour at Bethel College...  but I simply couldn't resist!  Luis has even learned to use the word "snug" as a verb, as he has heard it come from my mouth so many times.  :)  Em has been a dear friend of mine ever since our choir days in college, and I'm so grateful for technology that allows us to keep in touch!  For all this and more, I couldn't help including this license plate -- though beat-up and faded -- in the photo of the day, as it makes me wish she was here with us!

Thursday, February 9th

I don't have a photo recorded from today, but since many days I take two or three, I'm including this one from a few days ago.  I walk past this trophy case every day with various medals, photos, etc, from our sports teams and invitational events that APCC was invited to over the years.  Waaaaaay down near that bottom are two posters signed by various athletes (one of which I assisted at various times... hi Dakotah!), one from a Power Soccer National Tournament in Indianapolis in 2005 (which I didn't even attend, as our local team in ATL didn't even exist!), and the IPFA international event that I organized with the Fernando Foundation in 2006.  It blows my mind, sometimes, to think about how, even before I was a part of the US Power Soccer group, that one of my colleagues in Portugal attended a national event in Indiana that further led him and my now-husband, Luis, to attend the following event in 2006.  Before I had even seen a Power Soccer tournament, and while working with a completely different organization (and later, losing my job there), the Lord was putting together details that would lead me to change jobs, meet my husband, date long-distance for three years, marry, move across an ocean, and then be given the gift of a job that allows me to work with the Power Soccer team here in Portugal, as well!  Now if those crazy things don't lead you to believe there is a God, I don't know what will!  :)  You can check out more about Power Soccer (Powerchair Football, interntationally) here.

Friday, February 10th

Yay!  Valentine's Day package from the parents!  Thankfully we get home at a decent hour on Fridays, when Luis doesn't have clients at his part-time clinic, so we arrived home to a package slip 15 minutes before the post office closed!  Highlights of the package included make-up and Conversation Hearts, as well as the movie The Help (SO GOOD!), insanely good toffee, and a St. Patrick's Day towel... because we Americans like to celebrate everything!  (March 17th in case anyone wants to come over and eat something green!)

Saturday, February 11th
My dear friend Cristi invited me to help out with a Valentine's Day party she was hosting for her daughter, Lily, and 11 of her friends!  Two friends of mine from choir have connections to their family through school and another event in Coimbra, so it was fun to see a mix of cultures and friends!  Here the girls are decorating sugar cookies, one of their favorite things to do at Lily's parties!

week 5.

Sunday, January 29th
I haven't been the best at getting very much sleep lately, so I decided to sleep in a bit today.  My ever-so-thoughtful husband woke up quite a bit before I did and decided to surprise me with my traditional Sunday breakfast of Peanut butter & jelly toast... in bed!  That's fresh-squeezed orange juice there, friends, and yes, that is also a random baby chocolate chip cookie that was left over from a batch I had just made... He must have found it in some tupperware in the pantry close to the peanut butter.  :)

Monday, January 30th
In Portugal, at least in Coimbra, it is not uncommon to see the male staff at the gas stations coming out of the building and pumping your gas for you.  I wish this photo could have been clearer, but most people I have encountered here have a strange preoccupation with getting photographed in public. At least, strangers do!

Tuesday, January 31st
I love sending mail! (Spoiler alert! : Here's hoping it gets there in time for these girls' birthdays next week!)

Wednesday, February 1st
Happy February!  I made these to share with my colleagues and our volunteers (as I am working in the Volunteer Department) and the results are in... lots of thumbs up!  I think my colleagues in my office are a little annoyed with me because I keep bringing in sweet things, but I just can't stop!  (Ps -- as you can see I am putting my beautiful Bordalo ceramic platters to good use, especially the ones that have this heart design!)

Thursday, February 2nd
Since Luis plays soccer on Thursday nights, and recently the husband of a therapist friend of ours at APCC started playing as well, I had the idea to start a "girls night" on Thursdays, just to get out on the town. With a credit card we have, we can get buy-one-get-one-free movie tickets, making them 3.05€ each, so we headed to the theater with Marisa (featured last week!) and my dear friend American friend, Cristi. It was a French made silent film, The Artist, set in Hollywood in the late 1920's- early 30's, and we all really, really enjoyed it!  Here's hoping to make this a weekly or monthly tradition! In lieu of the photo of us that I forgot to take, here's one from the film, courtesy of the New York Times, who gives a one-sentence review that sums up my opinion perfectly: "It may be something less than a great movie, but it is an irresistible reminder of nearly everything that makes the movies great."

Friday, February 3rd
I never really liked guacamole until I had the kind made fresh at your table from El Porton, our favorite Mexican restaurant in Atlanta.  I had never made my own, and could never find the recipe I had from a Chilean friend in Georgia, so I ventured out to the California Avocado website to find a good recipe.  It was delicious! Now I just need to hunt down some affordable avocados in Portugal!

Saturday, February 4th
This afternoon, we met up with some Portuguese couples and a few foreigners that are all mutual friends with "our Americans" here in Coimbra, Michael and Cristi.  It is Michael's birthday today, and we surprised him with a little party, suggested by his wife!  In addition to eating WAY too much Hidden Valley Ranch dip and peanut butter cookies (note: NOT a good idea when you're already feeling under the weather!), I also snagged this great shot of Luis trying to reach Michael's actual height and not quite making it, even on his tip-toes!

week 4.

Sunday, January 22nd 

The problem with buying 1.99€ IKEA and Glade candles is that they burn in a skinny little tunnel down to the end of the wick, and you feel like you only got to use the candle for half of it's life, since there is so much lovely-smelling wax leftover, but nothing to burn it with!  After searching all summer for some wick string here and finding nothing, I decided to just bring some back from the US.  Now, 3 months later, I finally melted some candles down to make new ones! Exciting Sunday afternoon, I know... but at least our house smelled amazing!

Monday, January 23rd

With sunshine and temperatures in the mid-60's, Luis and I couldn't resist taking a walk in the park across the street from our Center during our lunch break.  We ran into an older man who was taking his 2-month-old puppy for a walk... without a leash!  I couldn't believe it!  I'm not much of a dog-person, but I can not resist a puppy!  I asked the man if we could take a photo with Kiko, and though he was a bit timid at first, he warmed up to us quickly! :)

Tuesday, January 24th

Though I may sometimes "complain" that my husband is only creative when it comes to the way that he moves the soccer ball around the field, I have to admit that he surprises me every once in a while with something like this!  He actually brought me this flower after a soccer game last week, and not only is it the biggest and most beautiful gerbera daisy I have ever seen, but it is STILL living, 10 days later!  I took this photo 6 days after he bought it, and it still looks about the same!

Wednesday, January 25th
If you have ever talked in-depth with me about the Portuguese people, you have probably heard me speak of how honest they are... both in the "not-fake-but-really-sincere" sense, and also in the "say exactly what they are thinking" sense.  As in "You are looking skinny lately!", or the opposite truth, "You are looking a little fatter than last time I saw you!".  This, of course, bringing a little tender pat on the cheek along with it. This photo of the day would be one example of the latter.  Taken from the Portuguese exercise book that I am studying in my language classes right now, you can see on number 4 that telling someone they are fat is not an uncommon thing to hear at all!  "É verdade que estas mais gordo." translates to "It's true that you are more fat."  Sincere, eh?

Thursday, January 26th

I would like to congratulate my dear friend Marisa for making it into the photo-of-the-day two weeks in a row!  We hit up the twice-a-year sales at the mall this night, and though we tried on some really cute blazers which I wanted to take a photo of, we both forgot and ended up snapping one of our my buyers remorse cleverly hidden by our smiles.  This photo was just to show that yes, we still had our tree up on January 26th! A few of our friends that we have been trying to plan dinners with kept mentioning that they wanted to see our "American" tree, but with all but one of them, the dates never worked out, so down she came.  At least Marisa got to see it!

Friday, January 27th
This week all the staff at our Center were given the opportunity to attend a conference of the Federation of Cerebral Palsy Associations in Portugal.  Considering that we left at 7 am and didn't get home until 7 pm, and all but one of the presentations were in Portuguese, I think this should be a valid excuse for being allowed to skip my Portuguese homework this week.  8 hours of listening to speakers (of varying clarities of speech!) should at least get me out of one lesson, right Professora??

Saturday, January 28th
These beautiful eyes and adorable curls belong to Sofia, the daughter of one of Luis's best friends, José, and his wife, who both work at APCC with us.  In Portugal, the role of godparents are very important, as they have a strong presence in a child's life, almost like an immediate family member, as opposed to an "emergency care person" in case something happens to the child's parents, as this role is often seen in the US.  We were very honored when Sofia's parents asked Luis to be Sofia's godfather two years ago, and we loved celebrating her second birthday today!  (Note: those toys in her hand are beaters to an electric mixer that we bought her for her new play kitchen... Hoping she will love baking and become a woman after my own heart!)

week 3

Sunday, January 15th
Our favorite weekend brunch... breakfast burritos and homemade orange juice (mine mixed with sparkling water, of course!).  Isn't it always more fun to drink your homemade juice in champagne flutes??

Monday, January 16th
If you've read any other entries in my blog, you already know that I love a good bargain, but they are often hard to find in Portugal.  The only place that regularly has great deals is our little German grocery store, Lidl.  We love them and shop there weekly.  But just to further prove that even at our favorite place, the discounts are occasionally hard to come by... This sign says "Cheaper!", and if you read the small price to left of the bigger one, you can see how much.  FOUR CENTS.  You can see it was 5.99 and now it's 5.95. Not only that, it was 4 cents of 6.00€, which is a measely 0.6%. (We're talking less than 1% discount, friends). In my opinion, it probably cost more than 4 cents to print that big orange sign!  And now you know why it's so hard to save money in Portugal.

Tuesday, January 17th
Today we had dinner to celebrate a new apartment that our dear friend and colleague, Marisa, just moved into.  Check out those amazing Portuguese tiles on the wall!  Marisa is an Occupational Therapist with Luis at the APCC, and was one of my first Portuguese friends, as we met at the Power Soccer World Cup in Japan in 2007.  She is one of the kindest people I know, we love spending time with her, and we're so glad that she now lives 15 minutes closer to us!

Wednesday, January 18th
It was so cold all day, and specifically in our house when we got home, that I felt the need to pull out the fuzzy socks.  So sad that our Packers won't be playing the SuperBowl this year, but since our love for them never fails, I'm still wearing the socks to support the greatest football team ever!

Thursday, January 19th
Today at the APCC (yes, I know I need to write a blog specifically about our work... it's coming!), we celebrated receiving a certification of quality which puts our organization on a high level in the community, and in Portugal as a whole.  The entire staff was invited to the small ceremony where our president received the certificate, and after, we celebrated with a bit of champagne, natural orange juice, and sweet and salty snacks created at the biological farm associated with our Center.  A few of my colleagues had never heard of "mimosas" -- champagne mixed with fresh orange juice -- and so I felt the need to introduce them!  They liked it a lot more than their faces show in this photo, I promise.

Friday, January 20th
After living here for over a year, I have come to find that my hairstyle is not very common, which makes finding a hairsylist to cut this precious hair pretty difficult.  For those of you who love your stylist (as I did with my dear Richie in Atlanta), think about how stressful it would be to switch to a new one... much less a new one that doesn't speak your native language! I found a great stylist just after we moved, and then, of course, he decided to open a salon in London 3 months later.  Didn't want to pay as much as his replacement was asking, so on to #2, who was perfect the first time and made me cry the second, so I tried the third this past week.  It wasn't exactly what I wanted, but it was close, so she said I could come back a few days after it "settled" and she would thin out or fix up anything I wanted.  True to her promise, she did so yesterday.  Before seeing the photo, you should probably know that the name of the salon is "Radical", as was her choice in clothing, hoisery, and footwear yesterday:

Saturday, January 21st
With a 60º day today full of sunshine, we decided to take a walk around our neighborhood after our delicious [from scratch] pancake and [homemade] syrup lunch (which ALMOST made the one-per-day photo today). Since I assume not many Americans know what Portuguese houses look like, I decided to include a house that I really love, right around the corner from our condo building.  A lot of Portuguese houses are built into huge buildings or connected to other walls/properties, making them not look like stand-alone houses, but these types are fairly new, probably built in the last 15 years.  I love the stained glass window in the front of this one, and the balcony on the other side!

week 2.

Sunday, January 8th
After finding out that more people were out of town for NYE weekend than we thought, and after our condo quarterly meeting being rescheduled 3 times, we are finally hoping to be able to organize a [Christmas] cookie "open house" for our neighbors this week!  Here are some of the starters that I'm trying to make one day ahead of time... (note: do not make the Nutella cookie recipe from Pinterest that only has 4 ingredients. 4-ingredient cookies are not delicious).

Monday, January 9th
I'm also making wassail for aforementioned "cookie open house", and I am definitely adding my own orange juice made with a juicer that Luis Miguel already owned (it's not uncommon for people to make their own juice 'au naturale' here). (No, that wasn't Portuguese, just using a random different language like Americans do to sound more intelligent).  Thankfully, we are really blessed with free fruit, veggies, and eggs on a regular basis, given to us by Antonio, one of our Powerchair Football athletes, whose parents have a garden on a large piece of land and raise chickens as well.  Sounds like another reason for baking, eh?

Tuesday, January 10th
I think it's safe to say the cookie "open house" was a success!  5 of 7 families in our building stopped by, loved the cookies, and most stayed chatting for about 2 and a half hours!  Most also commented that it was a great idea to start having more community in our building.  It was a surprise to me, as well, that each family brought a little something for us... some eggs from a grandmother who raises chickens, flowers for me and wine for Luis, and 2 boxes of chocolates!  I have learned that when you invite Portuguese people over for dinner, they always bring a small gift, but I really didn't think for something so casual, that they would still be so generous!  After asking around this week, I have now learned that it doesn't really matter what the occasion... if a Portuguese person comes to your house, they will bring you a treat! The mantle was the only place I could put my camera to get all of us with a timer, so the photo is a bit far away, but check out the head of curls and the pajamas and robe on the little guys in the front!

Wednesday, January 11th
Haven't seen a beautiful sunset in awhile, considering we've been working later and since it gets dark so early, so this was a welcome surprise this week!

Thursday, January 12th
I remember shooting a photo of this tree when it was red and green in autumn, but never really noticed it in winter until the other day when Luis pointed out how beautiful the shape is, even without leaves!

Friday, January 13th
I don't have words to express how much I love this soccer team!  I hadn't seen them together since November since we're in a bit of an off-season, and we had a fun morning of reuniting and laughing on Friday (even if they don't look like it)!

Saturday, January 14th
After also being away from our "couple friends" (as in, friends who are couples, not that we only have two friends here) for a few months, we reunited again for dinner... and some unexpected and spontaneous Texas line dancing!  Pretty impressive shot, considering the photographer is only 7, (and considering my camera was set to shoot at night, hence the crazy amount of grain!)

daily.

I wanted to start 2012 on a good note, blogging more, updating entires from all of our trips we've taken in Portugal and Spain, things I've been learning, etc.  I hope all of you know these have always been my intentions.  Yet being a perfectionist and one who takes a substantial amount of photos (yet doesn't love digital editing), I sometimes get hung up on which to choose, how to write it "just so" to make it funny, yet truthful... and the list goes on.  I'm a "pleaser". And I know I shouldn't be.  (As the year progresses, hopefully I can be working on that... :) )

Speaking of photos, I always loved the photo-a-day projects but never thought I could follow through daily to write a blog post  e v e r y  day.  Until now.  Something in me clicked and wants to do it, so considering it's the first week of the year, what better time is there to start?  Inspired by my friend Cristi, another American living here in Coimbra with us, I will take one photo per day and post 7 photos in one blog at the end of the week.  We'll see how they turn out! I really hope it will give all of our friends and family across the ocean a small way to be a part of our daily lives, and what a great memory it will be at the end of the year!  And without further adieu... here's Week 1 of 2012!

WEEK 1

Sunday, January 1
Ringing in the New Year at Fábrica, the hot spot in the tiny town of Pinhel, Portugal, where Luis Miguel grew up!

Monday, January 2
Staying up way late to cheer on the Badgers in the Rose Bowl!  On Wisconsin!

Tuesday, January 3rd
Just after we moved to Portugal, and before I had a job, I volunteered a bit at the cerebral palsy rehab center where Luis is an Occupational Therapist.  His team of OTs graciously let me use a bit of their office space when I needed to kill some time between projects, and it was a great experience for me, getting to see what Luis does every day!  One day he introduced me to one of his clients, who just so happened to be playing with this toy.  I couldn't believe I was seeing it again after 25 years, because it was one of my favorites as a little kid!  I always meant to take a photo of it and send it to my parents, knowing they would appreciate it.  Who would have thought that years later, my dad would uncover it in a corner of the basement and then spend an hour fixing it up?!?!  Since my mom so graciously sent me a photo of him playing with it after he fixed it, I had to include that one as well.  :)

Wednesday, January 4th

Across the street from the rehabilitation center where we work is a large Christmas tree made of strings of Christmas lights, and there has been a sign "Visit the Nativity" for weeks.  Always forgetting to stop in, I was left wondering if this was a live person/animal nativity, a small table top one, or a big plastic illuminated yard decoration.  We arrived to see that was, in fact, a small room along the outside of the fire station (and sponsored by them, I believe) with a very elaborate nativity set.  Behind it was a 20x20 ft. "town", with various moving parts like water being brought out of a well, a sun and moon which changed all the lighting from day to night, etc.  Since taking a photo of everything made me step way back and lose detail, I decided to include one detail that was outside the Nativity, but still clearly an important part.  And note, this is in the parking lot right outside of our office, which you can see (the blue and white building) in the background!

Thursday, January 5th

I love foggy mornings, especially driving from the 'burbs into the city, where we usually can visibly see the fog resting in the valleys between the hillsides.  This morning was especially spectacular, considering the sun peeking through to light the city while the fog still settled behind it...

 Friday, January 6th

As I have mentioned in previous blogs, it is rare to find items on clearance here in Portugal, but on a routine lunch hour grocery shopping trip, I found these cute ceramic plates and small bowls in our same "is-it-charcoal-grey-or-is-it-brown" color scheme... and for 50 cents each!  Portugal is known for its ceramics, and though these are the cheap grocery store trademark, I still like them a lot!  Now we just need to invite more friends over so I can use them!

Saturday, January 7th
"How to make your wife happy", lesson #22:

[Wednesday]  "Hey Love... I heard it's going to be relatively warm, completely sunny, and not at all windy on Saturday... do you want to go to the beach and have a picnic lunch?"

This really happened, and is just one more reason that I love my life. (The husband AND the beach included :) )  We went to the beach the first weekend in January, and even took off our shoes and socks for about 2 hours!  It was beautiful, relaxing, and reminded us again of how blessed we are to live in such a beautiful place!