100 years is a long time

Last weekend I made a trip back home to Chatom. I've been making a lot of those lately, and will make a lot more in the next 4 months. In the first few years of college I rarely made it back to Chatom. Going home usually meant going to the beach! I'm really glad that I've been able to spend so much time in my hometown recently, though. It's been so nice to soak up my last few months in Alabama while remembering growing up in that small town. I know I'll always be able to come back, but DC is much farther away than Auburn!

This time I went home to celebrate the 100th birthday of Chatom Baptist Church. Should it be anniversary? Either way, 100 years is a long time! It was so much fun to sit in that church and just listen to the history. It was especially neat because so much of the history includes my family. My great-great-grandparents were founding members of the church and set an example of faithfulness that has continued until today. I'm so thankful that the Lord continued to call the Schells/Hensons/Smiths/etc. to himself! I certainly hope and pray that he continues to do so for another 100 years!

6 months....

... since I last posted here. I miss it. I'm going to try and start writing again. Granted, I don't think anyone will be as excited about my life in Auburn as they were about my life in Barcelona, but it will get me in the habit again. So, I'm going to use this space to write about my last 4 months and 29 days as a single lady, wedding planning, and all the tears I will shed about leaving Auburn. Maybe, just maybe, after January 1 there will be a new blog to go along with my new last name... :)

P.S. Jan. 1, 2010 is the big day... PTL!!!

Life since Spain...

#1: This is mostly so I can look back and remember the last couple of months. It probably won't be entertaining.

#2: I already know that it will be horribly written.

I've been meaning to write this post for a while, but have only now taken the time to do so. Granted, it's 11 PM and I should be doing homework, so this should probably be classified as "procrastination tool." I've officially been home almost 2 months, but it has seemed so much longer!

I think I've gotten to the point that I can look back on Spain with fondness. It's not that I didn't enjoy my time there, but it was difficult. I have such a busy/fun life here in the States and many friends and family. I was harder to be away from them than I thought it would be. The last 4 weeks were really hard! It was not fun to watch my new fiance hop back on a plane to the States. I was definitely ready to be home after that! However, in the past week or so, I've been thinking back to specific days or trips with much fondness. I keep retracing my walk to school, the walk to the peanut butter aisle in El Corte Ingles, the walk down La Rambla... as much as possible. I can tell I'm losing the vividness of some of those sights. I know I have to get back there one day.

After I flew home, I was of course bombarded with, "How was Spain?" I really appreciate everyone's interest in the trip, but how to you answer that in the 3 sentences or less that they will listen to? "Um, it was different but good." "I enjoyed it." Those can't adequately describe the emotions and experiences that I had there. I don't really know if I had the wonderful experience I thought I would. It was fun and I would definitely recommend it to anyone (just not through KEI), but I don't think people want to hear, "It was alright."

Christmas break was excellent. I got to spend much needed time with my family, friends, as well as with Joel and his family. I think I was a little awkward around everyone at first, but it doesn't take long to relax when you are home. However, that doesn't mean that I wasn't busy. I came home and immediately launched into Christmas mode. After that made a trip to B'ham and brought Joel back to Chatom with me. We then spent a wonderful New Year's Eve with Kinzie, Adam, Virginia, Sarah, Shane, Brenna, and the star of the night, Savannah, before the Sasnetts came down for the weekend. Then it was back to Auburn to start a new semester!

Now I know why most people don't take 18 hours in a semester. It's hard! I am guaranteed at least 2 tests and an essay every week until May. On top of that I'm taking an 8 hr/week LSAT prep course. On top of that I'm also trying to plan a wedding. My anxiety issues have already started to kick in. I know they're getting bad when I wake up anxious. Worry/anxiety is something that is a huge struggle for me. It's a sin that I constantly battle. If you think about it, I could definitely use a prayer or two.

I'm really tired and I have no clue what to write about next. So, I'm going to go to bed. Maybe you should suggest a topic for me, and I'll use it for my next post.

A Domino effect.

Well, my favorite magazine is closing its covers. I read People is the magazine that I read most often (maybe because it's weekly), but I'm always a sucker for Domino. I've read several stories of magazines having to stop their print because the economy sucks, but this one makes me really sad. I really like interior design. My mom definitely passed that on to me. Domino is one of those magazines that you can look through to see beautiful rooms, but they're accessible. It's like mixing Oscar de la Renta and Oscar's flea market. You think it would be bad, but it's oh so good!

If you've never experienced the wonder of Domino, click the link to check it out. I'm not positive, but I assume the website will live on.

I know that I'm pretty crappy at writing the blog entries that I say I will, but know that I have the best intentions. Soon, friends, soon.

Thank you, Joel, for pointing out my grammatically incorrect first sentence.

New year, new president

As we all know, at 12:00 PM today Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States. At this point, it doesn't really matter if we agree with him or not. He is our president, and there are two things that we must acknowledge.

1) Today is truly a historical day. Tears came to my eyes as I watched the Obama family stand on the Capitol's west side. It really was only a generation ago that segregation was alive and strong. I am certain that God doesn't see race, and I don't think we should either.

2) As Christians, we have the privilege and duty to pray for our country's leaders. Southern Seminary president, Dr. Al Mohler, encourages us to pray, and shows us his prayer for President Obama here.

I encourage you to take a moment today to pray for Barack, Michelle, Malia, and Sasha Obama (by name:)), and for wisdom for our nation's leaders.

Toledo!

So after stuffing our faces with tapas the night before, we arose pretty early Saturday morning and walked to the train station.



Our destination was Toledo. This little city is about a 30 minute train ride from Madrid. Like Granada, you instantly feel like you're seeing the real Spain when you're there. I don't really remember all of the history, and I would botch it if I tried... look it up on Wikipedia. Trust me, you might be amazed :)

It's one of those cities that you immediately feel cozy in. I think there are only about 80,000 citizens, and it has definitely maintained that village/small town vibe. Unfortunately, it was REALLY cold and windy that day, so parts of the tour weren't very enjoyable and I didn't "absorb" it like I should have. I really should have done this a long time ago because now I can't remember much! I'll just let the pictures do the talking :)





The next to last picture is most of the group at lunch in Toledo. It was in this restaurant that I discovered a hole in the crotch of my favorite pair of jeans. Awesome.

The trip was really fun though. Now I'll leave you with the view from the room Porschia and I were in.

That crazy lit up roof is the roof of a club in Madrid. We were told that it's "where all the pretty people go."

Madrid

I'm trying to be enthusiastic as I write this post, but it's hard. I'm going to finally write this post because I know some people still want to see pictures from Madrid, and I don't think I can write my other posts until this one is done.

So, the morning after our Thanksgiving feast those of use in the KEI program boarded a train to Madrid. We got to ride the really fast train that my dad has been talking about since last Spring, but I was unaware of this until we arrived in Madrid. It was a little anti-climatic.

While in the city and the few days after I didn't think I liked Madrid. However, now that I think back on the trip, I think that it's a nice place. Maybe this is due to the fact that our group felt more like a group of friends than we had before. We finally got used to being around each other and could just hang out together.

We arrived in Madrid before lunch and had some free time to look around. Well, were were supposed to have quite a bit of time to look around, but it took some people a really long time at the bank, so Porschia, Chenell, Hunter and I left them. We only made it as far as KFC. It was gross and Chenell got sick, so I don't have especially fond memories of that lunch. After lunch we all headed to the famous Prado museum. I wasn't allowed to take pictures, but I did get some before we headed inside.
I have no clue which street this is, but I like the picture.
I'm pretty sure this is the front of the Prado. I don't really remember.
I got a few excellent pictures of Porschia, but I'll keep them under wraps... I think she would appreciate that.
I thought this church was pretty.
Juan-our tour guide at the Prado and in Toledo.

After the Prado, but before the tapas tour, a few of us stopped at a cafe for drinks. I was really cold that weekend, and we wanted heat! I'm not sure what happened to the rest of the group.
Caroline + cafe con leche = happy. Sorry for showing you a sideways picture.

Then, we met up with everyone for the tapas tour. Tapas are a much bigger deal in Madrid (and the rest of Spain) than they are in Barcelona. I didn't like them at all until this weekend. Genevieve took us to five different tapas bars so we could try all of their specialties. By the end of the night we were FULL! I didn't get many pictures of the food. It was almost gone by the time I could get my camera out.
Hunter and Jonathan getting ready for a night full of food.
According to the Guiness Book of World Records, this is the oldest established restaurant. In. The. World.
I was excited about my newfound love for tapas. Matthew wasn't putting up with any of my shenanigans.

This is the only picture I have of any food from that night. Patatas Bravas. Hunter was a happy man after eating in this bar.


Coming soon... Toledo!