First things first

I know it's been over a year since I last wrote and boy, things have changed indeed....

First of all, I'm not running anymore for the marathon (hence the non-posting on my run-a-thon-blog). Why? Because it's just who I am I guess. I've got great ideas that do not get accomplished sometimes because other things become my priority. Or I simply get bored because I find out it's just not really me. I loved the idea being able to run a marathon, and then I got serious knee-trouble, which I had to sit out for a while. After that, I didn't think it was so much fun anymore and just got caught up with other things in life.

However, at the moment I'm in my third week of my 3-weekly Pilates class and I'm loving this. It's definitely more me, as I've never been the heavy exercise type. So I figured I needed something that suited my personality and life-style. And I feel awesome doing it.

So what has happened to me over the past year? Well, we've traveled to Rome in March, which was simply wonderful. We rented our own appartment for 3 days and it was amazing. Definitely the way to go. It was a loft appartment, meaning it's basically one big room, divided in an open second floor that you access via a tiny spiral staircase. I loved that our kitchen was hidden away in a cabinet that you had to open and ta-da... full kitchen available. Anyway, Rome was stunning, every street corner you'd find a new stunning architectual view. Needless to say I ate lots of icecream and pizza...

Also, my parents arrived for a week in May. Just a chill holiday, the only thing we did was celebrate Miguels birthday present that he got from me... 3 laps in a Palmer Jaguar F1, which was quite spectaculair.
It was so wonderful to have my parents here, to myself and see them enjoy and relax under the warm Spanish sun. My father still talks about how he loved sneaking out of the house with me and Miguel one night at 4 or 5 in the morning (we'd been up drinking and chatting all night) and going to the beach to see the stars. It was great indeed, it's one of the things I love most living here. I feel so much more connected to real things, nature, all that is around me. It kinda gets lost on you living in a big city.
I can't wait for their next holiday...

After a year full of stress on Miguels part mostly, studying for his big exam in October, it left little time for us to do something for us. Have some fun. Things weren't looking up financially for a while, as I'm having to support us with my freelance work. Unfortunately, Miguel didn't make the cut. A very stressful and dificult exam (if he passed, he would have certainty of starting his new job) But as only 200 persons were needed from the 16.000 candidates this year, we knew chances were going to be slim. Fair enough, we had our hopes up until the exam, until Miguel told me afterwards that upon looking at the sheet in front of him, he thought he mistakenly was sitting out a different exam. As this is a government position, and Spain currently has a 22% unemployment rate, it's quite unsettling knowing that you might not make it. I found it very unfair, the whole ordeal around the why and the how things are being decided by this government. There is not a lot you can do about it, but it sure shows you.. I just felt so angry about him working so very hard this year, letting the world and his (our) life pass by, without the result we were hoping for. So after a year us being totally disconnected from our social life, we are slowly starting to recover from this and are preparing ourselves for a new year.

Things are looking up, and we have our holiday planned this Christmas. Going back to Holland after exactly one year, and seeing my sis, her 1 year old and all the other friends that I had to miss this last year. Fun times indeed!!