Saying Goodbye to Spain

Hello everyone. Long time no see! My motivation for returning? Well, I DO hope to return for good once we are truly settled in our new home and I am finding myself "bored" with no pictures to hang, walls to paint, shelves to put up, garages to clean, closets to organize, boxes to sort... etc. BUT my reason for returning at this point is because I've decided that I am going to turn the 2 1/2 years of blogging I did in Spain into a hardcover coffee table book. I am SO excited about this and I put it all together the other day, but realized that my last blog post was just an every-day POD. The book had no ending. No resolution. The first post of my blog begins with our journey to Spain, and it would only be fitting for the last page of my book to end with a blog post that concludes our time there. So, I am writing that post now. :)

 

I will say, it's probably better that I write such a post now, because had I written it during our last days/hours in Spain, I would have been a blubbery mess and the keyboard would have been a puddle. I have had months now to heal, so I THINK I can get through this post without tears.

 

Saying goodbye to our home was so hard. It was our first HOME. Why our first? Well, for starters, Matt and I had moved from an apartment in Chicago, so this truly was our first house. But a home, as all of you know, is much more than four walls and a roof. A home is where your FAMILY is. It wasn't until Matt and I (and Takoda, of course) adopted Sultan (our black Spanish pup) and had Finlay (our beautiful blond Roteño) that we really felt like we were a family. The neighborhood also helped to make this place really feel like HOME. When we moved to Rota, we did not want to live on the base. We wanted to live out in town and experience the Spanish culture at its fullest. However, I now realize, that living on the base with all of our friends as neighbors was one of the most special parts about our time in Spain. No where else will we ever live where we can pack up Fin in the stroller for game night down the street and walk back in the warm ocean air at 2 am. Where we can share a glass of wine on a friend's porch 5 doors down or ride our bikes to the bar to get a beer (or 3) and wobble our way home, laughing all the way. Where we can borrow an egg from a neighbor two doors down, or stop during a run just to chat or give advice. Chances are, I'll never again live in a place where I can conveniently run across the road to my best friends' house for "just 5 minutes" because the crazy story about my day is something she simply cannot hear over the phone.

 

So yes, saying goodbye to our home; a home where we changed, we grew, we traveled, we laughed...  so many special things had happened... was very hard. 

 

 

 

The good thing about knowing an impending move is coming, is that you can prepare yourself. You can buy the things you want to buy, see the last few things you want to see, do the last things you want to do, say the things you want to say. I had LOTS of "must-do" items on all of these lists.

 

A few more relaxing sunsets strolling and combing the beach was one of my "must-do"s. :)

A few more warm evenings of chasing Fin around the yard before his tub was another.

Saying goodbye to all my plants and making sure they went to good homes was also on the list. (You see, knowing that our home was scheduled for renovation/reconstruction was pretty disheartening to me. I knew if we ever saw it again, it wouldn't be the same place, and I worried about my gardens that would probably end up carelessly bulldozed over.)

It was sad watching my little cacti dug up one by one by one and taken away, but atleast I knew they would be enjoyed by someone when we were no longer there to enjoy them ourselves.

And then eventually, regardless of whether or not I felt ready... moving day came. Moving day came, and I was well equipped to handle the stress and sadness. Thank goodness for 9AM bellinis.

Fin loved watching all the boxes go, but especially loved being his social self with all the movers. They even let him get up on the truck before they hammered all the crates shut. In his usual style, he couldn't resist the opportunity to applaud himself.

As hard as it was to say goodbye to Europe, to Spain, to our home, to the Navy... it never compares to saying goodbye to friends. Fin's last night with Javi...

His last game night with the Turners...

And the DAY of our scheduled flight out of Spain and back to America... our last lunch and afternoon with Tita Rocio and Abuela Ana.

 

So after a loooooong transition (October 26, 2012 through February 4, 2013, to be exact) we are finally in our new home in the beautiful Northwest. So far, it is wonderful living here in Washington on Whidbey Island... but... we miss our friends.

 

So without getting misty-eyed, I will conclude with a few pictures and this classic quote:

"Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver, the other is gold."

 

 

 

POD "I Could Heart-ly Wait to Post"

The POD this morning is just a shot of these awesome vines I spotted.

I could HEART-ly contain myself! ;)

POD "Now with Finlay in the Picture..."

Are you having a déjà vu moment? Seen this photo before? Maybe you have! Well... sort of...

Finlay and I take the pups for a two mile stroll every morning. One of the mornings this past week I decided, just for fun, to take my little camera with me. I snapped a few pics while we were out and about, and as I was crouching down to take one specific picture, I was like... "hmmmmmmmm... déjà vu". I vaguely remembered taking a similar picture a year or so back, shortly after we first arrived here in Spain.

While downloading the pics, I decided to dig back into my electronic files to see if I could find the older picture. Sure enough! I found them! Two years ago, early June of 2010, I took this picture:
If you've been reading my blog since its earliest days, you may also have caught this post.

Well, we're still taking our morning walks, but there IS one thing different about this year's picture. Thanks to the Finster, we're a bit wider now. Seriously though, you should see us coming down the street. We take up half the road. Maybe I'll invest in one of those "wide load" signs that those trucks have when they're carrying half a house down the highway. ;)

POD "Breakfast for Dinner"

Blueberry pancakes for dinner? Don't mind if I do.

Here in the Thomsen house, the griddle doesn't come out very often. BUT, when it does... it means something YUMMY is heading for the tummy.

PS. If you don't have a griddle and are still cooking breakfast in the frying pan... you are missing out. What a time saver! Cook five pancakes at once! It's one of those small appliances that you may only pull out every four months, but even a few uses a year make the purchase totally worth it!

POD "Cage of Fun"

When you're a stay-at-home mom living in Spain with no help from family... sometimes... you just gotta get creative if you want to get things done.

I give you exhibit A:
How do I keep a high-energy, super social seven month old who hates to sit (even though he can't even stand on his own yet) entertained while I attempt a trip to Ikea? Well, you can do what you want, but this is what I did. Classy right? You should have seen some of the smiles I got from the Spanish. Oh well. This cage of fun bought me 40 glorious minutes of shopping time! ;)

POD "The Old Man Bodega"

What is this you ask? Oh, you know, just the entrance to one of our FAVORITE bars in Rota.

No, but seriously… it is.

This bar, affectionately nicknamed by the Americans “Old Man Bodega,” is a special little spot. (Side note: That is not THE old man standing in the doorway, just AN old man.)

“Bodega,” because it is the only spot in Rota that MAKES its own sherry wine.
“Old Man”, because, well… at any given moment the doors are open you can find at least one, if not a gaggle of old men drinking a glass of sherry at the bar.

So why is it one of our favorites? Well, aside from the above mentioned factoid, THEY MAKE THEIR OWN SHERRY, it has some great tapas. I feel obligated to inform you, however, that the tapas, not unlike the atmosphere and the weathered men silently standing at the bar, are a little rough around the edges. I don’t think the bartender/cook/server behind the counter majored in food presentation. BUT they taste great! A simple slice of fresh bread with hot-off-the-griddle chorizo or pork tenderloin. The best heaping pile of arranque (a veggie and bread based hummus- style dip) in Rota. A mound of fresh langostinos (HUUUUGE shrimp) sprinkled with sea salt. And many more.

Why else? Well, there is some sort of odd satisfaction many of us (and you know who you are) get in finding a hole-in-the-wall place where only the locals go. And this is about as hole-in-the-wall as it gets. There is NO sign. NONE. JUST a garage door that swings open and closed. In fact, shortly after we arrived, we came to this bar with friends and I was unable to find the place the very next day. I was like “Oh, come on! I KNOW it was RIGHT here!” And it was, but how was I to know? All I could see was a garage style door that I assumed was the entrance to somebody’s garage.

Much of Southern Spain is like our Old Man Bodega, and I must say, it is strangely amazing. Walk by at the wrong time… too early in the morning, siesta, a random day of the week the place decided not to open… and it’s just a garage door. What sleepy little town, right? WRONG. Walk by at the right time and the stores, cafes, bars, stands, and windows come to life! There are so many little places that you can miss! It keeps me out there exploring and taking pictures. :)

So anyway, if you ever make it to Rota, ask around about the Old Man Bodega AKA by its real name, Bodega El Gato. Find this little gem, pick any random barrel of sherry on the wall to try, order anything off the dusty chalkboard on the wall… and enjoy!

OOH lastly, I dug up a picture of our FIRST trip to Old Man Bodea from January 2010, the FIRST month we were here! Nothing fancy... just good sherry and good friends. Oh, and sweet florescent lights. ;)

Fin'evision "A Mover and a Shaker"

Ummmm my baby doesn't stop moving... like ever... like only if he's sleeping. IS THIS NORMAL?! ;)

Enjoy my crazy little man being a crazy little man.



PS. This was at 6:30 AM. :)

The Seabee Ball

The 70th annual Seabee Ball was this past Saturday. Sadly, Matty had to work the ball again this year as the planner, organizer and emcee. However, I was SO happy that as my date in his place, I was able to bring my spanish partner, teacher and amazing friend Rocio!

She looked stunning!I cleaned up alright too!Enjoying some tapas, sherry and sunshine during the cocktail hour.Such a great location!The amazing sherry pourer was there again this year! Only this year, not pregnant, I could enjoy a glass!It is the neatest thing to see. He dips his sherry dipper down into the barrel, scoops some out, and then while pouring, brings the head of the dipper probably 2 feet above the glass. AND HE DOESN'T LOSE A DROP! SO cool to watch. Matt standing gaurd over barrels of wine and sherry. Haha. Not really.RIGGED! As you know, Matt both planned and emceed the entire evening, so it looked a little sketchy when his wife's ticket number was called for one of the prizes drawn that evening.Once the ceremony and formalities were over, Matt was able to kick back and have fun with his friends. I'd say some of them had a bit TOO much fun! ;)We were able to sneak a peek in the amazing wine cellar and snag a pic with the endless rows of barrels. It was amazing!
Fin did GREAT with Rocio's mom (his Spanish granny), Matt did awesome as emcee, the whole evening went smoothly, the food was yummy, the wine was tasty, the dancing was silly... what more could I have asked for?!?!! Maybe a little more time with the hubster? Ah well... next time!What a spectacular night.