My momma always told me....

That whenever God closes a door, somewhere he opens a window. Actually, that's from The Sound of Music, what she used to tell me was in Spanish and went something along the lines of "God tightens, but doesn't make you choke." It's basically the same thing, the gist is the same in both! I'm starting to think that it just might be true. I worked my ass off this past month and made a ton of extra money, but I have a had a lot of unexpected big expenses this month, which I wouldn't have been able to pay had I not had money saved up from last month. According to my mom, God put that extra work in my way last month so I would be able to pay the extra hundreds of euros I am having to shell out this month.... so if it is the working of God... thanks, i appreciate it. I just figure I have to say thanks when it is due!

You know what else I would appreciate, if things would stop breaking in our apartment! That would be really cool! About a week and a half ago the light bulb in the living room went out, and i had to wait for Antonio to change it, because I wasn't tall enough to do it. Then, I came home about a week ago and turned on the kitchen light and there was this spark and the light went off, and once again I had to wait for Antonio to change it because of the height thing again!

Then on Friday we turned on the TV, and the channels don't work. I don't think it's the tv, because when I watch a DVD, it works just fine, it's just the channels that are all fuzzy. I don't mind not having the TV, since I prefer music, and it gives me more time to study. Antonio, however, really misses the TV, he is all out of the loop with what is going on soccer-wise. We have been finding other ways to pass the time, such as having speed matches (he's getting better, someday he may even beat me!), and reading books, and talking for hours on end and whatnot.

Then because enough things haven't broken, Antonio turned on the light on the exhaust fan above the stove and one of the lights went out... thank goodness we have a lot of spare lightbulbs. I hope nothing else breaks, that would really suck!

The weather is CRAZY!!!!

That's right, CRAZY!!!! On sunday it got really warm, like high 60's, which was amazing, because it is a nice break from being in the 40's, if not lower. Then on monday I think it got to 70 degrees, which was amazing. I was incredibly happy because the birds had been singing at night for a few days (a major sign that spring is on its way), and tuesday was just more glorious sun, I even opened up the windows to let some fresh air in. Then I wake up on Wednesday and it is raining and super cold outside.... WTF!!!!!

Then today it has been freezing cold.. I just looked at weather.com and apparently it is 10 degrees Fahrenheit outside (and it says that it feels like -11 degrees, though). So yeah, we went from 70 degrees to 10 degrees in less than 48 hours. The wind today has been so strong, i felt like I was getting blown all over the place... and now the lights in the house are flickering, and I think it's because of the wind, lets hope the electricity doesn't go out, because that would suck!!!!!

I want spring to be here NOW!!!!!!

The things I miss

After being out here for a while I find that I don't really miss the U.S. It could be because I moved out here willingly, and also the fact that I know that it's not a short time thing... I don't miss my friends and family, I mean I miss them, but it isn't something I think about constantly!

There is one thing that I find myself missing missing... often!

I really miss the food. I miss bbq sauce, and tortillas, pepperoni pizza, mexican bread, tamales, tacos, sour cream, bacon, pancakes, apple jacks, peanut butter, doritos, cheesecake, ranch dressing for my salads, croutons... and the list could go on and on.... there are so many things that we have in the States that they don't have out here... and I miss them!

However, I do have to admit that they have some really good food out here that you can't find in the U.S.

I guess it's a lose-lose situation! If I'm here I miss what is there, and if I'm there I miss what is here.

Interesting

I was reading an article on MSN about what's "hot" for homes in 2008 and one of them was:

Concealed appliances

"Real-estate agent Nash says he's seeing more homeowners opting to hide kitchen appliances such as the dishwasher and refrigerator. "A lot of people think that appliances are ugly," he says. What's making it possible to hide a fridge behind cabinet doors is technology, which allows a big appliance today to be "broken apart" into separate, smaller pieces, he says. "A lot of people want beautiful kitchens, who never use them," Nash explains. The kitchen is evolving, he says. "A kitchen is becoming an aesthetic room."

I found this very interesting, since to me this is not new technology. Every apartment I have lived in in Italy has had a concealed refrigerator and almost every house I have been to out here has a concealed dishwasher too, it's just normal out here. I mean even the student apartments I lived in out here had it. It seems very normal to me, but now that I think about it, things are different in the U.S.

When I walk into a kitchen here and need something from the fridge I generally just look for the biggest cabinet panel and open that, and lo and behold it's the fridge... funny how things that are so commonplace out here are "new" technology in the U.S.

There was something else that I thought about the other day, but I don't remember anymore, when I do, I'll post about it!