Hello!  From the USA and from my first snow day in three years!

I surprised my parents last week, which was a last minute decision.  I bought tickets to come home (for various reasons) and then didn’t tell my parents about it.  I flew home, trained to our town, and walked home.  They were in disbelief and it was a.w.e.s.o.m.e.

Things have been pretty low-key since I’ve been home.  It’s snowy and cold (and miserable…) so I have been laying low.

Really low.  Two showers in a week and sweat pants and sweat shirt low.  We’ve been eating lots of stew, making a ton of bagels, spending time with my parents, and going on snow walks.

My mom and I briefly flirted with the idea of jetting off to Florida in two days and she got my hopes way up, but then decided that “three days isn’t enough time”.  This lady doesn’t know that I go to various countries for just 36 hours.  😉

Other than that, things have been really good!  I feel energized by the new year and have been making good on my intentions for this year.  With a lot of down time has come a lot of time to organize blog posts, update my website, teach on VIPKID, walk my 10,000 steps, and get to the gym a few times.  I have organized my bedroom, helped my parents organize part of the house, and made plans to see a various friends.  Something about a clean slate, such as a new year, makes it easy to have energy to do these types of things.  Just check back in with me in 2 months 😉

I’ve also been spending a lot of time thinking and reflecting and working things out in my over-active mind.  A few weeks back, I was feeling pretty low.  Hindsight tells me it was coming from a sense of loneliness and a lack of direction, but during that time, my mom told me to consider coming home to gain some insight and clarity into what I really want.  Maybe she wanted me to come home so I could say, “oh my gosh, it’s so boring AND COLD here” and go back to Spain, jolly as can be.  I’ve partly come to that realization, but also to a few others.  At this point, about a week in, I AM excited to go back to Spain.  I have gotten to the point that I keep saying, “when I’m at home…” and I am referring to Madrid.  So there’s that.  But there is also a part of me that has this dreadful feeling of going back to do the same I’ve been doing.  Work on Vipkid (but I do love it!), give tours, work at school.  No moving forward, to growth.  On the flip side of that, that feeling has also been energizing me to work on things that do make me feel fulfilled- like Bruja’s Bakery, and this blog.  I want to see these things grow in the coming year, while also working online and doing tours.  I’m excited to see what this year brings, and to see what kind of adventures I have!  

To many more snow days and productive days in your future (and mine, too!)