peach muffins

Being home means I get to eat lots of home-cooked treats. Usually Sundays are the days we have a big breakfast, but we made these muffins the other day and they've been great to just have around for a quick breakfast or even a snack. We used peaches because the peaches have been ah-ma-zing at the grocery store lately, but you could easily substitute blueberries and blueberry yogurt and that would also be delicious!  

2.5 cups bisquick 

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

2 cups peaches, cut into small pieces

1 peach yogurt (we used yoplait)

12-15 minutes at 375 degrees farenheit

senderismo en españa

Senderismo, or hacer senderismo, mean hiking or to go hiking in Spanish. Growing up in Montana, I've always always loved hiking, and I don't think there's anything better than a day spent out of the city in the fresh mountain air. Since moving to Madrid, I definitely missed being able to spend an afternoon hiking, and while I knew there were places to go hiking outside of Madrid, they were not so easy to get to (take this metro then this train then this bus then walk to this sign sort of thing) so when my roommates wanted to go back in May I jumped on the opportunity! I wish I knew the name of the place where we hiked, but I heard the area called like 5 different things. We drove about 45 minutes outside the city to the pueblo of El Escorial (another place that's great for a day trip, there's a beautiful monastery) and parked our car and then walked about 10 minutes to the trail head. Truthfully, it was a much harder hike than anyone expected it to be, but the views at the top were so worth it. We brought a picnic of bocadillos and took a little siesta at the top before heading back down. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday!

starting the trek... ignore my face. and the way i'm carrying that backpack

El Escorial through the trees

 

taking a little break

madrid is far off in the distance

we made it! so worth the sore legs

recent reads

via

Even though I haven't been blogging lately, I have been reading. A lot! I've been trying to read a few "classics" as well, I feel like I'm at the age where I should have read a few famous authors by now. Here's what I've read lately:

The Great Gatsby

I re-read this one because I was really wanted to see the movie when it came out. Still a great book, and I actually liked the movie a lot too. I heard it didn't get great reviews, but I love Leo and I thought all the casting was perfect, as well as the music!

Gone Girl

I read this because everyone was talking about it. Overall I liked it and I could not put it down! I heard it's being made into a movie, but I'm not sure how I feel about that. 

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

I was a huge fan of the Chelsea Handler books, but this one by Mindy Kaling is an even funnier, cleaner memoir of sorts. So freaking funny! I made the mistake of reading it during my daily commutes, and I'm sure the other people on the bus thought I was a crazy person because there were times when I could not stop laughing. Her TV show, The Mindy Project, is also hilarious. 

Leaving the Atocha Station

I heard about this book from some fellow ex-pats in Madrid and decided to read it because I thought it was mostly about the horrible train bombing that happened in Madrid back in 2004. While the book did shed some light about what it was like days following the attack, the focus was more about this crazy American guy who is living in Madrid trying to figure his life out when the bombing happens. This wasn't the type of book I typically like, so I wouldn't recommend it to everyone. 

A Farewell to Arms

One of Hemingway's most popular books, it's a love story that takes place during World War I between an American serving in the Italian Army and a British nurse. I read this while I was waiting on another book to become available at the library. I found this easier to read than For Whom the Bell Tolls (maybe because it's shorter) and I would recommend it. 

The God of Animals

I saw this on the bestsellers shelf at the library so I checked it out. I really liked it too! It's kind of a coming-of-age book narrated by a young girl whose family owns a horse ranch in Colorado. It wasn't a funny book, or a romance, but just overall a good book about life. Definitely recommend this one. 

For Whom the Bell Tolls

The main reason I wanted to read this is because it's set in Spain not far outside of Madrid, so I thought it would be cool to read about places I've been. It's about an American, who is coincidentally from Montana, who specializes in explosives and begins working with an antifascist group in the mountains outside of Madrid during the Spanish Civil War. It also has a love story line. It was a little hard to get through, because it was long and at times a little boring, but I'm glad I read it. 

Does anyone have any recommendations for some good summer books? I'm reading The Ambassador's Daughter right now and it's a little slow to get into but hopefully it'll pick up.

Happy Monday everyone!

Checking In

Hello hello! Yes, yes, I realize I haven't posted in months, and I really don't have an excuse except that I was being lazy and not really doing anything cool. Not that the doing anything cool part has changed, but I'm living the life of luxury right now (staying at my grandparents' house) and I really don't have the excuse of being busy so I think it's time to revive this blog. As my dear grandpa likes to say "you haven't sent any blogs lately!" Bless his heart, he still doesn't quite grasp how the internet works (love ya Peep, I know you'll read this!). I'm going to be giving this bad boy a face-lift as well as catch you all up on my life as of late. Hopefully I still have a few people reading it out there!

thumbs up for blogging! taken after the Madrid half-marathon

thank goodness it's thursday

Wow the past two weeks have been CRAZY!! My students have all been needing to change up their schedules and I've been trying to sub classes as well to make some extra cash before the season of long weekends begins. I'm also picking some odd jobs on the side... it's amazing what you can get paid to do just because you speak English ( editing resumes, writing presentations, proofreading a student's friend's novel...etc). I've seen this meme floating around a few different places and I thought it was pretty funny. Happy almost Friday!

word.

wine tasting/farmer's market a few saturday's ago

I lost my voice over the weekend so speaking in any language has been rather difficult and has made teaching classes almost impossible. The nine year old girls I tutor thought my squeaky mouse voice was hilarious though and they actually paid better attention... interesting. I've picked up a few funny words and phrases the last few weeks and also had an embarrassing word mix-up as well.

new words/phrases

1. cosquillas = tickle

2. mimo = mime, and also cuddle or caress

3. de perdidos al rio = literally translates to from lost to the river but is an expression to say we have nothing to lose or that you're all in. Like if your friend suggests doing something silly and you ok, why not? 

4. tomar el pelo = literally means to touch the hair but used like the English expression to pull one's leg

5. aprovechar = to take advantage of or make the most of. This word has been coming in handy a lot lately

6. diana = bullseye

whoops!

A few weeks ago I forgot the word for stamp (sello) and asked the cute Spanish guy working behind counter if he had any reglas for the US. Regla can mean many things; rule, ruler, principle... but is also the word for period. So embarrassing. 

Also, I found these really funny videos on youtube that I've been watching. I'm not sure if they're helping at all but they are pretty entertaining.

the rest of Rome

 

 

"fate brought us together our love keeps us a dream come true.... I love you"

All in all, Rome was great. A little too touristy, but it was Christmas. The weather was warm and the food was amazing! It's not a city I feel like I'd want or need to see again though. I envision my next Italian vacay taking place on the coast or wine tasting in Tuscany.

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Vatican City

We actually didn't plan on being in Vatican City on Christmas Eve, we were just walking around and spotted it across the river and decided why not? It didn't look too far away. I'm really glad we walked over though, because it was a pretty cool experience. They had a bunch of different groups singing and hundreds of people were already lined up to get into St. Peter's Basilica for midnight mass. We also went back in the daytime to check out the Vatican Museum and of course see the Sistine Chapel, which was pretty impressive.

the Colosseum

I've never seen the movie Gladiator, but I was still really excited to visit the Colosseum. We decided to pay about 5 euro more to have a "guided tour" (really it was just a woman talking to us for 45 minutes, we didn't do a lot of walking around), and it was definitely worth it. Super informative. It's amazing to me how this place was built and how good of condition it's in considering how old it is. 

happy tuesday!

I am LOVING this song right now (and the band). It just makes me think of summer.... and dream of summer... enjoy! Happy Tuesday everyone!

Roma... from my iPhone

Yes, I got back from Rome about a month ago and I still haven't gotten around to putting up pictures. I don't have a good excuse. This weekend I spent hours going through all the pictures I've taken the last few months and I plan on sharing them soon :) Until then, these are a bunch that I snapped on my phone.

vatican city across the river

colosseum 

st. peter's basilica

delicious italian sandwiches

st. peter's basilica

my face upon entering the oldest gelateria in rome / the best gelato i've ever eaten

at the top of the spanish steps

We were there from the 24th to the 28th and stayed a great place just across the bridge from the Trastevere neighborhood, which was great because we were able to walk to all the main attractions and were surrounded by amazing (and cheap!) restaurants. Since we had to much time in Rome most of our days were pretty leisurely, and we spent a lot of time sitting outside at cafes soaking up the sunshine.