Thanksgiving festivities...

We spent thanksgiving visiting the in-law...in Hawaii!

I had never been and I was looking forward to a change of scenery as well as seeing Tez' parents who we hadn't seen in quite a while.

They, of course, made the trip wonderful. Here are some pics of what we did!

It sure was a lot to pack into 5 days (did you know Hawaii is a 10 hr flight from FL and 7 hours time difference?!) so needless to say when we got back we needed a vacation from our vacation but I just hack it up to living... young and wild... and free.... 

(and help from his parents)

Aloha

For your listening pleasure:

So if you know my husband you know he prides himself on being the first to find things, tell people about said things, hoping to have people love them as equally as he does.
(Ask him his fave shows on Netflix and you're bound to be converted)

When Tez and I were mere acquaintances one of the moments that I thought "This guy is kind of cool I might have misjudged him" was when we were standing in front of a bookshelf of movies picking which ones were "quality", we both picked very much the same titles and then the night ended with him playing "Such Great Heights" on the guitar by Iron and Wine... I may have swooned a bit....

I write all that to say we've been playing a couple of songs on repeat these days (I can attribute all of them to his findings).
 The one's I have found myself putting on repeat are as follows:













Are you sensing a theme here?

Catching up...

Sometimes when I attempt to write a blog post it has been so long I don't know where to start...

I guess I'll start in Oviedo...

But I can't talk about Oviedo, unless I talk about Memphis:

In Memphis fall weather is starting to surmise. 

It's blowing up all over my newsfeed.

This time of year, for some reason, even I crave a pumpkin spice latte with all the chilliness excitement!

(Have I mentioned that I do NOT like pumpkin spiced latte's no matter how hard I want to)

Autumn is my favorite season. Not too hot.. not to cold. It reminds me of college days, and football and throwing couches in bonfires procrastinating the night away, doing nothing....

Just last Tuesday, at community group, we spent about 15 minutes reminiscing about college. It was nostalgic and fun and all of a sudden I felt old. I know 27 is not old but I honestly forgot what it was like to have a schedule of 2 classes and then working from 2:30-6 only to head back to the dorms. And the freedom to wake up and think:  "I can skip class today it's nice outside"- WHAT?!  Maybe since Tez and I no longer hang with the college group we did in Memphis it's weird to even not be around college students anymore. Maybe I am just nostalgic for that.

To say that I am unhappy to be here in FL is FAR from untrue. 

I know this is exactly where we need to be, we're adjusting nicely, I have a job and we're making friends. I get excited about what will happen within the next year (NO, not pregnant, grad school wise) 

But living here has been the most bittersweet experience of my life. Words can't adequately describe and I can't say enough about it without sounding like I have ADD b/c there is just so much I am learning that can't be charted and graphed into little groups.

Tez and I have grown so much closer. I feel we really are creating the foundation to our marriage right now. I told my mom that, of course I have always felt married to Tez, but here away from family and friends I am really starting to understand the "leave and cleave" thing. We are a unit. He is my best friend. And I am thankful for him more with each passing day.

To be honest, God has "shattered some of my dreams" here (I say it like that b/c I just got done reading a book, Shattered Dreams, by Larry Crabb- Amazing) But I am realizing that a lot of my dreams are demands. My whole theology feels as if it is changing and as a result so am I. I'm not getting my way in a lot, life can be hard, and God continually proves to me that He is worth it and in spite of unanswered prayers He still loves me. I am learning to really ask of the Lord, and to know that He knows best. In Memphis, I had so many other things to go to apart from God. I'm not saying they were bad, heck I miss all my friends, my parents, financial security etc. But here I also feel like God and I have grown closer. It's been a bit of a wrestle. But I'm limping along.

I kind of miss Memphis like I miss college. 

But, we can't stay in college forever,

And there is a beauty in growing up.... 

Swimming Into the New Year

It's Saturday! It's Saturday!
I feel like I could dance a jig...
This weekend is one earned and deserved.

I have wiped little noses that would not stop running...
I have sang songs for attention...
I have tried, in hoarse voice, to explain the why's:
-WHY we do not push our friends (it hurts them!)
-WHY we use our words (because are BIG kids and it helps people to understand us!)
-WHY we do not throw food at lunch (do I even need to explain this one?)



And it hasn't come without reward:
-hugs unexpected
-laughter shared with my co-teacher over the explanations only a child could give
-And, of course, much expected progress throughout the week.

I have also learned to never underestimate:
- a book that has textures for little fingers to feel- but only the quiet ones first!
- the power of a threat of putting a popsicle stick on the discipline chart
- and, LORD KNOWS, to never underappreciate a parent that reinforces good behavior!

They say the first week is the hardest and I hope that saying proves true.
I have come home WIPED OUT, I didn't make it past day three without a caught cold, and I MAY spoken to my husband like a 4 year old. "What are we miiisssiinnggg here?" (I didn't mean too!)
But it's been 2 1/2 years since I last helped grow small souls and we both have some adjusting to do.

So yea...I got a job! Teaching Pre-K and for it I am thankful.
I believe this will be a job long and earned.
And I believe it will be a good year.

....

 I shall give life here my best, and I believe it will give its best to me in return. When I left Queen’s my future seemed to stretch out before me like a long straight road. I thought I could see along it for many a milestone. Now there is a bend in it. I don’t know what lies around the bend, but I’m going to believe that the best does. It has a fascination of its own, that bend, Marilla. I wonder how the road beyond it goes — what there is of green glory and soft, checkered light and shadows — what new landscapes — what new beauties — what curves and hills and valleys further on.”

Anne, Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

"We thank Thee Lord for pilgrim days,

when desert springs were dry.

When first we knew the depth of need,

Thy love could satisfy."

Something a bit Tookish springing up

Hello friends!

Sorry I have been incognito lately what with the whole 

-driving 14 hrs to Florida from Memphis

-Settling in the apartment

-Trying to figure out life here

-Not having internet a la casa till tomorrow 

I am just now hitting up the local Panera for some internet time...

Greetings from Orlando OVIEDO!

Come, join me here. Grab a cup of joe and let's catch up.

I'll even invite ya into my new home to sit...

Today is our one week anniversary of moving in. Tez and I will prob break out the bubbly to celebrate making it, maybe put on a little Bon Jovi, Livin' on a Prayer and have a dance party. Who knows- anything goes in Oviedo!

I kidd...

Life has been good settling in here. 

A few observations:

-When they call FL the sunshine state they don't kidd!

-People in Oviedo are genuinely friendly and that's coming from a place that prides itself on southern hospitality

- If you are needing a little conversation, the college kids at Publix who are checking you out and the people behind the deli meat counter can be good conversationalist

- I have began to enjoy the little "Florida showers"

- Puerto Rican people are all around... it's probably what heaven will be like

- You know you are from Memphis when the fact that grocery store's sell wine throws you off EVERY time you see it

That's all I got so far....

And, yes, I do miss Memphis

But I am positive this is where we are supposed to be and that confidence makes things a lot better.

We hooked up with a local church that we are excited about getting involved in.

I am still searching for a J-O-B (why don't you say a little prayer for me now that I mention it)

And I have never felt so small before.

In Memphis, I kind of feel like I own the town. I mean, I literally cannot walk anywhere without seeing someone I know. Sally from the 2nd grade, old colleagues or co-workers. 

I felt like a big fish in a small town and there was a comfort to that. A whole lot less dependancy. 

Also never before have I felt the whole, biblical aspect of "leave and cleave" until now. I don't know why, maybe b/c I had my family and friends around, who are dependable. Not that Tez is not, but never before have we had to depend on each other like this. Tez is my only close friend here, right now and while I am hoping that will change, that we will add other friends to the contact list, I have never been more thankful that I have him.

So that's all I got.

And on a little sidenote, I am reading the Hobbit for the fourth time of my life and loving every second of it.  Is it weird to say that Tolkien as narrator is like an old friend??!

I end with a great quote that encourages me from LOTR

“He used often to say there was only one Road; that it was like a great river: its springs were at every doorstep, and every path was its tributary. 'It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door,' he used to say. 'You step into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to.”

...Na na na na hey hey heeeyyy Goodbye....

This is kind of what my life looks like right now....

And that has only been the last three days!

Hi! I'm back in Memphis and must I say, I have never loved a place more dearly.

I also must say that when I said life was crazy before... I didn't know what I was talking about since...um... this season?

The above pic is not only the calendar of what my life looks like but also add in:

*3 Chihuahua's (yes WE ARE the stereotypical Hispanic family! One is Tez and I's the other two belong to the parents)

*Living back with my parents for the last week and next ten days
- Did I mention they are Puerto Rican?
- Did I mention that my bro is also currently living at home?
- Did I mention that I have an 11 yr old sister?
- Did I mention that this combo makes for absolutely no quiet time available...at all?!

Yesterday the "quietest time" I got was when my parents left for work and my sister kept asking me questions about Mario Kart as I read a little.

I don't mean to be a whiner. I am thankful that my parents are letting us barge in on them during this transition phase but did I mention that we are moving to Florida?

Oh yea, we are, in 10 days time...

I'm trying to process through it as much as I can. Thankfully I am busy with to do's. Thankfully when I need a break I get text messages from friends wanting to know if I can accompany them to a yoga class (my love language), or Bosco's, or their houses just to chat.

But oh how I miss MIDTOWN!

My parents live in the suburbs...Bartlett... actually my friends and I have renamed it "Fartlett" (I know we are sooo mature) and sometimes I can't help but drive around this place with disdain... Tez loves the suburbs, I myself am a city girl.

Well, we are def moving to the suburbs in Florida so my paradigm needs to adjust!

It's hard leaving a city that you were raised in. I feel I have a love/hate relationship with Memphis as if it were one of my boyfriends.

But the sweet thing is all through High School my mantra was to "GET OUT OF MEMPHIS"
In college I took any opportunity I could to travel the world. Puerto Rico, Ecuador, Amsterdam, Israel, Brazil and then post college Amsterdam again, Barcelona, Jakarta, Bali, China
Now that I have been a few places, I have grown to love the city of Memphis.

Maybe my church or the organization Tez works for has had something to do with that, or books or plain old GOD but when you go from not liking something, to seeing potential, and from there growing into a love for something you never saw before- it can get kind of Jane Austen-y and you realize you have had something beautiful right in front of you that you always took for granted.

That's how I began to see Memphis these last two years. God has really changed my disdain for the city into a heart overflowing with love and a desire to serve.

It's bittersweet to leave and as I'm collecting many goodbye's I know that just as God grew my heart for Memphis He can grow my heart in the same fashion for the suburbs of Florida....


I just ask that he give me at least one hipster and/or "eccentric" friend to keep me sane....

I don't know why it is posting without paragraph breaks...sorry!

Hey guys I'm back! And you have my permission to call my bluff if at any time I say I shall write a post "series"...who am I kidding, right?! sigh.... I had every intention of finishing my Barcelona posts... and then we had to move from our duplex, what I thought would take 3 days ended up taking 10...yea... in the past two years we have accumulated A LOT of stuff I am sad to say. "My Name is Tatiana and I am a pack rat". We trashed a lot and gave so much away (Goodbye precious Norton Anthologies from every semester of college, may the precious notes I wrote from my classes enlighten some other mind) At the end of the day I was plain tuckered out and it was all a whirlwind b/c at the end of the 10th day we left to a little country by the name of...China... And that is where I have been for the past 6 weeks. Also the firewall there blocks blogspot so I had absolutlely no way of contacting here, I promise. But I am back in America now at least. Not home in Memphis but with the internet! And I am all the wiser, cultured, and.... jet lagged. Just thought I'd drop in to say hello, that I have not forgotten about you. And that I will do a series about my travels in China...I kidd... Your lucky if I put up some pictures within the next couple of days... Ok, You know I'll get around to it, but until then I will give Mr. Potter a visit here in Orlando and spend a day or two laying on the beach for a little R&R...and suntan... White skin may be considered beautiful in China but looking at my white legs at the end of June just makes me sad. XOXOXO

Barcelona: Behold the Beauty

One of the most wonderful things we did in Barcelona BY FAR was visit different houses built and designed by Antoni Gaudi.
Apparently I am out of the loop because I had never before heard of Gaudi before Barcelona.
According to my neighbor, who upon first mention of Barcelona got to talking about Gaudi, informed me that we get the term "gaudy" from Antoni himself. (  Example: "I'm not comfortable with this bracelet, its too gaudy" )
I am going to post  four different Gaudi posts and by the end of them you should understand why that term comes from his name!

Here is the first of four.

According to wikipedia Gaudí devoted his life entirely to his profession, remaining single. He is only known to have been attracted to one woman—Josefa Moreu, teacher at the Mataró Cooperative, in 1884—but this was not reciprocated.^[40] Thereafter Gaudí took refuge in the profound spiritual peace his Catholic faith offered him.

Below are pictures of La Sagrada Familia
These pictures do not do it justice!
The details of it are beyond anything I can describe- but I shall try!


La Sagrada Familia isn't yet finished and it is considered the pinnacle of one's career to be able to contribute to it.

The front depicts the crucifixion of Christ

Gaudi put himself as an observer

The details are amazing

And INSIDE... well, it takes your breath away

He wanted to depict a forest. Gaudi loved nature considering it "a book worth reading".
In the works I saw of his he tried to merge nature and architecture and the results are astounding.
He wanted the inside of the church to mimic the solitude of being alone in a forest while the gentle light being reminiscent of God's presence.

Unbelievable
Last but not least the back of the cathedral depicts the birth of Christ.



There were so many details I literally could have spend 4 hours picking them out.
Details like the genealogy of Christ written on a pillar and a snake wrapping itself around said pillar.
(that was one of my fave's)
Seeing as the cathedral would be one of the first things incoming ships would see he wanted the cathedral to appear as a sand castle.
Everything about it is symbolic and beautiful.
If you are EVER in Barcelona this is a MUST see.
The pictures fail in comparison.
It honestly is a worshipful experience. 

Taking thoughts captive

I won't be the first to say it, and then again, I probably won't be the last:

Sometimes marriage is more rolled eyes and holding your temper than romance.

Sometimes the house WILL NEVER! SEEM! CLEAN!

Sometimes you contract a bout of "food poisoning"? from Chilli's? and have to lay on the couch not even putting a dent on the many to do's for the day

I can't remember where I read it but I wrote it down on a scrap paper beside me:

The art of trading negative thoughts for positive ones.

It sounds kind of gimmicky. And sometimes there are things that a positive spin won't cancel out.

I refuse to be that Suzy Sunshine girl, out of touch with reality telling people to "turn that frown upside down"

But for the petty things in my day, which have the tendency to really bogg me down - It has worked.

My sweet husband took time off from what he was doing yesterday to help me BAKE for a baby shower b/c I was sick/ stressed out. It was a pretty selfless act that need not go unnoticed. (Also due to the stomach thing I contracted...from... Memphis pizza Cafe? the smell of chocolate sickened me- which you can say  is a MIRACLE in itself that I went more that 24 hrs not craving chocolate!)

I have a house filled with things I love, many people have lived with far less.

I got to lay on the couch last night...sick... while my sweet puppy dog loved on me and I got some extra reading time in.

Plus, despite the random stomach gargles I feel somewhat better today...

I'm not saying that YOU can be a happier person in these three easy steps! But I will say there is something to focusing on the positive,
But then again, I'm not the first person to say it....

Pop Culture Posting

Well Tez found out that there was an INDONESIAN FIGHTING movie out at the Paridiso....

You had me at Indonesian...

You had Tezar at Indonesian FIGHTING....

He literally made me watch the trailer on his computer in Starbucks...twice.

Needless to say, guess which movie we ended up seeing on date night?!

Pretty violent, I'll admit it.... but also, soooo freaken awesome!!!

A reviewer said that it was like a martial arts ballet and I felt that was an adequate description.

I'm not really a kung fu type of girl but BOY did this movie make me want to THROW DOWN and fight bad guys!

I might even cash in the kickboxing groupon I purchased a while back b/c I have caught the FEVER!

Now, the movie is in Indonesian so there are subtitle's ya'll... I understood maybe four words with what little Indonesian I'm learning but the good thing is: KARATE needs no subtitles!

Last but not least Tez and I have been all about some Walking Dead lately.

Once again, I am NOT a scary movie girl....seriously...I STAY AWAY. It gets in my head.

But the first season is on netflix and my coworker has adamantly told me to watch it.

The first episode sucked us right in and we are hooked!

Let's just say that I'm a fan even though it does get in my head...

I have already had like 3 dreams about being involved in a Zombie-apocalypse

And needless to say last night I not only dreamt about a Zombie-apocalypse but a KARATE FILLED

zombie-apocalypse.

I've got to start watching chick-flick's again....

Leaving [Part One]

Sometimes life throws you curves and you can't help but freak out a bit....

Sometimes when you get what you've wanted for a while, it seems much more scarier on paper!

It's moments like this when I take comfort in the fact that a little girl walked through a wardrobe into an unexpected land, full of adventure and surprise.

Or take comfort in the story of a hobbit who while not looking for adventure had adventure find him and after a worthwhile journey returned to his hobbit hole never to be the same again.

I know it's silly that these are fictional stories but I think their theme is one that is applicable today, even now.

Since I was a young girl I was drawn to stories like these.

I snuck the Narnia tales with me to read in the hall of Sunday night church,

my copy of the Hobbit worn and frail from being read over and over again.

These are stories of people doing great things b/c they took risks, and I heard a call.

I also take great comfort in that fact that in any journey/adventure I am on in this life I am never alone and there is a greater Author weaving together my story. He's done a great job so far, why should I doubt Him now?

It's moments like this when I like to reread an excerpt from an author who, I sometimes feel, writes inside my head.

I soak in the words and let them settle for a bit,

and I feel what I felt when I first read them- adventure far away on the horizon, leaving- a mere daydream.

And now that time draws nearer and leaving is inevitable

I find comfort in the thought that when I last read these words leaving was a hope, a butterflies in the stomach "if only".

And now, I have no choice but to follow that dream and trust

so I remember that fire I felt awaken my soul from the stories I read of dragons and fauns with parcels and trustworthy lions

the fire that once again warmed my heart as I reread these lines:

...life cannot be understood flat on a page. It has to be lived; a person has to get out of his head, has to fall in love, has to memorize poems, has to jump off bridges into rivers, has to stand in an empty desert and whisper sonnets under his breath:

I’ll tell you how the sun rose

A ribbon at a time . . .

It’s a living book, this life; it folds out in a million settings, cast with a billion beautiful characters, and it is almost over for you. It doesn’t matter how old you are; it is coming to a close quickly, and soon the credits will roll and all your friends will fold out of your funeral and drive back to their homes in cold and still and silence. And they will make a fire and pour some wine and think about how you once were . . . and feel a kind of sickness at the idea you never again will be.

So soon you will be in that part of the book where you are holding the bulk of the pages in your left hand, and only a thin wisp of the story in your right. You will know by the page count, not by the narrative, that the Author is wrapping things up. You begin to mourn its ending, and want to pace yourself slowly toward its closure, knowing the last lines will speak of something beautiful, of the end of something long and earned, and you hope the thing closes out like last breaths, like whispers about how much and who the characters have come to love, and how authentic the sentiments feel when they have earned a hundred pages of qualification.

And so my prayer is that your story will have involved some leaving and some coming home, some summer and some winter, some roses blooming out like children in a play. My hope is your story will be about changing, about getting something beautiful born inside of you, about learning to love a woman or a man, about learning to love a child, about moving yourself around water, around mountains, around friends, about learning to love others more than we love ourselves, about learning oneness as a way of understanding God. We get one story, you and I, and one story alone. God has established the elements, the setting and the climax and the resolution. It would be a crime not to venture out, wouldn’t it?

It might be time for you to go. It might be time to change, to shine out.

I want to repeat one word for you:

Leave.

Roll the word around on your tongue for a bit. It is a beautiful word, isn’t it? So strong and forceful, the way you have always wanted to be. And you will not be alone. You have never been alone. Don’t worry. Everything will still be here when you get back. It is you who will have changed.

This passage was an excerpt from Through Painted Deserts.

Barcelona [the food]

The sign reads: Barcelona where being a glutton can't be helped!

I kidd

If I had to pick one of the best experiences I had in Barcelona it would be....well...EATING!!

I had heard that Barcelona was the "food capital of the world"

I had heard of people speak of the experience of eating great food

(usually a movie involving a sexy foreigner talking about food affecting the senses)

I have even been to Brazil where a big part of the culture is hanging out over food. Where dinner can last up to 4 & a half hours (I am not making this up...it happened... and I love it)

But in Barcelona, it aaaalllllll made sense

Unfortunetly I didn't get many pics of what we ate

(they were on the lost camera...still not over it)

But I did get some pics of our first two meals and BOY did it just keep getting better from there!

I kind of have to make fun of how Tez is posing in the above pic....

If you don't know know Tez, you don't know that my husband doesn't consider anything a meal unless it has meat in it.

Must I reference the time I made "vegetarian spaghetti" and he cut up a hot dog and added it to the dish??!!

But even I went ga-ga over the meat.

It was delicious!

Tez was so proud.

But seriously, the dishes were WORKS of ART

And they weren't HUGE but the way the used such few ingredients and combined them into the most wonderful tastes... they have it down to a SCIENCE there, people...it seriously was a party in my mouth every meal. That's the only way I can adequately explain it, I don't care what you think...

There was something for everyone to love:

2 words:

TRUFFLE OIL

I had never experienced it before.

Truffle oil makes EVERYTHING better.

I soon began ordering anything that had it in the description.

(And I am still trying to loose the pounds I gained on that trip!)

(WORTH IT!!!)

Last but not least....

Oh sweet nectar of life

My mouth waters looking at those...

If the food was a work of art these babies were love at first sight.

In Barcelona I imagined myself glamorously drinking a morning cappuccino on a street cafe.

And boy did I indulge in EVERY chance I got!

There are no words.....

Catching up [Part Deux]

Soooo last summer Tez and I met his family in a little town called Barcelona.

I know... the woes of being married to a man whose family lives half way across the world, you have to meet them in the middle of the world... somewhere...

I KIDD.

Other than Tez being the love of my life and his family being the sweetest in-laws a girl could ask for, traveling with them is icing on the cake. I , kiddingly, tell my girlfriends that they just HAVE to marry a foreigner for traveling reasons alone ;)

This trip was fun because I got to see Tez' step brother and hang out with Tez' cousin Iris. Tez' brother had lived in Barcelona for a while so he was able to be an awesome guide and Iris was a sweet companion. You'll get glimpses of them in the video.

This trip was taken last summer (august-ish) and I honestly meant to blog about it but there were just SOOO many pictures, and then I accidently left my camera in a taxi there which had the MOST AWESOME pics of when we rented bikes and rode them through the alley's and streets of Barcelona to the beach and we, of course, never saw that camera again. Thankfully the camera I lost before that (which was why Daddy Gani bought me a new camera) was found at the hotel so that was good but SERIOUSLY who does that happen to?! (Classic Tati I just felt sooo irresponsible and awful! Not to mention the pics and camera were AWESOME)

Apparently I still really need to move on and get over it...

Nonetheless I never blogged about the incredible trip and then the hubs made a video and as I was thinking about traveling I figured I would make due on a blogging promise made way back when and show you a little something about our trip. So here you go, maybe the next couple of posts I will write about some sites we saw b/c they were just wonderful. Consider this video a taste:

Oh yea, two things before you view it:

a) I sound a little pretentious on the video when Tez is asking me questions more than likely due to the fact that I was sick of being recorded!!! But now that I see the method behind the maddness, in the future, I will gladly participate in Tez' question asking

b) Yes, we highlight some people's dance moves in the video not in a we can dance better than you way (b/c this Puerto Rican sure CAN'T DANCE for NOTHING) it was just fun to people watch

All right here it is:

Didn't he go such a good job?!

What a talented husband I have!

Catching up

Hi friends!

So sorry i have been incognito these last couple of weeks... life has been CRAY!

but allow me to update you a bit:

Ran that 'lil 5K I was talking about! Didn't stop once and I'm not gonna lie I am proud of myself!

Not so proud of the fact that I somehow injured myself and literally limped for two days after that and didn't even try to run on it until a week later... Yup... what a wimp...you win some you loose some!

I do believe running with friends/accountability was key for me

Still plan on running and nope... never a half marathon....we're looking into another 5k in May...

Last but not least, some big things have been going on here at our household... I had to give my job my month's notice which was a very sad thing...big changes occurring in the future, no i'm not preggers! But we have an awesome trip planned:

i'll leave you with some visuals...

If all goes accordingly that will be me come May...

and, yes, I do plan on being dressed like that,

(of course Tez will come with)

let the Wanderlust begin!!!