Home sweet home

Nothing like coming home after a long two years away. Some things have remained exactly the same while others are so different you can't even recognize it.

In the last two years I have seen and done some amazing things. Ate amazing food in the most unreal spots. But I think it fed my need to travel more. There is so much in the world that needs to be experienced. Its almost like living in a little fantasy because reality sets in when your home. And this is where I am now. Reality is I chose a career that has the worst job opportunities and will continue for the next few years. Go where the money is. That was the reason for going to England in the first place, that and having the ability to travel freely and frequently. I am not good at the waiting game which now puts me in a situation where I need to decide. This part of life makes me feel old, all the hard decisions. And if you know me, I am a terrible decision maker. I would rather not decide and move in a different direction to see where it takes me.
Should decisions be so hard? Is it a sign that all this stress is telling you its wrong? What happened to people just doing what they loved and not caring about anything else. Does that exist? I think people forget what they really want because we are influenced by everything around us. We start thinking of someone else's needs before our own. But, shouldn't you take care of yourself before you take care of someone else? Unless its your child, they are always numero uno.

People are only wrong depending on who the judge is. And how clouded their vision is from yours.

Well, These are the thoughts for today. I will share all the wonderful pieces of my last Holland and Amsterdam trip soon:)

life in fast forward

So much has happened in the last 3 months I haven't had the chance to pop on and tell you all about it.
In the last 60 days I have worked 12 hour days, dipped my toes in the Alboran Sea, ate traditional paella made by family run resto on a mountain village, walked through the ancient walls of the Edinburgh Castle, took my class to the farm, enjoyed a taste of high society in Chelsea, and am currently witnessing history and celebrating the Queens Jubilee with family and friends.

amo España 

(April 2012)

A nice relaxing trip down to Spain was just what the doctor ordered :) We ate lots of tapas, meals by the beach and soaked up the sun. Whenever I find myself in a new country I feel like this is it, this is the life i want. I just want to be a beach bum and live where there is lots of sun and relaxing vibes. I want to live in a place where there is no 'high street' and you just live in beach wear forever. A place where the beach and the water is just a walk away. But then reality sinks in and then I am reminded of my constant crave for being a busy body and just my sheer nature would eventually get bored. But its a nice thought. 

Spain was magnificent and it will be a place I frequent in the future. The food was delicious every time and there are so many little towns and villages that can be visited on the weekends. Where we visited, it seemed like that part of Spain was almost 'stuck' in the past but in a good way. They live the simple life, the kind that everyone craves when they are on vacation. Plus, migrating to Spain wouldn't be so bad, the boarder control already thought I was from there after looking at my last name :D 

Speaking of which, I found my dwellings on a mountain village called Mojacar, there was a HUERTO street! Right beside a school at that, I think it was a sign :D


The Great North
Edinburgh, Scotland


We took a weekend away to celebrate my coming into the old club in May. Before we hit the road we stopped into Browns for a few birthday drinks.

Scotland is absolutely beautiful in a dark and gloomy way. The architecture matches the weather you will experience. In one day it rained, was sunny, snowed and hailed. Then repeated itself 5 hours later. They also make some of the most beautiful tartan I have ever seen. I would love to see more of Scotland sometime in the future. 






My dream neighborhood... Chelsea, London
The Chelsea Flower Show

The weather could not have been more perfect. After living with such shit weather England was hit with a two week heat wave which was much needed. You know your at a high society event when there are champagne tents :D My kinda world. 
The flowers were gorgeous and the people were posh. We had a fantastic day :) Some amazing gardens I would love to have at some point in life. Lunch consisted of ice cream and a sit down in the grass. After the flower show we thought some food of substance would be a good idea. We randomly found a food festival with everything you could think of so picked up some lunch and sat a park. 

At this random food festival we also found a gigantic couch with graffiti all over it. Apparently a company was celebrating its 100 years in service and is donating this couch/gigantic bed to charity after everyone has had a chance to leave their mark. So obviously I had to get my name on this :) It was the last day so space was limited and markers were running low, but we found a tiny corner. I had to make my Canadian mark!

a day in the life of...

A PRISSY POSH PERSON!

On March 31st, 2012 Alicia and I decided it could be fun to play pretend for the day. We got all dressed up, high heels and all and headed for Park Lane, London. We thought we had planned everything out perfectly, which means we did not think of checking the time at any point. Once we finally arrived at the Four Seasons thinking we were early, we were in fact 30 minutes late. opps. :s 

High Tea and champagne is something I can definitely get used to. Might have just been the best champagne I have ever had, considering it was probably £20 for one glass. If we had managed to disguise ourselves this far, I think the jig was up when we asked each other, "how do we eat these 2 bite sandwiches, forks or is it finger food?" unsure we glanced around at the other tables, which were of no help. surprise, surprise. At this point I thought forget this, it is a once in a lifetime opportunity that I will probably never repeat and grabbed the little sandwich with my fingers....and busted out my camera. 

Harrods was next on the agenda, but it became far too crowded and IF I ever became a ritzy posh lady I don't know if I could handle shopping there. But it was fun to look at bags that cost 4 months rent lol. After finding our way out decided to get some real food, and by real food, I mean British pub food. All the cakes and sugar from the day were starting to make me feel a bit ill. I am proud of myself for managing to stay in my heels all day! I have stopped wearing high heels mainly because of work, and man was it a mission to break in a new pair on that Saturday (more like bad idea). Oh right, and London being the magnificent city that it is (insert sarcasm), tubes were down and Lish and I were forced to walk down a very, very narrow set of stairs, probably in and around 3 flights, and all I could think was "please, please do not fall." You know that feeling when your in 4 inch heels and the more you think about something the more you freak yourself out. YEAH, that was happening. THANK GOODNESS I made it, because I tell ya, it was a close one! 

Fancy tea is one thing I can tick off my checklist :) Next on the agenda, relaxing in Spain and then a weekend away to see castles in Edinburgh. Time is officially ticking now that moving back to the homeland is a reality. 

Oh ya, Alicia has also documented this day, which can be found by clicking here.

money truly isn't everything

Sometimes its hard to think of what the most important things are in life or sometimes we simply forget. This year has been such a change for me, in every possible aspect. Career wise, I finally landed my own classroom with fantastic kids, I have a great group of girls I can lean on, I became an aunty for the first time to the most beautiful boy in the world, Anthony Carter Leo Huerto <3 Congratulations again to my brother and Melissa, he's the most amazing thing I have seen. And I have still managed to stay in love with the most amazing and thoughtful person in the world. It has been a year. 

I was recently introduced to a new show called Raising Hope. If you haven't seen it, get on it! In a nutshell, it is about a family that may have not got the better end of the stick but still manages to overcome all the shit thrown at them. Mistakes are made nothing you can do, and this family just shows that you don't need everything in the world, just the family you were given. They also show how important it is to dream. You may not have everything in the world, but theres nothing wrong with dreaming about it. The season finally really summarizes the whole show for me. Family is one of things that you cannot change in life, but they give you everything. They shape you into the person you will become and they help you in all times of need. I can clearly see where a lot of my habits and characteristics come from. And I don't think I would change anything. So get on it and check out the show, I am converted :)

coffee dates & love day

I am in love with trying new coffee! Its a shame I didn't snap any more pictures of yesterday, but it was a lovely afternoon with the ladies in a small independent coffee shop in Bham called 6/8 Kawfe (not sure if that is spelt correctly) but it was fantastic! Delish home baked cookies, little leaf prints on your coffee and the cutest set of cups and saucers. There is something about going out for coffee as an event that is just like nothing else. It allows for great conversations and bonding time. It gives us a break from all the busy lives to catch up with each other, support each other and really enjoy each others company. And we definitely do not do it enough. I wish everyone could realize how important friends are. Being in a relationship or single, its that extra support that you can't get from your other half. And its so hard to think that at the end of the year when we have all moved to the various parts of the world, there won't be that coffee date anymore. We have all shared such an amazing experience together. And as wonderful Kris put it, for all of us to pick up and move to a different country, we all have such a great deal of independence in ourselves to have been able to do it. And I suppose with such busy lives you kind of forget that ya, we are amazing, and are on a trip of a lifetime, and how lucky are we have each other. So ladies, LOVE YOU ALL :)


Today while strolling through town with Kris I picked up this lovely French Vanilla which I am just about to pop into my coffee machine. Cannot wait! 
I suppose some habits are really hard to kick, because trust me, the 'I am giving up coffee because its bad for you and stains your teeth' excuse has word vomited out of my mouth more times than I can remember. Old habits die hard, must be a truce to that and I think I am testament to that :s

VERDICT IS: fantastic coffee Beanies! Sat down with coffee in hand, and some home backed peanut crunch muffins! yummm


oh yeah,

Happy Valentines Day everyone!!! Make sure to tell the person/people whom you love that you care about them!

Babe, I am sending all my lovin to you :)
<3

first lessons of 2012

I know its been a while since I have posted anything... life's been a bit manic, but hey, better busy than boring. Funny I say that because lately I feel like I have so much more time to do nothing, which translates to being bored. But life has taken many turns over the past month and I have had to accept, adapt, and I will die trying. It always seems like bad news or a series of unfortunate events seems to always happen at the same time, and never scattered. Most of you know my other half has left the UK and gone back to the homeland due to the series of unfortunate events, and is trying to make things better. I never realized how much one person can make such a difference in daily life, and sanity. Coming home to an empty flat really is not the ideal. So this next term will be a big challenge for me. Not only is my other half not in the country but work is very busy. Being responsible for a child's ability to learn the basics of life is a stressful feeling. Reading and writing are the steps to success, and its a very hard concept for some. It is also very hard to teach, especially when it seems like it goes right through a person and nothing is soaked in. 


Other joyful happenings this past month, AINSLEY has graduated and joined in the 'real world'. Its never been harder to join the real world. Why can't we live in the era where people enjoyed graduating and starting a new adult life. The reality is that we graduate with massive student debt that it will take the next 10 years to pay off. Bullocks. 
People are too stressed these days. A (British) man recently told me when we visited Canada what he noticed was that Canadians always work. Thats all they do, two jobs for most people. And sadly, ya, that is exactly what it is. Canadians also don't get 6 weeks of holidays as do many Brits and Europeans. They truly live the life. The carefree life, in some sense. Overall, I am happy I did this, I am happy that I tried living in a different culture, a different part of the world. And only after being away from home I realized how amazing Canada is, and the way we operate makes so much more sense. I've never been prouder to be a Canadian.


So the first lesson I have learned this year is that bad shit always happens, and what can you do but adapt to your new situation. And sometimes the bad stuff opens up windows for good things. The adjustment period is hard, very hard, and I am still in that part. But I am happy to know that I do have people lol. And so very excited to start Craft Night with the ladies! You bet I will be posting the new and fun things we will be making! Watch out!
:p

Bonjour 2012!

Hello 2012! We welcome a new year with high hopes. I have had so much happen since I was last spotted blogging something down, and hopefully I can share all that in a few sentences. 

I am now a very proud teacher of a wonderful Year 1 class in central Birmingham. They are an absolute delight, at times a bit lively, but they are 5 years old, what do you expect?! It all just came very suddenly so I have been busy planning, planning and planning. Mike and I finally took a much deserved holiday to Roma. One of my most favourite places in the world. I think it has something to do with its beauty. Every where you look a rustic building, beautiful cobble streets, sun always shinning, and it just amazes me that a wonderfully old and historical city just exists in a busy metropolitan. The food was never a disappointment. I had the chance to visit Rome while I was in university and even after seeing it again in December I would gladly go back. I think Italy is one of the countries I would love to see every part of. There are so many other cities I want to visit, Tuscany, Milan, Sicily, Pisa, and the list could just go on. There is nothing quite like Rome. Mike had a blast. It was his first time and he enjoyed every single minute. We walked all of Rome, which really is not that big. Its just every step you take you feel inclined to take a picture, so it takes you three times longer to get to a destination. But we took this vacation for exactly that, to relax and enjoy life. To take a step back, to get out of our busy city lives. We arrived back home in Birmingham on Christmas eve and we spent it with one of my closest friends. 

 

New Years was quiet because we already had such a busy and amazing time in Rome and great Christmas. We went to see some fireworks in the city but that was a big flop. 3 fireworks went up and something caught on fire and it was the end lol. But ah well, Mike and I had time to just be together before going back to the daily grind of work. Although for me, I still had another week off, which I used to plan my next term. 

Its always hard for me to make a new years resolution because I am never good at doing it.

So instead, I am going to do what I always do, just hope for a better year and try to be happy in what I have. I think thats my biggest issue, always wanting more. And I am so happy I have Mike because he is one of those people that can see the good in the smallest thing. I am very excited about my classroom, but I think I am finally looking forward to coming home. My one year abroad turned into 2 and I think im done. I can't wait to have my own place in Canada now. Although, six months in Rome wouldn't be a bad idea either!

This year I am looking forward to welcoming in a new family member, baby Huerto will be born in February and its very exciting. Still not sure if it will be a girl or boy, but either would be very cool! Its weird to think that my parents already had a family started at my age, but I am nowhere near that. There are still so many things I would like to do before I sit at home with a kid. But I think being abroad and having 30 children every day is a factor. I feel like being abroad will maybe keep me younger in some way, but I know its not. I am just a travel nut. I want to see the world. I've always wanted to see the world, and I don't forsee that ever changing. I am so grateful that I have dipped my toe into different parts of the world, largely thanks to my parents, but they have created a monster :p 

All I want to do is see new things, see old things really because the old things are just beautiful, they are a one of a kind and I think thats what I love so much about it.

Well, only time can tell what the future brings. All you can do is make the right decisions, see where the wind takes you. And so far, its been a pretty good ride :)