Spain - First Week

Here are some pictures from the first 5 days...only four, I'll add more later.

On a separate note...

We want to send our condolences to the Ben (cousin) and Astu (grandfather) and their families. We know their loved ones will be missed. You and your families are in our thoughts and prayers.

Apples vs Oranges...

And the winner is Apple!!! That's right ladies and gentlemen, I, Lauren Atchison, just bought an Apple computer! A laptop to be more exact. I've been looking at them for probably at least a year or more and with the bonus I received from work, it made it possible. I'm pretty thrilled about it and I hope to have it next week. I picked a MacBook Pro 13inch, bumped up the hard drive to 320, and splurged for a remote. I could see the usefulness in the remote so I went for it. I debated on Microsoft Office but decided to wait temporarily. I just wanted something a little more sleek, lightweight, and smaller to carry with me as we travel. We both looked at the 15inch but after comparing, the 13inch was the way to go for me. I was really thinking about the iPad. I've recently gotten kinda hooked on their "power" but ultimately, I decided to wait---not to mention I love that Flight Control game. (We go into the Apple store just to play the game. I know, I know. Sad.) Anyways, I feel like the next generation will have a web cam in it and I would like to wait for that.

Been meaning to post this...

So I talk about my family at work. You know I love ya'll and that's just the way it's gonna be. We were talking about the "impromptu" family reunion and how many people were there. This was still after explaining that it was just Mom's side and that Dad's side could rival in numbers as well. Claudine, my coworker, had this to say:

"You don't even have a big family. You have a small country."

Well it makes me giggle and I appreciate it. It's good to know you have people you can rely and count on. I truly feel blessed to have a large family with so many aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents. It's like I have my own personal army/band that will fight/cheer me on when needed. What a great gift! Love you!

What a weekend...

I can't believe it's already been a month since we've been home. I'm not sure how the month has gone by so quickly. To be honest, I don't even know what has kept us so busy to allow the month to pass so fast. Anyways...we have a few congrats to get out there. Congrats to Ellie! She was baptized on July 25th. Congrats Brian, Janie, and Sam! I know you are proud of your little girl/sister! We welcome her with arms wide open! Our second congrats goes to Libby & Greg!! We can't wait to welcome Baby Mink to world in March. Aim for the 17th and then there can be double funfetti and even more green beer! Our third congrats goes to my co-worker, Claudine and her now fiance. We are so excited and like your mama said "It's about time!" :)

This past weekend Celi came down to spend the weekend with me while Daniel headed to Boston to have a man weekend with Jason & Ben. Celi arrived Friday evening and we had a quiet night at the apartment. We cooked yellow curry chicken and attempted to color my hair. It's a little darker/browner but not much. I don't think it set long enough before I rinsed it out. Saturday, we headed to Hershey for the day. We checked out the Hershey Story Musuem, had a chocolate tasting, took a gander at Hotel Hershey and finally ended the day at Chocolate World before heading back. On Sunday we went to church, spent part of the afternoon in the town center, and then headed downtown to Zengo for dinner. It was soooo delish! On Monday we did a little shopping at the Outlets before Celi flew out. An hour later, I was picking Daniel up at the airport. Now I'll let Daniel fill you in on Boston.

Got into Boston around 2 Friday afternoon and Ben and Jason met me outside the airport where we got on the subway and made our way to Jason's apartment near the MIT campus. We decided to take it easy that night, so Jason made jambalaya (very good) and we watched the Red Sox game. On Saturday, we took a tour of the Sam Adams brewery around noon, had lunch, and then made our way to Fenway Park for the Sox game. It was pretty cool to watch a game in one of the most famous baseball stadiums. After the game, we went to a Tibetan restaurant near Jason's apartment, which was pretty good. It had some similarities to Chinese food.

On Sunday, we went to the Cheers bar for lunch and then went walking around downtown to see some historic sites around the city. We also went out to see the USS Constitution. Perhaps my favorite part of the city was the Italian section. I had some pretty good gelato from one of the places there.

On Monday, we just took it easy until it was time for Ben to head to the train station and me to the airport. Overall, it was a really fun trip and would love to take Lauren there and see some more sites.