one month.

one month ago from today i arrived in spain. when i woke up i thought "woah, i have already been in spain one month!" and then i thought "i have only been in spain one month....". oh the joys of being so far away from home. such a bittersweet thing sometimes. but i have already experienced so much & i'm excited to see what else lies ahead of me. here's to another two months (and then onto three weeks of traveling)!

light.

last week at the beach house, something about the full moon brought me peace.

i don't know if it was the light that helped me to not be so scared while walking home at night on those unfamiliar streets.

or if it was just nice to have something that is always there no matter where you are in the world.

or maybe knowing that its the same moon i have grown up with in utah.

i remember finding this quote last time i was in spain,

I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world. - Mary Anne Radmacher

& how true it is. its the same moon, but its being seen through a different perspective.

and its those times when i am so grateful to be here. to be experiencing all that i am.

& although sometimes i do feel how very far away from home i am,

i know this is where i am supposed to be right now.

*sadly these pictures didn't capture the fullness of the moon, but oh well :(

scenes from the beach house.

one: martita at the beach

two: me at the beach.. wearing martita's hat

three: the road our beach house is on

four: look out tower from long ago

five: flowers that are found all over mallorca in many different colors

six: the pool behind the beach house

seven: alicia jumping in the pool

eight: me by the seaside where alicia & i took a dip

nine: riding along the coast

ten: alicia road her bike over to La Rapita to visit me

eleven: juanjo (with martita on the back of his bike) & alicia riding to the town fair

overall, it was a lovely holiday at the beach house.

on holiday.

this week the parents are on holiday so we are at their beach house in La Rapita

its just a little beach town along the coast but the water is beautiful and warm.

there is no internet at the beach house and although it sounds lame to think i can't survive without it for very long.. its hard when its your only means of communication to the outside world.

yesterday and today alicia has come to visit since she lives only fifteen minutes away from here so we walked along the shops and found wifi at an ice cream shop. feels good to see the rest of the world is still out there.

having no way to communicate makes you feel much further away when you are already on the other side of the world.

the other night the family & i met up with their friends for a dinner at a small restaurant. after dinner the little girls wanted me to go with them up on a balcony that overlooked the ocean. the moon was so big and the light reflected beautifully on the dark, blue sea. at that moment i thought about how everyone in the world sees the same moon. no matter where you are.

i took a picture in my mind. i hope to remember that moment forever.

european lifestyle.

i would be completely content to walk home on a small cobble stone street every day.

to open my shutters to the morning air.

to hang my clothes out the window to dry.

and to drink tea on a balcony filled with potted plants and flowers.

 oh, and i wouldn't mind having this cute little european car either.

a birthday wish for a very special grandma

"happy birthday grandma! we send our love from spain" :)

dear grandma, 

i hope you had a lovely day. 

i am so grateful to have you as my grandma & for the example you have set for me all my life.

i loved spending time with you earlier this year & laughing so hard together. i especially love when you laugh at your own jokes. 

you have taught me so much & i know i got my love of traveling from you.

thank you for everything you have done for me.

i love you!

xo, lindsey

the fourth of july..

was just another day in another day in españa.

& it almost made us a little homesick missing out on the celebrations at home (especially since I haven't been home on the 4th of july in 3 years now) but we decided we wanted to celebrate too.

now our way of celebrating couldn't consist of parades, bbqs, & fireworks sadly. but we figured a night out for gelato would do. and lets not forget dressing up like the american flag. haha sav & i found anything red, white, blue & striped in our closets and put it on. 

and we didn't get just one scoop of gelato tonight like usual. no, tonight was special. so we spoiled ourselves with two. it was delish.

and we even happened to find a firework show going on while walking the boardwalk by the harbor. (or we may have photo shopped them in...). either way, we still enjoyed our mini-celebration.

and lets be honest... even though europe is beautiful and rich in so much history. there is a reason they journeyed to a new land. we are so blessed to be apart of that wonderful country. & being here makes me realize the little things we take for granted. so i guess we can conclude that i am proud to be an american. 

hope you all had a wonderful 4th too!   

my spanish familia

the family at the beach

i have a lovely spanish family here in spain. the mom, marta, speaks good english because she did her senior year of high school in the u.s. however the father doesn't speak any so its fun to practice my spanish with him. the little girls, alicia (eight years old) and marta (five years old) are so cute and already love me. they hardly want to leave my side. i spend the mornings with them and we practice some english, they know some vocabulary already from their school here and love trying to speak it.

marta, juan, alicia, & alice

the kids laying out to dry

the view from the grandparents backyard

the grandfather (the kids call him pepe) feeding their pet peacock

alicia & juan feeding it. i fed it too!

we go to the pool at their grandparent's home every day because they live just two doors down. savannah and the their two cousins meet us there because they live right next door as well.

the grandparents home

savanah's house (left) & mine (right- kind of behind trees) they are connected.

it is nice having savannah so close. it takes me about 30 seconds to walk over to her house & into her room. their homes are so nice & we are happy to have such good families to stay with here in spain! 

i heart spain.

7am at the slc airport

after not going to bed the night before (due to some last minute packing, games of settlers of catan, & the insomnia I always get the night before traveling) and then over twenty-four hours of traveling from slc to atlanta, atlanta to london, & then finally london to mallorca... we made it! and are now living on the island of mallorca, spain in the mediterranean sea.

la playa cala mayor

i am so happy to be in spain again!

{now be ready for lots of blog posts & pictures... time to catch up on the past week!}