Miss you friend

October seems to be a birthday-packed month. Start off with my birthday, then Momma's birthday, and as I grow up more and more people are getting added to the list--Caley, Katie, Yeimy, Jennie Hayes (twinsies!), Dan, Kyle Stud...  One of the wonderful people that was brought in my life and added to this wonderful list was Scott. And since today was the first day my oven been's properly functioning I made a birthday cake, as has been the custom for his birthday for many moons now. In the past I've done a Superman cake...maybe more than once, but as I couldn't find frosting and other necessary things, I did something different, but still very Scott-approved this year. Mickey Mouse!

What a wonderful guy Scott was. He had such a life full of joy straight from God. And even through pain and suffering he was an encouragement to others. A few days, maybe two or three, before I got the call to come home he sent me this text, "Miss you friend and.getting out of.bed.was.awesome! Today I got to wheel myself around the halls  of the hospital I was exhausted and still am but it was so worth it! Life is good God is good! He's given me so much strength and joy! :)" Amen to that, Scott did have so much strength and joy. What an example he set! What an inspiration he is! I miss him so much, but what a blessing it is to have had such a friend.
Love you Scott.

Food, snow, and a kitty cat!

SHOW AND TELL TIME!

I think it's about time (maybe past time) that I update you on life here in Andorra. So let's have a throw-back to primary school with show and tell...I'll show pictures and tell the story behind them...

This is my first ever fresh-baked gluten-free bread loaf! Thanks to the help (and bread machine) of my lovely friend Samantha I got to enjoy warm bread for the first time in a long time!! 

I'm not sure if you can tell the scale of the bread from this photo...but, lets just say, it wasn't a perfect loaf. Very short and stout...probably weighed about a ton. Very dense...BUT EDIBLE! AND--Jaymee can attest to this--very yummy with peach jam. 
So I vote it a great success!

 

 Plus it had a cool mohawk thing :)  -->

ANOTHER great gluten-free success was this  sandwich! I am quite proud of it's creation.
Foccacia bread with a Napoletana sauce, salami, and melted emmentel cheese. Yum!


So gluten-free can be synonymous with delicious!

But enough about food...it's almost midnight!

Let's talk about one of the things I'm most dreading and excited about in Andorra...

SNOW!

First time seeing snow-capped mountains outside my window (while Tyler was here actually)

Again today, lots of snow on the mountains

Scary and exciting all at the same time :)

And last but certainly not least...

making her first-ever Aventura en Andorra blog debut...

the one...

the only...

 SHERA! 

Shera is hort for Sheherezae...name suggestion from my brilliant mother

A few of you have heard the story of how Shera was crazily thrown into my life...for those of you that haven't I will spare you the gory details and instead give you an easier version for those who are a little bit blood-queezy. 

I found Shera after hiking with some friends a few weeks ago. Actually, to be more accurate, Shera found me. Unfortunately when I took Shera home I realized that she was sick. When I tried to take her to the vet the next morning she disappeared. And for two days I was a very sad individual, feeling horribly guilty for having lost a sick kitty that was so incredibly sweet (her favorite thing to do is cuddle). But miraculously on the third day, Shera came back to find me at the aparthotel! And I was able to find a friend willing to keep her until I moved into my apartment in Ordino. Now Shera is very comfortably living and cuddling here in Ordino. I am trying to get her adopted (if any of you are interested let me know! international transport is actually relatively easy)...but there is a little white kitty at home named Cokey who would very much appreciate a friend named Shera. And I think that Shera might have stolen Tyler's heart when he came to visit, so she may have been lucky enough to find a permanent home with me :) She is the most sweet-natured cat I've ever met. She never really complains, just likes to sleep and cuddle up to keep my feet warm at night which I definitely appreciate. So that's the latest in pet adoptions for me :) 

In related news, Scout (the beautiful pup from the gossera that I worked with) found a wonderful home a few weeks ago and was adopted! His twin (who we lovingly named Scoot) is still at the gossera and doing a lot better as well.

I hope you all are doing well and keeping warm! I'm glad I've got my TCU jumpin' jammers here to keep me warm in Andorra!

Love my Jumpin' Jammers! Thanks Ty :)

This is a love story...

I am the most  blessed girl in the world. I have the most amazing partner who enriches my life in so many ways. I've realized a simple truth about being with Tyler this week: My life is more full of love and joy and depth when he's with me.

This past week Tyler came to visit. It was such a blessing and perfect God-timing that he ended up coming when he did. He was able to help me sort through the stresses of wild classes, starting in a new apartment, and celebrating my birthday abroad...all of which turned out amazing since he was here to encourage me and help me through. We also got to visit a bit of Toulouse (that's us in front of the capital building). He had to catch a flight but we had time to see the square which was beautiful even when under construction. We also walked around and noticed the architectural similarities of the streets in New Orleans. It was interesting, but somewhat  scary since we both started getting flashbacks of Mardi Gras crowds, neon lights, and claustrophobia. And, my favorite part of our quick visit, we ate some delicious banana and Nutella crepes! Yuuum!

"What?
Gluten intolerance?
No....
That doesn't exist in France when there's a warm, delicious, perfect crepe in front of you" :)

Well I'm going to leave you on that happy sidenote :) I still don't have Internet in my apartment so I'm bumming off the coffee shop and I feel pretty bad buying a €1 coffee and burning up an hour of Internet with all my class planning, emailing, and blogging.

A bientot!