The Last.

One week ago, we said goodbye to our last guests.  Since January, we've been blessed to host 24 people at our place.  We've also gotten to have dinner with almost a dozen Cedar Falls friends of Rich & Kay while they visited Madrid (at different times of this summer).  Thanks to everyone who has come to keep us company here, who has traveled with us, brought me baking goods, helped us explore our city even more, and made us feel so loved!

Here's a snapshot of our travels & guests since January of this year...

Also, I mentioned a while back that I started working.  This spring, I took on 3 design related projects - the first was to help a carpenter friend of ours design some furniture, and the second was to be the project manager on the new space that our church moved into (design, decoration, furnishings).  I've finished with both of those commitments, but the third has continued.  The architecture firm I used to work for in the states hired me on a project to project basis to work long distance in Business Development & Market Research.  I research new markets from afar, and make lots of phone calls, creating potential project reports & white paper essays.  It's been perfect, as I can make my own hours and still stay connected to the professional world.

Hopefully my blog readers understand that guests, travel and work has contributed to why we've been seriously lacking in posts this summer!

Read more...

Ben, Chelsa & Aubrey

From Saturday until Tuesday of this last weekend, we were graced with the presence of this very fun family!  Chelsa wrote up a blog post, and I'm simply going to link it here (for those technologically challenged of you, click the word "here" to be magically transported to her blog). She's an amazing photographer and recorded our time well!  I also have yet to get back on the blogging horse, so I'm using her blog to enforce my laziness (it's nice to take a deep breath today and try to catch up on emails, work, and cleaning...)

But, I will leave you with a couple of videos of their gorgeous daughter, Aubrey.  She was so much fun to hang out with!  Brian and I were both surprised at how quickly she warmed up to us, and we had a lot of fun at the baaah (think of an Irishman saying Bar), which meant park, where we spent a lot of time trying to escape the heat of Madrid, since it was at least 100 degrees each day!

Thanks for making the stop in Madrid, Ben & Chelsa, and for helping us relax and enjoy our city with you!  We loved having you here, and hopefully our paths will cross more often than they have in the last couple of years.  Have a great time in France!

Read more...

Well, hello there!

Last week, Ross & Amber flew in to Madrid for a week long visit to Europe.  The plan was to spend a night here in Madrid, then fly to Norway for a long weekend, and then come back to Spain for the rest of their time here.  Little did they know what they were going to encounter first...

Banga surprised Brian (and Ross & Amber) by showing up at our place from Afganistan!  Banga and I had been working on this plan for weeks, so he could visit us while he was on leave.  We were able to coordinate things so he was able to travel to Norway with us this last weekend, and spend some quality time with all of us while he was away from his daily army duties.

I picked him up from the airport around noon, and we spent the afternoon together.  Then I sent him off to Retiro while I picked up R&A from the airport, and once we got home, I had put out a signal on the balcony for Banga to come back, and here's what happened when he walked in the door:

It was pretty awesome.  We had a great time up in Norway, and it was really hard to say goodbye to him yesterday.  Ross & Amber left this morning for Seville, and they'll be back for one epic night in Madrid on Friday before they head back to the states.  Ben, Chelsa & Aubrey come next week!

Never a dull moment at Casa de Thuesen...

Read more...

The season of visitors :)

*warning, photo heavy posting!*

Starting in March of this year, we've had a parade of visitors (and lots of travel as well)... I always intended to do posts for each of them, but in the getting ready for visitors, then hanging out with them, then recovering and preparing for the next ones, I've gotten a bit behind!  But, we've been incredibly lucky to have lots of people coming over this way to see us :)

The second week of March, our friend Adam came for a few days after his business trip to France.

(Adam somehow found some superwoman models @ MAC cosmetics one day, and this photo was too awesome not to post)

While Adam was here, my Uncle Steve and Aunt Pam graced us with their fun presence for about 2 days.  And my cousin Andrew came for about 24 hours!  They were on their way to southern Portugal to hang out with Andrew's girlfriend & family.

We had a couple of weeks off, and in that time I started working 3 jobs (thats fodder for another post) which made me VERY busy.
Then, I met my mom in Amsterdam for a couple of days!!!  Woohoo for visiting the motherland :)

At the Keukenhof outside Amsterdam

 She and I came back to Madrid for a couple of days...

Then the three of us went to Valencia for the weekend!  Unfortunately, I didn't get a good photo of the three of us...but you can see how happy Brian is that I'm taking an excessive amount of photos of the City of Arts & Sciences (buildings on the header of this blog, I might be a little obsessed.  We have great architecture over here)

After Valencia, we came back to Madrid for a couple of days, and then Mom & I headed down to Seville and Cordoba.

Bullring in Seville

 

The Mezquita in Cordoba

After Seville, we came back to Madrid for a few days (She toured museums & the city, and Brian ran a marathon, we went to a bullfight).  The Tuesday before Easter, our friend Zack came to town, and then the four of us headed to Italy.
We started in Rome...

Inside St. Peter's Basilica at Vatican City (dang blurry photos...)

Inside Vatican City

Touring the inside of the Dome @ St. Peters

Inside the Roman Forum, with a view of the Coliseum in the background

In front of the "wedding cake" - Victor Emmanuel Monument

Then went up to Tuscany to stay at an incredible winery and tour the countryside - Greve, Chianti Wine, Siena...

After a couple of days in Tuscany, we went to Florence for a couple of days...

Sitting on the Ponte Vecchio

On top of the Duomo in Florence

From Florence, my mom headed off to Paris for a couple of days, and we brought Zack back to Madrid with us.  We hung out here for a few days, then all went up to a northern state in Spain, Asturias, for some outdoorsy stuff - hiking, eating, kayaking (thus the awesome wetsuits below)

AND, we're finally up to speed -- Brian's cousin Todd & his wife Shannon arrived on Friday morning, and we spend the weekend eating and drinking our way through Madrid.  They're off to Barcelona this morning, but we're meeting them up in Paris later this week.

It was raining, and we were in H&M.  Why not try on awesome glasses?

The season of visitors is far from over - we're so excited to see Ross & Amber (and go to Norway with them!), then Ben, Chelsa & Aubrey, then maybe Meg, then Z & family, and then the precious Nattie over here in the coming weeks!  Woohoo, it's going to be busy & awesome!

Read more...

Happy Mother's Day!

We're so grateful for our moms!  What wonderful women they are, and we would not be the people who we are today without their nurturing, loving, encouragement, support, cooking, and love!

mom - i love you!  So glad we got to experience Europe together :) -kate

ma - i love you!  -brian

And, we can't forget a Happy Mothers Day to Marissa!  Congrats on your first official mothers day :)  Wish we could be there to celebrate with you, Ben, & Mark!

Read more...

Mother's Day Surprise - Jeri and Kay come to Spain!!

As we take the day to celebrate the countless reasons that our mothers and mothers everywhere are so fantastic, we just had to share the latest event that once again reminded us why were are so blessed by the two amazing women that we call mom.  Jeri and Kay came to Spain!!!  They really pulled a fast one on us because we had no idea that they were coming but none the less, we had a great time.  Since we already had plans to check out the near by town of Chinchon, the four of us piled in the car and heading out for the day.

Here is Kate and Jeri on one of the old roads overlooking the historic city.  In the background you can see the ancient castle that was used to defend the towns people for years.  I (this is Brian) know that women like to get dolled up but come on Jeri, a corsage for an impromptu weekend trip? 

Another scenic view of the town and surrounding area.  Again I had to deal with the peculiarities of road tripping with 3 women.  Jeri said the skirt was more of a morning outfit.  Will I ever understand?

My mom and Jeri apparently got a deal on the corsages in the airport or something.

Jeri (in outfit number 3) with Kate in front of the town's largest church.  This lady's fabulous fashion sense, and desire to show it off, knows no bounds.

I was pretty excited to give my mom a big squeeze for mother's day.

My mom (also in outfit number 3) and me infront of the clock tower.

Out of control is really the only way to describe these two.  It's amazing what seems like a good idea after a few glasses of sangria for lunch.

In all seriousness, we cannot begin to describe how incredibly blessed we are by these two women and the love they show for us.  Their support for us, regardless of what country we happen to be in at the time, has helped us grow and become the people we are today.  

With that, Jeri and Kay, thank you and we love you from the bottom of our hearts.  Happy Mother's Day!

Brian & Kate

Read more...