New Life

It has been over a year since I became an audiologist and almost a year since I started working as a pediatric audiologist.  A lot of things have happened in this past year and I am in a happy place today. Luca and I moved into a new beautiful house around the corner, and we have had friends and family come through it and shared the same happiness with us. It is great having a place to call a home and to have a place to host family without being all crammed up and friends with enough room to move around and to keep everyone entertained. What I like the most about it is the amazing light it has, the fact that we are in a corner and it is a busy street with tons of people walk by, run or walk their dogs. I like the proximity to friends and to the schools where Luca goes and where he will go. It is also not far from my work and really not far from anything. I saw that house one day and thought, I hope they put it up for sale, and soon after that the family expressed an interest in selling it in social media and the all the planets aligned and then I was able to buy it. In other words, someone got it reserved for us :)
Something I do have in this new home is a sewing area, which I haven't used yet, and I am making a craft room/paint room. I think we will have lots of creative areas and hopefully that will encourage us to continue creating things. I am busy these days with the yard, so that is my creative outlet right now. I spend more time at the hardware store than I have ever done, but I enjoy that too.

Hace mas de un año que soy audiologa y hace casi una año que empecé a trabajar como audiologa pediatrica. Han pasado muchas cosas en este ultimo anho y hoy estoy en un buen momento. Luca y yo nos mudamos a una casa preciosa cerca de nuestro antiguo hogar, y hemos tenido a muchos amigos y familiares de visita y que han podido compartir nuestra felicidad. Da mucho gusto tener un lugar al que llamar mi casa y un lugar donde acoger a familiares y amigos sin tener que estar apelotonados y da gusto tener suficiente espacio como para que todo el mundo se pueda distraer. Lo que más me gusta es la luz que tiene, el hecho de que haga esquina y de que haya mucha gente de paseo, corriendo o con el perro por alrededor. Me gusta lo cerca que estoy de amigos y de los colegios donde Luca va e irá. Tampoco está lejos de mi trabajoy la verdad, no esta lejos de nada. Un dia vi esta casa desde fuera y pensé, me gustaría que la pusieran a la venta. Poco después la familia que vivia ahí puso que tenía interés en venderla en una red social y antes de darme cuenta la pude comprar. Osea, que alguien nos la reservo para nosotros dos :)

Algo que sí tengo en esta casa es un área para coser, que aún no he estrenado, y estoy haciendo una habitación para manualidades/pintura. Creo que teniendo muchas áreas creativas nos va a animar a hacer más cosas con nuestras manos. En estos días he estado liada con el jardin, ese ha sido mi proyecto creativo. Y me paso más tiempo en la tienda de bricolage/ferretería que nunca, pero eso también lo disfruto.



Quilting

I have decided that I need to get back to sewing again. I have a good friend who will be having a baby any time soon and I would like to make him a quilt. I started following the splendid sampler group and decided that maybe if I see an organized group like this I will start putting a bit of pressure to do some quilting. The first block was released today and it seems pretty easy to start with. It looks like there will be 100 blocks...not sure if I will be able to follow though with it, but maybe I will follow some of the blocks. It seems like a fun idea. Anybody else wants to join?

He decidido que necesito ponerme a coser de nuevo. Tengo una buena amiga que esta a punto de dar a luz y me gustaría hacerle al bebe una mantita. Empece a seguir al grupo de splendid sampler  y decidí que si estoy con un grupo organizado y empiezo a ponerme un poco de presión igual empezare mi quilt. El primer bloque lo han sacado hoy y es bastante fácil para empezar. Parece que habra 100 bloques...no se si sere capaz de seguir con todos, pero quizás seguiré algunos. Parece divertida la idea. Alguien mas se anima?

Here is my first block!

¡Aqui esta mi primer bloque!

In the meantime I have finished this one, I think it looks like the inside of a flower, looks better from far away.

Y mientras he acabado esto, creo que parece la parte de dentro de una flor, se ve mejor de lejos.

Recta final

So I am on my last semester of my last year of school. I only have 2.5 months to go and I am unsure of what will come next. As for now I am enjoying my evening without having to get ready for projects or exams. And in the weekends I get to dedicate them to Luca and to my home. I have been working on a small painting but this one is still looking funky. I need to continue working on it to see where it goes. Other than that I went to the art store yesterday and bought a blank ink- thin marker that I plan to use to make black and white drawings and maybe work on coloring them later. I know this is the new relaxing thing for adults, but you usually get the books with the drawings on them already and all you have to do is color them.

Pues estoy en mi ultimo semestre de mi ultimo año de estudios. Solo me quedan 2 meses y medio y no se que vendrá luego. Por ahora esto disfrutando de mis noches sin tener que hacer proyectos ni estudiar para exámenes.Y los fines de semana me dedico a Luca y a mi casa. He estado trabajando en una pintura pequeña pero aun esta un poco rara. Necesito seguir trabajando en ella a ver donde me lleva. A parte de eso fui a una tienda de arte el otro día y compre un rotulador fino de tinta negra que quiero usar para hacer dibujos en blanco y negro y quizás colorearlos mas adelante. Se que es una moda nueva para gente mayor, pero suelen vender los libros con los dibujos en ellos y luego tu solo tienes que colorear.

Here is the painting, what do you think, should I paint the being areas around the flower in a different color?? I think so but I can't decide which color. Opinions are welcome.

Aqui esta la pintura, que opinas? debería pintar el area beige de los lados de la flor en otro color?? Creo que si pero no me decido en el color. Vuestra opinion es bienvenida.

Wall hanging

A friend of mine got into making her own looms to make wall hangings. She is an artist and made really beautiful things. Of course I got hook into that and I decided that I had to try. I went to Goodwill, the second hand store, and bought a picture with a wooden frame where it was stretched. I decided to take the picture out and put nails on the top and bottom. I then threaded them in a thread that I bought and made it into a loom. I followed some tutorials online and started my own wall hanging.

Luca got interested sooner than later and he decided to help me. So we made the design together. I never complete finished it in that I was supposed to find a stick to hang it from, but I got tired of having it laying around and I just hung it on my wall. I like it like that, it reminds me of all the time and effort that I had to put into creating the whole thing, the tools to make it and then the final project. And there are a lot of those sort of projects around my house. I hope you like it!

Una amiga mia empezó a hacer tapices y sus propios telares. Es una artista y hacia cosas preciosas. Por supuesto, me enganche y decidí probar suerte. Me fui a la tienda de segunda mano y compre una fotografía que estaba sobre un marco de madera. Cuando llegue a casa saque la foto y use el marco y le puse clavos arriba y abajo y después empece a pasar un hilo que compre para crear el telar. Seguí algunas instrucciones de internet y comencé mi propio tapiz.

Luca se empezó a interesar y decidió ayudarme. Así que hicimos el diseño entre los dos. Nunca lo acabe del todo en que no puse el palo que tenia que ir para colgarlo, pero un día me case y lo colgue en la pared. Pero me gusta así, me recuerda todo el esfuerzo y las hora que puse para hacer este proyecto, las herramientas que cree para conseguir el resultado final. Y hay muchos proyectos de ese estilo por mi casa. Espero que os guste!

Frida

Hello!
It has been too long since the last time I posted here, so long I had forgotten how to do it! But somehow things stay in one's head and they come back if you just try.
I have had a couple of very busy year, still not done with the busy life. Almost an audiologist already and with a different perspective in life, at least slightly different from my experiences working as an audiologist. I enjoy it, which is the most important thing, and I enjoy every other aspect of my life as well.


This year I finally feel that because I don't have the pressure of studying at night, I can focus on things that I like to do, like creating stuff, watch TV or read some books. Some of my most recent creations have been a painting and some sewing projects, but for the most part they are unfinished. Maybe I will keep at it if I have this platform to show them to my cyber friends again.


Today I present you to Frida, my own interpretation of that incredible artist. I used acrylics and paper for the background. It also has real earrings and the canvas sides are colored just like the portion around it. What do you think?


Hola!
Ha pasado mucho desde que escribi por ultima vez, tanto asi que no me acordaba ni de como hacerlo! pero de algun modo las cosas perduran en la memoria y solo hay que hacer el intento.
He tenido un par de anhos muy ocupados, aun sigo con mi vida llena de cosas. Ya soy casi audiologa y con una perspectiva diferente en la vida, por lo menos algo distinta por las experiencias que he tenido trabajando como audiologa. Lo estoy disfrutando, que es lo mas importante, y disfruto otros aspectos de mi vida tambien.


Este anho por fin siento que como no tengo la presion de estudiar por las noches, me puedo centrar en hacer cosas que me gustan, como crear cosas, ver la tele o leer algun libro. Algunas de mis creaciones mas recientes han sido pintar y algunos proyectos de costura, que por lo demas aun no acabo. Quizas si tengo un sitio como este donde esnharlos me animo a seguir con ellos.

Hoy os present a Frida, mi interpretacion de esa artista incredible. Use acrilicos y papel para el fondo. Tambien tiene pendientes de verdad y el cuadro esta pintado por los lados y tambien el fondo del marco. Que opinais?

Six years hearing

Time seem to be flying. I was making a presentation today about how it is better earlier implantation of cochlear implants for best speech and language outcomes of children and then I remembered. Today it was the 6th year birthday of Luca's CI hearing. What an stressful and wonderful day. I can't believe we are so far from that day already, and that even though we are over the hill, the journey is  not over yet. Once thing is for sure, Luca continues making me smile and making me proud, everyday I go to bed thinking how lucky I am to have such a precious child with me. He really makes me happy and give sense to my life.
And so many celebrations. In a few days, I will be having a birthday too. A big one! And since I am surrounded by people who are 15-17 years younger than me, this one is hitting me hard. And I wish I wasn't so loud, I think everybody around me knows I am going through this birthday/crisis, I can't hide it, but at the same time, I feel so happy to having one more birthday. Like my friend just told me, I will never be this young again. And I am still enjoying life very much, fighting hard, laughing hard, reminding people about sharing the road, helping people with all the audiology knowledge I am acquiring, making people laugh (I think my classmates might think I'm a bit of a clown) and showing the beauty of plants to those who have never been told. I am also as close as I can be to all of my family, far and close, and I am constantly making new friends while preserving my good old friends. How enriching this life can be, I have to say, I have lots more to do and enjoy and say and goof about.
Let the celebrations begin!

Cold February

What a winter! Wouldn't you say? Well I guess it depends on which part of the world you live in. Here where we are it has been quite a winter, and it is not over!! Let me see...oh man! my car is covered in snow again! and I thought it was over for now!. We had a wonderful spring week and we thought we had passed the worst part! and we probably have but being cold again feels way colder than before. We get used to the nice conditions too quickly.
During that wonderful wannabe spring week, I was so inspired that I decided to start the quilt I have been thinking about and designing when I am procrastinating about studying. Yes, I have a power point design for it and I love it!!. I made new cushions with cool fabric that I had bought from Ikea long time ago, and I am going to cover a blanket I made for Luca when he was just a baby and that is ripping apart. I bought some fleece and hopefully before that Spring really hits I will be done with it. For now, I am in the middle of midterms so I guess it will have to wait one more week.

Que invierno no? Bueno, supongo que depende del rincón del mundo donde os encontréis. Aquí ha sido demasiado, y no hemos acabado con el! A ver....jo! mi coche esta cubierto de nieve otra vez!! y yo que creí que esa parte ya había terminado! Hemos tenido una semana maravillosa primaveral y pensé que habíamos pasado lo peor! y lo mas probable es que así sea pero el frío se siente mucho mas frío después de esa semanita. Nos acostumbramos a lo bueno rápido.
Durante esa maravillosa semana-quiero-ser-primavera, estaba tan inspirada que decidí empezar una mantita en la que he estado pensando y he diseñado, cuando no quiero estudiar. Si, tengo un power point con ese diseño y me encanta!! Hice almohadones con una tela muy bonita de Ikea que compre hace mucho, y voy a cubrir una manta que le hice a Luca de bebe y que se esta despedazando. Compre forro polar y espero que antes de que llegue la Primavera la haya acabado. Pero ahora estoy en plenos exámenes así que tendrá que esperar una semana mas. 

A lot of things have happened around me lately that make me re-evaluate my life, my meaning. It is good to have friends around to remind me of the important things in life, the good things in life. Oftentimes, my friends, my family, is far away, and we can only communicate electronically. It is hard and good at the same time. You have them readily right there in your phone, that part is really nice. But the face to face part is very important and nice too. I have a good friend who used to live here that I only knew for a few months but it seemed to me that it was years. I guess we hit it off right from the start, that's what happens with me and those who though the years have became really good friends. She came and visited, and I only got to see her for 1 hour, but she told me she was moving back here. I was so happy! It is nice to have a person to talk to, even if you have to handle kids in the middle. I miss having my good friends around. But I cannot complain. I have an amazing group of friends here, well not one but several, unconditional really good friends. It is just painful when one of then leaves, and this happens more often than not.
The other day we were invited over to some new friends' house. We were to cook paella together and it was so nice. Such great people and such a wonderful time. I am always surprised to continue meeting great new people, life is meaningful like that. Enriching too, I always learn something from everyone I meet. I am the eternal learner, I know. And here is the paella, not bad huh?

Muchas cosas han pasado a mi alrededor últimamente que me han hecho re-evaluar mi vida, mi significado en la vida. Es bueno tener amigos que me recuerden las cosas importante, las cosas buenas. A veces, mis amigos, mi family, están lejos, y solo nos podemos comunicar electrónicamente. Es divicil y bueno a la vez. Los tienes ahi a mano, en tu teléfono, esa parte set a muy bien. Pero el cara a cara también esta muy bien.. Tengo una buena amiga que solía vivir aquí y que solo la conocí durante unos meses, que según yo eran años. Creo que nos entendimos desde el principio, y eso es lo que pasa cuando conozco a las personas que mas tarde acaban siendo buenos amigos míos. Vino de visita, y solo la vi una hora, pero me dijo que se mudaba de vuelta. Me puse tan contenta! Da mucho gusto poder hablar con alguien de frente, aunque haya que lidiar con niños por en medio. Echo de menos el tener a mis buenas amigas cerca. Pero no me puedo quejar. Tengo un grupo increíble de amigas aquí, bueno no unos sino varios, amigas incondicionales. Solo es que duele decir adios y esto ocurre mas a menudo de lo deseado.
El otro dia nos invitaron a la casa de unos amigos nuevos. Teníamos que cocinar una paella juntos y lo pasamos tan bien. Que gente mas maja que y que buen rato. Siempre me sorprendo de que sigo encontrando gente nueva, la vida tiene sentido así. Es enriquecedor, siempre aprendo algo de la gente que conozco. Soy la aprendiz eterna, lo se. Y aquí esta la paella, no esta mal verdad?

Ah! and Happy International Cochlear Implant day!!!
Ah! Y feliz Dia Internacional del Implante Coclear!!!

And here is my creative master builder!
Y aqui esta mi constructor tan creativo!