323/366

After a long day of travel, it is very important to spend the following morning snuggling the Bella.

So I did just that.

I took my morning coffee outside, because I could.
Loving the weather.

It's perfect,
allowing me to wear all that fall clothing I've been missing,

yet not forcing me to bundle up in foreign objects such as gloves and stocking caps.

I'm also loving the little bits of Christmas I am seeing around.

It's been a long time {too long} since I had the opportunity to smell a Frasier Fir.

My day included some Christmas shopping, lots of small talk with randoms, because I can do that in English, and a Perfect Margarita from Chuys.

I chose not to respond when the server made a comment about my Texas drivers license.

I couldn't resist the leaves and trying to get some fall inspired pictures.



While I was unpacking my bags last night, Bella waited patiently by my side, for what she assumed would be something for her.
I am not kidding.
She is pretty certain the world revolves around her.
So I couldn't return from an afternoon out, without a gift.

Christmas inspired of course.

322/366

I made it.

It was a full day of travel with little moments of happiness, like this one...


and these...



Yes, Bella is wearing a scarf.
Which made my day.
Really.

321/366

My day was full of errands, packing, and making sure my husband is well fed in my absence.

I have a scheduled pick up at tomorrow morning at 5:00 am
Matt has a scheduled pick up tomorrow morning at 4:15 am.  His work hours have been extended with his current crane project.

Tonight we toasted, with water, over salads from Brioche, to spending our 40th birthdays together.

I had a few gifts to open.  Matt made me hide in the bedroom and I walked in the living room to find this...

A gift from the girls, Kathleen & Misty, which I am SO excited to debut over the birthday weekend... a gorg necklace.  I will likely be searching for an ensemble to compliment it.

Kath included a sentimental gift that had my cup running over.  She wrote 30 favorite memories from our friendship and folded them, herself, into paper cranes.  Matt had printed each of them and folded them into paper planes, so I wouldn't tear up all Kath's work. It was a wonderful trip down memory lane that left me laughing in between moments of holding back tears. It was an incredibly thoughtful gift and I look forward to being reminded of all those memories each time I glance at that jar.

Matt's parents found me the perfect gift... ornaments to document our big European holiday.  The one thing I looked for in Paris was an Eiffel Tower ornament, but unfortunately couldn't find one anywhere.  We bought a very simple Eiffel Tower souvenir with plans to make it an ornament ourselves.  There is no need for that now... I have the perfect Eiffel Tower ornament, complete with lots of sparkles which reminds me of the way the Iron Lady sparkled at night.

They also found a lovely Elizabeth Tower/Big Ben ornament, which is perfect. I loved London and we stayed right by Big Ben... so it leaves me with all kinds of memories.

It's been a pretty special 30th...

and I still have a week of being a twenty-something left.

320/366

Today I sent the Schoenfelders off with a "See you soon"
and I raced back to the apartment to resume list making and task tackling.

Visions of this girl keep popping in my head


but before I can enjoy dreams of Bella,
I have to complete this mission...

319/366

We had another lovely day of quality time, sun, pool, and Colombian culture.

I was dreading this part of the week for some time... the end. It is a lot harder to say goodbye when you are separated by an ocean rather than state lines.

Matt took all the anxiety out of that as I will see my parents again, a mere 48 hours after their departure.

But I will miss this, the morning scene I have awoken to every day this week.


For our final dinner we went to the Old City to check out the Sofitel Hotel/Santa Clara.  We had a lovely meal, one of the best I've had in Cartagena.  The Santa Clara Hotel was originally built as a monastery in 1621 and is one of my favorite spots in Cartagena.


It was the perfect environment to end a week of surprises, laughter, adventure, and memories...
and to toast to doing it all again soon.

318/366

When Matt revealed my upcoming travels, one of the many thoughts that kept me from sleeping was the Christmas tree.  I love Christmas, but I also thoroughly enjoy Thanksgiving and I am a strong supporter of giving Thanksgiving her own time in the spotlight.  However I don't return to Cartagena until a week into December and I thought it was important for Matt to have some reminders of Christmas to get him in the spirit when I am not here to be his daily Advent calendar {in all honesty, I am likely to email and text him with a Christmas countdown} and since we were celebrating Thanksgiving I decided it was appropriate to 'haul out the holly' and get in the Christmas spirit.

Even trimming the tree can be a Colombian adventure.  We discovered the general public must love blinking Christmas tree lights, because that is about all they sell.  Sarah... not such a fan of blinking lights, just give me traditional white Christmas lights and I am a happy girl.  Matt and I purchased lights a few weeks ago and Matt asked the employees to plug in the lights at the check out to make sure they worked and they weren't blinking.
Check.
Check.
Apparently blinking lights need time to warm up.  As I began to string the lights on the tree, the lights began to dance, not a sight I was pleased to see.  As I continued decorating I tried to convince myself that I could handle it and it was just another part of the adventure.  That self talk lasted all of 5 minutes before I decided the blinking lights had to go.  I translated the directions from the package, hoping there would be a trick to turning off the blink function.  That was wishful thinking.  I turned to google next, who informed me to look for some white tipped lights.  If the white tipped bulbs were replaced with clear bulbs, the blinking function would be no more.  I will end my story here, but I spent the better part of the morning searching and replacing white tipped lights.  I am proud to announce that we currently have no blinking lights on our tree {although part of a strand is out of commision}.


My parents and I spent the day preparing Thanksgiving, checking out the Old City for lunch at Mila Cafe, and sitting poolside.  While we waited for Thanksgiving dinner to come together we listened to Christmas music and played a highly competitive game of Monopoly.

Our Thanksgiving feast was delicious.  The best part is that we made so much that Matt has more than one Thanksgiving meal waiting for him in the freezer so he can celebrate again, which makes me feel a little less guilty about getting the opportunity to do it all over again... the real way.

surprise

Our sangria had just been poured and light conversation carried around the table, when Matt spoke up
and it went a little something like this...

I received an email from Kathleen and Misty that they were going to be in town for Thanksgiving and the weekend of your birthday, so you are going to fly to Chicago to spend your 30th birthday with them. But before that you are going to go to Tennessee, to celebrate Thanksgiving with your family.  After Chicago you will head back to Tennessee for a few days, before you go down to Florida with your parents.  After Florida you will spend a little bit more time in Tennessee before you come back to Cartagena.

I tried to wrap my brain around that entire string of surprising statements as my eyes filled with tears. I was completely overwhelmed with information, but was most amazed by my spectacular and unselfish husband.  He was sending me away, to enjoy my favorite time a year, a Thanksgiving with family, and a birthday weekend with my besties, while he stays back to work.

As our dinner conversation continued I remained stunned, while Matt shared that he had attempted to make birthday weekend plans for a getaway to Aruba.  He had all the details set, when he went to run it by the boss man. That's where that plan ended.  Matt is currently working on a project that involves a 10 million dollar crane and deadlines are looming {which falls right around that 30th birthday weekend}.  Rather than throwing in the towel and admitting he tried, he worked even harder to make my birthday a special one.
As I attempted to fall asleep that night, my mind raced with thoughts. Thoughts of the surprise that was just handed to me and what it meant {BELLA, Bella, Bella!, fall, boots, sweaters, besties, family, pumpkin, Starbucks, Target, Christmas aisles at Target, and the list went on and on...} but also thoughts of how blessed I am.

This November I am reminded of how thankful I am to call this guy mi esposo.


Did I mention I'm excited?!?