At my favorite beach in España, la Carolina. Great beach with a great name!!

My favorite comedian, Dave Chappelle, performed two shows in Knoxville and apparently we were a terrible crowd. I've read that the audience was terrible in at least one of the shows and ok in the other. Dave summed up the experience with this quote, 'I brought the fine China, but you want the paper plates.' I guess we can't have anything nice. http://www.knoxville.com/news/2013/jun/26/dave-chappelle-performs-knoxville/

I had my last class yesterday so now I will have time to watch all the movies I've been wanting to see. I also went and shot around for about 30-45 mins yesterday morning so that was good. I hadn't touched the ol' roundball in quite some time.

Here is the wikipedia entry for Murcia. It's worth a look to find out some information about where I live. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murcia

Back at the beach for the weekend.
This is the view from the living room.

First trip back to the beach this year!

This is amazing...

Happy Father's Day to my Pops and all the other father's out there!!!

89 degrees in our apartment right now. The fish might actually boil this summer.

A fountain with angels

El Parque Retiro

Nuria in el Parque Retiro. El Parque Retiro is like Madrid's Central Park.

Here is a pic of the Bentley except the one we saw was black. Just a cool $300,000+ car. Nothing special.

I am, and will always be, an Audi man but the Bentley I saw yesterday is making all the Audis I see look a little sad. I don't even know what kind it was but I will try to find it on the internet.

Our 6€ coke

It's about to go down...

All paperwork taken care of. Now lunch, rest and The Lion King tonight.

Sad story about a Dutch couple that was killed here a couple weeks ago. http://www.euroweeklynews.com/news/spain/item/114510-dutch-volleyball-player-killed-by-blow-to-head-in-murcia

We have been missing our newest and smallest fish for a couple days. After a very up close look at the inside of the filter, I found him.

This always makes me laugh. It also happens to be true.

Well I can't really complain about my allergies. Nuria has been in bed since last night because her back is messed up. Her doctor had to send a nurse to the apartment to give her a couple shots. She can barely get out of bed.

These allergies are kicking my butt

Happy Memorial Day everyone!! We will never forget those that gave their lives ,and those sacrificing their lives now, for our country!!

I got a retweet from Muggsy Bogues! It's the small things that can make you happy, happy, happy.

This picture brings back so many great memories of being a young Hornets fan. And of course Muggsy and LJ were my favorite players but even bringing back the old colors, I don't think I could be a fan these days.

Here is the web address to our friend's website. He is the one that made the video with us in it and we also sho up in a couple photos. THe video is called Everyday Routines and I posted it on here a couple weeks ago. Photos of Nuria and I are in the part called Psycho and we are the last two. http://www.fabricafotografica.com/

I recommend taking 20 mins and watching this video. http://www.upworthy.com/this-kid-just-died-what-he-left-behind-is-wondtacular-rip

Prayers for those in Oklahoma.

Finally got a couple guys in the tank but already lost one though. Don't know if he was sick when we bought him or if it was something from our aquarium. I made sure he had a full stomach before he left this world.

Interesting places all over the world that are definitely worth a look. http://www.dailygood.org/story/432/11-unbelievable-places-that-are-hard-to-believe-really-exist-bored-panda/

Happy 14th birthday to my favorite young lady!! Uncle Brandon love you!!

Here is a video a friend of ours made. It is about opposites/contrasts and features Baby Lara's (Spanish niece) voice at the 45 sec mark, yours truly and Nuria.

Latest pic of the aquarium. Should have some fish im a week or two.

Tank now has gravel. Purple gravel...

The tank has finally arrived to its third and final location. It's back in the living room and ready to be filled with rocks, water and fish.

My new project

28 tacos as they say here in España!!

My Spanish family got me a fish tank for my birthday. I had unofficially retired from owning fish but it looks like I'm back im the game.  Thank you Familia Romero!

Happy birthday to myself!!

I got a new phone yesterday and today they installed our internet. Slowly, but surely,  making technological improvements in my life. This is my first blog post from the new phone using the house's wi-fi.

Here is a good article about a guy I went to elementary school with and played baseball with who is now the catcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates. http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sports/pirates/pirates-mckenry-still-working-to-prove-critics-wrong-680666/?fb_action_ids=10151570562040236&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%2210151570562040236%22%3A622434694439554%7D&action_type_map=%7B%2210151570562040236%22%3A%22og.likes%22%7D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D

Prayers for all those affected by the Boston Marathon bombing.

http://www.petapixel.com/2013/04/02/us-soldier-documents-his-deployment-in-afghanistan-using-his-dslr/

Thank you mom and dad! Between my samoas and the pulled pork and cherry coke last week, I feel like I'm back in Tennessee!

Between the time change and my siesta today, I don't think I'm ever gonna go to sleep tonight.  I hope everyone had a great Easter!

Back in Murcia and it only took 5 1/2 hrs.

Our last night was spent in the Bacardi museum. The man who created the Bacardi rum, Facundo Bacardi, was from Sitges but went to Cuba and created the rum there. So in his honor, thereis a museum in Sitges. During the tour we learned about the history and the process of how it is made. They then gave us a tutorial on how to make a mojito and cuba libre. The end of the tour was to prepare on own mojito. We then went to dinner and for ice cream. We headed out around 10:30 this morning and now we are about two hours away from Murcia.

Nuria and her burger in Big Al's.

Me and my pulled pork and cherry coke.

Our time in Barcelona was spent walking around and looking in stores. We had good weather so that made everything better. We came back to Sitges to walk around and visit more stores. One of the store visist was for. We came across the Nike Store in La Rambla. We also found an American restaurant which was really good. Not only did it have cherry coke, but they also had pulled pork. This was by far the best dinner I've had in a while. The owner, Big Al, is from Seattle and has actually been to Knoxville. One last day in Sitges tomorrow.

Inside the Arabian Baths

Nuria and I on the wall.

Here I am on one one of the towers.

The city has wall, similar to the Great Wall of China but not so great, running along one side of the city. Here is a pic of the wall from one of it's four towers.

Day three was spent in Girona, a city about 30 mins away from the border with France. We spent the day exploring the city and some of it's attractions. It was a nice little day trip and was madw without any difficulties.  Well, the was a minor mishap in our return but nothing that the GPS couldn't correct. Tomorrow we are spending the first half of the day here in Sitges and then going to Barcelona.

Wine and sushi with the Nebrija Book Club!

Day two was much better. The majority of the day was spent walking around the town and in different stores. Tomorrow we are driving to Girona, a city about an hour north of Barcelona.

Well our first complete day here has also been quite interesting. We are in a beach town called Sitges, which is about 45mins south of Barcelona. One of Nuria's best friends lives in Barcelona so her and her boyfriend came down yesterday to spend the weekend here with us. Well we out for dinner and Nuria got sick. She spent last night and today either in bed or vomiting. Needless to say, we didn't do anything today. She finally started feeling better and we we went walking around in the cool, night air. More of the same tomorrow I suppose.

So after a quite eventful morning, we missed our flight. Here you have to print out your boarding passes and bring them to the airport and we did not do that. While having breakfast at the airport, instead of in Barcelona, we decided to get the car and drive up. Five hours later we made it here. A slight change in plans but everything turned out well. Something we will be able to laugh about later but right now it is still a fresh wound.

I hate packing. Especially when all you can take is a mini suitcase and one pair of shoes takes up 60% of it. Packing for a week is gonna be difficult.

Today is our first day of Spring Break. Kind of a bittersweet moment because if Easter was two weeks later, like it normally is, we would have come in for my friend's wedding. Oh well, flight to Barcelona early tomorrow morning.

Tried sushu for the first time tonight at our book club meeting even though I didn't read the book. I didn't read the previous book either or finish the first one. I did however propose the book for our next meeting, Joseph Conrad's The Heart of Darkness. A novel we read in high school that I wanted to read again. Oh yeah, the sushi wasn't that bad but I prefer my food cooked.

Nuria and I went to her parent's house today before the Father's Day lunch with the family. We went to see the dogs and take them for a short walk since the weather was nice today. Nuria took No-No, the 11 or 12 year old german shepherd and I had Cooper, the 18 month puppy that weighs around 80 pounds. We had a nice walk but it was quite obvious that I need to see a few more episodes of the Dog Whisperer.

Today is San Jose, father's day, in Spain. So Happy Spanish Father's Day to all the padres!! It's also a holiday, so no school today!!

I received my niece's eight grade pictures today and needless to say I have had a huge smile all day and showing her picture to everyone. Proud uncle here!!

This is what it's like at Nuria's parent's house. Well, minus the little tiny dog.

I am extremely happy to be back home but between kids crying outside and dogs barking I miss the tranquility of the mountains. When the kids from the camp were quiet, all you could hear was the wind.

Back in Murcia and the sun is shining. I had a fun time at the camp and the kids were a good group. We finally had good weather this morning for the last couple of activities.

I was asked by a friend to help with his English Immersion camp. These are very common in Spain and when.I was in Aguilas I always went my students to a camp 30 mins outside of Valencia. These camps are good, in the Spring. My friend didn't tell me that the camp was going to be in the mountains and it is definitely not Spring here. Matter of fact, it snowed quite a bit this morning. Much more than it did in Tennessee when we there this past Christmas.

I'm glad it finally decided to warm up here. Walking to school last week in thirty-degree weather wasn't much fun. This week's almost fifty-degree weather has been much better.

Let the countdown begin! Two-week long spring break begins in less than three weeks.

I didn't have class this morning so I got to sleep in until 9:30 instead of getting up at 6:30. What a difference those three hours had on my day.

Those two weeks of driving while I was at home for Christmas did me well but it has worn off. The itch has returned already.

Big congrats to Bill and Zora Beth on their engagement!! Our group of friends have been dropping left and right over the past few months. Only a few of us are left...

Went to the Murcia- Barcelona game yeaterday. We put up a good fight but Barça is just too talented. Props to the three Americans who start for Murcia.

Yesterday in my class of nine year olds:
Student: Teacher, teacher, teacher.
Me: What?!?!
Student: Will you give me five euros?
Me: No!

And then at the end of class another student asked if she could have my cell phone. Crazy little kids

Carnaval 2013

Proof I'm at the gym. The pic is blurry because I am obviously moving

At the gym for the first time in a week so I'm pretty sure the rest of the day I won't be worth much. Good thing I'm going to spend the next few hours watching the Super Bowl after this and then off to Aguilas this evening.

Tickets for Barcelona: Check!

Go Niners!!!

Even though I spent the first two weeks of 2013 sick, it hasn't been that bad so far. I obviously started the New Year out wonderfully at home with the family and friends. I've seen a lot of movies that were good, everything from Argo to Zero Dark Thirty. I was also introduced to Duck Dynasty, started reading a couple books and joined a gym. I didn't have to work on Monday so that was also another good thing. Looking forward to February!

A co-worker and friend of my brother was killed in an accident yesterday. Here is the story.
NWF Daily News

Keep her family in your thoughts and prayers as well

One of my students, a nine yr old girl, mother had a heart attack and died last night. Keep her and her family in your thoughts and prayers.

The wind has been bad here the past two days but today has been the worst day by far. I've seen numerous senior citizens holding on to trees, light poles and signs for dear life. Small dogs have not been spared either.

Just finished the last episode of season two of Duck Dynasty today. I've had a lot of good laughs watching the two seasons of the show since I got back to Spain.

Congrats Knoxville!
The Happiest And Unhappiest Cities To Work In Right Now - Forbes

Day number two of waking up at 4:30 am. At least King of the Hill is on afterwards, A Christmas Story. Merry Christmas everyone!!

After 24 hours of traveling, we have finally made it to Knoxville. Looking forward to family, friends, food and football!

Just when you think that the story couldn't get any worse, it does. He killed his father at home before going to the school to kill his mother im front of her class and open fire on them. Unbelievable

Prayers for all those involved in the Connecticut elementary school tragedy. There are some terrible things happening in the world these days.

The Lion King, or El Rey Leon as it's called here, just came on!

Go Dawgs!

Bus tickets to and fro Madrid are purchased. All is prepared for Navidad in Tennessee!

Go Dawgs!!