Surgery takes me to Switzerland!

Author: Rachel

Okay, so it wasn't my own surgery...

It was my sister's! Sarah had a hip operation in early November, which thankfully, went very smoothly. Sadly, her recovery is slow and long, and as you can imagine she gets quite bored being by herself all day! Immediately after her surgery, her mobility was extremely limited, which meant she really needed some extra assistance. This is yet another moment I am thankful to live only a short flight away and be able to visit her and help take care of her for a weekend. Amazingly, this coincided with the time that my mom also was able to visit Sarah due to family sick leave. Having a weekend of Grove Girl time was indescribably lovely. Even if we spent much of the time in the apartment since Sarah was not very mobile, as long as I am with those ladies, I'm beyond happy!

My mom and I did get to go out and hike a bit each day, and we even all made an early Thanksgiving dinner together. It was such a treat to have a weekend to just lounge around, playing games, painting each other's nails and cooking together. I am so thankful for any time with these women, let alone unexpectedly being together in the middle of the school year!

At the top of San Salvartore

Happy Early Thanksgiving!

The beautiful sun setting on the mountains

A lakeside cappucino

Strolling through Morcote.

Sis is improving every day!

My heart <3

Exploring Catalunya

This Fall we have really had a blast exploring our own region. While it is so easy to jump on a flight to a different county for a weekend, we have lately been enjoying a more relaxed way of traveling. Being in the fourth year of living here, we realized that our surroundings have so much to offer us, and we should not overlook them. It's also been a nice change of travel style because we can get our fix of adventure without having to be exhausted after a whole weekend away.We have been able to very cheaply rent a car for just one day of a weekend and drive to the mountains, coast, wineries, and even a gorge. We hope you enjoy the pictures of some of the favorite places we have discovered in our beautiful home of Catalunya.

We started our Fall hiking with a Saturday getaway to Sant Llorenc National Park. This park is located just outside Barcelon. We were thrilled that within only a 45 minute drive, we were breathing completely fresh air and could see far in the distance!

Another weekend, we drove about three hours to reach the beautiful Mont Rebei Gorge. The vibrant colors and cliffs were absolutely breathtaking.

On a Monday afternoon, we ventured beyond the famous Montserrat to a beautiful winery, Oller del Mas, which now occupies an old castle. We got to taste four different ones, including one from a 50 euro bottle. It was certainly the nicest wine we have ever tried!

One November Saturday, we drove to the coast for a beautiful hike along the steep cliffs. We never tire of finding new beautiful coves on the Costa Brava.

We feel so fortunate to live in this beautiful country, and specifically in this beautiful corner called Catalunya!

Fall Sibling Weekend #2

The third weekend of October must be consistently good timing because now two years in a row, Sarah and Peter have visited us in Barcelona on the same weekend. Both years we have been able to celebrate our mom's birthday together and had a lovely 70 degree weekend! We have tossed around the idea of doing something really remarkable during our time together here, but we always end up getting so carried away in conversation and just love exploring the city, eating our way through the day, and catching up on lots of missed conversation! Amidst all the chatting, we did remember to snap a few photos to remember the weekend. Here are some pictures to show the overview of our weekend together.

So happy to be reunited

Had to get some bicings and cycle around town a bit

Lucky for us, Barcelona's Mercat de Mercats was happening this weekend.

Birthday Skyping with mom.

Night time wanderings.

Ended the weekend with a lovely Sunday brunch.

As always, we are so grateful to have family in Europe and that weekends together are possible. It is something that we will never take for granted. Come back soon, guys!

Anniversary in the Black Forest

For our second anniversary, we wanted to go somewhere to celebrate that reminded us of our wedding. We chose to get married in the Fall because it is both of our favorite season, and we loved planning a Fall wedding. Although Barcelona cools down a bit in the Fall, it does not get nearly as colorful or cool as either of us would like. Since we both love Germany, we thought it would be the perfect place to celebrate our anniversary. We have spent time in many parts of Germany, but never in the Black Forest. We have heard it is legendary in the Fall, so we just had to go! For two people who love Fall as much as we do, this trip was pure paradise!

We rented an old farmhouse that could not have been more perfect for us.  First of all, google maps could not find exactly it - this was the first sign to us that it was exactly the kind of place we wanted to stay. Inside the house everything was rustic and handmade, with a spiral wooden staircase, fireplace, and even an old piano. The yard contained a well, a tree house, apple trees, and a firepit. It was our dream place to spend an Autumn weekend, and we did not want to leave!

When we weren't in our cozy farmhouse, we were outside soaking in as many colorful leaves as we could. The large region considered the Black Forest contains countless quaint villages with beautiful German architecture. Beyond the beautiful villages there were endless trails, on which we experienced perhaps the most vivid colors of any Fall we've experienced yet!

We spent time reflecting on our two years of marriage  and both laughing and tearing up while watching our wedding videos. As we reminisced about our wedding, we were once again filled with gratitude for those involved in our wedding day, as well as those who have been involved in our marriage ever since. It feels like yesterday that so many people pulled together to help make our wedding so incredible, and we are still every bit as grateful. But October 5th, 2013 was only the beginning. The day we began our marriage commitment we started a journey on which we have already learned so much. We are thankful for those who have supported us through changes and given us advice, input, or examples of the kind of marriage we strive to have. Our relationship is far from perfect, but as it is continually being shaped, we are learning much about one another and about what it means to love. We can both easily say that because of the commitment we made to each other we are better people now than when we exchanged vows two years ago. We hope that no matter what high or low our marriage survives, that can always be said.

Here's to many more years of love, adventure, and gorgeously colorful Autumns!