Welcome, new life!

I had an amazing opportunity a couple of weeks ago. I witnessed life. And I got to cut the cord. On July 25th, late morning, Mateo Asher Rodriguez, coming in at 7 lbs. 5 oz., made his big entrance. He's my nephew. His mom, Teliza, is Vino's sister. When she asked me a couple of months ago if I would be in the delivery room with her, I had an overwhelming feeling of gratitude. Having struggled with infertility for six years, I thought that I may never have the chance to be a part of the experience of the miracle of birth. Let me just tell you, it was incredible. Teliza was amazing - she showed much grace in a difficult circumstance. After 2 hours & 30 minutes of pushing, when it seemed like the only option would be a C-section, we gathered around & prayed that this little one would come quickly, and he did, just 15 minutes later. It was a messy, beautiful moment!


He has a FULL head of black hair. Lots of it. It's silky soft. He's a sweet boy, not very fussy. Very snuggly. So tiny.


That first day his hands & feet were so wrinkly, almost like paper. His hands looked like he was wearing gloves. Look at those long toes!


For the past several days I've been staying with Teliza to help her out with Mateo. When I hold him I pray that God will protect this sweet baby boy. That he will grow up to be a good man. That he will love Jesus with all his heart, and that he will have a kind, humble & gentle spirit.

So, Mateo, from your Auntie Erin, whom I am sure will be your favorite, welcome to the family. We've been waiting for you. You're even better than we hoped for.

Cheap Dork

(photo by PACOBP)

I'm a dork. A cheap dork. We went to El Rastro this weekend. It's said to be Europe's largest flea market. It started in the middle ages and has over 3500 stalls.

(photo by subcomandanta)

It's open year round every Sunday morning. You can buy just about anything there. Lots of imported stuff from India & Africa. Cheaply made tourist crap-ola. Second-hand junque. The old stuff is what catches my eye.

(photo by ma vie en rouge)

Here comes the part where I'm a cheap dork. I was Specifically looking for a vintage seltzer bottle because I'd seen them there before, and I've seen them all over blogland in photos of Paris flea markets that people drool over. AND I think they look cool.

(photo from Buenos Aires San Telmo flea market by fakeamerica)

So I find a guy in one of the side plazas that is selling a bunch of old stuff. While Vino is asking him about some really old Italian daggers (expensive, but cool!) I spy a crate of 6 seltzer bottles, one of them blue with 8 sides. It looked almost exactly like this one from Ruby Lane except that the writing was in Spanish. I would post the photo, but it's copyrighted. If the link is no longer active when you read this, just know that it is VERY COOL, and originally $125, on sale for $95. Our friend who brought a camera with her had no battery left, so I don't even have proof of the one I found. None of these are even my photos that I'm posting. Loser.

So we ask the guy how much and he says 15 Euros, which is around $21. I was prepared to pay 10 Euros, but the guy wouldn't budge. So we walked away. Apparently he wasn't desperate to sell that day because he couldn't have cared less. And we kept walking. Now I'm wishing I hadn't been so cheap.

(photo by mazingerin)

We're moving back to the States for a couple of years - this week. That was my last chance for a while. One of these days I'm going to learn some type of lesson from this...

Create...Breathe

I have this friend, Miss Lynn. She is ridiculously creative. When I was home for Christmas, I told her that the world (well, me for sure) needed her to start a blog or an etsy shop or something. She said that she's not a computer person and would rather just make stuff with paper, notions & junque. But, happy day! I don't think she's started a shop, but I just found out today that she has a blog! Her blog name is Create...Breathe, which is the name of her crafty business.


She sells at craft shows and stuff like that, but not online yet (that I know of). Check out her blog and leave her a comment. She's a sweetie pie. I can't wait to see her this summer!

My Handy Man

I'm one of those girls who is lucky enough to have a multi-talented fella. It seems like he's pretty good at most of the things he tries. He cooks & cleans, makes videos, cycles, runs, trains people to do stuff, re-mixes benign music & voice-overs into cool hip-hop beats, and he can throw a pretty good punch, whether it be wii boxing or real-life martial arts. Oh, and he can break up fights in Madrid & subdue the drunken aggressor. But that's for another story.

Recently he disappeared for a few hours into the workshop to make something that would make organizing the equipment for the ministry we work with MUCH easier. He had already organized & labeled the entire equipment storage room, but still had to contend with heavy & awkwardly shaped "C-Stands". They're the things used on a video shoot that hold reflectors & pretty much else you would need to hold in one place. Using a router & some scrap wood, this is what he came up with:


He routed out the shape of the handles...


so that each stand would fit perfectly.


He also used some big nails to hang other pieces of the stands.


I, for one, think it's an ingenious solution. Before, the C-Stands lived in a corner on the floor. Difficult to get to, messy, unorganized. Now with one glance, you know how many we have, where they are, and where they go when you're finished with them.

People, you don't always need to make things difficult or expensive. He didn't go out and buy anything special for this project. Scrap wood. That's what he used. Granted, this is not a public place, so it's not painted pretty or anything, but that doesn't matter. Effective storage can be cheap or free if you use your noggin. What do you have lurking in your garage/shop that can be made or re-purposed into useful storage or organization? Be creative!

My Mom

So today is Mother's Day, and I'm a couple thousand miles away from mine. I just called her, though. I love technology!

My mom is one of the kindest people I know. She has a very tender heart. She is one of the few people I know who has seen a lot of the heartache in the world yet has not lost her innocence.

I love spending a day with my mom tooling around town. Neither one of us get bored with each other.


She also has a lot of "mom-isms" that my sister & I regularly find coming out of our own mouths. She has a song for everything. Vino says that I do, too. Must have picked that up from her. :) She will talk to anyone in line at the grocery store. It used to embarrass me, but I've grown out of that.

I have such good childhood memories, and most of them are because of her. I couldn't have picked a better mom for myself.


I love you, Mom! Happy Mother's Day!

Thriftin' Spanish Style

Ok. I can breathe.

I've been gone from this blog for ALMOST a month! We've had one thing after another, including two out-of-country trips, and I can finally get caught up - clean my house, organize, catch up on blogging.

So to celebrate my return to the blog, I'm participating in another Thrift Store Thursday over at Holly's Homebody blog! I'm glad I'm not the only one who takes pride in a great bargain. "You like this dress? Thanks! I got it for only $3 at a consignment store!" I have no shame. And I'm ok with it.



I've been wanting to show what I got the last time I went to Segundo Manos, my favorite store in our town. Of course, I didn't take my camera with me. One of these days I'll learn. But until then...


I found some painted ceramic pieces that I really like. They are simple, and one of the bowls has some chippy bits on the rim, but I still think they are charming.


I don't know if they are old or not. I can buy stuff similar to this in cities known for their ceramics - Toledo, Sevilla, Talavera - but these were much cheaper. :) It doesn't really matter to me if they are old or not. I just liked them.


I also picked up a small pitcher that was on the same shelf.


It will make a great water pitcher, and will look fabulous with my Fiestaware. This one is for sure from Toledo.


And here they all are on our kitchen table.

They go nicely with the little crackled pot that holds the miniature rose plant Vino bought for me, and with our Christmas tree. That's it in the white pot behind the walnuts. It didn't hold garland well, but we were in the States for Christmas, so I didn't go all out. The one gift I put "under" it was bigger than the tree.

So that's it! 2 Euros for two bowls and 2 Euros for the pitcher. Have you found any thrifty treasures lately? If so, you really should participate in Holly's party. All the cool kids are.

...And every knee to Him shall bow

Maker of the universe,
As Man for man was made a curse.

The claims of Law which He had made,
Unto the uttermost He paid.

His holy fingers made the bough,
Which grew the thorns that crowned His brow.

The nails that pierced His hands were mined
In secret places He designed.

He made the forest whence there sprung
The tree on which His body hung.

He died upon a cross of wood,
Yet made the hill on which it stood.

The sky that darkened o'er His head,
By Him above the earth was spread.

The sun that hid from Him it's face
By His decree was poised in space.

The spear which spilled His precious blood
Was tempered in the fires of God.

The grave in which His form was laid
Was hewn in rocks His hands had made.

The throne on which He now appears
Was His for everlasting years.

But a new glory crowns His brow
And every knee to Him shall bow.

-F.W. Pitt

I hope you had a happy & meaningful Easter!