Where has this year gone?!

A year has gone by already!! Actually it’s been 11 months since our first post “Moving to Manchester” where we were full of hopes, uncertainty and so many adventures ahead of us. So let’s share with our family, friends, and all the welcome guests that may come across this blog our most cherished insights of our first year living abroad:

Entrepreneur Spirit. Nothing better than overcoming doubts and fears in order to jump into a big ocean of professional opportunities. Since we launched TuBa Advertising we’ve lived so many experiences! We’ve learned, we’ve tripped and we’ve grown in so many ways. No other position could have helped us more as a family to increase our creativity, confidence and social skills.

Moving out of our comfort zone. Do you want friends? don’t wait for them to come knock on your door because that won’t happen, unless they are missionaries from the LDS church! (the one we belong to) It took us a while to understand that if we want to feel involved we need to stand up and start talking to people ourselves…and you know what..it works! actually you feel better for just trying it and you feel even better if you truly get to connect with someone and the conversation starts to flow..We still miss the laughs and good times with our friends back home..but that will happen again, at some point.

Ooohh…where we really that close to this place?! Seriously, we CAN’T believe how quick and easy is to get to some places now that we have our little old shattered but fairly precious Ford Focus. A good deal with Sam’s ex-boss in the right time. After the death of one of the rear-view mirror, and one or two shocks and surprises we must say we are fully used to the English way of driving. But I always wonder, why do they have these road junctions where it feels illegal to turn right but it’s NOT..everyone does it!

Choosing the right. After the last holidays Sam took off from work we were notified that his residence application had been denied and he could no longer work in the UK. What a disappointing and frustrating situation that was for our family, when we thought things started to move in the right direction. But we decided to turn to the One we know who could give us the RIGHT guidance, so after much praying, fasting and consideration, Sam informed his employer about the situation and they truly appreciated, -obviously!, who wants to get a fine from the Government!- We chose the right way, and because of that other opportunities have risen and now I’ll be working part-time in a very exciting position, which will allow us to apply again for Sam’s residence and we will still have to time to boost our own business!

Where is our family?!Oh well…that is a tricky question to answer now. We have “vovo” (Julia’s grandfather) staying with us while he is searching for a job in the UK, half of the other Costas are in Barcelona and the rest in Brazil. From my side, all of them are in Barcelona, the good thing is that at least they are together and can enjoy each other’s company more frequently. It’s a pity how the promises we made before leaving Spain about how often we were going to visit each other seem almost impossible to keep now. Circumstances, changes in both family situations have been our stumbling blocks, back when we meet again it’s going to be SOOO GOOD!!

Anyway, Sam has already told me that this post is way too long, so we better finish it here before you fall asleep with our what we think to be the most exciting situations but are truly kinda ordinary..:S..haha

But, hey do you want to know the song that has been in our minds this last week since we watched for the second time Les Miserables? The Finale part…oh yes…and not because we feel miserable like they were but because we feel triumphant as they did!.