Time to reel it on in...

"I'm leaving on a jetplane. Don't know when I'll be back again... Oh babe, I hate to go." 
 Not really, but I'm leaving Madrid tomorrow to head back to Paris! (and hopefully more scheduled blogposts!)

I'm sad to leave Madrid  because it really is such a beautiful city! Not too mention the family I am staying with is lovely! But I'm excited to head back to Paris and an almost-normal "routine!"

Speaking of routines, its time for Morgie to "reel it on in!" Back home-home (as in Philly) I was an early riser, as in 6 or 7 am. Even if I wanted to sleep-in, my own little mental alarm clock would go off, telling me to get my arse out of bed. I ran just about every morning. Outside. Even in the snow and rain and freezing temps. If I were a Spice Girl I'd be Sport Spice (even though Posh was my fave!) I would go to class come home, do some homework, shoot the bull with my sis/roommate/BFF, make us some yummy/healthy dinner, watch the office/greys/etc, then hit the sack.

Needless to say, in Paris, my life is completely upside down. I cannot physically get out of bed until 10, 9 at the earliest (but I look like a puffy-faced witch) and going for a run? pfft, only if its sunny and I don't have a million other things to do. I used to never, ever miss a workout. EVER. When I came to Paris, I knew I would have to ease up on my workout regime, and at first I went a little crazy, not being able to work out everyday (not to mention the huge quantities of food I was now eating every day)  Then another classmate of mine (who was going through something similar) told me to just relax and worry about working out when I was back in the states. I was only going to be "living" in Paris once, so I might as well enjoy it to the fullest why I can.

Well enjoy it I have. My mind and body has been on vacation-mode for far too long. But now I have a semester left to go (four and a half months) and I've already gained quite a bit of weight. The first five pounds I didn't mind a bit (i finally have an ass! Wooo!) but now as more and more pounds (i'm not going to give figures here, but believe me its a sad day when I have to put on a pair of my jeans!) keep creeping on, I'm thinking about joining a gym. No way, no how am I giving up French wine and pastries while I'm here (i had to give up the cheese because of an allergy) but somethings gotta give (and it ain't gonna be my clothes!)

Gym memberships are tres expensive, but I think its worth it! I genuinely LOVE a good sweat session and there might be a chance of meeting a cute French boy at the gym, so I'm excited!

Plus, I signed up for the Paris Marathon right after I finished the Dublin one in October, so now is a more than perfect time to ditch my bad habits and get back in shape. So I might be taking this blog from a study abroad blog to a study-abroad-healthy-habits-blog! You dig? I don't know, I might even post my progress on here, but as I dont believe in weighing myself, I don't know how I'll track it? I just go by home my clothes fit, so maybe once I fit comfortably in my jeans again, we can all have a bloggy-party?! =D

Did you ever have a "health crisis" moment? Where you felt like you needed to take your life back into your hands? The past semester, I decided to totally let go of all my control, but now I feel like I sort of need to take some of it back. Not all of it, but at least get back to the "old me" a bit more! I've  notice I'm not nearly as confident as I once was and the once "take my picture!"-me is now hiding in the background... not good. I know loosing weight isn't an answer to self-esteem problems (which I don't think I have a problem with) but I know working out helps get my endorphins going and will be a move in the right direction.

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend! Sorry for the longggg boring post, but its been on my ever expanding chest for a while and it feels great to get it off!

*** edit: I just realized its Wednesday, definitely not the week-end just yet... whoops! But have a happy hump day then! =)

Bisous!
Morgan

Happy Epiphany!

Hola Amigas et Amgios!

Thats about as far as my spanish has come! I've been having a great time here in Madrid, thanks to the wonderful family I am staying with. They have been feeding me amazing food and the little boys are too cute! We went on a beautiful, long hike up Sierra de Guadarrama. It was snowing, so we made a snowman, had a snowball fight, and just had a good time! I love "family time," so it was really more than I could ask for!

In Spain, they celebrate Christmas differently than in America and France (no duh, Morgan!) They don't give presents until the Epiphany (or when the three kings came bearing gifts) We have gone shopping a few times this week, and instead of pictures with Santa, little kids line up to take pictures with one of the three kings!

Yesterday there was a big parade in the city to celebrate, and I have to say it put the Macy's parade to shame! There was an acrobat hung from balloons that looked like she was flying through the air! Every culture was represented in the Parade, so it was not like they were pushing religion on anyone. AND there was bon-bons... lots and lots of CANDY! Before we went to the parade, we stopped at Dominique (my host father's) favorite pastry shop because I just  had to try a galette there. The line to get into the bakery was incredible! It wrapped around the whole block! Luckily, Dominique knew the owner, so we got to line-jump!!

After the parade, we went to a lovely Belgium restaurant where I got a warm goat cheese salad. DELISH! I don't know if I mentioned this before, but French people always, always have to finish a meal (even breakfast!) with a dessert!! Believe me, after two weeks here, I'm either going to be a diabetic or extremely obese. But I'll take either considering the food is so amazing!!

In a few minutes we are leaving to go to the park to go running! They know I am crazy about running and since today is the first sunny day, they are taking me to a "safe" park! ha They are too cute! I see a lot more runners here than in Paris, and people running at all hours. This will be my first run here,  because they would rather "not worry" about me and it has been horrible weather.

My camera seems to not want to load my pictures, so check in tomorrow for a picture update!
Bisous!
Morgan

Silly Baxter you know I don't speak Spanish!

HOLA!

I am in Madrid for TWO weeks, stuffing my face tutoring English to a French family here. My BFF (not the one who visited me last week,  but my French BFF who I met in Philly, while she was studying abroad) has family who lives in Madrid. They were very interested in having an "au pair" to tutor their two sons English. . They have WiFi, but turn in off because the mother feels it is not "healthy" to have access to internet 24/7, so it may be difficult to post everyday. Desolee!

I arrived last night and my word is the Madrid airport beautiful! HUGE, but very beautiful! My flight was supposed to leave at 2:45, but there were problems at the airport (big surprise there!) so I left 2 and a half hours later!

As you can imagine, I was a little timid to and unsure of how it would be spending 2 weeks with a family I didn't know (even though I am living with a host family in Paris?!) but it has been so much fun! I am very close to my younger siblings, so being around 2 young boys, playing wii and other fun games has been great! Not too mention, more French cooking! =)

See you soon!
Morgan