Euro Trip 2017 part 1

After much planning and preparation, our trip to Europe went on without a hitch! Here are some highlights and ideas: 

Holland

On the Fourth of July we arrived in Holland (how patriotic!) for a few days of meeting family and exploring. 

We began by going out to dinner at Djakarta in Utrecht . Fun fact: Indonesia was once a Dutch colony and many Indonesians have since moved to the Netherlands (and many have started restaurants!). While I'm not a huge fan of sate sauce, a spicy peanut dipping sauce, the beef skewers were great. 

Since we were staying with family, we had access to bikes with which to go visit grandparents and sightsee. 

Utrecht was so quaint and fun, and certainly left me with a great impression of Holland! The long bike rides, delicious pancakes and time spent with family made for a great first week of our vacation. 

By the way, I highly recommend the pancakes at The Pancake Bakery Muntkelder. We had the ham & cheese, bacon & cheese and banana apple and they were to die for! 

We spent a day in Amsterdam, which we found a bit too busy. We did love mass at St. Nicholas Church and walking around the neighborhood of Anne Frank's house (the lines to get in were out the door!)

Spain

After Utrecht we flew to Barcelona, for a packed day that included visiting the Sagrada Familia, mass at the Cathedral (beautiful), watching the Sardanes (a traditional Catalunian dance), walking along the Passeig de Gracia and eating tapas (at 10PM!) with friends. 

We then headed to Navarra for the Feast of San Fermin, which is celebrated in Pamplona every year from the 6th to the 14th of July. 

On the way there we stopped by a monastery in Montserrat, at the top of a beautiful mountain range. The monastery offers beautiful views and a gorgeous basilica. 

The feast of San Fermin in Pamplona is famous because of the running of the bulls and let me say there is a whole continuum of stupidity when it comes to participating in that! While our group was happy to stay along the sides as the bulls ran past us, some more courageous runners attempt to run with the bulls (often in front of them!) At the end of each run (they have them each morning at 8AM), the bulls are at the stadium, where they will inevitably meet their fate. We didn't want to watch the bulls' deaths (totally unnecessary) so we took a drive to Loyola, the birthplace of St. Ignatius. This was one of the highlights of our time in Spain, so we highly recommend visiting it! 

One down, eternity to go...

Yesterday marked our first anniversary. We spent it in the sweeter of ways, sleeping in, breakfast in bed, completing a crossword puzzle about our relationship and going to Mass. What a good year, what joy and what a husband!

Here are some pics taken a week before our anniversary:

All the days of our lives...

So... I've been a Mrs. for exactly six months. Six beautiful, cozy, awesome months. Thank you Jesus for Nick!!!

While the "in sickness and in health" part definitely reared its ugly head this week with the Mr. having septum surgery and all, not a day goes by when I don't feel incredibly grateful for the man I married. Here's to many more half anniversaries!!!

Our Nest

If home is where the heart is, then I surely have found mine! On good and not-so-good days I still wake up with a whole lot of gratitude in mio cuore for living here. After many little projects and tons of generous hand me downs, it's now exactly the way we wanted it to be! 

 

 

 

When in Rome...

After the most beautiful day ever, my beloved and I departed to the eternal city! We were able to do the mandatory newlywed thing a.k.a. meeting El Papa and tons of other sweet things (daily gelatto included).

We were so blessed to go to Assisi, the place of birth of St. Francis, who has popped up into our lives time and time again ! God is good!

 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Love and Marriage

Hello blogosphere!

As of April 23rd, 2016 I am Mrs. Twaalfhoven!

What a crazy, amazing, easy, awesome month this has been!

A quick recap of our wedding day:

I was blessed to have the most supportive, loving bridal party ever. My girls went above and beyond to make the day just so special! Promptly at 2PM we were married at St James Church, to the sound of the most beautiful music ever. How nice to walk into the church and see all of our loved ones (some were missing ) cheering us on!

"Love and marriage, love and marriage

Go together like a horse and carriage

This I tell you brother

You can't have one without the other" 

Frank Sinatra

My last big accomplishment as Miss Peixoto

Hello world!!!!!


As I write this post, I am proud to say I have finished my student teaching internship two hours ago!

While this has been the most challenging time of my life (exhausting, to be completely honest), I will miss students, staff and the routine of a teacher. I will even miss waking up at 5AM and being so productive.

Now it's back to youth ministry, part-time mentoring work and planning a wedding!

Speaking of wedding planning, it has been going well, thank you!
Not without its challenges (just ask Nick), but we are getting there. All the big things are settled, now all that's left are the details!

As for Thanksgiving and Christmas, all went well, lots of time was spent with family and friends and the house is cozy and inviting! What more can a girl want?