Arriving in Spain and enjoying a welcome lunch on my first day.

Today, February 1st marks the day I flew into Spain one year ago to start this new life. What a year it has been! That first week was so lovely settling in, easing in and I feel like this past month has also been all about easing into the year.ย  2013 certainly flew by!

So many things made me smile during this first year and here are just 30 ish….! Yes it was tricky to condense down to just 30! ๐Ÿ™‚

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Visiting the garden center often just to say hi to the flowers

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An abundant balcony full of life!

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This AMAZING view

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Lovely friends who traveled from New York Australia, UK and France to visit

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Mum who have came to visit for Mothers day (& it rained for the whole week!) LOL

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Sunsets to die for

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Hearts in the clouds

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and AGAIN!

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Of course, lots of heart stones and shells

nature gathering from found objects

ย and other natural treasures!

Mandala nature, sacred circle, flowers, leaves,

Making nature mandala offerings back to the earth

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Creating nature art for my living room from found objects

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Spending the weekend in Jerez with my bestie for my birthday and seeing these awesome patterns

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Finally getting my kitchen fitted!

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A random TV ariel the tv men ‘found’ rolling around on the roof and decided to put it on a balcony instead!

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Upside down on the bus!

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The moon – and did I mention my view ๐Ÿ˜‰

Sweeping the balcony with heart

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Yoga at the beach bar

 

Full moon wishes from Louise Gale on Vimeo.

Full moon parties on the beach, letting off lanterns with wishes out into the world.

 

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Sunrise from the studio

Grounding – a short poem video meditation from Louise Gale on Vimeo.

Writing a poem during sunrise on the beach

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Lots of grounding and earthing

Did I mention my view ๐Ÿ˜‰ This is the view from my balcony (on the west side) of Gibraltar rock and on a good day, Morocco!

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My new studio space (tidy at last!)

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Sacred mornings like this one.

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and this one, so calm and beautiful.

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painting on the beach

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Happy Hour at the beach bar with smiley star fruit

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Sand sculptures

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Orange trees EVERYWHERE in Estepona (the orange blossom smells amazing!)

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Having boiled sweets thrown at us at the Three Kings Festival (Jan 6th)

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Being invited to a Friday painting lunch by the ocean by some lovely ladies.

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Full rainbows over the mountains

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and….today deciding to try out this cafe we have been passing for many months and finally stopping there for a coffee (and a naughty chocolate treat!), then being invited to show my art work there in March! A serendipitous meeting in deed.

I cannot wait for year 2!

***

Looking back, I realised how little I shared here on the blog about #lifeinspain, so one of my goals for this year is to share more for my own journal as well as show you a few little snippets which I hope will inspire you as I am inspired every single day.

Until next time. xxx