It's been a loooonnnnngggg time. So much has happened since January, and there's just no way that I can go back and recreate all that we've experienced and learned. We've had visitors come and trips back to the States. We've had life wins and family challenges. We've renewed our residencias and filed for citizenship. We experienced our first Fallas in Valencia and missed our first 4th of July in the States.
During the last few months, I've been thinking about how Spanglish Y'all would be of best use. Initially, Spanglish Y'all was a way to keep the people that we know informed about our move and what was happening in our lives. I found that some friends and family read the blog, but once we moved, interest died off. And--honestly--if the blog were entirely about our family and our experiences, it would be nothing more than a vanity project, and I'm not that vain.
The other thing that needs to be acknowledged is the amount of time it takes to craft a blog post I could easily spend 2-3 hours crafting something that might take 3 minutes to read. That wasn't a great use of my time or energy, especially on a vanity project. Thus, I planned to let Spanglish Y'all close at the end of this subscription period, which would be the end of November.
And wouldn't you know it, as soon as I decided to take it offline, I had several people-- strangers--find the blog and start emailing me about our move and asking questions about how we did what we did and why. Maybe, just maybe, Spanglish Y'all is providing inspiration and guidance, and I am so happy to keep her going if that is indeed the case. Therefore, for at least for the next year, Spanglish Y'all will be renewed.
I am in the process of reworking the website, and the focus will be on our Instagram feed rather than the written blog. I will use the captions for microblog posts, and if there is something that needs a deeper dive, I will still have the option to write full blog posts, like this one. I'm removing the calendar and maps features since those pages didn't get any attention. I will transfer all the previously written blog posts to the new site, but it will take some time; I am hoping that I will have completed the transfer by the end of November. You should see the latest version of the website sometime in the next week or two.
As always, I love hearing from folks, and if you have any specific comments or questions, please feel free to reach out via email at spanglishyall@gmail.com.
Michelle, thank you for the kind words! Get your husband to join you for a bit on that extended stay and maybe he won't want to go back 🤞🏽😊
Eileen, I'm happy to see this post, and also to see you will be continuing your posts. Microblogging is great! I'll just have to pay more attention to instagram in the future. I am contemplating an extended visit to Spain with my 3 teens next summer. All have studied Spanish in school, and I'd love to spend a month there so they could practice their language skills. I'm looking at apts/airbnb's in Madrid, as that's where I studied 30 (ouch!) years ago, and I would have some familiarity with the city upon arrival. I'm inspired by the move your family has made - part of me wishes I could convince my spouse to do the same!