The Adventure Continues - JK One Year Later

(Posted a week after writing - while sitting in my parents kitchen watching the snow fall on Christmas Eve)

Whenever I am on a boat I think of the hymn “It Is Well With My Soul.” This is a song written on a ship by a father and husband who loved deeply and had recently lost his four daughters (they drowned during a shipwreck). Yet in his grief and in mourning he wrote this song – a declaration to the heavens that still his inner peace was unshaken and his trust in the divine firm.

In our beach frisbee uniforms...

I am currently sitting on a ferry in the Mediterranean and my situation is almost comically polar to the one of this author. For one I am still feeling like a giddy newlywed being married to John. We just spent a week soaking in delicious nature; traversing the island of Menorca by bike with new friends Mitch & Maria (Canadian & Spaniard – such are the friendships of expats we are discovering). We flew over the rolling hills and most nights arrived in our humble stone-laid Airbnbs under the stars engulfed in crisp breezy air. Often after a tough pedal we would find ourselves rushing down the paved hills surrounded by a blur of green. The wind in my ears reminiscent of downhill skiing and the bodied, buoyed taste of being alive. John whispering awe as we whizzed side by side like birds in tandem flight.

Now, this ferry is carrying us back home to Barcelona and then onwards to the United States for a full month of magical, love-soaked TIME (the most precious of all resources available to humans) with family and friends before my final school term. As I sit here and anticipate Minnesota the first word that comes to mind is magic. That word for me captures the delight of Minnesota winters, the glistening snow and crisp air and all the warm fires, drinks and hugs that complement the season.

It has been almost a year since I have written here. Self-expectations of posting on this blog regularly during our adventures abroad have been dashed like waves on a rock. Slowly over the last year our new reality of living in Spain has shifted from what seemed like an extended dream-world to our very real day to day. Yes, we are still on a wild adventure away from all we ever knew in Minnesota. Yes, the peaks and valleys are still breath-takingly steep. And yes we are still seeking our True North and doing our very best to relish the sojourn we are on along the way.

The second year of my MBA has been a much more 'enjoyable' experience than the grueling & formative nature of the first year (for which I know I am better & smarter for and, however, will be glad not to repeat). Classes this term at IESE have included Competitive Strategy, Management Control, Global Economics, Corporate Entrepreneurship and Executive Well-Being & Stress Management, among others. To the right is one of my favorite slides from my Stress class  reminding us that “peak performance” comes when we are operating in the orange zone (with healthy doses of self-mandated stress). Candidly, last year with the multitude of foreign, social and academic pressures I spent a decent amount of time to the right of the curve somewhere in the grey. I definitely got my money’s worth from this program – I have no complaints of it lacking quality or rigor. Also helps that I have had the privilege of being surrounded by some of the smartest peers I have ever encountered. Today, at this juncture I am also happy to report that I am firmly in the yellow/orange zone of the graph (my threshold has increased, I am sure, thanks to the last year of handling stress).

The lighter course load this term also gave me the chance to train for and complete my first Marathon this fall. My friend Megan Steil (without whom I would have never considered or completed this endeavor) came and ran it with me (her 22^nd marathon and a cool down after her Ironwoman in September) in Greece. We started the race in the city of Marathon and climbed a mostly uphill course to the ancient stadium in Athens. I enjoyed the training experience so much I am considering running another. John was tremendously supportive (as is his way) throughout the whole process. We now look forward to doing some training together as he prepares for the authentic Norway Nordic skiing Birkiebiener – on which he will be required to carry a 3kg backpack symbolizing the baby king of Norway (his rescuers were who the race was founded after).

In our formal uniforms...
indicative of the diversity of situations
and costumes we continue to find ourselves
in together.

John has continued managing our life in Barcelona and being a tremendous partner in crime. He just finished a full season as Ultimate Frisbee coach of our club team Bravas (the brave potatoes – and a famous tapa here in Spain). He has taken up regularly coaching youth Ultimate in Barcelona and  taking Spanish classes. John has taken the lead in hosting our many Barcelona visitors around the city. Our most recent visitors being my brother Erik and his now fiancé Sarahbeth (they got engaged while they were here in Spain!) as well as John’s brother and wife Ben and Maria. John still has a strong remodeling bug, and besides finding odd projects around our house also this fall spent a week remodeling our cousins’ Tommy & Brittany’s home in Washington D.C.

A Barcelona door I walked
by one evening - aglow from within. Who
knows what doors will open for us over
the next couple of months.

We know the question we are likely going to get over the holidays the most is “where are you two going next?” The truth is we don’t know. Currently I am in the process of active career planning in preparation for my graduation May 11^th. My aim and hope is to find a job inside global healthcare in an industry epicenter (Copenhagen, Switzerland, Sydney, California or Minnesota are the top location choices at the moment). I aspire to learn something about how healthcare is done well in other parts of the world and bring that back to my beloved Minnesota. John meanwhile hoping to find another carpentry job involved with sustainable energy housing. But the building tension of this chapter of our book has not found resolution yet. The world remains wide open to us.

Despite this looming uncertainty, As I sit here on this ferry and appreciate my cozy view over the rolling ocean (it is currently pouring rain outside), I acknowledge we are currently atop a magnificent peak. At a luxurious high-point in life. This past year has been filled with a tremendous amount of freedom to explore, grow and soak in the world – even with its healthy dose of challenge. And I pray that as we speed down this next pass towards the invisible horizon we can continue to keep our many blessings in perspective and reflect back to those around us the overwhelming generosity that has been shown to us along the way.

I can genuinely declare right now it is well with my soul. May I hold true to this no matter what circumstances swirl around us these upcoming days, weeks and months.

I hope to be in touch sooner than I was this last time - Kelsie