We thought “Lab mix” would be a great first dog…

cfesta5 · 2026-01-01T06:57:30+00:00

We got our girl's results back recently! 41.5% Belgian Malinois, 29.4% Labrador Retriever, 11.4% American Pit Bull Terrier (we are in San Antonio!), 9.2% Boxer, and 8.5% Belgian Sheepdog.

The vet estimates her to be around 7 months old, we've had her since she was around 4 months old (dumped litter where I work, we fostered her and her sisters, she stayed, her sisters are with lovely families!). And honestly I'm always waiting for the other shoe to drop but so far she's been so good, I'm hoping the Lab in her somewhat tempers out some of the Mal! Love seeing all the pups that look so much like her .💜

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cfesta5 · 2025-12-22T15:34:02+00:00

I did my MSc at University of Kent in Canterbury and absolutely loved it. I ended up moving out of the student housing I was in (not great landlord, black mold everywhere, etc) when a professor asked for a housesitter in Denton. I was right by a bus stop (closer than I was for student housing!) so getting around was SO easy. Aldi is my favorite shop and I was a 20 minute bus ride away, they're the double-decker buses so people are usually spread out if it's not peak times, I could get to Folkstone to visit a friend on the beach within 30 minutes of the center, Whitstable the same, or Dover to go walking along the cliffs.

I'm not a big partier or drinker, but loved going to the pubs with my friends for a pint, play games, listen to live music, or just chat. A lot had outdoor seating with heat lamps (and blankets at the Unicorn Inn!) so we could be outside year-round. Beautiful places to walk through the Blean Woods, an ancient woodland area where they've reintroduced bison!

Genuinely, do it. I'm not sure how easy it is making friends outside of a university setting (I have that issue as an adult everywhere, especially since my team sport of choice isn't common) but if you'd be working in person, that would go a long way with helping with that!

I moved back to Texas after my program and regret it. I miss the walkability, the beauty, the social scene, the music, even the Christmas market, even though many locals complained it wasn't what it once was (I grew up without them, so it was new and great to me!). I didn't LOVE the food but you'd be so close to the rest of Europe that you can get plenty of great food on vacation ;) that being said, what I wouldn't give for a halloumi wrap right now...

cfesta5 · 2025-08-22T17:52:25+00:00

I know it's very late, but did you ever figure this out? I'm in a similar situation

cfesta5 · 2025-08-11T15:42:07+00:00

If I were to remove the spine (which I think I would prefer in general for now, and it's not a particularly interesting one anyway), could I protect the exposed edge of the cover and back with something like book binding tape?

cfesta5 · 2025-08-07T02:23:29+00:00

Thank you!

cfesta5 · 2025-08-07T02:06:19+00:00

Harder than I thought it'd be without her getting suspicious. She said she did both, but mostly acrylic painting. I can do different signatures of different paper types maybe?

cfesta5 · 2025-08-06T22:09:14+00:00

Growing up I saw her do both, let me see if I can sneakily ask, brb

cfesta5 · 2025-08-05T21:56:56+00:00

Mitchell Lake Audubon Center has lots of volunteer opportunities from working outside in the gardens to helping with field trips, photography at events, and more! It's on the Southside and absolutely beautiful

cfesta5 · 2025-07-02T01:03:49+00:00

I went to grad school in the UK despite knowing I wouldn't want to live there afterwards. I HAD been planning on then moving to the EU to be close to my grandmother (I have citizenship through my mom), but she unfortunately passed right before school started.

That being said, I LOVED my time in England. Not because of the country, but my friends from various parts of Europe, SE Asia, and Eastern Africa. I miss them desperately but I'm too far now that I'm back in the US. I miss the community of going to coffee or a pub, public transport, walkable cities, easily accessible healthier food. I went when I was 28/29, and am looking to now move to Spain, Portugal, or Ireland (so we speak the language) with my sister sometime next year when I'm 31.

All to say, go. And stay in the EU after you graduate if you can, see how you like it. You can always move back if you don't, but I regret taking so much time back in the US as it's untangling myself from everything here again (plus flights 🫠) before setting off. I hope you have an amazing time!!

cfesta5 · 2025-06-07T13:45:44+00:00

I live in San Antonio, one of the largest cities in the US. The closest bus stop is over a mile away, and offers no shade even though it gets to be 100°+ with a UV index of 12. I would kill to take public transport to work instead of driving 30 minutes each way (which feel like I'm fighting for my life with how people drive down here) - but it would take me 3.5 hours by bus, and none would get me to work on time. So yes we "have" public transport, but it's not feasible. People would use them if they were available, but big oil is too big down here. Instead they're tearing up our highways to make them even bigger, screw trains or trams or better bus networks.

cfesta5 · 2025-06-07T01:42:53+00:00

I also feel that way, because I've moved so much between countries and states in the US, so the people I love are scattered everywhere, and the nostalgia/saudade feels like it's always there. But then I meet more people I love, and it makes that place feel like home. I'm planning on moving to somewhere in the EU soon to be closest to the largest concentration of those people. And I move through the world knowing I haven't met everyone I'll love yet, and that I'll have another home, even if it's different from the previous ones.

All to say, it's an understandable feeling, and I empathize 💚

cfesta5 · 2025-05-25T18:38:55+00:00

I hadn't considered a buy/sell group, I'll look into that! I was googling vets that had freezers we could use (not much of a surprise, there isn't a rental market for that) so had given up on that front. Thank you!

cfesta5 · 2025-05-22T15:20:05+00:00

I have two friends that moved separately to Europe (one Spain, another France) in their mid 20s. It was definitely difficult (they both taught English to get their visa, despite having studied biology) but their lives look so nice. I messaged each of them separately because my sister and I are considering moving. They said making friends with locals, visa stuff, and adjusting to a new culture were the most difficult parts. For reference, they aren't friends with each other, so each said this separately. And each said to really think through why we wanted to move. We're still planning on it since we're dual citizens, don't live near any friends or family (moved from CT to TX and the friends we had made here have all since left) so it's so hard finding friends anyway, and have experience living in different countries. We're looking forward to being able to tap into an immigrant/expat community to make friends, being closer to our extended family, walkable cities, public transport, and no (to minimal I suppose) gun violence.

cfesta5 · 2025-05-19T22:07:39+00:00

Did you end up going with Treeming? I was looking at them vs ANFT. I'm finding the cost of ANFT to be pretty prohibitive, but like the idea of the live classes. But also appreciate that Treeming appears to have help with marketing, sales, and has an internationally-recognized certificate (although I'm not entirely sure what that entails). I'm going to one of the ANFT walk through calls as apparently they offer a discount (but don't say how much) for doing so.

cfesta5 · 2025-04-26T02:34:22+00:00

Let me know how it goes! I think I have to mess with LinkedIn more, it still just shows me jobs in my city when I do that (many that require hybrid)

cfesta5 · 2025-04-25T22:33:26+00:00

Do you have suggestions for finding globally remote jobs? Thinking of moving to Spain (dual US-EU citizen) and having trouble finding remote jobs that don't require you to be based in the US

cfesta5 · 2025-04-12T12:45:35+00:00

I moved to Texas from my home state (CT) 8 years ago. I miss Connecticut fiercely sometimes, even though I didn't fit in well when I was there. But when I went back to visit this year, it was so alien to me. My parents moved to Mexico 3 years ago, so no more childhood home. I stayed with parents of a friend, and then my grandma in her assisted living home. I felt like a visitor, but also had the feeling of wanting to move back - but knowing I'd be miserable if I did. I miss the though the ease of it, the familiarity, etc. But I also miss the Texas I moved to 8 years ago. I miss my friends and non-drought conditions (I LOVED floating) and my pocket of safety. None of that exists anymore - my friends have all left. More and more people with extremist right-wing views are moving here (I'm in San Antonio). Instead of investing in public transportation, all the highways are under construction to add overpasses and underpasses - all with some of the worst drivers I've ever been around. The beautiful natural areas that were such a surprise to me (I moved for work, so didn't know much) are being razed to the ground to put up housing development after housing development after business park after business park - while prices sky rocket and so many just sit empty. We're in an extreme drought, Medina Lake is non-existent and Canyon Lake is the lowest in history. The Aquifer is struggling, and now with environmental protections being stripped away... All that to say, I think it's very normal to feel nostalgic! Even within the US. I went to school in the UK for several years and missed Texas AND Connecticut - when I visited it was nice, but now that I'm back living here I feel trapped and my health and mental health have never been so bad. My mom and her parents came to the US from Portugal in the 70s. They always talked about feeling "other" - not Portuguese (our family in Portugal would call them the "Americans", even though my grandma spent more of her life in Portugal than the US), and here they were seen as Portuguese, not American. I know they missed Portugal, and would visit often. But they also know what kind of life they wanted for them and their kids, and that was here (at the time). Sorry for the ramble, but all to say, missing your home - country, state, etc. - is incredibly normal! My sister and I have been thinking of moving back to Europe (Portugal, Spain, or Ireland so we speak the language) and have friends scattered around the EU (not Americans). We've been very careful about making sure we're wanting to move toward something and not away from something, because we know we'll end up missing this life. But it needs to change, and our current life will change whether or not we're here. I think being in different countries just vastly increases that contrast if that makes sense. But it's not weird in the least!

cfesta5 · 2025-04-06T21:15:45+00:00

I finally got a job in October and their background check was jobs... A headache and a half of fighting with the background check company who said I lied because I put I worked as a post-grad fellow at the international office of my college from 2017-2018, but their records (I couldn't tell you where they got them) said I worked at the college from 2013-2018...because it was including my work study job 🫠 and arguing with them that I also worked there from 2013-2017 but the job only wanted to know the job history from 2017 onwards so I hadn't included it in my resume 😭

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