Sonsoles was my first landlady in Spain. Isn't she gorgeous? While I was in Madrid again in January, she shared her gorgeous, elephant-size dream with me. In English!

When you put dreams out into the world, exciting things begin to happen. Sonsoles has some amazing new updates to share. Stay tuned!

If you're following my story, you might know that I returned to the United States at the end of May. In January, I flew back to Spain to collect the rest of my belongings and offer my 30 days in Madrid e-course.

The e-course is in the can, and I'm back on U.S. soil after another memorable European adventure, and you'd think this was my first re-entry in years. The transition has been, well, a transition: the bills, housing, food, job applications, rejection, friendships, kids.

Bumpy. Very bumpy.

When it gets bumpy, I've learned to get back to basics: My goals. So in the middle of an epic sob session turned series binge in front of Netflix (Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, if you must know), I came up with a way to make my personal drama really work for me. Subtitles!

Simple, really. I set the subtitles to Spanish and even as I wallow in self pity, I am processing new phrases and vocabulary words. Self pity in service to my goals. I might be able to offer a course on that!

Seeing old friends again can only be better when you meet in a Madrid plaza café, and they agree to brave the busy afternoon din to answer some questions about an adventure that changed their lives completely.

Dianny and Gonzalo had a dream to spend a year in Paris learning French and experiencing all the romance a European city has to offer. Six years ago, they closed up their Seattle home and moved with their children, 8 and 7-year-old twins, with the goal of spending a year in Paris and then returning to Seattle.

They never did return to Seattle, but that is a story for another day. Today, Dianny and Gonzalo reflect on what it was like to follow a dream and make it a family adventure.

If you'd like to know more about what it's like to pick up and move your family to another country, take a look at Gonzalo's blog where he chronicled their year: ouryearinparis.blogspot.com.

Have you considered a year in another country? What would it take to turn your dream into an adventure?

I can't quite believe it. Today, January 16, 2017, after exactly one year of building, researching, editing, planning, kvetching, I launched my first e-course.

Armchair Dreams and 30 days in Madrid  aren't so much a vision as an exercise in elimination. Both could be just another step along the elimination path.

How many times have you waited because it wasn't quite right, or you had an idea but it was half-baked, or you lost focus and moved on to something else? Yes! Me, too. This time I started moving and just kept on going.

I launched 30 days in Madrid  today from Madrid with a lesson about rituals and travel. For the next four weeks you could create your own daily ritual with 30 days in Madrid, or you could do something else.

30 days in Madrid will be here. You can enroll any time you want.