2010 Goals

As promised, here are some goals for 2010. I suppose some are more easily attainable than others but I'll try my best to reach them all. 1. Get married, 2. try a new sport, 3. visit 3 countries I've never been to, 4. lose 15kg, 5. go in the Pacific ocean, 6. make spontaneous decisions, 7. climb a mountain with P., 8. Finish 2 complete studies/papers, 9. make a new friend outside of work, 10. be proud of myself. See you in a year with an update. :)

2009 Firsts

I lied, I have some things to blog so I'm going to do it. I recently came across a blogger who wrote down her 2009 goals last year and then looked back on the list now to see what she accomplished. It was a nice reflection of where she was and how far she came. Since I didn't do that I thought I would start with listing some things I did for the first ime in 2009 and then follow up with a list of goals for 2010 so I can reflect in a year. 2009 Firsts

• visited Asia (Japan)
• skiied in the Alps
• enrolled in a German course and actually made an effort to speak more German
• began pilates classes
• took up bike riding as a mode of transportation (and a fun summer hobby)
• did not see the Atlantic ocean from RI at all (weird but true)
• did not swim in any ocean (sadly not even while in Japan)
• tried new foods
• hosted my first adult birthday party
• packed up an entire apartment
• drove on the autobahn
• got a German speeding ticket :(
• picked a wedding cake
• shot off a firework

Catching Up

It has been a long time since I've written. I have composed countless posts in my head but somehow none of them made it to the keyboard. In re-reading the last few posts, I feel like I was in a completely different mindset when writing those. It was that time of year when summer quickly turns into fall which fades to winter but is not yet the holiday season and I was eagerly anticipating my visit to the US. Now, it's winter, after the holidays, there's still snow on the ground but the new year has begun, groundhog's day is fast approaching and spring is just around the corner. I recently returned from almost 3 weeks of vacation in the US surrounded by family and friends where we successfully planned a wedding in 20 days. Yet the semester is still a couple of weeks away so I have time to catch up on my research. I'm anticipating a "business" trip to New Orleans which I've added a few vacation days to so I can visit SOCAL for the first time in my life and shortly after I return I will be heading out again for a wedding in the Caribbean over Easter break. Life is good and exciting. My plans for the next couple of weeks are to focus on actually moving into our new apartment and organizing the wedding plans, making sure checks are written, budgets categorized and all tasks checked off our list appropriately. Following up in the world of wedding, I plan to post more on the wedding blog for the next couple of weeks until I have chronicled all that we did in these past weeks. Basically, I'm saying the light to non-existent posting will continue but updates will happen on the wedding blog because that's where my life is headed for now. Happy 2010!

Hallothanksadvent (I)

Last weekend brought a tornado of holidays into my life. We had been planning to celebrate Thanksgiving on Saturday. Patrick's family was going to drive down and we were going to cook a large bid. As you may have guessed, that was canceled at the last minute. I hope that the turkey we ordered was at least spared. In my subconscious, the absence of Thanksgiving automatically means Christmas, without realizing I was doing it, I went into Christmas mood the day I found out Thanksgiving was called off. I made plans to have dinner at the newly opened Christmas market, bought twinkle lights for our office plant friend and picked up an Advent wreath at the grocery store. The tree was decorated before I realized what I was doing. As we ate our 1/2 meter wursts, there was a bit of an empty feeling inside, partly because it was not cold enough, partly because it was Thanksgiving, and partly because I had burned the roof of my mouth the previous evening and was unable to indulge in a hot drink. We called it a night and decided to stop at the grocery store on the way home. While there, I had a change of heart which started in the dairy section when I heard Christmas music coming from the speaker above. It continued into the produce section where I saw a sign explaining the concept of buying apples by the case and not individually and got all the apples I needed (and more) to make my Thanksgiving apple pie. Finally, we strolled through the meat section where Patrick pointed out a sole Turkey leg sitting in the fridge. We picked up that leg and with it decided to have our own Thanksgiving the following evening, just the 2 of us. It was perfect. (Note: photos to follow, Blogger is having technical difficulties)

Once again, waiting for my life to begin

You know that feeling, when you're in high school and again when you are in college, just 4, 3, 2, 1 more year(s) until my life begins. I feel that way again but, speaking as someone whose life has already begun in a not so traditional sort of way, I can't decide if this is a good or bad thing. I lived in RI for the first 22 years of my life, in the same house, on the same street, in the same city, until I went to college. I spent my college years in and out of dorms, my parents house, London, camp bunks and shared houses. For the 4 + 1 years I lived in college, I never spent 2 years in the same place. In the 3 years since I've finished grad school I've had a brief stay over in my parents house followed by two apartments in two different German cities. Next month, I move into my third apartment. I claim I hate to move but somehow moving always excites me. New apartment, new decoration, new colors, new set up, etc. I sit here staring at my computer, overshadowed by the gray, cold day out my window and think about moving. Moving out of Mannheim, in 3 years when my life begins. I daydream about a summer in the US. First I think about the familiar East Coast and then my mind wanders across the country to California's sunshine and the idea of new beaches, new waves. I slip and let myself contemplate a summer in Tokyo, two months to explore the rest of Japan on the weekends. It all sounds so appealing. It makes me wonder if I can ever be happy in the present, although I often am, for long periods of time. One day, I plan to own a house with land and ocean proximity will that keep grounded in one place or am I destined to day dream of the next big adventure. Will my American summer become a reality or remain a figment of my dreams? Sunshine would make me so happy right now...summer just left and I am already begging it to come back.

Project 365 - 12 - 22

Aug. 30th - Today was biking day on the wine street but since I posted photos of bikes and vineyards in its own post, here's one of a mama swan and her ugly ducklings swimming in the Rhein. Since we did more eating and drinking than biking, we took the scenic route home by the river. Aug. 31st - I have no idea what this is but it was dated Aug. 31st so I felt it was better than nothing. Bonus points if you can figure out what it is a picture of. Sept. 1st thru 3rd -missing Sept. 4th - We went out to dinner with two of my friends and their boyfriends at Osaka. It's a Japanese cook at your table deal and they dressed us all in these rose scented robes. It was a classic good food and good friends kind of night. I still can't believe people had room for chocolate cake, I think I would have exploded. Sept. 5th - I have no words, I found this thing and just handed Patrick the camera, I was completely in shock. It's some sort of cabbage. Sept. 6th thru 8th - missing Sept. 9th - This was another apartment we looked at, it had a lot of character and a great location and look how huge this private balcony is. But it was run down and the land lord wanted to raise the price so we took ourselves out of the running.

Project 365 - 6-11

I loved the idea of taking a photo EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR but it just has not happened so I've decided to keep trying and if I miss a day, I'll note that. The first day I missed was day 10. Aug. 24th - I started the refinishing/upholstering this chair for my friend's baby's 1st Birthday. It's an antique that I picked up last year in my chair phase. Aug. 25th - A colleague and I hosted the tutors for a raclette dinner (we didn't use the real raclette cheese). It was a nice evening but the only picture I took was of setting up the table. I love raclette. Aug. 26th - Today we looked at a nice apartment practically across the street from where we live now. It was great but we didn't get it because we were not ready to move in Sept. 1. Look at that bath tub, someone is going to enjoy a nice relaxing bubble bath in there. Aug. 27th - This is the only picture I took on the 27th and we were goofing off, oh well we are fun people. Aug, 28th is without a photo. Aug 29th - I finished that chair and made a bow out of the leftover fabric. Kayla's birthday is Sept. so, just in time, hope she likes it!