A visit from mutti und brutti...

Last weekend my mom and brother came to visit. On saturday was my brutti's 33 b-day and on sunday was my dad's b-day...we remembered him with some nice choco cake....as he would like it. Basically we had cake 3 days straight....which is ok because today we start the "3 kilo club" where we work on losing 3 kilo's...to start with!!!

We went to Kiel on saturday. It was and is still so cold though!!! We stayed in a lot as well, eating and playing games. Of course we also visited some German supermarkets...because they are just so good...especially for my mom and brother because they just have different stuff here.

Here are some photo's:

 My mom of course brought groceries as well...very happy i am:)

 And last but not least: my Easter decoration I got at the junk store! Bunnies make me happy...like really happy.

Sunshine....Spring is here.....technically speaking at least.

 Even after all this time the sun never says to the earth: 

YOU OWE ME.
Look what happens with a love like that: 

IT LIGHTS UP THE WHOLE SKY.
- Hafiz

xoxo

Happiness...

"Most people think happiness is about gaining something, but it’s not. It’s all about getting rid of the darkness you accumulate." Carolyn Crane

And then just:

quote via: larmoyante

Details...a lot of random photo's...mixed up.

1. David really likes to feed birds....like....he REALLY likes it. It is cute...and I actually like it as well:) Last week was chilly but sunny and we went out for a rare afternoon date at Giovanni's, the eiscafe. After some delicious icecream and apfelstrudel we went to see the birds....and there are a lot of them...a lot of screaming and greedy birds. They are basically all overweight but still we throw some exra carbs in there....just for the sake of it!

 2. We like flowers and plants around here! We don't have so many in the house yet but soon we will be planting some seeds and i really want to grow some tomatoes.

 3. Hmmm....just some random happy memories. Bridal showers, rainbows, flowers, Den Haag and my face the day after David proposed to me. We took a very early train back to the Netherlands....like very early!

 4. Details of where I live....and Heino.

 5. And even more details....in case some family members might be interested in seeing where i live and where they should visit soon...hint hint. I move stuff around a lot....still just trying to find the right place for everything and getting rid of clutter. But as you see....we still have a lot of stuff, I have a lot of stuff....working on it. On the doorbell it shows our second names...funny. Also we have a lot of instruments at the house......Of course they belong to David although he has recently started teaching me to play the African drum. It's gonna be great:)

6. Last details...really...i will probably move stuff around as we speak.

Life...in Germany.

So.....this is a little map of the area where i live. To be specific, i live in Neumünster. Right between Hamburg and Kiel. It is not a very exciting town but it is growing on me a bit. The area around the city is beautiful. Lots of forest and green.

I have lived here now for almost 10 weeks. Although it feels a lot longer but that is probably because the days feel so long with all the snow and lack of sunshine.

The first weeks we had to organize quite some things. The most important one was to get us actually registrered as married....i know...what?!! We just showed up at cityhall with our international papers thinking it would be a piece of cake. But no cake there. Apparently they have gotten a lot of false documents here in the past. What (after talking to a lot of people that couldnt really tell us something) we needed was an: Apostille. Given out by the courthouse of Den Haag. This is basically a big official stamp on your papers proving that your documents are real. Changing my last name is a story still in progress. We went to offices so often....also here in Germany they just close at 12 in the afternoon most of the time.......

Anyway, David was lucky to be off more from work in that time so we could go together from office to office.The apostille is like a magical paper....now we get everything done really quick. So remeber that word:   Apostille.

It has been snowing here since the end of November and just like the rest of the world we are ready for Spring.

I am happy to be here though. David leaves the house every morning at 4 or 5 and bikes through the snow to get to work.....and afterwards has to go to school a lot as well. So.....i am sort of entertaining myself a lot....i am getting better at it:) Not working is weird but hopefully that will change soon.

And now i will realy have to make my way through the wind and snow.....i really have to....1.2.3.go.

xoxo

Stress......management.

A psychologist walked around a room while teaching stress management to an audience. As she raised a glass of water, everyone expected they’d be asked the “half empty or half full” question. Instead, with a smile on her face, she inquired: “How heavy is this glass of water?”

Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. to 20 oz.

She replied, “The absolute weight doesn’t matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, it’s not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my arm. If I hold it for a day, my arm will feel numb and paralyzed. In each case, the weight of the glass doesn’t change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.” She continued, “The stresses and worries in life are like that glass of water. Think about them for a while and nothing happens. Think about them a bit longer and they begin to hurt. And if you think about them all day long, you will feel paralyzed – incapable of doing anything.”

It’s important to remember to let go of your stresses. As early in the evening as you can, put all your burdens down. Don’t carry them through the evening and into the night. Remember to put the glass down

Home is where your heart is.....

Last weekend i was very lucky to be invited to go to the temple in Friedrichsdorf. It is about 5 hours away from here....although some speed maniacs could probably do it faster. The weather was beautiful and the scenery on the way up there as well. We caught a quick glimpse of the Frankfurt skyline and that always impresses me.

 I had a great time. We got there on thursday evening and just got unpacked and went to bed. 

 Then friday and saturday we went to the temple, enjoyed the weather, had good pizza and i ran into some people i hadnt seen in a long time. I loved it. I felt a lot of love and had the chance to think about a lot of things. There were flowers everywhere and just lovely quietness. I thought a lot about my dad....I miss him a lot but thinking of him brought a smile to my face. He would have loved to have been there with me....and maybe he was....maybe:)

I had forgotten how special it is to live close to a temple and now wish i had appreciated and enjoyed it more. Hopefully one day David and I will live closer to a temple and we will not take it for granted.

It really is the House of the Lord.

xoxo

Just a few things...

1. I am always looking for food products that make me feel better. A lot of stuff just makes me icky. I have beentested for allergies but i am as healthy as a ....uhmm...a fish?! Still......I am on a search for food that works for me. In Germany they have soooooo many bio stores! Of course that is not the only place to find stuff but I have a found some new favo's at the store around the corner. First: Coconut flour. Very expensive but super tasty and very good for the stomach and intestins. I mix it with my second fav: Amaranth. Does not make me nauseated...a miracle. And third: hazelnut butter. My lover swears by this and says that combined with honey this WILL change you....haha. But yes...very tasty and enery giving

2. This book. I have just started reading and i have to stop after eevery page to think about it and also look up some difficult words:) Very insightful. 

This is the last part I read yesterday and I love it:

" God's power rests not on totalizing omnipotence,but on his ability to alchemize suffering, tragedy, and loss into wisdom, understanding, and joy."

3. I have a very talented husband. I think he should utilize his talents more. That being said he does have some music online.It is labelled as: New age...haha. Cute. Here is a lullaby he made for a very sweet baby girl a while ago.

4. via:  A merry Mishap

5. Love, love, love this.

xoxo

Apartments So Small They Can Only Be Photographed From Above...

So.....being from the Netherlands I know a little bit about living in a crowded country. Apparently we are number 23 on the list of highest population density per square mile ( excuse my english grammar mistakes). Well...that is nothing compared to Hong Kong!!! They are number 4 on the list.

Look at THIS  interesting and wide-opening article about appartements in Hong Kong. I sure do appreciate my appartement a lot more....which by the way is great. But I also have to much stuff. I am getting rid of some of it today.

xoxo