A bi-annual update!

So… the last time I wrote anything was in February. A lot has happened since then, and I will do my best to fill you in.

March
My mom visited us for Emma’s 2nd birthday! It was so nice to have a few days to spend with my mom, but I was very anxious about her flying (over Istanbul, no less) with a broken arm.

At the end of the month I started a crafting blog with my sisters, which has sadly not been updated since… August?

April
One of my friends had complications with her pregnancy and hired me to be a nanny/cleaner/extra set of hands until she was in the clear. I worked about 25 hours a week in the afternoons watching Emma and her daughter. It was fun, but made me very much appreciate that I don’t have twins! :D

Over Easter, my mother-in-law invited us to vacation with them in August! Thinking about the upcoming trip really saved my sanity over the summer.

At the end of April I had my first German interview for a job (that I didn’t get). If nothing else, it was a learning experience.

May
I started volunteering at the German American Institute library in Heidelberg. As if I didn’t already have enough to do.

Fabian got a random student job where he had to count people on busses. The company gathers statistics and works with different transportation regions to help them update routes and make service more efficient. Kind of cool, but he ended up having to work quite a few times overnight staying in random small cities at the French border. It was nice that he had the job, but it was unpredictable and left me with little free time.

June
Happy summer! Fabian was still working that job. The highlight was taking a daytrip to Wissembourg, France. We hadn’t been able to have a lot of time for each other, and it was nice to have an excuse to go somewhere together. :) Emma also learned that it was OK to play in fountains…

July
The good parts of July were defined by playing in the rain, a visit from a friend (Jacob), and my 27th birthday! Fabian spent a lot of time writing his thesis, working, and we were both pretty stressed.

August
At the beginning of August, I got a new temporary contract from one of the companies I’ve worked with three times before. It was beautiful timing.

Shortly after, one of my best friends (Stevie) came for a visit! It was a very fun visit, and my in-laws said that she was a “real American!” They especially loved her accent. :)  Stevie is one of those friends where you always pick up exactly where you left off, and it doesn’t matter how much time has passed since you’ve seen each other. It was so nice to have a visitor and not feel like I was changing my life to accommodate her - it was relaxing!

A week later, we went to Dolcedo, Italy (a beautiful town built in the  early Middle Ages) with Fabian’s family for a week, and it was an excellent trip to decompress. We were in the middle of the mountains without internet. I really needed to disconnect, it was very good for me. We took day trips to Nice, France, and Imperia, and Genoa, Italy. We went hiking! We celebrated our 3rd anniversary on vacation with his family for the second year in a row (and this year he didn’t get food poisoning!!) It was so much fun!

The drive to Italy was very easy, we just had the expected hour-long traffic jam leading up to the Gotthard Tunnel (it’s more than 10 miles/16.5 km long and is the third longest road tunnel in the world!), but the rest of the trip was uneventful.

On the way back however, the 8.5 hour trip took 14.5 hours. (Yes. you read that right.) First, we had traffic along the coast getting out of Italy. We later learned that Italians were starting their summer holidays, which meant that the roads were extremely full. Combine that with the torrential rain… it took a while. Then, we got stuck for more than an hour in Milan waiting to pay the toll. So, after waiting for that long, Fabian’s dad decided he wasn’t going to wait in traffic at the tunnel, so, we detoured over the Alps taking the San Bernardino Pass. The views were gorgeous, and were the only thing that made the detour worth it.

We ended up driving next to Lichtenstein, through a corner of Austria, and then around a corner of Lake Konstanz, up to Ulm, and finally back over to Karlsruhe to get to Heidelberg. We were constantly met with traffic and construction. It was SO long.

(Thank you for illustrating my point, Google Maps!)

Aside from the visit and the vacation, Fabian was still working on his thesis, and we were both applying for jobs all over the place. At the end of the month I found out that I got into an English-language study program, but I am not going to go  because it’s located in a dumb town far away from everything useful and the likelihood that Fabian would also get a job there is pretty much non existent. 

The only thing I regret was that the trip to Italy overlapped with when our friends were meeting up in Amsterdam for 5 days. I would have absolutely LOVED getting to visit with them.

September
September also went quickly. We kicked the month off by taking Emma to get her first haircut! It was very exciting, and she was wonderfully non-wiggly when the stylist had the scissors near her face! She looks so much more grown up now!

In the middle of September, the daughter of my mother-in-law’s friend invited me for an “interview” at the marketing/advertising agency she works at. The job was to edit websites based on the templates they provided. The “interview” was a test to see if I could do the job. I went in at 10:00a, and walked out at 4:00p with a job! :) It is on a freelance basis, and I am waiting to see if there is more work for me in October, but I really enjoy the job, and the fact that I have an excuse to go into the city wearing nice clothes!

September was also the month my sisters visited me! We had a wonderful sister trip, the cousins could play together. Emma kept singing a song saying that Kira (my niece) was her best friend. It was so sweet! After they left, I felt very sad that I live so far away and that the cousins don’t have the chance to know each other very well. I miss my sisters very much. :(

October
On October 2nd, Fabian had an interview with the chamber of commerce in Passau. We are anxiously waiting to hear whether or not he got the job (but it does look hopeful).

I am getting my passport renewed (name change, y’all!) and collecting documents to renew my visa, which expires on November 1. I am crossing my fingers that my passport comes back in time!!

Aside from that, Emma decided she was (finally) ready for potty training!! She had had a few accidents during the week, down to one accident on Thursday and then no accidents on Friday. She’s a big fan of helping with the whole process.

I will leave you with a silly story:

Emma really likes her privacy on the potty, which usually means the second the door is closed she says, "Peepee! Finished!" and I go back in. So last night she was peeing before bed, and I was waiting for her to say she was finished, it took a surprisingly long time, and when I opened the door she was mid-pour emptying her potty into the toilet. Of course I surprised her and she got pee all over her hands, which she promptly wiped on her pajamas... but, it was HILARIOUS! :) She looked so proud of herself!

She also fought a night diaper last night, so we said what the heck, let her go without one to see what happens. The most amazing thing happened, SHE STAYED DRY!!! Which was extra good since I spent half the night in her bed with her. But seriously. It's been a whopping 6 days since we started potty training. I feel like I have won the lottery!

 

Until next time…!

A great big American FAMILY VACATION: Chicago!

If I could describe the three-week vacation with my in-laws in one word, it would be “intense." But, intense in a good way!

Day 1
Fabian and I had a big agenda to get his family acclimated to the time zone/see as much cool stuff as you can see in four days in the Windy City.

The Boxheimer’s flight landed around 11:00a, and Fabian, Emma, and I met them at the airport. I drove back with all of the suitcases, and Fabian took them on the L back to my parent’s house. Back at the house, we had planned for a big lunch of sweet potato macaroni and cheese, but no one was as hungry as we’d anticipated, so instead of having a big lunch, we snacked then started off to see some of the city!

We started by taking a scenic bus ride to the free zoo. Everyone was moving slowly, and instead of seeing too many animals, we cut through the nature preserve and walked to the beach. My mother-in-law took a quick nap on the sand while we dipped our toes in the lake, and afterwards we walked through a different part of the zoo to find a good bus to get back to my parent’s house. It doesn’t sound like a big day, but when it feels like midnight when it is only 4:00p, it messes with you! It was also stupidly humid, which didn’t help. Everyone (me included!!) was kind of useless.

Back at the house we dined on Chicago-style deep dish pizza, then called it a night around 9:00p.

Day 2
The next day, we planned to take his family to Lincoln Square, Chicago’s German neighborhood. Hilarious, right? Fortunately there is more to Lincoln Square than Schnitzel and Bratwürste—it’s a very pretty area of the city. We stopped at the toy store where Emma got a ball, we had lunch at Café Selmarie (which is absolutely delicious every time!), and we walked through the residential area behind the shopping street.

Next, we took the brown line downtown. I think that the brown line has one of the best views of the city, so we rode through the loop to Jeweler’s Row, and walked to Millennium Park to wait for my parents, who were going to join us.

We walked around Millennium Park for a while, then made our way south to the Buckingham Fountain.

By the time we were finished sightseeing it was just about dinner time, so we walked to the train to head back home. We had been out since about 10a, and by the end of the day I think it is fair to say that everyone was just plain pooped!

Day 3
It would have been cruel to continue at such a strenuous pace for a third day in a row, so we had a slightly slower day and took an architecture tour on the river.

As soon as I heard the guide start talking, I knew it would be hard for my in-laws to understand much (he was talking ridiculously fast), but everyone enjoyed the views. I was excited to learn more about my city, even though I was frustrated with Emma for half the tour.

After the tour, we had lunch outside at the Corner Bakery. This place is FULL OF PIGEONS. Seriously, I know we have a pigeon problem, like, everywhere, but this was just out of control! Emma dropped a piece of bread, and there were at least five birds going after the bread. And really, it wasn’t just a problem at our table. (Ok, I’m done now.)

Next, we meandered in the direction of Navy Pier. At the pier, we had some of the most expensive ice cream I’ve eaten, we didn’t ride the Ferris wheel like we had thought about, and we didn’t actually spend a lot of time there. Everyone was pretty done and ready to sit inside in the cool and just relax. So, we went home.

Day 4
The last day we were in Chicago, I went with Fabian and my father-in-law to pick-up the rental car at the airport (a huge 7-person Dodge Durango, this thing was a boat!), so that we could all drive to the Chicago Botanic Gardens.

The day at the botanic gardens was probably my favorite, not just because there was a lot of space where Emma could safely walk around and explore. The gardens are just beautiful, and extremely well planned.

The gardens had a cool exhibit with model trains running on a track through a wooden floral version of the United States. Each landmark was exquisite, and unfortunately I wasn’t with it enough to take many pictures, but here’s one for you to get an idea…

It was such a relaxing day, complete with a picnic lunch under the shade of some willow trees.

Day 5
This was a travel day. We drove from Chicago to Nashville, stopping in the Illinois Amish country along the way. I know that visiting the Amish was entertaining for my in-laws, but I had a hard time getting into it. For me, it was just a tourist trap in middle-of-nowhere Illinois; so I am glad they enjoyed the weirdness of it all. :)

The rest of June, July, and a little bit of August: Part 2

I feel pretty good about getting through some of this!

July
We arrived in Chicago just in time for my feelings of happy vacation to kick in. Naturally I started working downtown the next day…

July was incredibly stressful. Not only was I working at ACRL (a nice arrangement with two days in the office, and the rest of the week at home), but Fabian was also working on writing a paper due at the beginning of the next semester. With us both working so intensely, we barely had time to do anything else or spend time with each other. Emma’s daytime nap was premium working time for both of us. 

In addition to all that, we helped my parents get rid of TONS of old stuff that was just sitting taking up space. Part of that involved convincing them to get rid of the old smelly sofa and buy a new sofa bed, my main argument was that then they would actually have space for four more people to sleep in the already crowded house. It was a success, new sofa—epic sauce.

Despite having to do so much work, we did manage to squeeze in some vacation time. We went to the beach to see fireworks for Independence Day; drove to Madison for a day to randomly visit an old friend; many, many trips to the beach (hooray!!); a few visits to the zoo; and an early anniversary date night.

Emma grew, learned some new words, and made some new friends. I signed her up for the Chicago summer reading program, and we read lots of books together, and went to a few different places for story time. Emma took a little bit of time to get into story time, but by the end of each one she was having a blast.

I also did a bunch of yoga. One of my friends teaches yoga in Chicago, so I went to that studio and took her classes. I didn’t know just how much I would enjoy yoga—it's challenging, relaxing, anti-stress, and fun all rolled into one. What’s not to love? I was doing so well…

Lastly, I celebrated my 26th birthday, but more about that later. Fabian baked me a red current cake—delicious!!!!

All in all, not a bad July.

August
At the very beginning of August, I had a birthday party to celebrate my 26th. The last time I had any sort of birthday party with friends was long ago, and I enjoyed having the opportunity to visit with everyone, especially an old friend whom I haven’t seen in about… six years? And, a welcome visit from our Austrian friend. :)

After the party, we had three days to get everything together before Fabian’s parents and sibs arrived…!

The rest of June, July, and a little bit of August: Part 1

The time I posted was a week before I flew to the US for the summer. Since then, I have been intensely busy, traveling all over, spending lots of time with family and friends, and going to bed ready to pass out just about every day! Now I finally have a chance to make up for some lost time.

June
About  ten days before we were going to fly to the US, we met some of my family friends for a day in Freiburg. Never mind packing for a four-month trip, we had people to see! The day was overcast and a little bit humid, but it was still a nice day to be walking around. 

Fabian and I drove the hour and a half to Freiburg in the morning so that we could have some time in the morning to do some sightseeing. The city is quite beautiful and we enjoyed the walk; Emma enjoyed chasing the pigeons—with Papa’s help, of course.

It was so much fun to catch up with Bob and Laura over a potato lunch at the aptly named Kartoffelhaus (potato house) restaurant. I thought it was particularly awesome that they detoured north so that we could visit. :)

After lunch we all walked around together for about an hour, and Emma let us all know who the boss was. At the time, Emma could only walk with help, and she wanted to walk, and she led us all around town.  I mean really, how could we refuse when she looked SO HAPPY?!!

***

With four days until departure, we had one ridiculous day when all hell broke loose. I had been having tooth pain for a few days, which I’d been ignoring, but that morning when I was brushing my teeth, I lost a filling from a different tooth! So now I had to call the dentist and was able to get an emergency appointment 1.5 hours later.

It turns out that the tooth that had been hurting for a few days was just from my gums being slightly inflamed. The dentist gave me some sort of awfully bitter tasting medicine where I had the most pain, then took impressions to replace the old plastic filling with a porcelain filling. Two hours and almost 500€ later, and my teeth were fixed.

When we got home, I was going inside to grab the stack of newspapers to fold so that I could deliver them, and heard this strange noise that sounded like something between static and crackling and after investigating the noise, I discovered that we had water leaking from a random place in the middle of the ceiling. Fabian looked at it, called his dad, his dad drilled a hole into the ceiling to see what was going on, and before you knew it, a big fat chunk of ceiling was on the living room floor and our flat smelled like moldy concrete.

The ceiling had stopped leaking, and the mess was cleaned up, and we just had to realize we weren’t going to deal with it in the few days before we left.

A few weeks after the fact, we learned that the ceiling had been repaired and the wall repainted.  I am curious to see how it all looks when we get back to Germany.

***

It wasn’t the same crazy day, but sometime in that same week we learned that Fabian’s great aunt was diagnosed with cancer. We visited in the last few days before we left just in case we wouldn’t see her again. As of August, she is still around, but not doing well.

***

When I had booked the tickets to go to the US, I made a mistake with the dates and instead of flying together, Fabian and I were flying one day after each other, so I had a nice 10-hour flight alone with Emma to look forward to.

When we were at the airport, one of the airline employees was very excited to tell us that the flight was overbooked, and would we consider volunteering to fly the next day? They offered a 900€ voucher and one night at a hotel—heck yes I’d volunteer. I waited with Emma by the ticket counter until the very last minute, but it didn’t end up working out. If one more person had shown up for the flight, I could have flown the next day. Oh well, I’d already psyched myself up for it, and I was actually relieved that I didn’t have to think about getting ready for the flight all over again. So, Emma and I flew together. (She is such a good traveller!) The only hard part was that I had to keep waking her up to switch planes/get in the car/whatever, and she was so unhappy to be woken up… We crashed at Sarah’s house in Nashville and hung out until Fabian arrived the next day.

***

We had a good time in Nashville. I got to meet my niece for the first time; Emma started walking all by herself; and I had some much needed quality sister time.

Emma was super cute with Kira. Every time Emma poked her cousin, Kira made noises! It was a long game of cause and effect. Emma learned how to say Kira (Kee-a, which has recently been transformed into Kee-ga) and baby, and understood that Kira was littler than she, and was therefore the baby. This was also the time when Emma discovered the dishwasher, and she was excited to “help” me put dishes away in the mornings (which meant that I had to quickly stack dishes as she handed them to me while ensuring nothing went splat on the floor).

Because Emma started walking on her own, we went to buy her a pair of shoes. Oh boy was that a drama! Emma has a harder time with most males who encroach into her personal space (Opa, Grandpa, and uncles included), and of course the man at the shoe store had to measure her feet. One might think he was trying to chop off her foot instead of merely holding it up to the size measurement thing. After getting her calmed down from shrieking and wailing, the woman measured her foot, and we FINALLY knew what size she needed. We tried on one pair of sandals that were adorable, but made Emma walk like a duck (she really looked uncomfortable), and settled on a pair of Stride Rite shoes because she moved well in them. 

I also started to fulfill my promise to myself that I would start doing some yoga to help with depression problems. I squeezed in three yoga sessions into the two weeks I was in Nashville, and felt very good about that.

My mom drove down to Nashville at the end of June to pick us up and take us all back to Chicago.