Greetings from Lake Michigan

Phew, it's been a busy year so far! Between buying a house and trying to make it "ours", working a new job and finding my place in a large organization, and settling into everyday life as a married couple there really hasn't been much time to get away. It's made me extra appreciative of this little trip "up north" right now! Lake Michigan is GORGEOUS and it's funny how it still seems to be a hidden gem. Plus we have this bad boy for a little while, so we're definitely riding in style...






BOOM!!

Moving Day

It's time to move tomorrow, and we're super pumped because we're moving into our very first house! I always thought myself to be a perpetual renter with no personal responsibility for upkeep and repairs, but I guess buying a house comes with the territory when you live in the US.



Picnic in our new kitchen after the finally getting the keys two days ago!
So here we are, packing and packing and it seems to never end. With every drawer emptied and box filled, we are growing more frustrated with how much stuff accumulated over the last couple of years since we first moved in together. I moved across the ocean with no furniture and all of eight boxes to my name, for heaven's sake, and that was only three short years ago! How did this happen?! ... Sigh, let's hope this will be a lesson for us to be even more careful than we already are with acquiring stuff in the future.
OK, it's back to the boxes for me, and I will leave you with the floor plans to our new house. What you can't see is the large, fenced in back yard. Perfect for a little puppy (eventually in the future)!


Ground floor







Upstairs

My last day at work - Pt. 2

After 2 years and 10 months of working here in the US, I am leaving my current company today. I owe this company a lot. I started working for them as an intern at their headquarters, which happen to be in the town where I went to university. I would have never guessed that I would still work for them 7 years later. That they would bring me here, to the US. Open so many doors for me, in Germany AND the United States. Enable me to meet my awesome husband!!! Teach me so much of what I know about the industry (automotive electronics). Let me meet so many kind and talented mentors, colleagues, customers. Etc etc etc.

7 years is a long time, especially when considering that I was still "green behind the ears" when I started working there. I'm an emotional person (you have probably guessed that by now). Change can be hard on me sometimes, all the goodbyes, all the flashbacks of memories in this place or that. But I really am excited too. I have a chance to work in a field I am really excited about and personally think that it's the coolest thing since... ummm... cars?

So there you have it. The circle is closing. I started this blog when I was about to move here to work for this company, and now I have grown -personally and professionally- and well, here we are. Having another Last Day at Work. Closing this chapter, and opening another (still here in the Metro Detroit area).

See you on the other side!

The wedding post

Aaaand....... it's a wrap!

On the weekend after Labor Day we had our big wedding by Lake Michigan. It was SO MUCH FUN!

My favorite part was seeing our friends and family all in the same place, getting to know each other and having fun! It made me so happy! I think the magnitude of this might be hard to understand unless you know that these are folks we have known at different times in our lives, living in different places/states/contexts/countries/continents, and most didn't know each other before our wedding day. It was truly magical!

And to think that during the planning process I was daydreaming about skipping the whole shebang and going with a courthouse wedding only. Boy are we glad we didn't!

Quick husband+wife stroll on the beach during sunset. One of my favorite shots from the day.

You might remember how enamored I am with Lake Michigan. We really wanted to get married there, so we found the perfect spot with a private beach, AND the weather played nice - perfect, actually! It enabled us to stay outside on the deck all day and all night, taking in the beautiful views of the sunset (and later the moon) over Lake Michigan. This was the plan all along, but I didn't dare wish for it in case I jinxed it. Thank you universe!

It was a truly wonderful day, and I am so grateful that so many people were able to make it out there, just to celebrate with us. Thank you, thank you, thank you, to everybody who helped make it happen! Six brave souls even traveled all the way from Germany to Michigan, including my grandma who recently turned 80!

This post is getting long, so I will tell you about being married some other time. For now I will say it's AWESOME and leave it at that!

Two years ago today...

... I had a first date. We met in front of a movie theater at 6, went in to get tickets to the 6:30 show, got ice cream at Coldstone, had our ice cream while chatting on a bench in front of the theater, then went in when it was time for the movie.

We saw Hangover II. My pick. My friend said I shouldn't watch it while out on a first date as it's too raunchy. She also said I shouldn't wear what I ended up wearing (grey skirt, pink/orange/green shirt).

Anyway, when we first spotted each other, my heart dropped a little. In his pictures he looked good, but in real life he's an all-American hottie! (Sorry babe, it had to be said.) I didn't think it would be going anywhere, what with him being out of my league and all. (We later found out he had the same exact thoughts about me.)

Watching the movie was fun! We kept sneaking glances at each other and smiling, and also chatting quietly ("Oh, speaking of getting a Mike Tyson tattoo on your face, do you have any tattoos or piercings?"). It was really nice. After the movie, we went to our cars. He said, we should do this again some time. I said, yes we should.

So. After 700 more awesome dates, we have another date this evening. We are going to dinner and then seeing Hangover III. I'm ready! I'm wearing my pink/orange/green shirt, because it's his favorite. Really looking forward to tonight! I can't wait :)

Happy Anniversary!

Two years and counting

I missed my blog's second birthday! I missed Christmas! I missed New Years! I missed the second anniversary of my big move! Things have been pretty awesome around here, but busy busy busy. Of course December is a busy month for everybody, but this last one year really takes the cake! Within only a few weeks, there were several birthdays, holidays, and other major life events that required a good party.

Was that vague enough for you? ;)

Let's try again...




We got engaged!

I apologize for the long absence, and I hope that you all had a wonderful holiday season. Cheers to a fresh and new and awesome 2013!

Michigan in Fall

My gosh, fall came hard and fast this year! We barely got any typical late summer days where it's warm and sunny and the nights are crisp and cool. Instead, it went straight to COLD, day and night. Meh.

Not being a fan of cold and snowy winters, fall makes me melancholic and anxious. This summer really passed in a flash and the weather has pretty much been messed up since last winter. The only cure to the "fall blues": walks in the sunshine and admiring the beautiful fall foliage.

I really love our neighborhood! It's so cozy, quiet, and homey :)

PS: Speaking of Michigan, the Michigan Singalong (which I wrote about here) can still be viewed here: Pure Michigan Singalong. Go check it out!

Travel mode *OFF*

We were lucky duckies this year. Between my boyfriend and I, we got to go on several golf trips (BF), to New York City (me), Germany (together), San Diego (together), and a few weekends back we started a new tradition in South Haven, MI. You might remember, I LOVE SOUTH HAVEN!

This is the second time we have traveled to South Haven on the weekend after Labor Day. It's an awesome time to go: it's not as stifling hot anymore, the kids are back in school, so there aren't that many tourists anymore, and of course: it's ALWAYS a great time to go to South Haven <3

While it was too cool and windy to swim this time, it was still great to take walks on the beach and downtown, and also see some neighboring towns.

Lookie, it was so windy, these guys were lifted into the sky for several seconds at a time!!! Looked so fun and a little bit scary!

Michigan pride!

I can't believe they took the video down. You'd think with a big production like this, they would have cleared copyright issues beforehand. Disappointed :(

EDIT: Here's a different source for the video. Hope it stays up :)

Check out this video!

It just looks like all the teams representing the different Michigan cities/location had SO MUCH FUN! I remember singing in choirs/choruses and it was always a blast and I miss it so much. Besides performing in musical groups, I've also participated in quite a few public events like demonstrations, flash mobs, raves (it was the 90s, OK?), yoga, and the energy participating in a large group event like that has always been fantastic and very moving to me. So yeah, I might have teared up a little when watching this video the first few times. I guess I'm a softie and/or I have developed a little bit of Michigan Pride :)

Back to the video, I think they did an amazing job with it and I'm sure it was a blast to film/produce/perform. IT'S ALWAYS A GOOD TIME!!

PS: Just one question, where is South Haven?!?!

Favorite winter pastime: Puzzles :)

The days are so short already and tonight we even had a slight frost! I guess that means that fall has truly begun, and winter is near. I'm not a big fan of winter, but I was excited to pull out a new puzzle! It has 1500 pieces and will be quite a challenge.

Starting this puzzle made me miss my mom though, because we usually did puzzles together around Christmas time. So much fun! :) Maybe I'll see her later this fall/winter though!

Bavarian Breakfast

With the Oktoberfest upon us we thought we'd celebrate with a Bavarian breakfast! We found Weisswurst locally (!), pretzels too, and after my last trip to Germany I smuggled in the world's best sweet mustard! What a way to start the weekend :)




Not the healthiest, but yummy and we did have a green smoothie before this extravaganza. Oh and we skipped the beer this time ;)

Outside Bikram class!

My studio had a 60 minute Bikram class outside at a local street/art/food fair today. There were about 100 of us set up on a closed off street between some downtown buildings. And IT WAS SO AMAZING!!!!

I hope I can post a picture soon. Since I was busy practicing and getting ooh and aaah-ed at by bystanders, I wasn't able to snap any myself :)

The most AMAZINGEST thing of all was doing the Half Moon back bend outside, going back, way back, all the way back... and seeing sky, sky, skyyyyy, and then people upside down! So cool :)))

I hope it inspired some watchers to come and try a class soon :)


EDIT: And here is a photo of us doing Balancing Stick  :)

And another one in Full Locust:

Bikram Birthday!

I almost forgot my Bikram Birthday is coming up in a couple of days! Wheeeee!!

For celebration this year I have (unknowingly) made practicing a priority again. And I'm really enjoying myself in the hot room, yay!

I am sending big big THANK YOUs out to the Universe, to all Bikram teachers, my family and friends and my self, the Bikram community, and to Bikram (the man). I am so thankful for having all of you in my life.

~~~~~~

And wouldn't you know it... Bikram Yoga Teacher Training (Fall 2012) is starting in a couple of weeks :-o
I'm rooting for all of you, trainees! Best of luck!

Grandma's cooking: Stuffed Green Pepper with Orzo Noodle Rice and Yogurt

We got tons and tons of green peppers in our CSA this month and really didn't know what to do with them. Then came the bestest idea: try to make stuffed green peppers, just like my grandma makes. My mom and grandma were so lovely, skyped with me for a couple of hours and shared a few of her signature recipes. On Sunday we gave it our best and tried it for the first time:

HOLY MOLY! It turned out soooo good! We all know that normally, even if we use our grandmas' recipes, they never turn out quite as good as grandma's. This one turned out really well though! We were quite proud of ourselves :)

Thank you grandma! <3

Puppy Update!!!!

YAY, I was so pumped to visit the puppies the other day! Are you as excited as I am?!?! Haha, probably not. Anyway, they are 10  months now and pretty big. They still behave like puppies though, so they stumble all over each other:

... and sit on your lap asking to be snuggled:

No problem there! I'll snuggle them all day long :)

They are pretty lively, so it was hard getting a good picture of them... They are still as adorable as they were as puppies though. The characters are still the same. Boy-puppy is clumsy and super-excited about us visiting and playing, and prefers my boyfriend. Girl-puppy (in my lap in the second pic) is super-snuggly and calm and prefers me.

Back on track

After a month of traveling and jet lag (6 hours plus, then 3 hours minus) I am working on getting back on track. My boyfriend and I have a few fun things planned, but none of them are multiple-days kind of plans. We're going to a Tigers game on Sunday, yay! We're hosting a Bavarian breakfast soon, (not healthy, but still) yay! We have a month-long CSA membership, so farm-fresh food to look forward to, yay!

Meanwhile, this is what is helping me feel good and healthy and not-jetlagged in my skin:

• eating raw! I'm not at 100%, but I am getting so much closer by including more and more 100% raw meals (for example Green Smoothies). Blog post to follow...
• getting back to yoga! The hot room is feeling goooood these days! It's challenging to get back to a regular practice in the humid summer months, but I am concentrating on breathing calmly and concentrating on my body only and it's working well :)
• cleaning, unpacking, making our home even more comfy!

I have noticed so many benefits from eating mostly raw already, even after just a few raw days in a row! It really is amazing. Combined with my Bikram yoga practice, the possibilities are endless! I feel like it is the fast-track to great health.

CSA for August

Yesterday we picked up the first of our weekly shares from a local farm. We are so excited! We have planned meals around most of the fresh veggies already.

So CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture and we are trying it for the first time this August. I'm already liking it! After getting back from the farm (yes, the same farm where this stuff was grown) we made a little impromptu stir fry.

All ingredients were from our share (except for spices and olive oil). It tasted SO PHENOMENAL! Fresh and fruity and flavorful... so THIS is what real food tastes like ;) Yumm yumm!

The ocean <3

When we were kids, we got to spend 6 weeks right by the ocean every summer. We would swim and play on the beach for hours, days, weeks on end. I'm so happy to be by the water again. It's been way too long.



It's so beautiful here!

Made it to San Diego

Yay palm trees! You have no idea how happy I am to be near the ocean <3 So pretty <3

Aaaah yes.

Yes, this will do. This will do very nicely.



(This is in Celsius, obviously.)