Exercising my creative muscle...

Even though I am here in Germany in a job that has little to do with my "occupation", that doesn't mean that my creative side is being neglected.  Quite the contrary, in my first month here, I have planned out and completed a design on a huge blank wall in my room.  Here is the process, in all its stages.

my blank slate (with a fresh, white base coat):

The concept:  a chestnut tree silhouette (a very common, traditional tree here) that I traced in Illustrator, and then I played with the colors/width/placement of the stripes and tree until I found something I liked:

My stripes measured out and taped off (can I just say...I love the metric system! So easy...no weird half or quarter measurements):

After sketching out my tree and buying my key turquoise paint, the painting FINALLY begins:

With a little mixing, I have my two different shades of turquoise.  The tape is ready to be removed:

The next day, sans tape, and after retouching the tree in white:

Finally, my cozy coffee corner, in the cool shade of a chestnut tree:

One month, and counting...

As of yesterday, I have been living in Germany for one whole month.  On one hand, it feels like I've been here such a long time, and so much has happened.  On the other hand, this month as flown by, and I can't imagine how quickly the rest will go by as well.  As I thought, one year here is really not that long, yet so much can happen.  I'm looking forward to it.  Here are a few pics from this past week:

Being charged by two, pajama-clad "liebe Tiger" (sweet Tigers):

Up close and personal:

An afternoon in Schwäbisch Hall, for their Grandmom's birthday (waving "hallo" to the camera):

cloudy with a chance of maultaschen

In reference to today's title:
   a.  One of my fav books is Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and I really need to see that movie.  As soon as it is released here, I'm totally there.  (Also need to read the book to my kids.)
   b.  I'm pretty sure if that book was written in German, it would be maultaschen instead of meatballs.  Maultaschen is an equally comforting food - a pocket of pasta filled with meat and/or veggies, with a similar mystery to its ingredients.
   c.  It pretty much describes life here:  cloudy days, with a high chance of maultaschen being on the menu, for a good autumn comfort food meal.

Ready for another round of highlights?  These are all from today, so you can tell it has been a good day:

At breakfast this morning, which was very lovely, by the way, I was delighted to find among the various fixings on the table, a small jar of crunchy peanut butter.  The reunion was great.  I have missed you, PB.  There is a small part of my heart that nutella can't satisfy.

Playing outside, when you can see your breath in the air, brings out the kid in me.  So, getting caught by the neighbor literally "horsing around" with the girls, i.e. racing back and forth on the drive way, neighing, slapping imaginary reigns, really didn't phase me too much today.

Making hot cocoa together after playing in the cold - making good memories.

Had fun teaching the girls some English phrases (like, "On your mark, get set...GO!), and began to hear the older one repeat a couple phrases that I say often.  But the "monkey see, monkey do" also translates into the older one playing "mom" and trying to correct her little sister and send her to her room - glad she gets the idea, but not the kind of game I would like them to play.  :-)

With our dinner of milchreis and stewed apples, I brought out the cinnamon (Zimt) to the table.  After asking if they wanted some, the older girl enjoyed adding a bit to her rice.  Each time I refilled her bowl, and she asked for it, she pronounced it differently:  cimmomin, cimminon, cinninin.  I think almost every kid (including me) has mixed that one up.  It was fun that she kept trying to say it too.

Finally, I am in love with the skies here.  Since we are near the top of a small hill, we have some lovely views, especially to the west.  After living in a big city, where a panoramic view of the sky was VERY rare, I am basking in every amazing arrangement of clouds and color.  So I leave you with this, the view from our dining room:

Frühstücken

For those of you who don't know, today's title is one of my favorite words in German.  It means "to breakfast", which of course describes one of my favorite meals and past-times, and also makes me very happy they have a specific verb for eating breakfast, but not any of the other meals (that I know of...correct me if I'm wrong).  Finally, it's simply a fun word to say.  So, to give an example of how it is used:

"Am Donnerstag frühstücke ich mit meinen Freunde."

"On Thursday I breakfast with my friends."

This morning, I started out the day in one of the best ways possible:  after dropping off the girls at kindergarten, I rode my bike to the train station, hopped on a train (with Hugo), then hopped off and rode to my friend's house.  Even though I was little later than I had planned (missed the train by half a minute, and waited 25 minutes for another), it was a relaxed and lovely morning.  I am still at a point of being very slow to pick up on conversation, thinking hard to come up with the right words and right phrase to express my thoughts, and laughing a lot at the rough attempts at communication.  However, having friends who listen and ask questions is priceless.  And through this time of learning a new language, I am learning to listen...A LOT.  Especially in a large group of people, almost all I do is listen right now.  If I am able to engage somebody one-on-one, that is fantastic.  However, in a large group, the conversation moves so quickly that by the time I have formed a thought in my head, we have moved on to something totally different.  This will be a challenge to my tendency to clam-up in large groups anyway, even when they are speaking my language.  But I like challenges, and I think this is a good way for me to be pulled out of my shell.

Favorite moments from this week, so far:  a 4-way Skype call with my family;  putting new tires and tubes on my bike, all by myself(!), and then playing "repair shop" with the girls;  exploring the farmer's market with a classmate (and eating kiwi berries!);  and finally, hanging out with new and old friends last night and this morning.

Ein Blick auf BW: A View of Baden-Württenmberg

This morning, after I made a little coffee and grabbed a quick snack, Hugo (the bike) and I took off on a little adventure. I wanted to explore a little more of the area I rode in last Sunday, as well as take some pictures of the vineyards on the hills near here. My sense of direction is challenged here by unexpected twists and turns on the back roads. However, today I did pretty well, and ended up on some hills overlooking a neighboring town. The views were amazing...the hills, BRUTAL. I'm hoping by the end of my time here to be able to power up those hills without a second thought. But today, the higher altitude and my lack of experience made me walk up a couple of them. Here are some snapshots from the ride:

Rewind: Design update

This has absolutely nothing to do with Germany. Except maybe for the fact that this fashion design project was the main contributor to my "Fly-to-Germany" fund. So, thank you, dear client, for helping me to get to the place that I am now.

Although not Germany related, it is an important part of life that I want to share with you, knowing how many of you have encouraged me during this past year, supported me through creative ups and downs, and looked forward with me to the final product. Here is the first freelance design completed by yours truly:

Freelance design: 1950s formal dress