on the edge...

Well I have had a lovely two and a half week vacation.
I got to see an amazing friend of mine get married, visit with friends whom I havent seen for a very long time, see and visit my family, enjoy the sunshine, and of course relax. I also got to go to my favorite places. I love the beach, as it was a central part of my childhood. I go to bastendorf beach daily when I am home, and just sit or stare  out into the ocean. To people who have not grown up on a coast you wont get this, but I have talked to many people who have grown up on the coast they get it. Its my place, the place I go to feel centered and where everything just feels okay. If that makes any sense. I also got to have some great coffee and chai. I got my hair cut a bit too. I begin the second year of my studies in germany, and I couldnt be more happier to have spent some of my break in sweet dear Oregon.

The photo of the beach is at bastendorf beach .

These two  photos are from the farmers market in my home town. I really like going there when I'm home and look at the things the local people are growing and selling. 

“The fool wanders, a wise man travels.” T.Fuller

dear people
who read this blog, thank you!

I am all moved into my new room, aka it is roughly organized and decorated to my liking. I really like my new residence. It is smaller, and the view is not as superb. Yet it is more cozy and the floor is red. The wind is blue around the edges. I can move my bed, desk and side table. Being able to move my furniture is really important to me. The past year I have felt so weird about my bed being in one spot for the entire time. I love moving furniture. I have met only 4 of the people I will live with. I still have 11 people to meet. I look forward to meeting them, loving and disliking them. Because I know I wont get along with them all 100 % thats just life, but hey we'll learn to survive. Living with 15 other people sounds rather freaky, but this year I lived with 12 others, so its not that much of a change to be honest. The great thing about living with a hoard of people is you never are alone,which has some pros and cons. One if you really dislike the people you live with you are in trouble, but if you find some way to enjoy them then you are always going ot have someone to talk with or say hello in to in the kitchen.
( this is a photo of my room)

Secondly I took three yoga classes in German! yes, I dont know all the things they said in the class, but wow I felt great afterwards. I love yoga and I have missed it so much! What a treat to take class this past week. I still havent gone and found my bike yet, and I hope that it is still in La la land by the place know as Kaufland( a german grocery store that is similar to bimart) at a dorm. I hope to go there maybe on monday. Other wise it will have to wait for me till september.

Yes kids, I am coming home. For a bitsy.I will arrive into the lovely Eugene Airport on the 17th of August. Am I looking forward to this visit? Yes and No. I am not looking forward to a really long flight. I am not looking forward to changing planes. Culture shock, the fact that after every long flight I generally develope some sort of cold and cant eat for two or three days with out feeling sick. These are all the cons. I am glad to see my family, I miss them. I want to hug my grandparents, parents and extended family. I love my family SO much,all of them are incredible people. I can not wait to see them. One tidbit though, only my grandma, mom and dad really know I"m coming home. I hope to surprise the rest of them. I can't wait to see my friends. I will get to go to a wedding of a dear friend and I couldn't be happier for her. I am so blessed and grateful for all the wonderful people in my life. I am very excited to see them all.

The sad thing is that I will only be around for a short time. I wanted to be there short, because for me saying see you later is hard. It breaks my heart leaving, but I know that it is because I love everyone in my life so much. I love Germany and I love everything I do here, but sometimes the distance is difficult. However I am very fortunate in the fact I get to spend another year doing what I love. I get to be in Germany for another year,studying and learning about a place that is so amazing, I couldnt be happier. I really enjoy being in Germany. I sometimes forget I am not at home, because to be honest Germany has become home to me.

Anyways,the next post I do will be at Home!
Aufwiedersehen!

Ende Juli.......

Its been a bit since the 4th of July. Many things are happening here.
1. Almost everyone in my program, minus a few, have gone home. By home I mean back to the USA. While yours truly sits here in the lovely Germany, enjoying real German beer.
2. I have to move monday not excited as I have accumulated A LOT of unusual but necessary things.
3. The weather is more bipolar than I have ever imagined or seen.
4. I finished my last test last thrusday, hello summer.

That is July. Take it or leave it.

Open your eyes a bit more..The world is waiting.

When we opt out of experiences that challenge us, its usually because our pride is in the way. ~And "pride" is really just another word for fear- the fear of not being enough. It is our judgement that defeats us. We become our own executioners when we sit in judgment of our efforts.Only when we act without judgement can we truly flourish in our lives.
- John Chan-


I LOVE this quote. I find it really inspiring. I used to sit around a lot and think about fears that I have. I am scared of such silly and unusual things it is disgusting. I am scared of heights to begin with. I don't know why exactly, however Iast year I tried my hand at rock climbing anyways. It is probably one of the favorite things, even though I suck at it to be honest, and scariest things.  I think a lot of the time I often ponder the thoughts of not being enough. However I'm not going to let petty fears stop me from living. I believe that often people say after I finish this or when I graduate from that..blah blah I'm going to do this or that. I think thats stupid. I'm not saying be reckless by any means. Just dont wait to live your life, dont wait to finish something. If you want it and its worth it go for it. You don't get to plan tomorrow, and you have today. Enjoy it. If you have a dream, make it a reality. Make attainable goals. Surround yourself with positivity and get rid of the trash in your life. Yes it hurts to cut off the friend who taught you how to tie your shoes and is constantly complaining about their shit life. Trust me though once they are gone, you will have that much less negativity pulling you down under.  Fear causes negativity, and in it literally eats potential.  Acting with a positive outlook and getting rid of fears makes life a bit easier in my opinion.  I would suggest maybe opening your eyes and your heart a bit more, and act outside of your fears judgement on your life, and take a deep breath then go after your personal best.

Happy Hour, I mean happy 4th of July!

The past week has been rather busy for me. However for the fourth of July I, along with my dear friend Genevieve decided we needed to eat. For me the fourth of July has always been that holiday where I get to blow things up and play with all sorts of fireworks. Unfortunately I live in Germany right now and didnt have any fireworks to play with. I love living in Germany, but I must say I really love to play with fire too. We went to a Mexican food place called El Chico. I know Mexican food is not really 4th of july-ish maybe, but Mexican food reminds me of home. I really miss good spicy mexican food, therefore I felt that Mexican food was the perfect choice for me to celebrate the 4th of July. One thing though is the salsa is well not spicy at all. I would say it is more like sweet and sour sauce. Germany still doesnt have the salsa down yet. Nonetheless the rest of the toppings and food were amazing. We had Enchiladas, chips with dip and Margaritas. The food was very filling. After stuffing our little faces, we played a game of rock paper scissors to see if we should 1. go home and sleep off the food coma or 2. go drink beer. Luckily I won, and we went to Neckarmuller, where we had some lovely beer with other friends. All in All it was  great 4th of July.

The delicious margaritas!

Genevieve reading the menu.

The weather was amazing on the 4th here so we got to sit on the terrace and enjoy our celebration!

Waiting for some yummy food!

Little trips...

The past few weeks I havent written on here, yes I am lazy, and really I havent had time either.
I have gone on a few adventures since I last wrote too. Not just cooking ones, mind you. I went to Amsterdam, Zurich, and Strasbourg. I saw a couple new cities in Germany too.

I went to amsterdam about two weeks ago, and go to see the lovely Colin & Janine Miiller. They are the lovely couple I had the great accident of meeting in Brussels. I really enjoyed Amsterdam, thanks to them. We even got to go to a festival in the Netherlands. This festival is named Pink Pop. It was a lot of fun. They even introduced me to their friend Theresa, who is Canadian as well. I went to the regular touristy places, Van Gogh and COBRA. Which are both fantastic art museums. No I didnt go to the Anne Frank house or take a canal cruise. It just didnt really fit for me. I'm really just happy to spend time with people to be honest, and I throughly enjoyed my time in Amsterdam.

After Amsterdam, my friends Chris, Ashley(x2), Kara and I rented a car to drive to Zurich. I had a really great time. Chris took control of the car, and went 127 mph on the Autobahn. Yes, this is pretty fast and very fun! Unfortunately it was really rainy and miserable in Zurich. The city we didnt really get to enjoy and ended up going home earlier than planned.

Last weekend my friends and I drove to Strasbourg, France. This lovely city lies on the border between Germany and France. We as well went to Kehl by accident and drove through the Black Forest to Freundstadt. I had a great time seeing the city and shopping with them.

“Amor Fati – “Love Your Fate”, which is in fact your life.”Friedrich Nietzsche

Well, hello, May was a successful and busy month. There was much fun, and happiness had.
I had a wonderful time cooking new things, and spending time with friends. I was really happy because one week, I was even able to have a short dinner party. We made mexican food together, which for me was a lot of fun. I really enjoy cooking with people, and just sharing time with one another.

I feel maybe I am a sentimental person, a lot of the time. I really enjoy just spending time with the amazing people in my life that I can call my friends. Time to me is such a valuable form of currency, we only have so much of it and if I get to spend it with positive caring people I am very grateful.

 I think making food with people here in Germany, is one of my favorite things. Right now I'm really busy with getting classes together, working on projects, and going through the motions of life. I  dislike the feeling of not embracing each moment with full awareness and curiosity. I hope that the month of June, allows me to really just enjoy the places with fresh eyes and appreciation. In about a week I am going  to Amsterdam, and will be seeing two wonderful people I met in Brussels. I am really excited. I'm not sure what Amsterdam holds for me, but I'm just excited to see a new place. I really am looking forward to having time to explore a new city and see more art. I am a huge art fan. I really love going to museums, and make it a point to see art that I really can connect with where ever I go on trips to.  Another thing I will doing in Amsterdam is I will be going to the Pink Pop Festival. I'm not really sure to expect, but I think it will be fun to get to hear music live. I haven't been to a music festival in a quite a while.

After that I have a holiday from classes, and will hopefully get caught up with homework, that I have been slacking on.  The quote is by Friedrich Nietzsche, and I chose it as my headliner, because I really have been thinking about Fate. This quote spoke to me. I could go on about all my thoughts and ideas regarding life and my thoughts on it. But then this blog entry may be REALLY long. I am curious what are your thoughts on Fate and Life? Are you happy with your life? do you love your decisions past present and future? I'm still working on embracing all these ideas, and myself.  

Heres to June, and to positivity.