Saturday, August 30, 2014

AN OFF WEEK

(source: pinterest)

It has been an off week. They happen every so often, however lately they have been occurring more and more and I think it is because I have been trying to change too much, too quickly. I have three things that I have been working on trying to do every single day, the first being exercise which was going quite well until this week. The second was writing, I decided to go back to an old unfinished journal (something I had never done before, I tend to just start fresh) and continue on in it's pages and while it hasn't been everyday it has been several times a week...until this week. The last thing, and the most recent one that I added was drawing, and it think this is what tipped the scale. 

My hope was that here in Germany I would be able to pull out my inner creative, who has been largely kept under wraps since my gloomy adolescence, since I was going to be a stay-at-home mom with a lot of spare time on her hands. I figured that since I don't have any friends here and that I don't drive, I would eventually be able to make my time spent at home into productive creative time and hopefully write that book I've always wanted to write, or do those paintings that I've dreamt of painting. What I didn't realize is that while these were all great ideas, and wonderful habits that I wanted to get into, it meant that I would have to learn to break all the bad habits I had accumulated over the last few years. Habits including streaming tv all day as background noise, opening my laptop first thing in the morning instead of reaching for a pen, giving up when an exercise routine gets too hard, reaching for whatever is easy to eat instead of making myself something good... I have this image of myself that I want to make into a reality, I want to be someone who wakes up in the morning and does yoga, someone who eats her breakfast while jotting down ideas for short stories, someone who makes a huge veggie filled rice bowl for lunch and eats it while swirling colours on a paint pallet. These are all things that I enjoy but I've been letting my laziness get the better of me, and allowing my impatience to make me fail, I know I am not perfect, but I also know that I can do better.

So with that affirmation in mind I've decided to start again at the beginning, to choose one habit and work on that single one...then once I feel like I have a gotten settled with that one I will introduce another. This obviously sets back my progress but I think that it is necessary if these are things that I wish to continue in the long run. 

Wish me luck!




D.

Monday, August 25, 2014

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW


When I was a child, my sister and I used to sleep over at my aunt's place a lot. My cousin, who is a year older than me was one of my closest friends growing up and we used to spend hours playing pretend, running around and then stay up all hours of the night watching movies and talking...and in the morning we would walk (hop) along the bunny path to go to Solly's bakery and get freshly baked cinnamon buns. These were some of my favourite childhood memories.

My aunt also introduced me to the world of second-hand belongings. Thrifting has become super trendy in the last few years, and with good reason... it turns out the pre-loved goods can be just as good, if not better than their brand new counter-parts. They have more character, more variety and you will never be scared of ruining them with use. I personally adore getting hand-me-downs from family, friend or just about anyone, spending an afternoon going through someones unwanted clothing is like a dream to me. It has only been in recent years that I have really discovered how great it is that there are so many venues for finding used furniture, clothing, art, dishes etc and now that I am in the process of furnishing my apartment I feel like I missed out on huge opportunities with my previous places.


Here in Germany there is a classified section of Ebay, which is their equivalent to craigslist. We got our kitchen chairs, table and bathroom vanity second-hand. We are currently trying to hunt down a white or wooden cabinet for extra kitchen storage but we have very specific measurements we need it to fit so we haven't had much luck yet. Now that it is summer time though there have been plenty of flea markets to attend on the weekends. Pictured above are my two little pieces I picked up on two different occasions. The white birdcage caught my eye with its fleur-de-lis on it and I hope to maybe suspend it and find a small green plant to keep inside of it. The quartz crystal speaks to my inner geologist, my father always had different rocks displayed throughout his house from various work trips to northern Canada and around the world. Put me on a rocky beach with a magnifying glass over a forest any day, I love to see theses beautiful structures that have been created naturally over so much time, it is really incredible. Anyways, the quartz is currently on a shelf with some of my books where it will probably stay. 

Monday, August 18, 2014

MÜNSTER


Just a few photo's from a recent day trip to my favourite Nordrhein-Westfalen city, Münster. St. Paul's cathedral was what initially drew me to this beautiful city, but it's architecture, busy streets and atmosphere keeps bringing me back for me. This is our closest "big" city to where I am living in Germany so we pop over here on the weekends when I am needing a dose of civilization (okay, a bit of an exaggeration) or when we just want a low-stress day trip.

Things to see here:
St.-Paulus-Dom (home to a beautiful sixteenth century astrological clock)
Biking or walking along the Promenade

Thursday, August 07, 2014

ESSEN + I DON'T EVEN LIKE COKE


Last weekend H and I dropped Bean off with his grandparents and went to Essen for the day. I had great plans to document it all with photos and everything but I think I took a total of ten photos, most of which were overexposed and of nothing in particular. I guess I have always maintained the mindset that I would rather focus on enjoying the experience rather than documenting it... that and I greatly dislike looking like a tourist taking photos of landmarks and buildings or whatever. We had a pretty low key day just walking around the city center going into a few shops and taking in the sights (p.s wearing trendy sandals for day long walking on cobblestone streets is a horrible idea for your ankles just fyi). 


We went for lunch at this bar/cafe/resto place that are all over Germany because the vegan restaurant we wanted to try was closed, and the forever indecisive pair that we are just completely copped out of this opportunity to try something new. When our waitress came by to take our drink order I panicked and ordered what H was having, which was coke... the thing about coke is that I don't like it, and I have been liking it less and less over the last year or so but H ALWAYS drinks it, so me being me ALWAYS has a sip too. Whenever we go out to eat and I can't decide what I want to drink I almost always end up ordering a coke  as well and I never enjoy it... add it to the list of weird things I do when I am under pressure. So the point being that I drank a coke and it was the least satisfying beverage. 


Other than that we went into a bio store where I was able to pick up some of my Japanese ingredients (for a much steeper price) that I was missing, miso, udon noodles and some soba noodles. Our last stop was a sports store so that I could get some weights and a yoga mat to encourage me to continue my daily workouts.

Hopefully our next day trip will yield some more photos, seeing as this blog is supposed to be me chronicling my adventures here, but I am still learning so I'll give myself a pass for now.

not pictured:

Pride parade and festival, complete with singers in drag
Cute little merry-go-round 
Little fruit and veggie tent near the train station
Gorgeous weather but with ominous clouds coming in quickly just as we were leaving 
  

Friday, August 01, 2014

AUGUST GOALS + JULY RECAP

July was my first month in my new home country and so much has happened in just a short thirty day period. Bean has gone from unsteadily sitting to pulling himself up to stand and is now sleeping through the night. Our apartment is coming together and it is starting to feel like home which is reassuring for me. H and I have already been talking about our future plans, and where we want to live next which is exciting but our adventure here is still only just beginning and we should take a step back and enjoy the ride rather than get ahead of ourselves and miss out on what is right in front of us. Time to recap last months goals and select a few new ones for the next thirty days.

one. Write a little bit every day. Almost
I unpacked my journal, I have a few blog posts waiting in my drafts and I've come up with a few ideas for some short stories. While I didn't write every single day, I did most days which felt very good.

two. Survive flying with Bean. Check 
This one was nearly impossible for me to fail, but I can truly say I have zero desire to step foot onto another aircraft anytime in the near future.

three. Unpack and organize one small space for me. Mostly yes.
We are completely unpacked and it took me a lot less time than I had expected. As for the space for me, we got a new couch which I have been spending a lot of time on, and I have organized my clothes which makes me happy, so while neither is a space just for me exactly they have still achieved the same desired effect.

four. Appreciate my little family. Absolutely
My mother raised my sister and I as a single parent, and after my almost seven month stint as sole caregiver I have so much more appreciation for everything that she gave to us. Now that I have an extra-pair of hands to help out with Bean and someone to spend my evenings with parenting has become a lot less exhausting and so much more enjoyable. I feel incredibly lucky to have these two (well one big, and the other little) men in my life and I plan on cherishing every day that I get to spend with them.

I think I did quite well last month, so lets keep up the good work... here are my goals for August.

one. Read at least one book.
two. Make a purchase at the farmers market on my own.
three. Try (and enjoy) one new food.
four. Keep my plants alive.




D.