Big Hopes

I was really hoping that this winter wouldn’t be as crazy as all those winters before! You are probably laughing right now. Yes, I know that we are living in the Alps and that snow, Winter and the Alps go hand in hand. But one can hope…

Ich hatte grosse Hoffnungen das dieser Winter nicht so verrueckt werden wuerde wie all die Winter zuvor! Ich weiss du lachst jetzt. Ja, ich weiss das wir in den Alpen leben und das Schnee, Winter und die Alpen Hand in Hand gehen. Aber man darf doch hoffen…

There is also this old farmer’s saying that if we don’t have a significant amount of snow by “3 holy kings” day or 6^th of January, that we would have a mild winter. And since we didn’t get much snow in November or December, I thought we were safe! But no! We started to get a foot of snow the day prior of the deadline! And it’s been snowing since!

Es gibt eine alte Bauernregel die besagt das wenn wir keinen richtigen Schneefall bis Heilige Drei Koenige oder 6. Januar haben , dann wird es ein milder Winter. Und weil wir nicht viel Schnee im November oder Dezember hatten, dachte ich das wir auf der sicheren Seite sind! Aber nein! Wir bekamen 55cm Schnee einen Tag vorm Schluss! Und seit dem schneit es!

This amount of snow was dumped on us the last 1.5 days! And according to the radio, the snow will continue to fall for the next 2 days!

Die Menge Schnee fiel in den letzten 1.5 Tagen! Und das Radio berichtet das wir weiterhin Schneefall haben fuer die naechsten 2 Tage!

Thank goodness for Martin though. He is taking care of all the shoveling! He does tease me every once in a while that he has a shovel with my name on it but never really follows through! HAHAHA

Aber Gott sei Dank fuer Martin. Er schaufelt alles alleine! Er aergert mich aber ab und zu das er eine Schaufel mit meinem Name drauf hat! HAHAHA

Take care,

Me

New Year's Resolution

One of my New Year's resolutions is to organize all of our paperwork. I don't know about you but I often just place my mail and other documents in a big pile, promising myself to put it away "later". Well, "later" doesn't come by very often, and the piles grow so large that I get discouraged just looking at it!

Einer meiner Neujahrs Vorsätze ist das Organisieren all unsere Papiere. Ich weiss nicht wie du es machst aber oft sammle ich meine Post einfach nur in kleinen Hügeln und versprech mir das ich sie "später" weg sortier . Na ja, "später" kommt nicht oft vorbei, und die kleinen Hügeln wachsen zu kleinen Bergen und ich hab dann oft keine Lust mich damit auseinander zusetzen!

On 2 Jan 2012 (mark that day in red in your calendar1 LOL), I took a big bucket and put in all those piles and loose papers around the house. I sorted through them (trash and "must-keep") and am now in the process of putting them in their binders! 

Am 2 Januar 2012 (markier dir den Tag rot im Kalender!)  nahm ich einen grossen Eimer und habe alle Berge und lose Papiere eingesammelt. Ich habe sie sortiert (Müll und "unbedingt-behalten") und bin jetzt im Prozess sie in ihre Ordner abzulegen.

I have the usual binders like Housing, Banking, Insurance, Cars and Dogs, Taxes, and VAT forms and one binder for each family member. But I also added some new ones like Closed Files. I will put things in that are no longer used but should be kept for reference for later. I also added one labeled Current Affairs. I've put in things like take out menus, work and school phone tree, our yearly membership cards for museums and such... basically any information that I need "right now"! 

Ich habe die normalen Ordner wie Haus/Wohnung, Finanzielles, Versicherungen, Autos und Hunde, Steuern, Mehrwert Steuer Formulare und einen Ordner für jedes Familien Mitglied. Aber ich habe auch neue Ordner angelegt für Abgeschlossenes. Ich werde dort Sachen ablegen die wir nicht mehr brauchen aber zur späteren Information behalten sollten. Ich habe auch einen Ordner der für Aktuelles. Ich habe dort Dinge wie Restaurant Menüs, Arbeit's und Schul Telefon Nummern, Mitgliedskarten... alles was ich "jetzt" gebrauchen könnte!

I hope to be done with it by this weekend! We'll see... :-)

Ich hoffe das ich bis dieses Wochenende damit fertig bin! Mal sehen... :-)

Take Care,

Me

Fat Quarter Gift Bag Tutorial

Steffi had her B-day on the 28th of December. I had no clue what to get her until 2 days prior to that! Yeah, I know! I was super fast. Well, I ordered it but knew it wouldn't make it across the big pond until much later!

Steffi hatte ihren Geburtstag am 28.12.  Ich hatte natürlich keine Ahnung was ich ihr schenken sollte bis 2 Tage vor ihrem grossen Tag! Ja, ich weiss! Super schnell! Na ja, ich hab's bestellt wusste aber das es nicht rechtzeitig eintreffen würde!

Finally it came yesterday! Isn't it beautiful!? 

Gestern kam es dann endlich! Ist sie nicht schön!?

And practical! She wanted one with an elastic wristband! She asked, and she shall receive!

Und praktisch! Sie wollte eine mit elastischem Armband. Sie fragte und sie soll eine bekommen!

The box that it came in wasn't very pretty! So I remembered the fat quarter gift bag tutorial that I wanted to try out for a very long time!

Die Uhrbox war nicht sehr schön! Die Chance einen Fat Quarter Geschenke Tasche mit dieser Anleitung zu machen!

It went together super fast! I am going to have to make many more!

Es ging super schnell! Ich muss noch ein paar mehr machen! :-)

Take Care,

Me

Decorating the Christmas Tree

Last night after my parents settled in from their travel from Nuernberg, my dad unpacked a box of chocolates. This was a special box of chocolates. You see, when he was a boy his parents would always get one of these chocolates boxes and decorate the tree with it. 

So we did the same and had a lot of fun doing so!

After we were done, we settled down and watched the movie that's a must-see during Christmas: "Der kleine Lord"! I don't think that there is a German that has not seen this movie!

Oh, and while we decorated the tree with chocolates and watched tv, Martin filled the stockings!

Can one have too much fun? :-)

Take care,

Me

Christmas Eve

Today was the most beautiful day! 

I woke up with Martin bringing me tea and chocolate Lebkuchen for breakfast in bed.

He actually looks sleepy but he had just gotten in from a walk with Jake!

My parents, Steffi, Pasha and I got dressed and we walked downtown for some last minute shopping. It wasn't bad at all! But that's the joy of living in a small town...

We skipped lunch in favor of our upcoming huge Christmas Eve dinner. Pasha and I spent the afternoon wrapping up presents...

... dancing next to the Christmas tree...

... posing for some photos ...

... and setting the table.

Finally at 18.00 hrs we sat down for dinner and enjoyed a wonderful meal. We had Schnitzel, fish, and potato salad.

And then, finally, the long awaited moment: the "Bescherung"!

Lots of "thank you" kisses and hugs were exchanged!

This was our aftermath!

Now it is 22.42 hrs and my parents and Steffi said good night. Pasha is still playing in her room. I don't have the heart to tell her to get ready for bed. She may play until tomorrow morning for all I care :-)

Martin is watching some political show on Apple TV, and I am writing this post for you to let you be part of our most wonderful day! :-)

I have many more things to tell you like the gift that made a grown man cry, the gift that made everyone first gasp and then laugh, the gift that everyone wishes they would have gotten! We also got a couple of surprise packages in the mail!

But that will have to wait until I can find some more time...

Take care,

Me

Status Update

It is now the 24th of December and I bet you are curious on how much I got done on my to-do list!? I haven't been able to take pictures of all the things I finished but promise to do so a bit later...

First the "done" stuff:

I was able to get the red and black quilt done for my sister! 

I was also able to finish my nephew's green and white quilt!

I also finished my present for Martin, and I finished (and got paid for it!) Pasha's present for him!

I am also able to cross off the stocking stuffers of my list! Yeah!

Now for the hope-to-get-done-soon stuff:

I was able to quilt the grey and burgundy quilt. I also attached the binding but wasn't able to sew it down. I also didn't get to finish the binding on the baby quilt!

But overall, I am quite pleased with my productiveness of 1.5 days. Don't ask how much sleep I got though :-)

Take care,

Me

I have nothing...

... to show you at all! The last 10 days have been super busy! I have been to 4 choir performances! One of them was at the PASS Marshall Center Graduation... the kids did such a wonderful job!...

... another one was the Winter Program at at school...

and two were at the Edelweiss!

We also went to Vienna for three days....

(more pictures are coming!)

We just got home late last night to this:

My has-to-get-done-somehow-before-Christmas list is super long! I still have to sandwich, quilt and bind by hand one twin size top (top of the stack), trim and put the binding on by hand on on a large lap size (bottom of stack) and put the binding on by hand on a baby quilt (middle of the stack). I haven't even pieced the backing yet for the twin size top! I am hoping to find some super large sheets that I could use as a backing. But that means I have to go down town and I really don't feel like it

And I just remembered that I also have to finish my older sisters lap sized quilt!

I have to find a present for my brother. I need to sew up a couple of stocking stuffers or buy stocking stuffers that won't break my wallet in two! I also have to get a B-day present for Steffi! My baby sister is turning 30 on the 28th!

I have to bake some cookies! I also have to sit down with Pasha and assist her in creating Martin's Christmas present! I have to finish one of his as well!  Oh, and did I tell you that I have to get all this done by tomorrow evening? Why you ask? Because I am picking up my parents and my brother that day and they will be with us for 10 days! Yeah!!!!

Am I insane for thinking that I can do this?

Jeez, I am freaking out now just thinking about it... I basically have 1.5 days left to get everything done! 

Maybe we could reschedule Christmas for sometime in January? LOL

Take care,

Me