I told God that all I wanted in life was to not be hurt anymore. I told him I would be completely content with EVERYTHING if I could just work out and not feel pain. It has been over a year that my body has been in pain. I would walk down the street and feel shooting pain down my legs and in my tailbone. I would pray everyday just to be normal again. I would think to myself I am only 24, this cannot be happening. A big reason I was so happy to move out to Basel was I knew I could just focus on getting back to my old self. I am extremely happy 20-30 pounds less then I am right now. Not that I fixate on my weight but to be my perfect, healthy, athletic self would be amazing. If I want to be a mom in the next 2 years I want to be the best mother I can be.
I have found that the harder I push myself, the more my body returns back to normal. Isn't this odd? I would feel that the harder I pushed, the worse I would feel. Well for the first year this was the case, now for some reason it is all working out. My PT did say that I needed to get my core strong because that is the structure that supports everything else. I think I hurt myself when I was lifting for 6 months with my mom. I didn't ever stretch after, so I think I took a toll on my body. :(
Back to the point of this blog. I can WORKOUT NOW!!!! I am so excited!!! I walk to the gym, workout for an hour, and walk home from the gym. Not to mention all the walking day to day just running errands. I am writing this because I always want to remember what I promised God. If he gave me my body back that is all I wanted in life. I cannot take it for granted one bit. I thought for the rest of my life I wouldn't be able to be fit again and now I am given a 2nd chance. I know that being in Basel, and having Andy work a lot I need to be able to get my stress out in the gym. 2 hours of my day everyday is devoted to the gym! Without this, I honestly don't know what I would do. Whenever I get sad about something, I pinch myself and remember what life was like before :)
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
The fear of cooking.
All of you know that I do not like to cook. I would way rather go out to eat every single night. In Switzerland, this is just not practical. The minimum amount for a dinner for 2 with wine is 100$. I also know that when I have kids I will be cooking a lot more too. This blog is not meant to judge others because I myself am just starting out in the wonderful world of cooking. I, honestly wouldn't even call it cooking..... I also am not a health nut either, as you will see I love pastas and meat!
It is hard to start cooking over here because the measurements are all different from the U.S. Not to mention all of the directions are in German. Also meat here in Switzerland is very expensive so I can't make meat too much without the grocery bill being enormous.
A lot of what I find in America is when we cook we make these massive meals. So much food goes to waste or worse becomes part of our love handles. We cannot make spaghetti without the garlic bread. Oh and we must have a salad so we have the veggies too. Why not just spaghetti and a salad? Or just spaghetti? I mean we have been told that dinner needs to be our smallest meal yet we splurge and make huge meals because that is what we have always been told what to do. If I don't make a big meal for my family then I am not a good wife, or husband in some cases. Why don't more people cook breakfast foods for dinner? Eggs? Bacon? Eggs is one of the healthiest things we could have and so easy to prepare. We think because it is so easy to prepare it shouldn't be a dinner item. Well to be honest by the end of most dinners we have consumed about 700-1,000 calories. More people would cook in America if they didn't think it was such a long tedious process. That is the thing that scared me the most. Oh my, I have to first go get all of the items and then every night cook it, all. I find that if I don't scare myself with a the thought of preparing a huge frightening meal, I love staying in and making a home cooked meal.
I have been doing a lot of research on microwaves lately and not liked what I have seen. I also recently talked with a Scientist at Andy's company about the effects of a microwave. He had nothing good to say. He basically said all of the nutrients are taken out of the food, not to mention there is a huge link to cancer. Obviously he said, there is balance within everything. He says his family has to use it for certain things too. Well the Swiss don't really "do" microwaves. Which makes it pretty easy for Andy and I not to use one. We have been living without one for about 6 weeks and haven't thought a thing about it. I mean I am not going to lie it is very hard to pass up some of the microwaveable items in the grocery. Although I know how much healthier I am being with not using one.
I am all about making amazing salads for dinner. Chop up some tomato, mozzarella, avocado and you have an amazing meal. It is normal here for people to eat a lot of bread and cheese so I will have that as my side too. Again, we don't need to make a production of dinner every night. They have a lot of pastas here that are pre-made and have delicious cheese in it. Andy and I have this about 2-3 times a week. Now, we cannot go back to regular spaghetti because stuff filled pasta is so yummy. We just bought a grill which is nice too because we can grill out 1-2 times a week too. I am trying to find lean beef here but sometimes that can be tough :( We also pop in pizza a lot too. It is so good and we both only need a couple of slices to make us full. We want to start creating our own but being over here, and buying all the ingredients will be a lot of money.
It is hard to start cooking over here because the measurements are all different from the U.S. Not to mention all of the directions are in German. Also meat here in Switzerland is very expensive so I can't make meat too much without the grocery bill being enormous.
A lot of what I find in America is when we cook we make these massive meals. So much food goes to waste or worse becomes part of our love handles. We cannot make spaghetti without the garlic bread. Oh and we must have a salad so we have the veggies too. Why not just spaghetti and a salad? Or just spaghetti? I mean we have been told that dinner needs to be our smallest meal yet we splurge and make huge meals because that is what we have always been told what to do. If I don't make a big meal for my family then I am not a good wife, or husband in some cases. Why don't more people cook breakfast foods for dinner? Eggs? Bacon? Eggs is one of the healthiest things we could have and so easy to prepare. We think because it is so easy to prepare it shouldn't be a dinner item. Well to be honest by the end of most dinners we have consumed about 700-1,000 calories. More people would cook in America if they didn't think it was such a long tedious process. That is the thing that scared me the most. Oh my, I have to first go get all of the items and then every night cook it, all. I find that if I don't scare myself with a the thought of preparing a huge frightening meal, I love staying in and making a home cooked meal.
I have been doing a lot of research on microwaves lately and not liked what I have seen. I also recently talked with a Scientist at Andy's company about the effects of a microwave. He had nothing good to say. He basically said all of the nutrients are taken out of the food, not to mention there is a huge link to cancer. Obviously he said, there is balance within everything. He says his family has to use it for certain things too. Well the Swiss don't really "do" microwaves. Which makes it pretty easy for Andy and I not to use one. We have been living without one for about 6 weeks and haven't thought a thing about it. I mean I am not going to lie it is very hard to pass up some of the microwaveable items in the grocery. Although I know how much healthier I am being with not using one.
I am all about making amazing salads for dinner. Chop up some tomato, mozzarella, avocado and you have an amazing meal. It is normal here for people to eat a lot of bread and cheese so I will have that as my side too. Again, we don't need to make a production of dinner every night. They have a lot of pastas here that are pre-made and have delicious cheese in it. Andy and I have this about 2-3 times a week. Now, we cannot go back to regular spaghetti because stuff filled pasta is so yummy. We just bought a grill which is nice too because we can grill out 1-2 times a week too. I am trying to find lean beef here but sometimes that can be tough :( We also pop in pizza a lot too. It is so good and we both only need a couple of slices to make us full. We want to start creating our own but being over here, and buying all the ingredients will be a lot of money.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Love and Marriage
I never knew that I would love being married this much. I guess it also has to do with the fact that so many people divorce and I feel so lucky. Lucky to have found such an amazing man that adores me, and lucky to love being married. In our society we constantly hear such negative things about marriage. It is truly sad. God intended for us to be married because 2 is better then 1. I often look across the table at Andy and think, he is honestly my best friend. I never in a million years thought I would actually marry my best friend. Not taking ourselves too seriously is a major plus in our marriage. We make jokes all the time to each other. Yes, sometimes I will admit we can go to far, but mostly it is all in good fun.
I have put probably 20 pictures around the house of our marriage. Not including photo albums. I know I mentioned this once before but this is so important. I look at how happy we were on that day and it puts the biggest smile on my face. I look at Andy and think of how our children will look. I get so excited just thinking about how amazing of a dad he will be. I used to be the one always pointing at cute babies and he thought I was so weird. Now he is the one doing it. Just the fact that I have someone in my life that lifts me up and makes me a better person is unexplainable.
It is almost 1 year of marriage and I feel like I have been married for 100. Here is to the next 30 years :)
I have put probably 20 pictures around the house of our marriage. Not including photo albums. I know I mentioned this once before but this is so important. I look at how happy we were on that day and it puts the biggest smile on my face. I look at Andy and think of how our children will look. I get so excited just thinking about how amazing of a dad he will be. I used to be the one always pointing at cute babies and he thought I was so weird. Now he is the one doing it. Just the fact that I have someone in my life that lifts me up and makes me a better person is unexplainable.
It is almost 1 year of marriage and I feel like I have been married for 100. Here is to the next 30 years :)
My purpose in Basel
I have prayed so hard to God to make me feel like I have a purpose in Switzerland. Not just to not feel lonely but also that I am living out God's plan. I had no idea that in Europe, people either don't talk about their religion or they don't have one. In the Midwest people speak open about it constantly. God has now shown me 3 friends that are non believers. God has given me the strength to basically word vomit that I am a Christian, and I love the Lord. For some reason in the first 15 minutes of meeting these new people I am so proud to blurt out the fact that I am a believer. This is not my personality at all so I know the Holy Spirit is working within me. I have also gotten to the age to where if you don't accept me for me being a strong Christian then I don't need you in my life. I accept non believers, and in fact I know more people that don't believe then do, so why are you judging me?
I have had the amazing opportunities to have conversations with friends about the Lord. I, myself, obviously don't know that much but I can share what I do know. A lot of times I will recommend a book or tell them to research it to get to the "right" answer. It makes me feel so much joy to have such a great friend like God that is with me all the time. I am often alone here but I feel His presence all the time. Crazy. Crazy. Crazy. I never thought at my age I would feel so close to Him. It makes me love Andy so much more too. Knowing that I married a man of God attracts me to him so much. That he guides his life by principles of the Lord :) I could have never married differently but still it is so comforting that I found such an amazing man. I want others to feel how happy I am everyday. I want everyone to know that they don't have to be scared of death. Death is just the beginning of the most amazing life possible. Through many family and friends I have been taught to pray about EVERYTHING. God wants us to always be praying so praying for a parking spot is not dumb. He wants to hear us always. This has changed my life too. I once was such an anxious person. I still struggle some with this, but nothing like I used too. I would worry so much about my future when really I cannot control any of it. Now I put every single thing in God's hands and He takes care of it. I mean how amazing is that. That God wants our pain and suffering. I moved out to Switzerland with Andy knowing that God would provide for me. I knew God would strengthen my marriage and understand the sacrifice I made to move here with him. Is it so hard being away from my family? More then you will ever understand. There are moments when I look at a picture of my niece and nephews and my heart sinks. At that very moment in time the world stops. I get overwhelmed with such sadness that I cannot go hug my family. I pray instantly and God makes it all better. I know, He knows it is so tough for me to be away. He is rewarding me for doing all of this. I live an absolutely amazing life in Basel where I don't need to work. Not a lot of people ever end up living like that.
I am Blessed.
I have had the amazing opportunities to have conversations with friends about the Lord. I, myself, obviously don't know that much but I can share what I do know. A lot of times I will recommend a book or tell them to research it to get to the "right" answer. It makes me feel so much joy to have such a great friend like God that is with me all the time. I am often alone here but I feel His presence all the time. Crazy. Crazy. Crazy. I never thought at my age I would feel so close to Him. It makes me love Andy so much more too. Knowing that I married a man of God attracts me to him so much. That he guides his life by principles of the Lord :) I could have never married differently but still it is so comforting that I found such an amazing man. I want others to feel how happy I am everyday. I want everyone to know that they don't have to be scared of death. Death is just the beginning of the most amazing life possible. Through many family and friends I have been taught to pray about EVERYTHING. God wants us to always be praying so praying for a parking spot is not dumb. He wants to hear us always. This has changed my life too. I once was such an anxious person. I still struggle some with this, but nothing like I used too. I would worry so much about my future when really I cannot control any of it. Now I put every single thing in God's hands and He takes care of it. I mean how amazing is that. That God wants our pain and suffering. I moved out to Switzerland with Andy knowing that God would provide for me. I knew God would strengthen my marriage and understand the sacrifice I made to move here with him. Is it so hard being away from my family? More then you will ever understand. There are moments when I look at a picture of my niece and nephews and my heart sinks. At that very moment in time the world stops. I get overwhelmed with such sadness that I cannot go hug my family. I pray instantly and God makes it all better. I know, He knows it is so tough for me to be away. He is rewarding me for doing all of this. I live an absolutely amazing life in Basel where I don't need to work. Not a lot of people ever end up living like that.
I am Blessed.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Pastors message on Easter
Andy and I have found a church in Basel and could not be happier. It is a small church so there really is no blending in. Which we need in Basel because that is the only way we are going to meet others and stay connected. Our church back home is huge and wouldn't ever make me feel like anyone would know if I was missing. This church is different. It is non denominational, which Andy and I both are and it is obviously in English.
The message he had today was just what I need. To be blunt a lot of Christians need it. Some of us spend so much time doing rituals and traditions that we don't have an actual relationship with God. Our pastor went on to say that God doesn't want any of this. He just wants us. He wants us to turn to HIM at all times. A major point was that we shouldn't sit around and feel bad for things that have happened in the past, or in the present/future. God gave us his son, Jesus so that our sins are washed away. How amazing is this? I so much sit around thinking that God and Jesus are disappointed in me. This is not true. God sees us as perfect creations that he himself created. Now this does not mean we can go around sinning all the time not caring about the consequences. It is just to say that we shouldn't be fixating on what we are doing wrong. We are wasting precious time with our Lord. Let us be gracious and happy that Jesus has risen and given us ETERNAL life. What we do on this life sets us up for our eternal life. That is huge. (This is all the pastors talk, not mine) I just feel so refreshed and rejuvenated after this service. I am going to strive to stop worrying so much about everything I am doing wrong and focusing more on a close relationship with the one and only!!
The message he had today was just what I need. To be blunt a lot of Christians need it. Some of us spend so much time doing rituals and traditions that we don't have an actual relationship with God. Our pastor went on to say that God doesn't want any of this. He just wants us. He wants us to turn to HIM at all times. A major point was that we shouldn't sit around and feel bad for things that have happened in the past, or in the present/future. God gave us his son, Jesus so that our sins are washed away. How amazing is this? I so much sit around thinking that God and Jesus are disappointed in me. This is not true. God sees us as perfect creations that he himself created. Now this does not mean we can go around sinning all the time not caring about the consequences. It is just to say that we shouldn't be fixating on what we are doing wrong. We are wasting precious time with our Lord. Let us be gracious and happy that Jesus has risen and given us ETERNAL life. What we do on this life sets us up for our eternal life. That is huge. (This is all the pastors talk, not mine) I just feel so refreshed and rejuvenated after this service. I am going to strive to stop worrying so much about everything I am doing wrong and focusing more on a close relationship with the one and only!!
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Lots of thoughts
There are so many thoughts running through my head about potential new blogs I want to write about. Therefore I just thought I would write all my thoughts in one to get them at least all written down. I used to laugh at people when they said writing was so lethargic. I used to think how? You still think about what you wrote down. Now I think differently though. When I write things that are on my mind, there is a weight lifted off my shoulder. I think to myself, I have it written down somewhere so I can one day go back and read it. Being in a foreign country, I have to write a lot to get my feelings out. I have also noticed what a difference working out does for me. I give the elliptical a run for its money when I am on it. I just have so many different emotions every hour that I just let it all out on the machine.
I have only been here 3 weeks and have had to do more in this short amount of time then in my life. Since I have older sisters and amazing parents I haven't had to do much. Everything is usually laid out for me. Then I marry Andy. He is someone who wants to do it all. I like taking the back seat. I don't need to be the leader. It obviously works great for our marriage. There is no power struggle. Although here when Andy is working most of the day and with things being closed on Sundays I have to figure it out. In the past if something didn't work, 1-5 on my speed dial worked just great to ask my family what to do. Ha. Here it is not that easy. Andy says we need a shower curtain. Well in the States you would drive to Target or Walmart. Nothing like that exists here. Not to mention everything is in German so a lot of times I just walk into a store and look for it. Most of the times it isn't as simple as saying, "Do you have Shower Curtains? I have to learn the German first before embarking on the journey. Well by the time I have gotten to the store, I have walked to the tram station, bought a ticket, gotten on the tram, tried to blend in with other Swiss, gotten off tram, and finally walked to destination. By the time I get there instead of saying the correct Haben Sie eienen Duschvorhang? I say something along the lines of Sie Habe Hangduscher? Who names something duscher anyway? Side note. (This is a weird term in the US. Name it something else. As my face gets red when I say it.) And with no phone to help me out, I end up acting as a mime to draw out a shower curtain. Everyone knows how good I am at Art too so I cannot imagine what I look like trying to do this.
I still have no phone, no internet, no cable, no lights in our apartment. All things, that to me, are necessary. I mean a big reason why I moved here was because I knew how easy it was to skype my family in a split second. Also, people that cannot live without Kardashian or Real House Wives drama is non existent in my book.
Europe is a go with the flow place. I honestly don't think a person could live here who had high anxiety or OCD. Not pointing any fingers here. Cough Cough. The only thing that goes in trash here is very few items. All plastic, aluminum, glass, newspaper has to be taken 5 minutes away, separated into their right bins. All of these bottles just stack up on the counter until you feel the need to drop them off. No washing clothes or vacuuming on Sundays. This is a way to cut off all noise on Sundays. Most everything is closed too which is a huge change for me. Do the Swiss really stay all day in their tiny little apartments with the WHOLE family. Yikes. Cause for disaster in my book. Sorry Andy.
Another hardship here is people from Switzerland speak Swiss German. I know I have mentioned that before. I am learning German over here and working hard at it and want to practice with the locals. Well if they speak Swiss German to me then I look at them like they just shot my dog. HUH??? Is this a language? If they know English is my first language then they won't attempt speaking German with me. They will only try English. Our Realtor said that I should make the other person speak German back to me. I am laughing just thinking about saying that to someone. Keke don't work like that. I get scared when a Swiss person looks my way. Geesh.
I have only been here 3 weeks and have had to do more in this short amount of time then in my life. Since I have older sisters and amazing parents I haven't had to do much. Everything is usually laid out for me. Then I marry Andy. He is someone who wants to do it all. I like taking the back seat. I don't need to be the leader. It obviously works great for our marriage. There is no power struggle. Although here when Andy is working most of the day and with things being closed on Sundays I have to figure it out. In the past if something didn't work, 1-5 on my speed dial worked just great to ask my family what to do. Ha. Here it is not that easy. Andy says we need a shower curtain. Well in the States you would drive to Target or Walmart. Nothing like that exists here. Not to mention everything is in German so a lot of times I just walk into a store and look for it. Most of the times it isn't as simple as saying, "Do you have Shower Curtains? I have to learn the German first before embarking on the journey. Well by the time I have gotten to the store, I have walked to the tram station, bought a ticket, gotten on the tram, tried to blend in with other Swiss, gotten off tram, and finally walked to destination. By the time I get there instead of saying the correct Haben Sie eienen Duschvorhang? I say something along the lines of Sie Habe Hangduscher? Who names something duscher anyway? Side note. (This is a weird term in the US. Name it something else. As my face gets red when I say it.) And with no phone to help me out, I end up acting as a mime to draw out a shower curtain. Everyone knows how good I am at Art too so I cannot imagine what I look like trying to do this.
I still have no phone, no internet, no cable, no lights in our apartment. All things, that to me, are necessary. I mean a big reason why I moved here was because I knew how easy it was to skype my family in a split second. Also, people that cannot live without Kardashian or Real House Wives drama is non existent in my book.
Europe is a go with the flow place. I honestly don't think a person could live here who had high anxiety or OCD. Not pointing any fingers here. Cough Cough. The only thing that goes in trash here is very few items. All plastic, aluminum, glass, newspaper has to be taken 5 minutes away, separated into their right bins. All of these bottles just stack up on the counter until you feel the need to drop them off. No washing clothes or vacuuming on Sundays. This is a way to cut off all noise on Sundays. Most everything is closed too which is a huge change for me. Do the Swiss really stay all day in their tiny little apartments with the WHOLE family. Yikes. Cause for disaster in my book. Sorry Andy.
Another hardship here is people from Switzerland speak Swiss German. I know I have mentioned that before. I am learning German over here and working hard at it and want to practice with the locals. Well if they speak Swiss German to me then I look at them like they just shot my dog. HUH??? Is this a language? If they know English is my first language then they won't attempt speaking German with me. They will only try English. Our Realtor said that I should make the other person speak German back to me. I am laughing just thinking about saying that to someone. Keke don't work like that. I get scared when a Swiss person looks my way. Geesh.
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