03/52

Sometime a favourite mug filled with some delicious java can help you daydream of the location you got it at while you are working away on your home office desk…

02/52

Unfortunately, we did not have a real winter (yet). Meaning: No snow. Since I grew up in the mountains that makes me sad. But there are days – like last  weekend – when the temperatures are below freezing and things like this happen:

Frosty crystal in the sunshine on grass and clover leaves.

Maybe, just maybe, there will be some snow this week!

A Tiny Miracle

Yesterday, I got news that my very good American friends Corey and Crystal welcomed their second son into this world. Baby boy Blevins was born at 24 weeks, 5 days. He is 1lb, 11oz (circa 765g). They are doing as well as possible in this situation
and I just wanted to reach out and ask for prayers and well wishes. They can need every bit of support and strength right now as it is going to be a long journey.

Corey, Crystal, Jack, Baby boy Blevins (in Crystal’s belly), Carsten and me at the 17mile drive in Monterey last September. I was so happy that day, when Crystal told me in person that they are expecting baby number two.

Jack, their first-born, and me checking out the shark eggs at the Monterey Aquarium. He is a handful, but I loved him ever since I first heard him cry on the phone when he was 23hours old.

Please pray and cross your fingers that all will go well with the little their micro preemie miracle addition!

Up-date (14-01-2012): Little baby boy got the very beautiful name Noah James and is doing as well as possible.

01/52

Welcoming a new year often comes a long with wishes, dreams and attempts. I will try to attempt to post a picture each week – hence the title 01/52 this year and improve my photography skills. I got a book on digital photography for Christmas and below is my very first picture taken in the manual mode with Gerda.

Let’s welcome the new year with open arms or wings…

Special Delivery

Last Sunday evening we got a phone call from our friends Susi and Christoph that they were on their way to the hospital to deliver their little girl. Over the course of the last months Susi and I met once a week to eat strawberries and whipped cream and I was able to see her belly grow and now their little princess would be here so very soon. How exciting. I didn’t sleep very well that night knowing that my friend is in pain and was very relieved when I got another phone call from her the next morning to let me now that her daughter was born and everything is fine.

 The parents-to-be a week before the baby was born.

I wanted to give the little family all the time they need to adjust, so I did not expect to see their little one that soon. But when Susi called on Tuesday and asked if I could bring her something for lunch since the hospital food was awful, I did not hesitate a second. Since I worked from home, I was flexible and went to see her and got to see her precious little daughter who was only 30 hours old at the time. It’s just amazing. She was so tiny, yet big if I imagined that she was still inside of Susi just a few hours earlier.

They are now at home adjusting to their little-family-life and since Carsten and I had made a diaper-cake weeks ago we made a quick pit-stop at their place yesterday to drop it off and have another look at the new-born. Her name is Milla Friederike Auguste and she is absolutely gorgeous. Here is a photo from her first photo-shoot at the hospital.

Of course, I sewed something for the little sunshine. I sewed a handmade application on a onesie. It has strawberries and polka dots on it in honor of hour strawberry consumption while Susi was pregnant and I also had to make a tiny headband for the babe.

Susi and Chsristoph, we wish you all the best and just know that you will amazing and relaxed parents.

Cheers and welcome to little Milla!

Dresses, Dresses, Dresses…

First of all, thank you girls so much for your sweet comments on my last post. I know not many find their way to my itty-bitty place in the big world wide web, which is fine, after all I am keeping this blog for myself. Nevertheless, I did really appreciate your congratulations very very much.

Second of all, NO we are not talking MY wedding dress quite yet. BUT somebody elses. Later. First I do indeed want to talk about one of my dresses. A dress I made. It all started with the fabric and a pattern and ended in 30hours of a sewing class plus a lot of work at home. What I am trying to say is, I made this dress all on my own, put a lot of time, effort and love in it and have been using the few summer days we had to proudly show of my piece of couture.

I have to say that I do appreciate clothes a lot more after making a piece from scratch. I now pay attention to stitching and seams and piping, which by the way I did not even know what it was before I took the class. Overall, I learned a lot of techniques that I can now also use on a lot of other projects. So the sewing machine, my dad got me for my birthday last year, is in use very often.

Now, the wedding dress. Well, my little (host) sister Carol got engaged in May and had originally planned to get married in March 2012. But, you guessed it, they decided to move the date. Way up to September. Luckily, it is now on the weekend Carsten and I were planning to spend with her and her fiancé Sean anyways. It did cause a little more planning and coordinating for us since our flights were already booked and could not be changed anymore, but we will make it work and I am very happy about this! That way I get to show Carsten the place I lived at in 2000/01 and my high school and we will attend the wedding of my little sister, who I love very very much. Now since time is flying – with only 51 days left, she is trying to take care of everything and she and her mom are going to look at wedding dresses tomorrow! I wish I could be there, but I am sure she will choose something breathtaking. She did however already pick her bridesmaids dresses and since I have the great honor to be one of those ladies on Carol’s wedding day the dress she chose for me to wear is currently in the hands of the postal service making its way across the big pond. Carol only told me the color  she chose, but not the style, so I will be happily waiting for the post man every day next week, when it is expected to arrive so I can get it altered.

You see dresses kind of play a big role right now. I am a somewhat girly girl, so I surely do not mind at all!

He Got Down on One Knee … YES!

It’s been 25 days ago, but I just now find the proper time to sit and write it down.

On July 12th Carsten got down on one knee and asked me, if I will marry him.

It was a perfect day. We did a race in the morning, crossed that finish line together. My dad took us back to our place and we spent some time together. The two of us went out for dinner to a quaint little restaurant and when I was laying on the couch after this long yet perfect day, Carsten came in, moved our coffee table and got down on one knee. I knew it was coming some time soon, but I was not really prepared. Of course I said yes and I hugged him and started crying before I even looked at the beautiful diamond emerald cut solitaire he slipped on my left ring finger. It was  perfect.

Carsten had talked to my dad and asked him for my hand in marriage weeks before and knowing that my dad knew and agreed meant so much to me and still does. It means a lot to me that Carsten and my dad get along very well.

Little did I know Carsten had been carrying around the ring for quite some time before, but never found the opportunity. He wanted it to be private. Just the two of us. To me it was perfect timing and I would not at all had it any other way. We spend the evening in blissful happiness, before calling family and friends the next morning.

I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life with this amazing man, who is caring, funny, loving, passionate about life, supportive, brings out the best in me and helps me become a better person every single day. He is my soul mate.

To amazing times to come!

Summer News, Summer Crafts…

It’s summer and that means we usually spend a ton of time outside and even though the days are longer, summer always seems to keep my from blogging. I just got back from my last sewing class. I took a class every Tuesday for the last 10 weeks and learned so much. I made my first dress. You can be sure that I will soon show you pictures.

Besides, I have something else to tell you all. It is very exciting and has to do with a ring on my left hand. So not much guessing here, but you will soon get the whole story on that one too. Promise.

But today, I wanted to show you something else I made over the course of the last weeks.

I made these for Maria’s flower girls. She will get married in September and mentioned that she was looking for headbands on her blog. I offered her my help since I had just made a few headbands. We emailed back and forth and came up with these. Her wedding colors are yellow, grey and white and I cannot wait to see them on her flower girls. I found Maria’s “old blog” (from what I know she is working on a new design) at the beginning of the year and could relate with a lot of things she writes about. Currently, she is blogging here. Be sure to check out her blog. If she weren’t awesome, I would not have made those headbands for her flower girls. Even though I have to admit, I love how they turned out.

Happy summer everyone!

Growing Greens

I already grew some herbs last year and since it was a total success, there was no doubt that I would do it again this summer. A few weeks back, I sawed some seeds, watered them regularly, checked them daily and watched them develop…

I opted for basil and parsley and they turned out great. You can get them potted as well, but to me nothing beats growing something from scratch. I already put the herbs in salads or simply on a piece of fresh bread. I am happy that summer is here, can you tell?

Racing in the Heat

I – well we, but it was much more a struggle for me than for Carsten – so I made it! It was not my favorite race out of the six I have done to date, but still it was fun. It was a little too hot for me, especially since quite a long stretch of the race was between cornfields with the sun shining pitiless.

My dad was waiting at the finish line, which is something I appreciate VERY much. So doing what I like – running – with Carsten by my side and my dad at the start and finish always feels good.

Now it’s Carsten’s turn again. In three weeks he will do his second triathlon of the season…