Are you gifted? Do you have a special talent?

I hear these questions every now and then! And then I can listen to people talk about their talents: I play the piano, I can dance or sing, I speak 5 different languages, I can cook, I am really good at math, I can play chess..... You get the idea. I have thought about my talents a bunch of times. What am I gifted at!? Well I am not bad at math, but I would never say that I am gifted with numbers.. I can't sing or dance, I don't speak many languages or play an instrument. Many times I have felt, that I am just not gifted at all. I even get jealous when I listen to people sing or play the piano or basically any other instrument...

I think I finally know what I am gifted at. I can take care of babies in a way many people can't because they are afraid to hurt them, aren't used to them or aren't as patient as they should be. I have always loved newborns, these miracles catch my attention and whenever I spot someone with a baby my heart makes a leap and I am happy. It has always been my dream to work somewhere, where I can be around newborns. I think God gave me this gift for a reason. I would love to make it my future job. I would love to become a Birth Doula, be there for women during childbirth and take care of moms and babies after birth, be a lactation consultant and stuff like that. I can't imagine a better job for myself. I think I would love going to work in the morning for the rest of my life.
I also believe I have this gift, because I was meant to be a mom, hopefully a mom to many children.

blurry...

....but I still love it!!


Totally off-topic: there is a construction site right IN FRONT of my window!! How on earth am I supposed to work like this?

Love...

...doesn't judge...

...can have it's ups and downs.....

...is patient......

...shows you where you belong.....

right here with us...

love her....

... and I so want to live in her beautiful home...

All done...

The bulletin boards are done!!

These are for my mom! They will be hanging in her craftroom and I am sure she will find some nice pictures to hang on them!!

These are for 2 of my friends!

Can you feel the groove?????

Meet Katharina!!!

She is my cousin!!

She has Down-Syndrome!!

She is 25!!

She likes to perform!!

She is full of life!!

Her joy is contagious!!

She is NOT shy at all!!



She is gorgeous!!

I love spending time with her! She is the sweetest person I know. She loves to tell stories, give kisses, cuddle, tickle other people, ride horses, color mandalas, set the table and one of her biggest passions is to puzzle, she can do puzzles with 2000 pieces. Her room is a mess, you have to watch where you step, but you feel life as soon as you enter!
During the day you either find her doing puzzles or coloring, but at least once a day you will find her dressing up and putting on ABBA and she will start dancing. She doesn't understand the words but she knows the songs by heart. She knows her moves and everything.
Another thing she LOVES to do if workout. She will dress up in the right attire and then you will find her lifting weights, doing jumping jacks and a bunch of self-invented moves!!
It's quite entertaining!!

She has huge influence on me and I think it is because of her that I would love to adopt a child with down syndrome! This is something that has been in my heart for quite some time now...

And who doesn't want a house filled with love, laughter, fun and crazyness?

Winter, Christmas Traditions, Keeping It Real...

keeping it real first:
So I think I can no longer say it's fall! It makes me sad to realise, that it's winter! Why can't I celebrate Christmas in shorts and t-shirt at a beach!? Well I guess I would have to move to Australia for that! I am sure that would be fun!! :)

So this cold season brings me a REALLY cold bedroom. I don't feel like heating in there, since I am only in there to sleep. So when I go to bed and get up I freeze! It's so cold in the mornings, I can see my breath! I am just really hoping this winter wont be as cold as last. We has -4 degrees Fahrenheit for quite a while. I NEVER had that before. I always imagine Russia being that cold, but German!? No, it's not supposed to be like this.

Our toilet would NOT flush! I about freaked out. I NEVER had this happen in Germany b4. I remember it from my aunts house in Wyoming though. Her toilet wouldn't just not flush, the water would not stop coming and the bathroom would flood. It's nasty and I never wanted that to happen in my apartment. Well my toilet actually cant flood but still. It was quite the experience. I went and bought one of these and I think I fixed it for now!! ;)

OK done with that!!

We have something called Christmas Markets which open in November and stay open until shortly before Christmas(only in bigger cities though, in small ones it's only on the weekends). So whenever you need something in town you smell roasted almonds, cookies, gingerbread and other food. I try not to have money on me otherwise I would have to spend it on candy. I just LOVE the strawberries covered in dark chocolate.. Hmm...

Some traditions I would like to do with my future kids:
*Advents Calender. That is something EVERY kid has here in Germany. Some parents buy them others like mine make them themselves. It's a cute way to count down the days to Christmas and to get a little something everyday!! :) (we normally had one piece of candy, a pencil, chap stick etc in there)

* Nikolaus is on the 6Th. I LOVE this tradition. On the 5Th of December the kids clean their boots and put them in front of their door. And then the parents fill it up with candy, a chocolate Santa, a little book or socks! This holiday especially rocked my world during the time I went horseback riding, I had some really tall boots with a lot of room for candy!! :)

* When I lived at home we ALWAYS had an Advents wreath. My mom often times made them herself and I would love to start that too. Basically on every Advent Sunday you light another candle and then on the 4Th you have all 4 candles lit! We normally do that in the afternoon. Over here you get together for cookies and cake in the afternoons (older people do this everyday all year round) as a family and have the candles on. My mom had her candles on everyday and we went through more than 4 candles with out wreath.

* I like the idea of the Elf on the Shelf that hides in the house and watches the kids and then returns to Santa and tells him how the kids behaved!!

* Something I would LOVE to do when I have kids, is get them new pajamas and let them unwrap these on Christmas eve to sleep in. (in Germany you actually celebrate Christmas on the 24Th in the evening but I wouldn't mind changing that to the morning of the 25Th, I think that's fun for the kids.)

* I would love to bake as a family at the beginning of December.

* And a family tradition I want to keep going is hand made gifts. My parents made something different with us each year. Those gifts we gave to our grandparents, aunts and uncles. It was always fun. We made stationary with embossing, picture frames, painted vases (I still own some of those), Christmas tree ornaments, cookies and a lot more. I still make something for my grandma and aunts and uncles up till today. I think it's so much better than spending a lot of money on something no one needs. I spend little but make something they will enjoy for a while.

* I think it's important that kids understand the meaning of Christmas. I also thinks it's important for them to get some gifts to unwrap but I don't ever want to overdue it. I think there is no sense in letting a 4 year old unwrap 50 different gifts, it will take away from the meaning of each single present. I would rather have them open 3 presents and them to remember what they got for Christmas. We never got many gifts and I think that's totally fine, I still was excited for Christmas to come.

* Something we do over here and I missed out on it this year is Christmas in a Shoe Box. You take a shoe box and get stuff for a child in Africa. Last time we put in pencils, paper, some candy, socks etc. They ship those to Africa for kids to open who don't know what Christmas is.

* I also found something really neat on a blog. You get a new Christmas ornament for every year and write some of the special things that happened that year on a piece of paper that you attach to the ornament. That way you can remember all the special things that happened each year! (Check that out here, here and here!)

Sounds like a lot of traditions but I think they spread out really well. I would love to make December a special month for my kids, I actually want every month to be special but this month should be centered around family and I want my kids to know that there are other kids out there who don't have everything they do and that we can change Christmas for at least one family who wouldn't have anything without us. They should learn to help others and feel joy in helping. I would love for my future kids to learn some life lessons in the months of December.

I think the time around Christmas is a time we feel thankful. We count our blessings.. We look forward to the New Year and what might be ahead of us! I didn't always enjoy this time of year, but this year I really feel the spirit!!

OK this was long, sorry about that! I doubt anyone will read this to the end... But if you do, leave me a comment ;)

We can make a difference..

Adoption

I have a dream!

I want to adop children one day. I want to give those kids a home that dont have one. I have had this dream since I can think ( ok maybe since I was 15) and I love to learn more about adoption or follow blogs of families on their adoption journey! I think this is what I am supposed to do. I don't think this is some idea, but Gods plan in my life. There are different coutries I feel drawn to adopt from. Ethiopia, China and Russia for example.

I feel very strongly about Ethiopia though. Why?

• One in six children die before their fifth birthday

• 44% of the population of Ethiopia is under 15 years old

• 60% of children in Ethiopia are stunted because of malnutrition

• The median age in Ethiopia is 17.8 years

• 1.5 million people are infected with AIDS (6th highest in the world)

• 720,000 children have been orphaned by AIDS alone, and there are 4.6 million orphans in Ethiopia.

• Per capita, Ethiopia receives less aid than any country in Africa

• In the 90s the population (3%) grew faster than food production (2.2%)

• Drought struck the country from 2000-2002 (first year no crops, second year no seeds, third year no animals)

• Half the children in Ethiopia will never attend school. 88% will never attend secondary school.

• Coffee prices (Ethiopia’s only major export) fell 40-60% from 1998-2002.

• Ethiopia’s doctor to children ratio is 1 to 24,000.

• In 1993, after 30 long years of war, Eritrea broke from Ethiopia and became an independent nation leaving Ethiopia landlocked without any major seafaring ports.

Got this here

I also feel led to adopt a child with down syndrom one day. I know this might seem weird to many but there are so many kids out there that deserve a loving home and many of those are special needs. My cousin has down syndrom so this is something I have grown up with and I feel strongly about. There are many down syndrom kids in orphanages in Russia or the Ukraine for example. The first years of their life they spend in an orphanage, but then they go to institutions and most of them die there within a year. I think that is horrible. They deserve to live! (http://reecesrainbow.com/)

So this is something I feel led to do and I hope and pray that I will be able to give some kids a home who werent as fortunate as I am.

A day in September...

We went to this cute little place!! Wouldnt a wedding be awesome here? This little castle is surrounded by beautiful gardens!!




I am still a little behind on posting pictures. I am not going to promise to try to update more often, since that won't happen anyways. :) Right now I am not even taking pictures bc my camera isnt with me. But it will be back soon and I hope to capture fall a little.
The park I take Momo to every day is just beautiful. The leaves changed colors, they are falling and are hiding the grass underneath them! So I will have to go there soon and take some pictures!

Today I had an introduction class about meditation! I am already looking forward to doing that! We will spent 2 fridays and Saturdays together and practise doing meditation (Zen). We are probably just going to sit and try to find ourselves, try to forget ll the stress around us and become more calm. :) I hope no one walks in, they might think we are nuts.
I think its great I get to take classes like that in college and they count toward my bachelor, how awesome is that!? Sitting around and getting points for that!! :)

Lotte running away from us!!

She loved holding Momos leash!!

Having fun with Lotte!!

Lotte and her mommy!

Eating a hotdog in front of IKEA!

25th wedding anniversary

In August my parents had their 25th wedding anniversary. We celebrated on a saturday. They had their vows renewed in their church which was very nice. The choir sang a bunch of songs, their pastor did a great sermon about my parents life, their ups and downs, about their friendship to many, their hospitality, their love and joy. It was really nice. I shed a bunch of tears during the sermon, but happy ones!


After the sermon everyone came out to congratulate my parents. This is my cousin in my dads arms!! She has down-syndrom and is such an angel!!

Here is my parents godchild Pauline, she normally sits in a wheel chair since she has spina bifida.

My cousins and meMy parents.
After church we headed to a restaurant that was closed for their celebration. We had a great time there and a lot of great food!!

I made a quest book for my parents. I took pictures of every single person there with these silver frames. I just took many old frames and painted them. I had all 70 guests write something in a black book with a silver pen and then I developed the pictures and glued them to their wishes and letters to my parents.

Me and Momo

Friends of my parents and their godchild

My cousin and her brother

My other cousin with his girlfriend and sister

My brother and his girlfriend

Another cousin with his girlfriend

My parents enjoyed the time with all the people that came just for them. We had a full house for many days, a lot of food, games, fun, laughter and love. I think my parents had the best day and I am so happy for them!!