February: A Summary

Another month has passed and again it's time for a little summary. Although this year is only a mere two months old there has been as many ups and downs as in the last 3 years combined. I'm glad to say that right now we're in the middle of a big, big UP!
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Wieder ein Monat vorbei und somit wird es auch wieder Zeit für eine kleine Zusammenfassung. Ich muss schon sagen, dafür, dass das Jahr so jung ist, hab ich wirklich schon einige Höhen und Tiefen erlebt. Umso schöner, dass ich mich gerade in einem richtig tollen HOCH befinde!

LIFE:
Remember January, when I told you in my last summary that we didn't get the house we thought we would definitely get? Well, we were extremely lucky as due to many many coincidences we were able to get a house in that particular complex. It's not our first choice but the longer we think about it, the more we get to see that it's the better choice. We're in the middle of signing all kinds of contracts and we should be able to move in next year, when all the work is finished. As the house is currently being build we're able to make all kind of changes. We spent the weekend hunched over the plans to see what we want to change and it's exhausting but really a lot of fun!
This also means that we're trying to save up as much money as possible until we finally move in. Of course we will have more costs as in our little, small flat, but we're happy to spend more money on our own home with a GARDEN! I can't wait to plant my first tomatoes and carrots and strawberries! This will be so much fun!
We also did some holiday planning last week. Of course, going on holidays and saving money isn't the best combination. We still have some vouchers for wellness weekends from our wedding. My sister in law and my mother in law both live in the West of Austria, surrounded by mountains and the alps whereas we live in the flat East. So we will visit them both in summer. Low budget holidays and family time. Win win. And we will probably be able to spend some days in Barcelona for my man's 30th birthday. I found a really great offer and since we both visited Barcelona already (though not together) we don't feel pressured to visit all the tourist sightseeing spots. We haven't booked this yet, but we will do so by the end of the week.
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Im Jänner hab ich ja noch erzählt, dass wir unser Reihenhaus NICHT bekommen haben. Durch ein paar glückliche Zufälle hat es sich jetzt ergeben, dass doch noch ein Haus in der Anlage frei geworden ist - da haben wir natürlich gleich zugegriffen. Das Haus befindet sich noch in Bau und wir sitzen grad an allerhand Papierkram um das ganze abzuwickeln. Ist zwar anstrengend, macht aber natürlich total viel Spaß und die Aussicht auf ein eigenes Haus mit Garten macht jede Anstrengung natürlich wieder wett.
Parallel dazu haben wir uns diese Woche an die Urlaubsplanung gemacht. Die muss jetzt natürlich total Low Budget sein. Wir haben zum Glück noch ein paar Wellness Gutscheine von unserer Hochzeit übrig. Da meine Schwägerin in Salzburg und meine Schwiegermutter in Tirol wohnt und wir uns im flachen Osten des Landes aufhalten, haben wir uns zum Sommerurlaub mal bei beiden in die Berge eingeladen. Und weil die Urlaubskasse dann doch noch ein bisschen was hergibt, planen wir gerade einen Kurztrip nach Barcelona zum 30er meines Herzmannes. 

CRAFT:
I nearly finished little Josephine and can't wait to visit her new little owner, my niece Lea, to give her this little cute dragon. We will probably visit them over the Easter holidays.
I also made good progress on my Sunburst Flower Granny Baby Blanket that I made from the leftovers from the baby blanket for my niece. It's coming along quite nicely and I love the look of the squares, when they are crocheted together. I'm thinking about making this a long-term project and adding little squares whenever I have some yarn from other projects left to turn this little baby blanket into a big one for myself. Of course, this would take years, but I kind of like the idea of working on a blanket for a longer time and to use up all the little bits of yarn that are lying around everywhere.
I also started another Lupo the Lamb. A friend of mine will become auntie and she asked me to make it for her new nephew. I ordered some cotton Merino yarn from Drops and I absolutely love it! The colors are amazing and the quality is really good! As you might know, I prefer working with natural fibers. I really can't stand the touch and feeling of Acrylic yarn.
I have some new orders for little dolls already so I'm trying to squeeze in one or two hours of crochet everyday to get them finished rather quick. As I'm able to sell these, the profits will wander straight into our holiday funds to enable us our short trip to Spain! Now that's a great motivation to sit down after a long day at work and crochet a few rows!

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Puh, was war ich fleißig! Der Lalylala Drache für meine kleine Nichte ist fertig und ich hab die letzten Tage eifrig an meiner Babydecke gehäkelt. Nun bin ich mir aber gar nicht sicher, ob ich die dann als Babydecke hergebe, ober ob ich mir das Teil nicht doch behalten soll um immer mal wieder mit Resten ein paar Grannies dranzuhängen und die Decke sozusagen als Langzeitprojekt für mich selber behalte.
Und gestern hab ich auch noch mit einem neuen Lupo für eine Freundin angefangen, die im Mai wieder Tante wird. Ich hab zum ersten Mal mit Cotton Merino von Drops gearbeitet und bin ganz verliebt. 

SPORT:
I have to admit, I was a little lazy this last month. I went running once (haha), I went for one veeeery big walk two weeks ago and I did a few blogilates workouts at home. Since my husband has joined a gym now and is working out regularly, my motivation has come back. I don't want him to be fitter as me.
I hope the weather will soon get better (where is spring? When I look out the window right now I see SNOW!!) which will give me more opportunities to work out outside. Let's see was March has to offer!
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Naja, sportmäßig war ich im Feber ziemlich faul. Ich war einmal laufen, einmal lang spazieren und hab ansonsten nur ein paar blogilates Workouts zuhause eingelegt. Weil der Mann jetzt aber regelmäßig ins Fitnessstudio geht, ist auch meine Motivation wieder da. Kann ja nicht sein, dass der plötzlich sportlicher ist als ich! 

BOOKS:
I'm really into the Game of Thrones Series right now. I started the first book of A Song of Ice and Fire at the beginning of this month and I'm currently 150 pages into the third one. I have to admit, the books are as addictive as the TV series and I enjoy diving into this fictional world and let go of everyday for a little while!
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Bei mir dreht sich grad alles nur um die Game of Thrones Bücher. Die ersten beiden hab ich im Feber fertiggelesen, beim dritten Band hab ich immerhin schon 150 Seiten. Machen genauso süchtig wie die Serie und werden mich auch noch im März gut beschäftigen!  

So how was your February? Did you get any good news as well? Did you also had a lot of bad and cold and rainy weather? What do you do to keep your mood up? Tell me in the comments, I'd really love to know!
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Wie war euer Feber? Gabs bei euch auch gute Nachrichten und leider auch so schlechtes Wetter? Vielleicht habt ihr ja Tipps für mich, wie man trotzdem bei Laune halten kann. Bei allem dem Regen und grau werd ich immer ganz antriebslos und faul!

And now - Have a wonderful and Happy March and may spring come soon for all of us!
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Ansonsten wünsch ich euch natürlich allen einen ganz tollen März und hoffe, dass der Frühling jetzt mal wirklich vor der Tür steht. Zeit wird's!

January: A summary

Hey guys!

Oh boy, the first month of the year is already over! As I want this blog also to function as a diary, I'm planning to write little summaries at the end of the month. This is also part of my plan to blog on a more regular basis and generally to write more often.

LIFE:
January has started with a big bang and no, I don't mean fireworks on New Years Eve but rather with the disappointing news that we didn't get the dream house that we already counted on. It was really hard to get such negative news when we really thought, that we would get the house, as we were promised. I still get angry when I think about it but I'm trying my best to leave this thing behind and look forward.
We're appartment hunting right now and haven't really found the right place for us. It shouldn't really bother me, because we don't NEED to move, but we WANT to move. Our appartment is small, we don't have a balcony or a bathtub, both things, that are really important to us. And there's no place for a baby. Not that I'm pregnant, but we'll have to think about the future. So we'll how long it will take us to find the perfect (and affordable) place for us.

My man and I took a little time out in the thermae where we got married and enjoyed the time, that we had for us, a lot!

CRAFT:
I managed to do some crochet in January. I started a baby blanket which will only need a few more granny squares before I can start the joining and I nearly finished my little doll for my lovely niece.
I shared picture of little Josefine (as you know I've been looking for a name and my two nephews decided on the name for their little sister as she still has to learn to talk) on facebook and a friend of mine asked me, if I could make a lalylala doll for her as her sister is pregnant and she's still looking for a gift. Of course I can, I'm very delighted to have another order for my little prospering crochet business!

SPORT:
Since I went running on a regular basis back in September, I try to make sport as often as possible! I have an office job where I sit everyday and it relaxes me to go out for a run after work. As it has been really cold these past few weeks, I didn't run but I enjoyed doing pilates workouts at home. I manage at least 3 workouts a week and I already feel myself getting stronger. Cassey Ho is an amazing Pilates instructor and she keeps you motivated and I enjoy getting sweaty and out of breath with her!

My man gifted me a fitbit activity tracker and I try to manage 10.000 steps at least three times a week. So far it really motivates me. Since I own that little device I haven't used any escalators or elevators but I always used the stairs. And let me just tell you that my office is on the third floor of an old building and that I could use 8 escalators on my way to work at the train station and on the underground. Massive improvement!

BOOKS:
One of my new year resolutions was to read more classics. I tried, I really did. I started Ulysses, but didn't understand a word of the original version in English, and nobody I know has the german translation. Then I started with the Ilias from Homer. This one was a german translation as I don't speak and understand Greek, but I didn't understand a word either. All those names, all those gods and half-gods and sons and peoplese and cities and places...I pushed myself halfway through and then decided to quit. To me, reading is about enjoying a good story, about escaping the reality and fleeing into the fictional word, and reading for me is FUN! So I started the new John Irving novel instead.
Apart from that I read this month:
Jojo Moyes - Ein ganzes halbes Jahr (Me before you)
My sister in law borrowed me her kindle with that book because I wanted to know what the fuzz was all about. Nice story, quick read, but it didn't bring me to tears. I have to say that I have never read a book that made me cry, apparently I'm not that emotional..

Jo Nesbo - Die Fährte (Nemesis)
Jo Nesbo. A classic. I adore the Harry Hole thriller and I'm still collecting all ten of them.

So how was your January! Did you have bad news as well? What happy moments did you enjoy? I'd love to hear! 

I am

making:
Granny squares for a hot water bottle cover. I know, it's mid-summer and it's way too early to think about hot water bottles, but Kate over at foxs lane (great blog, by the way. If you don't know it, go over there immediately and read EVERYTHING Kate has ever written!) has startet a crochet along and so I joined in! 

gathering some left-over yarn

my first squares!

thinking:
about all the preparations that need to be done for the weekend. On Saturday our little town has its annual town party (no idea how to translate Stadtfest) and my man and I will have our own bar, serving Schnitzelsemmel (a Schnitzel, ketchup, and a leaf of lettuce in a roll. Best. Snack. Ever.) and cold beer and Spritzer. We already did it last year and it was really successful. Lots of money for one night of work. So we decided to do it again this year. I already started a list. I love lists.

feeling:
happy and sad at the same time. Today's my last day at work. I'm really sad to have to leave all those nice and wonderfull colleagues behind. But I won't miss the work per se. It was pretty dry technical stuff. Come Monday I will work in the book industry. Something I wanted to do all my life. An office job as well but not in the industrial district that I am working now, but in the very centre of Vienna, right behind the Stephansdom. Prepare yourself for some photo-heavy posts when I walk through the tourists part of Vienna. EVERY DAY! I'm really excited!

worrying:
about the heavy rainfalls that hit our town last night. The main street was completely under water! The fire department was working all through the night because a lot of basements were flooded due to the massive amounts of water! Poor people! 

that's how the main street in our little town looked like yesterday. horrible!

eating:
the last piece of the delicious plum cake that I bake for my colleagues yesterday. I come from a part in Austria were cakes, cookies and pies are a very important part in our everyday life and in our culture. My mom is a wonderful baker, she makes the most delicious cakes and pastries and I got the recipe from her. It's a very easy one, suitable for all kind of fruit cakes.

the plums for my cake. they could have been sweeter...

...but the cake turned out fine. That's the only picture. Its life was rather short.

smelling:
the ripe and juicy peaches that are right beside me and waiting to be eaten. My godfather is a fruit farmer (and he makes schnapps out of those fruits too) and he brought us some wonderful peaches. The smell is divine - it fills up the whole room. Can't wait to bite into them! 

yummy peaches.

dreaming:
about the little escape that my man and me (or my man and I??) talked about last night. See, August 15th is a friday and a holiday in Austria. Which means, there is a long weekend. Now, if the man will be able to have the 16th off at work, we will jump on his new bike and drive down to Croatia. Now this will mean that we will drive on day, then have one day to spend at the beach and then drive back for one day. Sounds a little crazy, but that is how we roll. Or ride.

my man's motorcycle. and himself in the background.

wishing:
for a warm and sunny weekend so our bar on Saturday will be a (financial) success which will enable us to turn a dream (weekend in Croatia) into reality!

hoping:
that all of you have  a lovely week yourself and a even more lovely weekend ahead of you. I'm curious: what are you planning, making, smelling, eating, hoping, wishin, dreaming? Tell me, I'd love to know! :)