We made it to Germany, and I cannot tell you how thrilled Martin and I both are to be here.  As you know, we’ve been feeling so nostalgic about the United States, so I was curious to see when that mood would drastically switch to anticipation for Berlin life.  It happened some time after the international airliner served us dinner and we fell asleep.  I woke up so eager.  That’s the way I want to feel.

My father-in-law made us a delicious blueberry cake with the last of the German berries from the bio markt (organic grocery store).  Then today we’ve been running simple errands to places like my favorite tea shop and Martin’s favorite bakery.  We detoured slightly and biked through my favorite the park on the way back.

I have never found myself drooling over the produce aisle of an organic grocery store like I did today.  Martin was, too.  We just laughed.  The produce here is so cheap compared to what we paid only last week in the US.  Instead of apples being three bucks a pound like when we left, they’re two bucks a kilogram (1 kilo=2.2 pounds).  Every fruit was like that.  The tomatoes, the mangos, the kiwis.  Oh what bliss!

If I’m sounding beyond crazy to love produce so much, let me blame the jet lag.  Or the vegetarian diet in a country known for beer and bratwurst.  Or the… no.  This is the food we love to most have in our house.  I guess our parents did really well raising us!  (Thanks Mom & Dad – I miss you.)

We brought home yogurt, pesto, fresh cheese… I can only say that it’s a good thing we have to bike everywhere or we’d be seriously needing some new pants fast.

Stores will be closed tomorrow.  I think we’ll spend the day cleaning and unpacking and just spending time with our families.  You can read about a typical German Sunday here.  They’re one of the most beautiful things about living in Berlin.

What about all of you?  Are you enjoying your last bit of summer weather?  I have a wonderful surprise that I cannot wait to share with you later next week, assuming I can get my nose out of this book while adjusting to the time.  See you Monday bright and early.

All of our bags are packed, and it’s time to go to Germany.  The Tire House and hangar that we’ve been calling home feel cold and lonely without all of our books and clothes.  We’ve eaten almost all the food and given away things like dry beans that we could not finish.  Now is when I am supposed to be really excited to head back to our apartment that has been so patiently waiting for us, right?

And I am.

Yet there are so many things I’m going to miss.  Many of you can probably relate with moves you have made in life, too.

I’m going to miss the country air that makes me feel so alive.

I’m going to miss the deer and eagles and hawks.  (The weirdest birds I’ve ever seen are these ones in Berlin.)

I’m going to miss talking to my mom any day of the week.  Because of the time difference, we can only talk on weekends when I’m in Germany due to clashing sleep/work schedules Monday through Friday.

I’m going to miss hearing old pilot stories and smelling the oily flavor of airplanes and hangars.

I’m going to miss my family… well except the relatives who just moved to Berlin.

I’m going to miss the conversations with friendly English speaking clerks when I’m buying taco shells, then driving home on empty roads.

I’m going to miss having reading materials.  You don’t even notice how much you turn to cereal boxes and magazines for reading… until they’re not available in excess quantities in the language you read.

I’m going to miss the sound of nothing but crickets, wind, and animals running on our roof all night.

I’m going to miss sunscreen.

I’m going to miss flying and miss knowing exactly what people are saying to me because I can speak their language.

Yes, I’ll miss so very much. Part of the challenge of making any place home has to be missing things from the place you once were. My love of my family grows each time we get together, and I know that if we were always together, the little moments like eating ice cream late at night or playing board games just wouldn’t be as fabulous in my mind.

The key is choosing happiness wherever you are.  You can choose to be sad and long for the place you once were.  For expats, it’s especially easy to embrace all the good from where you just came from and completely miss all the great things where you are.  But the only way to truly love where you are going and embrace it is to get involved in your new world.

I think you have to get brave and step out of your comfort zone.  While I’m still blue about all the things I’ll miss from the Rocky Mountains, I know there is so much to look forward to in Berlin.  And maybe if I had written this post ten minutes later, I’d be feeling the complete opposite, rambling on and on about what a thrill expat life can be.

A lot of people have asked what the first things Martin and I want to do when we get back to Germany will be.  He’ll be swinging by our neighborhood bakery for fresh croissants, and I’ll be walking to the park near our house.  It’s such a peaceful place, like my own piece of countryside in the middle of the city.  There will birds and families scattered about in all the corners.  There will be no nude sunbathers this time of year, which is always a shock to discover fresh from America!  Who knows – maybe we will do these things together and eat our croissants in the park by the roses… with our clothes on!

Goodbye America.

I’ll see all of you from the other side of the pond!

After a slew of requests, I’m back one more time to talk about… you guessed it… flying.  From where we can go flying to where fuel goes in the plane, here are the answers to the most asked questions during my flying journey:

1.  Can you fly in Germany?

Sadly, the answer is no.  While we have the lingo down (all pilots must be fluent in English), our licenses are completely invalid in Germany.  It turns out even Martin would have to study for several months just to earn the private pilot’s license in Europe (which is the license I’ve been working on all summer).  We could rent a plane and hire an instructor just to be able to touch the controls.  But with auto gas costing $9/gallon in Germany, we don’t see ourselves affording even a quick jump into the sky any time soon.

2.  Are you sad about not flying in Germany?

Last year, it didn’t bother me a bit.  Martin was going crazy without flying, and I couldn’t understand.  Now I get it.  I can’t believe I feel nostalgic about the sound of a little airplane taking off.

3.  So where do you put fuel in planes?

Fuel goes in the wings.  Kinda seems strange, huh?  You have to climb a ladder to fuel this plane.

4. What’s the hardest thing about flying little planes when it comes to people who don’t fly?

As a pilot, you have to be really flexible with the weather.  Sometimes you could be delayed for days if you’re trying to fly somewhere.  Most people don’t understand this (and understandably) because we’re used to commercial flying or driving, which aren’t nearly as inhibited by weather.  Flying small planes requires so much study and observation of the weather.  You can’t just get in and go.  No thunderstorms, nothing that could cause ice to build on the plane, no hail…

5.  Do you have to keep your license current somehow?

Yes.  If you don’t fly for several months, you have to do a number of practice flights before you can have passengers.  You also have to have a flight instructor sign you off every two years regardless of how often you fly.  It’s all about safety and making sure you know what you’re doing up there.

6.  You’ve mentioned this before, but did you have any interest in flying before you met Martin?

Being in a small airplane never crossed my mind before I met Martin, let alone learning how to fly.  Going up in a hot air balloon was on my list of things to try one day.  I thought of helicopters, too, but never airplanes.  I think it’s because I’d been in a commercial airplane, so I focused on the types of things I hadn’t tried.  (And boy was I wrong – small airplanes are nothing like commercial planes.  Small planes are so much fun!)  It’s all pretty interesting to think of how we grow and develop through our relationship with others.  I also never expected to live in Berlin, yet here we go.

I was so impressed with all the tips many of you shared on managing to-do lists at this post that I just had to share a part of a gift I gave at a bridal shower last month:

The Honey Dew List is a free download from Leo on the Loose.  You just print and cut.

The metal heart clip is just a standard paperclip that I bent with pliers like the image below.  Isn’t it the cutest little detail?

Happy to-do project doing!  And while we’re on the topic – any of you attend a bridal shower over the summer?  Any creative gifts that had you thinking, “I wish I had thought of that”?

(Images by Making This Home and How About Orange)

Repeat that to yourself often.

On the days you’re frustrated with all the stuff in your house and your life, remember this.

When you start comparing your home to all the pretty pictures in magazines and on the internet, don’t let them get you down.  

It’s okay to desire things occasionally, and it’s really hard to part with the things we have.

We’re spending our last weekend in the US near the lake above.  It’s such a bittersweet thing – saying goodbye to family and summer and country life while anticipating autumn in Berlin.  It’s moments like these when I truly understand how the simple things in life are what make living so worth it.

What are your plans this weekend?  I hope it’s beautiful (and less tearful than mine).  Don’t you hate goodbyes?  Have a beautiful weekend, friends.

(Image for Making This Home)

At the beginning of July, I made it a goal to focus more on skin care over the month.  You can guess that I became so completely enamored with flying that I never quite got the chance to share my results with you.

Try counting how many products you use in your daily beauty routine – from lip balms to shampoos.  Then think about how many ingredients are in each of those products… and how many chemicals that might be.  No doubt you’ll find ingredients that look Greek.  The problem for us is that cosmetic industry has some pretty lax standards in the US.  When I looked up some ingredients that I didn’t recognize, most of them were actually banned in the European Union.  The exact same company will make two versions of the same product: one for North American consumers and one for European consumers.

A few big things changed at our house:

1.  We donated all the unused and sample products like hotel soaps that didn’t pass the ingredient check list.

Many organizations like battered women’s shelters are in constant need of products like these. So just like with our conversation about cleaning products you aren’t going to use, it makes sense to donate soaps, lotions, and feminine products you won’t be using.  It’s my favorite form of decluttering!

2.  We switched hand soaps.

We’ve been using Avalon Organics liquid hand soap for a while.  It passed our ingredient list, but we were going through it so fast.  I was curious to see how much our soap use would go down if I pulled the liquid hand soap from the bathroom and replaced it with our kitchen soap dish (a gift from my dear grandma).

Now we’re sold on Plain Jane Skin Care soap bars.  These soaps are handmade.  They use fewer resources than bottles of soap from packaging to processing.  And we quickly found out… they last longer.  I’ve always resisted soap bars because they dry my hands out.  Not our handmade soaps, which is a good thing because the last major switch was….

3.  I started using half as much of each product.

The biggest lesson of the month was realizing how much less I actually needed.  Less shampoo, less lotion, less everything.  I tried to get in the habit of using half as much shampoo each time I was in the shower, which was so hard to do.  I always thought I needed more with my dry skin.  Nope!  It turns out my skin feels healthier and less dry than ever.

So if I were to suggest one thing, it’s to use less.  You can still use the same products.  Just try half as much for a few weeks and see what happens.

What about your beauty routine?  Any tips for a simpler beauty routine?  Later this month, I think it would be really cool to start experimenting with more homemade recipes from this book or maybe a shampoo bar.  What do you swear by?