Tonight I have some wonderful news for you.  Martin and I have been working away on an all new journal shop.   The sun has already left Berlin.  I cannot tell you how many times we have both walked back and forth from Martin’s desk in the living room to mine in the bedroom. I can tell you that my gosh – our house feels HUGE at this very moment.

“Hey Martin!” I shout.  ”Can you hear me?”

I hear him shout back.  ”What?  I can’t hear you!”

Squeak-plod, squeak-plod, squeak-plod.  I walk all the way across the house.  These socks with the rubber grips make the funniest noises.  They were a Christmas gift.  Maybe my run-really-fast-and-slide-into-the-room approach was getting on someone’s nerves.  Now my socks have brakes, and I sound so silly.  Squeak-plod, Squeak-plod…

As you know, my goal is to make this new shop the means to support our little family so that Martin can complete his master’s degree in electrical engineering with an emphasis in renewable energy. My heart is so full of joy.  Martin’s too.  Every time he comes to my desk, he kisses my cheek.  (Perhaps I should call him to this computer more often…)

Thank you for being here with us and for cheering for us.  We feel so blessed.  I am honored to introduce you to:

Take a look around.  I hope you are amazed by what you see!  I love all of the writing prompt journals at Gadanke.  Even the love letters I mentioned to you are at in the shop.  Wow.  I cannot stop smiling.  I even share some pages of my own Love Where We Live journal.  That book was such a blast to make.

Please let me know what you think.  Martin has tapped me on the shoulder: if you run into any technical problems or weirdness, he’d like to know that, too.

Perhaps it is time to tear off these “brake socks” and slide into the living room one more time.  Wheeeee!  Thanks guys!

Popcorn has to be one of the greatest nighttime snacks.  We’ve been making ours on the stovetop for a couple of years.  There’s no going back to microwave popcorn once you do.

It’s a fairly simple task that’s

• cheaper than microwave popcorn,
• healthier because you’re bypassing all of those chemical flavors in microwave popcorn, and
• better for the environment both because your popcorn has no chemical additives and you’re not tossing out several pieces of garbage every time you make it.

Now I suppose you could always use an air popper to make popcorn.  But if I were to buy something that large for our kitchen, I can think of about 10 things I’d chose first.  After all, whatever large appliance I would pick would have to stay on our countertop 24/7.  A one-function item just wouldn’t be my choice.

So popcorn from the stovetop it is!

…which is totally okay with absolutely everyone in the house.

Here’s how we do it:

Popcorn on the Stovetop

3 tbl vegetable or other neutral oil  (in Germany, I use Sonnenblummenöl)
1/2 c popcorn kernels
butter and salt to taste

.

1.  Turn your burner to high.  Heat the oil in the bottom of a large pot with a sturdy lid.  You really want the oil hot, so be patient.  (hear that, Katie?)

2.  Add the kernels, swirl them in the oil, and wait.

3. Frequently shake the pot as the popcorn begins popping.

4.  When the popping has pretty much died down, remove popcorn from the heat.

5.  Open the lid and add your desired amount of butter – maybe about 2 tbl.  If you stir the butter onto the bottom of the pot, it’ll instantly melt.  Keep stirring as it does.  (Presto – no extra dish for melting butter.)

6.  Add salt to taste.

Note: If you have a lot of kernels that did not pop, chances are your oil wasn’t quite hot enough when you added them.

So that’s it!  Making popcorn is ridiculously simple.  You can start getting creative, adding shredded cheese or various spices.  Me?  I just keep it simple.

How about you?  How do you like your popcorn?

Oh – and for those of you in Germany: I find popcorn kernels at the Biomarkts for about 2 euros/half a kilo.  Check next to the dried beans and rice.

Find more of our favorite recipes (from homemade marshmallows to German cookies) on our Recipes Page.  Happy munching!

First let me say thank you to everyone who has answered Friday’s post, Let’s Talk About You.  Over 50 of you have been telling a little about yourselves and why you come join us on Making This Home.  What a wonderful experience to read everything you have said.  Martin and I both can’t get enough of it.  I feel like I am meeting so many people around the world with a similar philosophy, and that feels so good!

If you haven’t dropped in to say hello, please do.  (Just click right here.)

One reader asked about family goals that Martin and I have.  It’s such an interesting time to ask this question as our little family is in a major transition this week.

Let’s back up a year to May 2009 first…

May 2009

Martin and I were in the United States.  We set a goal together: he was going to teach me how to fly an airplane.  It was not a cheap goal, nor was it a simple goal.  It consumed both of us through most of the summer.  We learned to work together on a whole new level.  We learned trust.  I learned engines.  On September 3, I did it.  WE did it.

I earned my private pilot’s license!

September 2009

Then we moved back to Germany, Martin resumed working, and I realized that if I wanted to learn German some day, I needed to make it a top priority.  I signed up for the most intense courses offered by the adult education program that I could find.  My goal was to complete the 645 hours of class required for most immigrants by May.

The past months have been a crazy whirlwind of grammar and pronunciation.  Writing every day on Making This Home definitely helped.  I had a place where I knew my words made sense.  I may have mixed up little things like “pedal” and “petal”.  But when I came and joined you every day, I wasn’t worrying about really mixing everything up.

I still mix up a lot in German.  This last time?  Martin stood with our bikes on the sidewalk while I walked into the ice cream shop.  “You should keep practicing German,” Martin said.  I was really hoping he would get the ice cream while I practiced standing with the bikes!

I guess the ice cream guy didn’t totally understand me when I ordered two cones.  I almost walked out with two scoops in my cone and just a cone for Martin!

Well May is here, and I am thrilled to tell you:  another goal is crossed off.  I have completed my German courses!  Here’s my class toasting after the 600 hour mark:

I’ll work on German again.  Martin and I will continue to fly in the US.

But what now?

May 2010

We have two goals.  These are things that neither of us have mentioned anywhere online.  Only a small number of people know because it seemed like something private.  The truth is that our next goals are not so Katie-and-Martin-focused.  They involve changes we want to incorporate in THE WORLD.  That is something we should share with all of you, for this is truly where our hearts lie.

I’ll start with the long-term goal.

My grandma says, “That Martin, he knows everything.”  We love him to bits for his enthusiasm to learn.  He is the smartest person I know, and he is never boastful.  Martin wants to work in renewable energy.  And by that, I mean he builds stuff like this:

And works with companies that build these:

But we have a problem.  He needs one more year of school to gain an official title as Electrical Engineer.

German companies pretty much dominate the renewable energy field around the world because, as you’ve probably noticed from my blog, Germans are extremely conscious of the environment and the resources we consume.  I mean, I’m sorting my garbage into 10 piles for recycling over here!

Which leads to our second goal.

That would be my half.  This fall, it is entirely up to me to generate an income for our family.  Thanks to our choices to live with less, we do not need a lot of money.  Still, it is up to me.

I want to create a career where I can share our message of using resources wisely.  My entire life, I have also wanted to do something that could help people and enrich their lives.

I received a beautiful note from a woman who recently purchased a journal from my online shop.  She wrote:

I just want to tell you that I’m so impressed with this book. I lost my husband last year. Anyway one of the things I’m hung up on is dreaming again – having a new tomorrow and goals. I’m going to give my therapist this little book and your site because this little book with it’s beautiful words is helping me to see my beauty again and my hope is that I will pursue more dreams instead of fearing pain.  I want to impress the signifigance of this little book.

Yes – my plan is to create an online journal shop, expanding what I have already started.  It’ll be ridiculously hard.  But I can fly an airplane.  I can communicate in a foreign language.  I know I can do this, too.

Our hearts are so full.  We’re working so very hard behind the scenes, and it feels fabulous.  So you’ll have to stay tuned tomorrow or the next day for a really big announcement in my journal shop plans!  Here’s just a little taste:

Martin and I would both appreciate your help in our journey.  Whether you purchase journals, tell your friends, offer us suggestions and business ideas, or just wish us the best – all is so very appreciated.