Let's Catch You Up...

Back in November we went to Jachen's work Christmas dinner. It was at a restaurant in a nearby town to where Jachen works. Jachen heard it would be a real great dinner so we decided to go. Well, dinner turned out to be Fondue Chinoise. Which is meat fondue. You stick think slices of meat into hot hot broth and you talk while waiting for it to cook and then eat. I did NOT like it. As you can see on my plate, I ate little meat. I think after those three pieces I managed to swallow 3 more tiny pieces. I already don't really like the flavor of meat here and in the States we don't really eat warm thin sliced meat. So not only is the flavor of meat not my favorite, but the texture is too different for me. Luckily, there were fries. Another part of the meal is lots of different sauces. I put some on my plate, and I ended up not liking any of them. {I am also kinda a picky eater} The bad flavor of meat mixed with bad sauce, yuck. Jachen didn't eat much of it either, it's not his favorite meal. The Swiss, besides Jachen, ate a ton of meat. Dinner took a couple HOURS to finish, people finally stopped eating! Then came dessert forever later and then it turned out to be a bust too. The only thing I liked was the cinnamon ice cream and spiced pears. The spaghetti noodle looking dessert is called Vermicelles which is made of Chestnut cream and it was not tasty and a weird grainy texture. We were just expecting an amazing meal, that is why we went...ha...so we were a bit bummed and then the whole dinner seemed to drag on and on. Honestly, I am not a huge fan of Swiss food so I probably wouldn't have liked much of anything they feed us.

In other news....we sold the bunk bed in the "guest" room! There Jachen is taking it apart so the family who bought it can take it home with them. Since we are moving we will not be needing that. Really and obviously we haven't used it at all anyway. We sold it on a website called Ricardo that is like unto Craigslist. We keep trying to sell that ugly green couch, but like us no one else wants it. So we will end up having to pay to have it taken away. Turns out, you can pay a sum of money to the nearby{down the mountain} second hand store and they will come pick up furniture you don't want and we have a few pieces to give them.

Also, we/Jachen borrowed his grandmothers work out bike while she has been gone on a cruise. I would love to use it, but we can't get the seat to lower and I can barely reach to do a full circle. Bummer. His grandma said we could have the bike, but we won't have room in the new apartment. I have always wanted to own a work out machine that I could place in front of a TV. ha. Ideal.

Doesn't Jachen look pretty dapper in those big frames glasses? He likes them too. Bonus. He is considering a pair like these in the future.

Lots of baby time. I get videos after videos of Henry and sometimes mr. Xander even makes an appearance in them. Those boys are a hoot! Too bad Skype is so grainy.

Snow. It came and almost went. Tuesday was nice and snowy all day, then it was practically gone yesterday, Wednesday and today even more so. But, it will come again. It didn't snow where Jachen works, down there on a lower elevation. They typically get less snow so I look forward to that when we move...down to that lower elevation.

Our poor framed picture of Christ slid right off that fireplace and shattered. So sad, it was so lovely framed. I should have secured it better...it was just leaning against the wall. Yes, this is note worthy.

Switzy actually has a great looking Christmas. Inside shop windows is Christmas. Lovely Christmas lights line Swiss architecture and street overheads. In almost every city, town or village there is a Christmas market. It is great. Soon we will be attending our village's Advent nights. Every night the village meets and then walk to a home who opens their window to a Christmas window display. Sounds neat. Soon I will post what our own Christmas looks like.

I am happy to be back to updating!
Ps. If you don't read my All Things Lovely blog you missed that I was without my computer for over 2 weeks do to a malfunctioning charger. But I am back!

Eventful weekend

Our weekend was great. Thanks to my ipod for helping preserve the memory.

We drooled over chocolate as our noses pressed against the windows

We ate a delicious meat/pork, lettuce and yummy spicy sauce sandwhich

We also ate mac&cheese the Swiss version, yum

We happened upon the first day of Christmas decorations on sale at the nearby thrift store, yess. We loaded up a box of some good decorations

We went to a candy store and picked up some American candy and soda, ROOT BEER!

I bought some colored tape for hanging art on the wall

Isn't that a cute heart deer wall hanging? It's perfect

More lovely fires, toasty

Like my new wreath made of twigs? Perfection. Great for Fall and Christmas decor

Ate Spaghetti dinner every night, yum

Braided three scarves together, but then opted out of wearing it to Stake Conference & look at that yellow skin I got in that picture 

Sunday evening we went to a concert at a local church. There were three performances/groups. The first was a brass band made of kids, a Yodeling group from the area and then a bigger brass band of adults. It was a great evening and we enjoyed the performances. I especially enjoyed Swiss Yodeling. Jachen didn't, he had heard far too much Yodeling in his lifetime. Sorry the photos are so bad of the concert they had some major spotlights going on on the stage.

More of us...

A little update on some October happenings...
Watching conference is a little tricky over on this side of the world. Growing up I never thought about how other parts of the world don't watch it at the same time as us.We still have a few talks to watch and we watch them for FHE.
Cute nails, huh?
Jachen reading during Sunday School...and obviously I am on my Ipod in class.
Jachen was asked to fill in twice to teach at Institute and I went along. There is always dinner served before Institute starts and both times we were there we ate delicious homemade pumpkin soup.
We went to check out the holiday decorations at Ikea and pick up another fleece blanket and holiday scented candles. There were Christmas trees in rooms. It finally clicked as to why there were so many Christmas decorations already all over town, but then at Ikea I realized it is because Christmas is their next holiday...whereas in the USA there is still Halloween and Thanksgiving going on.
That is the yummy pumpkin soup and the lovely wheat bread I dipped in it.

I can't believe Halloween is tomorrow and that the day after that is the first day of November! Crazy.

Update

The grocery store Migros, here in Switzerland, came out with this new drink. Pink Grapefruit. Oh me oh my. So delicious. Every time I buy one, it is already opened and going down my throat before we get to the car.

The Swiss love their Marching bands

I have NO idea what is going on here...but don't worry that was driving around. I almost didn't get my camera out in time before it passed us on the road.

This was our first trip grocery shopping in Germany. Our second trip looked a lot like that. We buy enough to last us a few weeks so we don't have to keep driving back and forth. Where we shop in Germany is about an hour away. We shop in Germany because there is a larger variety of food and better prices.

Look at that cabbage! Silly cabbage.

Jachen found this HUGE fan at the thrift store. I think we should have bought it and used it at church. It sure is hot in our church building.

I MADE STIR FRY. Yum. This is one of my favorite meals and one I have never attempted cooking. WHAT was I waiting for? It looked and tasted a lot better in real life than in these pictures. Even better was the leftovers for lunch the next day...I love cold stir fry.

I MADE SPAGHETTI PIE. Again, a meal I love, but never attempted before. It was quite the process, easy though. Jachen and I have been able to eat this for 3 dinners. Delicious every time. This is the meal I stuck in the oven while we went on our drive, that I mentioned, here.

Well that is my little update.

AND....

I forgot to mention this in the previous blog post...but before we left the temple I decided to talk to an American group that were sitting and eating lunch. AND it turns out the girl there is the sister of the girl that is currently nannying for the family I worked for last year in Switzerland. This girl, Rachel has met that family several times and has heard all about me! Such a small world! AND her other sister nannied them last year and I met her when I went to visit the family I worked for back in October. Crazy! Her parents were there visiting from the States so I met them too. Rachel is the girl at the very end of the video I took of the temple.
What are the odds!

Update

This is a Durum. They are all over Switzerland sold at Kebab places. The first time I had one in May I didn't like it, but every Kebab place is different and uses a different sauce. A few weeks ago I wanted to try a Durum again because it's the cheapest "fast food" here and I wanted to give it another shot. So we tried the place closest to our home and loved this one.

Yay! Sauerkraut on a hot dog! Well I should say "hot dog" because they are not quite the same as an American style hot dog. Speaking of hot dogs, in college on one of my french tests there was a question asking what "hot dog" was in French. I thought it must have been a trick question, but no...it really was "hot dog" in French.

Jachen bought himself a soldering iron to work on some hobby stuff. He has set up a table in the living room so he can work on it and still be near me.

I received a package from my parents this week and inside there was a Mariners ball cap for Jachen. He sure is excited about that.

This past Saturday Jachen and I went to the Bern Temple with members from our ward. After our morning session we went to the Mormon Home store and LOOK WHAT I FOUND! A&W Root Beer! I have been craving Root Beer and there it has been waiting for me. It was pretty expensive, but it was a must. Oh, and it was French week at the temple so there were many French speaking Temple workers and people going in and out of the Temple. I sure love that language. Oh and it was really really sunny when we took those pictures together, so that is why my eyes are closed. 

Then we visited the spot at the Temple where Jachen proposed to me back in October, almost a year ago. He is pointing to the spot we stood and you can see how he is praising that I said "yes" to him then.

I don't have much to update...

|| My ankle I THINK is getting better...like may finally heal completely.
|| Remember when our washing machine/dryer was having issues? Well it is again...right now our damp clothes are hanging around the house drying and then after they dry I will iron them. Now, that is the life.
|| We are going grocery shopping in Germany again. I think that is the highlight of my life now. Which is sad. Ha. It is much cheaper to shop there and we have such a bigger variety. CAN NOT WAIT.
|| My engagement/wedding ring is at a jewelry store "getting cleaned". We took it in on Friday...and it's Tuesday...I am eager to have it back. Not only is it taking far too long to be cleaned, but then I have to pay $10 for it. I miss hoping over to Fred Meyer and getting it cleaned in 5seconds and it being free.
|| OH, here is some big news...we plan on moving! We decided it would be best for us to save money on rent by moving into a flat. We can't move till February and we don't know where we are moving, but I am for sure looking forward to it. Wanna come help pack when it's time? Good. See you then.

That about ends the update.

Update

I have been away from this blog far too long. Lately we have been pretty busy. In addition to our busyness, Jachen has become sick and has been missing a weeks worth of work. It has been enjoyable with him home with me, but I would prefer him not sick. He has been laying around and sleeping while I have been babysitting him. This last Friday evening I went to a Relief Society summer kick off BBQ which was fun. I talked to one of the sister missionaries almost the whole time, she is from Germany originally but has lived in Helsinki, Finland for the last couple years. Her and I have much in common and when she is off her mission soon I will travel a bit with her. The weather has gotten HOT HOT, but luckily our house stays nice and cool.

Another delicious loaf of bread Jachen's Grandmother made for us. It was as delicious as it looks.

We took a drive to Germany. I will post more about that another time.

I made delicious French Toast, yum.

We went back to Solothurn, such a beautiful place.

We went to Solothurn for Jachen's mom's birthday....here is an image of that outing...more to come from that weekend.

Jachen read and finished the book, War of the Worlds. Lucky, I want to read and finish a book.

We received a few packages from my parents...peanut butter m&m's were in it. Yum.

Look at these sweet girls.

That is it for now.

update

Some things that have happened as of late...

Playing video games at Ikea.

Jachen finally axing down a huge shelving unit we don't want in the house and is too big to throw out intact.

I have been working on art a lot lately.

Some beautiful drives, any drive here is beautiful really.

Found somethings I needed at a great store that has become a new favorite.

While eating lunch at Jachen's dads, he asked us what kitchenware we needed from this little magazine. We pointed to one, but then he ended up buying us all this. So nice! I guess I need to learn how to cook meals that go in these.

Jachen came downstairs wearing these silk pants. Oh la la. They were up in the attic. There are some real treasures up there.

I got one of these Bamboo tablets. LOVE IT. It helps a lot. I have been wanting one forever and Jachen wanted to get me one so can't argue with that. Photo courtesy of Jachen.

update

it has been too long i am sorry. during the day i have been busy emailing those who signed up to be emailed pictures of themselves at the photo booth at my wedding, took up the last 3 days of computer time. (i emailed them large files so the loading took forever also while editing them and loading them to my blog which also took far too long). you can see them over HERE at my all things lovely blog. i just love them, so worth the effort.

here you have, a very detailed telling of our last couple days...

we have been keeping ourselves busy, as usual. we live west of and jachen works east of st. gallen and all the stores...so whenever i need to go with him somewhere he hast to pass the city and pass the stores to drive up the mountain to come pick me up and then go back down. he never complains and is always willing to take the extra time to get me. after work on friday jachen came and got me and then we went into st. gallen to turn in the license plates that were on the car we purchased. we parked about 5 blocks from the building and when we just walked up to the building jachen realized he forgot something in the car and he had to run all the way back to the car because the licensing place was closing in 20min...he never complained he had to run there and back. i for sure would have complained...oh wait i did, i complained about him forgetting something even though i asked him at the car if he had everything. but he was speedy and we made it in time. jachen never complains...he just does what has to be done. after turning in the plates, we decided to do a small amount of grocery shopping but along the way found a hardware/garden store(like unto Lowes or Home Depot) called OBI. it also has a small random craft and framing section. we went in hoping to find myself spray paint...after taking a generous amount of paint chips(solely because i am addicted to color with no real reason to need paint chips...jachen had to pull me away) we found the spray paint. not only where there not many colors to chose from, but the spray paint was 11.50 a bottle. OUCH. however, we bought some. then both of us got giddy when we found the craft section. another reason i love that jachen of mine...he loves to make and create things as well and we both get equally excited. however, i was then at that point reminded how outdated switzerlands craft selection is. however i found one thing there that i am particularly excited for come Christmastime.

saturday morning and into the early afternoon jachen and i worked on yard work and a bit of house work. before i began yard work, i spray painted our chandelier...which i will reveal the final outcome on another post. jachen and i have a pretty good sized yard/garden. well i guess compared to many yards and gardens it is small, but that fact that we have a yard and garden makes us have to work out in it regardless. i pulled weeds while jachen clipped bushes and got ride of bushes. our ideal garden...is to not have a garden. so we are on our way to getting ride of it. neither of us know how to have a garden nor does either of us have a desire to maintain it. i will show you our yard and garden later in a video another time.

in the afternoon jachen and i went in search for more thrift stores. not successful. one of them wasn't even there anymore, one of them was overly priced junk and the third try...it closed 10min before we got there. the thrift stores here are a joke...they are all overly priced and have junk. and when i say junk i dont mean "because all thrifts really are just junk" no, i mean euro junk. i dont mean to be cruel but imagine an already poorly furnished/decorated/home furnished country and then a store filled with all the junk that THEY dont want...get it? i have managed to find myself a handful of good pieces in the past, like last week for example(again, will show that to you another time) but still a bit overpriced. for example something that would be priced $2 at a thrift store in America, is priced $6-$8 here. a nice piece of framed art in the US would be like $20-30 and here is $60-80. well enough of my disdain towards their second hand stores.

after not having success at the second had stores, we headed to the car where we heard someones back car plate fall off as they drove off up the street. we decided to pick it up and turn it in so they could have it back. we decided to head into downtown st. gallen to the licensing office to drop it off there and of course the office was closed. we parked and walked into rainy st. gallen, not ideal, in search of the police station and arrived to find it closed. while headed back to the car jachen spotted a police officer and ran over to hand the plate to them. finally we were rid of it. i forgot to mention our stop into the candy store when first walking into the city. that was a vital part of our day. we left st. gallen candy in stow and headed to Austria to have dinner with jachen's friends at a chinese restaurant. we enjoyed the evening with his friends and enjoyed the chinese food.

sunday was lazy and monday evening jachen and i went on a walk/trek into the beautiful meadows and woods. it was an enjoyable evening walk/trek and i regret to say i didn't bring my camera.

tuesday evening we went grocery shopping. every two weeks we go on our big grocery shopping excursion.

wednesday, yesterday i went on another long walk and last night we watched the bieber movie on my laptop that i rented on itunes. thank you itunes. jachen and i very much enjoyed the movie and afterwards he told me he was glad i made him watch it. i knew he would like it.

that sums it up.

random other news...the Heinz ketchup is too sweet here, i got a nice little sunburn yesterday and the other night i found a hole in the side of my back tooth, SCARY, i am afraid to know what that will entail. i have no idea when it happened and why it doesn't hurt.

photos of the last few days.

what it looks like driving into St. Gallen


before i painted the chandelier.

jachen working hard out in the yard

on the way to look for the thrift store, i found this beautiful view. click on the photos bigger to see the rolling hills better.

oh hey there.

my cute husband driving us to austria.

on our way to austria, jachen showed me where he works

his desk is at the top left window

our candy bag, we love our sweets.

another reason i love jachen...he likes napping on the floor too.

you could say we bought a lot of yogurt. top shelf and two rows on the next shelf down...granted we do have a small euro fridge.

can't forget the disposal of the cat that snuck in from our garage and then came upstairs.

bieber and me...oh and jachen. dont mind the ugly computer glare.

a sneak peak photo of a future post...and yes that is mr. darcy on the screen.