Living in Another Language

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Archives for July 2013

I love bloglovin!

Written by: Amanda // Category: Uncategorized

It's Monday. The weekend went way to fast, and here I am running around like crazy for another week of teaching. My husband and I are totally over teaching at the moment and are pining for our vacation to Borneo (two short weeks!). I don't have much for you today...but I DO have an awesome link-up! If you have a blog and love to be social, this one's for you. <div align="center"><a href="http://www.northernbellediaries.com" title="Northern Belle Diaries"><img src="http://i1276.photobucket.com/albums/y469/NBelleCreations/IheartBloglovin_zps92408d43.png" alt="Northern Belle Diaries" style="border:none;" /></a></div> ... Read More

A saturday photo session

Written by: Amanda // Category: Photography

Happy weekend my dear readers! Today I have a treat for you. I've realized that in the past couple of years Derik and I haven't had many good pictures of us taken together. I've been asking my husband for weeks to come do a self-taken photo session with me, and today was the day! The weather only cooperated for about an hour, but we got a few good ones! I'll try to convince him sometime in August (maybe the week after our vacation) to take some more with me while it's sunny outside! Check out a few shots from the session! Make sure you also check out my sponsors! ... Read More

Friday Funnies {7}

Written by: Amanda // Category: Friday Funnies, Uncategorized

After taking a week off for the 4th of July holiday weekend, the 'Friday Funnies' are back! I missed reading your funny posts last week; so excited to see what you'll link up today! I'm bringing back the infamous Google Search Terms...as I've had quite a few doozies this last week (part one here). I've also had a few laughable posts including the one where cats take over and the one where I use charades to try and ask for boneless chicken.  Alright here we go. Garlic recipe dessert I don't know about you, but my desserts usually involve sugar not garlic. A garlic dessert? I'd say that's a recipe gone wrong in every way. The only recipe I have on my blog that involves garlic are my garlic cheddar biscuits. Now I'd say those would knock ... Read More

A game of charades (aka everyday life)

Written by: Amanda // Category: Expat Living, South Korea

The last few days I've been somewhat nostalgic about my expat life. It's so weird to think that two years ago I was walking around in Portland, Oregon not even having the slightest clue I may be spending a good portion of my life abroad. We have been given so many blessings and opportunities here...life is crazy awesome. I also have days where I freak out. I'm living in a foreign country where  I haven't the slightest idea how to understand the language. In fact...if someone were to tell me to run due to some crazy rabid dog, I'd most likely stand there stupidly...due to the fact that I ignore most everything nowdays. It's hard not to. My husband and I live in our own little bubble...floating around in Asia-land trying to act 'normal' ... Read More

Blogging 101

Written by: Amanda // Category: Blogging

I am in no means an expert blogger, an 'it' blogger, or any other sort of blogger you may otherwise refer to as a big blogger. I am however a passionate girl who loves to share my experiences with the world. I started this little ol' blog in February of 2012 under a Wordpress.com account. I did my best with material and trying to make things interesting, but it seemed as if my blog just wasn't interested in 'taking off.' It wasn't until I started doing my research  (a year later) that I realized it was going to take a little bit more than people just falling upon my blog due to some google search to get my blogger ball rolling. Now, almost 4 months after my blogging epiphany, I am in complete shock as to how my blog has grown. I mean ... Read More

The collective social blog hop

Written by: Amanda // Category: Uncategorized

*FYI, beginning next week THE Collective will be going LIVE on Mondays at 12:00 AM CST* Welcome to the NEW and IMPROVED weekly blog hop party, THE Collective. This is a link up for bloggers who want to gain followers and meet awesome people. Not sure if this is the blog hop for you? Listen to what other bloggers have to say... "Just to let you know, your blog hop is the best I've participated in for gaining new friends!!! I couldn't believe the results!! Thank you!" - Danavee, This Vintage Grove "I'm dropping by to let you know that I love being a part of your blog hop!   I have been meeting really nice bloggers.  Bloggers who are actually friendly and want to connect!  I'm ... Read More

This one goes to the cats

Written by: Amanda // Category: South Korea

I'm not a huge cat fan. Until Saturday, I had no idea I was  pretty darn allergic to them. However, I am a HUGE animal lover in general, and due to the fact that I was spending an adventurous weekend with a couple of girls in Busan, we decided to seek out a cat cafe. Yes. Cat cafe. I understand that there is absolutely no way a cat cafe could be sanitary with it's open coffee bar and cats running around everywhere, but I have to remember this is Asia. I really did have a blast despite my red, itching eyes and swollen sinuses. The cats were more than happy, and could do whatever they pleased. There were strict rules not to touch a sleeping cat, or even pick any of them up. Although I was a little disappointed about not being able to ... Read More

blog design

We got a facelift because of you

Written by: Amanda // Category: Sponsors

You notice anything different around here? I made this new design in celebration of you!  Living in Another Language has reached 1000 Bloglovin' followers! This is a huge milestone for me, and honestly I'm in shock and awe over the crazy growth my blog has made in the last two months. I made the switch in April from Wordpress.com to Wordpress.org, and it as the best thing I've ever done. I am so thankful for each and every one of my readers; you are the reason I keep this blog going! I am so thankful for all the comments, tweets, shares, and overall support I've gotten from each of you. Now we all know it's not just Bloglovin' that has gotten my blog to where it is. I also have amazing followers on: Wordpress  [139] Twitter ... Read More

This holiday we call the 4th of july

Written by: Amanda // Category: Holidays

Happy July 4th to all my fellow American citizens! I'm spending my second 4th away from the good ol' US of A...and trying to communicate the significance of the holiday to my students. I have to admit my heart is heavy as I'll be going to bed tonight without stuffing my face with BBQ, fruit salads, and pies. Oh...and let's not forget the fireworks. I'm pretty much a pyro. I love fire so much...I've already mentioned once or twice about the burn scar on my hand  left from melting plastic while playing in a fire when I was ten. I don't regret that scar. I also have a twin scar on my knee. Although I've been out of touch with the States for quite some time, I've done everything in my power to squeak in a little bit of fire-love every now ... Read More

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Our adventures may be few and far between nowadays Our adventures may be few and far between nowadays, but the ones we get to take are oh so sweet. 

My daughters are now 2.5 years and 6 months old. Life never slows down, but only gets faster with each day we’re blessed to live. Social media may not be a part of my life how it used to be, and instead I’m working on living life intentionally each day as we raise our girls during these crazy times. 💕
2020 has been a year has it not? As much as I love 2020 has been a year has it not? As much as I love social media, I found myself taking a break as the things we were all going through made social media so insignificant to me. 

In January/February I had a miscarriage. It was a horrible way to start the year, and little did I know it was just the beginning of it all. 

Even with the loss, hardship of moving back to the US in the middle of a global pandemic, and navigating our new lives here, we were given many blessings. The greatest of those was finding out I was pregnant again in March.

It’s a scary time to be pregnant right now, especially after a miscarriage, because doctors visits are very minimal. Also, Derik was never able to come to a single visit. I was terrified something would happen and I would be told bad news and have to face that alone. But God was gracious to us. 

We kept our special little secret to ourselves, and it wasn’t until our third trimester before we told immediate family and close friends. My pregnancy was very private for me, and a special time to bond closely with the babe growing inside me.

Our sweet little girl arrived November 30, and yes I had to deliver with a mask on, but she is perfect and I truly feel our family is complete. 💕🌈
 
“When a rainbow appears, it doesn’t mean the storm never happened or that we are not still dealing with its aftermath. It means something beautiful and full of light has appeared in the midst of the darkness and clouds. Storm clouds may still hover but the rainbow provides a counterbalance of color, energy, and hope.”
I am in love. As I’m sure every other plant/mons I am in love. As I’m sure every other plant/monstera collector is when you get to behold such a beauty in real life. If there were ever #plantgoals, this is it. 

Since moving from Germany, it has been a long and slow process getting our life back to normal. All of our belongings have yet to arrive so we’ve literally been camping in our house on an air bed and camping chairs for two months. 😂 All that to say, having to start my plant collection over again here stateside has been so much fun! I will miss the plant prices if Germany, but the selection here blows my mind. Anyone else obsessed? We’ve lived here for almost 8 weeks now and I already have 11 plants 😂😬😬😬. I don’t have a bed or a couch, but by golly I have greenery. 😂🤦🏼‍♀️🌱
Oh my heart. I’ve been trying to figure out the Oh my heart.

I’ve been trying to figure out the words to say about our time in Germany, but my fingers can’t seem to type out how to express my love, gratefulness, thankfulness, sadness, and heartbreak I feel about leaving. Every country we’ve lived in has taught us something and has given us so many beautiful memories, as well as opened our eyes a little more to different cultures and ways of living.

But Germany was special. The first time we stepped foot into Germany was in 2015, and we loved it so much we stayed the extent of our travel visa (3 months). I was able to visit again in 2016, and then we officially packed everything and moved in 2017. Germany has always had my heart: the people, the festivals, the food, wine and beer, the immaculate home landscaping, and even all the rules that every resident is just expected to follow to a tee (like recycling every tiny scrap of trash). Our family grew from two to three while in Germany. Bringing our daughter into the world, and raising her for a year and a half in a different culture, will be one of the most beautiful memories of my life.

Our move was impacted by the COVID pandemic, and it took three long months of delays, red tape, and countless phone calls to get everything together so we could actually get on a plane and have our stuff packed and shipped to our new home. 
I am breathing a sigh of relief to know all the stress of everything is over and our new adventure can begin. I am mourning the loss of leaving Germany. I am in a weird transition right now trying to grasp it all, but here we are jumping into new things head first! We are back in the US for a while, in the beautiful state of Tennessee, and look forward to many new memories, travels, friends, and being able to spend time with family! 
Photos from my sweet and talented friend @juliejayphotos
I feel like I failed hard this year at Christmas m I feel like I failed hard this year at Christmas markets. We went to a total of ONE market, which is exactly 19 less than I told myself I would go to this year to make up for not going to any the year before 🤦🏼‍♀️(I was 40 weeks pregnant and not feeling crowds). I will say, it was a great one and the weather was so nice, we stayed out until the market shut down.

If there’s one thing I will miss most about Germany when it is our time to move, will be the sheer enthusiasm this country has for Christmas, and I’m not talking about consumerism. Food, laughter, friends, family, music, dancing: celebration. Also, Germany shuts down for not only one day, but THREE. Stores are closed, mail is not delivered, people aren’t out and about. Everyone is home enjoying time with family, and I love it. However, I may have gone into full blown panic mode Christmas Eve when I realized I had a total of 8 diapers to get us through until the 27th. 👀
We spent Thanksgiving back in North America: Whist We spent Thanksgiving back in North America: Whistler, Canada! A 10 hour flight from Germany , and I can’t say this one was better than the one we took over the summer on our trip to Alaska, but we survived! Entertaining a 11 month old for that long is much harder than a 6 month old, especially when they aren’t into sleeping on the plane AT ALL. 🤪

Whistler was beautiful despite the lack of snow, and we enjoyed our time with family, the delicious food, and as much sightseeing as one could do with a jet-lagged baby. 
This was actually my first trip to Canada ever, (unless you want to count the move my parents took up to Alaska from Arkansas when I was two. 😂🤷‍♀️ ) and I loved it! We would really like to take a big Canadian road trip someday and explore more of the country! 😍😍🇨🇦
Being a mama may mean I don’t always have time t Being a mama may mean I don’t always have time to put myself together, but I would rather spend the extra moments making special memories with our daughter that she can cherish forever. I doubt that she will look at this picture and see a tired, messy haired mama that’s barely had time to wash her face nevermind carefully apply makeup, but am hoping she will see a mama that never tires of carrying and cuddling her, or sharing new experiences with her. 💕
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