Living in Another Language

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An Overnight Layover in Singapore

Written by: Amanda // Category: Singapore, Travel

This post has been held captive for the past two years because I’ve had the hardest time sorting though pictures and figuring out which ones I wanted to share with you. Singapore is magical — I’ve never been to a city quite like it! The Singapore Changi Airport would be very difficult to miss if you’ve traveled Asia over an extended period; we had layovers a handful of times between 2012-15, but never had time to go out and explore Singapore until our third visit. The airport itself is a sight to behold, and if anything, correctly represents wonders the rest of the city has to provide. Derik and I were on our way to Europe from Bali , and it just so happened that our layover in Singapore was about 24 hours, so we decided to book a ... Read More

A Day in Brugge, Belgium

Written by: Amanda // Category: Belgium, Travel, Travel Guides

Last September, Derik and I took a spontaneous road trip to Brugge, Belgium. He had a hankering for a good Belgium beer, and I wanted to escape to a different country for an overnight trip. Knowing nothing of Belgium, we asked around (thanks Instagram Fam.) and the general consensus was to travel up to Brugge. It. Did. Not. Disappoint. The drive was a manageable 4hours 30 minutes, and we had zero issues with construction stalls, navigation errors, and finding our hotel. The tricky part was finding parking in September as most of the central parking lots were already full. We ended up parking at the enormous underground parking garage right next to the train station, and walked the 1.2 miles to our hotel (seriously an amazing walk on such ... Read More

Travel Guide to Krakow, Poland

Written by: Amanda // Category: Poland, Travel, Travel Guides

A couple weeks ago a friend contacted me about taking a spontaneous trip to Krakow, Poland. I don’t know if it’s just because November is considered 'off-season' or Ryanair was having a promo, but I found direct airfare there for only 5 euro and 30 euro back. Yes, FIVE EURO. I couldn’t pass up such a sweet deal, and before I knew it I was squished in the middle seat on a crowded plane bound for Poland. I honestly did not know what to expect of Krakow, but thanks to Pinterest, Google, and constant Facebook messages with my travel buddy, we eventually hashed out a plan and were ready to take on the city. Thankfully our plans were flexible — we had a 'must-do’ list, but quite a few things we did weren’t actually on the schedule until we ... Read More

Korcula Town to Stari Grad with MedSailors

Written by: Amanda // Category: Croatia, Review, Tour Reviews, Travel

There’s nothing more beautiful than experiencing the sunrise or a sunset on the ocean. Although the Philippines wins in my book for best sunsets in the entire world, Croatia definitely gave it a run for its money while we were sailing through the Dalmatian Islands with Medsailors. After our overnight in Vis, we took off for Hvar (enjoyed some swimming activities along the way) and spent the evening in Korcula Town before heading over to Stari Grad. The day was a blur of sun, sailing, dolphins (didn’t grab my camera quick enough), seafood, drinks at sunset, and tons and tons of laughter and games. Do I even need to mention the gorgeous location?!? I couldn’t get over it. Our port stop was a bit of a drive from Korcula Town, ... Read More

Sailing to Vis, Croatia

Written by: Amanda // Category: Croatia, Review, Tour Reviews, Travel

In a matter of less than a week, Derik and I will be embarking on our second sailing adventure with Medsailors.  It’s hard to believe it has already been a couple years since our last trip (seriously, where did the time go), and since we’re back in Europe, we though it would be fun to end this summer with another epic vacation. In all transparency, our last sailing trip was sponsored, but we had the best time in Croatia and believe in this friendly little company so much, we wanted to go again on our own dime! As we get ready for our second trip (location TBA), I thought I would take a few days and sort through photos and memories of our time in Croatia! Our first official stop was on the old military island of Vis. Vis, one of ... Read More

A Visit to Berchtesgaden, Germany

Written by: Amanda // Category: Germany, Photojournalism, Travel

Derik and I knew we wanted to take an cool trip somewhere in Germany over Memorial Day, but we didn’t realize how epic Berchtesgaden was going to be until we drove into town. It’s hard to get a genuine feel for a place by looking at Google images, and honestly half the time the images found are only of the most scenic and picturesque locations, and sometimes the rest of the area can be rather drab and boring. Not Berchtesgaden. This sleepy little ski-town is home to some of the most gorgeous landscape views in Germany (personal opinion but should be straight fact), and part of me kind of wishes to keep it all to myself and not share it with you guys. I like the fact that it wasn’t overly polluted with tourists for being a destination ... Read More

A Day in Oslo, Norway

Written by: Amanda // Category: Norway, Travel

Oslo, Norway was the beginning and end destination of our Norway in a Nutshell tour. Our flight from Germany arrived later in the afternoon so we really didn’t have much time to sightsee around Oslo as the girls were pretty tired and we were all hungry, but the half a mile walk to our hotel was gorgeous. We had to wake up early the next day to catch our train (only to discover the station was closed for repairs), and walked yet another mile or so to the central station. The morning was gorgeous so we didn’t mind the walk as we sipped on coffee and got acquainted with our surroundings. We were all pretty excited to begin our adventure and knew we’d be back at the end of the tour to experience a bit more of the city.  The weather was ... Read More

20 more travel quotes you probably haven’t heard before

Written by: Amanda // Category: Travel

...or maybe you have because you follow me on Instagram.  I've always had a thing for quotes, and enjoy searching through the interwebs for quotes that inspire me to travel, adventure, and live life to the fullest. There are certain travel quotes that tend to be way oversaturated in this digital age, and the quotes below are (hopefully) not among that list…not yet anyway! Since I haven't been able to share many photos from our time in Europe yet, I decided to add a few of them into this post as a little preview. :) Happy wanderlusting! "Don’t be afraid of change. You may end up losing something good, but you will probably end up gaining something better." — Unknown “I see my path, but I don’t know where it leads. Not ... Read More

Staying at Sala Arun Bangkok

Written by: Amanda // Category: Accommodation, Thailand

Last spring Derik and I took a two month trip to Hawaii, the Philippines, and Thailand. It was an amazing two months, and I remarkably still have a lot of our trip to share with you! During our time in Thailand the violent protests in Bangkok were taking place, and we were a little bit hesitant to visit. Safety is always our number one concern, and it's always a bit iffy visiting a place you know nothing about while civil war/violence is happening down the street. Sala Arun Review We really wanted to visit Bangkok since it is such a central hub for Thailand, but knew we had to be smart about where we visited and how we got there. We did quite a bit of research and it seemed the area around the Grand Palace would be one of the safest ... Read More

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Currently on Instagram

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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