Living in Another Language

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Weekly photo challenge: my korean happy meal

Written by: Amanda // Category: Weekly Photo Challenges

This week's photo challenge was quite simple. Take a picture of your lunch. Fortunately for me, Amber and I JUST went out for lunch! We both ordered the kids meal and were not disappointed. It came neatly arranged on a shaped tray...I had bulgogi (beef-type meat with sweet sauce), rice, corn slaw, three cold tater tots, a fruit salad consisting of 3 pineapple slices and a tomato, a warm glass of orange juice, and slimy ice cream. I could have done without the ice cream.     ... Read More

Weekly photo challenge: forward

Written by: Amanda // Category: Japan, Photography, Weekly Photo Challenges

This week Wordpress' photo challenge is to take a picture of something that defines the word 'forward' to you. Earlier this week D and I went to Japan to get his visa renewed. On our trip we stopped by Universal Studios in Osaka. I've never seen so many characters in one place. I could 'people watch' there all day. I managed to catch these girls toward the end of the day. Not only are they physically moving forward in this picture...but their fashion personifies the definition of 'fashion forward.'  I absolutely love each and every girl in this picture, and it remains one of my favorites from the day. Stay tuned for more pics from Universal! ... Read More

Weekly Photo Challenge: Unique (Dr. Seuss)

Written by: Amanda // Category: Weekly Photo Challenges

The weekly photo challenge this week is to find something 'unique.' Living in South Korea for almost a year now, I'm still constantly finding things that are unique and special...especially to my 'American' self. I was driving the other day from our new apartment...looked over, and saw this! Nothing like a little Dr. Seuss in real life. I only wish we had more of it! “I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, It's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, And that enables you to laugh at life's realities.” ― Dr. Seuss ... Read More

Delicate

Written by: Amanda // Category: South Korea, Teaching, Weekly Photo Challenges

A snowflake. Is there anything else more delicate? Intricate? One-of-a-kind? It still blows my mind that each one is made differently. It reminds me how complex the world was created...and a lot of times we just take it for granted. This week's photo challenge wanted readers to post a photo that means something 'delicate' to them. A few weeks ago I was preparing my classroom to look 'Christmas-y' with my kindi students. I, of course, whipped out the old trick of paper snowflakes. The kids had never made them before and had an absolute blast cutting paper. After trial and error, trial and error (lets face it, it took us ALL a while to figure out that you cant cut all the edges), we finally had a winning batch of truly unique ... Read More

They deserve it the most…

Written by: Amanda // Category: Holidays, Uncategorized, Weekly Photo Challenges

Thanksgiving: turkey, family, holiday cheer, Black Friday shopping, reflecting on the blessings you were given. I have a love/have relationship with this holiday. I love the fact that Thanksgiving brings out the warm love and friendship of people. I love the fact that people can set apart their differences to enjoy each other's company. I love the fact that it's an excuse to have the opportunity to cook a huge meal and sit down to enjoy it together. I hate the fact that Thanksgiving is filled with gluttony. How many pieces of pumpkin pie can I eat today? If I weigh myself before the meal, how many pounds can I gain after? I know for most people this is not a problem or a conviction for them. I just cant help but think of how many starving ... Read More

Foreign

Written by: Amanda // Category: Food, Weekly Photo Challenges

This week's Weekly Photo Challenge asks readers to post a photo of something 'foreign' to them. As most of you know, I live in South Korea as an English teacher, and have been for the last eight months. Seriously, everything is foreign to me. I'm constantly caught of guard by little things, and this reminds me even more that I'm an alien in a strange land. I've gotten pretty used to the food...but sometimes a certain side dish can throw me of guard. It's quite normal to get a side dish of pickled radishes, seaweed, kimchi, rice, cabbage salad, and some sort of grass salad with red paste on it. What I wasn't expecting was, when we went to a BBQ restaurant, to get a side dish of chilled octopus tentacles covered with red paste and served on ... Read More

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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