So it’s 4am here in Michigan and I decided to write a bit as I sit here in the dark on the couch. Time got away from me since I last wrote. I announced to the world we are having twins and then life just started to fly by!
I am now 33 weeks along and I look gigantic. Now it’s just a matter of trying to keep these little babies in!
In August we took a baby moon to Cape Cod and it was MUCH needed. You all know how much we love that place and I couldn’t imagine not going. It was a rough flight though. I was only about 13 weeks or so at that point but I was SO uncomfortable and the nausea…oh man. That was rough.
There is really something to be said about the healing powers of the ocean. I’m no hippy but for the first time since I found out I was pregnant, I could EAT. I even dabbled in a lobster roll 🙂 My parents were able to join us as well for the weekend which was so nice! Who knows when we will be able to do that again!
As soon as we got back to Michigan, I was sick again. I wish I could have bottled up the ocean and brought it home with me. I’m not sure we will make it next year with the two babies so that will be hard on the heart. It will be our first time not going in over 7 years.
We went to Germany in September as a last hoorah you could say! Unfortunately, Toblerone had to work the majority of the time and I was left to my own devices. The things we planned (soccer game, Oktoberfest, etc.) were quickly shot down because of my growing belly and the risk of being around rowdy drunk people. So, we did a lot of visiting with family and catching up.
The plane ride…oh man. Let me just tell you something. I do NOT recommend that. I was 16 weeks when we left and I was just about 18 weeks on the way back. A 9 hour flight stuck in the same position really does a number on the body. For two days it felt like my stomach was in a vice grip. Ouch. I will NEVER fly pregnant again. That crap is for the birds! However, I did it all for the Schnitzel and cake! I ate like a champ there. I definitely have two little Germans growing. All they wanted was the typical southern German fare: Fleischsalat, Schnitzel, Spaetzle, and gravy.
We had a great time catching up with all the family! I spent lots of time taking walks and going to lunch at Toblerone’s Omi’s house which was nice to catch up with everyone and keep my German going!
We were there during a holliday “Erntedank” that they celebrate here. It literally means “Thanksgiving” or “Thanks for the Harvest.” They are thankful for all that the world gives them. This first picture of the world and biblical friends was made from flower petals that were turned into powder and then this was “painted” somehow. Really incredible stuff. Plus they showcase vegetables and fruit that they are thankful for. It really was amazing to see in person.
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On top of all the fun, we revealed the Genders to Omi and Opi by having them open two gifts and….well…:-) Guess we gotta stock up on Lederhosen!
Don’t let the title fool you. Two weddings, same man, under 2 years 🙂 Yup! Thats how life works sometimes when you are in a multi-cultural relationship like ours. I got double the wedding fun! And ever so fitting is that in 10 days we will be celebrating our 2nd year anniversary from our first wedding. A lot of people have asked us which day will we celebrate and the answer is both! Something German for our October 26th anniversary and something American for our August 18th anniversary. We’re lucky enough to have two awesome days to remember…why not celebrate both! 🙂
Hit play on the video below and listen to the song I walked down the aisle too. This song is more of a party song from the 80’s early 90’s but this version lets you actually hear the lyrics. It was beautiful and made a bunch of us cry! Even Toblerone! But how cute is it that a man that has been with me for 6 years, married for 2 would still cry when he sees me walking down the aisle. Beautiful moments all around, people!
During the past two years I have had MANY expats ask me about the wedding planning process from 3,000 miles away. You want my advice? DONT. DO. IT. Â Not only did things come out a bit differently than if I had actual time to do things but the amount of stress compressed into the few days before the wedding is just not healthy. Weddings are stressful but imagine seeing your decorations and things you ordered online for the first time one week before the wedding day. If I had a month to go home and organize all wedding things, I would have in a heartbeat. It would have saved us all from combustion!
We held our wedding in a house we rented for the week in Cape Cod, MA. It was the most beautiful setting for our wedding day. It wasn’t on the beach but I didn’t really want that necessarily. We just wanted it to be in our favorite place on earth.
We had over 65 guests and every single person there came from out of state or out of country. Think about that for a minute. 65 people (including kidlets) that came for this moment. This special day. It’s this kind of feeling that just can’t be described but that fact that our destination wedding pulled in that amount of love and friendship was just jaw dropping. We were speechless.
My darling cousin did my hair and makeup and surprise!!!!!!…… My dress is PINK! Wouldn’t want it any other way! We took wedding pictures at the gorgeous Mass Audubon Nature park and wildlife sanctuary. It was a perfect spot. We had the ocean, we had sand, we had forests, we had ponds. So many different cool aspects for a great backdrop. One would even say magical.
It was 78 degress, sunny (hot in a massive dress), slight seabreeze, and little tiny bugs just LOVED getting up in between the layers of pink tulle I was wearing! My groom looked crazy handsome in his blue suit specially bought in Germany. Our wedding party looked fantastic! It all turned out well considering this was all primarily discussed through email before hand. Everyone looked perfect for the part!
The morning of our wedding I woke up around 7am and asked Toblerone to walk with me around the yard to take it all in. That was the one and only moment of “calm” that I felt! lol…but I suppose thats normal! Everything was slowly getting set up and we had lemonade and iced tea set up for our guests as they arrived. They got “fan” programs, noise makers, some got rice butterflies to throw in honor of our grandparents who were looking down on us.
Alot of what I did was DIY. I found a bunch of templates online and the real deal of it is…no one cares about the paper products at a wedding. The name cards, escort cards, programs, all of that gets thrown out or drinks spilled over it. I knew that going in so I did ALL of that myself. Even our invitations. I found a lot of great stuff over at weddingchicks.com. But doing a simple search for “templates” is very helpful! Don’t spend a dime on stuff if you don’t have to!
The ceremony was perfect and personal. Private and intimate. Everything we wanted. AND…done in two languages thanks to our very good friend who did the whole ceremony for us. Just perfect! We had a “stone and time capsule” ceremony.  On each seat we placed gold painted stones that each person was instructed to hold tightly and say a blessing, prayer, wish, and simply put their love and energy in to while Toblerone’s Dad and brother serenaded us with a trumpet duet. These stones were collected and placed into a box with wine and a love letter for us to open on our first anniversary. This was my absolute favorite part of the whole ceremony.
The reception started off with me sobbing basically while I thanked everyone for coming all this way just for little old us. Our Cape Cod Clambake was fantastic and people raved about the meal. It was a lot of food and for a great price. More importantly kind of fun! I literally was cracking a lobster in my wedding gown. I highly recommend it!
As for the music, I did it all myself. I spent WEEKS….no make that MONTHS working on a playlist long enough to keep the crowd going! I used an app on my phone called Wedding DJ which was great through all the testing but suddenly stopped working by cocktail hour. Thankfully I had the playlists on my computer in iTunes and we used that the rest of the night. I never left the dance floor. For some reason I felt like if the bride was on the dance floor…people would always dance. No one wants to leave the bride alone up there! Right?! I also didn’t have a sip of alcohol. I was sober through the COMPLETE thing! It was awesome! 🙂 Nothing classy about a drunk bride!
The party ended around 2am and I ended the night with two of my best friends in my bed talking about the day and life in general while Toblerone hung out with the late-late night crew in the tent. Catching up and just loving the moment. It was the most stressful day of my life and I would NEVER do it again but it was the greatest thing in the world to have everyone we love there (and a few missing!).
So again for all other expats out there planning a wedding from afar…take the time to sort out the big stuff as best as you can and be prepared for nothing and everything to go wrong on your special day. I received one piece of advice from everyone and that was “Just enjoy the day.” But as a perfectionist, that’s impossible and I wish I could have enjoyed it more. Looking back at it now though, I wouldn’t have changed a thing! Wouldn’t be our story if it wasn’t a little bit crazy and out of hand!
Hi All! I have been MASSIVELY M.I.A. for over a month now. My deepest, sincerest apologies! But something tells me you didn’t even notice I was gone! 🙂
I have so much to share with you all and so much to tell about the wedding in the US and our vacation there, new hiking trip in the Alps and all that.
We have exactly 19 days until we step onto a plane to our next chapter in life. I’ve been busying myself with packing even though there is a moving company coming to do that for us on the 25th of this month. Keeps me focused though! I can’t sit around all day and look pretty now can I?!
We’ve been looking at homes to buy and researching things to do in the areas around us in Michigan. We can’t wait to start this chapter! Harley Jones has NO clue what is going on…thankfully! He will be going in to get all his shots updated and to pick up some good drugs to keep him calm during his excursion back home. I’m worried that he will remember what it was like coming over here for him and he may have a panic attack. At least, I know I will. Heck, I need drugs for this trip!
I’m going to start with throwing you a few pictures from our wedding and then the rest of the tales and stories will come later this week hopefully! Must.Find.Time.To.Blog.
Most of you know that I have been planning our big American wedding from over 3,000 miles away. And not only am I planning it overseas but we chose a location that we are familiar with but have never lived in. I’m from upstate NY but we chose Cape Cod as our dream wedding location. Good choices….all around good choices. ***sarcasm*cough*sarcasm**
This year has been filled with really amazing things. Toblerone got a job transfer to the US, we sold our house in a week without a real estate agent (That would have been an extra €20,000), and this wedding has been coming together pretty easily. All these really great things have been happening to us and I was always just waiting for the other shoe to drop. I never have good luck! Thats just not my style!
So far the only stress I really had was making our DIY invites. That was NOT fun at all. But I refuse to spend boatloads of cash on pieces of paper that people throw away anyways!
And then 3 months before the wedding I get an email from the owner of the house we were renting for the week on the Cape. This house is where we planned the ceremony, reception, and our week vacation with our family. He said in the email that he had lost his job and was no longer able to pay for the home (his second home) and would have to sell his house in July. Which means, our wedding could no longer be held there.
INSERT TOTAL FREAK OUT MOMENT!
Talk about a meltdown. We were 90 days out at this point and I have to find a house in the middle of a touristy island, during high season, and a place that will allow us to hold our event. Otherwise, we would have to change EVERYTHING we already planned. No caterer, no tent company, nothing.
I left work early and went home to start hitting the streets to get this under control. I searched like crazy and one house stood out to me. This house was GORGEOUS. And even stranger was the one week we needed just happened to be available still. This place was meant to be. It all worked out in the end and our new beautiful ceremony, reception, and family vacation spot is more perfect than I could have imagined it. Better than the last! Can you say “Blessing in Disguise”???
Take a look at our new digs!!!
The worst part about all of this is the fact that on our invites that I worked so hard to put together, the incorrect address is printed on them. So, my job now is to send out a new updated letter to our guests to let them know of the new place. But, that I can handle especially since luck wants it this way. Luck be a lady tonight!
So tell me…did you have any massive meltdowns or drastic things gone wrong with during wedding planning?
Only 66 more days to go for us. I just hope everything holds together now!!!
Oh my dear lovelies! I have been SO SO SO behind on blogging and every day I put it off the more I avoided it! I’m forcing myself to give you all an update on my life! Lots going on and its only fair I let you all in on the deets!
Back when I came to Germany in 2011. A brunette!!
First and foremost…I celebrated a BIG anniversary. March 1st hit the 3 years in Germany mark. Can you believe that nonsense?! THREE WHOLE YEARS! IN GERMANY! Like wait….what? I’m not exactly sure how that happened. If you think about what you yourself have accomplished or done in the past three years you’ll realize…its a good chunk of time. It’s also enough time for life to go on without you back home and you start to notice it. People have asked me if being an expat gets easier but I think that depends on the person. Some people really have that travel bug and “want” or “need” to explore. I, however, just want to be around my family and things that are familiar. For me, in three years, I still want nothing more than to be in the US. This also has a lot to do with where we are located (far from cities, bars, bowling, clubs, great lounges, good restaurants, festivals etc.) We rely a lot on the company of each other and the family get-togethers. But even that, as special as it is, gets dull over time. I just keep trucking along though and try to soak in the experience and be thankful that I get this opportunity. Most people I know will NEVER get this chance in their life. Love makes us do crazy things and I would move around the world 100 times just to be with Toblerone. Harley Jones Noodle Butt Butt wouldn’t like that so much though…he’s not a fan of flying. 🙂
Harley Jones is NOT a fan of airplanes and he’s here to tell you all about it!
Secondly…we have 5 months until our wedding! 161 days from this post! WHOA! I feel like I have nothing together and I probably don’t actually but thats ok. We have SO many Germans flying to the US for this, in fact I think the airlines should give us free tickets for 5 years considering how much money people are spending for this. But how cool is that? People are coming all the way to America just to see our wedding (and of course travel) but this fills my heart to the brim. And as if things couldn’t get better, so many unexpected people from the US are coming too! I thought for sure people wouldn’t come because it’s a destination wedding on Cape Cod. I’m just incredibly stunned and so overjoyed there are no words for how complete this makes me feel. On top of it all, most of these people are taking time out of their lives and staying several days or even the whole week on the Cape with us. I…I just….I’m speechless. Speechless from the outpouring of love. I get to spend a whole week surrounded by incredible people. How did I get so lucky? How do you thank people? How do you return the love you’re being given? Just such a beautiful time ahead of us and I can not WAIT. Mattespalooza here we come! Plus we are having a real deal Cape Cod Clam Bake and I can’t wait to watch people get down and dirty crackin lobsters! My dress will be a giant mess! A ceremony followed immediately by a rock the dress session! LOVE!
Mmm….clambakes!!
I’ve been bad with blogging due to work and just being utterly exhausted. However, Toblerone and I gave up drinking alcohol for lent and it seems to be a lot better. Plus we are working out together and such which makes the nights nicer. Strange how it does make a slight difference in our lives! Have any of you done that as well? I mean, some days I would just LOVE to have a glass of wine but its worth it in the end! Plus I better be 10 pounds lighter!
There is big news on the horizon but I have to wait to tell you in the middle of April or so. I hate to hold out on you BUT its important that I do for many reasons. And no, I’m not pregnant, sadly. This may/may not be equally as good though! Stay posted and in the meantime try to guess what it is! Thank you all for hanging by me while I pull my head out of the ground and get back to what I love – writing!
Toblerone and I go to Cape Cod every year. We have ever since my 25th birthday (which seems like ages ago!!) Theres a magic about that place that I can’t explain but each time we go, we find something new and do some of our more “traditional” things. And by traditional, I mean…beating each other at mini golf. (He cheats, just saying!) But we try new restaurants and really try to soak up every piece of it that we can. Eventually, and possibly sooner than we expected, we will be buying a little vacation home there. CAN.NOT.WAIT. I’ll go overboard with interior decorating it with all things “ocean” inspired! Yeah, proud to be that person! Anywho…Here’s a look into all the things we saw and did!
First things first of course, I picked up some pretty awesome seashells! And we just so happened to run into two of our favorite people who happened to also be on the Cape at the same time! Got myself a dirty martini and some food poisoning on the first night but all is well. I’d eat the same thing again, no shame!
We just absolutely ADORE the little bed and breakfast that we stay at in Dennis, MA. It’s perfect, the people leave you alone and you can come and go as you please without worries. Plus, they always give us beers when we arrive. AMEN.
We stocked up on our concerts while we were there! Rolling Stones was crazy cool considering the dudes are as old as dirt and still run and jump around the stage like 15 year olds. But a very good show and a bucket list item checked off! BAM! And I got to go see Dave Matthews Band. For Toblerone,he got to really see how serious the fans of DMB take the pregaming. It’s not a joke and not to be messed with. People putting up flags, BBQing, playing beer pong, singing and playing music. Crazy cool.
We walked around Hyannis and had a great time as usual…sometimes a little too much 🙂 We saw the JFK memorial, got some Icecream and walked around in the cute shops.
I got to have my ULTIMATE favorite thing ever which is called the Cod Reuben sandwich (with my martini of course) and I can STILL taste it. I have to have that every time I go now.
And of course, our trip is never complete without visiting our favorite beach, Chatham, playing mini golf (I got a hole in one!), and eating LOBSTER!!!! We also stopped at a few antique stores and found some pretty cool stuff. I particularly liked this old bed and walking around a corner I got the crap scared out of me by these two dudes:
On our way home we stopped of course at the Cape Cod Brewery (our favorite place) and decided that they will be our beer of choice for our American wedding! 🙂 AKA….gives us another excuse to go to the Cape to pick up the kegs! 🙂
It’s Throwback Thursday again!! And in two days I will be off to America…PRAISE THE LORD!!!!
This weeks throwback is a happy happy joy joy one! This is the hubs and I when we first started dating, circa 2009. We went to Cape Cod for my 25th birthday, which I almost didn’t make it out alive! This was his first time going and its exactly what started the tradition that we go there to vacation every year now! In fact, in the short two weeks that we will be home in the US, we will be there for a few days which is A-MAZ-ING. Seriously necessary!
Anywho, this is us at our favorite beach in Chatham, MA. Happy Throwback Thursday, ya’ll!
I first went to Cape Cod with my family for a week long vacation. Just so happened to be during my 17th birthday. It seems like a coon’s age now but looking back on it, I remember I was dreading the trip. I didn’t know much about the place and we lived in Maine at the time. How different could it possibly be from where we currently were living. I was in the middle of my grumpy teenage years and refused to see the glory in it all.Â
I decided to go back for my 25th birthday for a long weekend with my boyfriend. We didn’t plan any hotels or plan to do anything, we just packed up the car and left. In August, in the heat of the summer, we arrived first in Hyannisport. For my boyfriend, this was his first time to the Cape so he was excited all on his own!
It was simply beautiful. The Cape makes you feel like a local, even though you’re not from around town. Everywhere you go it’s this mystical feeling you get almost like you’re in the middle of a storybook. I wish I could afford to live here. Some day, when I’m old and gray…I’ll plant myself in the Cape, never to return to the real world again!
We spent my birthday in Chatham, MA which is beyond picturesque! There was also a hurricane passing by so the waves were incredible and terrifying. I highly reccomend taking a visit to see such a wonderful place. It was completely worth every penny and you can really find good deals on hotels if you stop at a rest area and pick up the Travel Coupon Books. We stayed at hotels that were associated with the Coupons and had a great time on half the price!
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The Diary of Sugar and Spice 