This is a bit of a boring entry, so I encourage you unfortunate reader to skim my ramblings and pay more attention to the cute pictures below.
Anyway, the three of us are starting to settle into a routine and I'm actually pretty excited about it (so whatever poor soul has decided to continue reading now has to hear about it. Haha.).
So … Nat (obviously) goes to work early in the morning and Cora wakes up right around then, usually to say goodbye. She gobbles down a banana and yogurt, we play legos or read books, and then she takes a little nap while I drink more coffee, clean up, and sometimes get a shower in. When she wakes up, we have eggs, bread and more fruit then usually embark on our daily adventure to either the park, into downtown Bern to explore museums, coffee shops or window shop under the arcades and thorough the cobble stone streets, or we head to the gym (I just joined a gym and they have free day care in the mornings- hooray!!), head to mom's group (on Thursdays) or we'll go on a run if it's miraculously nice outside. We try to head home around 1:00 for her afternoon nap so I have a few minutes alone to frantically get a few things done like answer emails, pay bills, write this blog and clean up. (I always seem to be cleaning and the house still seems to constantly be a complete disaster. Strange …)
When Cora wakes up we usually attempt to concur the grocery store. Since food goes bad so quickly here (no GMOs or growth hormones in this delicious Swiss food!!! Yay!!) combined with the 78 stairs I have to climb (while holding Cora) to get to our Penthouse, we have to go to the grocery almost everyday and only buy what we need for a couple meals. The amount of analysis each food item receives at the grocery store before passing or failing the "I have to carry you up 78 damn stairs test" is pretty remarkable. Beer is now hardly worth it to me anymore (to Nat's dismay- he can haul his own beer up) but wine of COURSE makes the cut. Okay, yes, so this is a super boring blog, I know. Onward …. (I'm almost done).
Then I cook dinner while feeding Cora again and listen to my German language lessons (which is hard to hear over Cora squeals and babbles, but perhaps I'm picking up something). Then Cora is usually covered in her dinner so is thrown immediately into the bath to wash off the mess of the day. Nat gets home somewhere around there and we take turns having dinner (one eats, one wrangles crazy night time Cora). Around 6:30 we have about one magical hour when all three of us get to play and laugh together before Cora falls apart and has to head to bed.
Exhausted Nat and I clean the kitchen, pick up toys, and collapse on the couch to watch either bad English or German TV or try to stream US shows through our super slow internet connection. And of course, we both pray Cora stays asleep until the morning, when we do it all over again.
Weekends are rather dull since we have no friends yet and no gear to go ski or bike in the cold. Much to our frustration (but following in line with the "ease" of everything surrounding this move), our shipment of stuff from Idaho isn't even on the water yet, so that is awesome. We probably won't get it until January. Urgh. So, Nat and I both usually go for runs then take little afternoon adventures into Bern or drive to random places we pick on a map. It's crazy how close everything is here and it only takes about an hour to drive around this country. Pretty cool :)
We are leading a pretty simple life here in Switzerland, and I am learning to relish the simplicity. I recycle almost everything, walk or take buses almost everywhere, hardly waste any food and am able to spend some quality time with Cora. We do however, very much miss our family, friends, our house, our animals, our possessions, our gear and a full social life, but we are trying to enjoy this chapter of our life as best we can.
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| Cora at the Paul Klee Museum |
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| Snowy view from our deck. |
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| Cora hanging out in the Irish pub. |
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| Hiding toys in my boots. |
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| Fun with polka dots. |
This past Sunday we went to check out Neuchatel, a cute little Swiss town next to a pretty lake. It was chilly, but fun to explore. Can't wait to go back in the summer and swim the beaches with Tanner and Cora. Oh, we also had a close disaster when I almost lost Cora's blanket on the walkway. I didn't notice it slipped out of my bag and almost had a panic attack once I realized it was gone. Thank goodness some sweet person picked it up and draped it over a bench for us. Phew.
