Daily Life

Time for a quick update!


We are back living on the Manitoban Prairies! We had a wonderful 2 1/2 months in Germany visiting with Georg's parents, family, and friends, but we have decided to call southern Manitoba home for the time-being.

Georg is working the crazy-long hours of a grain farmer and I am slowly integrating myself back into the workforce, while raising an 8 1/2-month old. Right now I'm only working 6 hour days, 3 days a week, and that is a struggle! Especially the days following a night of teething or fussiness. BUT, I am glad to be back in the loop of Manitoban agriculture again. I have gotten a position at the Farm & Food Discovery Centre, an agriculture interpretive centre jointly sponsored by the federal and provincial governments, the University of Manitoba, Manitoba Pork Council and a private donor. I am slowly working my way into a programming position - basically encouraging more tourism to the place. I am excited about this job and think that I wil really enjoy it...once I figure out the childcare situation (which is a nightmare!!).

Here are some pics of our everyday life:
Im Alltag:

Visiting Papa in the field. Ein Besuch auf dem Feld.

Elden loves brushing his teeth with Papa. Zahneputzen mit Papa.

Visiting Grandma Stewart. Oma Stewart besuchen.

Enjoying the sun at Winnipeg Beach. Familienwochenende an der Strand.

3...2...1...Action!

With each new day, Elden continues to surprise me. He has always been a very curious, aware baby, and as he grows older and more mobile, he finds that he can actually control what he sees.

In the last month or so, he has really shown an interest in watching people and animals. Perhaps this is because he has learned that he can turn his head different ways, turn at the hip, even move his head up and down to obtain a better view point....whatever it is, he is loving it!
He loves watching flies crawl around on the table (and gets really confused when they fly away), the dog walking around the farm, Oma and Opa eating lunch, Papa watching tv...well, at least for a second, before the flashing lights and noises from the tv distract him...and then he stares at the screen in awe until you drag him away. Looks like he will be a tv watcher.

Elden's need for action is great for keeping him occupied, but horrible for when it comes time to eat. Any noise, be it people talking, music in another room, the dog barking, will be a distraction, making it a fight to get food into his mouth. Any movement and he is craning his head backwards and upside down in an effort to see what is the cause. His exception to distraction are pears. He absolutely LOVES pears. Nothing is a distraction if mashed pears (with anything) are on the spoon.

Regardless of lengthy mealtimes, I love that Elden is finding the world so interesting and thought-provoking. In the last week, he has started to want to verbally communicate with us, saying "ah" or "ich" when we talk with him. He even likes talking with the dog! It is very sweet to see.

My favourite thing about Elden's love for movement is that he loves watching the wind blow through the trees. He can sit for minutes at a time, watching the leaves dance on the trees, bushes, vines in the yard. I often wonder if he is writing romantic poems in his head. To me it seems so romantic and sweet, him gazing through the window at the waving branches... Perhaps we have a future poet in our midst?

Au Natural

Something I've noticed while living (and visiting) in Germany is that there are many natural products available for use...and that many people use them.

In the stores, I've seen teas or infusions for various everyday usage. There is a kraut (herb) mixture for breastfeeding mothers, stinging nettle tea to act as an anti-histamine, infusions for improving circulation, for nausea, upset stomach,... you name it, I'm sure that you can find it on the shelf.

I've also found that it is fairly commonplace among the women in the neighbourhood to use various weeds for edible purposes. Last month, Maria made a salad using dandelion greens. Dandelion leaves themselves are a bit bitter and taste a little like pepper, but mixed with head lettuce and dressing, they were pretty good. Maria has also made dandelion jam, using the flowers. I've yet to try it.

For their upcoming nuptuals, my sister- and brother-in-law have decided to "spike" the champagne with Holunderblutesirop. They have taken elderflowers from the pasture, steeped them in sugar water, and boiled the liquid down into a slightly concentrated syrup. This will be added to the champagne for an additional zing. I find it to be an acquired taste, being that it is slightly flowery tasting, but nonetheless, it is pleasant.

Elderflower can also be eaten. The flowers are dipped into batter, fried, and rolled in cinnamon and sugar. I'll admit I was a bit hesitant to try them, (eating a flower?!) but once I did, I ate more than one.

Dipping the elderflowers in batter.

Frying the flowers.

Mmmm....cinnamon and sugar!

Loud Blenders - Mushy Peas - Stinky Diapers

The eating of solids begins!

Elden is now 5 1/2 months old and has really started showing an interest in food - watching us putting it into our mouths, opening his mouth for spoons, chewing on paper...
I pulled out the rice cereal yesterday and he easily mastered the swallowing of something other than milk. I thought he would be sputtering and spitting food all over the place for a week. Guess not. We tried a bit liquidy rice cereal with homemade applesauce today and he really enjoyed it.

Guess I will have to pull out the blender, the ice cubes trays, carrots, peas, squash, apples, pears, etc and wait for the stinky diapers to begin. Suppposedly breastfed babies do not have stinky poops until they start solids...I beg to differ because some of Elden's farts and diapers have been pretty ripe, but we will soon see.

Back in the Motherland

Georg and I have brought the baby to Deutschland to visit his Oma and Opa! We had Elden's baptism on April 28th, along with a marriage blessing and party. About 100 people celebrated with us, a few for the second time! Since we have been here, things have been pretty low-key...just getting through everyday life with a 5-month old. However, Because we are only planning on staying in Germany for 2.5 months, Georg and I are deeming this trip a "working holiday". To coincide with a visit from my friend, Krista, we have taken a week off from farm life and are visiting Munich and Prague this week. On Sunday, we drove the 600km journey from Geldern to Munich, stopping at the Deutsche Ecke (joining of the Rhein and Mosel rivers) in Koblenz on the way. Elden is a terrific traveler! He sleeps and plays in the car and we just stop every 2-3 hours to feed him at a rest stop.

The meeting of the Mosel and Rhein rivers.

We were toured around Munich by Georg's sister...drinking the world-famous Mass of beer at typical Munich-style Brauhauses or beer gardens, eating white sausage with mustard, touring the farmer's markets. We also paid for a tour of the Altstadt, so we got to see many of the beautiful, post WW2-reconstructed buildings and hear the Glockenspiel (ringing of the bells) from the Rathaus (town hall) bell tower on the Marienplatz.

Mmmm, beer! Munich style!

On Tuesday, we took a 50km detour on our way to Prague...to a small town in Austria. The reason: we simply wanted to say that we had visited Fucking, Austria! Yup, this little town is called Fucking. We saw Fucking houses, Fucking cows, and even went on a Fucking walk. :D The drive into Prague was breath-taking! Although Krista and I were comparing the ornate, tall buildings to those of Amsterdam, Paris, and sometimes Italy, this city has it's own majesty.

We were in Fucking Austria!!

We spent Wednesday and Thursday mastering the subway system and toured the castle, the Old Town, and Jewish quarter of Prague. Pushing the stroller up the cobblestone walkway towards the Prague castle perched on a hill overlooking the city was a feat in itself, but totally worth the energy (or I assume that is what Georg would think!). This 'castle' is more of a small, fancy city confined to the top of a hill within the safety of thick stone walls. There are ornately decorated buildings, a substantial cathedral, numerous courtyards, and even the cute Golden Lane where villagers lived. We witnessed the changing of the guard, with trumpets to provide the tempo. The church and surrounding buildings in the Old Town square were mind-blowing with all the ornate details. Although we didn't try too much of the local cuisine, we did manage to sample some crepes. Supposedly Prague does have a traditional crepe with creme cheese and jam, but we couldn't find a restaurant that had them.

None of us had ever seen such long escalators as were in the Prague subway - they were scary steep!!

A view of Prague from the castle.

The beautifully ornate buildings of Prague.

More beautiful buildings.

The Golden Lane, where villagers lived in the Prague castle.

Friday was spent weaving our way home on various Autobahns. However, we did make 2 longer stops to help break up the 800km monotony for Elden. Our first stop was at Festung Koenigstein, the largest fortress in Germany. It had pretty impressive set-up with gardens, armories, a church, governor's house, and several strongholds. We also stopped at a small concentration camp, where Hitler had prisoners fabricate rockets inside mountain tunnels. Not much remains of the original buildings - mostly just foundations and a few scattered bricks. Only the crematorium is original, with all other buildings razed to the ground shortly after the war ended. The entire grounds were covered in trees and grass and had I not known the history of the place, I would have found the walk around very nice. I found it hard to believe that so many people were murdered in such a beautiful area, although I'm sure the feelings and emotions at the time were much different than what I experienced there.

Ruins of a barrack, where the prisons lived.

Ruins of the kitchen facilities at KZ-Dora

Paintings on the walls in the crematorium/experimental facility had "happy" pictures. Talk about messed up!

Georg and I have learned that, once again, Elden is a terrific traveler... otherwise this trip would have been incredibly stressful! Even though I missed out on my afternoon naps, I was able to sleep enough to enjoy the sights and the company. Thanks Krista for helping Georg and I with Elden! And Elden, thanks for being an awesome baby!!

Enjoying a walk from the vantage point of Papa's shoulders.

Change of Name...

Well, many people have told me that changing your name after marriage can be a year-long process, and a few have told me that it is really easy.
At first, upon initial website surfing, I thought it was going to be a real hassle, but once I ordered a marriage certificate from Vital Statistics, everything was a piece of cake. Oh, and you will need your birth certificate too.

1. Order a marriage certificate from Vital Stats. It will take about a month to get, so if you are rearing to get your name changed, do this shortly after your wedding. You will need to show this certificate to all services for a name change, so bring it with you!

2. Head down to your local Autopac Agent, and for $10, they will issue a new driver's license. All you need to do is show them your marriage certificate and state what you would like your new last name to be.

3. Call Revenue Canada. All you need to do is tell them your new name. Piece of cake!

4. Hit up a Service Canada building. Bring your marriage and birth certificate. They will update their database and you will get a new S.I.N. card in the mail. I got mine in 2 weeks.

5. Contact Manitoba Health for a new health card. You can either go to the downtown location or if you are lucky, the Service Canada location you visit (see 4.) will be able to fax over your name change to the main MB Health location.

6. If you plan on traveling, remember to get a new passport with your new identity. You will need to go through the normal process of filling out paperwork, get a guarantor to sign, and will need to provide your birth certificate. You also need proof of identity, so make sure you have already changed over your driver's license into your new name.

7. Don't forget to let your bank, work, phone company, visa, etc. know of your name change. I know that it is getting pretty confusing signing two names while I wait for my visa to come in the mail!

So, really, I've found changing my name to be fairly straight forward, once I got the marriage certificate. Hope this helps out someone. :)

Goodbye 2011

Wow! 2011 was a year full of accomplishments for me.
It will be hard for 2012 to top it!

1. Masters degree in Soil Science
2. Learned to down-hill ski
3. Lived and worked in another country (Germany)
4. Learned German
5. Made lots of new friends from around the world
6. Got engaged
7. Traveled to Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Ireland, England and Scotland
8. Got married
9. Became a mommy!
10. Finally replaced my old-school monitor with a flat screen :)

Welcome 2012! We will see what you have in store for me this year.

Status changes.

In the last few months, I have changed my social status. No longer am I a student or a girlfriend...I am now a wife...and most recently a mom!

Georg and I got married in early October. I would not change a single thing about the entire day. I had a good night's sleep the night before, had a relaxing morning getting my hair 'did' with the girls, a fun afternoon taking pictures, a wonderful ceremony in a beautiful church, and a fun-filled, evening with dancing and eating with the most important people in my life.

I spent September to early December working and prepping our lives for the birth of our baby. We painted the 'nursery', had friends over for the "last supper", had fun (and a bit of stress) buying baby things - clothes, change pads, car seat, etc. - while trying to keep to a small budget.

And, on December 8th, I went into labour! Elden Jakob Maas arrived at 5:30am on December 9th. Things have been a bit of a blur since then; time is traveling so fast! Elden weighed a whole 9 lbs at birth! Who would have thought he was going to be that big! I ended up having an emergency cesarean because he was so big, but after an 18-hour labour, he needed to come out! He is 3 weeks old tomorrow and is growing and looking like a little boy more every day.

Baby Elden, only a few hours old.

Such teeny, tiny fingers!

Getting some "mommy hormones" and snuggles.

6 days old and growing.

Thank you to all the visitors we have had over the past few weeks and all the wonderful gifts we have received. Georg and I are looking forward to visiting our friends and relatives in Germany this spring and introducing them to Baby Elden.

Travelling Momma!

Well, exciting news first! I'm gonna be a mommy! If you didn't know that yet, then we need to talk...so call me!! I'm over half-way there already...and things are going great.

In less exciting (but still exciting) news, I am back in Canada. It is kind of weird being back at home, because it feels like nothing has changed. Like before, I am living with my parents during the "waiting for a house" phase, working casually at DS, visiting friends, talking to my sweetheart via Skype...
That being said though, I am planning for a wedding, a baby, and moving my Grandma into a personal care home and me into her house! So, busy, busy!!

I spent July traveling Europe. In early July, I visted a friend in Florence, Italy for 3 days (32C!!). The rest of the month, I spent traveling around the United Kingdom. I stopped for 24 hours in London (22C), took the bus/ferry to Dublin (20C), did a 7-day bus tour of Ireland (15-20C, brr!!), hung out in Dublin for a few days, and traveled to Edinburgh, Inverness (didn't see the Loch Ness monster), and Oban (a seaport town) in Scotland (on average 24C).

It's hard to say what place I liked the best...but the scenery in Ireland was absolutely breath-taking.

Here are some of my favourite pictures:

Bridges in Florence, Italy

Stone wall in south Ireland

Beach in south Ireland

Cliffs of Moher, Ireland

The Aran island of Inis Mor, West Ireland

Sitting on the Giant's Causeway, Northern Ireland

Resting on a Dublin doorstep, Ireland

Searching for Nessie on the shores of Loch Ness, Scotland

Inverness Pipe Band, Scotland

Overlooking the Isle of Kerrera from Oban, Scotland

Arthur's Seat in Holyrood Park in Edinburgh, Scotland

A friend and I on Calton Hill, overlooking Edinburgh

Fertig! Finished!

Der Deutschkurs ist zu ende!!! Our German class is completed!

Wow! After 6 months, my classmates and I have completed our German Integration course. With the help of 2 marvelous teachers, Klaus and Tarana, we have made it through learning countless confusing words, complicated German grammar, and of course, numerous role plays. Through it all, we laughed, had fun, and made many, many unforgettable memories. Plus, friends from around the world.

Our course had people from Romania, Algeria, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Poland, Iraq, Vietnam, Dominican Republic, Italy, Russia, and Turkey. It was so much fun learning about one another's culture and way of life, and particularly, the reasons why they are currently living in Germany. Most are here because of significant others (sigh, what love will make you do...), but others have come here for a better life or for political asylum from war-ravaged countries.

The final group! From L to R: Siva (Sri Lanka), Diaga (Latvia), Dragos (Romania), Sofia (Italy), Karn (Thailand), So (Nigeria?), Manau (Algeria), Gia (Thailand), Sally (Iraq), me, Klaus (our German teacher), Osmann (Turkey), Minerva, Fatma, Fadime (all from Turkey), and Nghia (Vietnam). Karadisha (Kazakhstan) took the photo.

Some of my good friends...wir haben viel, viel Hausaufgaben gemacht!!! Aber nicht zusammen!

Last week, we began first of our 3 final exams. Our first was a Orientierungsprüfung, a nation-wide test for those who wish to become German citizens. It covered German politics, culture and history. Of course, I don't wish to become a German citizen, but did it out of self-interest. And it was interesting...
Friday, we had our written test, consisting of listening, reading, and writing a letter. It lastest 2 and half hours, but I was very proud of myself when I was finished. I feel fairly confident about both tests so far...now for the final test tomorrow!! Oral!
The oral examination is only 30 minutes long and done with a partner. We introduce ourselves, talk about a picture we are given, and then plan a party or holiday based on a theme we are given in the exam. Should be interesting, as it is totally hands-on, no not forgetting a word! Plus, speaking has always been a challenge for me when it comes to languages...

My learning-German sidekick, Karn. We are takng our oral exam together tomorrow! Eeeckkk!!!!!

Manau and I. He learned English in London and so has a strong Cockney accent. He makes sure to teach me the proper way of saying things! :D

the engagement story

I'm engaged!!

Earlier this month, Georg and I were on a motorcycle tour throughout southern Germany, and Georg decided to make it a super memorable trip!

While visiting Schloss Neuschwanstein (also known as The Disney Castle, because Walt Disney based the design on this castle) in Bavaria, Georg gave me one of the best treats of my life.

We had arrived at the castle late in the afternoon because we had had to travel 250 kms to get there from his sister's place near Stuttgart. This meant that we couldn't get into the castle, but could walk the grounds. The castle is perched on a small mountain in the Alpin foothills, overlooking a wide, flat valley. The view is absolutely stunning! We gawked at the view for awhile and then decided to hike up the mountain a bit further to another lookout point, this time with the castle included in the valley panorama.

First close view of Schloss Neuschwanstein.

Front of the castle.

Looking into the valley...can you see the other castle?

At this lookout point, a bridge suspended over a dry riverbed, (which was very far down!), we were slightly above the castle elevation, giving us a great vantage point as to how majestic the castle really was. (Sure, it is a fairly new castle, only slightly over 150 yrs old, but beautiful nonetheless.) There were many tourists here, and so Georg suggested we climb up an adjacent hiking path (so that we could be alone). I didn't even suspect a thing!

From the bridge lookout point.

So, it was here, at the "top of world", overlooking a stunning castle, with mountains in the background, the fresh wind in my hair, that Georg asked me to marry him! And, of course, I said "yes!" (Well, at first, I said, "No, way!! Really!?! No way!!" But after that, I said "yes!").

The view overlooking the valley. Sooo beautiful!

The newly-engaged couple. Sigh.

We have decided to get married this fall, and will do so October 8th in Canada. Get ready for your wedding invitations!