Most of the the pickles here in the US are either way too sour or too sweet for my taste and don’t have much flavor. Usually we stock up on German style pickles during Aldi’s German weeks, but last year I grew my own pickling cucumbers and had to figure out a recipe to use them all up. This one is the bomb, so much better than any store-bought and our favorite for the summer months when fresh cucumbers are in season.

Another year has passed. I mean, there are 10 days left, but really, where did time go? After a crazy hockey winter, we had a super lazy summer this year, before another hectic school and hockey season started. The main goal this year was to say no to overscheduling, reduce optional activities, and focus on quality time with friends and family instead. It’s very liberating and we definitely intend to keep this going.

With the unbusying of our lives, there was also some time to revive old hobbies and try new things. I’ve always had a sweet tooth and while I try to limit my sugar intake, when I do eat desserts, they better be amazing. So, this year I started baking cakes. Mainly for the flavor because all the traditional standard flavors you usually get it in store-bought or restaurant desserts are soooo boring. I mean a chocolate or vanilla cake can be really good, but also not very exciting. When I eat the sugar, I want to make it an experience! Who is with me?

Never say never, you don’t know what’s gonna happen – but whatever the future may bring, we are very very hopeful that this new crib of ours will be our forever home.

The plan had always been that our first house was a “starter home”, something to get us used to homeownership, that was low maintenance for while the kids were little, and that could build up some equity for our forever house. And it did all of that. After seven years the time had come to part with our first house. Thanks to the rising housing market and all the upgrades we installed, we were able to sell it quickly and at a good profit.

In July this year we said goodbye to our first house. The first home we bought and had made our own, where all our memories as a family were made to that point. While some of us were excited for the next adventure, we all were sad to leave this beautiful place behind. Some serious tears were shed. 

There is just something about all the memories in the home, about all the work that was put into making it perfect for our family, that made it very hard to part. Not a single surface, fixture, or piece of equipment in this house was left untouched after we were done with all renovations. It took us seven years to optimize this place to its fullest potential and going back to the very beginning in a new house was pretty rough for me. It took me about four months before I had left the old house behind enough that I could start liking the new house and write this post.

Creepy spookiness has been a thing for me ever since a sleepover when I was 15 years old and a group of friends and me watched three zombie movies in a row. I can’t really say what the fascination is about, but I’ve always enjoyed a good scary movie since then. So just imagine my giddiness when I moved to the original land of the creepy tradition of Halloween and October rolled around for the first time. Who can deny that this holiday is obviously a very close second to Christmas.

We just returned from paradise. After spending 5 days at Fairmont Mayakoba in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, we don’t think we’ll ever find a more relaxing and beautiful getaway. The food was amazing and the resort was tucked away in a beautiful little jungle packed with wildlife. I can’t wait to return and I hope it won’t take another 10 years to do so.

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