I received the neatest email yesterday. I was in touch recently with a long time family friend because I had had a dream about her daughter and thought it was so random I should tell her.  I expected a reply about the dream, which I got, but most of her message was telling me how she has prayed for me throughout my life and how she continues to think about us. She described knowing me as a child and watching me grow up. She is someone that knew me as my personality was developing, shared her kids as playmates with me and was and is a dear friend to my mom.

I have expressed here in the blog before how one of the downsides of our lifestyle is the struggle of really knowing people or them knowing us.  Yes, we are busy and we are social and we have gotten to know people wherever we have lived. But in terms of lifelong, you know me well enough to call on a bad day kind of friends, they are far more rare.  I feel like it is so important for our kids to have people that really know them as much as it is for Seth and I. People that see their personalities forming, quirks and all and take joy in them.  My blog is my effort to help friends and family stay connected so that in some small way they might share life with us and feel like they somehow know us even though we live far away.  Catch me on a bad day and I would for sure let tears fall feeling my efforts don’t quite cut it. Catch me on another bad day and I would cry equally about feeling far from my nieces and nephews and friends kids, wishing I could be more a part of their daily lives, hearing about the little things and the big accomplishments. I don’t blog because I have lots of free time or because my kids are well-behaved enough to entertain themselves happily so I can have a hobby. In fact at this moment Owen is screaming next to me, drooling on my leg because his brother just yelled at him to get away from his masterpiece building, yada, yada.  It doesn’t slow down around here yet I feel like this is an effort I want to invest in for the sake of relationship.

As I went through my day yesterday I was thinking about friends we have had along the way in Dallas, DC, Bogota and now Bern.  Each step of the way we have had friends and family that have filled this role.  It’s always a risk to open up and allow people to be close, to share my kids (even on days when they embarrass me to death with tantrums and such), and to do it all knowing we will only be in close proximity for a short amount of time.  As we continue on this FS path I will admit that although in some ways it becomes easier to meet people and make plans the vulnerability and investment part becomes harder.  As we are already into this final year in Bern I am trying to be focused on knowing and being known despite the distance and time line.  And I will cherish that sweet message from a friend who was able to remind me where I came from and looks on to where we are headed.

Disclaimer: This got way longer than I thought….it’s more in the informational category so not so exciting! Feel free to skip in hopes that there will be something more interesting coming soon!

Since I just posted our guest round up I figured it may be a good time to do a random “guesthouse” post.  As I have mentioned before, this past yr in Bern we have hosted 24 guests! I have kind of made it my personal goal to get good at it. I really want people to come, relax and feel like they have a great time on their vacation. We have learned as we have gone and as we close this season of guests I feel like we have learned a few things that I thought I would pass along.

1. Prepping the house for guests

I start the preparation days in advance!! Not meaning that I work and work for days in advance, but that I spread it out so that I am not completely exhausted when our guests arrive.  I used to save the cleaning for the day before because I wanted it to be nice when they arrived. But I soon discovered that this house is way too big to try to do in one day. (we couldn’t have so many guests without this kind of space so it is a bonus)  I now have kind of a system where I do fresh linens a few days out and then follow it with different jobs that can be done ahead. I save the floors and dusting for the evening before. And then there is the fact that I used to think I could do it all myself but I have succumbed to the reality and now I have Seth on board to help me!

Now that I have a system I can devote more time that last day before to getting to the grocery store and doing some baking. Oh yea, and then once the guests arrive I let them know that I would rather spend time with them than clean. I maintain as best I can but I don’t stress. I mainly tidy and occasionally sweep if it is in desperate need, but otherwise I just let it go and enjoy the visitors.

Quick confession: I don’t iron sheets, even when I pull them out and toss them into a ball onto the bed. Both of my grandmother’s are gasping right now but I figured it was better to be honest. Sheets will be clean, but very wrinkled around here!

2. Meal Planning

I always contact our guests before they arrive to see if there is anything they can’t eat or have allergies to. Then I plan the meals, trying to accommodate as much as possible!  It’s tough cooking for a crowd and I have learned that not everyone will like every meal but I do try to pick things with our guests in mind. I always have the meals planned but not necessarily for a particular day. For instance, I know that whatever day we decide to day trip meals need to be simple or hot in the crock pot when we return. Our favorite group meals for the year have been Ina Garten’s Macaroni and Cheese,  Gina’s Barbacoa Beef that we use for burrito bowls and a recipe I got from my sister-in-law, Stephanie, for French dip sandwiches. They are all easy to make and make a cozy dinner for a crowd.

Some things I always have on hand that I can make the day before…

Refrigerator bran muffins….the ones I wrote about here. They are an easy thing to keep in the fridge, I bake them up as people want them. So far they have been a hit and everyone is thankful for something healthy in the middle of their travels.

Tomato Basil Soup… knock off of La Madeline’s. I realized I have never posted this in the past so this will be coming soon! Most guests arrive in time for lunch (or breakfast their time) so I normally make a soup the night before and serve it with Bern Zopf bread, salami and cheeses. Everyone is always eager to have something Swiss so it is an easy way to get it in when they first arrive!

Something seasonal and homemade….having guests gives me the excuse to have something yummy around. I don’t often bake treats when it’s just us here so when guests come it’s fun to have something out of the ordinary. In February when the O’Leary chicas came I made those Valentine’s whoopie pies, they were fun for Valentine’s Day but also a fun memory of making devil dogs at Annie’s house!  When my parents came it was peach season so I made some Butterscotch peaches! This time around I made Southern Living’s Apple Cream Cheese Coffee Cake which isn’t on their website yet but I am sure you have seen it on the cover of their magazine last month! It was super yummy and people snacked on it and had it with coffee throughout the week. I also enlisted Jackson to make some fall M&M cookie bars to stow away for snacking.

This guy is the Guesthouse assistant, he is always the best welcomer, conversationalist and entertainer! As we left last week to run an errand I called for Jackson who was lagging behind. When I turned to see what was holding him up I overheard him saying  “bye guys, do you have everything you need before we go?”.  We have all learned a lot about hospitality this year!

3. Ring a ling

After a few rounds of guests got lost here and there and didn’t have a way to call us easily we decided to invest in a chargeable phone. It was cheap and easy and it has made it so nice to stay in touch. There would be no need for this in the US obviously but overseas this has been great. It got comical this summer when guests were so close together that they would have to take the phone back and mail it to the next guest so they would have it when they arrived in Zurich. It made train station pickups so much better!

4. Little basket

Before guests arrive I put a few snacks in their room as well as check to see that they have the Bern map and some other brochures from previous guests. Most of our friends and family are jetlagged so I make sure they have something for when they wake up at 2 AM starving and thirsty.  It’s a goal to have the wireless password written down in the room but that hasn’t happened yet.

5. Activities

So far our guests have not been lacking for things to do. It has been especially nice in the summer festival season. There is always something going on.  Nearly everything is about an hour away, or 15 mins away if it’s in Bern. I have a feeling we would have not seen nearly as much if it wasn’t for our guests.  If our guests have any plans for a day trip by train I try to strategically plan it for about midway through their trip. that allows me to get the house back into livable shape and allows my boys to get a breather day for naps, in hopes that they will refresh and be kind hosts for the remainder of the stay!

These are likely all things you all do too!  I tried to pack it with recipes and such to make it useful! If you happen to be guests in the Spring maybe we will have it running like a well-oiled machine!

(the boys a yr ago when we arrived!)

It’s hard to believe but we have been in Bern just over a year. I remember the day like it was yesterday. We got to our new home, jet-lagged and adrenaline rushing for the new adventure. The house was empty, lacking the temporary furniture we had arranged for. We had our 8 suitcases and a packnplay…oh yes, and a curious toddler and an overtired, out of sorts 7 month old. We had made it through the weeks of chaos surrounding Seth’s German exam and our pack out. We had survivied the trip and now we were “home” .

Our social sponsor had picked up some basic groceries for us and made us a meal. She drove me around to different groceries stories and introduced me to our store just up the hill. We didn’t have our car for the first few months so my calves muscles quickly trimmed in the pursuit of groceries, laundry soap and entertainment for 2 little ones.  The temporary furniture was delivered along with our small shipment of necessities.  I did my best to settle the kids into a routine and get my barrings straight. Coming into this move I thought it would be a piece of cake, well, maybe not a piece of cake, but I anticipated it would be more “dessert-like” than Bogota. Bogota was not a bad post but there were safety restrictions and other factors while we were there that made life more complicated than I had hoped. Especially with a small child.

The first week rolled into the second here and the weeks into months and I woke each morning with the goal of “getting us settled”. I soon realized this was taking longer than I had hoped. Logistically speaking everything went smoothly and all of the ducks were in a row. We had been super organized and I had made lots of contacts before coming. I could be organized and line the ducks up but I couldn’t write the script of our time in Bern. Our first year has been one of discovering so many new things about the culture and beauty of Switzerland. I can honestly say looking back that I have had more culture shock here than I had in Bogota. I naively thought being in Europe would mean that things would feel much more like what we were accustomed to. Instead, we have found the Swiss to be unique in their social interactions and privacy. We are even still often baffled as we try to navigate the social climate here. And while in Bogota we could rely on the Embassy community for our social outlet we quickly discovered that Bern, in addition to be a small post with less people, is generally more disconnected socially. Who needs social events when you have the Alps’ to hike and all of Europe out your back door? A year in we have made some friends and have settled into a routine. I have discovered that some people who have done the Foreign Service/Expat life are able to jump into friendships because they know they can’t waste time and others have been weathered by the coming and goings and enter into friendship with great reserve.  As a second tour family I think we are still finding a balance with this. I am typically one to invest deeply and with little reserve but I find myself feeling more reserved here.   I often long for social settings back home when I didn’t come home exhausted from navigating the cultural stuff.  Building new friendships every couple of years feels a bit like a full time job and takes so much energy!

We have seen amazing beauty in the mountains and scenery here. The views are breathtaking. We have thoroughly enjoyed having a river and woods so close by. I never knew that little boys have an intrinsic need to throw rocks into water and collect sticks. Switzerland has been great for our boys in providing them the great outdoors! Spiders galore!  Although restaurants are not kid-friendly there are many parks and wide open spaces to run!

Our boys have grown and matured so much this year. I will remember our first yr in Bern as a season of getting to know Owen’s sense of humor, watching learning to walk, talk and really become an active little family member. And I will remember watching Jackson navigate a new country, school and friends.  I will remember hearing him miss his home that he knew but still waking up each day enthusiastically asking me who we would meet and where we would go. He has taught me a lot about making the most of it. He never stops!

We have had the priviledge of hosting so many friends and family in Swiss Chalet Kolb. Visits from friends and family get us out to explore new areas of Switzerland.  They also give us an excuse to have lots of fondue and chocolate! If my math is correct by the end of September we will have hosted 24 people in our home (not counting the repeats of visitors from germany :)) this year to stay and many more local people for dinners, etc. The guesthouse is hoppin!  October begins off season around here. We will have some time to catch our breath focus on keeping up with 2 on the go boys!

At the end of the day as much as this is an amazing place to live, it really is just normal everyday life as I have said before.  We have pediatrician appointments, lots of rainy days, run out of milk and bread kind of days just like you do in your home. Being in Switzerland isn’t all postcards and pots of fondue.  We feel blessed with the opportunity to be here and we have enjoyed sharing it with all of you via visits and the blog.

With less than a year left I can feel the months beginning to fly by. We are making the most of our time here and enjoying as much chocolate and fondue to last a lifetime doing Gillian’s 30 day shred to make sure we don’t come home 30 lbs heavier!

whew, if you made it through this reflection post you are none the wiser! The title warned you it was random!

Well, it’s that time again. It feels like just yesterday it was May and I was saying that we had the summer to enjoy before the bid list came out. It’s out. It came out yesterday.  We are still enjoying summer but August is definitely here and for this it marks another season of big decisions.Yesterday happened to be Swiss National Day so as Seth opened the list and we began to browse we heard major firework action outside of our house, which only added some edge to the already high blood pressure!

I have two emotions during bidding time that basically fight each other the entire time.  I feel excitement about all of the possibilities and I feel completely overwhelmed to make the best decision for our family…every single family member. The task is daunting. I know some couples whose spouse  does the bidding and lets them know where they will be headed. For us it is a family decision. Each post has their own set time to start positions, Seth has different trainings to complete and we have family factors like Jackson’s school and my sanity! Ha!

I feel a bit like our family is a muscle that has been overstretched. (this image is particularly powerful after doing Jillian Michael’s shred and feeling sore while sitting to type) Initially our experiences really strengthened us and stretched us in a healthy way beyond our comfort zones but I think we may be coming on a time where we need to give this muscle some rest and be closer to home for a season.  Anything could happen, we are still looking into some overseas possibilities that might be beneficial long term. The pro and con list just seems to complicate things because we can see both sides. But, we are really digging deep and looking at the big pictures.

Kuddos to all of you Foreign Service wives out there that have done this tour after tour! And to those that have survived their first pack out and big move.  I recently read a blog of a girl who described her most stressful month of her nearly 10 yr marriage. Ladies, her most stressful month summed up a day as a foreign service wife planning an international move, packing out, transitioning kids and settling in for the umpteenth time.  I am not saying it wasn’t stressful for the blogger,  I am saying we need to give ourselves a hand for tackling the stresses that some days have started to seem routine!

some Alpine dandelions to ease the blow of bidding!