Currently | April

TRAVELING | overseas to see my family. Always juggling two passports, which, however, makes the immigration process in each country such a breeze.

FEELING | emotionally jetlagged since I arrived late Sunday night. It’s always a harsh transition going between here and there (who can relate?) and I am not quite ready to get back to the daily grind, but alas, here we are.

SOAKING UP | every single second with my family. I just loved being at my childhood home and spending time with my parents. I also loved being around my sister and dear friends and catching up in person. However, my niece and nephew continue to grow up so fast, and I am really not okay with it. That obviously needs to stop.

GRATEFUL | for spending some quality time with my best friend from high school. I wish I could see her more often.

WISHING | for the lazy life of my sister’s cat sometimes.

PLAYING | tennis again for the first time in ages! It was so much fun to pick up my tennis racket and hit balls with my dad, sister, niece, and nephew.

ENJOYING | a little overnight trip to visit a family friend and visit the “Externsteine” and the Hermannsdenkmal in the Teutoburg Forest area.

EATING | all the good stuff. Mettbrötchen (minced raw pork on rolls), gulasch with homemade dumplings, and my mom’s homemade Reibekuchen (potato pancakes), not to mention oven-fresh rolls from the local bakery every morning for breakfast.

WATCHING | some German TV. I honestly quite enjoy it when I am back home because it’s nice to watch something in your native language. I know, I could stream German TV here, too, but I just don’t do that very often.

How was your April?

  1. San, your trip to see your family sounds so wonderful! I loved seeing your posts on Instagram and the photos here make me so happy. The joy you had in spending time with your family really shines through your pictures.

    I’m sorry that the re-entry is tough. Jet lag is the worst, plus I am sure it is hard to adjust to being far away from your loved ones again. Although there is something comforting about being in your own home, with your own routines again.

    1. Thanks friend. I truly had a the best time. The transition back is always weird and hard.

  2. I’m so glad you got to go visit your family! How wonderful for you.

  3. This trip looks so…wonderful! And I can 100% relate on the bittersweet feelings after a visit (I feel this way when I leave family or when major holidays – like Christmas – are over).

    1. I know you can relate to these feelings, Elisbeth. Thank you <3

  4. It looks like you had a wonderful time with your family, and they looked after you well, and you got a chance to savour all the good food. I’m always pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoy playing tennis whenever I get a chance to pick up a racquet. When I first went back after a 10-year break I had forgotten how much fun it is.

    1. Haha, they do look after me well and we did have the best time.

      So glad to hear you also used to play tennis. I had forgotten hoch much fun it is, too.

  5. Hi, I’m Daria from NJ, also a dual citizen (Russia-US). I haven’t seen my family since 2020 and now with restrictions I have to probably go through Turkey to get into Russia… I was thinking this summer but, unfortunately, the war is still going on. Any impact on the German economy at all? My very close friend lives in Poland and their heat bills skyrocketed. Hope your family is not majorly impacted by the war.

    April was enjoyable: a few days of warm weather made me crawl out of my hole and start planting! Since I had my son in 2020, my garden has been kind of abandoned so this year I am determined to invest time in it.

    I’m looking forward to reading your blog.

    1. Thanks so much, Daria for stopping by and leaving a comment. As I can see, you can relate to being far away from family and I do hope you get to go home and visit soon. This must be such a strange situation for you right now with the war and all.

      I am so excited to hear your started blogging (yay!) and I am looking forward to checking out your blog!

  6. April was really busy for me as I traveled 3 times – twice for work and one fun trip to Tucson to see my sister. That AZ trip was the high of the month for sure. Work continues to be stressful so it wasn’t. my favorite month over all but at least I had the high of spending time with my niece and sister!

  7. It sounds like you had a great time with your family – I am really happy for you. Early April I was in Germany, too, to celebrate my dad’s 80s birthday. It involved a bit of pre-planning since the kids had.school and my husband stayed behind with them but I saw quite a few people I usually don’t, which was fun. The end of the school year feels really hectic and busy – I can only imagine how it must be for teachers – so time seems to fly by.

  8. Your trip home looked so amazing, San! I’m so glad you got to spend some good time with your family. <3

  9. So many wonderful wonderful things. Glad you got to enjoy parts at home with friends and family.

  10. San, I love everything about this. The joy that shines out of your face, and those of your family, says it all. I’m so, so glad you had this time at home to soak up some of the time that was taken from you by the pandemic. <3 I only hope that it happens again soon, my friend. <3

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