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in germany just life traveling

the new year’s get-together

organising a new year’s get-together for friends was on the new 101 list, and 2016 was the year it got done! new years are usually a bit of a dread for us… by the time the end of the year rolls around, we’re still recovering from the xmas family extravaganza, and craving peace and quiet. so this year, we poked a few friends spread around europe and decided to find a quiet place where we could all stay for a few days. we found a cozy airbnb in a tiny town in south germany which seemed perfect for our needs (somewhere central in europe, quiet, near cheap airports, dogs allowed)… so we put on our winter jackets, loaded the suitcases with board games, and off we went!

turns out, we lucked out big time! lienzingen is a charming little place, the kind that you imagine from brothers grimm’s fairy tales. it’s full of half-timbered houses hundreds of years old, carefully restored with love and german precision. we stayed in one of them, and boy, was it pretty!

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the weather was chilly but mostly dry, with soft rime on trees and even a bit of snow on the last days. together we chatted, cooked, played games, explored a unesco monastery, cuddled dogs, munched on warm laugenwecken, stoked the fireplace and discovered the local maultaschen.

it was the perfect start to the new year: low-key, unrushed and in great company. here’s hoping it’ll become a new tradition! :)

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just life

101 things in 1001 days — here we go again!

my previous list ran out of time a couple of months ago, and frankly, i was happy to see it go. moving from germany to portugal halfway through it changed some of our priorities, and i ended up letting go of the list and focusing my energy other things which were more pressing. the list ended up at 38% done, which was rather dismal…

no matter — we shall do better this time around! :) as usual, it took me a couple of months to work through each item on the new list… it does get harder and harder everytime. ideally, you want to be ambitious but realistic, daring but sure you can make it. it’s not easy, but it’s fun and i truly enjoy the process of making the list almost as much as ticking off the items, one by one.

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so anyway, the fourth edition of the list is ready. time to get some coffee and seize the day! :)

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in portugal just life one second everyday

one second everyday — july 2016

july was oh-so-social!

we had lots of friends and family over, or met them for dinner or even skyped with them! we went to the beach a few times, and P even ran his first 5k there (and aced it!). the national team won the euro! we enjoyed the town’s nightlife and in the end of the month we drove north to help the family… and collect tons of summer produce from their gardens! :)

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just life

our part-time cat

because he’s been showing up quite a bit on the latest videos, a few of you asked whether we had a cat. the answer is… sort of! he’s not ours, but he visits often, while going about his business in the neighbourhood.

zorelha — our part time cat

he’s a stray cat (afaik), with easy purrs and a penchant for cuddles. we call him zorelha (zarolho + orelha), because of the funny cut he has on one of his ears (a sign he’s been sterilised and released).

he’s friendly and comes and goes as he pleases, and that’s fine with us! :)

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just life one second everyday

one second everyday — april 2016

dear april, i didn’t mean to ignore you for so long… here we go:

in april, we said goodbye to iceland and arrived in berlin for a quick stopover, juuuuuust in time to see our friends cross the finish line of the half-marathon! :D the rest of the month was unusually (but delightfully!) social, with friends and family staying over, dinner parties and kid’s birthday parties as well. ace!