Retrospektive

Dear 2012,

your last days have come. I let you go with mixed feelings. But before all memories are fading within the soup of the last decades I want to seize the hour and spend it with you, dear 2012.

When I will think about you in ten years time, this is what will come to my mind first thing: 

2012 is when I became pregnant with my little girl. Half of it I spend with a second beating heart next to mine, growing ever so fast. What a special year!

You did really well:

Not to listen to the Maya Calendar

I will be forever grateful for this:

You have been very gentle on this little family of mine. Letting us grow and love and live with joy and happiness all year long. What a gift!

The month of  July really was quite something. Because: thats when I found out I was pregnant.

You really exaggerated with:

Natural disasters in other parts of the world.

That was definatly unnecessary:

All that rain during summer!

I will never forgive you:

Personally, I think, there is nothing much I will hold against you.

I still wanted to let you know:

You have really been a good year to us, I feel very blessed and thankful, dear 2012!

Can you please talk to 2013 about:

Keeping things as sweet as they are. That would be lovely. Thanks!

I am remaining with gratefulness,

yours Gesche

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You, dear readers of this blog, are more then welcome to copy the questions of the above letter for your own retrospective of 2012, or to just feel inspired by them, maybe share your answers in the comments, use the letter in your new years celebration with family and friends, change, shorten or extent contents. This is my little gift to you for staying here with me, patiently coming back and letting me know you are still around. You have become very dear to me. Thank you so much for that!

May your days be blessed

The magic of these days

Today I want to share with you a very sweet and special moment that toke place this month in the Cologne central station. It was an extraordiary flashmob, performed by the choir of the local broadcast station WDR. Please, please take your time and watch these three and a half minutes, you will not regret it!

Advento Privato

Yesterday was the most beautiful, sunny day, with all the snow still there, very cold and just so, so pretty. I went to a very special little christmas market, organised by some friends of friends of friends (you get the idea) in a small community garden. They only open this market every two year for one weekend and since I went last time I was looking forward to today so much. Let me give you a little tour and let the pictures do the talking:

Wishing you all a lovely second of Advent!

Getting cosy

Oh, tis the cosy season again. And today, even in Cologne, there is snow, finally! I can't wait to pick Aaron from Kindergarten with the slight later and get out there, show him the wonders of that white, cold, fluffy stuff. There was no snow at all this morning when I toke him there and now it looks like it has snowed since weeks. What else could inspire me more to show you some of the christmas preparations that are going on around here...

Last sunday we lit the first candle of our advent wreath. Even though Aaron didn't quite understand what kept me from lighting the other three candles. He loves candles and never eats his dinner without us having lit the candle at the table first. Sunday was also the day to start with some ginger bread baking, so we could send a batch to Aarons great-grandfather who will spend this christmastime on his own for the first time in decades or even ever.

Aarons cookies turned out very interesting and special, since he always put the outer cooky dough from  around the cutter on the tray. Still I was just happy to watch him being so busy and concentrated, oh they grow so fast...

We also got out the christmas books that I had been collecting throughout the year at fleamarkets and second hand. Mostly old childhood memories for me, I hope I can pass on that joy soon.

And some first decorations were made and hung . I absolutly adore the tissue paper window star in the first picture. There is a great free tutorial here if you want to make your own. So, so simple!

In the night from the 5th to the 6th of December Aaron got a visit from St. Nikolaus who left a little surprise for him at his door that he found in the morning. For some reason Aaron doesn't like chocolate very much, so St. Nikolaus was more generous with other small things and fruits. Good for him...

Oh, this busy, secret season. What a challenge to keep the balance between all the extras, the baking, the crafting, the christmas partys and still find space for the breathing, for smelling and listening. How good, to just watch a candle burning sometimes.