He did it...

While sitting at the computer this evening, suddenly Steve said something about a Job in Geneva at the Cern, that is where the super colider is, for anyone watching Big Bang Theory, that's where Leonard went for Christmas.
He said they only had one job, that didn't require a PhD in Physics but he needed to know French.
So I went online and started to look for job and found one that he liked, so guess what? My husband sent them his resume. The cool thing would be, it's very well paid. The bad thing? It starts at the end of February. We would definitely having to do the long distance thing for a while. But oh well it is a start and we will see if they even get back to him.

So that's the update for right now.

Where has time gone?

Yesterday, my precious little girl turned 12. I can't believe she is 12 and in middle school. Where has time gone? I remember holding her in my arms after she was born. She was tiny only 6lb. 7oz. she had a good set of lungs. I also remember how heartbroken I was when we had to take her to the children's hospital cause her bilirubin was to high and she had to spend the night there in an incubator and an had a IV that was covered with a styrofoam cup.
Now she is 12, wears a shoe size 8.5 and is almost as tall as me. She loves art, music and singing. She is a straight A student and we are so proud of her. She loves history as well. She is a Geek just like me, she loves sci-fi and the "Big Bang Theory". She is a girl scout and loves to help others.
She has turned into quiet an amazing young lady and I feel very blessed and thankful for that.

So many things to consider...

Well it looks more and more like things are going to happen. Like today Steve and I talked about what we would need to do for him to actually be able to work in Switzerland.
We have a few choices. He is eligible to become a citizen and since we've been married for 14yrs he can also apply for permanent residency, which is like the Swiss green card.
We also read somewhere that the US is the only country that still wants taxes from US Citizens, even if they don't live or work in the US. So we need to figure that out as well.
I am excited that Steve is more and more willing to talk about this and actually more open to it, he even has been looking at jobs (has not applied yet), but baby steps.
I also spoke to my sister the other day, and her work is looking for English speakers and it's pretty good paid work. Also the Make Up school she is teaching at, is also looking for someone that can apply prostetics which I have done before, and I get to translate their whole coursework, and get paid for that. This would be a huge opportunity for me to finally become the Make Up artist I want to be.
My head is spinning now. LOL

What to move, that's the question...

So I got some quotes for international movers. The nice thing is, they would come and pack everything and move it from door to door. The bad thing it is going to cost us an arm and a leg.
So we talked about it, and it looks like when we move we'll put a lot of stuff into storage. Since we are planning on coming back eventually.
A 8'x8'x20' container runs between $8000 and $8'000, and we would have to pay that twice. So paying $50 for a storage unit, is fairly inexpensive to keep our stuff safe.
It would appear, that we wouldn't take any furniture, since it's going to be cheaper to get new one. Also our couch, our bed and Lars' bed are ready to be replaced anyway. So that makes it easy. I do want to take some of the Christmas decorations and Ornaments. Some of my craft items. Not sure about Dishes and such, but it might be better to replace those as well.
So as we go on this Journey, these are things to consider and I am sure you will hear all about it when we get there.

Meal Plan for this week...

I went to the grocery store on Friday and stocked up, we should be good for the week. I really want to get back into cooking a meal every night, it will save us so much money that we need for the move. So here is the first week.

Sunday:
Baked Chicken leg Quarters
Roasted Veggies (potatos, carrots, onions, zucchini)

Monday:
grilled striped Pangasius ( this is a vietnamese cat fish that looked similar to Tilapia, so we will try it)
Steamed Green Beans and Rice

Tuesday:
Chicken Fajitas

Wednesday:
Steak
Sweet Potato Fries
Salad

Thursday:
Stir Fry

Friday:
Fellowship (we will be at a friends house)

Saturday:
Pizza and cake (Anika's Birthday Party)

I really hope I will stick to this. Battling with depression over the past year, has just pretty much diminished my passion to cook. It shows also with my huge weight gain. So that's another aspect of this, I want and will loose the weight again.

3 kings Cake

Well, so here is the story, at home in Zurich, we've always got a 3 kings Cake on January 6th. Cause it is Epiphany. It's a sweet yeast dough that has raisins in it and in one of the buns, there is usually a plastic king figurine hidden. Whomever gets it will be king for the day. Usually with the cakes we bought there was a paper crown in it.
One of the things I want to do this year, is celebrate swiss traditions with my kids. So this is one of them, but you can't just go to HEB and buy such a cake. So I decided to make my own. I found a recipe, and made it, but the dough did not rise. Then I took my cookbook from 9th grade home economics class and made the yeast dough from there, but this one didn't rise as much either. This is what it looked like.
So I went to the grocery store today and bought fresh yeast and took another try. Don't get me wrong the one from Yesterday was yummy. But I wanted something more fluffy. So here is the link to the Recipe 3 Koenigs Kuchen, sorry it is in German. The dough rose so beautifully and here is what it looks like


Instead of a King, I put a piece of Chocolate (from Switzerland) into one of the buns. I am taking this to fellowship at my friends house tonight, how much more fitting can it be, since today is Epiphany. I hope it is as good as it looks. :)

Annoyance

So Anika thought she was clever and signed up on one of those web-sites to get a free Ipad, which is a total scam. Well she entered her cell number and boom, the txt messages and phone calls started pouring in. So we tried right away to stop it. Hopefully we nipped it in the butt at the right time.

We asked Anika what she wanted to be her punishment and she said no phone for a month. Wow, that is pretty grown up of her.

I also called this company today just to ensure the number has been removed and they told me that Anika had signed up for these services. I told them no, she did not sign up to be called by 15 different companies, and receive messages from different companies. That lady had the nerve to tell me that it was not a scam. I am calling them back right now to speak with a supervisor, cause you know what I won't be talked to like this.
And every time I call, they want the cell number and my name. Not going to happen. *sigh

The joys of parenthood.

Quinoa with Ground Turkey and Spinach

I first was introduced to Quinoa when I was a personal Trainer. Then I found a recipe for stuffed Bell peppers. This is a variation of it.

2 cups of Quinoa (cooked in a rice cooker)
1lb. of ground Turkey
1 bag of fresh baby spinach
Shredded Mozarella and Parmesan
Parsley, oregano, pepper, salt and garlic powder.

Sautee the spinach in olive oil, then add the ground turkey and cook until no longer pink. Season to taste, add the Quinoa and cheeses, mix well and serve.

This is an easy 30mins dinner and it is so healthy.

I don't have fitday on my computer anymore, so figuring the calories is tough. I will get to it sometime this week and will post them.

a tiny bit of progress

Well, during breakfast today we talked about moving. We also talked about what to take and what would go into storage. If it was worth to move everything and then move it back.
I have to do a lot of research on moving companies over seas, so that is on my agenda. Steve asked me yesterday to send him links to job sites and recruiters. So there was progress on that front as well.

Today we are cleaning, today is Steve's last day to be home from Winterbreak and so are the kids. They have to go back to school tomorrow, so I want all the Christmas decorations put away. I also need to make a grocery list and figure out the meal plan for the coming week. We have wasted a lot of money by eating out all the time. So no more of that. I need to start cooking again.
I will post later what my meal plan for the week looks like. Now I am off to the land of Mount Washmore and cleaning.

a new beginning...

So 2012 rolled around and I actually had a nice weekend, with my family and great friends. I am super proud of my daughter who showed what a hard worker she is at IKKiCON VI. She is growing up so fast. In 11Days she will be 12years old. I remember the day she was born, like it was yesterday.
2011 had it's ups and downs, but I think I made a lot of progress on some things and looking forward to work on that more this coming year.

For 2012, I want to wish everybody a great year. For myself, I will work hard on myself, and making my family as happy as possible.

My biggest wish is to move back to Switzerland for a few years. So in this blog I want to post about that progress. You get to read about more Traditions I will show my kids and other things.

I hope you will enjoy reading this Journey.

Happy 2012