A year in between

It's hard to believe, but a whole year has passed since we left New York, started WWOOFing in Sweden, and embarked upon a journey filled with uncertainty. And in a year we've experienced so very much and learned even more about ourselves, life, and all the stuff in between. A few highlights that I'm most proud of:

pictured: Urnatur (top) inspired the building of a mini house/loft (bottom)

Tiny living is better - from rooms in other people's houses to trailers infested with hornets, WWOOFing definitely taught us that we can live in a place half the size of our old Brooklyn apartment and be quite happy. And Sweden surely inspired with all those tiny garden houses and too cute for words shops - obvious in the look of the mini house I built inside our room. Tiny living keeps you from being sucked into the world of buy, buy, buy because really, you physically just can't fit all that stuff into your house that is really just a room.

pictured: Alex cooking at Appelfabriken last May // me recipe-less at Barenfang in July

recipe-less cooking is real - since I was little I liked cooking - and more so baking - with my mom. But it wasn't until WWOOFing that I realised I was just a "follow directions" type of cook. I hardly ever veered from the recipe and lacked the confidence to create an entire meal (beyond spaghetti or side dishes like mashed potatoes) that was totally my own. In Sweden and Germany it seemed like nobody even knew what recipes were or why you would need them - this impressed (and stressed) me from day one. But, as days turned into months I was forced to cook for large groups of hungry people with name-less, euro-exotic produce and couldn't rely on my trusty Tastespotting.com for support. Sure, I nearly had a breakdown in Treplin, Germany after our host left me alone in a veggie patch with orders to come up with a great dinner - but it was worth it (and the dinner was delicious). Oh "learning the hard way", how I love thee.

pictured: A poo this big, this close, at Die Grune Ecke smells like roses
compared to CAFO's in Iowa

Sorry Iowa, but you're bringing me down - a trip cross country and a night stop in Iowa is all you need to realise how gross CAFO are and how poo so thick can't be healthy for anyone or anything. Maybe the entire of Iowa isn't like this, but the stretch we went though was just down right foul and makes you never want to eat beef again.

pictured: We biked it to Poland // We biked it to Regensburg //
Alex broke his hand on Market // and went to the hospital for the first time in 26 years

Bike riding rulz - city-to-city, country-to-country biking is amazing, it feels awesome! Even on hot, hot days, it's the best feeling to make the trek from countryside to city and back with some fun in between. Of course, Sweden and Germany had amazing off-road bike roads that connected city to city - something the US is seriously lacking in - which make it a breeze and didn't make you feel like you needed to wear layers of protective gear to make it back alive. Which brings me to another lesson learned, that of safety first! Alex having an accident on San Francisco's crazy Market Street was definitely a wake up call that we aren't in Regensburg anymore. Be careful out there kids!

pictured: the rubber-boot-slinging-kids of Tretorn // me, one year later, using my WWOOFing skills for some volunteer work during the Earth Day-Weekend

Part-time is pretty awesome - just like the name implies, part-time jobs don't consume your life! It's amazing really. Working 4 days a week - just one day less - feels like you've gained 32 hours versus the actual 8. Those 8 precious hours allow for creativity to once again flourish, personal projects to exist, volunteering for great organizations to occur, and picnic parties to happen as often as they should. While having a full-time job does have the perks of security, insurance, blah blah blah, I like knowing that while I keep a pirate's eye out for the full-time position of my future, in the meantime I'm quite happy with the part-time way of living.

pictured: If only it were this easy
(courtesy of google)

Teeth are expensive bones that people can see - I've had my fair share of teeth problems from the beginning. I was born into a set of pearly whites that don't want to ever be straight even after 4 years of braces. I've accepted that. Then, my low blood pressure and love for being silly and stupid caused me to fall face-first into a tiled floor around age 17, requiring me to get a fake front tooth - meaning I won't ever bite into an apple ever again. I've accepted that too. Then, nearly 7 years later that age-old fall started to cause me some serious pain and required that I have a root canal - tuning me into the financial costs of teeth and causing me to appreciate the ideals of dental insurance - yet, I still didn't get any. And then just this past year I thought I was tricking the dental system and bought a Groupon - because $60 for a $300 check up sounded like a good deal. Too bad that $60 has now resulted in a $3000 wisdom tooth extraction (something that really should have been done when I was 18 and on my parent's insurance) and a $850 filling extravaganza which then turned into a $1350 root canal. Oh, and it hasn't stopped. Little did I know that when I signed up for this most recent root canal, I was also signing up for a pricey crown (price yet to be disclosed, which I've learned can't be good). You better believe that one of the those two fake teeth in my mouth are going to be gold - cause that ALMOST makes it all worth it.

So yes, this year there's been lots of learning going around, with some of the most important ah-ha's of May 2010-May 2011 listed above. It's been a crazy year for sure.