Cookies, Cookies, and More Cookies!

Sugar cookies, Spitzbuebe, Läbkueche, chocolate no-bake cookies, and much more! Christmas is approaching fast and we are all busy baking the oh-so-wonderful smelling Christmas cookies. Though not all of them will survive till Christmas ;P

"What? Me eat these cookies before Christmas is even here? Do I look like I would do that?"

Oops, caught in the act!

This is how you make sugar cookies:

Put on a very sickeningly thick layer of icing...

Sprinkle half of the container of colored sugar on it...

Then lick off the icing knives... and do it again :D

Have a Merry Christmas, tomorrow is Christmas Eve already! And I can't wait!!!!!!

Race to the End!

The Baslerstadtlauf 2009: Weeks of preparation, minutes to stand in line waiting, just waiting for the gun to signal the start, 5,5 Kilometers of running, one goal... to finish! My mom and I participated in this "famous" race this past Saturday, me for the first time, while Dad and Rebecca cheered us on. How can one describe it? Here are just a few words that come to my mind...

Competitively determined

Beautifully decorated

Painfully exhausting

momentously fun

And everyone who finishes is a winner! My time... 36.23,4 perhaps not the best of times, but at least I finished, and the free massage helped me feel better about it :D

I Will Survive Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to you all, even the winged ones, may we all be thankful we are not among them :P I would like to ask each person reading this post to write in the comments one thing they are thankful for. Have a wonderful day...

Gloomy Day Blues

Winter is coming on and the light, sunny days are replaced with foggy, rainy days. People, I in particular, tend to get the "Gloomy Day Blues." The symptoms have shown up in how I have been feeling constantly tired, I suppose all the extra school work and filled up weekends helped with that. But now my school work has lessened up and I have decided to try to conquer these Gloomy Day Blues. One way, is that I have began jogging again which I have had to stop due to school work. Exercise does help give you more energy and brighten up a day and ward off the Gloomy Day Blues. Here is a poem in honor of all those who brave the cold, winter air to get outside and exercise, though I have to admit it isn't real poetry. For those who don't plan to, you can enjoy the poem for its own sake to brighten up your day. It is by an unknown author. I would recommend you read the original poem first: "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost. Here is instead, "Stopping by the Bakery on a Hungry Evening" with apologies to Robert Frost:

Whose cakes these are, I think I know,

His Condos in the city though,

He will not see me stop to stare,

At every croissant and eclair.

My running shoes must think it queer,

To pause with all these pastries here,

My diets barely started, but still,

I feel a weakening of my will.

The cashier says, "What would you like?"

Forgive me exercising bike!

Cream puffs I think, just a box of twenty,

Wait! One doughnut hole is plenty.

Oh, whipped creams lushes white and deep,

But I have diet vows to keep,

And miles to jog before I sleep!

And miles to jog before I sleep!

What are your ways to keep from the Gloomy Day Blues?

What Mess?

No, not mess, messE. You know, the Herbst Messe? Translated, "the Fall Fair" which comes every year to Basel. Today I spent the afternoon with church friends walking all over the messe. We ate and walked and ate more and walked more and rode some rides and ate more and walked more. It was lots of fun! What kinds of rides did I go on? Well, perhaps knowing me you will think bumper cars and merry-go-rounds. Not this time! I faced my fears and went on a crazy ride. It went up, down, spun in circles and even went upside down! Yes, I was terrified. Yes, I would go on it again. And yes, I did scream myself almost hoarse :D And yes, I loved every second of it!!! Here are the pictures of the fun day:

Here we are, all smily!

The Transformer, which is the second ride I went one. This was only the start with the smoke effect and rising up, before the spinning started.

Ok, here starts the spinning... I would recommend not to eat beforehand.

Scenes from the herbst messe.

The messe will still be on for another week, so I would recommend everyone to come into Basel and experience the fun themselves!

Practice Makes Perfect!

Fall holiday is over and it is back to school. I decided to continue school through the fall holiday, but I did take the last few days off. More specifically I had the 14-17 off, where I went with Rebecca and my JugendMusik (Youth Band) to our annual JUMU Lager (Jugend Musik camp) in Shelten (near Délemont).

What did we do for those few days? Here is just an overview:

We played music, of course, that was the entire point of the camp. We separated up into our different instrument groups to practice then we joined together and realized we should have practiced more on our own. But not to worry, the next day we were able to practice in our little groups again, day in and day out, till we all could barely make a note by the end.

Here is our band director, she was nice enough to let her dad join us :P

Another important thing we did was eat!!!! Actually in this picture we are playing games in the evening, but since there is food involved as well I suppose it could represent us eating :D

Due to our theme being animals, we had a circus one evening. Those who got marked through out the year for forgetting their notes etc had to each perform an act. This was the elephant trainer, yes those are mattress covers that the elephants are wearing :)

We loved to stay up late and talk, that is what camp is all about :P But in this picture, the leader didn't quite appreciate us staying up, since he couldn't get us to stop talking instead he thought he would create a way for us to use our energy elsewhere. So in our pajamas (and some in their barefeet) we were marched outside at about midnight in the freezing cold and we ran laps and did jumping jacks and more. We loved it!

That was all lots of fun and the end came to soon. The Lager Abschlusskonzert (camp ending concert) arrived where we were able to play those songs we had been practicing like crazy all week. The concert went really well and everyone enjoyed it (I think :P ) Then we all said our sad goodbyes and went home... to sleep!

Another Chance...

Another chance to win, I approach my Judo tournament in Murten with much anticipation. Will this be the one that I will finally win at least one fight? Just two weeks before I was at a competition in Weinfelden which turned into somewhat of a disaster. After being stuck in traffic, I missed the weigh in; therefore, I was not signed up for my group. Disappointed in having driven over two hours and not being able to compete at all, my teacher allowed me to join the elite group. I lost after seven seconds. Now I was in Murten, ready to do my best.

"OJIME!" called the referee and I began. The time ticked by on the digital clock, counting down from four minutes. Now it was at three minutes and I was still in, though I had fallen a few times I still kept going. Then it happened, she pinned me down and I struggled for freedom. I could barely breathe. The timer began. Could I free myself before the twenty-five seconds were over? What would happen first, would I escape or suffocate? I gasp for breath and continue fighting. Then I heard it, the loud buzz. It was over and I had lost. Yet, how long did I fight for? 1:33!!! I was so pleased with myself! That was my best record.

Then came my second fight. Not much to say about that. I approached my opponent, we fought, a few seconds later I was laying flat on my back. But nothing could squelch my elation over my defeat of my personal record. Goodbye Judo tournaments, I will not be competing again this year. I will have time to work hard and practice till January, then I shall return stronger, faster, and better. Perhaps that will be my first win?

Enjoy the movie of my tournament :) I'm the one in the orange belt :P

Return to Routine

Life has become quite busy over the past few weeks, with school and my hobbies all starting up. But I am pleased to announce that a routine has begun again and I am no longer suffering from Summer Holiday Boredom. The biggest happening since I last wrote was Heather leaving for University again. Though she has already been gone for a year, the goodbyes after her visits never get any easier. After having her around the house for three months and now her gone, I can't help but almost cry when I see the places she used to be, lie empty. But I must learn that life has to go on...

Saying goodbye breaks my heart,

If only we never had to part.

I'm very close to my sister,

I love to talk and laugh with her.

I understand that change must be,

And that she is now very happy,

But still I don't like to let go,

Yet she has to move on in life, also

I need to move on as well I know.

She'll go her way, I'll go mine. Though-

We shouldn't cry and feel so sad,

Instead treasure the time that we had.

Though for a time we may grieve,

The memories will never leave,

But I can't help shedding at least a tear,

For the sister I'm parted from who is so dear.

La Vita Italiana

Guess where my family went? A hint: olive vineyards, Florence, pizza, gelato. Of course, it was Italy!!! A five day vacation to what I consider one of the most beautiful countries in the world.

Casa Cares, that was what our guest house was called. Located in an olive vineyard. The top left picture is of my favorite window seat which I spent my evenings sitting on and writing in my journal while I looked out upon the breathtaking view.

Here is another trivia, can you guess where this place is on the pictures? I had mentioned it at the beginning. The famous Florence, or Firenze as the Italians call it. I could hardly believe I was actually there in person!

What would a trip to Italy be, without a visit to the beach! I even saw my very first real live jelly fish. Perhaps you are wondering what those stairs down the side of the cliff are. Well, that is how we got down to this quaint cove. It was hard enough climbing it in flip flops, why not throw in a few bags full of beach towels and food.

Italian food is delicious! I had pizza, pasta, and of course the all famous gelato.

What was my favorite part? I cannot narrow it down to one thing. But as to my favorite part of Florence, that I do know. I loved the street markets and bargaining for the best price. As well as all the different varieties of people I saw there. I liked to watched the street artists who were all selling the exact same paintings and there were about two or three on every street. How many pictures of cupids can a person buy? Apparently they thought never enough.

If you look around enough you may catch some humorous shots. Air conditioning, hmmmm, I suppose that would draw people into the shop on a hot day, I just found it a funny sign :) There were people all around taking pictures of each other, I liked getting the picture from a different angle of the various poses, some less normal then others.

I actually had enough courage to ask a police man to pose for a picture with me. Those are really cool hats they had!

Italy is such a fun country, I recommend it as a vacation for everyone!!! With that I shall not end by saying goodbye but rather arrivederci (just don't ask me to pronounce that :P )!!!

Seventeen... Already?!

How time flies, one moment I am a little girl playing with barbies and dressing up, now I am seventeen. When did that happen? It is not time to get sentimental, it is time to CELEBRATE!

Ok, instead of my usual telling of events, instead I will say all the specialness of Seventeen:

Firstly, seventeen is the last year as a "child" before turning eighteen when all the responsibility of voting, University, etc is put upon you. Seventeen sounds much older then sixteen. I'm getting old, oh my!!!!

Secondly, Seventeen is the age in the song "Dancing Queen" by ABBA, not really that significant, but I really like that song so it is to me :)

Seventeen: Seven is the number of perfection, though I don't know how "perfect" of a year it will be, I hope it will be though. It is my last year at home, my last year of being too old to be called a child yet too young to be called an adult, that is why there is the "teen" on the end of my age, meaning "between." Don't quote me on that one, I got it from observation not from research.

(Those are two giant chocolate chip cookies with vanilla ice cream between. It was delicious!)

Lastly, Seventeen is yet another year of my life: to learn new things, to make a difference, to live!

I am very excited for the coming up year with all the adventures it may hold.

...And Then Everything Lit up

All was dark as we made our way to the top of a hill in Holderbank with our friends. We had just finished a nice grill and dessert, now evening drew near. The silent August first night was broken occasionally by a sudden BANG! We reached the top of the hill and stopped, and then...

... everything suddenly was lit up!!!! Fireworks exploded everywhere spraying the sky with color.

The August first celebrations increased as the night grew darker.

Now comes a quick side note: for those who may not know the significance of August first, it is like the American July Fourth. Now, moving on...

After a while, the kids got out some sparklers.

Not everyone completely trusted those sparklers, it had taken me years to finally trust them myself.

It was past eleven when we made our way back home and to bed but were all kept awake late by the continuous fireworks.

I wish you all a late happy August First even if you aren't in Switzerland!

My Birthday Party :D

A weekend full of fun and glee,

A birthday party just for ME!

Two weeks early it may be,

But we still celebrated happily.

My mom was nice enough to bake,

A pink and green frog birthday cake,

The Vanilla and chocolate cake was so good,

That I ate more then I should!

Karina, Linda, and Acacia came,

To have fun with all the game(s).

Us blindfolded, the mörakopf was fed,

watch out! I think I got some on her head!

Lunch at a castle, how fun to grill,

We ate and ate and ate until...

We began a game of sardines, what a thrill!

A lot of fun, I wont forget,

The games, the laughter, not one little bit.

There is so much more I would want to say,

But I wont, you'll just have to come to next years birthday :P

Around the World in One Day!

Ferdinand Magellan traveled around the world in three years, Jules Verne traveled around the world in eighty days, well, I out did them both! I went around the world in one day! With my sister Heather and my friend Karina, we set out to the city of Zürich, which was the beginning point for our journey.

Our first stop was China, we went to the Chinagarten (China Garden) in Zürich. Isn't it such a cute little garden ;P

Lunch time came and we spent it in Turkey by having our Dürüms. Even though we sat next to a river in Zürich I want to keep with the world tour theme, so I will call it a Turkish river, which is where we ate our lunch while being watched by Turkish Swans :)

Next was a visit to the Stonehenge, more accurately it is modern art in the middle of Zürich that, in my imaginative mind, resembled the Stonehenge. We continued on to a church that was "cool," it felt nice after the hot weather! I am not sure what country that will represent but I suppose I will call it the Vatican since it was, after all, a Catholic church.

We finished our round the world journey by arriving back in Switzerland and enjoying the last few hours in Zürich by the Zürichsee. If you want more information about this historic trip or get our autographs for being the first people to go around the world in one day, just contact either me, Karina, or Heather :D