September was a good month. Lots of good & growth. & hard times too.
Justin and I have talked so many times about what we're doing and experiencing and we know when we look back, we'll remember the good and growth - because we're right where we need to be now.
Basketball picked up in September and we both adjusted to European schedules and road trips.
Our ward has been SO supportive and I can't imagine doing this without them.
Angie & Holly (from the RS presidency), came and visited me one morning. Our ward boundaries are basically the entire stake. Anyone who lives in the Berlin Germany Stake and doesn't speak German as their first language is welcome to join our Berlin English Ward.
That makes visits a little trickier when ward members live anywhere from 5-60 minutes away by train. Their visit was one I won't forget. They're both such good women and mothers and I'm so lucky I get to learn from them while we live here!
They came with beautiful flowers and the chocolates were gone by the end of the day... whoops.
Every Monday we get to talk to Hermana Rowley and read her emails!! She's doing amazing in Ecuador and learning so much. I'm so proud of her and love her more than I can say!! xoxo
I printed this picture for baby boy's nursery. It came from the Come Follow Me manual. All of the paintings and pictures in the manual are online!
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Our ward is pretty big with a good attendance each Sunday. In the summer months, there are even more people because of traveling visitors. In one sacrament meeting I say by a woman from Taiwan on my left, a German woman on my right, with a Brazilian family at the other end of the pew.
I met Sharon in Relief Society after I gave a talk in sacrament meeting. Because of my talk, we found out we have a lot in common! She's from SLC and lived in Sao Paulo, Brazil near the temple for a few years while her husband was working there.
Turns out she had forgotten an adapter and with all of the stores being closed on Sunday, didn't have a way to charge her phone. I don't know how anyone would get around Berlin without Google Maps so I brought her back to our apartment and was able to get her an adapter to charge her phone.
She gifted us with some YUMMY homemade pear jam before we said goodbye. I love homemade jam :')
I'd saved a "spiced cookie" recipe last fall and decided it was time to make them. Baking is one of my hobbies. I make some sort of treat a couple of times a week. Justin says anywhere can feel like home if I'm baking.
Germany has just about every ingredient the U.S. does, even if it tastes a little different. I do get to make my own chocolate chips by cutting up chocolate bars but it's worth it when you have cookies like these!!
Lucy!! Lucy plays for the Alba women's team and has become a good friend. <3 She actually grew up a few hours from Berlin in the same neighborhood as a Utah family who are members of the Church.
I knew of Lucy from one of these family members who reached out to me over Instagram and ran into Lucy at church our first Sunday.
She's amazing & I love her so much.
Every year my mom gets beautiful mums from Costco to put out on the front porch for fall. I came home from a doctor's appointment to my own fall mums :') Thanks, Justin <3
What our maps locations look like week to week. He's becoming quite the European traveller having already visited France, Monaco, Austria, Netherlands, Spain, and Italy to name a few.
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I LOVE our apartment. I've probably said it in every post because I really do. It feels like home and it's 100% because of the Holy Ghost. I've felt so blessed to have that calm, peaceful feeling amidst being alone and getting ready to have our baby in a completely new place.
On September 30, Berlin had its annual Pumpkin Festival to break in the new season. One of the happiest days of the month. I LOVE fall and loved shopping and walking the market with my best friend.
September was good to us. Looking back, I know it was hard, but there was a lot of good and growth and that's what we're here for. <3