Down came the rain

Week 2 of summer break. It's raining cats and dogs. BigL is at summer camp nevertheless. Every morning I ask him, if he wants to go and every morning, he says, "Of course!". So we bought hiking shoes to withstand the mudder and he is happy.

Little L and me are running errands, went to the mall (I bribed him with a BIG cookie) and hang around home. We watch movies and nap and do puzzles and play and love being with each other. It's pretty awesome. Today he helped me with housework, which took like forever. But we have all the time in the world and I love his company.

So, that's pretty much all we do these days. End of story.

Love, Sanna

Summer Bucket List

Only one more day, and I am heading into summer break (poor kids have one more day to go). As every summer, there is stuff I wanna do and there are things and places I wanna see. Here is my summer bucket list:

• Go to the fish spa. I wanted this for years and I will so do it this summer.
• Visit the coast and dip my toes into the North Sea. Not sure if I will take a full dive, depends on how warm it is.
• Visit Hamburg's new Elbphilharmonie.
• Play lots of Uno and other stuff with LittleL during his two weeks off from daycare (plus our summer getaway).
• Meet with friends, have coffee and cake and good conversations.
• Laugh more, dance often and go to a concert (Gentleman, honey?)
• Try to use my smartphone less.
• Visit the family party at summer camp.
• Paint my toenails all kind of colours.
• Wear flipflops only.
• And shorts and dresses.
• Oh, and my size twelve bikini. Woohoo!
• Go horse back riding with the kids.
• Shop for school supplies (note to myself: NOT on the last day!!)
• Have an outdoor movie night.
• Have lots of BBQs.
• Finish season 10-12 of Grey's Anatomy.
• Take naps on my sunbed.
• Get together with family and friends and celebrate DH's 40th and LittleL's 5th birthday.
• Read ten books.
• Enjoy life.

Have a great summer, everybody! What are your plans? Any suggestions of what I REALLY have to do?

Love and hugs, Sanna

Years Off My Life

I ain't a fan of going slow around corners,
Stomp on the gas and grab another gear
Yeah I'll take years off my life
Before I'll take life off my years.

So, I was listening to one of my favorite music ever (Lee Brice - Hard 2 Love) in the car, when this song came up. And it made me think. About what changed since I got sick and how much more I love life right now that I am okay again. 

A lot has changed. It's not like I got adventurous all of a sudden. Nope, not going to happen. But I really am more happy in life. Just because I try to do what is good for me. To celebrate the little things and to have the courage to go for what I really want.

To me, living life to the fullest does not involve jumping out of planes or doing zip line rides. It's more like spending quality time with my beloved ones. It's warm summer sunshine on a day at the lake. It's a good book and a nice coffee. It's cooking and baking and napping. Might sound boring, yes. But to me it is heaven. 

I have never been more satisfied with me and my life. Because I know how bad life can be and I try not to let go of chances. That's why I picked up all my courage last night and dug out my ballett slippers. These have been in the closet for twelve years, but after watching a friend doing ballett classes, I felt such an urge to get back on the dance floor, it kind of hurt. I packed some weight since my last dancing class and it was before babies and PPD and meds, so I freaked out a little bit. I actually was thinking about cancelling the whole thing and sit on my couch and wait for more weight to drop. But then DH kind of ordered me to go, damn it. And I did. And it was the most wonderful thing in the world. Of course, it felt different and I realized I am not as flexible any more (but that will hopefully come back!), but my body remembered every single move. It was right there and I only had to start again to make it come out. I had no idea how much I missed dancing until I actually hit the dance floor.

So, living life to the fullest means taking risks. And having courage. And all of the above. Have a great weekend, everybody!

Love, Sanna

What's the use of life if you don't live it?
You sip your water, I'll drink my beer
Yeah, I'll take years off my life
Before I take life off of my years

My journey to size ten

As long as I can remember, I used to be chubby. It kind of runs in my parrt of the family, so here I am. After having two kids and being on three different meds to treat my PPD, I gained a LOT OF weight. Actually, I have never had more weight in my life before.

One day in February, I decided to give it a try and downloaded the Weight Watchers App. I tried not to go in with too many expectations, but with my mind set on a goal. And so it began.

Since then I have lost a total number of 33lbs (15kg). And to be honest, it's pretty easy. I am never hungry, I can eat everything as long as I stay within my SmartPoints and it so works for me. For many others, this is not the right way, but for me it absolutely is.

Plus, it is amazing of how good I feel since I lost weight. My knees do not hurt anymore. I can easily go to the basement for laundry and up again (We live on the first floor!!). I can practice riding his bike with Little L and jog next to him. I can buy regular sized clothing, which is the best part of all! ;o)

I plan to lose more weight and have a helthy BMI around Christmas. If it spring, that's fine with me, too. Moving forward is good, no matter how long it will take. With every day I am closer to a healthy body and that is just awesome. Plus, I am looking into different opportunities to work out at the moment, but I will post about that later.

Have a great day! (And eat some cake!)

Love, Sanna

Weekend update

Hey friends!

How is the weather in your part of the woods? Germany is freezing. I froze my butt of at track and field today. I wore a jumper and real shoes. Fun times.

But, to be honest, the forecast to the upcoming week looks better, so I will stop ranting now. I am so looking forward to our summer getaway to the sea, so I am hoping the weather will be fine then. Only eight more working days! Woohoo!

Stuff we did this weekend:

• Grocery shopping.
• Shopping new sports clothes.
• A quick trip with the kids to the city to check out the new Tiger Store.
• Track and field.
• Nap.
• Go to the town's festival.

Now, I will clean the bathroom, vacuum and do laundry. We really know how to party.  After that, I will go to the cake decoration shop and spend a fortune. End of story. Here is my favorite summer song.