Dear Europe (Day 1)

I’ve been exceptionally bad at blogging lately. The fact that i returned home from my holiday 7 weeks ago and still haven’t blogged about it is staring me in the face….hating me. Also..the fact that I just had to realise it was that long ago makes me sad. I wish I could go back and remain in a state of permanent relaxed adventuring…wouldn’t it be awesome?

BUT I’ve finally managed to navigate my way through my over 1 700 pictures and narrowed them down to just a few. Even so the holiday was action packed and I’ve decided to break the trip down into 1 and 2 day posts in order to make it easier to read:) So here we go…Day 1:)

As a lot of you know my cousin’s wedding was the day before I was due to depart on my holiday, and due to a lot of work and a lot of wedding arrangements I wasn’t even halfway packed by the morning of the 11th, the day I was due to leave and I had a house full of guests. The parentals and my aunt were awesome by making me breakfast, helping to tidy the house and reminding me of small things I would need to remember to pack. And shortly after lunchtime we were on our way to the airport, where i spent the rest of the afternoon lounging around reading and drinking the free wine while feeling super excited. It should be noted that this is not day 1, this was Day 0:P

The obligatory wing picture...I was told I wasn't officially on holiday until I posted one of these — The obligatory wing picture…I was told I wasn’t officially on holiday until I posted one of these

I landed in Frankfurt on the morning of the 12th (super tired as my superpowers include the ability to NOT be able to sleep on a plane and we had spectacular turbulence for the entire 10 hour flight) where i tried out my broken German on the passport control dude. He pretended to be impressed and waved me through without any issues. I proceeded to my departure gate for my flight to Zürich and waited. The time to board arrived and there was no sign of the gate being opened. I asked around, checked the boards and bugged a number of airport staff, but no one could tell me what happened to my flight. 15minutes before my flight was due to depart they finally figured out that my newly assigned gate was 2km down….I nearly died. Metal ankle or not, I ran the 2km and was rushed through an already closed door onto my connecting flight. The fault was entirely that of the airline, to which they admitted and my fellow passengers were only mildly annoyed. Crisis only narrowly averted.

I finally arrived in Zürich and had to wait 2 hours for my various traveling companions to arrive from South Africa and Ireland. The wait was made more bearable by a bucketload of Starbucks. From there we took a bajillion trains and buses (missing 1 or 2) until we finally arrived at our new home in Emmetten. The one thing that completely astounded me was how incredibly CLEAN everything was. The train and bus stations were all sparkly and non-foul smelling. Not to mention how beautiful and clean the entire country was. Switzerland had managed to steal my heart within minutes.

SEE??? This is the main train station right by the airport...so clean — SEE??? This is the main train station right by the airport…so clean

Tired happy faces:) Waiting for our train

Our first glimpse of the Swiss countryside from the train

One of the many little towns where we had to change trains/buses

After a brisk 1km walk from the train station to our apartment with our suitcases in tow, we refreshed our weary bones with a much-needed shower and headed out in search of dinner and to have a good look around the little town we would be calling home for the next week. Here are some snapshots of the town…..and guys…it was waaaaay past 8pm, but we were convinced it was like 4pm latest. The looong summer days really messed with our heads.

The start of a beautiful sunset over Emmetten

The little church...guys seriously..this was like just before 9pm — The little church…guys seriously..this was like just before 9pm

I couldn't get over how incredibly and intensely green everything was...so beautiful — I couldn’t get over how incredibly and intensely green everything was…so beautiful

We wined and dined ourselves at the local hotel where NO ONE spoke a word of english. Let’s just say it was a rather entertaining affair with our bit of broken german and the help of google translate in order to figure out the menu and order. And then it was time for bed, as tomorrow we would be heading off to Zermatt, the home of chocolate mountain, more commonly known as the Matterhorn. (To be continued)

Ruby
xxxx

Dear Readers

It seems all I ever do these days is play catchup. I’ve been particularly bad at posting on my little blog this year (you know, life and work and whatever else keeps us busy) and then I end up doing little catchup posts to bring everyone back in the loop of things. This post is really no different. It’s a roundup of the last couple of weeks (yep, it’s been that long since i last posted O_o)

So I’ve been doggy sitting for the parentals this week as they went on a little road trip, but they’re on their way back as we speak and will be here to spend my birthday weekend with me. Awesome, especially since they missed the big Three Oh last year due to the birth of their first grandchild:)

I’ve also recently learned that no matter how hard I try I don’t understand people or the choices they make even though they know and admit to knowing that it’s the wrong one. It makes no sense to me. I’m very much a black and white kind of person…grey areas are a relatively foreign concept to me and I get confused when people willfully make decisions they know is a disaster. I’ve witnessed this with friends and work and family in the last couple of weeks…it’s a tough one, because it’s not exactly generally considered OK for me to grab a hold of them and shake them, so I leave them to go on their merry way and to learn their own life lessons…I’m still confused though.

Life has been fairly quiet really…work has been busy, but not as hectic as it was earlier in the year and I’ve been keeping myself busy with Kitchen tea arrangements, friends, wine tastings and *twinkle eyes* holiday planning. This is the one piece of news i have that is absolutely fantastic. After working my butt off for over 18 months without a single break I will finally be taking a holiday:) The last year and a half has been hectic and I haven’t had any time off/away. No little weekends away, hell, rarely a weekend that wasn’t spent working to begin with. I worked all through last december and took the total of new year’s day and Christmas day off the entire time. It was time for some me time. So in August I’ll be jetting off to Europe for a fun-filled two weeks. I can’t wait! And don’t worry, you guys will be getting like a million pics on the blog to look at:)

So, consider yourself “in the loop”.

Love
Ruby
xxxx

P.S. I’ve attached some pretty for you…a beautiful sunset and a pic of my early birthday flowers;)

Gracing you with a little bit of pretty. Africa really does give us the most amazing sunsets:)

Dear 2012

It’s been so long since I’ve typed a blog post that sitting here doing “this” feels rather strange. But here I am, nevertheless, getting back into the swing of blogging…finally:)

It’s only the end of February and 2012 has already proven to be quite the year. So many things have happened, so many changes have taken place. 2011 ended and 2012 started with a big bang. The adventure of a lifetime. Jetting off to the States with my best friend to see all the sights and sounds of Washington and New York and to most importantly spend New Years eve in Times Square. This has long been a big dream of mine and I can not even begin to describe this experience to anyone. It is overwhelming, amazing and now when I sit and look at the million of pictures we took I can not believe we were actually right there in the thick of things when it happened. Such memories:) It was not my first trip to the States, but as it was my friend’s I was lucky enough to once again experience some of the most amazing places and to experience some I had not yet seen.

Much shopping was done, plenty of fun was had and we came back with so many memories and experiences. I look back and all I can do is smile. I was also lucky enough to extend my stay in the US with another week to go and visit my brother and sister-in-law. As many of you know they are expecting, and it was also during my trip that we found out I will be aunty to a little boy. I was also blessed enough to experience listening to his little heart heat and to feel him kick. The emotion this brought, I can not even begin to explain. I’m by no means broody or in any state of mind where I want my own. But there was something that touched my heart so deeply that tears were very very near the surface when I heard that little beat.

Anyhoodle, enough with all the emotional stuff…I’ve included a few pictures of the holiday. Between the 2 of us we took over a thousand and choosing only a few is hard and does not do justice to it. But here they are never the less:)

At the Lincoln Memorial....being a tourist

I could get used to sitting in the Oval office

Half frozen pond in Central Park... -11 will do that to you

Happy little family - Sis-in-law, bro and Charlie the dog

With my bro - even though his eyes are shut

P1050433 — Just a tad of the craziness that is Times Square on New Years Eve

P1050469 — Happy new year!!! Blessed 2012!!!!!!

Unfortunately, while 2012 started off well, I was greeted with a consultants worst nightmare when I came back. Our investigation had finished and we had not yet been reassigned to a new one. While I had no doubt that I would be reassigned, it did meant that I came back to 3 weeks of unemployment…..and in the consultant world no work = no pay. It was just a TAD stressful, but thankfully all that has been resolved now, and February saw me returning to more regular (almost full) working hours.

But things weren’t all bad:) There were also a few really good things that happened along the way. For one, I’ve finally received something I’ve been waiting for since October:) It is gorgeous and I love it to bits.

So my dearest 2012…we’ve gotten off to a fairly good and somewhat rocky start. We’ve got 10 months left to make this the best year of my life. Let’s do this!

Love
Ruby
xxxxx

Dear Readers

Right, so once again I’m forced to hang my head in shame and admit that I’ve been really bad with blogging lately. My last post was almost a month ago…unacceptable, I know. But you know…sometimes life happens, or creativity takes a hike, or I get blogging block and for the life of me I just can’t find ANYTHING to blog about.

So I decided to take it easy for a while…which I did. And now I’ve decided to just kind of ease back into it with one of my favourite types of posts. You guys know how this little game works. I start a couple of sentences and finish them in the blog. Then you finish the same sentences in the comments section….Play nice:)

I’m a bit annoyed…….at the fact that winter appears to be over *insert sad face here*. I’m a BIG fan of the cold and not so much of the heat of summer. It makes me even more annoyed to know that we’ve only had a handful of cold days this year…it’s SO unfair:(

I’m excited…..about the possible prospect of an amazing holiday at the end of the year. Now I just need to pull all the little strings together to make it a reality.

I love….my job…STILL! For real! I’ve come to realise what a blessing it is to enjoy what you do so much that you are excited to get up in the morning. That you can’t wait to see what the day will bring and what else you will discover. To be a little bit like a record that got stuck on your job…I’m a lucky girl:)

If you pay a bribe…….and brag about it I will consider you an idiot. I will also lose some respect for you. On the flip side…if you pay a bribe and you go on about how corrupt our country is and you want to name and shame the guy that asked for the bribe…think again buster! If you paid the bribe…you are part of the problem…you should be naming and shaming yourself.

I recently read…..a quote that said “you were born because you are going to be important to someone”. I liked it:) I don’t think you’re going to be important to just one someone though. But i liked the principle of it.

The trick….of life is to hold on to the good experiences and let go of the bad ones.

I won’t…….support something if even a slight part of it is against my morals and principles, regardless of how amazing the concept is.

There is more power…..in holding your tongue at times than there is in insisting on sharing your opinion. I’m still working on this one.

I’m in love…..with my latest toy…my B&W Zeppelin Air ❤

Now it’s your turn my lovelies:)

Love
Ruby
xxxxxx

Rubyletters

Letters……….

Tag: holiday

Dear Europe (Day 1)

Dear Readers

Dear 2012

Dear Readers