Linda - Lost in Switzerland...again.....

When I came to Switzerland, Schaffhausen to be more precise, 3 years ago, I felt literally Lost in Switzerland. As time passed by, this feeling of being lost has gone up and down and my life and head has been a whirlwind of emotions and thoughts, both about the past and about the future. 


Over the past year, this feeling of being lost has slowly but surely disappeared......so isn't it ironic, that just when this sense of calm has finally laid it's comforting, cottonball-soft, cover over me in which I have happily snuggled up, it is again time for a change? My life in a nutshell! 
Deliberate? Well....yes! 
Scary? A little! 
Exciting? You bet!!!


The decision was finally taken (jointly of course) and now the cat is finally out of the hat: We are moving to Romandie (meaning the French speaking part of Switzerland)!
New job! New area! New start! ....as of September.


I hope you will follow me there as I continue to be

xox

Hiking the Santis

Today, I woke up with one of the worst muscle pains in my thighs that I've ever had....and I'm loving it! Why this muscle pain? Well.... Yesterday we went hiking on the Santis. A beautiful mountain in the canton Appenzell. We started at 2502m and hiked down via Lisengrat, Rotsteinpass, Meglisalp and then back up again. Absolutely incredible route to hike, but also, absolutely exhausting =)) It was an amazingly sunny day and in many places, there was still snow, which was quite refreshing.


The hike was really varied and gave us both challenges due to really steep areas where one had to cling onto a rail and go down via metal ropes. One part and probably the longest part was downhill which was quite a challenge for the legs in the end. However, I would certainly say that hiking up was one of the most exhausting things I've ever done. It was an altitude raise of over 1000m's in one go. The signs say 2hr45min, but we hiked up in 1hr50min's....parts through snow. The entire hike took 4.5hrs, but that included 2x15 min stops to re-energize and drink.

Arriving with the cable car

The view from the top

Hence my comment regarding fear of heights. Trust me - it is very steap!

Chris and I, having a much needed break

Our break spot

Reflections....

In some ways, that snow was sooo refreshing....but it did get pretty cold and wet in the boots.

Close to Meglisalp 

Almost there.....

Chris at the top

The most rewarding moment.....maybe ever? ;) ...and trust me when I was that this is a non-alcoholic beer, as anything else would have knocked me off that chair!

All though, this was a beautiful hike in many ways, there were also parts of this hike that were quite tough in different ways and hence, I wouldn't recommend this hike to people with either fear of heights or to people who are not in good physical condition. Anyway.....I'm in pretty good shape at the moment and here is a flavour of how I felt after....to be honest, the first comments reflect the real feelings...my last comment is just because I realized I was being filmed ;))

xox

Movie recommendation - Rabbit Hole

Rabbit Hole (2010)

4/5

A nothing less than amazing drama about a family whose whole life gets brutally turned upside down, when their young son dies in a car accident. We get to follow them in their struggle to get back to normalcy and this journey is beautiful, painful and also funny at times. 


Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart play their roles brilliantly!

Watch the trailer:

....or read more about it here:

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rabbit_hole/

Enjoy!

xox

Blog-list-o-mania: Part 6

10 things on my mind at the moment.....in random order (besides the first one, which is for sure at the top of my mind)!

1. Major life change coming up and EVERYTHING (a darn lot) related to that ;)
2. Holiday plans...or should I say lack of?
3. A meeting tomorrow. Interesting one for sure.
4. What to make for dinner. Green asparagus.......with?
5. How to find time for my project X (will only share the details behind the X once it's more concrete...)
6. Wether to watch a movie or read a book tonight. Any good suggestions?
7. Weekend plans. Hiking? Biking? Picnicking? All of them? Hmmm....
8. Why is my ear bubbling?! If this is an ear infection, I will scream! Enough issues lately and certainly don't need another one.
9. When can I start playing football again (my foot is not healing fast enough)?
10. How to ensure a steady flow of my favourite thing to drink at the moment as it's only available in Sweden AND it's just a promotional/seasonal product!!! GAAAAAHHHH I can't live without you - LOKA Likes L.A Coconut Dream!! So delish and completely sugarfree. 


xox

A new friend...

 ...is living on our balcony at the moment....underneith the BBQ. Not sure if she is hurt, but she seems to have settled there. I put out some cookie crumbles (no chocolate and not salty) and water, hoping she will eat or drink something, but so far she's been too scared (or maybe she's just more into worms?!). Anyway, seeing how stressed she gets when I open the door, I am trying not to disturb her, just checking every now and then that she's fine. I hope she is not badly hurt and that she survives. Any suggestions on what to do to help this little cutie would be highly appreciated ;) Maybe it's just a young bird......anyway, she's more than welcome to stay, but for her sake, I'm looking forward to seeing her take off and join her friends.

xox

A head full of if's and but's and how's....

So here I am again....at the crossroads, wondering which path to take, considering all the evident angles, assessing the risks and opportunities at hand, writing pro's and con's lists, wondering why it is, that every time my life has finally settled from my last major change, I'm right back at decision time, as confused as ever, barely recognizing up from down or left from right. Would it be better if I just flipped a coin and let fate decide? Or should this be a purely fact based analysis and decision, because as past experiences will show, feelings have a tendency of distorting messages that were otherwise so clear? Or should it actually be a feeling based decision as, in the end, how we feel about or lives and our decisions is much more important than what we SHOULD feel about them based on a certain set of criteria at hand? But what if? ...and how? ...and...and... Based on all these thoughts spinning around in my tired head, causing lack of sleep, mood swings and some very physically evident stress effects such as a visible blister on my lip, the first decision I will take right here and right now is to stop over analyzing!!


Life moves on....but how do we ensure our life moves on in the right direction? I think the simple answer is: We can not. We just have to trust that whatever our decisions are, they are the right ones for us at that specific moment in time and they were taken with the most possible knowledge at hand. We did our best! The decision was made and then we will do our very best to ensure that the decision was, indeed, the very best.....regardless of other peoples opinions. It is our lives and we need to put trust in ourselves! With this in mind, I will make a decision and I will not look back....just as I've done before....and just as I surely will have to do again in the future.


xox - truly back to being

Blog-list-o-mania: Part 5

Between two choices (my choice in bold):
Pepsi or Coke
Winter or Summer
Team sports or Single sports
Hot shower or Cold shower
City life or Country side
Eating in or Eating out
Camping or Luxury Hotels
Many friends or Few good friends
Beach holidays or Culture holidays
Apples or Pears
Spiders or Snakes
Dogs or Cats
Happiness or Money
Haegen Dasz or Ben & Jerry's
Together or Alone
Rock or Pop
Cynical or Naive
Speak up or Stay quite
Mountains or Sea
Cider or Beer
Head or Heart
Adventure or Stability
Sofa or Activity
Coffee or Tea
Beat or Lyrics
Flats or Heels
Business or Casual
Busy life or Quiet life
Old or New
Lead or Follow
Silver or Gold
Quantity or Quality


xox

Blog-list-o-mania: Part 4

Thumbs-up for:
- Love
- Sunshine!
- My recent trip to Sweden (way overdue!!)
- All the people who made my trip home soooo sooo lovely!!! Thank you Pappa, Paula, Mamma, Kalle, Tony, Jossan, Cindy, Gunnel, Lisa, Tomas, Barbro, Aryan, Ayeh, Johanna, Daniel, Lizzie, Jonas, Therese, Tanja, Robin, Omar, Andreas and many many more!! ♥
- Friends (new and old)!! Especially the feeling of still having such great friends despite the distance and also the ability to still find new ones.
- My new bike (yaaaaaaaay!!)
- A fine frenzy (it's becoming an obsession!) and especially the songs "Near to you" and "Lifesize"!! Awesome!!
- My friend Madde's trip here next week!!
- My massage appointment tomorrow
- Lunch plans tomorrow with a dear friend and college who is in recovery (cancer)
- Thomas, who recently gave me a book about "The Peter principle"! What an eye opener...
- The lunch in the sun today at the Theatre restaurant with sweetest Anja
- Ambitious colleges with bright minds and fresh ideas!
- People who inspire and spread positive energy, without always expecting something in return... Respect!!
- Working partially from the Swedish office last week....such a friendly atmosphere!! 
- The "Garage band" app on my Mac...pretty cool I have to say!!
- For all the people who are updating Facebook with their training activities...inspiring!
- The amazingly kind Swiss lady (whose name I don't know) who helped me in the airport on my way to Sweden and also IN Sweden as it turned out we were on the same flight! Traveling with luggage and crutches was over-challenging to say the least!
- Feeling happy about coming home to Switzerland again. Probably for the first time ;))




Thumbs-down for:
- No rain (desperately needed here!!)
- The torn ligament in my foot that's preventing me from playing soccer AND the tennis course I had signed up for.....boohoooo!
- People whose only obvious talent is complaining about other people.
- Lactose intolerance (strong reminder during the ice cream season)
- The snow I had to endure when in Sweden....in May....seriously?!
- My packing skills as I had packed for +16. Not +-0 degrees!
- Not having enough time for much else than work and sports
- Always having to make such difficult decisions
- People who never take responsibility for their actions.....and with that, I mean their POOR actions. At least be consistent!!
- Not having enough time to see all the people I am missing in Sweden. 


That's it for now.... Have a woooooonderful week!!
xox