Model Home Tour

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Let me take you on a Model Home Tour with me…..

These houses cost between 1.8 and 2.2 Million Dollar.

 

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Motivation – Guest Post

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My dear friend San asked me to write a guest post for her blog The Inbeween is Mine  while she is visiting her family in Germany.

And this is what I came up with 🙂

Hi, my name is Tanja and I have been living in the US for almost 12 years.

I’m, like San, a German (dual) citizen and met San through the blogosphere where I realized quickly that we have a lot in common. The first time San and I met in real life was 2016. Right away it felt like we had known each other for years. In 2017 San joined me and my mom for a (vacation)day in San Francisco and ever since mom is telling me to say “Hi” to San, whenever we talk.

Just a few weeks ago San flew out to Orange County to spend a whole weekend with me (my husband and doggies) – we had sooo much fun and now I dislike it even more that we don’t live closer to each other.

One thing we have in common is being active. As we all know, San loves to run. Myself, on the other hand, can’t seem to find any joy in running – I tried really hard tho. However, I like to move this body, I like hiking (who doesn’t like the outdoors?) and my indoor spinning class. Lucky me, I also have a little garage-gym where I can work on gaining a bit more strength. And count me in whenever there is a new gym or workout class wich offers a free trial!

I often get asked how I motivate myself to work out as often as I do.

It wasn’t always that way, it actually started just a few years ago, when I realized I have an eating disorder – it’s self-diagnosed and nothing as serious as bulimia. I started my first diet when I was about 11 years old and ever since can call myself the perfect example of yo-yo-dieting (#sarcasmout). Unfortunately, I can’t just have one piece of anything – if you place something/anything in front of me (even if I don’t like it that much) often my, what I call, dog-behavior comes out – I eat it with no hesitation in no time (you can call yourself lucky if you are fast enough to get a piece yourself – lol). So if I give myself the permission to eat a piece of something I might become my own enabler.

Whenever I was “successful” with my diet, it made me not only feel “in control”, also my back started to feel better (I was born with minor back and join issues). Again, it took me years to put one and one together.

However, at one point I realized that I have only one shot at this thing called life and I want to be able to look back at it and say, I did whatever I could to live a fun, adventurous, healthy life. Not sure when it happened or what triggered it.

But ever since, I wanted to do as much as possible to feel good in my own body. While I have good phases regarding my little eating problem, I still have moments where I screw up, big time. However, working out regularly (might) balanced this out a bit, at least in my head.

Of course there are days where I don’t feel it at all. I wake up with a headache or feel the back pain more intensely at the end of the day, right before my scheduled spin class. And while it is very important to listen to your body, I personally have come to the realization that I’d rather try my planned workout and stop when it might become too much, instead of not giving it a shot at all. I have too often taken things / aches / pains as an excuse and I don’t want to slip into this behavior again. So, if I’m not crying out of pain (this is of course over exaggerated!!!) I’d rather bite the bullet and give it a try. No shame in stopping midway if it doesn’t get better or feels uncomfortable or even painful. Most of the time a little adjustment and/or alternative movement can also help me get through a workout.

While I always love to give 110 percent, I know my body well enough to understand that sometimes I just can’t give that much. But hey, anything is better than doing nothing…. don’t you agree?!?

Please don’t forget, this is just my own way of getting over my weaker self.

My favorite quote became my mantra  Live the life you love, love the life you live. I got it tattooed on my wrist so I can remind myself whenever it’s necessary.

So the short answer to the question where I find my motivation to workout 5-7 times a week is: I simply want to feel good, until the end of my time!

Rattlesnake encounter

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Herbert ran into his first Rattlesnake of the year the other day.

Rattlesnakes emerge from hibernation in March or April, or when the average daytime temperatures reach and remain about 60F and higher.

The snakes are most active when the temperatures are between 80-90F.

Always stay on trails and keep your dog(s) on leash – it’s for your own sake.

Herbert hat vor kurzem seine erste Begegnung mit einer Klapperschlange in diesem Jahr.

Klapperschlangen erwachen im Maerz oder April aus ihrem Winterschlaf, oder wenn die Durchschnitts Tagestemperatur 15 Grad und mehr erreicht und haelt.

Die Schlangen sind am aktivsten wenn die Temperaturen zwischen 26 und 32 Grad liegen.

Bleibt immer schoen auf den Wege und leint Eure Hunde an – es ist fuer Eure Sicherheit.

A day trip to Big Bear

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On Saturday we took he dogs on a day trip to Big Bear. It was very foggy in Irvine when we left but luckily the sky high up in the mountains was as blue as it gets and I even got a nice tan.

Am Samstag packten wir die Hunde ein und fuhren für den Tag hoch in die Berge, nach Big Bear. Es war ziemlich diesig / bewölkt, als wir Irvine verliessen. Doch oben in den Bergen war der Himmel so blau, wie er nur sein kann und ich hab sogar ein wenig Farbe bekommen.

We decided just on short hikes to not overstrain our old lady Shiloh. While she is still in very good shape, she is turning 12 soon and you can tell she likes to take it slower these days.

Wir entschieden, nur kurze Wanderungen zu unternehmen, um unsere Alte Dame Shiloh nicht zu überfordern. Sie ist zwar noch fit, aber sie wird bald 12 und man merkt doch, das sie es gern ein wenig langsamer angehen lässt.

Dago was his crazy self – weeping the whole time out of excitement (which can really go on your nerves) and as soon as he saw the lake there was no holding him back no more……

Dago war wie immer – er weinte die ganze Zeit vor Aufregung (was einen wirklich auf den Kecks gehen kann) und sobald er den See sah, gab es auch kein Halten mehr…..

Little Ms Emma liked the walks but decided that the lake was way too cold for her (she doesn’t like water that much anyway). Oh well, as soon as we got home she got a bath due to all the dirt that got stuck in her fur. She wasn’t too happy about that 🙂

Emma fand die Spaziergänge klasse, entschied aber fuer sich, das der See noch viel zu kalt ist (sie ist eh kein grosser Fan von Wasser). Tja, was sie da noch nicht ahnte – zu Hause erwartete sie eine Dusche, denn all der Staub und Dreck der in ihrem Fell steckte, musste ausgewaschen werden. Sie war darüber nicht allzu glücklich 🙂

We had an incredible day, with some nice short hikes and fun at the lake with a wonderful picknick. It was the perfect way to unwind from the day to day life we sometimes can’t seem to let go.

Wir hatten einen super Tag, mit tollen Spaziergängen und viel Spass am See, inclusive einem schönen Picknick. Es war der perfekte Tag zum Entspannen, was nicht umbedingt Not tat aber doch gern genommen wurde.

 

Nature in full bloom

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I went on a hike and thought I’ll share how beautiful and green nature is around here right now.

Ich bin mal wieder hiken gewesen und dachte mir, ich zeig Euch mal, wie schoen und gruen es zur Zeit bei uns ist.

This is not normal for Southern California but due a lot of rain this winter nature is still in full bloom.

Das ist nicht “normal” fuer uns hier in Sued Kalifornien aber durch den vielen Regen, den wir diesen Winter hatten, ist die Natur noch immer in voller Bluete.

From URL to IRL friends – San was here :)

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What an amazing weekend I/we had…..

Was fuer ein super Wochenende war das denn bitte?

My friend San from https://theinbetweenismine.com/ came to visit us for the weekend.

Beine Freundin Sandra von https://theinbetweenismine.com/ kam uns fuer das Wochenende besuchen.

She flew in on Saturday morning and sadly left already again on Monday afternoon. We became friendly over the years reading each others blogs and commenting on certain things.

Ihr Flieger landete Samstag morgen in Orange County und leider flog sie bereits am Montag nachmittag wieder nach Hause. Wir haben gegenseitig ueber Jahre unsere Blogs gelesen & kommentiert, und uns auf diese Weise naeher kennengelernt.

We met for the first time in real life in May 2016 (you can read about it here https://everydayinoc.wordpress.com/2016/05/11/treffen-mit-san/) and then one more time during moms and my weekend trip to San Francisco in April of 2017.

Das erste Mal wirklich getroffen haben wir uns im Mai 2016 (hier kannst Du alles darueber lesen https://everydayinoc.wordpress.com/2016/05/11/treffen-mit-san/)) und dann noch einmal, als ich mit Mama ein Wochenende in San Francisco verbrachte und San uns fuer einen Tag dort traf.

At one point we then became what I jokingly call pen pal friends. There are days multiple emails go back and forth between us, just talking about day to day life and other things girls talk about. It feels like I’ve known her my whole life.

Irgendwann wurden wir Brieffreundinnen, wie ich es spasseshalber nenne. An manchen Tagen fliegen die Emails nur so von A nach B 🙂 Es kommt mir vor, als wenn ich San schon ewig kenne.

After talking for quite some time about having a girls weekend San booked her flight to Orange County. I was so freaking excited and knew Herbert would like her as much as I do – and he does. Unfortunately her husband couldn’t join us this past weekend but that’s just means we have to re-do this soon again.

Nachdem wir schon eine Weile darueber gesprochen haben, das wir mal einen Girlstrip planen sollten, hat San ihren Flug nach OC gebucht. Ich war begeistert und konnte es kaum erwarten. Ich wusste, das Herbert sie genauso moegen wuerde, wie ich – und tut er auch 🙂 Leider war es Sandra’s Mann diesmal nicht moeglich dabei zu sein – aber das heisst ja nur, das wir das bald wieder mal machen muessen!

We didn’t make a plan on what to do, we just wanted to hang out, talk and relax. The only thing San really wanted was going to an Aldi grocery store ’cause they don’t have them yet in the area she lives in.

Wir hatten keinen wirklichen Plan fuer das Wochenende. Wir wollten einfach nur relaxen und quatschen. Nur in einen Aldi wollte San gerne. Leider gibt es noch keinen Aldi in der Gegend, in der sie lebt.

To make it short – we (I think I can talk on her behalf as well) had a great time with a lot of laughter, great food, sweat (I made her join me at one of my cycling classes – and she liked it!), and amazing conversations.

Um es kurz zu machen – wir (ich glaube, ich kann ohne Probleme auch fuer San sprechen) hatten eine klasse Zeit in der wir sehr viel gelacht, gutes Essen gegessen und auch geschwitzt haben (Sandra hat mich zu einer meiner Indoor Cycling Stunden begleitet – und sie fand es gut!). Ausserdem haben wir auch im wirklichen Leben tolle Gespraeche fuehren koennen.

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