Diana Elle Blog

I want to say I did it.  But I didn't. I almost did though  24 out of 26 posts about living abroad helping me complete the April A to Z 2015 Challenge! I enjoyed posting six times a week, even though I wasn't able to interact as much with other blogs participating since I had to focus on finding an apartment , and that is practically a full time job.  I wanted to compare this challenge to my blogtober challenge (stats-wise) but I don't seem to have the ones from back then, but i'll save the ones from this time for future references!  I hope you guys enjoyed following along, and that some of you will stick around. Thank you to those stopping over via the challenge and a special shot out to Sean from his and her hobbies since he visited most, if not all of my a to z posts and to all my usual readers for putting up with me posting six days a week this month, I'll go back to my usual 2 -3 (1-2, who am I kidding) from here ...

ha, I did end up talking about "yes" who would've guessed? Here's another one from my drafts!  My middle sister got married in November of last year and in my opionon it was a wedding on a whim. We had been talking about what we were going to do since August. But they didn't officially get engaged until he formally asked her on Sept 8th.  Engagement photoshoot We were making plans for celebrating this very important day in her life, she had decided she would get married on my birthday, since we would all be there for the holidays.  I was really excited, since I had witnessed a couple of post-ceremonies here and really like their traditions so I wanted to incorporate what I could. ...but after checking with the officiator, and seeing that his schedule wouldn't work, they moved it up a month and got married on Nov 27th instead. By the time they chose a date they had only 15 days to get everything sorted out. So they d...

I've taken this challenge as a way to get finally post many of my drafts. this one for example, has been in my drafts for two years. I typed this up right after it happened, but never got around to finishing it, I decided to just modify it to fit with the letter X.  You can e x pect many e x citing things to happen while living abroad, just as you do while living in your hometown. Here's one 'e x citing' thing that we've e x perienced while living in Germany. You know those times were you're just minding your own business but you happen to hear an airplane/helicopter, and you ignore it? On April 23rd, 2013 this happened to us, but it was different, as we ignored it it kept getting louder. When I finally looked out the window, I saw a helicopter trying to position itself to park in front of the house.   How many times can you say you've experienced his?  The whole neighborhood was there very curious as to why this happen...

This is actually the last post I have regarding my theme for this challenge . the next three days I will be winging it. I really like the Work Environment in Germany, yet again the only work experience I had before moving here was in a call center. I still think my six month internship was the best, here is some of the things that occurred that I really liked. You learn I created this blog in 2013 when we were learning about java and CSS at work. We had to create a blog/webpage for a made up company. so we did that, but then I decided I would do a real one and here you have it two years and 150 posts later! Working times As in many other places the working hours are regulated on a legal basis by the “ Arbeitszeitgesetz ”. Working week of more than 48 hours on average during a 6 month period must not be exceeded. And as I mentioned before , you usually don't work on Sundays and national holidays, unless you work at a restaurant or gas station. Team Mee...

So, I didn't succeed in this challenge but it's okay, I'm skipping the V and going back to U.. If I weren't doing the A to Z in April challenge, today I would've posted my three months update. so that is exactly what I am going to do.  One- ...afternoon was spent exploring the city we will be leaving in one month (that might conclude my by the numbers series, but that's a story for another time, or next month ;) ). Nineteen- ...ways the Kaiserbrunnen (Emperor Fountain in Kaiserslautern) can be seen as a three dimensional history and story book, which I will explain in detail later, but for now, take a look at some of the pretty interesting things it has to offer: Two- ...day trips, one to Mannheim and one to Strasbourg, France. They were both very pretty but it was raining when we went to Strasbourg (like it did when we went to Heidelberg), why we choose to travel when it rains, I will never know. I'll have a post about both of these ...

T is for Travel. South Padre Island ca 1995 I love to travel, ever since I was very little, we would always take road trips with my family. The first long road trip I remember going on was to visit Acapulco.  the travel bug has not gone away over the years. I actually never saw myself leaving North America. I always thought it was sort of impossible for me.  But then one day, Pablo decided to apply for a scholarship to do his Masters in Germany, he applied to many different schools and finally chose one in Hamburg. but he didn't coma alone,he brought us in tow, and i'm very thankful for that. One thing we've been sure to do was take advantage of our proximity to other countries, our first trip within Europe was to Holland, Easter 2013 , the train  from Hamburg to Amsterdam  cost us 242.58€. I'm not sure how far ahead I bought it or if it was more of a last minute, but  back then I didn't know much of Europe's cheap way of trave...

Saving money can be good for many things, including traveling. There are many options for save money in general, here are five ways we save money and are able to travel with just one monthly income. Eat in. I've been planning my meals for almost a year now, and this has really helped in saving money, since we always eat at home. Last year was easier, when Pablo was working from home. we never ate out (we usually do this when we're on vacation only). When I was working, I always packed a lunch, no need to spend an extra 5€ per day. Drink at home. It kind of goes right along with not eating out. Here it is common for the office to have a coffee machine, so while I was working, I didn't have to buy anything on my way to work, I drank coffee there. But now that i'm not working.. I usually buy a pack instant coffees and prepare them at home, all you do is . you boil hot water, pour it in a mug with the coffee mix and bam, you have coffee. Don't buy ...

Back to Back bucket lists! if you don't know what i'm talking about, check out yesterday's post . Also, I had a list of around 15-20 things on my reverse bucket list but I deleted it thanks to me not knowing my way around the German keyboard. #Fail. But it's okay. I remember some of what I had put on there and it gives me a chance to rethink of everything I've accomplished so far..  Today I will be linking up (for the first time) with kiki's The circle link up which is themed "Reverse Bucket List" perfect for the letter R . If you don't know what it is, a reverse bucket list is a bucket list of things you have already done. Here's mine: Went Sky Diving.   Attended a midnight premier. More than one, I went to a couple of the Harry Potter ones. Went to Disney  World   in '99  Went to Disney land    '08 Went snowboarding. Became a Mom. Went on a road trip from Monterrey, MX to Charlotte, NC (with a ...

I'm on a quest for our time in Kaiserslautern, to visit as many towns/cities and castles in this area as possible. Kaiserslautern is an average sort of city. It has everything you expect in a city but it doesn't have a castle... That might not mean much, but it's something we expected to see living in the southern part of the country.  I had set a goal to visit many places that are accessible with Pablo's work ticket. A bucket list of cities and castles near our home,  but then Pablo mentioned he didn't want to visit random little towns since we already live in one.This made me kind of sad, because while there are plenty of castles, most of the places I jotted are just towns, no big  Schwerin -like  castles to show. My VRN (WabenPlan 133) Bucket List. Altdahn Castle Bad Mergentheim is a town in the district Main-Tauber-Kreis district in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. Castle Berwartstein (the stairs, passages and ro...

Personal Development goes right along with the  Knowledge you gain living abroad . This could happen many different ways, for example, learning a new language, soaking in the culture. Either or living away from your country will help you grow all while having a really interesting and unforgettable experience. Living far from home, no matter how long, can be hard at the beginning. Even though changes are difficult it is necessary to go through them to build character. As a mom, living in another country has taught me to accept a different type of society and culture in my daily life. With all the different interactions I have daily, I have been able to develop myself in unknown conditions while living in a place with different customs and traditions from what I am used too. In all honesty, becoming independent and responsible helped me develop personally.  I was able to make new friends. accept different opinions and values and seize eve...

When I first arrived in Germany, I really disliked the fact that stores close on Sundays and early all the other days of the week. After a while I got used to it, and  it turned out to be better for us. Saturdays we go grocery shopping on Sunday is usually just a lazy day. There are actually strict regulations concerning opening and closing hours, the   “Ladenschlussgesetz” (Shop Closing Law) controls this.  Thus supermarkets close at 22.00 at the latest and open before 9/10 a.m.   Office hours can be good for you if you're working because you will have more paid holidays than other countries in Europe.you can choose to combine this with your vacation days and have a few extended weekends throughout the year. Germany has quite generous holidays in comparison to other European countries. During which banks, supermarkets and most shops will be closed.  Public transportation and other services are also available. ...