The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog. (Which is pretty cool and almost makes up for them losing my blog post twice in one day. The longer I am with WordPress the more they do that I like.)
Here’s an excerpt:
600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 11,000 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 18 years to get that many views. (Um, thanks WordPress. I can’t tell if that is really supposed to be a compliment. It sounds like something obtuse a family member of mine might say.)
Click here to see the complete report.
In short, it seems all you wonderful readers, really like it when I talk about culture, expat life, and the occasional comparison between the US and Germany, so I shall keep it up. Being pregnant and speaking better German should allow for many new experiences this next year! Thanks for all your feedback fellow bloggers, readers and dedicated followers! Also thanks to the expat-blog (Europe/Germany) for helping so many new people discover my blog. I also think it is really neat that I’ve had visitors from over 115 countries to my blog.
Oh, thus has come the time of year to reflect on all the previous highs and lows of the year that I am about to set to a close…
The biggest high(s) for me at the moment…
- Ich bin Schwanger.
- Meine Deutsch Sprachen hat sich verbessert! Ich kann kleine Gesprächen mit Menchen.
- My husband and I have been married for two years!
- My husband and I have lived in Europe for over three years.
- I’m working more than ever these days.
The things I am excited to put behind me…
- drama (isn’t that always the case)
- My A2 CEFR Deutsch Sprachen level, oh boy yes I am!
- …
Things I am looking forward to in 2013…
- Meeting my new son and getting to know him.
- Learning new things about Germany, Europe and myself as I navigate motherhood (and parenthood) with my husband and little one.
- Welcoming our parents to Europe (All have been except for my father).
- possible academic pursuits
- Having new European adventures.
- Improving my German.
- Learning about new music
- Listening to my husband speak more Spanish, because it is hot and he doesn’t speak it enough.
- A new year, with 365 new possible beginnings!
Things I discovered about myself in 2012:
- I’m really far from perfect (I already knew this, but learned in ways I didn’t already know).
- I still love to dance and laugh (sometimes when life gets me down, and the shit stack seems high it can seem like I don’t).
- I have a thing for Jason Segel:
- I like German humor, when I understand the German in the first place. It is really dry – I like my humor like I like my wine.
- I don’t miss the wine as much as I thought I would (because I am pregnant).
- Italy is an amazing place.
- I’d rather have a few close friends that are like family than something else.
- German is hard, but I cherish my little victories because they will soon be bigger victories.
- I love my husband even more than I thought I could.
- Living in Germany at times is the exact opposite to living in the US sometimes. At other times it seems practically identical, or at least not that far off.
- I am really fond of Kandinsky, Miró, Klee, and Pollock apparently.
Kandinsky: In Blue, 1925 
Miró 
Paul Klee: Dream City, year ? 
Jackson Pollock (Do you see a pattern in the art? Abstract, expressionist…um – yup!)
livingtheamericandreamineurope.com 
I dont know where in Germany you live but going by this Alpine image below I assume it is somewhere in the beloved South. Since you appear to be such a fan of Kandinsky and expressionist artists, I strongly recommend a visit to Murnau (Gabriele Münter Haus – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriele_Münter) or, in spring 2013, the Lenbach Haus in Munich (http://www.lenbachhaus.de/blog/).
Sweet, thanks for the tip. I’m actually in the SE, but do quite enjoy traveling over to Munich as often as we can!
Where in the Southeast, if I may ask?
I grew up in Weilheim, ~30 miles south of Munich towards Garmisch-Partenkirchen, but I spent part of my twen years in Passau and Landshut.
I obviously can’t tell direction – I blame it on pregnancy brain! I meant SW and more central SW, but everyone around me says we live in the south of Germany. To me it is more simply west than anything else! I wish we lived near Freiburg sometimes, I seriously fell in love with that town and area when we visited earlier this year. We live closer towards Luxembourg though.