Life As I Know It

I think I forgot I had a blog.

And what a vegetable looks like.

And that I own clothes OTHER than yoga leggings.

Whoops.

I have been kicking myself over what to write my first post about (in over a month - yikes) and I just couldn't come up with anything. I am in a creative funk, friends.

Anyone else there too?

But, instead of wallowing in that place, I'm gonna do the one thing I know to do when I can't remember how to do them. Go back to the basics.

So today I thought I'd catch ya up to speed on what the heck has been happening in my life recently. In only a month, it feels like everythinggggg has changed.

Okay that's dramatic, but kinda true.

If you have been following me on Insta, (@laneygipson), then you may have noticed that I MOVED! Guys, I live in flippin' Germany now. How weird is that?

Lukas and I packed our bags and took (what felt like) 17,000 trains to make our way from London to Stuttgart on March 3rd. It was literally one of the most stressful days of my life - and again drama but still true. 2 people. 10 bags. On trains. A lot of them. Mid-train station change through Paris we were met by the sweetest French humans alive who insisted helping us carry our bags. There was a short moment where I thought, ya know they may just run off with one of these -- but that moment quickly passed when I realised I couldn't care less. Ha! One less bag for us to carry!

Anyways, as you can assume, we made it here! But it was only a few days before we jetted off again. In fact, LK left the very next morning. He had a work conference in Sienna, Italy so I stayed behind with his parents until that was over. But as soon as it was, I took a flight out to Florence to meet him for a long weekend in Tuscany. Ahhhh, Tuscany.

Our trip consisted of: Florence (Day 1), Lucca (Day 2 Part 1), Pisa (Day 2 Part 2), road-trip up the coast to Cinque Terre (Day 3) and Florence again (Day 4). Catch some of our fav travel pics below!

While I could go on and on about Italy, for the sake of time & your dwindling attention, let's talk about the current realities of living in Germany.

My life has been overtaken by German classes. From 8:30-1pm every day, you'll find me in a classroom of students (from all over the globe) doing my dang best to learn this dang language. By doing so, these classes will not only get a temporary visa, fingers crossed, but will also quickly jumpstart me into my new life here in Stuttgart.

(For those of you wondering "Why the heck Stuttgart?!" this is LK's hometown. He is finishing his Doctorate in Biotechnology in the next year or so here.)

If I'm not studying or doing homework for my classes, you can probably find me filling up my Amazon/IKEA cart 25 times a day (only to exit out quickly at the end to pretend like it never happened). Flat decorating is all we talk, think and do. We've successfully scored some pretty cool Mid Century Modern fixer-upper pieces via eBay (is it bad that I didn't know this still existed??) and have had so much fun DIYing the heck out of our small budget.

Andddddd that's about it.

Life for me right now is the most exciting when I can independently do insignificant things like order a cheeseburger at McDonald's by myself or walk home from school without anyone saying anything to me that I don't understand -- or saying anything to me at all.

I live for the quiet moments after class when I come home to a "mostly" clean apartment and dwell in the silence of my own thoughts. My brain has never felt so challenged, but also strong. I can feel myself growing every single day -- and that's a dang cool feeling.

In all honesty, I've been struggling with purpose yet again - I'm back to that place of what the heck do I do now and why the heck am I here. But I've had a few good days in a row (I haven't cried since last weekend!!!) and that's what I'm gonna focus on.

So if you need me, I'll be drinking coffee until I can't drink anymore.

Studying until I can't study anymore.

And putting that Highlander Cow print back in my cart for the 55th time.

Love you friends.

Thank you so much for your endless words of encouragement and support.

And if by chance you've texted me, and I haven't texted back --- I have a new Germany number!! Email me -- Message me -- or ask my mom if you need to get ahold of me <3

xx

Laney