My Life is a Map of the World

This past weekend I found myself with a lot of solo time on my hands. Times like these are vital to my mental health and balance in life. And more times then none, they lead me to deep thoughts and discovered inner joy.

During a moment of reflection where I was bundled up in a cozy sweater, perfect for fall, and watching the leaves fall from the tree in our backyard, it dawned on me. It dawned on me that I am a small reflection of the world and that so much of what I do is inspired by the world. Let me dig a little deeper.

My birth certificate and current zip code prove my U. S. Citizenship but my ancestors give me the history of England, Scotland, Poland, Lithuania and Native America.

The man I love most is someone who descends from Africa and Europe.

My religion originated in the Middle East.

I own a dog whose breed was made popular by Germany

I like to carry out my skincare routine like the Koreans.

I like to drink coffee like the Italians.

I’m inspired by the natural aesthetic and use of make-up and hair care like the French.

I like to eat like the Japanese.

I dress myself and fill my home with furnishings that you’d find easily in Scandinavia.

These are all just a few of the things I value, love, am drawn to and want to know more about. And it’s in all of those curiosities that I find, that we find, how truly connected we are to the past, the present and the future. It’s in those things where we find connection to others no matter how near or far.

Who or what are you connected to?

-Kriss

Gent, Ghent, Gint

The city of Ghent, Belgium confuses me. Why? Because I’m not too sure the spelling of the city as a whole. From Google maps to local signs, it seems like everyone spells it differently. But what this city doesn’t confuse me on is my new found and deep love for it! Going into our time here I had zero expectations for it. I figured that it would be cute and a little bit slower paced compared to Brussels but as of today, it is my most favorite city in Europe!

Our commute to Ghent started off with gray skies that threatened to pour on us at any moment but by the time we got off of our train the sky was blue, no matter what direction you looked. My heart loved how everything looked, felt and smelled- but my stomach kept reminded me of its existence. So we walked to an address that I had previously found on the interwebs. We ordered breakfast sandwiches and french toast….but quickly found out that because of the language barrier (English to French) we had actually ordered some type of scone with berries and whip on top. It was a nice comedic moment for us that truly set the tone for the rest of the day.

But speaking of my Googling, I did have one main location that I wanted to visit while in Ghent and that was it’s well preserved Medieval Castle built in 1180 called The Gravensteen which offers its visitors panoramic views of the city. After brunch we set off in the direction of the Castle which took us over canals, through graffiti alleys, around modern architecture and cathedrals.

We walked over canals, smelled more chocolate in the air, sampled Gent’s famous candy called the Nose of Gent, heard church bells tolling and then we came upon our destination! With 10 euro each, we were able to climb up and explore every part of the castle. There were suits of armor, weapons of old, tales of torture, enough stained glass that my mom would melt over, winding spiral staircases and then the best view in the city. Aka cue the view!

Once we were back on the ground I knew what I wanted to do next and ironically it couldn’t take place on the ground but on the water. We found a canal touring company, tucked into our spot on the boat and saw another view of this lovely city. I highly recommend seeing any European city from this viewpoint but don’t get offended if you’re the only one of the three people proudly showing off your single language skills to your tour guide.

From weeping willows along the riverside to locals drinking wine and feeding pieces of baguettes off of their dinner plates to ducks, the lifestyle here in Ghent will truly leave you inspired, have you reevaluate how you spend your leisure time and make you want to find more joy in the simple things in life. To celebrate the ending of our day in Ghent and to start living out their way of life, we bought two decked out waffles and sat along another beautiful canal to enjoy the nightlife springing up around us.

Thank you all for sharing in my Ghent tales and support my love of travel! It truly is as they say “the only purchase we can make that makes us richer.” So to further enrich you here on the blog, next week I will be sharing Brugge, Belgium! Please stay tuned and if you would like email updates of new posts, please subscribe below!

-Kriss

Eat & Drink Berlin

Jacob and I had tunnel vision for our trip to Germany and that vision was on the food and drinks. Jacob was excited for the traditional German food and beer while I was excited for fresh baked pastries, international food and mugs of strong coffee. Today on the blog I want to share some of our tasty stops along the journey.

— Food —

The beauty of Europe is that most people aren’t originally from the country that they currently live in, they travel often or they grew up in a household whose traditions differ compared to the society around them. So then you get this beautiful melting pot of languages, customs, ethnicities and foods. Jacob and I’s plan of action: eat a different cultures food for each meal.

Along the journey we experienced the following nationalities cuisines: Indian, German, American (tried to wiggle our way out of this one but it is what it is), Mexican, Australian, Turkish and Korean.

Some of my most favorite spots where found in the a.m. Because breakfast. These places also offered my favorite beverage, which is coffee and you can find all of those down below.

^ German Currywurst

Lunches consist of whatever we could find wherever we were at the time. Our overall relationship with food on our trip was adventurous but it was also one of our more stressful moments. I think this is because of all of the options around without fully knowing the extent of the things.

^Turkish Döner

One place we stumbled into eating at was at Potsdamer Platz. It is a glorified mall where the mentality is that its a place where you can live, work, eat and have fun all in one spot on the map. While here we saw their different choices of food but decided to go with the Australian restaurant. I had brunch, no surprise here, while Jacob expanded his love of meat. He ordered a meal that came with three different meats including tandoori chicken, Crocodile and Kangaroo.

Dinners were larger and were where we spent more money on food. The one that stands out the most to me now was our Korean BBQ night. It was Monday night, our dressy date night, and we just randomly picked this spot. We were sat inside in front of a grill and we, I, panicked. I had no clue what I was to do or how to do it. We quickly learned from our awesome waiter and went to cooking. I want to say that this was my favorite because of how interactive it was, how we were able to focus on each other and learn something new.

^Korean BBQ

— Coffee —

On our first morning of the trip we stopped in the Okay Café. We were the very first customers that morning so we got to really take in the beauty of the place, take our time to order, we talked about the day and enjoyed the sound of rain through the open windows.

^Okay Café

Coffee shops and cafes were my sweet spot but also the area where I struggled with German. A lot of the menus in restaurants and coffee shops had English under the German descriptions, but some were vague. I kept ordering the wrong kinds of coffee and kept chasing the craving for a strong cup of coffee. But the best part of this hunt was ending up in many different kinds of shops for coffee.

^Brick Coffee and more

In some I grabbed pastries, pretzels and full breakfasts while taking in the atmospheres and rest. Most of the shops we stopped in were just around the corner from our Airbnb, another amazing part of the experience. You don’t have to walk far before finding another coffee shop that has outdoor seating.

^Myxa Café Berlin

One of our mornings we went to the Brezel Company. We both grabbed a pretzel and a coffee for our breakfast. Americans, more than likely, are used to eating larger breakfasts but something about the simplicity of our breakfast that morning really made me feel good. It was salty from the pretzel and it was slightly sweet from the macchiato.

^Brezel Company Café Neukölln

— Beer —

Beer was the heart and soul of Jacobs drink cravings. He wanted to try as many historically traditional beers as he could but also wanted to learn more about the history and science of beer making in Germany.

In the previous Berlin post I shared how we went on a walking tour of Berlin on the first day of the trip. Towards the end of the tour they let the group know about a beer tour that the company offered. So on Saturday night we joined a 3 hour beer tour of Berlin.

While on the tour we tried 7 different beers, learned how to drink them to get the full flavor, learned about men and women’s roles in the making process and history, visited the oldest breweries in Berlin and got to meet other travelers from around the world.

My favorite part of the tour was… the pretzel, or brezel, with it’s sweet mustard sauce. Like I said before the beer lover in my relationship is definitely Jacob. I loved watching him learning so much, enjoying different brews with their different amount of hops and then scooting over my beer after I got my sip in.

If you are traveling around Europe anytime soon and want to check out this tour company you can find their website here.

In conclusion, Berlin is for food, coffee & beer

Lovers!

Next Week on the Blog! I will be sharing our honeymoon Airbnb home, its neighborhood and about the slow moments of our trip. Please stay tuned and eat a pretzel this month because its national pretzel month!!

-XOKriss

Traveling Berlin, Honeymoon Style

Here’s to the start of our Honeymoon story! A moment in our relationship that we have been planning for and have been swimming in excitement for during our 11 month engagement. And I can give you a spoiler right now, it was everything and more.

We left for Germany on a Tuesday afternoon. This leaving looked an awful lot like: millions of kisses on our dogs head, a 2.5 hour drive north to a friend’s house whom was taking us to O’Hare Airport, riding in her car for over an hour, sitting in the airport for 3 hours, 6.5 hour flight to Iceland and then a 3.5 hour flight to Berlin- all with a time zone change of 6 hours. *** and breathe***

But we got in Berlin around 6 p.m. on Wednesday. After finding our Airbnb we stretched, changed, hugged and set out to our new neighborhood streets of…

Wanting to keep our first night simple so we got dinner, grabbed a bottle of wine to celebrate and some mini German chocolates because why not!

The next morning we were ready to go! We laced up our shoes, threw on some jackets and grabbed our umbrellas before heading out on our only rainy day of the trip. This day was spent adjusting to the life lived in the city. And since you can’t live in the now without knowing the past, we joined a walking tour of Berlin. I have been on this tour twice before our trip but every time I go, I never regret it.

The tour itself begins at the Brandenburg Gate then heads out towards a Holocaust Memorial as you wander down the busy streets and end up in a massive courtyard of majestic cathedrals.

In the evening we walked around the gray streets of Berlin and through the lush woods of the Tiergarten, holding hands and talking about life. We tried food here and there as our stomachs saw fit but really just used the day to take in our surroundings and taking in our first trip as a married couple.

On Friday we made a huge decision. At the start of our honeymoon planning process we were going to do day trips to three other locations. Those locations being: Munich, Cologne and Amsterdam. We decided to scrap all of our previous plans and stay put in the beautiful city of Berlin. But with still wanting the castle and royalty feels that we had hoped to find in Munich we headed in the direction of Charlottenburg Palace.

There rest of the evening we viewed the East Side Gallery and kept our fingers crossed for other street art in the city. With not finding much on Friday night, my hunt continued into Saturday. We visited the Mall of Berlin where we stumbled across a huge fashion show with a live concert, Humboldt University where Einstein taught and finally victory finding a huge, beautiful wall mural.

Sunday was a day of highs and lows! None of it being negative but literal high points in the city and the low, watery moments offered in the city. We took a river cruise on the River Spree and then climbed to the highest point in the Berliner Dom.

One of the days that I was looking forward to the most was Monday. Before our honeymoon we decided that there would be one night that would be a dressy night for us. We’d wear something that made us feel good, find a good place to eat and celebrate our last night there. I chose a red velvet dress with strappy tan heels while Jacob chose straight tan pants, a polka dot dress shirt and the same suit jacket that we wore on our wedding day.

Thank you for joining with me today and hearing a snapshot of our trip. I cannot wait for next week and sharing more with you! Look forward to two of our favorite parts of the trip: Food and Drinks!

XOKriss

Our Story: How it all Started

I can’t believe that we are finally here at our wedding weekend! It feels like only yesterday that I met my sweet Jacob and now I will always know that he will be with me and I with him! And to better celebrate here on the Blog this week, here is our love story!

Around 2017’s new years weekend, Jacob moved from Colorado to Indiana while Kristen was currently living in Indiana. He was moving back to Indiana to start a new job while she was pretty settled into her life there. She just so happened to work at the same library where he worked security while he was at University.

It was an afternoon on a chilly January Monday, when Jacob and Kristen first saw each other. She was busy at work at the library when Jacob stopped by. He was only there to stay Hello to a few of his ex coworkers before going home for the day.

Whenever she first saw him, something in the air changed. She felt a pull to him and a spark that she had never felt before. He wasn’t what she expected but every piece of her was telling her that he needed to be in her life for whatever reason. The only way she could sum up that feeling was by remembering all of the past prayers in her lifetime for a sign of her “one”.

While he was in the library, he noticed her but was more so focused on why he had come to the library in the first place. He made his rounds, laughed and caught up with some of the old friends he knew and then was on his way.

What he didn’t realize was that while he was talking to patrons and employees of the library, she was at work learning more about him. Everyone who knew him from before had nothing but the best things to say about his character, spirit, heart and work ethic. These truths made her learn things about him that others didn’t realize. There was something about him that set him apart, that made him the sweet and genuine person that he is. And she knew right away that he loved the same unchangeable, never shifting Jesus Christ.

At this point in time he wasn’t fully moved back to Terre Haute. He was living about 35 minutes away. So on his drive back home from the haute, he gets a FaceBook message and it ends up being from the girl he saw working at the library. So what does he do? He writes back but still in complete confusion.

Before she sent the message to him, she had two questions to answer:

1. Did he love the Lord like she could feel on him?

2. Was he even single?

And the answers came back yes and yes. Sooner than she realized it, he messaged her back.

Two days later the two of them met for coffee. Both just trying this out to see what it would be like. She was dressed all in black with stoic body language while he was in athletic wear with bubbling energetic energy to match. They couldn’t be more opposite so no one could blame them for what came next- the friendzone.

They both friend-zoned each other but for whatever reason, maybe it was her first heart pull to him or his deep curiosity in what she was really about, they kept hanging out together.

Their time started with a couple of coffee shop hangouts, then grew to 4 hour long phone conversations, to long walks in parks, taking pictures together, holding hands, first kisses in parking lots, professions of love on marble bridges then like a turn of the page to a new chapter that starts with a man on his knee just wanting to love that girl with everything he has for as long as he breathes.

She may have made the first move and felt the first skip of heartbeat but he was the first to tell her how one day he would marry her. She knew and he knew somehow all along that they were meant to be. And as they say, the rest is history!

-XOKriss

Bloomington, Indiana

If there is one thing I know how to do, it’s finding ideas and planning trips! At least I’m banking on that fact!

This time around I took a day trip with my best friend Heidy! I love the short window of time you get in a day trip. It helps you focus on exactly where you want to be.

For my trip with Heidy, I honestly just wanted to get in some solid girl time with her. There is something irreplaceable about Heidy and the friendship she offers up with her full heart.

It’s this heart that made me instantly want to be friends with her this time last year! And its a turning point that lead me to ask her to be a bridesmaid in Jacob and I’s wedding this coming fall- and might I add it’s in 135 days!

But back to our day! Last Saturday we left town around 11 a.m. and made the hour ish long drive to Bloomington, Indiana. I have always loved the drive because of the winding roads and just my general interest in living in Bloomington. We left town around this time too because it would set us up to getting in around noon and getting our fill of Thai food!

One of my favorite places to eat in Bloomington is the Siam house. I almost always go here for lunch if I’m visiting and I can guarantee that I have always gotten the pineapple curry. Its just the best combination of savory, sweet and spicy with that medium heat!

With full, happy bellies we started on a walk that would end up stretching about 3 miles (and I wasn’t even mad). We avoided the college party goers scene for some courthouse views and mini shops.

But the funny bit about us two ladies is that the thoughts of dessert doesn’t usually stay too far away! And that is even more true whenever we kept passing by shops with pastries and chocolates. So we wanted to find sugar stat!

We chose- drum roll- Rainbow Donuts! With a name like that and options such as donuts, cupcakes, cookies and coffee- how could you go wrong? The thing that makes this shop different is that their products are all vegan. And even though we’re not vegan, we still like to try new things!

However, my last experience with this shop wasn’t the best. I had a mixed berry glazed donut that just came off sour and dry. This time around I got two donuts to double my liking chances! One was a wild strawberry donut and the other was a cookies and cream donut. I liked the second best but I don’t think I can officially say I’m sold on their donuts.

After we got our donuts in their cute brown paper sack we headed to where we were going to eat them- Hopscotch Coffee.

Hopscotch is another place I’ve been to in Bloomington but this time it was kinda a first too. We went to their roasting building a couple of miles away from their sit down coffee shop.

I knew I would just love it for its A-frame nature, its minimism and the pop of my favorite color orange! And it didn’t disappoint.

The funny part though is that after walking that far to get there, it dawned on us that we actully wanted to sit down and talk with our coffee and donuts! So we made out like a baby and went to their other location!

To get there we took the B-line trail, photobombed a wedding, smelled all of the gross scented white flower trees and I got in some cute pictures of H.

The day ended with hunting for new journals at Hobby Lobby and TJ Maxx, a sunset drive home and talks of planning a overseas trip in our future together! Fingers crossed!

Thanks for always being good to me Btown!

XOKriss