recent pictures

We are taking off for France to visit Katie tomorrow morning and wanted to get these up before we left...
the pictures go from bottom to top!

from a few days ago, 22 weeks on thursday

planting the garlic among the strawberries

can you see our house behind me? the quince tree we transplanted from the koeln garden is to the right

3rd stage planting!! transplanting strawberries, raspberry canes curve toward the left

2nd stage, plowing the yard with the handy all in one! it can be a lawn mower, plow, and snow plow too!
ralf cutting the grass low, right outside of our door, this will be the future herb/flower garden!

our first real guests! oma(dini) and opa(rolf) sandrock

this is at Ralf's parents house, a few weeks ago, maybe 19 weeks?

Finding a Caregiver

Last night Ralf and i went to a midwives home where she was giving an information session about who she is. we thought oh maybe we can just sit in the back and listen and maybe talk to her afterwards. it turned out we were the only ones that came and it was perfect because the three of us talked. we chose her because with two other midwives in the area she speaks english. we had some great laughs over things neither ralf or her could explain or translate. the more we talked together the more impressed and excited i was about finding and meeting with this woman. Her name is Angela Lindo and has been practicing for over 30 years. Right now she is writing her masters thesis (at an age of 50) so she can teach in universities to the next generation of midwives. She had hundreds of books to read over the next few months before she presents it. She and her retired husband also help take care of children whose parents need to get back on their feet or are not allowed to have their children due to reasons concerning the police or gov. So currently a 5 mo baby 12 and 17 yo live with them. Their hearts as a couple and love for children, mothers, families is quite incredible.
I started telling her about how i view birth and how safe and trusting i feel with the ability my body has and that i am open and curious about this process, experiencing it, and the desire i have to be a midwife as well. The longer we talked and she shared her background and experiences the more both of us felt this is an incredible fit. we love her. Her studies in spirituality and in meditation also brought great relief to me, feeling also with her perceptions on lotus birth and unassisted birth that this is the perfect caregiver for us. she also told us that she has had other couples desiring unassisted birth ask her to come and read a book in the kitchen, being there if her help was wanted but allowing this sexual experience to be fully a couples own as well. We were ecstatic as we left her, oh and she passed on to us 3 boxes of cotton diapers with linings saying that another mother had given them to her hoping another family could use them too!
This brought such a relief to stress that i realized has been building up here because we didnt know about the rules or requirements of becoming parents in germany, what we had to do ect. She was so helpful to explain nothing. if you feel you need something there are lots of people you can see, but what is the feeling you have? she asked. She said she can give us a "mutter pass" pass for mothers, that allows you to receive financial help and earn a monthly stipend for having a child. i am so excited and thankful i dont have to do any harmful or invasive tests or examinations. it is perfect for our situation and she is also very close, only 11 km or so from us!

Moving in

Lots of changes!!
we moved in a weeks ago yesterday to the lower part of this old house from the 1600's, which has a kitchen, bathroom and sleeping/everything else space. The first project is to restore and fix up what will be our bedroom, and working on getting as much done outside before the winter hits, as the place has alot of potential, but needs so much work.
we have been ok-ed to have a veggie garden, an herb and medicinal plant garden, goats, chickens, bees, pretty much whatever we want as long as ralf works 7 hours M-F. the last week has been filled with unpacking, moving in and figuring all of everything out.
we went to the residence permit place yesterday and were heartily welcomed to the broader community of Nastaetten, told our marriage certificate looked like we printed it our selves, or got it from a western shop, but ok we will accept it...then had to drive to the immigration office in Bad Ems to start the next process of making sure i am legal and received notice that within 4-6 weeks i will receive a 3 year residence permit for germany, allowing me to start the learning german course!!
but i feel really lonely. its a new feeling to only have one other person to talk to and relate with and not be able to really connect with others. the village people here seem nice, but i find myself not wanting to speaks english and show i dont know the language yet. and i would love for the language course to start asap. even already though i understand alot and am able to follow some conversations. its helpful to know my ease at languages is not lost.
ralf cut the grass on the triangle patch outside our front door where we will have the future herb garden. we will plow and plant garlic there for the winter. i am glad to be close to outdoor work again and am really excited that ralf has a job doing work outside, without having to drive somewhere really far. it will make childcare exchanging and parenting much more fluid.
i am setting up skype and new microphone so if you have some time that is free it would be lovely to talk over the "phone" with you!
love and peace,
jessica

Last few weeks have felt a sort of floating and eating and not really knowing where everything is going. finding work in germany, the germany i thought would be DEMETER and biodynamics is really not that much better than mainstream america. maybe it is worse, as farmers here are being wiped out. finding work, biodynamic apprenticing or even just on a farm earning money and finding a place to stay not just for a few months, but that we would like to stay longer, is really difficult. i am happy to say as we traveled across the us, i found alot of organic farmers, and farmers markets where you can buy good food. its hard to get, or far driving to buy.
We found a raw goat milk about 45 min from us and have been getting milk from them now, its so good. In seattle we payed 9-10 dollars for a 1/2 gallon of goat milk and the worth of the milk is much less in germany-only 2 Euro about 3.5 dollars. cows milk is even worse. a farmer, organic, will get about 40 cents a liter and conventional farmers only 20 cents, making the price and worth of usa milk about 3-4 times of german milk. there are alot of demonstrations about this to the government, where milk is being poured out on the street, making ponds and lakes in front of the buildings. crazy hu?
and buying baby clothes from different second hand shops here has been fun, unfortunately my thought that all germans were into natural wool and especially for baby stuff was wrong. we have had a really hard time finding wool anything for babies. the 2nd hand store owners laugh or giggle at us and say how old fashioned that is and how NO ONE does that anymore, or its passed through the family not to second hand...bummer.
and trying to find middle colors too is relatively difficult as so much of the clothing is light blue with cars or light pink with frilly things.
The news of the last day is that we have found a place to live and for ralf to work! its exciting because it is a little village and work ralf will be doing is restoring and fixing up the 1600 yo house we will be living in. it currently has 3 rooms on the bottom floor where we will start living this next week. fixing and making livable the fourth room is ralfs first task, so it can be our bedroom. the house is in really good shape for its age, and the man who owns it owns and or rents a few of the other houses in the village for all of the antiques he collects and fixes to sell on ebay! they seem nice enough and are ok with us getting goats and chickens and making a garden for ourselves. the place has a magical feel to me and i am excited to start creating an herb and veggie garden and getting ready to have a goat to love and milk.
The process to get on the same insurance plan has been taking a long time, and soon hopefully it will be finished, gaining the ability to start the language course soon. i am ready!!
In the meantime, my belly is expanding, 19 weeks as of yesterday, and baby is kicking often, especially as we settle down for bed in the evenings. its so exciting, maybe not the stretch marks or the tight pants but the crazy cravings are interesting.
if you want to post a comment, go right ahead, i think it is in german, but still resembles the english word-kommentare- because i set it up on a german computer first. Some people have emailed me too, and that is great as well, i will still have email and facebook!