13th month

 This week (Sep 28 - Oct 4th) I was working all day again and I helped the youngest one with school. It was pretty tough this week as she didn't really listen well, but I was so happy when it was Friday! Luckily I also met with some friends this week after work. I called with some friends, called my family and my grandma because she just moved to a care center. I'm very happy for her because she really looked forward to move there, but I'm also really sad that I'll never see the house the way it was again. I used to clean her house every week and I loved it because every time I was there it felt like my grandpa was also there. But my wonderful sister made a really nice and cute video of her house! I cried the whole time I was watching tho! This weekend I met two new Au Pairs from Colombia and we had a picnic along the river which was really nice! On Saturday morning I ran 22,5 km again and I was proud I did it again! On Sunday I met with Carolina, one of the Colombian girls and we went to French Creek State Park which was really beautiful! I loved it! It was a nice weekend! Sad it's over already...

Hiking trip at French Creek Park with Calorina!

This week (October 5 -11th) was a busy week with the kids again. I think everything was a little too much for me this week. I sometimes did a work out 2 times a day to reduce my stress. It didn't help a lot but at least I felt a little better after I worked out. The youngest one was pretty tough again this week. Also I was a little disappointed when my host mom told me she is not comfortable with me going on the National Park road trip I had in my mind (Utah, Arizona, Wyoming and Colorado). And I'm not allowed to join my friend Linda on her trip to Texas to visit one of our friends because Thanksgiving is 2 weeks after that and then my host mom always goes to her parents and she thinks it's too risky then with Covid... Totally understandable though! But I was just sad because I really looked forward to go on a bigger trip again... Hopefully my host family allows me to go to Colorado, but we'll see. This week I met a lot with Hendry and we went to the pool at my host dad's apartment building. I also used the gym there this week which was nice. On Saturday I called with some friends in the Netherlands which was really nice and then I went shopping a bit with Hendry. Later we celebrated my friend Mariame's 25th birthday (which actually was on Sunday) by going out for dinner and she bought a banana cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory which was delicious! On Sunday we finally went to New York again which was amazing! I love this city! We walked around Central Park, Hudson Yard, Brooklyn Bridge and Dumbo! It was great!!

New York is always a good idea!

This week (October 12th - 18th) was a week as usual. I was home with the youngest one all day and on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday the oldest one was also home. Usually she goes to KO12 (little 'school') on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, but this week she had test on Thursday so we decided it would be better for her to stay home for that. So I was really busy with helping both of them this week. I had a lot of stress and I worked out twice a day to try to reduce this stress. I really love working out and it is my 'clear my mind' moment. But my host family thought something was wrong with me or so... They know I work out every day, but now they noticed too that I worked out a lot and I didn't eat as much as usual. But I was just stressed so that's why I also wasn't that hungry. I still tried to eat as normal but sometimes I really couldn't eat much. I met with my friend Myra a few times which was really nice and on Friday I went to a little backyard 'party' at Franco's house which was awesome. We had nice music and we danced a bit with some other Au Pairs. On Saturday I ran 21,3 km again and this was awesome with the great fall weather (sunshine and fresh air!) And then later I brought some clothes to a second hand shop because I wanted to get rid of a lot of clothes I never wore. I called with some friends and then at night I went to King of Prussia again and this time we cooked an amazing Italian dinner all together (pizza and risotto). I met great new Au Pairs and it was so much fun! I was sooo happy my host family allowed me to sleep at Franco's house in his guestroom with another Italian Au Pair, because we would go hiking the next day and we wanted to leave early in the morning. So today (Sunday) we went hiking at the Bushkill Falls and Delaware Water Gap National Park area. It was amazing!! I loved the view!

Enjoying life in the nature!

This week (October 19-25th) I didnt really do anything special. It was a really tough week with the youngest one and I couldn't handle it anymmore. I worked out a lot to reduce the stress a bit, and I wasn't really hungry. I called with a few friends and I tried to figure out how to rent a car for my trip to Colorado next week with Linda. Luckily there's another girl who is going to join us and she's 27 so she can rent the car which is way cheaper. We don't have to pay $40 extra per day for young driver fees then! I'm really excited to go to Colorado and visit beautiful parks! This Friday I went to the Poconos for one night with my friends Jasmine and Hendry. Jasmine's friend has parents who have a house there and he stayed there since the 'lockdown'. It is a really beautiful area and I loved it! Even though it was only for a really short time, I enjoyed every second! We made a campfire and we did a boat tour at night time which was really nice. In the morning I went out for a run in this beautiful nature and I loved it! It was quite a run with all those hills but I enjoyed it! On Saturday I met with Linda and some other girls because she was finally back in Philly and this was her 'goodbye-party' because she will be in her travel month next week and after that she'll only come back to get her stuff and then go home. Luckily I'll still see her next week in Colorado! On Sunday I worked on my laptop and I went to a few shops and I relaxed a bit.

Poconos for one night was amazing!

This week (October 26th - November 1st) passed quickly! I was really excited for my trip to Colorado for this weekend, but I was also really stressed as I was the only one who really wanted to book the hotel and the car last weekend. So I ended up just booking everything and luckily the girls were ok with that. The kids were pretty tough this week so I was so glad I was off on Friday! On Thursday night my weekend trip started. The flight to Denver was not crowded at all! I had a whole row in the plane for myself! So chill! When I arrived I met the girl who was joining Linda and me on our trip. Her name is Gregoria and she lives in Chicago as an Au Pair. I met her in a Facebook group. Her friend was gonna join us too but then on Saturday and Sunday. On Friday we drove through the Rocky Mountain (not the main mountains because of the wild fires), Flatirons, Chautaqua Park, Lost Gulch Lookout and we went to a place called ' Nederland' which means 'The Netherlands' in Dutch. This was such a cute little town and I loved it!! And I drove through the mountains for the first time in my life! I loved it!! We stayed in an AirBnb and the owners invited us to go out for dinner with them at a nice restaurant in Denver. It was really nice! On Saturday we invited them to join us to go to the Red Rocks, Garden of Gods and a few other parks around Colorado Springs. We went hiking together which was beautiful! On Sunday I went out for breakfast with Linda because this would be the last day we would see each other for a longer time. I can't believe she's going home soon after her travel month. I am gonna miss her sooo much! But I wish her all the best back in Germany! After that we went to Denver all together to go go the Contempary Art museum. Then we dropped Linda at the train station because she had a flight to Utah and we drove to Idaho Springs. This is literally one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to in my life! The town where we spend most of our time was called Georgetown. It is so beautiful here! We also went to the Hot Springs there and that was amazing! So sad I had to leave already... 

I already miss Coloraddo and it's beautiful Mountains...