6 month check in

I think this is our last family photo. And this was 8 months ago!

I've now been in Switzerland for a little over 6 months. It has gone by pretty fast. I thought I would have a job by now, but I still spend my days at home. Many people ask what I do all day. Honestly, I don't really know. I wake up at 8am every weekday and don't take naps. We don't have cable so I'm not in front of the TV all day. I decided to write what I've done over these 6 months. And while I'm at it I wrote down some goals for the next 6 months.

What I've done:

• Our house is set up and organized. Furniture has been bought and put together and pictures have been hung. Our house is visitor ready.
• I've started reading again. I read before, but maybe only 2 books a year. So far I've read 19 books in six months. They are all easy reads and most are free or cheap on ibooks. 
• I don't watch hours upon hours of TV. We don't have cable, but we can download shows. We still watch the shows we liked to watch before, but now I don't watch 5 hours of House Hunters every weekend.
• I started to knit. I've only knitted 2 scarves, but it's a start. I do a lot of research on how to knit, pattens, tips, materials needed.
• I sewed two garment pieces and am excited to sew more. Again alot of research goes into sewing. Learning about different fabrics, presser feet, needles, techniques, patterns, and all the other notions needed. And I learned what a haberdashery is. And trying to figure out how to buy fabric takes forever. A lot of places won't ship here, and buying fabric at a store in Switzerland is crazy expensive.
• I started to learn German. We've been going to classes for a little over 2 months. 
• I've been meeting with a career counselor for a little over 2 months. I have a Swiss resume, cover letter, sample cold emails and brushed up on my interviewing skills. And I finally created a Linkedin account. I've researched companies in the area and created a spreadsheet of potential companies, their office language, where they are located and who to contact.
• I clean the house and go to the grocery store during the week. It's nice to have chores done so the weekends are free.
• We've visited Croatia, Germany and Italy.
• We kind of started to meet new people (outside of 3M). We've gone to 2 social events, and talked to a few new people. 
• Tucker and I go on walks. With no yard for Tucker I have to walk him. We walk about 2 miles a day. Tucker's leash walking skills have greatly improved.
• I run 5 times a week.
• We cook most days. Nothing fancy. We went from eating out 4 meals a week, to maybe once every other week. 
• I started to learn some new skills, like Access and SAP.
• I started this blog.
• I got married. 
• We ran in 3 local races...and my 4th is at the end of October.

Now a few goals for the next six months:

• Improve my German. I want to be able to ask a sales person for something, or go to a restaurant and order in German. Despite German being one of the national languages of Switzerland (they have 4), swiss people don't speak German. They speak Swiss German, which is actually very different. It's hard to practice a language when most aren't even speaking it. But we need to push through and practice at home more.
• I want Tucker to make friends. He doesn't have any, and it makes me sad.
• I want to visit more countries. Maybe Austria, France, Spain, Portugal and the south of Italy. Not all in the next six months. :)
• I want to learn to ski.
• I want to knit socks and at least attempt to knit a sweater
• I want to sew at least one thing a month
• I want to join a running club
• I want to be more active in clubs. There's a few expat groups that I need to join. 
• I want to make some kind of income