Life Update: January 2025

I try to hide people’s identies, as I’m not sure all my friends are excited at the thought of their involvement of my life splashed across the internet. But I’m calling out a few in this update. First is Daniel, who since I hadn’t posted on my blog in a while, asked if I was still alive. Spoiler: I am 😊 

But my time home in Cleveland made me realize that I should walk through a somewhat “typical” week. Though as my mother was fond of saying, the only thing normal is the setting on the washer. 

Sunday morning begins with church. I attend a wonderful international non-denominational church with some truly lovely people. The entire service is in English. After church, most of the young adults go out for lunch. Sometimes I join, but more often recently I’ve headed to my home (about a 15 min walk away) and invited people there. Luxembourg can be expensive, and as people have different financial abilities, I’ve found that hosting at my house is an inclusive alternative to make sure everyone can feel comfortable. I don’t always plan on inviting people, so there is always pasta in my house for a quick lunch, followed by the copious amounts of tea. I love having my home filled with people, and wonderful conversations. A few times recently, the conversations have spilled into dinner time as well 😊 

Monday-Friday is work. I try to go to the office daily, to ensure I leave the house and to build community at work. Also, I can’t complain about the 2 massive screens at my desk. I walk about 5 minutes to a bus and take that to the central interchange. The office is about a 13 minute walk from there. I have trouble following the weather, so I dress as I please, and let the cold/rain/wind attack me anyways. Perhaps 2025 is the year I’ll learn to dress better for the weather and not be bone chillingly cold by the time I arrive at the office 😊 On the commute, I’ll listen to an audiobook or sometimes practice French vocabulary on a few apps. I try to take my lunch to work every day, as it is healthier and cheaper, and doesn’t necessitate me leaving the building again. Our coworker group enjoys lunch together as people are in the office and their schedule allows. Once a month, we have a entire office lunch, and that’s been a wonderful way to meet people and deepen relationships. Most recently, I’ve joined the social committee for the office! My desk is well placed to keep an eye on the coffee and kitchen, elevator, and bathrooms and I adore being so centrally placed. It is a cube farm, so I do feel bad when I’m on long afternoons of calls that my coworkers have to endure. We are a really international office- I’m one of only two Americans in our office, and there are piles of different nationalities represented. This gives a wonderful diversity to the conversations, lunches, and the shared treats as well! 

If the weather is not raining, I try to walk the 45 minutes home 3 nights a week. Sometimes coworkers join for various legs of the journey. The first leg involves walking to the central interchange, where many split off for different busses or the tram to the train stations. The second, longer leg, goes to the next big intersection at the start of my suburb. My final leg to the edge of the suburb is usually on my own though. 

Monday nights are my work late nights, as I have a standing girls dinner engagement at 730 pm. Sarah (see I did mention you hehe), a South African lady graciously invites four of us young professional girls over for a hang out night and the amazing meals she makes. While Mondays turn into extremely long days, it is a joy to have a delicious warm dinner, and have authentic conversations on sometimes very heavy topics with good friends. My best friends in college were three South African siblings, so it’s funny and wonderful to be surrounded by SA again 😊 

Wednesday nights are my young adult small group. The kind couple who hosts it bring a warm soup dinner at 7, and then the study starts at 8pm. It’s one more community touchpoint, and another reminder on how uniting food can be. 

Every other Friday night is the “Friday Night Dinners” you can read about in an earlier post. Nothing but dinner shared together, and a wonderful time to hang out. 

Saturday mornings are my grocery runs. I wake up early to beat the crowd and have some time to ponder the words in French and prices in Euros. 

The rest of my time is spent doing life. Cooking and cleaning and house things. Laundry takes a while, because the loads have to be hung out to dry, and the drying takes a few days in this wintertime. Some nights I just need to veg out, and let my body recover from the strenuous activities. There are other invites for activities and meet-ups, and there are the days I prep to try to bless others. 

I’m travelling a good amount Q1 this year. I know many think I live the glamourous life of travel, and I do a bit, but I paid my dues travelling the Midwest for five years. Driving up to 8 hours on a Sunday evening or Monday, visiting multiple clients for several days, writing reports in the evenings at the hotels, and driving the long distances back on Thursday nights of Friday mornings. Saturdays were spent doing laundry, before repeating the week yet again. I’ve spent countless nights in middle of nowhere hotels, where the nicest restaurant in town is Applebees, and I’ve driven through more corn and soy bean fields than I can count. It’s nice to be travelling to Brussels or Paris instead of middle of nowhere West Virginia and ice storm laden Michigan. 

So that’s a bit about my typical week. Looking forward to sharing more with you soon!