Well, the holidays started out with trouble as usual. I swear we always have a rough patch at the beginning of every trip! This year, we got on the wrong train, left our passports and train/hotel tickets on said wrong train, paid 50CHF to file a loss report and have the train searched, postponed our departure for about 4 hours until we had our documents back and finally made way to Davos.

The actual holiday was AMAZING. Hands down the best Christmas either of us have ever had together. And this is our 5th Christmas together!

It was a three day, two night getaway. Just enough time to get out of the apartment, see something new and celebrate Christmas day in the snow covered alps.

Here's a preview- but you can view the entire set of pictures on flickr!


I hope everyone was as fortunate as I was and had a happy and safe holiday! Good luck and I wish everyone a happy and healthy 2009!

Ah, a week of solitude was rewarded with a lovely Sunday with my husband. I'm so lucky to have such an amazing partner in my life!

We spent the day walking around, taking in the winter wonderland and enjoying the festive foods of the Christmas markets!

Here's a few pictures to enjoy- the rest are on flickr if you'd like to see them!

 

When my 9 month old niece waved back to me on skype. She lives in Portland, OR and I live in Zurich, Switzerland.

She also watched the video and did what I did- waved, clapped, laughed and smiled....breath taking indeed.

Well, it's sort of a line of questions over 4.5 years...

'Do you want to move in together?' - Jake,
'Do I have what it takes to volunteer in Africa?'- myself,
'Do you want to move to Vietnam?'-Jake,
'Do I have what it takes to teach and volunteer in Vietnam?' -myself
'Will you marry me?'-Jake,
'Do you want to move to Switzerland?'-Jake
'Do you, Cori Culhane, take Jacob Orak as your lawfully wedded husband?' -Swiss registrar

The pain.

Seriously, there is good pain and bad pain in love. You can love someone so much it physically hurts- but also, when you love someone you can end up causing them more pain then anyone else could.

Whatever the day wants to teach me.

I grew up with my father saying to me every day: "learn something". It's how he's ended conversations since I was little, and to this day continues to slip it into conversations.

At the end of the day I try and look back to what I've learned throughout the day. Most of the time I look forward to sharing what I've learned with someone else, usually my husband : ).

There are way too many things I would 'like' to learn, so I focus on energy on opening up and letting these things come to me. You'd be surprised at what you learn when your open to it.

How annoying is that line? I think the most annoying part for me, is that it's true. It's not as if I don't appreciate what I have, but I always seem to think of what I had.

I love the snow. It's been snowing like crazy the past few days. It's SO beautiful, my favorite part is the snow covered trees. I love trees in general, every part of them, and every different country has a little something different.

This is my first time in two years that I've actually had a snow filled holiday. Sure when we visited the states last February it was snowing like crazy, but that was an in and out trip... I've really been enjoying the snow, and watching it from the warmth of my house, but I've started to miss the hot winter in Vietnam!

I can't even believe I'm saying that, I seemed to grow SO tired of it when I was there, but I wish I could go outside in a tank top and flip flops! Or go to the beach for the weekend for only 50 USD... Seeing pictures from our friends in Vietnam and Singapore are making me jealous of the tropical weather....the grass is literally greener on that side!

In the end though, I'm not sure I'd give it up to go to the other side. I'm comfortable calling Switzerland my home. I'm having a great day, and a great week even. The holidays are here and I can actually feel it this year. The thing is, the grass may seem greener on the other side, but once your actually on that other side...you'll want the grass from before!

I tend to stay up late and sleep in until 10am. It's strange the void in the house and the loss of time when your partner doesn't come home for dinner! Last night I was up until 3 in the morning. The weirdest part was that I actually had to just tell myself to go to bed, or I probably would have stayed awake through the entire night!

I think times of separation are very important in a relationship. It gives you time to remember who you are, learn even more about yourself and truly appreciate your partner.

It can be very hard to take this time as a blessing, I know I've had major challenges with it myself. But once you accept the time as your own, you feel empowered. I for one, try and do my make up as much as possible during the week. I tend to fall into a groove of not showering until bed time and staying in my pajamas all day. But that only increases the level of loneliness and encourages depression. I feel much more alert, awake and confident when I get completely ready, as if I were going out. I don't have to leave the house, but doing it for myself makes all the difference.

I think it's important to really appreciate yourself for who you are. Being a house wife, my biggest fear is to become completely defendant on my husband. I crave his return from work to have someone to talk to, I yearn for his acknowledgment on my small daily accomplishments. There comes a point when this becomes unfair to your partner. They can grow to resent you for your dependency, and you resent them for the same reason.

I think if I devote time to projects and activities that I love, and allow time for myself, I'll continue to be my own independent person. You are only as strong as you believe you are. When you put complete faith into yourself, you can really trust yourself and are proud of every single thing you do.

Every one has their bad days, weeks, and even years. The most valuable thing you can do is rise above it. Remember that you are lucky, fortunate and blessed to have the things in your life that you may take for granted. Remember that there are always friends and family by your side even if you can't physically reach out and touch them.

It's such a challenging time in the world right now, I think the best thing for every one is to appreciate what they have, who they are and the people that they have in their life. As the economy comes crashing down- people need to remind themselves that money really isn't everything. It will come and go. As long as you have food on your table and roof over your head, you're living a life of luxury.

And hopefully you are all as lucky as I am to share the burdens of life with someone amazing. No matter what shit life throws at you, you will always have this person.

My Family...ALL of them, including my husband who is absent on a week long business trip.

This will be my husband and my third Christmas without family. Even though we have been fortunate to spend the past three Christmas' in three different countries (Vietnam, Germany, Switzerland) nothing is better than having your family together.

In addition to the many miles between us- Our parents are all serperated- which means, his father and brother lives in Florida, my father in Minneapolis, MN, his mother in Eagan, MN and my mother and brother, sister in law and niece are in Portland OR..

I would love just ONE holiday spent with all of us. The entire family. Family is the most important part of life. They aid in your happiness, they support you in times of trouble, they spark the greatest and deepest love within and are there no matter what.

We originally thought that once I returned from America, and he from Vietnam we would have the entire time leading up to Christmas together. Of course, we were wrong. Jake left very early this morning for a week long business trip in Cologne, Germany.

At least we purchased our two night hotel stay over Christmas, so I have that to look forward to! We are staying in a place called Davos, Switzerland. It's a beautiful little town nestled between the mountains.

We arrive the 23rd and leave the 25th, and our hotel accommodations include not only breakfast, but a three day lift pass for each of us. This means Jacob gets to snowboard on Jakobshorn (Jacobs Mountain). Pretty cool eh?

 

To be fair, the week has started out just fine on my own- I made delicious muffins for myself today- wheatgerm and honey- and I started to grow my own sprouts on the kitchen table...a method my brother has recently taught me. I'm not really looking forward to the week by myself- but I'll make the best of it. And like I said- Christmas is comng so there is something truly special to look forward to!