I crouch to go into my room

I have a big room but it's just not very tall. I have to crouch when I walk into it. I have yet to hit my head on that specific door frame, but around the house I haven't been so lucky. Anyway, here are some pictures of my spacious room:







And here are some more pictures with a bit more sunlight on the Alps and the valley below the house:





I've been getting a lot of mail and that makes me really, really happy. Thanks for the Valentine's wishes Mom and Nana. Thanks for the birthday wish, Barb. On Tuesday I got a box in the mail from Jessica. I asked her if I should wait until my birthday to open it and she said that if she watches me open it, I can open it sooner. Plus, I won't be in Switzerland for my birthday, so I may as well just open it. So I did earlier tonight and in it is this super awesome blanket:



She made it, with the help of her mom and grandma. It has pieces of old clothes that she's worn. As she put it: This gift was made just for you out of things that have been a part of me. Being in a long distance relationship is really challenging, but if both sides of it meet in the middle (and sometimes go a bit over the middle) then you know there is a future for it. :)

I've been a bit sick recently. Yesterday I was told to sleep most of the day. I believe the bug is on its way out of me. I kept getting some headaches in my sinus region as well as a small cough and a stuffy nose.

Tomorrow I'll be heading to Bern where I'll visit Eliane. It took awhile for me to explain to Dirk how I know Eliane, so for those of you who don't know her, pay attention. A few years ago, Heidi's (my sis-in-law, Tim's wife, mother of blog-staple Gustav) parents were volunteers at the Bienenberg Bible Institute outside of Basel. There, they became friends with Peter and Lisa Kipfer who live in Langnau im Emmental. Eliane and Heidi are about the same age. One year when Heidi was in high school, Eliane came over as a foreign exchange student and lived with Heidi's family. That still doesn't explain how I know her. I met her briefly when Tim and Heidi got married. In 2006, the Hesston College European Chorale made a stop at Langnau and Eliane hosted Orp (good friend from Hesston) and I. Since I'm a bit far away for a weekend trip to Tim and Heidi's, Eliane said she'd be my family here in Switzerland. So I'll leave tomorrow night around 7 pm, to take advantage of my free travel after 7 pm, and make my way to Bern for the weekend. Should be fun.

I was bored this afternoon so I was cycling through my head what I could whip up. My in-head rolodex flipped to No-Bake Cookies. After looking up a recipe online as a refresher, I was off to the kitchen. They turned out wonderfully! Judging by the response after supper, I think I'll be making these again.

Here's the metric version:
380 g white sugar
115 g butter
115 g milk
35 g cocoa
240 g oats
vanilla (this is kind of random, but we didn't have vanilla extract so it was some sugar/vanilla mixture. however, it calls for one teaspoon of vanilla extract)

-Mix sugar, butter, milk and bring to a boil for a minute or two.
-Mix in cocoa, oatmeal, vanilla.
-Dallop onto parchment paper and let cool.
-Enjoy.

And the 'normal' version:
2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
5 tbsp. cocoa
3 cups oats
1 teaspoon vanilla

-Mix sugar, butter, milk and bring to a boil for a minute or two.
-Mix in cocoa, oatmeal, vanilla.
-Dallop onto parchment paper and let cool.
-Enjoy.

Until next time,
Jon