It sounds like a dream come true, doesn't it? Newlyweds on an overseas adventure. One year in Zurich, Switzerland before kids, mortgages, and all the things that scared us about getting married. We packed up our life in San Francisco and said goodbye to friends and family (and my job!), our heads filled with visions of powdery ski slopes, romantic train rides to Paris and a cosmopolitan European city to explore and call home.

Well, we arrived in March and in many ways it is a dream, but also a shock. The language (German with a twist), the weather (three feet of snow our first weekend), and the prices (sky high) have thrown me for a loop. Just everyday things, like operating a washing machine (don't forget that 19th step!) or a trip to the grocery store (what? you didn't weigh the bananas?) can prove a major challenge at first. Some days I feel clever and adventurous. But other days, when the lady at the cheese counter can't understand my German and the fact that most people I know and love are nine time zones away weighs heavily on my chest, I just feel like crying.

For my husband, who's a German native, life couldn't be easier. The guy is happy pretty much wherever you put him. But throw in good sausage, 22 varieties of muesli, and a 10 minute commute to work on foot, and he's on cloud nine.

For me, there have been and will be many highs and lows, and that's why I started this blog. To ponder the spectrum of experiences and share them with anyone who's interested. And really, no matter who we are, where we go or what we do, isn't that always worth doing? In fact, isn't it the whole point?