Her heart was a secret garden and the walls were very high

I found this quote by pure chance on the web and liked it immediately. I kind of recognised myself in it and thought it would be cool to have a photo, related to it. Next day I was spending the afternoon with a girl from France in Ljubljana and of course we were taking pictures. Later at home I have noticed that, though unintentionally,we made that photo (:

The picture

That week I also started reading The top five regrets of the dying (an amazing book, by the way) in which the author also wrote about the walls people build around them. That it is a way of protecting yourself from being hurt, but on a long-term you cause the most damage actually to yourself. One of the top regrets people had before dying was: "I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings." These stories were really very sad. One man told her, that his son just knows he loves him. She asked him: "Did you tell him that?" He replied, that he didn't, but that he just knows it. The truth was that his son believed he has to prove himself for his father to love him, so he didn't know it. At that point I thought about the Chapman's 5 Love languages and how we express our love in different ways. Words of affirmation are just one way.

A decoration

Omnia vincit amor. A quote a man at the Ljubljana Castle (also that week) wrote me and I pasted it in my room. Translation: Love conquers all. Sounds like a cliche at first glance, I know. But looking at it for a while, it crossed my mind that there is actually so much love around us, we just have to see it. Mother, preparing you all the possible things when you are ill. The cousins you can rely on. Your dog seeking for love. A neighbour's cat coming to cuddle with you.

With my youngest cousin last weekend

Like Nena sings: "Liebe ist." 
Love. Liebe. Ljubezen. Ljubav.

An adorable cat, that was following us. So we made a photoshooting with her :D

Cleaning out my wardrobe

Abraham Lincoln once said: "When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. And that's my religion." Words to internalise, in my opinion.

Last weekend I found my mother in the attic of my parents' house and asked: "Mum, what are you doing?" "I'm gathering the clothes, which we are going to send to people in flooded places in Bosnia." My mother-such a modest and generous woman. A few minutes later I was automatically cleaning out my wardrobe. For the same purpose.

Since it has been a while that I did that, I found a lot of things I don't wear anymore or I forgot I have. Blue jeans, skirts, shirts,.. It's hard to imagine that one person wore them all, due to their different styles, but I'm sure that each of the pieces will find a new owner. Of the clothes I haven't worn for a long time, I kept just those with a story behind. A pullover my deceased grandmother bought me, although it's too big, but maybe one day it will fit me. 

When I finished, I remembered what my cousin, a dentist (with whom I lived in my first year at the faculty), used to say. She was a real enthusiast and we had strict rules about cleaning. When one of us (3 girls living together) finished with cleaning, she asked: "Don't you guys feel so much better now, when everything is so clean?" Oh yes, we surely did (:

I finished in about half an hour and emptied approximately the half of my wardrobe.

But the most important fact: I felt good.

A sports addict

I never did any sports. Even our high school workout wasn't interesting to me. Besides that I had luck to be skinny, so I didn't "need" to work out for that reason. The only sport I did was inline skating which, after 18 years, I still adore. Now I'm almost a sports addict. I like hiking, but my biggest passion is cycling.

Making a picture for a friend

My cycling story started 5 years ago, when my colleague from faculty invited me to go cycling with her. At start, our average tour lasted 60 kilometres and it was probably the best possible way of hanging out:  conversations with women topics, being in nature, burning calories :D But the best part about it was the energy you had for the rest of the day. At my 25 I was more fit than ever before.

A 180 km tour

I remember that before we went on a 180 km tour, some friends asked whether we are going to sleep over somewhere during it. I said: "Yes, we are going to sleep over in Celje and go back home the next day." "Oh, I thought you guys are going to sleep over somewhere already on your way there!" But 90 kilometres really is nothing when you are in a good shape:D Ok, it depends on how hilly the landscape is. To me, the toughest tour was from Novo mesto to the Kolpa river (about 105 kilometres). We cycled there in the morning, were swimming during the day and cycled back home in the evening. The tour was quite hilly, besides that 2 angry dogs were chasing us. What a fun! :D 

Friends (even my mother) thought that is me in the picture (:

Speaking of dogs, I like this quote: "Only a biker knows why a dog sticks his head out of the car window." Cycling really is about experiencing the world around you on a completely different level. Like I read somewhere: driving in a car is like watching pictures, while cycling is seeing things live. According to the research, people who regularly do sport activity look younger, are more satisfied with their life and live longer!

Cycling on a sunny day, May 2014

"Sport keeps young." I just wish I would have started sooner!

The story of us

People in Germany (usually friends of my friends) often asked me where did I learn German. I told them that I learned it for 4 years in high school, because it was my second foreign language. Then they usually said, that I speak their language very well. I always replied: "We had a tough and demanding professor."

My hometown. The Grammar School is on the right side

Our Grammar School (Gimnazija Novo mesto) has always had a high reputation for having tough professors. And the toughest of them all were our English and German professor. Everybody knew that and most of us were afraid of them. They were so called old school professors with an amazing authority. Our English professor was also my neighbour, but she didn't know that and I never mentioned it. Actually, she never really memorised my name :D Our grades at these two subjects were on average 2 grades lower than our grades in general and we were often complaining that they demand a college knowledge. The last year we got a new professor for German and our grades increased.

I. Samobor, Class Enemy

"Today I would like to speak in Slovenian. I don't want either you or me to miss anything. Tell me, what did I do wrong? Tell me honestly. You have nothing more to fear." This is a quote that really moved me. It is from the movie Class Enemy which is based on a true story that happened at our school (also the film was shot there). The director of the movie and my cousin were freshmen, I was still attending Primary School when a student comitted suicide. Watching this movie was like watching our years there but with different eyes. Though the director said he got an idea for a german professor (by the way, I. Samobor's play was outstanding)  at his math professor, I could relate it to our german professor.

I have been thinking about this movie for a long time after I left cinema. A movie that stays with you. It's not just the story of this generation and it's even not just the story of our school. It's the story of all of us. And it's definitely one of the best slovenian movies!

The ticket (: