Roaring 20´s

No , I am not talking about the 1920´s....
I am talking about my own twenties!

Why?  Just because I can and just because my twenties were the most important years of my life!


My 20´th birthday , I cannot even remember anymore! It was probably nothing special, but I do remember my 21st! That year was a year of many firsts..


..... *sigh*  I would kill for having that waist again!!

In this year I got my very first apartment with my then boyfriend Rory. It was actually a quite big apartment in an area of Dordrecht ( city in Holland) , which was not really the nicest. But hey, we didnt care! away from the parents was a great feeling and for us we didnt care were that was..

Anyway I never have been a great interior designer, so also not with my first place..
Unfortunately I dont have pictures either of this place, except this very charming *cough* one with me and my little sister while we were painting the place.. My sister probably will hate me for posting this pic,.. ( sorry SIS!!)

Yeah those good old days where we did nothing else then working, partying and having huuuuuge hangovers.
Later it all seemed very superficial. but i think we all need times like this!

So the party years past by.. I broke up with Rory after 3 years and moved in with my best friend at the time and had some more party years, boyfriends and well.. you know how that goes.

Fastforward  couple of years and I was single, had a great little place for myself and my 2 cats, a good job as an sales account manager and friends all around me.. I was 26 years old.

My friend and neighbour at that time, Karin, asked me if I wanted to go to Barcelona for a small holiday at her boyfriends place and his flatmates.. I thought why not and she gave me some MSN names  ( yeaahhh good old MSN!!) from the flatmates, for me to get to know them a bit better before we would stay there for the week.

Well... One of the flatmates is now my Husband!
In short.. we fell in love and a month later I gave up everything in my home country and moved to Spain.

I was just 27 when I pied on a stick and saw I was pregnant. Shayne and me were a year together and actually planned this. Yeah people around us thought us to be crazy to plan already as it was quite fast, but we couldn´t care less what people thought., We knew this was the right thing for us.
So 9 months and 4 days later our little Sofia was born in Cork, Ireland, were we moved very soon after we found out I was pregnant.

Still in my twenties, actually only 13 months after Sofia was born, we welcomed little Livia in our lives!

Now being out of my twenties  , I can say those years were the years I grew from a being a young woman, still a teenager really, to a mother of two lovely girls! I am married now, but that didnt happen in my twenties. Actually that happened when I was just 1 month out of it!
In my twenties I got my first house, but also my first job in an office ( I remember I felt really an adult when I first stepped in that office). The party hardy fase faded overtime and we became responsible working parents.. ( when did that happened?? ow yeah , in my twenties....)

So now a couple of years in my thirties.... you still have to wait a couple ( or a lot) more years for the Best Thirties post!

Hasta Pronto

Jany

See the Good in the Ugly..

Today was the first day that Livia had her ´new´ therapy.
This therapy is private via the Autism Support Group Tot per Tu and most of all with great psychologists!

As the 2 psychologists rather have the therapy with Livia alone , so she would get used to them, I went for a walk. I very soon noticed that the neighbourhood was not really..uhm how to say that... friendly? family orientated?...

Anyway .. Eventhough the neighbourhood is rough, I found some beautiful hidden spots! ow and a autumn/feet photo for fun :)

So...  See the Good in the Ugly!

Bookalicious!

Before Crochet came in my life, reading always have been my favourite thing to pass time.
I always told everybody; ´put me in a second hand book store for a day, and you will never hear me again´!

The very first book i remember reading is Crusade in Jeans. This is a Dutch book from author Thea Beckman and is also translated into English.

The story is a fictional account of the childrens crusade of 1212, witnessed by a boy from the 20th century. A 14 year old boy comes in the 12th century with the help of a time machine. Because of his 20th century knowledge, he saves a lot of children in the crusade.
At the time of reading it , I was maybe 10 years old and had no idea that although the story was fictional , the events are based on actual happenings in our history.

For Children , but also for Adults , this is a must read!

Between this book and the last book I read , are hundreds of other books I read. From Girly books ( yep i did it..50 shades..all 3 of them..) to History to Fantasy.

I think every book lover has at least one ( or more ) books they adore so much , they would like to read it over and over and over again. My husband for example read all his Discworld ( Terry Pratchet) books a million times in the last years.

For me its hard to decide which books I like the most , but one of my all time favourites are :

The Hunger Games Trilogy:
You must know them already from the movies, but of course the books were first!
I think I read all three of them in a timeframe of 2 days, absolutely addictive!

Room by Emma Donoghue:

A story told from the eyes of a 5 year old boy who lives with his mum in a room and never have been beyond the walls of the room. He starts to ask questions, and finds out that there is a whole world outside the room...

And last my absolutely guilty girly pleasure...

PS, I love you from Cecelia Ahern!

I can´t imagine much girls out there who didnt see at least the movie.
A heartbreaking , romantic, tissue spilling story with some serious eyecandy.. ( Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Gerard Butler..yummmm).

Ofcourse I read the book first and could only imagine the characters of the book ..yup..deffo my number 1 Guilty Book Pleasure!

It would be mean of me to talk about this book and not post this.... don´t you think girls?

So, now tell me about your ´must read´ books and ofcourse the guilty pleasures!

Our Dream.....Container.

When my husband was a little fella , he lived with his parents in Tanzania, Africa as they worked for a famous Irish NGO.

You can imagine how different life is there. I heard many many a story about how much he and his siblings enjoyed their youth in Africa. they were home schooled by my mother-in-law wich made it even more interesting!

When I am hearing those stories , i am getting kinda jealous as it seems such a free life for a child.
Playing outside.. I mean really playing outside, not in the densely populated streets like we did when we were younger.

One of the houses they lived in was based in the bush of Kagera , which is close to Uganda and Lake Victoria. The house didnt had the normal amenities like running water or electricity, only a jenny when it worked and petrol/diesel. But can you imagine what a joy it is to live in such freedom, with the baboons and leopards running in the hills behind your house!.. ( ok i admit, i would piss myself of fear).

Below you see the picture of the house... uuh I mean housecontainer thingamajiggy...

This house excist of 4 containers and a build-on which came later.
And till the day of today , my husband wants to build one!

When he first mentioned this , I was like a what??
Wanna get rid of me or something? you dont need to lock me in a container for that.. No need at all!!
Half  yours , half mine... Byeeeee!!

I mean the only thing i could think of was this:

Well that doesnt look very fancy and livable to me.

But then he told me the container house story in Africa and lately showed me some designs he made.
I was still a bit like hmmm .. I am not sure what to think of it......

He had me though, when he showed me an episode of the well famous Grand Designs where a guy from Northern Ireland was planning on building one and the whole program went through the process of it.

YES!! I WANT THAT TOO!!!!

Funny how one persons dream becomes a couples dream, dont you think?

I googled some container house images , and found some beauty´s.. Hence the photos are not mine.

So I told you our dream house story, now whats yours?

I love your comments!!

To Juice or to Smoothie

Ofcourse there was always people juicing and being awesomely healthy and all.
I am always been in blissful denial , as I like my naughty food too much!

However lately more and more people around me starting to juice.
My colleague brought a very nice and yummy looking ( NOT) homemade juice with him.
It was one of those green with bits *pegg on nose and drink in one go* looking juices.

When he told me what was in it, I thought hmm that never can be that bad.. so lets try the green monster! Well... I tell you , it didn´t taste like a yummy kind of thing you can drink all day, but wasnt quite that bad either!

So I thought, as I went rather overboard with the naughty foods lately and really need to lose some, lets get going. ( biggest excuse is I stopped smoking, so I gained a kilo or 2..or more..)

I went to the fancysmancy fruit&veggie shop in the mainstreet and bought a whole lot of healthiness.
And ofcourse some cute looking bottles to put juice in..

Then I started the mess..
Ofcourse I have no juicer as this was the first time i was doing this.
So this was my alternative including a hand blender..

For me the difference between a juice and a smoothie was that in smoothies you put yoghurt or so and in juice well...not.
When I juiced and smoothied everything together, I came to the conclusion that there definitely is another difference.. PULP!!  So my juice is rather think , even though I added some water, However it tastes delicious!

And the most important thing..my family loves them too!
Sofia was begging for the ´yellow juice´ and hubby brought half a bottle of carrot juice with him to work.

So here the ingredients per juice bottle.

Bottle 1:

Carrot
Apple
Ginger
Splash of water

Bottle 2 :

Banana
Pear
Baby Spinach

Bottle 3:

Pineaple
Pear
Apple
Celery
Ginger




Hasta Pronto!

Monday Monday..

Back to school, back to work , back to stay up too late, alarm goes too early.

Back to stuffy offices and that one colleague you so adore ( not).

Back to trying to not fall asleep in that boring lecture of that teacher with the monotone voice..

Coffee in hand, hair in a bun,the kids don´t like to hurry up... 

Reoccuring event , every single week... yes its Monday!

For me today however it was like waking up on a Sunny Sunday!
I worked the whole weekend, so was allowed a nice ly-in this morning.
Because hubby is in nightshift he came home this morning around 8 and pulled the shutters full down. With as results when I woke up around 10, I thought it was in the middle of the night!
I strumbled out of bed into the kitchen for a well needed coffee.

Livia was hanging in the chair as she is still a bit sick. ( we thought a 24 hour bug, but it takes a bit longer than that now). So lots of cuddles and hugs of this little baba today!

When the sun is shining and it is not too warm , I need to go outside for a bit. So also today I went for a tiny walk into the main street of our little city.

While walking to the main street i crossed the train station where they were holding a memorian for all the train accident victims in the country. They do this every year and I find this very thoughtfull.

I walked further towards the main street ..which coincidently ( is it??) is also a shopping street!
I needed new shoes so bought a pair. You might think , wow that´s fast!
Yes, I am not a  shopaholic if its regarding clothes.. I just see something get it , and thats that..
However.... when i came out of the shopping street , I saw a brand new opened shop.

We call them Chinos here, which sounds a bit weird maybe , but that´s just a cultural thing I guess.
This are shops who have everything and anything , cheap and always managed by chinese people.
Well, talking about shopaholics.. these shops turning me into a raging , mad, out of order ,one of a kind shopaholic!
Because we have about 4 of them in a 2  mile radius of my house, I try to avoid them as much as possible by not walking into the streets where they are located etc.
But today.... How was I supposed to know that they opened a brand new one!! I felt myself getting weaker..slowly giving in..and was lost...

Now I am curious.... What do you like to shop for the most?


Hasta Pronto!

Cycling

As I told you in the previous blog ( here is a linky) , my father- and brother-in-law cycled last month from Lismore, Ireland to our place here in Montcada, Spain.

The reason in the first place to do the cycle was that hubby´s bicycle was still in Ireland , and he really wanted to have it back. 

Brother dearest made a joke about it to cycle to Spain and would we have guessed that they really did it! What an adventure!

They had an amazing time during their trip. With sleeping in tents on stilts because there were no hotels available , getting accompanied of the highway by the traffic police here in Spain.. with lights on.. ( oopsie, wrong route..) and getting lost in the mountains. ( up, down, up, down..)

After some rest and family time in our house , they went back home again.

And the bikes stayed nicely with us. We seriously jumped of joy!! I was thinking of buying a bicycle for a while at that point as I kinda missed it being Dutch and all!

Yeah it all sounds very over the top cliche, but cliche or not , everybody IS cycling in my sweet country! I would never want to move back , but cycling is one of those culture things I do miss!

Even though the traffic jams are horrific and the national train company ( NS) gets claim after claim of being to full, to late , to whatever.. Cycling was and is the main transportation in Holland.

So last weekend I had my very first Cycle and was quite proud of my 18 km in 58 minutes.

To be honest , it took me two days to get rid off the sadle pain, but was deffo worth it!

Today I decided to go for a second round as the sun is still shining eventhough we are halfway October by now. I never knew it was possible to enjoy exercising so much!

This time I did 23.84 km in a duration of 1 hour and 7 minutes, an average speed of 21 km/h and burned 679 calories. And this all according ´map my ride´ of course.

I made some lovely pictures while being on the beach in Badalona, so here they are!

Hasta Pronto!

Update update.. hurry!!!!

It has been waay too long since my last post.

So here an update about are whereabouts the last couple of months.

First of all:

The kids are back in school!!! Finally after 3 months holiday, many hours fun but also many hours boredom and especially many ´how many nights till I can go back to school, mama´? It is finally the big Monday.

Sofia on her first school day

Sofia is going to the second preschool class also called P4. She is still not very happy that they mixed the 2 preschool classes from last year so most of her friends are not in the same class anymore. Also she was pretty angry about the fact that she had a new teacher.. I guess she loved the last one.. She is now slowly copping on, but is still not very impressed..

Sofia lately is getting more and more a clever clogs! Today she greeted Shayne at the door with ´Konichiwa! ´. When going to the supermarket later, she greeted the whole village with ´Konichiwa!´

Apparently dearest Peppa Pig taught her friends to talk Japanese and so did Sofia...

For me it sounds more like a sneeze going wrong.. Konichiwaaashit..Snot everywhere…

She also started reading and writing this year. I have to say that I find it very early, but hey as long as she likes it, I am fine with that! Today we got a nice paper what she did in school. I couldn´t me more proud and also a tiny laugh escaped me at the way she wrote DVD´s.

Livia on her first school day

It is a very exciting year for our Livia this September! As she is going to preschool for the first year. I was most anxious about what will happen. Would she sit still, would she listen, would she……..

Before the year started we had some conversations with her SNA (Special Needs Assistant) in school as of how things will go on school days. We decided also that she will only go to school for the mornings, till Hubby and me find it time for her to join whole days.

Thankfully she enjoys school a lot and according the teachers she is even learning slowly the routine of the day in the class. I am a very very proud mama!!

Because I really felt I personally needed some emotional support regarding my daughter having Autism, I joined a Support group together with Livia.
The name is Tot per Tu , and they are a group of parents who support each other throughout the different phases, problems and of course also the good times. But most important, they also hired a couple of psychologists to give the much needed therapy. And to make the therapy kind of affordable, they (we, I have to say now as we as family are now also a part of it) arrange projects to gain money to support everybody with the economical side of having kids with autism.

For example we held a benefit concert with cool bands, BBQ and drinks. Also some Catalan entertainment like the Castellers (human tower) and drum music. It was an amazing experience for us to meet people in the same situation while volunteering at the concert. The girls also had an amazing time dancing, running around (Livia) and going on stage (Sofia).

Father-in-law arriving at our house

OOWWW and I must tell you this!! 

On the eve of the benefit concert I got a call from dear hubby that I had to come home as we got visitors.. My dad-in-law and Brother-in-law arrived after a 15 day and 1900 km cycle from Ireland to our house! I was so impressed they arrived that day, I mean 15 days?? It would take me 15 years!!! Also halfway their stay Anne arrived.. You remember her? Our very first aupair.. If you scroll back 3 years’ worth of blogs, you definitely will find some stories about her! We had a fab time with all of them!!

Because Livia goes to school now, she also will go to another therapy. The reason is all bureaucratic/political stuff I have no clue about..
The bad side of this is that now suddenly the government only allows for 1 therapy session every 15 days. This is absolutely not enough for my little girl and you can imagine my reaction!! For now there is not much I can do, at least not till I have her disability card (takes a year)… Therefor we decided that she will have private therapy once a week via the support group. Her first session will be coming Tuesday!

Wow.. That was only the news from the kids and I didn’t even start telling about Shayne´s change of jobs soon and my latest venture of website making!!

So very shortly to not bore you too much..

Shayne got made redundant in his job, which was quite a shock. His whole department will move to the Philippines and therefor will close here in Barcelona per the 30^th of November. We are not really worried to much as enough jobs are around, and we decided that he will takes some staycation time in the whole of December before he start to look for jobs.

What about my website; yeah I was not really happy with the previous version. I am just an impatient perfectionist and yes those thing are not really working together… So I decided to start this new venture called ´making websites for dummies and scream bloody murder when it doesn’t work´ It was a fun venture I have to say and because of my addictive genes , I also want to code the hell out of this website!! Do you like my new background??

So that was it again for now…

Hasta Pronto!!

Jany