Unfortunately Peanut butter

Nope this post is not about pro and cons of  peanut butter...

I heart Peanut butter!!

This post is about funny Dutch sayings translated in English.

As you might now, I am a proper Dutchie but living abroad for almost 7 years now.

Also I am guilty of abusing Dutch sayings , and even worse.. literally translate Dutch sayings to English!

Just for the fun of it, here a couple of them: 

1. Unfortunately Peanut butter...

Meaning nothing else then ´yeah bummer´..   

In Dutch pronounced as Helaas Pindakaas.

2. He went completely the fog in! 

Meaning that the ´he´ did something totally wrong.. 

In Dutch pronounced as: Hij ging helemaal de mist in!

3. I went almost from my little stick! 

Meaning that you almost fainted for a particular reason..

In Dutch pronounced as: Ik ging bijna van mijn stokje!

4. Everything can! Coffeecan, Teacan... The pope can but he may not.. 

Meaning everything is possible , and then the joke behind is that the pope can do it as well, but he is not allowed. 

In Dutch pronounced as: Alles kan! Koffiekan, Theekan, De paus kan maar die mag niet.

5. If you burn your ass, you have to sit on the blisters.

Meaning if you do something stupid,  you are responsible for the consequences.

In Dutch pronounced as: Wie zijn billen brandt, moet op de blaren zitten.

There are many many more , but we keep that for another time!

I hope I made you smile today and Hasta Pronto!

Jany

Dieting Day 1

Its Monday and the day has come that I have to start dieting again.

I am not a big Dieting guru or a person who does this very often.
Basically this is only the second time in my life as I never had to before the kiddos were born.
Last year I tried a No carb diet and that went well for about 3 months till my body decided it was enough.
I took the diet very serious and therefor there was no fibre allowed whatsoever. Yep not very good, so I had to give up. I lost  3 kilo and 10 cm around my belly.

This time I aim for a bit more...
After all the crazy indulging I did over the last months , My weight from last years pre-diet is back.

Now the question is.. what diet to follow? What will work best for me?

I decided to keep with the Low Carb diet but then keep it low as the name says, instead of no carbs at all.
Furthermore I need to stop eating junk, which went very well for a long time even after the last diet.. but those devil chocolates kept on insisting and I can be quite the pushover..

Also trying to drink more water ( ugh..) and less Sodas ( bummer) is a must.

Well wish me luck on this journey and when the first kilos say goodbye I will let you know!

Also any dietary advice is welcome.

Hasta Pronto

Jany

Paint & Egg Salad

Its Sunday and we are relaxing here in Spain..

The weather is a bit dark and we decided to have a stay-at-home day

I snapped a couple of pics with my new camera as eventhough the weather is a bit dark, we still have an amazing view..

Hubby dearest let me have a ly-in this morning , so when I woke up i was determined that even we would stay in , I would do some creativity with the girls..

Ofcourse in the end it turned out Livia painting her face and Sofia painting both hands because ´ Mama I have to paint my hands on the paper!´  Sure hun, you just had a bath, why not....

After all was cleaned, It was lunchtime and I decided to make one of my favourite lunches.

Toast and home made Egg Salad.

This is what you need:

• 6 eggs
• 2 spoons of mayonaise
• half an onion
• 1 spoon of curry powder
• salt and pepper to taste.
  

First I  boiled the eggs for about 5 minutes till they were hard boiled, then gave them a shock with some old water..

In the meantime i chopped the onion really fine. 

My daughter helped me to peel the eggs , well actually she did all the work as I wasn´t even allowed to touch them.

When all was cooked, peeled and chopped, I put everything in one bowl and mixed and mashed all together!

At last I toasted the bread, and et voila!! Egg salad a lá Jany!

After lunch we did some serious relaxing with Sofia deciding I was snow white and she the witch.
I had to eat about 10 pretend apples and 1 pear till she decided she had enough of the ´ go to sleep and the prince will kiss you ´ and we suddenly turned into pirats and have a fight with her toy swords...

Now its time to wake hubby up who has to go into the nightshift tonight.. yup the week is starting again.

So how was your Sunday?

Hasta Pronto!

Jany

I love my new Canon Camera

I never was really a photographer or interested in any of the stuff photographers do.

However that changed when first of all I got kids and second when I opened my new webshop and needed to make proper photos of my handmade items..

That turned out a lot harder then I thought with just a simple phone camera...

However I had no choice and tried to make the best of it with some atmosphere filters and the likes..

When my colleague told me that his girlfriend was selling her Canon EOS 1000d , I didn´t know how fast I could say yes! 

So a couple of weeks later , he handed me my new best friend.

Isn´t he the best!!

I couldn´t wait with snapping some pics, so my colleagues were the victims here

Here is Hugo , sticking his tongue out so had to cut it off.. pff boys...

Tomas here explaining me the tips and tricks of photographing..

Sweet Danny here in a good mood!!

I absolutely love to make some cool shots and later work with them in Picmonkey.
Yes I have photoshop too , but I still need to do a course.. its waaaay to hard!!

So do you have any photographing tips and tricks for me?

Hasta Pronto

Jany

Autumn Sun

Every leaf speaks bliss to me

Falling from the Autumn Tree

                               

                                   Emily Bronte

Today was a lovely sunny autum saturday.

Normally we do the cleaning on this day of the week, however not today.

Today we decided to ignore the state of the house, put our jackets and boots on , and go for a walk

in the mountains.

Here a little photo serie of our day, and as you can see I love to play with backgrounds!

Have a nice weekend!

Jany

My ´odd´ Fashion Style..

Since I was allowed to dress myself , I have been the pain of every Fashion Police around.
I never could be bothered with the latest Fashion or rages and dressed like I wanted to.
My mother and sister still reprimand me sometimes with a ´OMG, you sooo can not wear that!´  or the sugar coated version ´ uhmm eeh Jany, No that´s not exaclty my taste´ . I laugh and they know its all words in the wind..

The one thing I hate the most to wear is Jeans and trousers.. Every feminist probably hate me for this, but I just feel more female and pretty in skirts and dresses..yes even with my size 16!

So here a couple of my favourite clothing items!

1. I looove Lindy Bop dresses, and this one is defenitely one of my favourites.
You can buy this one here. (link)
2. Only one word..Stunning! (link)
3. how about this summery skirt! (link)
4. I am not able to wear heels. They hurt most of the time , and also if I take one step I am lying flat on my face. But that doesnt mean I dont like them.. I only wish I could wear them.. Here the link foor those beauties: (link)
5. Those cuties I looove and even am able to wear them! (link)
6. I live in Spain.. I need sunglasses and Cool ones! (link)
7. Aren´t those handmade earrings fab?! (link)

So what is your personal fashion?

Hasta Pronto,

Jany

And again a small disclaimer here; the photos are not mine or in any way affiliated to me.
I copied them from the mentioned websites above.

Tuesday´s Therapy

Tot per what??

Yes that was my expression the first time I heard that as well.
Tot per tu means ´all for you´ in Catalan,the language they speak here in Catalunya, Spain.

Tot per Tu is also the Autism Support group my daughter and I attend for peers support as its set up by autism parents for autism parents like Shayne and myself.
Also they provide therapy which is more economically then normal private therapy.
This last one is very important for us , as the government decided that kids like Livia only can have therapy twice a month , which is absolutely ridiculous.


Tuesday is therapy day for Livia. Her therapists Lydia and Laura are absolutely amazing!

Today was a special Tuesday though because Neula came for a visit!
Neula is an assist dog for children on the spectrum. Normally she works in a daycentre for children with Celebral Palsy, but sometimes she comes to visit therapy sessions as well. Lucky us!

Livia enjoyed it in the beginning, but got a bit overwhelmed later on. so many people around her as the other kids came to visit Neula as well.

I hope she will join us more often, and hopefully one day we can welcome a sweet dog in our house.
At this moment it is not possible , but who knows one day...

More about my daughters Autism you can find under the Autism tab on this blog.
If you like to know more about Tot per tu , you can always contact me!

Hasta Pronto!

Music Monday!

It doesnt matter where you from or what you do..
It doesn´t matter who you are or what you look like..
It doesnt matter if you are rich or poor, or whch religion you practice..
That one thing what unites everybody , because we all enjoy it, feel it and adore it..
Music , the gate to our souls.


Yeah I just made it up ... Music Monday it is today!

So here my personal top 10 , and I warn you that I am not a ´top 40´ kinda girl!

1. When ACDC was the bomb I was probably not even born yet, but Oh! Do I get happy from their music!!  Back in Black, Highway to Hell, Hells Bells , and this all time favourite..

You shook me all night long!

2. When this woman got famous, I remember my mum loved her music, and she is not the kinda woman listening to a lot of music.. So this is totally memory lane for me, and now her best song for me is this one..

Any Man of Mine - Shania Twain

3. When listening to this musical, it always make me feel even more close to my husband as we already are. Purely because it´s his fault that this is my favorite musical of all times and we would to anything to just go one weekend to the West End and watch this one life..

Les Miserable - On my Own sang by Lea Solonga

4. We all have those moments when you feel down, alone and you against the world..

When I have those moments , I love to listen to this song to pull me out of my self pity and get back to work again..

Simon and Garfunkel - Bridge over Trouble water

5. Years ago when I went to Ireland for the first time in my life on holiday to my then boyfriend´s parents.My then boyfriend is now my dearest husband, and I absolutely adore his parents.

Anyway , one day I was sitting at the kitchen table with my mum-in law and this song came on the radio. It was called ´ You Raise me Up´ by I dont know who at that moment.

I was totally mesmerized and this singer is now one of my favourites ( and ofcourse for me some serious eye candy too)!

Josh Groban - Remember me , soundtrack from the 2004 movie ´Troy¨

6. Ok who doesn´t love Journey?

When I hear this song in a pub or so , I turn into this crazy person , singing and dancing my ass off!

Journey- Don´t stop believing

7. Yep , Legacy of my dad, we grew up with this..

Travis Tritt - Here´s a quarter, call someone who cares.

8. Long , loooong before I was born,.and now I watched ´Walk the Line´ one time too many..

Johnny Cash and June Carter - Time´s a wastin

9. I know this one is a cover, but Michael Bublé just make me happy!

Michael Bublé - Save the last dance for me.

10. It took me a looong time to find that last song, till I came accross this absolute amazing cover Of Prince´s Purple Rain..
I just had to add it so here it is!

Adam Levine ( Maroon 5) - Purple Rain

So this is it, my top 10 for now!

What are your favourite songs?

5 tips to stay sane in the office.

The last 2/3 weeks has been a bit crazy in the office with daily work , but especially with an ongoing reorganisation where our team is caught up in. Don´t get me wrong, this reorganisation is a good one, but still its keeping us on our toes.

I am working in a big ass office space with 200 people ´crammed´ on one floor. desks side by side , with god knows how many PC´s and Phones.
Of course when I started to work for this company , which I honestly enjoy, I knew what I signed up for so I am not allowed to complain.

What I Can do though is make my own desk and little space around me as relaxed as possible, so I work with less ´brain clutter´ in my head.

Here are 5 tips from me and also from the big world wide web...


1. Personalise your workspace

Eventhough I work on such a big floor with so many colleagues, my desk is very much my little corner.. I have photos of my kids, my favourite muesli, some funny quotes in my own language ( the office is multinational) and some other personal small accesories.

But don´t overdo it! you don´t want to be distracted too much either...

Ok, I am honest... I would love to work here. I mean, who doesn´t love the IT Crowd.
´Did you try to turn it on and off again?´..... I had to ask this particular question many, many times in previous jobs , and it still  cracks me up everytime I see this famous episode.


2. Create uninteruptible periods to focus on the job.

Yeahhh , I might have some issues with that at times..
I am a multitasking queen, but working on a difficult technical issue and trying to focus at thelatest office gossip talk behind you is not always recommendable.
I am a curious person , that is not something I can help, but I defenitely need to bring in the uninteruptible periods in my work days to get concentrated!
I think its a good one to hang a big sign around my neck saying ´ I AM NOT HERE, ITS JUST YOUR IMAGINATION´.

3. Munch on some Chocolate.

YEEEEEHAAAAAAAAA!!! I knew it would be the best way to keep me sane!
Although on this article they are talking about 1.4 ounces of the deliciousness. It calms your nerves and dark chocolate even regulates levels of the stress hormone cortisol and stabilizes the metabolism.
A Twix anyone?

4. Counting Backwards

Especially when that one person is interrupting you AGAIN while you are trying to get that annoying and boring excel report together... ( thank god not something I have to do , but you get my drift..)
I am even ashamed to say, that at times I can be that annoying person who can´t wait to tell her story to a colleague.. Said colleague is turning red while trying to stay polite and I know its time to run.
Anyway the article mentions that counting backwards needs a certain concentration and therefor you will be less prone to stressful situations and full blown panic attacks.

5. Stretch!

Wouldn´t it be great fun if twice a day a big bell would ring in the office and for everybody it is mandatory to throw that phone on the desk (no matter who is on the receiver end), stand up and do some shoulder rolling, chest opening, stretch exercises?! Apart from the fact that this is very good for the muscels and blood circulation , I can imagine that a joined exercise like this would be very good for some office humor. ( no examples, use your imagination...)

So this was my top 5, now I am curious what your top 5 is of staying sane at work?!

Please leave a comment , which I sneakily can read at work , which makes me happy... being happy is good and healthy as I would have less stress. So you can honestly say that you contributed to somebodies health!

Thank you for reading and Hasta Pronto!

Jany

PS; A small disclaimer here, the photos or not mine but honestly stolen from Google Images.

Sunday Relaxation

´The Ideal day never comes.
Today is Ideal for him who makes it so´
Horatio Dresser


Today´s Sunday is for relaxing and rummaging in the house.
Sometimes there are Sundays to let the house be, and wander outside.
But not today, today mummy stay in pajamas and the kids are enjoying themselves with movies and books..

Till I decided to clean up the play room, even though its Sunday , I just couldn´t leave the mess.
As this not happens very often anymore ( I gave up) , its kinda fun to see how the kids discover ´new´  toys they had forever, but just were buried in the pile of mess..

Livia decided to make a puzzle which i found somewhere high on the bookshelf.
And OMG I was so pleasantly surprised that she easily managed to fit all the pieces.
When I was cheering , I just got a bored, dry face, like she wanted to say ´Jeezz woman, don´t make such a fool out of yourself!´

While rummaging and cleaning , I found also all the little tiny dollies, plastic animals, doll house furniture etc etc.. Sofia behaved like she won the lottery and couldn´t wait till I was done cleaning!

How I love imaginary play and generally every play what doesn´t involve a TV, laptop or mobile.
Don´t get me wrong, they obviously use all those devices ( a bit too much), but I am just old fashioned like that.

So... the toy room is cleaned and tidied. 2 full bags can go in the bin ( very sneaky otherwise nothing goes in the bin). Sofia is re-enjoying the doll house and her microphone ( aaarghhhh!!). While Livia is bored of the puzzle and decided to play three wheeler engineer. And me?  I put my bum on the sofa and finish a crochet scarf..

And what is your favorite thing to do on a Sunday?