Nimavenl - Nicole's Random Ramblings

While browsing the web today looking for location names (not) to use for a story I'm writing, I came across the following bit of info on Wikipedia . How totally cool is this! "Since 2009, the names of planets from the Dune novels have been adopted for the real-world nomenclature of plains (planitia) and other features on Saturn's moon Titan. To date, Arrakis, Chusuk, and Sikun have been used."

Street View ~ Binnenstad Alkmaar A photo posted by Nicole M. Verhaaf (@nimavenl) on Nov 4, 2013 at 10:20am PST

Ladybug on a Leaf by Nimavenl Photography The world is changing once more as it does every year. Green leaves are slowly starting to turn yellow, orange, red and brown. The flowers, sunshine and blue skies of summer give way to the grey skies and golden colours of autumn. Not long now before we turn the heating back on and get our winter coats out from storage. Yellow Sprig by Nimavenl Photography I love the cold purity of winter snow, the new beginnings of spring and the warm weather of summer. However what I love even more are the amazing colours of autumn and the way the world seems to farewell summer and the warm weather in slow stages of colourful changes. If only winter didn't follow autumn, it would be my favourite season! ;-)

I like to think that I try to be honest, realistic and open-minded. I try to see everyone's point-of-view, try to understand why someone says or does something. Sometimes, what I see makes complete sense to me. At other times I simply don't understand it, not at all. When  trying to learn from other people, I try to put myself in their shoes and learn from walking a different path than I normally would when wearing my own shoes. Sometimes, the shoes fit very well and walking around in them is a joy. Sometimes, the shoes barely fit and I need to really work at walking in them without falling over. What matters however is that no matter how impossible it seems to get into someone else's shoes and make walking around in them work; I still try. No matter how many times I trip or fall or bump my little toe, I keep trying until I figure out how to stay standing. Walking may not be easy, running may be impossible, however standing and taking a few small steps - I will keep goi...

I am not usually one who 'gushes' about clothing, shoes or handbags. They are not usually things I care enough about to want to write about. As long as I dress 'appropriately', others are happy and as long as I dress comfortably, I'm happy. These amazing boots however I simply * have to * gush about. How super cute, extremely comfortable looking and totally stylish are they?! Loving them! Rocket Dog Rachel Boot   (see more laced up boots )

As part of my recovery from surgery, I've been daydreaming a lot about happier times to come. It is now six weeks since surgery and while I am by no means all better again (far from it, sadly), I am definitely noticing a lot of improvements in how I'm doing emotionally, mentally and physically. Daydreaming is one thing that keeps me going even when I'm sore or feeling depressed or wondering if my leg will ever get better. One thing I am daydreaming about is our next holiday. While it looks like that holiday will be months away yet, I am enjoying dreaming about where I want to go and what we'll do there. We've both been to France several times and would like to go again. I've been to Euro Disney and to Normandy so would like to see a different part of France next. As I love the sea and am looking forward to enjoying swimming and sunshine, my vote goes to the south-east of France. The French Riviera aka the part of France that borders the Mediterranean Sea...

Na de update die de SpringLevend app vandaag gekregen heeft is er bekend wie de sprong overleefd heeft en wie niet. Ik vind het erg jammer dat er vrijdag avond al bekend werd wie de sprong niet zou overleven na het eerste GTST Live evenement. Nu ook de eerste aflevering van het nieuwe seizoen via de app bekend is, blijkt het definitief te zijn. Degene die de sprong niet heeft overleefd is...

Source: Old Glory I absolutely love this Doctor Who hoodie! It is so very, very cute! Found this Old Glory Doctor Who hoodie while browsing for Doctor Who items online. Yay for Polyvore / Pinterest and all those amazingly talented users putting outfits together!!! You guys rock and I love viewing the cool themes you come up with!

Miracles boots   (see more black high heel shoes ) Very cute and love the red soles!  Style + comfort = these amazing boots!

Naar de YouTube video Inderdaad - Ik ben nog steeds aan het puzzelen over welk GTST personage dood is. Over 2 weken begint Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden weer en dan zullen we het zeker weten. Van 7 van de 9 springers weten we al dat ze veilig zijn. Maxime, Rikki, Nuran, Lorena, Noud, Wiet en Aysen zijn veilig geland. Zoals we gisteren via de app vernamen zijn alleen Nina en Mike nu nog over. Als het goed is leren we deze week via de app wie er overlijdt en wie er nog springlevend is. De eerste twee aanwijzingen zijn vandaag uitgekomen. Als eerste een schuifpuzzel waar op te zien is hoe Nina en Mike uit het vliegtuig springen. Als tweede een video waarin we kunnen zien hoe Laura een rode tang pakt uit de gereedschapskist van Noud die hij in bij de receptie van de Rozenboom had laten staan. Bekijk dit  erg handige filmpje van Kaas Koekje op YouTube om zelf te zien welke updates er vandaag uitgekomen zijn.

Bron: GTST SpringLevend app. Ik ben blij, blij, blij... Ja, zelfs heel blij! Ben me absoluut zeer bewust van het feit dat blij zijn vanwege een soap misschien een beetje vreemd is maar ach - Ik ben het lekker toch ;-) Vol verwachting opende ik vanmorgen de GTST Spring Levend app om de update te bekijken. Wie zou er deze week Spring Levend verklaard worden? Zoals al eerder vermeld hoopte ik dat het personage Aysen (Dilan Yurdakul) de sprong zou overleven. Na de update van vandaag blijkt dat inderdaad zo te zijn! Ergo: Ik ben blij! (So sue me!) Alleen Mike (Louis Talpe) en Nina (Marly van der Velden) zijn nu nog over; eentje zal overleven en eentje overlijden. De app zet de twee op een foto (ook vandaag vrijgegeven) tegenover elkaar en feliciteert mij dat ik al zo ver ben gekomen. "Gefeliciteerd! Je hebt de afgelopen weken zeven Meerdijkers  veilig zien landen en je bent hard op weg naar het antwoord op de vraag: Wie overleeft de sprong niet?" Ik wacht vol spannin...

Source: Daily Info Graphic A friend shared this on Facebook.  I loved it and now I'm sharing it too.  I even screencapped the silly picture that came with it to attach it to this post as I really liked that too! Not everything needs a personal motivation statement to help explain why I post it, so I hope you'll all enjoy these very helpful few hints and understand exactly why I'm sharing them!  Check out these 15 Grammar Mistakes that can make you look silly over at InfoGraphic!

Noooooo! Just read on the website of The Hollywood Reporter that Sandra Oh (Christina Yang) will be leaving Grey's Anatomy at the end of season 10. This means that another one of my favourite people will be leaving. I'm going to miss her! Still - Sandra Oh is an a-ma-zing actress and I am already looking forward to seeing her bring an entirely new yet also amazing character to life! I first fell in love with Grey's in 2006. I was a student living at a student hostel, had a tiny TV with rabbit ears that almost managed 'very little static' and a group of fellow fangirls who also lived in the hostel to discuss every episode with.

Gisteren is in Den Haag onze Prins Johan Friso overleden. De tweede zoon van Prinses Beatrix en daarmee de jongere broer van onze Koning Willem Alexander werd 44 jaar. Hij laat zijn vrouw Mabel en hun twee dochters Luana en Zaria achter. Ik kende Friso zelf niet en vind het daarom moeilijk om er iets over te schrijven. Ik ben jonger dan Friso was, heb hem daarom niet zien opgroeien zoals nu gebeurt bij de dochters van de Koning - de band die ik als "gewone burger" met de Prins voel is daarom, denk ik, anders dan deze had kunnen zijn. Ik merk wel dat ik de gebeurtenis wil eren door er aandacht aan te besteden; dus zal ik proberen iets 'op papier' te zetten dat weergeeft wat er in mijn hoofd omgaat.

I'm a Very Happy Trekkie !!! Took a bit of searching online but finally managed to find a few new (to me) Star Trek books that I've been lusting after for ages! To celebrate that I woke up from open heart surgery a month ago today, I figured I deserved a present. And what better present for a Star Trek fan than four new books. I'm super happy! Finding the next four books looks to be a bit of a mission - the online bookstore I got the first four at was the fourth store I visited, however that's a mission for next month. For now I'm just hoping my books will get here soon! Want to know what I'll be reading - Check out these Star Trek : Typhon Pact books here!

Las vandaag op online forum Girl Scene een zeer interessante theorie omtrent de zomer cliffhanger van GTST. Aangezien na vandaag bekend is dat het personage Wiet van Houten (gespeeld door Pip Pellens) de sprong overleefd heeft zijn er nog drie opties over. Aysen, Mike of Nina heeft de sprong niet overleefd. Ik dacht eerst zelf dat het Nina (Marly van der Velden) zou zijn die het niet zou overleven. Nu ik echter deze theorie lees ben ik weer helemaal in de war... Misschien is het toch Mike (Louis Talpe) die het niet overleeft. Ik vind zelf Aysen (Dilan Yurdakul) als personage leuk en moet eerlijk zeggen dat ik hoop dat zij in de serie blijft. GTST speelt zich dan wel af in een fictieve stad, echter verwacht ik dat er in zo'n stad meer mensen rondlopen dan alleen maar Nederlanders / blank uitziende mensen. Ik vind het fantastisch om een Turkse actrice in GTST te hebben, en vind het nog leuker om er twee in te hebben! Plus - een vrouw met ballen is altijd goed voor een interessant...

Ik was vanmorgen zo blij! Ik begrijp dat het eigenlijk best wel vreemd is om blij te zijn dat een fictief personage 'nog leeft', maar ik ben het hoe dan ook.   Wiet van Houten leeft nog!  Van de negen springers zijn er nu zes definitief veilig. Maxime, Rikki, Nuran, Lorena, Noud en nu ook Wiet zijn veilig geland.  De overgebleven drie springers zijn Aysen, Mike en Nina. Wie van hun is er te pletter gevallen? Nog maar een paar weken en dan is alles duidelijk! Even iets anders dat me gisterenavond opviel. Op deze foto, een screen cap van de SpringLevend App, zie ik negen parachutes die open en wel naar beneden komen.  Er hebben negen mensen meegedaan met de sprong. Van die negen mensen is er eén dood neer gevallen, de andere acht overleven het. Toch vreemd dat er op deze screen cap dan negen open / niet kapotte parachutes te zien zijn. Snap ik nu iets niet helemaal of zie ik het gewoon fout? 

Het is zaterdag avond. Ik zit op de bank, laptop op schoot. Lees een recensie over een (voor mij nieuw) boek dat ik wil lezen. Het boek klinkt goed. De moeite waard om te downloaden via Project Gutenberg . Niet bepaald een nieuw boek aangezien het (legaal) online te downloaden is maar hopelijk wel een leuk en interessant boek! Ik lees een aantal theorieën over Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden. Ik lees over wie het nou gedaan heeft en waarom. Over wie er doodgevallen is, wie er springlevend is. Nog een paar uur wachten tot het antwoord van week 6 dat op zondag bekend moet worden. De aanwijzingen deze week leken met Wiet te maken te hebben over het algemeen. De titel van deze week is echter "Het Bewijs" dus wijzen de aanwijzingen nu naar de dader of naar een overlevende? Maandag is me niet helemaal duidelijk. Degene die langs de beveiligingscamera loopt lijkt voor mij Nina of Wiet te zijn. De reactie bij het laten vallen van de tas zou van beiden kunnen zijn, denk ik. Volgens...

I am looking forward to reading Reza Aslan's newest book Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth , a book exploring the life and teachings of the historical Jesus. Although I am not a Christian and do not believe that Jesus is or was the son of God, I am interested in world religions, Biblical history and Israel, which makes Jesus a very interesting person to learn about. If time travel existed (and my time machine had a Tardis-like translation circuit...) I would love to head to the Galilee or (how awesome would that be: ) to the Jerusalem of Jesus' time to experience for myself what life was like back then and to find out in what kind of a world he lived. I would love to be just a face in the crowd, one of the many who congregated to hear Jesus speak or see for myself if what people were saying about him was true. How amazing would it be to actually meet the man behind the legend, to see the expression on his face as he talks, explains and teaches, to listen to word...

I am so super duper excited right now !!!!!!!!!!! According to The Guardian , Glasgow-born actor Peter Capaldi has been named as the 12th Doctor !!!!!!!!!!!! I love his face, I love that he is not a 'young thing' like Matt Smith (who I also loved, by the way!), I absolutely love how he sounds and I simply know that I am going to have soooooooo much fun enjoying this new Doctor. I am sad to see the end of Matt Smith's 11th Doctor, however we all know that every Doctor will eventually regenerate which means that we all knew there would be a 12th Doctor. I wonder what funky foods and cool yet quirky clothes the next Doctor will  have a penchant for! Peter Capaldi has very big shoes to fill, however I am looking forward to seeing his take on the Doctor and can't wait for the Christmas special and new episodes after that!

Bron: GTST website en Facebook pagina Ik kijk niet vaak naar de televisie. Heb wel, zoals zovelen, programma's die ik leuk vind maar zit zeker niet aan de buis gekluisterd om de volgende aflevering te zien. De meeste shows zijn nu toch online te volgen en bekijken! Er is echter een uitzondering op elke regel en voor mij is die uitzondering de soap "Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden" oftewel GTST. Als klein kind ben ik GTST voor het eerst gaan kijken toen ik een paar dagen bij familie logeerde. Niet alleen de soapserie zelf maar ook het 'laat' mogen opblijven om GTST te kijken vond ik fantastisch. Deze dagen kijk ik GTST nog steeds het liefst om acht uur 's avonds. Het is een ritueel dat begon toen ik zeven was en nu ik bijna 30 ben hou ik dat ritueel zelf in stand. Een beetje houvast en stabiliteit in deze hectische wereld kan zeker geen kwaad (en geeft mij rust)! Wat mij ook beweegt om GTST te kijken, een ding weet ik zeker - ik ben en blijf door deze s...

Source: Some Ecards

Found a link to this extremely HUGE list of Star Trek books on Wikipedia. As Wikipedia can be changed quite easily, why not visit Memory Alpha as well, which has been a favourite go-to website of mine for years and years when it comes to Star Trek books!

Source: DeviantART While browsing the web looking for cute / funny / silly Doctor Who related images, I came across something I'd not seen before. Fish fingers and custard jewellery!  After some very excited fan girl jumping up and down while squealing like a girl (well, not quite due to my heart but close... sort of...) I realised that this was one more for the blog as I simply * have to * share the amazingness!  Source: Etsy The first image from Deviant ART (by way of Google) is a set, which I love. When enjoying the coolness of fish fingers and custard, why not enjoy it in threefold? Also very cool that all three 'bowls' look slightly different.  The second image which is from Etsy (also sourced through Google, of course!) is pretty much the same but slightly different from the earlier three 'bowls' which is why I've included it. I like the silver chain better than the black cord and the third fish finger covered in custard is a cute...

I am still scrolling through an amazing Tumblr feed entitled Companion Clothing . This feed shows the author / compiler's views of clothes that (possible) Doctor Who companions might wear or have worn. Am definitely enjoying 49 pages (and counting!...) of Who - inspired goodness! Came across these very gorgeous boots on page 41 as part of an outfit. Another case of simply * having to * gush about them! The previous Boots post came from the same Tumblr feed. Please ankle booties   (see more ankle boots )

Bron: Sceen capture gemaakt op 29-07-2013, Bekende Buren website  Het is aanstaande donderdag alweer drie weken geleden dat ik geopereerd ben. Aangezien mijn borstkas nog aan het helen is en mijn been en voet nog steeds problemen geven (een soort verlamd / slapend gevoel sinds de operatie en mijn spieren doen niet wat ze horen te doen) loop en beweeg ik minder dan gehoopt. Iets waar ik nu veel meer van doe dan verwacht is op de bank zitten met mijn laptop op schoot. Ik schrijf af en toe iets voor mijn blogs, check wat er op Facebook gebeurt, lees veel, kijk veel video's en kijk veel naar mooie foto's en plaatjes van bijvoorbeeld kleding, huizen en vakantiebestemmingen. Over kleding en vakanties wil ik vast later nog schrijven maar over mooie huizen wil ik het nu nu nu hebben! Als echte Google Girl is Google eigenlijk altijd de eerste plek waar ik inspiratie op doe en foto's opzoek. Behalve Google ben ik ook gek op websites zoals Jaap.nl en Funda.nl - websites...

Source: Daily Mail Online A friend shared an article on Facebook today entitled " Zombie Organism Created in Laboratory " (Zombease.com). Intrigued by the title, I simply had to go and read the article! After Googling "zombie cells" and finding several articles from websites I'm more familiar with, it seems authentic which makes this SUPER COOL! While I enjoy science fiction and fantasy stories, I've never quite warmed to zombies. The closest I've come to liking zombie stories is reading about Anita Blake's work as an animator aka someone who raises zombies for a living. Anita Blake is a character created by the amazing Laurell K. Hamilton - Check the links on the right to visit her website and read more about Anita's world and her work. Zombie cells...  Using silicic acid to 'embalm' mammalian cells  (Daily Mail)...  Building structures at the nanometer scale  (Huffington Post)... I understand the words themselves however the sci...

Source: The A Factor Shop My super sweet and amazing boyfriend gave me a Doctor Who Tardis key-chain and a "wibbly wobbly timey wimey" / Tardis top to celebrate my surviving open heart surgery almost three weeks ago.  As a huge Doctor Who fan I was super thrilled and yes, I definitely squealed like a teenager. (Well, pretty much... Sort of... Ish?...) While I've been a fan of both Doctor Who and Torchwood for several years, I've never bought or owned any Who merchandise.  Won't be able to use the key-chain for a while as I'm still quite apprehensive about leaving the house while I can barely stand and walk due to the problems with my leg caused by surgery. Won't wear the top yet as I want to keep it looking as spiffy as possible. Still - I am super, super thrilled with my prezzies and can't stop looking at them!  I understand that many other women would have preferred shoes, clothes, handbags or jewellery however I am - thank the Lo...

Today, totally out of the blue, I came across a review in the St. Louis Post - Dispatch for a new book by one of my favourite authors. The reviewer sounded like he enjoyed the book and explained a bit about the books in the process - always fun to read a review like that! I first picked up a book by Laurell K. Hamilton a few years ago after being introduced to her work by fellow fans of Anne Bishop's books. Enjoyed the first few books in the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series a lot and by the time I'd read those, was hooked enough that I kept on reading as more books came out.  The Anita Blake books have taught me a lot and have helped me deal with real-life issues. The question " What would Anita say / do ?" crosses my mind several times a month even when not actively reading or re-reading the books. Anita Blake starts off as a tough as nails animator and vampire slayer - a professional who is good at her job, enjoys it and draws a lot of satisfaction from livin...

Been thinking about who I'd like to see as the next Doctor Who. A few days ago a friend suggested Rupert Grint of Harry Potter fame. Not my first choice as to me he's still Ron Weasley, however perhaps not a bad choice either. When not playing a slightly dumb/daft/pick your word character he might be awesome and a brilliant actor? Would mean finally a ginger doctor so the man himself would quite likely be very happy. Still... We had a ginger Doctor-Donna, a ginger Amy and a ginger River so why do we need a ginger doctor too when he surrounds himself with awesome gingers? For balance? Perhaps. But then a female doctor would be great for balance too! While it'd be a very interesting change to have a female doctor, we've had amazing female characters and companions just as strong, powerful and amazing as the Doctor, so why bother changing genders - let the doctor stay male, it might keep everything easiest. Also, why have just one female incarnation - wouldn't it b...

I survived open-heart surgery. I am now home from hospital. I am sore, emotional, tired, broken, bruised and scarred. Yet I am alive, I am okay and I am looking forward to getting better. "When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love."  --Marcus Aurelius

Source: Stuff.co.nz According to an 03 July 2013 article on New Zealand website Stuff.co.nz, Pittsburgh (USA) artist Nickolay Lamm has re-created Barbie in the image of today's 19-year old American woman. New Barbie is shorter and stockier than Original Barbie (as the screencap on the right shows) and has an actual figure - finally! I'd have liked to see New Barbie look more natural than Original Barbie with regards to hair and skin colour, however we can't have everything all at once. New Barbie as created by Mr. Lamm looks natural to me - she looks like women I see on the street and around me, not like one of those plastic fantastic airbrushed types we see in magazines these days. Well done Mr. Lamm and thank you for adding some realism to our lives!

There are some things in life that are serious enough to take one away from the internet for some time. This is one of those things. I'll be having open heart surgery next week which means I won't be posting as much as I might for some time and will hopefully have more time to write and post when I'm recovering.

As a huge fan of long running TV series Doctor Who, I love reading about Whovian events around the world. I don't mean conventions or dress-up parties - I mean worldwide events that all fans can participate in. One of the Whovian events I adore is Bad Wolf day. Who fans write the words Bad Wolf wherever they can using for instance sidewalk chalk or other non-permanent means. It's not at all about destroying or defacing property - it is about spreading the word one fan at a time and sharing our 'inside joke' with other fans. To learn more about Bad Wolf day, read this Wikipedia article or do a Google search!

After writing the previous post about Shakespeare as performed in the Original Pronunciation and watching the video again, I couldn't help but think of British TV series Doctor Who. There's an episode in which the Doctor and his then-companion Martha Jones head to Shakespearian England and meet the Bard himself. In the process they defeat three evil witches, save the future of the world and of course, make sure that dear Will is forever grateful to them. One thing I loved about this episode is that Shakespeare saw the Doctor's psychic paper as blank paper, "confirming to the Doctor that Shakespeare is a genius" as the Wikipedia article for this episode explains. Really should watch this episode again some time soon!

I LOVE Shakespeare! To me, Shakespeare's works are amazing stories that will definitely stand the test of time. They can also be hard to read / watch and thus hard to understand. The English language has changed and evolved since the time of Shakespeare, yet Shakespeare's works remain as they are - brilliantly written however not in today's language.  There have, over the years, been many attempts to convert Shakespeare's plays to the modern era. Look at for instance the 1999 movie 10 Things I Hate About You ( link ) starring tragically brilliant Heath Ledger and the amazing Julia Stiles. Based on The Taming of the Shrew, this movie is set in modern-day USA with the characters speaking modern-day American English. Other Shakespeare adaptations set in the modern day or adapted to the modern day are for instance the 1994 animated movie The Lion King ( link ) which is/ seems based on Hamlet and 2006's Amanda Bynes / Channing Tatum movie She's The Man ( link ) ...

In today's media-dominated world of fashion, image consciousness, brand names and online identities, I am proud to say that I am a Google Girl.  I've been using Gmail since 2005 when it was still invitation only and prefer Google's search engine over others. I also use Blogger for my blogs and have for years.  One thing I wish I loved more is Google+. It could be THE perfect place to have all my online content together in one place,  presented in a style and format of my choice. My photos, reviews, opinion pieces, shared 'likes' and more. Instead, it is presented as yet another online networking platform that to me has no unique features that make me want to use it over other platforms. I am trying to do more with it and to "plus one" more posts, however am still hesitant about it.  As part of my attempt to do more with Google+, I have chosen to link two of my blogs to my public Google+ profile. This way, my original content has my name on...

(c) Nimavenl 2013 A close-up of our cat. While trying to take a photo of our cat, our darling photo model decided that the clicking sounds of the camera were very interesting indeed...

Gasp. Not unexpected however not entirely expected yet either.  Still processing. Have two more episodes to watch (Never enough time in a day...) and really did NOT want to know this yet. Still - here we are.  I loved the multi-episode goodbye to Ten and hope the goodbye to Eleven will be as amazing as that was. Read all about Matt Smith's final adventures as Doctor Who at the BBC's Blog. 

I updated my internet security program today. My laptop prompted me and after berating myself for not updating sooner I clicked on the link.  Windows kindly sent me to a page with internet security programs to choose from that are all compatible with my operating system. It is comforting to know that Microsoft links to these programs because it assures me that they are 100% legit and that I'm not downloading malware (malicious software) by mistake. Finding an internet security program that matches your wants and needs can be time consuming and even cost you money. I'm not a professional so will not tell you how to choose or which program to choose. I will however leave you with these common sense tips:  * Always read the small print so you know exactly what you're agreeing to - that means the Terms and Conditions, the company's Privacy policy etcetera.  * Ask around. Check with others what programs they use and what their experiences are or see what expert sourc...

Funny how it's May already yet I'm still wearing my winter coat when I leave the house. I realise that I'm extra cold due to being ill but still... Nature; get your act together and bring us more warmth and sunshine!

Ik ben sinds ik als jong meisje met Disney prinsessen opgroeide gek op prinsessenjurken. Ik ben ook stapelgek op trouwjurken, baljurken en galajurken. De Troonswisseling vandaag 30 april 2013 was een fantastische gelegenheid om ontzettend mooie jurken te zien! Er waren veel Kroonprinsen- en prinsessen dus per definitie erg veel prinsessenjurken te zien. Ik heb mijn hart kunnen ophalen! Ik hoop nog wat zinnigs te kunnen schrijven over de woorden van onze nieuwe Koning en over wat deze gebeurtenis voor mij persoonlijk betekent. Dat zal later komen. Voor nu zal ik het erbij laten de kledingkeuze van onze nieuwe Koningin te bejubelen. De ontzettend mooie blauwe jurk met mantel gedragen bij de Inhuldiging en de magisch mooie creatie (met Argentijnse invloed?) die Máxima 's avonds aanhad waren alle twee ontzettend mooi. Ik heb er in ieder geval twee jurken bij voor mijn "Als ik een prinses was, dan..." lijstje van jurken waar ik in het dagelijks leven alleen maar van k...

In a few days, my country will have a King instead of a Queen. For 33 years we've had a Queen at the head of our nation. Her son will now take over and become the King. Our Crown Prince Willem Alexander is a smart, charming and intelligent man who in my opinion will make a very good future king. He has had the time to become his own person, form his own opinions and really understand his future role. A husband and father, advocate for sports and the environment and a well-spoken and funny man; I believe Willem Alexander is a King of the current age and one who will put his own stamp on our country and on his new office.  While I am certain that Willem Alexander will be an amazing new head of our country, there is the little girl in me that is much more impressed by our new Queen to be. It is Willem Alexander's wife Princess Máxima who has left no-one in doubt that she will be an amazing future Queen. She is intelligent and charming and has the makings, bearing and of c...

I am so sick and tired of Instagram's issues! Been trying (on and off) for the past 45 minutes to post comments to a photo I posted and am having no luck. Managed to get a few 'tags' posted however apart from the few tags, the others remain unposted. Instagram uses a method of tagging a photo so others can find it by subject. Tagging works by putting a hash tag before a word. One may search for #flowers or pictures of the #beach, for instance. When tagging is practically impossible, getting my photos 'out there' is harder as I can't put as many tags (descriptions) on my photos as I would like. Problems with posting comments to Instagram are annoying. They are not life threatening or anything like that, I am aware of that :-) Sometimes though, it's good to complain a bit when I manage to wind myself up too much over an insignificant problem! It helps me get it out of my system and hopefully gets my problem some exposure by putting it online. Anyone out t...

I work in customer service. Working in customer service means giving people my name in good faith and hoping that those people will understand that me giving them my name does not mean I want to become friends online or in real life. Having encountered some customers who do not understand the difference between a friendly professional chat while waiting for a computer to come up with results and something else, I have now stopped giving people my real name. I am also changing and rearranging the information I have available online. As a result of "editing" my online privacy I have reverted most of my blog posts to draft. I will be going through the posts, editing where necessary and removing a post where it is too personal. The others I will put back online. I look forward to a new, changed and improved blog,  I hope you will join me in that enthusiasm! 

Doctor Who: The Bells Of St John broadcast time confirmed | Den of Geek

I am trying to decide what to read next. Could do with a re-read of a loved book or series. Could read a new and inspiring book. Which one, though? I've just re-read J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. Have also read several Laurell K. Hamilton books in the Anita Blake and Merry Gentry series. I'm familiar with the worlds created by the authors and know the books and the characters. I am looking for a similarly familiar series to read or re-read. To explain 'similarly familiar' : I love stories about vampires, were-animals, dragons, aliens, magical worlds and such and know those genres. Whether one reads Anne Rice, Charlaine Harris or Stephenie Meyer, they are all writing about vampires and how these walking undead interact with humanity and with the world around them. Whether the vampires sparkle, fly, question organised religion or fall in love - the basics of vampirism (is that even a word?!) stay mostly the same and thus the story feels familiar. I like b...

RTL Nieuws - Emma en Daan populairste kindernamen Overzicht van meest populaire kindernamen in Nederland. Moet toegeven dat ik er best een paar mooie namen tussen zie staan. Goed om zo'n lijst te hebben, weet ik meteen hoe we onze toekomstige kinderen niet zullen noemen! ;-)

Stadslichten. Vanaf de brug tegenover bushalte Kanaalkade. City Lights. Taken from the bridge across from bus stop Kanaalkade.  Binnenstad Alkmaar. Noord Holland, Nederland. Taken with my Samsung Galaxy S II.