Nimavenl - Nicole's Random Ramblings

I like posting quotes. There's something very satisfying about posting a small(ish) bit of text in a large font, emphasising it and not having to write much else. No paragraphs of information, no need to explain why I think or feel something. Just a quote. Here's one from Game of Thrones: “ It is a big and beautiful world. Most of us live and die in the same corner where we were born and never get to see any of it. I don’t want to be most of us. ” -- Oberyn Martell | Game of Thrones

Railway bridge street art A photo posted by Nicole M. Verhaaf (@nimavenl) on Jul 25, 2012 at 4:03pm PDT

It's been a long time since I went on a holiday. Well, that's one way of looking at it... One could also say that I'm still on holiday, a holiday that's lasted for almost two years now. Life here in The Netherlands has been good. I really enjoy my job, have some pretty awesome friends, and feel at peace with myself. It's not a glamorous life or a very exciting one just right now, however all things can change! At the moment, my life is simple. Easy. Uncomplicated. Boring even, quite a lot of the time. I will most definitely go stir-crazy if I have to live this life for another two years, however for these past two years, it's been what I needed. Living a simple and easy life has allowed me to get settled in, it's allowed me to save up, it's allowed me to get a job and make friends and figure out what I want without a whole lot of stress. And now I'm going on holiday. I'm going back to New Zealand. I'm excited and looking forward...

Reading "River Marked", the sixth book in the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs, I came across ley lines. There were several scenes set at the Stonhenge replica by Maryhill in Washington State, which got me thinking about the original Stonehenge, and books I'd read set in the British Isles by authors like Marion Zimmer Bradley, Diana Gabaldon and Manda Scott. Living in Europe now, I could actually take a mini-break and go visit some of the places described in the books I've read. Places like Tintagel, Stonehenge, and for instance locations from Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. I'm trying to come up with a list of places that I'd really really really like to go to. So far, the list is still a *very* long one and mostly still in the "what if" stage, but still...! Just knowing I can hop on a train or an airplane and see these places, or other amazing places like Berlin and Rome and Paris... It's a pretty wonderful feeling! I've g...

As I'm writing this I'm 25 years old. I'm in New Zealand. It's Saturday evening. Normally, I'd be spending quality time with friends - it being the weekend and all! Today, and for the last few days, I've been sick. And so I've stayed home. I've spent a large part of the time I’ve been sick in front of my laptop. I checked out the trailer for Twilight : New Moon, and I have to say - I can't wait !!!!! Really should re-read the books though before the new movie comes out in November. I read them one after the other - before work, during my lunch breaks, after work, while having dinner - I loved the story and couldn't get enough of it. I’ve slept in. Watched dvds. Friends have come by. I’ve had dinner with my mother. I also received a letter in the mail from work. My last pay-slip and an official letter saying I'd worked there for the past 2,5 years. You see, last week was my last week there. I'm leaving the city I've lived in fo...