More photos!!

So here are some more photos of OZ...we had a busy couple of days but we are almost done unpacking!!! Rob and I are very happy with the progress and I will take some pictures soon from the house so all of you can see our place. But for now I have uploaded photos of the baby shower and 3 pictures taken today this late afternoon at the beach. It is very warm here 35 C and after a day organising Rob and I went to the beach at the end of the day to cool off a little, we met his brother and Jasmin (Rob's niece). It was great but the sea was a little rough but very refreshing! You all can see that Greenpeace was almost coming and dragging me back to the sea, I look like a whale with my big belly. The baby is healthy and growing how you all can notice. Not long now I am on week 33 so just a couple more weeks and the baby will be with us. Hope you all are well and miss all of you! Enjoy...

Eggplant Lasagna (glutenfree!!!)

Here is my favorite lasagna recipe; even though it takes some time to prepare, it is just worth all the trouble. This recipe is great because it's full of veggies (you can also make it a vegetarian lasagna just don't add the minced meat). There is no pasta in it, so for the ones who might be on a diet or have gluten allergies this is a great alternative.


Preparation time: 1 1/2 hours

Serves: 4 people
Ingredients:

1 good sized eggplant (for a lasagna dish 33 x 22cm. If you have a bigger dish just use two eggplants.)

2 carrots chopped in cubs

1 zucchini chopped in cubs

1 yellow pepper chopped in cubs

2 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable stock

1 bottle of tomato puree

1 onion chopped in cubes

3 garlic cloves chopped or minced

400 grams of good quality minced beef (I like to use the one that has the least fat.)
1 big bag of grated cheese (I use mozzarella light but you can use whatever cheese you prefer.) breadcrumbs
Fresh Basil
salt
pepper

*You can use whatever veggies you have in the fridge for this recipe; the only must have is the eggplant.

Preparation:

Step 1: Start by cutting the eggplant length wise in thin slices. Don't worry if slices are not perfect it will work anyway and no one will see because it will be used for layers.

Step 2: Dip the eggplant slices in the eggs and then in the breadcrumbs. Put some butter in a frying pan and fry them still they are golden brown set them aside in a dish. Do this till all the eggplant is fried.

Step 3: Pre-heat the oven to 190 C. In a medium pan add some olive oil and saute the onion and garlic till soft. Then add the minced meat let it cook till all the juices of the meat are gone. Then add the zucchini, yellow peppers, carrots and any other veggies you want. Let it fry for a little while. Add the tomato sauce (leave some sauce in the bottle so you can use this for the bottom of the lasagna dish), vegetable stock, salt, pepper (I like to add some vegetable stock to the sauce but it is not a must but if you do this be more careful with the salt.) Let it simmer till the sauce thickens a bit. At the end add the fresh basil (I love to use a lot of fresh basil but its up to you how much you put in it...if you don't have fresh basil just use dry oregano.)

Step 4: In the lasagna dish use the left over tomato puree for the bottom (I do this so the eggplant doesn't burn and it gets the taste of the tomatoes too.) Add a layer of eggplant then a layer of the minced meat sauce then a layer of grated mozzarella cheese. Continue till all the eggplant and sauce is gone. Now be sure to leave some mozzarella cheese for the top, its the best part!

Step 5: Stick it in the pre-heated oven till you see the top become golden and the sauce bubbly. Take out of the oven and serve. There it is, a beautiful healthy dish which will comfort you, your friends and family without breaking the budget. Enjoy!!!

Great little animation videos!!!

I usually don't add any videos to my posts by these are just so funny and simplistic that I could not keep myself from sharing it with all of you! Enjoy the show:

I have not forgotten my Blog!!

Sorry everyone for the long silence, but things are just hectic at the moment. Finally managed to download some pictures to the web. As you can see here I am and I am getting bigger and bigger by the minute! So we finally have are own house and how I missed my own things and my bed and my space after two years on the road. We are still unpacking boxes and the house still looks like we just moved in but we are slowly getting there. I have not started to arrange the baby room yet so it will probably be ready when the baby is 15 years old or something hahaha!!

For the rest I am healthy and the little one too, he is so strong that he kicks and leaves me sore for a couple of days but I am not complaining the midwife said is a very good sign that he is active. Rob and I are starting our labour and parent classes on the end of the month and I cant believe there is only 13 weeks to go it is sooooo scary. I am learning how to drive and that is scary too not only for me but everyone else on the road! It took sometime for the Internet to get connected that is why the long silence and also with the new house, learning how to drive and having some social life there were not enough hours on the day to update my blog. Will put more pictures up soon don't worry...the four slide shows that I have added bellow are of The Move, Zoo Trip with Tania and the kids, Making Proggy With Grandma and Belly Pics. I hope you enjoy...the proggy one and the belly picture were taken today. I miss everyone very much and I promise not to neglect my blog for so long!!!! Have fun...

Luca's Quilt in Progress

I was waiting till I moved to my new home to start Luca's quilt which I promised him he would receive for Christmas but my mother in law just gave me the extra push I needed to start. I reached for the stars for inspiration on this one and I already had all the fabric tones that I wanted to use, just got some extra material from my mother in law. I started by washing all the fabric that I was going to use seeing it was kept in boxes for half a year. When I hanged all the fat quarters outside to dry I realised that this quilt will be very very special. I am sure Luca's will love it and use well in his new home in France. After some color matching and some cutting I kept all pieces separate for each star. It does make the whole process easier and I am thankful for Tiiu's tip on this one. So I hope you all enjoy the small slide show of the progress so far and hopefully soon I will be able to post the end result! Enjoy.

Craving for Eclairs!!!

I was really craving for Eclairs for a couple of days so I went in search of an easy and good recipe so I could make them at home. Eclairs are a french chocolate pastry that are light in texture but very rich in flavour. Eclair actually means lightning in french and it was given this name because of its beautiful glaze. Not much is known about the origins of this famous pastry but its birth place is France. There are some who speculate that Eclairs were first made by a famous royal pastry chef called Marie-Antoine Carême (royal life must have been sweet with this chef around the royal kitchen!). Also oxford English Dictionary traces the term "eclair" in the English language to 1861. The first known recipe for eclairs appeared in the Boston Cooking School Cook Book by Mrs. D.A. Lincoln, published in 1884.

Well that was a bit of culinary history for all of you who actually are interested but of course eating the eclairs is more important and fun! After some research and changing the recipe to suit what I wanted, I managed to make them and they were delicious! Very decadent dessert that takes some time to make but it is sure to impress your guests and your tummy. Here is the recipe with pictures so you can try it at home! Enjoy...I am sure you will!

Preparation Time: 1 hour Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Eclair Dough:
2/3 cup Milk
2/3 cup Water
4 oz (113 grams) Butter
1 cup Flour
5 Eggs
2 tsp.Granulated Sugar
Pinch of Salt

Chocolate Cream Filling:
6 oz.(170 grams) Unsweetened dark chocolate powder (cocoa)
1 cup Milk
4 Egg Yolks
1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
1/4 cup Flour

3 tbs. Tia Maria or Amaretto liquor
2 tbs brewed coffee

Chocolate Icing:
5 oz.(141 grams) Dark Chocolate Bar
2 oz.(56 grams) Butter
1/4 cup Water

How to make Eclair Dough:

Preheat oven to 425°F (218 C).
1. In a pot, mix water, milk, butter, sugar, and salt. Bring to a boil.
2. Once butter has completely melted, take off flame, and slowly pour in flour, stirring constantly (sometimes this will be enough to make the dough drier and start to unstick to the sides of the pot if that happens you wont need to put it back on the flame as step 3 tells you).
3. Put pot back on flame and continue to work it with a wooden spoon. Continue stirring and kneading with spoon until the dough dries out and stops sticking to the sides of the pot.
4. Take off flame and wait a little till dough cools down (if you put the eggs when the dough is too hot it will make the eggs cook too fast and you will have some scramble eggs in your eclair dough!). Add eggs, one at a time, stirring energetically.
5. Fill a icing piping bag with the eclair batter. Butter a baking sheet. Squeeze out "finger-sized eclairs" onto baking sheet, well-spaced. This will make 20 small eclairs but if you like making them bigger please take into account that you probably will get 12 eclairs or even less.
6. Bake for 10 minutes. Then turn oven down to 385°F (196 C) and bake another 10-12 minutes with the oven door open. Now this bit is up to you to keep an eye on the progress of your eclairs, I left the oven closed for a little longer and on the last 5 minutes I opened the oven door. This is all up to your judgment and how hot your oven gets. But the oven needs to be hot so the eclairs can rise.
7. When they are done take them out of the oven and let them cool while you make the filling.

Chocolate Filling:
1. Add the cocoa powder and milk in a pot, and bring to light boil, remove and let it cool.
2. In a bowl, whisk yolks and sugar until it whitens.
3. Slowly add flour, stirring.
4. Slowly add chocolate milk and the coffee stirring until homogeneous.
5. Put back in pot, bring to light boil, stirring constantly, until cream thickens and becomes smooth. If your cream becomes lumpy don't panic, just add some more coffee or milk whisk it till it gets smooth again.
6. Add the liquor and while waiting it too cool off place a piece if glad rap on the top of the filling so it doesn't get a crusty.
7. When cream cools off (and eclairs have cooled off as well), you can begin filling the eclairs: Use your icing piping bag to inject the filling into the eclairs.



Icing:
Now be careful not to eat all of them before you put the chocolate icing on them it really pays off to wait till they are done!
1. Finely chop chocolate and place in a heatproof bowl that fits snuggly in a saucepan.
2. Once melted add butter.
3.Remove from heat and remove bowl from saucepan . Add the water and whisk thoroughly. It should look shiny and creamy!
3. Now dip the top of your eclairs (face down of course) into the chocolate icing and place them on a tray to cool. Voilà your eclairs are ready to eat! I love to eat them cold that is why I put mine in the fridge to be nice and cool. Enjoy!

Two Days in Canberra

Rob and I had an unexpected little outing to Canberra. He was called in for an interview and I tagged along to see if I would like to live in Canberra. For those of you who don't know, Canberra is the Capital of Australia . It was a planned city built with the purpose to become the capital just like Brasilia was built to be the capital of Brazil. I thought both cities had a lot in common even though I have not been physically to Brasilia and only know it through TV and pictures.

Canberra has new architecture and is very spacious place. It has beautiful parks, natural life and the shopping is great! We had dinner in a very nice Italian restaurant which I enjoyed the chicken pasta with white wine sauce and Rob got the veal a parmigiana. For dessert we had tiramisu who was nothing else but sponge cake with cream, no hint of coffee or amaretto a real disappointment.

It was very cold in Canberra (it has a ski resort near by so you can imagine that it is cold there), I was all dressed up like winter which was strange. I never expected to be so cold here in Australia for some ignorant reason I thought the whole country was warm and hot! By the way we are not moving to Canberra, it wasnt that we did not like the place but with the baby on the way I wanted to be near family and friends seeing that most of my family is in Holland. Well hope you guys enjoy the slide show with the few pictures we took while in Canberra.

Spring in Perth!!!

First of all I want to say that I am sorry for my silence regarding my blog posts. Its been a very hectic August, not only were we looking for a house (which by the way turned to be a very exhausting experience) but also Rob is looking for work. We did find a house which we liked and we are now waiting for all the paper work to be accepted.

On the baby front everything is going very well. I will have my next ultrasound in a couple of weeks which of course I will post the pictures for all of you to see the little jumping bean growing into a real size baby. I still cant feel the little bugger move, even though everyone is asking me, "Have you felt it yet???". It is just a weired concept that I can feel my child move inside of me, I don't know why but I always get images of the film Alien when the thing explodes out of the chest of its host (hahahah). Oh well it is one of my favorite films...another thing that is becoming increasingly annoying is everyone turning to me and saying, "Enjoy your life now because it will be over soon." Talk about positive attitude towards starting a family, than they are surprised why women get post natal depression. Wouldn't you get depressed if the only thing you hear is that you life will be over when your child is born and when you finally popped it out, not only you need to deal with the fact that you have a tinny life to take care but also all those words of "wisdom" of people around you come to hunt you? I wish that there was a kind of law against being negative around pregnant women. Well sorry guys for all the rant on pregnancy ordeals but I needed to get it out of my chest. I am finally experiencing the happy hormones which they talk so much about. I do feel much better and also it feels like I can take the world, its a nice feeling.

For the rest Perth is getting warmer and all the wild flowers are coming out to greet us. I do love spring I think its my favorite season, not too hot and all that fresh air with flowers everywhere. Last weekend was our birthday (Rob and I have birthdays on the same day) so we gathered his family and went to Kings Park for a picnic. It was a warm sunny day and all the flowers were out. I took some very nice pictures of the park and all the flowers. I hope you enjoy them. I also added in my web album pictures of the Rugby game which Rob, Julia and I went to watch. It was so fun to cheer with all the Australians and it was my first Rugby game so I had a blast! Also in the same album there is pictures of the car that we bought which Rob and I love. So I will only add the pictures of our birthday on the blog and for the other pictures please go to my web album. I will soon update the blog again, please be aware that if the house goes through we will be arranging everything to move so it might take some time for all the updates to come through. Oh I am also working on a little overalls for the baby, I already started knitting it and I already done 50% of it, will post pictures when its done. Well I hope all of you are well and enjoy the slide show.

Baby on board: Jumping Bean

I am aware that many of you had no idea of the great news that I am about to tell you! After a year of trying and with some sad results along the year; we are finally pregnant!!!! Yes I am 12 weeks pregnant and just had my first ultrasound yesterday! For some reason I didn't believe it was true till yesterday, after seeing my little peanut I was sure enough that he/she is here to stay. I changed its name from peanut to jumping bean because throughout the ultrasound it kept jumping around and having fun while we were watching. Jumping bean is about 5 cm at the moment, it has all its limbs and is healthy. Rob and I were so surprised because we expected not see much with the ultrasound (we thought we would just see a little blob hahaha) but than there it was a perfect mini baby with its little hands waving at us! We found out that I was pregnant a couple of days before leaving to our honeymoon in Brazil. So I didn't even go see the doctor because I was just scared that something would go wrong again so I decided to wait. I just enjoyed my honeymoon and just when I arrived here in Perth Australia did I go to the doctor. They did all the tests and everything is fine, which gives me an immense relief. For the rest everything is fine over here DOWN UNDER. The first week we just slept a lot and since then ts been non-stop with all the immigration papers. We bought a new car last week, a Subaru outback 2008. We are also at the moment looking for houses because we are staying with Rob's parents at the moment. Rob is looking for employment too. So everything is slowly arranging itself. Well this is all the news I have to give you all. Rob and I are very happy with the baby, I am sure all of you are too! Well enjoy the pictures of jumping bean bellow:

The photo above is from Kim Mallroy photographer.

Honeymoon in Brazil!

There are not enough words to describe how wonderful our trip to Brazil was for Rob and I. Not only it was a great honeymoon but for me it was special because I haven't gone back home in 11 years. I had a chance to meet up with some of my old friends and also to meet with my two sisters who I had missed so much. We started our trip in Sao Paulo, (were I was born and were one of my sister's lives) we stayed there for 7 days. It was great to meet Henrique after 11 years, he hasn't changed much, just that know he works very hard and has a wonderful sweet girlfriend (soon to be wife I hope!). Carolina also went to Brazil at the same time as us so we caught up with her and her sisters, which was great! My neighbourhood has changed so much that I almost didn't recognise it. The school which I used to go to high school has been demolished and now its a car park. Although the neighbourhood has changed and grown, it has also become a very trendy area with all the best bars and nightclubs. It was very strange to be there with everyone because it was the same but at the same time very different. I felt like a tourist which made me a little sad. Also I had a chance to have some great pizza (my city really has the best pizza in the world) and great steaks. I had a chance to spend some time with Regina (my oldest sister) and it was very nice to see her and my nephew Alexandre. I was happy to find them well and it was great to catch up with them after 4 years. Rob had a chance to go fly a helicopter in Sao Paulo and he absolutely loved it! The 7 days flew by so fast and before we knew it, it was time to move on to Buzios. We took a bus to Buzios (8 hour drive) and arrived in the morning. My sister Rulla picked us up at the very small bus station of the town. It was so nice to see her because I hadn't seen her in 14 years!!! We talked over some breakfast and after I had to have a nap because I didn't sleep in the bus over the excitement of seeing her after so many years. We truly loved Buzios its such a pretty town and the beaches are just like paradise. The food was very good and everything about it was just perfect for our honeymoon. I had enough chances to meet up with my sister and catch up. We stayed in Brigitta's a bed&breakfast in the center of town. The rooms were perfect and every morning we had breakfast with a sea view (what more do you want!). We had some great pizza's also at the Pizzaria Dolce Vita where the chef/owner was a very nice and funny Italian man (who by the way was a very well known tennis instructor in his younger years in Italy). Almost every day we had some pizza or some pasta there because it was one of the only restaurants which the price was fair and the food was just amazing. We went out occasionally to some bars at night with my sister but Rob and I were always so sleepy that we weren't much fun, I think the whole wedding and move was finally catching up to us. We also did a day tour through Rio de Janeiro, were we went to the Maracana, Sambodromo and The Christ. I loved the big statue of the Christ it was just very impressive. The days flew by and before we knew it we had to go. I said sad goodbyes to my sister and promised that it would not take another 14 years for me to go visit her again. I hope you enjoy the slide show!

Wedding Netherlands

So here they are just a fraction of all the pictures that were taken. But I hope everyone will enjoy them as much as Rob and I enjoyed our happy day. Thank you for all of you who could made it to our wedding and for the one's who could not make it due to the fact that it was all very short notice, please be sure that you were in our hearts throughout our happy day. Enjoy the slide show bellow, if you would like a full screen slide show use the link bellow:
http://picasaweb.google.com/glitterlife.nl/WeddingNetherlands/photo#s5208748963226611346

Short Trip to Luxenbourg

Our religious wedding was just beautiful and wonderful. Everyone we invited came to the wedding and even people who were not living in Holland. Uta, Lance and the kids came from France. Erica, the girls and Adam came from the US. Also Claire and Owen came from Irland to see us and I was very pleased because I haven't seen here since Washington. It was truly a wonderful day but a little sad because it was also a kind of farewell. Rob and I missed his mother and father who were not able to attend because it was too short notice for them to come from Australia. But we know in our hearts they were there with us in spirit. I will post the pictures when the photographer send us the pictures. I will post some pictures we managed to take on the day but the really nice ones you all have to wait. On the Monday we left in the morning to Luxenbourg. Rob had to go there for work so I thought it would be nice to join him and explore Luxembourg. We arrived there at 14:00pm, Rob went to work and I went to the city center. All shops were closed so I decided to explore the old part of town. It is truly a beautiful city and the old part is medieval which makes you wonder how many battles were won and lost. There was only one museum open, The Museum of Modern Art. It was great because they had an expo on Emily Bates photographs (Love Scenes). It was great to be able to see her photos. After I went to have some lunch in a very nice little pastry cafe, I had a wonderful grilled veggie salad and a really really yummy strawberry pie. I kept strolling at the old part of town till I met Rob in town for dinner after his work. We went to a nice restaurant and had German food. Rob had veal Schnitzel and I had Sauerkraut with very nice sausages from Luxembourg. The next day after Rob went to work I went to the city again. this time the shops and all the museums were open. I went to the City museum which is mainly the history of Luxembourg. It was a very beautiful building and I had no idea Luxembourg had so much history. When I was done I went to have another coffee with some strawberry pie which were really lovely. I did some shopping (I bought a kilo of sausages from Luxembourg haha) and before I knew it I had to meet Rob for dinner and than leave back to Holland. It was a very nice short trip. Rob and I are leaving to our honeymoon in Brasil on the 7th of June. So I will not be updating the blog next month only in July with the Brazil trip. Well everyone enjoy the slide show of the wedding and of Luxembourg.

Bachlorett's Party The Hague

Alice organised a great Hen's night for me. I was truly surprised because I had no idea what we were going to do, the only thing I knew was that we where going out for dinner. We all had a nice dinner at The Concierge and we also cracked a bubbly to mark the event. Alice, Kim, Viviane, Maya, Jessica, Mike and Rodrigo were all invited to have a good time at the hen's night. I know you are not suppose to bring boys on the Hen's night but Rodrigo and Mike are my friends for so long that to go party with out them just didn't seem right. So after dinner, Alice took everyone to the surprise which everyone knew but I had no clue what to expect. When we got there I couldn't believe it, she got for me to the Karaoke bus!! I just loved it....a Karaoke on wheels. So we all took our place in the bus, opened a couple of beers and started singing. First we sang Dutch songs than we switched to English songs. After an hour we stopped and I thought the ride was over but before I could figure what was going on, a man in a strange mask and a cape came in the bus. Yes girls, it was a male stripper!! I never laughed and had so much fun, it was the most strange 15 minutes of my life! I have added the video to the blog but please be aware that there is some indecent contents. You can't see his front bits but you can see his bum so parents please be sure the minors are not watching this with you. After the stripper was done we just enjoyed the ride in the bus singing Frank Sinatra and Madonna. When the ride was over we took some more pictures and headed to the Karaoke bar, yes we did a lot of singing that night. We stayed there and than moved again to a gay bar to have more drinks. This bar is a small bar with very nice owner who was just so happy for me that he kept filling my drinks and all the guy men were having fun with us for the happy occasion. So by the time we left the gay bar I was already very tipsy hahahaha. We moved on to a normal bar to have just a couple more drinks and dance a little. We left the bar scene at 04:30 in the morning I could barely walk and we were all laughing so much with all the pictures and the events of the day. I got home had a shower cause all these bars in Holland everyone just smokes like a chimney and there is not very good ventilation so you smell like cigarettes and sweat. Got into bed and cuddled with Rob. The next morning I had such a bad hangover that I slept till 18:00 hahahah...it was worth it though! Enjoy the video and slide show.

Zaanstreek Trip with Kim & Isobel

I haven't felt like a tourist in Holland for a long time but I certainly feel like one now. I guess its because I am leaving soon for good that I am more keen to go see all the touristic sights that I haven't seen before while living here. Two weeks ago I went to visit Kim, Keith and Isobel again. It was real fun, Kim took me to see the Zanstreek. Apparently there used to be over a thousand industrial windmills in that area. I never new that Zandaam was a big part of the Dutch history. Its a beautiful area that any tourist should go see if coming to Holland for the holidays. Zandaam is not far from Amsterdam (15minutes by train) so if your holiday includes staying in Amsterdam be sure not to miss it! I thought the windmills were great but what I really enjoyed was the clog shop. I never saw how they make clogs so it was interesting to see how they are made. Kim and I had some dutch pancakes which where yummy and then when we were in the cheese shop when Isobel became the main touristic attraction to the Japanese tourists. Really it felt like we were in the red carpet and we had all these camera's flashing at us. Isobel was an instant hit with the Japanese tourists they even posed by her buggy to take pictures, and they kept saying Dutch baby, Dutch baby!!! Kim and I laughed so hard, really. But Isobel did look cute with her pink hat and the sweater that I made for her. So here are the pictures, enjoy the Dutch scenery.

Queens Night in The Hague

Today here in Holland is Queens Day, its a celebration of the Queens birthday. Yesterday night was Queens Night, which was fun but because of all the holidays at the same time, everyone just left for vacation so the city was not as crowded as usual. We spent most of the night in Okers which is a nice restaurant/bar. We met with Rob's colleagues there and stayed most of the night there having fun. Around 12:30 am Rob and I left and headed home, on our way we passed by the fairgrounds which was nice and busy with everyone going on rides or trying to win prizes. Close to our apartment it was crowded around all the bars and it took us 1 hour to get through everyone to get home. Today we are just staying home and relaxing from Queens night. Enjoy the slide show.

Little Baby Isobel

It is nice to be back and visit everyone I missed so much. Yesterday I visited Kim and Isobel. She is so cute and such a good baby. Kim is doing very well and she has adapted to the mother role extremely well. I was happy to see her again and also very happy to see her so radiant with happiness! We met on the center of Zaandam and had some coffee in a cafe. After that we went to her house were I really enjoyed spending some time with Isobel. She is four months old and she is just a gorgeous baby!!! I am going again to see her next week and spend a couple more days with Kim and Kieth. I am looking forward in seeing Isobel again. Enjoy the video & slide show with her and mommy Kim.

Goodbye Luna (sniff, sniff...)

Today we took Luna to her new family. It was a sad morning for me and I spend sometime cuddling with her. When we were on our way to Rita's house I cried a little but I didn't let Luna see me cry once through out the morning or this last week. I wanted her to have the idea that this is not a dramatic situation but a happy one. But inside, my heart was very tight and sad to see her go. We got there and Rita let Luna out and she really felt at home at once. She sniffed every corner and inch of Rita's house, she even ventured upstairs in Matthew's room and Lydia's too. She played with the kids and went to eat some food in her cage. I was surprised and even a little sad because she seemed not to mind at all the move, but at the same time very relieved that it went so well. We stayed and talked with Rita and Dave, I played with the kids and they really are wonderful children. Luna is lucky to be part of such a wonderful family. This will be a new home but as loving as what she had with Rob and I. When Rob and I got home, the house seemed so empty and sad without her, even if she was a small ferret, her presence was huge in the house and in our lives. She will leave a void in our lives but she will fill Rita's home with her presence and love. Goodbye my pet....I love you and we will miss you very much!

Leo's Quilt is Ninshed

Wow, I have not been posting for a while now, sorry everyone! Just MY HUSBAND (hahahah I still cant get used to that word) and I are again on the move so things have been busy, busy, busy!!! We are leaving Fredrick Maryland USA on the 8th of April -sniff sniff. We are going back to Holland for two months just to finalize everything and then we are heading to BRAZIL for our honeymoon!!!! Oh I cant wait! For the ones who don't know I was born in Brazil and lived there till I was 20 years old than I moved to Holland were I stayed for 10 years and also where I met my HUSBAND Rob.

We met great people and made very good friends while living here in the USA this year, we will miss everyone very much. Not only that, but we will leave one family member behind: LUNA our pet ferret. I am very sad but she wont be able to go to Australia (they are forbidden to enter the country) with us, which is our final destination. So this goodbye will be very painful to me indeed. But for all it 's worth we found Luna a very good foster mom (Rita) who will take care of her very very well. Luna already met her and loves her place so it makes me a little less sad knowing my little girl is in good hands.

But enough of sad stories this post is actually to share with all of you Leos quilt which I finally finished and its on its way to France with Uta, Lance, Leo, Lucas and Colin (Miss them all so much too!) I really was happy with the end result. My mother in law helped me finish it which I really appreciate it because if it wasn't for her the quilt would have not been ready before Uta left the US. Leo really loved it and immediately wrapped himself around it! And as he would say "Leo's quilt is NINSHED!!!!" Have a look and let me know what u think. Please keep in mind, that it is a very simple pattern and this is only my second quilt ever made! Well everyone take care and will post again when I am in Holland! As the dutch would say Doeiiiii (bye bye)

Our Civil Wedding

I could not believe how nervous I got when I arrived at the Tarara Winery for our civil ceremony. I was not expecting to get nervous so it was strange to get there and feel over whelmed. We arrived late so all our guests were there already, Carolina and Uta helped me get dressed in the bathroom. Bless both of them because my nerves were not allowing me to think straight, let alone getting dressed without damaging my hair. So I greeted all my guests and had some wine to relax my nerves, Rob was as nervous as me so we kept having these frozen smiles all time (hahaha). The only thing I remember is that people tried to chat with me but my mind was just not there, so I just kept nodding and having the frozen smile. So after half an hour I could not take it anymore and Rob too so we just decided to have the ceremony so we could relax after it. Uta was playing the piano ("Dawn" from the soundtrack of Pride and Prejudice movie) and Rob and I walked together to the wedding officiant. All our guests were seated near us. The ceremony only lasted about 7 minutes but Rob and I had a feeling it took at least 1/2 hour. I messed up at the vows because I was nervous but it all went very relaxed and funny which is all we wanted really. We didn't want a stiff ceremony so it was just perfect; small cozy and relaxed. After the ceremony we had some snack food and Uta played a little more piano for all of us. After that Lance gave a speech that was so beautiful it made me tear a little. He gave us a beautiful wooden bowl that he made for us. After that it was time for the cake, which the children so looked forward to and were starting to become inpatient. My friend Wendy made the cake for us and it was just really beautiful and delicious. We opened some gifts and in the evening we went for dinner at Firstone's a local restaurant/bar. It was very nice to have good friends with us on this special day, the only thing we missed was our families but we will have our religious ceremony on the end of the year so all the family can come together. It was truly a lovely day and we are very pleased on how everything went. We are very happy that we are married and that we could share our love with some close friends in such an intimate way. Thank you again for all of you who came to our civil ceremony and for the ones who could not make it, we will see you at our religious ceremony. Please check our ceremony on the video below (unfourtently we had camera problems so only my vows were recorded) and check the pictures on the below links:

http://picasaweb.google.com/glitterlife.nl/CivilWedding170208/photo#s5168577412267485490

http://picasaweb.google.com/glitterlife.nl/CivilCeremony170208Part1/photo#s5168574586179002914

Knitted baby Sweater for Isobel (Kim&Kieth's Daughter)

After such a long time, I am finally having some time to actually update my blog. I also have finished three projects so I am very happy to be able to add them here. I've also updated my photo album with pictures from Christmas, New Year and some of my projects so if you have some time to waste, check it out.

Its been a crazy end of the year and a crazy beginning of year. Rob and I still have no idea if we are staying here in the US or leaving and if we are leaving, were are we going; Holland, Australia or China! So we are trying very hard not to panic and just take it day by day. I am busy at the moment organising my civil wedding that will be on mid Feb. So busy busy busy, I also started 2 new projects and still have to start with Lucas quilt but I need to take my machine to be checked first. I am at the moment going to some knitting classes to learn how to make socks with circular needles. Its great fun and they look really cozy. These socks will be for me cause I always give my projects away and I decided this year (years resolution) to make more stuff for me hahaha! The other project that I started is a bolero sweater(also for me!) which you can get the pattern for free at Lion Brand.

But this post is actually for the very very cute baby sweater that I made for Isobel. Kim gave birth to her first beautiful daughter on mid December and I was working on a baby sweater for her since summer. It is finally finished and Isobel received the gift on her mom's b-day (it was not intentional because I am really crappy with b-day dates of my friends)! I was very happy with the end result and it really looks darling. Its a little too big for her at the moment so hopefully in two months she will be able to wear it. Well enjoy the pictures! Big hugs to everyone!