I am so grateful to have made such good friends in holland who are such good sports about jointing me in different things! I wanted to cook a real thanksgiving dinner for everyone (except a turkey) and they all loved the traditional food!

Roasted honey mustard Pork loin: 

Cranberry sauce (cheated on this one... Mom mailed it):

Home made French fried onions for green bean casserole:

Apple cranberry stuffing:

Sweet potato casserole:

Beef and Rice w raisins and pine nuts

And my lovely guests even made homemade tiramisu and carrot cake:

It was such a. Lovely dinner party:

Halloween!

Had a nice and cute Halloween in the Netherlands... The girls here had never carved a pumpkin and were so excited to do it! We also dressed up and went out although no one else in the Netherlands really did haha. 

Our pumpkins before (and tons of chocolate)...

 Our pumpkins  after....

And mine:

 I was Pocahontas 

Flamenco!!

Finally, to end our night we went to a traditional flamenco show and it was spectacular!! The men sang their hearts out and the women stomped with passion and so much feeling!!!

We had a lovely time in Spain :::: <3

Architecture and the beach!!!

We also couldn't miss las pedreras, a famous century old apartment complex also designed by gaudi.

Sagrada familia

The second day we explored sagrada familia basilica, you can immediately tell the difference between this style and the gothic style of Barcelona cathedral.

It was so breathtaking when we entered... Just incredible. The way gaudi made it was spectacular, and modern, and will stand the test of time. 

Tapas and sangria

Well you can't go to Barcelona without tapas and sangria....

Here is the deliciousness:

Jamin iberico,and an empanadas made of asparagus, sardines, and raisins!!

 Here are our "little fish" tapas... Literally tiny sardines with spine and all

 

And here is an eggplant and cheese dish, and shrimp with some amazing bread.., 

It was all incredible!!!! Again, too quick to take pics of dessert :P

Barcelona day 1

We arrived in Barcelona around noon and got to explore barri gotti, otherwise known as the gothic quarter... It was comprised of the Barcelona cathedral, the Picasso museum, and a special exhibit on Barcelona.

The cathedral was gorgeous, done in gothic style with lots of precision, and similarity to others but as always, those buildings always mystify me. 

Road trip

It's so nice to be able to just drive two hours and be in another country! Since I loved Brussels so much with the girls, and my mom has been to Amsterdam before, we took a road trip to Belgium for the weekend!

Mom in car :)

Mom arrives!! (And we ate so good!!)

My mom and I have been lucky to see each other quite often since I moved. She arrived in October for a week and a half.

We spent a few days in Haarlem and Amsterdam. And had an amazing three course menu in Haarlem, at a place called spektakle.

First course: Japanese scallops in a sake sauce

Second course: bobby veal chops and pumpkin ravioli, it was unbelievable!! 

Didn't take a pic of the dessert because I attacked it too quickly haha.

We also went to an awesome pancake bakery in Amsterdam:

I had Indonesian pancakes with safe sauce

And finally, we walked all around town and even encountered a random festival!! We love holland 

Antwerpen

Our last stop was Antwerpen, and again we were in Dutch territory... Well Dutch influence at least. It was also a beautiful city and our hotel was next to a gorgeous cathedral!!

The views and sunsets were just spectacular.

J'adore parler francais

The next stop on our euro trip was Brussels! Belgium is split up into French and Dutch influenced cities... Or Flemish.... Brussels was obviously French, it felt like belle was going to pop out and start singing.... Bonjour!!!

Luckily I took five years of French in high school, and Lauren and I were able to fill in each other's language gaps :)

The REAL Oktoberfest

Some friends from Texas came to visit and we thought... We are three young girls... In Europe .... In October.... Omg let's go to Oktoberfest!! Now, I know we all celebrate it at bars and just drink special beer and think of the beer maids and their little dresses... But I didn't know it was only in Munich and I didn't anticipate just how awesome it was going to be!!!!

The first night we of course had some bratwurst and hit the beer tents. We mer this group of guys that chaperoned the whole night and taught us about the true Oktoberfest traditions! They took us to an after party where the locals go in heart of Munich and we danced on tables and sang our hearts out to German songs and it was such a blast!!! And that was only day 1 of our euro trip!!

Deep in the Heart of Texas

I was lucky enough to go back home this summer in August and see my friends and family. I had on,y been gone for 3 months but the break was much needed!

 I went to work for a week and my colleagues were such a refreshing sight! Everyone was so welcoming, and it's really true about the southerners being sweet! Went to a couple Astros games, some BBQ and some field trials in 100 degree texans heat! Got to love it!

My family was loving enough to plan a huge reunion with all the cousins and here is our first pic together in over 5or 6 years. We keep getting scattered around the world!!! Sorry it's so dark!

Here are the girls of the family: 4 generations, on a small scale.... 24, 16, 7, and 1.

I also got to spend some quality time with my cousin Annabelle who is like my little sister, it warms my heart to see her grow up so beautifully and I wish I could see all my cousins right now... I feel so proud as the oldest, to be among such bright and talented young individuals. 

Even a tetra 4 reunion!!! I love these girls and no matter how much distance or time passes, they are always there for me!!! High school was such a different life, but they have grown with me, and I'm so lucky to have met them!!!

I also got to spend time with my mom and visit Austin .... I love that place! Gosh if I could retire in Austin, I know that would be heaven!!! Too bad retirement is 2055.....

Back to blogging....

Wow it has been soooo long since my last blog post... I'd just like to say that I've had a wonderful to where in holland. Thanks to my housewarming party all those months ago, I have made a beautiful circle of friends. 

I've been learning new hobbies, cooking, walking, reading, working! It's the life for sure, yes I miss my family and friends back home but these experiences are molding my personality and making me a stronger person, and I can feel it. :) I think we make experiences out of the situations we are placed in... And people always remark that it's so hard what I'm doing or so courageous... But it's just another path in life and I know ill end up where I belong,,, I just don't know where that is. And what I've learned is that we never choose our path, but the right things come along at the right time.. I'm proud to have such a great support system, and I can tell you for certain that two years ago when I started working for Halliburton, never in a million years did I thnk I'd be where I am today... If you had told me this 6 years ago as a freshman in college? I probably would have walked away shyly... Haha... 

I love all of you for keeping up with this and for checking in on me, I apologize for being late on email replies, or slacking on Skype... You keep me going and I wish I could see everyone more often! Can't wait until Xmas!!!

BFF visit :)

One of my lifelong best friends came to visit! It was so cool to have a visitor and it still feels like old times :)

We went to this cool florescence museum called electric lady land 

Normal light

 Uv light :)