Austin Thanksgiving

Finally, I'm posting pictures of this very fun trip. It was so nice that Mommoms and Mike came down at the same time too.

Happy Holidays!

We are now in Holland having a wonderful time. I've been meaning to post pictures from all of our recent trips: Austin, Chicago, and now Holland. Hopefully I'll have a chance soon.

Halloween and such

October

This has turned out to be a busy and exciting month. We went to Baltimore earlier this month for Nick and Isabelle's wedding...which was a blast, we had Louise visiting from Amsterdam, we worked a bunch, ate Polish food, celebrated Sara's birthday, went pumpkin and apple picking upstate, and settled into our winter coats. Erik even bought a new winter coat.

Even more exciting is certain baby news! Both Erik's sister Amke and her husband Niels and our friends Simone and David are expecting babies. Congratulations! We are so happy for everyone and can't wait to be Oom and Tante :)

New Pictures

Some kitties, some US Open, some construction next door. The much, much smaller orange kitty is my Grandmother's, aka "mini max". Try and spot Erik in the fourth photo.









The consturction next door seems to have stopped. They haven't worked for weeks and came in the middle of the night to take the digger machine away. Hopefully they ran out of money and will have to turn the space into a garden. Fingers crossed.

Welcome Fall

Ahhh..such nice weather this time of year. We got the duvet out a little early and have been sleeping on top of it, but I think finally we can leave the windows open and enjoy the nice breeze.

Haven't blogged in a long time, but now that summer's over it's back to business! We're getting ready for Isabelle and Nick's wedding the weekend after this in Baltimore. I am all set with my brides maid dress and we've been learning a little 2-step.

So sad about bagged killer spinach. That was probably the only vegetable I ate at home and it was so easy! I use to put it in (or on the side of) everything. Hopefully they'll put it back on the shelves soon and it can redeem itself.

The grocery store closest to our house, C-Town, is undergoing a renovation in attempt to seem healthier. They've hung up renderings that call everything "farm fresh"... what a joke. By farm I think they mean the nabisco/coke/goya/lays factory.

Dinosaurs

Ahhhh... As I write they are drilling trees (really trees and big ones too) into the ground next door! They brought in this huge machine that bascially ram, ram, rams the trees. Sounds like dinosaur sex if you ask me. We've put most of the valuable things on the floor, but the poor cats can't help but be traumatized!

On a happier note, Erik's parents are in town and we went to Niagara Falls over the weekend. Will post more later about what we did along with some photos.

All things NJ

Friday and Saturday I went to NJ. I don't get there too often, so this was a special treat. Friday I had to go on a press ok for the FSG catalog. It went smoothly and I even walked away with large poster maps of the World and USA. I am posting photos of me by the largest roll of toilet paper I've ever seen and the hazy, hot, and beautiful NYC skyline from the car.

Yesterday we went to Sara's family's Bastille Day Celebration. It was wonderful to relax in a backyard and enjoy french food, wine, and great conversation. I went to this annual party in 2003 and it is amazing to see how it's grown since then.

And today is Henry's (born and raised in NJ) Birthday. Happy Birthday Henry!

Happy Anniversiary Rein & Christa!

Today is the 30th wedding anniversiary of Erik's parents Rein and Christa. We hope they have a wonderful day! I am so happy you met, fell in love, and had your adorbale son Erik.

St.Louis / Alton trip

Flew back Wednesday morning from our vacation to see family in the Midwest. We had a wonderful time visiting everyone. Mike was even able to drive down from Chicago. I can hardly believe how much all of my cousins have grown up! On Sunday Boppa and Grandma had 50 family members over to say hello. They are so used to preparing for big parties that it was amazing to see them go to work with the food preparation. While most of my family live on the Illinois side of the river, we did manage to take a drive to St.Louis and see the Arch. Regrettably, we were unable to go up the arch because of the crazy line, but we did manage to visit my favorite place: the gift shop. The Arch is one beautiful piece of architecture. It is so elegant and such a marvel of engineering. On Monday we met up with my cousins Nikki and Emily and went swimming with their families, including each of their adorable baby girls, Emma and Madeline. Erik and I were also given the driving tour of Alton. Here are some phhotos of us with Alton's most famous citizen, the gentle giant Robert Wadlow who grew to 8'11". Wow!

summer update

Well, June certainly flew by. We spent many of the weekends watching the exciting World Cup games. We watched them from home, bars, restaurants, a beer garden and friends' houses. Erik was sad Holland did not make it further, but he did a great job of showing his orange spirit. The first NL match we watched at a bar in Times Square at 9am with the other Dutch ex-patriats. While it was nice to be in their company, many were still strangers and we realized it is much more enjoyable to watch with friends.

Aside from that, I've been settling into work and we've both been doing some freelance during our spare time. Freelancing is great because I think of it as bonus money to be spent on the apartment, travel, or going out. The other weekk it was "couch money" as we finally decided on a new couch from Crate and Barrel. It was on sale and was just delivered this morning. It was amzing to watch the delivery men finesse the couch up the stairs. I think we can never move, because I cannot do what they just did.

I've posted a few memorable photos from last month.

Summer's Here

Early fridays have begun at work, so I guess that means summer is officially here. Yeah!

News around here: Erik has a cold, but he is fighting it so he will be healthy enough to see the World Cup Holland match on Sunday (at 9 am!)

The building next door to ours is almost completely demolished. Our view of the skyline has improved, but it is only temporary. Guess I have to get out the camera.

I have replaced my celebrity magazine addiction with my celebrity website addiction. It was a financial move really. Plus, the websites are a lot funnier.

Just bought plane tickets for 4th of July to visit family in St.Louis. We haven't been there in quite a while , so we are really looking forward to it,

ikea summer sale

Beautiful day outside today, but we are choosing to spend it inside (at ikea) sitting on couches and eating meatballs. I have never been to the summer sale before, and it is hard to imagine their stuff being even cheaper.

Right now the building next to us is being torn down to make way for a hideous (haven't seen plans, but I'm sure) 7 story condo. Why is everything a condo? The demolition has been interesting to watch...although right now the desk is shaking from their work. Not so cool.

I am very happy at my new job, but missing old job at the same time. Will post some new pictures later of all the things I've been up to.

First Day of New Job

Today I am starting my new job. Very exciting!! I was worried that I was going to be sick so I went home yesterday and slept 12 hours! It really seemed to do the trick because I feel 400% better today (aside from a few coughs and sniffles). I have pictures and stories from the last two weeks that I will post soon.

KY photos

Photos:
1. Mom and Erik
2. Some local transportation
3. Carrie outside her adorable attic apt.
4. The Second Story Man show
5. Erik at Churchill Downs checking out a horse
6. Jenny figuring out how to ride a horse
7. The three of us in the car (jenny in rear view)