Pinkie Larue

I was tagged by the lovely Australian Daisy! I usually procrastinate on these things, but since I’m procrastinating on packing, this tagged business works out rather nicely. :)

The Rules
1. Mention the person who nominated you.
2. List 6 unimportant things that make you happy.
3. Tag 6 blogs, state the rules, and notify them with a teeny comment on their blog.

List!
1-Wearing clothes straight out the dryer
2-NOT waking up to the sound of an alarm
3-cereal
4-getting an extra fortune cookie with my chinese takeout
5-the smell of shoe stores
6-receiving postcards in the mail

I’m tagging Devynn, Emily (even though Daisy tagged her too :P) Kizzy, James Francis, Suicidal Jane, and Kristin.

Ok, back to packing. *sigh* I’m only packing a week in advance because the new tenant moves in this week. Also, I have 2 friends from the states staying with me during my last week so I’d like to be finished by the time they get here.

It’s been a busy, busy, week so far. Work is actually fine. I’m talking about my social life. Since I have 10 more days, (OMG 10 more days!) left in The Netherlands, I’m trying to hang out with everyone and do my favorite things as much as possible before I’m gone for…let’s hope not TOO long. It’s fun, but a bit tiring. I’m pretty sure I’ve been out dancing/drinking more in the last week than in the last month.

Oh, you didn’t know? I’m moving back to the states after living here for close to 2 years! Going back to study nursing. I start my prerequisites, Anatomy and Physiology, on May 26th and actual nursing school in the fall. I’ve had my mind set on this for about the last 6 months, but then yesterday I had a mini breakdown. *omg! what if I can’t do this?! what if I just waste more money in school studying something I will never use!? What if I don’t have the stomach to handle the messy stuff? Why am I moving back to the states?! I wasn’t happy before I left! Will I be depressed when I move back?!* I cried/called to a friend of mine who comforted me A LOT, but I’m still stressed out about things. I have come up with some solutions. To combat the depression/major change of moving from a city I adore and where I have tons of friends to a city where I have maybe 2 friends and have always tried to escape, I’m going to take up a new hobby-join a kickboxing class (lol). I’ll also have my nursing classes, hopefully a job, and I’m going to try my best to make the most of Memphis. I promise I won’t just sit and bitch about it and wish I was back in Amsterdam. I’m truly going to try to like the city I have come to hate so much. And if I don’t like it, I can always save, save, save and relocate. No need to put myself in a situation where I’m not happy I’m sure at first it will take awhile getting used to everything again, but I’m pretty good with adjusting to new situations. To combat my fears of nursing school, while taking the pre-requisite classes, I’m going to try to get part time work at a hospital doing something! I was thinking of taking a Certified Nursing Assistant class(4-6 weeks training) to get qualifications to be a nurse’s assistant. I’ve heard horror stories from people working as assistants( are most CNA jobs at nursing homes? correct me if I’m wrong…i really don’t think I can bathe an adult and I’m not a big fan of the elderly >.<), BUT it would be temporary, and would answer my *Can I really do this?* thoughts. I just need to see a Registered Nurse’s responsibilities/duties up close and personal. I can’t rely on word of mouth/blogs. *sigh* HALP!

I can’t really express my feelings about the move. They’re all over the place. Sometimes, I’m ok with the fact that I’m leaving-it seems like the right move to make and other times I’m crying because I don’t want to leave and I feel like I’m setting myself up for some huge mistake.

Only time will tell!

I should really start packing. I have a week to put almost 2 years of stuff into 2 suitcases under 50 lbs each! I think I’ll be ok. I just have to dump some things and donate to charity. I mean, when will I seriously ever wear snow boots in Memphis?!

I promise everything on my “Typical Dutch Things” list won’t be food, but I was inspired by my lunch today for my next topic!

Hagelslag

Hagelslag, prounounced….umm, I don’t think I can tell you how to pronounce it through a blog. It requires the dutch “hocking a loogy” sound and I’m not sure how to write that phonetically. Hagelslag is a typical Dutch sandwich topping similar to chocolate sprinkles! It’s really popular for kids on their breakfast sandwich, but there is ALWAYS hagelslag in my kitchen. I eat it all the time. I love the stuff. I even put it in my ice cream and sometimes when I come home a bit intoxicated I’ve been known to chug some before bed. (lol) Apparently, Dutch people eat about 14 million kilo ‘hagelslag’ per year on about 850 million slices of bread. I think I count for a lot of those bread slices >.<

To make a perfect hagelslag sandwich you-

1-butter a slice of bread
2-sprinkle a crap ton of hagelslag on it
3. You can then either it it like that or smoosh the hagelslag down into the bread, fold it,and EAT IT!

There is an art to it. When I first had it in August 2007, this is what my bread looked like

Just pathetic! There’s barely any hagelslag on it! Now, after almost 2 years, this is what my hagelslag sandwich looks like normally!

so much better ^_^

Hagelslag comes in all types of flavors. Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate, White chocolate, mmm! There are also different varieties of them. ‘Muisjes’ (little mice) are a sort of hagelslag. They’re sprinkles with sugar and colored outer cover and equally as yummy. It’s Dutch tradition to eat “beschuit met muisjes”, a biscuit with muisjes, when a baby is born. Pink/white for a baby girl and blue/white for a baby boy.

I’ll be bringing a box or two home with me!

I’m participating in a 31 day blog challenge and today the task was to compose a list blog. I thought and thought about what I wanted to make a list post on. I debated between favorite movies, favorite songs, favorite websites- but in the end I decided not to go with a favorite list. Instead, I made two 5 point lists regarding dating. Something I really don’t talk about on the blog because I’m afraid someone will get offended or it will start some sort of drama. Anywho, surely this won’t piss anyone off. Here are my “Deal Breakers” and “Deal Makers”!

DEAL BREAKERS!
5. MANDALS! oh, god! I HATE mandals. I don’t mind flip flops or a nice Banana Republic slip on. I’m talking those criss crossy mandals or the ones like this!

*shudders*

4. conservatives/Republican. I just can’t…

3.bad music taste. I know this is based on opinion. I don’t mind someone who’s music taste differs from mine. But gosh, let it be good music. A huge turnoff for me is going through someone’s Ipod and seeing crap like Linkin Park, Nickleback, and my least favorite of all time, Dave Matthews Band *puke*

2.smokers. To each his own, but I do not and will never date a smoker (tobacco*). I don’t smoke and I hate the smell of cigarettes, so naturally, I don’t want to kiss anyone that does. I’ve made out with a guy who smokes before and I really had to stop mid kiss, because it was terrible. It tasted ick, I could smell it on his beard. Not to be all after school special, but it really did taste like what I imagine kissing an ashtray would taste like.
*Of course I don’t mind someone who smokes “green” every now and then

1. short guys. I’m a tall girl. 5′9 and some change and my number one deal breaker is a guy shorter than me. Definitely can’t deal with it! I think the shortest guy I’ve dated was about 5′10 and that was even a bit short for me. Especially on the rare occasion that I wore heels

DealMakers?

5. humor- Laughter is the best medicine. No really, it’s been proven to help your heart and obviously, puts you in a good mood. I love laughing and I love a guy with a great sense of humor! A guy that keeps me laughing is a keeper.

4.openminded-ness -*Swoon* I swoon for guys who aren’t afraid to try new things and who can bring new, exciting, things for both of us to try into a relationship.

3. Not wearing MANDALS!

2.passion- have a passion for something. Music, art, politics, a special cause, anything and I will love you…if it goes along with my beliefs of course. Clearly, I’m not going to fall in love with some guy that marches in Pro-life marches. CLEARLY!

1. blue eyes- make me weak in the knees!

On Easter, I spent my day with some friends in The Keukenhof! It’s the worlds largest flower garden and is located outside of Amsterdam. It was so lovely. And gosh darn it smelled lovely too! There were all types of flowers. Over 7 million spread across a huge park. There were TONS of tulips are my favorite flower so it was a treat, but I added two more flowers to my list of faves!

These! Because They look like sunny side up eggs!

and these because they’re just pretty ^_^

You can find more photos on my Flickr, if you’re interested.

Oh, hello world! If you aren’t my twitter, facebook, or real life friend then you may not know that for the past week I’ve been sick with tonsilitis! Yuck! It was a long and painful week! I whined, I cried, I couldn’t eat, could barely lift my head, had a fever, and of course wasn’t prescribed with any medication. The doctor only told me to rest and drink lots of liquids. I paid for a 5 minute diagnosis and for him to tell me to drink liquids and rest. THANKS A LOT, DOC! Anywho, it’s a lot better now. Thankfully.

A day or two before I came down with tonsillitis, I went out with Annie. Not only did we have a grand ol time, but we saw a guy wearing a Borat bathing suit! It was for his stag party and HILARIOUS!

*shudders* just be glad I didn’t get a picture of the frontal view :)

“if you passed up an investment opportunity recently or decided not to deepen an emotional entanglement, you may now find yourself reconsidering your previous decision”

So, that was part of my horoscope for the day and omg is it right on target! Ok, so I decided that I will not be making a trip to Sweden to see my boy-thing for a last time before I leave Europe(we decided from the beginning that we would end things when I moved back to the states). I thought I was confident in my decision. I made the decision thinking it would be best emotionally for me not to have that “last visit” and all of the emotions attached with it making it even harder for me to leave. I thought I knew what I was doing, but this week, I’ve been doubting it and wishing I had budgeted enough money to visit. :( ughh. Hope I made the right decision.

Anywho, I’m tired and off to bed.

The Iowa Supreme Court has upheld a previous ruling that the state’s ban on same sex marriage violates the constitutional rights of its citizens. Iowa’s legislature may end its session without addressing the ruling.

WOOOOOOOOOOT!

I had a lovely week. It’s spring time in Amsterdam! My favorite time of the year here. The weather is perfect, everyone’s in a generally happy mood, and I get to spend a lot of time outdoors-both during work hours and off! Just lovely! I didn’t spend ALL of my time outside. On Tuesday, Sue and I decided to go to an au pair meetup. I usually steer clear of these things, because I’m not a big fan of meeting up and talking about the kids we look after, but I had a long day and I wanted a drink. And besides Sue would be there, so if it were lame, I would’ve still enjoyed hanging out with her. It was surprisingly a lot of fun. I met some really nice girls and had a blast drinking and dancing with them. Oh, did I mention there was free alcohol and sushi?! Oh yea! There was free yummy sushi and alcohol ^_^
Fun times! This weekend should be fun. Tomorrow I am going to Rotterdam to hang out with Kizzy. Not sure what we’re doing! What are we doing, KIZZY?! Sunday, weather permitting, there will be drinking in the park with some friends of mine. Wish you were here! xoxo

I don’t particularly like Ben Lee or MGMT, but I freaking love this cover Ben Lee did of MGMT’s song “Kids”.