Happy 2011 =)

A brand new year and a brand new blog. So first of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR!! I hope you all went into 2011 with a big bang and that 2011 will bring you lots of happiness and other good things :) What a year 2010 has been... For me anyway. I remember last year, thinking I'd have a degree by the end of the year and some travels clocked up as well. The travel part came true, with America being one of my highlights of last year. The degree part not so much, but I'm working on that one :) So let's not dwell on the year gone by and instead focus on the year ahead!

But first, I'll tell you about the final few days of 2010 and what I've been up to... Last time I left you on Christmas Eve, saying Christmas would be filled with family stuff. Lo and behold, the next two days were indeed filled with lots of family, lots of cosiness and lots of food :) We actually had a beautiful white Christmas this year, the first one I've had in many many years, so that was pretty cool :) Christmas Day was the annual Stroet Family Christmas dinner with all the aunts, uncles and cousins, which was lovely as always. Boxing Day my sister Renske and her boyfriend Paul came over, and we played lots of cardgames and had a wonderful Christmas dinner with the five of us that day :)

The days following Christmas were lovely lazy days, letting all that food sink in and just enjoy a bit of holidays at my parents' place. I even got some shopping in and bought some pretty new clothes, so that's always a nice bonus! Then on Wednesday night I said goodbye to my parents for the year and made my way back to Utrecht, as I had a daytrip to the Christmas market in Antwerp planned with my housemates for the next day. So early Thursday morning we set off for Belgium, and packed like sardines in the international train we eventually arrived in Antwerp around noon, which gave us a perfect excuse to immediately try the traditional Belgian waffles for lunch :) Our stomachs filled with the delicious waffles, we were ready to wander around the Christmas market, which gave a wonderful atmosphere to the city. We came across a small ice skating rink, and Judith, Eva and Li-Shi had a go while I watched from the side laughing and taking photos. Of course after that ice adventure, we were all ready for something warm, so gluehwein was next up on the 'program' :) When we were all warmed up again, we decided to sightsee a little more, so we made our way to the Antwerp cathedral and ended the day with a bit of shopping and of course traditional Belgian fries! And once again packed like sardines in a can, we took the train back to Utrecht in the evening after an absolutely lovely day of being touristy and having great fun :)

And then it was the last day of 2010! We had planned a NYE celebration at our place that night, so the day mainly existed of preparations for the long night ahead, such as buying fireworks and snacks, making 'oliebollen' and apple turnovers, getting a playlist together and decorating the living room. The night itself was great fun, filled with much loud music, much laughter and dancing and many drunk people having a good time until the early hours of the morning :) And of course we had a proper countdown and champagne moment at midnight, followed by admiring the fireworks outside while our own fireworks paled in comparison to what some of the neighbours were shooting up in the air. Maybe the fact that we had bought a kids pack had something to do with that, haha. But we definitely brought in the new year in a good way :)

So now it's 2011, and for the first time in many years I have absolutely no idea what this year will bring me and where I'll be by the end of it. I saw my friend Maarten last weekend for a very very long overdue catch-up (I'd say when you haven't seen each other in over a year, that qualifies as very long overdue... It was very cool to see him again :)) And he put it quite interestingly. He said that a good book should leave the reader wondering what happens on the next page, and both our lives were like a good book right now. We have no idea what will be happening on the next page, but we sure as hell want to keep reading to find out. So here's to 2011 being the next page of a good book. I hope you're all excited to find out what happens next too.
Love Carine
xx