so today I got the confirmation that the mortgage has been accepted

when clearing out the old place last week Lara found a wee note made before the start of the year
a kinda wishlist so to speak
it mentioned new, good jobs for both of us
our own house
and some other things

as we managed half the list in the first half of the year I am curious what the 2nd half will bring

I do know that next year will bring me a new nephew or...

started my job with the candy people and it's flipping ace
great people, nice building, very good organisation
and a very interesting job, good salary and a parking spot near the front door lol

if only i didn't have to miss mijn liefje it would be just about perfect!

spent the day shopping with my girl, spending some quality time together before i leave.
unfortunately some people feel the need to piss on our parade
regretfully this isn't the first time this has happened
don't want to get too much into this but i am royally ticked off.
second time this week that a really great day has turned out like this.
at least we're home alone now!!

spent the last couple of days investigating many things for our wedding
and we've already decided on a date, figured out (pretty much) the guest list, gathered some class information about rings (even already picked mine today), maybe have a lead on a venue and I'm gonna meet up with some wedding planners when I arrive in the The Netherlands

very, very excited!

2 more weeks and I'll be back in The Netherlands
found a great job there as corporate accountant for Perfetti Van Melle aka 'The candy people'

been trying to find another job in Northern Ireland for quite a bit but that wasn't going anywhere
fortunately enough Laura is wonderful enough to come to The Netherlands with me so that I can do this job
we'll see whether this will work for both of us

at least it will mean that we'll finally be able...

we went to see Amy Winehouse today
we left before the encore though because we were bored stiff
never thought that I could be this bored by a singer backed by an 8 headed jazz band

good news was that the support act wasa lot better than Whinehouse

went to see Nerina Pallot yesterday!

the support act was Luke Toms
almost forgot his name there but I'll be having nightmares about his moustache for weeks to come
his songs were acually quite good but he had some annoying singing habits
definitely not bad for half an hour though

we - and everyone there really - came to see Nerina
and she was great
no band, just Nerina singing and playing the piano, or her acoustic guitar or a keyboard...

listening to the latest Shins album 'wincing the night away' and i must say it gets better each and every listen

in the meantime i'm already excited about the weekend
due to my da's surgery and his bday i haven't been here the last 3 weekends

this is going to be my second new years here in ireland
although last year i wasn't living here yet, we were still in spain
it's funny how things turn out
if you told me a few years ago, i'd follow the love of my life around europe and then move here i wouldn't have believed it.

you never know how things are going to turn out.

here's to our third year together
hopefully with some more progressions

went to The Netherlands for a surprise visit
my parents didn't suspect a thing and I do hope this made their Christmas

always happy to be back in The Netherlands

tomorrow we're going back home
to get the Christmas partying started!

boxing day - 4th match of the ashes
a tasty sidedish of smashed poms

new music
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkITsv3Nk6M

some really good news today!
I got accepted into the civil service as a staff officer accountant
it will mean a more interesting job, quite a bit more money and - more importantly - more holidays so that we can spend more time together

tonight we shall celebrate!

i love the weekend
so nice to be able to spend the entire day together
had such a great saturday


have to go back to The Netherlands for 2 weeks of training
can't believe the absolute rubbish they're selling me as the reason for this new training, but at least I'll get to see the family

am reading The World is Flat (when I've got any time to read) and I love that book
I like all the nerdy facts of the business world
also loved...

because of training purposes for my job I will have to go to Brussels for 2 weeks

I just arrived in Belfast 2 weeks ago today so one could say I am less than excited about this

last friday we managed to find a really, really nice place to live + a job that actually pays more than I hoped for all within 12 hours

I don't think I will ever get my head around to how wonderfully easy everything just falls into place for us

I was talking to friends of mine a couple of weeks back and told them that it is just very easy doing things when it feels like the path you're taking is the only option
- if you want to be with someone then you have to...

went to germany today
Köln to be more precise

we went on the cable cars (where we parked the car), visited the Kölner Dom (right outside the metro stop), did some shopping, had a cup of coffee and had an overall wonderful day
even the miserable weather couldn't stop us!

also very happy with my german copy of "Eine Frau in Berlin"