Tuesday, the 15th of January

The past few weeks have been very busy - again- !

I would been able to write amazing stories about those weeks.. but it would take me ages to tell everything.. and it wouldn't even sound that amazing as it actually was..

I guess cyclocross - season is about one of the most exciting moments of the year!

It's not that I like cyclocross so much; I hate the cold and I can't really understand why people love to ride or see people riding in the mud.. so actually I don't really get the clue of it..

But I love to have those other people around me!

I don't really know how to explain, but they are - every year - so different and though so alike.

I guess I just like their way of thinking. They make me think about what 's important in life and how to just be yourself, no matter what. Every year it's like, when they are here, I'm living in another world, a world where everything is possible as long as you believe in yourself.

Hah, right, back to reality..

Because of all those situations with the boyfriends' work (cyclocross) and our house (#ProjectRenovate) we didn't had the time and space to put out a Christmas-tree..

So as a compensation I got myself the biggest Christmas-present ever:

I'll review this one soon!

And yesterday I already bought some Christmas-decoration for next year!

-I love sales!-

We won't be missing it next year!

 CupcakeNele

x

Tuesday, 7th of February

Woohoow!

Today was the first day at work

at my new job!

I loved it!

I hope I can keep it that way..

the people I need to work with are amazing, the shop is amazing,

I even start to like the collection now I know more about it..

http://www.lola-liza.be/

On my way back home from work this was the first song on the radio:

Maybe

I should make it my "song of the winter of 2012"!

It reminds me to the American cyclocrossers Troy and Mitch (oh I miss them!)

because of the funny movie -called Hangover- we could see when they were here..

It also reminds me to that awesome evening with Debby, Sean and my boyfriend.. we all were "a little" drunk that evening :D ( http://popeliernele.blogspot.com/2012/02/thursday-2nd-of-february.html )

And now this song was the first one on the radio when I went back home from an amazing first day at work!

Hooray!

Tuesday, 24th of January 2012 #2

I just can't resist it..

I need to blog it!

Last sunday (22th of January) we went to Velofollies in Kortrijk..

what else can I say.. bikes bikes bikes.. okay, and bike stuff..

bu-hut! I found a perfect present for my boyfriend's birthday!

at first I wanted to give him a tablet for his birthday..

He would be so happy! but you know, it's really expensive..

and I'm really into apple.. and that's way too expensive to buy now..

especially because of the house and stuff like that..

Anyway. He'll get a tablet for sure but not now, we can't afford it.

So here it comes!

the present I bought at Velofollies:

two books!

two awesome books!

written and illustrated by awesome people!

and also signed by those awesome people!

Karl Vannieuwkerke himself signed his book "the sportdevil" especially with birthdaywishes to my boyfriend ! He's just awe-some!

Good Night !

Sunday, 25th of December

First of all a Merry Christmas to you all!

Friday was the first cyclocross of the season I could go to.

Up to Diegem! wasn't that thrilled in the beginning..

but I love getting to the start! Riders arriving, one by one,

warming up a little, lining up, and trowing shirts and stuff..

just before the big start! exciting.. although nobody should really

enjoy it as I do.. for me this is already cool :D they'd laugh but I really like

doing this.. for the rest of the race.. I'm not important anymore.. just watching,

a little shy cheering (I don't have such a big mouth, shy girl, really) and waiting for the boys to pass by.. trying to take pictures.. but that didn't went well..

Yesterday my boy told me that my mom invited the boys over for dinner at Christmas day.. my mom 's really weird sometimes.. she never invites people she doesn't know.. Okay, but it was a lot of fun! They got here and.. I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did.. I had a really great day!

It's very weird.. Every time Americans are here in Belgium it's like I'm living another life.. Almost like I'm living a dream..

Tomorrow off to Zolder for another cyclocross!

Sleep tight!

Friday, 16th of december

They're back in town.

The Americans !

yep, THE Americans.

Not the same people as last year but also again Americans..

and they're so funny! Americans are just funny people..

although, American bikeriders :D

It's just a different culture than ours and I so like it!

But, Americans being here means cyclocross season beginning for us,

so that means the same as being close to people as Niels Albert!

oh yeah, he's cute! He looks almost the same as my boy..

My boy is a little cuter than Niels, but they're really Look-a-likes to me!

Today I went to ACV, it's a trade union, because I though it would be smarter to inform myself a little more about my rights and obligations.. Well, I'm a little smarter right now :D

Totally ready for that Cyclocross season!

Sitting here waiting for those boys to come home..

here at Hof Ter Kammen.. whole alone..

being happy that such things like "Tumblr" exist.

and waiting to bring those guys back to the airport,

just because I really want STARBUCKS! :p

(just another two weeks.. isn't that long anymore :p)

xxx

learning time (and a little shopping in between)

I should definitely get some sleep!

right now!

but hey.. I keep running out of time.. damn!

Last week, I didn't got a test on my evening class, the teacher forgot the tests at home. yey!

Thursday I did definitely nothing! yey again! well yeah, sometimes I love doing totaly nothing.

Friday I worked hard to start making my stylebook for my final exam. Well, hadn't had a lot of time again, but Saturday went fine! I had fun, like I always have when I do something I like..

I think I did well, teacher was happy though! so than I'm superhappy! hooray to myself!

I took a little brake and went babysitting! earning pocket money! hooray again! Although it wasn't an easy evening.. Sunday I got up at noon and realized I needed to start studying for my exam on wednesday.. booh! I began searching my books and.. oh no! that's a lot more than I expected it to be.. so I double "boo"ed.. I learned chapter 1 and went to my niece to let her draw a picture for me.. yeah yeah! that was another task till wednesday.. after that we went together to my granny's to wish her a happy new year.. yeah, really not ok that I'm so late with that this year! I know. Late in the evening I packed my stuff and we went to my boyfriends house, there I read the second (very small) chapter and went to bed after midnight. So happy I was in bed! goodnight new day. Another day, monday, time to start working at the two task I needed to complete.. till 17h they were done, finally! now I still needed to read chapter 3 (a big one) and again off to bed! (start talking about the daily grind, it felt like that! but wasn't at all!)

Tuesday I left my boyfriend (he had to go to work) to go to Hasselt. Passing Brussels I looked for the "cyclosprint" magazine to see the article about Brian Matter. Well, I found it and couldn't resist buying it.. loved the photo's!! (well the webcam picture sucks, 'cause you can't see the beautiful colors of the pictures.. I traveled further to Hasselt reading the article and then opening my books again to study half of chapter 4, the last chapter! I was half way that one when the train arrived in Hasselt. Took the bus to centre of Hasselt (yeah, lazy ass) and walked to my place.

First things first, I needed a break! And seriously, more than 10days period of sale and hadn't had the time to hit the stores!? Now I can't longer stand it. books aside and shoping it was!

First thing I bought: black bow for in my hair (2€)! stopped at the "New Look" and..

hooray! I love children clothing! more cuteness, better fits, way less expensive, more sale,..

found trousers for 3,5€.. wow! really? that's nothing! I know! and found a cute butterfly ring for 1,25€ (weird price, i'd prefer they left the 0,25€ aside.. )

and went back to "Zara" to go and check the awesome pumps! I knew they wouldn't fit.. but I wanted to try them so bad! I loved them so bad! I adored them! And yeah, they were not big enough, but hey, I loved them, I needed to have them.. so, I bought them.. they fit, put aren't that comfy they should be. but hey, what do they say: who wants to be beautiful needs to stand a little pain.. (heels at least 10cm, oh I adore them!)

So for now I should be studying.. Exam this morning went pretty well (I hope) but there's still the test for this evening.. didn't do anything for that one.. will be a pretty big disaster.. sure if I love blogging and especially Tumblr.. damn! I'm really addicted to it.. as I am to my new shoes!

really gotta go now! still half an hour left to try to learn al Latin (and dutch) names of all the muscles in our bodies.. and everything about the skin etc.. o god, not a good idea.. won't work this evening! but no problem, I'll make it.. (not at the test) but no big worries.

x

Back to real life..

Well.. I wanted to blog every cyclocross race I've been to..

but the races were already started before I began blogging..

and it was to chaotic, to hectic (if this word does exist in english :D) for me to blog every day..

but I will give you a resume of the whole Cyclocross adventure later!

for now, we'll get back to "real life". -> Couldn't really call it "the daily grind" (as I learned a few new english words) 'cause I don't have found a certain routine yet.

I slept till noon today because I was so tired of my first cyclocross adventure (and everything that was going on before that: school,..). It was a lazy day! and I liked it!

I got back to my own little place here in Hasselt.

On the train ride I spoke with a couple from Italy. They were on a holiday, their first time in Belgium, they told me about their visit to Brugge they did today.. made me think of the Americans.. they went to Brugge also..

Ow god, I think I really miss them already.. Had such a great time while they were here!

Good.. I explained them which ticket they should buy to get the cheapest way to Antwerp tomorrow, 'cause today.. NMBS had just been lazy (yeah, nothing different) and these Italians had payed like 25€ too much because of no good information.. There was also a very funny old man in front of me. His english was quite bad (just as the english of that Italian couple actually) but that made the man just so funny! He didn't understand much of what everyone was saying and so it seemed he was living in his own funny world. He had to be a rich man though 'cause he left us in Brussels-central to travel to the sun! .. don't remember the name of where he was going to, but the Italians told me that if you translated the city's name it means "a lot of wind" or something like that.. (a little island I remember)

Anyway.. tomorrow I should study a bit, 'cause in the evening I've got my evening classes again and there will be a little test.. after that manicure! Looking forward to that!

Then we'll head to saturday for my first exam.. Stylist!

still a lot of work for that too! Realy need to start working at my Stylebook!

Then we also need to do 2 little homeworks for Learning Psychologics (yeah, that's a free translations :D ) and the exam will be 12jan. lot to learn for that one..

In between I'll really have to search for a job!

and it would be so nice if I could find a way to get to America!

I need some (yeah, you can read "a lot" instead of some :p) ben & jerry's, and need to try a burrito there,.. and need to get a birthday present for my boy too.. see the link? yeah.. mission impossible..

maybe someday! it would be great!

Dreaming and hoping keeps people alive I guess

first of all I want to tell about another adventure

something totally new for me..

the adventure began on the 16th of december.

I got up early that day to take the train to brussels airport.

I almost arrived there before my boyfriend because he was stuck in traffic jam all the time.

We went to "arrivals" because the first person we had to pick up had to be there already.. maybe he was already waiting. My boy was looking for a guy with a lot of luggage.. because he should have his bikes with him.. While we were checking all the people to see if they had huge luggage my boy said "look, that must be a mechanic or so, that guy wears a hat from a cycling brand".. actually, a few minutes later.. that person came to us and seemed to be the person we were waiting for :D

We didn't recognized him because on facebook my boy showed me pictures of a boy with a mustache and a lot of tattoos.. but the guy didn't had a mustache nor could we see tattoos (that's not so weird, because it's pretty cold here! so you need all the clothes you have with you to keep you warm).

Anyway, we found Mark but he lost his luggage on his way to brussels..

We had to wait another hour before the other guy would be there so we went to the departures hall to drink some starbucks. My first starbucks ever!

The other guy arrived with the girls, they had the big luggage my boy was talking about (yeah, I don't know much about cycling or what so ever).. While the boys went to the van to put all the luggage away I went to starbucks with the girls. The boys left off with the van to oudenaarde and the girls and me went with the train.. When we were waiting at the trainstation of brussels-south I got the message that the boys already arrived at Oudenaarde. We were still waiting for our train.. delayed, as usual. The girls talked a lot, and I felt really comfy. Another long ride, sitting in the train to Oudenaarde, and the girls were a little tired. When we got there, we went all together to the grocery store, actually, I really had fun!

At first I was a little scared at the beginning of that day, as I always am.. but I already knew at the end of that day that I would terribly miss them when they should have to leave!

This.. is only the start.

It has been pretty chaotic the last few weeks.. and even more the last few days..

At the beginning of this month I decided to quit school and then everything became very chaotic..

Well, how should I begin..

When I had to go to high school I asked my mom if i could just become a beauty specialist.. now, my parents said "no", I had to go to high school first.. So I did. I went to study Productdesign for 3 years, so I got my bachelor. It was funny but I missed a few things, I wanted to learn decently how to work with photoshop, flash, aftereffects,.. all the adobestuff (or most of them). But the thing I really really wanted (like very bad) was becoming a beauty specialist. My mother wasn't happy with that, so I worked in summer to be able to pay those studies myself. I decided to start studying Graphic design. Definitely something for me, my mom was very happy, and me too.. although I still wanted to become a beauty specialist so bad!

I was able to skip the first year because I already had my degree in Productdesign. I learned a lot! more than I ever did while I was studying Productdesign.. Yeah, that felt pretty weird! but also verry good! certainly if you know I'm addicted to learning :D (note: only learning things that I'm interested in!!).. The first year I did this I also did evening classes to become an allround Make-up Artist (so also hairstyling included).. And then we came to this year..

Again I worked in summer and now I had enough money to pay the evening classes to became a beauty specialist! School (-> Graphic design) began somewhere around the end of september and the evening classes would start mid november.. I was like really looking forward to november! I wanted to stop my studies to become a graphic designer, but thought it wouldn't be wise because after this year I would have another bachelor.. Unfortunately I lost all of my motivation to become a graphic designer when I met my new teachers for interactive and webdesign.. bummer! I had too much work for school and didn't liked it anymore. I had started weekend lessons to become a stylist too, so when november came.. It got all too busy and I was like constantly tired because I couldn't get enough sleep, I couldn't practice enough for any of my classes.. So I was like really getting frustrated!

Not much I could do about it, cause I didn't wanted to quit my evening and weekend classes, so there was only one left.. graphic design.. but that one, I couldn't quit because my parents would be really furious, and I love them too much to upset them, to hurt them or what so ever..

I talked again with them about this issue and.. finally! I couldn't believe it, they told me that they would support me and that I could quit school. They weren't and still aren't really happy with that, but it's my decision.. and they could see now what I really want (I guess).. (-> their support)

It was a hard decision! really! because I would love to be a graphic designer.. but in the end, I have the skills now, I learned it all.. Allright, I do not have the degree. For me that's only a piece of paper, I don't need that, whatever all the companies and people are saying.. I want the skills! Not a stupid paper that tells you a bunch of lies.. (well, sometimes it's just a bunch of lies, that's only my opinion.)

Anyhow, it took a long time to decide what would be the best to do now. I wanted to arrange everything with school before christmas.. but yeah, obviously those people aren't that fast to fix everything.. (come on, they had like 3 weeks!)

Well, this is only a start..

hard part to read through,

next will be more fun I guess

well, I hope :D