bollywood

noelle went to a party for the church that she goes to called the Zolder (planted by GEM, i think) called "Bollywood" for the intention of raising money for a community in India. we had a great tie getting her all ready. I couldn't tell her that it is really downhill after the dress. but, when she came home, i think she actually had a better time than getting ready! she said it was a great party and really just lights up when she gets to be around people :)

Mia the starlette

one of the pics that we sent into the casting director

so Mia was in a dutch movie! it is a movie based on a dutch teen book called "how do i survivie myself" (but think of it as though you were listening to someone speaking dutch)... she was one of the main extras as the lead character's alter ego that is a talented in-line skater!

mis is the one in the hot red wig!!!!

she had such a great time and it the casting people have offered to contact her for future stuff!

about a week later, she was in a competition in Rotterdam at Skateland in which she was the only girl competeing and made it to the finals!!!! she did really well... many of her friends were in the competition and placed really well too! we had a great time... Noelle and Shea came too, so it was a girl's day ;) mia did great and things are going really well for her at the moment. some of her friends are coming over to the house for dinner this friday so, it should be pretty fun getting to know the people that are a big part of her life ;)

you say it's your (princess) birthday

the party-goers



on the 8th of November, it was SHEA'S BIRTHDAY! the darling little munchkin turned 5... and has not let us forget it since :). it was the cutest thing... Shawna decided to let her invite 5 friends over for the the party on the 7th. The back room (separate apartment, basically) has been finished for the time being, so the party was back there. sidenote: this room is going to be our work room/guest room/my room/whatever else we need. it was so cute... all of these little girls speaking dutch, all from different backgrounds.

noelle being beaten mercilessly by.... 5 year olds. with balloons.

here is the thing... we were expecting a room full of really off-the-wall girls, and they were super mellow. they played well, didn't fight, sat and listened to our friend Harmine read a book to them, sang to Disney Princess Music... it was adorable and really wonderfully low-maintainance. so fun. by the way; our friend Harmine totally came in and saved the day - she is dutch and was soooo good with all of the girls. she really made the day and was such a great person for all of the girls. Such a fun day... different from what i was expecting, but such a fabulous time hanging out with these little princesses :)
this little one was having a particularly hard time... harmine was so sweet to keep reading to her :)
Andrew smuggling cake

Embellish...

OK!!!! it has been too long since the last post.... much has happened, so i am going to break it down into bite-sized chunks for you. we'll start with the 3rd of november....



the company that i am working hard to set up, called "Embellish", had it's first job on Saturday the 3rd! We were asked to do the catering as more of a promotion for our work and and the exhibit... the exhibit was called "ViceVerse" and is an exhibit that has been done in Cadiz in Spain and featured over 20 artists. The exhibition poening was held in the Oude Kerk ("old church") in the middle of the red light district. the exhibit it really beautiful, man talented artists including our friend, Wanda (connector for this event and our biggest cheerleader :) ). The food really centered around an idea of bright veggies, spanish-style hors d'oevures that were presented in a "horn of plenty" presentation for all to share. it was really fun to set up, prep was easy, and THEY LOVED IT! we had a number of people thank us profusely, saying that it was a work of art in itself and asking WHAT OTHER WORK WE ARE DOING! mission accomplished! it was really great to have it be well recieved and give the artists an experience of really feeling taken care of and showcasing their work. sidenote: people are amazing. they absolutely annihilated the table... i am not kidding. we saw a woman towards the end of the opening actually pick up one of the cabbages that the dip was in and start eating it with a serving spoon. they ate the decor, for crying out loud! very hilarious. it was pretty interesting to see people practically climbing over one another to get at that food. it was a great time, we are fielding requests for more work in the wake of still working to get it all set up through the country... we had a great time and can't wait to do more to expand the businesses of these people...

wanda's son sebastian and his girlfriend Arianna
our darling wanda and friends
this is the beginning...

halloween backwards

so halloween is not done in this country. since this is a household full of american kids, naturally they attempted trick or treating of some kind anyway. so shea dressed up like this...


which was too cute for words. since the trick or treating thing was not really going to work out, given that people didn't buy candy or anything to pass out, we went to the store and bought candy to pass out to people on the street...

this little girl dressed as a princess being pushed in a stroller through the streets of amsterdam telling people happy halloween and giving them candy for free... it seriously made people's night. it was the cutest thing.... these people would be so confused. but after accepting the candy, they would get these big stupid smiles on their faces and say things like "how cute is she?" or "isn't that sweet?". we actually got a "what the f***?"... soooo funny, and so great to see people responding in such a great way to the reverse american holiday. i am thinking we should do the same thing with thanksgiving, but walking the streets passing out turkey is a bit odd... not to mention messy.

here are some pics of dam square at night, courtesy of our friend rachel radford...

hope you had a fun halloween ;)

a slice of the city

shawna's friend Christina Sharp is here right now... having a good time getting to know her and talking through how we both can't believe that we didn't know each other in California since we knew all the same people. we have been walking around the city a bit and she has been helping remind me to take pics of things that will help everyone who reads this to see what i am seeing everyday. so, here are some sensory pictures... :)


in vondelpark... i run here as often as i can. it is a huge park in the middle of the city with tons of trails and open spaces. this time of year it is especially beautiful... the 2 girls are christina and noelle

on herengracht at dusk.... "gracht" means canal in dutch. you have to say the "g" and the "ch" with a gutteral spitting sound (sort of like in german). really pretty to listen to (ha ha).
beautiful night... a bit cold, so we went home not long after this ;). i run the canals pretty often too... really when i get bored with vondelpark. keeps things interesting.

back in action

sunset at Scheveningen beach in den Haag

so, i have been in den Haag for the past week and working on Field Orientation with CAI. Not only running logistics, but participating as well. it was for all of the people that have been on the field for 6 months to a year. pretty intense time, tons of sessions and meetings. god stuff though. took even more personality tests, so now i can really excuse all of my actions behind these tests (JUST KIDDING!) but seriously, I am an ENFJ, SPATE, an activator, developer, includer, have positivity and woo and am accomodating. so... there were a bunch of tests that outline personality, conflit management skills, strengths and giftings. and then what to do with all of that, what that looks like in team dynamics, models for work, etc., etc., etc... all good stuff, but so much to process and work through. so, i have been out of contact with the rest of the world for a bit. but, we were let out on occasion to go into the city to hang out :) logisitcs went well and there are many ways that we can tweak it for next time...

some really cool building in den Haag

sidenote: i love this country. reason: most people are as tall or taller than i am. it is stinking great. i was on the train yesterday and there was a guy sitting next to me that, i kid you not, had to be about 6' 7''. this is so not normal. i learned last week that many of the people that are just adjusting to culture are really missing american food, little differences between here and the US, but i can't get over how tall people are here. too funny.

more to come. here are some pics of the end of the 2 weeks (i couldn't find my battery charger until the end of the 2 weeks. classic.)...

at de Oude Mol in den Haag... this little bar down the street from the monestary we hung out at the end of the night when sessions were over. Met some really cool regulars and the bartender is wonderful. her name is Daphne and she is getting her masters right now in art curation for corporate companies. we are planning to get together for lunch or dinner sometime when i am in den Haag during the week! Daphne is the girl in the pic by herself below... Klaus is another guy that we met... German guy who is a higher-up in Shell, which is based out of den Haag. some very cool conversations with him. He is the gentleman in the pic next to the candle. all the rest of us were part of FO.



































celebration dinner at the Graf's house the night before everyone went home to the countries they are currently residing in. Kerri is attempting to feed Laina's chickens, Hud (our soul care man) and Al (my boss) trying to talk, and as many people as possible fitting into the kitchen to help make dinner for the 30 people that are at the house... good times!