(the aftermath of new year's on streets throughout Amsterdam) a lot has gone on in recent weeks, a trip to Colorado to visit family and friends for Christmas and the beginning of a new year, with a couple unfortunate happenings in the start of my transition back into Amsterdam life. For one thing, i lost my mobile phone. it's amazing how dependent we are on these things! it really makes getting in touch with people a lot more difficult (for instance, i don't have any phone numbers...but life does feel a bit simpler and quieter without it!) And, can you tell what's wrong with the following picture?:
well, it's probably pretty obvious. i was riding home from a friend's house at 2 am a couple days ago, and my chain just randomly came off it's track. if it had happened during the day i wouldn't have minded so much, but walking home for twenty minutes in the city so late, without a phone, and in the rain and wind, was not the most pleasant of experiences! (maybe some of you are looking at this and wondering: 'naomi, why didn't you just fix it?'...well, i still have some learning to do in the area of bike repairs.)all in all, i'm glad to be 'home' in Amsterdam. overall i enjoyed my time in Colorado, but it just doesn't feel like home to me anymore. it was a strange feeling. what is the definition of home anyway? according to Jurren, "home is a choice." like they say "home is where the heart is" and so according to Jurren's theory, you choose where your heart is at. and i think i pretty much agree with that. i think i've really chosen in the last year to make Amsterdam my new home. but anyway, here are some pictures from my time:
we got 37 inches (close to 90cm) of snow! it was the 4th biggest blizzard Colorado has gotten in years...we were literally stuck at our house for a couple of days. the strange looking object you see on the right hand side, is our barbecue grill buried in the snow!
my grandpa bowls regularly as he is on a bowling league, he has his own shoes and ball! so whenever he comes into town we go bowling as a family. 
my brother Paul has got the professional form down...he's way better than me! 
my aunt is so creative with Christmas: she actually pre-opened a bunch of walnuts, folded up money, put it inside, and super glued them back together! i had to crack all these nuts to find her gift of money inside! 
my brothers are modeling the new scarfs that i gave them for Christmas. my brother Jeremy (on the left) had made a comment earlier in the week that "guys don't wear scarves!" to which i told him that he should be careful what he says-and that guys do wear scarves if they're really cool : ) he kinda realized in that moment that maybe i was giving him a scarf for Christmas. so each time he received a gift from me, he would say "just disregard what i said earlier," as a disclaimer before opening the package! i think he did end up liking it--especially since it came all the way from Scotland!
me and my good looking 'little' brothers. they're growing up so fast. sniff, sniff...my friend arienne and i hosted a new year's eve party at my house, and it was such a great evening! we had so much fun dancing the night away...the rain stopped just in time for the beautiful fireworks display from the roof terrace...
a few people were still hanging out in the hallway at 3:45 in the morning...people were just so reluctant to bring the party to an end...
...so in the end, we had an "after party" and did all the cleaning at 4 in the morning! Sonja mopped while Simon and i were the 'drying brigade' following her around the room...it was a spectacular night! here's to 2007!
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