It's the 12th of January 2014 and I've finally decided to continue writing a blog. "Continue? But it's your first blog!" you might think, but no. I've written blogs on other websites and there's only one that I still use sometimes, my travelblog http://hannahlowenhardt.waarbenjij.nu/.
So why did I decide to start writing again? Well, a couple of days ago I saw a blog that one of my roommates wrote. It was about a new hairproduct and she was really excited about it. That's when I thought why not share MY thoughts, ideas and findings with the world! Maybe I can help some people out too by handing them recipes, cool products and tips and tricks (if I ever come up with these) or just some stories about me and the things I've been through. So hopefully this will be the beginning of a great year full of fun, adventures, friends and... blogging!
The thing I want to talk about today is something that came to my mind when I was running this morning. Last week was a tough week, I lost a good friend (not that he died, but the friendship just ended), was really busy with school and it was not what I had in mind for the beginning of 2014. One of my new years resolutions was to think positive more often and enjoy life a little bit more than I already did, but after last week I kind of forgot about that. Luckily this friday the weekend opened it's doors to a couple of days of joy, work and relaxing. My boyfriend took me to a story telling night in Amsterdam. It was organised by http://www.mezrab.nl/ and it's almost every week. People tell stories about what they've been through or they re-tell stories they've heard before. It's an inspiring night that brings many new thoughts and perspectives to your mind. After that we went to something else that brings stuff to your mind, aka a King Shiloh soundsystem reggae dub party where a lot of people smoke a lot of weed. It was fun and I just loved the dancing because eveybody dances in their own way and no one will judge you for your way of dancing. After a lot of music, sweat and dreadlocks we went on our way home (Utrecht). We got to enjoy the silence of saturday morning, just before the sunlight comes back around the earth to help everybody get up and enjoy a new day.
Saturday I finally started with watching Lord of the Rings part 3. About a week ago I watched the first (extended) movie to conclude that they actually really are cool and so I had to watch part 2 and 3 as well. Because it was the extended version, we couldn't finish watching it. It simply took too long. So that's what I did this morning. But before I tell you about my thoughts when I was running, I'm sorry it's taking me so long to get to the point, I will tell you about yesterday evening just because it was so much fun.
Yesterday I finally got to spend time with my favorite neighbour again! He was in Germany for about a month, and as always, although it might sound contradicting, we didn't have time to see eachother during the holidays. So yesterday we decided to do something fun. First we went to the supermarket to get Paprika, zucchini, leek, lemon, green beans and rice to make some kind of spicey stirfried vegetable mix. It was easy and delicious! I will add the recipe below if you want to make it!
After this delicious dinner we went to the movie La Grande Bellezza, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqMhf9utyWQ. It's one of the best non commercial films I've seen so far so you should definitely watch it! The main actor is the perfect person for the role, his eyes say almost everything they need to say to tell the story. It's not a silent movie or something, but they do know how to make silences beautiful. You get to watch 'normal' people the way he watches them, in a world that is so different from his. He is brutally honest and, I think, so is the movie. We went home, excited about the great movie we saw, had some drinks and I went home (which was fortunately a 3 second walk) and went to bed.
So, finally I will tell you about my thoughts this morning. After I woke up and watched the ending of LOTR 3, I decided that I had to do some sports. I was going to play tennis every sunday, but for some personal reasons it didn't turn out the way I hoped it would. I decided not to feel down about it and just do some exercise by myself. I went running for about 40 minutes and when I returned I ran through a little park behind my appartment building. The park got me thinking, why not start dancing? It's not like I randomly thought this, because I used to do breakdancing but I don't anymore because of a lack of space. After some doubts about looking silly, the decision was made and I started dancing. It felt great. A little bit of the weight that I was carrying with mesince last week fell of my shoulders so that I could move, breathe and feel free. It got me thinking. Why let other people decide what I should do? Or what I should not do? Or how I should feel? It doesn't make sense! I'm here to be happy, make other people happy and to make the world a little bit of a better place. Would it help to feel bad? No. And so I decided to try to make the best out of my life again. Try to stay happy every day, to take control of my happiness and to help others reach theirs. I know I'm definitely a long way from being able to do that everyday, but I can try and as long as I have friends that do that too, it will work and the world will be an even better place. So don't let yourself down, have courage and think positive about (almost) everything, just like the hobbits :).
Have a great Sunday!
Hannah
Recipe:
3 persons
1 paprika
1 leek
1 lemon
1 zucchini
300 g green beans
250 g white rice
sambal
wokoil
Cut the paprika in strips, the leek and zucchini in slices, wash the beans and squeeze out the lemon. Cook the rice according to the package. Heat a stirfrying pan and poor some oil in it. Add the beans and paprika and stirfry for 4 minutes. Now add the zucchini and stirfry 2 more minutes. Add the leek and the lemonjuice and cook for 1 more minute. To finish it, add some sambal and salt. That's it! easy peasy!
Recipe:
3 persons
1 paprika
1 leek
1 lemon
1 zucchini
300 g green beans
250 g white rice
sambal
wokoil
Cut the paprika in strips, the leek and zucchini in slices, wash the beans and squeeze out the lemon. Cook the rice according to the package. Heat a stirfrying pan and poor some oil in it. Add the beans and paprika and stirfry for 4 minutes. Now add the zucchini and stirfry 2 more minutes. Add the leek and the lemonjuice and cook for 1 more minute. To finish it, add some sambal and salt. That's it! easy peasy!
