Now that I’ve shared with you the message of the day it’s time to catch up a bit. It was my birthday yesterday. I had a lovely day with my mum and then spent the evening with my family. As good a birthday as any.

Being twenty-four has taught me a myriad of things so I guess that today I’m sharing some of them with you all.

• You can accumulate a LOT of stuff. Seriously, stop buying things or you’ll never be able to take them with you when you move.
• Happy = healthy. Try to be as happy and positive as possible and healthy nutrition will follow (at least it does for me).
• Kristin Chenoweth was right when she said in her book that you should sing with your hoo-hoo. Take advice from people who know what they’re talking about.
• You’re fooling nobody by trying to casually walk by the entrance of RWCMD because you’re nervous. They will still see you come in. Be brave.
• Talking to people is something you never regret. If you think the person sitting next to you on the plane is cool and you’re dying to ask them about that book on their lap, do so. Seriously.
• Taking care of yourself is important.
• There are a lot more people who care about you and your dreams and hopes than you could imagine. Appreciate them.

I hope you guys all have a wonderful weekend. I’ll be here working and whenever I’m home writing like mad for NaNoWriMo (I’m massively behind! Eek!)

Today is a special day. It’s a day for the woman who has always encouraged but never pushed me. Who was always loving but also set out clear boundaries. The mum I aspire to one day be.

Happy birthday mama!

PS: this week is a bit insane, ‘regular’ posting will resume after the weekend. See you then!

Last week I went shopping in Roeselare with my mum. Afterwards we drove to Diksmuide to pick up my brother from work. As we drove we talked about just about everything but the thing that really stuck to me was confidence. We talked about my upcoming auditions and mum told me she was really proud of what I’ve achieved already and for my guts in going for my dreams.

She talked about this sense of awe and I couldn’t help but turn the sentiment around. Let’s get this straight: my mum is pretty awesome. She’s a trained nurse with over 20 years of experience, she is now the coordinator of the volunteer work at the hospital and she’s a track and field coach for the sprint and hurdles group as well as the disabled group. The way she inspires and motivates these kids is just amazing to see.

My mother is a very strong woman.

And yet when I told her her that I was only brave and strong because of the example she set me she shook her head. ‘What have I achieved in my life?’ she said. Somehow she didn’t think that all those accomplishments mean a lot in the greater sense of things.

It made me realize that I often think like that as well. It’s just how I was raised and how my mum was raised before me. It’s that West-Flemish humility that’s in our blood. Just do your job without making a fuss.

The thing is: there’s nothing wrong with being proud of your accomplishments. There’s nothing wrong with valuing what you have achieved.

Humility is not discrediting your accomplishments. For me this is a hard one. It’s hard for me to accept compliments, it really is. It’s hard work, but I’m learning. I’m learning to say thank you rather than ‘Oh, it’s nothing really.’ Because it isn’t.

I’m learning to be proud of myself. To be proud of the person I am and the things I do and have accomplished in the past.

What about you? What are you proud of?

On Tuesday I went to Bellewaerde Park in Ypres together with my brother. I had anticipated a bit of rain but… let’s just say that my expectations were exceeded.

Don’t get me wrong, we had a wonderful day. Our winter coats were back out of the wardrobe and armed with a hat for the rain we set off to Ypres. It was so quiet in the park (the weather forecast of rain, rain and more rain probably had something to do with that), especially in the morning. Sometimes it felt as if we were the only ones there.

Because of us already half moving to our new apartment there wasn’t an umbrella in sight and I forgot my wellies but we braved the cold and rain and the occasional wet seats of different attractions.

There was a lot of hot chocolate to warm us up, luckily, so the picture of the day must be this:

Closely followed by this one. Who doesn’t love a good tiger shot, right?

Today is rather grey here in Belgium but I’m setting off for a day trip to Ypres with my brother anyways. A bit of rain never does anyone much harm, does it? I’ll just have to take my red flowery rain boots with me in the car.

Plus I have a feeling it’s going to be loads and loads of fun. That’s good enough for me.

Big umbrella, here I come!

I’ve arrived home for the holidays and it is brilliant. My plan for tonight is snuggling on the couch with a huge mug of hot chocolate and watching a movie together with my mum and brother.

What are your plans? Have your holidays started already?

I don’t know how or why but I suddenly got a dash of holiday spirit yesterday. So I decided that as of today I’ll do a countdown to Christmas. Completely out of the blue? Yes. Completely awesome to boot? Yes!

On Saturday my mum and I set up our Christmas tree. For the past two years I’ve been doing the tree stuff all by myself to it was nice to have her help set it up and decorate it with me.

There are only three presents under the tree so far. Two of which are for my brother as mum and I usually don’t wait until the end of the year to buy presents (I actually bought his Christmas present this summer while I was in Sweden).

My favourite ornaments are the huge red glitter balls. They’re so pretty and sparkle so beautifully when it’s dark except for the lights in the tree.

We also have a couple of ornaments we brought back from Disneyland. One more will be added to the collection this year. Can’t wait.

Today it’s been exactly one year since my grandma died. Time has flown and yet it still feels like only yesterday. There’s been so much going on in the past year.

It all became painfully current again yesterday as the entire family attended the year mass in her memory. Just being back in that church with all of them sounded a bit too close to home for me. For my grandpa it’s still beyond painful and I wish there is something I could do to help him, support him more, be there more often for him.

As for my mum I can’t imagine what it must be like for her to lose a mother. It was bad enough for me to lose my grandma and godmother.

But you know, as I was doing my singing exam this morning I didn’t feel alone. She’s still here, in my memories, in everything I do.

Thank you, grandma.

To me weekends are for relaxing and spending time with my family. This afternoon I spent some quality time with my mum. It’s nice to have some time for just the two of us.

How did you spend your Saturday afternoon?

Another awesome thing about mothers: they’re usually there when you need them. Thanks mum.

Seeing as it’s Thanksgiving today I thought it might be nice to make a list of things I’m thankful for. I started with: my friends and family.

And that was it really. All the other things were things that came with the friends & family category.

A little random selection:

• having a mum that supports me unconditionally in all my endeavors whether they be teaching, musical theatre or other shenanigans
• having a best friend who is there for me when I really need her but also is there to have fun with and just hang out
• having classmates that care, that are genuine and kind
• having awesome friends around the world who I can still keep in touch with and who are so welcoming and brilliant
• studying the thing I want to do most in the world.
  How freaking lucky am I?

And also other little things such as: enjoying a raspberry tart with two of my brilliant classmates or having a nice cup of tea after a long day at school.

Little things. They’re the ones that count.