KELLY'S ENGAGED!!!!

I now have permission to finish my blog. You will soon read what happened, but the involved parties wanted to blog about it first, together, so I had to wait till today before I could spill the beans.

Thinking nothing of the random event Kelly wanted me to meet her at the bar and celebrate; I kept on reading, watching the clock, thinking how I needed to get ready for dinner. I hear the keys in the door and Kelly and Stu ended up coming home. Kelly comes down our little hallway and asks if she can come in…she hands me a Stroopwaffle McFlurry (My new favorite) and I thought that was so sweet! I have been trying to get one for a few days now and McDonald’s Holland has been against me because every time we go look for one, their ice cream machine is broken. I thought that was so nice of Kelly and then I catch a glimpse of her left hand…I proceed to squeal! I can’t believe it!! I let her out of my sight for one afternoon and she gets engaged!!!! I also got to sneak in an “I told you so!” because Kelly and I had a few debates if he was going to bring the ring or not. She said “No” since he kept giving her excuses of how he didn’t want to travel with it and things like that. I went with “Yes” because he was actively ring shopping with his female family members and any man that I’ve ever known doesn’t ring shop….and if he does, he is not going to hang on to it for a few months until the timing is just perfect. I was right. He brought it and I’m so happy he did!!! I get to be the only member on the sidelines for their perfect Dutch fairytale!

After they tell me the story of how Stu romantically proposed under our windmill and I squeal some more I figured I better hurry up and get ready. They had to call all of the family members so I let them be as I worked on my beautification process. I figured since Kelly got engaged, I better look cute; maybe I can hook myself a cute Dutch boy. I hear Kelly and Stu talking to their family. It was super cute though because most of the Houston family knew what he was coming over to do so they were just waiting for the call. I loved being able to over hear their conversations because everyone was so supportive of the event. The little nieces have been practicing how to say “Aunt Kelly” and all of the brothers and sisters were so welcoming to the both of them. I don’t know how many times I heard “Welcome to the family! We’re so happy for you two! Congratulations!” It was just the way everything should be. I think this is my first experience with an engagement that has gone by the fairytale books. I also informed Stu he owes my man (whenever I find him) an apology because he is now going to be held to very high standards. I know this stuff happens in real life, not just in the movies. I am so happy for them and so happy I get to be a default part of this. I like living my “relationship life” through Kelly, it’s a good one!!!

***This story can be read from firsthand experience at Kelly’s blog site HERE***

So as you can see this was a major event that filled up most of our weekend. Our dinner at Wilma & Albert’s was fantastic, as expected. We each got something different and we shared so we could get a taste of everything. I got the spicy ribs again, Kelly got salmon, and Stu got a great steak with garlic butter. The steak and ribs are now my 2 favorite things there.

One of our co-workers is in a band. The guys always give him a hard time and call him the “Rock Star.” We decided we had to go find out for ourselves how “rock star” he really is. His band was playing in Beverwijk Saturday evening so we decided to drag Stu along (and have him be our man protection, if needed) and head out to the bar. We got a bit lost, but we ended up finding alright and we were about 20 minutes late. Well, sticking true to “Rock Star” standards they didn’t start till an hour late so we didn’t miss anything. Their first song is an original and called “Love Me (a.k.a. The Stalker).” Now, we couldn’t hear the words (it sounded if their acoustics were off) but I really liked the title. It still makes me laugh….I wonder if I could get the lyrics from him? Anyways! We stayed for about an hour and a half, which covered the first and part of the 2nd set. Kelly and I were asking him what type of songs they play so he printed us off the set list and I told him I was going to bring it with me and make sure they didn’t mess up. I did bring it, but we really used it more for reference. The most important fact though, was that there was a “costume change” between the two sets. Now, this was not included in the set list, we were taken by surprise!

They have a cute little drummer, and by cute I mean short, kind of mean looking, a picturesque beer belly, and a blue tooth in his ear. Well this stud changed from a black shirt to white. I know crazy rock stars. Well the lead singer (our co-worker) changed from jeans and a dark t-shirt to SHINEY BLACK LEATHER PANTS and a T-shirt that has scrolling letters that said “Welcome to Q.E.D. Have fun” I couldn’t help but to laugh my head off. Really? Black leather shiny pants! When we first saw them I thought they were covered in sequins. I had to get some pictures!

These pictures don't do the pants justice, but you can see the shine! This is "Sally" (we can never remember his real, full name)

I had to take a picture with him and his scrolly shirt. They were taking a short pause and I grabbed him on my way out. Oh, the clothes!!!

At one point they were singing the old American classic “Sing-a-long” “Brown Eyed Girl” and when he was doing the “Sha la la la la la la la la la la te da” part he came over and let me and Kelly sing. Yup, we have now sang with/in a Dutch band. Cross that off my life’s list of things to do! It was a lot of fun but we had a busy day in Amsterdam planned so we had to get home. After a short drive home we were all in bed, ready for our exciting day touring the Anne Frank house and the Heineken Experience. Be ready for that recount. It was a fun time!

Antwerp, Part 2

Part 2 of our Antwerp trip (Sunday) is super exciting. It is the day we went to the diamond district. Now that you have the teaser.....you have to read the entire posting! I know, it was mean.

This is the Cathedral of our Lady. It is a gorgeous Roman Catholic cathedral that was started in 1352 and construction stopped in 1551, it was never officially completed. The church is also home to several works of art by Peter Paul Rubens as well as Otto Van Veen, Jacob de Backer, and Martin de Vos. If you would like a more official, wider history than what I will give click here. Otherwise, you will just hear about how pretty everything is!

This is the beautiful main part of the church. It has so much natural light coming in from the above windows it was very pleasant. They also had a huge organ. I am a big fan of beautiful organs, which makes me wonder why I didn’t get a picture of it. If you want to hear the organ music play, you can click here which will take you to Kelly’s blog (I just learned she won't be posting the organ music until tomorrow, but there is a video of the bells playing, which is enjoyable as well). She has a great video of it…and her feet. Kelly and I went to church here on Sunday morning. I am not Catholic, but Kelly is and I figured, why not? It is such a pretty place, I can sit there and listen to God’s word in Dutch…maybe Flemish…for an hour and listen to pretty music. We wanted to go to the earlier service with choir and organ, but we didn’t make it. We could handle the 12 o’clock service though! It was so pleasant!

This was the mural at the top of the dome above the alter/center of the church area. It was so pretty, and the use of natural light is just amazing. A lot of times these old churches are so dark but this one was so light! It was also undergoing a major renovation to restore a lot of the building. It had gone through multiple wars, a fire, and a looting. I guess they figured it needed a bit of TLC. There was also an exhibit that displayed part of the original alters that was stolen back in 1600 or 1800, a long time ago, and then they surfaced again for auction at Christy’s in London. The city of Antwerp had to raise the money to buy the pieces back. There were 4 on action and they were able to acquire 2 of them and then got a 3rd piece later. It is sad/interesting how these historic relics were stolen so long ago, and kept, then passed through the generations, only to show up a few hundred years later at private auction. I’m not sure what I would do with a large chunk of stone alter if my parents left it to me. I guess that’s why they have survived…generations just got a big yard ornament passed along.



I’m not sure what this is used for, but it’s in every Catholic Church. Kelly said she thinks it’s for when important, higher ranking Catholic officials visit to observe the ceremony. It sounds like a good explanation so I’m going with it. It is so ornate and so much detail….all carved from wood. These ancient artists are amazing. I would never have enough patience to work on such an extensive piece or have so little room for error. You screw up a giant marble sculpture, you’re starting over. No thank you, I’ll take a pencil and eraser any day!

These two pictures are of the pretty alter and candle sticks. I have a thing for candle sticks, I don't know why but I like them. This is candle sticks on steroids.

So after church, Kelly and I were hungry so we went in search of a cute place on the square. Kelly has dubbed our restaurant search “Restaurant Roulette” because we have no real method besides how they look and how many people are there. Our travel book said the top 10 things to buy in Antwerp are (I can’t remember the order exactly): diamonds, chocolate, lace, shell fish, tintin (A cartoon we think), pastries, fries, waffles, beer, and coture. Well shell fish seemed like an easy one to accomplish so for lunch that’s exactly what I had. And what better to accompany mussels? French Fries!

I bet you can't guess what we had for dessert...a waffle! They are just such tasty treats! It was hard to not get one. One of the guys at work told us they were gross. We promptly informed him, when we got back, that he was a liar. They are a little slice of heaven.

After lunch Kelly and I headed to the diamond district. Our waiter had told us about the diamond museum so we headed that direction. It was next to the train station. I don’t think it was a coincidence that the diamond square mile developed around the train station. I learned, in the museum, people didn’t consider it safe to walk long distances with diamonds on their persons. Smart people. The museum is interesting, but I would not recommend it, well, recommend spending lots of time there. It did give the history of diamonds and neat facts, such as that 80% of the worlds diamonds go through Antwerp at least once in its life time either as a rough cut or gem stone. The museum is only 4 Euros but the layout was so weird and hard to follow. I have definitely seen better arrangements. We were also disappointed because it didn’t have all sorts of gems to see. It did give the story about a lot of the famous stones around the world, such as the Hope Diamond. Many of the other mentioned stones are in the Tower of London as part of the Crown Jewels. It would be nice to see the stone and get the story at the same time.

After spending about 2 hours at the museum, we decided we should go window shopping. We had no intentions of buying anything but to just look. There are store after store after store of pretty lights and sparkles. Kelly has been looking at some pretty rings for awhile now and we thought we should do some price comparison and see if being in the diamond capital had its advantages or not. She is far more diamond knowledgeable than I am, which is why I appreciate her company even more.

I had a favorite pair of “diamond” earrings that I always got complements on. Well, they are fake and so old, they turn my ears green. So I started looking at earrings….and looking and looking. We went into this one place and the sales lady was good. She was very aggressive, but nice and personable. I can appreciate a good sales person. So I found a cute pair, bought them, and was happy. Then, she pulled out a box from under the counter and there were matching rings! Now, if I have the earrings, I have to have the matching ring! The fun thing about shopping there, there is a bit of “haggling” that goes one. Some leeway with which credit card you use to pay….or in cash…so we had fun working her down on the price and I’m sure she enjoyed the game. It’s all part of the sport of selling. By the time it was all said and done, I have a new ring and matching earrings. Below is the picture of my new bling. I feel it is an appropriate diamond ring to be buying myself. I’ll start small and let someone else buy me the big rock. I love my new jewelry and have ZERO buyers’ remorse. I probably would have regretted it if I didn’t get anything. It’s still so sparkly! I love it!

We didn't end up leaving Antwerp till about 8pm after diamond shopping and eating. We still had a 2 hour drive home, so to say the least, it was a long day and Monday came too early! Kelly and I are still recovering. We better recover fast because we leave for Paris on Friday! Woo Hoo!


For your enjoyment: Here is a video of a neat group who was singing to raise moeny for Haiti. They were infront of the Cathedral of our Lady. It was a lot of fun to wach them and they were so happy and lively and it was sunny out so the joy was easily spread. I hope you enjoy the little snippit!