Four things tag

I've been tagged by Carissa from Musings of an Introvert.

Four jobs I've had:
1. PhD student/researcher
2. Administrative assistent (multiple times)
3. Bookstore employee (for exactly one week...)
4. Cleaning lady

My time at L´Abri

In January, I spent almost 4 weeks at the Christian study community L'Abri. For me, it was a retreat after 5 years of working really hard at my PhD. A time to reset and create room in my mind for other things than just work. I had a really good time, enjoying the lovely people, the good conversations, the quiet and the great cooking ;-)

8 Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts (12)

Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by Bookishly Boisterous.
It allows book bloggers (and non-book bloggers) to write about pretty much anything, bookish or otherwise (i.e. sharing exciting plans for the weekend,
rants on things they've encountered during the week etc.)

Phew, it´s been almost half a year since I last did one of these ´Thoughts´ posts! High time for another random update of many areas of my life ;-)

1. Personally, I've been rather busy. After my PhD defense in June, I got an extension of my contract until the end of 2016. I was ofcourse really happy to still have a job! I've been working really hard as our group is trying to fit as much experiments as possible into these few months, before the project (and funding...) really ends. And ofcourse, at the same time, I have to keep on applying for new jobs as well. I've decided to take a 'sabbatical' in January and February. I need time to breathe, recharge and do things I've been wanting to do for years but didn't have the time for. So, who knows, I might post a lot of reviews in these months....

Trip to Heidelberg!

Hello dear readers! It's been a while (again) since I've written, but to make it up, I've got a big, photo-filled post about my latest holiday from two weeks ago. This time I got on a train to go to Heidelberg, which is in the south of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg.

PhD defense!

Hello all! Last week Tuesday, June 21st 2016 was (finally) my PhD defense! It was a very special day and I wanted to share some of it with you through some pictures. 
A little bit of background for you all. In November 2011 I started my PhD at Utrecht University in the veterinary faculty on the use of so-called host defense peptides as alternative antimicrobials, especially in poultry. In The Netherlands, the thesis defense day is more of a ceremonial and celebratory identity than in many other countries. Meaning that you cannot actually 'fail' and the actual defense is open for the public. Ofcourse it's still nerve-wracking, as you want to answer the questions of the committee well. All your colleagues, family and friends are watching and you will remember this the rest of your life.

But, first things first, I promised to show you my finished thesis books. They came around the beginning of June and what a feeling it is to have stacks of books writting by yourself in front of you!! The days afterwards I handed them around to colleagues, collaborators, friends and family and soon the stacks had all but dissapeared.

8 Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts (11)

Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by Bookishly Boisterous. It allows book bloggers (and non-book bloggers) to write about pretty much anything, bookish or otherwise (i.e. sharing exciting plans for the weekend, rants on things they've encountered during the week etc.)

1. Hello everyone! I've been rather AWOL lately.... My life and most of my free time has been swallowed by preparations for this little thing called my PhD defense in June... Lots of organising, preparing, last minute changes to the manuscript, filling in forms, etc. However, it's all coming together and last week I held the proof print of my thesis in my hands! It looks great, all official and shiny ;-) In less than two weeks I most likely have the final products and will ofcourse show it to you guys as well! 

Thesis talk

I submitted my PhD thesis yesterday! Four years of work on paper and now out of my hands :-S

  

The thesis will now be read by the so-called 'reading committee' of 5 professors. And then I will have to have the thesis designed and printed as a booklet. And then there's the thesis defence date at the 21st of June. So, I'm not completely done, but this is one big step nonetheless!
(No more writing and editing, no more evening and weekend work in the coming time, more time to read and relax!)

8 Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts (Christmas edition!)

Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by Bookishly Boisterous. It allows book bloggers (and non-book bloggers) to write about pretty much anything, bookish or otherwise (i.e. sharing exciting plans for the weekend, rants on things they've encountered during the week etc.)

1. Hello dear people! First of all, a wonderful Christmas to you and your loved ones and a happy New Year!

Of helicopters and long-haired singers

A few months ago, I rediscovered two 'loves' of my early teenage years. First, I was wandering aimlessly over YouTube, hopping from video to video, as you sometimes do when you're very tired ;-) Then, my eye caught a recommended vid in the sideline of a Dutch/Belgian series that I used to love: Windkracht 10 (freely translated: gale force 10)

8 (Bookish and) Not-So-Bookish thoughts (10)

Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by Bookishly Boisterous. It allows book bloggers (and non-book bloggers) to write about pretty much anything, bookish or otherwise (i.e. sharing exciting plans for the weekend, rants on things they've encountered during the week etc.)

1. Hello everyone, I hope you´re all doing well and enjoying autumn! My life is rather busy and stressfull at the moment (see 2), but here and there I've been finding time to enjoy the beauty of this season, if only during my commute to and from work! Here, have a picture of the view from my livingroom window, it's quite nice if I say so myself!

Trip to York(shire)!

As you might (or might not) recall from a previous post, I actually took a trip to England two weeks ago. And since I've been back I've been so busy I haven't even had time to do my 'customary' picture post here! Let's quickly remedy that!

8 Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts (9) + Announcement watch-along!

Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by Bookishly Boisterous. It allows book bloggers (and non-book bloggers) to write about pretty much anything, bookish or otherwise (i.e. sharing exciting plans for the weekend, rants on things they've encountered during the week etc.)

1. Hello everyone! How are you all doing now that summer has ended and 'normal' life has resumed? I must say, I don't mind that it's September, August was so hot and humid in The Netherlands, blegh. I'm also quite pleased 'things' are starting up again, like my children's club in church and my sword fighting lessons. Though I had a severe case of muscle pain after my first sword fighting class in two months last week ;-)

Liebster Award

I was nominated for this award by Carissa at Musings of an Introvert. Thank you so much, Carissa!

The rules of this award are as follows:
a) Answer the eleven questions of the tagger
b) Share eleven facts about yourself
c) Nominate up to eleven other bloggers
d) Ask those nominees eleven new questions

There we go! First up are Carissa's questions:

1. Where do you go to decompress from the world?
When my pony was alive, this was definitely the riding school where she lived. I could almost literally feel the stress falling from my shoulders when I spent time there with her and among the other horses. I believe animals are great stress-relievers! Nowadays it's just at home, with a good book or a nice series.

8 Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts (8) + Poll

Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by Bookishly Boisterous. It allows book bloggers (and non-book bloggers) to write about pretty much anything, bookish or otherwise (i.e. sharing exciting plans for the weekend, rants on things they've encountered during the week etc.) 

1. High summer has started and it's quiet in a lot of places. Many housemates of mine have left for their holidays and at work many colleagues are also away. Only my workroom is still full, with 5 of us toiling away on our articles. Let me tell you, editing is not fun. It's staring at my screen for half an hour thinking: there is a better way to formulate this sentence, but how?? Luckily, next week I also have a week off (Hello, Belgium!) and another week in September to look forward to (Hello, England!)

Sisterhood of the World blogger award

Hamlette tagged me for the Sisterhood of the World bloggers award. Thank you so much Hamlette!

Here are her questions:

1. Do you like westerns?
I... think I do. If you look at my answer to question 2. But I don't really watch many Western movies, maybe something I should remedy?

8 Bookish or Not-So-Bookish Thoughts (7)

Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by Bookishly Boisterous. It allows book bloggers (and non-book bloggers) to write about pretty much anything, bookish or otherwise (i.e. sharing exciting plans for the weekend, rants on things they've encountered during the week etc.)

Hello everyone *waves*, here are a few things which have been keeping me busy for the last few weeks. Apart from work ofcourse, ugh (last half-year of my PhD, let's-not-talk-about-it)

1. Don't you just love this part of the year? Well, it depends on where you live ofcourse, but here in The Netherlands, May and June are the best. So many trees and flowers are blossoming, baby birds can be seen everywhere. There are lot's of great events to be visited and you can sleep with your windows open (I love that!). But the thing I look forward to every year is the fresh food: spinach fresh from the land, the first new potatoes, strawberries and peaches, yummy! What's your favourite thing to eat this time of the year (apart from ice cream, that's self-evident ;-) )

Trip to Tuscany

Last week I was in Italy, in Tuscany to be precise for a conference and a short holiday. Here are some pictures I wanted to share with you.

The Bookshelf Tag

This really fun tag, hosted by Natalie at Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens has been going around my blogging friends. I finally found time to take some pictures and type this up!

Describe your bookshelf (or wherever it is you keep your books-it doesn't actually have to be a shelf!) and where you got it from:
I've got two bookcases since I moved in January. I think they're both from IKEA, I bought the second one from the girl who lived in my appartment before me, but it looks IKEA to me. The main one (left) is in the living room and holds all of my fiction and the historical/general interest non-fiction. The other one is in my bedroom and holds my spiritual/theological books, my studybooks and some nature related references.

 

8 Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts (6)

Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by Bookishly Boisterous. It allows
book bloggers (and non-book bloggers) to write about pretty much anything, bookish or otherwise (i.e. sharing
exciting plans for the weekend, rants on things they've encountered during the week etc.)

1. More than a month has gone by (again) without me posting anything here. I really do want to, but there are only so many hours in a day and so many things to do... I did write two other things though: a guest post about The March Family Letters for Hamlette's 'Little Women read-along' and an article about two nativity 'adaptations' for the newest issue of Femnista.


 

8 Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Things (5)

Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by Bookishly Boisterous. It allows
book bloggers (and non-book bloggers) to write about pretty much anything, bookish or otherwise (i.e. sharing
exciting plans for the weekend, rants on things they've encountered during the week etc.)

1. Hello dear people, I´m back! Well, I already posted a book review earlier this week, but just wanted to let you all know that the hectic period in my life of moving and refurbishing is (mostly) over, so I'll have time to regularly post here again, yay!
I moved three weeks ago now and have unpacked and furnished almost everything by now. When I moved in, there was no kitchen yet, so they've been working on that for the last few weeks. The kitchen is now almost finished, it's all set-up, but I don't have gas or hot water yet, but hopefully next week. Here, have a few pictures of my new place, you can see the chairs I mentioned in my last 'Bookish and Not So Bookish Post', which I'm really fond of!