Goodbye 2015.

Hello 2015,

It's almost time to say goodbye. Our time together is nearly over. Those 365 days I got to spend with you this year were absolutely incredible and I can't thank you enough for most of them. We had our ups and downs but hey who hasn't? Someone told me it's not really a healthy relationship when you don't have your disagreements or less good moments. I guess so. 

When December 2014 came to an end I was really excited to meet you and couldn't wait for all the adventures you had in store for me. My excitement was well placed as you were amazing. I also prepared a list of goals for us, hoping I would reach them and I did. Most of them anyway. For example I watched Big Hero 6 AND hugged a Baymax (evidence on your right), I went abroad (multiple times), I completed the 25 km walk, proceeded to the 2nd year of University, ate a lot of ice cream, went to a festival AND multiple concerts, slept outside in a tent and I went swimming. A big thanks to you for helping me achieve those things.

You helped me improve my taste in music as well, you introduced me to Halsey, Biffy Clyro, Panic! at the Disco, Walk The Moon and Twenty One Pilots, got me more into Troye Sivan, Chef'Special, Jeffrey Lewis, Fall Out Boy, The 1975 and All Time Low. Yeah, regarding music this year was incredible, I feel really satisfied with my current taste in music yet I hope 2016 can introduce me to even more incredible artists. 2015 you were not only great with music you were also great with art as in during my time with you I visited the Rijksmuseum, one of Holland's most famous museums. The Rijksmuseum was really amazing, so many different artists, styles of arts, centuries of art. It felt great just roaming it's hallways taking good looks at all the pieces of art everywhere and the marvellous architectural structure of the building itself. 
 









Then there was travelling. 2014 and 2013 helped me spend a lot of money on travelling some big plans were made for 2016 as well so with you I had to slow down on the spending money for travelling bit. Thankfully you understood my wish and helped me find the ultimate holiday destination, Domaine de Puylagorge. A Dutch campsite in France known for being a great holiday destination for families with one or more children with a disability. The work I got to do there was great, so great even I decided to go back in 2016. These were two great weeks for a low budget traveller like me this year. However our travelling didn't stop there, hell no. A few weeks after France I went to The Hague with my mum, dad and sister for a couple of days where we visited a Food Marked and went to see Billy Elliot which was amazing. Somewhere in April or May you pushed me and my friend to buy tickets for TATINOF (The Amazing Tour Is Not On Fire) in Brighton, UK. Possibly the best purchase of the year so thanks for that mate! This meant we head to go to Brighton as well so on October 30 we boarded a plane and went to Brighton for a weekend. Brighton was everything I could have wished for and more, it was practically the best weekend of my life. Even after Brighton you thought I needed another travelling thing so you gave me that last push to say yes to my friend who asked me to go to Disneyland Paris during New Year's eve. 
So when it comes to travelling you have been more than great for me and I could never thank you enough for the amazing chances you have given me!

 

Besides all the good stuff we went through there were some less good times too. In August my granddad nearly died but thankfully he's a very brave and strong man and I'm so grateful to still have him by my side. Then there were those times where my moods just dropped and the void became stronger again and of course the many times my anxiety tried to ruin my day. Thankfully you were a great companion and showed me how amazing my friends are and that I actually can trust them and am allowed to tell them when I'm struggling with myself.

2015 you have been so patient with me. You taught me so many things this year, sometimes I picked them up quickly and other times you had to pick me up from the floor a thousand times or give me that last push a couple of times before it struck me. You were a massive part in me growing stronger and finding out more about myself, who I am and who I want to become. You taught me that I can do anything as long as I keep fighting for it and keep approaching it in a positive way. Positivity is key is what you always say just as you can't stop saying everything will be fine in the end. Now the end is here, or our end at least and wow you were right. Everything is fine and I have you thank for it.

2015 I'll tell you one last time, THANK YOU SO SO SO MUCH, for everything you've done with and for me this year. I will never forget you!

Love you lots,
ThatDutchGirl96

Diabetes vs. Christmas.

Hey there!

In a blog I published a little while ago I told you I am diabetic. Well I have diabetes, my diabetes doesn't define me as a person it's just something that is a (pretty big) part of my life. Now I don't want to spend a lot of time on my diabetes on this blog as it is not what I have started this blog for. However, since it is such a big part of my life, why not share my opinions, experiences and some of my personal tips and tricks with the world. 

Before we continue let me just drop some facts about Type 1 Diabetes Melitus. 
- Type 1 diabetes is the less common type of diabetes, 1 out of 10 people with diabetes has type 1 diabetes. 
- When you have type 1 diabetes you are completely insulin-dependent, your pancreas doesn't make any more insulin for you.
- You can get type 1 diabetes due to your own immune system destroying your pancreas but it's also a genetic disease. 
- When you have type 1 diabetes you need to either inject insulin for the rest of your life or use an insulin pump to satisfy your insulin needs. 
- As a type 1 diabetic you can't just eat whatever you like.

There you go, just a couple of facts about type 1 diabetes. You will find more information about Diabetes (type 1 and 2) on websites such as www.endocrine.com, www.diabetes.org and for the Dutch diabetics out there: www.dvn.nl and www.sugarkids.nl.

Now all that is done we can continue on with the real purpose of this blog. When you have diabetes, no matter what type, holidays like Christmas where a lot of food and irregular eating is involved are always a struggle. This Christmas is my fourth Christmas as a diabetic and so far I haven't found the golden trick to keeping my sugar levels on a decent level throughout Christmas. As I mentioned before, Diabetes and food relate to each other really closely. Us diabetics have a lack of the hormone insulin, the hormone that handles the glucose in your body. During Christmas the consumption of lots of sweets, Christmas dinner and other foods that contain high levels of glucose are everyday business. 
Just as any other a diabetic loves to join in the Christmas madness and consume a lot of chocolates or candy canes or eat way too much during the family dinner. This however is where the struggle starts. The other part is the length of the family dinner and when and how many glucose you will eat during this dinner.
Will you drink alcohol or a hot chocolate? Will you go crazy on the dessert?  How much time will pass between courses? Will the alarm of my insulin pump go off telling me it needs to be replaced? Will I go to a quiet place to inject my insulin? Is there enough space on the table for me to put my sugar level checking device or do I need to put it on my lap or somewhere else completely?

These are some of the questions I (used to) ask myself during Christmas dinner. I found an answer for some of them. Personally I'm not an alcohol drinker and during things like Christmas dinner I tend to drink (sparkling) water, sugar free lemonade or tea. When it comes to the amount of glucose I eat during Christmas dinner I usually check out the courses before the dinner starts. This to estimate the amount of glucose every course holds and to see if it's really crucial to inject insulin for like the soup or if I'm going to wait with injecting the insulin until the main course comes on. When it comes to dessert well lets say I'm not the greatest example of keeping the amounts of consumed glucose low. 

During my first Christmas dinner as a diabetic I got asked a lot of questions. Nowadays I'm still asked questions as siblings and cousins get girlfriends/boyfriends who barely know anything about it or are just curious as to why I handle my diabetes a certain way or how I deal with my diabetes during times like Christmas. For me the best way to deal with these  questions is to take a few breaths and realise not everyone is a walking diabetes encyclopaedia and then answer all their questions honestly. When it comes to my diabetes I'm pretty much an open book. I have learned that this works better than keeping it a secret because talking about it and informing others on your state of health allows them to help you when needed. 

As for my sugar levels. I don't think there's one golden secret to keeping your sugar levels under control. Give yourself time to count the amount of glucose you have eaten/ are going to eat and to calculate the amount of insulin you need. Don't wait too long with giving yourself the insulin as this will only result in high sugar levels. On that note however don't give yourself all the insulin before you've eaten the glucose holding meals as this will result in low sugar levels which make you want to eat more and end in high sugar levels. (trust me I know). 

All I'm left with is wishing you all a very merry Christmas! I hope you have a good one (all of you)! For all the people with diabetes out there or relatives of someone suffering from diabetes, I hope the information I've given you is of use. If you have some tips and/or tricks of your own don't be shy and please share them in the comments below. Together we can help one another in keeping our blood sugar levels stable.

I wish you all the best!
ThatDutchGirl96

(source: www.facebook.com/jongmetdiabetes)

Skype.

Hey there!

Before I start my blog I want you to know that I am not sponsored by Skype or anything. I just really like using Skype and wanted to share some of my thoughts about it with you. 

So back to the point. Skype. Skype, for the people unfamiliar with it, is this program to which you can connect to via your phone number, your Hotmail account and by simply making a Skype account. The program itself allows you to add your friends and either text chat or video chat with them. If you want you can even do both at the same time. Besides this one to one function there you can also chat with a bunch of your friends in a group chat. 

DO NOT take those group chat things lightly though! Before you have a functional chat with more than one friend at the same time some years might have passed. It's a mess, honestly. You can kind of compare Skype to MSN, the chat program that died a couple of years ago and was just the best thing in existence. 

There you have it, Skype in a nutshell. Now onto the real talk.

Well, I absolutely love Skype and I think it is super underrated. As in nowadays society we spend most of our time behind a computer screen or on our phone. Even for socialising with friends apps and programs for communicating have become a must. Decide for yourself but when you come to think about it it's nearly impossible nowadays to not use an app or program for communicating on one of your technological devices. Whether it's pictochat on your old NintendoDS, whatsapp, Facebook messenger, kik, ping, twitter, Skype or whatever other apps there are out there. You use at least one of them, don't deny it. Besides all these "new" apps for chatting, you can still use the "old school" call to communicate with others. This however gets done less and less at least that's how I experience it. 

For me personally the "old school" making a call has always been a great issue. As someone who isn't really good at communicating, has some troubles with understanding how people meant something they said and hates the unpredictability of the things the other person says during the phone call leaving me not knowing how to reply, making a phone call has always send my anxiety levels to the emergency setting. For me these chat apps have been great as they don't require verbal contact and you can take as long as you want come up with a decent reply or ask others for reply suggestions. 

The only thing that I don't like about these chat apps is the fact that when you have a lot to tell someone it can get pretty annoying to have to type something that looks like an essay and press send only to wait for half an hour for the other person to read it and write a decent reply. 
The reason above is basically the only reason I call people sometimes, like not too long ago my stress levels were reaching a new high and I just really needed to talk to someone so I rang a friend of mine. We ended up chatting on the phone for about an hour and it was one of the first phone calls that didn't give me anxiety just by thinking about ringing someone. It was great.

But Renée how does this relate to Skype. Well I must admit I got off topic really quickly and this entire post became one big mess but hey lets continue anyway. 

So as I mentioned before on Skype you can either just ring someone without the video thingy. Just talking to each other. As Skype does require an internet connection to make any calls I recommend you connect to a wifi network to use it btw. But once you use it whilst connected to wifi you will avoid that high phone bill you will get by simply ringing your friend the old fashioned way. So that is great. On another note Skype is pretty similar to the old MSN so it gives you a certain feeling of nostalgia when using it which I personally really like considering I still miss MSN a lot up to this day. *sniff sniff* 

So you can make a sort of old school call using Skype but you can also use it to simply chat by typing whatever you want and you can video chat one or multiple friends at a time. I love the video chatting function as some of my friends live further away and I can't meet them very easily so Skype is a great way to still see each other sort of irl. The video chatting function, for me, also takes away a lot of stress as you can now see the person who you're talking to which makes the interpreting of the things they say a lot easier. 

Yes, I really like Skype and I love using it to communicate with my friends to catch up or just share our latest adventures or dreams with one another. The only thing with Skype is that in my social network it is still really underrated. Some of my friends that live pretty close to me have Skype and use it sometimes but most of them either don't have Skype or don't use it which I find such a shame. Skype can get rid of so many misunderstandings coming from typed messages. Besides when using the video chat function you actually have an excuse for not leaving your room as you are still socialising with your friends and you don't even have to leave the house to do so! 

That's all I have for you this week. Sorry for my bad uploading schedule recently, the main reason is the start of my new internship and it's just been crazy busy with all the irregular shifts of a nurse life and stuff.

Anyways, thank you for spending some of your precious time to stop by and read my blog / rant about Skype. If you don't mind spending some more of your time please subscribe to my blog by putting your email address in the Follow by Email section on your left or share your opinion on Skype and other communicating apps in the comments!

Love you lots,
ThatDutchGirl96

Things that make me happy in December.

Hey there!

In life there are a lot of things that make me happy, some are pretty unique others are so ordinary you might not even notice them any more. Yet any of these things can make a smile appear on my face if I only pay enough attention to them. Let me share some of these things with you guys!

Renée from the past

 
   Blue skies, snow, thunderstorms, warm pyjamas, Christmas trees,        marshmallows, tea, snowmen, holidays, Christmas, food, fairy            lights, ice skating, books, sunshine, duvets, Harry Potter marathons,    Christmas movies, stockings, advent calendars, (Christmas) music        and New Years Eve.

   Those are just a few of the things I love about December. 
   There is more: stars, family, friends, sweaters, fuzzy socks, scented candles, lit fireplaces, romantic comedies, the end of another year, rain, snow angles, Doctor Who Christmas special, warm showers, hot chocolates, Christmas decoration, secret Santa, baubles, presents, fireworks, champagne, chocolate, wearing my onesie, tinsel, having days off, sledding, streets covered in Christmas lights, December / Christmas themed drinks, Christmas snacks.

As you have read by now there are many things that make me happy in December. Which makes a lot of sense as December is a month in which a lot happens and a lot happens around the things that happen.
Let me continue a bit more: Christmas smells, vlogmas, snowball fights, gloves and scarves, earmuffs, the world looking like a Christmas card, my sisters birthday, forgetting my diabetes (not so good for my health but sometimes you have to give in to all the sugary goods in your life), the beginning of a new year, looking back at an awesome year with a lot of amazing memories and the chance to start again or to continue where you left off.

2015 has been really really good to me, I absolutely loved this year with its downs and big amount of ups. 2016 has a lot to live up to but I'm sure it will live up to my expectations and turn out to be even better than 2015. How I'm going to do that, I'm not quite sure, all I know is that 2015 will end in a very special place and 2016 is going to start in the most magical place on earth. So yeah that's probably what I'm most excited for from all of December. (There will be a blog about that later though so get yourselves ready)

What things make you happy in December? Or maybe some really amazing things are happening this specific December that should be in your "things that make me happy in December" list. I want to know more about those things and I can't wait to hear about them!

Anyways, I wish you the best of luck this December and I hope you make it a remarkable one!
Lots of love,
ThatDutchGirl96