Thursday 29 July 2010: Sarah wants to SCREAM!!!

Sarah says:

At moments like these I just want to scream! The living room looks great but my back went out yesterday and I am most likely heading for the hospital for 7 days again. I'll have to cancel my tickets to New York and lose more that Euro 1500 doing so. I'll have to disappoint my daughter. I won't get to see my father, family and friends. At these moments I hate my self and my situation. I feel so bad. I don't want to go into the hospital again. I am 39!!! Only 39! I just see limitations. My brain so go go go and my body says NO. I hate my stupid back and body. I feel so defeated. I'll be gone from her and Facebook for a while I think. See you on here when I return.

Tuesday 27 July 2010: The floors lok great - even without varnish!

Sarah says:

The floors were sanded with a big machine today! Very hard and messy work that Tom, his brother and dad took care of - and then there was the de-dusting -- dust was EVERYWHERE! All over the newly painted walls. Misery. But we cleaned up and tomorrow after some more fine cleaning we put the first layer of varnish down and then we wait and do the 2nd and then wait and do the 3rd and then wait 24 hours and then we can hang the curtains and put the furniture back and we'll have a GREAT living room!

Sunday and MOnday 25 and 26 July 2010: Sarah and Tom are having fun without The Lool but are starting to miss the kid! About 5 more days to go...

Sarah says:
Above photo is from yesterday - the 26th of July. That's a new shirt from the sales.

The above and below photos are from Sunday the 25th of July. That's Tom asleep in a shop's dressing room waiting for me as I try things on. I got a couple of nice dresses!

Above skirt and belt are new. I like the sales! I always find a few nice things. Wearing new clothes makes you feel good!

As I mentioned in title today - The Lool is away at camp - 10 whole days!!! I am starting to miss her! At first it feels great to have a quiet house and time to yourself and then it feels empty.With that said, Tom and I are having a nice time together re-doing the living room. It's fantastic to have so many totally stress-free days in a row. It's nice not to be working. Vacation is good for a person and a couple and a family! That's for sure!

17 - 24 July on and off with Heidi and Sarah and families in Kortrijk living rooms and Paris gardens...

Sarah says:
Yippy! Heidi is here! That's me and her (in case you forgot what she looked like! :-) above - today - the 24th of July. I stopped by to have her cut my hair and to catch up! Great to see her and happy to have her on FTD! I made her promise that on the 30th of August we can surely have a picture together on here as it will be the start of Face The Day's 5th year then and we have a photo of the previous years on that exact day - so at least we can try to have a 30th of August photo every year as Face The Day fades away...
That's Matto above and Yma below - Heidi's adorable kids! So nice to see them. They grow and grow and grow! Doesn't Yma look so much like Nico below?

Above photo and below one are also from today - the 24th of July. Above is the after the haircut picture and below is the before. Heidi didn't cut my hair this time - not shorter anyway. She just thinned it out. We are trying to find the best way to do my hair as it is so thick! Maybe this will be it! I hope so! I have hard hair apparently! It feels a whole light lighter since Heidi cut it today!

I haven't been online for a while for a couple of reasons. First - we were away on a long weekend in Paris from the 17th through the 19th (photos and link to more photos below). Second - we have been painting our living room - dark red and dark brown! Next week we'll start the floor - renovating it - returning it to its former glory! I can't wait! It's already so beautiful thanks to the paint! Tonight I can finally use the computer as Tom hooked it up in our bedroom and the internet connection actually works! But - it really is bad for my back to sit on my bed and type so I need to stop! Anyway - the above photo of me is from yesterday the 23rd of July. Hair up and headband on for painting!

Above you can see me and Tom finishing the first layer of brown paint on the 22nd of July! It's been fun painting and thankfully Tom's parents have been more than helping us! They are amazing! We couldn't do this kind of thing in our house without them. I so appreciate everything they do for us. I hope they know that! They have done a super beautiful job of painting!

Via this link you can see some more pictures of our new and improved living room. I'll have to update the album though as we'll be doing our floor soon too. It will be beautiful! It already is! I am so happy we went for dark red and dark brown! It really makes an impression and makes our house feel like a home!

Above photo was also from the 22nd perhaps - or the 23rd. I don't know anymore. That red isn't from our walls but from our bathroom. I guess we love red!

I think the above photo is from the 21st of July. Can't recall. Anyway - it was a day of preparing for the paint job and it was the day Ayla left for 10 day sleep-away camp with her youth club! I miss her but I am happy she's probably having a great time and also that we get to have these 10 days to paint and renovate the living room!
And above and below are photos from Paris in reverse order I think - so from the 19t of July backwards to the 17th of July. We had such a fantastic long weekend! Below there's a link that will take you to all the Paris photos if you are interested. There are some goodies!

And via this link you can see way too many photos of our recent long weekend in Paris from the 17th through the 19th of July. We had fabulous days there. It was Ayla's first time and both Tom and I got to see some places we hadn't seen before and some places we had in a whole new light as it was summer and it was hot and lovely! We were true tourists! Paris is amazing. It blows my mind every time! It has the best urban planning I have ever seen. Those who built that marvelous city were either geniuses or totally out of their minds. A bit of both I assume! Napoleon was one crazy dude but he sure helped create a fabulous setting there!

Thursday 15 July 2010: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SARAH'S BROTHER JOSH!

Sarah says:
My brother Josh is 45 today! I'll be 40 next year! When did that happen!!! I was telling another brother today that we all have good genes in terms of aging. I hope my face stays a bit young looking for a while. Every now and then I have a weak, really vain moment, and think I look so old. Bust mostly, I'm pretty happy with how I am aging. Not that any of this matters - but this is a daily photo site after all so I don't have to get much deeper than that, do I? :-)

Wednesday 14 July 2010: Sarah is pensive...

Sarah says:
Thinking...

Thursday 08 July to Sunday 11 July 2010: Sarah, Sarah and more Sarah and a little Nathalie, which is a little Heidi, sort of....

Sarah says:
That's Heidi's sister Nathalie above on Sunday the 11th of July. She and Bart were kind enough to take care of our guinea pigs for the weekend while we were on a family weekend away in Voeren. When we returned to pick the pigs up, Nathalie and Bart invited us for dinner, which was made up of all fresh things from their garden. It was great! They even sent me home with a beet, some onions and potatoes - as well as happy pigs of course who had feasted on fresh garden stuff all weekend!

Above shot is in Nathalie's garden with her flowers also on the 11th of July.

Above and below photos are from Saturday the 10th of July in Maastricht. It was so hot, hence the hair tucked in a hat look above! Below you can see a funny photo of me looking all wide-eyed and nutty! That's because I was underground in a cave of sorts with no lights. We visited caves in Maastricht to get cooled off - from 32 to 10 degrees Celsius!

Above photo is from Friday the 9th of July just before we left for our weekend away! Though I am no longer really losing weight, each time I put on old summer clothes I see that they are looser than they were last year, which makes me happy! Though the above one doesn't look loose, trust me - it looks better now than before!

And last but not least- above is my photo from Thursday the 8th of July eating my first mussel of the season - and man, man, man was it great!

Friday 9 July 2010: for Sarah's sake

Heidi says: for Sarah's sake :-D

Tuesday the 6th of July: Sarah is excited that Heidi posted a photo of herself yesterday! She almost doesn't want to block it with today's post!

Sarah says:

I wish I felt as jolly as I look in the above photo but in fact I'm in a funk of sorts. I just don't feel right. I feel off. I have to snap out of it. I am so up and down lately. I think I know why. Actually, there are a few good reasons - none of which I'll get into on here. My poor husband though. He gets subject to these moods I'm in. I need some balance back. I'll find it somewhere and luckily it's all not that bad. I just have my moments, that's all!
Well - the above photo certainly fills me with good cheer! Check out my little brother Matt who isn't so little anymore. He's a new dad to baby Katherine. Can't wait to see them in August when Ayla and I are in The States for one quick week!

Monday 5 July 2010: Heidi Mouse

Sarah says: WELCOME BACK TO FTD HEIDI! PULL UP A CHAIR, LET ME GET YOU A DRINK. IT'S GREAT TO HAVE YOU BACK. STAY A WHILE! :-)

Sunday 4 July 2010: Lisa and Mona are leaving Belgium today and Sarah's brother Matt had a baby girl named Katherine!

Sarah says:
That's me and Lisa S. above. She and her daughter Mona are here in Belgium visiting us from The States while on a European trip. It's been nice having them because they are family that we don't get to see enough. Mona is Ayla's age so that's fun for the two girls! They are leaving today. We'll miss them! Can't wait for Ayla and Mona to be old enough to travel to see each other and spend a few summer weeks here and there together.

Here are some links to photos you might like to see.

First - my youngest brother Matt just had a baby girl! Via this link, you can see photos of her. That link above might not work for most of you so I posted two photos below of baby Katherine!
Second - here are pics from Lisa and Mona's visit here. Click here!

Saturday 03 July 2010: Sarah is enjoying seeing The Lool and her cousin Mona from The States together in Belgium

Sarah says:
Family from The States - Lisa and Mona are here in Belgium visiting. It's nice to have them and to see Ayla and Mona getting to know each other better. They are both 11 and they seem to be enjoying each other's company. We went to the sand castle display today and stopped at the sea. Yesterday we were in the K mall all day!!!! But the girls were happy with that as they both shopped a lot and got some great clothes. The eve before we picked them up in Brussels and hung out there for a bit. Tomorrow they leave. Never enough time...

I love the below photo of them!
Above photo is in honor of July 4th tomorrow! It's all in sand!!!!

Thursday 01 July 2010: It's FLASHBACK 1ST OF THE MONTH at Face The Day! Take a walk down memory lane... HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASG!!!!!

Sarah says:
The photo above is from today - the 1st of July 2010. Always fun to look back in time! Would be more fun with Heidi! I am armed with my camera today so if I happen to run into her, I will take a photo!

Above you can see me and Heidi on 01 July 2009 - after a failed attempt at going to the unemployment office. Click into this link to go back in time a year with us!
That's Heidi all alone above exactly 2 years ago on 01 July 2008. I was away in France on vacation and I had put some random photos on later than month. I think the one below was of me on 01 July 2008... To see exactly what Heidi was up to two years ago click here!

So as I said - that's me above in France doing as the French do! To see more about what was happening around this time two years ago, click on this link!

That's me above exactly 3 years ago on 01 July 2007 with short hair and some kind of attitude. To know what was going on, have a click here!

Last but not least, above you can see me and Heidi not only 4 years ago today once, but twice! Heidi was pretty pregnant as you can see in the photo above from 02 July 2006. The other one on the left is from 01 July 2006. Click here to check it out!

And finally - we can't forget to say:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our buddy ASG!!!!
Her birthday is 01 July! We hope she has a great one!!!!!