places grave decorating flags during the 'Flags In' ceremony

places grave decorating flags during the 'Flags In' ceremony

A soldier of the 3rd US Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) places grave decorating flags during the 'Flags In' ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, USA, 26 May 2011. The ceremony known as 'Flags In' is performed to commemorate and honor US military personnel ahead of the upcoming 30 May 2011 Memorial Day and has been conducted annually since 1948. During 'Flags In', the 3rd US Infantry Regiment will place an American flag at each of the more than 220,000 graves at Arlington National Cemetery.

Birds bathe in a fountain

Birds bathe in a fountain at Lafayette Park across the street from The White House in Washington DC, May 26, 2011, during the first heat wave of the season. The temperature reached 31 degrees Celsius (87.8 Fahrenheit).

United Nations Mission in Sudan

A cargo helicopter from the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) lands at Abyei, central Sudan as Zambian soldiers serving with the international peacekeeping operation prepare to depart in armoured personal carriers on a patrol around Abyei town. South Sudan's President Salva Kiir called on north Sudan on Thursday to withdraw its forces from the disputed Abyei region but said there would be no war over the incursion and it would not derail independence. North Sudanese armed forces seized control of the oil-producing Abyei region on Saturday, forcing tens of thousands to flee and sparking an international outcry seven weeks before south Sudan secedes to form a new nation. Picture taken May 25, 2011

View of burnt trucks in a highway near Buenavista Tomatlan

View of burnt trucks in a highway near Buenavista Tomatlan, in Michoacan state on May 26, 2011, following fightings between armed groups of alleged drug traffickers of different cartels. Since May 23, fightings have been taking place in different towns, causing the evacuation of about 500 civilians to provisional shelters.

icebergs covered in ash from the Grimsvotn volcano eruption

Surfers paddle past icebergs covered in ash from the Grimsvotn volcano eruption, in the glacier lagoon at the base of Vatnajokull, Iceland, May 26, 2011. Iceland's Grimsvotn volcano is producing mostly steam rather than ash and should calm down within a few days, national police said on Thursday encouraging hopes there will be no further disruption to flights in northern Europe

Ferrari 458

Photographers take pictures of a Ferrari 458 during the launching of its first dealership in India on May 26, 2011. The full range of sports cars from the Italian manufacturer will be on sale in India, with the cheapest model the California priced at 22 million Indian Rupees (USD 485,000) after punitive import tariffs of more than 100 percent are applied.

Strong demand for Brazilian abstract art

Fernando Botero's work titled "A Family" is shown in this Sotheby's handout released to Reuters May 26, 2011. Strong demand for Brazilian abstract art and works by Colombia's Botero propelled Sotheby's to its best-selling auction of Latin American art with more than $21.6 million in sales. Botero's painting "A Family," which fetched $1.4 million, was the top seller at Wednesday's sale and his "Man on a Horse" set a record for a bronze sculpture for the artist at auction -- at $1.17 million.

Toads move towards dry ground

Thousands of toads move towards dry ground

Thousands of toads move towards dry ground after rain fall at a swamp in Cheongju, about 140 km (87 miles) south of Seoul, May 26, 2011. Picture taken May 26, 2011.

The Musselshell River floods homes

The Musselshell River floods homes and farms near Martinsdale, Mont. in this aerial view on Thursday, May 26, 2011.

NASA astronauts Mike Kelly

In this image provided by NASA astronauts Mike Kelly, left, and Ron Garan get their picture taken in the cupola window by astronaut Mike Fincke while he floats outside the International Space Station Thursday May 26, 2011 during the third spacewalk.

Nepalese passenger travel in three wheels Auto

Nepalese passenger travel in three wheels Auto during a general strike in Kathmandu, Nepal, 27 May 2011. The Vishwa Hindu Mahasangh (VHM), a Hindu group with close links to India's militant Hindu organizations, called for general strike for the promulgation of a new constitution within the stipulated 28 May deadline, an end to cow slaughter and the prevention of conversion of Hindus to other religions.

Sri Lankan government soldier carrying a child inside the war zone

In this handout picture received from the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence on May 18, 2009, is said to be of a Sri Lankan government soldier carrying a child inside the war zone near Mullaittivu on May 17, when they helped evacuated the last of the Tamil civilians from the area. Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse on May 27, 2011, has vowed to defend his military from war crimes allegations as the island marked the second year of its victory over Tamil Tiger rebels. "We will not betray you to the world," Rajapakse told troops during a colourful military parade at Colombo's seafront Galle Face promenade to commemorate the island's war success.

Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, and Steven Tyler

From left, Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, and Steven Tyler are seen at the American Idol Finale on Wednesday, May 25, 2011, in Los Angeles

Abandoned wheelchairs

Abandoned wheelchairs are scattered in the parking lot at the devastated Greenbriar Nursing Home in Joplin, Mo. Wednesday, May 25, 2011. Eleven residents of the facility died when an EF-5 tornado tore through much of the city Sunday, damaging a hospital and hundreds of homes and businesses and killing at least 122 people

Money Money Money

Now that I'm finally earning some money, it seems to me there are more and more things I need to pay for. And I live at home! I can't imagine how much you need to spend every month when you are living on your own, apartments are so expensive, and then there's groceries, energy bills, phone bills, internet and tv bills, and so on! So I do hope I can find someone to live with rather than paying for everything on my ownsie. It sure would help a lot.

There are lots of things I need and want at the moment. I also have to pay 300 euros every month for a few more months, because I'm still paying off the money my parents lend me when I bought a car. Still 1500 euro to go! Gah! So annoying to pay for something you already have :p
This month I'll have to dig in my money some because I'm going to the hairdresser, I need to buy tickets for the fantasy fair and order my costume (YAY), and perhaps plane tickets to go to Scotland this summer (more on that later!)

Things I want (but not nessarily need) are:

- New headphones, my current ones are getting a bit shaky sometimes, sound quality is not so good anymore
- New handbag (my current one is really wearing down) and I want a nice one, which usually means expensive. Would love one in a nice colour and not black again.
- New iphone (I have one I got at 17 and it is scratched and often gets stuck) It still works I suppose, so I gueeess I can wait a little longer.
- New phone : ok my current one still works fine, but its scratched a bit, and it's a cheap one, and everyone seems to have those big screened fancy ones, and I want one too! preferably in pink cause really, everything looks better in pink.
- Jewelry : I could use some more earrings, I have like four pair, one expensive, the rest cheap crap, so some nice new ones would be greatly appreciated! But I never get anywhere anymore with that damn commute!

That's it for now, until summer comes and I need new summer clothes! I'll be good though and wait till the summer sales so I can buy pretty good quality outfits for a normal price like I did this winter.

So as you see, lots of things I could be spending money on! But I'm almost 24 now (aaaaaaaaaaah) and it's probably a good idea not to throw my money around and buy everything I crave. I should save up a bit for later, for the whole settling down part of life which seems to be going really difficult for me ,grm. Men don't seem to have this saving up for later idea, but that's typical probably. They need a woman in their life to remind them, or they will spend it all on media gadgets, games, car gadgets, and travelling all around the world. Sigh!

Oh well, not that I will be a complete goody goody and never buy something for myself. I just bought five books on amazon for only 30 euro, so that's a good deal :D Ok, the fantasy fair costume is expensive and I'm really hoping it won't be too big as the sizes to select are small, medium and large. But as I'm quite short, I assume the small could be quite long, someone 20cm taller than me can also have a small, so dilemma! But if I want to be a fantasy nerd, at least I'll be a fashionably dressed one!

Sorry for the boring post! I'm out of ideas at the moment. But more next time about my possible trip to Scotland! I'm going to wait to write about it until I have actually booked, so I don't have to write a dissapointed not going after all-post like with New York :p
Fingers crossed, cause I really would love to go somewhere this summer, even if it's a chilly and more than likely rainy place, it's still beautiful and will be adventurous!

New York New York?

Monday's back, which means I'm back at work! Slightly bored again, I wish I had passports rather then visas, not enough people are in need of a visa in January. Friday went a lot quicker, my collegue took a day off so I had to do passports, so there were plenty of people coming in, all for me, so time went a lot quicker!

I've been pondering going some place cool this year, some place outside of Europe, and I came up with New York! Initially I wanted to go to Australia, but as I just started working and it being that far, you'd need two weeks definately, and that would be very costly. The flight alone is like 1000 euros, so you'd probably squander another 1000 by the time you get back. So I think I might put Australia aside for future travel. So with Australia off the table I was thinking about going somewhere outside of Europe, but affordable, but still an impressive trip. My cousin is going to New York this year so I thought, I could do that! All I needed to do is convince a friend to come along, as travelling on ownsie is not something I'd like to do. I've been trying to persuade a good friend of mine who also has the travel bug to come along, and yesterday we had a call and she is up for it! Hooray, finally I get to cross the big ocean! Not sure when exactly I should go, if there are any New Yorkers out there reading this post I'd love some tips! It will probably end up being summer though, or maybe September. I hope I can find a return flight for under 500 euros, supposedly it can be done, but I haven't found one yet. Think I should book soon though, as prices tend to go up the later you do it.
Also pondering if I should book a hostel or a small hotel. Hostel is cheapest, but remembering the Irish hostel experience, I'm not so enthousiastic about that idea.

Last year I went to Dublin with the same friend, went to a hostel to keep things cheap (as I was still poor and unemployed), so ended up sharing a room with a whole bunch of other girls. You'd think not the end of the world, you get to meet fun people, and true, you do! But sleeping in the same room with people you don't know can have some unpleasant factors. As:
- Loud snorers , believe me if you sleep near that you almost want to kill that person, especially after a long day of wandering
- People going out returning totally plastered and falling all over the place (that maaay have been me at some point :p)
- People accidently turning on the light right next to your head in the middle of the night
-People leaving really early for a flight or something, packing things and showering and drying their hair for ages at 5 o'clock in the morning
- Realising you're the last one in the shower and all you get is freezing cold water

Those are just a few of the fun things that can happen when you go to a hostel. But to be fair it's usually only around 20 euro a night, which is really cheap, so you can't expect much luxury. Hotel would be nice, but I'd rather not spend a fortune on that. And my friend has already been on a trip in December, and lives in an apartment alone, so she would like to keep it as cheap as possible. If anyone knows a cheap hotel in NY feel free to let me know, I'd greatly appreciate it.

I'm very excited though, NY is so cool, my first far away trip! I do prefer the countryside, but to see all those famous sights I will have no problem with the citylife for a week (that's how long I think will be needed to see most of what I want to see)

Here's a little list of all the things that are on my must-see list:

- Statue of Liberty
- Ellis island + immigration museum
- ferry-ride to take pics of the skyline at night
- Central park (when I get tired of the city madness)
- fifth avenue (for the shops!)
- Times square
- all the cool buildings like the Chrysler building, Empire state, that special corner one with the weird name
- National History museum, the Met, Moma too possibly

and some more parks here and there and probably a lot more as we wander about! So that'll be plenty to fill a week!
YAY

I hope nothing prevents it from happening, cause I'm often unlucky in that way! But it's looking good, so hopefully this year I'll get to take a bite out of the Big Apple!