I hope everyone had a safe and wonderful New Years day! 2018 is here and with that I turn the big 3-0! Yes, my birthday is on New Year’s day and yes, I’ve finally left my 20s. 2017 flew by faster than I could have ever imagined. I found myself wondering where my time had gone. What came to mind were memories both amazing and difficult. Two life changing events happened to me in 2017. The first was finding my…
First of all, I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and of course we still have New Year’s to look forward to (here it’s called Oud en Nieuw, or Old and New) but I want to share how we spent our Christmas. We had, what the Dutch call, a gezellig Christmas. Wait, hold on a moment, what does gezellig mean? Sander defines gezellig as “being in a small and enjoyable setting with friends and family.” The term can be used…
Some people spend all their lives dreaming of a white Christmas. There’s something romantic and magical about watching snow fall. Once outside, it’s like the world has flipped upside down. The quiet stretched out forever. Snow starts out as larger rain bits. Instead of drops of water, there are fluffy drops that clump together as they fall. If the storm ends up being heavy enough, you get large chunks of it. It can pile and last forever even if the…
The Dutch don’t Halloween (it’s getting better!) but I wanted to bring a bit of that here. In America, Halloween parties revolve around spooky costumes, fun friends and fantastic food. Since I wasn’t going to dress up, I decided to cook up some of my favorite Halloween treats. Holiday inspired goodies I put together some mummy frankfurters (traditional hot dogs don’t exist here!) It was so weird to buy a can of wieners for our meal! There were 7-8 inside…
There are pros and cons to the “To Do” list. One, there’s the pressure to complete the list, which could swing in either direction… Either way I’m making my own this month so that I can stay on top of some simple goals. Plan out Thanksgiving We were too busy to celebrate Thanksgiving last year! We had just gotten Booker and I was too preoccupied to gather recipes and grocery lists, let alone make the food needed. This year we’re…
October is my favorite month of the year. It’s filled with autumnal scents, cozy sweaters, excuses to wear long boots and drink copious amounts of hot tea. But everything is easier said than done! It’s about time that I got an October to do list together. Declutter Summer is over now and it’s time to clean out all the leftovers! Expired boxed goods, old mail that Sander’s been saving, clothing that should be donated… I have to sort everything for…
Yesterday we had warm and sunny weather but today it’s been pouring on and off. Days like these make it not so fun to even walk Booker. The sky is overcast. The ground is muddy and littered with debris of crunchy leaves that have gone soggy. Let me tell you, the weather in The Netherlands is 100% unpredictable! So how do we spend a rainy day at home? Nothing feels better than getting snug on the couch with our little potato.…
Moving away into the unknown always triggers a rapid growth for the person experiencing it. It doesn’t matter if the move is 10 miles or 10,000 miles, there’s a change that takes place that seems to be different for everyone. I thought I’d share some of my revelations, in the hopes that the others who experience the same and won’t feel so alone. So how did moving away, change me? I am more aware of my flaws This isn’t necessarily…
This topic has been covered a thousand times by a thousand writers but there are so many who still don’t have the courage to speak. I have a few friends with blogs as well, and it stems from a great passion to share experiences. What one writer has to say can end up being different from another and that’s all part of the human experience. So here’s one more list of why everyone (including you dear reader) should blog. Develop…