Papers arrived in the Netherlands

We owe you guys an update because a few important steps have been taken the last one and a half week.
First of all, we finally got our second NOA, it was in Jacks mailbox the 28th of May.
What it means is that we were approved and that our application was sent to the American consulate in the Netherlands.
Much to my surprise I found a thick envelope on my doormat exactly a week later containing a lot of forms that I need to fill in and a list of stuff I have to gather for our interview and physical.

The envelope is on my desk for two days now and I have to admit, I am a bit scared of it.
I looked it through several times now and I am having a hard time understanding every thing they ask for or want to know. But we'll get there.
Today Jack and I will go over them, seeing what exactly they need and than see if we can get everything together within a week.
I would like to have all papers back at the consulate at the end of the week so they can schedule our interview.

It also means I need to get vaccinations for myself, my son had everything.
Need to get special sized photo's for the both of us that we need to go to Groningen for. Need to provide evidence of the relationship Jack and I have, which shouldn't be a problem at all :-) and a lot of questions need to be answered on the papers I got this week.

From now on we are going to be very busy with preparing for the interview and our move to the US which we hope will be somewhere around the end of the summer vacation.

Yikes, we are talking weeks now instead of months...


(btw, I hope to do a blog entry about our last visit to the US soon. Have been too busy since I got an official job recently)

A Walk in the Woods

It's been a long time since we have posted so we need to get busy and update what has been going on.

We had a wonderful visit together and did many things, traveling to Washington DC and the Shenandoah mountains as well as a very important meeting with the local school system to plan for Petra's son to attend next school year. Now we are both getting very anxious for word from immigration on moving to the next step. Every day seems to bring the hope and then disappointment if there is no news but we just have to be patient and wait for our turn.

We did decide that one thing we would like to do together as a family is hike through the abundant forests and natural space we have in and around here. We both enjoy it and there is a large trail system here that makes taking hikes an easy weekend adventure. One of the most famous hiking trails in the US runs right through the area, the Appalachian Trail, and the opportunity to explore parts of it are endless. The AT runs from the state of Georgia to Maine and is approximately 3500 km long almost entirely through forests and mountains. I took a look at what was around the stretch of it that runs through here this past weekend. I was amazed at how little I knew of the beauty that is waiting out there for anyone to enjoy.

There are many rock outcroppings that are very spooky when you come upon them all of a sudden. Waterfalls are common and I hear that there are some spectacular falls if you hike further into the forest.

One very interesting site is the ruins of a building built during our Revolutionary War period around the 1770's



A very little known site is the remains of a top-secret prisoner of war camp that held mostly German UBoat officers during WW II. I can see how they kept it secret because it is out in the middle of nowhere and even with directions, it took me a couple of hours to find it. LOL One prisoner etched his name on a bridge that crosses a small stream.

The forest was full of blooming flowers.
I came upon this lake that was deep in the woods and not a soul enjoying it but me.

I even made a new friend along the trail. LOL

I went out to explore some of the trails we can hike when Petra and her son move here and found that we will have plenty to keep us busy in the woods. I just hope the waiting game is over soon so we will have that chance this fall.

And than the fun of spring suddenly ends

Was it only a week ago that I talked about the beauty of spring, how happy I was about the sunshine and how everything is in bloom?
Well, that ended one or two days later.
For, maybe the second time of my life, I suffer from hay fever.
And what a bad timing to get a sore throat, itching eyes, a cough and a stuffed head.

Must be an empathy thing, Jack has a pollen allergy problem also.
By the time we get over there, the season for that will just have started for him.

Anyway, we have started packing.
2 more days of work and school and than it off for 9 full days together.

Happy Easter or...miracles do happen

First of all, Happy Easter!
Hope everyone is enjoying these spring days. I sure am, did we have snowfall last year, this year we are in luck with sunshine and good temperatures.
The last few days I have seen lambs, foals and storks outside in the fields. Spring flowers are in full bloom here, trees are getting that hint of green over them.
Well, you get the picture.

And to make things even better, on my last day at work, before Easter break, I was offered a contract for a year.
My job situation, or rather the lack of having a real job was a big worry for me.
Lately I was on some kind of trial, payed through welfare, in a place to find out my abilities. This situation would soon stop and after that it was really unclear what would happen. There was talk about an education, but because of trouble with an hurt arm thanks to an accident I had, time ran out.
Not knowing how long it will take before we get our visa's I figured I would have to try to get cleaning work through the employment agency for those few months.
But to my surprise they offered me a contract for a year in the place I am now.
They know my situation, I get a chance to work and learn and get out this situation as much as I can.
LOL, who would have thought I would end up in an office environment and actually know what I am doing.
And the best part....no more welfare!!!

Am I That Predictable?

I am way past due in posting but I have a good excuse. I have been busy getting ready for Petra and her sons visit.

I have been doing the normal cleaning but also freshening up some parts of the house with a new coat of paint. I am odd in that I really like painting and find it very relaxing and it is always nice once you are done to stand back and see the results. Petra may find it strange that if she would like some painting done that I will be more than happy to do the job. LOL

The other thing that I have been doing is working in the yard and garden area. I have been planting flowers and bushes that will add color to our garden, hopefully some of them blooming when they are here.

The funny thing is that every time my neighbors see me hard at work in the yard they joke to me about it by saying, "You can tell Petra will be here soon, Jack is busy cleaning everything up." Eeeeks, I didn't know that I have become so predictable. LOL It's not like I ignore my garden or don't clean the house on a regular basis but I guess I do extra things that give me away. Well I have to say that I do enjoy it and it will be even more fun when we can plant our garden together.

Not a worry in the world...

lately I have been more or less accused of taking this upcoming move too lightly.
It is on purpose that I say 'accused'. Dutch people do have a tendency of looking at things while coming up with all possible ways why it might turn out to be a disaster.
And the Dutch love sharing those possibilities. Best part of that is afterwards coming up with the sentence: "I don't want to be the one telling you afterwards I told you so, so you better be prepared for it, because it is very possible it all may go wrong...."

And I have been hearing that too much lately. All possible scenario's came up already just to make sure I will be prepared for the worst.

Turns out that the effect is the opposite from what seems to be their goal.
I will not share my concerns with them, but will tell them that we will do great, we won't miss the Netherlands, my family will come over and there hardly are any differences between PA and my part of the Netherlands.

Well, bullsh.. of course.

Leaving the country you were born and lived for 45 years isn't easy and will be very hard at times.
Of course I have my worries, mostly for my son who will have to get used to a whole new life without his family, without his schoolmates and in a country of which he doesn't speak the language very well yet. He will have to go to school in a system he doesn't know on an age that usually isn't the easiest part of life.
Still, I know my teenager as a wonderful smart and intelligent boy that adjusted to some big changes the last few years and all I can do right now is hope that he will do well. He has the right mindset and wants to come with me, has had the opportunity to look around a bit already and until now liked what he saw.
He is still at the age that it is easier to adjust than when you are already set in your ways.


As I am....
Over the last few months I realized that it is usually people younger than I am who jump into deep water. And several of those have had it really rough getting adjusted.
There are certain things I will miss very much, there are things that I worry about if I think about. The biggest one is not having the freedom of getting to know the area by myself, go out and about since I don't have a drivers license and getting on the bike to go groceries shopping won't be an option.
After living on my own for some time now I love my freedom to go as I like.
I have very much enjoyed my adventures getting on the train and traveling to the other side of the country without having to depend on other people as I had to do for 20 years.
I worry on how I will handle the fact I will have to depend on Jack for every step out of the house for a while.

I also worry about my family, if they will be able to come over to visit.
And to be honest,I doubt if any of my sisters will be able to come over and visit us.
I worry about keeping in contact with them, since it already seems to be very hard to keep the contact going now. It will be hard missing them even though we don't seem that close.
I will miss my parents visits when they have been shopping in town and drop in for a cup of tea, it won't be that easy anymore.

And there will be many little things, like 'nasi kruiden', yoghurt that is different than I am used to, having to get used to Fahrenheit and ounces instead of Celsius and grammen.

There will be times that I won't be able to find the words to tell Jack why I am mad, or happy. There will be times I won't be able to explain why I feel like crying when there seems no reason.
There will be times that I will show signs of being homesick.

But do I have to make that a big deal now?
Do I have to start saying to people: Yes, you are right, it will be hard, maybe we shouldn't do it, because maybe it might not work?


Nope!

Because knowing there may be hard times is something else than giving up before it even started. It is totally different from having faith in the future I feel we have as a couple and a family.
We are leaving a lot behind, but we are also gaining a whole new life.There will be wonderful times ahead also, we already know of many things we do love when we are there. We will be fine. We love each other.
And fully counting on Jack's support and help to guide us, you might actually wonder who should be worried here, us, or Jack, LOL

So there, I said it now.
You can stop coming up with all kind of doom scenario's.
Because we are going, no matter what you come up with.

We are planning a wedding

Eeks, I know, I am in shock also.
But I guess we are, actually planning a wedding.


If you want to find out more about white dresses and flower arrangements...
Don't look here.
We'll do it our way.


More to follow soon.