Trip back home to Raynham after a year

Monday july 11th 2022

It’s here, the day we have been looking forward to. What a stressful period though. The few days for vacation, finishing work, also leaving right at the end of the schoolyear. Erik and I are not at our best those last days, we know that so we will stay out of each others hair as much as possible lol. With this time the added stress of all the stuff going on at the airport in Holland. Will everything go smooth? Will our flight not be cancelled? Will all the suitcases arrive? Will we be on time for our connection if we will be delayed etc.

But that week is behind us. We are there…. I am writing this while sitting in our hotel room in Raynham. The kids and Erik are in the pool after breakfast so I can reorganize all the suitcases. And now I am ready. We had a little accident with 3 packs of hagelslag we brought (sprinkles for on bread). I had put everything in little plastic baggies just incase it would leak, but didn’t do the hagelslag which opened in one suitcase. Thank goodness it wasn’t in a hot car so it didn’t melt but boy, what a mess lol. And that after a very long day of travelling. The kids didn’t even notice, the layed down a fell asleep.

The trip here went really smooth which we are very grateful for. We had some delay on both flights, but didn’t have to miss anything. I must say that having it booked through my dear cousin Lisette from The Travel District made it so much less stressful. I knew she was on the other side of my phone and she would jump right in and try to arrange a new flight if necessary! That took away so much stress that I usually do have! So big shout out to you Lisette!!!! Thanks so much for taking care of everything and especially for the positive vibes whenever I was stressed out again!

On our way back from Amerika to Holland last year, I spend quite some time crying my eyeballs out on the flight. All the stress and built-up emotions came out. Everyone knows what a tough and difficult year it has been, so don’t have to go into that. But I must say that, besides being very excited of going home after a year, I was also so stressed and anxious leading up to it. How will it feel being back?, how will it feel seeing everyone again? And most importantly…How will it be when we have to leave again after 4 weeks here? As we have just arrived, I am still a little anxious about it all. But when the plane landed I broke and started crying so bad and it stayed like that until we arrived at the gate after about 45 minutes (we had to wait for a while). I can’t really describe what it was exactly, it was probably a mixture of lots of things, mostly relieve of finally being there and everything about the travelpart going well.

Everything at Boston Logan went smooth as well, we eased through customs, on our way to the suitcases and didn’t have to wait more than 5 minutes before we had everything. Then in the bus to the car rental, that only took about 20 minutes to get the paperwork done and then we picked out a nice ride, Nissan Rogue for the coming 4 weeks. Then we realized that the suitcases were a bit big for this ride lol…But the good think of marrying an engineer is that I never have to think about this as he always finds a way😊. In the car the kids fell asleep and after dropping of the suitcases in the hotel room, we went to our favorite Panera down the street for some bagels and mac & cheese which was delicious. Unfortunately, I forgot my old phone with all my apps on it but my old phone number is still in the system lol….

Arriving at the hotel room after that we were all so very tired after a 22 hr travel that we went right to sleep. We had a very good night, not waking up before 6 am, which is awesome as we probably had most of the jetlag slept of this way. We will see!

We had breakfast early and after the kids went to the pool with Erik while I spent time re-organizing all the suitcases. All is done now which is nice so we don’t have to do that when arriving at our friend Katie’s house where we will be staying this week.

We feels so very lucky with our friends and are so grateful as they took off so much stress by arranging for us to stay at their houses. We are so excited to go see everyone!!! We only planned 3 things and nothing else yet as we first want to settle in and then we will take it day by day. I brought my computer to write about this trip and all the fun stuff we will do. Wonderful to share, but especially wonderful to have this as a memory with all the pictures after this trip for the kids and ourselves.

This morning my friend Alyssa stopped by at the parking lot of the hotel for a quick hug on her way to work and in an hour we will see Katie and the girls which we are so so very excited for. We are so excited to see everyone and see how much all those kiddos have grown over the past 12 months. Last night at Panera we ran into 2 of Nynkes classmates and its insane to see how much the girls all matured over the past year. We can’t wait to run into so many more people over the coming month! Hope to see you soon!!!

Monday july 11th 2022

It’s here, the day we have been looking forward to. What a stressful period though. The few days for vacation, finishing work, also leaving right at the end of the schoolyear. Erik and I are not at our best those last days, we know that so we will stay out of each others hair as much as possible lol. With this time the added stress of all the stuff going on at the airport in Holland. Will everything go smooth? Will our flight not be cancelled? Will all the suitcases arrive? Will we be on time for our connection if we will be delayed etc.

But that week is behind us. We are there…. I am writing this while sitting in our hotel room in Raynham. The kids and Erik are in the pool after breakfast so I can reorganize all the suitcases. And now I am ready. We had a little accident with 3 packs of hagelslag we brought (sprinkles for on bread). I had put everything in little plastic baggies just incase it would leak, but didn’t do the hagelslag which opened in one suitcase. Thank goodness it wasn’t in a hot car so it didn’t melt but boy, what a mess lol. And that after a very long day of travelling. The kids didn’t even notice, the layed down a fell asleep.

The trip here went really smooth which we are very grateful for. We had some delay on both flights, but didn’t have to miss anything. I must say that having it booked through my dear cousin Lisette from The Travel District made it so much less stressful. I knew she was on the other side of my phone and she would jump right in and try to arrange a new flight if necessary! That took away so much stress that I usually do have! So big shout out to you Lisette!!!! Thanks so much for taking care of everything and especially for the positive vibes whenever I was stressed out again!

On our way back from Amerika to Holland last year, I spend quite some time crying my eyeballs out on the flight. All the stress and built-up emotions came out. Everyone knows what a tough and difficult year it has been, so don’t have to go into that. But I must say that, besides being very excited of going home after a year, I was also so stressed and anxious leading up to it. How will it feel being back?, how will it feel seeing everyone again? And most importantly…How will it be when we have to leave again after 4 weeks here? As we have just arrived, I am still a little anxious about it all. But when the plane landed I broke and started crying so bad and it stayed like that until we arrived at the gate after about 45 minutes (we had to wait for a while). I can’t really describe what it was exactly, it was probably a mixture of lots of things, mostly relieve of finally being there and everything about the travelpart going well.

Everything at Boston Logan went smooth as well, we eased through customs, on our way to the suitcases and didn’t have to wait more than 5 minutes before we had everything. Then in the bus to the car rental, that only took about 20 minutes to get the paperwork done and then we picked out a nice ride, Nissan Rogue for the coming 4 weeks. Then we realized that the suitcases were a bit big for this ride lol…But the good think of marrying an engineer is that I never have to think about this as he always finds a way😊. In the car the kids fell asleep and after dropping of the suitcases in the hotel room, we went to our favorite Panera down the street for some bagels and mac & cheese which was delicious. Unfortunately, I forgot my old phone with all my apps on it but my old phone number is still in the system lol….

Arriving at the hotel room after that we were all so very tired after a 22 hr travel that we went right to sleep. We had a very good night, not waking up before 6 am, which is awesome as we probably had most of the jetlag slept of this way. We will see!

We had breakfast early and after the kids went to the pool with Erik while I spent time re-organizing all the suitcases. All is done now which is nice so we don’t have to do that when arriving at our friend Katie’s house where we will be staying this week.

We feels so very lucky with our friends and are so grateful as they took off so much stress by arranging for us to stay at their houses. We are so excited to go see everyone!!! We only planned 3 things and nothing else yet as we first want to settle in and then we will take it day by day. I brought my computer to write about this trip and all the fun stuff we will do. Wonderful to share, but especially wonderful to have this as a memory with all the pictures after this trip for the kids and ourselves.

This morning my friend Alyssa stopped by at the parking lot of the hotel for a quick hug on her way to work and in an hour we will see Katie and the girls which we are so so very excited for. We are so excited to see everyone and see how much all those kiddos have grown over the past 12 months. Last night at Panera we ran into 2 of Nynkes classmates and its insane to see how much the girls all matured over the past year. We can’t wait to run into so many more people over the coming month! Hope to see you soon!!!

Monday july 11th 2022

It’s here, the day we have been looking forward to. What a stressful period though. The few days for vacation, finishing work, also leaving right at the end of the schoolyear. Erik and I are not at our best those last days, we know that so we will stay out of each others hair as much as possible lol. With this time the added stress of all the stuff going on at the airport in Holland. Will everything go smooth? Will our flight not be cancelled? Will all the suitcases arrive? Will we be on time for our connection if we will be delayed etc.

But that week is behind us. We are there…. I am writing this while sitting in our hotel room in Raynham. The kids and Erik are in the pool after breakfast so I can reorganize all the suitcases. And now I am ready. We had a little accident with 3 packs of hagelslag we brought (sprinkles for on bread). I had put everything in little plastic baggies just incase it would leak, but didn’t do the hagelslag which opened in one suitcase. Thank goodness it wasn’t in a hot car so it didn’t melt but boy, what a mess lol. And that after a very long day of travelling. The kids didn’t even notice, the layed down a fell asleep.

The trip here went really smooth which we are very grateful for. We had some delay on both flights, but didn’t have to miss anything. I must say that having it booked through my dear cousin Lisette from The Travel District made it so much less stressful. I knew she was on the other side of my phone and she would jump right in and try to arrange a new flight if necessary! That took away so much stress that I usually do have! So big shout out to you Lisette!!!! Thanks so much for taking care of everything and especially for the positive vibes whenever I was stressed out again!

On our way back from Amerika to Holland last year, I spend quite some time crying my eyeballs out on the flight. All the stress and built-up emotions came out. Everyone knows what a tough and difficult year it has been, so don’t have to go into that. But I must say that, besides being very excited of going home after a year, I was also so stressed and anxious leading up to it. How will it feel being back?, how will it feel seeing everyone again? And most importantly…How will it be when we have to leave again after 4 weeks here? As we have just arrived, I am still a little anxious about it all. But when the plane landed I broke and started crying so bad and it stayed like that until we arrived at the gate after about 45 minutes (we had to wait for a while). I can’t really describe what it was exactly, it was probably a mixture of lots of things, mostly relieve of finally being there and everything about the travelpart going well.

Everything at Boston Logan went smooth as well, we eased through customs, on our way to the suitcases and didn’t have to wait more than 5 minutes before we had everything. Then in the bus to the car rental, that only took about 20 minutes to get the paperwork done and then we picked out a nice ride, Nissan Rogue for the coming 4 weeks. Then we realized that the suitcases were a bit big for this ride lol…But the good think of marrying an engineer is that I never have to think about this as he always finds a way😊. In the car the kids fell asleep and after dropping of the suitcases in the hotel room, we went to our favorite Panera down the street for some bagels and mac & cheese which was delicious. Unfortunately, I forgot my old phone with all my apps on it but my old phone number is still in the system lol….

Arriving at the hotel room after that we were all so very tired after a 22 hr travel that we went right to sleep. We had a very good night, not waking up before 6 am, which is awesome as we probably had most of the jetlag slept of this way. We will see!

We had breakfast early and after the kids went to the pool with Erik while I spent time re-organizing all the suitcases. All is done now which is nice so we don’t have to do that when arriving at our friend Katie’s house where we will be staying this week.

We feels so very lucky with our friends and are so grateful as they took off so much stress by arranging for us to stay at their houses. We are so excited to go see everyone!!! We only planned 3 things and nothing else yet as we first want to settle in and then we will take it day by day. I brought my computer to write about this trip and all the fun stuff we will do. Wonderful to share, but especially wonderful to have this as a memory with all the pictures after this trip for the kids and ourselves.

This morning my friend Alyssa stopped by at the parking lot of the hotel for a quick hug on her way to work and in an hour we will see Katie and the girls which we are so so very excited for. We are so excited to see everyone and see how much all those kiddos have grown over the past 12 months. Last night at Panera we ran into 2 of Nynkes classmates and its insane to see how much the girls all matured over the past year. We can’t wait to run into so many more people over the coming month! Hope to see you soon!!!

XO Wen

Leakage, construction and quarantine

Well, we have had quite a day, or week, or months really lol.

I had to go to my last blog to see when I wrote last and to see what I wrote. It was almost two months ago that I posted and it was a good post. I had just started my new job then and everything was starting to feel better little by little every day. Im happy to be able to write that I am feeling good now as well. Still with ups and downs, but isn’t that life in general?

At the moment that I am writing this Pim and I are staying at a bungalowparc in a little vacationhome/condo together. Last Friday we got the message that there were 3 kids in Pims class positive, so he had to quarantaine for 10 days. Ofcourse everything is about timing in life as on Monday the contractor would start plastering our walls and ceilings in the livingroom as well as the bedrooms. We would've been able to pull it off to sleep in Nynkes room in the attic together, Erik could work from her room, I would work from my neighbors house and the kids would be in school all day, so that would work out perfectly. That was until Pim had to quarantine….ugh!

So, I ended up finding a place to stay for Pim and me about 25 min away from Amersfoort where we live. When Pim can be back in school I will drive him up and down everyday. Meanwhile the contractor is sick himselve as well and the whole project at home is on hold while the livingroom is half done and totally empty. But it is what it is and I am very happy that Pim and I are gone from the house. To be honest, it is nice to not have to camp in my own house where it is cold and cramped with 4 people. in the attic. Also it is quite special to have this quality time with Pim, I mean, how often do you get the change to spend so much time one on one with your kids?!

The last months were busy. As I mentioned, I started working for my old boss. This has been a wonderful experience all over so far. I get to work when I want and pretty much how much I want, which is awesome considering our situation overall still adjusting to everything. This way I have something for myself, I'm doing something meaningful and I still get to be there for the kids as much as I want.

The holidays were quiet but we enjoyed the family time with the four of us and the quality time with our parents separately. New years was quiet as well. There was a ban on fireworks and it was so pretty hahahaahah. The ban didn’t work, people said it was more and prettier than previous years. Sad for all the people selling it in Holland though, as that wasn’t allowed so it was all bought in Belgium. But it was dry and a very clear and warm night, crazywarm temperatures to be honest, but it was nice. Lots of neighbors were home and outside at midnight to look at the fireworks or do some themselves. (In Holland it is a tradition to buy lots of fireworks and shoot them at midnight. Neighbors will come outside to wish each other a great new year etc.) So we had a wonderful night with the kids who stayed up all night, which hasn’t happened before because the time difference (6 hrs later in Holland) was very convenient. We would celebrate with Holland at 6 pm while in America and then go to bed normal time lol.

For the rest, we have a leakage in our bathroom which means that we will have to get the whole bathroom redone. This is ofcourse also a very big project and as we were in Lockdown since the end of November, we have not been able to go to a store for this. Thank goodness the problem is in the shower and we also have a bath, so at least we have something and are not in a hurry. Next project, first we have to finish this. After all the walls are plastered it all needs to be painted by Erik. As it first needs to dry really well, that will take up lots of time too. But we will get there. I will be very happy when it is all done though! Very much looking forward to that!

Other exciting news is that we were able to book flights to Raynham in the summer! We are so excited to be able to visit. Ofcourse we are hopeful that Corona will not screw it up for us, but we are positive about it and we can’t wait to come over and see everyone. And to go visit the new Starbucks in Raynham, and the new Burlington, go to Target, TJMaxx, visit Mrs Chickering and Mrs Hargraves and Mr Poulos at school and have fun playdates with all our friends!!! It is less then 6 months, so we started to count down and are very excited!!!

For now I don’t really know what else to write here. I guess that is the way it works, when you have to much on your mind you don’t have time or energy to write and when you feel good there is not enough time or everything just feels so normal, so what should I write about. If there would be anything you would want me to write about, let me know. For me living here is so normal and so I don’t always know what is interesting for you guys to read about.

I hope everyone is doing well and is healthy, despite all the messages I receive from the next one who got Covid….It is going ballistic, both in Holland as in Raynham!

Miss you all like crazy! That hasn’t changed a bit! Hope to see you soon!

XO

Feeling lots better

Friday November 5th 2021

Today is a good day for a good day! That is what I posted on my Instagram account this morning!

Earlier this week I made plans with my one of my dear friends whom I hadn’t seen yet. She wasn’t able to come to me so I held off and said that we would make tentative plans as I (nor can anyone else) look into the future and see how I feel. But today I’m feeling good! I’m excited to see her, she will be here any minute. “Here” is at the local Starbucks by the way, that also contributes to feeling happy today😊.

This week I feel different. Lighter, happier. Things are easier at home, with the kids. Nynke seems to feel better and the moods from the kids I can deal with easier it seems. The reason? I don’t know. Things are falling into place more and more maybe? The help that we asked for being put into place (even though none of that will probably start until about half January). The decision we made about our house, not having to think about maybe moving and all the stress that comes with that. Erik having a great week at work, the kids coming home happy and having fun with their sports and with friends.

I even dressed up twice this week already, crazy right?! And with dressing up, I’m talking about jeans and half high boots, maybe a bit of lipstick and today even eyeshadow and some mascara (should probably buy a new one after so many months😉).

My body still not cooperating though. Went to Shiatsu yesterday and man….that was no fun. And I mean OUCH!!!! But it is for a good cause, usually I do feel better afterwards.

This weekend looks fun too. Saturday morning we all start with sports here. Pim has his athletics/track training in the woods for the first time tomorrow. Erik will go with him. Nynke has Lifeguard class and I have Yoga. Pims Athletics organization has its 60 yo birthday this year and is celebrating that in the Zoo tomorrow afternoon. We have not been there for about 5 years by now and as it was the place were we have spend sooooo many hours with the kids as we had a membership and it is only about 10 minutes away from our house, we are very excited to go there. And the weather seems to cooperate as well, so that is great!!!

This month it is Namaste November at my gym and they are organizing lots of different yoga classes, meditation classes etc. Tonight is my first one, given by my regular (and favorite) yoga teacher. Oh, Marianne is here. To be continued!!!

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Tuesday November 23rd 2021

So, this was November 5th, 2,5 weeks ago and I have thought about finishing this post but I just couldn’t find the time. YES!!!! I just couldn’t find the time! It had nothing to do with not wanting, feeling down or depressed or missing Amerika so much I just couldn’t write about it. JUST-NO-TIME! How liberating this feels.

Its November 23rd today. And today was a good day! Just like most days the past 2,5 weeks. Don’t get me wrong, there are hard moments but doesn’t that count for everyone? In life, that there are good days and not so good days? That’s what I keep telling myself. It seems we have found some kind of routine in a hectic life which is nice after the past few months.

Last Saturday I had to make the tough decision to go to yoga or walk with my coach. I cancelled the coach two weeks ago as my body was not cooperating and it was hard to find a new date. The only option we found was Saturday, same time as my yoga (which I really don’t like to miss as it had really been helping me). I decided on the coaching though and I ended up summarizing the past weeks and the steps I made. While doing that, I started to realize that I was actually doing pretty good lately and that I had made some real big steps in the process the past weeks. It’s a little too much and in some ways a little to personal to get into that, but that is also not really necessary. The most important thing is that I see the progress myself and that a lot comes down to my mindset (isn’t it always). I’ve known that feeling the way I have felt is part of a grieving process that is pretty normal considering our circumstances, but that doesn’t make it any easier.

For now, the status is that I have been feeling lighter, happier and I have been seeing friends and family a lot more. I have been going to the gym which helps. And the kids and Erik feel a lot better it seems as well. I have switched our furniture around upstairs and in our living with some help of my mom and we really like that too. Things in the house are finding a spot more and more, and we don’t have any boxes left that we haven’t gone through yet.

Thanksgiving is in 2 days and we have decided to celebrate with the 4 of us this year. We have considered asking friends from Amerika (that live in Holland now as well) to celebrate with us, but that was a bit to much for now so hopefully that is an option next year. Unfortunately no day off here, so first work and school for us. But after that we will celebrate in our own Dutch way, by not eating a big turkey, but by cooking little things at the table on a grill and spending time together. The kids really wanted that so why not😊.

Then Sinterklaas will stop by on December 5th. Eriks b'day is the 16th and then Christmas. We were very much looking forward to the lights from Christmas and the joy that brings and decided to put up the tree etc yesterday. Way to early according to (especially) lots of Dutch friends lol. But last year we were even earlier and it brought some joy to that crappy Corona year, so why not! We are loving our decorations, especially as most of them are wonderful memories that we treasure for the rest of our life. I will be taking the kids shopping to both pick out a new ornament like we did in Amerika every year, that way we can start making more Christmas memories in Holland to add to the tree. We are ready as can be for December!

Another great thing is that my old boss reached out to me two weeks ago, asking if I could be of some help supporting the team leader with some work as it is very busy at the moment. I went to have coffee with him and today I signed my contract. Its only for a few hours a week to start with, but who knows what it will come down to. It gives me something for myself which I am looking forward to so I am happy and grateful for the opportunity to get back into the working life after our Amerika adventure. I will start next week and am very much looking forward to it.

I am sitting in the coffee corner of the gym waiting for Nynke to be ready and I decided not to work out today as I did yoga and Kickboxing yesterday and I biked about 10 km (appr. 6 miles) to downtown. I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to sit and take some time to write this blog.

After a sad message from a good friend of mine this afternoon I am even more determined to count my blessings and make most of everyday (which I started doing everyday since a few weeks by exchanging a text with three things I’m grateful for every day).

I will share some with you here as well:

*I am grateful to have two places to call home

*I am grateful to have so many wonderful friends, old and new ones, that I get to love and that love me

*I am grateful to have learned so many lessons by traveling the world and meeting many beautiful individuals

And last but not least, I found this picture and even though I am not sad right now, this pretty much summs it all up for me.