The struggle is real

Week 4

And another two weeks have passed almost. Time is going by so quickly its really scary. We have 4,5 weeks of summer vacation left here before school starts. At the moment the weather is awful, so that doesn’t help. Also most people are on vacation so the kids are kind of bored. Especially Nynke as Pim is swimming every morning this week.

What busy weeks we’ve had. My back has been a lot better since a week ago. I can do everything again so that takes a lot of stress of of it (literally). Also (and most important) I have been feeling more like myself again. Ive been talking to several friends on the phone, both here and in Amerika and it is so nice to get energy from that again.

Erik is back to work since this week again, but before that we (or he) did so much. The floor on our first floor has been replaced by Erik and looks beautiful, he has put together quite an impressive bed for Pim. Several walls in bedrooms have been painted, the study is almost finished (at least good enough for Erik to be able to work in it). Nynke has a new closet for her clothes, a nice desk, hammock chair and yesterday her new boxspring arrived. So safe to say that she is real happy.

We are still trying to get rid of several furniture pieces, like our couch. Because last Friday Pim and I went to the Seats and Sofas store after dinner and found this awesome couch in a Petrol color. It is comfortable and pretty, but quite the color though. I really liked it so we all hopped on our bikes in the morning to try it out and to show Erik and Nynke. Long story short, 3 hours later it was in our living room and it still makes me so happy to see it everytime I walk through the door.

My mom called and asked if we found something, I avoided the question by asking if they wanted to come by to have a coffee. That was fun, they liked it very much too. I LOVE color as most of you know and this is soooo pretty! We could’ve gone for a more neutral color, which Erik wanted at first, but that way we would’ve had to wait for 8-12 weeks (they say it can even be more these days). And now more then ever, I feel like having a change in things in our house here. Not sitting on the couch and seeing everything in the livingroom exactly as we left it 4 years ago.

Another thing I am enjoying SO SO much are the flowers. It started with being treated to lots of flowers upon arrival from family and friends, and even receiving a beautiful arrangement from our wonderful American friends on my birthday!!!! I have not been without flowers since arriving. Last night I bought two wonderful plants with beautiful flowers for only 4 euro (for the two of them). LOVING IT!!!

The food is a whole other story. You’ve been asking me about it, how different is it? Lets say, I have been eating crap (think cookies, cakes, candy that we don’t have in America) but all together I have been feeling so much better because we eat pretty healthy for the rest here. Lots of vegetables and the bread is so yummie, we eat bread for breakfast with lots of delicious toppings and in the afternoon for lunch. No more discussions with the kids about what to eat for lunch (pizza, nuggets, I want MD, sushi etc etc), it is clear what we eat here. And we still can’t get enough of the different kinds of breads.

Pim is swimming his *** off this week and is very tired after, but he is rocking it. He loves doing it but its hard work. Every morning he starts with his swimshort on, long jeans, long sleeve shirt, water shoes and a rain coat. The first few laps are fully dressed like that, and that is hard work. After that they learn how to swim about 20 ft under water and they have to swim through a hole. And so much more than that. Friday we will see if he can pass his exam.

*****************************************************************************************************************

Week 8

Fast forwarding another 4 weeks, its been 8 weeks today since we said goodbye to Raynham. To say that it has been to long since I’ve posted a blog is an understatement:-(.

I started writing this blog four weeks ago and as you’ve seen, I’ve never got around to finish it and post it. The reason for this is that I haven’t been doing well☹. After my back got better I was able to do more in and around the house and I felt like I was getting a lot better, but suddenly it hit me bad, I could only feel sad and was struggling through every day. I didn't feel like seeing anyone, nor talking to anyone, not here in Holland and not in Raynham and that made me even more sad as that is nothing like me. We had been told by others who had done a move back to their home country that moving back is way harder than moving away, so we knew that could happen. Unfortunately it hit pretty hard regardless. It took a few weeks, mostly for me, and since last week I’ve been feeling a lot better than before. I’m definitely not there yet, but I will get there, I’m positive of that!

In the meantime, the kids are doing awesome, thank goodness!! They are enjoying their new bikes that they got from my parents and head out every day, only to come back for food or drinks pretty much. One of the reasons that I’ve been struggling is probably also that I have had to cut the umbilical cord with my kids pretty fast. It feels like I had to go from 0-1000 in about 3 seconds. I had them around me pretty much 24/7 as that goes in Amerika and now they leave the house in the morning, no idea where to and they come back when they please (well, also on time if we tell them a time). Riding on their bicycles without a helmet (as that is not custom here) and Nynke even goes to the pool in the gym (around 10 minute bikeride from here) by herself. Also I can send her for groceries when needed (that is a big plus though).

If it was up to Pim, he would’ve gone to school by bike by himself on day 2. (might I say that they normally grow into traffic rules here, but ofcourse as he was 5 when we left, he doesn't know any of those rules. He thinks he knows enough though, as a 9 yo being very stubborn). I was able to tell him he wasn’t allowed to yet, but now school is starting tomorrow, I am afraid that I’m gonna have to let him go by himself, which scares the hell out of me to be totally honest. Nynke on the other hand will go to highschool, starting this coming Tuesday and she will have to ride her bike for 10-15 minutes to get there, rain or shine even when snow. That is how we role in Holland😊.

The kids are excited to go to school and a little anxious. Today we have spent some time covering Nynke’s books for school so they won’t get damaged. That is a common thing that pretty much everyone does in Holland before starting school every year (only in highschool though).

We had a pretty crappy summer, weather wise, but I understood that Raynham also wasn’t great. Lots of rain and low temperatures, pretty much max temps of 68 degrees….blegh! That didn’t help feeling happy either.

Despite that, the kids were able to have a pretty fun summer we think. Sleepovers with grandparents and cousins and friends and there were lots of activities planned in town. Pim went to a tennis clinic, he did biking and practicing stunting with a scooter. Also went to a 3 day summer camp where they did all fun stuff outdoors. Nynke just went on an overnight Just girls camp and we picked her up yesterday. She had tons of fun and even though it was weird not having her around, it was also nice to have a little time apart from each other after such an intense 1,5 years together.

Erik is doing ok. He is struggling in his own way. Trying to figure out a work routine, partly from home, partly from the office. He misses biking in beautiful Amerika, even though biking here and exploring new things is fun too. We are both missing Amerika and our friends very much. It feels so different here, but if you would ask us how different, it is very hard to explain. It is mostly a feeling:-(.

We haven’t been seeing a lot of people yet, partly because of being busy and partly because I just can’t yet. Everything is a lot. And we are confident that we will get there, but it is def a big adjustment. Silly things as trying to get the car new plates when it arrives, took me hours to try to make appointments etc. We had to go to Utrecht to get our Vaccinations checked and registred as we have a Corona app here which you need to show if you travel to other countries and/or if you want to visit a concert orso. As we got our vaccin in Amerika that is not enough, they need to check it and approve before we can use the app. And so many more of those kind of things like insurance stuff, issues with our internet/TV company etc...

Starting school, getting routing, finally getting our container with our belongings after 12 weeks and a new (potentially much more comfortable bed) that will arrive on September 16 will def all help with the adjustment. The kids also both picked a few sports to try out and al of that will be starting this coming week as well, so that means we will have a few busy weeks ahead of us. The good thing is that it will all be in a certain routine, which our family needs very much in daily life. We don’t do well without routine in general, so I’m looking forward to that.

I have spent this morning make a week meal and we have decided to go out to dinner tonight with the 4 of us to mark this day as the last day of a very crazy and hectic period. And to kick of to a new period where we hopefully all will blossom again! We stay positive, also as much as possible throughout the moments that some of us find that very hard.

We moved to Amerika, not knowing anyone, the kids not speaking the language and we thrived, all of us! Now we’ve got this….We just need a little time to get there!!!

We miss you all in Amerika!!!