Arjan and I squeezed into 2012 slowly and easily yesterday. We pretty much just had a lazy day at home with nothing much to do. I do know that both of our minds were going 90 miles a minute with all the thoughts and plans we each have for this year. I can't really say what is on his mind but I'd be willing to bet it has a lot to do with work. My mind was taken over by the nesting bug, organization and routines are at the top of my list for this year. It's going to be a positive year for us but I'm sure it will be full of changes, too.
I also know that Oma van de Rest was on both of our minds as well. Oma would have been 95 years old yesterday but sadly she passed away in the wee hours of Christmas morning. She will be missed greatly, but she wanted to go and now she is with Opa again after so very many years.
I'm not doing resolutions this year...I rarely do them anyway, but when I do I invariably fail, badly. This year I'n going to focus on my "One Little Word" which is Organize. I want to organize my life: my home, my day to day routines, our finances, our photos, all 40,000+ of them, and yes, even vacations. It's the one thing that has really been lacking in my world for the past several years and I figure it is well past time to fix that. I'm truly excited to begin organizing my way through 2012 and I can't think of a better time to start than right now!
02 January 2012
20 January 2011
For Marion ;-)
I just got off the phone with my friend, Marion, who insisted I come and make a blog post the minute we got off the phone. I'm not the greatest at keeping up my blog even though I keep promising myself that I will blog on a regular basis. So far, those have been empty promises, but with a little help from Marion maybe I'll get better.
I can't believe I've been married for almost 4 months already. Time is just flying by. We've been home since October 15th and getting back to real life pretty much took over here. Arjan went back to work in the UK October 18th and we had the regular weekends home until December 23rd when he took a week's vacation between Christmas and New Year's. It was nice to have him home and not be traveling 8-10 hours everyday.
We had a nice, quiet Christmas at home and a very busy few days after that. On the 27th Arjan drove to Groningen to have lunch with his brother Ruud and on the 30th of December we drove to Tilburg and had a very nice dinner at Etenstijd with Marion, Jeroen and their kids, Floris and Marieke, to celebrate all of our birthdays. This is a tradition we started in 2009 and we all really enjoy it, especially since we haven't gotten to see them much over the past year and a half.
Then on New year's day we went to Arjan's parent's house to spend the day with them and Ruud and Barbara, Ruud's girlfriend. They tooks out for tapas for dinner that evening and we had a really nice time. It's so nice to be able to enjoy time with family especially since things were so tense between Ruud and Arjan for so many years. It looks like they have both moved beyond that now and I am so glad. I know it has to make things much easier on their parents, especially their mom.
January 3rd Arjan started a new assignment in Düsseldorf, Germany and now he is home every night. It's taken a bit of adjusting, but we are both glad he is home again. We finally starting to settle into a regular routine and for the most things are going very smoothly.
Last week the builders were here from Tuesday thru Thursday working on our attic. We now have strengthened floor beams, proper insulation, a new and proper ventilation pipe from the bathroom through the attic and out the roof, and new base flooring. Now we can finally move all of the stuff stored all over our house into the attic and begin working on Arjan's office. Thanks Mom and Dad!
On January 10th we headed to Eindhoven to the IND to turn in my application for a residency permit. I now have a pretty little 6 month visa sitting in passport. We have a few more papers to fill out and send in so our marriage can be properly registered here in Holland under my name. It already is registered under Arjan's name.
We ordered our new car the first weekend in November and we were supposed to go to the factory to pick it up sometime next month, but Arjan got a phone call from Nol Hermans, our salesman, yesterday telling him that someone made a mistake and our new Passat is already here in Heerlen. So it should be ready for pick-up sometime next week. Nol is making arrangements for us to still be able to go and take a tour of the factory and get the whole experience that we were so looking forward to.
I alos got an email from Donna letting us know that she and Brian will be visiting us from the US the week of May 9th. I can hardly wait! We enjoyed the two days we spent with them in Utah so much and now I can't wait to show them our home and do some sightseeing here in Holland with them.
During our wedding and honeymoon trip I sorry to say that I gained 5 kilos which I was really not happy about, but I am happy to report that as of this morning I have lost 10 kilos since we got home. I'm well on my way to my 5 year weightloss goal.
Ok Marion, is that enough blogging for you? Can I go finish cleaning my house now? ;-) Dikke knuffel mijn vrienden!
I can't believe I've been married for almost 4 months already. Time is just flying by. We've been home since October 15th and getting back to real life pretty much took over here. Arjan went back to work in the UK October 18th and we had the regular weekends home until December 23rd when he took a week's vacation between Christmas and New Year's. It was nice to have him home and not be traveling 8-10 hours everyday.
We had a nice, quiet Christmas at home and a very busy few days after that. On the 27th Arjan drove to Groningen to have lunch with his brother Ruud and on the 30th of December we drove to Tilburg and had a very nice dinner at Etenstijd with Marion, Jeroen and their kids, Floris and Marieke, to celebrate all of our birthdays. This is a tradition we started in 2009 and we all really enjoy it, especially since we haven't gotten to see them much over the past year and a half.
Then on New year's day we went to Arjan's parent's house to spend the day with them and Ruud and Barbara, Ruud's girlfriend. They tooks out for tapas for dinner that evening and we had a really nice time. It's so nice to be able to enjoy time with family especially since things were so tense between Ruud and Arjan for so many years. It looks like they have both moved beyond that now and I am so glad. I know it has to make things much easier on their parents, especially their mom.
January 3rd Arjan started a new assignment in Düsseldorf, Germany and now he is home every night. It's taken a bit of adjusting, but we are both glad he is home again. We finally starting to settle into a regular routine and for the most things are going very smoothly.
Last week the builders were here from Tuesday thru Thursday working on our attic. We now have strengthened floor beams, proper insulation, a new and proper ventilation pipe from the bathroom through the attic and out the roof, and new base flooring. Now we can finally move all of the stuff stored all over our house into the attic and begin working on Arjan's office. Thanks Mom and Dad!
On January 10th we headed to Eindhoven to the IND to turn in my application for a residency permit. I now have a pretty little 6 month visa sitting in passport. We have a few more papers to fill out and send in so our marriage can be properly registered here in Holland under my name. It already is registered under Arjan's name.
We ordered our new car the first weekend in November and we were supposed to go to the factory to pick it up sometime next month, but Arjan got a phone call from Nol Hermans, our salesman, yesterday telling him that someone made a mistake and our new Passat is already here in Heerlen. So it should be ready for pick-up sometime next week. Nol is making arrangements for us to still be able to go and take a tour of the factory and get the whole experience that we were so looking forward to.
I alos got an email from Donna letting us know that she and Brian will be visiting us from the US the week of May 9th. I can hardly wait! We enjoyed the two days we spent with them in Utah so much and now I can't wait to show them our home and do some sightseeing here in Holland with them.
During our wedding and honeymoon trip I sorry to say that I gained 5 kilos which I was really not happy about, but I am happy to report that as of this morning I have lost 10 kilos since we got home. I'm well on my way to my 5 year weightloss goal.
Ok Marion, is that enough blogging for you? Can I go finish cleaning my house now? ;-) Dikke knuffel mijn vrienden!
22 November 2010
Monday Madness 22 November 2010
It's just another Monday in the van de Rest household with all that it entails. Things like getting up before dawn to take care of critters and Arjan and get us out the door by 7 so we can hit the road to the airport. Then home to get a few chores done, check emails, forums and galleries and catch up on SYTYCD Lage Landen version.
Today's travel was a bit more hectic and longer than usual with an 18km traffic jam but luckily we still got him there in time to catch his flight. For those of you that are unfamiliar with German autobahns let me tell you there is nothing, and I do mean NOTHING, like driving at 190kph and having then all of a sudden some absolute moron decides he needs to jump over in the fast lane in front of you. The problem is that he's only moving along at a snail's pace of about 80-100kph. I'll let you do the math. Of course that is Arjan driving at 190kph, most definitely not me, but I found myself getting a bit more adventurous this morning on the way home. I was actually going 160kph instead of my normal 120kph. Arjan was so proud of me when he called. Go Wolfie!
Since Arjan came home a day later than usual due to a crash at Birmingham International on Friday that shut down the airport, (no deaths and the liver made it to the hopsital ready for transplant...way to go emergency crews!), I was able to get all of this weeks housework done on Saturday while I waited for him to get home. I can't begin to tell you how amazing it was to walk into the house and not have hardly any chores to do. Just a quick tidying up of the breakfast dishes and make the bed and I was done and that means I actually get some scrapping, crafting or sewing time in this afternoon. Yes!
Yesterday was the semi-final of SYTYCD for the Lage Landen (the Lowlands which consist of the Netherlands and Belgium), but have to wait to watch on Monday's because I'm a kind wife and let Arjan watch Wegmisbruikers on Sunday nights. Anyway, I'm a SYTYCD junkie really and it was a pretty good show though I must admit I really liked last weeks epsisode much better. I'm quite happy to see that Lorenzo has made it to the finals and I really hope he wins after everything he had to go through this past year after suffering a major injury in the first of last year's liveshows. I may be watching it a day later but I will definitely be casting my vote on Sunday night for Lorenzo.
Not much happening in my email inboxes or the forums I frequent but the galleries are hopping. I just wish I had more time to give comments, but hopefully in the new year I will have settled into married life and our new routines when Arjan will hopefully be done with the UK assignment.
That's about it for today...I'm off to do a little something creative.
Today's travel was a bit more hectic and longer than usual with an 18km traffic jam but luckily we still got him there in time to catch his flight. For those of you that are unfamiliar with German autobahns let me tell you there is nothing, and I do mean NOTHING, like driving at 190kph and having then all of a sudden some absolute moron decides he needs to jump over in the fast lane in front of you. The problem is that he's only moving along at a snail's pace of about 80-100kph. I'll let you do the math. Of course that is Arjan driving at 190kph, most definitely not me, but I found myself getting a bit more adventurous this morning on the way home. I was actually going 160kph instead of my normal 120kph. Arjan was so proud of me when he called. Go Wolfie!
Since Arjan came home a day later than usual due to a crash at Birmingham International on Friday that shut down the airport, (no deaths and the liver made it to the hopsital ready for transplant...way to go emergency crews!), I was able to get all of this weeks housework done on Saturday while I waited for him to get home. I can't begin to tell you how amazing it was to walk into the house and not have hardly any chores to do. Just a quick tidying up of the breakfast dishes and make the bed and I was done and that means I actually get some scrapping, crafting or sewing time in this afternoon. Yes!
Yesterday was the semi-final of SYTYCD for the Lage Landen (the Lowlands which consist of the Netherlands and Belgium), but have to wait to watch on Monday's because I'm a kind wife and let Arjan watch Wegmisbruikers on Sunday nights. Anyway, I'm a SYTYCD junkie really and it was a pretty good show though I must admit I really liked last weeks epsisode much better. I'm quite happy to see that Lorenzo has made it to the finals and I really hope he wins after everything he had to go through this past year after suffering a major injury in the first of last year's liveshows. I may be watching it a day later but I will definitely be casting my vote on Sunday night for Lorenzo.
Not much happening in my email inboxes or the forums I frequent but the galleries are hopping. I just wish I had more time to give comments, but hopefully in the new year I will have settled into married life and our new routines when Arjan will hopefully be done with the UK assignment.
That's about it for today...I'm off to do a little something creative.
02 November 2010
Just a few wedding pics
I can't say that I am overly thrilled with our wedding photos, but at the same time I really don't care. Terrible thing for a scrapbooker and semi-pro photographer to say, I know, but we had the most amazing ceremony and Arjan's parents were able to be there so anything above that is just an added bonus.
Anyway, these are a few of my favorites.
Anyway, these are a few of my favorites.
21 August 2010
TGIF
I'm glad today is Friday because that means that I got to pick Arjan up from the airport for his weekend at home.
My very late fabric order arrived this morning and I'm glad it's finally here. By the way, did you know that 20 meters of fabric is a LOT of fabric? It is, trust me on this one. The fabric is beautiful but the trim is absolutely gorgeous! I can't wait to get stuck in with all my sewing tomorrow.
My future MIL is going to be here on Wednesday to help me with some cutting and hopefully I'll be far enough along to do a fitting. I can't wait to spend some one on one time with her. We don't get to do that very often and after the cancer and subsequent chemo, radiation, surgery and complications due to the surgery I've not seen her near as much as I would like.
Speaking of my future MIL, she's doing very well health wise. She completed her chemo and radiation therapies mid April and had her surgery in May. After she was released from the hospital she had to be rushed back a couple of days later with a severe infection and a non-functioning kidney. She had to stay in hospital for 2 weeks with that but I'm happy to report that she is feeling much better now and has her kidney function back. The surgery was a huge success and I am just thrilled to say that she is cancer free. She does have a stoma, but it is temporary and she'll be having it removed sometime in October. She could have it removed sooner but she wants to wait so she can be in Sedona for our wedding.
That's it for now. I'm off to spend some time with Arjan and decide what we are doing the rest of the weekend.
My very late fabric order arrived this morning and I'm glad it's finally here. By the way, did you know that 20 meters of fabric is a LOT of fabric? It is, trust me on this one. The fabric is beautiful but the trim is absolutely gorgeous! I can't wait to get stuck in with all my sewing tomorrow.
My future MIL is going to be here on Wednesday to help me with some cutting and hopefully I'll be far enough along to do a fitting. I can't wait to spend some one on one time with her. We don't get to do that very often and after the cancer and subsequent chemo, radiation, surgery and complications due to the surgery I've not seen her near as much as I would like.
Speaking of my future MIL, she's doing very well health wise. She completed her chemo and radiation therapies mid April and had her surgery in May. After she was released from the hospital she had to be rushed back a couple of days later with a severe infection and a non-functioning kidney. She had to stay in hospital for 2 weeks with that but I'm happy to report that she is feeling much better now and has her kidney function back. The surgery was a huge success and I am just thrilled to say that she is cancer free. She does have a stoma, but it is temporary and she'll be having it removed sometime in October. She could have it removed sooner but she wants to wait so she can be in Sedona for our wedding.
That's it for now. I'm off to spend some time with Arjan and decide what we are doing the rest of the weekend.
19 August 2010
Let the Countdown Begin
In exactly one month from today we head off on the first leg of wedding/honeymoon trip. How on earth did this sneak up on me so quickly? I'm going to try really hard to keep a daily blog from here on out until we leave. Wish me luck with that...I'm definitely going to need it. ;)
Luckily for me pretty much everything is done, airline tickets are bought and paid for, rental car is booked and paid for, wedding are in my hot little hands, hotel rooms are reserved and the wedding location and minister are booked.
The not so lucky thing is that I have had a really tough time getting my fabric order so I can make my dress. That's right, I STILL do not have my fabric!!! Supposedly it is on it's way to me but I'll believe that when I open the box and see it with my own two eyes.
Fortunately we have a back-up plan and I will be reverting to that plan this weekend. Arjan will be driving me, again, the fabric store I found last week to get the material for my dress. Extra cost, but at least I know it will be here.
I found a wonderful mens medieval pattern for Arjan, that he actually likes, and it arrived today so I can get started on it tomorrow. I was lucky enough to have found a copy of the backside of the pattern envelope online with the yardage needed so that I could purchase the fabric last weekend, so it's already here and waiting to be cut and sewn.
Today I'm going to finish up some cleaning chores I started earlier in the week and get the sewing machine and other necessary tools and items set up so I don't have to deal with that tomorrow.
Well, that's it for me today. Back tomorrow with an update.
Luckily for me pretty much everything is done, airline tickets are bought and paid for, rental car is booked and paid for, wedding are in my hot little hands, hotel rooms are reserved and the wedding location and minister are booked.
The not so lucky thing is that I have had a really tough time getting my fabric order so I can make my dress. That's right, I STILL do not have my fabric!!! Supposedly it is on it's way to me but I'll believe that when I open the box and see it with my own two eyes.
Fortunately we have a back-up plan and I will be reverting to that plan this weekend. Arjan will be driving me, again, the fabric store I found last week to get the material for my dress. Extra cost, but at least I know it will be here.
I found a wonderful mens medieval pattern for Arjan, that he actually likes, and it arrived today so I can get started on it tomorrow. I was lucky enough to have found a copy of the backside of the pattern envelope online with the yardage needed so that I could purchase the fabric last weekend, so it's already here and waiting to be cut and sewn.
Today I'm going to finish up some cleaning chores I started earlier in the week and get the sewing machine and other necessary tools and items set up so I don't have to deal with that tomorrow.
Well, that's it for me today. Back tomorrow with an update.
30 July 2010
OMG! I'm Getting MARRIED!!!!
We've always planned to get married it just hasn't been possible in the almost 9 years we've been together. This year we decided we'd definitely make it happen and all of a sudden, today, my heart and my head are on the same page...I'm getting married! I've been tearing up all afternoon for no apparent reason, I'm just totally overwhelmed with happiness today.
Our wedding rings arrived today and they are perfect for us and I'm so pleased with the service we got from the jewelry store in Dublin. Our rings arrived almost a week ahead of schedule so Arjan will actually get to see them tonight when he gets home.
On another happy note my dress plans have completely changed as of today. I originally wanted to make a new medieval dress for the wedding but the cost of the material was prohibitive, so I decided to rework a dress I made a few years ago. Today while I was searching online for some trim for the dress I found the material I originally wanted for only 2.29 euros per meter. It will be here in 7 to 10 days and then I'll be really busy working on it to make it perfect. Now I get the dress I really wanted and in the color I wanted. Wait, color, you ask...yes, color. medieval wedding dresses were not white so in true celtic tradition, my dress will not be white. I won't say what color it will be because I want it to be a surprise for Arjan on our special day.
I spoke to Arjan's mom this afternoon and found out that they have booked their flight and hotel for the wedding. I'm so glad that she is going to be able to attend the wedding. It would have broken all our hearts if she weren't there. I'm so thankful that she is cancer free and getting stronger every day.
Our wedding rings arrived today and they are perfect for us and I'm so pleased with the service we got from the jewelry store in Dublin. Our rings arrived almost a week ahead of schedule so Arjan will actually get to see them tonight when he gets home.
On another happy note my dress plans have completely changed as of today. I originally wanted to make a new medieval dress for the wedding but the cost of the material was prohibitive, so I decided to rework a dress I made a few years ago. Today while I was searching online for some trim for the dress I found the material I originally wanted for only 2.29 euros per meter. It will be here in 7 to 10 days and then I'll be really busy working on it to make it perfect. Now I get the dress I really wanted and in the color I wanted. Wait, color, you ask...yes, color. medieval wedding dresses were not white so in true celtic tradition, my dress will not be white. I won't say what color it will be because I want it to be a surprise for Arjan on our special day.
I spoke to Arjan's mom this afternoon and found out that they have booked their flight and hotel for the wedding. I'm so glad that she is going to be able to attend the wedding. It would have broken all our hearts if she weren't there. I'm so thankful that she is cancer free and getting stronger every day.
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