I wish you could have seen me on my flight over to Amsterdam. I really do. Two empty seats next to me, five pillows, three blankets, my own personal screen with tv, movie and music options--and since it was KLM, an endless food and drink supply. I was reclining as if at home and trying to be as comfortable as possible on the 9 hour flight across the globe. It almost made up for the fact that my husband was on another flight. Almost...
Bed #1
We arrived in Amsterdam on January 26. Nate was presenting at a conference the following day so we headed over to our hotel and had a wonderful two days in the city. I ventured out a couple of times on my own and despite the rain we had a wonderful time. The city is so picturesque and charming with three major canals running throughout it. I can't wait to take my first canal tour! We left Friday and headed up North to visit an uncle and aunt of Nate. From there we headed to Voorburg, Holland Zuid
Bed #2
Nate's sister and brother in law live in a charming house in Voorburg. They graciously took us in and told us we could stay as long as we wanted. We took the upstairs room and made ourselves comfortable for a few days. We slept through all of Saturday (oops...) and survived the rest of the weekend till my family began to arrive on Tuesday mornng. It was so good to see my parents and aunt!! We took them to their place in Delft where they stayed right above a candy shop. Delft has to be my favorite city in Holland so far. It has the most adorable shops and the two kerks (churchs) are so beautifully architected, it is simply amazing. We relaxed together in Delft and took tours of the churches. We climbed to the top of the tower of the Niewe Kerk and took some pictures of the stunning view. The rest of the family arrived on Thursday just in time for the wedding on Friday.
Bed #3
Thursday night we headed over to our master of ceremonies house to stay for a few days to be close to the church we were using for the wedding. The wedding day arrived with plenty of SNOW. The day went on record as the fourth largest traffic jam the Netherlands has ever seen. Unfortunately, that meant that several of our guests outside of the immediate area couldn't make it. =( We had about 150 guests able to come though, and we were so thankful for their presence!
The day started off simple enough, a nice breakfast and a trip to the hair salon. I arrived back at the house feeling sick to my stomach and tried to eat a little for lunch but nothing was helping. Three hours before the wedding I was on the couch trying desperately to relax so that maybe I could feel better. As I watched the snow piling up I thought, how beautiful and how awful all in one breath. Our hostess offered me a glass of soda and in the process the glass broke all over the floor. Nate and I both looked at each other and thought, could the day get any worse? At that moment my stomach decided it needed to remove it's contents, NOW and the only path to the bathroom was--right through the broken glass. I didn't make it that far. I made it to the middle of the mess of glass, and proceeded to make a bigger mess.One hour till the wedding...
I felt a little bit better afterwards and decided it was time for makeup and maybe to get into my dress. We started to put the dress on and as we were lacing up the corset, I didn't feel so well again. I emptyed my stomach again, luckily missing the dress and at that point we decided that it might be best to wait on the dress.
So, we arrived at the church an hour late for a dinner with several good friends and family. But the good news is: because of the weather most people were late too, so we didn't feel so bad! As news of my sickness spread my friend who is a pharmacist came up and asked me if I wanted her to go some medicine for my stomach. We decided to try it and thankfully, it worked. Unfortuantely, I didn't get to enjoy the amazing food but I consolded myself with 7Up.
It was finally time to try the dress again, and this time we succeeded. My husband brought me my beautiful bouquet that he had made for me--tulips and roses. =) We went to the ceremony and it was a beautiful time of singing and a message from my father in law. After the service we had a nice reception with several of Nate's family and friends providing the entertainment through skits and songs for us. I lasted till 11 PM and then we had to head home. It was a crazy day, but we felt so blessed and so happy that we decided to do a celebration over here. It was so special for Nate to be able to celebrate with all his firends and family, and I had a blast meeting everyone.
Bed #4
After the wedding we moved over to the house in Delft to stay with family for the rest of their visit. Monday and Tuesday were pretty easy days. We enjoyed dinner at a Medieval restaurant in the center of town and took a visit to the COLD North Sea. Wednesday my parents had to head back home =(, and that afternoon my grandparents, my two aunts and I headed to the Ten Boom house in Haarlem. My grandparents had the privilege to meet Corrie Ten Boom years ago, so it was a very special moment for them to be able to be there and see the house. It was a pretty amazing thing for all of us, hearing her story and her remarkable faith, and the willingness of her family to hide Jews. We got to stand in the "hiding place"and after 1 miniute I was ready to be out. It was incredibly tiny, and yet it saved so many lives. The next day everyone else headed back home and it was just me and Nate.
Bed #5
On Friday we moved into our apartment that we are sharing with Nate's brother. It is in Zoetermeer, close to the Hague. We are on the 10th floor and the views are amazing. Nate has an office where he will be spending lots of time on his thesis ;-), and we finally have our own room and our own bed. We hope to be here for a few months and were we are going next, we really don't know. But when it's time to know, we will. =) We are heading to London next week to stay for 8 days in the city. We hope to be tourists and also see some friends of Nate. I'm looking forward to seeing more of the city. I'll post more pictures when we get back.
I looked at Nate the other day and said: I finally realized that it's just you and me. And for right now, it is. And it feels right. My family is gone, his family is close, but we are a family, he and I. We may not have a house (yet), or job (yet), but we have one another and that is a pretty comforting feeling. And we wake up everyday so thankful that we do have friends, and family, and food, clothes, shelter. We lack nothing in the essentials, and we are so blessed with even the non-essentials. We are happy, and we can't wait to see where we go from here.
