I don't have a car here. Actually, neither of us have our driver's license for The Netherlands. I honestly don't miss having a car at all. I love public transportation and even when I had a car, I always tried to pawn off driving on someone else. 

To be honest, the thought of driving in The Netherlands scares the crap out of me! There are bikes that you have to dodge, the tiniest parking spots known to man, and most of the time you have to parallel park. * I can't parallel park, I failed this part of the driving test but because of my sparkling smile, still managed to get my license.* 

One of the odd things they have here in The Netherlands is the little car above. It drives in the bike lane, not on the road and can't go past like 10 miles an hour or something.

Here is my bike, probably the closest think I will own to a car for years. You can accessorize it just like you would a car in the States. I haven't done it yet, but one day I will trick it out. 

Sure, today is Valentine’s Day, but it is also my half-birthday so, I will let you judge which one is more important. In honor of this, I thought I would revisit one of my most popular blog posts, 26 Things Before I am 26, to see where I am halfway through the year.

1. Move to Utrecht. Done!
2. Be able to communicate in Dutch. This one I am still working on, but I am able to understand and converse with a lot more people then when I first moved here. But, I am still not as far along as I would like.
3. Get married, I'm engaged so this isn't a huge jump.We are actually waiting until May of 2013 to do this. There is no rush for us and since I don’t have job here yet, it is going to be awhile.
4. Take up ballet again. When I made this list, I was expecting to still have my old job because I was told it would be no problem. No extra spending money means no ballet lessons.
5. Find a core group of friends in my new country. I still need to work on this. I have hung out with one person who isn’t Loek since I have moved here, I need more friends.
6. Develop a sense of personal style and dress accordingly. Again, this is hard with no money. But I have been using Pinterest for when I do have cash again.
7. Learn to bake and cook in my Nederlands kitchen. Done and Done! Recipes coming soon to a blog near you.
8. Start my tour guide business. No progress has been made on this at all.
9. Learn to sew. I hemmed my curtains, it’s a start!
10. Go to Paris. (I went when I was 11, but the Louvre was on strike the whole time)Again with the no money!
11. Write letters to my friends back home. I sent them Christmas Cards, it made me feel good.
12. Get back to the weight that feels best on my frame. Two pants sizes lost. But still want to lose more.
13. Read 100 new books, including some classics. I am on track for this and with my Good Reads account, I can track the books I read this year with their reading challenge.
14. Start making metal jewelry again. I really need a job!
15. Book my honeymoon, we probably wont go right after the wedding. Since we aren’t getting married this year, this is a non-issue.
16. Learn how to share, I was practically an only child. I think I am doing better at this, although it is a work in progress.
17. Become an expert bike rider. Haha, yeah right! Riding my bike around expert Dutchies still scares the crap out of me. Maybe, I will do better when it is warmer.
18. Attend Amsterdam Fashion Week. Not yet, but I have high hopes.
19. Knit a sweater. Maybe I should master the scarf first?
20. Learn the art of light layers. Hey, I think I am finally getting this!
21. Eat better, I have a horrible diet. Not eating out has helped this a lot. But we do need to cut out the fried foods. Darn those Dutch and their snack bars.
22. Start bringing in money again. Have I mentioned I am available for hire?
23. Continue adding to the retirement fund. I did until the end of September, I will once I bring in money again.
24. Laugh more. Loek makes me laugh every single day!
25. Get over my fear of boats. I walked on a frozen canal, I think that is some headway!
26. Stick to my plans. I could do better with this as well.

In conclusion, I made this list when I thought I would still be able to continue my employment across the sea. When you find yourself suddenly find yourself without a fall back plan in a country where you don’t speak the language, applying for a job can be difficult. But I better get on it if I want to make my goals.

Forgive me readers for I have sinned, it has been about 3 weeks since my last post. An eternity in internet years, I know. It is just that I have been busy, moving and building Ikea furniture.  Plus, apparently it takes almost a month to transfer you internet here, so I am without until the 11th.

Hence,  I am writing to you from a McDonalds, where I just had a fish filet. Apparently, ordering something not the way it comes is very odd to the Dutch. The Verlo-  makes me feel like a freak every time I tell him I want my food plain. I know, I am the world's pickiest eater.  Anyways, a lot has happened since my last post. We officially got my address changed, and went to IND. The guy there was super nice, and I have another appointment there after I go to the American Embassy to get my Certificate of Civil Status verified next week. It took about 2 weeks to get an open appt at the US Consulate. So much for trying to do stuff immediately..

I will try to make it to places with WiFi more often in the future. And I can't wait until I have internet again on the 11th. I just wanted to let you guys know I am fine and not dead and have not given up my blog in abandon.

In the meantime, Happy Halloween from Holland!

When you are preparing to move some place new, especially abroad, it is important to do your research. Often, the idea of the city in your head is not going to match reality. Loek tried to tell me about Holland in the Summer. He told me all about how our home would not have AC and neither does his office. In my Southern mind, I could not imagine. I was convinced that I was going to die of heat exhaustion. I knew it was bound to be colder there than here. But no air, the Dutch must be insane. It was not until I found a 24 hour streaming webcam and saw that people were wearing jackets in Utrecht, in July.... That I realized, I don't have enough clothes that I can layer.

So what does this have to do with my budget? Well, because of my "oh shit, I'm going to freeze" epiphany, I started spending money on things like jackets. Two beautiful wool coats to be exact. Because in my mind, if the dollar is less than a euro, my clothes might be cheaper here. I also went scarf crazy! When making my original budget,  I didn't think about the fact that I will have to buy things like suitcases. Since I overestimated on the amount of money that I would spend in other areas, I will still come out pretty much on budget. 

Here is my new money saving tip: When trying to save money, it helps me to think about what I can't have if I go out to eat or buy that magazine. When you compare what you could do with the money as opposed to what you want to spend it on at the moment. The better thing will win, hands down. 

Image from Pinterest. I really need to learn the art of light layers. 

A few weeks ago, I posted about how I was planning on taking my sweet cat Atticus with me to Holland. I wrote about how I was planning on being courteous to the other passengers by storing my baby below. After some intense research and reading countless horror stories, I have decided to hell with the people on the plane I will only see for 9 hours of my life, my baby is coming with me.

I started the process by first calling the airline to book Atti's space. You need to do this as soon as possible, as only a certain number of animals are allowed in the cabin. Of course, they couldn't find my reservation! But I got it taken care of. I had to specific if Atti would be traveling in a hard or soft carrier. I hadn't even bought one yet so I said soft. I wanted to make sure he could fit in the seat in front of me. For Atticus, I have purchased the small Sherpa bag from Amazon. It had favorable reviews and co-workers of mine will find humor in the name. The bag is incredibly small, but so is Atti and, he seems to enjoy it. 

When you are traveling with a pet, it is important to look up information on the country you are traveling to specific qualifications. For The Netherlands, Atti needs to be microchiped with an ISO Chip. You can not get these from your normal vet and the literature on the net really sucks in helping you. Here is the easiest way to make sure your pet is covered if you are moving to, not just visiting Europe- A special shout out to the staff of HomeAgain for helping me figure this out.

1. Go to microchipidsystems.com, click on products. Click on  The TRAVELchip™ then select the World Chip. Place your order. 
2. Check with your local USDA approved vet and make sure that they have a HomeAgain scanner with the yellow sticker. This will read ISO 134 kHz, which is required for Europe.
3. Make an appointment and bring in your Euro 998 form to your vet. You can get this from the Dutch Embassy or any number of Pet-Relocation sites.Make sure the vet uses a blue pin.
4. Mail the form to your State's USDA Vet Office, so that they can sign off on it. 

As of right now, I am waiting for the microchip to come in. I will keep you updated as the steps unfold.