moving to holland

I think I did a decent job of preparing myself before moving over here. I checked immigration websites, blogs, etc for any information I could find before I left. I thought that the verlo- and I were doing the responsible thing by going to City Hall and changing his address to our new apartment and my address to the same. 

I leave on Tuesday, hard to believe I know! I feel like we have all been waiting so long for me to move and now, it is finally almost here. I don't know that it has hit me yet. Atti had his last vet appointment today, we just had to get the airline form filed out. I also had to buy him a bigger carrier because he grew again! As for me, all my stuff is packed. I ended up buying another giant duffel, which actually turns into a backpack! Now Loek and I can maybe go backpacking through Europe one day. I am checking both of those, bringing a weekender and Atti on the plane with me.

While I was partying hard this weekend, Loek was working on our brand new apartment! He picked up the 8 keys that we were supplied with on Friday. As well as, going to ikea to pick up our new floor. Saturday and Sunday he prepared the walls for wall paper. Today, my fantastic future in-laws have been working on putting up wallpaper and fixing our concrete walls so I can one day paint them. Hopefully, this week the walls get done, and Loek can start to put down our floor. 

This week has been pretty strange to say the least. Yesterday, marked weeks until the day that I get on the plane to leave for The Netherlands. I know, I can't believe it is that soon either! Today, I learned that my company is not going to keep me on board after I move to Europe. It's fine, but I was expecting for Loek and I to have that as extra income, and it would have been nice to know before a week and a half before my last day. So, it is a little shocking to suddenly not have a job, like I planned. I didn't mention the possibility before because, I didn't want to jinx it.

Few people know this, but when I was little I had a serious speech impediment. I had to go to speech therapy all though elementary school, every year in the middle of math. (which explains a lot). They could never discover the source of why I didn't say things correctly and finally I was able to convince my mom that I shouldn't go anymore. I think the reason I couldn't talk properly is that I don't hear sounds properly. I then try to mimic what I think I heard, causing mispronunciations.

I really love to read, and I really love to own books. I think they are great conversations starters and I like for people to automatically know I am smarter and more obscure in my references that they are.( Please read sarcasm in that last statement) Which is why it surprised people when this bibliophile purchased an Amazon Kindle. I am in love with it now and I think they are great for expats to have. I chose the Kindle specifically for a few reasons. 

I've written quite a bit about my preparations for Atti's move with me to The Netherlands. This is because, it is quite a process and there is not too much online that makes it really easy. Last Saturday, Atti and I went to our USDA approved vet to have his European Microchip put in, as well as his rabies shot. I wrote a post about where to find a Euro Microchip, for those of you who are interested.

I love food! It is one of the great passions I have in my life. I love reading about food, talking about food, cooking and baking, experimenting with new flavors, grossing my friends out with my fearless pursuits of interesting exotic flavors, and of course consuming it. (Just don't let me near a red bell pepper, there is nothing more disgusting on this planet than a bell pepper, and the red ones are their own breed of disgusting). Some of my favorite memories come from food, I was fortunate enough to be able to bake my two best friends wedding cakes.

I might have mentioned the fact that when I move to The Netherlands, it will be into a brand new apartment. This is  both really exciting and nerve racking. It will be the first time, for both Loek and I, that we will live in a brand new place and the first time we will live together. Renting an apartment in The Netherlands is not like renting one in Georgia. Here, when I want to move I have a few choices: I can drive around, go to a standard apartment complex either in or out of the city with beige walls and appliances included.