September - Month 12

The month started with the end of Prague weekend, which was included in the August post. Then, 3 weeks later we went to Milan and Como for a relaxing weekend (as much as it could be 2 weeks before implementation at work). James was going to Milan for training, so I tagged along and we left on Friday morning. We stayed in an old castle about half way between Milan and Como. It was very nice; however, the only rooms they had left were twins...so, honeymooners we are, we slept in 2 twin beds on the opposite sides of the room! ;)
We had a great dinner at Il Gatto Nero (the Black Cat) which is a favorite of G Clooney (or at least that is what we were told), but there were no celebrity sightings that night. Dinner of truffles and steak was fantastic. Saturday we spent the day (and a bit of money) in Milan. After wandering aimlessly for about 2 hours, we finally found the street we were trying to find, but only after James walked into the Park Hyatt like we were staying there and talked to the Concierge. Sunday, we spent wandering around Como. The weather was fantastic, as you can tell in the photos. And that evening, I returned home to NL while James stayed behind for training.
Milan and Como Pictures use link below....
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=8gkpuuo.1kw5v09k&x=1&y=-rzlfq3
The month ended with a crazy weekend at work. We implemented SAP in Europe and went live on Oct 1. After 6 months of hard work, the results were great!!

And that's the first year.....WOW....what a great year! Hope you've enjoyed the journey. I will keep posting updates. But am glad to be caught up!!

Flying by

I am not sure where the month of October went (well actually it went to cutover and immediate aftermath, Lexington and Atlanta, and finally to Spain)....I am officially a month late on getting up to date on postings....But I have posted through August. September and October are coming I promise!

Hope everyone enjoyed their Halloween. Not tricks or treats here as it is not celebrated heavily in Holland (except expat neighborhoods, but we weren't visited). But, look for the October update as james and i did celebrate Halloween in Atlanta!

August - Month 11

We started the month with a visit from Lieven and family. We had a great visit. We took the boys to the beach. It was actually warm enough this weekend for the boys to splash around in the water! Later that evening we enjoyed dinner on the terrace and after the boys went to sleep, the adults enjoyed much red wine! We tried to go back to the beach on Sunday, and with only one road in and out, you couldn't get within 2 KM of the beach in your car. As we were short several bikes and the patience to keep waiting for the bus, we turned around and went home.

(Not sure I have ever mentioned, but our Home Away From Home is a short 4 KM from the beach! Though the North Sea is not one you just go swimming in, its a bit cold!)

The rest of the month was fairly uneventful. Work was busy as we were gearing up for go live. Most of the data objects had been loaded or were being loaded during the month. We did have a visit from a US friend. (Hi Bobbi) And found a restaurant in Den Haag that actually served decent Mexican food (that is generally stop numero uno upon arrival in the US for us).

We ended the month and began September with a trip to Prague...It is one of the most beautiful European Cities. The architecture is amazing, food was great and the city is rich in history. We walked all over the town, so my legs were tired by the end of the trip, but it was a fantastic trip. We stayed at the Hilton using points and were upgraded to the executive level, so enjoyed free breakfast and afternoon cocktails. I could go on and on about the city, but I will let the pictures do the talking....WHAT A BEAUTIFUL PLACE (and my amateur photog husband took some fantastic pictures)

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=8gkpuuo.bk7e3wvk&x=0&y=-58ncfx

July - Month10

(back to my calendar review to determine what the heck we did in the month of July)

We started the month by celebrating 4th of July in style at Jack and Kathy's, hamburgers, broccoli casserole, the works. I even whipped up some rice krispie squares (I forgot how much I love them). The food and friends were present, however the fireworks and summer temperatures were not. In fact, it rained off and on all day. AND we actually had to go to work for most of the day. (Guess Holland isn't interested in celebrating USA's independence ;))

Later in the month we took a weekend trip to Ireland. We spent 4 days with Hugo and Daphne at Daphne's parents. While the weather was cool, we didn't have much rain. We took amazing drives (although a bit nausea enducing) along the coast of Northern Ireland. It really was beautiful. We also hit an Irish Pub in Dublin and enjoyed some Guinness....And what would a trip to Ireland be without some Irish Whiskey...we enjoyed a great tour and tasting!! (Hot toddy's are about all the irish whiskey I want, but James sure does enjoy his tastings!!!) See link below for pictures from this great trip!
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=8gkpuuo.afhm78jk&x=1&y=-628x4k

June - Month 9

I have had to look back at my calendar to remember what it was exactly we did in the month of June. Unfortunately nothing exciting to post. Once we got back from the honeymoon it was right back into it at work. We did have visitors (Alex and Angie) the second weekend in June, so it was nice to finally share our Home Away From Home with friends from our Real Home. We took them to the Heineken museum (a must) and around downtown Amsterdam (yes, the RLD was on the tour). Other than a quick trip to Brussels to see Hu and Daphne, it was a rather uneventful month....more photos and updates coming.

May - Month 8 - Honeymoon

(So, I will leave this out of order so you can find it.)

After what might have been the best wedding in history (yes, I am biased, but it WAS everything I could have imagined), James and I set off for the best honeymoon in history. We went to Mauritius. Where is Mauritius you ask? It is off the coast of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. Why Mauritius you ask? When else would we actually make it to that part of the world? We flew back to our home away from home and spent 24 hours unpacking and repacking. The flight from Paris to Mauritius was 13 hours...yes it was a long one. But thanks to Skymiles we were sitting in First Class! (that was nice). We split our 10 day trip into 5 nights at 2 resorts. We stayed at the Oberoi Mauritius (http://www.oberoi-mauritius.com/index.asp?leftinfo=1&leftitem=1). It was fantastic. We were greeted at the welcome center and escorted directly to our room, which was fantastic. We had great dinners and enjoyed the pools and beaches. After the Oberoi, we went to the One and Only Le Toussrok. (in the middle of our stay it changed hands and is now just Le Toussrok - http://www.letouessrokresort.com/) It was absolutely fantastic as well. We enjoyed great food, some snorkeling and time on their private island. The resorts were so different, its hard to say one was better than the other. All in all it was a fantastic trip!! See favorite photos below:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=8gkpuuo.3rrn172s&x=1&y=-4ltam5

ONE YEAR

Ok, so I haven't met my goal of being up to date on the updates by the one year anniversary. But, in my defense, work has been absolutely hectic lately. And, James and I did enjoy some of the perks of European living - weekend trips to great European Cities.

As I have been updating this blog and remembering the last year, it is amazing how much we have packed into the year....getting married being the best and most exciting thing that happened!! Its been one heck of a year (read posts below) and actually feels like it has flown by. We have gotten used to Holland life, but still not used to being away from our family and friends. I feel like I am missing out on so much, bridal and baby showers, baby births, and the trials and tribulations of my friends' pregnancies (yes I can count on 2 hands the number of friends pregnant or who just recently had babies). But, we have seen so much and have many memories of our first year in Europe.

I hope you are enjoying my update posts and regular musings on life....stay tuned more to come!

See Posts Below

We're up to May now!!!

Sorry for the delay. Work is crazy and we had cutover weekend this past weekend. Stayed in the hotel close to the office so looking forward to going to our house tonight....am trying my best to get caught up!!