the last few days

Sunday evening I was supposed to finish packing the last minor details of things we needed to take with, but that didn't happen.  We instead spent the evening visiting with friends, and then with Ryan & Amber.  It was good to just sit around and talk, hopefully helping them to relax and get comfortable in our home.  It was close to 1:30 before we got to bed.  Not good considering I had set the alarm for 7:30am to finish up the packing!

We did good and were actually out the door to go get Matt (who brought us to the airport) by 10:15, our intended time! :)  All went well at the airport, since I had checked us in already online, we only had to drop our bags off for weighing and tagging, and YES! they were both ok, well one was over by 2lbs, but he didn't say anything! :)  Security was empty and went quickly which was nice.  Now for the long wait at the gate ... its frustrating to have to be there 2-1/2 hours early for international flights, when they make you sit around for that time, not doing anything!  Our boarding passes that I had printed, for some reason didn't give us seat numbers, so when the gang finally arrived to start the boarding procedure we went up to the desk to find out what was going on.  We were told to sit patiently and they would call out our names, along with a long list of others, and give us our seats.  We did get seats together, but not a window one, which was kinda sad.

The young lady sitting beside me was on her way, with a group of fellow college students, to Kenya and Tanzania for four months.  So we chatted about that, between movies and naps and food and going stir crazy!

When we got into Amsterdam, it was very very easy and simple, more so then I had thought it would be!  No questions at customs really, no hassles about Aaron being there for work, which was nice!  And our luggage was just going past when we got up to the belt.  We had to wait a bit for Janice to show up, since we actually arrived about 30 minutes earlier then we had been told, but soon we were on our way. The key wasn't available yet for our apartment, so Janice took us into the office and we got to meet the people working there.

We were in the apartment by about 11am, and in bed sleeping by about 12:30pm ... napping was good, other then the fact that we realized it was SUPER HARD.  That was compounded when we actually went to bed to sleep last night too ... we were both awake many times during the night, and got out of bed at 5:30 this morning because we couldn't sleep anymore ...

The stairs into our apartment, are more like a ladder then a staircase, and will take some getting used to, as well as muscles will be built and weight will be lost!

Other then going to the corner grocery store for food for dinner and breakfast, we haven't gone out anywhere yet.

I'll leave you with a few pictures of the stairs.

Stairs leading from the street up to
our first floor... steep and narrow

Stairs leading to the roof top terrace

Stairs leading up to the bedrooms

Tomorrow I'll give you the grand tour!

Bren

Amsterdam!

We made it!!! YEA!!!!

So we've slept and are slightly refreshed ... off to find food and drink!

stay tuned for pictures and stories!

Bren

One week!!!

I can't believe that it is only one week away!!!

All the packing is done, except for the few things we still need to use/wear over the next couple of days, which is kinda nice, no running around crazily the last days.  But there is a good chance that might happen anyways, isn't that what always happens??

It's hard to believe that we are going, that we're leaving in a week ... that one week from now we'll be in Amsterdam ... in Holland! :)

I can't wait!

Bren

It's here!!!

We’re leaving, on a jet plane!

Posted on 13 August 2010 by Brenda

In two and a half weeks, we’ll be getting on a plane, and heading for land over seas!  Or as some people like to refer to it as, “the other side of the pond” … but this is one big pond! 

All these different things are going through my head on what I need to pack with us, what really isn’t necessary to take, and what will make me distraught if I just absolutely don’t have it with!   We have decided that we are going to pick up the necessary toiletries when we get there, since we’ll have a grocery store right around the corner; according to google maps its about a 3 minute walk!  But yet there are certain things we use day to day that I’m not sure we’ll be able to find quickly or easily in Amsterdam that I’ll be packing along.

I’ve also decided that I’m going to pack along a “prop” for picture taking purposes.  A friend recently posted some pictures with Barbie in them, and someone else suggested that we are going to be like the Travelocity gnome – that’s what got me thinking of taking something with to photograph.  I have yet to decide what.  It’s going to be between one of my little stuffed giraffes and the pink gorilla we have.  I love giraffes, and have collected them for a number of years, and someday when we have kids, the baby room will be decorated in a giraffe theme.  The pink gorilla goes back to the days when Aaron & I were dating; he occasionally “threatened” to send a pink gorilla singing telegram to me at my office.  So one birthday I found a pink gorilla at a toy store and gave it to him.  :)  The giraffe will fit better in my camera bag though, so we’ll see what comes with.

Has anyone else ever done that on vacations?

Stay tuned to the blog to follow our story, and I’ll post a link to our online album as well for pictures, since I’m sure there will be too many for posting here!

Bren

The near future ...

For this all to make sense, I need to back up a bit…

A few months ago Aaron came home from work very excited and could barely wait to share something with me.  His boss had asked him how he felt about international travel.  Aaron LOVES international travel, so he was extremely happy when his boss asked if he would like to go to Europe for three to six months.  Being the great husband he is, Aaron said “yes, as long as my wife can come with.”    So plans waffled back and forth between Denmark, The Netherlands, and Spain.  The time frame changed from immediately (like May/June) to this summer, to our final time of this fall.

The plans are all lining up to fall into place right now, with us leaving the end of August for two months in Amsterdam, the Netherlands!! I am very excited and can’t wait!   Two weeks ago we got our plane tickets, and this morning the housing was nailed down! 

I am looking forward to soaking up some of the Dutch culture and of course the pastries and dropjes! 

If you want to come visit, drop me a line … we have some room!

Brenda

Adventures in Europe

So, I've been having some issues with our "Kulbe.name" Wordpress blog, and have decided to go back to Blogger and have a separate blog for our trip to Europe.

I am hoping that I don't have issues with posting pictures, but if I do then I'll link to my Picasa Web Album.

The next two posts will be re-posts from our Kulbe.name blog, to keep everyone up to date on what the plan is for the next two months! :)

Brenda