Day 88: Fun at the Amsterdam Marathon

Posted in Uncategorized by adrianahartley

My mom and I had so much fun dancing on the sidelines of the Amsterdam marathon today, cheering on the runners. The music was loudly playing and we had balloons, a large, Dutch flag, American flags and British flag themed umbrellas we were twirling and waving around. Can you imagine how much fun we were having, being silly and loud? Too bad the video clip was too long… but it sure was good! I laughed, at least! Can you see me laughing?? 😉

The runners were so happy and were giving us high fives and cheers and smiles and were waving their hands up in the air with us. There were over 30,000 runners from several different countries, but we all smiled in the same language.

We were there to support Becky and Anthony and were so excited to see them run up to us. Jeff is so good with maps and we had an app with their race numbers to track where they might be on the route. We were having so much fun anticipating their arrival that we forgot how cold it was outside. At least it wasn’t raining, and we were successful finding each other.

After the race, we hosted a family dinner at our house for 20!! My mama and I cooked together yesterday and prepared and served everyone today, along with help from Dad and Jeff.

Her special spaghetti sauce was a hit, as always! It’s so nice to have her and my Pops home with me! Salud!! xo

Day 87: International Family Gathering in Amsterdam

Today we celebrated my sister-in-law’s (Becky) 26th birthday in Amsterdam.

Becky and Nate live in London and love celebrating life all over the world! I love how adventurous they are. They got married last year in Napa Valley and brought our families and their friends together for the wedding of the century. And tonight she did it again!

She and her brother are running the Amsterdam marathon tomorrow and she brought us all together to celebrate her birthday and to watch her race tomorrow. We all had a good time, eating and drinking and socializing together. Happy Birthday, Becky! And many, many more! Good luck at the race tomorrow. We’ll be cheering for you and Ant!

18Oct2012

Day 85: Family Time

Posted in Uncategorized by adrianahartley

Char was sick last night and was up from 12:15 am to 5:30 am! I kept him home from school today and I think he’s definitely recovering. I think he actually loved having his Oma and Opa all to himself. I hope he was just having growing pains and we can sleep tonight! Poor little guy. He’s been fine all day, so I’m praying for a restful night! Today we took it easy, hanging out and baking and cooking and went out for a short while. So far no signs of jet lag from mom and dad. All is good!

Making bread

Painting nails

17Oct2012

Day 84: Oma and Opa

Posted in Uncategorized by adrianahartley

My mom and dad arrived safely today from California. I loved waiting for them just outside the customs gate, watching the shaded doors opening and closing revealing the grand entrance of all those departing the plane. I felt the doors were like wrapping paper and you’d be surprised who you would find as the paper came off. I loved watching a mama reunite with her baby, and a man who just climbed Kilimanjaro be showered with champagne and flowers and a banner announcing his accomplishment. All this entertainment, while waiting for my gifts!! I had the same giddy feelings of joy and happiness seeing my mom and dad walk through the doors too! We are so lucky they are here to visit, and it feels like home!

My dad has never been to Europe before and I just want to take him everywhere and show him the world! And hearing my mom speak Dutch to my neighbors, and translating for me in the stores, and reading the local newspaper in Dutch out loud to me is so cool! How lucky am I that I get to have them here for two months?? Some people think that’s a long time. I’m already dreading the day they have to leave…so I’ll get back to living in the moment and just enjoy every minute with them.

15Oct2012

Day 82: Stop and See the Goose

Posted in Uncategorized by adrianahartley

It’s kind of like stopping to smell the roses, but today I had to stop and notice the goose across from my car before driving off to volunteer at the bookfair. I still find it surprising to see him out of the water and sitting so close to the edge of the sidewalk. I just like to stand and watch him and smile. When a dog walks by, he stands up and stretches his wings to make him really tall and squawks loudly, alarming the dog and his walker. The next dog walker walked by in the street as to not alarm him.

This is a picture of the school book fair, that I thought Brenda and Val would especially enjoy. It was so chaotic and kids were everywhere. It was quite exciting to see everyone so excited about English books. Another small world story… my PEO sister owns the bookstore in Amsterdam that put on the book fair today. So of course I had to volunteer and have fun during the process, chatting with friends and meeting new people. I think that’s one of the joys that comes from volunteering!

Juliana is standing in front of the boxes that included books on hold. The children came through with their classes during the school day and picked the books they wanted. They then filled out a small paper form with their name and their room number and attached the paper to the book with a rubber band. They were then staged here and waiting for them when their parents arrived with their money or PIN (everyone PINS…aka using a debit card to pay; usually credit cards aren’t accepted, so instead of asking if someone takes credit cards, they ask if they can PIN. Did you learn something new??) This process was quite crazy as the little pieces of papers would fall out of the books as eager students looked for their treasures. But there were several happy faces and most of the boxes were empty by the end of the day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Did I tell you that tomorrow my parents leave Sunny California to fly and come stay with us for 2 months?!?!?!

I AM very excited!! Isn’t it strange to think they leave on a Tuesday afternoon and arrive on a Wednesday morning? Only 2 more sleeps…just hope I can sleep! xo

13Oct2012

Day 80: Normalcy and Busyness

Posted in Uncategorized by adrianahartley

Today felt normal.

It was busy, like any day in Sunnyvale or Thousand Oaks, or probably wherever you live too. We had a kid’s sporting event, a kid’s birthday party, a kid’s play date, laundry and more laundry and general busyness. Made me feel normal.

We built an IKEA closet for our guest room – oh joy, what fun! Can you just imagine?? But now we have more storage space – with a place for linens and towels and coats and maybe even room for guests’ stuff!!

I made a big pot of chicken soup with mixed veggies and noodles. One of the kids got a Facebook account today. One felt jealous. One kid got grounded for not listening and ignoring me and had to miss a fun outing. I don’t think they understand how their actions affect their freedoms yet. I think they’ll get it eventually. That’s normal too.

I finally got around to packaging up the I Love You presents that have been waiting for weeks to go out in the post! And it rained. That’s starting to be normal too. And I spent hours researching vacation plans and details. We’re planning to go to Rome soon and are trying to decide a Christmas destination. Got any suggestions?

All is normal and busy and full and content. Life is good. And I hope yours is the same.

xo Adriana

Birthday party favors – so cute and artistic. Juliana loves fondant and shaping it.

7Oct2012

Day 74: Seasons Change

Posted in Uncategorized by adrianahartley

The leaves are changing colors and falling to the ground. The air is getting crisper, even as the sun is shining. And the level of the sun is at a different angle, providing an afternoon glare that wasn’t there recently. Fall is in the air.

Today I felt homesick. It first felt like anxiety and then I felt sad and I didn’t know why. It took me a while to figure out what I was feeling when I had no reason to be sad. I was having a great day, went for a run, house was clean, kids were occupied and at a friend’s house, the sun was shining, and Jeff and I had some quiet time to do whatever we wanted. I think it was the free time and quiet time that gave me a moment to relax and feel that some things were different and missing. I had no one needing me and no problems to solve and quiet space that doesn’t happen often. And then I started to miss my routines and rituals and friends (Schalk-Lees) and our first house and our BBQ and the Stanford football games and blah blah blah. I think earlier in the day I was backing up old photos and Jeff was talking about the football game scores and my parents coming and then it all just me, that I miss all that.

After I realized it and shed a few tears, I was fine again. I’m happy to be here and appreciate the new friends and family we’ve connected with, and the experience we are having here. I think I’ve ben pretty busy these first two months and now that things are starting to settle, I can breathe again and am now aware of the changes that have occurred. I miss my normal routine and relationships back home. I think that’s normal too. And I’m excited for what this new season brings, scarves and all!

Hope y’all had a good weekend! And to those back in California, I miss you!!

3Oct2012

Day 70: Haircut Day

Posted in Uncategorized by adrianahartley

I finally found a place to get the boys’ haircuts today, thanks to Patti and I got there in time before the place closed. It is nearly impossible to get things done over here. Well, I shouldn’t say that exactly. It’s just impossible to get things done when you want to, quickly and efficiently and on the day you’d prefer. Typically a response I get when trying to receive a service, is “It’s not possible.”

We tried to get haircuts last week, but they weren’t possible. Literally. And the hours the barber told me to come back with the kids weren’t possible either. And the barber wouldn’t allow me to make an appointment. Go figure. My boys were starting to look like clowns with bushy heads. They haven’t had a cut in over 70+ days!

I thought the haircuts weren’t going to be possible again today. You see, we tried yesterday, but got to the shop shortly after 5 pm and the lady said it was too late and to come back another time, that she was done for the day. 5 o’clock. Can you imagine closing that early in the states? So today, I told the kids that we had to leave immediately after school to get to the shop before “the crowds”. They don’t get out of school until 3:30 pm and trying to coral three kids in three different grades in a timely fashion just isn’t possible. BUT – we did get there by 4 pm. When I asked for an appointment the day before, they said… yep, you guessed it… thus the reason for the rush!! So we walk in and there are 4 people in the shop. Jill, the hairdresser, a boy getting his hair cut and his mom and sister who are waiting. We recognize them from school and share a smile. I ask the hairdresser if she can cut the boys’ hair today and she looked a little frazzled.

Get this – she said yes, she might be able to do it but she was very busy and that it would take a long time to wait and that she would have to stop to take a drink too, so she wasn’t sure how long we would have to wait. Really? Jan – the mom who I became friends with by relating over this crazy interaction just smiled at each other and tried not to laugh.

I was very sweet to Jill and asked her if we could step outside for a snack from the local bakery while she was very busy. She said yes and obliged my kids starving craziness! Now people don’t walk around with food and drinks in their hands here. They sit politely and patiently and partake in their sustenance in a more civilized fashion. So when my kids walked back into the salon with their bakery fresh cream puff, tompouce and chocolate muffin, I of course was mortified and asked permission if we could bring the food into the salon. Jill was ever so gracious and obliged our request. And I don’t think we offended her, which was good. Luckily she spoke English too.

And before I knew it, her last customer and our new friends left and Jill finished her drink break and was able to cut both boys’ hair before 5 pm. Phew – a success. And only 38 Euros later – about $50 US dollars! The other barber last week wanted almost that much for each kid! I love a good bargain, and friendly Dutch people!

Thanks to our Michigan friends, we made new friends from Michigan /Wisconsin today at the barber shop! 😉

All is well – no more clown heads today. I AM happy.

29Sep2012

Day 66: Family History

Posted in Uncategorized by adrianahartley

Jeff’s grandfather wrote a “blog” back in 1993. He wrote it on a word processing machine as a memorandum to his children and their spouses and grandchildren and anyone else who would like to read it someday. It is 52 pages long and we are reading it as a family, a bit each night, to better understand our family history and our connection to World War 2, especially while we’re living in Europe.

Jeff used Google Maps the other night to map out all the locations his Grandfather traveled from England to Northern France and into Germany and Austria. We are hoping to trace some of his steps as we plan our travels, and learn more about history in a more tangible way.

Route of Jeff’s grandfather in World War II as an artillery battery commander in XX (20th) Corps Artillery, in General Patton’s U.S. Third Army

Tonight we learned about how his Grandfather proposed to his Grandmother after only 3 days knowing her. She was 16 and accepted his proposal. They’ve been married for almost 70 years and are such wonderful people and role models for us. I love how they love each other and have supported one another and survived the struggle of miles apart, a major war, and raising 4 children. I remember his Grandmother telling me how she traveled across the United States in a station wagon with the 4 kids all by herself, without air conditioning. Can you imagine her journey? And can you imagine having your first child and raising it on your own with your spouse away at war? And being the spouse away from your wife and newborn child and not able to meet your offspring for 2 years? We have nothing to complain about!!

Our lives are so much easier today than theirs were years ago. Even though we may complain about the inefficiencies we experience while living abroad and hearing that things aren’t possible, we know how fortunate we are. We accept the challenges and just flow through the frustrations.

Here’s a silly example: today we were trying to get our cell phone plans reactivated and we ran into a software glitch that didn’t make any sense. The sales guy apologized and offered to help but there was nothing he could do until Monday. We looked at each other and just smiled and accepted that things aren’t always as easy as they should be. Whatever… it’s not the end of the world, and we’re learning a little patience! We don’t expect things to be as efficient as we’re used to in the States and we realize we are outliers in the Netherlands. It makes me appreciate and empathize with all the immigrants that settle in the United States. I’m sure their journey is filled with struggles that are much more challenging than what we’ve faced and I admire their tenacity and willingness to work past the hurdles. You know who you are!!

Hope you’re all enjoying your weekend, and spending it with those you love.

xo Adriana

28Sep2012

Day 65: A message from Juliana

Posted in Uncategorized by adrianahartley

Finally!! It’s my turn to write, the suspense has been killing me! But anyway, it’s finally Friday. On Friday’s we have a late start day that starts at 9:20 instead of 8:30 so I get to sleep in a litte bit. I mean seriously doesn’t this school know that you need your beauty sleep?:) At school, I really like my teachers, some of the best I have experienced in my entire student career! I have adapted to this school just as much as my previous school and have made many friends. I made it onto the travel volleyball team and so far have gone to The Hague and also have done an overnighter with a host family in Bonn, Germany. We have many other games coming up in Belgium and Luxembourg to name two. So volleyball has been really fun. I am also involved in the school with student council which is a lot more responsibility than being a normal student. I was elected homeroom representative and meetings are every Monday for the rest of the year. You have to plan the middle school assemblies, after school activities, events, dances, represent your homeroom and also have to be extremely involved in the school. I do enjoy being a leader in school.The weather has been getting colder, darker, and rainier each day so there’s been lots of rainbows and double rainbows!

Amsterdam Park after the rain with a rainbow. We got soaked!!

I am taking Dutch and Mandarin as my languages and currently one of my favorite classes is Dutch. I would love to be able to have conversations and become nearly fluent in Dutch by the time we make our way back to California. We have been to London, Belgium, Germany, and all over Holland, we have trips planned for Italy and hopefully France and Israel! I think it was yesterday that our car arrived and our house is feeling homie so with that, we are settling in fairly quickly and nicely. I would love to hear from you all! Miss you all and the Warm California Sun!

Yours from Amsterdam!

Juliana