Well we finally found a permanent home while working in Amsterdam. We are now living in Zaandam which is a smaller city, 6 miles north west from Andrew's work. He gets to bike 12 miles a day so he gets his share of exercise now.
The move wasn't bad at all since we had 5 1/2 suitcases, a guitar, high chair, stroller, and a couple of odds and ends. We made it in 2 trips in a very small car. Colin helped me pack, or shall we say unpack.
We enjoyed living in the center of the city while we could, but I couldn't wait to get out of that home because it wasn't child friendly and it was not conducive to someone who wants to cook. Our new apartment has a bathtub, 2 bedrooms, no stairs, more space, a much bigger fridge and separate freezer, 4 burners (unlike the two i had which only sometimes worked), lots more counter space and cupboard space. Sadly, I had to compromise on getting an oven and so now I have a microwave/oven combo but this one actually works, which is good. I am stocking the kitchen and it feels so good to feel free to cook whatever and however I want! I cannot explain how amazing it is to finally have our own place just the way we want it. It has been 2 years!
Funny story from the old house: One morning Andrew looked over to find Colin holding a dead mouse. We freaked out of course and washed every part of Colin. Andrew's computer cord had been chewed to the wire and so we figured the mouse was electrocuted while the computer was charging at night. Why else would he just be lying there dead with no blood? Gross!
This journey of house hunting took 2 1/2 months! It got down to the wire and we had to take this one, not that we don't like it but because we really didn't have other options. I kind of wish we looked in Zaandam earlier because we may have had other options.
During the whole process, we found 4 different places that we would have taken but they always fell through. These places were awesome. One had a gorgeous view of a harbor and was right on the river. Another was a sweet loft right on the river with crazy awesome views. Another was on a quaint canal, and another was an adorable house with a huge garden. It was hard to start imagining ourselves living there and then get it ripped from underneath us. Id say it was a tiring process.
We found a great place in a good central location in Amsterdam in mid January, the canal one. We had been planning to move out by February but had to extend because the owners of the possible new place couldn't leave until March. We couldn't sign a contract until they knew exactly when and where they were going to work. Somehow they got a better offer a week before the end of February but got their real estate broker to waive the fee and help us find a new place. We decided he didn't have any offers that suited us, because we wanted a place that offered something unique and we didn't want to settle. Within a week we quickly had to find a place MUCH cheaper so we could afford a broker fee and in the end, pay MUCH less rent.
I think it all happened how it should and even though we aren't in the middle of a happening european city, we are still very close and have a cute city here to live in. If we were to live in Amsterdam in an apartment like this Zaandam one, we would be paying at least twice as much. Now Andrew doesn't have to work on freelance as much to keep up with the living expenses we thought we would have to pay. Now he can feel more free to spend time with us although he still has to work a bit outside of work. We are very happy with how things turned out and, as always, the Lord provided for us.
We are still in the same ward which is good. Getting to church is much harder now since we are quite a ways away on public transportation. Church is in Watergraafsmeer in the southeastern part of A'dam (see map above). Thankfully we can get a ride to church from some members, but we aren't sure how consistent that will be. We had to buy a car seat for that.
So what is the new apartment like??! It is a 10 minute walk to the central train station and city center pictured below.
It is on the 13th floor, top floor, of an oval shaped building next to a canal so that we can feed the duckies. This is our building seen from the park down the street.
This is the main reason we chose this place, the sun room and the view of the city center. You can even see Amsterdam in the far distance .
Enjoy this video which gives a short tour of the apartment. It has so much natural light, is about 1075 square feet and it came furnished. We are slowly adding our own touches.
These are my peeps
Colin turns 1 year old in 2 weeks! W go out the DSLR and took some photos of him eating his red cabbage sauerkraut.
He is so sweet and happy. His new favorite activity is throwing stuff. It started with a bouncy ball and then turned into food. Cool...
He started having little tantrums when he can't have or do something he wants. He also has this really cute laugh that sounds forced.
I just started giving him oatmeal and this is a video of the first time trying it. I couldn't feed him fast enough.
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