troisième mois

we've passed the third month, by the skin of our teeth.


highlights:
-getting called madam and smiling ear to ear about it.
-being able to read more and more french.
-feeling doused in God's love, thanks to family and friends.
-knowing that we've made it to the peak and are on the downhill part of this slope.
-TEMPLE. Temple. temple.
-baking a half birthday belgian chocolate cake.
-devin saying a prayer in sacrament meeting in french.
-dressing devin up with every hat and old man jacket in sight. if we try one on, we're bound to find one.
-fall leaves have changed over here. one month later than UT.
-grilled cheese and tomato soup favorite homemade dinner.
-favorite frenchisms: voila=there it is. used every sentence, literally. and s'il vous plaît=please. they say this after they give you something like a reciept, took some adjusting.
-devin and i both agreeing we finally feel at home here.
-fallen in love with zara, used to hate it. now i think it's much classier than H+M. take for example this coat.
-making our christmas lists. checked it twice. and dreamt some more about christmas.
-mail. i love the snail mail, belgian poste.
-not celebrating halloween for the first time in our lives.
-deciding against ever living in seattle. daily rainclouds are not for devin.
-because we had to start using them this month, i've come to love old these kind of old radiators. add them to the inspirations for the future casa.

pardon the mens undies in the back

see that sign back there?

flea markets. i must get my weekly fix. who is up for starting one in utah?

this picture is sorta how the month has felt. windswept and tornado-like. it's been a great ride.

sunrise, sunset

belgium has unbeatable sun moments, going up or down, doesn't matter.

i know there is a bunch of sunrays hiding behind all the clouds these days, just can't see em.

if i took a picture, yuck, then showed you these horizon to horizon masking clouds, you might not come back.

oh how i wish they wouldn't come back.

that's why i take pictures of the pretty sun moments here, not the grey sky.

go watch a sunrise. words of a prophet.

oh HELP-tell me what you do to exercise at home-no gym pass-no running because the sun is down before and after work.

-my life has a purpose-

my life is a gift;

my life has a plan.

my life has a purpose;

in heaven it began.

my choice was to come

to this lovely home on earth 

and seek for God's light

to direct me from birth.

i will follow god's plan for me

holding fast to his word and his love.

i will work, and i will pray;

i will always walk in his way.

then i will be happy on earth

and in my home above.

i think i graduated from primary too soon. lyrics.

they should have gone to amsterdam

i've got fond childhood memories of a read-a-long book on tape that sang the song, three jolly fishermen. it always made us giggle, and my brothers and i still joke about it. i hope you know it, laugh with me:


There were three jolly fishermen
There were three jolly fishermen
Fisher, fisher, men, men, men
Fisher, fisher, men
There were three jolly fishermen


They should've gone to Amsterdam
They should've gone to Amsterdam
Amster, Amster, sh, sh, sh
Amster, Amster, sh
They should've gone to Amsterdam


i love that my saintly mother let us listen to this silly song as youngsters. we should have gone to amsterdam a few weeks back, though rotterdam is closer, we should've gone to amsterdam. we learned our lesson, and sang my childhood song on the way up to one of our favorite cities. 

many people have given us strange looks when we tell them we are off to amsterdam, but i won't retreat, i love amsterdam. sure we steer clear of the redlight district, and there are a few strange smelling smokes here and there, but we sure aren't gonna let that get in the way of canals, crammed bikes, colored leaves, and crooked buildings. plus it runs in my blood, dutch ancestry, so i don't dare miss out on soakin it all up. 

leonardo davinci: "simplicity is the ultimate sophistication."

 

hope your halloween was a delight.

i saw one carved pumkin at a food market and it someone may as well have given me a golden ticket, i was so thrilled. i also got an extra hour of daylight savings sleep. the best things in life are free.

today is a holiday. it sounded like Christmas with our playlist of 180+ yuletide beats chalk full of the classics, the wacky, and the instrumental, all blaring at 10 am. it looked like Christmas with fog that you could lose your bearings in settling over us. it felt like Christmas with a hearty breakfast, no work, and a slow morning. with all this time to anticpate, i'm betting my bottom dollar our Christmas will top the charts this year.

i've been replaying this video for a few weeks. i get goosebumps, and heavenly thoughts when i listen to her lay her heart out on her sleeve. time for you to experience it if you haven't seen it yet. time for me to follow her lead and share what is currently dear to my heart, unmasked by the eloquent words of someone wiser. Simply:

 i'm grateful for Jesus Christ. my whole desire is to follow Him, to do whatever He asks of me, to obey Him. despite distractions and weakness, that is all i have ever wanted. it is worth any effort, any sacrifice, any struggle. He is real, and i've felt of my need for Him, and His presence hasten to my aid, more in the past few months than ever before.

that's all.