Already Shedding Blood

Today seems to be an eventful one starting with a craving of Spicy Salt & Pepper Chicken Wings from my favorite restaurant back home Szechuan Chinese Cuisine in Vallejo, I seriously want some so bad right now with some shrimp fried rice and I will be even happier than I already am. I am happy because this morning I received an email about a job I applied for just yesterday. I have been applying for jobs in the last month and I had heard I was eligible for earlier jobs, but then nothing. I emailed the contacts for the two jobs I was eligible for and I received emails back. One woman was very helpful and yesterday told me to check out this other site that offered jobs to US Citizens who are overseas and not dependent on a member of the military which I am not because Oli is Belgian and not US Military. I applied for a Food Service Work position and today I received an email about my application. I was given a number to call and I did. The guy said he wanted to interview me and it would only take a few minutes and since I wasn’t near the base at the time we would do it over the phone. It wasn’t much of an interview and more of him asking when I could work which for me is all day, every day. He told me I would receive a call no later than next Tuesday and Friday at the earliest.

                Ok so not even a whole hour after my phone interview I am in the living room and my cell phone rings. My cell phone is in the bedroom and so I go running to answer it. I then slip on the floor and fall banging my stomach into the bed frame which is where I shed blood by cutting my stomach. I am now in pain, but I still manage to answer the phone and it is someone calling for me…OBVIOUSLY…and it is a different guy from before, but he is offering me the position and of course I ACCEPT! I will be working on base and I will be allowed American Base Privileges like shopping at the commissary. There is also a movie theater, rec center, and a few other things on base that I will have access to. Starting pay isn’t that much, but it is more than I would make working minimum wage back home in California so I am happy. I am mostly happy that I won’t be feeling like a mooch anymore and I will contribute to the household and it won’t just be Oli alone paying for everything; I am contributing now. My background check is in the process and I was told I will get a call Tuesday about what is next.

                Something else fun that actually happened yesterday that is a stepping stone is that I made my first alone trip to the grocery store. There was some laundry to get done that included the bed sheets so it was important and I sat at Bubble World for over an hour getting that done before I drove to the local Delhaize which is the grocery store chain here in Belgium and I did some shopping that we needed to get done. To do that alone was a pretty good accomplishment. Me and our car (Luna) are like BFFs now.

A Tale of Lightning and Urine

You might be a bit taken aback by the title of my blog, but I assure you that in the end it will all make sense. I will start with the Lightning. On Monday night Oli and I went to sleep to the sounds of thunder and the flashes of lightning; we expected the storm would pass and that would be it, but we were wrong. BANGGGGG was the sound that woke both of us up out of a dead sleep just past 4am on Tuesday and there were bright flashes of lightning that lit up the entire bedroom. The storm was still going and harder than when we went to sleep. We did our best to get back to sleep and we woke up just past 6 to start the day. I started working at VBS (Vacation Bible School) on Monday and I had a great time working with the kids and I was excited to have my 2^nd day. The storm was continuing when we woke up and being new to Belgium I didn’t want to take the chance of driving in the heavy rain and the storm when I didn’t know the roads that well and I despise driving in the rain anyway. I called the woman who is in charge of the VBS and left her a message telling her to inform my Games Station partners that I would be unable to attend. I am happy that I didn’t attempt to drive in the crazy. There was A LOT of flooding, mud slides, fallen trees, and everything else that comes with a crazy storm.  At one point the sky had gotten darker than at night it was intense and the thunder rumbled most of the morning until the afternoon when it suddenly got hot and sunny like there hadn’t been a storm at all.

Today was a nice day. We awoke to a calm atmosphere and the day was nice with spots of sunshine. The kids at VBS are so funny. There are the younger kids who are 4-5 years old and then there is the older pre-teen group. We have to change some of the games around to accommodate the younger ones who would just be confused and for the older ones who would just be bored. The little ones can be crazy when playing the games, but so attentive when it comes to the lesson. The older ones were more into chatting. I am enjoying being out of the house and I am quite proud of myself making the long drive to church. The only issue with the drive is that there is major roadwork being done on one of the freeways I need to take and that really slows it down. It should take me 30 minutes to get there and today it took me an hour. Getting home Monday it took me 2 hours to get home, but today only an hour.

Speaking of the drive home I saw a man pulled over today while I was in traffic and he was literally urinating on the side of the road not even trying to hide what he was doing. He was the 4^th person I saw urinating in public in Belgium. The last two times I was in Brussels I literally saw it happen 3 other times and they were all not discreet at all and just peed. Today after I saw that I knew I had to write about it and then later today more pee. I was loading the laundry into the car and an older woman was sending her grand child who looked to be about 4 over to the bushes so he could pee. I figured that it wasn’t something that was discouraged because if a grandmother is letting a little boy pee in public then the people of Belgium really must not care. I asked Oli about it this evening and he said even though it is illegal most don’t care and if they have to go they will just pee and don’t mind being discreet at all. To me it is the lack of public toilets. At home in the States you can just walk in a store and use the restroom as long as there is not a sign stating that it is for “Customers Only”. Here most stores seem to not have restrooms and when you do find a public toilet there is an attendant and you have to pay for it. You literally have to pay to pee! I guess I have to get used to this peeing in public thing, it is super odd just to see someone being so brave and peeing in public. So that is my tale.

Roadtrippin' Euro Style

This past Sunday the 14^th was my wonderful husband’s birthday and he decided to celebrate by planning a trip to Luxembourg and it would be a roadtrip. We packed up Friday night the 12^th to be ready to leave Saturday morning. We left about 9:40 on Saturday morning down to our first stop. I made a playlist on my ipod that included some Wizard Rock, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and more. I was making sure that we had some tunes to keep up going, especially me since I was the one to start off driving. I drove over an hour down to Namur, Belgium where we took a tour of the Citadelle de Namur which was a great way to start the trip. After our tour we sat down in the parking lot with sandwiches I made before Oli took the wheel and we went to our next stop. We made our last Belgian stop in Bastogne which is in the general area where the Battle of the Bulge in World War 2 took place. Here we had a proper lunch had a fry shop and watched a wedding processional as we were right across the street from the Hotel de Ville (City Hall). We then drove the short distance to the Mardasson Memorial which is a memorial from the Belgians to the Americans who fought.

The real adventured started when we left the memorial. Oli was driving and we were going to head into Luxembourg and there was a freeway entrance pointing to Luxembourg and Oli passed it. We ended up off course for about 45 minutes as we drove through the deep countryside. I had a good laugh at Oli as we figured out way out of the countryside and onto a freeway that would take us where we needed to go. Finally on track we made it to the border of Luxembourg which was excited for me because it was another European country off of my list. It wasn’t far to the city of Clervaux where we were staying at the Hotel du Commerce. We checked in at the hotel and during check-in we looked at the brochures of places to visit which included this orchid garden/forest and we thought it would be cool to visit. Since we had been driving we decided that we would get some rest and then get dressed for dinner. We went to dinner at the hotel restaurant because it was included in our stay for the first night. After dinner there was a concert going on in  the town square just under the castle so we went and enjoyed some songs before heading back to the hotel for the night.

The next day was August 14^th and Oli’s actual birthday. (HAPPY 37^TH BABE!) It started to rain and the smart person I am, I forgot my hoodie back home in Belgium. We decided to figure out how far the orchid place was by putting the address in our TomTom. We couldn’t for anything find this city in the TomTom so I told Oli that he should use his phone to get onto their website. As we went to do that we realized the address was (dot)de which meant the place was in Germany. We knew we were not too far from the border and when we found it in the TomTom it was only 45 minutes away so why not give it a try. We went to head out on the journey of the day and we got to the car to realize that Oli had left the driver’s side window down all night long. Luckily it is a nice quiet safe town so nothing was missing, but the problem was it had rained all night long. Oli’s seat was of course wet so we put his safety vest on the seat for him to be able to drive without getting wet. We decided to go to a mall about 25 minutes away and have lunch at a place across from the mall that Oli’s parents had suggested. From there we decided to make the journey to Germany to find the orchid place. I was super excited to go to Germany for the first time. We made it over to the border and headed towards the place where there was a sign that apparently said in German that the road we needed was closed due to works. Oli luckily knows a bit of German. We decided to take the alternate route which was soooo long and took us through winding forests and farm roads. Finally after an eternity of crazy roads we made it to the orchid place. We get there and it is the lamest place EVER. Someone took their house and made it into an orchid shop basically with a restaurant upstairs. There was really nothing exciting. There were orchids everywhere to be bought and that was pretty much it. We slipped out of the place and went to head back to Luxembourg. When we returned to Clervaux we walked around the town taking pictures and having 
a waffle at a little café. We had a nice dinner at the hotel that night. 

The next morning it was time to pack up and check-out of the hotel. It took us about an hour and we drove from Clervaux, Luxembourg to Luxembourg, Luxembourg the capital. Due to it being a holiday most places were closed and so we just walked around taking pictures before we took a little motor-train tour which was fun. After that we went back to the car. Because we went west it was only a matter of minutes before we were over the Belgium border. We then pulled into a rest stop and I took the wheel and drove us the rest of the way home with a few tiny car arguments over the annoying driving rules of Belgium. Overall it was a FANTASTIC trip and Luxembourg is my new favorite country. It is just all over beautiful and so different from Belgium in that everything isn’t all brick, but very individual and colorful. I also love their crazy language of Luxembourgish which seemed to be a crazy, but workable mix between French and German. It was funny because on the way down to Luxembourg city we stopped at a gas station and the people who worked there did not speak French and only Luxembourgish and it was a funny situation trying to figure everything out. A great time and Oli had a fab birthday.

Just a few notes:

I want to extend my prayers and thoughts to the families who lost loved ones during the music festival stage accident here in Belgium. The death toll rose to 5 today. I can say from personal experience that the storm that swept though was quick and it was expected, but unexpected at the same time. It was only minutes and it 
was crazy.


I am also wishing my cousin Hakeem and his fiancee Dena luck on their wedding tomorrow. I love you guys!

Also wishing a safe labor for my family friend Byquesha who is currently having a baby girl. I hope to hear news soon and see pictures of the new baby girl Jazalynn. Top of Form

BREAKING NEWS!

I received a call this morning about one of the jobs I applied for here with the US Military as a civilian living in Belgium. I am STOKED! Pray for me I really want this job. Of all of the jobs I applied for I felt my skills were best suited in this position and I have worked  in a similar position before. I am beyond excited!

Okay back to your normally scheduled lives already in progress. 

#WINNING

I have been living in the country of Belgium for 2 weeks now and I can say I am very proud of a few things I have accomplished so far. So the first thing I am proud of myself at doing is driving. At first I drove more with my husband and we would go to the grocery store or his parent’s house. I drove alone one afternoon to go to his parent’s house to get some zucchini they had for us. One day early this week Oli calls me to tell me that there was an issue with his train and he had to catch a bus; problem is the bus doesn’t get him close to the apartment so I would need to pick him up. I managed to drive to where he was and to pick him up. Yesterday was the day where I was pretty proud of myself; We needed to do laundry and of course the laundry mat not far from the apartment closes not long from when Oli gets home and therefore I needed to go alone. I packed up the laundry as well as the detergent and I loaded up the car…off I went. I went to the laundry mat and I did the laundry before going home. I am getting pretty decent at this driving thing at I have driven some pretty far distances with Oli of course. I drove home from church one day which is 30 minutes away and another day I got to drive us home from the mall. I have learned that pretty much driving is driving no matter where you are. Yes there might be a few rules that are a little different between countries and the speeds might be in different units, but still driving is driving. Plus we just have the cutest little car. We drive a 2011 Opel Corsa and I LOVE IT! 

Today is the most proud of myself I have been since living in Belgium (for 2 weeks). I caught the train to Brussels which involved buying my own round trip ticket. In Brussels I met up with some women that I know from home. They were kind enough to bring me a few things I left at home and some medication I ordered and my mom was able to get it to them for me. I was able to show them around Brussels for a bit and I even got to use my French. I was able to find us a bank as well as ask about some shoes in my new favorite store SHOE DISCOUNT. OMG so I have a chick with big feet, I wear an 11 which is a 42 here in Europe and it is pretty hard to find ladies shoes that size here and Shoe Discount had shoes my size. I bought the cutest flats that I am very happy with. I then found the trains we needed to leave and I got them back to Brussels-Midi to catch their train back to Paris and then I kept going home. I made it home all in one piece. So far things are going pretty awesome I am guessing.

Starting on the 22 I am going to help out at VBS (Vacation Bible School) at the church we attend.  I am hoping I can make some friends and really do something big without Oli, as much as I LOVE having him with me I need something my own and I think it is healthy for me to have something my own. I am very excited to help out since back home in California I helped out with my church’s version of VBS. To get prepared I bought a pair of Khaki pants because it is a Jungle Adventure theme and all the helpers are asked to wear khakis and something adventureish.

This weekend we are going to celebrate my Oli’s birthday with a roadtrip to Luxembourg. I am pretty excited because it will be my first time in that country. The hotel we are staying at seems pretty nice and I am sure we will have a great time.

Wedding Pictures!

I thought I would add some pictures from the wedding

Me and my Great-Uncle who walked me down the aisle

Saying our vows

Me and my girls

We jumped the broom

Outside the reception location

A lot of things up until now...

So much has happened since my last post and I haven’t had ANY time to really sit down and be serious with a blog post. I guess I will go through things as a list.

The moving process started… 

I started the process of moving with getting my visa. It was a whirlwind driving around to get all of my documents. I had to go to Fairfield to get copies of my birth certificate and then I had to go to Sacramento to have them authenticated to be used outside of the United States. I did this while I waited on my FBI document from back when I had my fingerprints done. Finally I had my documents and I mailed them all to the Belgian Consulate in LA (Don’t get me started on the consulate…I will later) with a check for nearly $300. Then there was the waiting game of a few weeks when I finally got an email from the woman at the consulate saying I needed to come to Los Angeles for a personal interview.

Luckily we know a few people who work for an airline so we were able to get cheap tickets quickly. I went to the airport for 4am flying standby. I check my ticket and realized that it is for me to fly into Ontario and not LAX like planned. I called my mom who then made some phone calls. My Great-Uncle was originally going to pick me up at LAX, but Ontario was just too far. Luckily I have another Uncle who literally lives just minutes from Ontario Airport and it just so happens he had the day off of work.  He took me to LA for my interview with the consulate lady. So this consulate lady and I have a history over email. I like to be very précised especially when taking care of IMPORTANT business. I would ask her very detailed questions and she would answer very rudely and vaguely so when it came to meeting her and having an interview with her, I for sure wasn’t looking forward to it. I had no clue what was to be asked and I went in there totally blind. She asked about how I met Oli and what I was doing with my life. She asked about what he did for a living and if I knew his birthdate, it was a mix of random questions and I felt at one point I totally stumped her and she ran out of things to try and trip me up with. In reality the interview was only 10 minutes and I came all the way to LA. There ended up being crazy with my standby flights and I ended up in LA for 2 more nights, but it was okay because I was with family and I had a good time.

THE WEDDING!

Family started arriving the week before including my younger cousin who I hadn’t seen since I was 14 and he now has a fiancée and baby. By the way I feel in love with their baby. We all had a great time and then Oli arrived which I was stoked about since I hadn’t seen him since January and it was July. There was a lot of business to take care of while we prepared for the wedding. All in all the wedding came out perfectly even with the hiccups I won’t forget that day. We stayed in Napa for our wedding night and hung out there the next day before returning to my house. That week my visa arrived!

HONEYMOON!

We honeymooned in Orlando, Florida at LEAKYCON 2011!!! Which if you are not a nerd is a Harry Potter fan convention which was AMAZING! There was even a private event at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (The con was at the Universal Resort at the Royal Pacific) and they closed the park to the public and it was only con attendees who had tickets to the event. There was all you can eat food and all you could drink butterbeer and pumpkin juice.

THE MOVE!

Coming back from Florida we had a week back in California where we failed at seriously getting packing done. We in reality packed at the last minute. In total we had 6 suitcases and we had to pay a weight overage fee on one of them plus $55 for the extra luggage. I pretty much got all the crap I wanted to Belgium. We got here and went to city hall because my visa instructed me to report to the municipal authorities within 8 days of arriving in Belgium. I got my paperwork done and then I was told that police would come to the house to check if I lived here and stuff. Well the police came yesterday, but she is coming back today because Oli was at work and there are papers for him to sign. When this police stuff is done I can go back to city hall where I can get a real ID card that says I am a foreign resident.

I have been getting used to being here again. I have been using the language a bit, I am glad I took those 2 semesters of French in the last year…Thanks Madame Marlow at Solano… I have been doing pretty good at understanding what is being said and reading signs. The only thing I need to work on his speaking more and really forming my thoughts into French words. I have been driving and I love it. I have realized that driving is driving no matter where you are even if some rules are slightly different. Our new car “Luna” is awesome. The relationship with the in-laws is doing well and the new house is going to be freaking amazing when it is all finished. Right now we are in the apartment. I have yet to meet up with my friend, who is here, but I have been busy and she has been also settling in. I signed up to help with vacation bible school at the church we attend so I can have something to keep me occupied for at least a week.

So far things are shaping up and we will see if they continue to be smooth. The next step is seriously finding a job.

A PROMISE ... Post will now be regular since I am in Belgium now. I am thinking at least every week.