Goodness me.....
It is a good thing I have learned to trust in 'eric'.
Did I tell you about 'Eric'?
Well.... when John and I met eachother we felt that all the roadsigns seem to be pointing us to get together and it was almost like the process went all on its own. We didn't have to 'do' anything, it almost got 'reveiled' to us. We constantly referred to this as 'it', 'it' is showing us where to go, what to do next etc.
'It' as a name was chosen so we could keep it out of any religious box. 'It' was our spiritual guidance and has been since we have met and to this day. Doesn't mean, mind you, that we always understand 'it's' ways or that we don't get frustrated :-).
Anyway, John's sister at some point said 'All this talk about 'it', can't we at least give 'it' a name, say 'Eric'' ... so.. it has been a running joke in my family now for years that Eric knows best. If something is taken away it is only because Eric has something better in store and.. he always has!
Like.. I saw this other house before I saw 'mine' and I fell in love with it instantly because it had such a great kitchen and bathroom and everything, ok, it only had 1 bedroom but I was very quick to organise in my mind a sleepingcouch sothat any visitors would still have a nice place to crash.
When I informed about the house and they told me it was sold I was gutted and going to Holland was a bit more scary because the houses I saw weren't really lighting my candle, they were nice-ish but none of them sparked anything in me. I was terrified of not being able to find anything suitable.
Until the moment that my mum and I walked past that estate agent right outside the door of my best friends house, like it had been planted for me. And it was clear why I never saw it advertised before, it was JUST out of my budget but of course after a bit of haggling it got into the budget again.
So.. Eric is still guiding us and it feels so good, even when things get scary, like today when our 'proof of employment' letters got rejected by the bank I just know that Eric will provide, I go through the motions and I just know that from the 15th of June I will live in MY house.
:-)
Can't wait!
Friday, March 30, 2007
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Hooray! Me, Home Owner!
Well.... the deed is done.
I have bought a house for €147.500 with a transfer date of 15th of June 2007
WOW
Of course I should say 'we' :-) but still.... it is quite... massive!
I never thought this would happen and it has been a scary process BUT thinking about it... I arrived on the 13th of March which means that in 10 days I have been able to not only find a nice house, I found a house to LOVE and bought it!
Yesterday I drove back from dropping my mum off at her house and drove past the flat, my house stood out from all the other ones with lights on because of that lovely starry heaven. (Because there are little lights in all ceilings, the current owner is an electricien :-))
And did I tell you about the mural in the extra bedroom? Well... unfortunately I didn't take the picture from the same place so it doesn't quite fit but I think you can get a good idea. It is absolutely massive and so beautiful.. even though I can't *yet* think of a use for it, I can't take it away either. Maybe in a few years. The tree on the right is really three dimensional, under it is the heating pipe that always runs through this flat.. what an idea to get rid of it :-)
This house feels like a playground.. it so suits me!
So..next step is to wait until the mortgage quote is ready, for John and me to sign, then I need to fly over again to get the contract signed and then 15th of June I should be in!
Exciting times!
I have bought a house for €147.500 with a transfer date of 15th of June 2007
WOW
Of course I should say 'we' :-) but still.... it is quite... massive!
I never thought this would happen and it has been a scary process BUT thinking about it... I arrived on the 13th of March which means that in 10 days I have been able to not only find a nice house, I found a house to LOVE and bought it!
Yesterday I drove back from dropping my mum off at her house and drove past the flat, my house stood out from all the other ones with lights on because of that lovely starry heaven. (Because there are little lights in all ceilings, the current owner is an electricien :-))
And did I tell you about the mural in the extra bedroom? Well... unfortunately I didn't take the picture from the same place so it doesn't quite fit but I think you can get a good idea. It is absolutely massive and so beautiful.. even though I can't *yet* think of a use for it, I can't take it away either. Maybe in a few years. The tree on the right is really three dimensional, under it is the heating pipe that always runs through this flat.. what an idea to get rid of it :-)
This house feels like a playground.. it so suits me!
So..next step is to wait until the mortgage quote is ready, for John and me to sign, then I need to fly over again to get the contract signed and then 15th of June I should be in!
Exciting times!
Friday, March 16, 2007
Life changing moves
Well... there you go.. how things can sometimes happen QUICK
Tuesday I arrived in Holland (about 21:30) and I said to my brother that it was such a pity I didn't have a car for a few weeks so I could cart myself around in search for the perfect house and browse furniture.
Well.. that same night we drove past a few houses I had picked from the net but none of them looked very cosy in the dark so a few of them got discarded instantly.,.. then my brother called one of his friends who has a garage who said he had a car for me to use while I was here, a blue peugeot 205, lovely little car.
So, Wednesday morning I first went to view a house which was not what I wanted, then had coffee with my mum and at 11 went to the notary to get him to draw up a 'living together' contract which he almost didn't want to do because he claimed we would not live together :-)
The guy was like one of those old fashioned doctors, horrible, telling me off for having my money shared with John, that it wasn't safe and that we should change that and each have our own account and one combined. I so was tempted to scream 'get out of my life' but I needed him for the document that will allow us to buy this house together. :-)
Anyway after I convinced him that we shared all our accounts and houses and a lot of love he reluctantly agreed to drawing up the contract as well as allowing John to sign a power of attorney so John doesn't have to fly over. (John does NOT like flying :-))
Then Jacco called and said he had 'my' car and would you believe the license plate starts with TG? ;-) That sounds like meant to be or what? So I am now the proud owner of my own blue Peugeot 205 from 1998, over the moon I am!
Then my mum and I went to a place to have something to eat and we passed an estate agent and saw a flat in the window which was JUST over budget but looked nice enough to check out so I went in and got the particulars... well.. the pictures alone made me fall in love at first sight and my mum loved them too.. so .. made an appointment for a viewing, went there with Karin and my mum to view at 15:30 and it was IT - it is as quirky as I am, very different and strange but still big and plenty of room for me and John AND a proper room for someone to stay over!
The kitchen is gorgeous, all tiled from top to bottom as well as the bathroom and.. wait for it... it has a jacuzzi bath!!! How great is that! The extra 'box, dressing, laundry, visitorsroom' is a bit warped though. It was a childs room and some artist has drawn a fantastic mural on the wall - it is just too beautiful to take off but it did make me wonder if anyone could sleep there and not get nightmares :)
I have a few pictures here but I must say you can't really see the quirkyness, that only becomes apparent when you are in the place....
So.. picture 1 is the flat itself, the apartment building I should say... you need to scroll to the right a bit and then you see the view... then on the 2nd row you see a few pictures of the lounge..the blue glass blocks are my absolute favorite... very beautiful as they are but they also have lights in them for nighttime.. great stuff...
On the 2nd row the picture on the far right you can see a door to the left, that leads to the little room where you can sleep if you dare and that then leads again (with a glass door) to the bathroom, mind you, the toilet is still separate, they didn't put an extra one in :)
In the ceiling in the bedroom and livingroom there are tiny little lights which look like stars in the dark, very romantic :)
I am so glad I found something that I absolutely love, I was a lot scared! I do feel guided because.. who manages to get a car with their name on it AND a house they adore in ONE day? Unbelievable.. I am reeling!
Next step now is to have a 2nd viewing on Tuesday with the mortgage guy and my brother to get the more objective view (not that they can ever change my mind but they might be helpful in the negotiations since all I want to scream is YES YES YES anything you want I'll pay which is totally ridiculous since the house has been on the market for 2 years since it is just TOO personal, they are just lucky they found someone from their planet to love it :-)
John and I do realise that we will probably not be able to resell again but came to the conclusion that I will always want to have a pad to go to in Holland instead of staying with family, I so need my own bombshelter where I can pretend that I am still Dutch :-)
And it is fun here I must say, very confrontational, like.. of course it is great that I know where everything is, it feels very cosy but if I am in our version of Tesco which is about a third of the size of the one I am used to I get a bit irritated because they only have expensive brands and not the nice cheap tesco value stuff which we always buy. John will just have to take truckloads of stuff with him ;-)
The BAC is still working really hard on moving me to Holland, I must say they are really coming through for me, how great is it that you can move country and take your job with you? It *has* advantages to work for a Big American Company!
Tuesday I arrived in Holland (about 21:30) and I said to my brother that it was such a pity I didn't have a car for a few weeks so I could cart myself around in search for the perfect house and browse furniture.
Well.. that same night we drove past a few houses I had picked from the net but none of them looked very cosy in the dark so a few of them got discarded instantly.,.. then my brother called one of his friends who has a garage who said he had a car for me to use while I was here, a blue peugeot 205, lovely little car.
So, Wednesday morning I first went to view a house which was not what I wanted, then had coffee with my mum and at 11 went to the notary to get him to draw up a 'living together' contract which he almost didn't want to do because he claimed we would not live together :-)
The guy was like one of those old fashioned doctors, horrible, telling me off for having my money shared with John, that it wasn't safe and that we should change that and each have our own account and one combined. I so was tempted to scream 'get out of my life' but I needed him for the document that will allow us to buy this house together. :-)
Anyway after I convinced him that we shared all our accounts and houses and a lot of love he reluctantly agreed to drawing up the contract as well as allowing John to sign a power of attorney so John doesn't have to fly over. (John does NOT like flying :-))
Then Jacco called and said he had 'my' car and would you believe the license plate starts with TG? ;-) That sounds like meant to be or what? So I am now the proud owner of my own blue Peugeot 205 from 1998, over the moon I am!
Then my mum and I went to a place to have something to eat and we passed an estate agent and saw a flat in the window which was JUST over budget but looked nice enough to check out so I went in and got the particulars... well.. the pictures alone made me fall in love at first sight and my mum loved them too.. so .. made an appointment for a viewing, went there with Karin and my mum to view at 15:30 and it was IT - it is as quirky as I am, very different and strange but still big and plenty of room for me and John AND a proper room for someone to stay over!
The kitchen is gorgeous, all tiled from top to bottom as well as the bathroom and.. wait for it... it has a jacuzzi bath!!! How great is that! The extra 'box, dressing, laundry, visitorsroom' is a bit warped though. It was a childs room and some artist has drawn a fantastic mural on the wall - it is just too beautiful to take off but it did make me wonder if anyone could sleep there and not get nightmares :)
I have a few pictures here but I must say you can't really see the quirkyness, that only becomes apparent when you are in the place....
So.. picture 1 is the flat itself, the apartment building I should say... you need to scroll to the right a bit and then you see the view... then on the 2nd row you see a few pictures of the lounge..the blue glass blocks are my absolute favorite... very beautiful as they are but they also have lights in them for nighttime.. great stuff...
On the 2nd row the picture on the far right you can see a door to the left, that leads to the little room where you can sleep if you dare and that then leads again (with a glass door) to the bathroom, mind you, the toilet is still separate, they didn't put an extra one in :)
In the ceiling in the bedroom and livingroom there are tiny little lights which look like stars in the dark, very romantic :)
I am so glad I found something that I absolutely love, I was a lot scared! I do feel guided because.. who manages to get a car with their name on it AND a house they adore in ONE day? Unbelievable.. I am reeling!
Next step now is to have a 2nd viewing on Tuesday with the mortgage guy and my brother to get the more objective view (not that they can ever change my mind but they might be helpful in the negotiations since all I want to scream is YES YES YES anything you want I'll pay which is totally ridiculous since the house has been on the market for 2 years since it is just TOO personal, they are just lucky they found someone from their planet to love it :-)
John and I do realise that we will probably not be able to resell again but came to the conclusion that I will always want to have a pad to go to in Holland instead of staying with family, I so need my own bombshelter where I can pretend that I am still Dutch :-)
And it is fun here I must say, very confrontational, like.. of course it is great that I know where everything is, it feels very cosy but if I am in our version of Tesco which is about a third of the size of the one I am used to I get a bit irritated because they only have expensive brands and not the nice cheap tesco value stuff which we always buy. John will just have to take truckloads of stuff with him ;-)
The BAC is still working really hard on moving me to Holland, I must say they are really coming through for me, how great is it that you can move country and take your job with you? It *has* advantages to work for a Big American Company!
Monday, March 05, 2007
Big City Girl revisited
Well... it had to happen sometime I suppose..
As in.. you can take the girl out of the city but you can't take the city out of the girl!
I miss the people, the infrastructure, the metro to the city, the 3 big supermarkets to choose from in walking distance, cycling to and from the city or the green pastures close by, my family, mixer taps, tiled bathrooms, Spa days, dinner out with friends, theatre visits, the weekly market, my social circle, my old job, did I mention my family? :-)
Anyway.. the more it rains here the more I miss Holland, the more I work from home (even though that is lovely) the more I feel claustrofaubic, even though it is gorgeous here, that is for sure.
But I need to find myself back, and myself starts in Holland, I didn't realise that 'being Dutch' was such a HUGE part of my personality but it is...
And THANK GOD that I am in a relationship with someone who fully understands and accomodates that need.
Now.. how are we going to source that €134000 I need for that apartment I've seen? :-)
And how many houses can one own before one thinks 'this is enough' :-D
Can't help thinking - even though it might be slightly impractical - that it is so nice to decide which country we will pick to live each season. And have one for each :-)
Winter in Spain, spring in Scotland, summer in Holland, autumn.... Norwich?
Who knows... never a dull moment, that is for sure.. watch this space!
As in.. you can take the girl out of the city but you can't take the city out of the girl!
I miss the people, the infrastructure, the metro to the city, the 3 big supermarkets to choose from in walking distance, cycling to and from the city or the green pastures close by, my family, mixer taps, tiled bathrooms, Spa days, dinner out with friends, theatre visits, the weekly market, my social circle, my old job, did I mention my family? :-)
Anyway.. the more it rains here the more I miss Holland, the more I work from home (even though that is lovely) the more I feel claustrofaubic, even though it is gorgeous here, that is for sure.
But I need to find myself back, and myself starts in Holland, I didn't realise that 'being Dutch' was such a HUGE part of my personality but it is...
And THANK GOD that I am in a relationship with someone who fully understands and accomodates that need.
Now.. how are we going to source that €134000 I need for that apartment I've seen? :-)
And how many houses can one own before one thinks 'this is enough' :-D
Can't help thinking - even though it might be slightly impractical - that it is so nice to decide which country we will pick to live each season. And have one for each :-)
Winter in Spain, spring in Scotland, summer in Holland, autumn.... Norwich?
Who knows... never a dull moment, that is for sure.. watch this space!
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