How time flies. 1 year in and not looking back.

So I woke up this morning and fell into the usual routine. Wake Miss A, get ready for work, breakfast then head off for the day.

Before getting into my day though I opened the curtains to a beautiful sunrise looking out from our bedroom balcony. It was warm inside but clearly a bit chilly out. There was quite a bit of ice covering everything. It was -1 when I checked.

On my way to work it occurred to me that this beautiful yet cold day in my adopted home in Holland was actually 1 year to the day since I left Australia. We left the warm beach weather for an adventure in Europe and we have packed a lot into that first year.

People always ask me why we would move from Australia or do we miss Australia? My answer is always much the same; ‘it is just different’. For us I think it has been different in a good way. We miss our friends and family and yes of course we miss the beach weather. That said Holland has much to offer us in lifestyle, learning how to live in another culture and when you look for it, has beauty and charm that is just very different to what we are used to living in Australia. Holland is very welcoming and I am grateful for that. I am also grateful for the people who have accepted us as friends in this first year in our town in Haarlem.

12 months ago if you had asked me how I would go in temperatures below zero I would say that it would be the worst part of moving to Europe. I never thought I would describe a day so cold and frosty as beautiful, and the reason I do is so much more than just the sun shining and the sky being clear. We have a lot to be thankful for. We will have our little Dutch baby in the next 2 weeks so there is also much to look forward to. I have no doubt that Holland will be as equally welcoming to Clarktersraat number 2.