One Month

This morning I got out for my first run since we have arrived. It was a cold morning and parts of the canals were frozen. It wasn't as bad as I expected (as the last time I had my running shoes on was in Maine), but 30 minutes was quite enough. I paused a couple of times to admire a blue heron on the side of the canal and discovered form ruins with a plaque reading 1122.

Seems hard to believe that one month ago we were wide eyed, cold, hungry - always looking for a place to get lunch or dinner, and crammed with all of our luggage into a hotel room. This morning I ran a circle around nearly all the places we walked in those first two days and it didn't seem so large at all. Of course, we have many more months and advances to go...we really must start learning Dutch soon. Elena's childcare situation is not quite what we want it to be. We still haven't met anyone to call a 'friend' that we can do things with.

But, Jake is currently making pancakes in the kitchen with Elena. We recieved a care package from Nana and Grandpa with maple sugar (currently trying to make a maple 'sauce' of some sort) and vanilla (extract, beans, and powder!) and are putting it all to good use. Yesterday was a great day and over our tasty dinner of potato, corn, and bacon chowder, we raised our glasses to a wonderful day and our first month in Holland.