2016 Update

Hello Everyone!  It's 2016 and it only took me just over a month to write my first post!  Not bad considering my track record lately.

Let's start with a follow-up....

...in the last post I mentioned wanting to get involved with charity work.  Turns out getting into volunteer work here in The Netherlands isn't easy.  It's almost like taking on a side job, contracts, large commitments, insurance... c'mon!  What ever happened to having a couple hours of spare time a month and being able to just go and help people or animals?  Sure I know it's for every one's safety, but they are also deterring usable people.  My husband seemed to find a good solution, and managed to execute his idea.  So the one person not talking about it was the one that actually did something!  (He also got lucky they came to the door looking for help.)  My husband and daughter signed up to walk around the neighborhood and collect money for the "hersenstitching".  (A charity that helps with brain related diseases.)  Unfortunately my daughter & I were sick that week and he had a couple large deadlines, so they weren't able to hit up as many houses as planned but they still played their part.

...another similar post was about helping out.  I can at least say I have been doing a small portion to help.  I have been going through boxes and boxes of baby clothes and making different piles -  sell - donate to a 2nd hand shop - and donate to a charity.  The charity donations have been easy, literally put the stuff in a bag and deposit the bag in the collection bin in our neighborhood.  It might be easy but it's good to know we are helping a baby/toddler somewhere in the world.  Dealing with the rest of the stuff is going to be a bigger project, and an upcoming post.

...normal life abroad... yeah, last time I checked we were still normal, oh wait, tax season is rolling around again.  No, in that we're not normal... because being Americans abroad we get to pay taxes twice just because the US says so!  Not fair, and definitely separates us from so many other cultures.  (Complaining about an unfair tax system and FACTA, will have to wait for the appropriate future post.)

...where have we been... we moved from the city to a small village back in the summer.  In many ways it really suites us and has changed our lives for the better.  In other ways, the distance from everything has proven to be a challenge on many occasions, but I guess with the good comes the bad.  We love the house and surrounding landscape, but wow, I had no idea keeping up with a house and yard was this much work.  Remember, we moved from a small two bedroom apartment to a house more than twice the size.  At times keeping up with it all is quite overwhelming, but I wouldn't trade it for the apartment again!  I guess less complaining and more working will do the trick.

...how are the recipe clippings and cooking going, well, worse than ever!  I've stopped collecting recipes because I have come to realize I just can't cook well.  My cooking skills have actually regressed since moving, maybe it's lack of time or not understanding the oven here, either way wow!  Every meal gets served with an apology and it's growing quite tiresome.  A wife should be able to cook, especially a stay-at-home mom.  I never thought my cooking skills would contribute so much to how I feel about myself, but it's just getting embarrassing.

Well, after re-reading this I am wondering why the follow-up on everything has been more negative than positive???  Sometimes we just try and do everything, and we all know that's impossible.  Probably time to stop spreading myself so thin!  Have a great day!

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste! Salut!

:) Danica

Charity Work

(Didn't plan on keeping up te theme of the last post, but guess it's on my mind.)  Ever since our 4 month old labrador puppy died we have been wanting to do something in her memory.  We actually wanted the three of us to do charity work with animals but to be honest it's not been easy finding something where they allow a 6yr old to join.  The holidays rolled around and the planning was put on the back burner until the new year.

But the feeling hasn't gone away, this need to help.  As Sinterklaas (Dutch holiday) and Christmas passed, I was overwhelmed with access around us.  And I don't mean our home alone, I mean the packed stores, the list of presents you hear people received, the endless parties full of food and drinks.  It made me think of the less fortunate... it made me often think if them.  Here some many people are ticking off their wish list when so many people have nothing or are extremely struggling.  I again expressed to my husband how much I want to sign up somewhere to offer our time.  But when you sign both parents up you start dealing with babysitters and logistics.

Then I was talking to my mother-in-law and she was having the same feelings as me, and we have decided to start exploring our options.  We hope to at least volunteer one time a month and see where it goes from there.  She is collecting a list of local places we can volunteer, and I can't wait to sit down with her and finally pick something.  Less talk and more action!

Do any of you volunteer?  If so, what have you found to be the most beneficial?  And for those of you in the Eindhoven area, do you recommend a place to volunteer?

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste! Salut!

:) Danica

Helping Out

Sometimes we find ourselves in a position when we can help others... it can be little things like, a smile, holding a door, letting someone pull out in front of you instead of making them wait for the line of cars behind you... the list goes on and on.

I've mentioned before I help out at my daughters school quite often, but I don't just volunteer my time... another way I help is through photos.  Since I am at the school so often and get to witness little things here & there that other parents miss, I try my best to capture it on camera.  Like this morning for instance, the school was putting on a Christmas performance with the Kindergartners & 1st graders (Dutch group 1 & 2) for the parents, my husband & I arrived early and had great seats.  Turns out our daughter was in the back and there was no seat in which we really could have seen her.  Since I wasn't really able to capture her I decided to help out other parents I know that didn't have the best seats or only a phone for a camera.  I took pics of as many kids as I could and emailed the photos to their parents when I returned home.  Trust me, I wish I had those photos of my daughter, but at least I know I made someone happy.

Another way I help people out is by donating items instead of throwing them away.  What a waste to just toss a perfectly good shirt or household item in the trash when there are plenty of people with very little in their homes.  For a couple months now I have been collecting random items in one of our old moving boxes, and today (or tomorrow) is the day they finally get taken to the charity shop.  Hopefully in time to help someone out before Christmas.  I don't always take our old goods to just one secondhand shop, I  have been known to hit up 3 in one day just to spread the goods, and some items even go into a different container to be donated instead of resold.

So during this Christmas season (and throughout the new year), try and every once in a while to help someone else out.  If we all did one small kind act a week (or day) think about how much happiness we could spread!

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste! Salut!

:) Danica

Changing Charities

After over a year of small monthly donations to the KWF (the Dutch cancer society) we are switching over to another charity organization, Hulphond (Dutch charity for service dogs).  There are so many charities throughout the world, at times it is hard to pick one over the other (donations are also great gift ideas for the holidays).  So, we do our best to spread the donations, at times we change charities per quarter and at times per year.  The KWF was important to us because we have known many people throughout our lifetime with cancer, one of which, my husbands aunt.  After watching her fight with breast cancer we wanted to do our part to help support others with cancer.

But now it's time to switch and coincidentally we ran into collectors who had spent the entire day outside of supermarket with a service dog drumming up new donators.  Knowing someone first hand that uses a service dog helps us to see just what they're capable of doing.  The woman we know is confined to wheelchair with little use of her hands.  The service dog does everything from turning on the water in the sink to pressing the button at the crosswalk.  It is quite amazing.  When speaking to the collector we found out that some dogs can even peel a banana for their owners.  And it's not just wheelchair bound people that need service dogs, the other day at the park we met a middle-aged man who went blind 3 yrs ago and now is dependent on his dog.  This service dog gives this man a chance at living a normal life, at safely leaving the house, and also having a companion.  Being a dog owner and seeing just how much they can do when trained properly, we see the double fold benefit of this charity, we're helping people and animals.

Do any of you support charities?  Is it because of life experiences or just because you want to help out?