In between figuring out how to get our documents apostilled (short answer, throw lots of money at someone to take care of this for you), we’ve been reorganizing and repurposing what exists in our house. We’ve been working over the last few years to limit what we buy and think more carefully about where we buy from. When we worked through packing up our lives, we realized just how much stuff we accumulated over the years, even in a NYC apartment. It adds up, and some of it we barely or never even used! So when we moved to our new place, we reorganized everything to see what we’d use on a regular basis that was already here, and what we still needed. Some things you can’t repurpose, like a new plug for a European outlet. But others, we have been experimenting with to find new ways to use what’s existing.
One example is a scarf holder from ikea that we turned into a jewelry display for Diana’s things. It’s become a great reminder of the pieces to wear, but also show it off as an art alternative. The second example is a coffee maker. We love coffee (koffie - same pronunciation), and have become slightly particular on how to make it. In NYC we had a coffee grinder and a French press. Here, the place came equipped with a coffee pot, but we felt that wasted too many beans resulting in a less robust flavor. Our new solution: use a masher for the grinding into a pot, then boil them in water, and sit overnight in a tea kettle to help filter the grinds. It works for us!
Another project that has kept Martin busy is rebuilding a private server for us personally and for the business. We are trying to reduce our data footprint on big sites like google, Microsoft, Amazon, etc…which is hard! But Martin has developed our own server to share files, music, movies, all things digital, between all our devices using a raspberry pi and old harddrives.
These are the types of things that have kept us distracted while we await our documents. In order to do that, we’ve found out that each state has a different procedure and different loopholes to accomplish quickly acquiring the apostille versions of our birth certificates and marriage license. There are enterprises dedicated to these servers, and each country, of course, has its own needs. Thankfully the Netherlands doesn’t require any documents to be translated. The Florida paperwork was the quickest, with an online service to do it all. New York is still underway, but we found someone in the city who can quickly turn everything around, much faster than getting someone we know to do it in person. Ohio was the most challenging, with very few work arounds. We are still waiting for the forms that were sent from here to arrive in Ohio, get processed, and come back to the Netherlands, and hope the turnaround time is quick. It will be a true Christmas miracle if we get everything back before the New Year!
We are thankful to be doing this together, and have each other as a support system through this process!

Well friends, it’s been another interesting couple of weeks with lots of new highs and lows. Before we left Amsterdam, we went to a friend’s birthday party, who we met through our language teacher. It was so nice to see them, after almost a year. We got to meet some of their friends too, and were happy to be able to keep up in conversation in Dutch! We also found an online bank that worked with our new address, and learned more about the headaches and hassles of how to transfer money from a domestic to foreign account…and all the hidden fees that come with it. Yikes. But…
Last weekend we packed up our things and made it to The Hague and officially moved to our new place Dec 1. When we arrived, we were welcomed by the owner and the realtor to go through a check in process, which was much more thorough than anything we’ve experienced in the US. Before getting the keys, the realtor took photos of everything and we all signed an existing conditions agreement. We also have 2 weeks post-move-in to add photos or comments to the agreement, as we get settled, which is so thorough and appreciated as a renter, giving us more protections. The owner was lovely and gave us a bouquet of flowers and a welcome note too, giving us more history on our new place. Apparently the house is 100 years old, but doesn’t look it! After we got the keys we were so happy to finally unpack all our things and settle into our new home.
The next day we made it to an appointment with the government to get our resident ID number, only to find out 2 things: our lawyer didn’t sign us up for the correct meeting, and our documents were not recognized internationally. We learned that we first needed to set up a meeting with immigration before getting a resident ID, which our lawyer and his relocation specialist did not properly communicate to one another…wat jammer (pronounced vhat yahm-mer, meaning what a shame)! And our birth certificates and marriage license are not apostilled, meaning they need to go through extra certification, a process that differs depending on which state you were born/married in. So, we are now working through getting our paperwork completed to prep for our immigration meeting, which can’t be scheduled until we have the correct documentation.
While we work on this next step, we are appreciating the house, being a 10 minute walk from the beach, and having a full kitchen to make some new DJMC collaborations! Pictured below: saying goodbye to the Airbnb and hello to home! And the beach 😀