Let the Parties begin!!!

Last night my MOH (that's Maid of Honor in wedding terms;) ) organized a girls night out for some of my close girlfriends! It was so fun and all a surprise! Meg worked really hard to keep it a surprise as I am always super awesome at figuring out surprises:) She blindfolded me and took me down to the plaza where we met some friends at the Melting Pot for Happy Hour! It was soo good and so affordable when you go for happy hour! I even got to wear my first "Bride to Be" sash! I love all this wedding stuff! 

In other news, Dan is still waiting to get his visa. He was told yesterday that the  immigration department is having "work overload" and it will be ready within a week. We shall see. Once he gets his visa, we will be taking a trip to Chicago to pick up visa from the Dutch Embassy and then be able to head over to the Netherlands to begin work.  I'm trying to process him leaving but it's still really difficult! At least it will only be for 3 1/2 months but we've never really been apart that long our entire relationship. Skype will become our new best friend

Tidbits from the Netherlands!

1.The Netherlands has the highest population density (493 inhabitants per square km - water excluded) of any European country with over 1 million inhabitants. Worldwide, only Bangladesh and Taiwan, among major countries, have a higher density of population.

2.Dutch people are the tallest in the world, with an average height of 184 cm for men and 170 cm for women.

3.Dutch people have the lowest incidence of lactose intolerance of any country - only 1%


4.Orange-coloured carrots appeared in the Netherlands in the 16th century. Before that carrots were white, yellow, black, purple or red. Orange carrots are said to have been bred in honour of the House of Orange, who led the Dutch Revolt against Spain and later became the Dutch Royal family. Orange is still the official colour of the Netherlands and a sign of patriotism

5. Soft drugs (e.g. cannabis, "magic mushrooms") are legal in the Netherlands. Only licenced "coffee shops" are allowed to sell such drugs, although people are allowed to grow cannabis at home for their personal use.

6. Prostitution is legal in the Netherlands. However, prostitutes must be at least 18, and clients must be at least 16.

7.The Netherlands has spawned many world-class painters, such as Rembrandt, Jan Vermeer, Jan Steen, Vincent van Gogh or Piet Mondriaan.

8.The microscope, the telescope, pendulum clock and the mercury thermometer are all 16th or 17th century Dutch inventions.

9.The Dutch company 'Philips' invented the audio tape (in 1967), the video tape (in 1972), the Compact Disk (in 1982) and the CD-ROM (in 1985).

10. with only 0.008% of the world's area, the Netherlands is the world's third largest agricultural exporter.

11. the International Court of Justice is at the Peace Palace in The Hague.

Some background

Now that our new life is starting, we thought it might be fun to blog about our adventures in a new country. We also thought this might be a good way for friends and family to keep up with us while we're an ocean away. Obviously we are not there yet, although Dan will be leaving soon. He is going over ahead of me to start work at Leiden University as a PhD student studying the collision of supermassive blackholes (aren't you proud of me? It's taken many months to be able to remember a piece of what he'll be doing!:) ). He will come back in August for our wedding, which will be taking place on August 21 at the Elms Resort in Excelsior Springs!!! After we are married we will both head back to Europe where we will live in a tiny "flat", ride our bikes everywhere, and forget what it's like to have a car. It's going to be quite an adventure to say the least!!

Where it all begins. . .

On Easter, April 4, 2010 Dan asked me to marry him and I said yes!!! It was absolutely perfect and I couldn't have thought of a better proposal myself (and believe me, I've thought a lot about it!:) ).

It all started earlier in the week when we were planning on going to St. Louis for Easter to celebrate with his family. His mom always has a big Easter celebration and makes easter baskets for everyone in attendance and then they hide the baskets and we all search for them. Well, this year due to circumstances planned out by Dan and his mom, we decided at the last minute not to go to St. Louis. We were all bummed that it wasn't going to work out but decided he would come to Kansas City for Easter and we would spend it with my family.

Dan is finishing up his thesis for his Master's degree and had to have it turned in by Tuesday so he has been working very hard and was not going to come down into town late Sat night and then leave again Sunday evening. The next day we went to church and I was a tad bit grouchy in the morning because I was feeling stressed about Easter. I had volunteered myself to make the Easter dinner (why? I don't know) and then his mom had decided at the last minute to come spend Easter with us in KC, as the other situation had fallen through. I was stressed because she was just going to beat us to my parent's house and had only met my parents once before. I was also grouchy because I knew that my mom would be expecting a proposal since all our family was together and I didn't want to have to listen to a lecture about why we were not engaged yet(sorry mom!!!:) ). So I told Dan on the way to church, "Can't we just go to wal-mart and get a fake ring and fake a proposal so I don't have to hear about it later? because you know my mom is going to be expecting it, even though I know it's not happening today" ha! famous last words! Not sure how Dan kept a straight face!

So we went to church and worshipped together. After church, we headed to my mom's house to meet u with the family. Dan's mom had brought easter baskets for everyone, as she does every year for the great easter basket hunt. So she and my mom went out and hid the baskets while I trashed talked about being the best basket finder ever! Then all the adults went looking for their baskets and I could not find mine ANYWHERE! Finally, I was the last one and everyone was giving me a hard time since I'd been trash talking the loudest. Our family has a tradition where we'd always search for the golden egg, because it was worth $25 and I have been known to push a cousin or two out of the way to claim the golden prize! Finally after a game of "hot or cold" clues from my family, I found my basket (which, was not actually out the whole time so I am still a great basket finder!) and in it was no candy, only a golden egg!!!!! I was very confused but things started coming together.

My whole family was standing around and i stood there looking at the egg for a bit until Dan said, "open it". So I did and there was the ring! He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him!!! I was shocked! I asked him if this was real and then bit the ring to see if it was real. I kept saying things like " Your thesis isn't done yet! How did you do this?!" Never actually answering him. Poor guy was on his knee for quite awhile until he asked again and i said yes!!!!!! The ring was his grandmother's ring, who is no longer with us. It was more amazing than I could have ever imagined!