It's so hard, to say Goodbye. . .

Newlyweds in The Netherlands is the name of this blog I started when I got engaged and learned we were moving to The Netherlands. I was about to embark on a journey that would turn out to be the greatest adventure of my life so far. Now, almost 4.5 years later, this adventure is drawing to a close and we are returning back to America at the end of January, no longer newlyweds and as a family of 4 (to be 5 in June) with a lifetime of memories and experiences that I'm not sure we'll get again. It's funny to think that when we moved here, I wasn't sure how we were going to make it. I mean, ride a bike everywhere? in snow and rain? with a child? with TWO children? Nope, nope, nope. Function on a daily basis where English is not the native language? Where I can't read grocery labels, understand the cashiers at the checkout, or read basic road signs to tell me I'm about to get hit by a truck because I'm biking in the wrong lane? Nope,nope, nope. Try for the life of me to figure out where to fit all of my groceries in my dorm size refrigerator or understand how I could possibly eat eggs that were not refrigerated? Nope, nope, nope.

Amazingly, we made it. In fact, we didn't only make it, we made it Home. We learned and adapted and decided we were brave enough to try having a child here. And when they sent us home 4 hours after giving birth to that baby, a few months later we decided we were brave enough to have a second child here, in which we were sent home 3 hours after he was born. We decided we would do as the Dutch do and ride our bikes with our children on them. . .without helmets. We've survived without a car for the entire time we were here, although I will be happy if I never have to get on a bus with two children again.

We learned how to become husband and wife here, how to be parents. We've figured out how to navigate a different culture while also adopting parts of it to our own. We've learned to love our nationality even more but to also appreciate the differences of other nationalities. The world has become smaller to us now because we have friends from all over and traveling and experiencing different countries and cultures has become something we value.

Friends and family have been asking us if we are excited to be moving back to America and honestly, that's a hard question to answer. Of course we are excited to be closer to family and friends but this has become our home. I never would've thought that possible 4.5 years when we stepped off that airplane into the land of tulips and windmills. I never imagined the thought of returning back to America would make me nervous and sad. I never thought I'd be more comfortable with the idea of bike seats than car seats (although let's be honest, I'm super excited about not having to bike in torrential downpours while trying to shield my children from the hail). I never thought I'd be nervous about giving birth in America, but now I have no idea what to expect. I'd never thought I'd be nervous about being a parent in America, but I am. Life in The Netherlands has become our life.

2015 is going to be a year of transition. It's going to be a year of finding our niche as a family, figuring out what life looks like as a family. It's going to be exciting and full of challenges and we've done it before but at least this time we'll have a full sized fridge.