1 week in Belgium. We found our home!

 It seems unreal that this time last week, we were beginning this journey. It all worked out better than we could have wished for. 

One week in, and we have all adjusted to the time difference, which only took a few days. Arturo began driving as soon as we got our car, and he had no hesitation despite not knowing what all the signs meant here (Ha!), but we are all learning. We planned on driving to France this weekend for an event, but since we still have US license plates, we have to wait until the car is registered here and we have Belgian plates to drive outside of the country. We had no idea how small both the bases were or the area we are in, in Belgium. It's super small, quaint, and easy going. Our routine has been, wake, look at houses, in-process, appointments, and then find a nice meal for lunch/dinner and call it a night. This upcoming week will be a bit different as both house hunting and in-processing wrap up.

We spent a week looking at some homes, and the saying is so true, "When you know, you know." From the moment I arrived at the house in Soignies (pronounced, Swan-knee), it had my heart. I literally smile every time I'm at the house. It just feels like I'm home. 💗 Soignies - Wikipedia

The home we chose is the one we looked at on days 1 & 3, and I shared videos of. The write-up of the home reads as follows:

A very nice, large 4-bedroom house with a motorized gate located 13 KM from SHAPE and 16 km from Chievres. Annual oi furnace service, chimney sweepings, and a move-in report by an expert are included in the rent. The maintenance of the yard is offered by the landlady. The house comprises an entrance hall, a living room with a fireplace, a fully equipped kitchen with cooktop, oven, microwave, dishwasher, and fridge. A bedroom or study, laundry room with sink and hookups for a European washer and dryer. Upstairs, 3 large bedrooms, a master bathroom with bath, shower, 2 sinks, and cabinets. Garage for 4 cars and lots of storage. Fully fenced backyard with patio and side gate. 

From what we were told, the lease should be prepared and signed this week, with a possible move-in of 1.5 to 2 weeks' time. Since our furniture won't arrive for at least another 1.5 to 2 months, the military will give us loaner furniture until ours arrives. This means we should be ready for visitors sometime in September. I wonder who our first visitors will be!!!