Saying goodbye to our first July in Belgium!

 It's hard to believe that we have been in our new home for one month! Even harder to believe that we have been in our new home without our HHG for one month. Ha!  We were told our things finally made it on a ship a week ago today and should be in port one week from today. It will still be 1.5 - 2 weeks until we have it in our home because it will need to go through customs and then have a date the movers can bring it to us, but we are excited by how soon it will be! 

Our car was said to be in the Zeebrugge port yesterday. Once they get it off the ship and through customs, they will call us to come and pick it up. From our home to the port, it is 1.5 hours if the traffic is good. That means we should have it sometime this week.

Yesterday was my Princess Olivia's 3rd Birthday. When she asked me if I was going to be there for her Birthday, it broke my heart for sure. I couldn't ask for a sweeter little love than Olivia, and being able to at least video with her is a blessing.

I will be going to see my other loves in Germany next month. This world is so big, and my kids are scattered all over it. I will make it work, though, to spend as much time with them as I can. For those of you who live near all your family, don't ever take it for granted! 💗

On Wednesday, I was able to pass my driver's test (on the second try). The rules I have down, but matching the signs with their meanings was hard because some are so similar. They have warning signs, information signs, mandatory signs, priority signs, and prohibitory signs. 

That important thing is that I DID pass, but not before I missed almost all of them.

It was hard for me to see all those signs on a tiny 8x11 paper, and I noticed they had a poster-sized version, so I asked if I could use that one. No problem, the stern older German woman says.

I take the test feeling confident. Turn it in, and she starts sighing, big time, before making after. She tells me, all irritated, that my answers are incorrect, and I can't use the poster because the numbers on it do not match the small paper signs. Why she didn't tell me this when I asked and she set up the poster for me, I have no clue.

I take the paper back and redo the ones she marked wrong using the small page. I hand it back in, and now she is more annoyed with me, telling me that I didn't correct them ALL. Silly me, I only fixed the ones she had marked wrong.

I take it back and go over it for the 3rd time. When I turn it in this time, she isn't impressed and has me point out my answers on the poster, as she asks a few questions.

In the end, she gave me my certificate of course completion along with a disapproving face.

I have my certificate and will pick up my license on Tuesday.

Today we went to the movie theater out in town. Previously, we went to the one on the NATO base here. It was more like an auditorium seating. No reclining, no footrest, and no cup holder. Out in town, it costs more, so we expected more. Attached to the theater was a burger restaurant along with a Pizza Hut. You are not allowed to bring food into the theater from those places. However, inside the theater was a HUGE snack area.

While they did have cupholders, they did not have reclining seats or footrests. What they did have was halfway through the movie, at a really exciting part, the movie stopped, and the lights came on. The screen then showed a 10-minute timer. It seems here they give you a break midway through movies to use the restroom or get extra snacks without having to miss the movie. I thought it was a really nice feature. What do you think?

Just to make sure we weren't bored this past week, Nala decided that she wanted to explore outside of our yard. She hadn't done this for the first month, so we didn't think it was an issue. We were wrong. We had two cars on two different days honk outside of our house. When I see what they want, they show us Nala, sitting outside the fence. {{sigh}}. We tried a few different ideas to make the fence rungs smaller. We used pool noodles with zip ties, and did every other rung, which should have done the trick.

NOPE!
We ended up having to go back and do every single rung, which did the trick!

I'm glad it finally worked because I already had her marked for sale. 🤣

Nala Rosa ~ AKA, Naughty Rose

On Saturday, we enjoyed dinner with a Danish Military family, who were nice enough to invite us to their home and grill a wonderful meal for us. The company was lovely, and we even got to try a "new to us" brand of Danish Beer from Warwik Brewery in West Jutland. Beer - Warwik Brewery - Microbrewery - Exquisite Beer & Taste

Right now, John is in Germany visiting Spencer. To say I'm jealous it's not us is an understatement, but they haven't seen each other in so long, I'm glad he is getting this time together with her family. They are taking him to some exciting places, including Austria. He only has a few weeks left before he starts college in Colorado, where he will be double majoring and continuing his work at the Youth Center on base. I love that he is always so motivated to grab life and go!

While I love blogging every week, I'd also love to know a highlight of your week, so please drop it in the comments.