Week one.. check!

The beetle statue, stuck to the sky with a needle. Ugly but interesting...

The statue by the university- Dumping knowledge into its head with a beer cup...

Lori getting ready to enjoy a delicious waffle!

The university library- amazing architecture! Lori and I went exploring inside--- amazing!

I don't remember this buildings name, but its right in the middle of downtown leuven. People get married here. It's probably the coolest looking building I've ever seen!

We made it through our first week in Belgium and so far it has been great. We have met so many nice people.

Just to clarify, Lindsey is writing this blog, not Jared :) I should take full responsibility for the silly things i post...

We made it to our ward this morning and were warmly welcomed. The bishop is actually from Virginia! We met the missionaries who were from payson, roy and burley, ID. It's a small world :) The meeting was in Dutch but they were able to translate for us into some nifty little headsets. I am excited to get to know the members. The ward was small, only about 40 people were there today which is a lot different than what we are used to.

We also went on a city tour with Jared's team and saw some of downtown Leuven. It was really fun and so beautiful. The only thing i don't get is the beetle stuck on the needle... and neither did the people who are from Belgium.

I was able to meet up with my new friend Lori who is here with one of the players. She is from San Fran and is so much fun! There are two other girls with the team, Lori and Len (Sorry Len if i am spelling your name wrong). Len is from Belgium and is so fun to talk to, she is helping me learn where the good places to eat and shop are :) I WALKED to downtown thinking that it wouldn't be that far.. it took me an hour, and when i finally made it I was so tired. Lori and I walked around and shopped. We had our first Belgian Waffles-- One that was gross-- and the other one DELICIOUS! Lori taught me the ways of the bus so i wouldn't have to walk back home. Thank heavens!

As for Jared, he is very busy with basketball. They have practice twice a day, and he really seems to be enjoying his new team. Their first game is on Wednesday, it is a preseason game. I am excited to get back into the basketball life.

I hope everyone is well! We miss you and love you!

What milk should we buy? Back in the states there are different choices and we like 2% milk. The milk we have bought here is like half milk and half cream. Do you drink milk?

I love the hunger games... haven't read them? Well you should!

I have a questions for all of you from Belgium-- What chocolate is best? I like milk chocolate.. and I think its all yummy but apparently i haven't had the best yet.

Also, is there maple syrup in Belgium? If not, what should we put on our waffles.

Do people usually tip at restaurants?

thats all.

Thanks!

Welcome to Belgium!

We made it to belgium yesterday morning (9:20 AM local time) 1:20 AM Utah time. We were exhausted from a long plane ride but we survived! We met some of the people that run the team and filled out a lot of paperwork, and finally they took us to our apartment. We were pooped so we took a nap. Our apartment is pretty fun and a lot bigger than expected. It has bright yellow walls :) We like it although Jared told me that the walls are too bright. ha...

We then woke up because one of the team manager guys came to take us to the grocery store and give us our car. We now drive a little mercedes hatchback thing. Pretty cute and little! The best part was trying to figure out how to put it in reverse... at one point i had to get out and push it backwards in the pooring rain because we couldn't figure it out... but don't tell Jared i told you :)

The grocery store was weird... try shopping in dutch. We couldn't figure out what stuff was, so everytime we saw something we recognized it was in the cart. The weirdest thing to me was there was no milk in the fridge, it was just sitting on the shelf... it had cows on it and said melk so we figured that's what it was...

Next we went out to eat. It was pretty good but we felt dumb because apparently you have to wave a server down to order.. ha we sat there for a good while.

Anyway, we are here and it is really nice! We are excited for our adventure even though we feel clueless!

Belgium and Leah

Well, thanks everyone for your comments on my last post, especially those of you from Belgium! How cool is that? So glad to hear that English is spoken there, what a relief... also, funny that there is a pub on every street corner pretty much, a lot different than Utah, that's for sure!

To answer some of your questions... YES I am nervous. Nervous that i'll be homesick.. but so excited that it wipes my nervousness out the door for a split second. We will live there for 10 months, which also helps with my nervousness.. it will be a great experience. During the summer months (june through august) we will most likely be back in Utah.

I've officially started myself into a panicked frenzy.

What are we going to do with all of our 'stuff'?

How in the heck am I supposed to pack for 10 months in a suitcase..

What are we going to do with our dog?

do I need to learn some dutch? I'm clueless.

Am i going to be by myself all the time??

Who's going to do my hair? haha... yes I have actually thought of this

and back to the dog. As of now we are thinking of taking her with us. Crazy? Maybe. But how could you leave this sweet face?

WE are MOVING...

to BELGIUM!

Jared has accepted an offer to play basketball for the Leuven Bears, located in Leuven, Belgium.

We leave in August.

This is where Belgium is (in case you're like me and geographically challenged)

Belgium is famous for waffles, chocolate and beer :)

We will be living in a university town, Leuven, Home of the Catholic University of Leuven.

They speak Dutch in the area we will live in, but the country also speaks french and german (I believe.. relying on Wiki).

WE ARE SO THRILLED FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY.

So... anyone ever been to belgium?

HIP hip HIP Hooray!

Us with Jeremy and Teresa- Love them

Jared and all the awards he won--- he's amazing!

Me- showing Jared's enthusiasm for him

Me and teresa after stuffin ourselves at Rodizio's. We love food babies.

Gaduated college... CHECK!

Yup, i finished school, I now have a bachelor's degree in Accounting. What do I do now? Same thing I did before I graduated. haha. Life hasn't changed in the slightest, except for an increase in free time in whihc I fill with TV, reading, and hanging out with the hubsy.

2 year anniversary... CHECK!

We had a fun anniversary celebration which included staying in the 50's style diner hotel room at the anniversary inn (Thanks to a sweet sister who gave us a great deal), robin hood, and dinner. Our actual anniversary was spent in island park with jared's mom and dad and brother... haha... which was fun but not my idea of a romantic weekend, he had some making up to do.

Teresa and Jeremy moved to alaska... sad.

Our besties moved to alaska which makes me sad. They move back in August so until then Jared and I put up with each other :) The thing i miss the most is our addiction to a little game called sequence.. which usually ended in the boys singing a stupid song because they cheated to win, and me and teresa getting mad and knocking their chips of the table. We are mature.

which brings me to my next point... Jared.

He is trying to play overseas next basketball season and we are crossing our fingers it works out. He had a workout with the jazz last week which went well. He felt he did well which is great because he was kind of an underdog at the camp. Hopefully this leads to some more opportunities in the basketball life. We are looking forward to finding out which country we will move to, what a crazy thing to wait for! We will most likely move in the middle of august if everything works out.

Until next quarter... Love ya!