1/2 Marathon

Well this will be a quick one....

Today was the first day of training for my second half marathon! I've decided I have to start training with a goal in mind because this past semester I ran about once a week. Sarah started training for another marathon today too, so it's a Gifford start day. I'm super excited for another challenge! I'm using a different plan, it's a bit more intense, so hopefully better results.  It's Saturday April 20th in Driemond (little village outside of Amsterdam). I expect you all to book your flights now from the US! A special thanks to Vicki for my new running  shoes, they were half of my inspiration.

See you then :)

ThanksgivingBirthday

Yesterday was Thanksgiving and my birthday! It turned out to be a fantastic day! When I walked into my first class they all sang Happy Birthday to me. At school I got many hugs and congratulations, I felt so special! It was awesome. The only thing that threw me off was that people I've never even hugged before did the whole kiss on two cheeks thing to congratulate me! It was very sweet, I just hate being non-European and feeling awkward every time someone does the cheek kissing thing. But I felt so honored anyway! Dave joined me at lunch time at school and we had a nice little afternoon. I had school from 8:30 until 4:00 so it was a looooong day. When I got home Dave had made these delicious cupcakes and set up those nice little birthday treats on the table for me! (Oh and those really are treats. You can't get those things at the normal grocery store. He had to go to the 'American Store' to get them and I'm sure he paid a pretty penny.) He knows me so well :) Aren't those flowers just beautiful?! I love getting flowers! At 6:00 we went to Thanksgiving dinner at the church it was a dinner for the JoVos (Young Single Adults). I don't know if I've mentioned this but for a while Dave and I were going to the FHE and institute every week. They invited us to attend even though we are married, I guess as an example??? On a farther tangent, I'm so glad I'm from Utah/went to BYU because it is just sooooo much easier to find a husband there than here in the Netherlands where there are such slim pickings!! But anyway. We went to Thanksgiving dinner and it was so much fun and delicious! 

After Thanksgiving dinner we came home and Skyped my family and Dave's family. It was so nice that they took the time for me! It was so nice getting to see them all. I miss getting to be in the States for the festivities but Skype makes it a little bit better. Alright well that's all folks,

Love ya!!

Coat

Well I'm not usually one to blog about clothes, but today I got just excited enough about my new coat to do it! So there is this Esprit outlet that's near us and today I found this coat that is normally 180 euro on sale for 19 euro (approx. $220 for $25). INSANE!!!!! And it's not just a cute, thin coat. It's quality, warm, and comfy. I'm super excited. WHAT A STEAL! Well the pictures don't quite do it justice and I look a little scary, but hey. It's a good day :)








On a side note. I was looking at 'stats' of my blog. People in Malaysia, Poland, Thailand, Latvia, Italy, Germany, and Russia have seen my blog. If that's not a reason to celebrate I don't know what is!!

2 Lovely Years

 Well it has been two years since Dave and I tied the knot! Who would have known on our wedding day that our first two anniversaries would be spent in the Netherlands?!? Not me! So crazy how life turns out. Surprisingly enough, for newlyweds we're still a bit short on cash(sarcasm, sarcasm)! We decided to have a less expensive but still awesome anniversary! There was a carnival going on at Dam Square in Amsterdam. We decided that that would be our celebration! We were planning on riding several rides. Dave sporadically decided he wanted to go on the giant slingshot ride first. I was so surprised but totally down! So we did that and wow our stomach was in our butts and then our throats and all over the place! It was insane. But awesome! Sadly, since we rarely travel by car anymore our stomachs have become weak. Sitting in the back seat of a car makes both of us feel gross. So this ride was  unfortunately the first and last!

Not us, but an awesome picture of what we did!

After the ride we went out to dinner to this Italian place we've found and have been to probably 10 time since living in Amsterdam. Cheap and good!

Well I don't have a whole lot more to write about our anniversary, so I'll just post some pictures from the last little while!

Love you all!

Cute little guy we babysat

Here legally again!

Bike riding in the rain

August 31st 2012

Well this day was a very special one in the Tensmeyer household! It was Dave's birthday and his graduation from the University of Amsterdam. It was the last day of my orientation so we had to squeeze a few things into Saturday too. So last Saturday (a week 1/2 ago) I made the decision that I wanted to rent us a motorcycle. I went to call and reserve it from the deck so that Dave couldn't hear the conversation. He was in the kitchen and this little window above the door was open so gosh dang it, Dave heard!! I was so mad. Then Dave brought up a point that 'Wouldn't we need a motorcycle license to rent it?' and I was like huh good point. So I emailed the company and they said nope! So we could still do it buttttttttt I told Dave that they said we did need a motorcycle license- Booyah I was still in business for a good surprise! So Friday rolled around and I got up early and made Dave some breakfast in bed. I didn't think he would actually want to eat it in bed (Dave just doesn't especially like staying in bed longer than necessary) but he did, so that was awesome. Also this morning it was raining pretty hard so again I wasn't so sure that the whole motorcycle thing would work out. I left for orientation for a few hours. When I came out of orientation the sky had cleared up so hopefully the motorcycling could happen!

I got back and Dave opened his presents (just a couple of shirts). Then we ate a small lunch. Then I said we needed to go somewhere before his graduation....so we took the metro and walked for a while. We got to the place and Dave could kinda tell what was up. We got in and I told them 'we're the one's to rent  a motorcycle'. Dave was like..."really??" He started freaking out because it has been a long time since he'd ridden one. He had a motorcycle four years ago, but since then he hasn't really been on one. He was super nervous and we almost didn't get it. Fortunately I convinced him :)

I told him to just take it slow and ride around by himself for a while before I got on.

 So we rode the motorcycle to the graduation! The graduation was a lot different than graduations in the States. There was basically no pomp or circumstance. There were a few advisers up front and 10 students.

 Each adviser took a few minutes speaking about the student and their thesis. They gave everyone some beautiful flowers and then had some refreshments after. Motorcycle time again! Oh just a reminder, we are in Amsterdam. So driving is a lot more stressful here. There aren't really back streets and there are lots of stop lights. But ya we rode the motorcycle and got some Indian food (Dave's favorite). Then we rode the motorcycle home and had some cake.

 
By this time Dave got really comfortable on the motorcycle and was really looking forward to Saturday! (We rented the motorcycle for 24 hours) Saturday we took a little trip out to a small town called Marken.

 It is super picturesque and we had so much fun. It was awesome just seeing the sea, countryside, and all sorts of beauty. In summary, we were nervous at first, survived, loved it at the end,  and now Dave wants to own a motorcycle again! Good thing we're still too poor to afford it so he can't :) Love you all!!

FUTURE

Well I've decided to post a little about our current state. Dave talked to the guy who is going to help him get a job (Allen) and he said he should have details figured out tomorrow and we should know what is going on! At this point we aren't sure whether or not he is getting a job (we feel fairly sure he will be getting one, but we aren't counting our chickens). You could say we are in limbo. Completely.

This is me, not counting our chickens...hahahahaha

Our contract for our apartment ends July 5th which is less than a month away and anyone who lives in Amsterdam will tell you it's a beast trying to find housing...maybe we'll be homeless for a few weeks. But if he doesn't get the job then I'll be starting back at BYU this summer....in 7 DAYS. How will that work out? I really don't know. Talk about a stressful crazy week if that's what it comes down to! And then there's the whole thing where the possible job is in Den Haag and the program I want to get into is in Amsterdam. It's about an hour and a half commute. We won't hear back from my program till mid-July so we don't know if we should just move to Den Haag or stay in Amsterdam. We would like to stay in Amsterdam, we really like the ward here and we've gotten to know our way around and we like it here! It's become home! It's just crazy right now because we have no idea where we'll be living one month from right now! Oh LIFE :) What would you be without challenges?

Sister De Leeuw (senior missionary) asked me on Sunday where I would prefer to live given all options. I would like to stay here in the Netherlands. At the beginning of the trip I never thought that could be! But it is. I will list the many reasons I love it here:

-Being useful, needed, helpful, responsible, having people excited to see you, being different at our ward here. It is so different from Utah, especially a married ward at BYU.

-Riding a bike everywhere! Not having to pay for gas/a car is beautiful! No where else would be so convenient for a bike (Holland is FLAT)

-Being independent! Never thought I'd be so comfortable riding public transport!

-Canals/windmills

-Living in Europe just sounds so grand

-Seeing cute beebers on the front of bikes!

-Living in an apartment is a good excuse for not having a dog yet

-Meeting Americans is exciting and you like to talk to them!

-Fresh flower markets all over

-We've learned to live with less

-It's where I've become a runner!

-If Dave gets a job it would make everything SO WORTH IT

-Being able to get all over Europe for cheap

-Dave and I have become so close with it just us here.

-I really want to do the physical therapy program that I've applied to here. REALLY want to do it. 

Of course there are many more I just can't think of, but there are also reasons I would so like to go home:

-FAMILY

-Being in the same time zone or at least only 2 hours difference from all my friends/family

-Mexican food

-Being able to talk to anyone in English and not feeling like an idiot for not speaking Dutch

-All of our wedding gifts that are in the closet at the Tensmeyers being unused!!

-Driving groceries home in a car rather than in my saddle bags. They hold so little!

-MOUNTAINS

-The sun....it is still like winter here...I miss getting tan!

Well I love you all, have a good day!

 

RUN

So a few weeks ago I was talking with my sister Sarah and she said that she and my brother Andrew were going to run a marathon together in June. She suggested I start training and do it with them. I got really excited, found a running schedule, marked up my planner, and have been running consistently ever since. I won't be running that race with them because I won't be in Utah at that point but I am planning on running a half sometime soon! The farthest I have run so far is eight miles! Honestly, I was proud of myself when I ran five. Before this training I had never run more than four miles so this is EXCITING for me! My long days are Saturday and I look forward to them each week. (Which is a way I had never ever felt about running before)

Last Saturday (my 8 mile run) Dave was doing his own run when I left the house. He got back, showered and hopped on his bike. He rode his bike my WHOLE route trying to bring me water and to cheer me on. He never found me, but isn't that so gosh darn sweet??! What an awesome husband!

Week day runs I try to do as soon as I wake up so I don't have to eat breakfast first and then wait for the food to digest. Dave left for his run before I got up and took my MP3 so I wasn't able to start right away. I ate breakfast and just sat at my computer...for like five hours just debating whether or not I was going to run. It was the first time since I've had my 'program' that I had to debate even going. After a while I looked up motivational stuff to help me get my butt out the door...this is the quote that I think Liz had in her room growing up so it just kinda sticks with me. It was my motivation:

To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.

Have a good day and just do it!!