It’s been a really good year in so many ways.
I have bought a sewing machine, successfully grown a chilli after killing so many other plants, brought an awesome modern leather armchair for our apartment, had enchiladas for lunch at the American diner in Brussels with Rasmus, sorted our wedding photos out and designed an album that is so close to be ready to print, watched the first two of the Godfather trilogy and declared I’ll need serious bribing to watch the last one, have tried my upmost to be more tidy in the flat (Rasmus admits I am a little better), spent a lovely day in the Ardennes with my parents, drank many bottles of champagne, read some great books and some not so good ones, been so lucky to visit three new countries and enjoyed them all (Luxembourg, Hungary and Morocco), spent a blissful day in a country spa with my mum and my sister, improved my Danish enough to have “secret” conversations with Rasmus in public (yey!), made cherry ice cream, started making more bread and rolls, organised all my printed and cut out recipes into a massive binder and cooked more of them, written a lot of letters and cards to friends around the world and enjoyed getting letters in return, got to know some amazing, strong and brave women seeking asylum in Belgium, kept writing this blog pretty much regularly with just a few longer gaps…
And finally, on the last day of my year, or the first day of my new one, Rasmus and I returned to Villers Abbey in the glorious sunshine for a picnic, naps in the sunshine and experiments in photography with our new-ish camera.
It truly has been a wonderful year, for these and so many more reasons. It was the first full year I have been married and that has added so much joy to every day. I’ve felt settled here in our life in Brussels, with great friends, an inspiring church, a good job and fantastic lifestyle.
And it’s all about to change.
I tried writing a new list for my 28th year, since I had such a good experience ticking off the things on this list. But I found it too hard, because there is so much unknown about this coming year, that I am not sure what to put on the list.
A week from today on Maundy Thursday, I will leave my office for the last time. I handed in my resignation at the end of February and am finally in the final week. It’s a little overwhelming but after three and a half years and a lot of learning and growing, it feels like the right time to move on to the next thing.
The next thing is a long trip to the USA! Rasmus is doing a three month work rotation within his company so I am of course going with him. From mid-May we’ll spend two months in Fort Myers, Florida, and then one month in San Diego, California. I know. Three months of guaranteed sunshine and warmth? I am so excited!
After that, I’m not sure what comes next. But I know that God knows and it will all work itself out at the right time. And in the meantime I am going to enjoy the luxury of four months to think and dream and imagine what I could do with my life.
Don’t worry, you’re all coming with me 🙂 I’ll keep you updated every step of the way and promise to post many jealousy-inducing photos of me lying in the sun sipping a pina colada!
Thanks for coming along for the ride this last year – I’m looking forward to an even better 28th year…
