Busy, busy, busy!

Hello family and friends!! I have to apologize for my lack of blogging in the month of September! It was certainly a crazy month filled with so much blogging material it came to be overwhelming! When we got here, I could barely fill the hours in the day with enough things to do, now I'm right back to not having enough of them!

To start, after Ashley left at the end of August I registered through an au pair website. It was recommended to me by a friend who is currently working as a live-in au pair in Brussels, so I knew it was legit! I made a profile on the site and within 24-hours I was already being contacted by families in the area! I was amazed! The message that caught my eye was from another American expat family living in Brussels who needed  a part time nanny for their 2 toddlers. That Saturday, Jason and I went to meet them for an interview and I started work on Monday! The kids are Jiles, 3yrs, and Aia, 1.5yrs. Jiles is the most energetic 3y/o I've ever met (and that's saying something) who loves to dance and sing to the Wiggles, so it's easy to steer all of his energy in the right direction! Aia is a spitfire who has hair so fine that is sticks straight up (adorable), and wants nothing more than to do everything her big brother does. So I've been working about 4-5 hours a day since the beginning of September, which isn't a lot, but it's been a big change since I stopped working in June!

Some other new developments are that * drum roll please* Debbie Fast has discovered her courageous spirit (better late than never!) and is flying over to visit us in the middle of November. We can't wait to show her around this exciting city as well as spend a long weekend in Paris!

Also, Jason and I have been busy trying to get everything in order for when we come home in just a few short months. Mainly, making sure we have a place to live! We've been apartment hunting since March, so it's just been a waiting game to see what would come available when we needed it! Right now we're leaning towards two different apartments, one in St. Francis and the other in Wauwatosa. We've got some good options, now we just need to think and pray about what's right for us!

We're also expecting a visitor this weekend! The younger sister of a certain wedding coordinator extraordinaire (cough Maggie Melchior cough), is studying in Paris this semester and wants to explore Brussels a bit! We're really excited to to have Katie stay with us and to show her what we've discovered in Brussels so far!

So THAT, friends and family, is my terrible excuse for lack of blogging! Since I've blogged last we've been to, Brugge (twice), Amsterdam, Lille, Cinque Terre, and Rome! So I have a lot more blogging to do, I suppose! Our four-month anniversary is fast approaching which also means only two more months left for us in Brussels! We can't believe how fast the time is going, but we also can't wait to be back with our friends and family! And just in time for the Holidays :) It's amazing to see the ways God is shaping our lives and our marriage by blessing us with this time here. And this is only the beginning!

Be sure to check facebook for ALL of our albums, especially the most recent of Cinque Terre and Rome! The pictures really tell a better story than I ever could, so they'll suffice until I can find more time to blog.

Until then, and with so much love,
The Newlyweds