Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Why I {heart} Holland


Today I biked to Hubby's work with our Little Man to go for lunch. We have lived in Holland since September and everywhere we go I am continuously amazed by the people and places around me.

Here are some things that I love about living here that stood out to me particularly today:

I love passing the neighborhood school and seeing 25-30 adults lined-up outside....on bike...waiting for their child to get out of school. I love seeing moms bike their children to the grocery store in these:

{It's a Bakfiets (box bike)}


I love that we have a windmill in our neighborhood.

{yes, this is down the street from our apartment}

I love that when it snows they don't shovel the sidewalks. Instead, they clear off the canals, strap on their skates and away they go. I also love that it is January 20, the snow has melted and Spring is on it's way.

I love that I can look out our living room window and see this:



I love how friendly our neighbors are.


And I absolutely love seeing the look on our Little Man's face as he takes in all the incredible sights and sounds around him.



There is plenty more that I could list, but in the essence of time I'll just say:
I am happy to be living here with my two incredible boys; Hubby and Little Man.
(and I don't care how cheesy that sounds)


So, what do you love most about where you live?


Cheers!
-Laura

30 comments:

Sandra said...

"Your" Pizza was great!
I love that we have 3 lakes and the mountains close to where we live. It takes 10 minutes to be abel to jump in a lake in summer and 1/2 hour to ski down the hills in winter.erses

Pamela Gold said...

Wow. I would love to live in a place such as you describe. What do I love about where I live? I love that it's January and today is warm enough to open the windows and allow the slightly crisp air rush through my home. I live in Flordia. Gotta love Winter in Florida!

Jen @ After The Alter said...

Can I move into Holland with you? You made me jealous! it sounds like a wonderufl life. How long are you there for?

Maki said...

You pizza looks so delicious!!!! I will definitely try it:)

The view from your window is breath taking. So beautiufl and you're right, you're lucky to live there. I've never been to Holland, but I would love to visit!

xoxo

p.s. thanks so much for swinging by - please stay in touch:)

heather@actingbalanced.com said...

Visiting from SITS - looks like you have found your slice of heaven :) Enjoy!

Unknown said...

It looks like a really great place to live. Stopping by from SITS!

LisaDay said...

I loved my trip to Holland, my mom's birth place. I love that I look out over Lake Simcoe. I love that nature is so close by me and that it's not unusual to slow my car for deer, porcupine, raccoons and for several years, fox. I swear I saw a wolf once. I love the beautiful sun rises and sun sets seen from my windows.

Stopping by from SITS.

LIsaDay

The Dutch Girl said...

I miss those views! I seriously thought about shipping a bakfiets to the US but there was a hill near my house I knew I would never, ever, make it up.

Stopping by from SITS. Happy Friday!

Hanneke

Danielle said...

I would love just to pick up and move someplace so amazing. I am so sick of the area of the US that I live in!

Stoppin' by from SITS!

Shelley said...

That bike looks crazy cool. Stopping in from SITS.
If I may, are you originally from the states? Why did you all chose Holland?

Joy@TPMG said...

How beautiful! My SIL just moved to the Netherlands and she is just getting the hang of riding a bike (at least how they ride them in the Netherlands). The changing seasons and the mountains are my favorite things about where we live.

Unknown said...

what a beautiful montage of photos...what a wonderful piece of the world you have at your doorstep. I love that bike!
Thanks for stopping by my blog and becoming a follower. I can't wait to hear more of your adventure

Kellene Maynard said...

Great Pictures! Thanks for sharing! It is great seeing cool stuff from other countries! Visiting via SITS!

megmichelle said...

I love the bike. I wish I lived in a place where I could bike every where. Beautiful pictures of the windmill. I definitely want to visit Holland.

Stopping by from SITS.

Claudia Medeiros said...

Visiting from SITS :)

First of all, I must confess that Netherlands is my special place in the world ! Hubby and I lived in Den Haag and I miss so much walking in the woods early morning in Voorburg.
Well, lovely blog, delicious recipes ... I'm sure I will stop by more often :)

Have a beautiful weekend !

Danae Hudson said...

Those are amazing pictures!! That bike is amazing.

I love to see Manhattan. It smells and is crowded when I'm in it, but when I get to Jersey City and walk along the boardwalk, the Manhattan lights seem so majestic.

Stopping by from SITS

Anonymous said...

Hi from SITS! I loved visiting Amsterdam and Delft many years ago for a weekend. Not nearly enough time.

I love the local food scene in West Michigan.

AmericanTribal said...

Holland sounds like a beautiful place to be! :) I found your blog on SITS.

I live in Charlotte, NC and I love the weeping willow trees we have here, they are the prettest willows I've seen so far.

Laura said...

Thanks for all the comment love ladies!

Sandra: Glad you enjoyed the pizza. That's awesome you have the mountains so close. I certainly do miss the mountains.

Pamela: Florida sounds awesome! Thanks for stopping by.

Jen: We're here for at least year, but probably will end up being longer. If you ever visit, I recommend spring time when all the tulips are blooming: BEAUTIFUL!

Maki: Holland is definitely a must-see for places to visit!

Acting Balanced Mom: Thanks for stopping by!

JDaniel4's Mom: Thanks for visiting.

LisaDay: Where you live sounds wonderful. How long ago did you visit Holland? Thanks for visiting.

Hanneke: Bakfiets are amazing; I am surprised more places don't have them. Thanks for stopping by.

Danielle: Thanks for visiting.

Shelly: We are originally from Canada; then we moved to Germany; and now we are in Holland. It has been for Hubby's job.

J.L.W. : Where did your SIL move to?

Christy: Thanks for visiting.

Kellene: Thanks for stopping by.

Megmichelle: Holland is an awesome place to spend time in. Thanks for visiting.

Claudia: How long ago did you live in Den Haag? We were there for the New Years Dip at Scheveningen...so much fun! Thanks for visiting.

Divine Mrs D: I have not been to Manhatten, definitely want to visit there.

The Local Cook: Glad to hear that you have been able to visit Holland. We live here and I feel like there isn't enough time to see everything...

AmericanTribal: Weeping Willows are so beautiful. Thanks for stopping by.


Thanks again everyone for the positive comments. Perhaps I will figure out how to email responses next time...lol

The Grown-Up Child said...

Laura that is amazing! I have never been to Holland, but you have convinced me to go whenever I make it over to Europe. Beautiful! You are lucky to have your son be able to experience that.

And thank you for visiting my blog last week!

Marie said...

visitng from sits. i have never been to holland, it sounds amazing. wishing you a great week.

Unknown said...

Beautiful photos... I agree there are many great things to living in Europe. Looking forward to reading more from you! : )

Jamie said...

Beautiful pictures!!!

I've posted about a postcard exchange in my blog a few times...I would LOVE it if you would check it out and send us a postcard from Holland! I'd be happy to send you one in return.

You can email me at harrison.jamie (at) yahoo (dot) com

Steph said...

I'm jealous about the windmill! I've never seen one before. And those bikes are awesome. I wish I lived somewhere where we could bike.

...stopping by from SITS...

Steph @ A Grande Life

Rachel Cotterill said...

Where did you move from? I'm hoping to make it to Holland during tulip season this year... but we'll see how that pans out, it's already a busy year.

I love so much about where I live... if you come over to my blog & look at some of my nature posts you'll get a good idea of why I think it's special :)

Katie said...

Holland sounds so wonderful and family friendly!

I (usually) love that we have a definite four season weather cycle, that we are very close to my son's preschool and all the other conveniences of our location.

...stopping in from SITS!

Sandy said...

What do I love about where I live? The fact that my family is all around me for starters.

Holland is on my to-see list. Hopefully in the next year I will get there.

Thanks for stopping by yesterday for my SITS day.

tristan said...

It looks absolutely incredible there. I love the bikes. I grew up in Argentina and there everyone rides mopeds and motorcycles. Whole families!!! It's quite a spectacle. :) Your pictures definitely make me want to see Holland. Have a wonderful day. <3

April said...

They really just skate places?! Awesome! I really want to go to Holland. My parents went without me-I had to go camping with friends and I got the chicken pox! I am still bitter. :-)

Stopping by from SITS!

Laura said...

April: As long as there is a canal close by. The kids in the neighborhood really seemed to enjoy skating to school. There are some places to visit when the canals are frozen that are not possible to get to otherwise. And, there is a race that many people HOPE will be able to take place, called Elfstedentocht, but hasn't happened since 1997.

The Elfstedentocht is a skating tour that happens in the northern part of The Netherlands and unless the canals on the entire route freeze sufficiently then the race doesn't happen.