Next destination in life, Spain! 

Not the clearest picture, but you get the idea.

December 8th 2021 we flew to Spain, with our one way ticket, early in the morning. We were traveling with just three bags of hand luggage and our 3 cats. During the flight our cats we all quite chill. Only Bibi was chatting every now and then :).

Tired of the last few months and at the same time excited for what was coming next

We arrived at our next destination in life, Spain! My mom picked us up at the airport. I remember we were in the car and  I was looking outside the window at the blue sky, there were no clouds at all. The weather was so sunny and I was thinking ‘This is going to be our home now’. It felt so surreal.

Our life was changing, we turned our life around

On December 9th we had the appointment at the notary in the morning to sign the deeds and receive the keys to our new house. And I remember I thought ‘Our life is changing, we are turning our life around’. I felt thankful, but there was also a feeling of restlessness, because we were building something completely new here. 

A house, not yet a home

Our daughter’s room was the first room to be ready. And I guess it did feel like home for our cats from that moment 🙂

We have a video of my husband carrying me in our new house for the first time. And when I see the video I see it was a house, not yet our home. We started cleaning our house before the moving truck would arrive the next day. We chose to buy all of our (new) furniture and decorations in Holland and pack everything in the moving truck. This way we could decorate our house right away instead of buying things in Spain with a delivery time. So when the moving truck arrived the next day we could immediately put all the furniture in the right room and start unpack and get settled. Unpacking and getting settled took a few days, quite fast, but creating a cozy atmosphere took a bit longer. We came from an old characteristic house and now moved to a very modern house. 

It takes time for things to feel familiar

The weather was so nice in December, we were not used to that. We already spent a few days on the beach and we enjoyed it so much. Things didn’t feel familiar yet or like home, but I knew it would take time before it would feel like home. And now I can say that this is home, it feels more like my home than other homes in the past have ever felt.

A beautiful beach day in December

Celebrating Christmas in a house that doesn’t feel like home yet

Bibi brought some Christmas vibes

Before we knew Christmas was coming. Normally we love Christmas, our house is decorated and has a very christmassy vibe. But this year it felt a bit weird, celebrating Christmas in our new house, which didn’t feel like home yet, and without any family or friends. But we started making memories in our new house. On Christmas evening we did our traditional family dinner, where everyone prepares a surprise course. And on Christmas day we put the blinds down, made popcorn and we watched a movie in our bedroom together.

A new life is starting

Slowly new routines were developing after Christmas, our new life was starting. My husband started working from home and our daughter went to school. She went to an international school, 50% English and 50% Spanish, where she already had a friend and they were put in the same class. My daughter was pretty happy about this and liked her new teacher a lot. 

But my life was very different because I didn’t have a job and I had to figure out how I wanted my life to be and what I wanted to do. But I felt peace in the idea that I could figure it all out without any pressure or distractions and in this lovely area where our new life was starting.