Braving Brussels?

Todd & I leave for Belgium on Friday. The purpose for this trip is house-hunting. Unfortunately, we learned this morning that the place which looked to be the best fit for us is now under contract until April. In a perfect world, we'll find a furnished 3-bedroom space with a reasonable commute for Todd. We had hoped to find corporate housing, but there are only a couple of places in Leuven which offer that.

We had our first contact with our realtor this morning. We will meet him in person on Monday and see what we can find. The realtor has told us that a couple of hours Monday afternoon will be plenty of time to see all of the options because there will likely only be 1 or 2. Fun fact: a "short" lease in Leuven is 3 years long!! People don't tend to move as often, apparently.

The realtor also suggested we consider looking for a place in Brussels. This is less than ideal because it will mean a longer commute for Todd, but Brussels also looks beautiful, so that may be what has to work for us. We'd like to find something furnished with at least 3 bedrooms so we have room to homeschool without climbing on top of each other at every turn. Laine would also like us to live in a castle. I'll keep you posted on how that works out...

Todd's parents are going to stay with the kids in Austin while we're gone. I am sure they will all have a great time while we're gone, but I'm still a little nervous leaving my babies behind while I travel across the globe without them. We'll be back next Wednesday and I am sure we'll all have grown and learned new things in the interim.

Meanwhile, I recommend that you brace yourselves. I will be arriving in Leuven (and maybe Brussels) for the first time this weekend. I am sure I will be posting alllllll the pictures on social media and will try to blog about some of my first impressions.

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From my previous post:

I *think* all of the paperwork we need to file has been completed and turned over to the people who are working through the immigration process on our behalf. We've been reviewed by the FBI, examined by our doctors, and met with the surveyor to review what we can air-ship. (They think the 2 crates will weigh less than 200 pounds. I think they don't understand how many books and games we use for homeschooling).

We have a great friend lined up to house-sit in our absence. This is a huge answer to prayer - for her and for us!

I finished Laine's quilt and I'm cutting the fabric for Isaac's. No pressure there...

It appears Alexa will work in Belgium.