So now that everyone knows about the move, here are a few fun facts to make you as excited as we are:

It has Awesome Weather: "The warmest weather is from June to August, with temperatures between 68-78 degrees. There are rarely extreme temperatures."
It's Full of Museums: "Let’s put things into perspective. Netherlands has more than 70 museums. Out of these, more than 40 are located in Amsterdam. The city has more museums per square meter than any other city in the world."
(For Kevin...) Coffee is a Staple in Amsterdam: "Back in the 1600s when the Netherlands had a thriving colonial empire, the Dutch were pioneers in introducing coffee to the European world. Now, the Dutch rank second to the Scandinavians in terms of coffee consumption."
Markets: There are 12 daily markets and 15 markets open 1 or 2 days of the week to choose from, one of which in the famed Flower Market. I mean come on...a market...full of flowers...whats not to love?!
History in Architecture: There are over 8,000 buildings built between the 16th and 18th centuries within the Amsterdam city limits alone. So. Much. History.

How excited are you now?

But really, we can't wait. We have spent the last several months planning logistics for the move, and after we received the acceptance letter this weekend we wrote a huge checklist and hung it on our wall. See for yourself:

Yes I used colorful markers. Because i'm basically a child (in my defense, logistics are way more exciting when they're colorful). And for those of you who're wondering what the distorted/terrifying looking thermometer on the right is, let me take a moment to be transparent:

Kevin and I have decided that we will probably need about $15,000 in our savings before we leave. That's a whole lot of money. We've been working as much as possible in order to save, but we know there is no way to do this without God's help. So we've been praying and invite you to pray with and for us as we try and hit this goal.

As I said, we've both been working as much as possible to meet this goal, so i'd like to take a moment and tell you about two fundraising ideas that we've come up with; one is more last minute (sorry guys) and the other is a little more planned out.

100 Mile Bike-a-thon

On February 25th (next Tuesday for those of you without calendar access), Kevin will be making his way to Asheville via a 100+ mile route. His goal is to be around 110 miles, but breaking 100 will be a definite victory. He'll be setting up a spreadsheet for those of you who may want to donate a certain amount per mile. If you decide to participate, download the spreadsheet and enter your name and amount you wish to donate. At the end of the event, we will announce the total miles and you can donate the total amount. If you want to bypass the waiting or calculation process, you can just donate toward the trip through a pay pall account we've set up (the button is at the bottom of the page).

a cool bike that looks nothing like Kevin's although he want to own it real bad...

Mini Spring Photo Session

Sometime mid April or early May (waiting on the arrival of some baby goats before we set the date) I will be hosting a Mini Spring Photo Session opportunity. With the help of a couple local artists and a friend with a farm, i'll be hosting the happiest, most fun, easiest kids Spring Session of all time.

You'll have to opportunity to choose from one of two sets: Baby Animals or Fun with Colors, Baby Animals being the cleaner of the two (if you are looking for a pretty, 'dressed-up' easter session). With your purchase of the Mini Session you will receive a 30 minute time slot for your children's pictures and 3 finished images with which to do what you wish.

The cost for a Mini Spring Session including all of your children and the 3 finished images will be $50. We will hold all the sessions on one Saturday in April. I will be releasing a form with all the information: date, time, place, and price as soon as I finalize a couple details.

We would like to invite you to join us in preparing for our move by participating in one of these fundraisers, or by donating directly to the special Pay Pal account we have set up. If you are short on funds we TOTALLY understand (I mean we're college students/newlyweds[ish] so we get that), and would just ask that you pray. Pray often and fervently. God can and will provide for us, and we're excited to see Him work!

100 Miles and Baby Goats