Tot Ziens Holland, Hello America!

We find it no coincidence as we starred at the beauty of a pink windmill in 2004 on our honeymoon in Aruba. It wasn't that it was pink, it was the function and the art of a windmill that made it so beautiful. It's purpose and structure is beauty. On that day, we saw a glimpse of Holland in Aruba which is part of the Dutch Antilles! There are no coincidences that 2 years later we would be seeing windmills everywhere and in our nearly backyard....

The time has come. After 4 years of living in Holland and traveling the world, we are relocating back to the USA on Dec 18, 2010! Hard to believe how fast the years went by but every minute of it was an adventure and an experience to remember. Often these days we can wear several facial expressions at once with all the thoughts and feelings that moving brings but we are excited about this next chapter of our lives beginning and there is always truth in “when one door closes, another one opens.”

We will never forget the life-long friendships we made here, the cultural experiences gaining a greater global vision of the world, beautiful countries, people, tasty culinair, travels to far off tiny towns, countryside, canals, amazing work opportunities, cooking school at Le Cordon Bleu, and many many life changing experiences. It was all truly amazing and we believe it’s still only the beginning of more travels and life journey’s to come.

We’re really going to miss everyone that has been close like family here in The Hague and the beautiful city it is from the historic downtown to the renown skyline of the historic/modern city. I will surely miss all the cycling even in the winter and rain (ha, NOT!), cycling - yes, the side walk cafes, fresh handmade foods, the fresh markets, and cycling with cheese, flowers and fresh produce each week in my bike basket. I often felt like we lived in a story book with the old traditional churches still chiming away hourly and the old city market squares bustling with merchants and business people surrounded in modern designed and dressed city. I guess you can say we’re city people but small town at heart. We love metropolitan life in modern cities but love to be tucked away in a city that feels quaint and charming. That’s The Hague to us.

When we left the US in 2007 we blogged about a favorite verse: “How do you know the road you travel? It’s the Lord that directs your path.” We knew that we were entering into a foreign world and a strange and unknown place but we had confirmation that it was where and what we needed to do. We left the US knowing that God’s plans for our life were SO much bigger than our own. And yep, that is now an understatement. We could not have expected so many life changing experiences (good and bad) that has greatly impacted us to carry forth in our lives from here. Our European life was only a glimpse and short period of our lives but a lasting one and at it’s best, we believe it’s only the beginning of more to come. From 'pink' windmills to the real ones, country canals, clogs and tulips, we will miss it all and always have a home here in Holland.

All aside, there are so many things unmentioned we will miss but we have so much excitement as to what is next and with our readjustment back to the US. There are so many people and familiar things that we missed during our time overseas. It’s time to rebuild a new life in an old place with many new perspectives and views of the world. We can’t wait to get settled in our new nest and await for our baby to arrive and from there continue our family adventures as it grows abundantly in number and in love.

We thank everyone so dearly to us from the bottom of our hearts in The Hague and those we met along the way in over 26 countries and 200 cities that we visited in our 4 years in Europe. We loved every minute of it and every conversation, picnic, dinner, small groups, tram/train, bicycle rides, parties, and travel experiences we had with those we spent time with and surely our paths will cross again.

So, rather than a “Good Bye” we simply say in Dutch “Tot Ziens” which translates to “See you soon!”

Ardennes & Brugges, Belgium – Beginning to End

When we moved to Europe 4 years ago in Jan 2007, we kicked off our travels in Brugges, Belgium for Scott’s birthday. With our move just days away we thought let’s end our traveling in Europe (for now) in Beligum. Since we have very few free days left before we move back to the USA, we decided to take a roadtrip to Ardennes, Belgium to escape to the countryside with our dog, Petra and find peace and quietness in the peaceful and beautiful mountainside. We stayed in a quaint village of Vencimont in a cottage tucked away in the woods. Our room was delicately decorated in French designs with french doors opening to the rolling hills. Since we arrived in the night time, I woke up to find the most peaceful views and found a warm spot in a window seat with a book. We spent the days on walks through villages and the forests and evenings in front of fireplaces either at the B&B or at a cozy restaurant. With it being very busy for us now and being 7 months pregnant, we thoroughly enjoyed the peacefulness and rest. We had snow showers making the beautiful region even more beautiful and cozy. We enjoyed a long day hike with Petra bouncing around the woods and trekking through the crunchy snow banks. The villages all around Ardennes are like a storybook towns with church steeples, stone homes smoking from roaring fireplaces and mountain people bundled up for walks to the local tavern (only thing open) past 5pm.

After 3 days in Ardennes we spent a night in yet again Brugges, Belgium. It was our 4th time visiting and was still as majestic. We dropped Petra off at the Sullivans where she played nonstop with her best bud, Gus and we ventured off to the fairytale town and actually felt like a king and queen for the night staying in a castle tucked away in the forest on a moat! Staying in a castle is pretty awesome and yet slightly spooky which makes it even more of an experience especially to be surrounded by water and the woods. Amazing.

Brugges was our first trip in Europe and our last one for this time around anyways :) At night, the castles and churches light up the sky and during the day, you see people peeking through the very old, wrinkled glass windows 150m up from the towers while hearing the horse and carriages trotting miles away.

Brugges is a medieval town dating back to 12^th century and is known as ‘Venice of the North’ in Western Europe. We love the medieval city with spectacular picturesque canals, gothic castles, stay a-while cafes, and a chocoholics dream come true. Brugges is a fairytale town. At night, the castles and churches light up the sky and during the day, the market square is hopping, bells are chiming, and chocolate and lace shops are busy on every corner. The market square was filled with Christmas market stalls and the wooden huts serving gluwein (mulled cider) and hot chocolate. Oh and of course hot Belgium waffles!

Even though this was our 4th time to Brugges, the city still sparkles with majesty like the first time we stepped in the market square. In my opinion, it’s real life Disney World but real and historic. This time we knew our favorite hot spots to visit and having our first baby on the way, we had new goals…. To get little white handmade lace and embroidered outfits for a boy OR a girl. For now, they will be used to decorate the baby’s room but someday Baby T can wear the Flemish designs and hopefully not resent us someday for a cute photo shot of him/her in the cute little outfit :)

We also stopped in the ice sculpture exhibit of cities around the world that we learned was recently visited and highlighted by Katie Couric. We also just had to stop by our favorite shops getting chocolates and to just get warm! It was freeeezzzing cold this weekend so just had to get our share of Belgian bonbons and hot chocolates!

It was a really great trip for us to spend time together and reminiscing the 4 years in Europe all beginning and ending in Brugges and continuing on…

Where to begin and end this one?

Life has been an interesting ride.... Breaking and very Late News! So here we go and hold on tight.

So much has happened and how time has flown by. I’m becoming more amazed by the concept of “time.” It flies. Indeed, it flies. Lately the phrase "stop and smell the roses" has a new meaning. Seriously, if you don't enjoy the moment at hand doing what you enjoy doing with the people you love, pooof it's over and you can't even remember what happened. So with major life changes approaching, I try to frequently stop and enjoy the moment and take a photo snapshot in my mind. These days we need to stop and slow down the pace of life and really enjoy the moments and capture the special times we have here. AND then GO and make the most of every second we have! Lately, that’s our life. We are balancing our life here with friends, work, hobbies and still.... cycling. But the other times we’re hussling around preparing for a big move back Stateside! It’s a huge move back over that side of the pond but we’re excited we are going back to familiar grounds, our condo in Centreville, and being closer to family and friends.

Living between both worlds in Holland and the USA and preparing for our move back to the USA this December brings a mixture of emotions but overall we feel so blessed in this process. Things are moving along smoothly and we have some time to stop and enjoy the precious time left here with really special friends from all over the world! We’re always talking and reflecting about the great times, experiences and memories we’ve had here over the 4 years but also all the great things we look forward to ahead.

So now onto way more exciting news….

It’s been SO long since I’ve posted, that I wasn’t even aware I hadn’t posted anything since our most recent humongous news.

We are EXPECTING a BABY in February!

Here are a few pictures of God's gracious gift, Baby T.

We left with 2 and return to the USA with 4 – our pup Petra and our most precious return in-cargo, Baby T. Our family has nearly doubled in 4 years and we feel so blessed. We have our hands full, literally but we are so excited about all the upcoming change that life brings us.

We will post another blog before returning and then we will retire the “Taylors in Holland.blogspot.com” and move on and spend that precious concept of time with other important details!

As we've done whether here or there, keep in touch and send me any new contact changes: address, phone, email, blogs, tweets, birthdays, everything!

For now, as we say here in Holland, TOT ZIENS! (see you soon)

The Taylors

Rhodes, Greece “OopppAaa!”

We decided to make a last minute trip to Rhodes (Rodos), Greece and booked it just one week from departure! We found a special deal including airfare, 4star resort, inclusive food and transportation and it was all really amazing!

We stayed for 1 week just 10km from the Old City, Rhodes in the town of Ialysos Bay which is the western side of the island. The coast of the Aegean Sea borders turquoise blue waters that meet the Turkish mountains and the view is captivating no matter where you stand. Since it’s the windy side of the island, the beaches are more rocks and it’s common for wind surfers to take a few waves but it’s stunning and the beaches shout out, “This is Greece!”

We have a very relaxing beach vacation laying out, swimming in the warm sea, laying by the sea view pool at the hotel, and eating delicious meals and drinking yummy smoothies and daiquiris!

We rented a motoscooter for a couple of days and toured the island to the east and north. We travelled 1 hour each way to the town of Lindos where the Acropolis still stands strong and tall on top of the town. From the view, you can also see the beautiful St. Paul’s Bay where the disciple, Paul’s ship wrecked and where he eventually left for Rome. It was surreal and amazing beautiful No wonder they chose such beautiful towns to spread the gospel! During this era, when Paul was later crucified, Christianity exploded Greek mythology towards the truth of Jesus.

Lindos represents Greece from culture, religion, beaches and old city squares. The white hillside towns steeply drop down to the ridge of the sea and white sandy beaches reflect the turquoise blue skies and the water. Blue and White – Greece. Country flag, buildings, water, skies, beach chairs, everything is blue and white. Gorgeous.

We spent the day there trekking around the old city, had a nice lunch on the hillside town and then spend the day on the fine sandy beaches.

We also took advantage of numerous sunsets in Rhodes with access to view points with the motor scooter. So, we took countless trips to Old City, Rhodes, the hilltop where another Acropolis stands and many mountain tops and coasts to view the beautiful array of colors of dusk.

We really enjoyed Greece and would love to go back someday to visit other islands and again experience the unique cultures and festive meals with live music and dancing that resembles and shouts, “This is Greece!”

Giverny & Loire Valley, France

We made a getaway in France by driving 5+ hours to begin our ventures in Giverny, the home town of Claude Monet. I've always loved his paintings and could tell why he chose Giverny to be his home town where he created such magnificent gardens that truly come to life, not only in his unbelievable artwork but by his serene and tranquil gardens which he designed himself. The gardens flow directly behind his house and beyond through the meadows, ponds, bridges and breathtaking flower fields.

After 1 night stay in Giverny, we made way for another 3 hours to Loire Valley, France to stay in a B&B in Santenay, nearly 30 minutes to all the major chateaus, sites and vineyards. We visited the amazing Chambord and Chenonceau Châteaus and tasted several of the infamous white wines, mainly Vouvray and sparkling wines. Tasty stuff especially with the goat cheese known in the region and our homemade breakfasts at the B&B consisting of fresh marmalades and yogurts.

We had a great road trip with our pup, Petra joining as well. She is quite the happy traveler, always up for new adventures and did great from the B&B's to the many walks and car trips. She's a trooper in the long car rides and really makes us laugh from her crazy positions riding in the backseat of the car to the strange noises she makes sleeping. She's a hoot with a great personality (and super spicy) at times! She was so captivated in her tracks in new towns seeing new things! She would stop suddenly, point with her nose, freeze (typical hunting dog!), and stare - at anything and everything. She had endless runs through the flowers, wheat fields and woods of France where she left many markings and paw prints.

We really enjoyed the beautiful, historic, royal sites of France but we also took time away to rest and relax in the countryside. We spent one day by the pool at the B&B basking in the French sun, doing flips in the pool and playing with Petra on the Dialo's beautiful property, which we made full use of :) They had lovely landscaping for picnics or just simply laying in the hammock doing nothing. If only we had more time to do "nothing". Oh well, that's not what weekend getaways are all about especially with a hyper lil pup. We enjoyed the time together seeing great sites and creating fun memories.

Aside from the royal, marvelous chateaus, we thoroughly enjoyed the waist high wheat surrounding the B&B. So when we weren't being prim and proper through royalty's best we were doing silly dives into the pool or crazy runs through wheat. Now, that's a getaway!

More photos can be viewed online by clicking on slideshow:

Petra the "Red Rock"


Petra joined our family on March 28th and is a red fireball of boundless energy and joy. We named her after one of our favorite places, the ancient city of Petra, Jordan meaning "red rock."



For a bit of history, Petra stands as a monument of God’s faithfulness in times of trouble. This will be the place where the Jews will flee from the Antichrist during the Great Tribulation. The city is uniquely protected with one way in and only one way out. The way into the city is narrow and easily defended from any attacker. As you walk through the ruins, it is hard not to look at the splendor of the stone work and reflect on the majesty of our God. It's truly amazing.


And so is Petra, our new pup :)
She has the most funny frizz ball on the tip of her tail and loves to cuddle and bury her nose in her bed. She is training very well and can already fetch and bring back, sit, down, stay (kinda), and follow on the leash. She's a quick learner but a testy, spicy one at times.

Here's an album on picasa: