EXCELLENT NIEUWS!!!! (that's news in Dutch)

Matt heard late yesterday that he somehow won a concession from the powers that be. Dun Dun duuuunnnnnn: We get to stay here, live in our apartment in Amstelveen until April 20th.

This came after I'd already torn everything off our walls, ransacked the cupboards and drawers, gave away what furniture we bought for this place, and said our goodbyes to our congregation... Now, thankfully, we get to not only be here in Amsterdam Zuidoost for the Memorial on April 9th, but we will also be here JUST long enough for Lanette to still be able to use her non-refundable ticket and visit us. So many people in the congregation told us that they'd be happy to play tour guide and host for her if we had to be gone, but we are all SOOOOOooooo happy that we get to be both hosts and tour guides as planned.

We are still mulling the very likely prospect of moving to Utah when we return to the states. Half an hour from great ski resorts, a lake you can't sink in, and average summer temperatures that stay under 90 on average... It's not looking so terrible. Although it will keep us a longer distance from our families, it's a whole lot easier to drive for a day, or to catch an hour long flight to see them than it is to visit from another continent. So, there's that.

We went out for a celebration curry dinner and Matt woke up with a full blown cough. No that the stress of not knowing what was going to happen has lifted, I think his body thinks it has permission to give into the bad weather cold that's going around here. I'm determined that he will be well enough to run by this Sunday. I am still convincing him :) The sunny sky of a few days ago has turned to 3 days of rain and wind. I thought the atmosphere was just providing weather that fit our mood...so, by now it should be sunny again, but it's still storming! Maybe the world doesn't revolve around me after all....huh...