Random Tidbits

We went out on a limb and bought a shelf for the bathroom at IKEA that you put together yourself. There's a line of products made of unfinished wood. Basically, you can decide what you want to build and choose the appropriate parts in the warehouse. John was excited about building something himself AND saving money by doing it this way rather than buying something already put together and stained. The challenge was choosing the right parts from a chart and list all printed in Dutch. Hmmm. We though we had it though...until John put it together. It looks good...if you don't touch it. You see, the shelf won't really stand up by itself. I think we're missing a vital component and we'll be making another trip to IKEA this weekend to try to remedy this problem.

We visited Crossroads International Church on Sunday and loved it! The church is quite large, made up of people from all different cultures, but the services and ministries are in English and there are plenty of ministries going on for us to get involved in. Erin is going to see if she might be able to sing with the praise team - there's a meeting on Saturday. She also has a meeting with the woman who heads up the lay counseling department at the church to see how she might be able to use her counseling skills while we're in Amsterdam.

Albert Heijn is the grocery store that's everywhere here. There's one right around the corner from us. However, after two shopping trips to get only enough food to last us 5 days and bills that added up to €55, Erin decided she needed to explore the area for other grocery stores. After only a couple hours, her mission was accomplished. Super de Boer (the store whose commercials taught us the phrase "Graag gedaan" - you're welcome) is the equivalent of Walmart food prices, and there is a Super de Boer fairly nearby the apartment. Yea for cheaper groceries!

We will still utilize the bakery and fruit market that are right around the corner.

The woman who lives upstairs from us is very nice. She is also very pregnant! Her baby is due any day now, and she will be giving birth at home. Apparently there is a special tub right above us where she will give birth. So, soon we will have a baby in our building!

Coming soon: pictures of our apartment on the flickr website.