It has already been more than four months since I wrote my last blog. A lot has happened since then. Because my husband and I are planning to move to Los Angeles in 2011, I will write my blogs in English from now on. Making mistakes will be inevitable and my writing won't be impeccable. I will have to learn a lot the next years! Dutch readers, who may experience problems with English, can use Google Translate. But I don't expect the very language skilled Dutchmen to have a problem with my writing in English.

Well, let's come to the point. To summarize our activities: since Jeroen has won the DV2011 Lottery, we have been making all kinds of efforts to prepare our great crossing the North Atlantic ocean in 2011. First of all: we put our house for sale. Then we got ourselves the necessary vaccinations (America's strict on that one), only one left to go in February 2011. We got ourselves neat new yellow vaccination booklets:

As Jeroen was and is having a busy time with his customers, I got busy with further emptying the house. A couple of years ago I started with throwing away stuff, or giving it away... or selling it for that matter for a low price. I must have felt there would soon come a time that this had to be done anyway. This year came up with a true and valid reason: emigration.

Back in the days I was a real collector. If I liked something, I wanted to have all pieces of it (not only the red and blue one, but the green, orange, purple, yellow and pink one as well), especially in minerals and little statues. I changed a lot these last couple of years. Maybe it was a bit of the influence of Jeroen. He never felt the need to possess stuff, except for what he actually needed. All these statues and home decor items don't mean a thing to him. Now they don't to me anymore as well. Less is more and this in the strongest sense possible. I come to look at possessing furniture, books, decoration items, Buddha statues, etc. ect. as ballast. Really, it is that to me. People can change!

So the house got emptier every day. I came to the core of my essence. I didn't need to involve myself with Jeroen's stuff, for he almost got nothing. So it was my own stuff I had to get a grip on. And I succeed! The only thing that remains is 'paper works'. That is: some books I really can’t miss (think about approximately 200 books - believe me, I had at least ten times more),  my diaries (more than 300), my out of body experiences diaries (5 big ones), my most valuable college stuff: all the theses I aced (I made them with great effort and lucky enough the university professors appreciated it), photo books and photos, only the most important correspondence, my own drawings... well, that's about it. But this still fills more than ten emigration boxes (we already bought them on www.marktplaats.nl)... so... guess being an active & spiritual living soul comes with a small library anyway.

But how much I carried away! Over the years I often showed Jeroen what I was getting rid of this time. He always responded like this: "Well... good for you!" The less is more thing sure makes him happy... and me too!

As for the *For sale * sign on our house, we came to realize that interested people would like to see the house as empty as possible. That made us decide to store our stuff. More rightly put: my stuff. So we did. I chose a reliable storage house and we drove up to it, and filled a small storage box. Now our house is as empty as I can deliver. We have the birds and plants, our beds, our dressers, some chairs, a few cupboards/closets... But that's about it. And I like it. I can't imagine myself back in those days that I was a true collector, when I got home and showed Jeroen the 'beautiful' new Buddha statue, and he responding like in: "Nice..." (but with that certain look in his eyes: that he was happy for me, not for him. )

My new throw-away passion sometimes even went a bit too far. Then I suddenly needed something, but couldn’t find it anymore. Uhhh...oh yeah right. I threw away that one too.

More than clearing the house, I have been doing some improving chores in the house as well, like painting and repairing small cracks... it's a Thirties house with great charm, but every house needs a beauty treatment now and then. Houses are just like human beings in that aspect.

We got ourselves certified translations of all our diplomas with impressing melted red seals of the Town Hall of The Hague...

And I can continue. We are watching a big amount of famous American TV series without Dutch subtitling to get used to American accents and a bigger vocabulary... this isn't a punishment, not to say a big treat! I've always been a fool for good Hollywood productions and a lot of (famous) American actors feel like friends to me. Jeroen did a lot of catching up on TV series of the Eighties, but he likes them as much as I do.

For the time remaining in The Netherlands, it could be that I will work as a temporary High school teacher. But it's not that easy to come around when a school knows you will be leaving next year. Slowly but surely I am wrapping up my Dutch activities in my one woman business DHR Soul Travel. I will be officially ending this company by the end of this year, so December 31. 2010. It seems a good moment to do this (also because of the tax, it's easier for everyone if you start or end at a new year). I've made my point here in The Netherlands and I need this new beginning elsewhere. I think that this country The Netherlands has become too small for me. In more than one way: the land itself with its lack of nature and the audience for my subject: out of body experiences. I feel blessed to have made a difference in The Netherlands, Belgium and maybe a little in Europe, by contributing on the subject with my books, seminars and websites. But it seems to me my task here is completed, my books are available, and people were offered to take a course in Out of Body Experiences.

I guess the amount of Dutch people that is interested in my subject is limited due to the limited size of this country and the not so spiritual nature of the plurality of Dutch people. I am not main stream with this subject and I always refused to go mainstream like other writers do with stuff like "The Secret" which I more or less define as commercial rubbish! I always have been interested in improving spiritual health and (both astral as physical) consciousness in this world... I really am not interested in people wanting more expensive cars, larger houses, impressing careers and big, glamorous swimming pools. This whole "Secret" thing seems highly egoistical to me, and people who have been 'fine educators' in all Rhonda Byrnes things, often already have proven that the teaching is leading to nothing really worth while, on the contrary: often they got the opposite of what they not so secretly were wishing for.

In my humble opinion the only thing really worth while investing in, is being a free living being, helping others where you can, protecting nature and the earth, being happy with friends and nature, being truthful and doing the thing you're really good at. And never forgetting we are all souls passing through, in the end not taking anything with us except for our soul and love.

Jeroen and I would love to travel in America with a trailer; that would be our idea of being happy. Enjoying all the good stuff America offers, maybe helping people, nature and animals on the way, and - in my case -  writing more books about out of body experiences.  Enjoying this earth! But sure: we have to make some money, so I guess we will be renting a house in or around Los Angeles and start working from there. I hope to keep our future American house nice and simple with minimized possessions. Of course we probably both need a car there, it's just too big and you can't go anywhere without it. If it 's up to me, we always be 'ready to move' and travel, like the true Sagittarius I am.

These are my two greatest loves: nature and traveling (with Jeroen ).

Jeroen will continue working in the IT, he's so good at that! I will have to see what comes my way... I truly like graphic work like designing covers for magazines, making and photo shopping pictures, but teaching and writing is nice too. I just have to see what is needed there and what suits me... But for sure, Jeroen can use help in his company too. I'm good at correspondence and keeping things on track. (This has proven itself the last years).

Worth mentioning is the fact that Jeroen and I have been together for almost eight years now and this hopefully will be expanded with a lot of happy American years to come. I guess we have lived up to the  'good and bad times thing ' together and this America adventure is to our liking and possibilities.

Concrete we expect to have an interview at the American Embassy in March or April 2011. And for what I have read about it, the Green Card, if they approve, soon comes after that (after about three weeks).

We need to sell the house first. If we don't succeed in selling it on time, we can ask for a delay of one year; the American government is willing to let you leave a year later. This Green Card idea isn't non-committal; as soon as you actually get the Green Card, you will have to emigrate within a maximum of six months. You cannot get your Green Card and just use it as an easy way to come and go whenever you want. You actually have to start living in America and if you don't: the Green Card will lose its legitimacy. But if you have a house to sell, you can ask for more time: not six months, but at least a year. Sure we could rent our house instead of selling it. Our house is located at Scheveningen Beach and this location is highly desired to most Dutch people. But this would not be my ideal, for I’d rather be 'untied' to the Netherlands. But of course we keep this option open!

I could write so much more, about the differences between The Netherlands and America, but this blog is getting longer and longer. Don't worry: there isn't a day passing by without me reading something about the American way of life...

So we won't go unprepared. For example: a real nice Fleming, Bart, told me that it is very wise to order an American Express (AE) credit card in The Netherlands already. For credit is everything up there, so we did. We already now both have a 'Green card' in another way, for it's the Green American Express card. Bart could convert his AE into a real American one when he emigrated. He won the Green card Lottery as well and gave us great tips! So thank you again, Bart. People being unselfish and helping out, even if the other one doesn’t know yet that he/she needs help, are people at their best.

Then about my children's book. Obvious there's no sponsor to be found in The Netherlands. This book has been ready to publish for over 1.5 year now... Guess I have to publish it in America. But it’s still possible to publish before I leave. If you know somebody with a good heart and enough trust in my projects, let them contact me. Thank you!

Furthermore: I have met a very nice American man through the internet who is providing very professional American editorial work and, in future, translations as well for us. He was the first one to respond and the best. Maybe you have noticed the change already. Some of my Web pages have been edited by him. Still more to come! As soon as I have the money, Andrew can (and is willing to) edit the English translation of my book THROUGH THE WINDOW and translate my children's book THROUGH HEAVEN. I feel very lucky to have met him, and am very pleased about his enthusiasm.

Jeroen has already started making his website in the American language and has registered some nice new US domains (I did too by the way). And he has applied for an official PHP 5 Certification, so people in America can see that he is a trustworthy and skilled worker.

It seems to me I am rambling a bit, but I have to find my way through a language that soon will become our daily word. I could have told a lot more, because there’s a lot more to it, but lets not be too abundant in speech.

I hope we will do fine at the American Embassy, that's a 'train station' we have to pass through successfully, but we will definitely give it our very best shot. We'll have to meet the conditions of the US Government, and I believe we can. So... yes we can!