Greetings from a Flemish Dog

I am so happy! I just received a message from Maarten's sister, Dagmar, with pictures of Bailey! After having Bailey with Maarten in Belgium, it was decided that Grandma, Grandpa and sister had fallen in love with the pup and that she would stay with them in Belgium. Thankfully the feeling was mutual for Bailey dog. Apparently, Bailey will sit right with Maarten's grandmother and sleep...she just shoos Bailey away when she starts licking her face! I don't blame her! I'm so thankful that Bailey looks happy and seems to be doing okay without us.

Special thanks to Dagmar for the wonderful pictures!

Pup in the Sky

I am happy to report that both Maarten and Bailey made it safely to Frankfurt, Germany and then on to Belgium.  Maarten said that Bailey did really well on the 12 hour flight to Germany.  He was even able to take her out of her cage to walk around a bit.  Now that they are home, they are both adjusting to the jet lag, Bailey is meeting the family (and hopefully learning some Felmish!), and Maarten is getting ready to board the Celebrity Constellation on Monday.  It was a sad good-bye at the airport, but I'm so glad to know that they are safe and adjusting well to our time apart. 

Last Trip to the Dog Park before becoming a trans-Atlantic pup

Saying good-bye

Sad faces at the airport

 

"See you later, Alligator", I miss you so much already

Skype Session with Maarten and Bailey. 

She can hear my voice, her ears perk up, but she can't seem to find me!  This time at least she looked at the screen and maybe 'saw' me.

A Magical Surprise

I love surprises.  I love being surprised and surprising people.  Maarten, on the other hand, does not enjoy surprises.  If you send a Christmas present and it arrives December 10th, the package will be opened on the 10th.  If he even has the smallest idea that you may have a surprise or present for him, he will bug you non-stop until you tell him what it is.  Now, since he was leaving to board the cruise ship before his birthday on June 25th, I had to figure out what to do.  While at the show one day, genius struck!  Ever since we had gotten together we had talked about going to Disney World together.  Since we are on the West coast and not the East coast, Disneyland in California was the next best thing.  But since we had less than 2 weeks left until he flew to Belgium and a puppy at home to take care of, it just didn't seem like a realistic plan.  Luckily, I have vacation days and a puppy-loving roommate!  So I decided that a Disneyland trip was going to happen.  I took Thursday off from work, talked to my friend, Jamie, who lives in LA, she opened her house to us Thursday night, and came to the park with us, and found a friend who I did a show with in Maine who works at Disneyland and had two free ParkHopper passes that we could use.  The plan was set.  Now I just had to keep it a secret and figure out how to tell Maarten.  It is a 4 hours drive to LA and the park opened at 10am, so I had to get Maarten into the car by 5:30am. 

Now, because of my work schedule we have the habit of going to bed late and waking up late.  However this could not happen for my trip to work out!  So I made up a little white lie as to why we had to wake up early on Thursday morning and we were off to bed earlier than planned.  But then Maarten woke up again and said he wasn't tired.  He wanted to get a drink, play on his iPad, play with Bailey, take a shower. Anything but sleep.  I couldn't believe it.  I almost told him right then about my plan.  I was too excited to sleep anyway!  But finally he gave up and we went to bed. 

Fast forward to 5:00am.  My alarm goes off and I tell Maarten that his iPad has been making noise and he needs to look at it.  He reluctantly picks it up and finds this picture:

He didn't believe his eyes.  He said, "For real?  Are we going to Disneyland? Is this just jokes?" I said, "Yes, sweetie.  Wake up.  We are going to Disneyland today.  Surprise!" I have never seen him get out of bed and ready for the day as fast as that morning.  He had many questions, most importantly "Are we going to be late?" He wanted to be there when the park opened! So we got in the car, which I had packed with a change of clothes and snacks for the ride and off we were.  We made good time, picked up our free Disneyland passes, parked and met Jamie in the park.  It was the most magical day with my very own Prince Charming.  I think Maarten likes surprises a little more now.

Soaking wet after the River Raft Ride

 

Jessica and Maarten with Walt Disney

 

Jessica and Jamie on Main Street in Disneyland 

 

Maarten and Jessica with the Steamboat 

 

We're in Toontown! 

 

Riding in Mickey's car

 

Jamie and Jessica in front of the castle 

 

California Adventure and Disneyland!

 

We won the race in Cars Land!

 

Maarten's trophy :) 

 

Jamie, Maarten and Jessica on the Flying Tire Ride 

 

Maarten and Jamie in front of Tower or Terror 

 

 Same pose at sunset in California Adventure

 

Maarten and Jessica riding Tower of Terror (our favorite ride of the day!)

The World of Color water show

 

 Panoramic California Adventure at night

 

A wonderful day at Disneyland!

I am so glad that we got to spend one last amazing day together in "The Happiest Place on Earth".  It was a perfect day.  I love you, Maarten.  Happy (early) Birthday!

 

Ahoy Maties

Well, here is some news for you all.  It is part good and part bad. Maarten has been offered, and accepted, a job back with Celebrity Cruise Lines.  He will be boarding the Celebrity Constellation on May 20th as the Activities Manager (a promotion from his last contract).  I am so sad to see him go, but I have to remember that it is an amazing job opportunity for him.  He will get to travel the world, something he is very passionate about, see his family frequently, as the ship ports in Amsterdam for most of his contract, and it means that I get to cruise with him at some point!  I think I'll get to sail with him when he is in Turkey and the Greek Islands, out of Istanbul.  So, as sad as I am, and as much as I may cry, it is good news.  We have done long distance before, it's not easy, but I guess it makes the heart grow fonder.  We are going to make it though and have great stories to tell each other along the way.

This also means that Bailey is leaving as well.  She will be going to Germany to stay with Maarten's mom.  They have a small bulldog named Elvis, so at least Bailey will have someone to play with!  I do not feel that it would be right to keep her in her cage for 6 hours every night while Nate and I are at the theater.  I have loved being a pet owner for the past month and a half and I can't wait until the three of us will be reunited as a family. 

This next week will be very hard for me, so please send me good thoughts.  Maarten and Bailey fly out this Tuesday afternoon.  Send us all happy thoughts if you have a chance.  We will need them.

24th Birthday Scrapbook