Here is the view from our window in the attic apartment! When we move to the permanent apartment on the 2nd floor, our windows will open up to this-providing a nicer and larger view of the River! 
We had a fun night last night with the hotel bartender and his girlfriend. We met her at a restaurant he recommended, but didn't realize they were together! They are a very fun couple! There was a Bike Race (not pro's, but they ALL thought they were Lance Armstrong in 
their tights!) that started and ended in Liege, and a lot of the participants stayed at our hotel. We got to hear a bunch of different languages, and managed to close the place down! Dido, the bartender, learned how to make a lunchbox (Edmond boys--be proud!) and Stephen had yet another nasty local drink--Jack Daniels and Beer, called a Crazy Dog! It was a little rediculous! Dido went to pick up his girlfriend, Aurore, at her restaurant and they came back and hung out with us for a while! We are excited because we will only be a few doors down from our hotel at this new apartment, so we can stop in and catch up with our new friends whenever we want...and they SPEAK ENGLISH!! Woo Hoo!! (Small victories people!)
This morning we moved into our new house! We are temporarily renting the attic apartment, as you can see in the pictures. We will hopefully move into our permanent apartment Oct. 1st! That is the goal at least! We are pretty excited, although I'm going to miss getting our room cleaned and new sheets everyday! Tonight we are having our spaghetti dinner, hopefully Stephen will be full for once! Tomorrow the MARKET is outside...so he's already excited about his Brat! It's going to be really neat living here, and it's not half bad! You have to understand though, from looking at the picture, how excited we are to have our bed! Maybe they'll speed the boat up if we pray hard enough!
Everything is getting better...I just need a routine, and I think a job will help that! We are getting more accustomed to the city, and the people...although I still feel like I'm just here for a vacation. I guess the reality of it will hit me...you might get a crazy blog when it happens! We miss all of you...hope everyone is doing well! Remember, you can all download "Skype" at http://www.skype.com/, where you can talk to us directly with video for free! We'd love to see your faces!
Ciao, a bientot!
The Dotson's
It's been a while since our last post...I apologize for not keeping you all updated. The main reason is that not much has gone on in the "entertaining" sense. Monday was Stephen's first day of work, which went off without a hitch. He's really enjoying his new job, and loves the people he works with! That's such a blessing! Monday was also my first day alone in the big city! I think I did well...I was able to get all my errands run this week without too much drama, and I've been able to order lunches as well! It's getting less intimidating every day. Keep the prayers coming though--it's a different world around here! Very different! With that being said, we've been so blessed with everything! We're getting a big car to cart everyone around in when you visit, we've found a 
place to live, and we're adapting as well as we can to the city and the language!
We woke up this morning, had breakfast and decided to venture outside to see the flea market our new landlord told us about. I must say we didn't have very high expectations! As we walked out of our hotel, we were welcomed by hundreds of vendors, selling everything from meats, clothes, lingerie, pasta, frites, electronics, flowers, LIVE ANIMALS. You name it, they had it! It was awesome! We've decided that we can purchase a weeks groceries at the market...for less than the grocery store! From what we've heard, the market goes on every Sunday, rain or shine, sleet or hail! I'm 
excited because of the fresh fruits and vegetables, and Stephen is excited for the fresh brats! Make sure when you come visit you are able to stay for a Sunday. It's eye opening!
essed, and really excited to have food we liked :) Hopefully in the new apartment we can purchase a grill. We hadn't realized how much we missed it until tonight!Yesterday we decided to visit the train station, hoping to get acclimated with the area, times of trains, and how much it would cost us to visit other places around here. We got a map from the con
cierge, but didn't think we needed verbal directions (stephen was sure we could read a map). To make a long story short, we ended up in the ghetto, completely read the map wrong, and went about 45 minutes out of our way. When we finally got there, we were able to see the train station for a minute or two before we needed to head back for dinner. It was nice, but the best part were some of the things we saw on the way. All pictures are from the town "Centre" and there are more beautiful things to see...you'll just have to come see them yourselves :)
Well, we've decided to take the floor in the house that we mentioned earlier! Thank you to everyone that responded for help on that issue! We have told her that we will live month to month in the other apartment while she fixes ours, and will move into the one we want when construction is complete. We've given her two months to finish the reconstruction of it, and if it's not done by then we'll continue to live month to month until we find another place. We are confident, though, she'll have it done and everyone will be happy!! Yeah!!!
As for the car...we thought we had decided on an Audi A3. A hatch-back (or wagon Brian) that we could zip around town with. But as of today, the rumor mill has stated we might be getting the VW Touran. To save you all the time of looking it up, I've attached a picture.
Stephen and I found this out the hard way! We went walking in search of a sports store so we could buy a bike. We wandered, found some, wandered some more and then decided to sit and have a Carlsberg (for you Dad!). After our beer we decided to get a slice of pizza from this hole in the wall (literally, there is a hole in the wall you walk up to) and walk around again. We stumbled upon this set of stairs that happen to be a tourist attraction in Liege. I had seen them
on the websites and such while learning of Liege...so we decided to try our hand at walking them in one swoop! There are 390 stairs!!! To put it bluntly, we almost ralphed by stair 70 and barely made it all the way up...but the view we got from the top made it all worth it!
Stephen and I decided to walk from our hotel to the main center of Liege today. It's quite a hike, but we did it! There are so many cute shops and things to see! I took some pictures that I'll attach...it's pretty!! Before we left our concierge informed us of an American lady that lives down the street that has rental properties. We called and didn't get through, and decided to carry on our day. We wandered and shopped all day, and as we were walking home we stopped at this window to look at rental properties. I said something to Stephen and this lady goes "she speaks English!" We started talking to her, and her dog Cleopatra (whom looks like a long-haired Gracie) and come to find out SHE'S the lady! She told us she had places to rent in her house, and took us to see them on the spot. Her house is a beautiful 
4-story mansion right on the river, each window facing the river lined with fresh flowers. She is next door to the Moroccan consulate, so she said security is wonderful. We toured a few of her apartments, most of which were too small...but then we found the one we love! It's currently one whole floor of the house, but she's turning it into two one bedrooms. Even as a one bedroom (half of the floor) it's huge, and has 12'+ceilings. It's all hard wood, and she said if we want it, we could design the floor layout and color scheme...and even live upstairs until construction is complete and move in as soon as this weekend! We would be living on the river, in between Maastricht and Liege in a house with other tenants! We are nervous it's too good to be true...cause the rent is DEFINITELY doable...what do you all think?? Send your comments please!!!! She from her own accounts is a Christian woman who has been praying for a good person to come rent...but are we just buying into a scam? Am I too cynical?
Well...we have arrived in Liege, et Il fait beau (it's a beautiful day!) We had relatively easy travels and are looking forward to getting acquainted with the city! Everyone here is really nice, and the French speakers aren't terribly intimidating (yet!). We are on our way out to find a lunch spot...we'll be back on soon to fill everyone in on our findings!
A Bientot!!
The Dotsons
Well, here we are! Crunch time! Stress level: HIGH
We have quite a bit to do, but in all honesty...we are having fun with the time left! Stephen is playing golf today with his team at work, and tomorrow is his last day of work at the Plano office! Woo hoo!!
This Friday, we have a Karaoke party (everyone is invited) at our place, and a fun pool party on Saturday as well!! Please come out and join us, but like I said before...wear your party pants!!
We leave on Tuesday morning, and the real adventure will begin! Thanks to all that have helped us thus far--we appreciate it! Stay tuned for more to come...
Thank you to all that came to the going away party this past Saturday! It was great seeing everyone together in one place! We will, however, try to get everyone together for a barbeque and pool party for one last hurrah in this Texas heat.
Thankfully, everything is starting to fall into place as we make final plans and arrangements here in Dallas. We will be staying in a hotel for a few weeks in Liege until we decide on an apartment. I've made sure the hotel is dog friendly so Katie can have the dogs with her if she wants them. Our French tutor mentioned the phrase "Pet Passport" the other night and Katie hasn't been able to remove it from her head. Originally, we weren't going to take the dogs since we are hoping to do a lot of traveling, but we've learned that most European cities are extremely dog friendly. Which, if I've assumed correctly, means we'll be taking them to all of our destinations. We'll see...
I'm also slowly coming to the conclusion that I can't hoard all our possessions like I want to. I've already sold my TV, which to me, was like selling my kid. I didn't make Katie sell Gracie or Bella, why do I have to sell my TV. JK But seriously...
Goodbye for now...
A bientot (there's an accent in there somewhere but my computer doesn't speak French)
Stephen received his Visa today...and made the decision for his first day of work to be AUGUST 6TH! He is still working with Liege HR to decide when we will leave, but we've unofficially decided that we will be leaving around July 29th or 30th! Thanks for the prayers and well wishes...we're getting excited!!
Happy 4th!
It's hard to believe when Stephen first mentioned this job opening that we'd be a month away from leaving! We were in the kitchen, and discussed the opportunity at hand. Stephen has always dreamed of going back to Europe to live for a while, and I had always dreamed of being spontaneous! I have to say that in the beginning I didn't think this would become a reality...but here we are, "A month away!"
I received the news while teaching school...I was actually hiding in the closet when he called so the students wouldn't see! I was excited and cheerful when I got the news, that is until I spoke with my mom! I think we lasted 2 minutes talking about it until we were in tears! We've done a good job, my family and I, not talking like it's goodbye but instead planning visits!
Stephen and I are VERY fortunate, and we are so excited to begin this journey together! And I am very excited to see all of these locations Stephen speaks so fond of :)
We're excited for you to experience this journey with us, through the blog or by your own special European visits with us! God Bless!
