Ok, just a heads up... This blog is going to be super long!

Wauw, so much has happened! this InstAdventure is filled with our last moments in Amsterdam and a lot of MILESTONES!!! So check out the pics and our stories :)

Ok let us start with a great testimony: We got a house!!! May not sound like a big deal, but finding a house in the States while you are across the ocean is not that easy.... We were on a waiting list for an apartment that is also pet friendly, but we didn't hear back from them, and time was running out :S Well we prayed about it and just decided to give it one more week. If we would not get it ,we would look at something else. And then we had a great skype meeting with our school advisor. We talked about what we were going through, some practical stuff and ended in prayer. In the midst of just figuring it all out and taking care of the practical stuff, we lost track of what we were going to do and why. And our skype meeting just changed our perspective again. We were so excited again and none of our worries seem to matter anymore. Just the fact we were going set this year apart for God and let Him take over. And then a great thing happened: immediately after the skype meeting we got a text that someone wanted to support us financially and then a half hour later we got a mail that we got a house!!! UNIT 12 is ours :) We felt so blessed <3 The picture shown above is a standard picture of where we will live the next 9 months ;) If you ever are near Redding please do come over and stay at our place, we would love it !  :) 

Celebrating our 2nd year legal wedding anniversary. We are strong believers of celebrating milestones. Small or big, all worth just taking the time and do something fun ;). So we hit the town. Beautiful Amsterdam showed off her beauty, we had dinner, watched an Ajax match and ended the celebration with gelato.

Ijhallen: one of Europes biggest flee market! And we decided to try our luck as well. We took all of our stuff and stood there all day long, it was fun but never again :P But.... we had a great sale and got rid of a lot of stuff. Every little bit helps!

Going on adventures also means you have to say goodbye to friends and family. So this final goodbye with Kitlyn and Alyssha was at a Japanese foodfestival. Ever tried a Sushi donut? It is YUM. Alyssha got some special carved oreo ice cream for dessert. These girls are golden and friends for over 15 years!!! <3

This picture was taken during Michael's last drum service at C3 amsterdam       (for now..) So weird and sad at the same time. He has played drums for almost 6 years at C3 Amsterdam and it was a honor serving alongside great other worshippers! We will miss this place and are grateful for all we have received and learned! But great things ahead makes it feel better.

Two years already! We have been married for two years and it has been amazing. Just like any other couple we have our things we work through, but our marriage is amazing. The wedding day was a miraculous day and we look back at it with so much joy in our hearts. Looking forward to the years to come!!! we celebrated our anniversary with a concert and some Sri Lankan food. So good :) Ever want to taste some go to a great vegi place: Saravana Bhavan close to the Albert Cuyp market.

This is a photo of the Carr fire that has (and still is) raged through California. This fire has destroyed such a huge part of Shashta County. Lots of beautiful nature is changed into ashes and so many houses burned to the ground. It was very weird for us to see this city in such distress. We were going to be there in a month but there was a chance that there wouldn't even be a Redding to go to.... The fire was spreading so fast and so hard to contain.... But fortunately the winds changed and the fire did not go further into Redding.  It is still not completely contained and other cities and places are being evacuated. Redding has had a hard time though, many families lost their homes and belongings and there is still so much rubble and ash.  We feel honored and look forward  to serve this beautiful city and it's citizen, to help rebuild the city and community!

The Troosies! We will miss our dear friends and our monthly game nights! Their support and love has meant a great deal to us and we can't wait to see them in October again when the new sprout will be joining us :)

This may seem like a ordinary chicken and fries photo, but this is actually our sunday night "kip avond" with our friends Dick and Amanda. Every sunday after church we would hang out and have some good old chicken and fries as comfort food to give us some fuel for the coming week. And the one here was our last one for now..... So sad but was sooooo good! already lookin forward to our chicken night in Redding when they come visit :) #chickenislife

And then THIS happened --> This guy turned in his thesis and had his defense, well..... he passed it with a 7!!!! So incredibly proud of this guy. He has been working non-stop and then every free minute would be that thesis. Bagels and beans across the UVA was the perfect scene for our celebration of this milestone!!!

We seriously have no idea of time passing and how soon we will be on that plane to Redding... and so the time had also come for our Goodbye party. We had great weather and decided for a lovely picknick with our friends and family. It was so laidback and relaxed ( minus the wasp attack: was crazy annoying..), we want to thank everyone who came out and loved on us! We will miss you dearly! The dead leafs make it look like fall but i promise you this summertime :P 

This is our lovely Soul survivour family <3 They threw us their own goodbye party and took us out on a boat ride. We laughed our butts off with this crazy bunch on the Vinkseveense plassen. Always great fun and we are reallllyyyyy saddened by the fact that we will miss the Soul Survivour Festival next year :( But  these amazing people will be awesome and we look forward to the great stories and testimonies!

This goodbye was pretty weird for us and to be honest tears were shed. Last wednesday we said goodbye to our first home. We were so lucky to have had this cute and "gezellig" house as our first home. We have had so many beautiful moments and also some not so pretty moments :P Nonetheless we truly loved this place, looking out on this great field, close to the city and just filled with our things! We started our marriage here and really built our foundation as a married couple. God is the center of it all and we truly feel like His hand is resting on our journey. Before we left we prayed over the place and thanked God for all He Has done and blessed us with. So emotional to end this chapter and start a new one. But this is the first home of many, but during prayer we realized that our home is us and God. So as long as we have each other and God we will have our home <3 Our wedding scripture is really coming to pass now and we are excited for all "de Jonge adventures"!!! 

Where you go I'll go, Where you stay I'll stay - Ruth 1:16

Our last sunday in Amsterdam :( Our last Sunday service at C3 Amsterdam for now, our last hugs, our last prayers, Our last time at Puck, our last time we see Jadie with a big belly ;) and our last moments with some. Sounds all dramatic but it is weird how you sometimes take things for granted. When you have to leave you start to realize how you might miss the little things. We feel so blessed to have had such a great and warm send off. We got baptised in this church, met each other and made great friends. So bittersweet to say goodbye. But that it shows that we were surrounded by love and support. We are super grateful for all the things we learned, for the people that sowed into our lives, that believed in us and could see the gold in us. We are better for it and the foundation we have is solid in Jesus. A thank you would not be enough and so our promise is to always always be close to Jesus and keep you all in our prayers and hearts <3 tot snel lieve iedereen!

Wednesday the 22nd we will be flying out to Redding and start this adventure. We feel immensely blessed and can't wait to keep you posted on all our stories and testimonies. This will probably be the last post coming from the homeland, but soon in Redding we will start vlogging!!! So stay tuned :)

Much love and blessings,

De Jonges

PS: if you want to support us financially you can do so via this bankaccount 

NL02INGB0656487933  THANK YOU ALL , seriously every bit helps :)

- deJonges signing out -