I am ashamed… so long without a new blog. And in times where my life is perhaps more exciting and dynamic than in the US, it's definitely not the lack of stories, it’s just a lack of priority. 

This week I woke up from a repeating noise… I didn’t know what it time it was and noticed Christophe was not in bed. I got a bit irritated and couldn’t get back to sleep, checked my telephone, it was 05:30. I was almost sure that Christophe was making noise that early in the morning and almost wanted to scream with a Dutch expression : Doe even normaal! Just to be clear, he’s not noisy at all. After a few minutes I hear Christophe screaming: Mariska, HELP, I’m locked in the toilet. So I got out of the bed and noticed that the door of the bathroom blocked the door of the toilet, with no means he could get out. First, I laughed and made a joke and said, you can’t go far without me. But after analyzing the situation (and we even tried that evening to simulate the same situation, because we thought perhaps it was due to the early start), what if you were really blocked on the toilet and I wasn’t there? I don’t know which architect designed the appt, but he definitely never lived here. Imagine the majority of our neighbours are all above 60 years! I already saw headlines, Belgian man died on the toilet in the Netherlands, instead of breaking the world record ‘Belgian man sitting on the toilet.

It’s already 1 year ago that I prepared my departure to the US, time flies. What all can happen in 1 year, incredible. I slowly get the feeling that everything fell on its place. We will move again next month (we don’t want to be locked in the toilet again…), and the never ending story with the assurances and taxes will continue to chase us, I am happy to say I finally found a place where I feel comfortable, really at home. And where I will have the option to have a cat again (no I will not get my cat Loekie back, she’s completely at home in an all women's house, and I still see her very regularly). I think I can say I will slowly move to a more normal life, if you can call my life ‘uberhaupt’ normal.

In the meantime, my father in law is operated twice and has been in the hospital for almost a month, and he’s recovering well. Besides the long lasting effect of the narcose, he’s doing well. In December he will turn 86. 

Some people think I’m Belgian…. I understand because I use Belgian words after living  for almost 10 years, I'm still Dutch. Belgians still think I’m Dutch and Dutch people think I’m Belgian??? Just saying I’m taking the best out of two worlds. My passion for chocolate remains and my Dutch directness, and call to action remains.

And business, yes besides getting everything sorted, I also still run my business, which after more than 2 years it’s getting more shape, recognition and awareness,  I am very grateful. I am not there yet, I still have a long way to go but if you want to be a disruptor, changemaker and visionair, it requires time, effort, energy and much much more. I finally have the feeling we are moving forward because I have very long to do list. And again I’m not alone, I have two crazy guys who are a fantastic support! And those are not the only ones of course, because you really need people who believe in you and support you, especially in the early days.

If I look back I could never imagine that my life would change so much in 1 year. Excited and curious what the next year will bring? Actually, I don’t want to know I take the opportunities which come along my way. Dare to say yes has always been my slogan. You should try it, say yes to the opportunities that come along your path and you will see that those decisions will make you stronger, more flexible and gives you more confidence.

PS For Nextflix lovers; do you know if you are watching movies or series, that in some countries you can’t access certain series, despite your abonnement is the same? I knew there were some small differences, but when my best friend asked for recommendations on Netflix in the Netherlands and she couldn’t access the majority of my recommendations, despite the fact that we are now based in the same country, but perhaps due to the fact that the invoices are still paid in Belgium?