Ankeveen (HFNL AtoZ Challenge 2015!)

Hollandia
This windmill is a beautiful landmark,
a few meters away from the entrance of our village,
Ankeveen.
Image taken 2013 for my running community challenge: #MorningMilers

Have you read my brief introduction to this challenge?

If not, here is the link: Introducing HFNL A to Z Challenge 2015

My personal blogging theme for this year:  the places I have been in the Netherlands.  

Today, "we go to" : Ankeveen.

The great thing about living in the village, while running (or biking!) home,
I often meet our girls on their way home from school!
This mom & daughter selfie was taken
during an 8 km (5 miles) run
 last 25th of March

The first time I thought  that I would be moving to a village, I had my reservations.

This was taken during a 10 km (just above 6 miles) run,
 20th of November, 2014
 - a few kilometers outside of  our village

I was born in a big city - Manila - and lived almost all my life in different metropolis before I met P. 

P - my Dutch partner - on the other hand, lived almost all his life in different villages, and towns.  He is the reason I abandoned my reservations and moved to Ankeveen.

With P through the (running!) years.
I refer to him often on my blogs as Mijn Liefste P

Ankeveen is an idyllic village in North Holland.

An ideal place for children to grow . . .

Taking pictures of our daily bike rides was a way for me to get over my anxiety of biking in the Winter.

4 years later, looking at this picture, I feel a certain pride for how the girls have blossomed to life in the country.
Specially, the oldest, who used to missed the city living a lot.

originally posted @  MDMNL

an ideal place to let a new relationship flourish . . .

Being outdoors with P made us closer together.
This picture was taken originally on the 24th of October, and shared at
My Daily Mooosings in the Netherlands
on the 8th of March, 2011 for a personal month-long blogging.


Taken along the daily bike path we take on the way to the school.
It is between Ankeveen and Kortenhoef.

and an ideal place to focus on creating a healthy lifestyle.

This is near the entrance to our village.
The lone tree behind me (from the distance, near the house) fell a year later after a stormy Autumn.
originally posted @  MDMNL in 2011

The reason I created My Daily Mooosings in the Netherlands was to make sure that I focus on the positives of living in a new country (the third since I left the Philippines), and adopting to a new lifestyle.  The Dutch way of life.

It was not until we were 3 years together that I began writing blogs to share publicly (2011).  As you will read @ My Daily Mooosings in the Netherlands (or MDMNL for short), I have been blogging anonymously from 2006.

A year after I created MDMNL , Happy Feet in the Netherlands (HFNL) was born.  A blog documenting my transformation from couch potato to a runner.

Village life helped in making me an active outdoors person.  

Moving to  a place conducive to leading a more quiet way of life is something I needed but did not realize I did until I made the decision to move to the Netherlands.  

I let go of my fears of change; welcoming a new life turned out in the end the best thing I could do for my mental and physical health.

Are you a city or a country mouse? :)

do 2 apr. 12:16