Category Archives: Day-to-Day

cross-cultural living, Day-to-Day

Moving in the Right Direction

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Looks like we have a home!Zack and William took the train back to Sandefjord on Monday to sign the lease, and we made a trip to the bank on Tuesday to make the deposit (our first banking experience here – success!). All looks to be in line for us to move in by Wednesday of next week!

We are renting the second floor of a beautiful home built in 1897. It has lots of windows, beautiful floors, and way more than any expectations than we had. The landlord has been great to work with so far, and we look forward to getting to know him and his family (including two sons not much older than our boys!).

Here is a sneak peak…

The view from the master bedroom
Living room
Kitchen (this is where God really knocked our socks off!)
cross-cultural living, Day-to-Day

Our first official Note from Norge!

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And now we can officially live up to our blog title!

The last week and a half were a whirlwind, to say the least. But here’s the short version: we got permission to travel to Norway, and we are here!

We arrived late Friday evening. We were greeted by several friends and are now in our temporary apartment in Oslo. It is good to be here… and a bit surreal!

Jet lag is a killer. We slept well our first night, mostly from exhaustion I guess! But it is about 4:30 AM right now, and Zack & I are wide awake. Guess it will just take time to get adjusted!

We will write more as we get settled. For now, here are a couple of pictures from our first day here.

 

 

 

 

Day-to-Day

Rise Up!

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We are big Atlanta Falcons fans. Zack and I both grew up cheering for them (particularly in the era of Steve Bartkowski!).

We just had to find a place to watch their playoff game last Sunday. But we’ve discovered this to be a tough thing to do here when you have kids in tow – restaurants here that have bars don’t usually allow kids. But after a bit of wandering, we found a place downtown to watch.

A 1:00 east coast start means a 10:00 brunch for us! We enjoyed a nice meal while watching with lots of Seattle fans. Thankfully, our team came out on top! (Despite almost giving it away in the second half!)

We are looking forward to another game – and win – this weekend!

 

Day-to-Day

Vancouver for a bit longer

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We won’t be leaving for Norway on January 26 like we had originally thought. We are still waiting for our immigration approval and it looks like it could still be a little while.

So we are going to be spending a bit more time in Vancouver. Not what we expected, but also not a surprise to God! We look forward to seeing what He has in store as we wait on next steps.

Here are some recent photos…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

cross-cultural living, Day-to-Day

Snow Day

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It snowed overnight. Not a lot, so we got ready for class & school. Just as we were walking out, we received word that they had decided to cancel class, just to play it safe.What does that mean?

SNOW DAY!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

cross-cultural living, Day-to-Day

Be it ever so humble…

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(Two new posts in one day – be sure to check out the other below this one!)Our first Christmas away from the country we once called home. Away from the traditions we’ve shared since we married in 1998. Away from family. From friends. From our church.

It is definitely different! But we are making the most of it. We’ve seen some beautiful Christmas lights. We attended the big tree lighting party at the mall close to where we live. We went to Grouse Mountain and enjoyed festivities there. We’ve visited the (German) Christmas Market a couple of times. We bought a small tree and the boys have also made a few decorations.

In my mind, this Christmas will likely be referred to in years to come as Limbo Christmas. No longer in the states, but not yet on the continent where we feel God calling us. Most of our belongings in a crate, waiting to be shipped to that continent.

But we are thankful! We have learned our way around this city. We have a really nice apartment and are blessed to have a washer & dryer, dishwasher, garbage disposal, and two full bathrooms. The weather is manageable. We have made some good connections & some friends. We have received cards and packages from family and friends in the states. We have had fun baking cookies and watching Christmas movies with friends here.

We believe different can be a beautiful thing – especially when you are where God wants you to be. No matter where we are this time each year, we rejoice that it is Christmas, and that a little baby was born in a manger, bringing hope and salvation to all who will receive it!

Christmas Tree Lighting Festival

 

Decorations at a local mall
Enjoying a treat from Tim Hortons

 

Paper Chain Christmas Trees

 

William at his first skate lesson

 

Daniel at his first skate lesson

 

Vancouver Christmas Market (like a traditional
German Market)

 

Our retro tree (silver!) and the boys’ Canada stockings

 

Scandinavian lunch at a Bible study with our new friends
from the local Danish church
One of several care packages we’ve received in the mail –
the timing of their arrival always seems to be perfect
(God is in the details!)

 

Grinch Crinkle Cookies

 

Train ride at a local mall

 

Snickerdoodles
(Jenn’s Nana’s recipe)
Gifts received in the mail – the boys
are anxious to open them!

 

celebrate, Christmas cheer, cross-cultural living, Day-to-Day

Snow Business

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We spent a few hours at Grouse Mountain this past week. It was BEAUTIFUL! Being from Georgia, we would get excited if we saw a dusting of snow on the ground. So imagine our delight when we stepped of the gondola and found snow that was often knee-high on Zack (who is 6’5″!).
The boys went ice skating. We saw reindeer and visited Santa. We checked out a gingerbread display. Some friends met us later in the morning and we had lunch and explored some of the scenery (and threw quite a few snowballs!).

 

 

 

cross-cultural living, Day-to-Day

Sunny weekend

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Whenever the sun is out, we try to take advantage of it! This past weekend was beautiful! So we explored Granville Island, Granville Street, and the area around Science World. We also attended the tree lighting in Surrey on Saturday night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day-to-Day

Grouse Mountain

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We are learning that the sun does not shine often here in Vancouver. With a location just north of Seattle, the weather definitely rivals Washington’s rainy city! So when the clouds part, we get out and try to see and do as much as possible!Today the weather was cold but clear, so we made the (almost 2 hour) trip to Grouse Mountain. Getting there requires a train, a sea bus, and a bus… but it was totally worth it! We did the math and discovered that an annual pass costs less than 2 visits. So we will now be able to go multiple times during our time here!

The area is beautiful! We can’t wait to go back again once there is more snow, and are especially excited about visiting there once the Christmas season really kicks in! Here are several pictures from today’s adventure.