Tag Archives: friends

2014: The year in review

It has been a crazy, busy, fun, frustrating, exciting, exhausting, energizing, and all around interesting year.

Here are just a few highlights from our year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas Cheer (part 12): Christmas music

Last night we had the rare occurrence of an evening out without children. A couple of our friends bought tickets for the four of us to a concert, as a combined birthday/Christmas gift to Zack and me.

I had no expectations going into the concert, as I knew nothing more than the show was Hanne og tre tenorer (Hanne and three tenors). But it was an incredible concert. So much talent, wonderful music, and an overall beautiful performance.

Thankful for good friends, good music, and a great evening that really got us in the Christmas spirit!

 

November. So.Very.Dark

We had heard that November can be the toughest month living in Norway. And as we endure make it through experience our second November here, I have to agree.

The days are short. Right now sunrise is around 8:25 AM and currently sunset is at 3:45 (15:45) in the afternoon.
The [lack of] daylight is not really a problem once it is colder, because then we have a good chance of having some snow. And snow helps brighten things up. But lately our high temperature has hovered around 5 C (41F), without much of a dip at night. Add to that the fact that it has rained almost nonstop for at least the last two weeks, and it can be a little depressing.
But then again, chilly wet weather in November means
~more opportunities for coffee and hot chocolate
~more chances to slow down and just chill a bit
~Christmas isn’t too far off! We are beginning to see signs of the holiday season in our city.And November also means Thanksgiving, and my (Jenn’s) birthday…

And occasionally other fun surprises. (Stay tuned)

So even though it isn’t the most glamorous month, maybe November isn’t so bad after all!
Lights in the city – this was around
4:30 in the afternoon two weeks ago!

 

Celebrating my birthday with friends – fun!

Where does the time go?

I could make excuses for my lack of blogging, but I’ll just sayI’m back!

Well, for now at least.

Life has been hectic. Mostly good stuff, but hectic all the same. Between lots of language study, meetings, and daily routine stuff, I simply let my writing slip. But I really do hope to get back to it now. We’ll see how it goes!

Things are going well here. Fall is here. We are getting a lot of rain. But we really shouldn’t complain after the last few months of beautiful weather. It hasn’t been very cold yet. We had one chilly morning with a little snow, but it only lasted an hour or two and was replaced by more rain.

William finished another football season. We were very proud of him for his effort. And apparently his progress impressed the coaches as well. He got one of the three awards given out at the end of each year: Best fremgang (best progress).

William with one of his coaches at their year-end party
Daniel is continuing with art lessons and is doing a great job! We attended an art show that his teacher was in, and really enjoyed seeing what she creates.
In fact, we liked her work so much that we bought several pieces. This one is now hanging in our kitchen. The photo doesn’t do it justice.
We’ve also had the opportunity to meet friends and colleagues for coffee, go to a couple of birthday parties, attend a costume party at the boys’ school, attend a musical, meet with friends for meals and other events, host a small Halloween party, and attend some seminars and conferences. Here are a few pictures from the past few weeks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A taste of the USA

We had a great time with our first volunteer team a couple of weeks ago. Eleven folks from Cross Pointe Church spent just over a week in Norway. We enjoyed introducing them to our country, the food, friends, and other things that we’ve come to love over the past 20 months.

We appreciated their energy, enthusiasm, and willingness to learn. We enjoyed their support and encouragement. We loved introducing them to our friends and local partners here. And we were grateful for the way they approached every day with a heart for serving.
And as if that was not enough, they also surprised us with lots of gifts and treats. You should have seen the boys’ faces light up over Pop-Tarts, macaroni and cheese, muffin mix, candy, toys, and so many other things.

 

 

 

 

And then there was Hamburg

Getting to explore so many new cities was great. But one city stood out from the others as we made our vacation plans.

Hamburg.
Not because of any certain landmarks or sightseeing or anything like that. No, it was because of some very special friends. Some of our friends from Atlanta are now living there, friends we hadn’t seen in close to two years.
I have to say it was like Christmas morning for me. Watching the hours and then minutes tick off the GPS. Pulling up to their street and seeing three of them standing on the corner, waving us in. Getting out of the car and looking up on the balcony to see one of my best friends standing there (and then running down to greet us). And the hugs. It had been too long. And yet once we were back together, it was as if no time had passed.
The kids immediately fell into playing like normal. And we fell into conversations with people who know us, understand us… and still like us!
For an entire week we lived together, cooked together, ate together, explored together, laughed together, and chilled together. It was a week I will never forget, and just what we needed. I’m incredibly grateful that God has allowed our friendship to continue to grow despite the distance between us. And we look forward to them coming to visit us in Norway at some point!

Road Trip: getting there


While travel throughout Europe is generally quite easy, Norway isn’t exactly the easiest country to navigate from. Most trips require either a plane ride (so thankful for inexpensive local airlines!), or at the least a ferry to get you going.Our recent road trip to Germany began with a ferry ride. We drove just south to Larvik, and took the ferry to Hirtschals in Denmark. It was an early morning for us, leaving the house just after 6:00. The ferry journey was almost 4 hours, but a sweet friend gave us free tickets that included reserved seats.

What’s even better is the seats were like business class seats on an airplane, comfy and with lots of space. Complete with personal screens for television and movies, free headphones, and complimentary self-serve snacks and drinks: it was a treat! Add to that some cool duty-free shops to explore, and those four hours went by rather quickly.

Made it to Germany!

The idea of getting to drive through a new country (first time in Denmark!) was exciting. The reality? Not so much. While the speed limit was a bit higher than Norway’s very conservative 100 or 110 kph, there was very little to see along the way.

Once into Germany, we still had quite a few hours ahead of us. Of course as I mentioned before (see post here), Zack enjoyed finally getting to drive on the autobahn. But still, a lot of driving will wear you out!

Our first stop was Dusseldorf, and we arrived at the hostel around 9:00 at night. We were exhausted and glad to have finally made it.

Is/Eis/Ice Cream/мороженое

It’s a word we have learned in many languages. How can you order it if you don’t know how to say it?And it’s especially good to know how to order ice cream in Germany: theirs is not only delicious, but also really cheap! So we ate a LOT of Eis (pronounced a lot like ice) during our time in Dusseldorf and Hamburg.

 

 

 

 

Coming soon

Just returned from eleven days in Germany. So many posts on the horizon, if I can find the time to sit, process, and write.

For now, here are a few photos from the past couple of weeks, to tantalize your taste buds. (Hey C – mission accomplished!)