A Pictorial Update on the Past Year

Well it has been over a year since I have posted here. A lot has happened. I am still living in Norway and still loving it. I guess the reason I haven't been posting is that the transition process living here was taxing and every day I felt like I was giving so much of myself to learning the language, adapt to the culture and process the changes that I needed to preserve what was left of myself at the end of the day and didn't want to put it out there for the world to see.

The past year hasn't been chock-full of unicorns and rainbows but I'm happy to say that the ratio of positive experiences raised high over the negative. I have received a few emails from people thanking me for the information given on the immigration process I went through and I'm so glad that it has been helpful. It has been mentioned to me many times that I should get back to blogging and I feel that I am finally in a place where I can do that again. So, here is a pictorial recap of what the past year has held for me and my husband. I have only selected one or two photos per month that has passed. I will be blogging more in depth about some of the places we have visited later. This is just a taste of what has happened.

August - Married in Loen! (perhaps I'll have a blog about the wedding later...)

September - My residency permit was FINALLY officially approved!! I then went to the local police station to have my picture taken and was fingerprinted (just the pointer fingers) and had a photo ID to carry with me in my wallet. Yay for being allowed to stay in Norway for a year!

October - I worked at Opera Nordfjord as a scenic/props assistant on their production of Flaggermusen as well as their Nutcracker. So much fun and so many amazing people! I was so glad to be able to use my skills and education. I wasn't sure that was going to happen in such a rural part of the country. Here is a picture of the Nutcracker's mask I made.

November - I began attending Norwegian school at the culture house in town. I attended four days a week from 9am-1:30pm.

We also had Thanksgiving at our house. We somehow squeezed 14 people into our tiny dining room and living room!

December - I made my first pepparkakehus (gingerbread house) and designed it after the little cabin down by the fjord that my husband's family has used for years as a boat dock and apple storage house. My father-in-law had been working down there a lot building the dock during the summer so I wanted to pay tribute to all that hard work. It takes about half an hour to walk down the steep side of the mountain to the fjord and about 45 minutes to get back up again. Impressive work for anyone to do, let alone someone who is 83!

January - We went to Bergen because SA (my husband) had a meeting to attend. On the way home we encountered some gorgeous scenery!

February - I started out the month in the hospital in Førde which was an interesting and informative introduction to Norwegian healthcare! I also took my first language test and passed! Finally, I redecorated our bedroom as a birthday present to SA.

Before...

After!

March - We drove down to Oslo to see one of my favorite musicians, Rufus Wainwright, in concert! I can't seem to find a good photo of the concert - you know, too dark and blurry - so here is one of us having a picnic on the roof of the Opera House...it was a little chilly to have a picnic on a windy roof but it was beautiful!

April - For my birthday SA surprised me with a trip to Kalvåg on the North Sea. We had a fantastic lunch on the pier and walked around the cute little shops. We also took a trip to the beach even though it was freezing!

May - I was on the planning committee for the 17.mai celebrations...even though it was my first 17.mai ever! (17th of May is the equivalent of the American 4th of July for those who aren't familiar) Here is the poster I designed for the 200 year anniversary. The whole day was a success! (I made animal balloons for the kids...and some adults!)

June - FINALLY GOT A JOB! Just for the summer but, hey, it was better than nothing! I was hired as a tour guide for the tourists that come off the cruise ships in Olden and Geiranger. I, of course, guided in English and most of my passengers were from America or Great Britain though I encountered many other cultures as well. It was a blast!

The Briksdal Glacier

We also welcomed a new member to our family! A Havanese/Chinese Crested Powderpuff mix (very allergy friendly because SA is very allergic!) named Esma! She is THE BEST puppy in the whole world. Seriously. The best!

July - I hosted a Fourth of July Party complete with the corniest, over-the-top, totally Americanized kransekake which made all the Norwegians roll their eyes at the crazy American!

Later in the month we took a 10 day vacation over to Røros, up to Trondheim, over to the coast and back down to home again. It was a great camping trip with lots of adventures! The picture is of Esma in front of the cathedral in Trondheim.

August - For our anniversary we went to Urnes Stave Church which is the oldest one remaining in Norway. It was so beautiful! (Separate post of that later, I hope) We also stopped at the church where we were married on the exact day of our one year anniversary and stood exactly where we stood to exchange our vows.

September - This picture was taken from our front yard on the night that I received my new residency permit! I was so surprised to see that I had been approved to stay in Norway for another TWO years and I didn't have to renew it next year! It is rare that we see the Northern Lights from our house because of where we are positioned on a ledge on the mountain. It was a treat to walk outside and see it for the FIRST time in my life and in our own front yard. I took it as a welcome present from Norway ;)

October - More redecorating! This time I tackled the living room and dining room. In the living room, alone, there were SEVEN different colors of brown paint. Well, not anymore! I also painted a "family tree" in the corner for pictures of our two families.

Before...

After!

November - And now we're caught up! I was originally going to post about the Thanksgiving dinner we hosted but decided to do the update. So I will compose a separate post about the dinner in a couple days. Here is a picture to hold you over until then. My first EVER pumpkin pie!! And it was GOOD! (I'm wearing that thing on my head because I have long hair and I was terrified I would get hair in the food I was making.)

SO

I will try to be better about posting. There really have been so many amazing adventures we have been on so I will even try to backlog some because I really want people to see the beautiful places and incredible cultural traditions this country has to offer. I hope you bear with me in this process and that this pictorial tour through the past year of adventures will entice you to come back and learn more about Norway. I promise you, this country will not let you down!

Until next time...Hadet!