My New Norwegian Home

I'm feeling more and more like a person again so I can quit neglecting you, my blog children, and write some! :-) I haven't been out much. I hate the winter. I'm really not too fond of the cold and my butt has been staying inside all winter. On the bright side, spring is coming!!!! The days are getting longer. The snow is slowly, but surely melting...*fingers crossed* and I've been getting spring fever! I'm still in awe at how beautiful this place is. Even after 9 months of living here, I still think it's just as pretty as the day I arrived. I love living here, but I really can't wait til spring!!! Sunset after hiking in Langesund! This picture of Skien was taken on top of a mall roof/parking lot.  It's a very special feeling, at least to this Kentuckian, when there's a mountain view everywhere and a trip to the ocean is just a 20 minute drive. :-)

Danmark!  My husband's family loves Denmark. They love it so much they bought an apartment there. So this past weekend, we made a trip there. I think traveling within countries in Europe is best compared to traveling to other states within America. Taking a 3 hour boat ride to Denmark would be similar to someone in the US taking a little road trip to another state. More than likely a bordering state. The inside of the ferry we travel on.  I love how strangely diverse the Danish scenery is. One minute we're driving past windmills, rural dairy and turnip farms. The next we're driving past pine trees, a desert and then the seashore. Turnips!  An old Danish mill from the 1600s.  Hiking with some scenery similar to Norway's, but this time we climbed up a tree tower. And something else similar to Norway - grass growing on roofs!  Though I like a lot of things about Denmark so far, I really like this desert we went to...

Usually on our lazy Sundays, the husband and I will go to a small coastal town. We've been randomizing lately so we can visit all the nearby coastal towns. We only live about 20 minutes from the coast which is absolutely great! Some people may not understand my excitement for these trips and that's okay, but I'm more properly used to just seeing farm land as that's what the majority of Kentucky consists of. Farm land and coal mines in the Appalachian mountains on the eastern end. There is no coast in Kentucky. It's surrounded by borders to Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia,  Missouri and Illinois. If you see any body of water in Kentucky, it's probably a pond, a river or a lake. Anytime I've been able to see a coastline and look at the ocean has been on trips to either South Carolina or Florida - and I know many people who have never even seen the natural beauty of a coastline. A few weeks ago I went to Kragerø, Norway. I like to research these tow...

I've been curious about the western coast of Norway and wanted to see it and with my father-in-law giving us a pair of plane tickets he won, we went. So we got on a tiny propeller plane and went to Bergen. The city was beautiful. It's filled with history, old well-preserved buildings, cobblestone streets and surrounded by 7 sister mountains. There was even a wedding at this church.  I began to wonder what it would be like for an expatriate living in Bergen and I came up with two things. Since at least down town Bergen is more of a tourist attraction, I can see how someone living there would be more comfortable speaking English and possibly be hindered in learning Norwegian. Of course Norwegians speak English as well, but I can understand when it's common to speak English especially in a place like Bergen how that may slow down learning Norwegian. Number 2 - the rain. I can completely understand how this may affect someone's mood. Especially with it ra...

Part of being married is sharing things. Sharing the TV remote, sharing an economy, sharing a bed, and even at times sharing sickness. Unfortunately due to recent sickness that I may or may not have passed onto my husband, he urged me to go with his parents and his older brother on a day trip to the coast. After being reluctant to leave him home and with mono, I finally went. Stavern, Norway was one of the small coastal cities we went to. Like every other coastal city it's nice to take a day trip and go on a walk or hike and just observe and take in some of the nice Norwegian scenery. What sets this city apart is it used to be a naval base. Now the town can be seen with mustard colored houses, a memorial for fallen sailors, and art displays throughout the week days. An old sea mine from WWII.  An old home from the 1600s.  A statue inside the naval memorial.  I even tried fish soup for the first time. I know it's a popular and traditional dish in Norway and...