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. :-)

A couple of weeks ago, my mother-in-law told me a typical Norwegian quote, "There's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing!" I still have no idea how to dress and when I came here with all my "Kentucky clothes" as I call them now, I wasn't prepared at all for Norwegian weather. I just love a quote from one of the Alt for Norge contestants, "The Norwegian weather hates you!"   That really sums it up! :-) When I first arrived here to a very rainy and cool summer, my husband asked, "Where's your raincoat?" I told him, "I've never had one." He looked at me like I was crazy and asked, "What did you do in Kentucky when it rains?" I explained to him if it rained, it would dry soon. Kentucky weather changes from hour to hour, so a raincoat never mattered much to me anyways. And honestly, I've never had much use for umbrellas and raincoats. I hate wearing layers of clothing and I hate clothing (like...