Homesick :(

I've been feeling homesick today. Weird how these days just randomly come. I'm sure I feel homesick on the days where things don't go as expected, or we have to act very adult-ish with tons of responsibility. Whatever the case, I don't know. I don't really enjoy it. I want to make where we are living feel like home, but today it definitely doesn't. I wish I could say exactly what makes me feel this way, but it's just everything in general. Today I've been missing: The cars (the size, the power, the prettiness) and the roads. Strange, but it would be nice to see a stop sign and not round-a-bouts everywhere (tho I know that round-a-bouts make more logical sense). Plus, EVERYTHING is miniature size here. The roads, the cars, the food, the appliances, etc. So I miss U.S. sizing. Oh, and I miss a decent dishwashing soap. I do love the dishwasher soap, but for doing dishes by hand, I haven't seen one that actually lathers and breaks up grease. I really miss my tan Emu snow boots that I found at Big 5 for $30 which I got rid of because they were disgustingly dirty. My feet are freezing with the new boots I bought (tho I did buy them in the states) which I thought would be warm. Oh, and I miss being able to do anything (like even have a bank account, etc) which I can't do until immigration is taken care of. Hmm, I miss the prices in the U.S., and how cheap clothes are. Finally, I miss being able to take a candle-lit bath on a cold winter night, carpet, and U.S. houses.
So there you go. I thought that maybe writing about my feelings would help me recover faster. Not that I dislike or feel like things here are horrible, today I am just missing how things used to be. Either tomorrow or in a few days, I'll be back to appreciating the experience that we are living, but just let me miss things today.

Does It Just Go Downhill From Here?

Nico. We love him oh, so very much! One thing that hits me almost daily is something that was said in his baby blessing. He was blessed to love and to be loved by others. I think Nico has a special way of loving others. He is always so good and sweet to people he doesn't even know, and when anybody holds him or interacts with him, I believe they feel the love that he radiates. On the other hand, we have definitely 100% hit the toddler phase and he has begun to test every single limit imaginable. Sometimes it is frustrating when he will start doing things that he knows he isn't allowed to see if Mom (or Dad) will be consistent in giving him a time out. He is now at the height of being able to turn on the stove, tv, washing machine, and dishwasher, and I am reminded of the importance of being consistent in consequences. My philosophy is to hold on tight to the reins while he is young and learning so many things, and then as he gets older (teenager) he has developed the values and skills we have taught him, and I have to gradually start letting him loose and give him more independence. We will see how it works, because every kid is different, but I used this strategy for classroom management while I was teaching and it was very effective. (Except the kids didn't age that much, but I was always able to have their respect and attention.) Anyways, enough talk, here are some pictures from the last week:
This has to be one of my favorite pictures ever of Nico.It was warm enough today to go outside and play in the snow. Nico loved it! That is, until I wouldn't let him play with the thorny rose bush...





Please notice the sequence of pictures above. Nico climbed onto the dishwasher, and probably in just one minute, I got all of these horrible pictures. I thought it was funny to see how much he was moving though. Yep, he's definitely a boy!

"Norwegians have a wall. Once you get past it, they are some of the nicest people on Earth."

I think this has to be the best advice anyone has given me about Norwegians. After hearing this I can definitely see it, and it makes it so much easier to deal with things. With some people it is so easy to feel shunned (for lack of a better word) by them. For example, sitting 2 feet away from someone without any sort of acknowledgment of my existence. So for the first while here it's been pretty easy for me to feel like I'm the size of a pea. However, the past couple days I have really been trying to see things from the "wall" perspective, and it has really helped! It's not that I was offended per se before because I totally understand the situation, and I don't expect people to speak English all of the time, but body language can be pretty intimidating sometimes. I'm not sure if I am explaining this the right way, but now that I know that it's a wall and nothing personal, I can control what I do to change things. I like it because I am forced to be outgoing and out of my comfort zone in order to get past the "wall" that people put up. So, it's a win-win situation. I am starting to meet some truly amazing, nice, genuine people after I get past the "wall" and in return I am able to break down the "wall" that I have built for myself. It's a fun social experiment.

I think I'm doing ok with adjusting here. Things are completely different. There are some things that I really really miss (like good cleaning products, including dish soap that actually works, and carpet) but because I am surrounded by wonderful family and friends, it is starting to feel like home. I miss my family that lives in the States a lot. I think one thing that is making it ok though is that Glenn's side of the family is a lot like my family, so in a way it still feels like they are here. Not in a weird Twilight Zone way either. Well, enough with the philosophy. Time to post some pictures of Nico, which is what most of you want to see anyways. (See next post)

A Good Day!

Today was my second time to church here in Norway, and it was much better than last week. Last week everyone was very welcoming, but I became very overwhelmed with the language and pretty homesick. Today I was able to embrace the fact that this is my home ward now, and I think the attitude made up a lot of the difference. I also had my wonderful husband translate a bit for me, and then a kind sister translated for me during Relief Society. Overall, I am much more excited for this opportunity that we have, and have more of a motivation to learn the language.

I've started slowly studying Norwegian, but I'm running into the same problem that I always had in school. I have no idea how to memorize things. In school, I just crammed everything in for the tests, and then forgot it a few days later. So, if anyone has any tips on how to memorize things (such as vocabulary words), please pass them my way!

Glenn seems to be enjoying his new job, besides the freezing to death walk to the bus stop early in the morning. Apparently it's been abnormally cold, but all I know is that it is stinkin' cold! The temperatures have been flirting around -20 F. And I thought I was moving somewhere somewhat warmer than Idaho! It's exactly the same...

A much needed update

Yes! We're still alive! It's just been a very crazy busy life lately, but things are finally starting to wind down. I've been avoiding posting because I wanted to have pictures to share, but I don't know where the uploading cable is to our camera, and figured I'd better post now instead of never. So, hopefully pictures will come soon.

Our big news is that Glenn graduated with his Bachelor's degree before Christmas, and accepted a job with a company in Norway! So, a few days after Christmas we moved to Norway! The flight and move were much worse than they needed to be what with delayed flights which led to a short layover, which led to our luggage (5 huge, heavy suitcases) not arriving when we did. Luckily we were able to get it later that night, but I was completely overwhelmed and tired by that point that I was so grateful to come home to our own apartment which Glenn's sisters had already got ready for us. They are angels in my book! We are slowly trying to build a new life and I'm trying to adjust to a completely different way of life. I've had good days and bad days, but at least today I went to the store to buy something and didn't come out crying! That is definitely progress! I am waiting to be able to take Norwegian classes, but that probably will be several months because immigration paperwork needs to get taken care of.

Our holidays were busy, but we enjoyed the time we had to spend with family and friends. We are so blessed to know so many great people all over the world! My sister got married on the 22nd, and it was nice to see aunts and uncles and celebrate with her. It's crazy that she is married now! I'm not sure I'll ever get used to it....

New Years was spent here in Norway, and it was like nothing I've ever experienced. Imagine 4th of July fireworks, but going off in every sort of direction you can see lighting up all of the sky. Almost every household buys tons of fireworks with rockets and shoot them up in the sky. So instead of fireworks in one area like during the 4th of July, it's everywhere! It was very fun.

Hopefully everyone is surviving getting back into the routine of things after the holidays. And don't worry, we're going to start posting much more often!