The Rasmussen Family

Goodbye Denmark....Hello Ireland!

2012-02-13T10:38:00.003+01:00

Once again I am on the move from one country to another. This time Leah is with me.

We arrived in Ireland late last night. We had a really lovely journey, everything went like clockwork and we even arrived 10 minutes before time! That´s SAS for you!

On the ground it was cold and gray but once above those clouds the view was fantastic!

It´s lovely to be back and see dad again. For Leah and me, the next few days are going to be taken up with having a wee holiday with granda, although a few visits to Primark will probably get worked in around this holiday!

Stuffed....

2012-02-08T22:55:00.001+01:00

I´m stuffed! I have been out this evening with my friend Genny at one of our favourite restaurants - The Mexican. We always eat too much and tonight was no different. We got caught up with each others lives and it was just great to see her again.

Today a letter came in the post. It was to Andrew from the Danish military. In Denmark the young men can do a 4 month conscription in the Danish army. Andrew has been dreaming of this since he was a wee boy! About 6 months ago he got a letter telling him he would be called into an information day sometime in 2012 and then he could, if he wanted, do his military service in 2013. Now a letter has come telling him they need young men and are therefore recruiting now. This means he could begin his national service already in a few months time!!! WHAT???!!! Mum is not a happy woman! Andrew is running around with a smile on his face!

Over the last few months he has been so tired of his school. He has finished secondary school and is taking a two year course but is just not into it. He has been struggling to keep himself going and has been dreaming of something else coming along! Today that something else came!

So I think he is going to fill in the forms and send them off. Oh dear, I don´t want him to be sent off to some war torn place. Well I can hope that he doesnt get accepted. He has to go to an information day, have an interview and do a fitness test. I suppose there is a chance that he will fail the fitness test! One can hope!!

The countdown....

2012-02-07T22:01:00.001+01:00

6 weeks....5 weeks...... 4 weeks.....3 weeks..... 2 weeks.... 1 week and now.... only 3 days left until we have free from school for our winter holiday! When I started back to work after Christmas, 6 weeks seemed a long time to wait for holiday - how wrong I was!!

Leah and I will spend our winter break in Ireland with dad. I`m sorry I wont get to see so many this time while at home. The time is short and I just want to spend as much time as I can with dad and Leah. In some ways I just need a break. I can feel that I just need to be at home without always having to be somewhere at a certain time. (But I am planning to go home again at Easter, so hopefully then I can get to see more people!)

So Friday can´t come quick enough!! I can´t wait for the holidays to begin. You would think I hated my job the way I look forward to my holidays!! haha It´s totally the opposite - I love my job and my workplace!

Last night I went to Ikea with my friend Audry and had such a cosy night with her. We hadn´t talked since before Christmas so it was nice to catch up again. I was first getting home at 11.30pm!! (We did the usual thing - McDonalds after Ikea!) As I drove home the temperature in my car was showing a reading of -18 degrees! Brrrrhhhhhhh! it sure was cold!

As I said, it was a late night last night and I sure could feel that this morning when my alarm rang at 5.50am. I just did not want to get up. I lay until 6.10am and then I was running about like a headless chicken! I had a good day at work despite the fact that I was feeling so tired. (Tonight I will go to bed early!)

After work I went to visit my old lady friend. She looked tired but is improving slowly.

It was then home to catch up on my wee family and get dinner ready. So that has basically been my week so far.

Today at work I was listening to this one song, on repeat, for about 3 hours!! (Now that would do Kristian´s head in but I love doing that! haha) I just love the words and the melody. Have a listen....

"The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with his love, He will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3,17

Date night....

2012-02-04T15:04:00.003+01:00

So Kristian had arranged a date night. It turned out to be dinner and a concert. We met up with two of Kristian´s friends - Morten and Michael. They had their wives with them too. (Kristian met Morten years ago while doing a course at night school. Since then they have been friends. Through the years Kristian has gotten to know Morten´s brother Michael. They don´t see each other so often, maybe two or three times a year.) But last night we all got to hang out together.

The food was delicious. We had prawn cocktail for starters followed by a Greek inspired dinner. Once again I ate far too much but enjoyed every mouthful. Dinner was from 7pm to 9pm and then the concert started.

Morten´s wife and me.

It was Michael´s birthday and he got to meet the man giving the concert....Mike Anderson.

Mike Anderson and band were fantastic! Funny thing was that we were the youngest people there!! A jazzclub had arranged the event and most of the people there were 60+!! and once the music started they were all up dancing. I had so much fun watching these older people swing each other about the dance floor and they could dance! I didn´t get to dance.:-( Kristian is a terrible dancer! So he refuses to dance, at least in public! So I just had to make do with clapping my hands and tapping my feet!

It was a lovely evening although by 11pm I was ready for bed!! Talk about getting old! It was finished by midnight and we were heading home and in bed by 1am! I then slept until 11.53am!!! We all did! We must have really needed it:-) Thanks for a lovely night Kristian, next month it´s my turn to arrange a date! Ummhhh what can I do???

Check out Mike Andersons voice - fantastic voice and his band were fantastic too!

Quick update.....

2012-02-02T22:57:00.002+01:00

Another week has nearly gone!! Time really is flying by. I must really be having fun - you know the old saying "time flies when you´re having fun!"

So what´s been happening this week....

1. Well at the start of the week we got an invite, in the post, to our friends silver wedding anniversary. Bit scary that our friends are starting to celebrate 25 years of marriage! I remember my mum and dad celebrating their silver wedding and I thought they were old! haha The best thing about this anniversary is that it starts at 10am with brunch and not the traditionally 6am wake up call that the Danes usually have. (Who really wants to get up at 5am so they can get to a house for 6am in the morning! I just don´t get that tradition!! Having said that it is always really cosy when you do finally get to the house and start to wake up a bit!)

2. Leah cut up a pig this week. They had a butcher visiting her school to show the kids how to cut up a pig. They were taught about the different cuts of meat and how they could cook them. They spent a day cooking and had so much meat that they decided to invite all their parents to come and eat what they had made. So Tuesday evening found us down at the school enjoying a wonderful meal that I didn´t have to make.

3. I got in a few visits with my old lady friend. She is improving slowly but surely.

4. Got a hair cut today. Very short! (ah well it will grow!)

5. Need to really get going with this fitness thing. I am really putting on the weight again. I have been soooo bad.

6. Talked to dad this evening. He is in hospital again, although probably only for the night. Another nose bleed which they are having problems stopping. He was to get blood today at home but woke with a nose bleed and ended up in the hospital to get platelets and then blood.

7. Tomorrow evening my hubby is taking me on a date!! I have to be ready for 5pm! Oh I can´t wait!!

Weather wise it has gotten really cold. Minus 8 today and they are saying that temperatures will go down to between -10 and -16 over the weekend. Brrrrrrrrhhhhh - sounds like a weekend for hot chocolate and a few good films!!

Sharing.....

2012-01-30T15:15:00.002+01:00

This morning I read this devotional and it really spoke to me. I then went on facebook and watched a video someone had posted. The two connected and I just wanted to share them both......

John 1:41, "He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ."

JOHN 1:37-42

Andrew was the first disciple of Jesus to share his faith and bring another to Christ. And look who it was that he brought.

Peter became one of the greatest apostles of Jesus. He preached on the day of Pentecost and saw 3,000 born again. He healed a lame man at the gate of the temple and 5,000 were born again as a result. He raised Dorcas from the dead, introduced Christianity to the Gentiles, and wrote two books of the Bible which have ministered to millions of people through the centuries.

Just think of how many millions of people Peter touched, and Andrew was responsible for it all. The accomplishments of Peter recorded in scripture, far outnumber those of Andrew, and yet without Andrew, Peter would not have known Jesus.

In the eyes of God, what Andrew did was just as important as what Peter did. As the one who introduced Peter to Jesus, Andrew had a part in every exploit of Peter. In the day when we receive our rewards from the Lord, Andrew will share in every reward that Peter receives.

Very few of us will shake our world as Peter did his, but all of us are called to share our faith with others as Andrew did. And who knows? One of those that you reach could be the next Peter.

Cold weather and cosy evenings....

2012-01-24T21:55:00.003+01:00

So the weather has turned cold in Denmark, -8 degrees this evening. Brrrrrhhhhh. I´m so thankful for our warm, cosy apartment.

I have had a good few days. Nothing out of the ordinary. Work has been routine although yesterday morning the routine was broken up a bit when we all had a meeting with a girl from an insurance company.

Our work has moved to a new insurance company. This in turn effects our pension schemes. We were all, individually, being called into a meeting so we could get advice on what scheme was best for us. I have never dealt with anything like this before, (that´s why I have Kristian!) but it was actually really interesting and not as complicated as I thought. I feel very clever now!!

The meeting was to be an hour long and before I went, I wondered how on earth we would fill an hour, but there was absolutely no problem, the time flew by! Hard though to imagine being 65 and on the pension. Although I really can´t wait. All that time on hand. I will have time to paint, read, make jewelry, see films, go walks, visit friends, eat out, travel, and the list could go on!

This afternoon I went to visit my old lady friend. She is in an old peoples home for a few weeks so she can get her strength back and get built up again. We had a lovely afternoon together. One thing is for sure, I do not want to go into an old peoples home. I hope I never need a place like that when I am old, I would rather die and go home to heaven!

This evening Sara and Leah were having a cosy sister evening together. After dinner they some how talked me into driving them over to the supermarket to buy crisps and sweets. As soon as we came back they crawled into our bed and started watching a film. They have been there ever since.

Shadow decided to get cosy too. She found a spot on top of the cushion and has been there all evening, snoring! She honestly does snor!!

New Year Resolutions.....

2012-01-21T21:16:00.001+01:00

Normally at the start of each new year I have a few new year resolutions, but at the start of this year I had nothing. I sure am running behind!! So over the last few days I have been thinking about what I want to achieve this year. What are my goals? What are my dreams and vision?

I came up with a few.....

First and foremost I want to be changed! Don´t panic! I am not talking about a nose job or a face lift, (although I could probably do with some help in those areas!)What I am talking about is being changed to be more like Jesus.

I want to be obedient to what God tells me to do, or in some cases, what He tells me not to do.

Many times I know what God wants me to do but actually getting around to doing it can take a bit of time. Why? Because most of the time my flesh has to die!!! For example if Kristian does something that makes me mad, I know God wants me to forgive him and go and make peace but my flesh wants to throw a fit, bang a few door, sigh a few big sighs or just go in a huff and not speak to him. For me to obey God I have to go against what my flesh thinks and feels and that can be so hard! But to be obedient I have to choose to do what God says no matter what I feel like. It might feel all wrong in my flesh but I can still do the right thing - I can obey God. This is my big challenge for this year. To kill my flesh so I can be obedient to God.

I want to try and do a bit more painting. Maybe paint 2 pictures a month.

I want to try and lose some weight and get healthy again. I haven´t exercised for such a long time so my goal is to get back into healthy eating and getting fitter.

I want to save up for my re-born baby doll. Everyone I know thinks they are freaky and that I am just as freaky wanting one! I´m not - I have just always loved dolls and I think these dolls are works of art. Hopefully before the end of 2012 I will have one lying on my bed.

I want to learn a new language, maybe Italian. (OK I know I should maybe work on my Danish!! but Italian is just such a romantic language!! haha)

I want to visit Rome, Paris, Berlin, Barcelona and London - not necessarily in that order! If I am honest and realistic I could tell you now that I will probably not achieve any of those cities this year but one can dream!

I want to get a tattoo - only joking! (that woke you up! eh?!)

I want to remember to keep my sense of wonder - look at the stars, walk in the rain, enjoy nature.

I want to love my family and friends and be there for them.

I want to laugh more.

I want to continue to learn how to be content no matter what situation I find myself in.

I could go on and on but I better stop. I wonder what 2012 will hold for us all? Will I achieve any of these things? Time will tell.

It´s now Saturday evening. The house has been cleaned and organised. Leah and I are about to go and watch a Doris Day film. We are really into the old Doris Day films at the moment. Must say, there is nothing better than a Saturday evening at home with the family and a lovely clean house. Life is good.

Another quiet week....

2012-01-14T23:57:00.001+01:00

It has been another quiet week for me here on the blog, but not so quiet in real life. The week has gone by so quickly and my days have been filled with busy days at work, housework, parent/teacher meetings, as well as spending time at the hospital visiting my old lady friend. In between, whenever I had a spare moment, I read a book. I can truly say that I have not been bored at all this last week.

I have been feeling tired though. I have been going to bed far too late and living on 6 hours sleep, which is not enough for me. So today I was glad to be able to sleep long, well that was the plan.Unfortunately I woke at 7.15am and lay there trying to fall asleep again for over an hour. I finally did doze off and woke at 10.40am feeling much better.

So we had a day ahead without any plans. We should really have been cleaning the house but I am so sick of doing that. So I suggested to Kristian that we headed out for a drive. Just go with the flow and see where we ended. That´s what we did and we ended in a shopping centre called WAVES. We have never been there before and we had a lovely afternoon walking around exploring.

The best part was that we found a Subway which I knew nothing about. It really made my day. (I know, I should get a life if something like that makes my day!! But I do LOVE my grub!)

After a few hours at the shopping centre we left and decided to call into Ikea on the way home. They are open till 8pm on a Saturday and we just wanted to make the most of it. (Or maybe we really were putting off going home to a messy house! haha)

It has been a really great day. I love hanging out with my hubby. It was great just wandering around looking at things and chatting. We didn´t buy a thing, except the Subway!

This evening I have spent relaxing. (Another thing I love doing!) I sure do love weekends!! There should be more of them! haha

A Productive Day.....

2012-01-08T21:18:00.001+01:00

Yesterday (Saturday) was a very productive day! It started early for me. I had to be at work for 7.30am. I was serving breakfast for the teachers at our school who were holding a 1 day course. I was at work until 9.45am. It was then home to collect Kristian who was up, ready and waiting on me. We had a date arranged with his sister Signe.

Signe needed a new laptop and so she wanted Kristian to help her pick one. I thought it sounded like fun so I tagged along too. At 10.35am we met Signe from the train and then drove to one of the big computer shops. Signe and Kristian found a laptop that met all her needs and wishes. She was a happy girl.

We then decided to head into one of the big shopping centres and get a bite to eat. We had the most decilious meal and it was really cosy to sit and get caught up with each other.

It was then home to get our house sorted out. We were expecting guests and so I needed to bake buns, make a pavlova and get some cleaning done.

My pavlova turned out really well - even if I say so myself!! haha

My friend Anne her husband Peter and sons came by - it was time for family fun night!

We stuffed our faces! Anne had made pancakes, I had ice cream for the pancakes and then there was also my pavlova and wee buns. We had a really cosy evening together. We always have so much fun when we get together. It was the wee hours of the morning when we were getting to bed but it was with a smile on our lips. It had really been a great evening. Friendship is a really wonderful thing!!

What a week......

2012-01-06T18:07:00.004+01:00

I have been very quiet this week! I haven´t had much time to update the blog which, in some ways, is a good thing - makes me think that I actually do have a life! haha

So 2012 has started. Kristian was already back at work on Monday morning. Poor guy. (Over here if New Year or Christmas fall at the weekend, it´s just too bad, you don´t get any extra days for them.) I started back to work on Tuesday and what a killer it was having to wake up again at 5.50am!!! I just hated setting my alarm again for that time. But I couldn´t really complain, I had been off work since 16th December!

Tuesday afternoon I usually go shopping for an old lady. I called her from work like I usually do but was unable to make contact with her. After ringing 4 times over a 20 minute period I was getting a little worried. It was not like her not to answer her phone. I drove to her house and tried to get in, I have keys to her apartment. However I was unable to open the door, the deadlock was on. That was strange as it is only ever on when she goes out shopping with me. I was now getting really worried. I decided to head over to the Home Care offices where I worked a few years back. I know they call with her everyday so they would know something. I finally found out that she was in hospital. So instead of going shopping I headed back the way I came and went to visit her in hospital. She is not doing so well but she is in the best place and she is getting the best care.

Wednesday Kristian walked around all day with a big smile on his face! Why? Well he got himself a new car. Well new is not really the right word. I suppose what I should say is that the car is new to him. It is from September 2005.

Our old car has been giving us so much trouble. It needed to go through the MOT this month and there was so much work needing done on it. Was it worth putting so much money into an old car? That´s what Kristian had been asking himself for days. Should he look for something newer? Well that is what he did and he found a bargin! We still can´t believe he got the car for the price he did.

The car has only two seats at the front, there is no back seat, just a huge boot. This makes it a lot cheaper in taxes etc. It also means he has loads of room for his go-kart tools, tyres and parts. He is sooo over the moon about it and the best thing is that it actually starts in the mornings. Kristian doesn´t have to spend 10 minutes trying to get it going like he did with the old car! Yes I have a very happy hubby!

Yesterday, Thursday, my colleague at work had a birthday. She had no plans for the afternoon or evening. In fact she was thinking of just going home after work to warm some food up in the microwave!!! YOU CAN`T DO THAT ON YOUR BIRTHDAY!!! So I came up with an idea. I would be going to the hospital straight after work to visit my old lady friend, so I suggested to my colleague that from there, I could pick her up and we could go out for dinner. She was sooo happy. A quick call to Kristian got everything on the home front sorted and I was suddenly all set up for an evening out on the town!

We had a wonderful evening. Great food, great chats and a bit of laughter too.

Now it´s weekend and I am totally exhausted! I have been going to bed far to late these days! Unfortunately I can´t sleep in tomorrow. There is a course at work for the teachers and I am going to serve breakfast for them. I will only be working a couple of hours but those few hours are early - VERY EARLY in the morning!!! Better get to bed early this evening!

Welcome 2012

2012-01-01T22:54:00.000+01:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR

For me the New Year is a time to look back and reflect as well as a time to look forward and dream. 2011 had its trials and challenges for us as a family but I can honestly say I felt God´s presence with me all the way. I felt His peace and joy deep in my heart when there was nothing to be peaceful or joyful about.

Now 2012 is here. I am looking forward to a new year with new challenges, new dreams and new goals. It´s great to be able to go into a new year content. I know I never have to face anything alone. God is always there with me! So all that is left to say is Happy New Year everyone!!

100 year birthday party......forest trip....friends...

2011-12-31T18:17:00.001+01:00

PHEW!!! It has been a busy few days!

Thursday we were at a 100 year birthday party! My mother in law turned 76, my nephew turned 14 and my niece will be 10 in a few days. 76+14+10=100 hence we were at a 100 year birthday party. The whole family were gathered together and it was just a great afternoon and evening.

There was a new member in the family. My nephew`s girlfriend got herself a wee dog. It was the centre of attention.

We were many who got to hold wee Buddy.

Kristian missed some of the party as he had to work but he came by after work. He then had to leave earlier than us as he had his yearly date with the boys in the forest. (Every year a group of about 5 or 6 fellas go out to the forest no matter what the weather and make a fire. They sit there for hours discussing all sorts of topics, sharing food and drinks and they just have a really cosy time!)

Friday our friends Jette and Philip came by with their two children. They are just sooo cute (the kids that is). I love having them over. We had a cosy evening with them.

Double booking....

2011-12-28T21:19:00.003+01:00

Yesterday afternoon I talked to my friend Laura. We haven´t seen each other in a while and Leah wanted to see if her daughter Mia wanted to come and visit. We made a date for today - Wednesday. Laura would come by with Mia, she would stay for a cup of coffee and then Mia would stay on for dinner and a sleepover.

Yesterday afternoon Kristian was in town when his cousin Jacob rang. Jacob, his wife and wee daughter live far away from us but they were over visiting family for Christmas. They wanted to know if they could come by Wednesday afternoon for a cup of coffee. Kristian told them to come.

Last night I mentioned to Kristian that Laura would be coming by for coffee on Wednesday afternoon. "Oh" said Kristian "Jacob and Louisa are also coming by Wednesday afternoon for coffee." It was then we found out we had made a double booking and we had a good chuckle about it all. The way we look at it, the more the merrier so we didn´t bother ringing to cancel any of the arrangements.

So this afternoon the house was full of friends and it was soooo lovely. We had a really enjoyable afternoon with all of them and the time went by too fast. It was especially lovely seeing Jacob and Lousia´s little girl. She has just turned one. I like having a wee one in the house again!!

Merry Christmas 2011

2011-12-25T20:02:00.001+01:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS

A Merry Christmas from all of us in Denmark!

Our Christmas has been great. It all began yesterday at lunchtime. We travelled down to Kristian´s sisters house to hold Christmas with them and some other family members. We were 19 in total and we had a wonderful afternoon and evening together. We ate a delicious dinner of duck and pork, caramelised potates, boiled potatoes and red cabbage and we all ate too much!

We played games, sang carols, watched a little TV, sang more carols this time walking around the Christmas tree before we finally exchanged our gifts. It was a really great evening.

We arrived home a little after midnight. The kids headed off to bed and Kristian and I got ready to play Santa. We put out the presents. Sara´s and Leah´s presents are put on the chair and Andrew´s presents on the sofa. Since we don´t pack in their gifts we cover them with a blanket so that if anyone has to go to the loo during the night they don´t see the presents.

At 8.30am Sara started to text us about getting up!! By 9am she couldn´t wait any longer! She was like a wee kid, she rang Kristian, Leah, Andrew and me to wake us and she didn´t give up until we were all finally awake!!

The kids finally got to pull off the blankets and see what surprises lay beneath.

They were not disappointed. I think they have had a good Christmas.

After all the presents were opened the house got cleared up yet AGAIN!!! Then I spent my time like nearly every other woman celebrating Christmas today - in the kitchen making food. I managed to get everything ready at the same time - now that was a miracle! We, once again, ate too much, but enjoyed every mouthful!! Finally after we cleared up it was the time that I look forward to every Christmas, the afternoon, a time to do absolutely nothing, a time to relax or do something that one enjoys!

I spent the afternoon on the sofa. I was meant to see a film but ended up fast asleep! It was lovely!
Maybe this evening I will get to see my film!

Shadow spent the afternoon lazying around on her Christmas box. She needed a new stratching post, the old one was stratched to pieces. She seems very happy with our choice!

It´s great to have a few days ahead of us just to relax! I hope you all enjoy the rest of the Christmas season. Merry Christmas everyone !!

(Memories from Christmas Eve.....)

Leah and her Aunt Signe sing a Christmas song. Kristian´s little brother Peter helps out every so often:-)

Too late....

2011-12-23T23:49:00.002+01:00

Well if I have forgotten to buy anything for Christmas, it´s too late now!! All the shops are closed until Tuesday!

Today has been good, I´ve achieved alot! Now I am finally ready for Christmas. I really didn´t think I´d get everything done in time, but I did. I suppose that it is what I think every year and yet somehow I always manage to get ready in time.

We got the Christmas tree up this afternoon and the house is looking nice and cosy. Everyone is being cosy. The girls are together in Leah´s room having a beauty session. Andrew is playing a game over the internet with his friends and Kristian and I have just watched Die Hard. I think my blood pressure is up! Talk about excitment!!! My wee heart has had all the excitement it can take for one evening so I am going to head off to bed so I have energy for tomorrow, which hopefully, will be filled with excitement of another kind!

Making Memories....

2011-12-21T23:12:00.001+01:00

I have just spent the last 4 days in Ireland making memories. I had a brilliant time but it was, once again, just too short. I got to spend loads of time with dad, got to see some friends, got to go Christmas shopping and got to visit family. Amazing what you can do in such a short time!!

Now I am back in Denmark again after a long day of travelling. I am just about to head to bed! Everything went smoothly on the journey home, I was a bit worried I would have to pay for extra baggage but luckily my bag was just under the 20kg!! PHEW!!!!

The video below shows some of the memories.....

Dad was Joseph in a play at his church on Sunday evening. He sang a solo - I think he did a great job! Proud of you dad!! You have an amazing voice - now why didn´t I get some of my Dad´s singing talent! I would gladly give up my good looks for that!! hahahaha

Want to hear him sing - well click below:-)

A message from me.....

2011-12-17T23:16:00.000+01:00

A quick update....

2011-12-14T23:32:00.003+01:00

I honestly don´t know where this week is going!! Every day has been packed filled with things to do and I have been on the go from from early morning to late at night. I can see that I am achieving alot - the list is getting smaller and smaller so that´s a good thing!

This week we got our Chrismas tree up in work. The school has a couple of Christmas trees in the corridors but we always like one out in the area where we sit and have our breaks. Unfortunately there isn´t room for a tree but where there is a will there is a way........

Yes the tree got hung from the ceiling! Cool eh?

My boss and colleague had to get up on the table to decorate the tree!

Ahhh the boys did a great job!

Last week my friend Rhona had a birthday but we both were so busy that we didn´t have time to celebrate together. We made up for it this week. We met up Monday afternoon and the celebrating began!

We had a lovely afternoon, even though we both were tired. We had the most delicious desserts! Ate far too much as usual.

Getting ready for Christmas is hard work, although my husband doesn´t seem to think so!! I wonder why??? I am so tired! I have been going to bed far too late and getting up far too early. I have only tomorrow and Friday at work and then it´s holiday. Thank goodness I can finally get to sleep long!

Today I remembered to get to the butcher and order the ham for our Christmas dinner! Now that I am looking forward to!!

The house is also nearly all organised. Just got the hall cupboard to clear out, our office (or really it´s Kristian´s racing room) to clear out and then our wardrobe to sort and that´s the whole house cleared out in every room! Phew!!

It has been another long but good day. Now I am going to head off to bed! Night all talk again soon xox

Just a little too busy....

2011-12-09T22:23:00.000+01:00

....my days are flying by. I think I am a little too busy! But thankfully I am not stressed, just busy, so I suppose that is ok!!

This week, just like all the other weeks, has flown by. Wednesday I was out visiting my friend Genny. We haven´t seen each other in about 8 months so there was lots of catching up to do.

Thursday Leah´s choir held their Christmas concert. Leah was singing and Kristian was playing the sax so I had to go along and support them both. It was a great evening! Loads of gospel and loads of rocking in our seats! I just couldn´t sit still!! haha My hands were sooo sore by the end of the evening from all the clapping.

Now it´s weekend and we have a busy weekend ahead, but it should be fun! Tomorrow Kristian and I are going Christmas shopping. Hopefully we will get everything bought then! I also have a quick trip to the hairdressers so I will be a new improved woman tomorrow! Then it´s home to sort out some more cupboards in this house, attack the big pile of laundry and then clean from top to bottom!

On Sunday I have Sunday School so sometime tomorrow evening I will be preparing my lesson. On Sunday Kristian has a big concert to play at, yet again with a gospel choir, so he will be away most of the day.

I have only this week left at work! 5 working days then it´s holiday! Next Friday evening we are holding our Christmas dinner and so since I am in the committee that is arranging it I have a lot of last minute things to take care off. I know this week is just going to fly by!!

The 6th December - ALREADY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-12-06T21:51:00.002+01:00

HELP!!! this month is just going by too fast!

I have only 8 more working days left and then I am off for Christmas holiday. It can´t come quickly enough. I am soooo looking forward to being off.

I am just in a Christmas mood 24 hours a day (I am driving Kristian bananas!!) Even though I LOVE being in a Christmas mood it makes it really hard to work, all I want to do is get ready for Christmas. I especially want to get my house ready. It needs the normal holiday season clear out! We hoard so much! Everything is falling out of the cupboards yet again! Anyway enough about that.

So my weekend went by so fast. Friday evening we were down at our old church for a get together. It was wonderful seeing old friends again. Everyone brought something for the buffet table and we had a great evening catching up with each other.

Saturday found me out Christmas shopping with my friend Audry. It was our traditional Christmas shopping day. We usually take a day off work and go out shopping but since I had no holidays left we didn´t have much choice, we had to make it a Saturday, and so it was just this last Saturday that we continued our tradition for the 5th year in a row! We had a great day!

We left home at 9.30am and drove to a big shopping centre in Copenhagen. We were there for the shops opening at 10am! We left at 5pm when the shops closed! (They literally had to throw us out! haha) The day just flew by! Even though we had been walking around for all day we decided that we would stop by Ikea on the way home. It was open until 8pm. Audry and I LOVE Ikea so we decided to make the most of our day!

There was only one slight problem, I was driving and I am hopeless at finding my way!! How would I get to Ikea from the shopping centre, when I had forgotten my GPS??! I had driven before to Ikea from this direction, but that had been a very long time ago in the brightness of day. Could I remember the way? Well the answer to that is easy - NO I COULDN`T!!

I made my first mistake just driving out of the shopping centre. Suddenly I was lost!! We found ourselves in a housing estate which had not been there when we drove into the shopping centre. How did I get there? We turned around and found the right road.

Then we started our journey to Ikea. It seemed like things were going well, but before I knew it I was in the middle of this town north of Ikea!!!!?? How did that happen? We turned around and headed to a place called Buddinge. We couldn´t remember ever seeing that name near Ikea, so once again we turned around.

We then saw a sign for a place called Virum, now that rang a bell, so we followed that, but yet again we got lost. Once more we turned around but then we saw a motorway sign for a town close to Ikea. We followed the sign unto the motorway and suddenly we were on the road that we take on our way HOME from Ikea! Aaaarggghhhhhhhhh - we didn´t want to go home just yet!
But we couldn´t turn, we were on the motorway so we had to keep going. It seemed like miles and miles went by before we could finally turn off the motorway and get unto the right side. Finally we arrived at IKEA!!! We were soooo happy to see that Ikea sign! Needless to say we had a great laugh about it all!

After Ikea we had a quick trip over to McDonalds for a cheesburger. You can´t go to Ikea without going to McDonalds!! At 9.30pm I was home. It was a great day. I didn´t get much Christmas shopping done, but I sure had a lot of fun.

Sunday - was our day of rest! A well deserved rest after those hours of shopping! haha

Christmas is in the air......

2011-12-01T22:19:00.008+01:00

The 1st of December amd that means decorating the house for Christmas. Leah and I got stuck into it this evening and ended up with a cosy wee living room! Now only the Christmas tree to buy nearer the time and the Christmas shopping to get done! Yikes - I haven´t even started!!

We´ve been there....

2011-11-30T17:24:00.002+01:00

Where? To the bank!!!

Remember the house we were looking at, well we made an appointment to go and talk with the bank to see what we could afford. The bids have to be in next Wednesday and the starting bid for the house was 1.200.000 kr. When I talked to the estate agent, they were hoping for bids around 1.500.00kr.

I was hoping we could afford 1.700.000kr so we could bid 1.400.000kr and then use 300.000kr to fix the house up.

So today the bank told us that we could loan 1.500.000kr. Uummmm, that means we can only bid the starting price because we need 300.000kr to fix the house up so it will not be expensive in heating etc.

They did say that we could borrow more if we did away with one of our cars. Uuummmm.....Do we really want to do away with one of our cars??? NOOOOOOO!!!!

I have biked around this country for years, in the rain, snow,and hail and at temperatures way down in the minus. If we went for this house with just one car we would be really isolated. (correction: I would be really isolated!) It is further out in the country, fine if you have a car to nip into town but not so fine if Kristian is away with the car and I need a carton of milk and have to bike 4km to town and 4km back again in the rain or snow!! And it would be me on the bike, as my work is closer than Kritians and everything I do is local. However biking, taking the trains or buses just take a lot more time and time is precious - VERY PRECIOUS!

So we have made our decision. We are NOT going for the house. We are not willing to give up one car so we can afford a house that will probably just give us more expenses in the long run with all the things that need done. But I am glad we went to the bank and got an idea about what we could afford. The lady who dealt with us was lovely, she gave us such good service.

Kristian was all worried for me when I came out of the bank. He thought I would be sooo disappointed but I wasn´t. I´ll tell you why.......

I had left the whole thing in God´s hands. I told God we would push some door and He would either have to open or close them. He had to show me if this was His best for me. So we pushed a door by making an appointment with the bank. I asked God to lead us and show us what we should do. One night in bed I was asking him if this was really a good idea to buy this house. Was this His will for us? Then a few days after asking him this I read Jeremiah 23,16...."They spake a vision of their own heart, not from the mouth of the Lord." Uummmmhhhh - interesting I thought, was this house a vision of my own heart and not what God wanted for us. So I asked God for a sign......

I asked Him to show me my special verse from Psalm 37,4 in some way, without me actually going looking for it, either through someone speaking about it at church, or a friend feeling the need to send the verse to me, or me reading the verse somewhere, I just had to have read this verse before we went to the bank on 30th November. I made this "deal" with God last week and told him if I got the verse I would know that he was saying to go ahead with the house. That is was His desire for us and not just a vision of my own heart. Well guess what - the verse never came!!! So I am at peace. I don´t believe God wants us to buy the house. It was a vision of my own heart and I will probably get this vision again in the distant future but you know what I love? Having God there to guide me and help me make decisions! God is soooooo good! I just love Him.

So now I am off to plan Christmas!!!

Fantastic weekend....

2011-11-28T23:03:00.001+01:00

Leah and I were away this weekend. Our church was holding a musical weekend for our Maxi group (9 year old - 12 year old) There were 11 children signed up for the musical. We had also 13 teens helping us. We were three leaders.

We arrived at the church Friday evening at 5pm and not long after the kids were in their groups practicing their songs, dances and lines. Then it was time for dinner. The rest of the evening was spent practicing. I was together with some of the teenage girls who were going to help me paint backgrounds. We had sooo much fun!! Although by Saturday evening we were pretty fed up painting backgrounds. Below is one of the first backgrounds we got finished......

We ended Friday evening with a film and some treats.

Saturday arrived and everyone was busy all day! We got to run through the whole musical twice. At 6pm Saturday evening everything to do with the musical was forgotten, we got on our coats and walked down to the pizzeria. A lovely ½ hours walk, and even though it was raining, no one complained. We had a really cosy time together, ate far too much and then wandered back to the church.

We had time to run through the musical one more time before a load of very tired children were put to bed - sorry we couldn´t say the same about the teenagers!! They were full of life!!

Sunday we preformed for our church. The kids were all excited, the church was packed with mums, dads, grannies and granddads. The kids did a fantastic job - it was a real success.

After church we all had a quick bite to eat together before setting up for our second performance. This time we would have an audience that was full of strangers. We had hired a bus to go and pick up a group of asylum seekers at one of the local accomodation centres.

We wondered how many would turn up. We weren´t disappointed. About 40 children and their parents arrived. The kids were sooo wonderful. They really enjoyed watching the musical and I got so much joy out of watching them laugh.

After the musical we served tea, coffee and cake for the parents and the children all got a bag of sweets. I got to "talk" with so many different people from many different countries. "Talk" is not really the right word as many of them could not speak Danish and they knew only a few words of English so we used sign language. I had some great conversations with them, amazing what you can understand using body language.

At 4pm in the afternoon the bus came and picked them all up again. We got hugs and kisses and loads of thank yous. It was a really special afternoon.

We cleared up and by 5pm I was on my way home. It was blowing a gale! Leah and I got home just in time as an hour later the wind really picked up and the police were warning people not to go out and drive.

Kristian didn´t get to see the musical as his dad was in hospital. He spent the time with him. His dad has heart trouble and needs a pacemaker. He was rushed to hospital at the end of last week and his heart actually stopped on two separate occasions. Glad they got it going again. He has been waiting on a pacemaker for the last few days. Today they were able to operate. It looks like everything has gone well. Hopefully he will be home soon and we can all hold a wonderful Christmas together.

Klippe Klister dag.....

2011-11-24T21:28:00.000+01:00

Klippe/Klister dag???? What am I on about? Well for those of you that don´t understand Danish, you could check out Google translate, or you could just read on.....

Klippe/Klister dag means....Cut/Paste day! It´s the day that the whole school goes a bit mad and decorates for Christmas. There are normal classes until 10am and then the fun starts. We cleaning staff also get in on the fun. Today we made this wonderful decoration! haha - I don´t think I should give up the day job!!

Christmas music was coming from all the classrooms, there was fun and laughter all around and the last thing on my mind was work! I dragged myself through my different tasks. Boy it was hard to work when my brain was just totally in a Christmas, lets have fun, mood!

It´s soon the weekend but I have anything but a relaxing weekend ahead of me! We are having a musical weekend at the church for the kids. Three leaders, 13 teenagers and 11 kids will be together all weekend putting together a Christmas musical that we will show in church on Sunday morning. This is my third time to be involved with this, so I am actually really looking forward to it!