It's Official!

Yesterday was my official swear-in ceremony, and I am now a Canadian citizen. There were 58 people getting sworn-in and they were from 26 different countries! Spectators were allowed, so my girlfriend from work came to watch and snap a couple photos. We then went out for cake and tea! The judge officiating the ceremony was a big jolly guy who gave a very impressive sales pitch for why Canada is the best country in the world- "This is like receiving the gold medal of citizenship". He also slagged the US a few times... but it was a good experience :)

Why Norway?

So why did we choose to move to Norway of all places? Well, why not? When Dom and I were working together and making googley eyes at each other all day, we discovered that we both wanted to move to Europe (many reasons some of which are healthcare, education, society with similar values). Fast track to actually planning it, and picking a country... we started out picking France based on (don't laugh) the movie Sicko. We bought a book about moving to France and I read the entire thing and started researching, and there were a few minor things that didn't quite mesh well. This brought up the point that "hey! we can just pick anywhere!". I love my uncle Dan's idea that we picked Norway by getting a map of Europe and throwing a dart, but we are a little more planned than that sometimes. We then started researching and noting what was important to us in a place. Scandinavia came out on top, and Norway 1st. We have never been there, so I am sure there will be adjustments, and we are really planning on traveling throughout Europe once there. SO we can always move somewhere else if we find all our assumptions and dreaming are wrong. Here are a few nice things we discovered in our hunting about Norway:

1. Norway has a Scandinavian welfare model and the largest capital reserve per capita of any nation.

2. Norway was ranked highest of all countries in human development from 2001 to 2006 and was ranked 2nd as of 2008 (behind Iceland)

3. The 2008 Environmental Performance Index put Norway in 2nd place, based on the environmental performance of the country's policies.

4. Throughout Norway, one will find stunning and dramatic scenery and landscape. People there love the outdoors!

5. The hourly productivity levels as well as the average hourly wages in Norway are among the highest in the world. The wage difference between the lowest paid worker and the CEO of most companies is much smaller than comparable western economies.

Blogger Wierdness?

Is anyone else having blogger issues? When I log in now, none of my blogs show up that I have added to follow... I hope that I don't actually have to go through and find them all again. (Sigh)

Happy Dance

New T-Mobile ad, filmed live last week. This would be so cool to come across! 

Cosmetic Safety

I found this link today on all the different products we use on our skin. Check it out! You can search soap, perfume, every kind of makeup product, aftershave and men's skin products, or just brands as well. It tells you how their toxicity ranks... very interesting. I'll have to remember this next time I go to the drug store. It looks like my products are ranking in the middle...

New Layout?

Whatcha think?

Holiday Recap

Well, I know it is already mid-January, but I suck at downloading pictures in a timely manner. And, I just learned that it is not uncommon for Norwegians to have Christmas parties well into January, so let's just say I'm already blending in. Without further ado....

Maya with her gigantic bone Christmas morning. I tried to get her to rip it open, but she jsut kept looking away and wouldn't touch it for at least 2 days. I think she thought "No way am I allowed to have that! I would get in so much trouble." She has since gotten over it, and tried to of course eat the entire thing in a day and get sick. 
Maya helping wrap presents!This was my Christmas present! From none other than the most wonderful man :) The stone is amber.

Our Countdown!

Maya always thinks that when I get the camera out, it is to take a picture of her :)

This is a map of southern Norway tacked to our wall with a week countdown... currently 16 to go!

Kristiansand, Norway!

We are moving to Kristiansand, Norway on April 28th! Yeah! I'll explain the reasoning behind picking Norway in a later post, but we picked Kristiansand because we didn't want somewhere too North and too cold, we didn't want a really big city (Oslo), or too rainy (Bergen). Kristiansand has around 75,000 people and gets the most sun in Norway. It also looks like it gets snow in the winter and is on the coast with pretty buildings. Close to hiking, skiing, etc. I am really looking for any info, so if you have visited, I would love to hear your thoughts. 

Focus

Okay, I really need to focus because I am getting stressed out and feeling overwhelmed. I have decided that if I just tackle 2 things a week, maybe that will help. This week: passport photos (for my Canadian passport and drivers license) and donating stuff to goodwill. Not too hard... and get in more yoga to help with stress :)

Craft Projects

When I was a bratty teenager, I really thought 'crafting' was boring and honestly for dorks. (I know so immature). I remember having to do crafts for church and school projects and my attention span was short. I really loved art class (painting), but that was different than crafts. I'm not sure what it is now, but I am drawn to things handmade, and really want to create stuff instead of buying things. I have a goal to make all my Christmas presents for next year. I am trying (quite poorly, I need help) to learn how to knit! And, am slowly becoming sucked in to craft blogs! Here are a few links of things I want to do, and I'm sure the list will grow longer.

Bird silhouettes

fabric bookmarks

luggage tag printouts

vintage label printouts

fabric magnets

paper CD case

paper flower ornaments

fabric fridge frame

picture frame serving tray

herb garden markers
oragami cherry blossoms
magazine coasters
magazine trashcan
etched glass jars

AHHHH!!! I just bought tickets!

Deep breathing.... I am so excited and happy and nervous and anxious and holy crap! We leave beautiful BC on April 28th. More on where we are going later this week :)

New Home

This is where we are going to live, in that little red house. I don't care if it is for a boat. Anyone guess what city?

Luggage Shopping!

So, I began to tackle my list (see below), and have crossed off Dom's health card (not getting), found out we can get drivers permits here in Victoria for $15 and a passport photo, starting looking and asking around online for a place to live, starting scoping out flights (crossing fingers they drop in price more)... and then went to the shopping part. We are trying to save as much money as possible, so I've been looking for luggage on Craigslist etc. and then I came across these! So retro, I like.