Weekend Recap

It is great to have Maya back! We arrived at my sister Naomi's house at 4 in the morning Saturday, and Maya didn't bark at all. She was doing a super crazy whole body shake while on her back and whimpering. My mom said that they all decided that I would be more excited than her, so you can only imagine how I looked. It was great to see so many family members and catch up a bit. I really love them. The older I get the more I want to live closer to them. This is a picture of my nephew Henry and I. So adorable.

Copenhagen

We have left Kristiansand after being there for a month (wow, that went by fast!) and having no luck with jobs (tried pretty much everywhere in downtown). We are hoping a bigger city will have more job opportunities for English speakers and that we won't run out of money quite so fast. We arrived in Copenhagen on Wednesday, and from what we have seen so far... it is awesome!! I'll keep you all posted on our progress... I'm now using the internet in a lobby of a hotel... best wishes.

Spontaneous

From the Merriam Webster dictionary:
1: proceeding from natural feeling or native tendency without external constraint
2: arising from a momentary impulse
3: controlled and directed internally : self-acting
4: produced without being planted or without human labor : indigenous
5: developing or occurring without apparent external influence, force, cause, or treatment
6: not apparently contrived or manipulate

Yes, you will realize the significance later.

Itchy Feet

We are in Europe. WOW. When I wake up in the morning after realising that Maya isn't sleeping next to the bed, and I start to miss her... then comes the slap in the face that holy crap... we are on the other side of the world, away from anyone we know. Then the excited, spontaneous Leah jumps in and my feet get itchy. Dom's feet are itchy too. We want to travel! See everything! There are so many countries and so much to see and do and they are all so close. Ah, but then the moral dilemma of money. Money sucks totally. We really want to make it work here, which means jobs and such. The mature adult in me thinks nei (no), don't go to the zoo today, that is $80 a person and you might need that money in a few weeks when you still haven't found work. The 'screw the system' Leah then thinks BUT this may be the only chance we have for a long time if we get jobs and such.

The job hunt: hard. We have been to every employment agency in town, and they basically all politely said 'okay, we'll keep your CV and call you if anything comes up, but don't count on it because you don't speak Norwegian'. The lady at the government office (as far as I can tell is supposed to help EU nationals find jobs) was down right rude to Dom. We've been told that hopefully we can get the regular immigrant jobs like picking strawberries or cleaning hotels until we learn the language. So, slowly I am translating vacancies online and then we'll hit up hotels and such next week. Until then, I am cramming the language in... Ipod style. Can I pay someone to download it into my brain or hypnotise me to learn it?

Welcome to Norway!

We are here in Kristiansand. The trip was as smooth as possible. Not once did anyone ask us any questions. I am so used to dealing with US or Canadian customs, so we had our story all planned (I was also nervous about having a one-way ticket). When we arrived at the Copenhagen airport, a guy just looked at our passports, stamped mine, and handed them back. Not one word. In Kristiansand, there were 2 girls and one asked us "anything to declare?" Nope. "Okay, go on through".... Didn't even ask for ID or anything. You have to realize how funny we looked trying to cart around 9 pieces of luggage! Dom sweet talked the Danish lady checking us in in Seattle and she didn't even charge us for being over weight. We had a great day in Seattle: ate good food, walked around. The 9 1/2 hour flight was okay. Not much sleep for either of us, but individual movie screens on each seat and 2 free glasses of wine :). Dom became a Tetris expert on his screen. I watched Revolutionary Road (ironic because they wanted to move to Europe). There was a father and son from Idaho (small world) sitting next to us. The son had won a trip to Denmark with his 5th grade team for developing a bio-fuel from school bus exhaust. Pretty cool kid. Everything went so smoothly! We have found an apartment which is awesome, 2 blocks from the ocean and sandy beach with a big park. Everyone seems very nice and friendly and thankfully speaks English pretty well. We have a nice 16 year old living above us that said he will help us with anything we need. And mom, lots and lots of bakeries here. Yeah! I do have pictures that I hope I can get up this week, but other things are a priority right now like finding a bed, and next week getting a job. We are pretty jet-lagged... when does that end? It is also confusing because right now the sun rises around 5 am and sets at 10:30pm. Yep. We are 9 hours ahead of Victoria, 8 hours ahead of Idaho. Hopefully we can set Skype up soon, just hyjacking some wireless connection we found right now. Love to all.

Last week in Victoria

Wow. I don't think I have ever been so busy in my life (at least not that I remember, trying to live in the moment here). This post is going to be very random because that is how my thoughts are.
- A few weeks ago I took all these pictures of the village (area of town I live in) to post because all the trees are blooming and it is so beautiful here. I haven't had a chance to go through them yet.
- Dom and I went sailing for Easter weekend with my aunt and uncle here in the gulf islands which was fantastic and I have some cool pics from that and keep meaning to do a write up.
- The car sold! Yeah!
- Did a crazy, very emotional two day road trip to Seattle to drop Maya off at the airport to be shipped to my parents. Just got back last night and already miss her immensely. I wish she could be our buddy on the start of this adventure.
- Got to see my sister Naomi in Seattle yesterday with her adorable family. They are soooo awesome and make the best parents. I love them so much. Even though I only got to spend a couple hours with them, it was really special to me.
- My great friend Laurie drove us to Seattle and even though she was the first to start crying as Maya was going in her crate to leave, I don't think I could have done it without her. She always knows what to say, and is a beautiful positive person.
- I am getting really, REALLY excited to go. I am really proud of Dom and I for being able to make this happen.
- My body hurts. all over. (most likely from stress, emotions and hormones all at once)
- Don't know if I'll be able to post again before we leave... so if not, stay tuned for Norway!!! Ahhhh!!!

Last minute buys

Well, down to one roll of toilet paper and two weeks to go. This means I have to go get toilet paper which we will never use all of in time, add to the list of things I need to buy now but we can't take with us: plastic wrap, hot sauce (although maybe I should take this, not sure about Norwegian hot sauce availability), dog food, laundry detergent.

Great Weekend!

I had a fantastic weekend. The weather here is just beautiful and warm. Our really good friend (that is a pro photographer on the side) took some pics of us on Saturday which I will post in the next few days after sifting through the hundreds. I am so happy with how they turned out though. Really stunning work. We went out for photos at sunrise which kind of sucked because the ground was all frosty and it was really cold, and no sleeping in on a Sat. But, I am so glad we did because the light was great and it really shows.

This same amazing friend then went luggage shopping with me and we found a killer deal, so that part is all taken care of. Yeah! One more thing off the list. What else is on that list that is stressing me out?
- Sell the car... I have posted and listed it everywhere I can think of, and still no bites over the last week. :(
- Find someone to take over our cell phone contract or we have to pay $350 in cancellation fees.
- Find a place to live in Kristiansand. I thought we could stay in a hostel for a bit while we got to know the neighborhoods, but it is seriously 3X the price of renting!
- Finalize all the dog info for shipping: this is seriously frustrating as each site seems to say something different. Even the Norwegian official site has conflicting info. I'm waiting for an email response from them, and will try calling tomorrow.
- Plan our going-away party that is in 2 weeks
- Everything else :)

Space Bags

Got some of these yesterday and condensed two boxes into one! It doesn't work as great as the picture or videos show, but still helps. I'm on the lookout for the kind where you roll the air out, kind of like a sleeping pad, that way we can fit all our clothes into our carry-ons and have the checked luggage for shoes! Right? or books...

Sorry Maya...

Sorry puppy, your mom screwed up. Please forgive me. Last year when we were planning all this moving stuff I looked into importing our dog, and of course it said all this great stuff that I new I wouldn't have to worry about until later, and I called the vet who said she was due for her rabies vaccine around the beginning of the year. So... I somehow just put it off in my head and thought, "I don't have to worry about that that yet". Well, the vet never called to remind me and I was so busy with other things, that I forgot. I looked up the requirements again last week and long story short... she has to stay for another 3 months after we leave until she has a blood test. I told Dom that he better start checking all these things that I have looked into, because who knows what else I have screwed up. Maya will be shipped to my parents in Idaho (I told you I have the best parents right?) and stay with them and their awesome dog. Maya will most likely never want to leave, and in the long run I think it might work out better for us not having to worry about her in the initial settling in. My mom was so quick to say yes (love her!), but said "I'm not doing any of that raw diet crap." Hahaa, no problem.

25 Random things

Sorry for those of you who have already read this on Facebook. I thought I would share with everyone else as well.

Here are 25 random facts etc. about me.
1. I love the smell and sound of rain.

2. We do not own a TV, and I have only watched one once in the last year+ for the presidential election.

3. I love living so close to the ocean (3 blocks) even though my dog can't go on the beach because she has a weird tendency to drink the salt water and get sick.

4. I love long walks with friends or just Maya (dog)

5. I'm an extremely avid reader and average about a book every week or two. Seriously, I'm pretty sure I need some sort of help program but the city just keeps supplying me for free!

6. I get really excited about learning new things and have even started a list of things I would like to learn. Some of these are: play the guitar, a new language, garden, knit, letterpress...

7. I love to sing and dance even if only in the living room. Music is a big part of our lives.

8. I think I have the sweetest dog ever. Yesterday I told Dom she is like the Dalai Lama of dogs. I have seen a big mean scary dog growl in her face and bare it's teeth, and she gave him a kiss right on his bared teeth. Obviously not a watch dog at all, but if everyone was like her, there would be no wars.

9. I have recently developed a habit of blog reading (mostly design blogs).

10. I have worked the last 5-6 years as an interior designer, and am now at the point where I want to do something else, more meaningful. I have about 10 ideas bouncing around...(yoga retreats anyone?), I'm sure I'll have enough time in my life to do them all right?

11. I would die extremely happy listening to Dominik play guitar.

12. I am an eco-junkie, have overhauled all products I use and buy, recycle everything possible, and someday really want to build an 'off the grid' self sustained home. I would also love to be able to live without a car.

13. I love to travel and really want to go all over the world (maybe by sailboat?) even if that means bringing kids along... right honey?

14. I've recently been bitten by a crafting bug. Watch out! This sucker is big and affects your vision (you'll start hording junk that looks like some craft project), and it makes time disappear!

15. I think I can crack almost every bone in my body... I know gross.

16. I love to bake yummy sweet things (my mom's influence) and give them away.

17. I love warm summer days and swimming at the lake.

18. I still talk in a southern accent sometimes (lived in Mississippi till 8 years old).

19. I miss being near my family and love them dearly.

20. My boyfriend Dominik is the greatest guy I have ever met. He is incredibly kind, humble, and makes me laugh every day.

21. I am totally that annoying friend that gushes about the love of her life (see above), but seriously... you would too in my shoes.

22. We are pursuing a life long dream to move to Europe this year.

23. I hope I am lucky enough to be as wonderful a parent someday as mine were/are.

24. I like watching funny old-school 80's music videos on youtube.

25. I am training to do a marathon in 2010, for my 30th birthday.

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!

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 :)

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 :)

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.