Velkommen Hjem og Ha Det Bra! (Welcome Home and Good bye!)

Well, this adventure is coming to a close and new ones, I'm sure, will take it's place. I am headed back to the USA in 2 days for good....well, you know me, probably not for good, but to live some more at least. :) I decided recently that I will be going home to finish up on my thesis. I will only have the writing to do and I will be able to do that from home and save tons of money in the process. Norway ain't cheap to live in. It's bittersweet to leave this beautiful country and the friends I have made. The branch of the church that I go to is exceptional, the people there are some of the finest I've ever met and they will always have a place in my heart. I spoke again in church yesterday, in Norwegian, and this time went much better than the last. It was definitely a little more nerve-wracking than the typical talk in English, but this time I knew what I was saying when I was reciting my pre-written translated-from-English talk. I have become almost somewhat on the verge of being conversational in Norwegian and I am happy I at least am that....just in time to not use it probably ever again. :) Oh well.

This past weekend I have had A LOT of Norwegian food. Christmas party at church, Julebord (a sort of Christmas dinner) on Saturday, and Norwegian Christmas cookies and dinner yesterday. I have been Norwegianized now. They eat TONS of meat at Christmastime, it's kind of overwhelming to a little girl like me that doesn't eat much meat. It was all pretty good, though, no complaints here. I also had this traditional drink called Gløgg (pronounced "glug")....it was....interesting. To me it tasted like hot flat coke...but everyone else seemed to like it. Picky Lindsey shines through once more.

One more funny thing before I end this fiasco. I read the Book of Mormon in Norsk every day (out loud) and I laugh every time I say one particular word. It is the word for "judged." The word is "dømt." It is pronounced "dumped"....even as I type it, it makes me chuckle. I was kinda sad because before I knew the language a little, everything sounded so funny, and now it sounds normal. It's nice to still be able to laugh at things. Here's another one that I thought I heard the Branch President say a couple weeks ago....something like "skue oss over".....it kinda sounds like "skrew us over." Now that one made me almost laugh out loud in the middle of church. It really means something like "look us over." :D

I will miss it here, but I am excited to come home and have Christmas with the family and see what is next on the docket. I am incredibly grateful for having come here and having learned so much, not so much in school, but about everything else....life, people, and God's plans for us all. I wouldn't trade this time for anything....even if I was bored most of the time. :)

Evidence

Last Saturday all the international students got to go to some museums in a town about an hour away and one of them was a forestry museum. In said museum, there are a lot of exhibits telling of the history of logging in Norway. It's a pretty big industry here and so basically they like anything that brings them any sort of recognition and money...and like to make little museums out of it. Which is normal, I guess, there are some pretty weird museums in the states too. Anyways, they were telling us how in the old days the men would go out all day and be in the forests doing the logging thing while the women were at home tending to everything else....just like normal for old days anywhere. They were saying that the women didn't do much in the forest, but if you look back you may see "some evidence of women in the forest." That makes sense, yes, but in my head I was picturing all kinds of limbs all over the forest...like some kind of crime scene. Evidences like a hand here and a leg thrown over there under a log....you get the drift. It made me chuckle a little as I leaned over to the guy next to me and commented on this, he was laughing as well. I guess I wasn't the only one that thought that phrase was funny. Our tour guy was quite zany in this forest museum, he also sang some Elvis songs to our group and made a comment about the "King" of America coming to Norway (aka Elvis). He also included random facts about why he was wearing the shirt he had put on that day and he would throw himself onto the floor in an attempt to literally show us how some of the logging maneuvers were done and to illustrate a story of one of his ice-fishing friends. He was a nut.

Today

As I came into church today, one of the older ladies said that I looked very Christmasy....I was wearing a red sweater and a black and red skirt. I then said to her "nah, it's just red." Normal thing to say, right?? Well, later on one of the missionaries (who is American) started teasing me that I sounded "Texan" when I said the word "red." Apparently I put a little bit of Texas drawl on it. He also told me that he wanted to squeeze my cheeks because of the accent. Oh my.

A Molly in Babylon procrastinating homework

I have a lot of time to reflect while I'm here in Norway. There is plenty of time to think when I'm traveling to and fro on trains, and when I have hours on end of sitting in my room not wanting to work on my thesis, but not wanting to do anything else either. I think of the absolute immense plan of our Creator, the immense plan of God. I just finished reading the October Ensign (a church magazine for those of you that don't know) cover to cover and I am amazed at the amount of things that Heavenly Father has His hands in. One person is led to the missionaries in a miraculous way, the Liahona magazine is being revamped, people are helping other people come back into the fold of God, the church helping hurricane or tsunami victims, and a thousand other things that are happening around the world. As I sit in the armpit of Norway, though, God is with me as well. With ME, one small speck in the middle of this huge world, and Heavenly Father is always there to help. With billions of others out there that need so much more help than me, He's still there, and always will be, even when I don't realize. Then I think of all the people that live in "Babylon," the people that live without God, the people that surround me, and I wonder at how amazing they are as just people and why I am so lucky as to have been born into a family that believes in God and believes the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am ridiculously blessed and have NO room to complain about ANYTHING....although I do. I often talk to the missionaries at church and are in awe of their goodness. They are ambassadors for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and they truly live up to their potential. My little brother is about to serve a mission for my church in Brazil and he will make an incredible missionary. He is nothing short of "elect" and I am so proud of him. I am proud of my whole family, they are such good people and great examples to me...and most of you know that I don't have a small family, so there are plenty of people that are there for me and whose examples I should live up to. Through being here in Norway, I kind of take a spiritual beating, but through all of it, my testimony of the Gospel has gotten stronger and my reliance on the Lord has grown deeper. I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints IS the true church and I know that Jesus Christ died for each of us so that we can live with Him and Heavenly Father again. I know that the Holy Ghost is REAL and He leads us through everything we're faced with. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, as well as the Bible. How grateful I am for those books and how grateful for the fact that we are led by a prophet. Life is more amazing than we could ever imagine.

So, this Molly Mormon in Babylon is excited to come home, again. I should be headed home sometime in early February for good. I'll be writing the remainder of my thesis from home after that and will turn it in at the end of April. I can't believe how fast this time has gone!

Anyways, these are my current reflections as I sit in my room not doing the report that I should be doing. It's amazing the reflections that come when you procrastinate homework. :)

Back to the Grind

Just wanted everyone to know that I'm back in Norway once again. The long stints of time are over and I only have about 8 months left! It's weird to think I'll have a masters degree in May. Isn't that for old people??? I must say that I'm excited to finish so I won't have to travel 5000 miles every time I want to go home. The time has FLOWN by, though. I'm not exactly excited to be back this time, I ain't gonna lie. Fun at home sure does beat a lonely night with nothing to do in Norway. The next two semesters should be busy with thesis writing and a couple classes...so at least there won't be AS MUCH pure boredom. We'll see! I have determined, however, that with my boredom I will not be making cookies. This time around Lindsey refuses to put on those few extra pounds by fine-tuning her baking skills and inhaling ALL her creations.

My New Little Buddy, 6400 miles, one scratched eyeball, and President Uchtdorf

Here goes.....literally....that's what has been happening over the past 3 months, go go go. I seem to be picking up the pace when it comes to travel over the past little while. About 2 weeks ago I got back to Texas from a 5 week trip covering Missouri, Utah, and Oregon...by car...with just me. A week after I flew back from Norway, after all the trips there, I was off again on several more trips. I first went to Missouri to see my Mom and attend the infamous 10 year high school reunion, which was, for lack of a better word, kinda weird. I came to the conclusion that the $30 entrance fee for the reunion was basically for the alcohol that everyone ELSE was consuming....so I accidentally paid for everyone to drink liquids I am against. Ooops. The reunion itself was low-key and overall wasn't worth going to, but I caught up with about 3 people that I was friends with growing up. I haven't yet decided if it was worth going to, but it's all said and done now. At least I got to go to Missouri and have my Mom take care of me and feed me for a week. :)

Next up. Portland, OR, by way of Utah. I got to stop in Utah for a few days before I headed up to Portland to see my sister. By the time I got to Salt Lake, my left eye was swollen and drippy from the scratch on my cornea that I did to myself a few days prior when there was a piece of something on my contact when I put it in my eye. Word to the wise....do NOT give yourself a scratch on your eyeball....they don't feel nice. Incredible light sensitivity occurs and if you drive all day in the bright sunshine, you can bet you've got what looks to be a shiner by the time you get to your destination. Maybe I exaggerate just a tad, but seriously, I couldn't sleep all night because of my swollen watery eye. So, aside from my shiner, I saw my very pregnant sister-in-law, two brothers, and some more family. I also got to go to my favorite burrito place....ooooh, and Gandolfos....oooh, and Noodles. Oh man, Utah's got the goods.

Macaroni and cheese made to perfection. Oh man. MMMMMM.


After a few days of wearing my stupid glasses (that's what I call them because I hate wearing glasses), I went "one-eyed" and only wore one of my contacts. That's an adventure in and of itself. A word to the wiser than me...don't do that either. Although faced with the alternative, I would do it again.

Anyways, off to Oregon to see my sister and my cute little nephew....who is already 4!! I got to be there for his 4th birthday party and set up his pinata and eat really good cake. Who wouldn't want to go to a 4 year old birthday party???? They are so fun! After the party, I basically just hung out around the house and was a bum for the week. Good times. My sister Jessica always has things for me to do, so I really don't get bored. She will forever be my older sister, the boss, and the best sister you could ask for. It was sad to leave, but I had to go back to Utah to wait for a new little nephew to be born.

Rocky Charles Taylor!!!

My new buddy and me.

While in Utah I made my very first "purbag." I hate the term "purse" (it's too girly) and so my new "bag" was termed the purbag. It's awesome. I bummed around with my sister-in-law and had fun for about 10 days and then my new nephew came. Rocky Charles Taylor was born on September 2nd late in the night and he's my new little buddy. I am a proud aunt once again! He was named Rocky because my family is cool, Charles because it's my dad's middle name and his initials are the same as my Dad's. He's a "stone cold pimp" as my brother likes to refer to him as. I wish I could have stayed longer and held him a bit more, but I had to be back in Texas for the BYU football game. I ended the trip putting 6400 miles on my car. Oh another word to the wiser than me....don't drive all day and all night by yourself from Utah to Texas. You will feel a bit groggy in the morning.


The Purbag. I am crafty now, and somewhat domestic.

BYU won against OU and the game was great! I watched it in Denton at the LDS institute building there with the singles ward. My friend Shannon and I were determined to stand up and shout the cougar fight song when they scored...so we did....all alone. We had overestimated the amount of BYU alumni in the room and thought some people would join in with us, but we stood up and sang alone. A little embarrasing?? Yes....but we did it again after they won. :)

Next on the docket....the regional Young Single Adult conference held at my ward over this past weekend. We hit the mormon jackpot and had President Uchtdorf come and give a fireside for us on Sunday. The whole weekend was full of good people, fun, food, and a healthy dose of the Spirit. There were 1700 of us in the building....which exceeded fire code and we had to get a fireman to be on duty while it lasted....and President Uchtdorf and his wife were fabulous! We basically got a mini general conference shrunk into a little over an hour geared toward the young single adults. The day was nothing short of phenomenal. I even got to shake his hand. First apostle/prophet whose hand I've gotten to shake. :D What a great time to be on earth when we can be led by prophets!!!

So, that's been my last little while. It's been full of great things all around. In two weeks I head back to Norway for my next set of adventures. I don't think they'll be quite as fast paced as my last little while. It's time to actually do some school work now. Bummer.

Hurtigruten and Home

I have had so much to write about that I didn't want to do it because I knew it would take too long, but seeing as how I don't have a job and my life is more on the leisurely side....well, I really have no excuse. Here goes. In July, before I came home to the States, I went on an ABSOLUTELY AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL cruise up and down the Norwegian coastline. My aunt flew from Utah to Norway and took me on it. So for 12 fabulous days, off the deck of a ship and various jaunts on land at the ports we stopped at, we viewed probably some of the more beautiful sites of this great big earth. The cruise ship is a "working" ship that carries mail and supplies to a bunch of ports along the coast, therefore, we stopped every few hours and looked at different little towns. We took excursions at some ports and were picked up at the next ports after driving on land in buses. The pictures that follow don't do justice to the sheer beauty of what is actually there. We also got to see the midnight sun....the sun never sets up above the Arctic Circle for about 6 weeks out of the summer, which means you can see the sun throughout the night and day. It is quite upsetting to your internal clock because you never know really what time it is and when you should go to bed. Anyways, here are some pictures to let you know what some parts of it looked like.
look at the HUGE sun!!!




The Atlantic Road


Midnight Sun

Cod drying on racks.

There are a ton more pictures, but I just don't want to take the time out of my busy schedule...ha ha...to put them in. Computers aren't my favorite things to sit in front of for hours.

About a week after the cruise I flew home to Texas and then a week after that drove to my Mom's in Missouri. Next week is the long drive up to Oregon to see my sister...and then to Utah to see my brother and sister-in-law and the soon-to-be new nephew. :) Rocky will be his name! I am quite nomadic these days. Maybe I'll show up on your doorstep, maybe I won't. All I need is an invite and a few bucks to fill up the gas tank.....well, fill it up over and over and over. I am very happy to be back home in the States. Norway might be nice, but there's no place like home. I'm a true blue American through and through.

As for an update on school and such. My next class isn't until October, so I won't be going back to Norway until then. I will be officially finished at the end of April....after the thesis is all done....eeeeek. Then it's home for good....as far as I can tell. My life changes quickly and I'm always ready for another adventure. I hope everyone is doing great and even if you're not doing great, just stay positive. There's always a plus side.

Glass Door

Yesterday I went to stake conference in Oslo via train and subway. I got to Oslo on the train and was doing just fine and then I had to switch to the subway for the rest of the journey. After I read on one of the electronic boards as to where the trains go, I turned to go down the big corridor and SMACK!!!! I ran right into a sliding glass door. I turned and immediately started laughing, especially when I realized there was some guy watching as I did my little stunt. How embarrassing. I mean, you always hear about people doing this and see it on funny shows, but when you actually see it, or do it yourself, you feel the full stupidity rush at you like a ton o' bricks. So classic!!! I wish you all could've seen me. Then, as I was sitting on the subway I kept having little bursts of laughter whenever I thought of my incident, which I am sure the other passengers enjoyed. I've been having some shiny moments lately, this is just one.

Hail to the Queen

This post is being written in June, but to be posted later. I'll explain.....So, I wanted to go to London and so I did....unbeknownst to most of my family and friends. For some reason, I like to keep things secrets, and that happens to be one thing I'm really good at (thanks Dad), so this was a secret. I didn't want to hear about how much I can't afford to go and I didn't want to tell the same thing over and over....ergo, I didn't tell a bunch of people. that's why you are reading this post a little bit (a lot) later than the trip happened. Another reason for secrecy is because I wanted to get my step-mom a present from London for Christmas and surprise her with it. She served a church mission there and so I thought it would be nice for her to have something from there. Dual purpose secrecy.

So, London was great!! I was able to fine tune my British accents, which is something that is near and dear to my heart....as many know. I got to see lots of sights and I took a few pictures to note the occasion. The first two days were spent at the temple and the next 4 were spent in central London among all the mayhem. London is a BUSY place. My personal opinion is that it is a mix between DC and New York City. Basically it's just another really big city, only very very old...with buildings dating back to the 1300s or something. I went to the Shakespeare Globe theatre and saw an authentic style Shakespeare play, which was actually the highlight of the trip. It was FABULOUS. We also went to see Wicked, which was also great. All we did for 4-5 days straight was walk and walk and walk. Oh, forgot to mention that I went with my Norwegian friend from church and stayed at her friend's place in London. Overall, it was a pretty cheap trip, so I don't want to hear anything about how I'm a student and can't afford such things. Who goes to Europe and doesn't travel a little??? Also, I had a goal of going to England at least when I'm here, so I fulfilled my goal. Unfortunately now that I have gone to England, now I want to go to lots of other places. Anyways, here are some pics, only my favorites are included. :) Ask to see more. My personal favorite pictures are the ones of the signs. Classic.




I hope you enjoyed this, I certainly did.

We also figured out the London bus system....which is NO SMALL FEAT. We took the bus everywhere.....as did everyone else. I want to go again so I can see more.

It just so happens that President Uchtdorf and Elder Anderson (and some other general authorities) were there for the UK and Ireland regional conference, so I got to hear them while I was there. Pretty sweet!

I'm a lucky duck.

My mom would be so proud!

This post is dedicated to my MOM because she always wants me to try new foods. I would like to tell her that I ate MOOSE. Yes, her favorite collectible. She has moose everywhere around her house, from on pillows, figurines, to a singing christmas moose head. She loves her mooses. Well, last week I went to Sweden with school and walked and walked and walked around the woods counting piles of moose poop for a study on the population of moose in the area. On my second night there, we had moose for dinner....and it was GOOD!!! I didn't know it was moose until after I ate it, I thought it was just a special meatloaf we were eating, but after I found out it was moose, I went back for seconds because it was so yummy. Moose is eaten tons more here than in the States, by the way, but I hadn't had it before then....oh but maybe I had. Another time I was in Sweden with school we ate moose sausage...it wasn't as tasty, but everyone else liked it. Anyways, that is my adventure with counting moose droppings and eating moose (not eating their droppings....sick!) OH...one other thing. We had a little tutorial before we went out to count the piles to teach us how to tell the difference between fresh and old piles....and also what other animal droppings looked like. The place we were staying is a youth hostel in the middle of the woods and we were learning what all these droppings looked like. We had samples of them on the dining tables in the hostel. Yes, there was poop spread all over the tables...where we eat (it was dry and old). I feel sorry for the other occupants who noticed this. :) We wiped off the tables quite good before eating, don't worry. I told one of my friends that one subject that is talked about quite often in my program is moose poop and he laughed maybe thinking I was kidding....well, I wasn't kidding. :) It's true.

Did you say "paste"?

I hereby have a new favorite thing that a friend accidentally said. We were walking along and we had to hurry a little bit and he said "we have to pick up the paste". I asked if he really said paste instead of pace because I thought I heard wrong...but no, he said paste. HA HA HA HA. All I could think of was picking up a new bottle of Elmers. :)

A Dedication to the Bathroom and a Bucket Update

I keep forgetting to mention a little piece of bliss that I enjoy most weekends. When I go to peoples' houses on the weekend there is one thing that makes me a very happy girl when I get up in the morning. Many of the houses here have heated bathroom floors. What joy I feel when I step off of the cold unwelcoming floor with my chilly toes onto a nice toasty one in the bathroom! An unlikely place, you might say?? Oh no, not in Norway! When I "grow up" I want a heated bathroom floor too.

Aside from the amazing warm bathroom floors, I have an update on the bucket situation previously written about. I stayed at the house that doesn't have an indoor toilet and they, INDEED, had a bucket for inside use. :D They mainly prepare the bucket for night-time use so you don't have to wander outside in the middle of the night to the outhouse and fall, perhaps breaking bones, peeing your pants, or getting eaten by the moose. :) Gotta love it. I, however, could not bring myself to use the bucket. I am ok with outhouses and the woods, but I just couldn't do the bucket for some reason....call me a city-girl, call me a wuss, or whatever you want, but the bucket was an impossibility. I held it all the way to church in the morning so I could use a toilet. (to clarify....I did not hold the bucket....I waited to pee until I got to church) :) Oh man, I could never make it in the old days.

A Mix of Stuff

I got to spend a couple days at the Stockholm Temple after Easter. My eye decided it was going to be red for a few days, so I had to wear my stupid glasses. I hate glasses, but I love the temple! It was fabulous. I went to 4 sessions....1 Swedish, 2 Norwegian, and 1 Russian. I must admit, though, that massive amounts of jetlag combined with temple sessions does not make for a very alert Lindsey...I fell asleep...a few times...at least. Since the temple is far away for most people in Scandinavia, there is a temple guesthouse you stay at for a week or two at a time instead of just going to the temple for a couple hours every once in a while like we do in the states. Here you do all you can in those couple days/week/weeks and then you don't come back for a long time because of the distance.


I got back to Evenstad a few days after the temple trip and all the snow was gone. When I left 10 days before that, it was quite in tact....but now it's just mud and brown everywhere. I can't wait for it to be green again. It's getting warmer and I haven't had to wear my coat any lately and it looks like I won't have to until Fall. YES! I'm ready to wear my flip flops again.


Here's the pick from before when I was talking about capturing and marking the red deer. This picture is classic! It looks like I'm a pretty hardcore "capturer," but if you knew the whole story, you'd know that really I'm just a hardcore flashlight holder. It's a very high tech and important job to hold a flashlight, you know.



The next picture will go down as another thing that Scandinavia has and the US doesn't, and I think it should stay that way. You tell me why they wanted to call a snack food "Funkies." I found this little delight in a grocery store in Sweden under the gluten-free section....that's probably why it was called that....

One more picture...I get to say that I have spent time in The Netherlands (Holland)...even if it was only 11 hours and was spent asleep in the Amsterdam airport. That still counts, right?


I have to start writing my thesis soon. I don't feel like a grown-up who is supposed to write such things...how did I get so old???

The Best Whirlwind EVER

Last week I was sitting in my room, bored, as usual, wondering how much I can't afford to come home for spring break and Easter....the next thing I know, I'm getting out my credit card and leaving on a plane to Texas the next day for a surprise trip home. This trip was not strictly for fun, it had practical purposes, but really it was just for me to get out of boredom and into some much needed happiness and fun with friends and family. I decided not to tell anyone I was coming, except for my friend Shannon who would be picking me up from the airport and taking me home.

This is my reasoning behind this trip:

Pros: a friend's birthday on Thursday at the Cheesecake Factory (oh yeah)
a friend's wedding on Friday
surprises (which I absolutely LOVE to do)
Easter Sunday with my family (which is where it should be)
take care of student loan business
renew driver's license
fun

Cons: money
be by myself for a week in the middle of nowhere while everyone else is off galavanting.

Now, wouldn't you make the same choice???? I even called some of my Norwegian friends before I bought the ticket to try and get them to talk me out of it, but they weren't there, so I gave into a little temptation and started packing. OH YEAH. It turned out to be such a good trip and so much fun surprising everyone. I did everything on my list and even got to do extra things I wasn't planning on that added to the justification of buying the ticket. I also rejuvenated myself by getting to go to the temple and having church in English. Oh how I miss that!! I had no idea that I was drained so much until I left Norway and stepped foot off the plane in Texas and felt happiness flow back into me as I saw my friends and family. It's amazing how much we can deceive ourselves sometimes. I'm not saying that I don't love Norway, I do, I'm just saying that I get a little drained by not being around anyone of my faith during the week and not being able to go to the temple. This is my grand once in a lifetime adventure, though, so I don't have any right to complain! I have been revived, as well as severely jetlagged. I am posting this at almost 3 am Norway time. You should feel sorry for me....HA!

What I got to do: hid in the bathroom of the Cheesable Factory to surprise Pammy Wammy as her unbelievably fantastic birthday present, surprised Sharon at her wedding, surprised my family by walking in the door unannounced, play Rockband...twice, went go-carting, ate at Fuddruckers...mmmm, have Easter with my family and get an Easter basket :), stocked up on some American food to take back with me, ate burritos...mmm, ate bagels...mmm, slept in my comfy bed, drove my CAR....WOOHOO!!!

I am one lucky kid.

Field Trips

A couple of weeks ago, my class went on an overnight field trip to Sweden to track a wolf pack. We tracked the pack where they had been about 4 days before to see if there were any fresh bed sites or carcasses of animals they had eaten. The trip was so fun and we found 2 moose carcasses, a jawbone from a beaver, and several bed sites where the wolves had slept. We were on skis and snowshoes the whole time and this is what I looked like 17 times during the trip....


How embarrassing...yes, I counted. I fell 17 times. We were back-country skiing and I hadn't done that yet. I had only skied on flat areas and this was through woods and hills and such, however, I had a blast and I got quite an arm workout from pushing myself back up so much. :)

About a week before this trip, I also got to see a pack of wolves out on a frozen lake eating a fresh moose kill. It was very far away, about 2 kilometers, but here is a somewhat close picture of the wolves we saw. It is quite rare to see wolves like this so everyone came out of the woodwork to come see. There were at least 10 other cars lined up across the lake with us.
Like I said, we couldn't get very close.

ALSO. Last week I got to go see some actual collaring of deer. A classmate of mine invited me on one of the trips where we sat in the car next to the big pile of hay known as a "feeding station" where some red deer were eating. We inched up closer and closer to the deer and then when we were close enough, my friend darted one of the deer by leaning out the window. We found the deer after it had fallen asleep and collared it with a GPS collar so we can get data on where the deer goes. I just stood there while they did all this stuff, but at least I got to go. :) I held a flashlight, that was my contribution. There is a picture of me with the deer, but I don't have it yet. I'll get it and you will see that the deer looks pretty dead, but no worries, it's alive and has no idea that I got a candid picture with it. Needless to say, it is exciting to live here sometimes and go on adventures like this. :)

Another field trip was last weekend with all the international students in the area. Mostly I went sledding and made a large snow-deer/llama (you can choose what it is...).

AND. Here are some pictures of the icicles outside my window. So cool. I wanted to reach out and lick them, but thought that might be a bad idea.

I hope everyone's doing great. I miss you all!

Why Norway makes me Fat

This is called brunost or brown cheese. It is completely Norwegian and completely tasty. You just eat it on bread or these big cracker things they call hard bread (which is gross). They say most people that aren't from here don't like it, but I'm not most people....as you know. I love it. Cheese makes me happy.




Oh Good ole Walter! What would I do without your chocolate. This is my favorite candybar and I keep eating more and more of it and can't stop.

These two things are just two of the reasons why I get fat, the other one is that I just can't seem to stop eating. Even when I'm not hungry, I just want to eat whatever is in site. People say it's from the cold, but I think that I just really like to eat chocolate and cheese. Who doesn't???

Harry Tur and Such

Last weekend I got to go to Sweden!! It really wasn't that big of a deal because it was just over the border to do a little shopping because it's cheaper there, BUT I can say that I've shopped in Sweden now. :) When people take trips across the border to Sweden like that, they call the trip a "Harry Tur" or a Harry Trip. For some reason if something is kind of a dumb thing to do they connect it with the name Harry....so since the Norwegian government doesn't benefit at all if people go shopping in Sweden, some politician called it a Harry Tur. So I went on a Harry Tur to Sweden. I wanted to get a picture of a Welcome to Sweden sign...like they have for all the states when you drive, BUT there was no sign! What a bummer. They need to invest in a sign so I can take a picture of it.

Also, I gave my church talk in Norwegian last week....yes, in Norwegian. That was soooo very stressful. I had to write it in English first way in advance and then get it translated by a friend into Norwegian. It's hard just to write it in English in advance, I usually don't do my talk until the night before or morning of, so that was a bit of a struggle. So....I read the talk in church and it may have been the longest 10 minutes of my entire life.....but I got through. I've never not wanted to give a talk so much as I didn't want to give this one! Everyone said I did a good job afterwards, but I think part of it was them just being nice.......I hope I don't have to do that again any time soon.

Last weekend I stayed with my branch president's family (the Breiviks) and on Friday night Sister Breivik was cooking dinner and I wanted to help. I decided to be clever and try to use the Norwegian that I know, so this is what I said: "Kan jeg hjelpe deg med ingenting?" After I said this, she started to laugh....that means I said something wrong....uh oh....so I asked and she said I asked her "Can I help you with nothing?" Oops. Still learning.

Classes are going great! Today I learned about wolves for hours and I was in heaven, if only every day could be so great! Friday we are taking a field trip north where we get to track wolves. So so so fun. Pretty exciting if you ask me!! We tracked moose last week and my group won ourselves some chocolate because we got the closest in our tracking exercise. I have discovered that one way to my heart is through Norwegian and Swedish chocolate. I am getting fat because of it. Oh well, at least I'm happy.

The Coolest Valentine Caterpillars EVER.

This year I decided to celebrate Valentine's Day a bit more than I usually do, but only because no one celebrates it in Norway. I don't like to be like everyone else. :) Here is a look at what I created....also, at home, we usually have sugar cookies so I made some of those, too...in heart shapes of course. I'm also sporting a bright pink shirt today. Happy Valentine's Day!!!!

I ski

It's official, I can now say that I ski and I have been dog-sledding. I can't say that I ski well, you would know if you ever saw me....falling down. I have a blast, though. I bought a pair of cross-country skis a couple weeks ago and I absolutely LOVE skiing now. I don't have a pic of my actual skis, but here's one from the first time out on the frozen river....


Another great thing is dog-sledding. I finally got to go!! First there was too much snow, so we couldn't go, then there wasn't enough snow, but then it was perfect. The pictures are a little funny colored and they don't do the experience justice, but at least I got some documentation...


(that's me in the third pic) :) they're justing sitting there so I could get on. If you notice, one of the dogs is even laying down. We ain't goin nowhere.

I am having myself a good time here in Norway! I also finally picked a topic for my thesis. I will be analyzing a census of all the different types of predators in Northern Sweden....oooh. (predators are the animals, not the people, just thought I'd clarify...)

Oh, and since I've been so bored here lately with a lack of things to do until classes start, I've taken up knitting....yes, I'm making a scarf. I also have been baking bread, I can make some kick-butt cinnamon raisin bread. Molly Mormon here I come!!! So, all in all, my new hobbies include taking walks in the winter wonderland I live in, skiing, knitting, and baking bread. :)

"I think we'll be getting a bucket..."

What would you choose?????



Yesterday as I talked to a friend at church she was telling me about the house she will be moving to next week. They don't build very many new houses in Norway and so they tend to live in some pretty old houses sometimes....and some of these really old houses don't have indoor toilets. OH my. Outhouses with toilets are the key to going to the bathroom. Oh my...again. My friend was telling me how I needed to come visit her for a few days when she got all moved into her "new" house. This "new" house does NOT have an indoor toilet....yet. The thoughts that come to mind when she invites me over is that I will have to trudge through the snow every time I have to go potty.....I should be grateful for the invitation and shouldn't be thinking of these things....anyways.....so I humorously asked about the outhouse and how I would have to go outside every time to use the toilet....and she agreed that I would indeed have to do so, but that they were going to be investing in a bucket........................this started some pretty hysterical laughter coming out of my mouth and it wouldn't stop. I hopefully didn't offend her, I don't think I did, but I just couldn't hold it in. A BUCKET???!!!! I think they should call it the chamberpot. How would I ever be a pioneer???