Naughty or nice?

Christmas Eve (the big show here in Norway) has already come and gone...but lucky for me my Christmas vacation isn't over. Norwegian Christmases last a lot longer than the Christmases of my past... (I'm not complaining).

Based on all the presents under our tree this year, I guess we were all pretty nice!

One of my favorite Christmas moments so far was actually talking to my family in the U.S. It's been a long time since we've talked and it was wonderful to be able to wish them a "Merry Christmas". Plus, they always have the best stories to share! For example, one of my nephews admitted that he didn't think Santa would let him sit on his lap because he hadn't been nice. Of course my sister asked why, and he answered striaght up that he'd hit his sister.

Kids really do say the darndest things.

GOD JUL!
Merry Christmas!

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Everywhere I Go

I have gotten really into a newish American artist after a customer at work recommended her to me. He is a regular and apparently really observant when it comes to music--he noticed a big difference in the music I chose to play while at work (at the lunch restaurant) compared to my coworker. So based on what he observed that I liked, he suggested I check out Lissie. He thought I would like her, and he was right.

She performed on a Norwegian late night show (Senkveld for those of you in tune with norsk tv) and I liked her immediately. I felt like she was so genuine--I dig her style and I feel like her love and talent in her field is tangible. It's refreshing when you compare her to other artists around a similar age and most of the pop crap out there nowadays. Cool that her music comes first instead of tits and ass.

Here's her song "Everywhere I Go":



Have you guys heard of her?

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Samboer?

I saw Lars today. This hasn't happened all that much lately. And when I say not much I mean I saw his new haircut for the first time today and he cut it on Monday. I actually shouldn't have seen him at all (he works day and I work midday\night) but he was nice enough to pick me up from shift one, drive me home so I could shower in time for him to drive me back to shift two. Usually I don't have time between shifts to do anything, but today I was spoiled. I mean shoot, I got to shower and see my co-inhabitant.

Me and my co-inhabitant (or samboer as they say in Norwegian)--we communicate via text messages and posts its on the bathroom mirror.
It's a blast.

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Signs of life.

Let me start by saying this: man it is hard to find time for ANYTHING when you work 10-12+ hours everyday!

With that said, here I am sitting on the computer pushing 2am just to exhibit some signs of life on this blog. However, I have little energy to wow you with exciting tales of long days nights on the job! I did think I would share part of an email that I sent to a dear friend recently because I reread it and saw through the lines how tired I am. And it made me laugh. Note: it doesn't take much to make one laugh when one is delirious.

Update on my life (with the hopes you will return the favor):

1. Work. All the time. I am waitressing right? And the Christmas season is INSANE in Norway. INSANE I tell you! It is really traditional to go out with a group of work buddies and have a julebord (literally a Christmas table) where they eat and drink shit tons of traditional stuff and make merry. So yeah. Work work work.

2. Lars, still lovin him, still loving being here with him. Enough said.

3. Homesickness, yeah, it came after Thanksgiving (imagine that?). It's weird to be living an entirely different (and wonderful) life parallel to all I have known my whole life. So weird at times, and heavy\painful too. But I love it here so I guess it all balances out.

4. Soccer. I don't get to go to practice EVER now because of number 1 (work). So that sucks. But it is off season now anyway....BUT it would've been nice to stay in shape over the holidays and not have January\spring suck so bad and lose my position and have to win it back blah blah blah story of my life. Just the way the cookie crumbles I guess. But seriously, I have no chance to work out when I work from 12pm-3am...it just doesn't fit. So I am just trying to enjoy the break I suppose.

I feel like that gives you can a pretty clear idea of where I'm at---gritting my teeth through the daily grind and looking forward to an inflated paycheck in January. Luckily, as I have said many times before, I dig my job. It's a lot of fun. But my body is starting to protest...

BUT but there's only one week of Christmas season insanity left... :D

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Photo scavenger hunt?

I am contemplating participating in Meredith's photography scavenger hunt. She made a pretty tempting list and I haven't giving my camera enough love lately. I think I will give it a go and see what I can come up with.

Here's the "rules", straight from Mere's post:

You do NOT have to have a dslr camera to participate! You do NOT have to be a pro to participate! Photo editing is welcome! Basically, the only rule is that ALL photos must be taken between Dec 1st and Dec 31st, 2010 (no archive shots). On or about January 1st, [she]'ll do a blog post with a linky. Feel free to link up if you wish!

The List:

1. Water

2. Angel

3. Architectural Detail

4. Shoes

5. Something yellow

6. Your favorite beverage

7. Something taller than you

8. Bokeh with Christmas lights

9. Bubble

10. Pickle

11. Heirloom

12. Your refrigerator

13. Chocolate

14. Candid

15. Music

16. Produce

17. Key

18. Board Game

19. Candle

20. Fuzzy

Wanna join?

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Half tax, yes please!

I mentioned in my last post that I was looking forward to payday. Of course I am! I do every month. We all do, right? But this month I have extra incentive to be excited for the 10th of the month. . .

Not only have I been working more hours than usual, but (drumroll please) this next paycheck will be taxed half as much as usual! Yes! It's true! For some reason or another, and I truly suspect it is to put a little extra kick in your Christmas spirit (and consumption), the Norwegian government taxes half as much on wages earned in November.

AWESOME. :)
Would be even more awesome if bills didn't exist. Or loans. But let's not let that ruin this happy little thought of half tax with thoughts of practicality.

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Victoria Haven

This is where I have been spending all my time lately.

At work.

This is also the place that is to blame for my lack of blogging and life in general.

This is the same place that is to blame for my tired body, lots of late nights and most of my paycheck month to month. Luckily, I like it there.

But man oh man, I really am looking forward to Christmas and some days off!

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1. desember

I was actually hoping to spend Christmas in the US this year, but money and work wise it just didn't work out. So that's a bummer. But luckily, I have grown to love my norsk jul and even though I am disappointed that I don't get to see my family, I must say I really do enjoy and look forward to what my Norwegian December has to offer. :)

The town has recently been lit up with streams of white lights, and I notice more and more Christmas decorations around Hamar with each passing day. Shopping for loved ones is definitely on people's minds; I have already been asked multiple times hva jeg ønsker meg til jul (what I want for Christmas). The landscape is blanketed in snow (and ice), which definitely adds to the ever-growing Christmas spirit (and my fear that I will meet pavement), and also IT'S COLD. Like -4° F\-20° C cold. Brr. Definitely makes walking to work an adventure.

We have definitely felt the Christmas spirit on the job as well--it has been crazy busy! Norwegians are good at celebrating a year well worked. It is common to have a julebord, literally "a Christmas table", where one dines and wines and drinks and drinks and drinks with a group of friends or coworkers. Hopefully we will get to have a julebord sometime soon so I can share a bit more about this Norwegian tradition. We'll probably have to have ours after Christmas haha--I think I can count my days off before Christmas on my own fingers.

December 1st is a day worth noting as well; it's the day Christmas-y type activities should officially begin, according to many, of whom the most notable in my life is of course Lars. Christmas is pretty sacred to him and I do believe it's a bit scandalous in his opinion that stores come out so early with seasonal supplies. Speaking of the 1st---I am so grateful that it has come and gone! Of course it means that payday is around the corner (thank god) but it also means that I am finally allowed to drink julebrus!

Julebrus is a seasonal Norwegian soda that I do believe was originally created as a substitute to Christmas ales for minors and\or those choosing not to drink alcoholic beverages. There are quite a few different kinds, but I won't really go into that, because the only one that counts (there is a lot of friendly competition and discussion as to which julebrus is best you see) is of course the one that Lars grew up on--which you see in the picture above. It's sooo good. I love it and was pretty pleased with myself when I got to crack open a bottle of it today at work.

Ahhhh..........tastes like Christmas.

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Glasses on, please.

It seems like I'll I'm writing about nowadays is parties...I promise that I am actually working a lot and doing other productive things. Not JUST having a good time... ;)

But a good time does a body good once in awhile, yes? Earlier this month, Lars, Danielle and I took off to Tynset for a 30th birthday celebration.

The invitation asked us to bring glasses and our bathing suits and we complied!

We ate delicious tapas, enjoyed some tasty wine, ate some more, then ate some cake, danced,...

Hot tubbed, laughed and made merry.

It was a very successful birthday celebration.

I love theme parties. But then again, you probably have gotten that by now.

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Ms. February

Uh yeah...so two weeks ago I was invited to a photo-shoot...with a bunch of other young girls. . . and the photos will be made into a calendar??? Sound interesting? Or familiar?

Well it's not quite as good as it sounds. ;) My soccer team, along with the men's team, were asked to pose for a promotional calendar. It was actually a hoot (yeah, I just wrote that) and fun to see people "on stage" and way out of their comfort zones. I of course, am a ham and had no problems goofing around for the camera. ;) Although I did get a bit nervous. Which leads to sweating. Which probably doesn't turn out to well in pictures. Meh.

I yanked this picture off the Brumunddal Fotball Facebook page which is obviously a preview of what's to come. Looks like my teammate Thea here might just be Ms. February!

By the way, I have the privilege of selling 10 of these babies. Interested buyers? Only 100kr.

Anyway, I'm definitely excited to see the final product.

Also, the photographer was a lot of fun, and takes some really awesome pictures. If you are local, I definitely recommend him if you are looking for someone to snap some shots. It seems like he can do it all, and he's a really entertaining man.

Check out his work: Ricardo Foto.

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Bloody brains.

The first party we ever had at our new place was a Halloween party. Fitting, since I do love Halloween so much!

The guest list was impressive: Robin Hood, The Energizer Bunny, Gandhi (and his chai servant), the Devil, Snow White, a fortune teller, a rock star, a German citizen, a construction worker, a friendly ghost, a soldier, a cowboy, an Indian, Fred and Wilma Flintstone and a handful of guys with borderline trashy womens clothes and wigs (not sure what they were going for)!

Costume contest: check! Mr. Energizer Bunny won funniest and best!

Martin and his lederhosen got pinned for Most Original.

And Fred and his nipples earned Sexiest.

And Kristoffer, as who-knows-what won Scariest. Well done. Terrifying actually.

But we were all winners really. . . it was a blast and it definitely satisfied my Halloween needs. Well almost... I did miss trick or treaters and jack o' lanterns. But our (mostly) Norwegian guests did an awesome job of executing Halloween, especially for a culture with no such tradition.

And I must say, if parties can be measured by empty cans\bottles, headaches and messes to clean up the next day... it was THE BEST PARTY EVER.

But that was to be expected I do suppose. When it comes to having a good time Norwegians definitely do have experience! :)

Plus, it's not everyday you get bloody brains as your apéritif !

BLOODY BRAINS

3 parts peach liqueur
1 part Baileys (or other cream liqueur)
dash of Grenadine

First the peach liqueur, then add the cream liqueur carefully (I pour over a spoon). This will create the brains. Add some blood, and gobble up.

*NOTE* I do believe we will be having a costume party again next October, BUT when everyone really starts getting into the Halloween spirit if you know what I mean, we will be going OUT onto the town so our guests can get sloppy in some bar instead of our apartment. This is the lesson learned. ;)

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New digs.

We obviously moved a long time ago (end of JULY!), but I have never gotten around to taking pictures of the new place. Sorry to all of you that have been waiting and asking me to see! We do have some pictures, that's true, but there are still a lot of things that are in my mind not quite finished (paint that wall here, hang pictures there and so on). I am sure you understand. But the outside of the house, that I can definitely share now!

Today it is rainy and gray but one day when I was out wandering taking some fall pictures the sun was shining. We even still have leaves on trees at that point in early October!

There's my cute little bike (basket included) and our house (which we share with 3 other owners). Here's our little patch of grass, apple trees included:

And the back of the house, where you enter.

Lars was spying on me. I caught him in the act!

Sadly enough, I do believe fall is over and winter is soon on its way. The trees have mostly lost their leaves and the temperatures will soon start diving.

I miss the colors already.

But I suppose we have snow and skiing to look forward to!

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Pizza master

I came home Sunday evening to a rockin' home made pizza crafted by Lars. It was seriously sooo tasty...

He has always been good at making pizzas but this one was extra impressive. We didn't really have any sauce or sauce ingredients at home but Lars just whipped up a special sauce with ketchup and leftover salsa!

It was a tad spicy yes (keep in mind I'm a wimp when it comes to hot foods), but sooo good! Experiment with pizza! For real! It's easy, delicious and versatile! And a great way to use up what's hanging out in your fridge.

Go ahead, try something new. We have seriously never ruined a pizza and are definitely not gourmet cooks (to put it mildy).

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Cabin life

This weekend Lars and I took off to Tynset (his hometown) and stayed at one of his uncles' cabin.

His uncle Erik stays there often so it is well stocked with dishes, furniture, food etc. etc.

It was an awesome weekend--just the two of us, no TV, no internet, no electricity or running water!

Did I mention it's lakeside? Yes, nice.

It felt like we took a trip back in time...you can see from the pictures how old fashioned everything is. Here's the fridge:

And this is the key to get you in the front door:

Above you see a 'cabin book' which is typical to find in Norwegian cabins. Guests sign the book and tell a bit about their stay. We read entries from Lars' family before I was born!

In a way I also felt like we traveled forward in time; we left fall behind and jumped straight forward into winter!

The first snow of the year had blanketed the ground and it was just a few degrees above freezing throughout our stay; it really made the fresh mountain air even more crisp and refreshing.

In some ways I felt like I was living in a snow globe. A very happy, Norwegian snow globe.

We played cards, listened to the radio, looked through old pictures, drank wine by the fire and enjoyed each others' company.

*My hat here is among the gobs of cool random junk that has been living at the cabin for YEARS!

Other than that, I don't have really that much to say. I feel like the pictures speak for themselves. It was fabulous. I haven't relaxed so much...uh...ever? It was so great to spend so much one on one time with Lars. ♥

I am really looking forward to the next time we get to stay there...maybe when either swimming or skiing is a possibility? ;)

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