We are back in Louisiana! I started the blog below right before we left but I was never able finish it! We have been home for almost two months now, and they have flown by. We have been keeping very busy, and adjusting back to home (as I like to call it "real life"). Kevin has started his new position and is really liking it and loves being back in the New Orleans office. Our first week we had a surprise visit from my Aunt Pam and Uncle Mike from Oklahoma, which was amazing. We stayed busy of course. We celebrated Easter and Preston's birthday that weekend! We literally feel like we have been non-stop, but we are also happy to be surrounded by wonderful friends and family and feel so fortunate. We went to a wedding in Chattanooga, Tennesse about two months ago and it was beautiful. One of Kevin's good friends, Joe, got married. We had a wonderful weekend, and I have to admit it was nice to see some rolling hills again. Daniel (Kevin's brother) and Laura's wedding was also recently and it was lovely. It was so wonderful to hang out with family again and to celebrate them. We have been going to many ball games, and happy to be able to be here to celebrate all of our niece and nephew birthdays in April and May. I'm sorry it has been so long since I was able to update, I've tried to write here and there but have yet to find the time to sit and write it all down. I've been getting to spend a lot of time with my Dad during the weeks and we keep busy. It has been so much fun. We have had our own routine and I quite enjoy working out together, mowing, power washing, grocery shopping etc. with him (prior to getting a job). At first, it felt as if I was on vacation. Then, after a couple weeks I started to feel as if I was picking up where I left off....however somehow I was missing a year. To me it feels as if life was suppose to pause while I was gone, but there are subtle reminders that it didn't. Everyone is a year older, and some things are definitely different. I also continue to think that I am in 2014, that year is missing somehow. Now it seems as if it was maybe only a dream. I'll touch more on our adjustment and all this later, but first I must fill you in on our last couple months IN Norway and our last few amazing trips: (The first paragraph is from before we left)
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| Our every day... |
So, it is here. We are moving back to the United States. We have not stepped on U.S. soil since June 3rd, 2014! It is hard to even think about that. I have no idea where the time has gone! Seriously, what an exciting experience we have had, we are so grateful! The last few weeks have been a whirlwind! I went to Edinburgh by myself and got my stamp. It was such a wonderful town, and the perfect place and size for a girl traveling by herself. I fell in love almost immediately. I will touch more on that vacation later. I then flew directly to Oslo to meet Kevin and Ryan (who visited from U.S.) at the airport, and then we flew on to Iceland. Iceland was just SO beyond beautiful! It was just one of the best vacations, and we were so lucky with the weather! It was truly a unique place, and I would love to go back. Plus the Northern Lights were a huge bonus. We had a wonderful time. I was then home for three days and then went on a girls trip to Budapest. This was so much fun! We had a blast, it was a beautiful city and such a party town. We were out late every night to say the least ;). It was great group of girls, so relaxed and we got along so well. They are so wonderful, and I will miss them very much. The last two weeks I was basically organizing, packing, and finishing planning our Italy vacation. Now the movers are coming and we have just a few days left. Our plan is to spend as much time with friends as possible, and go to the Oslo Ski Jump and Cross Country Competition in Oslo on Saturday. We are going with some friends, and we could not be more excited. (end of old entry)
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| In the middle of our lovely town |
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| Our street- Hyttegata |
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| Our Favorite Bar- Christian's Kjellar |
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| Our Cute Apartment from the 1700's |
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| Our last hike up to the King's Wall |
I don't think it really set in until the movers came. We were only able to really organize things because the moving company required for them to pack everything. So we had to pick what was coming to Italy, what was going, and what was the owner's stuff. Another challenge was packing items for Italy that would also be useful at home,because once our stuff was moved out we were not going to see it for another 2 months!! The man came in and packed up our stuff in a matter of hours..and then it was empty. Kevin video taped the mover driving away with our stuff, and then that was that. There was no turning back after that point. We had gone hiking the weekend before our last. We went and took some pictures at some of our favorite spots, and made the final plans for Italy and heading home. It started to set in for me then, just trying to get all my lasts in. But, like Kevin, it was not until the place was empty of our things did I realize that this year of adventure was over. It changed us for the better...and from now on things would move on and never be the same. In reality, that was when we made the choice to move. There were a couple quotes that really resonated with me:
"You get a strange feeling when you leave a place. Like you'll not only miss the people you love, but you miss the person you are at this time and place because you'll never be this way ever again." -Azar Nafasi
"You will never be completely at home again, because part of your heart will always be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place." -Unknown
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| One of my favorite spots |
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| My favorite reading spot |
The Oslo Ski Jump competition was so amazing. Prior to the Ski jump competition there was a cross country competition. This is what most of the Norwegians were most interested in. The track was.... long and hilly, and there were many competitors. We were in a really great spot as we could see the finish line but was also able to see other parts of the track. The skiers were so fast, and with more endurance than any other athlete. It was so much fun to be cheering for Norway, and also there were a few USA competitors as well. Norway ended up winning. The Holmenkollen ski jump is just larger than life. It is so gigantic! I had taken most of the family to see it when they were in town, so it was great that Kevin got to join and we got to see an actual competition on it. I have to say my interest in winter sports has gone up dramatically. The skiers had a practice round and then they all got to perform two jumps. There were many Polish people there, and our friends say that the Polish love ski jumping...while Norwegian's love cross country skiing more. I thought the jump looked almost vertical and the landing zone looked way shorter than I thought it would! The atmosphere was so much fun, and I feel that we would love to go again. We love sporting events and it was fun to see such unique ones that we will never get to see in Louisiana. Look at the pictures below:
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| Holmenkollen Ski Jump |
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| Cross Country Ski Competition |
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| Part of the Cross Country Skiing Track |
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| Ski Jump Competition |
Edinburgh
This unexpected trip turned out to be one of my favorites. I had only three days to plan for it, and was there for two days. This allowed me to stay legally in Europe my last month, and my "Immigration-cation" was a success. As I said, I almost fell in love immediately. It is such a beautiful, quaint city. I told Kevin I would totally live there. It has unique buildings, alley ways, and cobble stone streets, with a beautiful castle at the end of the Royal Mile. I flew early in the morning and arrived in Edinburgh in just enough time to find my hotel and catch a walking tour. This was perfect for when I first got there, as it helped orient me and find some other fun things to do. The tour was great and I also found out many neat facts, such as where the term "hangover" comes from and also the phrase "shit storm." I saw where they use to hang people and where the bar where those getting hanged would have their last drink the night before, called "The Last Drop." It was a legit pub. The school that inspired Hogwarts is there, along with the Edinburgh castle. J.K. Rowling was inspired and put the school a top the old volcano cliff where the castle actually sits in Edinburgh. There are also so many magical legends and stories of witches and wizards in Edinburgh. There is also one of most haunted graveyards in the world there called- Greyfriar's Kirkyard. We walked through it and learned that the walls actually contained ashes of those burnt for being accused of witchcraft. J.K. Rowling actually walked through this graveyard to get inspired for some of her character names for her book such as Voldemort (Thomas Riddell). The Elephant House cafe where she wrote many of books was very close too. I, of course, walked the beautiful Royal Mile and the Edinburgh Castle. The castle was huge and sits upon castle rock which was formed when a volcano erupted about 340 million years ago. There have been archeologists that have been able to discover that the first settlers on castle rock came around the 2nd century A.D. It was such a beautiful castle, and the view from there was spectacular! I also went to see Arthur' seat and Calton Hill that had amazing views. There was also a Scotch Whiskey experience that I had to do...especially for Kevin which was a lot fun. There were men in kilts that played bag pipes on the street, just as you would imagine and a fun atmosphere everywhere you went. I really had the best time, and felt safe the whole time I was there. It was a great experience, and although I wish Kevin could have joined I needed to prove to myself that I could do it alone. It was quite the success.
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| Arthur's Seat! |
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| Edinburgh Castle |
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| Greyfriar's Kirkyard |
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| The Royal Mile |
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| Waverly Train Station |
Iceland
Iceland was our next adventure that followed. As I mentioned, I arrived in Oslo and stayed at the airport to meet Kevin and Ryan (who had just arrived from USA) to head to Reykjavik. This was one of the most magical places that we went. The landscape was so different than anything we have ever seen. Kevin thought that it looked like another planet. We actually got so lucky with the weather there and we were able to go on all our excursions as planned. We did not realize until we got there that they can be cancelled quite frequently in winter due to bad weather/snow storms and cloudiness can wreak havoc for the Northern Lights tours. Our Northern Lights tour was cancelled our first night due to cloudiness, however we were able to go our second night there and it turned out to be absolutely perfect. Our guide was just beside herself and so excited that we were able to find them so fast and they lasted for 2 hours. She said it was one of the best Northern Lights shows she had seen, and continued to tell us how lucky we were. As the bus was driving out to the spot that we were going to go to, she spotted them and we immediately pulled over off the interstate to a safe spot in some open fields. It was spectacular! I had no idea how long it would last and just thought that maybe we would see it for 5-10 minutes, but it kept continuing. There was one line there and then it started to move and then another one would show up and you could literally see them dancing before your eyes across the sky. It was so amazing. We had the tripod set up to take pictures with, Kevin and I had practiced how to take them in Kongsberg so Kevin stole the show taking the pictures. It needed long exposures in order to take in the light. It was so strange because you can see them so well with the naked eye yet no iphone or quick photo could capture it. Kevin was able to capture some really great photos that showed even more light then what we saw sometimes. We were able to move spots a few times too. They were actually still showing when we left but we had been out there for over 1.5 hours and needed to head back. We saw them again when we arrived back at our hotel in Reykjavik where there were many lights. I can't even really describe to you how amazing an experience it was, such a phenomenon. We also did the Golden Circle Tour, which was so beautiful to see. This included the Gulfoss Waterfall, Thingvillir National park, and Geysirs. The waterfall was gigantic, and although it was windy and too icy to get too close it was hard to take your eyes off of it! The geysers were such a natural phenomenon as well. The force and height that some of them projected were fascinating and made me jump every time. I could have easily been entertained for hours. The National park is where the Silfra fissure is located, which is between the North American and Eurasian continental plates.
The Icelanders actually believe in Elves...like it is no joke to them. We heard this from multiple guides. They believe that they actually live in rocks and they will talk to them. Such as, our guide for the Northern lights told us that she talked to the elves before the tour and asked them for luck to see the lights tonight. She was 100 percent serious. Our last day we went to the Blue Lagoon- one of the coolest experiences! It is a large all natural geothermal spa that is actually one of the 25 wonders of the world. It was so warm and relaxing! Keep in mind, the outside temperature was BELOW freezing. We bought masks and bathed in the mud! Such a cool experience! The water was gorgeous especially with the beautiful landscape that surrounded it! While in Iceland we did try some of their delicacy foods such as fermented shark (barf), Puffin (aw), and lots of lamb (including lamb hot dogs). We were not a fan of the fermented shark (I still gag when I think about it), Kevin and Ryan LOVED the puffin, and of course we loved the lamb. The shark was a different story, but I did not try it. Kevin tried it, and thought it was interesting. It was served in frozen cubes, about the size of the sugar cube, and did not taste like much, until it started to warm up. Then it was gel-like, sour, salty, and just gross. The hot dog stand we went to for the lamb hot dogs is said to have the best hot dogs in all of Europe. We actually made it there twice! There were other fun things to do in Reykjavik and we loved just walking around and trying local beer as well- our favorite was one of the Viking beers. We did get lucky with the weather while we were there because the day we left there was actually a long delay on our plane because of a snow storm! We made it home safely and then we were able to show Ryan our beautiful Norway. We had a great time with Ryan and loved having him visit us!
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| Gulfoss Waterfall |
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| Geyser! |
Geyser Exploding and Blue Lagoon
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| Blue Lagoon! |
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| Blue Lagoon Fun |
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| The Northern Lights |
Budapest
I had three days at home and then I left to Budapest, Hungary for my Girl's Trip. There were four of us and it was the perfect group. My friend, Rachel, lived there for 2 years so she was our tour guide. We actually stayed at an apartment that was close to her old place so we got to go to all of her favorite restaurants and spots. It was so lovely! Budapest is actually a very safe city, and without a doubt a party town. They have many pubs that are "Ruin pubs" so they are just made out of old buildings and ruins that date way back. They were really neat to be in, and it was a unique experience! We got to do some shopping and just relax as well. We toured the city which is BEAUTIFUL. I had no idea. It is known to be called the "Paris of the East." The Parliment building lit up at night was breath-taking. We went to Castle Hill which had amazing views, and the Chain Bridge which connects Buda to Pest. We also explored Hero's Square, St. Stephen's Basilica and went to the Baths for a dip! They were definitely unique. We had so much fun going out to eat together---not only was everything a wonderful price but it was delicious! Including the drinks and Hungarian wine! We definitely had a lot of memories from this trip and it was something I'll never forget. Girls, lack of sleep, a beautiful city, and tons of laughter is always the recipe for success!
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| One of the Ruin Pubs |
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| The Parliment Building |
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| Chain Bridge |
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| Hero's Square |
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| Hungarian Bath |
Italy
I don't even know where to start with Italy! This was a reason why leaving Norway was a little easier, because it felt like we were going on vacation and would be going back to Kongsberg. It was weird when we instead loaded a plane back to the USA. Italy was of course wonderful and one of our favorite places. It already held a special place in my heart as it was where I got to go one summer with the Kinesiology Program at LSU for 3.5 weeks. It was then that I fell in love, and I knew I had to bring Kevin. We had planned for it to always be our big trip at the end. We had a lot of time there, which was amazing. We flew into Rome and immediately went to Naples for a short stop because I wanted Kevin to eat pizza from the CAPITAL of pizza and where it originated. For those that don't know- the margherita pizza was made after Princess Margherita, and the colors and ingredients used were for the Italian Flag- Red (tomato sauce), White (mozzarella), and green (basil). We went to L'Antica Pizzeria Da Michele, which is one of Naples most popular restaurants ran by a family since 1870. It was delicious (of course) and know to have the "best pizza in the world." Although it was our first pizza of our entire trip it still ended up being our favorite. This is the restaurant that the lady from Eat Pray Love came and so they actually filmed the movie there too and there is a picture of Julia Roberts there, along with another one of Bill Clinton. We only ate in Naples, as we were staying in Sorrento. Sorrento is the town that I stayed in for over a week when I went with LSU. I remember saying to myself, "This is where you bring someone that you love." And I'll be darn, I got to bring Kevin.... :) It is such a quaint beautiful town with lemon trees and small shops on the coast. It is here that Limoncello originated (lemon liquor), which I think is delicious. We had a nice relaxed time there. We also toured the Amalfi Coast and did the infamous bus ride along the cliffs (beautiful). We went to Positano and Amalfi. They are just the most beautiful small towns. Positano is basically set up on a cliff, with beautiful colored houses. We truly enjoyed relaxing and walking around the towns. It was also fun to walk around and see restaurants and places that I went with my class when I was there. It was so romantic.
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| Positano |
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| Bus ride along the Amalfi Coast |
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| Amalfi |
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| Church in Amalfi |
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| Sorrento |
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| My Beautiful Sorrento |
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| Fresh Oranges |
ROME... I mean the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Sistine Chapel, Vatican City, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain..the list goes on. I had spent a lot of time with my class here, so there were many hot spots I knew I needed to show Kev. We had such a busy amazing fun time in Rome. We spent the first half day checking out some churches near our hotel, the Trevi fountain (under construction), and the Pantheon. The Pantheon is a must-see-- a well preserved-current dome from 120 A.D. It is truly amazing that they were able to build it, the architecture was amazing. We loved exploring the restaurants, gelato shops, streets, buildings, churches, and piazzas. We spend a good portion of one day exploring the Colosseum and Roman Forum...this is just a true wonder of the world. LOVE. We also spent an entire day in Vatican City and loved it...the Vatican museums, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica. St. Peter's Basilica is gigantic and just astonishingly beautiful, the same can be said for the Sistine Chapel. We were in amazement.
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| Colosseum! |
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| Roman Forum! |
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| Vatican City |
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| Spanish Steps |
St. Peter's Basilica
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| The Pantheon |
After we left Rome we headed to the Tuscany Region going to Florence, Cinque Terre, Pisa, and Siena. GORGEOUS! We stayed in Florence first and traveled around the city. We explored the many beautiful cathedrals and palazzos. We went to the leather market, and ate some amazing food as well. My favorite thing was bringing Kevin to see Michelangelo's sculpture of David. It is just magnificent. I had seen it before and remember being amazed, but it was like seeing it again for the first time. I was just as taken back. It is just massive and the detail is so impressive. It is very easy to sit there and stare at. It is 14.2 feet tall not including the stand. Just amazing. We also took a 14 hour day trip to Cinque Terre on the Italian Riviera ("The Five Lands") which was AMAZING. It was definitely one of the best day trips we have ever taken. We hiked to 4 out of the 5 cities and took a train to the last one! We loved exploring each of them and had a lot of time to wander as well. We were brought (hiked) to a restaurant set high up and got to eat lunch with a breath-taking view. It had hands down the best pesto I have ever had, and Kevin got to try lots of fresh Italian seafood which he loved (including octopus). It was so beyond beautiful. It was suppose to rain the day we went BUT we were so lucky and we had perfect weather and sunshine all day.
The most beautiful churches in Florence!
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| Cinque Terre Hiking Trip! |
After Florence we took at train to PISA because of course we had to go see the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It is truly a unique building and we joined in with all the other tourists taking multiple photos with it (no shame). Pisa was a really cute town, we were there for a few hours and then headed on to our Tuscan Agriturismo. Kevin expressed to me that his dream was to stay at a vineyard in Tuscany so after some searches I could not find anything that compared to Agriturismo Marciano which was just outside Siena. It was our BEST choice and one of our favorite parts of the trip. It was the best ending to our busy trip. Agriturismo Marciano is owned by a farming family who produce wine and oil in the hills of Tuscany. They were the most lovely people and so friendly. They made you feel at home. We were able to get cooking lessons from Nadia, which was fabulous. We made everything from scratch and have all the instructions in order to be able to repeat at home. We participated in a real family Italian meal every night with multiple courses that lasted hours upon hours with each course paired with some of their delicious wine! We got to meet people from all over the world at our dinner table, and it was such an intimate setting. We were given a tour of the vineyard, and of course tried all of the wine while we were there. We were greeted with wine constantly. We were close enough to Siena that we were able to borrow their bikes and ride through some Tuscan Hills to Siena. Siena was so lovely! We visited the main square, which had one of the most beautiful churches. Then we ate a lunch in the palazzo. It was so much fun, and we had such a relaxing time! Our trip wrapped up when we spent our last day in Rome playing around and eating as much good food as we could!
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| Leaning Tower of Pisa! |
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| Siena |
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| Pisa! |
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| Siena Duomo |
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| Agriturismo Marciano |
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| Siena from above! |
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| Beautiful Tuscany |
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| Our bike ride through Tuscany |
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| Our cooking class! |
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| Part of the winery |
Next, we arrived in New York and then made it to New Jersey where we met up with Hope and Dave. It was great to visit them! We spent the next day enjoying NYC (my first time). We did a hop on hop off bus which was perfect, because we only had one day to see the city! We saw all the main attractions- Empire State Building, Central Park, FAO Schwartz, 9/11 Memorial, Time's Square, Statue of Liberty (from a far) and the list goes on. We fit in a lot! Of course I also had to go to the Home Alone 2 hotel (The Plaza). We eventually met up with Hope and I bought some boots at "The" Macy's. We met up with Dave for dinner and we went to the first pizzeria in the United States called, Lombardi's. It was delicious, and of course we had had a LOT of pizza by this point. We also made it to the Paulaner Brewhouse in NYC (our favorite German beer). We had been to the one in Munich, and we couldn't miss it. We went to a few more places that night, and had a great time. We enjoyed Hoboken, New Jersey and got to walk around. We definitely went to Carlo's Bakery and a fun German place near Hope and Dave's. We got to hang out with the rest of Kevin's New Jersey family on Saturday and had a wonderful time visiting! What a wonderful trip.
On March 29th, we finally made it home! We had not been home since the end of May last year! It had been about 10 months since we had walked on American soil. We were greeted by our parents, and I could feel myself just melt into their arms. When we arrived in Slidell, we went straight to Buffalo Wild Wings (per my husband's request), and much to our surprise there were many loved ones that came in town to surprise us. I was elated, overwhelmed, and felt so loved. We were so thankful and happy to see all that came. Thank you!!! It meant the world to us, and it was such a great feeling to be surrounded by our loved ones again!
Our life now...Well, we are happy. We are all settled in to my parents house, and after living out of a suitcase for two months we finally received our Norway shipment right before leaving for Grayton Beach. Now we must go through and organize all of our belongings. I have had the itch to plan a trip basically since we got back. We will be going to Disney in November so that is a start. :) I started working again. I was fortunate to get a job at North Oaks where I was working before we left for Norway. I am happy working as an OT again. I feel like things have picked up where we left off. Part of me now wonders if it was all just a dream...thank goodness for pictures. When we first got back to the U.S. while we were in New Jersey and New York every time I heard someone around us speaking English (with an American Accent), I felt the need to ask where they were from. We did that all the time while in Europe because we were so use to hearing other languages whenever you heard this you always asked and sparked a conversation. But... Hello! That is weird to do here since the majority here are English speaking Americans. This took a while, but eventually wore off. The most overwhelming thing was by far was the grocery store and stores in general. I forgot what choices looked like....I mean 2-3 choices in Norway verse 25 choices at Winn-Dixie. That is how I feel now. I was use to certain recipes and would know exactly what to get. Now I look at tomato sauces and there are more choices than I can even process. I think the first time I went I came out with only a few things because it was honestly too much. I forget often that I don't have to walk home with groceries, and it is kind of weird to load them in the car. Driving was a huge adjustment for me. I was fine around town, but the interstate was a different story. It is without a doubt better now, my only reservation is with bad rain storms. They completely scare me. There is nothing remotely close to a real thunderstorm in Norway, nor hard rain or hurricane force winds. The biggest we got was sprinkles and light rain. So to go from nothing and not riding in cars at all to both at once....yikes. It is already getting better, but I was not expecting that to be so difficult for me. I definitely miss the simplicity of life there, but I'm getting use to the hustle here again.
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| One of our many game nights |
We have thoroughly enjoyed being in the same time zone as everyone again, and being able to call, text, see everyone so often. Yes, we miss it. I think we always will. I feel like we grew not only as individuals, but as a couple. There are an overwhelming amount of memories from this past year, and I'm hoping my head will be able to keep them all. I have a higher appreciation and better understanding of different cultures. I see the world differently. I have a true love for nature and mountains. I notice things in people I feel I didn't before. I am calm. I feel educated about the world and different countries and history. It is amazing what you learn from going, doing, and planning. I can see a difference in Kevin too. He has more confidence than he use to in almost everything that he does. Some days I miss the quiet, but I'm also thankful for the noise. There is always something going on here, and there I was just able to "be." Norway taught me that. I am trying to incorporate it here as much as I can. I use to love closing my eyes and listening to the river that rushed through town. There was something truly special about the scenery in Kongsberg...or Norway in general. It will forever be in our hearts. However, this is home and we are happy in a different light here. We are excited with what is to come, as we settle down here again. I have a new look on things as now I say, "I'll never say never about anything ever again." There have been too many times I've been proven wrong and only for the better. So I'll never allow myself to limit myself again. For those that know, all I ever wanted was to graduate from OT school and live on the Northshore. That's it. And then look at what happened. I quit my job. I moved with my husband to a foreign country. I visited 15 countries. And now I have more than I ever thought possible. so much more. so much more. Friends for life. A love for travel. A new view of the world. A limitless future. Sometimes the bravest thing you can do is dare to leave your comfort zone. Which we did, and we did it with no regrets. We are forever thankful for all the people that openly let us into their lives and welcomed us in Norway. We miss you dearly, and will always be connected to you. We will be back, even if only for a little while. Until we meet again, Norway.
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| Our Beautiful Norway |
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| Most of our good friends- Last night all together! |
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| Until we meet again.... |
