American in Norway

L.. is for so many things.. like LOVING.. and LAUGHING.... but it is also for all of the little things, which make life worth LIVING.. Some of my favorite "little things" a little note left my son left me on my car before going to work LUNCHES & LOVE NOTES packed by my baby girl.. Or trying to have my coffee ready when I get up.. :-)  A glass of wine on our veranda after a long work week.. :-) Hope y'all have a fantastic weekend! :-)

K.. would have to be for KELLY.. one of my BEST Friends in the entire  world. I met Kelly my Jr. year of High School -  when I moved ONCE AGAIN... This was my THIRD  High school... this time in Wilmington,Dela-where?   I remember eating my lunch in the bathroom for the first two weeks until my mother threatened to call the Principal...if I didn't go into the cafeteria.... Anyone who has had to move, especially in High School or Jr. High, knows that going into the cafeteria is the WORST part of starting a new school... Where are you going to sit? When I finally braved St. Marks lunch room... I quietly took my tray & sat at the end of a long table... with a bunch of girls I didn't think would mind. The details of almost 20 years has blurred in time... but I know that this was where I had my first contact with Kelly. She came over to the table to asked me to sign her Student Council petition...& invited me to eat lunch at her table, thus... saving me...

I ... lets see.. You can't live in Scandinavia .. and come up with a list of   I word's that wouldn't include IKEA... pretty sure they would deport me.. if I didn't mention IKEA (even though it has NOTHING to do with NORWAY.) Norwegians love IKEA as much as you! What is it about this SWEDISH Superstore..?? ICE CREAM--  and not just any ice cream.. NORWEGIAN ICE CREAM it is FAN TAS TIC.. Norway has awesome dairy products..! & Norwegians LOVE their ICE CREAM.. FOR REAL.. photo from lillestang :-) It is NOT unusual for the Ice Cream truck to be driving up and down the streets in the middle of WINTER.. and finally... I is for INDIA.. Back in the day... hubby and I really got around.. (although - he didn't make it to India with me..) What a FASCINATING country.. It was everything- and nothing like I imagined.. We were lucky enough to have a private guide who took us through Mumbai for 2 days... someday.. I will get around to blogging to all of the amazing plac...

H.. Holy Smokes .. I almost missed it! I have been sooo good during this challenge.. and I almost BLEW IT. I guess I could use House Hunters Int. for an H.. and how odd, that they aired our episode again on Friday.. and although, we don't get the show here... I ALWAYS know when it is playing.. my FB account and blog end up with tons of hits... I have posted several times about doing the show .. and have mixed emotions.. Overall the experience was good..  and almost 2 years later they are still airing it.. The bad side - right after it aired.. I followed some of my blog traffic to a couple of sites where people just RIPPED ME UP... pretty mean stuff.. and I was pretty upset .. (thus the real reason I turned down the REAL Housewives of Scandinavia) part of the reason while I stopped blogging for a while. I am way tooo thinned skined to know what you REALLY think.. :-) I will just leave it at this... Reality TV isn't real.. for the most part. :-) I can't speak for other...

G is for GHOSTS... although I generally refer to them as SPIRITS... but Spirits didn't work for today's theme.. :-) I believe... I know that I have loved ones around me.. I used to be really sensitive to it.. especially when I was young.. - before I knew anything about it... then when I was in my teens.. I got a little freaked out.. ' and I didn't feel it very often... but sometimes... From the stories I have heard.. there seems to a lot of GHOSTS here in Norway.. and especially in our little town... & NO ONE thinks it is weird... cause they have always been around.. G. is also for GREECE.. I love GREECE.. Santorini in particular... the following pictures are from RHODES...  

F... FIRST and FOREMOST ...  F is for FAMILY... The absolute worst part of living in Norway, is being so far from my FAMILY.. it is tough...  REALLY tough.. Instead of going on & on.. let me show you some FOTOS of my FABULOUS FAMILY.... Mom and Dad.. married 49 years... My sisters and brother... UGH... now that I am CRYING...   lets talk about the first trip abroad.. which started my LOVE of traveling.. And my first European home.. FRANKFURT Germany.. My very first trip abroad was when I was 16 .. I went to stay with one of my fathers colleagues who happened to have a daughter my age..Sandra.. I FELL IN LOVE with Europe ... I decided that I wanted to study German and move back.. Which I did.. when I was 19. Moved to Frankfurt and lived there for a year.. .... wondering how I ended up from Frankfurt to FREDRIKSTAD? ... Long story.. but I will try to make it short.. I ended up with a degree in German.. took a job working as a translator on a cruise line.. Where...

E... yes, another favorite! ... I bet you are wondering now if there are an letters that I don't like... (ask me in a week..LOL) (pronounced Ava) Surgar and spice and everything nice... that is my baby girl Eva... Nah... don't let the long hair and bows fool you... she is a total Tom-boy who will allow me to dress her up  this little girl is one tough CHIC.. self suffcient, who can get the job done. . Watch out boys... cause she is ready to kick a little butt... Eva is a  ray of sunshine in our life...  she looks a lot like me... but is very much like her daddy... I think Eva will end up being the child content to put down roots.. and grow where she is planted Eva is thoughtful and kind... and always has a surprise for me when I return from my business trips. and is friends with EVERYONE... I love you baby girl !  you make my heart smile Everyday ... EASTER is HUGE here in Norway... Many started their EASTER holiday LAST Friday... leaving the of...

Day 2 of the A-Z challenge...  todays letter is B.. B is for BEAUTY Beauty is a BIG part of my job.. I work for a large Scandinavian Cosmetics/Skin Care company as a sales manager. I LOVE my job... .. if you were going to create a job JUST for ME.. this would be it. I love people.. I love make up & I love to travel... which I do often with my position. the challenge is to find the PERFECT balance between HOME and WORK.. sigh.. which I work on every day. B is also for BJØRN.. my Norwegian husband (Bjørn means BEAR in English) with really BLUE eyes ... and B is for our BILINGUAL.. Babies We have traveled to several places which begin with B... such as Bulgaria..Burma, Barbados,Bangkok  and Belize.. but not sure where I have those pictures saved.. :-)  So I will have to re post our pictures from BERLIN. B is for BERLIN Did I mention that I once lived in Burlington IA? ..

OK... first time E V E R I am going to try my best to participate in a blogging CHALLENGE.. I will be blogging an A-Z challenge . Every day a different letter...   I thought I would try to use this challenge to tell you a little more about me... my family.. and my life as an expat in Norway. today the letter is A... and for me..   A   is   for   A M E R I C A N... There isn't a day that goes by that I am not reminded of who I am .. and where I come from. And how much I miss my homeland and family.. Europeans are always amused when Americans say .. oh I am 1/2 this and 1/4 that...etc. Guilty... I used to do the same thing.. I have been asked  "when do Americans stop saying I am  1/2 this or that.. and just say.. I AM AMERICAN... ?" I am pretty sure Americans start identifying themselves as AMERICANS when they become expats.. LOL I dropped all of the 1/2 this and that.. when I realized how confusing it was for m...