Things I will miss while in Norway

As we are getting ready to leave and I am getting out of commitments and looking at my fall calendar, I am realizing there are quite a few things that I will miss while in Norway.

• Consignment sales - I buy almost all of Katherines clothes and toys at consignment sales that happen twice a year. My friends and I are addicted. Last year I think I went to 5 or 6 of them.

• Hannah's first birthday-She is such a cutie. She came over today and is walking and climbing everywhere.
• My birthday - obviously it will still be occuring but I will be celebrating differently
• My brother's birthday - We don't usually see one another on our birthdays so I guess this won't be too different.
• Ty's 2nd birthday - We missed his first birthday last year when we were in Boston. I promise we will make it one of these years. I already sent the present with Grammy.
• Nathan's 4th birthday - Well, I made your first birthday and I think that is is so far. I guess September is just a travel month for us.
• An entire season of Aggie Football - I did not go to a game with Sandra last year because Katherine was still nursing so often that I could not leave her all day. This year I could have done it. I love going to a game every year.

• Fall Fun Fest- Last year we barely made it for part of the festivities after driving in from Austin for my uncle's funeral. It is not that we really celebrate Halloween, but the photo in the costume is always cute and the games at church are fun. This year Katherine would have enjoyed it. Maybe she will dress up as a Viking in Norway.


• Photos in the pumpking patch - Last year we went to the pumpkin patch at the arboretum 4 times. I had just bought a new camera so we had over 400 pictures. They were so cute. I read on a website that the closest thing to a pumpkin that grows in Norway is a watermelon. I don't think those photos will turn out quite the same.
• A lot of friends giving birth to babies - Pamela, Heather, Melissa, Bri, Chrys, Misty, Gladice, Kathleen, I am sure there are more. I also have a lot of friends whohave had babies this summer. They will all be grown up by the time I get back.

• Playgroup - Katherine and I love our playgroup. I will really miss my time with my mommy and toddler friends. I hope I can find some mommy and toddler friends in Norway.
• Community Group-We have an awesome community group that has been together almost a year. We are the leaders. It meets at our house. I know it will keep going just fine in our absence but we will sure miss it.

• Gym Dandies-Katherine and I took a great class in the spring called gym dandies. We were really looking forward to taking it again in the fall.
• MOPS-I was supposed to be a discussion leader in our MOPS group. I had to drop out as a leader and as a participant in the fall. Because there is always a waiting list, I may not even be able to get in and participate in the spring.
• Mother's Day Out-Katherine is signed up for Mother's Day Out two days a week at our church. I am also the person who does the biling for the school. I was excited to have her there and now she will not be joining until the second semester.
• My TV shows - Yes, I will miss a few TV shows. Luckily some like LOST can be viewed on the internet. The good news is that in Norway they broadcast things in English with Norwegian subtitles so we will be able to watch some normal TV. It may be a few seasons behind though.
• Friends and Family - of course the biggest thing I will miss will be the people. I have a great group of friends and an awesome family. Anyone is welcome to come visit if they like.

So, though I am excited about the trip, these are a few things I am sad to miss.

Fashionista

Due to the much colder weather in Norway, Miss Katherine needs a winter wardrobe in August. Most of last year's winter wardrobe no longer fits. Hmmm where does a 17 month old get a winter wardrobe in August, especially when you are not used to buying things full price? Well, your mom emails all of her friends to see who has clothes to borrow.

I can't believe I was worried about this. We have had so many friends let us borrow or have winter clothes that we will not be able to take it all. Katherine will be better dressed in Norway than at home. Right now it is all laid out on the bed in the guest room according to size and type so that I can decide what to take. Thanks to all my friends who helped out.

a few prayer requests

As we are getting ready to go to Norway, we are still without a place to live when we get there. In this day and age I thought it would really be pretty easy to find an apartment online. There are not that many websites that have Oslo apartments, some are only in Norwegian and I have contacted a few. I am beginning to think that we will be in a hotel at first and find an apartment when we get there.

We went to IKEA this weekend which is a Swedish store so very similar to Nowegian. When we got to the part of the store where they show you how to live in a 237sf apartment or a 723sf apartment I was starting to notice that they actually put 2 bedrooms, living room, kitchen and a bathroom in a 723 sf space. If that is what we will live in, I am already starting to feel claustrophobic.

So, please pray for our living situation in Oslo. While you are praying, can you pray for my camera? It is off getting repaired. It should be back in 4-6 weeks. We leave 4 weeks and 2 days from when I dropped it off. I cannot imagine going to Scandanavia for 3 months without my nice camera.

Binge and Purge

No, we are not suffering from bulimia, but we are doing a little binging and purging around here to prepare for our trip. Since we will have friends staying in our house for three months, we are trying to empty our some space so they can move in some of their things. Today we spent some time cleaning out our closets making piles to take to Norway, to put in the attic and to give away.

We are also cleaning out our pantry, fridge and freezer. I recommend that this week you all do this. I went through each area and first threw away any expired food. Why in the world we buy food without a plan I don't know. It was amazing how much of it was expired, and I mean really old. There were dates all the way back to 2002 which means that this food was expired the last time we moved! After throwing away all of the expired food, I made a list of everything that was in our pantry, fridge and freezer and noted things that were expiring soon. For the last week our goal is to finish off at least 2 things in each meal. When you intentionally eat what is already in your pantry, it feels great because you are clearing out space and saving money by eating what you already bought.

So obviously we have purged our house of a lot of food. The fun part is we get to binge on an occasionally dessert. Like tonight we had Oreo pudding. Ymmmm.

Appointments

There is a lot to do when leaving the country for three months. Today was full of phone calls, mainly to cancel and reschedule appointments. I called the vet, dentist, pediatrician, chiropractor and hair cut stylist. We are all set up for a slew of appointments when we return.

Now I just have to get off the computer and clean my house. My college roommate and her kids are coming to visit this week and the house is still in recovery mode from our last vacation.

Over the big blue sea we go

Well, we have just found out for sure that our family will be going to Oslo, Norway for three months for work. I am very excited as I have not had a stamp in my passport for over 2 years. That is a record for me. That last trip was a trip where we took 25 high school students to Costa Rica so it was a working vacation. Since then Sam has been to Germany for work and Mexico for a wedding. But, I stayed home for both. After Sam's Germany trip we got a passport for Katherine to have just in case we needed it. Finally we do.

As we prepare for this long trip, there are so many things on our list of things to do. I have a list of things to buy, a list of things to ship, a list of things to pack, a list of things to do and a list of things to do to prepare for the people who will be living in our house.

On that note, it was a huge praise that we were able to find friends to live in our house while we are gone. It makes us feel a lot better to know that our house is not vacant. Our friends recently graduated from seminary and have been out of town all summer. They thought they had a place to live when they returned but it fell through. The next day we emailed to see if they needed a place to stay and wanted to stay at our house. It was a huge answer to prayer for both of us. I am sure that Hooligan will be the happiest of all as this helped her avoid being kenneled for three months.

As we are consumed with thoughts of Norway and all we have to do, there are a few things that I am realizing I will miss out on. In September there are a lot of consignment sales and that is where I buy everything for Katherine. I will miss the bargains. In October we went to the pumpkin patch 4 times last year. we have about 300 photos to prove it. This year there will be none. We will also miss Halloween which is not really a huge deal except we have to have a photo of Katherine in her costume. Maybe she will be a viking this year in honor of Norway.

I also realize that my tiny girl has some summer clothes that are still too big. Since the high temp. in Oslo was under 70 today, I don't think she will ever wear some of them. We also have to figure out where to get soem winter clothes in the middle of July.

I have also had to get out of several commitments. I did not realize how involved and busy I am. I was supposed to be a discussion group leader for MOPS, a nursery worker at church, the sunshine office for our neighborhood women's club, a community group co-leader, helper for the Women's Connection ministry, as well as work at my dad's office and our church preschool as the accountant. Some of these things I will be able to keep up with partically via the internet while in Norway but others I have stepped out of completely.

In the next few weeks I may post a little as we are getting ready to leave but once we are in Norway this is where I will be posting about all of our adventures.