We Have Half a Home

This morning at approximately 10AM we got keys to our flat! For those who don't know, a flat, is the equivalent of a US apartment yet slightly different. So you will probably hear that term a lot from me because really, it is very much a flat, and completely different then an apartment. Our furniture arrives on Tuesday and the movers unpack us on Wednesday.

ANYWAYS, yes, we got our keys this morning and now have complete access to our place. Our relocation agent, Flemming, picked us up from our hotel this morning and took us to our flat where we met the agent for the home owner. The two agents went through the apartment making notes about things that weren't in tip top shape (inventory if you willl) and read the meters and make a note of it, and show us a few things we might need to know about (fuse box, opening the canopy, working the fridge, finding the storage room) and of course, give us the keys. Flemming took us to ISO, a grocery store here to make sure we know everything we needed to know about them (which of course we did, though there were 1 or 2 minor things that have changed in the past 3 years. Mostly to do with recycling..yes in the grocery store, I'll get to that later). He then took us to TI and I ate lunch with Michael in the cafeteria there, left and went back to ISO. I got some Lime Light (for calcium in the shower) and garbage bags, Kleenex, cough drops, paper towels and a bottle of wine ( the bottle of wine was for tonight though, not the flat). While standing in line I met a nice guy in his 30's probably that I understood perfectly(because he spoke to me in Danish) that told me that another line was much shorter, so I followed him over. At some point while we were standing ther he realized I only spoke English and started talking to me. When the lady in front of him started having problems with the debit card machine he apoligized and said it was his fault I was standing there because he put me in that line. Of course, nice me just laughed, said it as nothing and it wasn't his fault. I think he felt bad..we chatted a bit in line and after I checked out he was still bagging up his stuff and said Have a Happy New Year, and I said, thank you and you too and he responded with, "take care". It sounds silly and simple but it reminded me of how incredibly friendly and nice the Danes are once you start speaking with them. At first they can seem almost standoffish when you are use to friendly Texas ways..especially West Texas ways and especially especially Lubbock West Texas ways, but once you get to know them, or break the ice a bit, they are such a friendly people here. After ISO I headed back to the flat and dropped it all off and looked around again and headed back home. Michael worked for about 2 hours after I left him and headed back this way too. We went to the gym, had a glass of wine, went down to the lobby bar/cafe for another glass of wine and dinner and now we are back up here and I am writing this.

The Danes are getting very excited for New Years and if we hadn't lived here previously I would think we were in a VERY bad part of town because of all the gun shots. Luckily I know, they are just fireworks randomly going off. I can't WAIT to show video and pictures from New Years Eve here, it is insane, and like nothing I have ever experienced before. It cannot be described in words, though when New Years Day comes, I will be up to the challenge because it will be fresh in my mind.

Our First REAL Danish Christmas

While this was actually our second Christmas to spend in Denmark, it was actually our first real Danish Christmas. We left on Saturday to head to the other side of Denmark. We met Klaus at the Central Copenhagen train station in the morning. We went a little early to make seat reservations for the way back home and for some coffee. We hopped on a train at 11:00. Since we didn't have seat reservations and the train was packed we had to stand for the first 3 hours of the trip!! The last 2 hours, seats cleared up and we finally got to sit down.

The town Klaus is from is cute and little and surrounded by "country". It was nice to get out of the hustle and bustle of big Copenhagen. Klaus's parents were so nice (we had met his mom once before in Dallas) and made us feel right at home. They fed us non stop and it was all really wonderful food.

Christmas Eve Klaus took us to a wooden tower for a really cool view of the area.

The Tower

View from the top of the tower. It was REALLY windy and REALLY cold up there.

We went to church on Christmas eve at a really old and really small church. It was built in 1773!!! Michael and I were squished into the pew. Thankfully the service was not long at all and we were out pretty fast.Klaus sat a few rows ahead of us and his parents on the other side of the church. We got there pretty early, but it was still filled up. Again, like I said, it was a small small church.

The Church

After Church and before dinner on Christmas Eve

Here in Denmark, they celebrate Christmas Eve. Christmas Day is just kinda put on the back burner for a day to eat leftovers and recuperate from the night before. So we got home and had a big ol feast of pork and duck, potatoes and I don't remember what else because I was too busy stuffing my face. For desert we had "Ris ala mande" Almond/Rice Pudding basically. It is a tradition that an almond is hidden in it and whoever gets the Almond, gets a present. Guess who found it? MICHAEL! He got a game which was put into good use! :)

Ris Ala Mande with cherry sauce on top

So after dessert, we played the game, and then...you ready for this? We sung Christmas carols while walking around the Christmas tree!!! This is a very very popular Danish tradition and it appears most families do it. I had read about it, but never done it. It was actually pretty fun. They had some English songs, and Danish songs, and we had to sing both. Then it was gift opening time. I had never opened presents like this before. One person would take a present and give it to the person it was for, then that person would go get a gift and take it to that person and so on and so forth. We got some really nice things and thought that was really nice of them.

The Christmas Tree

hristmas Day we went for a little walk in the town and did..literally nothing. Kinda funny to do nothing on Christmas Day.

Klaus's hometown. That is Michael and Klaus walking

The 26th Klaus's parents took us on a little tour of the area. It was about 3 hours and we drove up along the coast and back down the other side and saw lots of cool stuff. It was fun. Then we came back that evening. We left at 6pm and got back to Copenhagen a little after 11pm.

One of the places we stopped on our little tour. The North Sea. It was also really windy and really cold here!

I have a lot more pictures, but thought this was enough for right now.

Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!!!

PS as a side note: We get our keys to our flat tomorrow! Yea!!!

For Christmas I Really Want a Night in a Hotel

You know how a lot of business's at Christmas time will give all their employees a Christmas present? Well they do the same thing here. (Actually TI in Dallas did not do this.. I'm sure it has something to do with the massive amount of employees that it employs) Anyways, yesterday the TI office here got their Christmas presents. Guess what it was??? Ya, you got it, "A Night in a Hotel"! HAHAHAHA... Michael said all his co-workers were making fun of him. "oh look, I bet thats what you have always wanted" "Is the SAS Radisson on there?" Actually it's pretty cool. The hotel choices are scattered throughout Denmark, Nearby Sweden and very Northern Germany or we could pick to take something else on the card that is offered. A wine package, a food package, a glassware package. We just have to decide if we want the hotel, or something else by January 6th. I don't know what we will decide to go with. There are a lot of places in Denmark we are wanting and to have 1 free night in a hotel might just come in handy However, 6 bottles of wine is never a bad choice....Well, we have time. :)

Tomorrow we are going to the Western Coast of Denmark for Christmas. We are going with Klaus to his families place. We have been to the area once before, but in a different town. It is out in the country and are really looking forward to it. We will go by train tomorrow morning and come back on Tuesday for our last week here at the hotel.

Yesterday we went to the Lyngby town hall to register and got that all taken care of. Actually we wont be officially registered until January 1st, but we got the paperwork and all the nitty gritty stuff out of the way.

Michael, Don't Make Me Leave!!!

Great News!! (no no, we aren't having a baby ;o) )

But really, Michael got some good news yesterday. The woman that was living in our flat moved out yesterday. The landlord is doing the stuff he needs to do to it to get it all ready for us....and we get the keys on December 29th. While it is only like 3 days early, its nice to know we can get into it then. We contacted the movers/shippers and our stuff is scheduled to arrive in Copenhagen on the 26th of December. But we aren't sure if will have already been through customs or not. Michael is going to schedule a move in date with the movers today. It may be next Saturday, or it may have to wait until Tuesday. If it is Tuesday, we will stay in the hotel until then, so we can have a bed to sleep in. If it is Saturday, we will probably stay here until Sunday morning.

When we got all this information I actually found myself sad and not wanting to have to leave "hotel life" and I couldn't for the life of me figure out why because I am so incredibly excited about our flat and the town we will be living in. I'm excited to get all our stuff and putting the place together, REALLY excited to be able to start cooking again and to get into a daily routine. So why on earth do I want to stay in this hotel as long as possible??

Then I had an epiphany.

It hit me like a ton of bricks. I had felt this strong feeling of not wanting to leave before, many times, and all in one particular circumstance. All my apprehensions I was having about leaving this hotel are the exact feelings I always get when we are getting ready to pack up and leave from a trip/vacation. In particular when we are leaving other counties. In the past 6 months alone I have experienced it 4 times now...Tokyo in June, The Cruise to Mexico in August, Denmark in October, and again, right now.

My epiphany: I realized that I haven't realized that we are staying in Denmark!!

I am finding myself not wanting to "leave" because I have enjoyed our short time in Copenhagen. It has been so refreshing to step outside and walk to the city center and just...."BE". Be in the moment, be in the city, be in awe of everything Danish.. you know, just "BE". It has been wonderful to be able to take in life and watch others live theirs, enjoying the simple things like fresh brisk air, cobblestone streets, Christmas decorations and a warm steamy cup of coffee. It's no wonder I have attached all of that to being here, in the hotel, and it's no wonder that living in a hotel has somehow convinced my inner voice that this is just a little jaunt to Europe and like always, Michael is going to FORCE me to pack up and drag me back to the US against my will ;) (Sheesh, the nerve of him!)

So... I guess, I don't believe we are here to stay and apparently it hasn't dawned on Michael either. To him, it feels like a long business trip. I wonder when it WILL hit us?? Perhaps when everything we own shows up on our doorstep? (It hit us pretty fast in Dallas, and I am sure the biggest factor was that Hendrix and the Blazer were both with us when we arrived and they both signified "home") I will say, it is nice to know that I am enjoying being here so much that even though we AREN'T leaving Denmark... I am having "I Don't Want to Leave Denmark" Syndrome.

Anniversary/Room Pictures

First things First:
Our Anniversary! We had a blast. Michael came home a little early and we got dressed and ready to go. He had bought some champagne, I mean sparkling white wine (properly named, anniversary) that we had really enjoyed when we were here 3 years ago. I had also gone to a fantastic bakery/cake shop earlier and got us a couple slices of cake to go with it. On our way out we asked the Concierge service if they could send up a bucket of ice to chill it for us while we were away. Of course they did no problem. While in the lobby we got some free Glogg. You may say, what is Glogg? And what a funny name! It is a drink, similar to mulled wine and at the bottom of the glass there are raisins and almonds that have been soaked in port. You sip it, and eat the treats at the bottom with a spoon. I had missed it terribly the past 4 years, so have been so happy to have it again. We have had it from several places, but my personal favorite, was the one here at the hotel. ANYWAYS, we went to eatand see the show at Tivoli. Tivoli is pretty hard to explain. It is an amusement park, but not like 6 flags, and not like Disneyland. Its a beautiful place in the middle of Copenhagen with gardens, and restaurants a few rides, and just a really great place to go especially to people watch. At Christmas time they set up a Christmas Market and all sorts of other fun stuff. So we ate, walked around a bit, got rained on ALOT, walked around some more and saw the show there which was HYSTERICAL. It was a 3 hour show and we laughed from the start till the end. Anyways, enough on that.. here are some pictures!!!

Tivoli

Michael inside the Nisse House (basically elf house)

Me!

and for fun, heres a video from inside the Nisse Village thing... Push play :)
In the video I am drinking glogg with an added shot of whiskey. yum.




We have made it a tradition that every year on our anniversary we would take a picture by a Christmas Tree. So this is this years picture:

OK, Second! Where are we living??
I haven't taken pictures of the actual hotel or lobby yet, but here is our room! The room we were in previously was SOOO much smaller, we didn't have much space at all..Thankfully we only had to live there like 3 days! We have been in this room exactly 2 weeks today.

Front Door/Computer Desk
One of our two big windows, drawers, tvCouch and Coffee Table

Bedroom
Poor us, having to live here huh?? ;) Actually it hasn't been to bad. We both already think that this place has already become more like home then our Apartment in Plano ever did. I suppose since we never got completely unpacked there,and were there 18 days before finding out we were leaving, we never let it feel like home. Here, we have gotten pretty comfortable. Everything we have here is unpacked and well, as you can see, its pretty nice. No complaints :)

Happy 3 Year Anniversary to Us!!!

Yesterday after I wrote the blog post about how I should get out and do stuff even though I've already seen it, I decided to up and go!! So I went to visit an old friend... The Little Mermaid! To get there I had a pleasant walk around an old citadel which I believe now houses the Danish defense Intelligence Service. I had a nice stoll enjoying the nice weather and the scenery. From there I went and saw the little mermaid and got a kick (as always) watching all the tourists taking pictures with her. Then I wondered up the Christmas Market at Nyhavn. It was a nice enjoyable day. I really wish I could post pictures easily. We have found a way around the filter on Michaels computer... but he doesn't bring it home every night. I'll get pictures up soon! :)

I really really really can't believe 3 years has already passed!! Wasn't it just yesterday that we got married? I was flipping through pictures and decided to make a little slide show to remember the day by. So here it is! We look soooo young too!!

Creatures of Routine

Amos Bronson Alcott once said, “The less routine the more life.”
I LAUGH in the face of less routine!!!! OK,not really, actually I find myself ready to cry in the face of less routine. I'd say we have pretty exciting and not boring lives. Well I suppose our daily lives are pretty boring, breakfast, work, gym, dinner...and weekends we add in a bottle of wine. (ya, sounds boring) Friends will come in from out of town or we will go visit others and we still have to go to the gym at night and be in bed early and say no to going with anyone last minute, and people have to beg us to go to a bar and we still say no because, well its not part of our routine. BUT, I will say, our overall lives are pretty exciting. We have done a ton and seen a lot for our young age so I think we are doing alright with being creatures of routine and if you know us, you know we thrive on routine and go crazy when we don't have one.

All that being said, I think we FINALLY got a routine down here in the 'ol SAS Radisson!!! yippee!

So here it is:

*Wake up call

*Eat a HUGE breakfast downstairs (since it is our main meal of the day now) keep an apple and yogurt, on the way back up stop and get some coffee from the lobby with 4 extra cups for protein shakes (2 a day per person)and grab a croissant if they have one

* Michael leaves for work

*ALL DAY... Michael works, I do what needs to be done here, grocery store, laundry (still in the sink and hung dry, I don't mind it. Is kinda fun, Michael likes it too. He says it makes him feel "industrial and pioneer-esque", and yes, he has helped with it several times now.), set up stuff (netbank,and other boring stuff like that), send out old bills ect... Around noon or a little after, I have to leave the room so housekeeping can come and give us new towels, coffee cups, plates, and whatever else it is they do in here.. I can't stand not having something to clean, so I usually straighten every 3rd day or so... makes it more livable. :)

(Lunch usually consists of... the apple and yogurt from breakfast and the croissant from the lobby and coffee...and I usually find a little more from somewhere)

*Michael comes home

*Gym

*Dinner - avocados, cereal sometimes, crackers, cheese, fruit, sandwhiches sometimes, and other odds and ends I I've picked up... not a big dinner, but we are tired of eating stuff that is prepared for us.. so full of sodium or butter. I can't wait to get a kitchen back!!!

*Bed

*Rinse, Repeat....


sounds terribly exciting doesn't it?

It seems that being in Europe should be sooo much more exciting then everything I have said and done since we got here huh?? And I'm sure it would seem that way if I didn't know the city inside and out and walked over and played in Central Copenhagen more often...and came back and wrote about all the new stuff I've seen and done.. but it seems sooo... not new!!

Ah, Copenhagen!!! been there...done that... I am so fancy! ;)
Perhaps I'll try to get out and find something to write about that everyone else might find interesting even though they might just seem so particularly Danish and ordinary to me...

Tomorrow is our 3 year anniversary!! I can hardly believe it. We have big plans too! I will, without a doubt, take lots of pictures! :)

Christmas Tree Video

The sun made an appearance the past two days!! YEA!!! Yesterday during the day and so far all day today, there hasn't really been a cloud in the sky over us! Just blue sky and a shiny sun, and guess what we did with that sun today? Thats right stayed inside and admired it from our window!! Yesterday we went out for a bit just wondering around. Got some lunch, some christmas beer, Glogg (similar to mulled wine) and Aebleskivers (best I can describe them is little pancake balls with jelly and powdered sugar) and came back. Stroget (the huge pedestrian street here) was PACKED you could hardly move down it, so we didn't stay on it long.
This morning we decided we didn't want to do a thing, so we haven't. Our entire bodies hurt from our past two days in the gym and its been kinda nice to sit around and be lazy and watch tv. So as you can see, there really isn't ANYTHING going on with us at all. We kinda feel like we are on vacation, but at the same time not really.

Here is a video I uploaded from the Christmas Tree Lighting last weekend. When "JuleMand" (Translated to Christmas Man AKA... SANTA) gets to the top of the ladder there are about 30 seconds of him standing there. He is waiting for the clock and bells to strike 4 o clock. Just hit the play button and turn up your volume!
Hope you enjoy!

Pictures...I HOPE!!

Yesterday our day started out great. I went to Lyngby with Michael and we went to DTU to see a few people. One was our good friend Dorte. She is one of the secretaries at the university and she became a friend and was wonderful to us while we were here last time. Her family is very sweet too and we have scheduled a dinner with them at the beginning of January. We had all wanted to do it sooner, but with the Christmas Holidays, it was hard to find time before. We also saw one of Michaels old advisor's, Pierro. He is Italian and always made us laugh. It was great to see both of them. From here Michael went to work, and I spent a short time in Lyngby at the "Store center" (like a mall) and grocery store. I came back to the hotel and left again where I spent several hours wondering aimlessly around central Copenhagen. It has always been one of my favorite things to do and favorite ways to take in the city. On my way back to the hotel it started raining and got VERY windy. (this had happened to me the previous day as well)By the I got back to the hotel and I looked in the mirror, I looked like a Dane with their rosy cheeks!!! I had the rosiest cheeks I had ever seen on me. I cleaned up the hotel room and did some laundry.. in the sink and hung it on the laundry line in the shower (because it is going to cost us at this point 160 bucks to get hardly any laundry done at all, and while TI would pay for it, We are both too nice to charge that amount for laundry to the company) Last time I did laundry in the sink was right after the first time we had moved to Denmark the first time. We have been searching for a laundry mat, but aren't having any luck and no one can really tell us a close one to go to. I know where several are, but they are pretty far and I don't want to drag our clothes all that way. I will do another load today.... :)

Ok, so we have been having some problems with posting pictures and video. The hotel we are staying at apparently has a filter of some kind turned on to where we can't. We have tried NUMEROUS things to try to be able to get them online and FINALLY I found something that works... for the pictures, still working on the video though.

I had tried to post some pictures in the post yesterday, and I thought I had it, but then I had an email from my mom telling me otherwise. Bleh.... These are thumbnails and small and when you click on them, it will take you to another site to look at the pictures... pain for now, but will have to do.....
So I hope this works:
(Please let me know if it does or doesn't!!)

Michael and I at the Christmas Tree Lighting

by ndnhippo

Castle Wall that we (I) walk by almost everyday

by ndnhippo

View from the Castle Wall

by ndnhippo

Copenhagen

by ndnhippo

Typical Yellow Building in Copenhagen off of Stroget

by ndnhippo

Trying ... To... Stay.... Awake.....

So I bet you are wondering what the heck we have been up to since we got here!

Well, as you know, we are living in a hotel. The SAS Radisson to be exact. When we first arrived we were in a standard room because the hotel was booked and they weren't able to put us in a Jr. Suite. So we dealt with the small room for a 3 nights and then got moved to the 18th floor to a Jr. Suite. It is much bigger and we now have two rooms. a bedroom and living room. And our stuff all fits in here! yea!! It was a tight fit before. With the Jr. Suite we also get free breakfast. (we were paying before)So we like our room. There is a gym on the 4th floor. Not a cheesy little hotel gym, but a real gym!! We are happy about that.

Michaels work has started off great. He is really enjoying it, loves the people he is working with and I know it was nice for him that he already knew everyone and didn't have to waste time having to figure out who was who. Currently his commute is about 45 minutes... which isn't bad considering that is the same amount of time he was commuting in Dallas.

While he has been at work, I have been trying to figure out ways to eat here. We haven't really eaten out all that much and have been eating salads and sandwhiches for dinner but they are quickly getting old. and we have no forks so we are eating salad with our hands (good thing we don't eat dressing) We both miss having a kitchen! And it is really hard to eat well (meaning healthy) when you can't cook! But we are making it work. It will be nice to have a kitchen again.

The darkness is crazy. Talking about it and remembering it, and actually being in it and experiencing it are two totally different things. While its not pitch black all day long, it is still pretty dark from about 9-3. Last time we were here we were able to ease into the darkness, but this time it has been a little more difficult since we were just thrown into it. Usually for me about the middle of the day (right now) I start getting really tired. Almost like my body isn't sure if it is suppose to be waking up or to start winding down for the day. There have been a few days when the sun makes its brief appearance that the clouds are so thick and low to the ground that it makes the day super dark.

I've also been wondering the streets and have been to a couple museums. Ones I had been to previously, but was fun to go back. The state museum has a nice exhibit on the history of Denmark from the 1600-2000's. The last time I went through this exhibit we had only been here a month or two so this time through I appreciated it so much more after knowing so much more about the country.

We also went and watched the mayor light the big Christmas Tree last Sunday in the Town Hall Square. We will post that video soon...

Ill start posting more again... Ive been so tired during th day that I don't even have motivation to post on here. Michael has been dragging alot as well. And apparently a lot of the Danes are too, or so we have been told, so I know its not just us. Now I think its time to go get a cup of coffee and lunch.

I've been having some problems uploading pictures, but I'm working on it.. bleh!!
SOOOO stay tuned, for photos! Call it anticipation if you will.. ;)

Learning to Love Our Lives Abroad - Our Story

Today we start a new focus of this blog; our time in Denmark. While we already know we love it here (therefor, not "Learning to Love Denmark") and in the short few days we have been back here, both in October and now it is obvious to us, that our feelings towards this country have not changed. I now hope to look back at this blog one day with warm feelings about our lives here and am anxious to see how our lives adjust to being here. When I say "our lives", I mean our WHOLE lives. Last time, it was just us a few bags and a countdown clock since we knew the exact month we would be leaving, this time it's not just us and a few bags, but it is us, close to everything we own, and the future is not already set in stone. This is a once in a lifetime experience and we have been lucky enough to call it a twice in a lifetime experience.

So I will start this blog with "Our Story" to freshen up everyones mind as to how and why we spent 15 months here and how and why we returned. Some of you may have read this off our website, but since it is down, I thought It might be nice to post up here. So, here we go!!

Once upon a time we lived in Denmark…and we fell in love. Michael was chosen to be the inaugural student to work on a dual master’s degree program between Texas Tech University and Denmark Technical University while doing research at Texas Instruments in Copenhagen that would later be used for his thesis. Before leaving we were oblivious to the fact that this adventure would change both the simplest and complex aspects of our lives, forever. Living abroad taught us so much about not only another culture and way of life, but about our world, ourselves as a couple and ourselves and each other as individuals. It was an experience we now look back on and can’t fathom our lives had it never existed.

We arrived in Denmark in June 2002. It took us a couple months to get use to the differences in everyday life that Denmark presented us. With time we grew very comfortable being in Denmark and quickly felt a strong affection for everything Danish. There was something about Copenhagen that meshed completely with our ideal way of life. Our 15 months passed very quickly and we found when it was time to return home, we were both deeply saddened that our time in Denmark was coming to an abrupt halt. Much to our surprise it was incredibly difficult for us to adjust to being home. Upon returning we found ourselves unbelievably homesick and experiencing a strange and strong culture shock to our home county. Oddly enough, our homesickness and culture shock to the the United Sates was much greater then we experienced when we got to Denmark 15 months prior. We took very careful note of our strong feelings and passion for the small country we came to love realized that we HAD to go back at some point in our lives. Not just to visit, but to stay awhile. Perhaps to work at TI or maybe even to do some Post Doctorate work at DTU. We just knew, we were yearning to go back.

About a year and a half after our return Michael started to see the light at the end of the tunnel on his Ph.D. and started the job hunt. Something not many people may realize is that the Denmark office actually gave Michael his job offer. The first call he made was to the Texas Instruments office in Copenhagen letting them know he would be finishing his education soon and was looking for a job. Within a couple months Michael had a job offer from TI Copenhagen in his hands. He would be one of 4 guys starting a brand new design center in the town of Lyngby (Same town DTU is located and where we bought our wedding rings) upon completion of his degree. The only catch? We would have to spend one year in Dallas so Michael could get some training under his belt...Ok, DONE. Though, this was not an easy decision because neither of our West Texas hearts had the slightest desire to move to the giant DFW area.

August of 2005 rolled around and we moved from our safe haven of the small college/farm town that is Lubbock to the big city. As many people know our time in Dallas did not start off well and it took us a loooong time to adjust. Our excitement and anticipation about moving back Denmark, made our time slightly less difficult. Once February came around we were finally able to start focusing on our upcoming move and we were able to stop thinking about all the negative feelings we had about Dallas. Then, without warning, the storm hit. We hopped on a couple big waves and rode them and waited until it settled.

Here’s where it gets tricky. Without saying too much or making this too confusing there was a big corporate restructure within TI that caused many changes. One being the anticipated design center in Lyngby. The vision of the center and the products being made had changed. This was a big kink in the path Michael had established for himself. Not just a little kink but a big messy one. Some of Michaels superiors expressed great interest in him staying in Dallas and made it very clear that staying, was indeed, an option. We were forced to sit down and really think about what we wanted to do and what would be best for us, not just now but in the future as well. We spent a couple months talking and thinking about each side of the issue. Finally one Saturday we had a very long 13 hour conversation (Some of which took place in the gym and most that involved lots and lots of wine) because we needed to make a decision. The end of our lease was creeping up and we needed to know what step to take next. It was that night we decided to stay in Dallas. We came up with several ways to make Dallas more appealing as a way to help us look forward to staying in Dallas for at least a little while longer. (Buying a house, a new car, taking more big trips, starting a little family….Doggies, not babies)

About a month after we had made this decision, TI was still feeling effects and changes from the corporate restructure, especially in Michaels group. We had some information “leaked” to us that the Danish office would be calling Michael to re-offer him the job. The design center in Copenhagen reverted back to its original vision with some added bonus’s. About a week before we left on our cruise, Michael got that call. We didn’t know whether to laugh or cry about it. By this time we had FORCED ourselves to come up with lots and lots of negatives about moving back to Denmark to help ease the pain of knowing that we had stripped ourselves from this wonderful opportunity, and honestly, had gotten very excited about staying in Dallas. We found ourselves back in a position to have to make another decision. Our decision was, let’s not make this decision. If it was meant to happen it was, if it wasn’t...it wasn’t. This time, TI would be deciding for us. Michael gave them some requests and some conditions that if met, we would go, and if not we wouldn’t. After a couple months of working on these requests some were met and some were not, but when weighed, the scales tipped heavily in favor of us moving back and one September Monday morning we were actually NOT shocked when Michael got a call with a start date of December 1^st. When we were making the decision in the spring whether or not to go, Michael mentioned that for all we know either option we choose would probably lead us in the same direction and the two paths may meet up at some point, and perhaps 5 years down the road we still maybe moving to Denmark. He's a smart boy, but it was a bit shorter then 5 years.

Since learning of our upcoming move we have had to start chiseling away at all the negative thoughts we had put in our heads about moving back. Which has not been easy to do. Perhaps learning to enjoy Dallas was a step we had to take before we could leave, so that one day, moving back to Dallas would be much easier. As each day passes we are finding ourselves more and more excited about returning to Denmark. So, after 3 years of desperately wanting to return, and 2 years of anticipating an actual return, we are finally going back to the land that captivated our hearts and souls in an indescribable way.