Moved

I have officially moved over to "Wordpress."

I believe I got the new address to everyone via email, but in case I missed anyone...here is where you can find me now:

www.nicholep8.wordpress.com

Blogging Break

My long term readers will have noticed that the past 2-ish months I have been less then enthusiastic about blogging. I feel a little guilty about this because I know that this blog is more important to much of our families than it is to me at the moment. (and that makes me sad, because I love this blog) For many of our family members and our close friends this blog serves as a way to keep them up to date with our doings while we are an ocean apart.

There are a couple reasons this blog has started to loose its focus and excitement for me, but none that I am going to get into at the moment. I am working on remedying this situation so hang tight.
I'm going on a blogging break....

Strong Man/ Køge

Saturday we did something a little crazy. We went to a strong man competition, and it was a blast. These men were freakin' HUGE!!!! And oh so very very very very strong. They did some events on the grass which I didn't get any good video or pictures of but here is one video from a lift on the stage. They had to lift these tires over their heads as many times as they could in 30 seconds. This is the guy that won this section of the competition.

Check out those thighs!!!

After strong man we went to visit our friend Jens in Køge.
We had been down there before but only to his house, this time he showed us around town.

Vallø Slot

Sheep in a field

4th of July

Klaus + Sarah + Burgers + Budweiser + Passing an American Football around in the park + Guitar Hero = Lots of fun!!

edited to add the Budweisers.

Drunk Danish Graduates by the Truckload

This past weekend the streets of Lyngby (as well as those all over the country) have been filled with trucks toting students finishing their final year in school (equivalent to our high school seniors in the states) on their traditional Danish celebration. The students decorate trucks with flags, banners and flowers. They then load up in the trucks of all sorts; moving trucks, pick up trucks, old military trucks etc... The students stand in the back waving beer bottles, flags and making as much noise as they can while they are transported to each one of their homes where their parents treat them to a little food and drink. As you can imagine they get louder and rowdier with each stop they make.

As we walked along Lyngby Hovedgade we were passed several times by different trucks. We were even lucky enough to see three guys mooning everyone behind them. (I can just see American parents horror and reaching for their childrens' eyes to shield them. Here, I think everyone just laughs) Often there are signs on the back of the trucks that will say honk 1 time for a cheers, 2 times for a drink, 3 times for a flash and different variants on it. As one of the trucks passed us (the one with the mooning boys) there was an overwhelming smell of alcohol wreaking from it. haha.

Since we live mere steps away from Lyngby Hovedgade we were able to hear the screaming, singing, chanting, hooting and hollering students along with all the honking cars congratulating them all day long Friday and Saturday both at home and at the gym. About once every two hours the noise got increasingly louder as a truckload would drive past our flat. I love stuff like this in Denmark. This could never happen in the states for 100 different reasons, but it is so perfectly Danish.

I didn't have my camera or video camera on me while we were walking the streets but I got a couple videos from our windows.

Addicted

In the almost 3 years we have lived here one of the things we say repeatedly is "we should (should have) really go (gone) to a soccer game"
Now that we are soccer crazy we decided to do something about it.

I ordered these on Tuesday and the nice post lady came knocking on my door today delivering them. For those of you that don't read Danish, they are tickets to a Denmark-Spain soccer game in August. Yea! We've really enjoyed watching Spain play in the Eurocup (in fact they play Russia tonight in the semi-finals) so it will be great to see them live! The only problem is going to be trying to decide between now and then, who to root for!! Perhaps we will see whose fans we are sitting around and put on the appropriate shirts. The obvious choice is Denmark (And I already have all the "gear" from my halloween costume), but we've established this familiar and informative relationship with the Spanish team. I honestly couldn't even tell you a single players name or face from the Danish team, different story with the Spaniards.....

*sigh* decisions decisions...
Either way.........WE ARE GOING TO A SOCCER GAME!!

Winding Down Denmark

When we moved back here in November of 2006 our plan was to stay for two years, have some fun, do all in Denmark we didn't do in our first fifteen months, travel around and then see where the world would take us. We arrived with open minds and hearts to the possibility that yes, maybe we would leave before two years, maybe we would stay longer, maybe we would never leave, but we knew fate would guide us to whatever it was we were suppose to do.

This two year plan worked out beautifully with our perfect apartment choice. The woman who owns this apartment is living out of the country and will be returning in January. Our options at that point would be to move away from Denmark (with the help of the company) or not only find a new apartment (without a relocation agency this time) and move into it ourselves.... To find another home in the central location of Lyngby that we live in, would be near impossible. We would have to gamble and risk that our lives that we have come to love here, would be changed drastically.

As the next six months are starting to come into focus for us, our plans seem to be holding perfectly in place. For those of you that remember, because of our previous situation when moving here, we are completely prepared for anything life throws at us in changing plans very quickly. But for now, our plan remain. We will be coming home to Texas in January. The exact day will not be decided by us until December, but it will most likely be within the first two weeks.

Last time we moved away from Denmark we both felt our lives here weren't finished.
If we had to move tomorrow, I know we could already leave with our lives in Denmark feeling complete. I am certain, this will make leaving here much easier.

It is time to start winding down our Danish Life, yet again.
So, here we go.......six months and counting.

Skt. Hans Aften

Last night was our 4th (and most likely our last) Skt. Hans Aften to spend in Denmark.
For the 4th time, we did absolutely nothing to celebrate. We didn't go any of the celebrations that were close to us or far. We didn't partake in watching a witch burn in a bonfire, we didn't drink, nothing.

Well, we had hijacked a Playstation 2 over the weekend, returned it yesterday and hijacked it again last night and played Guitar hero all evening..... does that count for anything? ;)

Sorry Skt. Hans Aften, I guess we were never meant to be....

Turkish Delight

I'm sure only like 2 people that read this blog are going to find this remotely interesting...but whatever... :)

Last night was our 12th night in of watching Euro cup games. The Turkey-Croatia game gave us an intense ending. The previous game Turkey played was pretty intense. They seem to do really well at the last minute under pressure. Last night was no different. I was certain Croatia was going to win, but my heart was rooting for Turkey. I enjoyed watching the team play and I'm always a little bias to countries that I have visited and enjoyed. I assumed Turkey was a lost cause.

The game ran its full 90 minutes with no goals from either side. A winner was needed since it was a quarter-final game. The game went on to two extra 15 minute periods taking the game to 120 minutes.

This is what happened the final 1.5 minutes of the 120 minute game
Croatia=Blue
Turkey=Red

Turkey, as I mentioned above, proved again to play well under pressure and at the last second. There was an extra 1 minute added to the game time and in the very last second of that one minute, this is what happened

WOW! Two hours of game time for two goals in the final minute and a half!
So, finally, after 12 days/16 games we got to see a shoot out!

I was so so so happy for Turkey!!! What a game! Denmark has a large Turkish population and when we moved here in 2002 the World Cup was going on. We were in the city the night of a big game that Turkey won and were amazed of the parades of cars and people marching around chanting, singing,listening to loud music and sporting the Turkish flag. I think we had been here about 2 weeks and found it amusing to see for the first time, people go nuts over a soccer game! We couldn't help but wish we had been in Copenhagen last night wondering if there were giant flags being marched around the city.

Unfortunately, I think Germany is going to eat them alive at the next game...

As we were crawling into bed I snapped a shot of the not pitch black sky

12:09 AM

Summer Solstice

For the first time since 1975 the summer solstice doesn't fall on June 21st. It falls on June 20th, and that ladies and gentlemen, is today.

Why is this significant to me? Well it usually isn't but for the 4th time in my life, it is. The summer solstice for most people marks the start of summer and the longest day of the year. (YEA SUN), but for me.... I usually feel sad because it means, the sun, will slowly start going back into hiding.(boooo) Actually it has kind of been in hiding for the past 2 weeks behind clouds off and on throughout the day already. Denmark holds their solestial celebration, "St. Hans Aften" in a couple days. If the weather is nice, maybe we'll go find a celebration and watch the witches burn in the bonfires.

So, I guess I'm ready.......bring on darker days Denmark...I can handle it!!

The Incredible Moving Table

Last month I was jumping out of my shoes because we got to move the table outside to the balcony.

Last week, right before the start of summer, it was already time to move it back in.....

With all the clouds and rain the sunroom has been pleasant and not too hot. It is a nice little escape thinking room for me in the middle of the day.

Here's hoping that I'll get to move the table back outside again before fall hits. :)

Download Day

It's download day!
Firefox 3 is finally here!
For those of you that have it, upgrade and help Mozilla set a Guinness world record for most downloads.
For those of you still using Internet Explorer...perhaps its time you made the switch!

Welcome to Denmark Kelli!

Today, is exciting for me.
Today is the day, my dear friend Kelli is moving to Denmark where we will be just a couple hours apart instead of half a world away from each other. As I sit and imagine the feelings running through her body mind and soul, I have found myself looking back , reading and reflecting on the days leading up to and the day of our big move here. I remember what it was like to say goodbye to the things I actually grew to like in Dallas and the people we came to know. I remember living in the SAS Raddisson for 34 nights in downtown Copenhagen. I remember the excitement of returning to a city and country I not only loved, but was so proud of. I remember the bummed out feelings in knowing immediately I would be missing 2 close friends wedding and my sweet niece's bat mitzvahs, I remember sitting on the airplane watching out the window as Dallas disappeared from my sights with great excitement (because lets face it, in the end, I still despised Dallas more than I liked it) and I remember the sense of adventure of the anticipation in starting another European life. I also sit and wish that I had something to go back to look at from our first move over here in 2002, but I can recall many things about that move, leaving Lubbock and arriving for the first time in Denmark, but I think sooner rather than later, it will time to write those stories out from 2002.

I am including these links so that if Kelli wants to hear my stories of the moments she is currently living she can. For everyone else, you can read if you want, but I don't expect you to, plus many of you have seen these previously....19 months ago. :)

http://mnp8.blogspot.com/2006/11/friendly-faces.html
http://mnp8.blogspot.com/2006/11/moving-day.html
http://mnp8.blogspot.com/2006/11/learning-to-leave-dallas.html
http://mnp8.blogspot.com/2006/11/today-is-day.html
http://mnp8.blogspot.com/2006/11/we-made-it.html
http://mnp8.blogspot.com/2006/12/learning-to-love-our-lives-abroad-our.html
http://mnp8.blogspot.com/2006/12/michael-dont-make-me-leave.html

Kelli, Happy Moving Day. I can't wait to have you here!!

Goodbye Spring

Well, it seems as if spring is over in Denmark and now we are into the cooler, darker, rainier summer. It is ok for now. Everything has been really dry here and in the first time in the almost 3 years we have spent here, I've seen dead, brown grass. Even in the winter, underneath blankets of snow, the grass is still green. It is peculiar to me. Needless to say, we need rain. We haven't gotten much more than little 5 minute spurts of rain from time to time throughout the past few days. The sky rotates from perfect blue to full of pretty dark clouds and with all the sports games I've been watching I am feeling a false autumn.

We have had two days in a row of huge full double rainbows. The second arch doesn't show up well in the picture, but its there. :)

Euro 2008

It's official. I'm a football fan. European football that is.
The Euro Cup is going on right now and it is an exciting time in these parts.

There are 16 teams playing right now. They were put into four groups of four and each team will play every other team in their group. From there the top two in each group move on........

I've been watching 2 games a night most nights for the past several days and looks like I'll be doing this til the end of the month when the big final game happens. I have my favorites all picked out for every game and that keeps it exciting.

My Scandinavian loyalties lie with Sweden, but there are some really great teams playing this year. It should be a fun competitive sports filled month. It will get me all warmed up for my 2 weeks of Olympics that I have been waiting for for the past 2 years. :)

Bamsefestival

Friday and Saturday there was a cute little festival in Lyngby called "Bamsefestival",or in English, Bear Festival. Teddy bears, not real live bears, but that sure would be interesting to see a bunch of bears walking around Lyngby Hovedgade, and perhaps a little scary....hmmmm...

Sorry, I got sidetracked.

The main street, Lyngby Hovedgade, was closed off to traffic which made it even more cute than it usually is. I should mention that the main street is just steps away from our flat. We both walk some part of this street on a daily basis. We live in the center of town which makes our lives here, incredibly convenient, especially when events are going on, we can just pop outside to have a look! There were fun things going on all day long. Magicians, dance shows, free candy for the kids, animal balloon makers and much much more. This took place all throughout the center of town. We walked around a little bit just to soak up the fun atmosphere. I had never seen so many Danish flags flying in Lyngby before, and I've seen a lot of Danish flags especially on the royals birthdays.

You'll have to make this picture big to see all the flags on both sides of the street. There was barely any wind this day so all the lovely flags just kinda stayed limp on their poles.

Kiddy Flea Market at Town Hall
Everything being sold here was for kids. Toys, stuffed animals, and other fun kiddy stuff.

Bamse!

Its not everyday you see tiny horses walking up and down Lyngby Hovedgade

Michael waiting on me to take pictures.

Panorama of our cute Lyngby Hovedgade.
The shop with the blue awning is our bakery.
It is much easier to see if you click the picture. :)

Livin' the Dream

Life Goal #4: Travel enough to need extra pages in my passport- Accomplished.

My first passport was issued to me when I was 16.
It had two little stamps in it. One was an entry stamp and the other an exit stamp. They were beautiful, magenta colored "Шереметьево" stamps. I use to flip through all the empty pages and dream about what it would look like filled with stamps and VISAS.

My second passport was issued to me when I was 21. I decided when I got it, I would try my hardest to get more than two stamps. My first set of stamps came only 2 months after I received it and were the same two stamps as in my first passport. When I returned from that trip, again, I would flip through the empty pages imagining what I wanted it to look like and stop on the page with the two stamps and remember my wonderful journey.

Yesterday we made our first visit to the US embassy, on what was an exciting moment for us both. As we handed over our passports to the lady in the window I was jumping up and down inside as I said, "We need to get pages added to our passports". Seems like a silly thing to get excited about, but for me, this event is associated with the realization that I'm currently living 16 year old Nichole's dream.

I picked up our passports this morning complete with 24 new pages. I like my men strong and muscular, but I prefer my passport fat and busting at the seams. I sit and look at the fresh bare pages now and grow anxious to know what stamps will find their way onto them.

School Days

About a month and a half ago our good friend Dorte had asked me if I was interested in visiting Emma's (her daughter) school. I of course jumped at the opportunity, because I had only seen Danish public schools from the outside. Dorte contacted Emma's teacher and they came to the conclusion that it would be interesting to have me come give a little talk to the teachers two English classes. Dorte suggested that I prepare something about Texas. I spent a couple weeks talking to a lot of our Danish, British, Australian, and Polish friends here in Lyngby about what they knew about Texas and what would be interesting to learn about. They gave me a lot of cool ideas an insights. I contemplated asking all you faithful blog readers as well but since 99% of you live or have lived in Texas, it seemed that I might get more interesting ideas from people who did not have much Texas knowledge to start with, and I certainly did!

This past Friday (June 6th) was the big day. I traveled north to Allerød where Dorte met me at the train station and walked me to school. The teacher that I was shadowing was named Julie and just 1 year younger than me so we had a lot of fun and good conversation.

My day started with Dorte dropping me off with Julie. Emma forbid Dorte from staying at school, so she had to leave. Class started at 8:10. I was visiting the 6th grade class, which age-wise is similar to US 7th grade (12-13 year olds). We started the morning with math. I learned lot of new math vocabulary that I didn't know previously and understood most of the lecture with the exception of some math words that both Julie and I never could find a translation for. Math class was pretty similar to the way I remember learning math years and years and years ago. Julie taught the lesson and then gave some exercises to the class. The class broke up into groups that they made. Some groups were as large as 6 people. Others as small as 1. They scattered throughout the class, out in the hallways and even outside! There was a door to the outside in the classrooms so the students were able to just walk out. I thought it seems like a nice idea to go do my work outside in the beautiful weather. :) Lucky Danish kids. Of course, just like in American schools the kids would come up and ask questions when they didn't understand. Many of them used their cell phones as their calculators, and when time was up and Julie wrote their homework on the board, they would take a picture of the homework with their cell phones as well. I obviously wasn't in school when the cell phone craze hit for kids, but I imagine that in US schools, that probably wouldn't be allowed....but maybe? I don't know.

This next part was the thing that shocked me. After each lesson the kids and teachers get a 20 minute break. The students are free to eat a little food, play outside or sit around and chat. The teachers, including me went to the teachers lounge to eat and talk too. During the break Julie walked me across the sidewalk to the brand new school for the younger kids. I think it was grades 1,2 and 3. It was a beautiful new modern building. The school had a huge middle section with super nice furniture and toys, and all the classrooms were entered from the big circle. It was really nice.

After 20 minutes was up the bell rang and we walked back to class. There are only bells to signal the start of class. The end of class is up to the teacher, in case they need a little more time, or they finish early. Julie mentioned that sometimes she gives a break in the middle of the class if the kids are to full of energy. She lets them run around outside for about 10 minutes to get it out of their system. This is just what it done and accepted. Sure wish my teachers back in the day were allowed to do that!

So, back to class. Now it was English class time and she started with me. My objective of course was to teach them a little bit about Texas but also to simply get them talking and conversing with me as a way for them to practice English. Danish kids are very much in tune with the world and current events, issues and problems. I was certain that one of the first things they would ask was something about how I felt about greenhouse gas emissions or something crazy. They didn't, but when I asked close to the start if anyone knew anything about Texas, my first three responses were:

1. Executions
2. Death Penalty
3. Electric Chair

HA!
My British, Australian, Danish and Polish friends all said things like, "cowboys, oil, steak, desert, guns and of course, George W. Bush"

I had a lot of fun talking with them. Some of them of course stayed very quiet but I could see them smiling as I was answering other questions. Other kids couldn't stop asking questions or telling me about this or that.

When I was done, Julie proceeded with asking them to present their homework. They were given two sentences from a book and they had to finish the story. I loved listening to what they came up with and not shocked at all how good their English was already at the young ages of 12 and 13. When class was over, it was lunch time.

They got 45 minutes for lunch. Julie and I headed back to the teachers lounge, which was by far the nicest teachers lounge I've ever seen and didn't feel like a school at all. When we were done Juile gave me a little tour of the school including the library. It was especially fun to see as it just won the "Best School Library in Denmark" award. Cool huh?

When the bell rang we went back to class, in a new classroom with new students for one more class. Again, English class. I only had about 45 minutes in this class and my presentation took about the whole time. I said some different things, and some of the same things. They asked me different questions and some of the same ones as well.

Some of the questions I was asked:
What are the differences in the school in US and Denmark?
How long have you lived in Denmark?
Is it hard to live in Denmark?
Do you like Denmark or the US better?
What do you do if there is a tornado?
What city are you from?
What food do you eat in Texas?


Some things we talked about:
Traveling
Some told me about previous and planned trips for this summer to the US and where they were going.
Some told me about other cool destinations they had been, like Singapore.
One kid noticed that the Texas flag looked a lot like the Chile flag
Differences between American and British English
The moon controversy (were we really there? or not?)

I found the things that made them all say, "WOW" and made their mouths drop were about all the animals in Texas...mostly the yucky bugs. Scorpions, tarantula's, rattlesnakes and vinegarroons. They all freaked out a little bit when I mentioned I had been stung 3 times by scorpions. The weather seemed to amaze them too. The second class asked a ton of questions about tornadoes and just like all other Danes, they couldn't even comprehend the thought that I went to class one day at Tech wearing shorts in the morning, and when I came home it was snowing. I also told them about our March adventure of two days of snow in Texas with a day of swimming in between. Also, like everyone else, they couldn't imagine having 45C degree weather in the summer.

I taught them alot about how big Texas was including the term Texas-sized, which one girl even used later as an example of an adjective. Thing one thing, that stuck out the most that both classes were completely in awe when I said, "16 Denmark's will fit in Texas" which was followed by lots of loud wow noises.

I took along our big Texas flag and told them a little bit about it including that it is possible that a Danish man, Charles Zanco, could have been the first person to draw the star on the Texas flag. This flag isn't the one we know today, but the "Independence Flag". Still, I think its cool that the Dane might have been the first to draw the lone star :)

The Independence Texas Flag

Zanco was a Danish man from Randers whose family moved to Texas long ago. I of course told them a little about the Alamo because Mister Charles Zanco, fought and of course lost his life at the Alamo that one March day. They all thought it was pretty cool that a Dane fought in one of our most important Texas battles.

I had a REALLY fun day and enjoyed talking to these young kids in English. I enjoyed watching them think about the words they needed to use to talk to me and enjoyed watching their brains process my language. I did quickly remember why I hated math class so much and as much fun as I did have, I also remembered why I for so long have sworn I would never ever be a teacher or work for the education system. I give mega kudos to all those that can do it. :)

The school day ended at 1:00. Dorte and Emma picked me up and we walked back to their house for a lovely lunch on the patio with Dortes husband. I stayed over there til about 5pm enjoying the company and the beautiful weather. It was a great Friday.

Sunny Days

Look at that sun starting to rise!

Anyone care to guess what time this picture was taken??

Did I hear someone say 5:00am?
Sorry, your wrong.. it was taken at 3:05AM


This one was taken at 4:00AM from the comforts of my bed.

I adore Denmark this time of the year. I love that I am not tired at all during the day, at night or in the morning. I actually have to force myself to go to bed. Where as in the winter, I can't seem to not be tired in the morning, afternoon or night. We sleep with our bedroom door open every night and I have been waking up in the morning for the past 2 weeks around 4am to the sound of all the birds waking up and chirping. It is actually very calming and peaceful so I don't mind, and I am always able to get back to sleep. If they were Texas mocking birds however, I'd be annoyed.

Now that May is done with, it was officially the sunniest month in Denmark since 1920! This was a welcome change from last summers depressing rainy weather. Not only was it sunny, but the temperatures were warm and beautiful. Already, just in May, we have used our balcony and I have been able to wear shorts/skirts/tank tops more than all of last summer combined. What a wonderful beautiful fantastic May.

Today is Grundlovsdag (Constitution Day) in Denmark, so Michael gets the day off. Unfortunately, this is the last public holiday until.......*gulp* December 24th.

Denmark Anniversary

I'm feeling nostalgic today as I sit and remember that 6 years ago today we landed in Copenhagen to start our first of two Danish adventures. It was such a remarkable opportunity for us and one that I look back upon with the fondest of memories and an obscene amount of gratitude for the countless personal changes that took place in that short 15 months. This day will forever be tied to another big event in my life. Six years ago tomorrow was the day we lost my dad. But thats another story for another time...

Skål Danmark!

Happy Day!

I woke up to two wonderful emails this morning!

1. My cousin, Russ bought a plane ticket this weekend to come for a week long visit over Labor Day in September. We are soooo excited to have another guest to look forward to welcoming to Denmark!

2. As it turns out, my sister WILL be able to bring her other three kids to Israel for the wedding. I am so in love with all my nieces and nephews and can't begin to say how thrilled I am that I'll get to love on 5 of 8 them for almost a whole week!

To top it all off, Michael will be back in CPH in about an hour and a half! So, off to the airport I go.....YEA!

Hubbyless

I've been hanging out in DK alone since our, or should I say my, return from the Netherlands. After we retrieved our luggage, and passed through customs into the arrivals hall in Copenhagen, we marched straight to the SAS check in counter, to check Michael in for his flight to Dallas that would be departing three hours later. He's been in Dallas,working hard, and I've been at home unwinding from a crazy month. I've gotten a chance to do catch up on a lot of stuff, including my tan!

Our friends, Sarah and Klaus both babysat me one day each. Each one of them took me for a walk around their designated towns, fed me and gave me lots of wonderful conversation.

Michael is still gone for a couple more days. He touches down in CPH on Monday afternoon. Til then, I'll continue my little vacation which consists of not a lot of laundry, not a lot of dishes, and not a lot of cooking....

As a side note, we have been contemplating going to my nephews wedding in August. We weren't sure if we were going to be able to swing it, but yesterday we took the plunge and purchased plane tickets. Most of my family will not be able to join the celebrations. I believe the only ones expected to be there besides us are my sister, and her other son, and I am very excited to be able to spend some time with them. The unique part of this wedding, is the destination. My nephew, has been living abroad for the past 6-7 years, and the wedding will take place in his adopted homeland. Two and a half months from now, we will be heading southeast....to Israel.

David Moorhead

I mentioned a few posts back that while T&W were visiting we got some sad news from back home. We were all shocked to hear that Michaels uncle/Tanya's little brother, David had suddenly passed away due to a heart attack. He was only 48. He leaves behind two boys, both in their young 20s. As I type this, our family in Lubbock is gathering for a memorial reception in David's honor and it tugs at my heart, that we cannot be there.

His departure serves Michael and I as a reminder of how important it is to not only cherish the time we all have together, but also to take care of yourself while you are here. These sudden heart attacks run deep in this families genes and it is something Michael and I discuss every few months. We both get physicals once a year and our doctors are well aware of this problem. Yet it is still a very frighting and very realistic threat. I hope those of you that read this, will remember to be thankful for your loved ones and above all, take care of yourself.

David was a special person in my life. He was the closet thing to an uncle that I have ever known. Yet, it had never once crossed my mind to share this with him. He (along with his siblings and mother) always made me feel like I had been in the family forever. I always felt he went out of his way to make sure I got to know him better. I loved listening to him tell me his favorite stories about Michael when he was a kid, he made the best homemade beef jerky I've ever tasted, and he was one of the best two steppers I've ever danced with. We had been in the process of working off 7 dances together that I apparently owed him from our wedding. We made it down to 3 dances left.

I will be forever grateful that we went to Lubbock back in March so we could spend time with famiy and unknown to us, get to see and visit with David one final time. I'll never forget as he left, we spoke of our 3 dances and he winked at me (as he does to everyone) as he walked out the door. It wasn't but five minutes later he called back to Nana's house to talk to me about our dances. :)

He was a warm, happy and friendly soul; and one that is going to be missed dearly.

We love you David. You will always be in all of our hearts.

David Moorhead
April 6, 1960 - May 14, 2008

Eurovision 2008

Eurovision? What the heck is that right?
I thought the same thing 6 years ago.

Eurovision is some wacky, super duper awesome music competition between many of the European countries. Think American Idol on a much much much bigger scale, and much more exciting. (At least in my opinion)

Tonight I will be watching the finals in Denmark at 9:00pm, while Michael watches them online (http://www.eurovision.tv/splash/index.html) at 2pm Dallas time. He was completely bummed when he realized he would be in Dallas and miss it until I saw he could watch too. The voting is interesting. You text in your vote but you cannot vote for the country you are in. Every country then tallies their points and gives them to another country. They give 1 through 8 points to their lowest choices and 10 and 12 points to their favorite contestants. The country in the end with the most points wins and gets to host next years Eurovision.

This year, Denmarks contestant made it to the finals.... He is quite good.
Check him out!
GO DENMARK!!!

Amsterdam 2

In all honesty, I never had a huge desire or urge to go to Amsterdam. It always seemed like an interesting city, but it didn't pull at my heartstrings to visit the way other cities do. It has popped up more than a handful of times on our discounted frequent flier miles list but we always decided to go somewhere else, or save our miles for the next month. I knew in my heart we would get to Amsterdam one day, but I knew it would take "something" to get us there, because we weren't going to go out of our way to do it ourselves. My biggest surprise about Amsterdam was how much I truly enjoyed this city considering it didn't seem like anything special to me before.

As I mentioned previously, Michael attended a convention which went quite well. He came home every evening excited about papers he read, presentations he listened to, exhibits and vendors he visited and people he had met. We got the evenings together, but during the day I played "Solo Traveler" and had fun on my own. Of course,I would have loved to have had Michael with me, but it was kinda nice to dig back up my solo traveler self that doesn't get to come out too often.

Before arriving I knew I wanted to visit the "Anne Frank House", The "Van Gogh Museum" and "Keukenhof Gardens". They are three of the biggest tourist sites in Amsterdam. Once we got there, I realized, I didn't REALLY want to go see them. I just liked the "idea" of seeing them, because it's what your suppose to do in Amsterdam. So, I ditched them like a bad habit. Anne Frank House would have been cool, but it's rare that I meet anyone that says it is worth it. People rave about the Van Gogh Museum, but my un-artsy self wouldn't appreciate it for what it is and really, I didn't feel like staring at a bunch of paintings. Keukenhof would have been amazing I'm sure. The parks last day open was the day I arrived. I was afraid to get all the way out there and be disappointed because the tulips probably wouldn't be in their prime anymore and might be falling apart.

I did however find myself in two uncrowded and amazing places.

Monday I visited "House of Bols"
Have you ever heard of the company Bols? I hadn't either. They make a liquor which is made in several forms and fashions. The majority are flavored of all sorts of stuff, but then they had their "Genievre" which is kinda like Gin. The distillery self guided tour was one of the coolest I have been to. There were taste tests, sniff tests, texture tests.... it was fun. Afterwards with the ticket I got a free cocktail, and when I was done with that, I got to sample some of the stuff not in cocktail form. The super cool bartender poured me 5 shot glasses of stuff. Three of them were different types of Genievre (old, young and another young) and two of them were flavored, butterscotch and mango. He was surprised to know that my favorite was not a flavored one but a dark whiskey tasting one. After he realized I drink whiskey straight, he pulled out a special bottle and gave me a glass of "Bokma" which is a very strong, very tasty dark Genievre. It was delicious. Of course the bartender let me know that he never has women in there that prefer this stuff to the flavored stuff and let me know I was cool for it. I of course gave my new friend a tip, and I bought myself a bottle of "Bokma" on my way out the door.

The following day, I contemplated again going to the Anne Frank House. I loved the book, I love the story and it would be pretty amazing to see this place in real life. I however had a stronger urge to go to either the "Verzets Museum" or "The Hash, Marihuana & Hemp Musuem". Just FYI, for my mother, Michaels parents and Nana, I've never smoked pot (which in itself is amazing considering how much I have been around it and the location of where I grew up), but the pot culture and history fascinates me. In the end I decided to save this museum for next time and I picked the Verzets Museum, or as its better known the "Dutch Resistance Museum". I am so glad I did as it turned out to be the highlight of my trip. I was a bit nervous about it, because I was so disappointed with the Danish Resistance Museum. I had only been in the museum about 30 minutes when this nice older gentleman said something to me in Dutch. I of course couldn't understand him but he swtiched to English. He said with a cute little smile, "I think probably you were not born yet during the war". I laughed and said no. He told me he was 7 when the war started and that he lived just 20 kilometers north of Amsterdam. We chatted for a little bit and I found out it was his first time to visit the museum and he was very impressed with it. The thing that struck me that he mentioned was that he remembers everything from those years in very clear detail. He was so nice and I was touched that he spoke to me and then talked with me for about 10 minutes about the war and his memories. I finished my museum tour and when I looked at the clock, I realized I had spent 3 hours inside!!! This wasn't that big of a museum, but I think I read everything that was posted and watched every clip. On my way out, I noticed there was a whole different section about the Dutch in Japan and in Africa during the war!!!! I didn't have time to do all that, so I had to skip that part. This was by far, one of the most enjoyable and best museums I have ever visited.

Besides the two museums I spent my days exploring the city and was gone almost the whole day while Michael was at the convention. The architecture was beautiful and I couldn't get over how many canals there were. We of course found ourselves in the red light district which was something to see. It is definitely not a place for anyone that is very conservative or doesn't have an open mind to visit. If you have a hard time reading about drugs being legal, prostitution and sex I suggest to stop reading here and scroll down past the red font.

The red light district lived up to my expectations and stereotypes. There were loads of sex shops, live sex shows, and prostitutes. The "coffee shops" were hoppin' and the smell of pot drifted out the doors as you walked by. Head shops advertised the different types of shrooms that you could purchase and there were plenty of cannabis seeds to buy as well. (All through Amsterdam there were people smoking pot. I would often catch wiffs of it as someone walked by me smoking as they went down the street. We even stood by a little 70 something year old couple that were smoking a joint at a cross walk! ) The prostitutes were interesting. There are windows lining the street with curtains. The women sat in their windows and when they got business the men would walk in and the curtain would shut. There was an array of working women; Young women that looked to be about 22, older women that seemed to be in their late 40's, some not so attractive women, some that were so stunningly sexy that even I couldn't stop staring at them, some in cute lingerie, and some in oversized sweats. Many of them sat in their chairs smoking or talking on their cell phone which I thought was quite funny. I was impressed to see that none of them gave Michael a second look as long as I was on his arm and noticed that they did this with every other "couple" walking along as well. When just men would walk by it was a whole different story. Lips were licked, eyes were winked, and even at times, some of the women would tap on their glass to get the guys attention. It was a sight to see. I realize the drugs and sex part all seem kinda shady, but for me personally, it was refreshing to see a culture in this world with the amount of tolerance that the Dutch people have. It is not something, I have ever seen, anywhere else.

Around the city there were pictures set up with a little history of the spot you were looking at from WWII. This is one of them.

I always assumed that after living in Copenhagen, the Amsterdam bike craziness wouldn't affect me as I thought I was immune to massive amounts of bikes. Boy was I wrong. Compared to Amsterdam, Copenhagen has a total of about 3 bikes. Amsterdam was littered with bikes, anywhere there was spare room for a bike, there was a bike. They weren't near as organized while riding as they are in Denmark though.

Beautiful Canal

Wooden Tulips For Sale

Amsterdam

Bike and Graffiti

Hilarious Sign

Bols Expirence
The jars are filled with an essence which you pump and smell and have to guess what it is

My super cool bartender

House Boats

Hubby

Handmade domino's and lamp at the museum
Souvenirs

How often do you see a sign saying they won't sell drugs to minors? haha.

Canal

So, Amsterdam, super cool city. While walking around, we decided it was a place we could see ourselves living. It's a lot like Copenhagen, but much more laid back and much less expensive!!!! After not having a desire to visit, then visiting it, I very much look forward to a return trip to the Netherlands.

I'll get all my pictures online in the next few days :)

Amsterdam - Short and Simple

We are in Amsterdam.

In the past two days, this city has surprised me...

End of the Tour

Our original plan was to visit the brewery on Thursday, but when morning approached were all shaken up by some news from back home. It deserves its own post, which I cannot write right now, so I'll get back to it later. We spent some of the morning at home and then I suggested we get out of the house and go eat lunch at a cafe up the street. We all got great big sandwiches and coffee and we sat and looked at the pretty flowers at the flower shop. I'm not sure what got into me, but I kept staring at Michaels tuna sandwich and I just had to have a bite. For those of you that don't know me well.... I don't do fish. cooked fish, raw fish, fresh fish, frozen fish, good fish, bad fish, lake fish, sea fish, 1fish, 2 fish, red fish, blue fish. I just don't do fish. I do however on occasion get the weird urge to take a bite of Michaels. And most of those times, I can't taste it too much because we have been drinking. haha. Actually Sunday Wayne and I both ate fish too (very little fish), along with beer and schnapps and tons of bread. But that was because we were trying not to be rude. Thursday however was one of those days I just got the weird urge to taste it just beacause, so I did. Tayna documented the occasion for me.

Just one Bite

Here I go....

Contemplating Tuna

"De fire årstider" Flower shop in Lyngby

We came home for a little while and I made a pot of chili and we all just sat around and talked to each other. In the evening T&W had decided they wanted to go for a walk since we hadn't been out of the house too much. We headed to the grocery store first so Wayne could get money back from the bottles they have been using, then we got ice cream, and walked around the lake nearby.

Wayne at the Cash Register in the denim shirt

I was so proud of him going to the cash register all by himself. That sounds silly, but they both would have freaked out if we asked them to do this on day 1 of their trip here.

Ice Cream from "Paradis"

No trip to Denmark would be complete without seeing the SLUUUUGS!!!

Lyngby Canoe Club

Most of the trip this is what Tanya looked like.
Aiming her camera at the baby ducks.

Resting in a Gazebo
Bird Watching

A sad bike

Back home...
In 18 months I've never posted this.This is the back door of our building.

Friday we got Michael out to the airport and the three of us went to go eat some of those famous Danish hotdogs and went shopping in the store center. It was an easy day for us as we were winding down their trip, they packed, Tanya did a little work for work and Wayne watched tv! We ran out in the evening for one last Ice Cream....

Bacon + Hotdog = Happy Wayne

T&W managed to come and spend almost 2 weeks in Denmark and saw nothing but lovely weather. There were a few cooler days, but nothing too bad. Everyone including us kept telling them they aren't seeing real Denmark and they came at the perfect time. In their almost two weeks they hardly saw any clouds, never saw a drop of rain, and experienced very little wind. I told them over and over that if when they left, it got cloudy dark and rainy I would be calling them begging them to come back. We woke up to colder weather, and after I dropped them off at the airport, the clouds started rolling in and it turned dark. Though a drop of water has yet to hit the ground.

Cloudy Denmark....AKA: Real Denmark

To make me feel better about the clouds, they helped create a nice sunset tonight!

And for T&W we LOVED having you here with us. Thank you so much for visiting!!! It was really special for us to get to show you around this little country we fell in love with so long ago. Honestly, having you here will forever be one of our highlights from our time living in Denmark. Nana and Kathy will be so proud of you both when we tell them what great international travelers you are. :o) When I got home, this little guy was sitting on the top of the sunroom. I think he was missing you.....

FYI: This is my 3rd post for the day, so don't stop reading here because there is more below.