Back in the DK

After 6 weeks we are finally home! We hadn't anticipated being gone quite that long, but while in Dallas, Michael was asked to stay a couple more weeks for work, so we did. I hadn't realized so many people didn't know that this was actually a business trip with a little play time added in.

Our time in Texas was so much fun. We saw a ton of our friends and families and so many of them stayed up WAY past their bedtimes with work or school the next day. We got to see all of our parents, Michaels entire mom's side of the family, a large amount of Michaels dad side of the family and about half of my family in El Paso. We got to visit with an array of friends including friends from TI Dallas, college, band camp and high school, friends from Denmark, friends moving to Denmark, and even Texas friends that have lived in Denmark!!

Everyone made us feel like rock stars as many changed, and worked around their schedules to be able to see us. I've even had a handful of people (including two of my blogging buddies) tell me that their moms called to tell them we were back in Texas! We got our own personal planners in some cities! When we were in Austin, Michael's aunt Kathy arranged our entire Saturday for us, which included one of my best friends from high school. While we were in El Paso, my brother Joe arranged several little get together for us including the bowling night, a big dinner at "Carlos and Mickey's" and a couple other little things. This took a ton of extra baggage off my back where I didn't have to worry about planning anything. So thanks Kathy and Joe!

I had forgotten how drastic Texas weather is. We saw snow, hail, floods, thunderstorms, tornado watches, sleet, dust storms, strong Lubbock winds and lay out in the sun 80 degree beautiful weather. I often miss the windy Lubbock weather but being in it again, I quickly changed my mind.

We unfortunately have spent enough money on gyms in the various cities to probably hold several memberships. The gym we used in El Paso, knew us by the end and stopped making us pay for a guest pass. The gym we used in Lubbock helped us in saving a little money by giving us a clip card for the gym. The gym we used in Dallas was one of our former gyms which was cool in that we actually got to see several old gym acquaintances!

As for money, OMG! Being paid in Danish Kroner and spending it in the US is incredible right now! Due to the current exchange rate, everything was SOOOO SOOOO cheap! There were a few times we were out to dinner looking at expensive items like steaks that cost 22 dollars thinking wow, that is a little more than we want to spend, but when we realized it was only 109 Danish Kroner we were AMAZED how feakin' cheap it was. 109 Danish Kroner for a big juicy Texas steak!?!?! That's insanity!! Waiter, bring us 2! We not only stocked up on toiletries and other odds and ends, but were able to bring back a decent amount new clothes(thank you sales at the outlet mall), shoes, books, and our two favorite purchases, which were a new camera and new MP3 player. Thank you weak American economy!!!

The last stop out of Dallas naturally was to Mary's Starbucks store in Euless next to the airport. We ate lunch and drank some coffee and said our goodbyes.

Hanging out at Starbucks with our Favorite Black Apron Barista

This trip was exactly what we were needing. A healthy dose of old familiar faces, places and more Mexican food than we can handle. I think we are set to make what is left of our time in Denmark even better now that we got the fuel to push us through to the end. As everyone knows, we love it here and love being here, but not having been to the states in almost 1 year was starting to wear on us. Our next trip home is being planned for early November. Thanks a hundred times to everyone that made time to see us, got a drink with us, went out to eat with us, cooked dinner for us, threw parties for us, played guitar hero with us, gave us a place to sleep and let us do laundry. :)

DL reaction

I RARELY get carded anymore. I'm fine with that as I'm happy to finally look older than 21. We took our Danish friend, Martin to the cheesecake factory Saturday night. Upon leaving I told Michael I looked like I was back in I was in college, mostly due to the way I was dressed. He wholeheartedly agreed and said, he enjoyed having a hot young looking wife on his arm. ;)

I did get carded after ordering a glass of wine. When I handed the little 20 year old waitress my drivers license she looked at it, her eyes got big and said, "WOW!" Then said it a second time along with, "I was not expecting that". I thought maybe she new the last name "Pate" or something and then I realized she was talking about my age. I said, "My age?" she said, "Yes, I SERIOUSLY was NOT expecting that! That is so cool". I've had people tell me I look younger than I am my whole life, but this was a whole new reaction on a completely new scale. As she walked away I couldn't figure out if I should be happy I can shock someone when they see 1979 or if she was saying, "My God your old...." I decided to stick with being happy.

Just a few more days in Dallas. We are SO tired and ready for our own bed again.

Texas Tour - Dallas Take 1

We have a pretty good little schedule set up for us here in Dallas. We wake up between 5:30 and 6:00 and drive over to the TI gym. When we are done there we come back to the hotel, Michael takes a shower, we eat breakfast and I take him to work. Then my days start. I have been incredibly busy (until today) during the days. I've been shopping to stock up on stuff like cheap shaving cream, medicines, shampoo and other odds and ends. Mary took 2 days off this week so we could hang out and have some good 'ol fashioned best friend time. Michael finishes up work between 5:00-6:00 and everynight since we got here, we have had something going on and people to see! It's been a whole lot of fun!

Monday night (AKA. Snow Night) we saw Kelly and James. Kelly and Michael have known each other since they were little and graduated high school together. I've known Kelly since our freshman year at Tech. While we were living in Dallas we found her on "Myspace" and discovered she was living in Plano not to far from where we were living. Her and James were married shortly after we got back in touch. They are such a sweet and fun couple and we all get along great. We meet them for some drinks and lots of laughter.

Kelly and James

Mini Cooper Pirate Reunion
complete with hook, eye patch and parrot

Cold Outside

Tuesday Mary and I met at the Galleria for lunch and shopping, though the only thing either of us bought was makeup that was desperately needed. So maybe it was more for lunch and "window shopping" . We ate at the Grand Lux Cafe . I had been craving a greek salad and got one that completely satisfied that craving. It was delicious. For dessert Mary got a huge strawberry shortcake! We went into the little Art Gallery at the Galleria and saw some work by a guy named, "Robert Deyber". His stuff was amazing and hilarious at the same time. All of his work was paintings of play on words.

Mary and her strawberry shortcake

Another Cock and Bull Story

My Ass is on the Line

Screw Up

Mister Klaus is Dallas too and Tuesday we went to eat dinner with him. Klaus always seems to be in the same places as us. When we are in Lubbock, so is he, when we are in Dallas, so is he, when we are in Denmark, so is he. You get the idea! We went to a really cool place called, "Love and War in Texas" If you are going to be in Dallas, this is a place to check out. It was so sterotypical Texas and really made us happy to be there. The waiter was completely Texan and the atmosphere perfect. I had brisket, Michael had a steak and Klaus had roasted wild boar. I forgot how kick ass Texas food is. YUM! We got some Shiner Black's as well and were VERY surprised when they brought us out 3 glasses of Euro sized beers. Euro sized meaning the huge glasses you see people holding when they go to Germany. Thats right, we had liter beers for only 6 bucks!!

Texas flag with a dried yellow rose

Everything really is bigger in Texas!

Klaus showed his Texas colors by being the ONLY one of us to clear our plates!
Good Job Klaus!

Michael showed his European Colors by being the only one to finish his beer!

The weater is OK. I can walk around in short sleeves comfortably one minute, and the next it is FRRREEEEZING! I'm so not use to this. I don't think I miss Texas weather. I'll be surprised if I make it to the end of the trip without getting sick!!

From Denmark with Love - We Bring You Snow

OH NEJ!!!!

Stupid stupid weather.

Before leaving Denmark we checked the temps and we weren't seeing anything below about 65 degrees. AWESOME! That's like summertime in Denmark!

So, we were suprised when yesterday Dallas was dark, gloomy, rainy and hail-y. As the day went on it got colder and the rain got more solid. Last night we went out with Kelly and James. When we arrived at the bar, it was already snowing a little bit, but when we left, we came out to this:



Now, I know you must be thinking, come on...you live in Denmark. Aren't you use to the cold? Yes, we are. It IS cold outside, but not any colder than it has been in Denmark all winter long. The problem is, we didn't bring ANY warm clothes!! I have 1 long sleeve shirt and lots of little cute t-shirts and skirts. Neither of us have a jacket/coat worthy of keeping any kind of heat on our bodies. Hopefully this will pass by the end of the day or tomorrow :)

We have gotten a ton of emails and people have asked us in talking if we brought this weather with us. I suppose we did! :)

Back in DK!

The rest of our time in Dallas was busy and quick. We got to see Kelly and James again at a housewarming party that they had at their place. I and we, spent a little more time with Chris and Fayne, and I got my ego blown up while we were working out at the gym one day. One of the big beefy trainers came up to me after I did a set of dips and offered me a job on the spot as a trainer at Bally's Total Fitness and he assumed I already was a trainer. I told them if they flew me in on a private jet everyday, I was in. So I must be doing something right (or at least look like I am) if I am being approached with assumptions that I could be a personal trainer! Needless to say, that made my evening.

We saw "Wicked" on Saturday and it was FANTASTIC!!! I'd go as far to say one of the best musicals out there. The story and the music were amazing and funny. The writer (of the book) and the musical did a really great job on the story. It was basically "The Wizard of Oz" from the Wicked Witches perspective. It takes place from before the wizard of oz, during the story of the wizard of oz and after the wizard of oz. If you find it near you, I highly recommend it. Worth our year wait from the time we bought the tickets and well worth heading back to Dallas to see it.

So we had a very long, very quick 2 weeks, but we are happy to be back. I must say, it's an odd feeling to walk out of an airport in another country and head "home". I walked through Lyngby with my suitcase and backpack at about 8am to our place from the train station. The city is still pretty empty at this time with just a few people walking to work. It was quite and big dark clouds started pouring water on top of me, umbrella-less I quickly found myself drenched. My backpack was super heavy and the suitcase was making loud clunky noises as I pulled it across the cobblestone street, despite all that I couldn't help but smile as I looked around our charming town and thinking, "wow, we actually live here." How amazing.

Dallas Smallas

So...apparently I don't really like Dallas as previously thought.
I suppose I just enjoyed a few things here. The gym and Tai Chi and the few acquaintances we had, just made it bearable. Since I have been here I have felt my energy (I know, that sounds all hippy and wierd) just sink south and it feels familiar. Simply sitting in the car my energy seems to become tainted. It's the same feeling I had been having here in Dallas around the time we moved and I was becoming happy about Dallas and sad to be moving. It has made me wonder how horrible I must have been feeling before I got to that "good"place if the "good" place now seems bad. It made me realize how being gone for the past 5 months my spirits have lifted incredibly and that life became life again and I am not just dealing with the cards dealt. So, needless to say, I'm glad we moved and I LOVE LOVE LOVE living in Denmark.

While I was in El Paso Michael had told me he really was missing home and he was really anxious to get back to his small office, morning rolls,walking to work, and spending weekends enjoying the sun on our balcony. El Paso was a blast for me. I loved being with and catching up with family and friends. but now that I'm in Dallas, I'm about ready to head back across the pond too. Dallas is humid, my hair isn't a fan and makeup just melts off my face. The traffic is ridiculous and the city is soooooo huge! Finally we found how important friends are. In Dallas, with the exception of Mary and Jason, and Chris and Fayne, we just had lots of acquaintances. In Denmark we actually have a really great handful of friends who actually enjoy the same stuff we do and who, for the most part, really "get us". It's settling to have the confirmation that yes, we were, without a doubt, meant to be in Copenhagen at this time in our lives and the things we had to give up, were worth it to have the Danish experience again. We have only been there about 5 months, but already it's so much more then our first time and we still have months and months and months to go. How did we ever get so lucky?

Whew, busy busybusy.

What a busy busy week I have had back here in Texas!! El Paso was fun, but short. Saw lots of family, saw lots of friends. It was hard to cram everyone in because during the days everyone was busy and in the evenings I had to get to as many people as I could. Thank goodness that my older brother Mark was able to skip away for lunch on Tuesday and that on Wednesday and Thursday my good friend Robert was able to babysit me. Without them I would have been bored out of my mind during the days. Friday I spent the morning and afternoon packing and cleaning and going to the airport. The week went by fast but I got to see a decent amount of my brother Joe, and My sis and her fam, and even got to spend a little time with my nephew who will be 21 in a couple months! YIKES. Of course I got to see tons of my mom and Sharon too :) I kept my dinners open to spend with them and we had lots of yummy food.

I got back Friday night and Michael and I pretty much crashed after dinner. We both had a busy week. World Tai Chi and Qigong day was on Saturday and I had a really good time there. Despite the fact that it made me really miss the Tai Chi Community here. This morning I had a lesson with Master Chen Bing who was visiting from China. He is absolutely gorgeous while doing his form work, and it was amazing to be able to train with him. He was genuinely nice as well. As you all should know, Tai Chi is really slow movements, but while training with him I was dripping with sweat. It was intense, but I certainly got a lot of great stuff from the lesson.

Michaels mom and step dad came to see us on Saturday and we spend the afternoon and evening with them as well as Sunday afternoon. It was great to see them and we were so glad that they made the drive to see us. We even got to see our old Blazer which was fun :)

More Snow!!!

We got some more snow today! Nothing big, nothing stuck, but it was still falling from the sky. The days are quickly getting longer and longer. The sun is rising at about 6am, and setting it seems about 6:30ish. It is kinda funny to see it bright outside at 6:00. Actually we don't see it until about 6:30 when Michael starts hitting the snooze button for the next 45 minutes! We haven't set our clocks back yet. That will happen this weekend for us. At which time, it is going to stay bright even longer! I can hardly wait!! Now if we could just get some spring weather. I'm not expecting it though till mid-late April. You know, about the time we leave for Dallas.

Michael has 3 of his bosses in town right now. One of them had never been to Denmark before and within the being here not long at all, he was already in love with the country and kept telling Michael, "I can see why you wanted to move here" He had only seen the airport, the highway , the walk from the hotel to TI (which is the same walk Michael does every morning) and TI. Its nice to know we aren't crazy and other people find it as charming as we do as quickly as we do. It was almost a nice reassurance for us as that it really is as nice here, as we say it is :)

We STILL have absolutely nothing going on. Saturday Jens and Sarah are having us over for dinner. Jens is the latest student to return to Denmark from Lubbock/Dallas that participated in the TTU/DTU program, and Sarah is his girlfriend. We hung out with them in Dallas a couple times, and they have been over here. It should be fun, and we are looking forward to that, but other then that... we have NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING of interest going on here. I need to find something fun to write about... Keep watching. Ill find something. :)

Finally ... A TRIP!!

So wanna know where we are going???? Get ready....

DALLAS TEXAS U.S.A. !!! hahaha

Not really what we had in mind, but it'll do for now. You might remember waaaaay back when almost a year ago actually, we bought tickets to see "Wicked" for this coming May. Well we have been wanting to see it for a couple years and have been anticipating seeing it for the past year, so we just HAVE to go. So our $175 dollar Wicked Tickets just turned into $675 dollar Wicked tickets. This all actually works out really really well for us. There is an "inner circle meeting" at TI the week before that Michael was asked to be at. So, because of that, his ticket/hotel room/ and rental car will all be paid for. It turns out his chip will be back from production around that time as well so he will be in Dallas to run some tests as well. For me the weekend before Wicked is "World Tai Chi and Qigong Day", So I will get to participate in that with Chris and Fayne. We can see Marys brand new Starbucks Store and I will probably hop over to El Paso for about 4 days. We will be in Dallas 2 whole weeks. Long time! I couldn't get over the fact that my rountrip ticket from Copenhagen to Dallas was only $500 AFTER taxes!!! That is INSANELY cheap. We already have my ticket. Michael has to book his through TI. We will be on different flights, but will get in and leave the same days. No, biggie for us though. But it will be funny to go to the airport together and leave separately and then meet back up across the world!

As for a real trip here in good ol Europe. We have a couple planned all out but because we will be heading to Dallas in a little over a month, escaping elsewhere before then seems a little tight. Maybe something will fall in our laps to work out perfectly. We shall see.