…but where would they live?
Moving out - done. Moving in - done. Settling in - done. Now it's time for fun, right? That's exactly what A and I thought. The decision was easy, a cruise-trip from Oslo to Copenhagen with DFDS Pearl Seaways leaving Monday afternoon and coming back Wednesday morning. Neither A nor I have never spent an... Continue Reading →
Remember the rolled up mattress? I promised you guys, there will be a follow-up and here it is. Just fyi, both A and I forgot our cellphones this particular day, so sadly, there are no accurate pictures available. However, A and I made a plan Friday night, to get up uber early Saturday morning, pack... Continue Reading →
Certain things are important to know before I tell the story: A is not particularly fond of mass-produced furniture. He appreciates the antique (read: old) and unique (read: handcrafted) furniture way more than anything IKEA ever produces. Sometimes A even makes his own furniture, because he believes in 'do it yourself'. That being said, A... Continue Reading →
Wow, wait a second, is it March already? Time is flying by. The last few months have just been extraordinarily interesting, crazy and just... wow, to sum it up. As you know a week ago we received the keys to our wonderful new apartment and now, for the first time ever, am I blogging from... Continue Reading →
Yesterday marks a memorable day, not only because it was my brother's birthday (also meaning my birthday is only 2 months away.....!) but also because yesterday marks - yet another - milestone for A and me. We have lived in Oslo for a little more than 6 months in a wonderful apartment and have up... Continue Reading →
We met on a Friday night, not looking for love, not looking for a soul mate, just looking for a dance partner and looking for fun. Instead we found ourselves amazed and stunned at the same time. I found my better half, my partner in good and in bad times, I found my best friend... Continue Reading →
Update: If you need learning materials (text books as well as sample tests) for passing your bergenstest, please visit this webpage, which offers great guidance so you too can manage the bergenstest in no time! https://bergenstesttips.wordpress.com/ The plan for me, moving with A to Oslo was, to start studying at the University of Oslo. I didn't... Continue Reading →
It's been two very long months since the funeral. Let me start off by saying that I do believe that my grandmother is at a better place now and that I am sure, that she feels painless and maybe even carefree. Maybe even happy. But then again maybe we just tell ourselves those little lies... Continue Reading →
Every relationship goes through ups and downs. It's the way of life. I don't know a single couple that not at one or another time had some rough patches. It usually starts small with some kind of disagreement, that evolves into something bigger, something unbearable, until one day you either get over it or you... Continue Reading →
They say that it only takes 10 seconds to like a person, about 11 seconds to form your opinion about that person and about 15 to know whether or not you actually would like to get that person better to know. As you all know by now, it took A only a few minutes to... Continue Reading →
Three years ago, when I came back to Austria for good it was partly because I learnt that summer that my grandma had cancer. My world trembled, I felt lost and scared. I wanted to call my grandma but I didn't know how to, I didn't know what to say, I didn't want to do... Continue Reading →
A few days before Christmas A and I headed back to Oslo. We were getting ready for our very own first Christmas together. Being a family-person, I always had big Christmas celebrations, many people coming over, having dinner together, playing games, just being merry together, fun, arguments, too much to eat and what ever else... Continue Reading →
Norway doesn't get much light during the winter (yeah, quite shocking, isn't it?). We are thankful for every extra minute, every extra second, every extra light - sometimes a flash light does it. So when traveling to Brussels we noticed that - quite to our amazement - they don't have that much more light in... Continue Reading →
One thing A and I got to do for the very first time together: buy a Christmas-tree. A, having watched 'When Harry met Sally' one too many times, had this idea of us carrying the Christmas-tree together and it being uber romantic. So mid December we headed (more or less - slid) down the icy... Continue Reading →
This year was full of surprises, good ones and not so good ones. It was a challenging year and they say, that's the only way you can grow, sometimes I wonder what 'they' were thinking, when they started those rumors... Last Thursday we flew to Vienna to pay our respects to my late grandma. She... Continue Reading →
Telephones are a funny invention. They were build so people wouldn't have to write all the time anymore or would have to travel just to talk to each other. They were build to make lives easier. Lately I came to realize that phones do not only do that. Nowadays you can write texts, read your... Continue Reading →
This will be our third Christmas together. We have 'always' been together on Christmas. We - however - have never been together on either of our birthdays. We have never managed to be together on our anniversary, nor were we ever together on President's day or Thanksgiving. So when A and I do get to... Continue Reading →
A and I went through a little rough patch in November, not so much because of us but because of the circumstances. A got the the amazing opportunity to study in Maastricht, while I - got the almost as equally amazing opportunity - to stay in Oslo and study Norwegian, which, of course, was amazing... Continue Reading →
As you guys may know (if you didn't know up to now, you now know), I have been alone in Norway for the past couple weeks. A's pursuing a life-long dream of his: getting his phD in one of the most amazing schools in Europe. So being alone in a still somewhat new surrounding, with... Continue Reading →
I bought my ticket to Vienna in September. A 3-day-trip all by myself. I was so excited I couldn't sleep for days and so was my family. I received endless emails, concerning my flight, my plans, who was going to pick me up, what I wanted to do, what they wanted to do and so... Continue Reading →
So much free time and nothing to do. Uhm, no, not here. Not in this place anyway. I walked up the stairs into the entrance hall, shaking my umbrella, so it wouldn't drip everywhere, what a miserable weather. I then open the door and enter the chilly room, I guess heating the staircase wouldn't make... Continue Reading →
My grandma is the greatest woman I have ever known. She's a strong-headed woman, a stubborn woman, a woman with so much love, words wouldn't be able to express it. A family-person, a great cook (aren't all grandmas?), a wonderful story-teller, someone who always listens and has the biggest of all hearts. She's been always... Continue Reading →
How did we ever end up there? It all started about a month ago when A forwarded an email from his boss. To be honest I didn't read it, all I read was A's p.s. "free beer and food, you in?" And of course I said yes. I didn't even finish reading the p.s. when... Continue Reading →
On days like today I miss Daheim. Daheim is in Austria, with my family. My parents, my brothers, my grandparents, my friends, my old roots. Where I grew up, where I was a child, where I started to evolve into the person I am today. I miss it because after all it's my family and... Continue Reading →
Thursday morning, 6 am. A got up and took a shower, while I slowly rolled out of my super warm and cosy bed and ever so slowly made my way into the way too chilly kitchen. I put some water in a kettle. When it overflowed, I turned it off and put the kettle on... Continue Reading →
Did you ever find yourself in a foreign country looking for something, knowing, that if you were 'home', it'd be in Walmart's aisle 5? A and I have been trying to get used to Norwegian customs. Pre-cooked chicken bagged up in some kind of soggy sauce, they got it. Pre-made dinner, probably cooked last year... Continue Reading →
I have told this story about a 1.000 times already and for me it never gets old. Here is what really happened Thanksgiving 2008. I was working late that Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving. Ms. Rach (who just recently moved 1 1/2 hours away) and I agreed to meet at her house (where I have never... Continue Reading →
As of today we have been together 938 days, a few days short of 1,000. People often say things like, 'Today is the first day of the rest of my life'. Every now and then you meet a person who meant what they said and you see huge changes within them. You see how much... Continue Reading →
I want to be a firemen, a policemen, a ballerina, a vet... When you are a child the choices are endless. For me, there was only one choice. I hated books when I was a child, especially at Christmas. On Christmas Eve my brother and I would avoid any packages that would slightly resemble anything... Continue Reading →
So let me get this right, you left the US 2 months ago and you're still paying for gas and electricity? Your car is not paid off yet? Really? I thought you were done with it. I mean, it's not like you're still living there. Come on... Well, see, nobody - and I mean NOBODY... Continue Reading →
It all started with a movie called 'the ghost rider'. I'm sure you heard of it, Nicholas Cage saving the world from Mephisto and his son. After that we watched the more current stuff, the X-men origins (and I finally know how Professor X landed in his wheelchair). I understand now how Magneto and Professor... Continue Reading →
We have been together in Oslo for about a month now and my calendar is stuffed with appointments. Tons and tons of appointments, every day. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I have to go several doctor's appointments and it's certainly not like I have that many job interviews or several meetings or anything... Continue Reading →
I am not much of a cooker. That's why A and I are so perfect together, because he loves to cook... In fact one of the first things I told my mom about A was, 'I hit the jackpot... he cooks.' It's not that I can't cook, I actually enjoy cooking very much, it's just... Continue Reading →
The Martinsens were a nice couple, I imagine. They've traveled quite a lot and have been all over the place, at least according to all the framed pics and some of the artwork that we took off the walls.One of the Martinsens was a musical genius, or at least somewhat good and loved the violin... Continue Reading →
We got the basics fairly quick, takk and vær så snill, unnskyld meg. Nonetheless we are far from having a normal conversation with a native. A and I still are playing the 'I'm an American, therefore I speak English' card, which so far didn't exactly put us in good standing with the natives but at least they... Continue Reading →
Monday, August 8th6 a.m., A and I just finished breakfast and are headed down to Pennsylvania, 12 hours of a car ride. The goal: to get to A's brother asap to crash on his couch.To be honest I barely remember what we talked about that night and what we have done, I just remember children... Continue Reading →
By the end of July A and I both were so burnt out, we were suffering severe headaches and back-pains and just being super whiney about everything. Needless to say we couldn't wait to get down to Georgia. Granted, a 12-hour car ride didn't exactly appeal to us, but knowing that we were heading south... Continue Reading →
Thank you everybody. No, seriously, thank you everybody. Neither A nor I can express how thankful we are for all of you, who supported us, thank you for being there for us. Mentally, physically, daily and always. Thank you for your open and caring hearts. Thank you for believing in us. Thank you for your... Continue Reading →
Yes, we finally made it. We don’t have to say goodbye anymore. We don’t have to miss each other anymore and fights can finally take place without any skype delays. Lucky us. No one ever told me that insomnia is contagious or that my sleeping preferences might differ from A’s. No one ever bothered to... Continue Reading →
When it comes down to it A and I are still just a bird and a fish - but every good story needs a super hero. Neither A nor I possess any super hero traits or powers unless being OCD or the ability to eat a gallon of ice cream in one sitting counts as... Continue Reading →
When you were married for several decades, there is most likely not a single day you remember being without the other person. You also don't remember all the fights about the most ridiculous things but you remember the big days, the big nights, the happiness. But what if one day you wake up and it's... Continue Reading →
I do not own a lot. I own a few but valuable books, some pictures and photographs that I created and took, some school records... I have to admit though I do own many DVDs and yes, VHS, tons of CDs and yes, some cassettes. I own a dresser, a sofa, a bookshelf and a... Continue Reading →
When I sat down in my seat in a tiny airplane on my way to EWR, my heart stopped for a second. All the memories of the US customs came rushing back to me. The mean custom officers - usually frustrated males - with their dark uniforms, with their shiny badges, their tired eyes and... Continue Reading →
We finally made it. We finally got here. We're finally moving in together. We're finally packing our things, finally throwing the last few bits and pieces into our suitcases and finally driving off to the airport... But hold on a second there. We've been anticipating this moment for - dare I to say it? -... Continue Reading →
The plot: Martin Brody is the new police chief of Amity, an island resort town somewhere in New England. He has a wife named Ellen, and two sons named Michael and Sean. On a Summer morning, Brody is called to the beach, where the mangled body of Summer vacationer Chrissie Watkins has washed ashore. Shark... Continue Reading →
If I would have to compare our relationship, I'd say it's a lot like a milk carton sitting in your fridge for weeks and weeks... but in the best possible way.Soooo, why would anyone in a happy and functioning relationship ever compare their bonding to something so gross?See, when milk spoils it doesn't get worse. It's spoiled, you... Continue Reading →
A Chinese tale tells the story of two lovers who were never able to be together. They are called night and day. In the magic hours of dusk and dawn they touch lightly and meet almost, but it never really happens. If you listen carefully, they say, you would be able to hear their groaning and see the sky redden by their rage. The tale says that the gods were kind enough to grant them a moment of happiness from time to time and therefore would have created solar and lunar eclipse, in which they could love each other. It was about 4.30 am and I was sitting in the yet still cold sand and gazing into... Continue Reading →
As I read through my very own copy of the book of love yesterday, I couldn't help it and started to sing Peter Gabriel's version of this song. The book of love is long and boring, no one can lift the damn thing. It's full of charts and facts and figures and instructions for dancing... Continue Reading →
I love games. I play all kinds of games. Quest-games, board games, card games but more than games I love puzzles, they calm me down, they train my patience and they make me incredibly happy. Mainly because I can see the results in basically no time (not counting the 5 days between the unwrapping the... Continue Reading →
Every relationship goes through ups and downs. They are part of what makes your relationship unique, not the existence of those ups and downs but how you and your significant other deal with those problems. In most cases they are not even about your relationship. A and I have been together for a bit longer... Continue Reading →
A bird loves a fish 