Photographer, Prophet?...

…It’s All The Same!!!

My husband is starting to appreciate my photography skills.

Hey that picture of the view from our window on the blog is kinda cool…maybe you can print it and frame it for my office.

This conversation was done via email… sent NOT to my personal email address (I might have seen it faster) but to our common email address which I check once in a blue moon ;)

Sure dear!

I guess like we say in French: “Nulle n’est prophete en son pays” ('No man is a prophet in his own country' or 'A Prophet Hath No Honour in His Own Country')


Oh and this is the photo he's referring to.

Lesson…

...Learned

Another Facebook update ;-)

On February 1st I wrote on my wall: Just dropped my external drive with ALL my photoshop work on it... I may as well die right now.

Well almost 2 months later and a lot, A LOT of $$$$$$ later (nothing is cheap in Norway) I got it back and they retrieved everything. Lesson learned. Repeat after me: “I will backup everything multiple times, on multiple devices”.

Never thought a 3x4” piece of plastic would make me so happy!!

Jeremy Has…

...A Secret Admirer

Last October I posted on my Facebook: I’ve just found out that Jeremy (6.5 btw) just had his first official break up. Reason invoked: "She kept on following me. Boyfriend was ok for a few days but then it was too much". Of course he did the only way men do it, he told her friend to tell her!! BUT they are still friends and can have play dates.

Well a couple of days ago I found this in his school bag… a note from a secret admirer. (see it’s not signed!).

It turns out she still has a crush on my little Jeremy… Not to out her but her name starts with a R, end with a Y and might have the letters O and R in the middle -maybe in this order, maybe not ;-)

and now it has been documented for posterity !!

It’s Party Time…

...for Celine & Jeremy

Jeffrey is off to Paris for a week… hopefully finding me a Macbook pro (Birthday's present) and an iPad2 (belated Christmas' present).
Chloe is on a ski school trip until Friday

That leaves Jeremy and I all by ourselves for 4 nights…. What to do? What to do?

Mother-Son Time

I Survived…

...The Road Trip

And the Frenchies and had a great time with our… British friends ;-)

The end of a great weekend. Bye bye skiing Celine and snowboarding Celine!!

Every good thing has to end

And here’s a little video of my first attempt at snowboarding.
I didn't even cut the end of the video to save me from embarrassment -Yes my butt still hurts!!

Live From…

...The Norwegian Ski Slopes

Ready to hit the slopes:

Where should we go first?

The view was amazing:



The Suiter enjoying their day on the slopes @ Hovden

Gorgeous day

We Are Going On…

...A Company Ski Trip

Going to have to be nice to the Frenchies!!!.

5-hour plus drive (one way) for a 3-day ski trip and that’s if all the roads stay opened and the ferries are on time (depending which way we are going).

Ok so we decided to play it safe and took the south route...

Too bad we cannot just go on a straight line ;-)

Taking a break on our 5-hour drive to Hovden

Starbucks in the middle of nowhere!!

Going to the Hytte Norwegian style: Park the car, backpack on your back, cross skis handy.

Ready, Set, Go

I Am A…

...STAR*

Yes I am indeed a Spouse Traveling And Relocating… because the "Trailing Spouse" etiquette is not a flattering one (read my point of view here!)

Of course I am...

* The term was coined by Apple Gidley (aka ExpatApple).  Do read her article on the sisterhood in the Expat life... so so true

Feeling…

…Crafty

Feeling a little nostalgic of my previous life in Beijing…

Ok the truth is I was looking for something in my well organized mess and found a stack of old business cards from China (I talked about the importance of business cards in Asia here) and looking through them each and everyone brought back tons of wonderful memories, especially of our weekly (or was it bi-, tri-weekly?!) LDL get together ("Let’s Do Lunch" – "Ladies Do Lunch") with the girls (ok a man was sometimes but rarely allowed!!!). I decided that they shouldn’t be hidden out of sight in a dusty box so I framed some of the cards and displayed them in our living room. I like to frame weird things!!!  That was project Number One

A small representation of all the restaurants we've visited :-)

Project Number Two was a cover for my Chloe’s kindle…

Jumping to…

...Spring

So the calendar is telling me it is spring today… well looking through my window it sure doesn’t feel like it. Three days ago it was snowing which was a big surprise since a few days earlier the weather had been very nice… dare I say spring like ;-)

It was so nice I went photo venue scouting with my friend Desiree… and of course I had to test the light again and act like a 5-year-old (for a future photo shoot)

All in the name of photography!!

NB: For those of you who received my posts via email and/or RSS the animation might not work... head out to the blog to witness my silliness!!!


First posted on Desiree photography blog

Sightseeing:

...Candle Factory

On our way to the mountains, there is a candle factory (which is our own little landmark because it’s about half way down our trip!!) and I’ve never posted pictures of it so here are some:

Jeremy & Chloe outside the candle factory

Custom made candle

The restaurant next door to the candle factory

Inside the restaurant

A little white church nearby

The candle factory at Byrkedal was originally a cheese dairy. In the late 80’s, they started to make candles. The shop sells candles in every shape, size and color and you can even try to create your own multi colored candles by dipping them into tubs of different dyes.

Close to Byrkedal is Gloppedalsura where you can see an amazing boulder field with rocks the size of houses but we never stopped. Well I guess it called for another trip.

This travel blog photo's source is TravelPod page: Visitors!

What A Difference…

...A Day Makes!

Yesterday it seems like Spring had decided to come for an early visit and today we woke up to a mini snow storm.

I woke up to a white backyard

24 hours apart...

* iPhone photos

Happy...

...Green Day

If I was good… I would make this:

I’m not…

Happy St Patrick’s Day

Parlez Vous…

...Français?

He does... and know he's got the paper that proves it ;-)

Good job babe ;-)

Can You Ever Get…

...Tired Of This View?

Click on photo to view full size

Other time it looks like this

Bermuda Triangle…

…And Pinterest

Found this and it striked a cord!!

Source

I would also add my Google RSS (with way too many feeds!) but I now have a new obsession: Pinterest

In two words Pinterest is a Virtual Pinboard. But be careful Pinterest is addicting!!

I’ve always been collecting photos, articles, etc in big folders and then on my computer for inspiration but now I can ‘pin’ images hence create collections of things I like on my Pinterest boards. Here’s mine:

everything well organized in one place

Fresh Powder, Friends…

...Ski/Snowboarding Vacation

Click to enlarge

Sunshine, fresh powder from the last 2 days, skiing/snowboarding with friends: all in all a pretty good vacation.

Jeremy got to ski with his best friend Oliver

A couple last runs to allow my legs to finally get a workout!

On our way back home:

Where's the road, where's the ski?

Ready, Set, Go…

…Again

On our way to the Hytte:



Update:
Made it in 2 hours and now have to carve our path to get to the front door of the Hytte.

somewhere underneath all that snow... a Hytte!!

Going to…

…The Beach

Day 2 of school holiday and going to the beach seems like a great idea. OMG 18 months in Stavanger and we are turning into Norwegians.

Swim Suit... Snow Suit.... small difference!!

The great thing about going to the beach under this latitude is that one doesn’t need to worry if one’s legs are shaved or not and as far as the bikini line, who cares. Second those puffy coats do come handy to solve one's indulgence in chocolate ;-)



Also and this has nothing really to do with today’s post but since the beach we went to is right next to the airport, I just read on the Stavanger Chamber of Commerce Facebook page:

Stavanger Airport, Sola is Europe’s most punctual regional airport
Flightstats.com has named Oslo Airport Gardemoen and Stavanger Airport Sola as the most punctual airports in Europe in their respective categories of major airports and regional airports.

See you have no excuses anymore to not come for a visit: Punctual airport and great beaches where you don’t even have to wear a swimsuit.

It’s woMEn’s Day…

...Today!!!

Happy International Women’s Day.

Saw this on a friend’s Facebook wall and received it in my mail box…

What I Want In A Man (Original List)
1. Handsome
2. Charming
3. Financially successful
4. A caring listener
5. Witty
6. In good shape
7. Dresses with style
8. Appreciates finer things
9. Full of thoughtful surprises
10. Loves surprising me on weekends

What I Want in a Man (Revised List - age 32)
1. Nice looking
2. Opens car doors, holds chairs
3. Has enough money for a nice dinner
4. Listens more than talks
5. Laughs at my jokes
6. Carries bags of groceries with ease
7. Owns at least one tie
8. Appreciates a good home-cooked meal
9. Remembers birthdays and anniversaries
10. Plans together time on weekends

What I Want in a Man (Revised List - age 42)
1. Not too ugly
2. Doesn't drive off until I'm in the car
3. Works steady - splurges on dinner out occasionally
4. Nods head when I'm talking
5. Usually remembers punch lines of jokes
6. Is in good enough shape to rearrange the furniture
7. Wears a shirt that covers his stomach
8. Knows not to buy champagne with screw-top lids
9. Remembers to put the toilet seat down
10. Shaves most weekends

What I Want in a Man (Revised List - age 52)
1. Keeps hair in nose and ears trimmed
2. Doesn't belch or scratch in public
3. Doesn't borrow money too often
4. Doesn't nod off to sleep when I'm venting
5. Doesn't re-tell the same joke too many times
6. Is in good enough shape to get off the couch on weekends
7. Usually wears matching socks and fresh underwear
8. Appreciates a good TV dinner
9. Remembers your name on occasion
10. Shaves some weekends

What I Want in a Man (Revised List - age 62)
1. Doesn't scare small children
2. Remembers where bathroom is
3. Doesn't require much money for upkeep
4. Only snores lightly when asleep
5. Remembers why he's laughing
6. Is in good enough shape to stand up by himself
7. Usually wears some clothes
8. Likes soft foods
9. Remembers where he left his teeth
10. Remembers that it's the weekend

What I Want in a Man (Revised List - age 72)
1. Breathing.
2. Doesn't miss the toilet.

After being married for 44 years, I took a careful look at my wife one day and said: “Darling, 44 years agao we had a cheap apartment, a cheap car, slept on a sofa bed and watched a 10-in black and white TV, but I got to sleep every night with a hot 25-year-old girl. Now I have a $750.000 home a $45,000 car, nice big bed and a plasma screen TV, but I’m sleeping with a 65-year-old woman. It seems to me that you’re not holding up your side of things.

My wife is a very reasonable woman. She told me to go out and find a hot 25- year-old gal, and she would make sure that I would once again be living in a cheap apartment, driving a cheap car, sleeping on a sofa bed and watching a 10-in black and white TV.

Aren’t older women great? They really know hot to solve your mid-life crisis.

First Picnic…

…of the Year

The sun was shining
The temperature was rising (ok read: not too freezing)
The kids needed to get out
The camera needed a work out

Off we went to Tungenes Fyr (that’s light house) just a 15-minute car drive from our place.

Yeah to iPhone & Instagram

A stroll on the beach... Bathing suits will need to wait a little longer

Welcome Back…

…to Mac World – Part I

I’ve got my very own iPhone today. I know I’m a little behind!!

Didn’t think I really needed one, then Jeffrey upgraded from a personal iPhone3 to a company iPhone4 so I inherited his ‘old’ iPhone. Alas a week later the phone wasn’t working anymore but I was hooked, especially after going back to the phone I had in China (that’s an early 2006 phone!!). In the meantime I met my friend Lori aka the texting queen*; no way I was going to click a hundred times on those tiny numbers to text her. Oh and all those photography apps, I couldn’t give those up either :-(

So here’s my new baby

Sunset over a Fjord

And I had to customize it of course!

My babies

*When we went through my phone bills to figure out how much I spent every month in order to choose a new phone plan (my bills were itsy teeny weeny) we realized I went from 15 sms a month to 150 a few weeks after meeting Lori ;-)

Book...

...Clubs

Somehow this year I got drag into TWO book clubs. One was originally the ConocoPhillips Wives book club (I know, I know Jeffrey doesn’t work for them but since I get to go on their annual girls' trip I may as well crash their party book club too!!) and the other one is with the Stavanger Expats group.

So last month the CoP book was “Kristin Lavansdatter” by Nobel laureate Sigrid Undset (a trilogy of historical novels: "Descriptions of Norwegian life during the Middle Ages"!). That’s a whooping 1500+ pages!! I'm happy I read it (I usually score some major points with the Norwegians when I tell them)... not sure I would have finished it in one go if I didn't live here. BUT I was the only one who read it (one other lady started it but didn’t even go through half of it). The other book was "Freakonomics" by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner… again most of them didn’t finish it.

This month’s book was “The Shadow of the Wind” by Carlos Ruiz Zafón for the CoP group.  Didn’t read it and wasn’t even sure what the book was until I went to the meeting… that will teach them for not reading last month books.   I also read “The Art of Racing in the Rain” by Garth Stein for the Stavanger Expats Group. This was an interesting book since the story was told through the dog point of view. It generated some pretty interesting comments.

Next month is “Room: A Novel” by Emma Donoghue for both book clubs. That was one smart move on my part for suggesting the book to the second book club after it was chosen by the first book club ;-)


I’m so happy Chloe got a Kindle this summer so I can haul all of the books I’m currently reading with me at all time… You never know when I might get 5, 10, 15 minutes of waiting while I’m on Chauffeur Mom duty ;-)

So many books to read... so little time to read

When I took the pictures for the composite above, Chloe asked me (and she had wanted to make one for a while I have to say) to make a Multiple Photo of her too.

Laundry, Laundry…

...Who Is The “Fer”est One Of All

I came to the conclusion that clothes won't iron themselves like they used to ;-). So now I need to try to remember where the laundry room is located!!!

After a quick search in the basement of our house I found it and this is how my day was filled:

Where is Ayi when you need her?!

Now I need to find out where all the missing socks go…



* I might need to explain my play on words: "Fer" is French for iron!