Holiday.....

Last week I was off work. I loved having time off!! So how did I spend my week?

Well, Monday morning found me up early with Kristian. He had to go to work (poor man) and I decided to get up early with him so I could get some things done around the house. My goal for the day was to get our wardrobe sorted and to put away our summer clothes and find our winter clothes. I got it all sorted and it felt so good to have a tidy organised wardrobe again. Now lets see how long that will last - usually not long!

On Monday afternoon I left Leah to the bus station so she could take the bus out to Andrew´s place. She was going to spend the afternoon with him and then stay for dinner.  Kristian was going to help at the go-kart shop after work and he would  pick Leah up on the way home. So I was on my own for the afternoon and evening and I decided to make the most of it! With the house organised and tidy, I decided I would spend some time reading and got to finish my book.

I also worked on a project that I have wanted to work on for while, but haven´t had much time for. It was to make a prayer book/journal. This I got started on...

I would love to have a more organised prayer time during my quiet times and when I saw this idea on youtube I thought it could be the very thing to help me. I have adapted the idea to something that I think would work for me.

So I bought a file, plastic covers, dividers, fancy backing paper and ordinary lined paper. I have called the prayer journal " My War Book" as it will contain things that will help me do battle in the spiritual realm through prayer.

I have the book divided into 5 areas. Worship - Laura & Kristian (our marriage) - My children - Thankfulness - Days of the week.

Under Worship I have a 30 day calendar with the names and attributes of God. Each day I can pick one of these things to focus on. The plan is also to have words from worship songs, or bible verses, psalms in here. Just anything that can help me focus on worshipping God.

Laura -  Here I will have a list of character traits that I want to see become fruitful in my life. Here I can pray about myself and ask God to show me what needs to be changed in my life - and help me change those things. I can add prayer requests to this section too.

Kristian - Here I have a list of things I can pray for, for my husband - his character traits, areas in his life that I should pray over. I found a 30 day calendar with a list of different things to focus on for each day. I also wrote my own list out from the book-  The Power of a Praying Wife. Here again I can write down special prayer points as challenges come along.
Marriage - comes under this point too.

Under the title "My children"  I have a list of things that I am praying for for them. Here I can write down different prayer requests as they need prayer for different things.

Thankfulness - Here I each day need to think of something to be thankful for and write it down.

So the idea is that each day I go through these sections and just focus on one thing from each section every day.  So everyday I will worship, pray about some area of my life, about Kristian´s life and the kids life, then I will focus on something to be thankful about. After that, the idea is to go to the "Days of the Week".

On a Monday I will pray for the rest of the family - Kristian´s family, my family in Ireland. Here I have photos of different family members and I take one or two family members and pray for them on a Monday. Also if the family have special prayer requests I can write them down and put them in here so I remember to pray.

Tuesday is friends day. Here I will have photos or names of friends. I can go pick one or two friends and pray for them. Again any special prayer requests for friends can be written in here.

Wednesday is colleagues. (Photos or names written....you work your way through the list, praying for one or two at a time.)
Thursday is church leaders.
Friday is missionaries. (Prayer letters - prayer cards etc can be put in a plastic cover under this day.)
Saturday and Sunday I left free to write down things God puts on my heart to pray for.

I will give this a try and see if it helps me be a bit more organised in my quiet time. I do tend to pray about all sorts of things while I am at work. That´s the privelege of having a job were I don´t need to use my mind!! haha So while washing floors I pray for situations and people that come to mind. :-)

Tuesday and I was up early again with Kristian. I decided I would spend the morning up in town having a look around the shops to see if there were any good bargins. I had a lovely morning walking around the shops.Then I did some food shopping and headed home to make some delicious food

Sara was arriving home from America!! She was landing in Copenhagen in the afternoon and her Christian was going to pick her up. They would then come here for dinner and stay the night. Andrew and Camilla were also coming for dinner. So it would almost be a full house! Leah wouldn´t be eating with us as she had a driving lesson, she would first be home later in the evening.

Tuesday afternoon I spent making Pavlova (Sara´s favourite) and getting all the vegetables cut up and ready for dinner. Sara and Christian arrived around 4pm and Camilla and Andrew were not far behind them. Then my Kristian arrived home. I pulled out all the stops and had a 3 course meal ready for us to enjoy. It was really good!! But by the end of the evening my house looked like a bomb had exploded!!! What happened to the new organised home??!!!

Wednesday morning and I slept to 10am!!! All the hard work of making food and serving them all had exhausted me! Before Sara and Christian headed back to Århus I decided to make a big brunch for them. Once again I was in the kitchen. We had a lovely brunch and had such a cosy morning sitting talking. Laura came in to hear about Sara´s trip as she comes from San Fransico and Sara was in that area.

Around 1pm Sara and Christian left and I got stuck into organising (yet again) my house that literally looked like a hurricane had gone through it. It´s lovely having them all home but it´s also lovely when they all go again!! haha

 My kitchen!!! What on earth happened???!!!

Wednesday evening and Kristian was at his go-kart shop after work so Leah and I had leftovers for dinner and then settled down to watch a few girlie films. It was such a lovely relaxing evening! Just what we both needed!

Thursday, Kristian was off work. Finally some holiday for him.  It was sooo good to have him home. We decided we would go out for the day. We headed to town as we had a couple of gift cards to use from our Silver Wedding Anniversary. We spent the morning looking in all the different shops. We had a lovely lunch in a new cafe that recently opened and then we continued our shopping until the afternoon.  We ended up buying a game that we can play when the whole family are together. So we got to use one of the gift cards. Late afternoon we headed home again and had an easy dinner of bread and salami. The evening was spent in front of the TV.

Friday we had a lovely long sleep!!! Then Kristian got up and headed down to Andrew´s to put up some shelves and lamps. I headed to Ikea to have a look around to see if they had gotten anything new since the last time that I had been there!! haha (No nothing new since last Saturday!!)  When I was finished I headed over to Andrews to pick Kristian up. Andrew was keeping Kristian´s car so he could get to work on Saturday. Kristian wasn´t totally finished when I arrived, so I kicked back on the sofa and watched TV while the men finished off the jobs of putting shelves and lamps up.

When Kristian was finally finished we headed home in my car. On the way home we decided to call into a shopping centre near Andrew´s place. We had never been there before and since I needed to get some milk we thought we could check out the centre and buy the milk at the same time. We walked about the place for about 20 minutes and then went and got the milk.

When we got back to the car there was something on the windshield. What on earth could that be? OH NOOOOOO -  I had gotten a ticket!!!! I forgot to set my parking sign!!! I NEVER, EVER FORGET TO DO THAT!!! How did I forget??? I have no idea, Kristian didn´t think of it either.

Well it was an exspensive carton of milk that we got!! I now have to cough up 750kr (about 75 pounds!!!!) for a 30 minutes visit to a shopping centre!!! I was kicking myself the whole way home!! (Well actually I was hitting my forehead with my hand the whole way home and shouting "STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!!!!) If there is one thing I hate giving money to, it´s parking!!! It´s my first ticket in 25 years. I have never gotten a parking ticket, or a speeding ticket ever. I was not a happy camper!!

Ah well - life goes on.....

And it did. Saturday we had arranged to go to Sweden with Leah and her boyfriend Lasse. They wanted to see the big shopping centre over there. Leah and Lasse shopped and Kristian and I just enjoyed being out and about with them. We had a lovely time in Sweden.

 Eating subway for lunch.....Yummie!!

Now we are all back at work again. (That´s ok - I love my work, so going back is not a problem at all!)

This evening (Tuesday) we had arranged a cosy dinner night with our neighbours - Laura, Mia, Thomas and Pernille and their son. It was such a lovely evening. Everyone came over to us.

Pernille made chilli, I made the rice, Laura made salad and bread and I made dessert. We had such a great night catching up with each other. Having good friends as neighbours is just wonderful!! We want to have these evenings a bit more often!

Phew that was a long update!! Note to self:- Update a bit more often! :-)

Happy Days....

Happy days for hubby.  See what he got to drive last weekend.....

It was his birthday present from our friend  - Laura. The present was 15 minutes in a Ferrari so Kristian didn´t think he was going to get to drive it. He thought that he would be a passenger for those 15 minutes, but he got to drive it!! He was over the moon! A great experience for the memory box!

Last week was a busy week again. On Wednesday I had been invited to give a talk to our 7th graders in their English lesson, about how I celebrated Halloween when I was a child. They were learning about American and English culture and traditions. Since it was October, Halloween was one of those traditions that they were learning about. I had fun planning it all and had a really great English class with them. 

I started the class by standing outside their door singing " Halloweens coming on and the goose is getting fat...." I had arranged this with the English teacher, they had no idea I was coming and it was fun to see their faces when I came in.  

On Wednesday afternoon I went home to visit my colleague after work. We had a lovely couple of hours together eating buns and drinking hot chocolate. It was just the sort of weather for that!

Under our school there is a very low corridor that runs all around the school. It is where all the pipes are. In the 10 years I have worked there I have never been down to see this area. 

I always hear the Janitors talking about how dusty and dirty it is down there, about the spiders and how they have to crawl, almost on their bellies when down there. I always felt sorry for them when they went down there. I had this picture in my mind that it was a really dark horrible place. 

Well, this week I got to see it! The Janitors were going down again into the dark hole and they asked if I wanted to come and check it out - stupid question!! Off course I did!!!

I was sooo surprised at how it was. Not at all like I had imagined!! Those men had me feeling sorry for them for years!! There will be no more sympathy from me when they have to go down there! It is not at all bad!!  I thought it was rather cosy down there and started working on a few decorating ideas!!! haha

Talking about decorating....we got a new sideboard. Kristian´s family had given us money for our 25th wedding anniversary. We decided to use the money on a piece of furniture that we really liked. Now we have a special piece of furniture that will always remind us of his family and their kindness to us. 

On Thursday when I came home from work, something was wrong. Usually when I get home little Zoey comes and welcomes me. I look forward to getting home and shouting hello and then having this wee kitten come running.


So on Thursday I did my normal routine. Opened the door and shouted hello but no wee kitten came. I took off my coat, hung it up, got my shoes off, still no kitten. I went through the house calling Zoey but there was no response at all. Shadow was lying on our bed totally relaxed and not really bothered by all my shouting for Zoey. I actually thought Shadow had killed her! haha

So after checking under every bed and every cupboard I knew something was wrong. I couldn´t find her anywhere. It was then I saw that our living room windows were full of mud on the outside, like a little paw had been on the window. The mud was dragged down the window and I knew it hadn´t been there the day before. Zoey must have gotten out and been up at the window trying to get in again.  That meant she had been out since about 8.30am and the time was now 5pm. Kristian was the last to leave so she must have slipped out without him noticing.

I was in a right state! I ran into my neighbour Laura and got her and Mia to come with me outside to look. We all went around the house and garden calling Zoey - there was no sign of her. Then suddenly we heard crying...we heard what sounded like a kitten, a meowing in the distance. We checked all the bushes but couldn´t find her...the more I called her the more she meowed! 

It was really hard to find out where the meowing was coming from.  Finally we realised it was coming from the neighbour`s garden across the road. We rushed over and that´s when I saw her, hidden in among the bushes meowing her wee heart out. We were able to get her out. She was all wet. It had been a cold, windy, wet day.

We got her home and got her dried off and fed. Before long she was lying totally relaxed on her favourite chair. Pheeeewwwww that was a close call!  I thought she was gone for good!!!  but I am ever so glad that we got her back!  (She fell asleep in this position.....)

Friday was our last day at work before our Autumn break. All the schools in Denmark have Motionsday which is basically a day for motion - excerising. There is no teaching on this day. 

So at our school we started the day with a couple of special people coming to help the kids warm up for their run.

There was a lot of fun out in the playground warming up with these two. The kids were then off to do their run while we got the fruit and juice ready for them all coming home. 

 Some of the 3rd graders ran 21km!!! The older kids biked 40km!! I was very impressed! They all seemed to have a really great day.

Saturday found me in Copenhagen. Kristian´s family (23 of us) were meeting up to go and see a musical.  Our two neices and nephew were preforming in a musical at Tivoli. Leah had to work and couldn´t get her shift changed so she unfortunately couldn´t make it.

Kristian was at home, he is not into musicals and so he stayed at home and started the clear out of our garage and my painting room. It has been such a mess in both these places and so Kristian was on a mission to get it cleared. I would help him again when I got back.

I was looking forward to the musical. Since the musical was being held in the theatre building in Tivoli we had free entry into Tivoli! Fun to see how they had decorated for Halloween.

The musical was fantastic! The children and young people were soooo talented and they did a very professional job, including my nieces and nephews! 

Sitting just over from us was our Royal Family. Our Crown Prince Frederik and Princess Mary with their 4 children! At one stage they all walked past us, they were sooo close we could have reached out and touched their arm! All rather exciting! (my sister-in-law took the picture, I didn´t dare!)

After the musical I headed back home to help Kristian finish the work around the house. We were very pleased with the result. 

Now I have holiday for a week and I am sooo looking forward to getting the last things organised around the house and then using time to relax, be creative, go walks and enjoy the autumn weather!

Finally an update.....

Life has been busy. I have been wanting to update for two weeks now without much success! Finally at 6.23am on a Saturday morning I am getting the time! Kristian has just left for the last go-cart race of the season (whooooopppiiiieeeee!!) and since I now am awake, I might as well make good use of the time!

So here we go - mega update!

Lets start with work......

Every second year in November, we hold  a Christmas Bazar at the school where I work. A few months before this Bazar the kids sell tickets to raise money for the school. For the last 3 Bazars I have been in charge of the fund raising and this year I am too. I really enjoy it but there is a bit of extra work involved. 

We always have something visual to show the children how much money they have raised. This stands constantly at the front of the Assembly hall. The children that sell 25 or more tickets are known as "super sellers" and they get different prizes/rewards for the amount they have sold. I call their names up at Assembly and they get their prize. So over the past 2 weeks work suddenly got really busy.

This year I have my friend Frankie helping me keep track of the money that comes in. He is a leprechaun that has come the whole way from Ireland (although he speaks great Danish!).  

The idea for keeping track of the how much money we have raised is a rainbow, or rather lack of one.

We have to build a rainbow over to the pot of gold. The more money we raise the more colours come on the rainbow. Frankie comes every Friday with rainbow colours, if we have raised any money! The pot of gold also gets some "gold coins" - so our aim is to fill out the whole rainbow with colour and fill the pot of gold with coins. The kids just love this. My boss, who is Frankie, and I do a sketch every Friday at the Assembly to help encourage the kids to get out and sell tickets. It really is great fun.

Two weeks ago my friend Laura got herself a new kitten too. She is just the cutest wee thing (nearly as cute as Zoey! :-)  She also has an older cat already. He has just taken such a liking to the kitten, already from the second day! It is sooooo cute to see them together, they play together and sleep together.

Shadow and Zoey are not so chummy. Zoey really wants to be Shadows friend, she follows her around the house but Shadow basically wants to be left in peace. 

Last weekend it was time for a roadtrip. Sara had invited us over for the weekend. It was Kristian´s first weekend without a go-kart race on the calendar in weeks, so we could have done with the weekend at home to work on stuff around the place but in the end we decided to head over to Århus to visit Sara and Christian. The house things could wait! 

Both Sara and Christian had birthdays that weekend. Christians was on the Saturday and Saras was on the Monday. So we were going over to celebrate with them. 

After work on Friday we came home, packed and started our roadtrip. We were all excited, like a couple of kids. We really love doing roadtrips. Half way there and Kristian said he had a surprise, he had booked dinner for us at a restaurant that he had read about. I was impressed! Usually when we do roadtrips its McDonalds at the drive through but this time Mr Rasmussen had done his homework. 

The restaurant was sooo cosy and inviting and the food was absolutely delicious! It was in Ringe, a place I had never been before, so after dinner we had a walk through the town. Nothing was open as it was 7.30pm when we arrived there but it is a place I would like to explore at some other time. After dinner we headed on and arrived in Århus just after 10pm.

Saturday was Christian´s birthday and so the celebrating started with brunch together with Christian´s parents. We had such a lovely morning with them. Then we headed out for a few hours to a shopping centre so Sara and Christian could exchange some gifts that they had gotten. We bought some food for dinner and headed back home. The plan was to cook some good steaks and then have an evening of playing games. 

In Jutland, the part of Denmark where Århus is, they spray you with cinnamon when you turn 25 and you are not married. So just after we arrived home from shopping the doorbell rang and there was Christían´s brother Martin and his friend Daniel. They told Christian to change clothes for he was about to get sprayed!! 

The poor guy!!! They tied him to a lamp post and threw cold water over him, then cooking oil. They then got a couple of fire extinguishers that were filled with cinnamon and he got a blasting from them. He was covered in cinnamon! 

After Christian got cleaned up we made dinner and Sara invited Daniel and his girlfriend to stay for dinner. Christian´s brother had other plans. So we had a lovely evening together eating the most delicious food. We then cleared up and played a fun game called Hint. It was such a lovely evening.

Sunday morning we got up early. We wanted to make an early start so we could get home by early afternoon. As soon as we had packed and eaten breakfast we said our goodbyes and started for home. We had such a lovely weekend with the family in Århus. 

Monday morning my alarm clock rang at 4.00am! I wanted to get up and see the blood moon. I tried to wake Kristian to get him to go out with me to see it, but it wasn´t happening. So it was just me by myself watching this amazing happening. After 5 minutes I headed back to bed, searched the internet for a live cam and watched the rest of it live on my phone, in my cosy warm bed with Kristian snoring away beside me! 

Wednesday I was out visiting my friend Rhona. She cooked dinner and I went by after work to eat her delicious food. We had such a lovely evening together just catching up on each others lives. I am sooo blessed to have her in my life. 

I left Rhonas around 9pm as Sara was coming home. She was flying this time into Copenhagen airport and Kristian was going to pick her up on his way home from go-kart. I was looking forward to having her home for a few days, even though we had only just been in Århus.  She was coming to us on Wednesday because she was flying on to the great USA on Friday, she thought a few days at home before her long flight was just what she needed. 

Even though Sara was here we didn´t have time to relax with her. Andrew was moving out on the 1st October and so we were all busy helping him move. He and Camilla have rented a wee apartment together, about 20 minutes drive from us. So Thursday, Friday and Saturday were spent helping them with things. 

Sara flew out on Friday morning for the USA. She is going over to visit her friend Christine, who is living there.  Christine is racing over in the States (as a professional racing driver) and so Sara was going to see her race in her last big race. 

Unfortunately for Sara the plane was delayed from Denmark and so she missed her connecting flight. She had to stay overnight in Amsterdam and it looked like she would first get a flight out to the states on Monday morning, which would mean Sara would have missed all the race - something she had been soooo looking forward to. 

However, they were able to get her a flight out from London on Saturday afternoon, so she flew from Amsterdam to London and then made the connecting flight. The last we heard from her, she had landed safely but was feeling really sick from flying and so as soon as she got of the plane, she threw up! Honestly - there is always drama when Sara is around! haha

Ok that was my mega update. It was early Saturday morning when I started this and it is now late Sunday evening!! It really was a long update!!! :-)