Double date....

This weekend we had planned a double date with Kristian´s sister Hanne and her husband Flemming. We had bought tickets for a concert with a guy called Michael Ruff. Kristian introduced me to Michael Ruff´s music years ago, but this was the first time we would hear him live in concert. 

So Saturday morning we had a lovely long sleep - something we both needed. It was then up to clean the house, which also was in need of a good cleaning. We each took our areas and within a couple of hours the whole house was cleaned, beds changed and washing done.

We had a few hours to relax before we had to get ready to leave for our date. 

We had arranged to meet with Hanne and Flemming for dinner in the restaurant at the concert hall. We had the most delicious 3 course meal there. We had a couple of hours before the concert to enjoy our meal, chat and enjoy each others company. The time went in too fast and before we knew it the concert was beginning.

What a GREAT concert!!! He had all sorts of songs in his repertoire, some I knew, some I didn´t. There was something for everyone. He was also such a down to earth guy, funny, a fantastic pianist and a man in love with Jesus and everything He had done for him. I came away soooo blessed. We all had such a great night together. 

This morning we decided to go to Hanne and Flemming´s church in Copenhagen as Michael was singing a few songs there.  There was also a guest speaker from England! 

Check out some of his songs....

Once again we were blessed by Michael and his songs and I got sooo much out of the speaker from England. She spoke about knowing what your passion is in life, knowing what your calling is. 

 I have been wondering about this for the last few months. I have been pondering over what God wants me to do, trying to figure out what my passion is - what am I burning for. So when I heard what she was going to speak about I was all ears. She spoke out of Nehemiah 1 v 4.  She spoke about the different seasons we go through in life. She touched on David´s life and on Elijahs life too. It was all really challenging.  I have got loads of notes to go through over the next week.

After church Kristian was heading to a go-kart race to take a few pictures. I really was not in the mood for that so I said that I would just take the train home. Kristian told me to take the train to a certain station and change there for the train to our town. I had parked my car at the train station before we headed to church so when I arrived in our town I could just hop into the car and drive home. Things however don´t always go as planned. 

When I got to the station where I should change trains, I could not find a train to our town. I was so confused!! I finally figured out that no train went to my town from that station. 

I had to wait for the next train back into Copenhagen and change at a totally different station. That´s the last time I´m taking Kristian´s word on train travel!! haha  Anyway when I arrived in our town, I was just about to get into my car when Kristian called wondering where I was. He was home and had no key to get into the house!!! haha It had taken me so long to get home, that he had been to the race, taken the photos and driven home. I should have just stuck with him!

A new week and new challenges....

The week started out good. Monday after work I popped by my friend Rhona for a quick chat. It was sooo lovely to see her again. I hadn´t seen her since Christmas Eve at the Christmas Service. We didn´t really have time to talk then, so seeing her on Monday for a quick chat was just wonderful!! (We now need to plan for a longer session sometime soon!)  I only stayed about an hour and that hour flew by. I was a little bad and had a tiny piece of her homemade cake - I couldn´t resist!! She bakes the most delicious cakes!

It was then home to make dinner for Leah and me. We were so in the mood for Irish Stew. Kristian was at his go-kart shop and wouldn´t be home to eat. I made a big pot of stew, then Leah and I settled down on the sofa to watch a few home decorating programmes that we had recorded. We watched TV while we enjoyed our stew and cosy warm home. 

At 8pm I headed over to Laura´s place. She had invited me, along with the neighbours that live on the other side of the road, over for tea and cake. (Laura also bakes the most delicious upside down pineapple cake!Again I had cake!!)  We had such a lovely evening together. It was great to take the time to sit and talk with our neighbours. Usually I would wave at them or have a quick chat if we happened to be leaving the house at the same time. But to have an evening together to get to know them better was lovely. 

In a couple of months we have arranged to have them over to us for tea and cake so that Kristian can also get to know them better.

Tuesday and Wednesday I went to the Gym!! It felt sooo good to work out! I now have lost 2 kg 100grms!! (even though I was a little bad on Monday with cake!)  Whooopiiiieeee! Lets hope I can keep it off - no more cake for me!! 

Today Andrew came to visit. He will stay the night. He has a big exams project that needs to be finished and handed in tomorrow, so he wanted to come and use our printer and just go from here to school. Kristian picked him up on the way home from work. 

Andrew had some good news. He had gotten himself a job in IKEA, so no more post rounds for him. It´s a part time job that he will do at weekends and some evenings while still finishing of his education. 

He had been today to sign the contract and collect his uniform!! I am a very proud mum!! hahaha Imagine him working in the place that brings me soooo much joy!! :-)

So this evening I was planning on making Mexican food for dinner. Leah had invited Lasse as he just loves Mexican - so does Andrew. Well when I opened the chicken to start making dinner,  it had a terrible stink of it. There was no way we could use it. Kristian said he would drive down to the supermarket and buy a new pack.

I started cutting up the vegetables and making the rice but I really needed the chicken. Kristian was taking a long time! Then the phone rang. It was Kristian - he had had an accident. (The road down to the supermarket is surrounded by forest.) A deer had run out of the forest and into the front of his car. He told me this much and then the phone went dead. I had no idea if he was ok or not!! (Since we live in the countryside there is not a lot of mobile coverage.) 

Andrew jumped in my car and drove down to find him. Twenty minutes later Kristian and Andrew came through the door. Everything was ok!! There was no damage to Kristian. The deer, unfortunately (or maybe fortunately!) was dead and the car had a little bit of damage to it. I was thankful to see Kristian in one piece - things could have been a lot worse!

So suddenly we had a very eventful evening! Hopefully it will be a while before we have another one of those!! We finally sat down to eat together at 7.30pm!! We were all straving! 

Ok I better get off to bed. One more day at work and then it´s weekend!! I am soooo ready for it!! 

Full house.....

Sara and Christian have been here visiting us for the weekend. It´s been lovely seeing them again.

 They arrived Thursday evening and stayed until today. On Friday we all had to work except those two, so they headed into Copenhagen to do a bit of shopping. That evening Sara was going to a friend´s birthday party. They were going out to eat dinner so while she was there, we headed out with Christian to one of our local cafes for dinner. We had a really lovely time.

It was then home to our comfy sofa. We all just lay around and watched TV. X-factor was on and so we got hooked on that. A really relaxing Friday evening.

Saturday we decided to head out to visit one of the shopping centres just recently opened. After a lovely breakfast together away we went. We didn´t stay out long, as none of us were really in the mood to shop, we were all tired, so after an hour or so of shopping, we decided to just head home again. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and chatting.

Lasse came over to join us for dinner. The kids wanted my homemade chinese so that´s what they got. We had another lovely evening sitting around chatting. All very calm and easy going. We had planned to play a few games, but once again we were all just too tired so we just lay sprawled around the sofa talking.

This morning they got packed up and headed home again to Århus . It was lovely to have them here for the weekend. Hopefully we will see them again soon.

The rest of last week went rather well. I went training Monday, Wednesday and Friday after work!! How good am I?? I actually really enjoy it. (Surprise, surprise!)  On Monday and Wednesday I was feeling all energized after training, however Friday was another story!! I don´t think I got enough sleep Thrusday to Friday (stayed up too late talking to Sara and Christian) so I was really wrecked after my training on Friday. Must admit that my eating habits have not been sooo good this week!! Need to do better with this next week!

On Tuesday evening I was invited on a date with my hubby. We went to the cinema to see the new Danish film. We both got in from work around 5pm and decided the best thing to eat that evening would be McDonalds!! (Krisitian sure knows how to give a girl a good time!! haha)

So we drove to McDonalds, sat in a booth and really did enjoy our burger meal. It has been ages since we had McDonalds!!! It was then on to the cinema. We enjoyed the film which actually costs us nothing!! We have this deal with our telephone company that two get in for the price of one, so we used that. I also have a cinema card that collects points everytime you see a movie. I asked the guy how many points I had, and I had enough to pay for the ticket!! Now that is my sort of night out!!! hahaha

Now we are enjoying the last few hours of the weekend while looking forward to another week of life!! :-)

Where did they go....

......the first two weeks of January. Is it just me or is time flying by?! I think the photo below explains exactly how I feel...

Roll on the day I can go on the pension!!! haha

So what have we been up to these first couple of weeks in January?

Well we have had a few guests visiting....

Sunday 3rd January our friends Jette and Filip came by after church for some coffee and cake. We had such a cosy afternoon with them and their 2 kids.

Jette tried to learn to play my flute. We had all the instruments in the house out for the kids to try and the adults also got in on the fun.

Zoey loved playing around with the kids. I enjoyed getting all our toys out again for the kids to play with. It was a fun afternoon with them all and it was also great to catch up with each other again.

Thursday 7th January was a busy day. After work I went to visit one of my colleagues. She had invited some of us colleagues over to her place for hot chocolate and cake. We had a lovely afternoon hanging out together, I was even rather good! I ate only a small slice of cake and a small spoonful of cream!!

It was then home to get ready for my guests. I had invited some girls friends over for the evening. The goal for the evening was to plan our trip to London. We are 4 girls that are heading to London at the end of April for Hillsongs Woman´s Conference in Wembley. So we got our flights booked. We then found a place to stay, or so we thought. We booked the accommonation through airbnb but unfortunately the woman didn´t respond within 24 hours so the booking automatically gets cancelled. So I think we need to have another evening soon, so we can find a new place to stay.

Sunday 10th January and we had my friend Anne and her husband Peter over for lunch. They had their youngest boy with them and we, once again, enjoyed a Sunday afternoon with friends. We had a great time with them. They are always fun to hang out with and we never have enough time to talk about all the things we want to talk about!!

Monday I went to LOOP (the fitness centre). I had a free training hour and it went really well. I really think this could be me. So I signed up. HELLLLPPP!!! Now I need to use it 2 to 3 times a week!!! I will give it a try for a month or two and see if it really is for me!

On Wednesday (13th) my colleague was holding a course on how to make baskets. It was being held at work and so I just had to try it out! It was fantastic fun - I now have the bug for it. The course was two hours long and we got to make a small basket to take home with us.

My finished basket.....

This really is something I want to try again!

Thursday after work I went to training again! How good am I??!!! (shine my halo!)  It was great! So next week I will try and get 3 times.  This morning the scales showed that I had lost 1,3kg!!! Now I just need to keep it off and get another 9kgs off too.

Yesterday (Saturday) we had guests in the afternoon. Kristian´s sister Hannah texted us to see if we were home as her daughter Christine had two friends visiting from the USA. They were sightseeing around our area they thought they could come by for coffee if we were home. That was perfectly fine with us, we had no plans.

I made some apple crumble and we waited for them to arrive. Hannah, Christine and the two guests came late afternoon and we had such a great time with them. Janet and Kim were here in Denmark doing some interviews for a TV program. They both are Christians and have amazing testimonies.

Janet has a ministry in the USA that helps people leave the homosexual lifestyle. She herself lived as a lesbian for 14 years before committing her life to Jesus. She has been free from it all for 17 years. It was wonderful to chat with these woman. We had such a great time of fellowship together. (Check out her ministry website - www.janetboynesministries.com )

Today (Sunday) we were tired so we decided to have a relaxing day at home. The weather was fantastic. It was minus 10 degrees this morning with beautiful blue skies. We decided we would head out for a walk and take our cameras with us. We enjoyed a lovely walk through the woods just taking in all of God´s wonderful nature.

Shadow was waiting on us when we got home. She was just as happy to get back into the heat as we were!

In the afternoon we held church here at home. We listened to some Bible teaching online. The theme was about dwelling in the presence of God (Psalm 91) and not just going in and out of His presence but actually abiding, living there. We were challenged and blessed by it.

This evening we went over to visit our neighbour Laura for a while and then it was home to enjoy the last few hours of peace before a busy week begins again.

A New Year....

and with it comes new goals.

I love the start of a new year. A time to get ones life organised, set some goals for things I want to achieve this year and just get excited about what life has in store. Even though I don´t always achieve all that I set out to do at the start of the year I do at least try and that´s what counts :-)

So this year I have been thinking about what goals I want to set. I came up with a few....

Goal 1 - is about my spiritually goals. For me this is the most important part of my life. This year my goal is simply John 3, 30 - He (Jesus) must become greater and greater and I must become less and less. Sometimes there is just too much Laura in my life and not enough Jesus!! So my plan is to work on that this year! I want to put my will to the side and follow His will in every area of my life. 

I have chosen a few books of the Bible I want to study as well as a few different themes so I don´t think I am going to be bored anytime soon! 

Goal 2 - Shut up - Sorry, I don´t mean to be rude...I just want to learn to be slow to speak and quick to listen. Most of the time I am just the opposite so that is something I want to work on in 2016!!! 

Goal 3 - Get healthy

My motto for the year is this.....

This can work in all areas of my life...spiritually, physically, emotionally.

So today I started to put this motto into practise in the hope that it will help me achieve goal number 3 - to get healthy.

 I was sooo tempted to eat unhealthy stuff at work but I kept saying to myself...."Laura your future self will thank you for not eating that chocolate!" I even printed the motto out and hung it up at work. It really helped me stick to my healthy eating. 

On the way home today I did something else rather amazing! I went into the Gym and booked a time, on Monday, for a free trial. Once again it was the motto that motivated me! I really didn´t want to go to the Gym but I drove there anyway after work, I sat in my car and held a meeting with myself. I said "Laura, you get out of this car and do this! Your future self will thank you." and that helped me get out of the car and go into the Gym to book the trial!! 

It actually sounds really good. It´s called LOOP and it is more of a fitness place for people like me - unfit,  and a little chubby. (All the other fitness places seem to have all these skinny, beautiful, got it all together people, training in them! haha)

So at LOOP, all the equipment that you train on is in a circle. You have 45secs on each thing, when the bell goes you move to the next piece of equipment. You go around the circle twice and in that time you will have trained and trimmed the whole body. It takes 24 minutes to get around the circle twice. There is a 5 minute warm up machine that you start out on and a stretching area for when you´re finished. I think I could do this!!! So I get a free trial on Monday and if it goes well then I will sign up. This is my new goal for 2016. Get healthy and hopefully in the process get rid of some of the extra kilos that I am carrying around. 

Goal 4 - Learn the Violin. I have been taking free lessons on Youtube and now understand how all the notes work on the violin. I am trying to master how you hold the bow and how to play it on the strings. It´s so much fun. I might post a video one day soon although I am a bit dubious about doing that because if André Rieu sees me he might just want me to join his orchestra and I am not sure I want to travel the world just yet!! hehe 

Goal 5 - Go for more walks and enjoy the wonderful nature around me. (Take my camera and capture some of that nature!) 

Goal 6 - Keep working on my friendships. I want to keep in touch with my friends both near and far. I am good at keeping in touch with my different girl friends that live close by, but I need to be better at keeping in touch with those friends that live further away, especially those in other countries. 

Goal 7 - Invite more people home for dinner - tea/coffee. This was one of our goals last year...to entertain more. I think on the whole we did pretty well, although in the middle of the year life got a little busy and we didn´t have as many friends over for dinner as would have liked, but we take the challenge up again this year and lets see if we can do better. 

Goal 8 - ARK!! which stands for.....Acts of Random Kindness. I want to do more of this in 2016 - it´s so much fun to surprise someone with an act of kindness:-) More of this in 2016!!

Goal 9 - Be a Barnabas. Barnabas was a man in the Bible who was good at encouraging others. That is another goal for 2016 - to be better at encouraging and building others up. I want to be the type of person I would like to meet! :-) 

Goal 10 - Read some good books! (and get a new Kindle) 

So that´s my list all wrote down so I can look at it whenever I need to remind myself of what I wish for myself this year. Hope you all have a fantastic 2016 and my you achieve some goals of your own!

Lazy days......

We had a few lazy days over Christmas and it was wonderful.

On Boxing day Sara and Andrew went back to their different homes and Leah went to visit Lasse and his family. Kristian and I found ourselves alone, so we spent the whole day in our PJs watching dvds and eating way too much chocolate!! 

By Monday we had cabin fever and just needed to get out. So we decided to head to town.
Kristian needed to get one of his Christmas boxes changed to a bigger size so we took care of that and then just enjoyed walking about town. It was really lovely to get out.

We had been eating leftovers for 3 days and we were soooo tired of turkey, ham and potatoes that we decided we would go to my favourite cafe and have dinner there. I had the most delicious prawn salad and Kristian got himself a burger. Just as we were leaving the cafe we saw Kristian´s friend Morten out with his new girlfriend. We finally got to meet her. They had only started eating so we asked if they wanted to come to us for coffee when they were finished. They said yes. 

We went by the bakery on the way home and bought some cakes to serve with coffee. Not long after we got home Morten and Marianne arrived. We had such a cosy evening together with them and it was rather late when they left.

On Tuesday Kristian´s mum turned 80! Even though we held a party for her in the Summer we still had some celebrating to do with her on the day. She was having an open house from 11am to 3pm. We arrived down to help with all the practical things. People came and went through out the day. All of us (her kids and their other halves) were there the whole day. 

I sent her a text message with the above picture attached so she could start her day with a smile:-) hehe

She had a lot of friends visiting and I think she really enjoyed her day. She looks really well for 80! She is such a great person and I am blessed to have her as my mother-in-law.

 Her kids sang the song they sang at her party in the summer and it went down a treat!

When all the visitors left we (all the family) cleared up and then just hung out together.  It was soooo cosy, Around 5pm Kristian and I left even though the rest of the family were going to stay and eat leftovers together. Kristian was going on his yearly trip to the forest with his guy friends, so he had to get home to pack and get ready for that. 

At 7.30pm Kristian headed out into the forest and I was home alone. Leah was at work and then she was heading home to her friend´s house for a girly night. I cuddled up on the sofa with Zoey while my hubby was out in the cold sorting out the worlds problems with his other male friends. (I was so thankful to be a home in the warm!) He arrived home again at 4.30am!!! Crazy man!! But he had had a great night out in the forest!

I just love this wee cat - Zoey. She is the cutest cat with a lovely wee personality. I am sooo glad we got her. 

On Wednesday and we spent some of the day getting the house cleaned and ready for New Year. We also went to town to get a few things. 

Wednesday evening and I headed out to the cinema with my friend Laura and her friend Karen. We went to see the film Joy. I really enjoyed the film even though it was different than I expected. It´s not one that I would see again but even so, it had my attention the whole way through. We had a lovely evening up in town together. It´s good to get out with the girlfriends from time to time!

Thursday we were up early to do the last bit of shopping for the New Year. It was then home to prepare the food. The house was pretty clean and tidy so we didn´t have too much to do there. Kristian´s sister Hanne and her husband Flemming were coming to hold New Year with us. 

We had a wonderful New Year´s Eve together with them. We made a 3 course meal which turned out well! (yes!! thank goodness!)  We spent a good part of the evening eating, chatting and catching up with each other. I had bought a small quiz box with questions on things that happened in 2015. We had fun playing that. Then the rest of the evening was spent watching a concert with many different artist - Hitman returns. It was a fantastic concert and we all really enjoyed seeing it.  At midnight we toasted in the New Year and then went out and watched the fireworks that were going off in the neighbourhood. 

 Who does Kristian remind you off?

Hanne and Flemming were staying the night so we were in no rush to get to bed. At 3am we decided that maybe it was time to hit the sack!

The next morning we were up around 10am and I made brunch for us all. We again sat a few hours around the table and ate and talked. We so enjoy hanging out with them. 

The rest of New Year´s day was spent relaxing. I must admit I fell asleep at one point in the afternoon . Getting to bed so late was getting to me - I´m just not as young as I think I am!

It really has been a lovely Christmas and New Year. On Monday it´s all back to porridge again but before that I want to set myself some goals for the New Year. Ummmhhhh not sure what just yet but I´m sure I will think of something.