April......

April has come and gone soooo quickly with loads of things happening.

At the start of April I took my friend Rhona out for brunch. She had a birthday way back in December and as part of her gift I had made a gift card for brunch with me, at one of my favourite cafes. I thought it was about time we used that gift card, plus I was dying to see her and catch up on life with her . We had a great day together.

Then I had a visit to Ikea with my friend Audry. We didn´t buy anything but just had fun walking around dreaming and planning. We ended our evening in McDonalds, like we always do. When we had finished eating she said "OH I can´t wait any longer, here you have to open this." She gave me a bag with a small box inside. It was an early birthday present. When I opened it I coudn´t believe my eyes. She had gotten me a beautiful bracelet that I had admired a few months back. I was soooo touched by this. I love my bracelet and it hasn´t been off my arm since I got it. Thanks Audry!

The highlight of the month of April was our trip to London. Leah has always wanted to see London so her Christmas present from us was a ticket to the big smoke for a girlie few days away. Just me and her.  She then had a few months to save up her own money to help pay for some of the entertainment we would have while there. 

We had a brilliant time. We arrived Sunday lunch time and went home Wednesday evening. It was the week up to Easter so we both were off school and work! 

Sunday afternoon I met up with an "old" friend from Ireland. She lives in London and I haven´t seen her for about 16 years. We had a wonderful afternoon together with her and her two boys. It was like we had never been apart. It just all ended too quickly!

The rest of the time in London was spent walking! We walked, walked and walked. We saw all the sights...Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, The London Eye, Westminster Abbey, St. Pauls Cathedral, Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square and Covet Gardens. We also vistied the British Museum and The National Gallery. The rest of the time we spent shopping, mostly in Primark!! :-)  

The highlight of the trip was going to see the musical Wicked. It was absolutely fantastic. We loved it so much and ended up buying the CD which I haven´t stopped playing in the car! It was a really great trip, one we will remember for a long time! :-)

Thursday before Good Friday is a holy day here and so Kristian was asked to go and play at a Gospel service in a church about an hour from here, along with two of our friends. They would be playing and singing along with Kristian. I went along too and it was a really lovely service. We were invited to join the congregation afterwards for lamb and potatoes. We then headed home to us for coffee and cake. We had such a great evening with them. (Press the link below if you want a taste of Kristian playing his sax...)

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10202227942314757&l=6494956803635802178

Since Easter the weather has been fantastic. Easter Sunday Camilla (Andrew´s girlfriend) came to lunch and we sat outside and ate a delicious meal together, then we all headed into church in Copenhagen to celebrate the resurrection. It was a lovely Sunday. 

April has also allowed us to work a little in the garden but we have also had time to go exploring in the area. We are finding new roads and paths about the place that lead to some fantastic places. The other evening a few of the us got together for a bread, cheese and wine dinner down by the lake. It was absolutely beautiful.

Across from us is an old quarry which has been made into a nature spot. We call it The Big Moutain. While we were out walking we were trying to find our house from the top of the hill. We managed to find it! Kristian is making sure everyone knows where it is! :-)

We really do feel blessed to live in such a beautiful part of Denmark with fields, lakes and forest right on our doorstep. The last few evenings as we have been out walking Kristian and I have talked about how much my dad would have loved this place. He would have been out with his camera and we wouldn´t have seen him for hours. I really wish he would have had the chance to visit, even just one time, to experience it. We still miss him. <3 font="">

March 2014

Once again it has been a while. Maybe this time I am back in the land of  blogging for good!! Time will tell.:-)

I have missed blogging. I have also missed being able to go back and read about the things that have filled my days - the memories Kristian and I  have created together, the memories we have created together as a family and I have also missed a place to be able to just write down my thoughts on things. So here I go again...... starting with things that happened in March.

At the start of March Sara and Christian came for a visit - in fact they came twice. The first weekend was to attend a special event. All the grandchildren had planned a day out with Kristian´s mum. So Sara and Christian came over to be a part of that.  

The day started with brunch, then a visit to Granddad Rasmussen´s grave with some flowers. Then it was of to the Zoo. 

 Sara and her cousin Sigrid

 All the grandkids and Kristian´s mum. Group hug! 

It was then home to one of the grandkids apartment to make dinner and just hang out and be cosy. 

 Sara and Emma making pizzas. Andrew having fun playing table tennis...

They had a great day together.

The weekend after this Sara and Christian were over here again, this time they had Sara´s friend Louisa with them. Sara and Louisa were going to a Backstreet boys concert in Copenhagen on the Saturday evening and so they came to spend the weekend together in Copenhagen. While the girls had fun shopping and seeing the sights of the city. Christian hung out here at home with Kristian and me. It was a lovely weekend.

That weekend my old lady friend was not doing so well so I went to visit her. She was really feeling poorly and had not been out of bed in two days. Monday 17th March the old peoples home rang me at work to say that she was being admitted to hospital. I went after work to see her but there was no contact with her. I stayed with her till early evening. I then headed home but told the hospital to contact me, even in the middle of the night, if they thought she wouldn´t make it. 

The pictures above and below are from Christmas Eve. We bought her a coffee machine that made cappuccino or hot chocolate. She was over the moon! 

Just after 10pm on the Monday evening the phone rang and it was the hospital. She had passed away peacefully in her sleep. I was so sad. I had known her for nearly 11 years. I had visited her every Tuesday for the last 6-7 years and we always celebrated her Birthday and Christmas together. I felt the lost. Just the week before we had sat and talked, laughed and ate cream buns together. She had cancer, so in a way it was good that she went quickly without suffering too much. She passed away on St Patricks day. 

The next week before the funeral was very emotional for me. I was fine one minute and crying the next.  We held a lovely funeral service for her and after the service Kristian´s mum came to visit. I bought one of Gerda´s (my old lady friend) favourite cakes and we ate that, drank coffee and Krisitan and I shared stories with his mum about her. We ended it by going a walk. I miss her. It is so strange not going to see her on a Tuesday. 

Near the end of March I had a date night with my crazy friend Anne. We went out for dinner at our favourite Italian restaurant where the waiter sang to us every time he came to serve us some food! Such fun! We talked for 8 hours solid without stopping!!! We always have sooo much to talk about. I am so blessed to have so many great friends in my life. Anne is one of them.

My other friend Laura had a birthday at the end of March. I was invited to a girly lunch along with a few of her other friends. We had a great afternoon celebrating her. Lots of chatter and laughter.

So that was March!! Where has the time gone?! I will save April for another evening and then hopefully update from week to week or day to day.:-) 

I´m back......I think! :-)

Happy New Year everyone!  I know it´s already half way through January so I am a little late at saying Happy New Year - but better late than never!

If you have been checking the blog out you will notice that I haven´t been blogging very much! Sorry about that. I just lost it for a while.....but now I`m back, at least I think I am......let me see if I can keep at it this time. :-)

So what has been happening with me???!!!! Lots actually....where do I begin? 

The last time I blogged was the middle of October! I really do not know where the time has gone. Let me recap a little....

October: 

I had a week off school and spent most of the time around the house relaxing. Leah and I went to Sweden one of the days together with our neighbour Laura and her daughter Mia, we had a great day out shopping.

Sara and her Christian came to visit in October and we had a cosy evening out painting. Not often Sara gets all arty on me! 

November: 

In November we changed our living room around a bit. We got a new tv and a corner sofa. We were tired of never being able to see the TV properly so we got ourselves a sofa with room for all and where everyone could see the TV. We LOVE the new look! 

I also ended up going to London for a weekend in November. My niece wrote to me and asked if I wanted to meet up with her in London as she wanted to go see a show and concert but had no one to go with. We checked out flights and they were cheap so we went for it. It was a fanastic weekend. 

We flew out early on the Saturday morning. she from Belfast, me from Copenhagen and we met up in Gatwick. We already had a show to see on the Saturday afternoon. The Lion King! It was fantastic. Saturday evening saw us at the musical Mathilda. It was double fantastic!!! 

 On Sunday we visited Oxford Street and ended the day with a concert. 

Monday it was  up early and on the road again. We were once again heading home. We had a lovely breakfast at the airport before going our separate ways again. A really wonderful weekend, one I will remember for a very long time! Thanks Lauren:-)

December: 

A busy month for all I think! We had a lovely December. Sara and Christian came to visit again. This time they brought Schumi, the most adorable little dog. Sara has been wanting a dog for years and finally her wish came true!! We enjoyed having them here for the weekend....but I sure am glad I don´t have a puppy to train!! 

One of the things on my bucket list (the list of things I want to do before I kick the bucket!) came true on the 19th December. I have always wanted to see Don Moen live in concert. He is a worship leader from the States and I just love his songs. Well I never thought I would get to experience him live as he lives in the States but  he came to Denmark and so Kristian´s sister Hanne and I, along with one of my nieces, went to see him. I was not disappointed. It was a great evening of praise! It started at 6pm and was first finished at 10pm!!! I could have stayed all night! 

We decided to hold Christmas at home on the 24th  and so we invited Kristian´s sister Hanne and her family to join us. We had a wonderful evening. Then we held our own "English" Christmas on the 25th. Sara was home for all the celebrations but had to head back on the evening of the 25th. It was great having her home for a while.

We were both very happy with the pressies we got! 

On the 26th we held another Christmas morning this time with our neighbour. We had a great day together!

Between Christmas and New Year we visited my friend Anne and her family and had a great family evening there. Kristian´s mum also had a birthday so the whole family were gathered together at her house. She got a special present from the family. Tickets to go and see André Rieu in May when he comes to Denmark to give a concert and guess which family members get to go with her? ME and my sister-in-law Lis!! I can hardly wait! Another wish on my bucket list coming true.

In between all this I have had a few visits to Ikea with my friend Audry. Also a few strawberry cake dates with my friend Rhona. 

I feel blessed. I have so much to be thankful for!  

New Year´s Eve was spent at home with Kristian, Andrew and Camilla. We had a delicious dinner and then just relaxed and watched TV. At minute we headed out to see the fireworks and to welcome in 2014. Wonder what sort of year this is going to be?!!!

MEGA update!!!!

I know, I know, it has been a while! Some of you have been asking where I have disappeared too. I got lazy again. (Sorry) In the past when I got lazy about updating, just knowing dad checked it out each day and that it made him feel a part of our lives over here, made me do it. 

Since dad died I wasn´t sure if anyone ever checked the blog, but now I know some of you do. Here I am back on the blog again. So sit back and relax cause now there is coming a really long up-date!

16th September and Leah turned 16!! Yikes how did that happen?!!! She was off school that day as she had been in Austria on a school trip and they got the day off to recover. I took the day off work to be with her and we had a lovely girly day out starting with brunch and then shoppping. Andrew and Camilla met us after they finished school, then it was home to chinese with Kristian and our neighbours. A really cosy day.

Tuesday 17th September and Kristian´s sister Hanne had a birthday. (There are sooo many birthdays in our family in September!) I had been invited to a girly evening with about 15 other girls. I decided to make a bit of an entrance by wearing my Happy Birthday Bra and Pants over my clothes, add a wig and some false teeth and we had quite a laugh. It was a really cosy evening at Hannes with the most delicious cakes! 

20th September and I had an art exhibition. It was culture night in our local town and so I was asked to display some of my art work. It was fun getting things ready for that. 

Kristian helped me get everything set up on the Thursday evening. We used a couple of hours on that. We were pleased with the result. On the way home from work on the Friday I decided to go and by and check out one of my paintings. I wanted to add a bit more white to highlight some areas. It would take abobut 10 minutes to do. However not everything goes according to plan.....

When I arrived this is what I found.....

The steel wire had come out of the wall! Everything had fallen down!!! Funny thing was it took me a few seconds to figure out what had happened. I thought my paintings had been stolen and I was wondering who on earth would want my paintings when my friend John`s, who is a fantastic painter (professional) paintings were all still there! Then I realised what had happened. I laughed so much, I had no idea what to do!!! 

I got things sorted out though. There was no time to hang the whole thing up again so I just set my paintings on radiators and chairs with the black clothe drapped over. It worked well. We had a really great evening and I even sold a painting!

27th and 28th September Leah and I attended a Woman´s conference in Copenhagen. It was absolutely brilliant. Great music, great food, great fellowship and great teaching. It´s just great to take time out and spend time with a whole lot of other women. (There were men there too, but their job was to serve us. They opened the doors, gave us presents, served the food...it was wonderful!! )My neighbour Laura and her daughter came along too along with Kristian´s mum, sister, some neices, my other sister-in-law and a lot of ladies from my church. Already we are looking forward to next year. (so any of you ladies interested in going next year, let me know!!)

Monday 30th September and I met my "old" friend Genny. It was time for our Mexican food date to catch up with each others lives. When we arrived at the restaurant (they know us well after going there 4 times a year for 15 years) they told us that this was the last evening they were open as a Mexican restaurant, they were changing to Chinese. So glad we made it for one last meal. It was a lovely evening catching up with Genny and her life and family.

Friday 11th October was Culture Night in Copenhagen, we decided to go and check it out. We were not disappointed. There was sooo much happening and so many things to do. So we now have a new tradition - we are going to this every year. We spent most of the evening at DR (Danish Radio) seeing how the programmes were made, even got to meet some of the famous people from radio and TV. 

By 9pm I was exhausted. Kristian was teasing me about getting old, about being the weakest link. We had planned to go to a concert in the jazzhouse at 11pm but I was so ready for bed by 10.30pm so we headed home! Once on the train Kristian went out like a light! Now who was the weakest link. Secretly I think he wanted to get home but just wouldnt admit it! It was a great night out and something I would recommend for anyone living in Denmark! 

Now I have a weeks holiday, just what I needed! So looking forward to a week of not having to get up at the crack of dawn! 

Thanks for reading this far! I did warn you it would be long! Now I need to do a little every evening so it doesnt get this long again.