Silver hair and romance.....

My hair is not the only thing going silver around here. Our marriage is turning silver too! 

On the 1st September 2015 we will have been married 25 years! I just can´t get my head around that!! It has gone by soooo fast! 

I can honestly say they have been great years, and so I wanted to celebrate that! I wanted to do something different....something special, something to surprise Kristian and make him smile. 

After talking to a friend about it all, she gave me the perfect idea!  

Want to know what it is? Ok, here it comes (you might need a bucket cause it gets a bit romantic!)

On the 1st September this year, we went out to dinner for our 24th anniversary. Here I gave Kristian a silver envelope. In it was a letter explaining that from the 2nd September 2014 (the next day) we would be going into our 25th year as a married couple. 

The letter explained that over the course of the next 12 months Kristian would get 25 silver envelopes from me. I went on to explain that he would have no idea when or where these envelopes would arrive. They would suddenly appear and would contain surprises. Some would be small and silly, others rather big!! All the surprises would be someting special to help us remember our 25th year together. 

To say Kristian was happy with this idea is an understatement! 

Now the hard work began for me. I had to start planning all the ideas for the 25 envelopes! It was actually no hard task! I LOVE things like that. Before long I had gotten myself a notebook and filled it with pages and pages of ideas!! 

Kristian was expecting some envelopes to appear sometime soon and before long I had the first one ready for him. 

He had been out go-cart training and when he came home, (around 8pm,) there was a silver envelope attached to the front door.....

The note inside said he had to meet me on the sofa at 9pm.. Here he would be given more information about the evening and another silver envelope. 

So exactly at 9pm, Kristian was on the sofa. I had cake, coffee and candles all ready. 

He was given a note explaining what would happen. We were going to have a quiz. Only if he could answer the questions correctly would he receive silver envelope number 2.

The quiz questions were about things in our past...memories we had made. Lucky for him he got the questions right and so envelope number 2 was given to him.

This envelope contained tickets to hear Bryan Adams in concert in Berlin! Kristian was sooo shocked!

 (We listened to Bryan Adams the whole time we were on our honeymoon in Donegal, Ireland. His cassette tape was our faithful companion in our car and as we drove up and down the hills of Donegal we sang our wee hearts out to him! So not only do we like him and his music, but Kristian has also wanted to go to Berlin for a while now....so here I was killing 2 birds with the 1 stone! )

So our date night on the sofa was to plan the trip to Berlin. Should we drive there? Should we fly? Should we stay 1, 2 or 3 nights? Where should we stay? We had an exciting night planning it all, and we ended up going to bed far too late! But we got everything planned!!

So envelopes 1 and 2 have been given. (Although we still have to experience Berlin in December.)

A few weeks later Kristian found envelope number 3 on his pillow. It was given a few weeks before the event. (He should have only gotten it on the day of the event but because I couldn´t keep it to myself any longer I gave it to him two weeks early! haha) 

It was a night out to hear the band Mezzoforte. Kristian LOVES them. When I lived in Ireland and Kristian in Denmark we made cassette tapes to each other.(Those were the days before internet and skype!)  Kristian always played Mezzoforte music as background music while he chatted away to me on the tape. 

So Kristian got his third silver envelope and read the letter. As soon as he read the clues in the letter, he guessed who it was we were going to see. He was sooo excited!!! We looked forward to our date night for 2 weeks, so it was actually good I gave him the envelope early.

Mezzoforte´s concert was last Friday and we had a fantastic night. Kristian invited me out to dinner before the concert, which I off course accepted!  Delicious food, good company and a brilliant concert - such clever musicians! What more could a girl ask for. Another memory made and cherished. 

                      (The concert. We sat at table 67)

Check out Mezzoforte.....

Envelope 4 is now ready to be given....No I am not telling you what it is..not until after the event! What I will say is that it´s an evening that I am sooo looking forward too! 

I´ll keep you posted! :-)

I´d nearly forgotten......

...how to work this blog!!!

Its been sooo long since my last update that I couldn´t even remember how to log in! (but as you can see I worked it out in the end!)

So here I am again! Back for another update. Its been 3 months or so since my last post, so this is well overdue!! Sit back, relax and get ready for a mega update!! 

So where do I start? I think I´ll go back to the summer holidays. Summer has come and gone - it all went by sooo fast. We had a lovely summer. It was spent here at home. We wanted to just stay here this year and enjoy the nature on our own door step. We were tourist in our own area and we enjoyed every minute of it.

We spent some days lazying about here in the garden, reading or going walks. Other days we went on trips. The weather in Denmark was fantastic.

We went to the Folk Park...

I wonder if it was the same man that built our house??

We went and explored areas of Copenhagen that we had never seen....

We went across to Sweden (twice) and had a great time there......

We found a subway!!!

I even went gray for a few days! 

We also explored the castles close to home. We explored some new restaurants and also spent time with friends and family. Sara and Christian came for a weeks holiday and it was great seeing them.

Out with friends.....

Some cosy evenings at home.....

The whole family together 

(with Camilla - Andrews girlfriend, and Christian - Sara´s boyfriend)

We had some great food....

In the middle of everything we found time to do a make-over of our bedroom. Our bedroom was soooo boring. Just a desk and a bed in it...no pictures, no colour, no atmosphere. I wanted to go for an old looking room....a bit Swedish, a bit like something from Anne of Green Gables. Here´s the result....

Before picture

 After pictures

I also made a sign for our bedroom wall....

It was a lovely summer holiday just hanging out at home, however one evening we got a sad phone call. 

My Aunt Kathleen (dad´s sister) died just at the end of our holidays. 

My Aunt Kathleen was a wonderful person. 

She was the kindess person you could meet. 

She would do without just so you could have. 

She would give you her last pound coin if you needed it. 

She just had a heart of gold. 

She was a person who was content. 

She would never complain and she was thankful for whatever she had. 

She loved reading and we enjoying sharing books and discussing things we had read. 

She was funny and I always loved seeing her when I went home to Ireland.  

When I went home we always went out to eat. I always got fish and chips,  she always got a pastie! 

I am soooo glad I got home in June and got to spend time with her. I found these photos on my phone and I am soooo thankful to have them of her and our last time together in Belfast. I know she wouldn´t swap places, she is home with Jesus but I do miss her.

In September we had loads of birthdays.....Kristian, Leah and Sara.

 So September went with buying presents, and organising parties.

For Kristian´s birthday we invited all his brothers and sisters and their other halves over for a BBQ. We had such a great evening with them.  

Leah had her girl friends from school over for a pizza and film night one evening. Then the next day our neighbour Laura and her daughter went out with us for ice cream. Finally on her birthday she invited her Granny Rasmussen and boyfriend Lasse out to eat with us. 

Since Sara isn´t at home anymore I didn´t need to organise a party for her (thank goodness - I´m getting too old for this!) Sara and Christian went to Berlin the weekend of her birthday. Her Christian had a birthday a few days before so they wanted to celebrate their birthdays in Primark in Berlin! haha

So thats the big update over for this time....Phew!!! 

Lots happening AGAIN.....

Since last I blogged we have been busy, busy, busy!!

Near the end of May we had some friends visit from Ireland. They arrived on a Thursday afternoon and went home again the following Tuesday. We had a fantastic time with them. Lots of catching up with each other and loads of laughing.You just can´t beat the Irish sense of humour! Kristian fits right in with it too and is just as happy to have people visiting from Ireland as I am. (With the accent he has you would think he was born and reared over there!! haha)

A few days after they left I headed to Ireland. It was time to go back and face visiting my homeland for the first time without dad.  It was hard. I landed in Dublin and it was raining.....lashing down! Just how I love it and all I could think about was getting home to Dad´s place to sit on his sofa and make some hot soup. Even though it was hard it felt sooo good to be back. I haven´t been back for over a year and I felt sooo at home again, like I´d never been gone.

Getting off the plane I took the bus to Banbridge were some of our good friends picked me up. I spent the night with them in Dromore. They spoiled me rotten and it was lovely to spend the day relaxing with them. On the Friday morning I was given a real treat - an Ulster Fry just like my mums. Sooo delicious! Then it was time to head up to Belfast. I wanted to visit the area where I grew up. I wanted to pop in and visit some of mum and dads old friends, and some "old" neighbours too. It was sooo wonderful to surprise them. 

I was especially glad to see dads old neighbour Ellen. It was hard going past dad´s house again and seeing it look so different. I was so emotional I was thankful that Ellen was home and I could pull myself together in her kitchen over a wee cup of tea. 

By Friday, early afternoon, I was ready to head into the centre of Belfast and check into my hotel. I was staying at the Europa!! (Got a "Deal of the Day" that I couldn´t refuse!)  I couldn´t wait to check it out and I wasn´t disappointed. It was one of the basic rooms but very comfortable. 

I had a wonderful trip to Ireland. The long weekend went by too quickly. I got to relax a tiny, tiny, wee bit but mostly I got to catch up with friends and family. If I didn´t get to see you this time I am sorry. The next time I am over I will try to stay longer and hopefully get to see more people. 

We went on a tour of the city hall. It was sooo interesting and fun. 

 Got to see loads of friends....

And I got to wear the Belfast City Councillors robes when we went on our tour of the City Hall.  They cost 4000 pounds each. All hand made.  I have never had such an expensive piece of clothing on me in my life! 

It was raining when I arrived in Dublin and raining when I left. It was a wonderful trip and I have so many good memories from it. Next time Kristian will have to come along too! 

Talking of Kristian.....he went and bought himself a new car while I was away!! Well not new, new. It´s 3 years old but a better one than he has. He had talked to me about it before I left so I knew he was interested and since he knows all about cars and the financing of them, I left it all up to him. 

I came home from Ireland late Tuesday evening and on the Thursday we went to pick up the car. We were off work and since the car was over on the other side of Denmark we took the bus to Århus - a 3½ hour journey. Sara collected us at the station and we had a cosy afternoon with her and Christian before we went to pick up the car and head home. 

I must say it really is a nice car. Kristian did well there - Automatic gear and built in navigation system....all very posh! 

 At the minute Kristian is on his way to France in his new car. He is going to Le Mans to be a flag man again. So he and his friends should be arriving there this evening - June 9th. The pre-race events start on Wednesday and then Le Mans on Saturday. He should be home again this time next Monday.

Meanwhile we are having a cosy time enjoying the good weather and more holidays. Denmark has so many bank holidays in May and June so we get a lot of long weekends. Today has been one of them and what a glorious day its been - warm and sunny. In fact all weekend has been like that and we have enjoyed sitting out playing games, chatting and drinking hot chocolate. I am so not in the mood to go to work tomorrow.......but in 2½ weeks time I am off again for 4 weeks so I can´t complain.

Half way to 90!!!!

Last week I turned 45!!!  I am middle aged! I have gray hair!!! I am starting to get aches and pains!!! I´m depressed!!! (well actually I´m not depressed. My life is good and they say you´re only are as old as you feel and I feel about 28 - sometimes!)

So for my birthday Kristian had bought me tickets to go and see "Les Miserable." It was in Århus a town about 3½ hours away, the town where Sara lives. On the day of my birthday (7th May)  we both left work at lunchtime and headed out on our roadtrip to Århus. We both love going on a long drive. Kristian loves to drive and I love to talk to him while he drives. We love our roadtrips and this one was NOT a disappointment. We had a lovely 3½ hour journey to Sara´s place. 

Sara´s Christian cooked us dinner, a delicious chicken curry with rice. Then Kristian and I headed to the theater. I just loved the show! The singing was fantastic. It was all  a bit much for Kristian though. He is not really a musical/theatre person but he sat through a 2½ hour show were all the lines were sung. Just shows me how much he really loves me! 

When we got back from the theater, Sara had made pancakes and hot chocolate. She had decorated the table with sweets, flags and streamers and it was then I got my present from her and Christian. A couple bottles of cola, some chocolates and 2 tickets to the cinema. She knows me well! All things that I love!

We had a cosy evening.

We stayed the night in Århus as we had taken the next day off work. Christian and Sara had done the same. So the next day we headed out together for a day of shopping in Århus. We had a great time! We had a delicious lunch together and then did a bit more shopping. Around 4.30pm Kristian and I said good-bye and got on the road for the journey home. It was so wonderful to be in Århus with them. I really wish we all lived a little closer to each other. 

The drive home was fantastic. The nature and the lighting was so special that we stopped a few times to take pictures. The sky was just soooo beautiful.