A week for catching up.....

with friends. Friendship is such a special thing and I am sooo blessed to have many great friends in my life. This week I decided to catch up with a few of them.

Monday evening my friend Anne was meant to come by for a natter, Bible study and a general catch up on life. However her life is a little hectic at the moment so she was feeling a little stressed about all she had to do. We decided to postpone and just catch up with each other at the end of May. Always good to have something to look forward to.

Tuesday and I was out catching up with my friend Genny. I have known Genny since Sara went to kindergarden. Her daughter and Sara were best friends way back then. We were the only foreigners in the kindergarden and the Danes never talked to us so we found  great comfort in talking to  each other.

Way back then we started a tradition of going out to eat 4 times a year and it has continued ever since. We would eat at the Mexican restaurant. It was "OUR" place and had been "OUR" place for 18 years or so, but  sadly it has now closed down. On Tuesday when we met, we didn´t know what to do with ourselves, it felt all wrong not meeting outside the Mexican, we had no idea where we should eat. We settled for an Itailian restaurant and had some delicious food and a lovely evening catching up with each other. I sure do treasure the friendship I have with Genny.

Then today my friend Rhona had invited me out to dinner for my birthday treat. Rhona is such a precious friend. I treasure her friendship soooo much too. I can just share everything with her and I value her advice and her wisdom. She is someone I look up to spiritually and I love to talk to her about God, ask her questions and hear her views on spiritual things. So when we get together we cover a lot of things!

We had such a lovely evening together, although we did have one problem - TIME! It went past too quickly! (Thanks Rhona for a really lovely evening!! I enjoyed every minute! I am sooo blessed to have you in my life! xox)

Then today I was at the doctor to get my stitches out of my nose! Yikes I was dreading it but it didn´t hurt at all. In fact my nose doesn´t feel sore anymore. When the stitches were in it felt tight and sore but it has been great getting the plaster of and the stitches removed. The nurse seems to think my nose with eventually be great. At the moment though it looks a right mess. Lets hope she´s right! :-) 

Then  on Tuesday evening Kristian got another Silver envelope. This is number 15!!  (HELP 10 more to go!!)

Over here most people are off work Thursday and Friday. Kristain and I are off too,  so I decided to plan a wee surprise for Kristian.

 He got the silver envelope on Tuesday evening  explaining that something would be happening on Thursday. He is now all excited. This evening I told him he needed to pack a small over night case and tomorrow morning more would be revealed.....it´s all sooo exciting!!!

Silver envelope 14 - and another birthday!

So it was time again for a Silver Envelope. Kristian and I were both of work on Monday and so I thought it was the perfect time to give him a Silver Envelope. I had been away all weekend and so it would be great to hang out together that day. This would be envelope 14.

 

He got his envelope and inside was tickets for an art exhibition. My colleage was involved in this and so he had given me free tickets. I invited Kristian out to brunch first.

We headed to our favourite cafe for brunch only to find that it was closed. They were painting the place!! Arrrgggghhhhh....so we headed to another cafe that I knew was good, but unfortunately that was closed too!! So we finally found a cafe that was serving a brunch buffet at a good price but we were sooo disappointed. All the warm stuff like bacon, sausage, egg, and the pancakes were stone cold! The food didn´t taste good at all. So that is one cafe we will never be going back to again!
After eating just one plate (which is sooo usual for me!) we headed into Copenhagen to the exhibition. We were not disappointed with that!!  It was fantastic!! We walked around the place for 3 hours and enjoyed all the art work we saw. What talented people!! I was getting inspired to paint again.

My colleague makes things out of wood. Below you can see one of the things he has made.

I loved the paintings below, but they cost about 2500 pounds to purchase!!! Might try painting them myself!!

When our minds couldn´t take anymore art we headed home. It was a lovely day out together. We got caught up on each others lives again after being apart for the weekend:-)

Then Tuesday evening found me going for a nose job!! I have had a mole or bump on my nose for years now. It has gotten bigger over the years and at times I think it looks a little red so I thought it was maybe time to get it seen too. I am such a chicken and hate pain so I was a nervous wreck going to get it done on Tuesday evening.

 The doctors place was situated in a lovely area. We were a little early and so Kristina wanted to go a walk. I wanted to just hide in the car! But in the end I got out and went a walk with him. It was beautiful.

 

I was only in 15 minutes and it was all taken care of. I however was totally drained. I didn´t say a word the whole way home in the car! Kristian was getting worried. He thought they had taken out a bit of my personality as usually I am all chatty and laughing. There was no laughing on the way home...mainly cause I could feel it was sore and also when I laugh I screw up my nose so I was soooo scared of doing something to make the stitches pop out!! haha

 

I came home, changed into my PJs and fell alseep on the sofa...totally exhausted. This was 8pm at night and I first woke at 11.30pm, got up and went to bed and slept til morning!

 

Then on Thursday I had a birthday - AGAIN!! It doesn´t seem that long since last time I had one!! A year sure can go in fast!

I meet very early on a Thursday so I told Kristian not to do think about doing any celebrating in the morning time. We could just celebrate at night when we both got home from Work.  Meeting at 7am means me getting up at 6am and I am always last minute...only time to shower, stick on clothes and go.

So when the alarm rang Thursday morning a few minutes before 6am I struggled out of bed and with half opened eyes made my way to the bathroom but between the living room and kitchen I found a surprise. Kristian had gotten me a bike for my birthday!!! I needed one, and have been looking at different ones, but thought I would just buy an old used one. He surprised me with this. I love it!! Now I can go exploring the area on my bike!

At work they had decorated the place with flags and banners! I had baked bread for everyone and also bought some cake, so we had a great day stuffing our faces!

 

The drive home was beautiful. The day had started out a bit rainy and dull but by the afternoon the sun was out. I just had to stop the car and take a few pictures of the fields around our home. It was just sooo beautiful.

 

My favourite road of all. The road leading home! 

Kristian told  me to be ready for 6.45pm because he had something planned. So when I got home from work I relaxed a bit before getting ready to meet Kristian. Andrew and Leah arrived home and gave me some presents. Then my neighbour arrived with some pressents too. What a great afternoon this was turning into!!

 I got a gift card to Ikea for 50 pounds from Sara, Andrew and Leah!!  I am a happy woman! Can´t wait to use it!

Then my neighbour came in with a special plant she found in the plant shop. It grew mini Snicker bars!! I was over the moon! I also got a beautiful scarf that I had seen in London but hadn´t bought. Laura bought it when I wasn´t looking!

About 6.30pm the phone rang and it was Kristian. He wanted to talk to Andrew. Andrew then gave me insturctions that we now all had to leave and meet dad in the next town. I couldn´t understand why Kristian wasn´t just coming home so we all could drive together, anyway Leah, Andrew and I got into the car and headed north!

We arrived at the next town and Andrew told me which restaurant we should head to. It was my favourite Italian restaurant. When I got there, Kristian was waiting. The waiter said hello and was showing us our seats. I took off my coat and then put my bag down and turned around to sit down and there in front of me was Sara!! I almost fainted!!

Sara had taken the bus from Århus to Copenhagen and Kristian went to get her from the bus. That´s why he arranged the late time of 6.45pm to meet. It brough tears to my eyes. It was the best surprise ever! For the first time in maybe 2 years, we were just the 5 us again. It was really special.

The food was delicious too. We then headed home and just sat around talking. Sara then headed back home the next afternoon, after having brunch with her cousin in Copenhagen.

WOW!!!!

.....what a weekend we had!!

So we were in London, my friend Laura and I, at Hillsongs Colour Conference. A Conference for women! It was amazing!

It started Thursday evening at 7pm. We arrived at our hotel at 6.30pm and had to get a taxi to Wembley Arena so we could make it in time for the opening. We made it!! At 6.50pm we found some seats among the other 11000 women and waited for the opening. What an opening it was!!

It was soooo professional. I thought we were actually at a West End Musical!. It started with a girl singing "Somewhere over the Rainbow".....then we were introduced to her, this was Alice. Alice had a book which she loved to read (the Bible) and it brought her peace, joy, love and it guided her through life. But one day someone decided to steal the book from Alice (this was the devil) he did it by using distractions like the internet.....media....friends...etc. Alice found herself in Destruction city and she couldn´t remember who she was anymore. (This was all being acted out and there were songs in between the acting along with fantastic backgrounds and lighting) In the end Alice finds herself again. She finds her book (the Bible)  and the words bring life back to her soul. It was just such a powerful introduction. The theme of the conference was BE FOUND.

It was such a special experience to stand and sing praises to God along with 11000 other women. It was really a small taste of Heaven! I loved meeting sooo many different nationalities. People were so friendly and so while you sat waiting for the meeting to start you just talked to the people around you. I met people from Scotland, Switzerland, England, BELFAST, South Africa, America, Israel and Holland. (Now I have a few extra friends on facebook!)

 

We met some Family too!! Kristian´s sister Hanne and her daughter Christine were at the Conference too, so we met up with them a few times for lunch and for dinner.

Thursday evening Bobbie Houston was teaching. I hadn´t heard Bobbie speak before but she was really good. Such a lovely, down to earth person with a real love for God. One thing that she said that challenged me and has stayed with me was this.....We need to BE FOUND in His Word, in His Shadow and in His footsteps.  She used a lot of Bible verses to explain these points. It was really challenging.

Friday morning we had teaching from Beth Moore who I knew and loved already. She was challenging too,  speaking from Psalm 78. Then after Beth came a girl I had never heard of before Dawnchere Wilkinson. She was a blond beauty with a Southern American accent. When she started to talk I thought "oh flip me what a Barbie!" boy I really should learn to shut up and not judge, She was fantastic! She spoke about the love God has for us, He is our father and what sort of father he is. Soooo good!

Friday afternoon we heard about the work that sisterhood supports. They do a great work helping all sorts of needy people.

Friday evening and Dawnchere was on again. What a powerful message she had on the faith of Sara. She shared many personal things from her own life and we cried and laughed with her. I was challenged.

Saturday morning and there was a special guest speaking. It was Joyce Meyer!!! I love Joyce and she did not disappoint. Her teaching was on "What do you do when God doesn´t pick you" When something you have been dreaming about, or believing God for doesnt come to you and you see someone else getting their dream fulfilled, their wish granted. She spoke on many different people from the Bible and as usual she was so practical in her teaching.

I took soooo many notes and I have sooo many verses to look up and study for myself.

It finished on Saturday evening with Beth Moore bringing the Bible teaching and then we sent a "wave" with the Union Jack in hand onto the next conference which will be held in Kiev.

It was such a special time and God spoke to my heart,  I got something out of each session and it was something that I needed.

Sunday we got up early and decided to head out and explore London a Little bit. We had about 4 hours before we needed to get to the airport. So we headed to Westminster Abbey and went to the service in there. A totally different type of service but great to experience.

It was then home to Denmark. We had a terrific weekend away, with a lot of stuff to think about. It was lovely hanging out with Laura, she is so much fun to be with and it was great to meet a whole lot of other wonderful women but most of all it was great to spend hours in Gods Word, listening to great teachers pour their heart out.

This will not be my last time at that Conference!! Roll on next year!

I´m leaving my husband......

....it´s sad but true. I am leaving him, but only for a long weekend!!

Tomorrow (Thursday) my friend Laura and I will fly to London for the Hillsongs Woman´s Conference in Wembley Arena. We are soooo excited about it and I´m really looking forward to a girly weekend away in London. I don´t think we will get to see much of the sights but we don´t mind. We are going over to be filled up spiritually and to have fellowship with thousand of other Christian women.

Kristian´s sister Hanne and her daughter are going too, so we will meet up with them over there. I think it´s going to be a great weekend!! We have booked into what looks like a cosy wee hotel - I don´t think Laura and I are going to get a lot of sleep over the next few days!!

So the bags are all packed and everything is ready to go. Meanwhile here at home Leah will be at a friend´s Confirmation on Friday. Everyone is off work and school here. Andrew is going to visit Camilla and so that means Kristian has got a day to himself, something I think he is looking forward to! Laura and I will be back Sunday evening, so he may enjoy the peace and quiet while it lasts!

Silver envelope 13

Silver envelope 13 was given to me this week. Yes GIVEN TO ME!!! Kristian surprised me with an envelope. Well it wasn´t a literal envelope but on Monday evening he told me he had something special planned for Friday evening and he was thinking that it could be one of our silver envelopes - envelope 13 from him to me.  That was fine by me!!

 

I was all excited! He wouldn´t tell me a thing about what was happening, just that I had to be ready for 4.30pm on Friday afternoon.

 

So while waiting on Friday to come around I continued with my healthy eating and excercise program. One evening I decided to give training in the garage a break and I went for a run instead - haha what a laugh that was! I really saw how unfit I was! So I ran a bit and walked a bit. I was running in the forest and it was such a beautiful evening, so I stopped every so often and took a few photos (I was sure glad of those short breaks!)

 

So far I am doing really well with my eating and exercising. I have lost 3,3kg (I think that´s about ½ a stone?) since starting. Let´s hope it continues!!

So back to our silver envelope! Friday night finally arrived and I was all excited about what Kristian had planned for the evening. I kept getting text messages at work reminding me to be ready for 4.30pm and telling me how much he was looking forward to our night out. It was sooo sweet.

I was ready for 4.30pm. Kristian arrived home on time too and soon we were on the road. I thought we might be heading to Copenhagen but instead Kristian headed the car up North. The whole way I was trying to guess what we were going to do. I wasn´t successful but Kristian did keep saying that it was nothing too big and he hoped I wouldn´t be disappointed.

We arrived at one of the towns right up north and after parking the car and a short walk I found myself in a lovely Italian restaurant with real Italian waiters that only spoke Italian to us. Here Kristian told me that we were meeting some of our really good friends - Henrik and Birthe. I was sooo happy about that. We always have a great time with them. Before long they arrived and we ate the most delicious meal together with lots of chatter and laughter.

No one would tell me what the rest of the plan was for the evening but then Birthe let it slip while eating dinner. She said "Oh I love when we go out for dinner together before a concert!" (we have been to a few concerts together and we always go out to eat first!) The men just shook their heads and rolled their eyes, then she realised what she had said. the cat was out of the bag.  After dinner we were going for a concert!!

So after dinner we walked the short distance to the concert hall. We were going to see a famous band here in Denmark called  "Danser med drenge" (Dancing with Boys). I love their music, many of their songs have good words and deep meaning. It was a fantastic concert and we had a great evening all together.

I was certainly not disappointed in this silver envelope! Mr Rasmussen you can arrange a few more of these - you´re really rather good at it!! 

Up at the crack of dawn.....

Saturday morning and I was up at the crack of dawn. In fact Kristian and Andrew were up along with me. At 5.30am our alarm clocks rang one after the other. Kristian was getting up to head to the go-kart track, he had to be there by 7am. Andrew was heading to work. He works as a postman every Saturday, so he had to be there by 6.15am. I was up because I too had to be at work. We had a work day at school so the parents could come and help do some work on the playground. I was going in to make coffee, serve snacks and prepare and clear up lunch for them all. I was at work at 6.30am to get things organised.

 

It was a beautiful day and being up early meant that I got to enjoy a beautiful sunrise while driving to work.

 

In between serving the parents with refreshments I decided to clean the library. I went a bit mad and climbed up and down ladders to give the lamps a good clean. They really needed it and it felt sooo good to get them done!!

When I got home from work on Saturday afternoon, I headed straight over to Laura´s house. Her new sofa had arrived, and I couldn´t wait to see it. It came a little earlier than expected as it was due to arrive in the middle of May. We had planned to paint and do a few things around the place before it arrived but now we will just have to do all our plans with the sofa in the room. It looks sooo good! It´s going to look even better when we paint and re-arrange some of the furniture! She was a very happy person!

Saturday evening found Andrew and Leah on dates with their other halves. I was feeling left out, I had no date!! Kristian was going to play his sax at a Silver Wedding Anniversary party so I was home alone. I love having these alone times too, so I enjoyed those few hours of peace and quiet before I decided to head over to Laura again and sit on her sofa. We ended up watching a film and I got to bed way to late!

Sunday was my day of rest. I did nothing. I read, listened to some Bible teaching and just enjoyed being home after a busy week and a busy Saturday. Now another week has started and I am ready to face it with renewed strength!