Goodbye Denmark, Hello Sweden!!

For the last two years my friend Audry and I have gone out for a days Christmas shopping together. It has become a tradition. So today we both took the day off work and decided to head off to Sweden for a fun day of shopping.

Last year Kristian and I went to Malmo with his sister and husband, but Audry and I decided to head up to the north of Denmark and take the ferry across to Helsingborg in Sweden. The ferry was doing a special deal - a trip to one of Swedens big shopping centres for £4.50 return - that was with ferry crossing and a bus to the shopping centre.

So at 8.45am I picked up Audry and we headed up to the ferry. We had a bit of a job finding a parking place. The only parking we could find was for a maximum time of 3 hours and we were planning to shop for a lot longer than that!! After driving around for about 20 minutes (no joke!!) we finally found a parking space at the local library. Here there was no time limit!



We had a bit of a walk down to the ferry but it was through a really cosy town with lots of great shops to look in. Already here the shopping began!!

A 20 minute trip on the ferry and we were in Sweden. We found the bus that would take us to the shopping centre. It was all rather exciting!! haha

A ten minute bus ride and we were at the shopping centre. The bus dropped us off at the side of the motorway and while we were trying to work out how we would get across the road to the shopping centre we noticed something....IKEA!!! haha

Now many of you who follow my blog know that I often visit Ikea. Well, Audry is my Ikea friend. She is the one that always comes with me. We just love that place. You should have seen us both when we saw Ikea!! Joy unspeakable filled the road side!! haha




We finally discovered how to get across the road, there was a tunnel under the motorway and before long we were in this big shopping centre. Lots and lots of shops and lots and lots of hours of shopping before us. Two happy girls!!

We had a great time looking around. We must have literally walked miles today! We walked about the shopping centre from about 11.30am to 5.30pm. We only stopped for about 45 minutes to eat lunch!

We had no idea where to get the bus back to the ferry....so around 5.30pm we headed out to try and find it....but the temptation was too much!! There before us was Ikea, we just could not go back to Denmark without visiting a Swedish Ikea.

In the Danish Ikea Audry and I had a favourite living room that we always sat in when we went there. We would rest our weary legs and chat for 10 -15 minutes. We loved that living room. Then one day it was gone, they had re-decorated. Since that time we have been homeless in Ikea. We dont really like all the other living rooms, they are not our style, but today in Sweden we found a home again!! A living room we liked, so once again we rested our weary legs for 10 minutes.

After an hour in Ikea we headed out into the darkness to find home. We found the bus stop and not long after we were on a warm bus heading back to the ferry.

There was time for a quick McDonalds before heading unto the ferry. Yummie!! It has been a long but wonderful day. Thanks Audry - now what about next year - should we try Berlin??? haha

We are all set....

....all set for Christmas to come!!

Leah and I went Christmas shopping on Saturday and had a great time! We told Kristian we would only be gone, at the most, 2 hours but came home 5 hours later!! Anyway we had fun and we did manage to buy a few presents in that time.

In fact this year I am rather organised. I have most of the presents in....only a few odds and ends to get....and I know what they are, just have to go and get them. So I am feeling good, no panicing this year!


After our afternoon of shopping we were soooo in a Christmas mood, so after dinner out came the Christmas boxes and it was time to decorate.

Before long all the stuff you see above in the photo, was on different shelves and tables around the house. The windows were decorated with snowflakes and Christmas lights, and even the balcony got lights put up all around it. The Christmas music was blasting and we had a cosy time getting everything organised.

Now we only need to get the Christmas tree but we always get that a week before Christmas. Hope all of you out there in cyber space are enjoying the season as much as I am!

It´s starting to feel a lot like Christmas....

Today at school the kids were busy making Christmas decorations for their class rooms and off course we also had to get in on the fun.

My colleague Dorthe and I made a Christmas decoration for our table at work. We thought we did a great job - since we didnt really know what we were doing!! But we had fun doing it!



The kids were having a great time making decorations. There was a hive of activity in the halls as kids were measuring their garlands to see who had made the longest. Then lots of time was spent on ladders sticking the metres and metres of garland to the ceiling - but everyone seemed to be having a great time.

While the kids were busy making decorations the 9th graders (these are the oldest kids in the school) came around serving aebleskiver and chocolate milk to everyone - us workers included!

After work it was home to get ready for a big date with my hubby!! We were going to a Christmas concert! Kristian had planned to take me out for dinner before the concert.

So we headed off to a restaurant not to far from where we live and we had a delicious meal. It was a buffet and as usual I ate far too much!

Then off to the concert! It was a really great concert. There was a singer - Marie, pianist and sax player - all 3 were excellent musicians. They also had a lot of fun with each other on stage.

On the way up to the concert Kristian said that he hoped Maries brother was there playing his sax. (Now I didnt even know she had a brother, never mind a brother who could play the sax!)

Kristian raved about how great he was on the sax and how this would be the icing on the cake for him. Well, when we got there the first thing Kristian noticed was the two saxophones on stage. Yes - her brother was there!!!- Kristian was a happy man!!

Below is a wee clip from the concert....

So after a day like today, I can honestly say that it is starting to feel a lot like Christmas!!

An 9 hour trip home from the airport.....

Can it really take that long to get back home from Copenhagen airport??? Well it usually doesnt, but yesterday Kristian and I were feeling young and spontanous!!

We left home around 9.20am. We were taking Alessio into the airport to catch his flight. Sara, off course was with us. After throwing the two love birds off at the airport Kristian and I decided we would make a date out of our day. After all Leah was away at the weekend with our church, and the two big ones had their own plans. Now we had the opportunity to be spontanous!

So we headed into one of the big shopping centres near the airport. After wandering around for an hour we decided we would head into Copenhagen and have a walk around there. It was such a beautiful day so we enjoyed the sun and fresh air. We then headed into one of the shopping centres called Fisketorvet. It is built right by the water. We enjoyed lunch in a lovely Italian restaurant over looking the water. It was really beautiful.

Another hour or so wandering around the shops and we had a few more ideas for Christmas presents!! Kristian then came up with the idea that we should check out the cinema and see if there was something good on - and thats what we did.

We ended up going in to see 2012 which we both really enjoyed. The effects were brilliant and I got to shed a few tears, so I was happy!

It was nearly 6.30pm when we came out from the cinema - it was time to head home!! We finally arrived home, happy and content at 7pm!! But we had had a fantastic day just the two of us together:-)

(A view over the water area in Copenhagen where the shopping centre is built!)

25 kids and a Christmas musical....

....thats how I spent my Friday evening - together with 25 kids practising for a Christmas musical.

It was all go this evening down at our church! The evening started at 5pm. Kids, duvets and mattresses all arrived around that time and before long kids were unpacked and in their different make shift bedrooms. Leah had been looking forward to this all week. She was sharing a room with 3 other girls her age.

Before long kids were hanging out together, playing table tennis, football or just sitting around chatting. Dinner was served and then the practise started. Leah got the part of Mary, so she had a few solos to learn. The music was great, really catchy and easy to learn.

After a few hours of practising songs it was time for some fun of a different kind. One of the other leaders had arranged a competition and what a brilliant job he did!!!

It was after midnight when I arrived home. Leah is staying there with the other kids until Sunday. Although I wasnt directly involved in the musical I wanted to go along. I recently started teaching in Sunday School and since this was a weekend for the age group I teach, I wanted to go along and get to know them all a bit better. I am really glad I did - it was a great evening!

Now I am soooo looking forward to the middle of December when the Christmas musical will be preformed in the church for family and friends.

(I forgot my camera this evening - hence no photos!)

Want to learn some French??

Well if you do just click the video below and come with me on a journey to the wonderful world of language - the French language!!!

This evening Alessio was trying to teach me some French. We had such a laugh. I really dont have the gift for languages...but it doesnt stop me trying!!

Now with Kristian its different. He seems to pick it up quickly. (How annoying is that!!! It must be his musical ear!) Anyway, Alessio would say a word or a sentence, Kristian would repeat and Alessio would say, " Yes thats right!" (He would get it right on his first attempt!! How does he do it??!!) However when I said the word Alessio just laughed and said "No!!" and then repeated the same word over and over again. I would copy what he said but I still got it wrong - appartently! I sure couldnt hear that it was wrong - I think he was pulling my leg.....

Well if you want to see what we were up to take a look a the video below. You might learn something new or you might remember something from those by gone years in your French class.

The first taste of Christmas....

Tonight we had our first taste of Christmas - aebleskiver - a very Danish thing to eat from now until Christmas. They really are delicious, they taste a little like dougnuts, but yet they have their own special taste. They have a little of the same consistency as doughnuts, but are round in shape. You eat them with sugar, icing sugar or jam - you just dip the aebleskiver into whatever one you desire. I love them, but by the time Christmas comes, I must admit, I am tired of them - I over do it a bit with them:-)

Tonight the weather is wild - its blowing a gale and its raining. (What I call perfect weather!) I was just loving it, so that got me in the mood for the aebleskiver and hot chocolate.

Alessio also just had to try the Danish speciality - the rest of the family was very happy to help him out!! He really liked them.

Its been a really cosy evening!

Laura and Kristian at war.....

.....this afternoon Kristian and I went to war with each other - literally!! It all happened after church!

A guy from our church had arranged for 20 people to go out and play hardball against each other, Kristian and I signed up and after church today we headed out with 18 other crazy souls.

Below is what greated us when we got to the place!!


Then it was on with the uniform. Kristian was a SWAT solider..... dressed in black (the green hood he has on is mine!)

I was the terrorist.....

We got our guns and we were all set to go to war.

We spent the rest of the afternoon crawling around fields, jumping into ditches and just shooting whoever got in our way (from the enemy side off course.) We had 2 different types of war games, then it was in for coffee/tea and cake. After the coffee break it was dark, lights were mounted on the guns and on our masks. The war now moved inside the two derelict buildings. It was great fun, but made me sooooo thankful that I wasnt involved in a real war situation.

The whole afternoon just flew by. It started at 2.30pm and we were leaving at 6.15pm. Some of the others were staying for more action but we couldnt. We had to leave - Alessio was arriving, and since we were in Copenhagen, just about 15 minutes from the airport, we said we could pick him up. Sara is sooo happy to see him again. Aaaahhhh yes, dejavu again, again, again!! haha

Now I am sooo tired - I think I have used muscles in my legs today that I never knew I had!! I wonder if I will be able to walk at all tomorrow? or even be able to go to work??!!

Just a wee thought for the day.....

A few looooong days!!

We were having a Christmas Bizarre today at our school, so the last few days have been busy preparing for that. Already yesterday morning (Friday) you could feel a buzz around the school. As soon as 12 o´clock arrived the school day finished and all the kids started to help get things ready. Parents, grandparents and friends arrived and there was just organised chaos everywhere!! It was great fun:-)

I spent the afternoon cutting up vegetables for 25 litres of minestrone soup and I managed to do it without cutting any fingers off!!

Friday sure was a long day at work. It started at 7am and ended at 5pm. Last night I ended up crashed on the sofa trying desperately to keep my eyes open. In the end I gave up the fight and went off to bed. I slept like a baby.

At the Bizarre there were all sorts of things to buy. Stalls with Christmas decorations, food, cakes,sweets, clothes, jewellery and books.

There was a huge flea market with all sorts of rubbish (as Kristian called it)!! haha Kristian warned me NOT to bring anything home. I didnt totally do as he asked. I came home with about 10 books which I got for about £4. Now that was a great bargin!

My job was to serve soup for a few hours. We had little cafés and restaurants set up over the school so people could buy all kinds of different foods. I was out in "KNASTEN" where the kids in the after school club, normally do their woodwork projects.

The smell in that wee house is sooo fantastic. It smells of wood! I love being in there! It is just so tiny and sooo cosy. We had cleaned the place up and put in extra tables. With a few tableclothes and candles here and there, it looked great.

It has an old stove in there, a wood burner. We made the soup on that and we baked bread in the oven. It sure was hard to regulate - the more wood on the fire the hotter the oven, then suddenly the temperature would drop and more wood had to be put in. I was loving it, I really felt like I had gone back in time! The stove, the wooden hut, the smell of wood and pine - I was half expecting Charles from The Little house on the Prairie to come home for dinner!! haha

Still too much Laura....

...yes I have discovered that there is still too much of me! (and I am not talking about my weight!!) Let me explain......

The other day in school at assembly a teacher shared a story about a man called Uwe Holmer. He was a minister in East Germany while it was still under the communist party and the leadership of Erinch Honecker. The Holmers had suffered under the Honecker regime because of their Christian faith. Their children had also been denied higher education because of the policies of Erich Honecker wife, who was Minister of Education.

When Erich Honecker was deposed as the ruler of East Germany in 1989, he left office as the most hated man in Germany. He was suffering from cancer, and needed medical attention. He had to vacate the official residence where he and his wife had lived comfortably for years. But, now, no one was willing to take them in. They were old, feeble, sick and disgraced. The Communist party, of which the Honeckers had been lifelong, loyal members, turned its back on them and so did their daughter.

Finally someone stepped forward to help, yes you guessed it - the minister Uwe Holmer. He opened his home to the Honeckers, even though he and his family, for years, had suffered under their regime. He put into practise the words of Jesus "Love your enemies."

Wow - that really spoke to me. That is real faith - true christianity! Love in action! It really made me think - would I do something like that? Could I open my home to a stranger, and to one who had made me and my family suffer for years?

I went around all day thinking about that - I really liked to think that I would do something like that. But then I thought about people I didnt like, people who annoyed me, pressed all the wrong buttons in me, people who had hurt me, and the more I put faces to "my enemies" the more I came to realise that if I was totally honest, I probably wouldnt do it. I probably would have a hard job opening my home to them.

Thats when I realised there is still too much Laura in me and not enough Jesus!
So Jesus and me have got some work ahead of us - but little by little every day He is changing me - so there is hope!!

I´m back....

Yes I´m back in the land of blog!!

Last week was a busy week for me - busy but good. So the week flew by.

On Thursday evening I was out with work. We went to try a new chinese restaurant in the next town and off course ate far too much. Then it was off to the cinema to see a new Danish film that I hadnt even heard off. It was a weird film, left you with no feelings. I love to come out of the cinema with a "feel good" feeling. This certainly did not do that. Anyway, we had a fun evening together and the evening only cost us 25kr (about £2.50). Why? Well we collect empty bottles thrown around the school, we get money for these and we save this money up. It usually takes about a year to save enough money for 6 people to go out to dinner and a trip to the cinema - not bad eh?!!


The weekend was spent in church - literally! I have recently started to teach in Sunday School so on Saturday the leaders had arranged a "workers day" for everyone involved in the children and youth work. It was such a great day and it was nice to see who actually was involved in all the different branches of the work.


Sunday after church I came home and decided I wanted to relax - so out came my paint brushes...I had a great afternoon painting away, just what I needed before the start of another busy week!

It´s that time again

Its already the first Saturday in the month and that means its chat night.

Over the last few months I have forgotten about chat night until it was too late. Last Saturday I was all set to chat when I realised it was the last Saturday in the month and not the first!!:-) Talk about confusion!!!

So now I have just remembered again about chat night so I thought I would post a reminder for all you out in cyberspace who want to be in on our chat night.

Its all happening tonight SATURDAY 7th NOVEMBER at 8pm (English time). (Girls I might be a bit late, we have a family film night planned....but we will start that early, and since we are one hour ahead of you, it should all work out.) So if you want to chat just hit the blue button on the left hand side, the one with the smiley that says "CHAT WIHT ME"

Bye for now :-)