Silver Envelope 5.......

Today we celebrated Silver Envelope number 5.

 (If you have no idea what this is all about and you would like to know. Then go back a few posts to October 2014and read the post called Silver hair and romance. It will explain everything! )

Anyway, we had a really lovely day. 

It started as always with Kristian getting the letter explaining what would happen. Today was going to be our French day! I would be his French girlfriend for the day!! haha So from the moment that I awoke I was speaking English with a French accent! (The poor man - what he has to put up with!) 

But we had fun! I had downloaded a French lesson from the internet and made a CD that we could listen to in the car. We had a longer lie in than planned, as Kristian had been out to the wee hours of the morning in the forest.  So we skipped the part of going for a walk on the beach.....we stayed in bed instead.

When we finally got up and got ready, we left home and headed straight for Copenhagen. We had half an hours drive to the city and in that time we learned a lot of French. It actually was a really good lesson I had downloaded. Once we found a parking place we walked up to our French restaurant and practised the few things we had learned. 

 The restaurant was called Le Pave and it was sooo lovely. A real cosy wee place. The food was delicious. We decided we would go with a starter and main and then eat dessert somewhere else.

We had Salmon for starters and duck served with vegtables for the main. It was all very gourmet, so not a lot of food. Kristian was full but I could have gone for a second helping! haha Typical, that´s my problem I love quanity and not quality. Kristian loves quality!! He got what he liked!! 

I noticed on their menu card that it said Restaurant 1989. How funny!! That was the year Kristian and I met. Kristian thought I knew this and had everything planned to the smallest detail! I let him think that!! But I had no idea! haha

 The waiter was so nice....he called me Madame and Kristian Monsieur and said Bon appetit everytime he served us. All very French!!

 When finished we went a walk around Copenhagen. We found a French Book Cafe but unfortunately it was closed. I was starting to see "French" everywhere. I saw the sign below and thought it said French Kiss - I sure got that wrong!

We were looking for a place for coffee/tea and dessert. There is a place in Copenhagen called La Glace and it serves the most delicious cakes.(or so I´ve heard. I have never been!) It´s been on TV so it´s rather famous here in Denmark. We headed to that, but there was a line of people waiting outside to get in and since it was freezing cold we decided to find somewhere else. We did. A Turkish restaurant - not exactly French but by this stage we were sooo cold we were just glad to get into the heat. We had pancakes, with ice cream and chocolate sauce. I got a hot chocolate and Kristian a coffee.

Once heated up again we headed out into the streets of Copenhagen. I was really getting into my French roll and kept looking for the Eiffel Tower.  We never did find it, but we did find some beautiful old churches and enjoyed looking at the craftsmanship.

We also visited a music shop and I got to try out some amazing pianos. It got me in the mood for a new piano! Kristian quickly got me out of there when he saw me looking at the interest free loans they were offering!! haha

The plan was to go see a French film in the cinema but there were no French films showing. Well there was one, although it wasn´t actually French, it was just set in Paris.  It was called "My apartment in Paris" or the orginal title, I think, is called "The Old Lady" (The Danish titles are always sooo different from the orginal!)  I wouldn´t have minded seeing that but I didn´t think it was a film Kristian would like to see so we just headed home. I had a few French DVD films at home and so we settled on the sofa and watched one of those. The perfect end to a perfect day!

More memories created and locked away in my memory bank.

I am a little behind in my silver envelopes. At this stage Kristian should have received 8!! However we have been so busy and we haven´t had time to fit in any silver envelopes, so he is only on number 5. I will have to do something about that - and soon!

Crazy hubby.....

It´s that time of the year again! It´s my hubby´s tradition of going into the forest with 5 of his friends to sort out the worlds situation!! 

Well that about the worlds situation might be a bit of an exaggeration! I´m not sure what they talk about out there! That´s all very secretive! 

 One thing I do know is that they have lots of snacks and things to eat, hot coffee and lots of warm clothing. No matter what sort of weather there is, they meet up. They have sat out in rain, snow, temperatures of minus 17 and some years they have been lucky and had very mild weather.

 Tonight it is minus 5 and the snow is lying thick. I keep suggesting that they go to a restaurant or a hotel spa and talk over a delicious meal, or in a sauna, but Kristian looks at me weirdly. There are just some things us women do not understand!!

They build a fire and then they talk and share life - goals for the new year, the good and bad from the old year etc. I think its fantastic that they do this and I am so thankful they don´t take their wives along!!! 

Meanwhile I have had a wonderful evening. I have cuddled up the sofa with my cat Shadow. She has been curled up on my lap all evening. It´s cosy and warm in my wee home and I have enjoyed a glass of cola and some chocolate as I have watched a film. I have also read some of my new book, it´s been sooo relaxing.

In fact we have had some wonderful relaxing days.

For a week our house was full of people. The kids and all their boyfriends and girlfriends have been hanging out. Then we had guests on Christmas day too. It has been great but the older I get the more I need some "alone" time! So for the past few days it has just been us as a family and at times it has just been Kristian and me. Total bliss!!

We have done absolutely nothing for 3 days!! I actually lay in bed all day Saturday and read my new book. I love when I get a new book and I acutally get peace to read it. Kristian used the time to sort out photos on his computer, something he loves to do, and the kids were all doing their own thing. I didn´t even need to make food. I made sooo much food at Christmas that we just warmed leftovers up in the microwave. It tasted delicious.

We have also had time to watch a few films too. 

Since the weather has been sooo good, (frosty with blue skies) we got out for some walks around the area where we live. We have beautiful nature right on our doorstep. If you go in one direction you come to a lake, you go the other and you have the forest and across from us are the wide open fields. I love this area sooo much.

Today I did do something. I took down all the Christmas decorations. What a job!! Especially since I got the two sets of lights from the tree tangled in each other. I used almost 2 hours (no joke!!) trying to get them untangled and got sooo frustrated in the end that I cut one of the sets of lights, just so I could get the other set free!! haha I was not in a good mood! haha (Next year I´m going away for Christmas....there is too much work with all that decorating! haha)

Apart from that, it really has been a wonderful break. We feel rested and I know that I feel ready to face life again! 

Oh and Silver envelope number 5 has been given to Kristian today. He knows what we will be doing tomorrow and he is looking forward to it. So am I!! There will probably be an update about it all within a few days!

Something personal.....

.I want to share something personal. Something I haven´t shared with that many people, yet a miracle took place and I think I should share it so God can get the glory (and so that I can always remember the date of when it happened.)

It actually happened last December. The 11th December 2013 to be exact, that´s the day the miracle took place. But before that I had about 6 weeks of misery. 

It all started with my period. I had my period in November 2013 just like normal only this time it didn´t stop. It continued for 3 weeks, each day getting heavier and heavier and by week 3 the bleeding was really interfering with life! I had to make sure I was near a toilet to change every hour!! It was then I visited the doctor. She sent me right away for tests. They were looking for cancer.

I got tablets to stop the bleeding and while I took them the bleeding stopped.  This meant I got to go on my trip to London to meet my niece without any problems. 

Once back from London I went to the doctor to get the results of the tests. I was relieved to hear that they hadn´t found any cancer. What I had was Fibroids - something women my age get! (When the doctor said that, I just couldn´t get my head around that part about women MY AGE!! I was only 28!! haha) 

So to cut a long story short she told me that she would like to insert a coil that would pump horomones into me and would shrink the Fibroids. Ummmmmhhh I wasn´t too sure about that.(I remember reading somewhere that getting a coil inserted could be painful and I hate pain!)  I told her I wanted to go home and think about it, read up on it and if I wanted it I would get back to her. 

I was sooo relieved it wasn´t cancer that I didn´t think to ask about other alternatives if I didn´t want the coil, I had also just finished my course of tablets and I wasn´t bleeding so I was hoping, rather naively, that it had all just blown over. 

A few days later and the bleeding started again. It continued again, and each day it got heavier and heavier. By the third week I, once again, couldn´t be far from changing facilities. 

I was feeling discouraged. I knew I didn´t have a choice. I was going to have to go to the doctor and get the coil put in. I couldn´t go on living like this. I was also extremely tired.

At this time I had been reading the story about the woman in the Bible with the issue of blood. I knew how that poor woman felt and what she had suffered for 12 years. I read about her faith.

I also read a lot of verses and promises about healing and I was being challenged.

It was now 11th December. I was at work and I was still bleeding heavily. I was talking to my boss and we were discussing God. I was feeling challenged about what I had been reading and I was sharing with him my thoughts. My boss is a Christian. 

What I was being challenged about was my faith. So many times I would sing in church about how great God is and how nothing is impossible for him but how many times did I really believe that deep down in my heart or when a problem came my way. How many times did I just take God at his word?

How many times did I read the promises in the Bible but then never claim them? Many times I read them but somehow made some excuse that it wasn´t for me today. This was challenging me. 

I had been reading loads of promises about healing so why wasn´t I claiming them? 

So I decided to do something about it. It was time for a bathroom visit and I decided that in that bathroom I was going to claim the promises God had given to me through his word. Things I had been reading the days before. 

These were some of the verses that had spoken to me......

Psalm 103 v 3  who forgives all your sins (I had no problem believing that part of the verse) and heals ALL YOUR DISEASES. (that I never really believed or claimed.)

Psalm 91 v 9,10 If you say, The Lord is my refuge, and make the most high your dwelling NO HARM WILL OVERTAKE YOU, NO DISASTER WILL COME NEAR YOUR TENT

So I stood in that bathroom and I talked to God. I told him that there were only two options... either his word was true or it was not. I told him that I believed his word to be true so I was going to claim these promises. I said "God I believe you have forgiven my sins but you have also promised to heal all my diseases so I am claiming that promise now....heal my bleeding."

Matt 21.21 talks about speaking to the mountain. Jesus spoke to the fig tree....so I needed to speak to my mountain to move it.

So I commanded the bleeding to stop in Jesus name. I commanded the fibroids to shrink and I commanded my homones to come into balance in the name of Jesus and it was then the miracle took place. I could feel it immediately!! I could feel the bleeding stop.

I got changed and went back to my daily routine at work. Even after half an hour I could still feel the change. I knew I wasn´t bleeding anymore. Before heading home I  went to change but I didn´t need too, the bleeding had stopped. I was healed and I haven´t had a problem since. I have had my regular periods but nothing more than that.

A miracle took place that day, 11th December 2013. 

I was challenged to take God at his word. What he says he will do. 

 Not many knew that I had this problem, it was not something I went about sharing with people. So this healing hasn´t been shared with many either. But I feel that I should share what God has done, to encourage others to take God at his word, to claim his promises and to know that nothing is impossible for Him.

Christmas 2014

It´s all over for another year! We had a wonderful Christmas.

Christmas Eve, and we started our Christmas celebrations with a delicious brunch. Then it was off to church for the 2pm service. The church service was short but the message was good and challenging and we got to sing a whole lot of lovely Danish Christmas Carols. 

It was then home to Kristian´s sisters. The family would gather there to celebrate Christmas together. All Kristian´s brothers and sisters were coming together with their families to celebrate, except for Peter, the very youngest brother. He was going to his wife´s family. We also had a few foreigners celebrating with us so we were a total of 26. Good job Hanne has a big house!!

We started the afternoon with Danish treats, then a bit of a sing song. When Kristian´s family get together we always end up singing! It was just sooo special. Sitting around singing about the birth of Jesus and just worshipping together was the best part for me.

For the family (or anyone else interested) here is a short video clip of Sigrid og Signe singing (with the rest of us on the chorus).....

Then it was time to get everything ready for the evening meal. We were all in different work groups. Some had to decorate the tree. Others decorated the table. Some made sweets from marcipan and nougat. I was on the dinner team so we had to cook the food. It all went like clockwork and everything turned out well. 

After dinner we played our usual parcel game with all the silly presents. 

Then it was time for dessert and then the part I love, walking around the Christmas tree singing carols. 

Finally it was gift time. This year a woman bought another woman a present and a man another man. I came home with a beautiful new scarf! 

We were finally home around 1.00am after a really wonderful evening with the family.

Then 25th it was our day here at home. Even though we have big kids they still love Christmas and getting presents, especially their sock!

We all had a lovely long sleep. We first woke at 10.30am and the kids shortly after us. What a surprise I had when I walked into the kitchen. The ground outside was covered in snow!! I couldn´t believe my eyes! On Christmas Eve we had talked about how wonderful it would be to wake up to snow, but never expected it to happen. We have had such a mild winter with temperatures around 6-8 degrees.  I felt sooo blessed to wake up to snow! It was the perfect weather for Christmas day!

The kids and Kristian were all really pleased with their gifts and so was I. 

 Andrew had wished for a playstation 4 but did not expect to get one. That was his only gift but he was over the moon!

Then it was into the kitchen to once again prepare a big dinner, this time with turkey and ham and all the trimmings. We had invited our American neighbour, her daughter and her American friend over to eat with us. 

The day ended with us all collapsed on the sofa. We watched a couple of Christmas films and even had a good cry at one of them. Just the way a Christmas day should be!

Sara went back home on Christmas night. She was taking the 7pm bus. It was sooo great to have her here for the week. It all just went by sooo fast! But we will go visit her in January so only a few weeks till we see each other again!

So all that´s left to say is.....Merry Christmas from our family to yours......