Fixing a Hole

Before getting to my post, let me explain why I haven't written in so long. I have been told thousands of times, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all." For the first time in my life, I actually took that advice!

On to better things...

I've been baking! I bought an oversized muffin tin last weekend, and so far I've made blueberry, chocolate chip, and banana-chocolate chip muffins. I think my next batch will be banana-blueberry!

On Saturday, Travis had an early practice at 9:30 then had to help out at hockey school at 2:00. (The hockey school is a weekly camp for 5-8 year old boys and girls.)I went to Manglerud and met him for a walk between the two. There is a lake behind the arena, so we made our way around and were surprised to see these swans...

Saturday night we went out to a real restaurant for the first time! We went to a pizza place and stuffed ourselves with half margherita, half pepperoni and ground beef. It was quite an occasion! 

Ugh. I hate this picture, but it has been a long time since I've posted a photo of myself. Please forgive my high-on-pizza face!

Travis wore the gold helmet again at last night's game. He wore it for a couple of games earlier in October, then got it back. He says it fits him better than his regular helmet, so that is extra incentive for him to keep scoring!

Travis had the today off, but I had to babysit. While I was gone, he cleaned the bathroom,went for a run, made peanut butter cookies and prepared dinner! It turns out that he makes a better housewife than I do!

I love my babysitting job! The kids are so much fun and well behaved. I am learning Norwegian... even though it is mostly food, toys, books, poop, pee, and, of course, NO! 

We are both getting very excited for our trip to ROME on Friday! I don't know if I'll be posting until we return, but I'll be sure to share loads of pictures!

Ciao!

Baby, You're a Rich Man

While this week has been on the dull side, I'll come up with something to write about...

My first day of babysitting was on Tuesday! I wasn't very nervous for my first day because I wasn't going to be alone with the kids. Their parents were around the house the entire evening. They helped walk me through picking the kids up at daycare, dinner, bathing, and bed time. The evening went well and I felt pretty confident.

Thursday, I picked the kids up from daycare. We crossed paths with their parents who were on their way to parent/teacher conferences at daycare. That threw the Trym (pronounced Trim) for a loop. He was no longer happy to be with me. When we got to the house, Trym refused to come inside. He stood at the gate and asked for his parents. I got Tyra (pronounced Tee-ra) in the house and after bribing him with dinner/television/trains/legos, Trym finally came inside. He sat down on the door mat and didn't leave that spot until 45 minutes later when his parents came home. I felt awful that he was so upset, but his parents were very understanding. Anyways, I stayed for the rest of the evening so that Trym could see I am not as scary as I look! He eventually warmed up to me and I got both kids bathed and into bed all on my own. By the time I left at 7:00, I felt like I had just climbed a mountain: exhausted and elated. It was also nice to get paid!

After babysitting last night, I went to Travis' game and arrived at the end of the second period. I missed Trav's goal, but I was told it was a good one. In fact, it was the game winning goal!

I got measuring cups and spoons in a care package earlier this week so I am excited to be able to bake! I've got to make Travis cookies soon so that my dad will stop hassling me for not making him any yet!

I guess I had more to write about than I thought! I haven't taken any pictures this week, but I found some game shots of Travis that I'll post.

You can see that he hasn't gotten new equipment yet! Yikes!

I definitely prefer the away jerseys. The green/yellow combo doesn't do it for me!

Lets hope that I don't get arrested for breaking copyright laws. That would be an awful reason for being deported!

Only a Northern Song

Lots of news to share today! Where to begin?

Well, I got a babysitting job! I was contacted by a family through the website I registered on. It turns out they live about four houses away! It takes me all of three minutes to walk there, so the commute is wonderful. I met the family yesterday and I am looking forward to my first day. The mom is Norwegian and the dad is South African. They have a little boy who is three years old and a daughter that is one. They both understand English, and the little boy speaks mostly Norwegian. I will be working while Travis is at practice, from 3:30 to 7:00.

Travis has a four day break in November, and we are going to Rome! We booked our flight and hotel this morning. I'm so excited to go! We are most looking forward to eating delicious Italian food and drinking fabulous Italian wine. I can't wait! Our hotel is very close to the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain.

Travis wore a new helmet at tonight's game. The leading point scorer on each team wears a gold helmet and after Tuesday's game, he was the top scorer.

When we left the game tonight, there was snow on the ground! Yes, you read that correctly. I said S-N-O-W. I was so cold when we were running errands this afternoon, that I decided to dust off my winter jacket and wear it tonight. I'm glad I did!

Our first Norwegian snow!

A Hard Day's Night

So, the hike I mentioned in my last post... it was epic. We left the apartment yesterday at 12:15pm and didn't return until 6:15pm. The first three hours were great. We followed some nice gravel paths, stopped for every photo op, had a good lunch, and did some actual hiking. By 3:30 or so, we started to get a feeling that we had walked a little too far. When the trail sign says 5k to the next place, it is a direct measurement, not the length of the trail. At that point, Travis started to worry about the sun setting. I wasn't as concerned as he was, but it wasn't too much later that I also started to worry. Luckily, we spotted a mountain biker who helped us out and lent us her map. We got ourselves back on the gravel path and after Travis asked a couple of other people where the heck we were, two hours later we finally were out of the woods (literally!) We hopped on a bus and made it home a few minutes later.

I am just glad to say we survived! I was less sore this morning than I thought I would be, but I am very tired. Enough with the words, here are some pictures:

I Want to Tell You

Travis' game made me realize how much I like watching hockey. Manglerud played Lillehammer tonight and won! The final score was 6-5. Travis had two goals and one assist. He was also named Player of the Game for his team. I brought my Flip cam, and had some success getting a few good clips. The first one is Trav's first goal. In my excitement, I accidentally stopped filming. The second clip is the goal celebration.

This last clip is the celebration following the game. I had never seen this before coming to Norway, so I wanted to be sure to share it with everyone. 

Trav was given a backpack at tonight's game for being Player of the Game. He was given a pair of hockey gloves last time. The backpack should come in handy tomorrow. Travis has the day off, so we're going to go for a long hike in the forest behind our apartment. I'll be sure to pack my camera and Flip cam!