Sundays mean that my week comes to an end but it’s the perfect beginning to what’s to come for the next. On Sundays I like to take it easy and try to squeeze in personal time if possible. Because I work so much and because I like to dedicate my Saturdays to spoiling the kids when I’m not working, Sunday is my personal-refuge day to regroup and take it easy. Ørjan often lets me sleep late and/or take a nap, I often try out new recipes or bake something yummy for us, or I try to catch up on unfinished projects and crafting. I am also trying to use my Sundays to materialize my goals and resolutions. Today I feel accomplished and confident. Today I feel like I’ve crossed many things off my list and I’ve definitely had some quality time with the kids. If only I felt the same way about Mondays.
Today we all slept in, I made Sunday waffles for the kids, and I tried out a new mango-melon smoothie recipe. As the kids napped away I’ve managed to do a detailed cleaning of the kitchen, washed the floors, and there’s a pot of homemade beefstew on the stove simmering away. I have a few loads of laundry to toss in, a few lists to write out, and a few letters to start writing, but it’s nothing that is stressing me out because big shock – I have Monday off! Before the day is over I’d like to start brainstorming ideas and possible menus for Magnus and Sophie’s birthdays but we still have a few weeks yet.
If I ever get some time I think we need to update and move some furniture around. Some new textiles wouldn’t hurt either. Any suggestions or ideas? It’s not realistic (nor is it in our budget) to get a new sofa so I need some ideas that would work with what we have now.
This morning I sent an email to an old friend and said that I couldn’t wait to come home. It’s true. I can’t wait to go back to Canada for our holidays, but I still don’t feel like I’m really meant to be there just yet. I used to constantly complain about living here and my list of grievances was non-stop. Suddenly one day all the anger and resentment that I had towards this place was completely gone. It’s like I suddenly woke up and realized just how lucky I am to live here. I guess you could say I was stunned like a deer in headlights.
Hemnesberget is a very small town/village and despite the fact that it says the population is 1200, it really only feels like a few hundred due to our eldery demographic. The centre is only a small place to do shopping and offers one bank, one grocery store, one bakery and restaurant, one gas station/post office, a small clothing shop/pharmacy, and a pub that’s open twice a week I think? I would have added a library to the list but its inconsistent hours make it almost impossible to use it. I used to consider many things from this place to be inconveniences, but living here has really made me appreciate who I have and what I have in my life. There’s a great stress on family, nature, and the environment. Traditions are strong, friends and neighbours are always willing to help out, and forget about crime or pollution. I really couldn’t imagine living back in Hamilton or Toronto where there’s never enough time to live and you’re constantly bombarded with campaigns about what to buy and how to live.
I remember one night in 2006 we had just finished watching War of the Worlds when we looked out to the fjord from our window. The Northern Lights were dancing in the sky. We only had to walk three metres out to our backyard for such a lightshow that many people wait an entire lifetime to see. We went to bed soon after and had a perfect view of the lights from our bedroom. Now that we’ve moved we still have a great view, but we now have deer walking up our street. Many times during the evenings and late nights I’ve seen a deer or two just quietly making its way up our street. It’s funny to say it out loud, but all I have to do is open my bedroom curtains and there you have it – deer. It’s true that winters are dark and I do miss having sunshine, but there’s so much more that winter offers here and I can only describe it as magical. I can’t say that I have that same feeling about Hamilton or Toronto.
I never actually thought that I would say that I’m happy here, but I am. I am stunned that it feels like this, but this really is a nice place to live. I grew up being a city-girl living in large(r) major cities but feel like this is the best place for me now.
Although we stayed at home it was great fun. We had so many kids come to our place and more than half of them were definitely scared. We had quite a setup (for these parts) with decorations, music, and extra candy and chocolate. Both Ørjan and I took turns answering the door with the vampire mask and groaning and screaming. The kids were definitely surprised. I lost count of how many screams followed by, “Åh herregud!” I heard tonight. Over the past couple of weeks I’ve seen kids walk home from school and stop infront of our house to look at the decorations, and yesterday I actually had people tell me that kids have been talking about our house. Even the visitors themselves told us that they had been tipped off to our house. Ørjan and I laugh at this a bit because we just think about how many kids had been texting eachother with their phones. If it sounds like I’m complaining I’m not – I loved it! I’m so happy that almost all of our goodies are gone! (Something that Ørjan isn’t so excited about since I told him he could have the leftovers.) Halloween isn’t exactly popular over here but over the past 4 years that I’ve been here I’ve seen more kids going out and more decorations at a few shops. (Did I mention that this was the first year I saw spiderweb being sold?)
Poor Magnus was a bit scared as well. A few times he tried to come down the stairs and saw the masks they were wearing and ran back up screaming. My poor guy. Maybe next year it’ll be a little more fun and a little less scary.
The entire night I couldn’t help but think about past Halloweens from my childhood. Halloween was the only holiday we really celebrated and it’s probably the only one that I have good memories of. For a long period my mother was a Jehovah’s Witness but my dad always made sure to give us a great Halloween. He’d take my sister and I out during the first week of October to pick up makeup, costumes, and decorations, and there was never a price limit. In the later years my parents would sit on the bench on our porch wearing masks and would pretend to be dummies. When the trick-o-treaters would come up to the door my parents would come to life and scare the hell out of them. Each time I answered the door I thought of my dad. I think that Halloween is the only time I have fond memories of him.
This year we really had a great Halloween and I can’t wait for the next one. Our kids will be bigger, we’ll be more prepared, and it’ll fall on Saturday – party!
The kitchen is finally coming together. Ørjan just needs to install the new window and seal some surfaces with silicon and we’re all done! I’m so excited about this room not just because it’s my favourite in the house, but it’s also the first room we’ve ever created and designed from scratch together. (With the help of IKEA of course!) Ørjan has put in many hours installing and adjusting all the cabinets and I love him so much for taking on this project. Granted I’ve only photographed one side (our’s is a U-shaped kitchen) but I still think it looks much better. I especially love the blue we chose for the walls.
The before:
The after:
We don’t have the biggest kitchen but it meets our needs and it’s just enough for a family of four. It was affordable, modern enough for our tastes, and it will allow for future hacks and other minor changes as our family grows.
We are in quite a dilema at the moment. The notion of moving has always been there and it’s burning a severely smoldered hole in the back of my head. Should we move to Canada? Should we find a bigger place in Hemnesberget? Should we try moving to the south? When we found out that I was pregnant with Sophie it was immediate chaos when it came to our current residence. Do we move or do we build out the house? Ørjan has already created several floorplans for the three rooms and is anxious to get started, but I on the otherhand have no desire to build out just yet (since the kids are so young and there’s no rush) and would rather wait to see if something else comes out on the market. We live in a small place with a huge elderly demographic. (It’s only a matter of time before they move to a nursing/retirement home or umm… die, right? Then I’m sure a house will go up.) There are a couple of places for sale in our town but they just haven’t seemed right.
There’s a house for sale (was previously owned by good friends) that we’ve thought about but it requires massive renovation outside (insulation and panels). The profit we’d earn from selling our current house would probably go towards that and not interior renovation or redecorating. Sigh.
PROS:
The house is HUGE – 4 bedrooms and 3 full floors
Located in a family/child-friendly neighbourhood
Was recently renovated x2 (But I’d like to gut some of it… Just not my style)
We’d be starting again – new house means redecorating and new home projects!
We’d no longer be in the sentrum (We don’t own a car – the walk in the winter would be tougher.)
We’d have to let go of a house we’ve put so much time, effort, and money into. (Then and Now)
Our nextdoor neighbour would be one of the town’s police officers (My life is not a BBC police-mystery series)
Anyhow… We still have alot more to think about. We might call the owner today and go for a quick browse to get a better feeling since looking at photos online can only give you so much.
It’s the same thing year after year – I’m still asked if I find it cold here during the winter. They should really be asking me how I feel about summer since it’s then that I feel it’s cold. This will be my 5th Christmas in Norway (which I suppose totals 5 winters) so the idea of being surprised by the climate isn’t so much of a surprise. I also have to consider who is asking me and what their understanding of geography since in my opinion, the world outside of Norway is almost non-existent for many Norwegians. (I’m still slightly sensitive to the idea that some still suspect I’m a bride Ørjan picked up during a trip to the Philippines…) I’m from CANADA – our winters are cold! The only differences are that we actually have sunlight in the region I lived in and never had to face this depressing darkness for a month and a half. When it’s -5°CI consider it a normal winter day. At home in Canada some days could reach up to -30°C with the windchill. (The windchill is almost non-existent here due to the mountains surrounding our area.) It’s also possible that we can receive more snow despite that it may come late in January.
It’s funny when I hear people complaining about the weather because I don’t really feel there’s much to complain about unless of course it snows then rains, snows, and then rains some more. I hate the slush it causes and then the dangerous black ice afterwards. Oh well.
It’s only -2°C this morning so hopefully this afternoon will be decent enough to go out for a walk with Magnus. And if you’re curious as to know what I see when I look out my window while typing this, here you go:
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