Things I've noticed thus far re. mat*...

Before coming here, I did have some concerns about the food I would find here, not that I'm a fussy eater but more because I'm not really a fish fan.  I thought they would eat a lot of fish, and maybe they do, but in almost three weeks I haven't seen many places where they offer fish.  I did find the fishmonger shop, not that I was looking for it anyway, but found it anyway.  Yeah, I'm a winner like that!

One of the few things I've noticed here is the weird restaurant combination they have in town: sushi-burger!  Yep, they offer sushi and burgers, because those two are like peas in a pod. Not and yet,   many restaurants have that written in their window.

Last night we went out and ended up at an Asian restaurant, or so they said.  They had sushi and one plate of duck, one of dim sum (which really didn't inspire me) and one of pork belly... We went for sushi and sashimi.  The restaurant's decor was pretty and the service was good (actually got to chat quite a bit with our waitress about Bodø and Norwegians in general) and I actually enjoyed my meal.

Sushi - Rolls @ Ohma

The husband had ordered some sashimi of salmon and halibut and he said both were very good, and fresh.  Since he was still hungry he decided to try some Tataki whale - he likes this raw shit - since we've seen whale advertised here and there in Bodø, we figured if not here then where?

Tataki Whale

 As you can see on the picture, it was served in some type of oil, flavored and something else that turned out to be heavy after a few bites, according to the |Mister, since I didn't try it.

While he was munching on his whale I had some chocolate cake. O.M.G.  I've had bad desert but this one took the cake!  When my plate arrived I think I was too surprised to even take a picture.  It had three little squares of cake not even an inch big, with a teaspoon of mandarin mouse on a crumble of dried chocolate type crackers, I'm telling you, it was bad. And I had made the mistake to order a cappuccino - also a first for me as it was so friggin' bad, no foam what's so ever...  1500,00 NOK later (which is about $236 CDA) with wine, we walked home not too impressed. Yes, Norway isn't cheap!

Another thing I've ate since here, that I'm still not sure how I feel about is some black licorice chocolate covered!  It's an interesting taste combo.  I bought a bag of misc. chocolates (their chocolate is actually very good) and from the pictures on the bag I could tell that it contained some milk, some dark and some caramel.  The first time I got a licorice one I was taken aback, a new taste sensation to say the least.  The jury  is still out on that one...

And lastly, in every grocery stores we've been in, they have a BIG wall of candies in bulk.  Lots of candies like we have (like gummy  bears, some sour type gummies, etc) and lots of different chocolates, nuts, etc.  They sure like their sweets those Norwegian folks...


*mat is food in Norwegian

Scandinavian Traveller: Likki the Trimmed Beaver - Chapter One

Montréal, March 18, 2015

During my last visit at a client, one of them had baked a Norwegian cake and gave me a little stuff beaver because of an inside joke we had going, as a farewell for our Scandinavian Adventure. 

I liked it a lot, and was truly touched by the gesture.  I had decided to make it my mascot for this Scandinavian adventure of ours.  I thought I could bring it along and take pictures of different Norwegian things.  Thing is it's not small, and despite its good looks, I've felt kind of shy or embarrassed to pull it out of my carry-on to take pictures at airports, etc. (yeah, I know, who would have thought; me shy!  But I was!)  So, it stayed in my luggage until we got here.

Bodø, March 29, 2015

I took a few shots of it through our little flat, in Bodø, like this one of it on the windowsill in the living room.  I've taken a shot of it with a bunch of postcards I had bought, and got a few comments from Postcrossing members about how cute it was, so I thought I should be using it more.

Yesterday during our walk, since it was a (rare) sunny day in Bodø, I thought of bringing it along but decided against it, since the weather changes quickly here and I didn't really know where we were heading I didn't bring it.  Today, being yet another rainy day in Bodø we decided to go explore some more, but this time by car.  

Likki, as we're leaving Bodø

Doesn't it look comfortable and ready for a road trip?  I  just love how you can see its' tail reflection in the windshield.  We left Bodø's center of town and headed East towards the University of Nordland.  It's not it town as such, but about twenty to thirty minutes out.  The area around it has grocery stores, drugstore, pizzeria, you know the typical things for students...

University of Nordland

We kept driving, since there wasn't much around there.  We headed towards Saltstraumen.  We had to go through tolls and two long tunnels.  The navigation system in our rental car (a Mazda 3) is pretty neat, at least I think so, it showed the speed limits, and was quite accurate and also showed the tunnels - the display changed and I thought it was cool, check it out:

Navigation system in tunnel

Coming out of the tunnels, which were fairly close together  (Editorial comment:  it was weird driving through a tunnel and not feeling like some part might fall on us, really felt like we were in a foreign country.) and really through rocks, with gorgeous snow covered mountains as background.  I will say this, the scenery in Norway is quite nice, between the mountains, the fjord, and the grey skies, because since we've been here we've seen blue skies only a few times so far...

Scenic view post tunnel

View along the road, where the rocks had funky striations

Likki posing

Bridge leading to Straumøya

There were two bridges (as well), long ones too, which led to a little more rural and remote area.  There were some fishing camps at the bottom, and when I got out of the car to take a few pictures, the smell of fish was quite present, to say the least.

View from the other side of the bridge

There we also saw an actual beach, more than just a shore line, and it looked like actual sand.  I do know there are a few white sand beaches in the area, so seeing that little one was pretty.

Little beach by a cow field

We kept driving down that very narrow road, where we couldn't really meet another car, one of us had to pull aside to let the other go by.  We (read Hubby who was doing the driving) were looking for Bodø from the other side, since so far we've seen this coast in the distance, so we wanted to see Bodø the same way, in the distance...  We couldn't find a road that would really lead us to the coast line as such, we were following the coast. 

Bodø in the distance

There was this little dirt road which looked like it was leading towards the water, so I told Hubby to go that way.  He was hesitant, afraid that some Norwegian farmer would come running out with a shot gun or something (yeah, he watches a lot of TV) plus the road was full of holes and we could get stuck if not careful. He's quite wary when he drives, but we found what he wanted to see.  The picture doesn't show much (it was taken with my cell phone after all), but we could see the Scandic Hotel and the Control Tower of the airport. 

We then decided to head back to Bodø Sentrum, and along the way passed not one but four moose.  I guess the postcards I've seen (and sent) were not only for the tourists benefits but because those big beasts are quite common.

Hubby had never seen a live one before, only steak in his plate at my mom's - which he truly enjoys either as steak or as fondue meat, which is always a treat - I was excited to see not one but four of them simply grazing in the woods.  We both agreed that it must be hard to spot them, an this despite their size, from a tower and in the forest.  They have a great natural camouflage.

I was also happy we got to see them only, and not hit them as we could have done given they were standing by the road.

One of the four...

We did manage to get back, rather quickly, and without any sightings of anything else, big or small.  For having been out and about for a few hours I need to eat a little something, so we went to the cafe below our flat.  They have a daily soup buffet, homemade,  which is rather good, so I enjoyed a nice soup and cappuccino and a cold one for the husband.

Post Road Trip @ Kafta Cafe

Wouldn't you say it was a nice way to close this first adventure of Likki the Trimmed Beaver in Norway?

Wind Warning!

Today was a windy day in Bodø, really windy and I think that we had every type of weather possible from sun, to snow, to hail and rain - and everything in between!
 

Hubby has been following the weather warnings and last night we could hear the wind rattling the windows, the way the rain hit the windows was a strong indication of the winds.  Supposedly, according to our landlord, storms are not that common in Bodø.  Wind yes, the weather shifting rapidly yes, but winds like last night and today, not so much.  Good to know!

Actually since yesterday the city center has become alive.  Funny how dead it was, due to Easter, and how different it feels now.  You can hear kids playing, that alone is very different from anything I've heard since we've arrived.  Even walking to the grocery store, there was people everywhere in the mall.  I will say this, it is nice to see 'cause it was pretty dead before and despite being a nice town, it was dead!

While grocery shopping I've noticed a can of fish balls.  Naturally having the twisted mind I do, I couldn't help to think: "Geez, those are mighty big fishes to have balls this size!" - I know, I know, I'm bad, but come on, tell me you didn't think of that too!

Someone asked me what they (the Norwegians) ate.  From what I've seen so far, lots of frozen stuff - understandably so since being so far, frozen is the way to go, for vegetables and such.  They don't have that much canned goods, and what they have isn't what I normally see, like fish balls and lots of different fish products.  One thing I've noticed though, is how everything is in Norwegian, some things (like the fish balls) will have an English translation for the title, but when it comes to instructions and such, Norwegian is the way to go.  I've been told, a few times already, when I've asked about the language, that there are many dialects so learning it will make it "interesting" to say the least.  To get back to what they eat, I was told today, by the landlord, when I mentioned buying a toaster, that they don't toast their bread because they buy it fresh daily.  We buy bread too, ok not daily but every other day I'd say, being with a bread lover, and we like it toasted as well.  As if we toast bread because it's no longer fresh, strange.  I like my toast in the morning, especially, thank you very much.  I will not enjoy smoked salmon for breakfast.  For an appetizer at dinner, delicious.  But for breakfast?  No thanks.   I did try some funky stuff while in Japan, like raw egg that you either "drink" or put over rice, and yes it was an acquired taste, but (thank God) it wasn't fish.  I do enjoy some good sashimi, but not for breakfast.  Call me fussy.  But come on, look at the size of me, there's your proof I'm not that fussy!

;-)

 

Against all odds

As you (may) know, I'm an active Postcrossing member.  I've been for over four years now.  I love it.  It's a serious addiction.  I can not go anywhere without thinking and looking for postcards.  Since Bodø is not that big of a town, I thought I would ask other postcrossers in Norway - there are only 1,105 members (on a +5 millions population) - if they would be interested in swapping some Norway cards with me.  I did contact five members to start, and was quite surprise to get an answer right away from one of them.

This person actually lives in Oslo and get this, is presently in Bodø, visiting her family for Easter!  What are the odds?  I can't get over it.  Look at the map of Norway, it's not a small country.  I don't know about you but besides Oslo and Lillehammer I didn't really know many other towns here.  And looking at the map, Bodø isn't the first place I would think of... Don't you find it funny that the one person who does answer me is currently in Bodø as well?   Let's see if she does contact me again once she'll be back in Oslo.

Tomorrow, should be a return to normality here, since the Easter break should be over (for most, that is).  Hubby will be really doing what he came here for, alone, since the other person went back home a few days ago.  Tomorrow, I will make my way to the post office and mail about twenty postcards.  I won't even try to figure out how much it will be.  It will be expensive.  Like everything else in Norway.

Today I took a picture of a commercial on TV, advertising some specials at a grocery store. 

I know it is in NOK, but still, whenever I see a price like that I can't help but catch my breath a little...  That is about $3,85 CD, which is much better but then again, it's still more than what I would pay back home for 2 avocados.  Last grocery run we did it was almost 2,000 NOK - it goes fast and yet, whenever I shop for food, I don't look at the price, really but more at what it is I'm buying.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to make friends with the Post Office people, since I will most likely be "visiting" them often!  I might stop by the Kommune on my way, and see if I could get some info about maybe a Norwegian class.  It doesn't seem to be an easy language, but the writing/reading part seems easier to me, than what I've heard of it.

Let us see how that goes, if it goes at all...

My Chocolat for Easter!

On our flight from Oslo to Bodø, there was this little magazine "Scandinavian Traveler" in the little pocket of each seats, where I saw this ad for Chocolate & Baileys... It looked delicious.  Already that Baileys isn't too shabby, but a chocolate one had me intrigued.

Wednesday, while running some errands with the husband we went to a liquor store (oh, big surprise) and there it was!  I had a glass of it tonight, since everything is closed due to Easter, and man, oh man, this was not disappointing!

This is really yummy! The Norwegian adventure is getting better one sip at the time!

Happy Easter!!

Ask and you Shall Receive...

Since I was asked by Phil Plasma (I had a feeling it was you MC), and since I had taken pictures of our flat, I will also post them here (they all are in our travel album on Flickr)

As you enter our flat (Coat and Shoe Racks on the left, bedroom on the right)

The Master Bedroom

The Guest Bedroom

Dining/Kitchen/Living Room

Same, different angle

Fridge on top and mini freezer below

View of the Kitchen, with oven, induction stove top and dishwasher

and last but not least...

our bathroom, with the funky space saving shower and the mini washer

And there you have it, that is our humble home for the next three months.  It's small, it's cosy and now it's clean!!

It has begun!

Getting around our new home... I've washed everything that bugged me, from the sofa covers to the curtains, to the dishes and floors, I've washed out the previous tenant smells out as much as I could.  It's not only a question of being disdainful, I've come to realize over the years that my standards are not everyone's, so, I made it ours.  I write ours since my husband is just as fussy as I am.

Because of Easter, everything is close.  We are Thursday, and no store is open in town, except the 7-11.  Yesterday we went to get some groceries since everything will be closed for the next few days.  Things are very different.  We are used to find fresh stuff, here not so much.  Everything is frozen.  There is barely any fresh meat.  I understand that things are not local, since it doesn't look like farmland, I get that, but still I need to adjust.  Even their canned goods are different, they have a lot of pre-made food, so I can't help and wonder what is it the local people eat?

One funny thing I've noticed while driving (Hubby that is, I haven't felt the need to drive anywhere yet) around, there is no stop signs!! They have a few lights, I've counted two on our way to the big mall.  Oh!  there are streets and cars, rest assure, it's just different way of driving - it really doesn't feel like Laval (for example) does to me, nothing is aggressive, nobody is driving fast; it is somewhat strange to be honest. 

When we arrived, on Sunday, we knew we had a parking spot reserved behind the building, as the renter had mentioned.   This is what was awaiting us! I still think it's hilarious, and yet, there is no possible confusion as to where we should park!

Yesterday, on our little walk around I've found a few places where they sold postcards, some touristic ones and also some artistic ones which are basically impossible to find back home.  The price of the cards I've found (and bought) varied from 7,00 to 10,00 NOK, which is in CDA $1.11 to $1.58 - not cheap but then I'm in Norway.

I did manage to find some stamps too, and to send to Europe it costs 14,00 NOK ($2,21 CDA) and 17,00 NOK ($2.69 CDA) for cards to Canada/US.  Last night, I've prepared some cards, nine to be exact, two if which were officials, and this morning I've walked around and found the post office (which, of course, was closed).  It's a good thing Hubby's co-worker explored a lot and he told me where I could find the big post office.

Despite it being closed I was happy to see a big red box outside where I could drop off my cards.  It's now official, I'm settled in Bodø, I've sent my first postcards!!

Now, if only the sun would pop out, that would be great!  Since we've been here I have seen the sun for a few minutes only, on the day we got here, while sitting in a hotel room.  I take consolation in the fact that at least it hasn't been snowing.  That's a BIG plus in my books!

Tonight will be my first time preparing a meal since we've been here, should be interesting.  Let's just say the pots and pans available are a far cry from the stuff we have at home.  I'm not complaining, it's just an observation.  This Viking experience sure does put things in perspective.  We do have it good back home, and this even if we're not really roughing it up in Norway at all.  

Making it ours

I've never thought of myself as a cleaning freak, but being here and having lots of free time, I've realized that I like things clean and clean according to my standards, not someone else.  So, yesterday was the first run of the washer with all towels, and today it was the floor, which really needed it, and I've decided to get the mini sofa undressed and threw everything in the washer.  It had a little smell that reminded me of a smoker type smell, so hopefully between the fresh clean floor and the washing of the cover it will take care of that unpleasant smell.  Plus I'm thinking tomorrow I might throw in the curtains, really get rid of all "previous" smells!

Yep, I'm making it our own!  I've moved the furniture around, and I will need some more cleaning products, and it might only be covering the surface, but still, it will now be dirtied by us and not left over from whomever before...

Today it's 3 degree.  Not really sunny either.  It's rather grey, but at least it's not snowing.  I trust there will be sun.  Somewhere.  Some day.  Until then, it will be time for me to meet my husband who wants to bring me to the "big" shopping center right by the airport.

So,  snakkes!

*Norwegian, meaning: Talk to you later!

A First Time for Every Thing!

I woke up with Hubby, an did fall back asleep after he left for work.  I woke up later, way later, and forced myself to get up - damn the time difference is hurting me bad! - took a quick shower, got dressed and decided to go to the bakery I`d seen yesterday.

I pointed at a bread, asked for it to be sliced, picked a pastry and an orange juice bottle and that was that.  I came back to the flat, ate my pastry, which was quite nice and decided to make my way to the grocery store.  Decided against taking my purse (extra weight for nothing), grab an IGA grocery bag and out again.  I knew there was a grocery store, Rema 1000, not far from here, so headed there.  Things are different here, I could see through the windows where the store was, but couldn`t find its door.  Since Hubby had been told that the stores were often in what looked like apartment buildings, I was kind of looking for something like that.  I went in one entrance, but there was nothing there other than locked doors.  I tried another entrance, where a guy was smoking and was looking at me funny, no luck there either.  Finally I spotted this entrance for a furniture store, a pharmacy and the grocery store.  Eureka!  I picked a cart and started shopping.  It`s the first time really that I feel like my father must have often - not being able to identified the products sucks.  Good things there`s lots of pictures.  I bought some type of meat, I`m thinking it is ground beef, but it could be pork, turkey or elk for all I know. I`ve picked a few things and hoped for the best. 

When I showered this morning, I thought the towels in the flat didn`t smell too good, so I bought some soap and started a load of all towels. The load has been in for almost 2 hours, and it`s still going!  The instructions manual for the washer is in Norwegian... damn it!  Good thing I could download a pdf of the instructions in English.

Well... this Norwegian thing will be interesting that`s for sure...

And we here!

Oh what a trip!  But we made it! 

We almost didn't make it on the plane leaving Montreal, because of one little word: work.  Long story short, Air Canada wasn't allowing us to board the plane because Husband said work rather than business for more than 90 days and for that he needed a work Visa.  After trying to reach Expedia to change our return date, and spending over two hours on the phone to be told in the end, there was nothing that could be done because we were within two hours of departure and no changes could be made at that point, Hubby decided to give the auto-check in machine another try.  When the purpose of the trip came up, he chose business and got our boarding passes.  We checked our luggage and made our way through custom.

We got on a plane direction Heathrow, London.  That flight was the long leg of the journey.  The number of runny noses, sniffling and coughing heard on that flight is enough to make the germophobe in me cringe a few times.  I'm not even going to talk about how bad I felt, with the runny nose, itchy eyes and headache.  Neither of us managed to catch a wink at all.  We had a few hours in Heathrow - beautiful and big airport - and had to wait even to take off for a good 35 to 45 min.  That delay messed up our connection to Oslo.  When we arrived in Oslo, we had to pick up our luggage, make our way through custom and then go back up to departures.  By that time, we had missed our connection.  We had to go see a few people, to be told in the end that there was no other fight for Bodo, and had to spend the night in Oslo.  Thanks to SAS we spent the night at the Radisson Blu, walking distance from the airport, a cute and fairly new hotel.  We checked in, I showered and went straight to bed.  I was done!  After being up for more than 24 hours, awake, I needed to rest.  And I did.

First Norwegian Beer: Ringnes Pilsner - Oslo Airport

This morning, Husband had decided we were getting up at about 6:30 am to catch our flight at 10:45 am.  We woke up, took a quick shower, made our way to breakfast , tidied our luggage and made our way back to the airport.  It was snowing in Oslo, and it was quite fresh. When we arrived there were so many people at the airport, a this humongus queue - the SAS ticketing machines/printers weren't working.  It was a bit nuts, to say the least.  Let's just say the computer geek Husband was REALLY not impressed.  We finally managed to get our luggage tags printed and spot a drop-off kiosque.  There was now a problem with the conveyer belt and the system only recorded three suit cases when there was four.  I think by then, we both had reach a poitn we we hoped for the best and walked away.  Good thing Hubby wanted to get there early!  We passed security (and each friggin' country has its own rules and requirements - made me realized we've been to the States often!) and make our way to our gate thinking we'll go somewhere for a coffee, when I noticed the flight crew checking in at our gate.  Something made Hubby doubt himself so after verification, turns out that they sprang forward yesterday! So we barely had time to stand in line and to board.

It was a full flight - seems like the Nordland is a popular destination - yeah right!

First thing we saw as we're about to land in Bodo...

Yesterday when we landed in Oslo, I commented on how everything was frozen and white.  It looked like winterland, really.  I was expecting the same if not worst coming to Bodo.  To my surprise there wasn't snow all over, but on top of the few mountains we could see, and the ground was snow less - yay Bodo!!

We met up Hubby's co-worker who's been here for a few weeks already and leaving now that Hubby is here to replace him.  We walked around town for a while, then went to his hotel room until we could get the keys to our place.  His room gives out on the fjord and little marina in town... quite the view and this despite the grey sky...

View from hotel room, 11th floor

We did get the keys to our flat, which is small but clean - it will be plenty for the three months we will be here, I'm sure.  Tomorrow I will be going to get some food, and some cleaning products to clean this place to my liking or standard.  It's one thing to sanitize the remote and a few other things, but there's nothing like making it your own (if only temporarily) but either farting on it and/or cleaning it. 

On that note, time to call it quit for the day.  'night!

Way too much!

Well, it's already our last evening home before we embark on this Viking bound adventure!  As I sit here, trying to remain calm and going over all that I/we should have with us for the next three months, I can't help to feel a little... humm... stress, nah, excitement is more like it, and this even if I've been feeling like crap this whole week.  Funny how my body crashed right after I was done with all my clients.  What is more pleasant than being stuck in a flying banana for multiple hours with snot dripping, itchy eyes and raw nose? Coughing up a lung!  Yay me!

For the last two days, no joke, I've been packing and unpacking and repacking and thinking about what else we should bring or not. Unlike when we go on vacation, I don't know what the temperature will be like (other than cold) PLUS I've never had to pack for a cold destination.  I've always went to warmer climate than here, or at least not as cold as here.  Even when I went to Japan, it was cool, but not cold.  Or even when I went to the Azores, despite the horrible weather it wasn't really cold, it was damp and dammed humid.  This time I know it is similar to here but it will not vary as much as it does here.  I've bought myself a new jacket, lighter than my big Kanuk and not as bulky so that should be good.  I've brought some layers (sweaters, long sleeves shirts, fleece, and a rain coat), some different types of footwear but no "winter" boots as such.  Because it looks like a very outdoorsy place, I've limited my "dressed" clothes to a minimum, read one pair of slacks.  I know that I can (and most likely will to!) always buy stuff over there, but knowing right off the bat that the prices are two times what we pay here is (somewhat) refraining my shopping ideas.

A friend who travels a lot suggested to not bring any beauty products and to get all new there.  Since I don't know what they do have and since I'm every faithful to the ones I'm using, I have to pack some of these babies.  I'm not too worried about the basics, like arm pit shit and stuff, by face cream I have my favorites, and I'm bringing them.  I did pack one luggage already, clothes and shoes, and 45 lbs later I still feel like there are many things which should be packed yet.  Hubby hasn't even started yet.  As usual he will be running around tomorrow, day of our travel. Why change something that has been working for him for years, right?  Riiiight!

Anyway, tomorrow night by this time we will be heading towards an adventure in Norway, way up the coast... stay tuned!

(Final countdown). Ohhh oh oh ohhhh

Despite feeling like my poor little hamster (read brain) is going crazy fast in its little wheel, I think it is also time for me to come out, since...

...has begun.

I've tried to prepare as much as I could, and try not to stress too much about it, but it is what it is, and I'm going crazy!  Two weeks left before the adventure starts.  As of tonight, I've started my "social rounds", I had dinner with a girlfriend of mine that I see once every season about.  We made a point to get together once per season, since otherwise we would realized that we hadn't seen each other in months, so this way we're keeping in touch "regularly".  Tomorrow we will be visiting some governmental office to make sure everything is in order, run some errands and really kick start not only mine but our social rounds.  Between going to visit my mother, seeing a bunch of friends on different days of the week, and both of us trying really hard to cram all we can into working hours with our respective clients, I feel like I've drank one too many coffee.  It feels like there is so much to do, so many details, and yet...

I've postponed a bunch of appointments to later in the year.  Went to the pharmacy to renew our prescriptions drugs so that we have everything we need.  I'm excited. I'm trying not to forget anything too many things. Despite all the excitement, I still find time to sit here and address a few postcards, and even write this.  It's almost as if my brain knows that it's going to be slowing down for a while soon, and doesn't want to rush anymore (oh! how I know that feeling!).  I should could be working right now, but I've decided not to.  Hubby is watching "House of Cards", and I'm blogging, and this even if our flights have not been booked yet.  We did manage to find a place to stay for the duration of our stay, that's a step in the right direction.  We've only thought about packing. Granted we both took out some of the things we really don't want to forget or go without...

Earlier today I was at a client, who amused himself with Google Street view.  I hadn't even done that... I've looked at the temperature.  It's cold, but currently warmer than here - go figure.  I'm really not sure what to bring as far as clothes and shoes go.  It looks very casual.  I'm somewhat overwhelmed I guess, excited though.  No matter what I will be with my husband, most of the time, just like I am here, and it will be all new.  Thank God for the internet that is for darn sure!

Because of everything, I sure will be blogging a lot more (I hope), reporting our adventure.  Stay tune!

isn't it?! ;-)