STAVANGER!!!!!!!!!

long awaited & delayed by a 20pg paper, but here it is.... my adventures in Stavanger (on the west coast of norway) last weekend!! my goodness - ive seen a lot of beautiful places in my life... but this place was seriously amazing!! maybe it's the west coast'er in me or something... but i am now SERIOUSLY IN LOVE WITH THIS COUNTRY!! =) hehe.. well check out these pictures and you'll see why!!


our weekend started off on overnight train to stavanger...

got there saturday morning... to our AMAZING 5 STAR (well im not sure, but it was pretty darn beautiful!) hotel courtesy of debbie's boss getting us a sweet deal... and right in the middle of downtown stavenger overlooking the lake!















there's our hotel... Thon Hotel, right behind us!!!

we toured the town and found our way to...





sverd i fjell... "sword in mountain"!!






i dont remember the story behind it... but its cool & viking-like so we took lots of pictures!! =)


hehe.. we had a super nice evening, dinner by the lake...




and me & debbie working on our norwegian!!



okay and then it gets better, when SUNDAY comes along... we got up super early (almost not, because we didn't know there was a time change hehe!!) and took a ferry en route to our destination, Preikestolen...




... welcome to Prekeistolen!! YAHHHHAAAA, WELCOME!!! (very excited at this point! our sweet smiles, debbie's norwegian, and a very kind lady with a car (!) got us a sweet ride to the base of Prekeistolen by 8:30 in the morning... a good 4 hours ahead of when we thought we'd get there by taking a bus closer and walking the rest of the way!)


... we are ready for the hike!!









scary icy-ness!!! =)







stopping of course for a couple kodak moments!!












soaking it in... WOW!!







WE MADE IT!!! TOP OF PREIKESTOLEN ("preacher's chair... "Pulpit Rock" in english)!!





wowsie, it's mighty high up here!!!




yay, debbie!! =)



probably my favourite picture... haha.. or at least one of the funnest ones - Kvikk Lunsj at the top of Preikestolen just to make it THAT much more authentically norwegian!!

it was a beautiful hike back down... a couple scary just-hold-on-tight-and-dont-look-down icy sections but we made it!! AND a guy taxi-ing back gave us a ride for free... sweet deal! =)






a little swing dancing on the ferry...



... and a little in the gazebo back in stavanger...




... where, by the way, debbie, karin and i are officially getting married haha..

and eventually...


a scenic train ride back home to our little town Ås... =)

hope you enjoyed the all the pics... they don't even do justice to how gorgeous it really was in real life!! here's the last picture - the REAL picture from the teaser in my last post!! =)







there's no words to describe this, so i wont! =)

im off in an hour for the airport to meet my parents & my sister nessie in europe for my 10 day easter break! =D til next time... happy easter and talk to you all when i get back!!

much love!
rainbow =)

just a preview

hey im back from stavanger! we just got back in this evening... to a campfire in the forest with my Bible study! =)

but what a weekend!! man oh man... this place is AMAZING... wait til you see these pictures!!! but unfortunately im working on about 4 hours of sleep here and my head is spinning so im going to have to go to bed and post tomorrow... but here's a teaser for now... stay tuned! =)



xox
rainbow =)

more weekend goodness...!

i wont be snowboarding this weekend after all... we were going to go to another mountain this weekend, but it turned out to be too expensive with getting there and staying in a hut and everything ... especially compared to home, so im officially done snowboarding for the season i think. unless i go next week during the week to a nearby mountain... hehe but anyways, me, debbie and karin are going to Stavanger to see Lysefjorden instead, some 8 hr overnight train ride away! many pretty pictures to come after the weekend im sure!!

i still have my paper on Peace Education to write, i need another 4000 words or so. lol... but it's karin's last weekend in norway and maybe it'll be good for me to ease up & not be always working so hard anyways, as my roommates are always telling me! =)

ha en fin helg! have a nice weekend!! vi snakkes!

rainbow =)

happy bday to me =)

hehe.. yes it was my birthday today. i'm officially 22... and surprisingly feeling very youthful while surrounded by mostly masters students that are all older than me! haha..

but THANK YOU ALL for your emails and cards... you guys are awesome! it was a super nice surprise to get all the new messages in my inbox this morning and really great to hear from you all! and if you forgot =Þ... hehe, its okay i still love ya.

and i did indeed have a beautiful day!

it started off with a buzz on my doorbell this morning


and opening the door to a crew of lovely people with cake and candles and breakfast and a rendition of happy bday!



laura, debbie, zuzana, luca, meredith, gudbjort, andrew and karin. (& trygve too, but he missed the picture!)




but yah i LOVE surprises and wow, i was thoroughly surprised!! very awesome start to the day and i definitely feel very loved! =)



debbie and karin... who tricked me into believing they were going to stop by this morning just for tea with me before leaving for an overnight hiking trip. ahh.. i love these girls! =)

i didnt have class til later in the afternoon so i took a little bike trip down to a lake


and spent the rest of the morning there soaking in the beauty



sunshine & blue skies... absolutely gorgeous day =)

...AAAAAND i was at Lagsmøte, the norwegian student Christian fellowship group with all the super great people i went to Hafjell with... and it's all in norwegian but trygve or someone translates for me. anyways trygve goes up to the front at the end of the night and tells everyone in norwegian (in a dialect just to make sure i REALLY cant understand) that its my bday and they all jump up and turn around and start singing me a bday song in norwegian! haha.. it was very nice... and its a good thing i like surprises! thanks guys! =)

TUSEN TAKK again for all your lovely bday wishes!! im very blessed to have such amazing friends & family!

LOVE YOU ALL!
rainbow =)

hilsen fra john fredrik!

greetings from my friend john fredrik... who was in a bad snowboard accident and broke his back and arm at hafjell last weekend...

I came home yesterday, so its wonderfold to be home again. It was litle bad when they told me about my back, but the docktors says that it will be alright again, so that is nice. God is wonderful and will forever be. So praise him. to day I was on a walk with my mother. I walk over 2 km. without help, so praise God again. Its a mirikale that everything goes so good and even fast!!.

Tank you for that you pray for me, and your frends too :o) I feel that it helps a lot, so all thanks to our all mighty God.


"...the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all... might hear it. and i was delivered from the lion's mouth. the Lord will rescue me... and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. to him be glory for ever and ever. amen." 2 timothy 4:17-18

AMEN!!

hemsedal!

ski weekend #2! i have class in 10 min so this is going to be a quick post.. but here's a couple fun pictures from the weekend!



the hemsedal gang!




a nice welcome from the troll family!! =)




our super gorgeous cabin... no roughing it up this weekend, thats for sure!






meredith's first day on skis since highschool!!




me and debbie... not sure what we were doing... probably just enjoying the scenery!





its not a norwegian ski trip without a kvikk lunsj... or so im told! kvikk lunsj...aka "quick lunch"... aka norwegian kitkat =)





fancy schmancy apres-ski candlelight salmon dinner... one of the norwegian guys fredrik even serenaded us with his guitar while we were eating! =)




and of course... just a couple pics of snowy mountain beautifulness!





ok i better get running to class! vi snakkes!

xox!
rainbow =)

"home"

snowboarding changes the picture a lot for what i can willingly call "home"... haha.. but really, just as much and more, friendship and community, and scenery too, makes all the difference. i realized after the weekend that for the first time since i've been here, i was happy not just to be experiencing something novel and excitingly norwegian.. but i felt for the first time... at home.

and then i realized that half the time i have here is already up... and im leaving in just 2 1/2 months more, and that made me sad =(

my friend jon rash wrote this song that i really love... it really captures the moment

another few hours here
and im going to say goodbye
ill undoubtedly leave behind...
a piece of my heart

this is not my home
and neither is my hometown
my citizenship is in heaven
and i can't wait to get there

(you can try downloading it from here if the other link didnt work... http://www.purevolume.com/jonrash)

this summer living in quebec, i learned a lot about what it means that "home" is with God... and that God is with me where i am, so to commit heart, mind and soul to making where i was "home" even if half the time i was like "God... what the heck am i doing here?!!" Montreal was too much city, and Trois-Pistoles was pretty stretching and lonely most of the time... i never would've called either place "home", so i was really learning "wherever i am, to be all there" as an act of the will.

now im kinda learning the same lesson, but in an opposite way. i DO like it here, im really honestly enjoying it... it's not vancouver, it's not the same friends and family and the same beautiful mountains and beaches and everything i still love dearly about vancouver... but it's nice here too, and i feel comfortable and my heart is happy here. and so, even though this isn't really "my home" and i know im leaving, and it'll come quicker than i think, im not going to skimp out on letting this be "home" while i'm here. and that means investing in friendships even though i dont know if or when ill ever see them again, loving 'em deeply even though goodbyes suck, learning Norwegian even though i don't know when i'll ever speak it again, and yah... just making Norway home while i'm here.

ok... maybe now that i've gotten that out in words ill be able to focus on my paper! or at least i hope so!! im leaving tomorrow for another amazing ski weekend with debbie, karin and meredith (all vancouver girls!) and gudbjort from iceland... this time to a mountain called Hemsedal and from what i've heard, it is gonna be GRAND! =)

ha en fin helg og vi snakkes snart! have a nice weekend & we'll talk soon!

much love!
rainbow =)

hafjell ski weekend!

hands down, THE best weekend since stepping foot into norway! but snowboarding vs no snowboarding makes for a pretty easy competition to win out =)

it really was an awesome weekend though... snowboarding, good friends, good sun and good fun, learning more norwegian... a girl really cant ask for much more! =) i love snowboarding, i really do, it makes me feel alive... i love cutting through new snow through the trees or feeling like im flying on a jump... i always have P.O.D's song "Alive" running through my head when i snowboard... me and my sister always used to belt out the song when we're carving through making first tracks in fresh powder. =)



and just something about being outside with the view and the mountains and the snow and the trees and the sun and the sky... and it's just beautiful. and then i realize that the God that made ALL of this amazingness... made me. somehow while He was busy putting together this incredible beautifulness, He cared to love me and sculpt a beautiful life for me! i think this psalm in the Bible captures it well...

O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens...

When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars (and the mountains and the snow and the sky and the sun...!)
which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?

in light of the bigness of what God has done, doesnt make sense that He should care about me, but somehow, in His great love... He does! i didnt do anything to deserve it, and i COULDNT do anything to deserve it... and that's just a testament to the awesomeness of God.

riding aside, it was really awesome to spend some time with a good group of Christians, get to know each other more than the hi's and bye's in passing, and love Jesus together, i'd really missed that. actually, chatting with a bunch of different people over the weekend about God and life and everything has made me all reflective & emo and its hard to keep my head in school mode. everything im reading im either thinking about something else, or reading about peace education for my paper, im wondering what it might mean for my life and so an hour later im still staring at the same page... oh dear. =) but its almost 2am and i have class in the morning so more to come about that later, hopefully soon... but anyways, for now here's some pictures from the weekend =)

(i worked so hard last time to get the captions and pictures to line up, and then i found out that it doesn't line up the same on your computers anyways, so im not going to bother and you'll have to use your imagination! =) )




snowboarding in norway?? yahhhhh we are!! (david, me, karin, laurent, debbie)




snow and sunshine... canada or norway, it doesnt get any better than this!!!





olympic dude with a torch carved into the trees for the '94 winter olympics in lillehammer!





my first ever ski posse! im ashamed to say i was riding with these guys all day and i dont know all their names... but the guy in the green pants is gunnstein, he's super fun, and a crazy good freestyle telemark skier!! and it was fun riding with all skiers actually, when we got to flat parts, they all pulled me along with their poles! =)






here's gunnstein skiing on his hands and knees... and actually making it down the whole run!!!


and debbie... hitting up the jumps and getting some big air!! yay debbie!! =)



lunch out in the snow... with toasty sandwiches on a fire bbq!




laurent's lunch... 8 sandwiches!!





warming up... =)



apres-ski game of Spoons! =)


and a little evening entertainment... Knut and Oddbjorn playing Chubby Bunny... FOURTEEN marshmellows!!


... ahhh.. i could do this every weekend. oh wait.. i am, at least for the next 2 weekends! =D!!!

on a more serious note though, one of the guys on the trip, john fredrik had a bad accident when he was riding... it was really God's grace that he's still alive and walking and made it out of the lillehammer hospital to come home with us. he's back in the hospital near here, but he broke his arm really bad and we heard just today that actually something in his back is broken too. so pls keep him in prayer - thank God sooo much that he's alive and well. pray also that God would take away his pain and heal him quickly, that by God's grace john f (& his family & friends) would know and trust God more and be more prepared for the things that God has in store for him and called him to in the future through this. life is God's hands as we trust it to Him... and how i thank God for that!