Last year around this time my sister Sarah and I were in NORWAY! Has it already been a year?! I think about this beautiful country of Norway ( And Prague) probably every day. Kristine, my best friend in the middle, talks to me and my girlfriends every day on our group message so I get to see it year round still haha. She is always sending us pictures of insane hikes, skiing, northern lights...just some boring stuff like that.. Just kidding I about cry every time I see a picture of Norway. I am SO blessed to be able to go and see Norway but also to see my best friend again. It is not the same without our sweet Kristine here! She just came to Arizona with her family over the summer and I flew from Utah and surprised her! It was great having some of the girls all together..It's always a hard goodbye because she is all the way across the ocean and we have no idea when we will see each other next:(..So I guess I need to get married or make one of my best friends get married because she WILL be there if I have to fly her out myself! Im not getting married anytime soon girls so hurry it up, I miss Kristine;) Jk make sure its the right guy please..no hurry!! So today I have decided to write about some fun fall festivities I have been up to and share some Norway pictures as well!!
I had to share this photo..My bestie Brittany sent it to me and it made me laugh SO hard every day in Europe because this explained my entire family HAHA..Jet Lag..
Sittin on the rooftop people watching!!
First morning in Norway..We got there late evening so Sarah and I were dying to go outside right when it was light to see Kristine's neighborhood and explore a little!
Kristine wasn't quite on fall break yet so her sweet DARLING mom took us around town and went to a Bunad store! I LOVE Norwegian culture so much! At the time her mom was designing a new Bunad for her younger sister and it was so cool to listen to her plan all of the little details, colors, stitching..I was in heaven. I wanted one! They are like more than $1000..But maybe a fake Elsa or Anna one haha. ;). I love the tradition, America what up? Why can't we have cool traditions like that.. Read more about them here! http://mylittlenorway.com/2009/05/bunad-norwegian-traditional-costumes/
Kristine finally was on fall break so PARTY.
Ok. Their food is AMAZING..They take so much time and thought into preparing their food that it is all just absolutely beautiful. They do not believe in Lean cuisine or whatever the crap we eat. They take time and pretty much every meal is a huge feast and goes just as long as dinner. Its serious. My favorite was breakfast! Everywhere we went they would have fresh bread, oatmeal, cheese, THE GREATEST homemade crackers( Kristine give me the stinking recipe) hard boiled eggs, ALL Meats, fruits...Im drooling. Won't find no captain crunch here..Sorry..But you are better off without it.. I want to do a post soon on my favorite Norwegian meals so stay tuned!
I miss Kristine... AND my long hair gosh dang it.
Last year was my first time fully experiencing FALL ( Because, ARIZONA) So I was going crazy over the leaves on the ground and all of the colors! I got to see it a tiny bit in Utah before I left, But dang.. Norway's got the whole fall thing down. It was BEAUTIFUL.
My Norwegian clan. It was so fun meeting Kristines friends because she would talk about them but I never thought I would meet them in real life! We all became instant friends. I am not going to lie, I was a little worried to meet Kristines friends and go party with them... Because in Norwegian culture, drinking is not a problem.. They start drinking around 16 so I knew that I would be in an atmosphere where I would probably be offered a little somethin. Kristine was such a good friend and said that she would NOT drink and that she would remind her friends that I am LDS and I do not drink. We got to the party and Kristine introduced me to everyone and I instantly decided that these girls were going to see that you DO NOT have to drink to have a good time. They offered me some of course and I began to explain why I choose to not drink and what it does to your body ( HAH) It was so funny because as we were all sitting these girls were listening to me and one of the girls in a different room turned up the music super loud and one of the girls shouted, " WE ARE TRYING TO LISTEN TO ASHLEY! STOP!" ( In their super cool Norwegian accents..) So I ended up talking to them about my religion and guys they were all SO nice. They respected me so much and we had a freaking blast.. Some of them were very drunk thats for sure... But some girls chose not to drink or at least not drink a ton and we all became friends!! It was hilarious..We even went outside to take a group picture and the girls asked to take individual pictures with me. ( Probs because I am American and weird but oh well) They have even face timed me with Kristine and we talk about how fun that was and how we miss each other.. I was actually worried that they were probably all drunk and thats why they liked me..But nope! I absolutely adore them. I also made sure to show them an example of how not every LDS girl has to be judgmental and anti anyone who drinks or messes up. These girls had either never heard of a mormon, or they did not have a good impression of them. I loved them for who they were, I respected their culture, but obvs still found a way to sneak in some missionary work;). You can have a fun time without being under the influence..You can have fun AND be in control of yourself!
Can I just be Norwegian? - Cool side note, I actually found ancestors that are! What up.
OK.. I absolutely LOVE how Norwegians decorate! That might sound silly, because everyone decorated differently..But Norwegians have a sort of style. They have SO MUCH fur.. the most beautiful wood floors ( You can smell the rich wood like it just came off the tree) And they also have candles burning and natural lighting.. It is just the coziest atmosphere. And that wasn't just one family. They ALL light candles for dinner, have fur rugs, pillows, blankets, dogs, whatever. When I build a home one day, I am going to make the builder go to Norway with me and copy someones house haha;)..They got some mad styling skills.
SO STINKING COLD. We went up to a Cabin and I about died.. I still had that Az blood in me. Regardless it was beautiful...And there was a Sauna at the cabin that made me one happy camper after.. Haha Norwegians and their Saunas!! Ever seen Frozen? Yeah everything in that movie is so accurate to Norway! They even truly believe in TROLLS! Trolls, Saunas, The traditional song in the beginning of frozen, Bunads, SNOW. haha
Be still my heart. I miss this. Currently booking another flight........
So many pictures.... We stopped probably a BILLION times for me haha.
Was datttt?! WATER?
MORE WATERRRRR...
And now for my absolute favorite place in Norway... BERGEN
This place was INSANE..America whats up with our buildings?! Europe is so colorful with their architecture.. Especially Bergen!
LOOK. The cutest little town you ever did see. The shops were so cute! It felt like a Christmas town because every store had reindeer, stockings, wooden toys all of it. i felt like I was in a different time in history. It was so vintage and adorable.
Doesn't give it justice..
And once again, the breakfasts.. I was obsessed with the yogurt and granola.. Haha as boring as that is Norway's is just better for some reason;)
Second Favorite place.. OSLO! It was so charming and elegant! This was the palace where I met the cute guard hah!! We went up to take a picture and when it got to my turn I stood by him and then just looked at him and complained to the girls, " He's soaking wet from the rain!! ( Straight face)...Here we can share my umbrella OK?" I put my umbrella over him and slowly but surely... HUGE GRIN that melted my heart..He was young by the way. He was trying to fight it but gave in! I started freaking out and laughing and then said goodbye and walked away..My sister caught this picture! P.S don't judge the outfit..Isn't his smile cuteeeeee.. I would have got his number..Buuuut I don't do the whole long distance thing ya know?....Or speak Norwegian.. Thats a problem too.
Bik Bok is the coolest store out there guys..If you are ever in Oslo for some odd reason you have to go there.
We then made our way to the nakey statues....
WARNING: Nudity.. R rated blog
Cute lil babies..
I loved the statues!! Some were a bit scandalous haha..But I loved the ones like this one that had a meaning.. They were absolutely beautiful.
Our last night we went to the Oslo opera house and climbed to the roof and made shadow puppets with the big lights and did a little dancing around up there.. It was rad. W also went inside and they sold used ballet flats from the ballerinas in the Opera so of course I had to get some!!
Do you see these leaves.. The RED one?! Holy cow.
Bye NORWAY..
Obviously this was a very short version of the whole trip.. Sorry I am not into writing a ton yet but maybe I will edit the post and write some more when I have time!
Coming back to present time...
Last night I went on a date with this nice guy in my communications class( We really know how to communicate cuz..ya. haha) and his friend took my roommate Syd out so it was a fun double date! We went to the haunted corn maze in West Jordan..I was saying how I just went to a haunted house the other day and was not scared AT ALL..I was being pretty confident. Then we entered the corn maze and I about died...I was TERRIFIED! People chasing you in a corn maze is the worst thing in the freaking world. This guy probably thought his date was insane because I was holding onto him like there was no tomorrow.. Or I mean he liked it..But I honestly was holding on for dear life..Not to be romantic AT ALL..Sorry. He was cracking up at me and I just had mascara all in my eyes because of tears! But the worst part was when this guy with a chain saw came.. I LOST IT. I know it is fake..And I kept telling myself that! But it didn't work! They were getting so close to me and I kept thinking stupid stuff like " What if a cereal killer killed one of the chain saw actors and is hacking up kids?! Nobody would ever know!!" Obviously these are not good thoughts in this situation. I booked it when the guy came behind me I became so scared that I went on the ground and just bundled up and froze..The guy with the chain saw literally took off his mask and just laughed at me.. He said, " Dude that is THE WORST thing you could do if someone is coming at you with a chain saw! You would be dead." I looked up and my date and everyone else were literally crying laughing and I was just on the ground totally traumatized...My life. The haunted corn maze looped into other buildings that continued the haunted house..There was even a circus with scary clowns. They were all separate buildings so you would walk out thinking you were FINALLY done and so happy to get out of there and then into another horror trap.. I don't think I'm big on the scary stuff at halloween..Lets stick to carving pumpkins and eating candy. In the end we went and got Iceberg to try and find happiness in the world again.. My date was having the hardest time choosing and I said, " OH the raspberry oreo is THE BEST! We should just share that one!" It was so goooooood. He asked if I always get this one and kept saying how good it was and that he had never thought of it..I just said, " No actually I've never gotten it either..Just wanted you to decide.. I didn't even know they actually made oreo raspberry!" ( Currently eating whats left of it right now on my bed while writing this..It seriously is my new favorite flavor haha!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN THIS SATURDAY!! I'll be sure to post photos!
-Ash
