The Joys of Moving

Well, what can one say about the trials and tribulations of the moving experience after moving almost every three years for the last 45+ years. Well, it doesn't get any easier that's for sure. OK, you do pick up tidbits of wisdom on "best practices", but bottom line is that is still takes a lot of hard work/patience and the ability to remain extremely flexible (semper gumby as they say). Here's my better half plugging away at the 150+ boxes of stuff. What a trooper!



About half of our stuff did not go to Norway and was in storage for the past 3 1/2 years. I guess you could say it was sort of like Christmas (on a large scale) as we opened up some of the boxes and discovered some of our long last treasures. Both of us are looking forward to the day we can display them on a permanent basis. Each piece has its own story, whether purchased on some Navy adventure, handcrafted by Chris, or handed down from a past generation.




And the down side of moving....your stuff ends up like this poor globe!


On the bright side, you also get to experience new and interesting restaurants. After experiencing quite a few "bad" food experiences in the past, we now look for verbal recommendations before taking the plunge. Our prospective builder gave us a tip on a good Italian place in Asheville. The small, family run restaurant is in a strip mall along a busy road, somewhere we would not have thought twice about, but with a good word on its food we went to it the other night. And to our delight, the recommendation was valid. Here's a small portion of their menu...


The atmosphere was cozy and it was packed with locals. We started off with an appetizer of fried calamari. The batter was light and came with a nice dipping sauce, some greens, olives, roasted peppers and a deep fried lemon on top. A nice start to the dinner...


As we sat eating our appetizer, the plates of other patrons started to roll out. Of course the portions were huge, but looked very appetizing as well. Our interest was peaked. And I think our service started to get better as well as we started discussing our food, taking pictures of the menu, our food and the interior of the restaurant. I almost think that they thought we were food reporters or food critics, well whatever works!

Here's Chris' Farmhouse Rigatoni....


And my Penne with Sunday Gravy....


All in all a very good food experience. We will definitely go back to this place. And to top it all off we got a Cannoli to go. The Cannoli ended up as part of breakfast, but hey nothing like dessert for a quick "pick me up" in the morning.

Speaking of breakfast, oh no wait that was in my younger days...here is another benefit of moving. Finding a store that specializes in import beers! This place is downtown Asheville and boasts approx 700 beers from around the world, although I think they over exaggerated the numbers of beer. Anyway, it is called "Bruisin' Ales" and here's their website: http://bruisin-ales.com/index.php. And below is my haul for the visit. A dabbling of various beers, one even comes from a way far off place called Baltimore. The "Below Decks" beer is made by Clipper City Beer Company and is modeled after an English Barleywine style ale. Can't wait to get underway with this 10% beer.

Blast from the Past - # 6

I am sure most people driving by Daniels' Bar in Elkridge, MD did a double take when they saw these two bellied up to the bar and knocking back a few cold ones.....but it was a beautiful sunny day and the ladies forced me to stop so they could tame their thirsts! Oh, the things I have to do sometimes.

Merry Christmas

Well, it has been a fast paced two weeks back in the US. We have logged almost 1,700 miles on the car since we have been back, but we have managed to get a lot accomplished in a short amount of time. Our latest conquest was at a car dealership. Chris is now the proud new owner of her dream car (well, excluding the Jaguar dear). Santa was good to us, she now has a beautiful 2006 Volvo XC70 Cross Country AWD Turbo wagon. The dealer let us take it out for a two day test drive and it is a great ride. Adjectives like: Comfortable, Safe, Zippy, Roomy, & Solid come to mind.


So, how did we spend our Christmas? Well, it wasn't a white Christmas, but it was a nice one nonetheless. Christmas eve dinner was special as Chris got to spend it with a girlfriend she had not seen in 22 years. It was nice for her to rekindle and old relationship and for us to spend a lovely evening topped off by a scrumptious prime rib dinner. And here is a picture of the "ruler" of the house that we stayed at.....Roxie is my name, getting pampered is my game.



And how was our Christmas dinner? Well, it certainly wasn't as plush as the previous night, but we still managed to pull off a nice meal of breast of turkey and acorn squash. Here I am enjoying the meal in Chris' new apartment.



Well, as you can imagine life will be busy trying to set up two new residences (one in NC and one in GA), but I will try to post updates as we go along.

And if I don't get to it....Happy New Year to all!!!

Elvis has left the country

Well, after 3 years...Chris and I have left Norway. Like many moves that people make throughout their lives, it was a bitter sweet moment. We were sorry to leave behind our close friends, but so, so happy to be heading back to the States.

So.... we are finally back in the good ole' US of A. OK, so we are not exactly in the same state right now, but we are both back in the homeland. I just happen to be up in Maine visiting my parents and Chris is down in Maryland visiting our daughter.

Here's how I started off my trip to Maine...

Yes, I was met by an ice storm. In fact, the weather really played havoc on our travel to the US. Chris was met by a long delay in Newark Airport and I was greeted with....sorry, your flight has been cancelled. Long story....short.....It took me 23 hours to reach my parents house. Weather aside, my trip to Maine is going well, and it has also given me a chance to catch my breath before going back to work. Mom and Dad seem to be settled in to retirement life, while also managing to do some good volunteer work with the Vets and local community. Found out last night that they were awarded the "Knights of Columbus" family of the year award for all of their hard work. Congrats!

And here is one of the multitude of cats that call this place home.....Uno is his name, trouble is his game.

My mom asked me last night if I would ever get another cat, in particular a Siamese, now that Fran has passed away. Can't say that I have really thought about it, but my gut feeling is "no". Sure, we will probably have plenty of animals in our future, but I can't say one of those will be a Siamese, as Fran was one of a kind.

My sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew are in their new house now and although many projects still remain, they are definitely enjoying the lovely "nest" that they have built for themselves. My sister says they have some gorgeous sunrises/sunsets, and I am sure she does with this long field of view out their front door....

Sorry, it has been so long since my last posting, but life has been busy with making the transition from overseas to the States. Not sure where my next posting will occur, but it could be MD, GA or NC...the fun continues as we continue our transition to life in the US.

We will never forget...

As I post this blog, snapshots of that day flash through my head. The first thing that I remember was getting the early morning phone call from Chris, who was back in the States, while I was soundly sleeping in my hotel room in Hawaii. "Turn on the TV", she said. And with that phone call my (our) world was forever changed. As with most people I assume, I remained glued to the TV for the next few days, wondering if it was all a dream (hoping it was all a dream). Unfortunately, the events were real and so many lives were changed forever. My heart goes out to all of the families who lost their loved ones.

I have been to New York twice since Sep 11, 2001. The first time was 2 weeks after 9/11 and once again on May 7, 2007. I would like to share with you some of the photos I took at ground zero during my second visit.

Blast from the Past - #4

I just love this photo. The two different looks on their faces bring a smile to mine. This was taken during Jesse's (my nephew) trip down to our house in Suffolk, VA. Britt had made the desserts on the table and they were a definite hit, especially with the you know who!

Blast from the Past - #3

Here we are enjoying a Mardri Gras like event in Pensacola, Florida in July 2000 while I was attending a navy school. Their actual Mardi Gras event is held in February, so I am not exactly sure what was going on in July. I do remember is was hot as heck though! As you can see the heat did not affect our motivation to get the "beads". A fun time was had by all, especially since our hotel was practically right on the beach.

Courtesy of the World Wide Web:
Pensacola's Mardi Gras is a four-day party extravaganza. On Sunday a colourful parade weaves its way merrily through town and ends up at the beach. Amidst the bands, floats, competitions and cook-offs, the main aim of Pensacola's event is to catch as many beads and moonpies as possible as they are gleefully thrown off the floats.

Pictures from a trip home

My parents have sent me some pictures of my last trip back to the U.S. in April. I'll be posting something on them soon.

Here we go....

Here I am being welcomed home by Mom and Dad. It was good to be home after such a long time away, but coming from a military family we all understand that long separations are part and parcel of serving your country.

A family photo in the kitchen.

Also waiting at home, was my nephew and niece. We got to spend some quality time together. Boy have they grown up!

Mom had a really great surprise waiting for me. She had "Bart" detailed as a birthday present. Boy was he looking good. The weather was just the right temperature to take him out for a spin with the top down.



Mark and Irene are having a good time on the "farm". Here's the coop, I can taste the fresh eggs right about now.



And here's the beginning of a new home for them. I called Irene last night and she was busy painting away. Sounds like things are really moving along. Can't wait to see the finished product. And to ask them about the process, as we eventually want to build our own home as well.

United States of America - Vacationing in the homeland

It has been at least a year since I have been back to the homeland from Norway, and I imagine this happens to all nationalities, it felt really, really nice to be back in my country of origin. As much as I like to travel and experience different cultures, it always feels great to be back home.

I started off my US adventure with a couple of very nice days in Maine to visit my parents, my sister's family and the Racine family. Sorry, no pictures to post as I didn't have a camera with me. Unfortunately our little camera died on us and Chris had the new camera in Maryland. (Mom - if you have any photos I can put here, just send them via email). I had a really nice time catching up with family and friends. It was also a very special treat for me to catch up with my nephew and niece who were staying at my parent's house that week. Jesse (yes, I spelled it right this time) and Brooke have certainly grown up since I last saw them.

Mom and Dad are doing fine in retired life, and Mom is certainly keeping busy with her effort to support the troops. Now I hear that both of them are working with the "Elks" club, creating a Field of Remembrance and Honor for Veterans Day. A person will buy a flag in honor of someone, the flag is flown a week before Veterans Day, then on Veterans Day a ceremony will be held. All the money raised goes towards the Vets and the National Education Foundation of the Elks. And many thanks go out to Mom and Dad (and John "the mechanic") for taking excellent care of "Bart" while I am away. Bart for those of you who don't know is:



After my visit to Maine, I then headed to Maryland to catch up with Chris and our daughter. Again this was just a few days visit, but it was again time well spent with family. Brittany now has her own little nest, although sparsely decorated it is a nice little place and one she can call home. Chris, being the good Mom that she is, added a few things to her place that gave it a bit more comfy feel. Here we are outside of her nest on the covered porch:

I also got to see my daughter play indoor soccer, what a proud moment for me!

Well, part of the plan when returning to the States was to be able to help our daughter celebrate her 24th birthday. She wanted to go to the zoo for her birthday, what a nice choice for her special day. Here's Mom and daughter enjoying the day:

A bunch of us were there to help celebrate her 24th Birthday. Here is the Motley crew of relatives that helped celebrate:

And here she is looking great for her grand day out:

After our time in Maryland, Chris and I headed down to North Carolina. We had big plans to get some things started on our dream house.....but you will have to wait until I post the next blog..