When school shootings become real
I followed the Columbine shooting in Colorado spring of 1999. Of course I did. I was living in Minneapolis, doing my BA in Political Science at the U of M Twin Cities, living with my best friend Mariann and the man who was to later become my husband, Arild, in a dingy apartment near campus and we were watching it from our living room which had a mice problem but that was ours nonetheless – and we were shocked and saddened. I saw Bowling for Columbine that came out in 2002, at which time my husband and I had moved back to Norway, with our then 1 year old son William.…
School har started!
Only two weeks after coming to Houston, the kids started school! The two youngest started in Kindergarden and in 5th grade and the oldest in 9th grade – a Freshman in High School. It really was not as easy as it is for me writing this though. 1- The kids had to have a truckload of new vaccinations – and even THEN – we had too few… that means we have to have more within about a month, or the children will not be allowed back in school. And unlike California, I am not allowed to just sign the dotted line and pretend I am against vaccines. They actually have…
Final Report to Fulbright
So, I had to finish a final report to Fulbright as part of my grant, and I would like to share it with you here, because it does show a glimpse of how amazing the year was for our family! Living and Working in Paradise Santa Barbara, California. It is a long way to this gorgeous piece of American Riviera from the rainy and dreary and cold city we live in in the middle of Norway, Trondheim. Don’t get me wrong – we love living in Norway and we quite enjoy our town as well, despite the weather. Enter Santa Barbara on the California coast, with sunny skies over 300…
Some San Diego pictures
So – I figured it was time to show you what Arild and the kids did while I was in San Diego – there is this amazing air craft carrier there – http://gocalifornia.about.com/od/casdmenu/ss/things-to-do-in-san-diego_11.htm – and no surprise – Arild had this on the top of his list!
Some pictures from our last days here
A beautiful weekend in Santa Barbara!
We had a great weekend and enjoyed wonderful weather and good friends and family all weekend long! Saturday, we did the Santa Barbara sightseeing thing – we went biking in bike-cars, showing the kids and my sister-in-law around town in the beautiful weather! We then had lunch/dinner at California Pizza Kitchen before going home, where Sigrid and I finished off a bottle of wine and watched Take This Waltz on Apple TV (hello – what an amazing movie)! Sunday we prepared a picnic lunch and went to Fess Parker Winery to eat it, and for Arild to drink wine (Sigrid and I were driving)! The kids blew bubbles, played soccer,…
Some Disneyland photos!
So, we went to Disneyland on Wednesday the 23rd and WOW was that fun!! We had character breakfast, did lots of rides, saw the parade and were exhausted after 13 hours in the park – a PERFECT day!
Disneyland tomorrow!
Pretty excited! I love Disneyland LOL I always have and always will – and Bella has never been, so she is BEYOND excited! We also have visitors here now, who are coming with us, so that will be pretty cool as well 🙂 My sister-in-law Sigrid and my niece and nephew are here for a week, and my father-in-law Leif is back in Santa Barbara for a shorter visit this time! We are all leaving SB tonight to go to Anaheim, stay at the cheapest motel ever (USD35 per night) and go have character breakfast at the Plaza Inn at 8:40 tomorrow morning – Minnies Breakfast! Here is a Yelp…
Halloween :D
What is the US in October if not decked out for Halloween and I LOVE IT!!! These are pictures from our Halloween adventures here in Santa Barbara! Princess Tiana Volcom Halloween Shirts Fall Festival at school with prizes and games and food! Pumpkins in Los Olivos! Halloween in Montecito! Trick or Treating with stores, instead of houses! Meg og Helen spiser is og koser oss i Montecito!
Friday Night Movies On Stearns Wharf
Tonight, my mom talked us into going to our first (and the seasons last) Friday Night Movie on Stearns Wharf in Santa Barbara! I had been wanting to do this for a long time, but just never got around to it and it always seemed like too much of a hassle, but since she talked us into it, we went the four of us – Theodore, Annabelle, myself and my father in law, Leif (William is at a sleepover at a friends house). And it was so much fun!!! We drove onto the wharf, and parked there, and waited about an hour until the movie started at dusk, which was…