christmas wish list 2007:

non-realistic wishes:
sufjan stevens (the man, not the music)
a bigger apartment
a cleaner apartment
around the world travel ticket

semi-realistic wishes:
sufjan stevens (have to keep the hopes up)
extended norwegian visa
ability to speak norwegian
stress free holidays
for my christmas tree to live
full-time kitchen worker

realistic wishes:
yet again, sufjan stevens
joni mitchell cd
bird by bird by anne lamott
ugg boots
season 7 gilmore girls
season 2 prison break
anti-wrinkle eye cream
vintage material

(what are your wishes?)
merry christmas!

christmas is here. erika from america, helina from estonia, and me - little american lyndee, went in search for a christmas tree on saturday. and we found it! helina made a great slide show of it and soon i'll post a picture of the final product. we "trimmed the tree," ate pepperkaker (gingerbread cookies), christmas bread, and made homemade hot cider. an enjoyable day.

i'm baaack (again)

adventures in scotland.

little happenings, lots of joy

hmm... which one of these doesn't belong?

istanbul

i'm sitting in the office - getting ready for an open meeting with tjebbo. he was a teacher on my dts and is one of the reasons i decided to stay in norway. right outside of the office is the walking street, cafes, and the mall. they have set up a big stage and are showing a football (soccer) game live, right outside. our hometown team (which sucks, by the way) is playing an important game, so the entire town has come. too bad it's right outside where we are going to have our meeting. it will be a long night.
i've been in ethiopia and turkey the past week. what a trip. kristin and i went to visit missionaries sent out from ywam skien. we ate cheap food, laid in the sun, wore funny missionary clothes, talked with lots of people, i cried, met with old friends. i think it's so easy to lose focus about why i am here, why i do what i do. i met with many people who have given up almost everything to be on the mission field. what have i given up? i live in one of the richest countries in the world, voted #1 place to live, and i have everything i need and much more. i don't have to worry about unclean water or even having water. i have heat in my house. i have friends and people like me because i am a christian. i forget all that sometimes. i saw reality in africa, if even for a week - child labor, abuse, lack of food, and poverty. i am doing this - mission work - because there are people who need to know. i might live in a wealthy country, but i have a responsibility not to train people just to become youth pastors or good church members (no offense to anyone who is one of these). if i don't see people with a passion for giving everything for God, i'm pretty sure i've failed. so much to be done.

on a lighter note, i'm so happy for this week! lise and elise are here - 2 of my students from last year who are both very good friends. i'm so excited to spend time with them. they make my heart glad. and... next week i go to scotland (and it's christmas time at starbucks!)!

reign and rain

i'm trying to download "reign over me," which i've thoroughly enjoyed during the 48.07 seconds i've seen. the website refuses to give me any more than that. dang.

i went to bergen this weekend. the city of rain held back its heavens for a few brief hours. i saw brann play football on a large screen with at least 50,000 other people (i watched the game with that many people. brann didn't necessarily play with all those people. grammar was never my strong point.). we drove 8 hours to see them win the gold. and they lost. dang again. but i did get to have a lovely indian spice chai latte at deli de luca.

speaking of stinking english... i was teaching the other day and one of the students asked what type of bible i use when studying. my reply? "the new international virgin."

i'm going to sweden to buy cheap food on wednesday, going to ethiopia the next week, and scotland the week after that. and i'm feeling tired.

i'm back... if you still read this, leave a comment. would love to see who checks it out.

it's fall here! ruthie's mom gave her a car, so while she was gone this weekend, kristin and i went for a jentetur. we went to a couple flea markets where i bought...

a vintage footstool (with storage), vintage wallpaper, a plate for candles, and a brand new espresso pot

all for less than $5US. giddiness ensued.

i've been observing ramadan and it officially ended on friday, so i celebrated the new freedom of foodwheneveriwant with a piece or carrot cake and coffee in the middle of the day at my favorite cafe - stockfleths. they've been having free coffee sampling this past week, so i even got the coffee for free. the perfect saturday afternoon. kristin, christine, and elisabet joined me in the celebration.

dts has begun and life has returned to some type of normalcy. kristin and i are going to ethiopia in a few weeks and then i'm going to scotland with erika. but before then it's off to bergen to see brann win the football series this coming weekend. in my three years here, i've seen more of europe than i have norway, so i'm excited to see what people say is the most beautiful city in norway.

travelling, fall, good buys, friends. what more could a girl ask?

an attractive picture of ragnhild and i putting pretzels in our mouths. don't ask why.

the back yard of our base. we're putting on a new roof and it's a bit messy.

a polish and lithuanian guy are helping with the roof. if you look closely at the man in the back, i think you'll agree that if sufjan stevens was polish, he would look just like him. sufjan is on my mind no matter what i'm doing.

einar and linn had birthdays this week, so i threw them a surprise party at our apartment. fun for all.

the chai latte comes to skien! a sure sign that fall is on the way.

i get my computer back next week. glory to God. i've missed my old friend. he makes life easier. he comes back when i meet my sister and caleb in oslo! they are on their way to ålesund for their dts.
i've been working on several things for this coming year. erika and i are beginning something called "the room" where people are invited to a asthetically pleasing place to worship and spend time with God. planning is also on the way for not 1, but 2, prayer rooms. it's so nice to be able to use a little creativity in this job. i'm also working with the kitchen (not near as exciting) and beginning to plan bible study. dts begins in less than 2 weeks, so i have a lot to prepare.
the other day i was answering phones in the office and a man called. i spoke in norwegian and he became so frustrated that he just yelled "heh?!" and hung up the phone. crap. i did manage to rent a movie and explain to the girl (in norwegian) working that i forgot my rental card and had a free film coupon yesterday. she didn't even ask me to repeat. a pat on the back to me.

baking genius and little people genius

salome

kristin and i at the sea in denmark

fun with lise and elise

who knew you could make cookies with only an egg, sugar, and peanut butter? genius, i tell you. it has been a productive day. when we moved into our apartment two years ago, we owned nothing, so we decided to go bohemian and just put mattresses and pillows on the floor. last year we upgraded to a cool green velour couch. now we have wood floors, a black leather couch, and today we put tall legs on our rapidly dying ikea table. we are turning into adults!
sometimes coming back to norway can be a difficult transition, but this time... ingen problemer. language is coming back and i can actually sit through a whole conversation and understand what´s being said. i´ve been traveling a lot, but am back in skien for the weekend and loving it. i spent the night with the ladies of house, drinking coffee and watching a very fun movie, "saving grace." today i´ve decorated, baked, done laundry, and watched an episode of gilmore girls.
i must share this: salome took my hand this morning as i was downstairs and asked, "kan jeg få oppe med deg?" (can i come up with you?) and i of course said yes. once upstairs we turned on the norwegian "løvenes longe/lion king" and sat watching the first scene. perhaps i´m a little emotional these days, but as the first song came on and simba was held up in the air, salome clasped her hands and exclaimed, "so cute" and i automatically began crying... uncontrollably! i looked over at kristin and she was also welling up. watching salome (2) so enthralled by the movie and then saying a phrase in english was just too much. so cute, indeed.

brain farts

my new temporary driver's license

i once read about woman who, after coming back from the mission field, was in the grocery store and very proud of herself because she had been able to complete the shopping. for those of you who have been overseas for an extended period of time, you know what i mean. it's just a bit difficult to make all those decisions and it can be quite overwhelming at times. but she completed it and as she was getting ready to pay, the cashier asked her "paper or plastic?" at that one question, the woman lost it - burst into tears and ran out of the store without her groceries.

i leave for norway on tuesday. before i moved to norway, i lived in the grand state of kentucky, thus i have a kentucky driver's license. the license will expire before i return to the states again, so i thought i would change it to a kansas license. i drove to the transportation office - 25 min. away and as i took my number and sat down, waiting my turn, i decided to get out the paperwork i needed. as i searched through the bag, i realized that i didn't even have my license with me!! so, i had to drive home again, grab the license and decided to take my passport just in case. i went back and luckily the nice man was able to help me (there are two people working at the office: the nice man and the mean lady. the mean lady gave me my first driver's test and glared the whole time). i pulled out the paper work - gave him my passport (which was needed), explained that i owned nothing, so i had nothing to show that i resided in kansas - just my tax statement. i told him i lived overseas and was a missionary and he just looked at me blankly. we talked a bit as he filled out the paper work... and then it all began. stupidities became flying out of my mouth - it was as if i had no control over my brain. when he told me "that will be $22" i asked him if he would take visa. he pointed to the sign over my head which said "no credit cards." i then asked him who to make the check out to. he then pointed to the sign taped to the desk "make checks payable to blahblahblah." i haven't written a check in years and my hand shook the entire time. i finally finished and proceeded to walk over to the chair where he would take my picture. i sat down and he began motioning towards him with his finger. so, i began moving forward in the chair. the more he motioned, the more the chair moved. finally he held up a pen and said, "you have to sign first." i got up, shaking and semi-laughing out of shear embarrassment. he looked at me, chuckling and said, "so, i guess things always change a bit when you come back." if you only knew, buddy.

chi-town fun

view of chicago from the bean

bethany and me in grant park

a little kiss for al roker

towing the jeep

woohoo for vacation! bethany and i went to chicago for a mini-vacation and we had so much fun! we drove from indy, stayed at a great hotel right across from the hancock building (and the cheesecake factory!), and spent hours walking around town, shopping, and drinking coffee. i love that scene from "the wedding planner" where they watch an old movie in the park and begin dancing. well, we got to watch "double indemnity" in the park with thousands of others. we brought picnic blankets, popcorn from garrett's, and just enjoyed ourselves for a couple hours. we also went to a concert in the park and listened to classical music for an hour. ravel's "bolero" was incredible. we also tried to go to the today show, but were too late, tried to find greektown, but found oprah's studio instead. the icing on the cake though was when i made the mistake of paying our parking fee hours before we were going to leave and as we got in the car to move it, it wouldn't start. we spent over an hour in the dark, hot parking plaza and finally were able to charge the battery. we had no choice though but to take me to the airport 5 hours early, so we wouldn't have to turn off the car again and run the chance of it not starting again.

so, we're on michigan ave - getting ready to turn on to lake shore (both very busy streets) when the car begins lurching and every dashboard light begins flashing. a little freaking out follows, but we managed to park the car in a tow zone/bus stop. not good. we went to barnes and noble (thank God for books and coffee!) and asked if they knew of any tow companies and bethy ended up walking a mile to a gas station. 4 hours after this whole ordeal began, a middle eastern man shows up with a tow truck, drives us through town, and drops up off at a shell station where we find out the jeeps needs a new alternator and battery. the L was right across the road from the station, so i even had a way to get to the airport in time. good memories.

the height of disgusting-ness

this is my brother-in-law's knee. a brown recluse spider bit him. when i saw it, i had flashbacks of a leprosy colony in india.

a shout out

a shout out to my friend, sara fisel. if you need a good laugh, read her blog. if only i could be more like you, sara.

so, i came back to the states expecting hot, humid weather and lots of time out in the sun. let's see. i believe it has rained 11 of the 13 days i've been here, so sun has been limited. in the past day we've had 12 inches of rain (30cm) and there are flood warnings in the surrounding areas. i went to see "evan almighty" today and since it was a saturday, people should have been out shopping. but it was as if we had walked into a ghost town. as i walked around downtown, i didn't see one person. all roads leading out and in (except for our road) to the town were closed. hmm, maybe impending doom is upon us?...

(there's a bridge under there)

my mum and me

summer at home. a lot of... not much. i get up (usually pretty early), decide whether i should watch "dawson's" or "what not to wear," read a bit, walk down the driveway to the post, watch a bit more t.v., talk with my mom, maybe go to a dr. appt, and that's about it. sigh. some of you are probably cursing my name as you read this, thinking that i should be enjoying this. and i do, it's just that i'm used to being needed, having people around to talk to. it could be a long vacation if i don't do something productive... quickly.

i was "this" close going out with a guy i haven't seen for years, but then i googled him and let's just say i am pretty sure we won't be going out. and perhaps this is the place where the fine line of blogging openness ends.
i went to a wedding this weekend. nothing says "happy marriage" like a cooler of the finest miller lite.

kansas.

i'm in the states! after a long journey, a cancelled flight - i'm back. i stayed up quite late talking with the parents and got up early to go to the dentist (cavity free!), the doctor, the library, and wal-mart. i was proud for managing that much the first day back.

so, now i'm sitting here listening to The Very Best of Dolly Parton (you gotta love "jolene" and "to know him is to love him"), waiting to eat a lovely dinner of grilled fish, vegetables, and ice tea on the porch.

the small differences between norway and the states are amazing. people have already commented on my clothing style and my norwegian accent. my dentist even asked if norway was a country of flossers (what the h***?). one thing i noticed the moment i stepped into the o'hare airport - america smells like fast food. absolutely. everywhere i went in the airport were fat people and fast food (hmm, is there a connection?). norway smells like milk, so i've heard; india smells like spices. i guess every country has their own food smell. for america, it's summed up in mcdonald's french fries.

anyway, it's nice to be back. enjoy the summer!

feelings from the last week

the cutest 2-yr. old i know

last weekend i traveled around, recruiting and was able to enjoy the outdoors. nice.

so tired. dts is officially over and i don't know how i feel exactly. the past year is a bit hazy now, knowing the first part was a bit difficult, but after mini-outreach it improved. india was great and God spoke clearly through it all. i won't be dts staff next year and my new position is a bit difficult to define. i know i'll miss this position though. i'll be involved by teaching some and perhaps doing some administrative work for the dts, but it won't be the same.

i head back to the states in a couple weeks, but until then we will have evaluation and much practical work because we were able to buy the base the day of graduation!
it's wonderful being back in norway after outreach. i've been to cafes, enjoyed the long days, caught up with students, and travelled a bit. and... ruth silje (one of my roommates) is engaged! lots of changes are coming.

today was one of the first days of sun since coming back and i enjoyed it by sitting outside reading "I Was Just Wondering" by Philip Yancey. i don't know if it is still in print, but if you can find a copy, i highly recommend it. i also caught up on playtime with salome. cheers to summer.

keep it black, keep it real

back from india! here's a few pictures. it's always hard to sum up a trip in few words, but to try - the trip was refreshing, tiring, inspiring, hot, crowded, stretching, cold, filled with rice and sauces, good experiences, my 27th birthday, an unintentional hair color change, and lessons learned.

so, i've been in india a little over 3 weeks. i've prayed for people, taught, sang, evangelized, relaxed on the beach, have had little stomach problems, seen crazy things. it's been good. i love it all, but the other night we travelled about 2 hours away on a bus and we barely caught the last bus of the night back into town. we jumped on, fought our way through, and after standing in the parked bus for 15 minutes, i realized i was the only girl. in my race to find a place, i failed to move to the front of the bus where the women sit and i was standing in a sea of dark, mustache filled faces. i had a small moment of panic - constantly checking my bag, making sure my scarf was covering everything it was suppose to, and praying like crazy. it was in that moment that i had the slightest bit of culture stress: the smells, so many people, so many languages, so little room, so little air. but i'm still alive.
yesterday was our day off (unofficially named "western day"), so the boys rested while the girls fought our way through crowds, buying saris and jewelry. we ended the night with dinner (complete with appetizers, main meal, dessert, and black coffee) at sparky's - an american diner owned by ywam. i am not one to get all patriotic, but when i saw a bumper sticker that said "go jayhawks!" my heart warmed a little. the black coffee helped as well.
today we had a prayer walk at a fisherman's village. the whole village was destroyed by the tsunami and is now being rebuilt. it was great - prayed for people, handed out tracts, shared the gospel.
less than two weeks left here in chennai and then it's 50some hours of travel up north to end the outreach. woohoo! i don't have pictures up now, but you can check out our team blog.

neither here nor there - but in india!

just wanted to say that i'm in india. won't be updating much, but you can check out our team blog and leave comments! www.discipletrip.blogspot.com

india bound

india team: sindre, adrian, katie, laila, melissa, einar, me, lise.

leaving friday!

tag!

it's highly uncool to blog twice in one day (i'm thinking that it's also uncool to use the word "uncool"), but paul andreas "tagged" me, so i'm suppose to write 6 peculiar things about myself. welcome to the secrets of my life.

1. i lost the montgomery county spelling bee in the 4th grade by spelling "aorta" as "aorty."
2. my roommates know when i'm stressed because i clean and organize like a madman.
3. i'm an ordained pastor.
4. i have a saturday morning breakfast ritual with starbucks coffee in a special mug and something homemade to eat.
5. the movie "simon burch" scares me to death, as do small people
6. i can't stand tomatoes or red licorice.

now i tag evan, laurie, sara, randy, and jennifer.

introducing my good friend: meyers-briggs

You Are An ISFJ

The Nurturer You have a strong need to belong, and you are very loyal. A good listener, you excell at helping others in practical ways. In your spare time, you enjoy engaging your senses through art, cooking, and music. You find it easy to be devoted to one person, who you do special things for. You would make a good interior designer, chef, or child psychologist.

What's Your Personality Type?

i have taken this test maybe 4 times now (this is just a condensed version) and i am the same personality every time. and it's crazy because it describes the essence of me. i stayed at the base this week and came back to the apartment last night. the first thing i did... make scones. i couldn't help it. it was 23.00, i was tired, had been at a weekend camp with 10-13 year olds, and the only thing i could think about was "i need to bake something." i've also started making art projects and have quit saying that i'm not creative. deep down, i really am. i like to create - whether it be with a pen and paper, glue and cutouts from magazines, or decorating. i think it's quite exciting that we're not just one dimenstional.

i leave for india on friday. quite much to do, but i'm really excited! this past week i was in skien with my team. i'm excited to see how God will reveal Himself through them these next 8 weeks. as i wrote above, i went to a "camp" this weekend, really just a sleepover at a church. most of the kids weren't christian and i even spent time talking (in norwegian) with a muslim girl from afghanistan. there aren't many pastors who are so "real" that 20 non-christian kids, much less a muslim, would want to hang out at his church all weekend. i would like to see what God will do through this church in the next years.

what's not to love?

• melting snow
• drinking coffee in my dean & deluca mug
  
• warmer days
• longer days
• days off
• travelling to india in less than 2 weeks!
• starbucks in london airport
• cafes open until 22.00 on thursdays
• white flannel sheets
• being inspired
• scones
• the color green
• "what not to wear" british style
• homemade soup
• good conversations with old friends
• the idea of a hot and humid summer
• 7 weeks in the states!
  

a recluse am i not

i'm not a recluse, but it is true that it brings me great joy to stay in my apartment during the weekends. last night i ventured out to a friend's apartment, a goodbye of sorts, as i leave for india in less than two weeks. but i love staying in my apartment. i consider it my perogative, no - my duty, to protect the rights of all those 20something females who don't want to succumb to the pressure of being just like everyone else. why feel the need to get dressed up and go out on friday or saturday nights? i'm just trying to break the mold, stretch the boundaries of normalcy.
word to your mother. yes, tonight i have plans, but i have every intention of staying in my pajamas from sunday morning until monday afternoon, doing nothing but drinking coffee, checking email, reading, watching movies. and enjoying my last "free" weekend for the next two months. soon i will be surrounded by 7 million indians and assaults to my senses. so here's to thinking outside the box (or just staying in my apartment). cheers.

when you least expect it.

it happened - just like that. i certainly wasn't expecting it. he's kind, brave, a real man, yet misunderstood. sigh. i'm in love. too bad he's a figure of fox network's imagination.

sex god

"When I respect the image of God in others, I protect the image of God in me. When Jesus speaks of loving our neighbor, it isn’t just for our neighbor’s sake. If we don’t love our neighbor, something happens to us. And in trying to protect the image of God in them, we just might be protecting the image of God in ourselves in the process. Because with every decision, conversation, gesture, comment, action, and attitude, we’re inviting heaven or hell to earth."
Sex God by Rob Bell.

of almost car thefts

i live in norway, a quite safe place. we have quite a lot of drug addicts though and things are stolen occasionally. we think an addict found his way into the base and stole 2 computers, dvds, cameras. bikes have also been stolen. it's safe though, really. tonight though a group of us were getting ready to drive to a youth club when we walked out of the base to the car and there was someone inside it! stina threw open the door and (in english) yelled, "excuse me? this is my car! what are you doing?" the guy, totally confused, replied in norwegian-english, "uhh, i, uhh, thought this umm, was my car!" in english again, stina told him, "no, it's our car. get out!" nevermind that no one in his right mind would want to drive the car, much less steal it - it was in a major accident and the entire left side is caved in, the cd player was already stolen, and it's a hundred years old. but the guy got out, apologized, and then proceeded to light a joint. sweet.

a sunday morning.

my new best friend. a de-humidifier.

a cold winter's day.

a sunday morning. a long week, albeit a good one. we had teaching with ken helser and this weekend has been our annual ywam skien reunion. 11 people from my dts have been here - haven't been able to spend much time with them, but it's been good to see old friends.

i complained in the last post that i thought i'd lost my sense of humor. well, it's back. yesterday i was at the base talking with people and got ready to go to the shopping center to buy contacts. i put on my coat and looked everywhere for my scarf. couldn't find it so i borrowed one. after shopping for about 30 minutes, i caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. trailing behind me was a long, black, woolen tail. what is lost shall be found.

i will be in skien this week, helping out with a team week and hopefully sending in our visas for india. culture shock has hit the 3 american students, so we'll have an american night at my apartment - complete with chocolate chip cookies, starbucks, and "elizabethtown." wednesday is v-day (some of the funniest high school stories come from 14.02 - complete with pink eye and horrible dates) and a few girls are coming over for fondue, i believe. good times.

troon

me and elise

dean castle

scotland. it was lovely. refreshing. we spent two weeks knocking on a lot of doors, trying to talk to people on the streets, and praying. we also went to a prison one day - i know where to go when i'm ready for marriage! i think i've found several willing candidates. heehee.

it was so nice just to be away from the reality of my life. i often trick myself into thinking that where i am, all the time, is reality. make sense? as if life doesn't exist out of my little bubble here in norway. i know there is life other places - in the states, in all the places i love, but it doesn't seem like reality unless you're really there. my reality lately has been filled with lots of tears, frustrated cries to God, wondering what the heck i'm doing next year. but... i've been incredibly desperate for God and i love that. i think He likes that too. i feel more peaceful now after going to scotland - meeting new people, doing things i wouldn't normally do, being part of a different reality. i know that when it's time for me to know what's next, He'll let me know. i have a feeling i'll be totally surprised, but until then i'm going to continue being desperate.

i'm thinking now... i'd love to write a funny story, but honestly - nothing that funny has happened the past weeks. my humor is lacking and it worries me. oh wait - on my myspace i wrote an incredibly sarcastic blog about this man i found on the internet - thought he sounded pitiful. seconds after i pushed "post blog", he commented. aghh!! he thought the whole thing was funny, but it scared the crap out of me! but other than that - nada.
so - here's to the hope of rekindling humor. cheers.

lyndee's to do list for 2007:

• find out what the heck i'm doing with my life
• become a pro at water skiing
• publish something
• survive a trek in the himalayas
• learn to knit (in an effort to fully understand norwegian culture)
• use my super powers for good, not for evil
• sleep

if anyone has suggestions on how to accomplish any of these, just let me know (i'm especially keen on suggestions for no. 1)!

here are a few pictures from one of our living room windows. we have a great view of skien. on new year's it was particularly nice with the 20 minute fireworks show. the visit with amy was quite nice. we went to oslo for a day and for the first time since living here, i did "touristy" stuff. we went to vigelands parken, a famous park in the center. a man named gustav vigeland sculpted 212 bronze and granite sculptures and more than 600 figures. it's quite amazing. it was quite cold that day, frost covered the ground, so it was a bit magical. i'll put up pictures after i download them.
i am going to scotland (and starbucks) in two weeks! really excited. and at our ywam norway worker's gathering i met the missionaries our team going to india will work with in the himalayas. we are taking an 8 day trek through the mountains, praying, seeing the nature. it's the first time in 3 years that i've been excited to go on a mission trip. i think we'll see great things happen there.