3. mountain trip

Today was my day off from work and the weather is perfect for a day outside. It's sunny and warm-ish. We went on our third mountain trip, and this time we borrowed someone's dog. Here's some pics:

First day of work

I had my first day of work today, and have to say I think it went quite well. When I got to the restaurant this morning I was surprised to learn that my first task was going to buy a work shirt. My next task was just as surprising. I was supposed to choose my hot drink of choice, and drink it (mocha in my <3 *smiley sticking tounge out).

I felt a bit like a lost sheep to begin with, but by the end of the day I was getting the hang of things (although there are always things to improve). I left work with a smile on my face. My co-workers seem very nice and they were welcoming. I have a feeling I'm going to thrive working with them.

When I came home I went for a run. I was quite exhausted, but I always feel better when I've managed to go for a run. A sense of accomplishment, I guess.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing how things work out at work. 

Finally summer

Ok, so yesterday was a bad day, but after going for a long run it became a bit better.

Today is thankfully a much better day. The day started off with pancakes for breakfast and a show about "the men that made us fat" (I love bbc food documentaries).

 Then we went for a walk in the wonderful weather. We went up to the tallest "hill" around. Then we walked down to the store and met/talked to a few friends.

We had bought drinks at the store, so on our way back up to our apartment we decided to stop at a lake and just sit and drink our drinks while watching the ducks (the ducklings have just hatched). 

I've really begun to wonder why I've always gone away for the summer. If you "have" to stay you find so many interesting/wonderful things you've missed out on before.

Raindrops keep falling on my head

Today has been a mostly sucky day....

I had what I thought was my last exam yesterday. Although I didn't think I would get an A, I thought my efforts were at least worth a C. So today when I woke up, and found a text saying I'd flunked, I was upset and paralyzed. It was a "presentation" exam and a lot of hard work/time had gone into it. So now I feel like all the time/effort was pointless. Plus it was in a subject I thought I was quite good at (goes to show how much I know....).

I've been doubting my choice of education for a while now, and this doesn't exactly help that feeling. It really sucks to work so hard and not get any credit. To always feel like you suck (even if you don't).

I keep saying that our grading system is totally screwed up. How the hell are teachers supposed to decide how good you are at something from a 30 minute presentation?! What if you, like me, get nervous giving presentations? You know so much more than you're able to say because of the nerves? Then you're asked questions where you're expected to read someones' mind, and not able to? I'm sure if I had been in a relaxed setting and been asked questions about our litterature I'd be able to answer very well.

Why can't the government change the grading system so that we're graded through-out the year, instead of just 30 minutes out of the year? It doesn't make any sense at all. Grrr... It all makes me soooo mad! And people say the education system is "really good" in Norway.... If they would get rid of all the crap teachers, and start grading in a more logical way I might agree.

I guess I've mentioned it before, but I've gotten into a bad habit of buying stuff (even if I don't have the money) when I'm upset (because it normally makes me feel better). Today wasn't an exception. I've been thinking of trying to cross more things off my bucket list for a while now. One of them is learning to play the guitar. So I went out and bought a guitar. Then after a lot of "grrr's" and cussing I learned "Sweet home alabama". I'm not going to lie and say it's perfect, but I can at least play a D-chord, C-chord and G-chord now. My fingers hurt like hell, and I unfortunately can't say my mood's much better... but at least I'm on my way to crossing something else off my list.

My new beauty

I keep telling myself life is too short to be upset about something like this, but it's not working. I just keep getting more angry. I want to hit something (either until it's well beyond breaking point, or until I start to bleed).... Maybe I'll go for a run later.

I guess a positive from today is that I officially got the summer job I mentioned earlier. So I have something to keep myself busy with this summer.

Here's to hoping your day was better than mine!

2. mountain trip

Here are pics from todays trip, as promised:

Mountain trip

For the past few years people who live in this area have been encouraged to become more physically active. One of the programs that has been made is called "Ti på topp". Directly translated it becomes: ten on top. It's supposed to be a play of words meaning ten trips to hill/mountain tops.

Anyway, you buy a starting package which contains maps and information about 20 hill/mountain tops. Then you register online and visit as many tops as you want/ have the possibility of visiting. If you visit at least 7 of the 20 you get a little prize. The trips have varying difficulty so people can challenge themselves.

As you're probably guessing, my husband and I decided to be a part of the program this year. The weather was incredible today (sunny and warmer than it has been so far this summer), so we decided to go on our first one.

Here's a few pics:

I was going for a little Saturday Night Fever action (since it's Saturday night :P).

You can see the top of the tallest mountain (out of the 20 from "Ti på topp") in the background.

The "Ti på topp" mailbox which contains the code you register after being there.

Found a rock in the middle of a "pond" and wanted to climb out to it, but in order to do that I had to take my shoes and socks off and wade out.

The ice hadn't totally melted, so I wanted to put my foot on it...

... needless to say, it was freezing cold. :P

When we came home the kitties were sleeping as usual. I've found out Brutus doesn't like the camera, but Lucas doesn't seem to mind at all:

 

  We're hoping to go on another trip tomorrow, so maybe there'll be more pics then. But now it's time for dinner (gonna make a chicken and broccoli risotto, YUM!).

New do

I've been thinking of cutting my hair for a while because it was getting quite worn down, so on Tuesday I decided to do it. I went to a drop-in salon asked for a bob with bangs and decided to color it red as well. Over-all I'm happy with how it turned out, but I wish the bangs were a bit longer (I had wanted them to cover my eye brows, not be a little above them).

This is the first time I've colored my hair, so I'm still trying to get used to it. The hair-do is a bit more high maintanence than I'm used to as well, so I've had to add extra time to my morning rutine (which is hard since I'm the ultimate B-person).

Libraries of the world

I've never been much of a gamer, but my husband is and he's always trying to get me interested in playing some game or other. I think he does it so he doesn't feel as guilty when he "leaves" me to play his own games.

Anyway, he bought me a Minecraft account and I felt that I had to at least try it since he had paid for it. I have to admit I enjoyed being creative and building different buildings. It's sort of like a grown-ups version of Legos. It sucks that the only reason an adult can play with Legos (without being seen as wierd) is if they're playing with kids....

Back to the point, though. I've just finished a project, and want to start a different one. I've already tried making our local library, but found it didn't work properly because it's hard to create curves in the game without making the building humongus. I sort of wanted to make another library, so I did a random search on Google for inspiration. I was surprised at all the interesting libraries, and ideas for libraries. Here are a few of my favorites:

Picture taken from: http://nedhardy.com/2012/04/02/a-gallery-of-the-worlds-most-amazing-libraries-23-pics/

I always loved Disney's "Beauty and the Beast". This library reminds me of the library in the castle. It also makes me think of the library smell I remember from my childhood (I loved to go to the library, which is perhaps one of the reasons why I love the smell of old parchment).  

Picture taken from: http://nedhardy.com/2012/04/02/a-gallery-of-the-worlds-most-amazing-libraries-23-pics/

  I love the thought of studying in a library like this. The details are amazing.

Picture taken from: http://www.e-architect.co.uk/images/jpgs/prague/national_library_prague_fs240209_3.jpg

                                  Love the thought of a purple library.

Picture taken from: http://www.impactlab.net/2008/12/20/the-dr-seuss-library/

Summer job!

Yay!!! I had almost given up any hope I had left of getting a summer job because all the people I've sent applications to either said no or hadn't answered. Then, right before I was going to leave for our annual TKD meeting I decided to check my e-mail and found an e-mail from the company I most wanted to work for this summer. Not only an e-mail, but it almost sounded like I've already gotten the job (even though I've not had an interveiw with them yet). I really hope it all works out, because it would be great to have a job this summer.

Long time no write...

It's been well over a month since I've been on here. I guess the biggest reason is that I've been getting ready for three exams (two of which I've taken, the third got postponed because of the teachers strike).  Anyway, back (to some extent) now.

I just wanted to tell you about Ingrid Michaelson's newest album. The album is called "Human again", and I only just got the money to buy it (it came out in January). After listening to it several times I've found that I'm an even bigger fan. Ingrid sings about the sort of things I've been feeling lately (which gives me hope that I'm not such a weirdo after all). I've had one in particular stuck in my head since I bought it last week. It's called "Blood brothers". Here are the lyrics:

If you knew me would you save that seat for me
If you knew me would you finally let me free
We're all blood, we're all blood, blood brothers
We're all blood, we're all blood, blood brothers

If you loved me would you hold onto my hand
If you loved me would you finally understand
We're all blood, we're all blood, blood brothers
We're all blood, we're all blood, blood brothers

What you need, what you need I need too
What you are, what you are I am too
'cause we're all the same under a different name
We're all blood, we're all blood, blood brothers
We're all blood, we're all blood, blood brothers

If you knew me would you lift me from the ground
If you loved me would you even hear me make a sound
We're all blood, we're all blood, blood brothers
We're all blood, we're all blood, blood brothers

What you need, what you need I need too
What you are, what you are I am too
'cause we're all the same under a different name
We're all blood, we're all blood, blood brothers
We're all blood, we're all blood, blood brothers

We're all blood, we're all blood, blood brothers

The beautiful thing about music is that everyone can find different meanings in the same piece of music.

Test exam

We had a test exam in home economics today. I didn't tell you about it yesterday because I had 1/3 chance of getting picked. My luck always seems to run out when it comes to stuff like this, so I read up on quite a few recipes yesterday. The only recipes I didn't want to have to make were lamb stew (because it never seems to have any flavor when others make it) and krumkaker (because I've never made it). Guess what happened? I got picked (! for starters), then I had to make lamb stew, krumkaker and lemon fromage.

Picture taken from: http://www.alleoppskrifter.no/s/lammefrikasse-2.html

Picture taken from: no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krumkaker

My only streak of luck was the fact that one of the three recipes was lemon fromage. I had really wanted to make it, because it's so simple and I wasn't able to get it quite right the last time I made it.

I was totally stressed out when we began, both because I had 13 people staring at me and what I was doing, but also because I had a lot of stuff to do within the 3 hour periode. I had thankfully made a "time line" in the 1 hour prep time. So I was able to make the most of every minute.

It took a bit longer for the vegetables in the lamb stew to cook than it said in the recipe (it was supposed to take 10 mins, but ended up taking around 20). I'm guessing it was because I had to use less carrots and more swede than the recipe calls for. But because of the delay I was 5 minutes over time. Luckily my teacher said it didn't really matter because she saw I wasn't standing idle.

On top of that I found out this morning that I was supposed to be having a presentation about my practice teaching in Zambia. I was soooo glad I had uploaded photos to facebook and that my companion had uploaded a video she had put together. Otherwise I don't know what I would have presented to the students wanting to go to Zambia next year. I survived the day! Yippi, and now for a cup of coffee-fee.