Pics from iceskating

I took a group of teenagers skating last weekend - mainly girls from my "girlgroup". I'm sure glad my cousin Jesper and his girlfriend Vibeke came with me because I don't think I could have "handled" 21 kids on my own! They were so hyper and I think they ate too much sugar! Holy crap, I was tired afterwards but it went really well. We took tonnes of pictures and here are a couple of shots so you guys can all see we had fun!

I did go skating but not for long. My knees were acting up and I was tired from working the night before at that dance here in Vejle. But I was out on the ice and I didn't fall!

These three girls attacked me!

Vibeke was having issues in getting the skates off so Jesper had to help her!

The bus ride was almost just as fun as the actual skating part. Lots of laughs and just goofing around.

Coffee, slurpies and lots of laughs. Some of the girls (and Jesper) were taking a break from skating and joined me in the cafeteria. By sitting here, I could see everything going on in the rink but also have some good talks with the kids.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY RACHEL

Yesterday (Nov. 29) was Rachel's birthday. I didn't have time to post a birthday greeting yesterday but better late than never. I've known Rachel since Junior High and we've tried to keep in contact between me moving away and her travelling the world. Rachel, where ever you are in the world, I hope you had a great day yesterday and that life is being good to you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RACHEL!!

Rachel came to DK back in 2004 (I think) and visited me for around 2 weeks. We had lots of fun; going on walks, eating good food, drinking some beer and just hanging out. We have a park here in Vejle where deer lives and are so used to people that we can feed them by hand. Just watch out for the males! - they can get pretty aggressive!

I came home this summer (2006) and was lucky enough to catch Rachel in between her travels. She comes back to Victoria, makes some money and catches her breath and then leaves again to see the world. I may be living in Europe but this Canadian has definitely seen more than I have! Here she is visiting me and my parents one night and it was great seeing her again!

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A quick hello.

I just wanted to say hey to everyone out there before I take off to work. I'm taking the girls to a hairdresser so they can get some tips and ideas - they all seemed to like that idea so I'm hoping it'll be fun for them tonight.

The skating trip on Saturday went well, I'll beam up some pictures when I get home tonight. I had 21 kids with me and my cousin Jesper and his girlfriend came with us. Good thing they did to because I couldn't be in 21 different places at one time!

I'm still really bummed out about Basse. It sure is quiet here. Imagine, such a little animal but it feels like a huge difference without her now. I know, I know, some of you are probably thinking, what's the big deal, it was just a bird. Nope, it was Basse and she was a way cool bird. Maybe I am not normal but when it comes to animals, I have a huge soft spot in my heart for them - big and small animals.

Well, I guess I should soon be going. The bus leaves in 1/2 hour... yes, public transportation. That's what I get for not having a license. Or a car. My dad has been telling me "I told you so" for many years now. He's right this time...

My plans for when I come home? Even though it's late when I get home, I probably won't be able to sleep because I slept in today. So I plan on beaming up those pictures from Saturday and maybe some from tonight. (Thank you Anders for letting me borrow your camera!) I have some paintings I want to finish. Or I'll read until I fall asleep. My plans for tomorrow? Laundry and first aid class. I'm such a bore!

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Happy Birthday(s)!

Happy Birthday Inge, Chris and Adri!

Christmas 2005 - Maiken, Rie, Inge and Soren played a game of pictionary against the boys - Anders, Jesper and Tage.... We kicked their asses!

Happy Birthday Inge!

Happy Birthday Chris! Here he is with his beautiful daughter, Emma when she was just a little baby.

Aug. 2006 - Chris was one of Nathan's groomsmen and looks pretty good all dressed up! Emma is just as adorable as usual!!

Happy Birthday Adri!

My 25th birthday - Didde, Rie and Adri.

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Happy Birthday little brother!

Today is JC's birthday - 24 years old! Right now, mom and dad are visiting him in Calgary and I hope they are all having a good time. My brother is pretty cool (for a little brother!) We used to beat the crap out of each other when we were younger - it was normal for when mom and dad got home from work, one of us had a fat lip or something like that. That was when I could beat him up but now, I'm sure if we got into a fist fight, I'd definitely lose. So, it's a good thing we don't do that anymore!

Here are some pictures of JC. He should consider himself lucky that I don't have any baby pictures of him on my computer. But then again, he was a cute kid.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRIS! I hope you are having a great day!

Chris came and visited me in Denmark for Christmas 2004. This picture was taken New Years Eve - he looks a little tired so I think it was a good party!

Chris and his girlfriend, Kim. They met when he lived in Halifax while they were both at Dalhousie University.

Again, New Years Eve 2004. Rie and little brother! Skaal!

Chris and I were both home in Victoria this past summer, visiting our parents and seeing old friends. Mom, dad, Chris and I (and the dogs!) took a two day trip in the boat upisland. I don't know why he looks so tired in this picture but he looks happy. It was a good trip!

Chris and Rie - brother and sister.

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RIP Basse

Basse is dead.

Basse was my bird and she was cool. She chirped whenever I came home, we watched tv together, she'd talk to me as though we were having a real conversation. She sang along with my music. She liked it when I gave her a shower. She liked it when I rubbed her back. She liked to give kisses.

People probably think I'm crazy when it came to Basse.

It's going to be quiet here in my little apartment and I'm going to miss her very much.

Goodbye Basse.

She used to get funky mohawk feathers whenver I gave her a shower. She'd stretch out her wings and really looked like she enjoyed it.

If I rubbed her back, she'd stick out her bum and raise her tail feathers.

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cross your fingers!

It's 1 am and I just got home from work. I picked up an extra shift tonight because Vejle (the town I live in) had a non-alcohol nightclub party for kids from 13-18 years old. We say non-alcohol, but that doesn't stop the kids from trying to trick us! 300 teenagers can be a handful!

My boss asked me yesterday if I could work as a "bouncer" along with several other people from different clubs all around town and so I did. Not only is the money good but it's important for me to keep my contacts here in Vejle because they might one day help me get a full-time job. And it was a good thing that I did go because right when I came to where the dance/party was being held, one of my co-workers pulled me aside and said that the rumors are that I am interested in a full-time job and if I gave him my info, then he could very possibly find something for me in the near future. I'm not getting my hopes up too high but I think I have good chances. I've worked before with this guy at Jelling Festival and I guess I've made a good impression. Well, at least good enough that he's going to try and fix me up with a job. So, everyone - keep your fingers crossed for me! This could be my ticket!

Just to explain - I now work part-time in Egtved and Norup. Egtved and Norup are similar to Sooke (even smaller) whereas Vejle is kinda like Langford/Colwood. Come Jan. 1, 2007, Egtved and Vejle will be under the same district, which means I will no longer be under Egtved Community but under Vejle. My plan is to find a full-time job in Jan/Feb and work there until I can start school again (finishing my BA in English on the side), but this time an adult with merits education within the field of social work. (It's hard to explain in English). I have plenty of contacts here in Vejle, some of them are even in the management positions so my chances are good. I don't want to work in daycares or kindergarten shit - I want to work with teenagers and there are plenty of jobs out there. The pay isn't the greatest but then again, I'd rather have a job I love with an ok paycheck than have a shitty job I hate with good pay...

All these extra shifts I take here and there brings me one step closer to making these plans happen. Jelling Festival has definitely opened many doors for me and also now that Vejle and Egtved will soon be under one district. It may have taken me a while to find what I want to do with my life regarding work and career - I have now studied two different university educations while working at the youth club and people have been telling me for many years now that I should seriously get into the social worker field and it's first now I have opened my eyes. I like working with teenagers. I like the challenge. I like the type of people who work in this field. I'm good at it too and it feels comfortable.

Ok, enough of that. I need to sleep. I have to work again tomorrow. I'm taking a large group of kids from both Egtved and Norup to a ice-skating party/dance tomorrow evening in a town called Herning. It'll be another late night for me.

Good night everyone!

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Almost Goodnight.

I should be in bed but silly me, I've completely screwed up my sleeping patterns and now sleep in during the days and stay up late at night. It's 3am now and I just finished a draft copy of my bibliography for my Folk Narrative paper. Our teacher is pretty cool - we are technically doing a "14-day exam" in the form of a paper. We tell him what topic we are interested in within the course readings and he's supposed to give us an unknown question/problem statement of which we write a 15 page paper on. BUT, instead of surpising us with an unknown question, we're working together to find a specific topic, already gathering all our literature for reseach with his help and advice and can pretty much already start writing the basic ideas of the paper. So, there shouldn't be any surprises come Dec. 7th...

I ended up dropping my Harold Bloom class. I was just so lost in that class and no matter how much I read, I still didn't understand what the hell Harold Bloom talks about! One less worry this semester and hopefully something much better and more interesting will come along next semester.

Ok, enough of school... sorry, I've been doing some work tonight and have school stuff in my head.

Haven't really done much other than work and school stuff lately. Work sucked ass Monday evening - the kids were horrible and definitely left Karin and me in bad moods. We have the first class of our First Aid course tomorrow. (More studying and reading...) I'm meeting up with a friend tomorrow for coffee....

Wow, I have absolutely nothing more to write about. Isn't that amazing - Rie doesn't have anything to say. Wow, that doesn't happen too often! I haven't been able to paint lately - no energy or creativity but that happens. I have some ideas so I'm sure I'll be getting my hands dirty again very soon.

I'm going to bed now. I need to sleep if I'm going to be somewhat alert and interesting when meeting my friend tomorrow. Plus I won't have time to take a nap before my course so it's bedtime for me!

Goodnight everyone!

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Another week!

Yeps, it's Monday and I'm being a geek on the computer. Well, I was actually being a good, responsible student and doing some school work but I decided to take a break and say hello to everyone on my blog before I do my dishes. Argh, I hate dirty dishes but no one else is going to wash them for me... Poo.

Nothing really new here. It was a quiet weekend. No parties and no drinking. Maybe I'm too old for that shit anyways. I seriously need to clean my place. I have papers and books all over the place and it's starting to get on my nerves. I have to work tonight at the club and I'll probably go there early and take advantage of the super awesome printer we have there - a lot cheaper to use that printer for school than it is to use my own.

So, youth club tonight, First Aid class on Wednesday, Club again Thursday and Girlgroup on Saturday. Not a bad week and I should have time to get some serious studying done.

My parents are going to Calgary for the weekend. My brother lives there now and it's also his birthday so they decided to go there for a couple of days and see what he's been up to. I'll admit it, I'm slightly jealous. Not mean my-parents-don't-want-to-visit-me jealous but slightly envious that it's possible for them to go there and visit him. I know it's not easy or cheap to come to DK so I completely understand. I just hope they have an awesome visit and that JC has a great birthday!

Well, this was a boring post so I'll end it now and wait until I have something exciting and spectacular to write.

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Newest Painting

Ok, this is not my usual style but I saw a painting once (and I don't remember where!) that looked like this so I thought I'd give it a go. I made two on fairly large canvases. I usually shy away from using bright colors so this was quite new for me using lots of blues and greens. I tried to take a picture without the flash but the camera just couldn't focus properly.




I'm not much of an artist but I sure have fun painting - it's relaxing and I love it.

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Should be sleeping...

It's Tuesday night. 1:13 am. I should be sleeping. But I'm not...

Things are ok here, just kinda crazy busy lately. School, work and trying to have some sort of a social life on the side. I'm working every evening Monday to Thursdays. Yes... I know it doesn't sound like much but with all the transport time included, it adds up. I have to keep my focus on school and keep reminding myself that these jobs are only part-time and shouldn't get in the way of school. So, I guess it's a good thing that most of my friends work normal hours during the day which means I am forced to concentrate on my school then.

School is going ok. There is so much to read and so much to do. It doesn't help that the subjects I have this semester are seriously lame! Harold Bloom is not my thing. Romance poetry doesn't do it for me. I can't wait until I'm done reading about crazy ass Harold Bloom!

My girlgroup is a tough one sometimes. Eighteen girls and just me. That's not easy, trust me! I'm usually very drained when I get home after working with those girls!

Youth club is going really well. Karin and I rock!

I'm tired. Maybe I can sleep now. I just spent some time playing around with my blog layout. I don't know if I like the new layout. It's not like I did some major changes but still, it's different now.

My plans for tomorrow? Study, dishes, vacumn and work. Pretty exciting, eh?

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Happy Birthday (Lille) Lise!

Today is Lise's birthday and I hope she has a great day! I've known Lise for several years now, way back in the days of cleaning at the hospital and we're still good friends today. We certainly have some crazy stories we could share with the world!

Lise and her boyfriend, Michael. They actually live just across the street from me!

Lise and Christa both came to my 25th birthday a couple of years ago. And they were both at my 27th birthday too, but I didn't get any pictures of Lise before she had to go home.

Rie and Lise - This is also an older picture, at a bar here in Vejle.

Tillykke med fødselsdagen! Du maa have en rigtig god dag og vi snakkes ved snart! Jeg giver en fødselsdagsøl naeste gang vi tager i byen! Knus!

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Handymen!

Karin and Ernst - my aunt and uncle - came over last night with their tools and helped me around the apartment. Well, ok, they didn't help - they did it and I tried to help and I really appreciate it. Now I have light in my living room, my hallway and new rolling blind things in my kitchen. It made a huge difference and I love my apartment more than ever now. The next project will be lighting in my bedroom and over my art nook. When I'm finished decorating and stuff, I will definitely take some pictures of my home!

The rolling blind thing for the kitchen window was 4cm or so too big so that turned into a bigger project than expected. We had to take it apart, cut the curtain and the metal rod and then put everything back to together. But it was so worth the extra work because it looks amazing in my kitchen.

My lights hanging over my table in the living room are touch sensitive - I can have bright light when studying and I can have dimmed lighting when I have guests. Again, we had some issues but again, it was so worth it. My living room is almost done! All I need now is my coffee table, floating shelves and my paintings.

Karin was put to work by Ernst. I took pictures. Ernst hung up those wooden blinds a couple of weeks ago. That plant on my bookshelf was a gift from Claudia and it hangs down the shelf, pretty much down to the floor.

Ernst looks a little confused. Or just really concentrated.

Those lamps hanging over the table were a serious pain in the ass!

There wasn't much I could do other than take pictures. And fill up their coffee mugs. And just stay out of their way!

Karin is very concentrated!

Thank you Karin and Ernst for all your help and thank you for the birthday gifts!

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Birthday Party Pictures

Here are some pictures in random order taken last Saturday. . .

Heidi and Rie - I've known Heidi for many years now, all the way back to when I didn't speak any Danish at all. She's moved away from Vejle now and it was great seeing her again!

Tina and Rie - I've met Tina quite a number of times now at the bars through Christa and she's super cool!

Tine and Anders - I've actually known Tine for quite a number of years now, way back in the "Ydunsgade Days". Anders - you look like a moron! ;) Why won't you just look slightly normal whenever there's a camera in sight?

Rie - 27 years old!

Tine - I don't know what exactly was so funny but she looks like she's having a good time!

Rie - I just love my "Rock It" t-shirt but I changed into something else later on in the evening.

Claudia - I'm glad she could make it! Thomas, her boyfriend came over as well when he got back to Vejle from Copenhagen.

Heidi and Rie!

Mia and Tine - Something must have been absolutely hilarious!

Christa - She was slightly hungover from the night before but I'm glad she got over it and was able to party with the rest of us! Our friend Lise was really hungover too and had a paper to write the day after so she went home before we could get a picture of her!

Brian and Mia - I don't get to see Brian too often so it was great seeing him again. His girlfriend, Jonna, was at the party too but since she's pregnant and they have a daughter, she left before the camera came out. But I'm glad you came! And poor Mia - what is Brian doing?!

Happy Birthday to me!

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Happy Birthday to Me!

Happy Birthday to me! Ok, it was yesterday so I'm a day late!

I turned 27 yesterday.... Closer to 30 than I am to 20. Wow, it's a little scary to think about that sometimes. I may be 27 and some might consider me "old" but you know what, I still have to show my ID whenever I go drinking (we have to be 18 here in DK), I have shown ID a couple times when buying smokes (the age is 16), I have been asked if it's a childrens ticket for the bus (again, 16)... so you get the point, I may be "old" but not a lot of people think I look old. Now, is that a good or bad thing??

Anyways, I had a good weekend. Saturday morning, I went for brunch with Mia and my friend Heidi met us there. We did some shopping together and Heidi and I went back to my place just to hang out before my other friends arrived for a night of beer and booze. It was a small party but I think it went well. I haven't heard any bad things yet, other than some having hangovers the day after. I'm always nervous whenever I'm having a party - what if I run out of drinks, or something breaks, or some drama/crises thing happens. Or if people are bored or think badly of another guest.... but this party went well. I didn't run out of beer or booze or non-alcoholic beverages for the pregnant (that's you Jonna!) or the ones with hangovers from Friday (that would be you Lise!) and most of us carried on the partying downtown at our usual hangout. Some people partied harder than others but that's totally fine by me. As long as people had fun!

Sunday (my birthday), I didn't do much other than sleep. I'm too old to party like that. We weren't home until 5am! My friend Heidi did most of the cleaning in the living room while I was sleeping - THANK YOU - before she took the train back home to Horsens. I talked to my parents and brother on Skype like we usually do and then Anders came over. We went over to his parents place for some coffee and "aebleskiver" and then went to his place and watched a movie. It was a nice, relaxing day.

Thank you to all who came to my party and thank you to all those who sent birthday greetings via telephone, text-messages (sms), emails, blogs and skype. I felt very loved yesterday and I appreciate all the gifts and attention! Speaking of gifts, I was definitely spoiled rotten!

Thank you everyone!

(Blogger is fighting with me tonight, so I'll try posting the pictures from the party tomorrow)

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Jonna's scanning

Last week, I went with Jonna and saw her and her baby being scanned. I've never been to a scanning before and I'll admit, it was pretty cool. It was a 3d scanning, which meant we could see the baby quite clearly - her face especially (yes, it's a baby girl!). I even heard the baby's heartbeat! Jonna and her boyfriend, Brian, have a daughter who turns 3 in January, so I took lots of pictures so little Caroline might have an easier time to understand that she will soon be a big sister and where babies come from.

Thank you Jonna for sharing this experience with me!

The room was small but actually kinda cozy. Soft lighting which kinda fit with the mood. At first, it was difficult to see the baby (she didn't want to stay still and kept moving her legs and arms in front of the "camera") but after a little while and patience, we could finally see baby Mathilde!

Jonna and person who scanned her are going through the pictures. But it was pretty easy to see what was what - very impressive!

Brian was waiting for the phone call! He was at work and unfortunately couldn't come to the scanning. They decided not to keep the baby's sex secret this time because it is important that Caroline understands exactly what's happening.

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life update...

Hey everyone! I have a couple of minutes to spare this morning so I decided to spend them writing on my blog. Lately, I've posted several pictures but no life update, so here I am.

It's freaking cold here in Denmark - winter has definitely arrived with minus degrees last night. It's so cold! My winter jacket has been brought back to life and I seriously need to consider finding some warmer shoes/boots. My running shoes aren't exactly the best choice when it's this cold. I can't believe I used to live in Alberta, with minus 30-40 degrees during the winter and here I am complaining over minus 7.... Yes, I'm a weenie!

Life is ok here. I'm going with my friend Jonna to her 3D scanning today - her boyfriend couldn't make it due to work so I'm the stand-in. I've never been to a baby scanning before so it should be kinda cool. Plus I get to take pictures and if she lets me, I'll post one here.

School and work is ok. We are getting more and more members in our youth club which is a good thing but also means that all the coffee and leisure time there might be over. We still have lots of fun but more kids does mean more work - I had a major headache yesterday and the kids at the club were brats.... well, maybe I was just being grumpy but let's put the blame on those teenagers, ok? ;) The girl-group is going ok - we went bowling last week and tomorrow, we're going horseback riding.... Ugh, me and horses? Nope, I'm just going to stand back and watch. Take pictures. Stay the hell away from the horses.

I'm still working my way with school. I have found topics for my research seminars and have been to two meetings with my professors. Now I just need to get my shit together and start researching! I have started - I have library books and internet printouts all over the place. But I'm not stressed out just yet. I have a good plan for myself that I think will work and now that I know exactly when I have to work, I can put aside several days a week for school.

I still LOVE my little apartment and I think I have the coolest place! I'm slowly buying things and arranging everything, I have some of my own paintings hanging in the hallway and kitchen and after my birthday, I plan on taking a drive to Ikea and get my "art studio" all set up. Ok, it's not a studio but more like an "art-corner" in my kitchen. I would prefer painting in my living room just because it's a lot cozier here but then again, my canvases and other materials do take up quite a bit of room so I'm sure I can make my the kitchen corner just as cozy.

Yes, my birthday is coming up this weekend! I'm having a little party on Saturday, nothing too big, just a few friends coming over for some drinks and a good time. My birthday in on Sunday and I don't have anything planned there. Just relaxing here at home.

Tja... I don't know what else to write about. My life is pretty quiet these days but I like that. No halloween here, a few carved pumpkins but that's about it. On the other hand, the stores have already come out with Christmas stuff! Even before Nov. 1 - now I think that it's getting crazy! By the time Christmas finally comes, people are probably so sick and tired of decorations and stuff... My bird Basse is doing fine. She's fat but I think she's happy. A little grumpy at times but then again, she's getting old. The family is fine here in DK - a little grumpy at times but then again, they're getting old - HA HA HA, I'm so funny.... I take it back. The family is good. Karin is still gimpy with her shoulder and is going to physiotherapy on a weekly basis but hopefully she'll be able to soon return to her normal life. Ernst is good - he was here last week and helped hang up my blinds in the living room and bedroom. Anders is good. He's looking forward to starting his new job and is still loving his new car.

Now I'm just rambling so maybe I should just finish off here and get ready for when Jonna comes.

Bye everyone!

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