Norway Cruise Experience & Diamond Jubilee!

The Norwegian anniversary excursion was a blast!

We flew into Oslo on Saturday evening and were able to walk our luggage over the Radisson hotel across the street. We were glad for that because it was almost 11PM (and yet strangely... still pretty light out!). Earlier that day, a few minutes before we were picked up to go to the airport we discovered that there was a strike going on in Norway and our ship would not be leaving from Oslo anymore, but instead Gothenburg, Sweden.

Contrary to what you may think: Oslo is not near the Oslo airport. You take the train to get there!

Fortunately, we knew that all we had to do was get to the correct pier and busses would be taking us down to the new port. This is easier said than done! There were far more piers in Oslo than we expected. We had to catch a cab to take us to the correct one--2 km away! Let me tell you, if you ever plan on going to Norway, plan to spend quite a bit of money, especially if you want a cab. 2 km ended up costing us 269 NOK, which is about $45! Fortunately, the rest of the cruise included every other expense so we hardly spent any money at all! (A few post cards and a Christmas ornament memory excluded, of course.)

The bus ride down to Gothenburg wasn't so bad because we were just too excited to be put off by the excursion. I have become an official amateur in Bejeweled thanks to the iPad and the 3.5 hour journey.

Once we arrived to the Plan-B port, which looked a lot like a shipyard, we joined a queue and became official cruisers! We had a ton of fun exploring the ship and watching everyone slowly join the group; I was told there were about 1900 guests.

Shuffleboard is cool.

The Queue

The name of our ship

Day 2 : Gothenburg! The day after we got to the ship we got to roam around the great Swedish city of Gothenburg. We loved it! The people are so friendly and everyone speaks English! This came in handy because the only Swedish words I know are Ogren Vän = friend (Nonnie taught me that one!)

We went shopping and bought a dress!

Charming old town

Gustav Adolf

The Volvo plant right next to our Ship's pier!

 Back on the ship... we were occasionally surprised with adorable towel animals on the bed. How did they find my RayBans?

Formal night was on the day at sea between Gothenburg and Bergen, Norway. We met some friends on the cruise and they helped make the trip even more enjoyable! It's always nice to have good conversation with great food!

We all look super sharp!

We both won a Spa Raffle! I got a foot and ankle massage. :)

Ice cream was in no short supply on the ship. I frequently partook!! 

Bryggen : Wharf of Bergen. UNESCO World Heritage site

Final stop on the tour: Geiranger, Norway.

We got up early so we could watch the ship navigate through the fjord. It was amazing! There are so many waterfalls and occasionally we could see a lonely cabin on the side of the mountains. That's my kind of living! :)

brrr

A cup of coffee and brilliant scenery!

Our favorite photo. This was taken on a hike up to the Storsetter Waterfall

LONG HIKE UP! 

We made it! The foot and ankle massage will come in handy tonight!

 The end of the hike offered many rewards including homemade waffles, jam, cream and coffee, spectacular views and a visit to the local kids (goats)!

The Vision of the Seas in Geirangerfjorden!

The cruise was an incredibly romantic vacation, perfect for our anniversary celebration!

When we returned back to England on Saturday we stayed with a friend and went to London for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Flotilla! It was spectacular to see all the beautiful sights of London with all the Union Jack buntings and row boats on the Thames.

We love all the patriotism!

Excited in the rainy weather!!!

Definitely got pretty cold after a while!!!

All worth it to see the queen and her royal family!!!

1 Year Anniversary!

The bags are packed, my nails are painted, the AGA is off, and we are ready to go to Norway for our 6-night cruise of the Fjords! This cruise is our "holiday" to celebrate our 1-year anniversary on 28 May. We are so excited and have no idea what to expect. Neither of us have ever been to any Scandinavian country before. It doesn't help that it's been a balmy 78ºF the past 4 days in England... we hardly know what to expect out of the weather anymore! Despite my inner economist screaming "pack light!" I have resigned to Bryant's liberal way of packing a suitcase with gowns, sweaters, shorts, light clothes, and heavy clothes just to make sure we aren't miserable. One thing I will ask--pray that we don't get seasick! :)

Just imagine the ship's horn!! WOOOOOOWOOOOOO

If you're curious about our ship's itinerary, click here. We are flying to Oslo airport this evening and tomorrow morning we take a train to the docks in downtown Oslo.

A photo of Norway I found online... Next time we'll have our own! :)

We are amazed that we are celebrating the one year mark of our marriage already. One year ago I was praying that God would make 28 May a sunny day and was packing my suitcase for Antigua! I was also frantically putting together reception decorations with my friends and anticipating my family's arrival into MSP airport for the wedding. It is so much fun to think back on how we first met and the timeline that led us to where we are now. We would have never expected to be here, and we love it. I guess I don't mind not knowing what to expect because so far, we've been pretty pleased with the end result. We don't mind figuring it out as we go.

Happy 1-year anniversary, my sweet.

Today is the Day!

We are overwhelmed by how many people in our lives are excited about the airing of our House Hunters International episode tonight!  Like everyone else, we have not seen the footage and have no idea what awaits us.  We hope you enjoy it!

If you have not set your DVR or know when to tune in here is the episode information:

Tonight! Thursday, May 17th

9:30 PM Central
or
10:30 PM Eastern/Pacific

DirecTV: 229
Dish Network: 112

Make sure to comment after the show and tell us what you thought of the episode!

Easter treats

Whenever my work has a potluck I try to chip in with my share and donate some sort of food. As I am not really into cooking meatballs in bulk, I like to add to the dessert table with some sort of baked treat (what a surprise, right?).

 For some reason I felt like making something my MorMor ("Grandma" in Danish) would make for us all the time. They are called Starlight Sugar Crisps but we always called them Twists. They are de.li.cious with coffee!!

The recipe is from the 1956 Pillsbury Great National Cook Book. I think it's almost a bit more yummy just because it's such an old recipe!

Normally we make them with just a simple twist (see above photo). Because it's Easter I thought I would put a little twist on the Twist! I was inspired by this Pin on Pinterest to make little bunny rabbits! (Note: I fully believe that Jesus is the true point of easter, not little rabbits, but these are just too cute!)

Little bunny tails!

Yummy bunny!

If you are curious about the recipe, let me know in the comments below and I'll send it to you. It's really easy and fun! It calls for yeast, which means it needs a bit of time to raise in the fridge, but overall they are really simple to make.

Happy Easter! 

House Hunters International air date is set!

Hear ye, hear ye!

We have just learnt of the official air date of our House Hunters International episode! Keep in mind, HGTV could change the schedule at the last minute, but we know what the plan is as of today and that is:

17 MAY 2012 @ 9:30PM CDT on HGTV

Guys, this totally stinks though, because most of you will see it before us! Although we have access to mom & dad's DVR over here, that's 3:30AM in England! We don't mind, though... we will probably get up and watch it anyway! They said they plan on sending us a DVD a few weeks after the episode's been aired so we can watch it again and again.

For the official HGTV blurb about our episode, click here. :) Our episode is entitled, "Searching Out a Picture-Perfect Country Cottage in Buckinghamshire, England." How fun!

(If you're totally confused about what we're talking about, go to this post to learn about our exciting adventure in TV land!)

Baking at the Cottage

My thanks goes out to the doughboy

Lately I have craved cake, like, after every meal. Actually, I crave sweets all the time. It's beautiful how boxed cake mix is on sale at the Commissary almost every time we go... not to mention how easily it just sits in your pantry until go time. It just makes all my cakey dreams come true.

Pinterest has definitely given me a few ideas in the desserts department. Most everything I "repin" is some sort of food or meal that looks fun or downright delicious.

For St. Patrick's Day I dyed white cake batter orange and green and made an Irish trifecta cupcake display. This Pin gave me the idea. Bryant even picked all the orange and green sprinkles out of the container so we could have an appropriate representation on top as well as inside the cupcake. Everyone kept questioning the choice of including orange into the color scheme. I really didn't know that Ireland actually had somewhat of an orange vs green rivalry going on until after the cupcakes were eaten. Besides, they were topped with icing infused with Bailey's Irish Cream. Can't we all get along over a bit of Bailey's??

See the fun things we find in eggs? Twins!

The remainder of my baking has been an attempt to eat up what we half already sitting in the fridge or fruit that is about to go bad. We had loads of leftover Bailey's frosting and I had a half dozen bananas on the counter (I wouldn't actually let Bryant eat those even though he wanted to). I really actually planned ahead on the banana bread and watched those yellow guys turn brown for like, two weeks. It's amazing how long the banana bread craving has to wait before being quenched.

I find that mixing all the ingredients together and popping them into the oven is almost therapeutic for me. Not that I need more outlets because "omg, my life is so crazy" because I'll be the first to admit that Bryant and I are pretty much living the dream.  I just really enjoy decorating cupcakes and wrapping up our little breads to give to friends. It feels good to be proud of what you just created and to give away for others to enjoy, even if it is mostly made by a factory in Pennsylvania or wherever. That cake could not have been made if it wasn't for those eggs that I cracked and the 1/2 cup of oil I poured in that bowl!

Birdy helpers for that much-loved parchment paper!

The banana breads (or banana cake as they call it here) I baked the other day were 100% from scratch and I was pretty proud of my ingenuity of making it a fun and hassle-free process. Mom gave me these adorable birdy clothes pins for Christmas I have no idea why because she knows I am a bird lover and they come in handy! I decided that I was going to make mini loaves and used parchment paper to ensure their cuteness to the very end. My birds made the paper stay put while I poured the batter and the paper just stays there after I remove the clips! I hoisted those loaves right out of their hot pan with zero trouble after they were done baking. I didn't have to tip the loaf pans over and hope that more than half of the loaf would plop out.

We like ours warm with a bit of butter. 

How do you eat your banana cake?

So, with four perfectly shaped banana breads and my inability to eat them all, I wrapped up two of them in brown paper (Jo March style) and gave them to our mates from church. The other two were enjoyed by B & me.









In other news... This stuff is amazing. Cream Cheese and Chocolate?? Wow. My mom says they have something like it in the US. Go get a bag of pretzels and a tub of this magic and you'll have a tasty treat:

PS--You're going to want to click that Parchment Paper link because there is a coupon for $1.00 off a package of Reynolds' Brand Parchment Paper! :)

National Trust & Pemberley

Do you ever watch period dramas that show off grand estates and gigantic mansions and think, "Do those places even exist? Who owns them, anyway?" I don't think I ever thought that because, duh, the Darcy family owns Pemberley in Derbyshire and Emma Woodhouse is from Surrey and lives in a house called Hartfield.

Ok, I knew those weren't real places. Or ARE THEY???

Those are real counties, actually, and when I fell in love with the famous Jane Austen novels and their film adaptations I had no idea that I would ever be able to visit such a place.

Well, since moving to England I must admit that my first desire regarding travel involved a little book and a National Trust Membership. These days, large estates still pass down through the family line, but keeping up with property tax is probably a bit rough. Many of them are given to The National Trust and if you become a member you can visit any or all of them for free free FREE!!!

"No, no. The green one. Yes, that'll do."

Last week, we went to a house called Sudbury Hall in Derbyshire. It was just over 1.5 hours from our house, not far from what is called the Peak District. This place was of particular interest to me because according to that neat book I bought in Bath some scenes from Pride & Prejudice were filmed here! ...Some of the best scenes in the whole movie, actually.

The Queen's Bedroom was also Mr. Darcy's bedroom  

Ok, so I am a movie junkie and the romantic ones are definitely the favorites, especially the Jane Austen novel-based films. If you aren't into that sort of thing, that's ok, because the history and grandeur of the house is amazing just by itself!

We learned that they filmed the interior shots of Pemberley (Mr. Darcy's home) at Sudbury Hall and the exterior shots at a different house called Lyme Park (we plan on going there soon). Sudbury was built in the 17th century by Lord Vernon and you can learn more about it here.

The Hall was converted into a Museum of Childhood on one wing and preserved in its original ornate beauty on the other end.

Enjoy these highlights and their respective Pemberley scenes!

The Grand Staircase 

"I have heard much of your master's fine person," said Mrs. Gardiner, looking at the picture; "it is a handsome face. But, Lizzy, you can tell us whether it is like or not."

The Long Gallery