Random Days Leading up to my Birthday Weekend

So far, Kristine got a job, my VISA application
 process is going well, and the Packers
have a been playing well.  Life is good :) 

(my battery is loosing power and I don't have my charger available so I'm going to type this blog as fast as I can!  Also, I apologize in advance for any typos)

This was an adventure Bjorn took Blake and I on.

We decided to try fishing on a fresh water lake near

his cabin in the mountains.  I absolutely love walking

in the mountains and finding new areas to fish.

Blake was having a good ole time splashing around 

and finding new stick toys. 

It was raining at the time and has been raining a lot

for the past few days.  On the 15-20 minute walk

through the woods, Bjorn and I got soaked.  To the

point where the water actually went half way up 

my shin.  It was alright though, definitely worth

the trip.  

Blake and I have a daily route that we take usually

with me biking and him running along side me.

We obviously have many other places we visit

but this route is great for us both to get exercise.

Anyways, I pass this boat everyday on our bike 

ride and I dream about having it someday

for fishing here!  That would be great.  

This is part of our route we take down 

to the ocean.  

I also pass an open lot RIGHT ON THE OCEAN.

This would also be great to have one day.

One problem, no year space, but having a

boat dock as my front yard would work.  

It's getting to that point in the year when

people are heating their house.  So far

we have only used the wood stove for heat.

In the mornings, it's quite cool in the living

room.  I usually make a fire in the morning 

and that's good enough for the rest of the day.

The temperature drops to about 40 degrees F

at night.  Not to mention constant wind and 

the usual rain.  Having a wood stove is really

convenient. 

Blake and I went on our daily adventure

trying to find a fresh water lake someone

mentioned to me.  We ended up on this road 

so we followed it.  It's a lot steeper than this

picture represents. I sometimes bring my bike

so that's extremely difficult for me to bike up.

"Sir Blakey-Poo Dalmation Pants"

^official name^

On the search for this lake, I actually found another

one.  That'll be another adventure.  

Freshwater lakes, at least on Karmoy (the island

we live on), are used for water that get dispersed 

to peoples homes for use.  This is the "water tower".

Near the lake we were on the way too.  It's on a large

hill so they function the same way as water towers

in America....pressure. 

I wanted to use my sense of direction 

to find the lake so we headed off the trail

and walked to the lake "as a crow fly's".  

We found this heavily used dear trail. 

...and this cool orange mushroom.  It's

probably not that cool for Norwegians but

I have never seen it in America. 

Fishing rules and regulations for the lake, just like

in America.  

A little picnic area nearside the lake. 

This wall is used as a retaining wall for one side 

of the lake.  The lower of the two walls has been

built that high for a reason.  If the water gets too high, 

it flows over the lower wall and forms a stream that

runs to who knows where.  This is a way of managing

water volume in the lake. 

A view of the lake from a far out angle.  

Last week we headed to Stavanger to

celebrate her cousins birthday.  Considering

the landscape in western Norway, traveling 

is much different than in America.  Stavanger

is a city 2-2 1/12 hours south of us.  Just to get

there we take a ferry which is is a picture of us

getting onto and go threw 3 underwater tunnels. 

Little Norwegian neighborhood. 

This was my best attempt at getting

a good picture of a Hedgehog in her

uncles yard.  

It was my birthday so it was time for

beef tenderloin.  

So wise, like a miniature Buddha covered in hair. 

^movie quote^