There is always something to be thankful for.

Over the past few weeks I took a lot of time thinking of where I am, who surrounds me, where I came from, and possibly what the future holds.  There is a lot to be said about these thoughts, but one thing is for sure...There is ALWAYS something to be thankful for :)  Enjoy....

Leeland is a successful Christian band  that came to a church

near our house.  It was wonderful to speak with them.

They thought it was neat meeting an American in Norway.

If you don't listen to Leeland, I suggest you do so.  They're

music is great!  Everyone in the band is from Texan except one,

and he's from Nashville.  Leeland (lead singer) is the guy just to 

my left.   

As Blake and I were going on a walk one day,

I came across this house.  I think it's a great home.

Perhaps one day Kristine and I will be blessed to

have a home similar to this one.

 (on the water of course)

Near Bjørn and Sølvi's home, there is a rock with

a Viking symbol or letter engraved.  It's hard to

see in person let alone in this picture.    

There is a nice hiking trail 10 minutes away form our

home if we drive.  Otherwise I could ride my bike.

It's a great trail because it's lit up throughout the 

night.  It's been getting dark around 4:30 here so

if I want to go for a jog or walk with Blake after dark,

this is a great place to go! 

Considering I cannot yet work legally

in Norway, I do my best to make each

day productive.  Awhile back, I created 

this schedule to help me do so.  

This is a local Christmas market Kristine and I 

attended for an evening with our friends David

and Ester.  

There was a small brass choir playing

traditional Christmas music.  I was tempted

to grab a trumpet and join the fun!

Many people attended this Christmas market.  

Jul is Christmas in Norwegian.  So the Christmas

market is actually called Julemarket.  

Kristine's aunt Elin asked us to help out

at the church.  I was helping young kids in the

carpenter room.  Helping them build cribs, 

little boats, and other works.  

This is my crib masterpiece, and no, Kristine is

not pregnant.  A woman at the church wanted

a crib made so she asked me to make it for her.  

My friend David was working in a tent

at the Christmas market.  He was spending

time with little kids making smores.  

Kristine's sister Anna made this art creation of

some of the relational families.  I think it's funny

how she put Blake in the picture of Kristine and I.   

My good buddy Matt Garred back home in America

is getting married this December.  He's

marrying Laura Ayres who was also a 

Music Education Major at Augustana so I

got to know her throughout my years in Sioux 

Falls.  I wish them all the best and cannot

wait to see them again!  This is the invitation

to their wedding.  

A typical scene in our kitchen just before Kristine 

gets home from work.  

Blake waits patiently before as I get 

things ready for us to go on our

daily adventure(s).  

Blake modeling with his backpack in 

our back yard.  

While Kristine and I were living in Sioux Falls, we

attended a terrific church on the south side of town

called Central Baptist.  Every week I watch the 

service online.  It's great that I'm able to bring

Central's ministry to Norway even if it's a little

bit.  Perhaps more people here will take interest

in watching with me.  

Kristine baking an apple pie for Thanksgiving.

I think she looks stunning in her Dalmatian pants.  

The apply pie turned out great! 

Pie's are made differently here in Norway

than in America.  I don't know all the 

differences but one main difference in that

American pies have the crust on top and

Norwegian pies do not.  

Kristine's mother Sølvi took Thanksgiving

into her own hands and did a wonderful

job.  This is the stuffing and green bean

casserole.  

Bjørn purchased small flags for

 Thanksgiving dinner.  

The table is set (without food) before

everyone arrived.

The carved turkey (obviously not all of it).  

It was a full table but lots of fun that

lasted for hours.  

Bjørn took a nice photo of us before dinner.  Karl 

and I appreciated the incorporation of an American

holiday here in Norway.  

The next day Kristine and I decided to

invited some friends over for yet another

Thanksgiving dinner.  My job was to 

peel potatoes and carrots.  Kristine

makes sure to give me jobs that are 

nearly impossible to screw up.  I don't

blame her one bit.   

Oh yea...I also had to make the turkey.  

I accidentally carved into it before I took

this photo.  

Blake often helps me grocery shop.

He carries back the food I buy.  He also 

carries my gloves once my hands get

too warm.  What a pal.    

This is another photo from the Christmas market.

Notice that it says "God Jul" on the small building.

That simply means Merry Christmas in Norwegian.

Almost time for Turkey

My days are filled with random events that are
priorities but in no particular order.  Anything
and everything from watching/listening to online
sermons, exercising with Blake, house work, fishing,
hiking, studying Norwegian, and job searching.   

I was attempting to be brave this day by going out

to fish.  Unfortunately the wind and rain prevented 

me from doing so.  This photo was taken on the 

SW side of Karmøy.  

Kristine's mother Sølvi has been showing me new

places to hike.  This is a small building room thing...

I have no idea.  I found it on the way to a cabin

located back in the woods near a lake.

This is the cabin I was hiking to.  The weather was

quite poor that day so this photo was taken with my

phone inside a zip-lock bag.  I would have 

taken many more pictures if the weather was better.

On the way to this cabin were a few walking bridges.

There was so much water that the bridges were 

submerged by about 4 inches of water.  

It was quite funny because Blake didn't

 realize there were bridges at all and he would just 

swim next to the bridges as I walked on them.  

I often fish on a pier located in Sandve.

The fish are always biting here.  After

I catch one that I plan to keep, I make

sure Blake stays away while I deal with

the fish.  He's quite curious to know what

I'm doing. On one side of the pier, there

are step like layers.  With low tide, we

stand on the lowest level for better

fishing access.  

This Pollack (Lyr in Norwegian) is the

last decent sized fish I caught.  Doesn't

look too big but in comparison with my 

shoe, it's quite large.  Especially for being

caught near the shore.  

This photo was taken while on a walk near the island

of Salvøy.  I like areas where the water flows between 

sections of housing acting almost as road.  

Karl Newman and I took a visit to Amdahl farm

last Friday to visit Kristine's grandparents.  Although

her grandparents do speak some English, times like this

are great for me to practice my Norwegian.  I enjoy teaching

them English and they enjoy teaching me Norwegian.  This

picture is an old foundation to a house that once existed

on the farm property. 

There are many rocks that have fallen

from the mountain behind the farm house.

I was told most of them fell because of

the last ice age.  

Kristine's grandparents gave Karl and I

a tour of the farm property.  

Each time her grandparents give me a tour, it feels

like we're taking a trip back into history.  So much

history at Amdahl farm.  

This tree is currently alive and growing

inside a rock which will eventually split.  

These are a few neat rocks Kristine's grandfather

has found while working around the farm.  

Different look...

We went back to Amdahl farm to visit her 

grandparents for fathers day.  My mom sent 

me a picture my parent's yard which was 

covered in snow.  A lot different than the 

weather we've had in Norway.  Constant

rain lately. 

What's the fall season without a pumpkin? 

 I really like eating pumpkin seeds.

Since we bought a pumpkin, may as well

put a candle inside.  

This next part of the blog is all about FLL (First Lego League).

FLL is an international organization I was apart of 

in America.  It's difficult to explain but I will do my 

best.  If you have further interest, visit www.firstlegoleague.org

for more information.  

Basically speaking, FLL is a combination of math,

science, and engineering.  I know what you're all thinking...

"Why are you,  Corey John Meyer, of all people,

 involved with that?"  Well, I was an education major

at Augustana College and found out that there was 

a summer job as an FLL instructor.  I taught

computer programming, researching, and presenting.

Each year, FLL has a topic.  This year was education

so teams of students aged 9-14 researched education, presented

a project and created programming for their robots.  The

"board" that the robots compete on have challenges

that the robots must complete for points.  This board

had an educational theme.  FLL is educational

and fun at the same time.  There are local, regional,

national, and international tournaments.  So while

I was in America, I was apart of the South Dakota

Robotics Association.    

This was before the competition.  We (judges) were

going through the rules and regulations one last time

before the robot competition.  

Picture of the two boards.  

The robots were programmed in advance to drive

around on the board and complete tasks.    

In order for the teams to score the most points,

they had to program their robot really well

with lots of practice before the tournament.  

Some robots were extremely complex.  Quite 

impressive! 

There were two judges for each table.  After

each round, one of the judges explains to the 

kids which tasks they completed.  The other judge

reset the board for the next match.  

Teams can be very large but only two members

from each team was allowed to be near the board

during the competition.  

These were the awards and trophy's.  

Some of the robots were so complex, I could hardly

understand how they functioned.  Amazing that

such young people can be so creative.