mrs. marianne

March

2009-03-02T18:37:00.003-06:00

Wow! Can you believe it's been since August I wrote last? I can, becausee life has been crazy busy filled with tons of drama, excitement and timeconsuming things.

Life is really good right now. I'm in my last semester at college, acting in a lot of things at school, and building my resume for when I graduate. Recently I played that part of Sonya in Uncle Vanya, by Checkov, and got a lot of good feedback for that. This weekend I acted in a film for an acting project, and it was a lot of fun. This week I will be anchoring for a news show that our school is putting on, and I wrote the selcetions for the entertainment news. I have also recently been cast in a student film, and I'm doing a lot of other projects as well.
Christen's business is growing, and he has at least 5 produce stands selling for him now- it's growing so fast I can't seem to keep up! I just know he makes deliveries all the time, and is having problems keeping the meat long enough before he gets another palett! Fun times :)

In February I was at the women of distinction luncheon at the nicest hotel in SOuth Florida, and had a great time. It was very formal, and some of the richest women from the island of Palm Beach were there, so it was a big ordeal. It was a ceremony commemmorating two women from the island who have done a lot of community work, and then myself and another student from PBA were given the scholarship that is awarded based on academic achievement and community involvement. It was fun to be there. When I get home I might try to upload pictures from the event.

I'm at school right now- have been here almost all day. It's midterm week, so we have more tests and exams than usual. I have just been to dinner, which was held for those who were on the provost and president's list of the school ( for high grade point averages), and I had a nice time.I sat at a table of biology students and it was a challenge trying to make conversation! Right now I am in the library waiting to go to my next "event" of the night- rehearsal for ALICE- A Live Improv Comedy Experience. We have about four shows a semester, and do improvisations based on games we're learning in rehearsal. It's tons of fun, and challenging me to think out of the box.

So. That's a little update. Hope you are all doing well. If you want to stay extremely current on my life get facebook. :)
Hopefully it won't be too long till my new post. After all, I'm graduating in two months, so I should update with what my plans will be... Still praying that God will place us where He wants us.

God bless,
Love Marianne

Summer's over

2008-08-16T11:20:00.003-05:00

And here I am. One week before school starts back up. I am looking forward to it more every day. This holiday has been relaxing and trying and exciting and boring and tiring and fun and really good. It's been one of those summers where nothing too much has happened, but it's been a rewarding summer. The highlight was definitely when my family came to visit and we went down to the Keys for a week. It was so relaxing and fun-filled that I'd drop everything and do it again in a heartbeat. (Except for the snorkelling trip which didn't agree with me..)

There's not really much to say, I feel. I'm just moving on with life, and having open ears about where God wants us to go after I graduate in May. I'd love to hear something soon so that I can tell everyone who asks me what I'm doing next year what I'm doing. Because so far I don't have a clue. We'll probably end up staying in the States for at least two more years so that Christen can finish his Bachelors degree as well.

Life is good, and I learn new things every day. I learn alot about God's will and God's plan, and how His will is perfect, at all times. I am humbly learning that He is sovereign, and knows what to do when we don't, and that He always has a plan and a good one, too.

"If you accept my words and store up my commands within you,
turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding,
and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding,
and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure,
then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.
For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding." ~Proverbs 2

We have a new pastor at church, which is exciting. He is 36 and has 7 children! Crazy! Him and his wife seem very nice though, so I look forward to getting to know them better. We will most likely (God willing) be in the same show as we were in last year (The Singing Christmas Tree). It fits with our schedules perfectly, as it ends the day before we're flying to Norway. Yes, we have our tickets, and are very excited. We will arrive in Norway on Desember 16th. And then we travel to Engladn on the 18th until the 22nd to meet Granny and Granddad. We are super thrilled that we get to take that trip!

Well, I shall leave you for now. When something more exciting happens I will let you know. God bless~And remember He always knows best!

Summer!

2008-06-13T13:12:00.003-05:00

Yet another way too late blog. When life brings you so much excitement blogging is usually not the top priority. But I should stay up to date on it so you can be informed about our lives and keep us in your prayers... :)
We are doing well. It's summer break right now, and I work two jobs. I am working at school for Multicultural Services- which is where I work during the school year, and I am working at a children's musical camp, where they are doing the Sound of Music. I am helping with the dancing, acting, and also helping to make the costumes. It is very exciting. There are about 17 kids, aged 6- 12. They are so sweet, but SO rich! It's crazy. Many of them have very famous family, and so their stories are very interesting. It's funny how even though you have lots of money you still lack essentials- like quality time with family... I'm so blessed, even though our finances aren't the best now that both of us will be going full time to school, but God always provides, and I have the best family I could ever ask for. Blessed by the Best!

Christen and I are in a musical together this summer - South Pacific, where we both have pretty good parts. It's very exciting, and Christen is doing an amazing job, and everyone loves us both. We have been promoted to dance captains, which means that when the choreographer is not there we help run the dances with the cast. It's exciting, but hard work- especially when some of the people in the cast give you attitude because they assume they're better than us. (Which they might be, but we have been chosen because we are faithful, and always in a good mood... )

In a week I'll have Katrine from Norway visiting, which we are SO excited about, and then after she leaves my family comes for two and a half weeks. And a week after that we'll be heading to the North of Florida for Christen's mother's family reunion. I am looking forward to meeting his extended family, and I can't wait to see my family again! It's been too long. I wish I could go home this summer for Helene's wedding, and Reidun's baby (!), but I'll be coming to Norway for Christmas, and I'll get to spend lots of time with everyone then.

I hope you are all doing very well. I hope you can feel God's presence in your lives, and walk in His will for your life! Christen and I are getting much better at growing closer to God together, and we feel as though we are able to spread His light in the circumstances we are in. It is great to be in a cast with a lot of non-Christians, and be able to be a light in their world. Which it is obvious that we are.
May God bless your summer, and may you grow closer to Him everyday.

Lots of love

Man of La mancha

2008-04-18T08:48:00.002-05:00

Currently I am in Man of La Mancha, a show at school. It's really fun! I don't have a big part- I was thrown into it at the last minute, but apparently I steal the show:) Haha :)
I have fallen on stage and bruised my hip, and two nights ago I got stomped on the head with a metal grid, and had to wear an icepack the whole night... It's like I'm more of a stunt woman than actress... :)
I really enjoy theatre though, and love every minute of it.
Please pray that I'll find a really good summer job, and that I can coordinate everything I have to this summer. I think I'll be taking some summer classes, getting a job, and (hopefully) be cast in a show.

Have a great week, love you all!

Good Friday

2008-03-21T18:47:00.007-05:00

I had big plans on going for a long walk today, but once I got outside I realised there was a really cold wind, so I decided not to. I did however, decide to bake, and I made some boller and some rundstykker. :) Christen hasn't come home from work yet, but he'll be home soon and we'll have a really good kveldsmat.

I went to church at 12 pm today for the good Friday service. It was very good, the pastor spoke about the 7 last things Jesus said, and we sang a song between each mini sermon, and then we had the Lord's supper and left. It was really cool, because they had set up everything really dark with candles and everything. Apart from a few children I think I was one of the few under the age of 35. I loved it. It is great to feel apart of a church- especially during Easter. On Sunday we will be going to a Sunrise Service right on the intercoastal. I can't wait!

God bless you this Easter, and may you find the peace and happiness that God has intended for you!

~ You CAN and you WILL do everything that God has intended you to do!

March

2008-03-19T10:25:00.002-05:00

oops! when life is hectic blogging seems to be far away from my top priorities.
1) I'm stressing trying to figure out my schedule for the fall and spring, as I will be graduating in a year and they are changing the WHOLE system next fall. I am a transfer student, plus my major will be non existent next year, so I'm in the category of "hmm. talk to someone else"... And everyone sends me from person to person, and the person who was supposed to tell me everything I needed to know told me NOTHING. So please pray that I'll figure this out... I might have to take summer classes to be able to graduate on time.. Aargh. But God will work it out, I'm sure.

2) I have a new baby cousin! I am really happy about it, and can't wait to see pictures.

3) Doing taxes in America is STRESSFUL and stupid!

4) Easter is around the corner and we have no plans yet which makes me miss my family very much.

5) It's way over 30 degrees most days now, so the beach is calling! This Easter I have every intention of getting a tan, and not getting eaten by sharks... It's apperently shark season and they are frequently spotted around here...

I have to go. I have a presentation I have to work on. God bless you all, and see you all hopefully soon!

One acts

2008-02-15T22:26:00.007-06:00

Life
I've just realized this is the weirdest blog ever. So random. Jaja.

This is my wonderful husband and I going to see the Superbowl. We cheered for the team that lost... A guy from our church was on the team! Christen is going to meet him soon. Christen has started working at the childrens-church, which is really great for him. He loves it!

Time for a short blog. Just performed my first one act. Next and last one tomorrow matinee! It's going really well, though audiences don't understand the play- which, as Christen pointed out, is the point of the play. Hmm.. I guess you don't find these things out... :) I'm managing to manage everything, didn't even ask to hand a paper in late even though I could. I just did it. :) I'm learning to not make excuses and just do it. We had a lovely Valentine's day (-the immigration paper work), and I am so happy I have the most wonderful husband ever. :)

This is my "husband" in the play. His name is Ben. He just started going out with one of my best friends over here, so that's cool.

Happy New Year!!!

2008-01-20T22:27:00.000-06:00

Long time, huh. Sorry- school's begun, and life's finally settling back to normal after a long and cozy Christmas break, in Louisiana and here in West Palm with friends. It's been a great Christmas, even though Christen and I didn't get much time alone. Not even a whole day! So this weekend I had off on Friday, and I have off Monday, which is great, because Christen and I have had time together. Finally! We are finally starting to settle in to our house- we bought our first plant today! So life is gradually becoming more and more normal- if there is such a thing.!

Just thought I'd post a few pictures of what life's been like for us this Christmas.

Timothy, Amy, Elisa, Christen, Knowlton and Day

Reidun, Christen, Kjetil, Ronny and Kate

Christen and me right at the beginning of 2008!

The fireworks were spectacular over the water!

Have a wonderful week everyone, and Granny and Grandad- Happy 52nd anniversary on Monday!!

Joyeux Noel!

2007-12-21T11:44:00.000-06:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS everybody!!!!!

GOD JUL alle sammen!!!!!

Even though I am in Louisiana, I still have my phone. So it would be nice to hear from some family and friends while I'm away this Christmas... +1 561 707 0914

Love you all, and have a blessed Christmas!

2007-12-18T12:09:00.000-06:00

Christen and I during act 1

Mary and baby Jesus who was only 14 days old that night! The one I had the last night was 3 days old! Unfortunately there are no pictures of Mary and Joseph yet. But I think someone took a picture, so we'll post them as soon as we get them.

Another blog so soon? (!)

2007-12-13T11:50:00.000-06:00

My exams are hereby over, and I have some time to update my pictures. Elisa, Christen's sister, just arrived from Louisiana by bus (it took 21 hours!). She is sleeping right now, but soon we're going to take her out to dinner.

She's here to see where we live, and to see our show. Last night I had a baby who SCREAMED!!!! It's bad enough trying to sing in front of 1500 people a night, but when you then have a baby you have to try to calm down, and sing at the same time. Oh boy. It was one of the craziest things I've done. It's so much fun to be challenged like that. But they said that baby is fired. So hopefully I won't have another screamer- cause all the other ones have been fine.

Christen and me at a Christmas party.

Mary Beth and Drew- some really good friends of ours (I know them through acting at school).

And this is just showing what Florida mosquito's do to me...

My beautiful family

2007-12-13T10:51:00.000-06:00

2007-12-11T12:42:00.000-06:00

I'm done with four exams out of 6. Just thought I'd post two pictures I found of the Tree that a friend took on her camera...

Nativity

2007-12-10T15:26:00.001-06:00

The nativity scene captured from an audience member's camera

Tree update

2007-12-09T14:18:00.001-06:00

Just updating and letting you know the Tree is going really well!
All the mishaps from dress rehearsal we've gotten rid of, so things have gone smoothly. Last night the baby cried, but otherwise the babies have been terrific! It was so funny, I sing a ballad, "Who would imagine a King", together with Joseph, and the baby was screaming!! The audience was trying their best not to laugh, but I think it was a pretty funny situation...
God is doing great things, and several people have been saved already!!
One more performance tonight, then exams Monday morning, and we start the tree up again on Wednesday.
Hope you are all having a great beginning of Christmas !
PS: Several people have taken pictures of me when Im in the tree, so I'll post them up as soon as I get them.

www.sct2007.com

The day before

2007-12-05T22:49:00.000-06:00

We had our dress rehearsal today, with a full audience! People from my school had the offer to come see it for free tonight, and they came. More people than anyone expected, around 600!

Just wanted to write a quick one, to ask you to pray for us these next coming weeks. We are performing for two weeks, until the 16th. I am performing with a real baby- a 3 week old (I play Mary)! Please pray for all of us- that we will be safe, and that the baby won't cry. He was great today, when I was singing he just looked up at me with his big blue eyes. It was great.

It was dress rehearsal tonight, we open tomorrow. A lot of things went wrong (mostly back stage), but we are running around, and stressing a little. Unfortunately I am feeling a little bit discouraged these days, so please pray for me that God will give me His peace. I should be feeling fine, but everytime I perform I feel so bad about what I just did, and it carries over to the next time I perform, and I feed off of my bad feelings... So please, I am praying a lot, but I need your prayers too:)

Pray that I'll get my belly out between two scenes (it was wrapped around my ear piece and microphone!), that people won't collide into me while I am holding the baby, that the donkey (aaargh it is so stubborn!) will want to walk down the aisle so Joseph and I can get to the stage on time... A lot of things went wrong today. And my nerves, please pray that I wil get rid of them. They come right when I'm opening my mouth getting ready to sing, and it is really bad because then I become not confident, and I sound bad...

Thank you for being awesome! I love you guys,

God bless you, and please let me know if I can pray for you about anything. It is so meaningful and great to be praying for eachother!

To let you know what's going on

2007-12-03T12:43:00.000-06:00

Hi! Sorry about empty promises of new blogs... I said I'd write a new blog after I went to Indiana, but those days came and went so quickly... After I was in Indiana at the National Christian Multicultural Student Leadership Conference, time started to fly. Exams are coming up in one week, and I have papers due, and I'm in the Singing Christmas Tree, which is a HUGE church production. There are approximately over 200 people who are on stage, and 10 000 people come to see it during the course of two weeks. So I'm busy rehearsing every day and every night... I have had auditions for next semester's one act festival, and I got cast as a lead role in one of the shows. I'm excited about that! One of my friends from Leeds (Katy, from California) has just got engaged, so I'll be going to Cali in the next year or so! I am involved with Acting on AIDS on campus, and World AIDS day was this Saturday. So all of Friday we had programs that I coordinated, and it was a success! Things went really well, and God is the only one who can fix so many things that could have been disasters!

Life is happening!

Christen and I are doing well- being in the Tree together we get more time together, so it's fun. We are looking forward to going to Louisiana for Christmas, and having Reidun and Kjetil over for New Years. It is so hectic these days, though, that we haven't even had time to decorate for Christmas... Here in the US people put in their trees and decorations on November 22nd! I will miss the Norwegian Christmas, but I'm glad I'm in the warmth. It is so nice to be able to wear shorts and t-shirts still, I can't believe that it's winter!

Well, hopefully I'll update pictures soon, as well, but you'll just have to keep waiting for now... Have a great advent time! God bless,
love Marianne

Miami

2007-11-01T16:23:00.000-05:00

Had a great little trip down to Miami during my fall break. Went for a night- stayed at a really nice hotel, for very little money, one house distance from the beach. We got a real deal! It is nice to get away for a little- it totally refreshes you! I was refreshed, and then I went back to school on Tuesday, and had two huge exams waiting for me... Aargh... So now we have to go away again to recover from them.. :) Just joking:)

Christen has to grow a beard for the Singing Christmas Tree.... It's poky.

Sunny morning at the beach with no one else but us there

Beautiful South beach in the early morning hours. Don't you wanna visit?

And back at school I'm the leader of Acting on AIDS. Here's a little section of our group! Awareness into activism, that's what we're trying for:)

Have a great day!

Life as it stands

2007-10-13T18:07:00.001-05:00

We went to the beach today.
And chased the waves as far as we could.
It was fun!

We have people working on our rotten windows,
yesterday we had no wall in our second bedroom.
They've taken out our aircondition.
I hope they'll put it back.

The sun makes me happy!
And Christen makes me happy.
And knowing that God is always with me makes me happy.

I work alot at school with Acting on AIDS,
ANd I do my best to get people excited and involved with AIDS relief.
I might go to South Africa over the summer to work in rural areas with people with AIDS.

I'm glad I go to a Christian school.
We just had a prayer labyrinth all week, and it was good to go in and pray for all the issues in the world.
There are so many.
But we need to deal with one at a time.
I learned that.
It gets too overwhelming otherwise.

I'm making saturday night dinner now.
Christen is out buying popcorn.
We're going to have a nice relaxing night at home.
For once.
Finally!

It's great to be married:)

Grace Fellowship

2007-08-11T12:27:00.000-05:00

Grace Fellowship

Above is a link of great sermons from a church we were at yesterday. Hope you're all doing well! Chrsiten and I are enjoying the sunshine, the bike rides to school- it takes 25 minutes comfortably, and getting settled into our new apartment. Starting school in two weeks, but in one week I'll be going to a leadership retreat at school- that'll be fun and useful!
Love you all!

2007-06-22T11:03:00.001-05:00

Well, Summertime has officially started, and why the sun isn't shining I don't know. Summer is my favorite time of year. I have lots of cool plans for the summer, and can't wait to experience it all. My sister is getting married July 21st, which I am so excited about! My family is visiting us in Florida, and they arrive tomorrow! We're gonna have so much fun, both here, in Orlando, and anywhere else they want to venture to.
We're also moving into a new apartment, which will be very exciting. It is completely different from what we have now. It is a small two bedroom, one bathroom, above a garage. The woman we're renting from lives in the actual house, but the garage is totally detached, so we are completely private. It is in the Historic district, so we're downgrading from a 2005 house to a 1920 house... It will be very interesting... The whole experience of this new place started a while ago, when we went house hunting. We saw a few houses, entered this one, and just decided on the spot that it was what we were looking for. It's very cosy. We had a lot of trouble with the realtor, who helped the landlord write up a contract and get everything in order~ she was so mean to us! she didn't like us, and didn't want us to get the house. But the landlady said she wanted us, so the realtor let us do it. I don't know why, but she was being really rude. So thanks to her we had to pay an additional months rent upfront, because she didn't trust we'd leave the house in the condition we recieved it in. So we're mad beacuse now we have to come up with 5 months rent in two months, which is rediculous and quite a challenge... But hopefully we'll make it without a problem~ but if you'd like to keep us in your prayers that would be nice:)
Other than that I'm sad school's out, cause I love it so much~ can you believe it? Not me~ I never thought I'd be sad to have summer break! I am so glad I'm at the school God called me to be, because I can tell He's working hard on me!
I've been working for the past two months two jobs~ babysitting for two boys, 15 months and 3 years, every wednesday from 8 till 5. It's a challenge but it's great fun when they learn new things and laugh. By now I'm pleased to say they know to say thank you and please:)
My other job has been working at the school of Ministry at my uni. I've been the assistant to the dean. It's been boring at times, stressful at times, made me gone insane a couple of times, but hey- it's been money... Not too many great moments though... Inside office job in the beginning of summer without even a window~ not my thing.
For the fall semester I'm taking 18 credit hours= 6 classes, (each class meets 3 hours a week). I'm doing 10 hours of work at my job with Multicultural Services, where I've been promoted to apprentice, which means I get payed more and have more responsibility. Fun!
I'll also be involved in plays, where I'll be spending at least 12 hours rehearsing or building sets per week. that equals, if I've counted correctly 40 hours a week. And that doesn't include lunch, breaks, driving to and from school, or homework time, or husband time, or friend time. So I'll be BUSY! But I love it. The more I can get to learn the better.

Tonight I have to clean the whole house and pack it before my family arrives tomorrow. Christen's working till 8 today, so I guess I'll do it all by myself... :) Or I'll postpone it so much that it won't get done till my family comes and then they'll have to do it ! Haha:) No, I won't do that... :)
Hope you're all good. These were just a few thoughts. let me know if I've bored you to death.. Hope not!
Love you all
~Marianne

2007-06-05T10:10:00.001-05:00

working all summer. soon to come new blog. doing well. loving life!
it's onlly just begun...

Out of sequence pictures of the Spring

2007-05-04T15:15:00.000-05:00

Christen and I At Drew's Spiderman party last night when we watched the premier of Spiderman 3 at 12 am!

Mary Beth and I- her birthday is the 17th of May!

Friends at mine and Mary Beth's pre birthday party at Cheesecake factory

Christen's Dad and Becky's wedding

The wedding cakes- Day's new wife had ordered a kransekake just for Day all the way from Minnesota, and had made his rig into a cakae! Now that's love:)

At wedding

Crawfish in Louisiana

Key West Sunset

Key West dock

Key West Beach

Chapel:
I gave my testimony and did the worship during "Got culture?" week

Girls Night at my house

Easter Sunday

hair cut: ------->

Workship Project- we painted the house of someone who's rebuilding their house from the hurricane

One whole year at PBA

2007-05-02T16:36:00.000-05:00

these are some of my freshman friends in the theatre department

Well, it's finals week and all the stress will be over by Saturday.
Then I will have no more meetings and I'll be done helping people move out of their dorms and I'll have no more forms to be signed and running around to do and performances to attend and birthday parties to attend and exams and tests and group projects that never seem to end.
I will be done with my first year at PBA.

This weekend I'm going to relax, even though I know I have to clean house and find a new house to live in, and get ready for my first workweek next week.
I'm working 20 hours a week at school for the next two months, and I'm working every Wednesday as a babysitter for 2 small boys all day.
So it's not like I'm not going to be busy this summer. Even before my last job ends in June my family will come and I'll go vacation with them until they leave and we leave for Norway, and then after that it's back to school.

It all seems a little stressful today- this was going to be my day of studying before my Biology final tomorrow, but because I am who I am I've been driving people all over town as they have to move out and plan birthday parties and everything you can think of, as well as I'm asked to do random things all the time by random people. So Biology? Well, lets just hope I've been paying attention in class! So be praying for me tomorrow 8 am my time, and let's hope I actually get up for it!

I love being busy, but when I have no time for myself I get a littlebitty stressed... Just a little....
But I'll be fine on Saturday.

Right???!

2007-04-19T14:13:00.000-05:00

I'm going to Louisiana this weekend for Christen's Dad's wedding, so obviously I won't be updating my blog then. Hopefully you'll all just be happy knowing I'm doing really well, and am a very happy person:)

Peace out-

God bless

Smile, cause there's always something to laugh about!

2007-04-11T12:23:00.000-05:00

My deepest apologies for not updating my blog enough. I am so sorry. These days are very busy, and we don't have internet at home, which makes it only possible for me to update it at school, when I have no time. I am in school around 13 hours a day now, because this week we are performing the Tempest. Opening night tonight! So I'm busy. you've heard it all before.

But I am doing good! I am getting tired of the Tempest and realising that I don't really like Shakespeare. So I'll be glad once it's over. But I am enjoying it, don't get me wrong. The people are great, and we're having a blast, but when we were doing our dress rehearsal yesterday, (which is a complete run without stops), and we kept stopping and stopping, I decided I didn't like it. I got so frustrated! We won't have done a whole complete run through before opening night, because people are so interested in letting ideas flow. But come on- a day befpre the performances is not the time to change blocking and make up new songs. Sorry. I don't get it. So there was definitely some frustration yesterday when we couldn't get out of there till past midnight, and we had early classes in the morning. But it's theatre- no matter how bad- I still love it:)

Christen is doing good too. He's over his sickness that he had for a while, and I'm over the friend he had come visit for a week. His friend flew over for his spring break, and I got so mad, cause he is not the type of guy I'd like to have in my house. Anyway, everything went well, and we're all happy again. Yeah, it was a little rough- I admit that.
But my husband is great and put him in his place when he said that if all girls were like Marianne he'd stay single forever. Yeah! Can you believe he said that???

So I'll post pics later.
Love you all, got to go, my boss just came back in and I'm writing at work. Hahah!

teaser

2007-03-23T15:08:00.000-05:00

Just a little teaser before I post my whole new brilliant blog. Coming soon!!!
(This is me in my act 1 costume for All Night Strut.) Don't I look great? :)

All Night Strut Rehearsals

2007-02-09T14:09:00.000-06:00

Hi! Long time no see! Sorry.... Been really busy. I know that's not really an excuse to keep in touch with friends and family, but really, I have been busy.
It's crunch time before the All Night Strut show next weekend! My first really huge show! We've been rehearsing this musical revue for about a month now, and we're performning it next weekend at the theatre in town! I am very excited, and a little nervous that I won't manage to learn all the steps by Thursday. It's the first time I've ever had to dance to anything, so I'm trying my best. At least my stage presence works for me:) I am apparently worth paying money to go see according to my dance teacher:) so that's fun!
I know you all appreciate pictures, so here are some I found on friends' websites. This one is of my stage manager and my lovely teacher and director, Dr. Mac.

The second one is of us waiting for our time to go on stage. And by the piano you see the lovely Ms. Gay, who reminds me of mamma:) She plays wonderfully!
We're by the stage that is about to be torn and leave us theatre people homeless.... They're gonna start building a theatre later, but when, we don't know;.. Till then they're setting up little concretables so we can practice and have classes. We'll see when that happens.. All the plans for development here in this town keep getting postponed.. But at least we have our spirits together; we really have great people in the department!

I am very excited about Strut, but it's really taking all of my time! For the past three weeks I've been in rehearsal 6 days a week, at least 3 (usually 5) hours a day. And this is in addition to school work... So I'm busy. I also do my workstudy job, and I'm about to start up "Acting on AIDS", which is a club where we pray for AIDS victims and orphans and families, as well as we'll be doing projects to help out AIDS victims in the neighbourhood. So I'm excited about that.
And so after Strut is over Inki will come, and I won't have to be in school 12 or 13 hours a day...
But the best part of it all is that even though I'm so busy, I'm loving every minute.
So please pray for me next weekend, and pray that Christen has the strength to handle my wining over sore muscles! :)
God bless you all!

Last week and this weekend

2007-01-16T10:46:00.000-06:00

Another blog so quickly! I am so busy with school, but I am going to try to update my blog more regularly.
Today I will be in school for 12 and a half hours (!), going to classes, doing work (at my student job with multicultural services), and rehearsing for All Night Strut (the musical I’m in). Busy to say the least.
But I do have some time for fun stuff!
On Saturday Christen took the day off to spend time with me, yeay, and we went out to town (City Place), ate at the cheesecake factory, and went for a little trip to the beach. It was a little too dark and cold to go swimming at that point at night, but we went just to see it and to walk by it. We were only there for five minutes, but hey, a lovely beach, barefoot, in just t-shirts, in the middle of January; I have to brag about being able to do it.

On Sunday I went to a birthday party at my friend Christi’s house. It was 20 minutes away, and I drove two other girls, Barbara and Renee. After driving the wrong way for 10 minutes we realized where we were (or were not), and turned around. We found Christi’s house, and had a great time in the garden of their house, playing games and eating lasagna and cake on the grass in the Floridian sun. It was very nice.
Last week was very hectic and stressful, and it is taking time getting used to things again. But I am getting to the point where driving to and from school in traffic, going to lectures, and rehearsing for a play with people I don’t even know has become "normal".

Back to school

2007-01-10T08:43:00.001-06:00

well, i'm back in school after a wonderful holiday in Norway with friends and family. I'm starting new classes, and am involved in both theatre productions that are being set up this semester. I am first in All night strut. It is a musical that will be set up at the local theatre, and it's really exciting! I have to take two classes to be in it, and I'm the only "new" person in it. Everyone else has already been in productions here, but this is my first, so it's a little scary... :) but fun!
I thought my schedule would be a nice one this semester, but no. This musical has rehersals from 12:30 till 8 almost every night of the week... And every dasy I have classes from 8 am... So I will be busy busy until it is over in the middle of February.
This was just a short entry, cause I have class now... But hey! God is good, He just let me in to screen acting 1, which means I can most likely graduate early after all!
So the start of this semester has started out with a bang, and will continue to be great and very busy!
Love you all,
Marianne

Back to school

2007-01-10T08:43:00.000-06:00

Banquet

2006-11-21T17:26:00.000-06:00

Last week was a very stressful one. I was in school about 12 to 13 hours each day, going to regular classes, being apart of group projects and working. I work at multicultural services at school, which means I help organize, plan, and coordinate the International Student Association. For me now as a beginner I've only had to plan one banquet for 160 people so far. :)
The banquet was on Friday night, and it turned out better than we'd been foreshadowed. As far as having a team to help us plan, we've had a very inconsistent one, and relied on them perhaps too much. Important people haven't showed up when planned, and for the international fashionshow we hosted, only three out of the 15 models showed up on rehersal day. Talk about school spirit.
We also had problems with video camera people, and editing people. We'd made this cool video, which was supposed to be like a link throughout the whole evening, but when film day came, the guy who was supposed to film didn't show up. Luckily we had a back up girl who could do it. But when it came time to edit, there was again a no-show. Four days before the event, after going through plan a, b and c, we resulted to plan d, which was to ask Christen to edit. He came through, and did a great job with it. (the only problem was that the sound got deleted, and when it was an hour before the event we found out, and couldn't find Christen anywhere, so I tried my best to fix it by myself, but it was not nearly as proffesional or correct....)
Then two days before the big evening of the year, there was an email awaiting, saying that our host (programleder), was unable to come to the banquet, because he was having his wisdom teeth pulled that Friday. So what were we to do? Well, we had to resort to doing the only thing possible. So Olga, my boss and director of multicultural services, ended up being the host. It wasn't smooth sailing, but at least we had someone to say "and now Marianne will be singing a Norwegian song". Yup, you read it. I sang a song. Bjorn Eidsvaag, skyfri himmel. I used an umbrella as a prop, and apparently did really well. I was angry though, cause you could hear how nervous I was in the beginning. haha:)

Sorry. I wrote this blog a week ago, but didn't publish it... But now you know what went on:)
and this weekend I'm in 3 student films! I am so excited:) I am really getting involved. Having so much fun!
And in two weeks I'll be in Norway! We are so excited!

life in the fast lane

2006-10-29T22:32:00.000-06:00

Listening to the crazy noises of cars crashing by, I decide to write a blog since I have noone to talk to. My friend Kristy and Christen are playing a race car game on the x-box, and I can't get a word in edgeways. So I guess now is a good time to show you some pictures of what I've been up to lately.

Unfortunately my computer has crashed with my pictures, so I have to post them later. Now that you've waited a month for a new update, I'm sure you can wait a little longer. I am very sorry you know....

Life is good. We just updated oour car insurance, and have hundreds of bills to pay. Yikes, the life of an adult.... I've been offered a part in a student film at PBA, so I'm going to be doing that on Thursday! Yeay! I'm excited:)

Otherwise there's not much news. Lots of busy school stuff... And on Monday is Christen's birthday! So that'll be fun. And tomorrow I'm gonna be filming a film for a banquet I'm planning, and that will be crazy stuff... Ok doki. I gotta go. Christen and I have to go to Wal-Mart to buy some stuff. He's vacuumed the house today! I am so proud:) My husband is amazing!

Lots of love Marianne

millbrae

2006-10-07T14:31:00.000-05:00

hei!
this week has been one of the most busy weeks ever! I have had so many papers due, monologue performance, speech about shark attacks and two tests, oh, i don't know what else! it's been so hectic! but the week is over now, and I made it all. i am so happy, because i feel good about all that i've done. i am so happy, beacause i feel like i'm growing so much, both personally, academically and spiritually- ha, everthing the school said they would teach us!how cool is that:)
i'm so happy about my school, it really is exactly what i need! i am very happy these days, and even though i have a lot of challenges, but i'm learning, and enjoying them. i am growing, and i am loving every minute. i'm also really learning how to deal with stress, which is a very big thing for me!
last weekend i went to the movies and saw a film with christen and a friend, kristy. on the way to pick her up i drove down the highway. long story short, woman didn't check her blind spot, drove almost right into me, i swerved almost off the road, honked really hard, she got back inbto her lane, and did the same thing again! she was not paying attention at all, and it was a horryfing experience. I was so scared, she was so close, if i hadn't been so alert christen would have been smashed by her car! so thank you Lord that we are ok and that our car is ok!
this weekend christen and i are cleaning house, and hanging up pictures that we have postponed hanging up. i love christen, he is amazing, and suportive to me when i am busy and stressed. he helps support me through my homework and just everything in my life.
i am happy and busy and thankful for a wonderful time in my life right now.
i will update you more when anything else is new.
oh! i almost forgot! christen has become an international steak sales man! he is selling to a guy who is selling to restaurants in the Bahamas! wow, congrats! he's awesome:)
well, hope you all are well!
write me if you want, my adress is:
930 Millbrae ct, #5
West Palm Beach
33401 FL
USA.
see ya!

:)

2006-09-27T10:55:00.000-05:00

hey!
here i am again:)
i'm doing great! loving the theatre department, everyone is so kind and helpful! i am really loving being able to act almost everyday, and am learning only things that are practical, things we can use in the future:) so i am sooo happy with my program.
in other news, i am writing a speeech about shark attacks for speech class. florida is the third place in the world of highest number of fatalities. haha:) and palm beach is third in florida... :) but at least there's a bigger chance of dying from a bee sting or a dog attck than a shark attack. so that's good to know.
i've been pacing myself, and am now able to enjoy life to the fullest, even though it is full of stress. but stress is good! imagine those who aren't able to have a job, or anything to do? we are blessed to be able to do what we want.
love you guys, got to go.
talk soon. love marianne.

oh, and the MOST important news!!!! They are making a movie to ps, I love you!!!! and hillary swank is gonna be in it! wow, i can't wait!

2006-09-15T10:00:00.000-05:00

another quick update really fast while I'm at work... :)
I recieved a position in Multi Cultural services, and am working there at school 14 hours a week. today is my first day, and i have been placed on a computer to do whatever i want to do. noone can tell me what to do yet, so i have to wait for further instructions. but my job duties might be to be the leader of international society, and set up meetings for that and advertise it and stuff. not quite sure yet. lots of office work as well.

I am loving my courses. absolutely loving them! HAVING 9 HOUR DAYS EVERYDAY OF THE WEEK, SO I'M Hoping i won't get too stressed... i have lots of homework, and lots of extra stuff to do, so i am sooooooooo busy, i hardly have time to sleep. but i am thriving here, i am running around from class to class smiling my cheeks off.
i auditioned for plays in the theatre department, and found out yesterday that i've gotten a small role in the tempest, and a bigger role in all night strut, which i didn't even audition for. i auditioned for a musical, and they liked my voice enough to cast me in a different play, which is a 30's musical, with alot of dancing! i am really excited. both plays are next year. so this semester i have time to focus on my workstudy...

i am really happy, and hardly have time to eat or sleep. i need to tone it down, cause i'll be wiped out if i don't pase myself.
have to go. later- marianne

quick update

2006-08-29T08:04:00.000-05:00

hey!
just a quick update from me while I have some time!
I'm in West Palm BEach, just started sc hool, and it's GREAT! my classes and teachers seem really cool, but it'll be a lot of work!
And now the hurricane Ernesto is approaching, so I thought I'd write an update incase we don't have power for a while. They haven't evacuated the school, and aren't planning on it, so hopefully the storm won't be too bad.
I have got a cell phone now, which you can call me on if you miss me:) I can't call you, as I can't make international calls for 3 months. Wrtite me an email if you want my number, I don't wanna post it online.
I have booked my flights for Christmas, so Christen and I will be in SVG the 16th of Dec, and go back 4th of January.
Sorry for my lack of blogging. I've been so busy moving in to a new apartment, and starting school. I travelled to the states the day the terrorists decided to board planes in england, so i missed my flight connection in orlando cause we had to wait 2 extra hours in amsterdam because of security. it was really miserable, cause i had to spend the night in orlando alone, cause there were no more flights that day. the next day i managed to fly to miami, and eventually christen and i found eachother. We are so happy to be together again, and are so excited about this year!
will be posting pictures of our apartment soon, and the area. Hopefully the hurrican won't destroy all the beautiful palm trees....
cheerio for now:) Back to classes:)

Norway and America

2006-07-18T16:06:00.000-05:00

Well, I guess it's time for another bloggy update. Other than a huge ant crawling out of the middle of the nectarine I had just been eating today, not too much gross-ness to blog about. Thank God!
Safely in Ørnaberget, I AM (just to specify for my friends who think I complain about the weather), enjoying the sun when it's here. We've had quite a few nice days of sunshine, and I don't mean it rains all the time, it's just more than I am used to from America. But when it is sunny, I enjoy it:)
Spending my days painting David's room, and comparing what is positive and negative about both Norway and the US, so that one day I can decide where I would prefer to live. Norway is definitively easier to live in, with regards to public transportation and health care, and all types of issues where the government is involved. I have come up with the brilliant idea that the 50 states of America, should be split in to 50 countries. That way, there would be less for the government to handle at once, and maybe there wouldn't be so much war in the world, and the government could actually start helping the needy people that live there.... Or what?
Pretty angry these days about the Israeli conflict, and am frustrated that the American government only cares about the two Israeli soldiers who have been captured... Oh well.
Other things on my mind, is that I love the praise and worship in the States, and the fire that people have for God. I miss that! And of course, no doubt in anyone's minds, I hope, I am missing Christen. Only about 3 more weeks now! And for those who'll "loose" me here in Norway, well, I'm coming back for Christmas. So don't be too sad that I'm leaving. But in three weeks, I'm going home to see my baby!

norwegian summer

2006-07-11T11:44:00.000-05:00

Took a pretty cool test today. sorry for my lack of blogging lately. in Norway, and don't feel like typing away stuff on the computer. hating the rain, enoying my friends and family, but feeling "home" sick, missing Christen more than is good for me. Oh well. only 30 days left.

well, i'm mother Theresa, which is pretty cool, cause she's my role model:) can tell it's been a long time since i've blogged, but oh well. Christen's not here to give me inspiration...

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when everything goes wrong...

2006-06-21T11:28:00.000-05:00

It is said that if God is with you, who can be against you? Well let me tell you who can be against me right now. My car. The sun. Illness. The car dealership that don't understand I can't actually get the car into the shop cause it won't start. Let's see. Who else. Time.
Well, they say God will push you, but never break you completely. I sure do hope that's right. If so, He's gotto start being nice to me. Cause I've been pushed as far as I can go!

Let me start from the top. Two weeks ago we took in a family of three, thinking they'd stay maximum three days. Well, two weeks later we're still sort of responsible, I guess we can call it, for their well being. I didn't think they;d stay as long as they have, and due to that, I didn't think I wouldn't get time to pack to go to Norway, and move down to WPB. Well, Tomorrow we are heading off to WPB, a 16 hour trip, and I have yet to pack. How did that come about? Well, stressing to find them a place, taking care of them, it's sort of had me busy these past few weeks. Then, this weekend, Christen and I moved them to Knowlton's house, and thought "now at least I'll have about 5 days to do what I need to". Wrong again!
They still came back and forth, I had to stay put to help them, blah blah blah, make a long story short, I ended up having three days to pack. On the first of the three days, I got sick. Fever, a bad cold, aches and pain, you know the drill. Then, I still had to help them, blah blah blah. Ok. Let me get down to it.

THe baby chewed up my car-remote-clicker-thing for the alarm and the lock and stuff. SO today, unlocking my car manually, the alarm started to go off. And would not come off, cause the alarm button on my car-remote-clicker-thing doesn't work. SO anyway, when the alarm ends, I put the key in the ignition, and the alarm starts going off again. And the car won't start with the alarm going off. So What does Marianne do when Christen's unreachable at work?:?? Well, I went to get a battery for the car-remote-clicker-thing. Walking in 35 degrees celsius, in humid Florida, not so very nice. By the time I got home, my whole body was actually, litterally dripping with sweat. It was nasty! It didn't really help that I had a fever while doing it...

Anyway, so I push the car-remote-clicker-thing to unlock the car, and guess what. It won't open. Oh joy. And the worst thing was, I was so excited, cause it wsa the last battery they had, and so I though "God is finally on my side!" Which then proved He wants to push me further. So I call the car dealership, where they're gonna fix our car, and they tell me to bring the car in to the shop tomorrow morning, before I go to WPB. Eh. Ok. Now HOW exactly am I gonna be able to do that? THe car won't start! aaaaaaaaaaaargh.

And I'm still sick. I am now on my third day of my three days of getting EVERYTHING done, and I haven't had anything done yet. And it is not my fault. Thing after thing after thing is going the opposite way of what I want it to go. SO now I'm in a race against time and my car, as I have no way of getting around to doing the things I need to do in church. It's a 20 minute drive, no way I can walk or bike it, and I'm basically well, in trouble. So I look up to the sky (since there are no mountains), and wonder where my help will come from.

So here she is. Little Marianne, actually planning, and excited, about getting things packed and done on time, not having managed anything. I can just sigh, and try to not think about the people we housed not getting approved for their apartment, and crashing into another car in our truck, and my car not starting, and biiping like crazy, and having to leave all my friends behind, and moving without having packed, and just all that crazy stuff. *Sigh*

So if any of you have any ideas, whatsoever, please! Don't hesitate to give them to me!
-Marianne, in desperate need of some more time, and medicine which unclogs your nose and mouth and ears all at once...

a baby

2006-06-10T11:24:00.000-05:00

This week our house has been full. At church on sunday night our pastor told us they had called from Walmart, asking if there was anyone who could help out a young couple and their baby, because they had no where to go. Christen and I felt like we should help them, so here we are, a week later, with them still inhabiting our house. It's a long complicated situation, but in short: the guy is black, which leads to the mother of the girl kicking her out, leaving her all alone in Gulf breeze. They are only 17 and 18, and their baby is 1. They were sleeping in a laundrymat, and spending their days at Walmart, so help was definitely needed. So we're giving them a roof over their heads for now, and are hoping to get them into an apartment by the end of next week. After all, we're leaving in just two weeks...
They want to get married, but since the girl is only 17 she needs her parents signature, and they refuse to give it to her since he is black. So they can't get into shelters because they're not married, and because if she were to go by herself with the baby, she wouldn't be considered an adult, so she couldn't sign for papers, so basically that doesn't work either.
But thankfully some Catholic churches have said they can help with downpayments for an apartment, so we'll hopefully hear from them on monday. So if you would please help pray for this small family, we would all appreciate it. The baby is so cute, though, and Christen is always saying, oh, can;t we have one now? Sorry. Not yet...:)
That's about it for now. It's busy and hectic, driving around everywhere, calling everyone to ask for help and just getting more numbers to call, and never getting anywhere. So prayer that we'll not be too exhausted by the end of it would be nice:)
Love you all so very much!

Miami-Stavanger

2006-06-02T19:28:00.001-05:00

On June 27th I head back to Norway for the first time since I got married. I arrive at 4:45 pm at Sola airport on June 28th!
I will bring with me lots of sunshine in my bag, and anything else you want or need from the US. If you want me to bring you back anything, just write me. You know my email adress.
I will stay all summer for my HOLIDAY, which means I'm coming back as a visitor, not a native Norwegian. Which means I'm not coming back to work. I'm coming back to visit my friends and my family, and just having fun. OK? :) If anyone wants to offer me small jobs here and there, like babysitting, or helping shopping or painting a house, I'll be happy to, but I'm not signing up for a month long job. This is my Vacation.
I'll stay for my parent's silver anniversary (August 8th), and then head back early in the morning Thursday August the 10th. I am flying from and back to Miami airport, because it is cheaper, and because Christen and I are going to visit the school on the 26th of JUne, and going house hunting (to rent for the school year). And when I return to the land of the free, it will be time to start school, which means I might as well fly directly down there.
Please pray that we'll find a house or apartment down there to suit our budget, and that everything will go smoothly on my journey:)
Another thing you can pray for is my friend Jen's health. She's, as I've said, had seizures lately, and thursday I'm driving her in to the hospital for MRI's and EEG's. So please pray that the results will be good, that she doesn't have anything wrong with her brain!

Thank you:)

God bless you all so much! And I can't wait to see most of you this summer! Helgoey anyone? Or maybe Os?...

So you think you can dance

2006-06-02T19:28:00.000-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdr3QKffmfk&search=So%20You%20Think%20You%20Can%20Dance
this is a link of Knowlton's dance on the tv show "so you think you can dance". He was on last night at 7:30, and got more airtime than is shown in this clip. People are searching for him all over the internet, and it's really cool to hear comments about your own brother in law! Christen and I watched the popular show (the dancing version of Idol) at Whataburger last night, and were so shocked when he came on! It was really funny, cause it felt like he was in the room when he wasn't. Haha:)

Hope you enjoy it! He didn't make it further third round, but is hoping to get some recognition now. This morning an old couple asked Christen if it was him while he was at work today, pretty funny.

What Christen and Knowlton loved most about it was that it was during prime time, and they got free comercial for their business! Knowlton talked about being a road side meat vendor, and that they sell 20 steaks for 20 dollars... WOnder how much that would have cost to advertise...

And the last thing I have to say, is that my worst bug fear caame true the other day. When I was going to bed, I noticed a bug crawling in to my skin. IN TO MY SKIN!!!!! it was so nasty....
but now. well, what more do I have to fear??

critic and big news

2006-05-31T17:36:00.000-05:00

I shall try to be a movie critic again. Mike, Jen, Christen and I went to see Over the Hedge the other day. It's a really funny movie of some forest animals who wake up after their winter's sleep, and discover a huge hedge built right in their forrest. They decide, with the help of a racoon, to fetch food over the hedge, which is where the humans have built a suburb. It is absolutely hilarious, and I highy recommend it to anyone. It really mocks human culture, and it's great to see an animals perspective on how we live. I loved the film, and have not laughed enough at it yet. I still go around and find moments I'd forgotten about that make me crack up. So go see it. It's better than FInding Nemo, and Ice Age. I think. :)

And here comes the big news. I'M COMING HOME:):):)!!!! Pretty sure I'll be in SVG on the 28th of June, just in time for Reidun's weddng! :):):):):):):) And then I'll stay all summer until August 10th, or round about then. I haven't booked my ticket, but shall do so in the nearest future. Can't wait to see you all!!!! I love yoU!!! Hopefully no hurricanes will strike when I'm gone, as the season starts tomorrow... Yikes.....

Well, speak to you all soon, write me:)

Christen

2006-05-27T15:53:00.000-05:00

This is his new, beautiful haircut!

Let me tell you...

2006-05-27T14:20:00.000-05:00

Let me tell you a few things. Firstly. Christen is FINALLY getting a hair cut right now. His hair has grown comptletely wild and crazy, and everyone around him comments on how he needs a hair cut! So finally, the day has come. He is driving to the hair dressers right now.

The other day, while I was picking up Jen from work, entering the doorway was a little boy with Down's Syndrom. As I was about to walk through the door to get Jen, he held out his arms, just waiting for a hug. It was the sweetest moment of my life. I've never been in direct contact with anyone with D.S. before, and the hug was probably the best I've ever had. He was such a sweetheart, and now I have no worries if I ever have a baby with D.S. They really are, as they say, the most loving people in the world. He just stood there, waiting for a hug. And when I gave him one, ah. I fell in love.

I am going to bake bread today. I have been telling myself for ages to do it, but have never got the motivation. But tonight we're going to Mike and Jen's house, and Jen told me the other day that she loves home made bread, so I'm gonna bring her some.

The next thing I want to tell you, and want some input on, is my age.

It seems as though I haven't aged at all since I was not even 16. I went to the library yesterday to ask about a possible job thing, and they had a posting saying that you need to be 16 to get a job there. So when I asked, they all said, well, you have to be 16. And then they asked how old I was, I told them 21, and most of them started laughing! Saying, well, they require proof of age at interviews. I was so insulted! And now I'm going around thinking I look so young, and am so afraid people will think I lie when I say I'm 21.... So, what do you think? How old do I really look??

Even thought my art teachers never seemed to like me, I feel as though my artisticness is finally shining through. I have been asked to paint the nursery at Church, and so after I designed Noah's Ark, the teenagers and I have been painting. Here you see me in action, and I will soon post the final painint on my blog. It is soon done.

I am sorry about the qualities of the pics this time, but oh well, you get the picture. Haha.

Off to bake some bread. Take care, and love eachother. I love you.

nothing, really...

2006-05-24T12:52:00.000-05:00

I don't have much to say.
The bugs have been threatening my life again, which I am not happy about. This time they were a type of wormy creatures with wings. Crawling everywhere from the ceiling to the walls to the floors to the bathroom to our bed.
And I am not so happy. They leave me sleepless and sweaty, and irritated.
I guess it's just a sign that I should go back home this summer...

Oh. One other thing that's worth mentioning. Jen, my friend, was in a car accident years and years ago, and now she's experiencing seizures because of it. So the other day the doctor told her she could no longer drive, so I've oficially become her driver. I drive her to work in the mornings, and get her at 3 in the afternoon. And then when she wants to I drive her to and from work.
But hey, her insurance covers it, so I'm getting payed.
A month or so after I get my licence I'm a driver. An official driver. Christen said I should call myself The express or something like that.. haha.

21 as of May 16th

2006-05-17T12:15:00.000-05:00

Well, well, well. I guess it was my turn to turn the big 21... Now I'm legal to do almost anything, and am considered an adult here in the US of A. It feels not too different from being 20. But I do feel a difference from turning 20 to turning 21. I am, tross alt, married!
And today is the 17th of May, Norway's independence day, where all children walk in parades and everyone is happy eating ice cream and waving their flags at the king. I am here, in America, trying my best not to think too much about it. It's not that hard, either, cause nothing here really reminds me of Norway. It is so different...

Well, I thought I could update you on how my birthday went, as it was a great birthday. Christen made it so special, and he really made me feel happy, even though I couldn't spend my day with my friends and family all over the world... Not even my mamma...

After sleeping in for a loooong time, I made Christen coffee, and he made me breakfast. We had previously opened one birthday present the night before my birthday, so as to celebrate it in Norwegian time. I got a great book from Inki, and "Big Momma's House", (a dvd), from David. So after breakfast we sat down and started the day off lazily, by watching my present from David.

I opened all my presents, (THANK YOU EVERYBODY!!!) and decided to go to the mall to buy stuff for all my birthday money:).. But on the way there, Christen decided we should go bowling, so we bowled two rounds. And guess what! The second round I won!!! I was very happy, as Christen is really good at bowling. Yeay:):)

And then we were gonna go shopping. But Christen wanted me to get my nails done, and so we went to the shopping center, down some stairs, and found a great place where they did manicures. So while I sat there being pampered, Christen walked around, getting hungry.

So instead of going shopping, which I really wanted to, we decided to go out to eat, at a restaurant/ pub, I'd wanted to go to for a long time. It's called Mc Guires, and is a really nice Irish wine cellar/ bar/ excellent steak house. Haha, the wine list was incredible! They had rare bottles that cost over 15,000 dollars!!! It was INSANE.

SInce it was my birthday, we decided to not be cheap, and so we had a starter, which we normally don't. We had, what the waiter had recommended, fried cheese. I thought, eeeh... Ok:??? But it was actually REALLY good! I was surprised! And as soon as we finished that, we got served two ceaser salads (GREAT I might add), and typical Irish bread. It was weird, but good...
We ate and ate, and when the time had come, they served us our meal, premium steak with garlic mashed potatoes, gratinated tomatoes, and onion rings. It was Amazing! Such a good meal! We got full so fast, and I had to bring most of my food home... :)

So when we thought we'd be asked if we wanted our bill, 7 waiters and waitresses came out of the kitchen singing ME the birthday song, making me blush, and gave me a free brownie with ice cream on top! It was so cool, I got so happy. It really was the highlight of the day:) It was the BEST brownie I've ever tasted in my life, with pecan nuts inside, and tons of chocolate stuff dripping down from the ice cream, and ooooohh... It was sooooo good........... mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... I can taste it now...... If you ever come to Pensacola, I'll be sure to bring you here, just for the brownie!

Drove home and watched a home video that I recieved in the mail that day from Monica, about several cabin trips we've been on. It was so good to see my friends in action on my birthday. And then, to top the day off, Monica, Elisa and Helene called me!!!! I was so surprised when I saw the message on my phone, I cried! You guys, you're so sweet! I love you!

Thank you so much all of you, for writing me emails, giving me cards and presents and e cards! I am so appreciative, you really made my day. Thank you all again! I love you! God bless you sooooooooooooooo much!

Atlanta

2006-05-15T13:39:00.000-05:00

This weekend Christen, Knowlton and I drove to Atlanta on a business trip. Whole sale steaks was going to a festival, where it was assumed there would be around half a million people visiting. What great prospects for selling steaks!
We started the journey late thursday evening, planning on finding a location to set up early friday morning. On the way we encountered several stops that weren't planned. Firstly, the freezer lid in Christen's truck kept bouncing up and down, so we had to stop to strap it down. The next stop we unfortunately made was in Montgomery. Yes. THE Montgomery. Knowlton got to the gas station first, and managed to lock his keys in his truck. Oh my goodness. Christen and I could NOT believe it, as earlier in the week he had managed to run out of gas, and due to that, his truck wouldn't start after he filled up on gas. Goodness. Anyway, since we were so luckily in Montgomery, there were plenty of people who knew how to get in to locked trucks. We had two guys "help" us, and then begged for money, and would not go away after we gave them three dollars each. They were complaining that if we'd have had to call a key place, they would have charged over 50 dollars, and so they were not too happy with three dollars after all the help they'd given us. We gave them three more each.
As we were about to pull out of there, a man came and asked us to give him 50 cents cause he didn't have enough money for a beer. At least he was honest? Obviously we didn't give him any, and pulled in to the intersection, where Knowlton managed to drive the WRONG WAY! He was heading back to Pensacola, and the frustration started to build...
After about 4 hours of sleep at a hotel an hour outside of Atlanta, we headed for Auburn street, the street where the festival was on. Little did we know that there was no room for us to set up on that street, and so we started to wonder what to do. It would take me a whole weekend to tell you all the crazy things we got up to, but here are a few key points:
1) Wild goose chases. We tried finding the heatlth department, with no luck after about 3 hours going up and down Atlanta's streets. We gave up.
2) We asked a man if we could set up on his parking lot right by Auburn street, and he said if we pay him 150 dollars. So we set up, (Knowlton being really nervous about being thrown in jail for not having a license for Georgia to sell frozen foods), and waited for customers.
3) We felt like we were in a foreign country, and were treated like it, cause there were NO white people around! Every one was black, and several people asked us for money. Here we were, set up to sell, but people instead asked us to give them money. And this was supposed to be a celebration of cultures coming together. There were only black people....?
4) After a lousy day of selling, we packed up, and realised the middle of a city was not the right place to sell steaks. People were just too poor. Most of them wanted to know if we took food stamps...
5) Stayed at a Motel 6 close to the city, enjoyed having tv for a night, and then Christen and I headed back to GUlf Breeze, as we had church stuff to tend to. TO say the least, it was not a very successful trip.
Despite our lousy efforts on friday, Knowlton managed to sell out by Sunday! He did, however, set up in Alabama, instead of Georgia.

I don't have a moral for this story. The "end", I guess, was that we spent lots of time with Mike and Jen after we got back, playing games and watching movies, until I on Sunday got a bad migraine, and have been in bed until now, Monday afternoon... Hopefully this week I'll bake some bread, do the laundry, and find out where I'll end up this summer...

last night

2006-05-10T12:48:00.000-05:00

thought i might just tell you all about what a great life christen and i have. cause, it really is fun! we are so carefree and happy, i'm loving this part of life.
last night, around 6, we decided to go out and play tennis. when we realised christen needed shoes, we drove to walmart and bought him some. when we got back we fiddled with the tennis court lights, and didn't manage to turn them on... but we started playing anyway. after a few balls back and forth we started itching really bad all over, and realised that we were being eaten alive by bugs of all shapes and sizes. but as the fighter i am (christen's a natural), we decided to play on. it wasn't until i scratched on my face and notices i killed a bug on my nose and saw all the blood, that i'd had enough. no matter what you say: a dead bug on your face should be enough to stop playing.
(usually there aren't so many mosquitoes or flying bugs here, but lately it's been raining a LOT, and so they appear...)
with bugs dead all over, we decided, since we already were in the area, to take a swim! we went up to the pool, noticed it wasn't cold, but a perfect temperature, and we dove right in. Who cares if we have to wash our clothes, we enjoyed being spontaneous and jumping in the water. it was fun:) and that's when we hugged eachother and told eachother how fun we were having with eachother. i love you. sob sob. i know. well, you guys need some cheering up in your stupid exam times... :) someone across the world is having a good time:) so if you come visit?....:)
well, when we got home i found a bite on me, it was about 3 cm in diameter! it had swelled up extremely! it didn't hurt at the time, but now i'm itching like crazy... oh well... a little bite for a night of fun, i'll take it with a smile...:)

Think Pink!

2006-05-06T23:55:00.000-05:00

Time for a little blog.
Interesting things this week:
- Went to Pizza hut on thursday, had to go to the bathroom before the pizza arrived, flushed the toilet, as all decent people do, and then had it overflow. On to the whole floor. The woman sitting in the other booth had to hold up her feet, and it was horrible. A truly humiliating experience to see the water just rising, and nothing going down the drain. And flowing and flowing and flowing.

Until you come running out of the bathroom, shout to the pizza people, "the toilet's overflowing, the toilet is flowing over the whole floor!!" Needless to say, I was a tad embarrassed. Poor woman who was in there, still using the bathroom... Pizza was good though... :P

- Today we killed another 5 queen ants. I shiver just at the thought of it. Seeing them crawl on your roof and walls, knowing, now is the time to kill, and then just seeing more and more reappear at different spots in the house... uuurgh.... I hate bugs. But then again, if you usually read my blogs, you know that.

- We played mini golf on thursday. I hate mini golf. I am so bad at it, and Christen is so good, it's an embarrassment to even know me. But, after being beaten horribly, we dicided not to let our balls go into the 18th hole to be swallowed up, Christen
had the idea to take the balls to the different course. Which meant, to play another game. And actually, I was doing pretty good!! I got as high a score that time as Christen did the first time! I was pretty proud. All I had to do was focus, think Tiger Woods. "Precision is everything". It worked pretty well! Now Cristen's trying to get me to play real golf with him, but that would require too much walking.... hehe.

- We went to Knowlton's house and played a game with Mike and Jen, Knowlton and Sarah, (his NOT girlfriend). We played the most boring game I have ever encountered. I can't believe I find a card game boring, but this one was. It was all about trading beans and growing bean fields. Not much laughter came out of the game, aka, not worth playing the game. Games are for laughter. Even Risk tonight was more laughter filled.

- In other news, Christen's making me watch a bunch of scary films these days (I'd define them as scary, others probably as just plain old action films), and ended up going, mostly against my will, to see Mission Impossible 3.

Needless to say, it was bloody and gory, moments of extreme jumping in the seats, and screaming from my side of the theatre. If anyone were in the room while I saw Signs, they'd understand what I meant by me not liking scary films....

- Tomorrow Christen and I are doing children's church. The walls of Jericho.

Christen's gonna take the kids to walk around the church 7 times, while I'm gonna focus on the teens, going over an article about the walls of Jericho actually coming down, with proof in archeology. Exciting.

- Went to the beach today, and put tons of lotion on me not to get burned, and then ended up not doing my back, and now guess what. It's pink as a panther.

talks to you soon. good night, over and out!

Summer

2006-05-02T12:07:00.000-05:00

Since everyone is writing about their summer plans, I thought I would too. My only problem is, I don't have any set in stone yet! I know it's getting close to the beginning of my favorite season, but life just hasn't made it possible for me to decide what to do yet.
I might (might) go to the Bahamas in June.
To film a tv show. (!!) The director really likes me, and said she'd get back to me to confirm my part as one of the main characters... So we never know. Maybe I'm flying to the Bahamas for a month!
The next thing on my program for the summer, is of course going back to Norway. Though I am dreading the cold, I will be very excited to see all my friends and family again. Two weddings, with the most amazing people entering into the most amazing part of life, and I am very excited to be invited to share in their joy:) I'm hoping I'll get to Norway in time for Reidun and Kjetil's wedding, cause theirs is so early in the summer. Already July 1st! That's less than two months now! Wow, you guys must be getting so excited!!!
ANd then Christina and Ed's wedding, August 5th. Then the day after is my one year anniversary, and then two days later, my parents' 25th year anniversary. SO lots going on this summer. Just no definite plans as of yet. Hopefully though, this week I'll find out if I get to fly to the Carribean, and then as soon as that's found out, I'll book my tickets to the land of the eh, fjords and mountains?
Luckily I'm getting lots of sun here now, so I won't have to worry about not getting a tan this summer.... :)
And then of course, lets not forget, August about the 23rd, school starts! So then Christen will hopefully have moved all our stuff down to West Palm Beach, and we'll start a new fase of our lives. University. AGain. haha...
I am excited though. Much good can come out of this summer. Hopefully lots of good times with friends, and lots of quality time with family. I can't wait. And as Inki said in her blog, summer will be filled with lots of laughter, and I'm hoping to get lots of that!

See you all soon! Good luck planning your summers! I know I'll have fun planning mine:) And the cool part is, I am not really allowed to work in Norway, so I don't need to get a summer job! Yeay:)

Take care you guys, love you all so very much!

When will it all end????!!

2006-05-01T11:45:00.000-05:00

The American cockroach is a large species of cockroach, winged, and growing to a length of 1" to 1½" (2.5 cm to 4 cm). It is very common in the southern United States, and in tropical climates, and can be found in many locations throughout the world, due to its travels via shipping and commerce between locations. In the southern U.S., it is often called a Palmetto Bug or a Waterbug.The insect can travel quickly, often darting out of sight when someone enters a room, and can fit into small cracks and under doors despite its fairly large size. It is known to be very mobile, and it also has wings which allow it to be quite a capable flier.

It prefers warmer climates and is not cold tolerant, however, it may survive indoors in colder climates. It does well in moist conditions but also can tolerate dry conditions as long as water is available.

The insect is often considered a pest since as it invades living quarters for sanctuary and food.
HEEEEELP!!!!!
Well, it certainly is a pest in my house!!!!! TWO of them, I repeat, TWO of them have been found in my apartment these last few days! YURK!!!!! I HATE bugs, HATE them!!! YURK YURK AEAEAE!!! So Christen always comes to my rescue and saves me.. But last night, when the creature was discovered as I was reaching for the toilet paper, I got so spooked I had a fit! I HATE BUGS! they don't belong in my house!
And to make matters worse, ants have started reappearing in the kitchen! Oh my. Time to move back to Norway... ??

beware of american dreamz, with a z!

2006-04-28T17:40:00.000-05:00

I watched the film American dreamz on Saturday night. Christen and I thought it would be a really interesting spoof of american idol and the politics of america. But no. wrong again. This was the worst film either of us has ever seen. Honestly. Not only was the acting horrible, there was just no point to any of it! The story line was, well, not even a story line! The film had no point, was not funny, was just a stupid waste of time.
They tried to mix Eastern suicide bombers with American Idol where the president was a guest judge. Somehow, I guess the film makers wanted it all to be funny, make the audience laugh, and well, mix it all together in a nice blend of the things America is interested in. Needless to say, they did not succeed. There were maybe two funny scenes. Like, two short laughs. The rest was spent trying to decide whether you should go back and ask for a refund. Honestly. It hasn’t even been a week, and the whole movie has almost slipped my mind. Usually I’m very excited after having seen a film, and I think about it for long after I’ve seen it. This film was definitely not one of those films. It was terrible. And I don’t say this for you to think, ooh, I wonder what it’s like, maybe I should go see it to find out? NOOOOO!!! don’t. seriously. You will regret it. Because honestly, it was bad. Nothing fit together, it was really badly written, horribly cast, and, well, not in the least funny.
Trust me. What can I say? Have you ever watched idol? Well, imagine sitting through an hour and a half, watching only the mediocre performances. And “being amazed” by the president reading newspapers. Cause honestly, that’s all it was.
Sorry bout this guys. Nothing to see here.
Move along.

Beware!

2006-04-22T21:42:00.000-05:00

My next blog entry will be called beware of american dreamz. so beware! it might come tomorrow, it might come tonight. probably when you least expect it....

Easter's over, and the sun is shining like never before!

2006-04-18T20:51:00.000-05:00

Easter's over for this year. (But that doesn't mean we should up and forget why we celebrate Easter...)
Christen and I went shopping today, and yeay! I got three tops for 1.99 dollars each. SO when I saw a shirt for 9.99, I thought it was too expensive. I'm like that. If I get one really amazing deal, I'll think that other deals are bad. Which they're not, I just got an amazing deal.. Oh well.
Lots of fun this Easter with my family here. Love having visitors, so anyone interested, well, come on over! We'll take you to beautiful Pensacola beach where you get sunburned within half an hour without protection, we'll take you to the zoo if you haven't seen a giraff before, we'll take you to art galleries if you're interested in that, and of course, we'll take you shopping! There's plenty to do here, and you also get the cherry on top, which is me! :)
I'm reading blogs of my friends in Norway, and boy, not for a minute do I miss the rain and the snow and the cold they have experienced this Easter. I am glad I'll be arriving in Norway when the sun will be out, and we can go to the (probably verrrry cold) beach and play sand volleyball. In the mean time I'll just hang out here and enjoy the 90 degree fahrenheit weather, until I fly to the cold.
If you ever want to write me, you're more than welcome. And you can call me too! My number is +1 850 932 6398. Hope you all have a blessed rest of April!
Love Mariannne

Easter Vacation

2006-04-14T12:25:00.000-05:00

Happy Easter everybody!
Easter in America is full of superficial bunnies and eggs and hares, but as my family have come to visit from Norway, we've been celebrating "normal" style. Been to church, read the chapters in the Bible for each day that passes, yesterday on morndy thursday (or however you spell it), we read 4 chapters in John, and a few in Mark. We're eating eggs for breakfast (no salmon though...), and are painting egg shells today. The weather is sunny and warm, and we're off to the beach almost every day. Right now the whole gang apart from Christen and I are at Walmart. Shopping. Again. It gets a little much for us "real" Americans who go there every week. But I guess the Walmart experience is part of vacationing in the land of the free.
Today we're gonna be going water scooting, and then gonna go see ice age 2. So the days are filled with fun in the sun and just, well, fun! We play a lot of cards and pictionary, and my mom and Inki are definitely the laugh of the evenings. When I draw a bank Inki calls it a money house, and can't figure out what it's called. When my dad draws someone sneazing, my mom says earwax. It is so funny, and we're having a real laugh! It's great to have family visiting for Easter. Easter is such a great season, and we should all remember the sacrifice that was made 2000 years ago by our Saviour Jesus Christ! Isn't it great we can celebrate our access to Heaven? And that we are without sin before God, cause Jesus took them away on the cross. Praise God!
Have a beautiful Easter celebration everyone! Hope you're all doing well!
Lots of love Marianne

life's little tricks

2006-04-06T22:14:00.000-05:00

life is funny how it plays tricks on you. one minute you're basking in the glory of having obtained your driver's licence (!!!!), and the next you're crying over spilt wax on the new tablecloth that you spent all day washing and bleaching and prepping for your parents arrival. and then, as if that's not enough, you go into the closet to do some last minute fixes, and the whole stupid closet/ shelf comes crashing down on top of you, with all the towels and cosmetics and shoes and clothes and everything else imaginable in a closet.
yup. it's funny. God sits in the Heavens and laughs. how irritating that can be sometimes! when all you want is to get everything done, and have a good evening with your husband before your house gets bombarded with people (in our apartment 4 extra people is defined as bombardation!), and everything literally comes crashing down on you, it feels a bit irritating. to say the least.
but then again, if someone can get a laugh out of it, then why not laugh at my expence......

God is awesome!

2006-04-04T22:36:00.000-05:00

Well, God is an awesome God. He is just the best ever! I am so happy I know how wonderful He is, and how weird, but great His ways are. You'll never guess it, but I just got accepted in to the theatre program at PBA!!! I am So excited! It is no way at all that I could have got in by myself, it was all God. ALL GOD. And that's the truth! If I were auditioning me that day, I would not have let myself in. So the fact that I got in really proves that God wants me in Palm Beach, and that He interfered with the theatre faculty who let me in. All honour to God! All things are possible for he who believes! GOd really does give you the desires of your heart! It is great to be able to believe that God really works His miracles. I am so happy. God is good:)
For any of you who don't know God, man, I tell you, you're missing out! Talk to someone you know who's a Christian, and they'll let you in on the best secret in the world!! I swear, it'll be the best thing you'll ever do:) And if I'm the only one you know, well, then write me an email:) My email adress is mariannehswan@yahoo.co.uk
Hope you are all doing wonderful. Love you all!

For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills;
Deuteronomy 8:7
Amen!
http://www.theinterviewwithgod.com/

USA assassination

2006-04-02T22:54:00.000-05:00

Christen has just assassinated three queen ants. How long will it be until they retaliate? Or have they had enough?? ....

Palm Beach

2006-04-02T14:11:00.000-05:00

Christen and I drove down to Palm Beach this weekend to audition for the theatre course at Palm Beach Atlantic University. It's down by Miami, so it took us about 12 hours to drive. We stopped here in Gulf Breeze first, to change the oil in our car. Turns out we had tons of stuff to fix in our engine, so we didn't get going until about two hours after we'd planned to. aaargh...
Since I've got my learners permit, I drove about 4 hours each way, which was fun. Driving 120 km/h, with trucks on both sides of me, yeah, it was fun. :)
We arrived safely, and found a hotel pretty fast, as we stopped in a town before we hit West Palm Beach, (as it is spring break, all hotels are fully booked, so we were really blessed).
Friday I auditioned, the worst audition I've EVER done, but with Gods help I might get in anyway. It was a beautiful school, and amazing to be down there. There were palm trees everywhere, and the sun was shining, and people were smiling, and it was just beautiful.
THe school is a Christian school, so a requirement is that you have to go to chapel once a week. The church was absolutely beautiful, and we got so excited. You also have to do community service as a school requirement, so that is cool too! You can do anything you want, as long as it's with a non profit organization. It was so much fun being down there, and we really really hope I'll get in. Christen allready got in to the entrepreneurship program, so it's up to my audition whether we'll be going there in the fall or not. SO please pray, as we really want this to happen!
Now we're back safely at home, after a long detour yesterday, when Christen missed the sign for I 10, and we ended up driving an hour into Georgia. Haha... Tonight we'll be going to church, and this week will probable be spent cleaning house and painting a wall in church before my family comes on friday!!!! I AM SO EXCITED!!!!! YEAY!!!!
WEll, I hope you all are doing good, write me emails!
Love you all,
love mariannne

Cultural differences...

2006-03-25T14:28:00.000-06:00

Just a little picture of the beach, with Jen, Kelsey, Christen and Taylor.

Thought I could write a little about how it is to be married to an American, and being in an international relationship. I just read an article about my parents, and the challenges they had to face getting married to someone from a different culture. As you all probably know, my dad is British and my mom is Norwegian. Though the countries are close in distance, there are several differences between how the people live their lives. I don’t think it’s been a challenge for them, but I do think they’ve encountered things which people married to someone from their own counrty don’t have to go through.

Apparently my mom wanted us kids to marry someone from Norway. Sorry mamma. No can do. Despite his country of origin, Christen is the man for me. The biggest issues I guess we’ve faced so far, has to be with regards to food. Americans eat out every single day. And because their meals are so large, often people only eat once a day. This has been a struggle for me, as I am used to three meals a day, in which two of them include bread. I know I should be cooking a nice dinner every day for my husband, but he prefers to go out, and often it is the cheaper alternative. Life is set up here to eat out. If I want bread with any form of nutrition or food in it, I have to make my own. And the problem is that they don’t sell several of the ingredients I’d like to put in it. That is also a big issue over here. The foods I’m used to cooking, or used to eating, they can’t be found here. There’s no such thing as macarell, or even cod, which makes my life so much more difficult, as I have no idea how to prepear tilapia, which also always comes in breadcrumbs. Yurk.

A nice difference between Norway and America, is the way people treat you. Everyone is so friendly here. If you sit at a gas station with a map on your lap, trying to figure out where to go, someone will approach your car, ask you where you’re going, and then tell you the best way to get there. If you’re out biking, everyone will smile and wave, even say Hi, how are you? It is such a difference from Norway, where people look down when they pass each other. At our church, everyone is friendly. I mean, everyone. If you have a headache, and miss church one day, everyone asks about you, where you are and how you’re doing. And they make a point of asking if you’re feeling any better the next Sunday. They really do treat you like family here, and though most of the people in our church are over 40, we’ve made so many good friends.

Chruch is a big difference in cultural aspects. I don’t know if it’s just my church, but discussing with Christen, we’ve realized that people who go to church here are a lot more on fire for God. It is so amazing how everyone brings their Bibles, and everyone loves to go to church. Usually it’s a struggle to get up for church in the morning. But here, it seems like the most natural thing to do. As well, regular church goers here have issues and problems. I feel that in Norway, it’s the people who are “perfect” who go to church. They have a nice family, a nice house, and a generally good life. Here, the ones who go to church are the ones who have struggles, they’ve realized church is what they need. In Norway, people with struggles shy away from church, because they feel like they need to be perfect to come to Christ, beacue everyone in church is “perfect“. Absolutely not true. We need to get better at telling everyone about God, especially those with struggles.

A good thing about Christen and my marriage, is that we’re so young, and not set in our ways. If we had gotten married much later, we might clash on more ideas, whereas now, we learn and make decisions together, not based on one of our opinions. Marriage is wonderful, and being in an international marriage is great, because you don’t think that your country is the best, and everything revolving your country is great. I am learning so much about how there is no country that is best, because they all have their troubles and issues. I have learned that wherever you are, you need to try your best to be happy, and to get along with whoever you’re living next to. Openness is the key. If we weren’t open to each others cultures, we would never have made it this far. But by all means. Get married to who you know is right, don’t look at the culture or country they’re from. That’s just a tiny detail if you’re willing to live with their culture, and willing to give up a little of yours at times.

Think that’s all I had to say today. If anyone has a monologue for me that I should do at an audition, then by all means, please do send it to me! Thank you! Love you all! Kisses, mrs. marianne

life in the breeze

2006-03-18T16:07:00.000-06:00

christen has as stated before started up a steak-selling company. he is very excited about it, and has finally ended his work at walmart. one day this week he managed to make more than 100 dollars an hour. if that doesn't beat walmart's 7.40, then i don't know what does. i am so impressed with him, and really admire his courage and strength to start something up by himself. good job christen!

also can say that we are thinking of moving in to a bigger apartment. this one bedroom is getting very small, we don't even have enough space to hang all our clothes up, which is very frustrating... they are leasing out a two bedroom, one bath, and so we thought we might just get that, and not have to worry about how we'll fit all our visitors in.. because of our wonderful location here in florida, people seem to want to come visit. i don't know if it's the beach or us they want to see... but it sure is nice with company! so anyone who wants to visit is more than welcome.

in other news, we're applying to two schools for the fall, one here, and one down by miami. the one in palm beach is a christian college, with acting and entrepreneurship, so christen and i would both love the courses! it's hard finding a school that has both business and acting, but this one does, as well as it being a christian university. so we HOPE to get in there. we recieved a dvd from them yesterday, and it looks like such an amazing school. only thing that is maybe a downside, is that it's private, meaning lots of money. but with scholarships and loans we'll be fine. if it's where God wants us...

these days i am working on the bulletin board at our church, as we are having a women's conference in a week. it needs to be full of info and pictures and everything by tomorrow, so i have a full night ahead of me. luckily christen loves helping me, so we enjoy working in church, for the church, together. and then tomorrow we are singing and playing on the worship team, as we usually do. last

ants bite!

2006-03-10T18:31:00.000-06:00

christen and I have just had a huge war. with the ants in our house!!! EVen though the exterminator was here a month or so ago, yesterday we noticed the ants crawling EVERYWHERE by our hot water heater... It was so disgusting! but i guess we can just be thankful that they weren't snakes... right christina?

Crime

2006-03-10T14:02:00.000-06:00

I must give a shout out to the policeforce of Gulf Breeze. I have never ever experienced police being so attentative. The other night Christen and I were out for a walk, around 11 pm, after he'd come home from work. We thought it would be nice with some fresh air, maybe walk down to the ocean and relax. On our way back from our walk, we got stopped by a police officer, who got out of his car and started interrogating us about what we were doing, why we were out so late, where were we going, etc. He did not believe we simply wanted a walk. It was crazy. He thought we were suspicios! And all we did was walk! Even though it wasn't too comfortable for us to be spoken to by police, it gave us a sense of security, that no matter how small or insignificant something looks, the police will check it out, to keep Gulf Breeze safe. That's great.

But then again. Last night, Christen and I went shopping. It was late, because we shop after Christen's home from work, around 10:30. But anyway, we got in the car, and noticed police cars in our street. We knew some neighbours had previously had an under-age party, and so we didn't think anymore of it, until we drove a little further, and saw the police running behind a house with flashlights. And this is like, three houses away from our house. But we drove on, to get our shopping done. On the way there, we realized we'd forgot a coupon, so we decided to go back home, which meant passing the house with the police outside. There were four police cars in total. And right when we passed up the house with the fashlight search, we see a guy in handcuffs, getting put into the police car! I've never ever seen anyone get arrested, and it was pretty freaky, especially knowing it was right down the road. The police get my respect, but that also comes with my fear. Yikes. Police= crime.

Never really thought I'd see what the US is so famous for. But last night, I was a witness of what Christen says was a drugbust. Just to make it clear, these are new neighbours. Our apartment complex is leasing, which means new neighbours, new stories.... Hmm.. Maybe more blogs to come...

The beach

2006-03-07T14:20:00.000-06:00

The beach on Sunday made me want to write a blog.
The water was crystal clear, people were laughing and having water and sand fights, people were sunbathing, and we were even graced by the presence of a dolphin! It was a beautiful day, which Christen and I got to spend with Taylor and Kelsey, two young girls from our church.
Their parents let us have them for the day,
and we took them to the beach to play.
We dove in the water fully dressed,
and a dolphin diving made us mighty impressed.
Taylor threw sand at Christen who was dry
And he threw sand back, almost making her cry
She had to go back in the water to clean off
and by that time we'd all had enough.
We went back to the church where their parents were shocked,
they'd said not to get wet, and there they were,
not even dried off.
But since we'd had so much fun, and played around
Their parents didn't seem to manage to frown!
Haha! Children are great, can't imagine how much fun it will be to have our own!(don't worry, we're not planning on them yet!)

On to something totally different...
God works in strange ways. I was wondering why he made me go through a very rough period a while ago, but come to realize now, it's made my marriage a whole lot stronger. So don't think God has abandoned you if you feel down. He's there, making sure you'll live through it, and He'll turn it to something good! He works differently from how we think He should, but afterall, He is God, and we are only people... So just trust He has a plan for you, cause there's a purpose to your life! Why would He create you if you didn't have a purpose? :)

last but not least today, I'd like to wish Neil a happy birthday today, and Inki a happy birthday tomorrow! Good luck on your driving test, inks!
Kisses, Mrs. Marianne

Fat Tuesday

2006-03-01T13:15:00.000-06:00

Well, today is the start of lent, and yesterday was fat Tuesday. I was going to continue the tradition of my mom, and make pancakes, which also is a famous tradition in Norway, but I realized we had no eggs. I had to find out what else I could make, but we didn't really have anything "fattening" to have for dinner in our fridge. We therefore decided to go out for dinner, and Christen chose Taco Bell. When will he ever not choose Taco Bell.... So we ate till we were full and now feel like we can fast for a month or two. However, since we're not Catholic, I guess we don't really have to fast. So we just took advantage of fat Tuesday, that's more fun! :)
Also yesterday, I did something very amazing. I must say, I was pretty proud of myself. We bought a new stereo, cause we haven't had a radio or CD player ever since we've been here. While Christen was at work, I set it up ALL BY MYSELF! And they didn't even have the normal plug this into that, I had to like do stuff with the little wires... I was so proud. :) And, check out this picture, this is our new remote! I am so shocked! Isn't that the coolest little thing you've ever seen??
Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful beginning of lent, and remember that you don't really need to sacrifice anything, cause Jesus sacrificed everything for us on the cross. Just remember to live as living sacrifices, live for Jesus!
Kisses, mrs. marianne

2006-02-25T19:08:00.000-06:00

2006-02-25T18:58:00.000-06:00

just another wedding picture:)

2006-02-25T18:22:00.000-06:00

Finally together forever

Well, we finally got married, after over 3 years of wanting to. We are settled in Florida for the moment, and are really having a great time being husband and wife. Christen is currently working at Wal-Mart, but has started up a steak-selling company, which he plans on making his full time job in the near future. I worked at Wal-Mart for about three months last fall, and understand why he wants to leave.

Everyday we are blessed by waking up next to eachother, and God keeps putting new and exciting things in our lives. We are both on the worship team at church, where Christen plays the drums, and I sing. It is so much fun, and our church, Gulf Coast Assemblies, is really an amazing place to spend our weeks.

While staying at home and caring for my lovely husband, I am also keeping up to date with auditions that are being held around the country. Christen and I have travelled to a few, and are always look for that golden ticket to Hollywood. :) We enjoy cheering eachother on, and Christen is doing a wondeful job of helping me get closer to my dreams.

We enjoy Gulf Breeze, and especially how it's never really cold enough to wear more than a t-shirt. It's nice to have "summer" almost all year long, even though we both miss Norway and our friends and family. We are hoping to go to university in the fall, so we'll at least stick around for the next few years. But who knows? We might just end up in Norway, despite all my promises to myself as a teenager.

Think that's it for now, keep praying for our marriage to be continually blessed, and really appreciate and enjoy life! Kisses, Mrs. Marianne

My First Post!

2006-02-25T13:22:00.000-06:00

yeay! I've started a blog! I've been so envious of everyone who has a blog, but those days are now over! yippi! :)
In a few minutes I am going with Mike and Jen to see Narnia at the dollar movie theatre, so I need to go. But I just wanted to make my first post already.
Hope to see lots of you good people in here, I love you, and miss you!
Kisses, mrs. Marianne