This blog has been on hold

due to a certain

above and beyond deliriously happy

married couple...

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after 17 days we're still married, still above and beyond happy,

life could not be better,

and... I just wanted to let you all know:

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I HAVE THE SWEETEST, MOST WONDERFUL HUSBAND IN THE WORLD!!!

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åslaug abigail

So, I left...

.....Norway last Wednesday

... and travelled all the way to America. in three days (October 9) I'll be getting married

to that handsome guy running up the hill towards me,

in the very spot I'm standing

(if the weather is nice that is)

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Right now we (which is me, my wonderful Pigletish sister, ***** and *****)

are sewing the wedding dress,

Ben (and ***** and ******)

are working on our perfect, cozy little *secret* (to me), now I know it's a house.

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Thank you all for praying me through this,

it's been the hardest year in my (very short) life.

I'm still getting over it,

but I'm getting better every day.

Thanks again.

*

åslaug abigail

I did it =)

I packed three suitcases

full of all my stuff

(well, a tenth or so of my original pile of stuff,

but my Piglet&I managed to shrink it!)

For the first time in 10 months "packing my suitcases" is not

on my to-do-list.

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And now I'm all done.

Leaving my parents' home Sunday night,

staying with friends 8 hours away the last few days

before leaving,

STILL WAITING for a call, for the visa to get ready

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In less than two weeks (God willing) I'll say yes again, to my Ben,

368 days after my first yes.

I can't wait to walk every step of the way with him,

share all joy, share all sorrow.

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The Lord is so *so* good.

I love Him so.

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åslaug abigail

Of Cake and Lovebirds...

Just a teeny weeny update here to tell you all that:

* big fat letter arrived

* all required documents are obtained

* and sent.

*we're now waiting for an interview date,

and I'm leaving by train on Monday to go to the capital.

When I come home, I'll be waving that visa in my hand

for real.

(though, I have no idea WHEN I'll be back..)

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"My heart rejoices in the LORD;

in the LORD my horn[strength] is lifted high.

My mouth boasts over my enemies[not the Embassy],

for I delight in your deliverance."

1. Sam 2:1

* Cutting the cake at our engagement party...

I love this picture =)The on-lookers...

don't you just LOVE on-lookers??Smiling at the camera
We sure CUT that cake, didn't we??

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åslaug abigail

My brother...

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..recently moved to Finland.

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Before he moved there, we spent precious days together here.

We talked, he talked.

I made him breakfast, every morning, supper everynight.

He even had cookies and cake every night with his coffee after supper.

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My brother, being the oldest, calls himself the First Child,
he insists ((lovingly)) that I (the oldest daughter) is "second-rate" =)

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My brother, has a sweet side, which he's not able to hide, even when he tries to act snobbish...

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He really likes my husband-to-be.

Which means a lot to me.

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He sends me nice cards where he writes about how I (in the process of becoming a farmer's wife)chose the dung fork over a diamond ring, and a barn over a castle.

He consequently addresses me as "Mrs. my-new-last-name" in those cards

(which I love too).

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My brother is that tall, serious looking, handsome guy on the couch there, in between my granny and my cousin.

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Sometimes he's not serious at all.

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My brother and I were... um... like cats and dogs when we we're younger.

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We would quarrel about who was to clean the bathroom (we both WANTED to),

we'd have competitions who could wrap a packed lunch the best

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.... but we don't do those kind of things anymore.

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He sent me flowers for my birthday...

**

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I love my brother.

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åslaug abigail

Guess What!!!!??

No, we didn't have a baby,

(this is my adorable little cousin, about ten days old in this photo)

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Yes, WE GOT THE VISA!!!

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DID ANYONE MISS THAT??

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We Got The Visa!!!
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Not that this means the waiting is over. We still have to wait for it to be sent to the NVC

and for them to send it to the Embassy

and for the Embassy to send me a big heavy letter with information

I'll have to get appointments and tests done,

I have to contact the Embassy,

they have to schedule an interview,

I have to go to the interview,

and THEN, we're ALMOST THERE....

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But who cares about all that? I'm SO SO SO EXCITED at the thought of being there *soon*.

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The LORD is my strength and my shield;

my heart trusted in him, and I am helped:

therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth;

and with my song

will I

praise

him.

Psalm 28:7

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*

It came through on August 17, six months to the day from the application was accepted. However, I wasn't aware of it till last night...

Wow, thank you all of you for your prayers, for your sweet, kind notes. I am so very thankful.

I'll keep you updated,

and Raquel, I WILL tell that story, soon, stay tuned =) =)

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*

åslaug abigail

I Promised Not to Cry...

....and so I won't.

He left today, but he just called: and he is almost home now, and WELL,

and I am HAPPY, thankful beyond words that he is.

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As for God, his way is perfect:

the word of the LORD is tried:
he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.

Psalm 18:30

He's here...

...And the world is right again.

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pS! the visa didn't come yet

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PIGLIT!!

Happy Birthday to you,
you live in a zoo,
you look like a monkey,
and you smell like one too!
*
(sung with nothing but feelings of love and adoration
on the occasion of my most beloved Piggy-Piggy-Piglit's nineteenth birthday!!)
* She is THE SWEETEST,
MOST WONDERFUL,
FANTASTIC
sister you could EVER dream of. *
I always said I wouldn't marry until I found the male version of her.
She's THAT wonderful =)
(and I did find a man that matched her wonderfulness and only-oneliness)
* She's always been my bestest friend, my favourite play mate,
she acts the big sister when I don't,
she's the baby sister I get to comfort.
*I've been IN LOVE with her since the first time I saw her,
square-faced, pink n' pretty,
laying in that tiny hospital bed, with her little pink teddy bear beside her
(rightfully named "Rosa", meaning PINK),
I was two years old and touched her very carefully, just as instructed.
*
She was the CUTEST.
She IS the cutest.
*
I was a little mad, I'll admit, when I showed her my beautiful ballerina paper dolls I had cut out myself, and she grabbed them (like three year olds can) and banged them on the table, attempting to make them dance like I could.
But, hey, that's a long time ago now...
*
She tells me my house will be filled up with paper when I have little children,
because I can't bring myself to throw away the tiniest piece of paper that SHE has written on,
HER sweet little drawings of princesses or beagels with hats.
HER little yellow chickens.
*

She is so precious to me. So beautiful when she's asleep.
And she's growing into a hardworking,
diligent,
accomplished little homemaker,
and I can't wait to see who that lucky guy will be!!!
*
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Happy birthday, Ingvild! I'm so glad God made you.

Aller Käraste Syster!!
*

*

åslaug abigail

Ramblings of a Rainy Day

my most beloved sister and I

I DID go off on an unexpected,

short notice,
special,

wonderful,

much needed-holiday.

*

So I'm in the south of Norway,
visiting my sister at the boarding school I graduated from two years ago

(she's graduating this summer).

I left home two weeks ago, I'll be staying for one more.

*

We're having lots of fun.

I get plenty of rest.

We've had so much sunny weather,

today it's raining, but it is still beyond wonderful here.

*

No news of the visa, other than that we'll more than likely hear *something*

(not a final decision, but some kind of progress) from the Visa-office in 60 days.

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Thank you everybody for your prayers.

It's very overwhelming that so many are praying =)

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I'll post an update as soon as I've got one =)
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(I'm off to making banana bread and eat it warm from the oven, while I snuggle up in warm blankets on my sister's bed, WITH my sister, to watch a movie. Perfect rainy day =)

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åslaug abigail

Happiness

Mm, so I never felt this good before.

And the strange thing about that? There's no visa in sight...

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It could be that I went copletely OFF refined sugar, and majorly reduced my gluten intake...

It could be the spring, with it's bright, sunny, beautiful mornings...

It could be the sweet blessing of just *being* at home, with my family, resting my knee...

It could be that I am blessed beyond measure (and I mean that with all my heart)

*
I LOVE waking up to a wall of clouds with several holes where the golden sunshine tumbles out in it's bright, beautiful glory

I LOVE apples with peanut butter and cheese

I LOVE hugging. My mama, my dad, hearing someone say: do you want a hug?

I LOVE getting dressed up and looking pretty *just* for my family, even if nobody else will see me all day (you know, you'd do that for people you work with)

I LOVE being off sugar, and almost off gluten

I LOVE feeling WONDERFUL, physically, emotionally, spiritually

I LOVE the this beautiful ring on my right ring finger.

I LOVE writing notes and letters to my best friend
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What do you LOVE??

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Oh, and the "cow" in the labels is my Mindy, because I LOVED milking her.

Five Reasons to ***LOVE*** spring..

You wake up, and feel well.
The sun is shining, and you do your best (not very hard today) to shine too...
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And then you go about your day,
writing letters that are so long
(and because of it, so heavy)that they cost twice as much to send out,
and you eat your mama's homemade yellow pea soup,
and you realise that even if you don't love peas,
you LOVE this soup (licking the bowl just to make a point)
and you certainly love your mama.
*
And then you play the piano and sing.
And you sing more, just because the echo in the tiled bathroom is so pretty to listen to,
*
and you come up with five reasons to love spring,
and you love spring just because it's spring,
but especially because of:

Short sleeves

Bare feet

Wild flowers

And the fact that THIS is the garden, and it's GREEN!

And your friend came over yesterday, and you made cards and sent letters and had fun =)
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åSlAuG aBiGaIl

My Dad is too =) =) =)

On Wednesday, my knee was hurt

(out of the blue, without any warning),

my dad drove me to the doctor, and later when he was in the pharmacy getting my medication, he bought me pink Hello Kitty band aids =)

He put one on my knee,

*blowed on it*

and said it would be okay now that he had "bandaged" it...

And it's getting better every day.

I'm not sure if that's the sign of a *bandaged-knee-healing*,

or if it's simply a *bandaged-heart-issue*.

But I am loved, and feeling well.

And HE is

SWEET =) =) =)

My Mom is the Sweetest!!

Look what she got us!

Lovely Salvation Army Find =)

They've been sitting with baking soda water all night to get the smell out, And I made sure to disinfect them in Vinegar and water

And I scrubbed them with half a lemon sprinkled with baking sodaAnd now they're nice and clean and good smelling,

ready to jump into my suitcase at the first chance they get.

Don't they look so cute??

The two big ones say: "sukker" (sugar) and "salt"

And the little one says: "Kanel" (cinnamon)

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Thanks for every prayer,

every sweet comment!!

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åslaug abigail

Just posting,

to prove that I'm still alive, and doing WELL:.

that my days are spent working at church,

.

sitting outside on the balcony with my head on my mom's shoulder, half asleep most of the time, and when not, we talk. And compare our hands

(she tells me hers are so old now),

but they look much the same, with almost the same ring

(inscriptions on the inside and minor details the difference)

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We have dinner together, sometimes with my dad, sometimes just the two of us.....

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Today I came home with my arms full of flowers,

lots and lots of wonderful smelling red roses,

white lillies,

MORE white, pretty flowers which I don't know the name of..

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And being driven home from work

by this old, caring man that I work with,

away from church,

with all I could see and smell was the flowers in my arms, I think I realised

I am getting married (so now, these last 88 days, I'll know for sure)

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And the weather has been so pretty, so beautiful.

Just sunny, with a clear blue sky and warm enough not to wear a jacket.

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I wish there were words to describe, let you know,

just HOW wonderfully perfect my life is right now.

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I suppose you won't get it if I just let out a big sigh of contentment...? No?

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Well, anyways,

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*BIG sigh of contentment*

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åslaug abigail

SO... How may I show thankfulness??

Trying to come up with a list here,

and tomorrow I'll live my list =)

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*Thanking God each morning for another day of this wonderful life...

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*Saying "thank you" to my mama for making me breakfast each and every morning, even going out of her way to make the food I like best!

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*Smiling and being happy eating supper

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*Thanking my family for the little ways they serve me

(especially now when I need it so much because of my hands)

as often and as lovingly as I would a stranger

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*Say out loud what I'm thankful for whenever I'm not around people

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*Mentally thank God for every person I meet with during the day

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*Making up a song about all my blessings, and sing it, adding new blessings along the way =)

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I like my list, I'll practice it tomorrow!!

Can't wait =) =)

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åslaug abigail

Good Morning =)

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Hello there everyone,

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I'm just popping in here to prove that I am still alive and kicking =)

I will be posting in not too long, sharing with you GOOD news,

in the meantime this is the update:

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I've been blessed with tendonitis lately,
which (though not allowing me to type much/write letters/do housework/go to work etc.)

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gives me the opportunity to:
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*stay home (and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!)

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*read the mountain high stacks of books I've longed to be able to read for so long,

but not have had/felt free to take the time to read

(I'm an extremely slow reader)

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*learn to trust the LORD

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Last night I read about an inspiring text about

being joyful/

have a merry heart/

smiling/

being cheerful.

And I made up my mind to find three habits to work towards

(three being such a nice number and all)

I found these:

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*Smiling BEFORE I open my eyes in the morning,

this way, whatever might meet me when I open them, I'll already be smiling, and I'll just have to maintain my expression instead of creating it =)

if you smile first, your emotions tend to follow

and a smile is just as contagious as a grumpy expression

(not to mention, a way more pleasant way to start the day).

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*Smiling to my family when I see them,

a very dear friend of mine recently brought to my attention the brilliant smile on my face when I talked to a sales clerk, asking for directions to another store.

I have realised lately that this smile seems to be reserved only for sales clerks, colleagues and strangers. When I say hi to one of my family members entering the room I'm in, my face has the gravest expression and I mutter a short hi,

erm, not a greeting fit for my nearest-and-dearest...

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*Singing a joyful-thankful-praise-song while doing the tasks I don't like,

Being joyful is a matter of choice,

I am sure I will not feel very joyful when at my next unpleasant task,

I am forced (by my own resolve) to sing a song of praise

instead of wearing a comfy sour expression.

The other thing I'm sure of is that I will cheer up from singing that song,

and that I will feel

more thankful

and joyful

when I start on the third verse... =)

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If you happen to be one of those who plan to comment,

may I ask if you will share any joyful-habits you might have??

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(if you don't have any you could make one today, couldn't you?)

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To the rest of you,

thanks for reading =)

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Love,

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åslaug abigail

A couple of feet off the ground, in a school playground at 6.30 in the morning...

In THIS climbing pyramide,THIS wonderful man asked me to marry him, and I said yes.And he held my hand for the first time,
and slipped a golden wedding band onto my right ring finger,

It's been there ever since...

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There's of course more to the story than this, but you'll get the rest later...
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Blessed be the LORD God,

the God of Israel,

who only doeth

wondrous

things.

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Psalm 72:18
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åslaug abigail

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PS. This was written Saturday, January 23 - 2010

...M

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TO ONE AND ALL!!

Have fun, enjoy life, family, music, candles, Christmas lights, good food, fellowship, prayer, love, stories read aloud, chocolate, kisses, hugs, news, and whatever makes your Christmas special...

åslaug abigail

Knitting and Praying...

Tomorrow, I'll be spending my day on a train.

All day.

Or, you know,

seven hours.

It's a long time.

On a train.

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But I'll be knitting.
And praying.

My favourite activities (among others).

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I'll be praying for a bride to be (getting married while I'm on the train).

I'll be praying for a school girl with tears on her face.

I'll be praying for a fairy grandmother and all her little treasures (and the big ones)

I'll be praying for sisters and for brothers.

And a girl my own age, in prison in Pakistan.

I'll be praying for things to come, things that have been, things that are.

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Knitting and praying.

Seven hours seems a little too short, doesn't it?