To Pappa

It has been tough

It has been hard

It has hurt

There are no words....

But, we have had to try to go on without him at our side.

I gave Tim the choice of whether he wished to write something to be either read at the funeral, place in the coffin or put in his special memory box. 

He wanted to write something and do all three options. He sat down at the kitchen table and queitly wrote.

With his permission I am recording it here. He wrote it in  Norwegian, he then translated it to English. Both versions are here.

Til Min Pappa

Min pappa, han var den beste faren man kan tenke seg.

Det går ikke an å utrykke hvordan det føles å miste noe så fint i livet så fort.

Han var min rolemodell, min helt og mest viktig min far. Alle som kjente han godt vet hvordan det er å ha han som venn eller familie.

Jeg har min referanse som er "Master of Life".

Jeg har det godt i hjertet mitt at vår siste dag var en av våre beste.

Jeg vil alltid elske deg pappa, adjø.

To My Pappa

My pappa, he was the best father you can imagine.

There is no way to explain how it feels to loose someone so great in life so fast.

He was my role model, my hero and most importantly my father. All those who knew him, understood what it was to have him as a friend or family.

I have my reference of him as 'Master of Life'.

I have it good in my heart that our last day was one of our best.

I will always love you Pappa, goodbye.

He is devastated, yet he is still beyond amazing.

.........and breathe

Wordless Wednesday - 1995

Where it began

19 years ago I spent 3 weeks during the summer visiting my cousin in the middle of nowhere in Norway. We relaxed on the island where she lived with her family and only went out to buy food. My last weekend we decided to hit the local 'town' for drinks - 30 minutes away.

At the end of the evening, I approached a friendly looking guy at the bar. There was A LOT of very drunk people in the place and I just wanted to relax and chat.

I asked him if he spoke English - yes

I asked him if he was drunk - no

(he lied;)

So we sat and chatted away for over one hour. When it was time to leave, he handed me his card and told me to call him the following week when I arrived in the main town ready to fly home. He said he'd pick me up and take me to lunch.

So I called him from the boat. I still smile when he said,"OK, I'll wait on the quayside. I will be next to my car, it is a white B...M...W." 

Sounded good to me;)

So he picked me up, shared lunch and drove me to the airport. Over lunch he explained he was visiting London for business 3 weeks later. 

Being my sunny self, I offered to show him around London!

Sounds great right! I had never been to London before, except as a child with my folks. I am a northern girl - didn't really think he'd phone - but he did.

So after a long weekend in London we finally got together!

We were sooo different. The straight laced businessman in his smart clothes and the grungy student with the cherry red Dr Martins. The man had never owned a denim shirt people!!

But, we just clicked - they say opposites attract, that was us! Him the laid back 29 year old businessman living in Norway, Me, the impulsive 22 year old student living in England.

and so it began..... 5 years later after many, many flights between our countries I agreed to marry the handsome devil and relocate to Norway:)

We balanced each other out - we were good for each other - we were a team.

Stig

19.10.1964 - 04.07.2013

We love you to the moon and back

Elsker deg

Sa Rang Heyo

Bye Bye Google Reader - Hello Bloglovin'

A few months ago, I was told that Google Reader would be no more as of July 1, 2013.  I initially wanted to cry because I have several blogs that I follow through Google and I also amassed a couple hundred followers through Google as well.  After the initial shock wore off, I started looking for solutions and found Bloglovin!

I am such a fan of Bloglovin and you will be too!  If you have a few minutes today (or anytime this weekend) make sure you make the switch!  Bloglovin even has a way for you to import the blogs currently in your reader into your new account. That means no huge time investment to just move everything over.  Totally simple, stress free and convenient.  It literally took me less than 3 minutes to do!!  So click here and start reading your favourite blogs on Bloglovin!!