norway

Naerofjorden & Aurlandsfjorden

As a long trip comes to a close, you always hope there will be something spectacular left so that you can head home on a high note. I wish I could take full credit for the stunning end of our journey in Norway, but I have to admit that it was luck that we did …

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forest in Bergen

Bergen

We returned to Ålesund just long enough to board the Hurtigruten bound for Bergen. This was the one part of the trip when I felt that Fjord Tours sort of dropped the ball–at no point during booking do you realize that you can’t get on this boat until after midnight! That left us hanging out …

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photograph of Ålesund

Ålesund and Beyond!

We left Oslo via train and headed north to Dombås and then on to Åndalsnes on what ended up being quite a scenic ride on the Rauma Railway. While the first leg of the journey cuts up the middle of Norway and takes you past Lillehammer and the home of Peer Gynt, the second leg …

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photo of a statue outside Oslo's National Theater

Oslo with Children

We began our carefully planned trip to Norway in its capital city, Oslo. While some friends and even some guidebooks had suggested skipping Oslo in favor of seeing more of the beautiful fjords, I’m glad we spent three days there. It was probably the easiest of our stops in Norway in terms traveling with children, …

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a photograph of Naerofjorden, Norway

Adventures in Norway

You don’t have to see many pictures like this one before you become fixated with the idea of going to see the fjords in Norway. We never made it to Norway when we lived in the UK ten years ago, so it topped my list of summer vacation ideas when we decided to move to …

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Naerofjorden & AurlandsfjordenBergenÅlesund and Beyond!Oslo with ChildrenAdventures in Norway

Feb
06

Getting Crafty – Built-in Purse Keychain

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The key holder on our messenger bag inspired this project!

I dispensed with a major pet peeve of mine–digging through my purse to find my keys–today with a simple craft project using only items I had laying around the house!

My beloved Timbuk2 messenger bag has a nifty little clip on the end of a ribbon, so I can attach my keys and never lose them in the otherwise cavernous bag. So why not my other purses?

Now each of my purses is outfitted with a clip made to hold my keys. It was quick and easy, even for a novice with needle and thread like myself.

Materials

  • 1 keychain with a swivel hook and several detachable key rings or several individual swivel-hooks as pictured
  • several 4-8″ pieces of remnant ribbon, preferably in colors that coordinate with your handbags
  • heavy-duty thread that matches the thread
  • sewing needle

Here’s how I did it…
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Feb
01

Going Paperless

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a photo of a five-drawer filing system

A picture (or in this case, a scan) is worth a thousand file folders...

This winter I finished a project I started in June of 2010 and posted what I thought was this innocuous little picture of what is left of my paper-based filling system–a tiny set of file drawers that fits next to my desk and is small enough to fit in a suitcase–on Facebook. It set off a lively discussion that continued right into the next morning at school drop-off and I realized that a blog post was in order. It’s a sad fact of life that expat life, no matter how amazing, is unpredictable. And moving your entire life to a new country is never easy. It’s even more difficult, however, when your filing system resembles the Library of Congress in size and complexity.

Last year I wrote about decluttering your child’s artwork and about the huge purge we did in anticipation of our international move, but now I want to focus specifically on how I moved my filing to a paperless system.

  1. Choose your tool
  2. Start with the present
  3. Purge & scan
  4. Maintenance Tips

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Jan
27

Dream Home

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A family photo taken August 2010

With Matt gone and the weather rather grey, I’ve been spending more than my fair share of time on Pinterest. Most people have a board related to their dream home with photos of lovely wrap-around porches and gorgeous cozy gardens full of fairy lights and comfy chairs. But I’m kind of taken with the life of the tinker/transient, which means I might get some of my favorite things in each place I live, but I probably won’t get to build it custom or even own it. So can I post this picture on my “Dream Home” board?

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Jan
23

You cant step in the same river twice

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The kids' first Metro ride in Helsinki (October 2010). Some people spend a lifetime trying to see what my kids have seen in the past 16 months. One of the many things for which I am thankful.

The Greek philosopher Heraclitus said, according to Plato, that you cannot step in the same river twice due to the constantly-changing nature of the river. It’s a pretty good metaphor for expat life, especially when that expat life involves moving every 2-4 years. I think I’ve mentioned before that I lived in the same general area of a not over-large suburb for the first 18 years of my life, so this constant moving thing does not come naturally to me.

But that’s not to say that I don’t embrace it. In fact, I’m starting to believe that it is the act of stepping into that river, and realizing that it’s different than it was last time, that keeps me moving forward, keeps me interested. And it’s a good thing, because even though we’ve only been in Helsinki 16 short months, we now know that in June we’ll be moving on.

This time, we’re headed to Ulm, Germany. Read the rest of this entry »

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Jan
22

There’s More to Lapland than Santa’s Village!

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a photo of sunrise in Lapland

A sunrise fit for Santa himself!

One of the unexpected joys of living in Finland (and there are many) is Santa mania. According to This is Finland, Finns have been claiming that Santa lives in Finland since 1927. Reindeer, after all, can’t survive winter at the North Pole, but they can in Lapland! It follows that Santa’s Village, located in Rovaniemi right on the edge of the Arctic Circle, is a major tourist destination for those who decide to make a winter trek to Finland. Many families with children add a visit to Rovaniemi to their winter itinerary, taking the scenic overnight train north and visiting Santa, Mrs. Claus, and the elves. From what I’ve heard, it is pure magic for the children, and includes ample shopping and activities to keep adults entertained as well.

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Nov
25

The Liebster Blog Award

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Liebster Blog Award Thanks so much to Sara Toole Miller for nominating Terminal Verbosity for a Liebster Award! Her blog, which is all about the writer’s life, is a constant source of inspiration to me in my writing journey!

The Liebster Blog Award is given to blogs that have less than 200 followers and deserve more recognition and encouragement.There are some guidelines that have to be followed while giving or receiving the Award.

The rules for receiving the award:

  1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
  2. Reveal your top five picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
  3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
  4. Hope that the people you’ve sent the award to forward it to their five favorite bloggers and keep it going!

So here are five blogs that I love, and therefore nominate for the Liebster Blog Award:

Thanks again, Sara, and happy blogging everyone!

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Nov
01

Distopian Dream Girl

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NaNoWriMoOctober was a quiet month at Terminal Verbosity. Not only was I busy indulging my francophile tendencies with an amazing trip to Provence, but I was also busy planning my second novel and first National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo for short) effort. Yes, that means that November will be kind of quiet around here as I have publicly promised to pen 50,000 words in the next 30 days.

If you want to follow my adventures, or are participating in NaNoWriMo yourself and want to be a buddy, look for TerminalVerbosity, or look me up by title: Distopian Dream Girl. Just to tantalize you a bit further, I’ll give you the first line of the novel as it stands on Day 1:

“Kiitos, kiitos, kiitos,” she mumbled under her breath. At least they had a word for thank you in Finland.

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Oct
05

Windsor with Children

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It wasn’t until I went to link back to my Windsor post that I realized I had not, in fact, ever written it. So here it is, over a month after our return…Ed.

a photo of the Round Tower, Windsor Castle

The stunning Round Tower, take from the Moat Garden, Windsor Castle

Traveling with elementary-aged children typically involves some negotiation and compromise between what the parents want to do and what will keep the children entertained enough to prevent complete melt-down. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the best possible solution to this dilemma–Windsor, England.

The very walkable size of the town, the number of outdoor attractions, and the presence of Lego-Land make this small town just outside of London a great location to visit with children. Having spoken to many parents who shudder at the thought of losing a child in the crowds of London, I think Windsor offers a nice balance of kid-friendly activities and amazing historical sites bound to please family-members of all ages. Read the rest of this entry »

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Oct
04

Gabriel Patrick, my September Angel

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a photo of Gabriel whittling

At long last, Gabriel is the proud owner of a pocket knife! To date, he still has all 10 digits.

Another September has come and gone. I can already feel the days getting shorter and the light is definitely beginning to wane. Always a month of transition, September has been particularly difficult for me the past five years because the fourteenth of the month marks the untimely death of my father.

Although that day was particularly hard (something about hitting the five-year anniversary made this year worse than the last few for me), September also marks another major milestone in my life: the anniversary of the day I became a mother–Gabriel’s birthday. So after trying unsuccessfully to put a coherent post together on my feelings about the loss of my father for nearly three weeks, I’m going to bag the sad middle of the month and move straight on to the happy ending :)

I’ve already weighed in on G’s super-star birthday party, but since the craziness of the party last week, I’ve had more time to reflect on the little man himself and on the journey we’ve undertaken together. Read the rest of this entry »

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Sep
25

A Photo Journal of Andalucía

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It’s almost time for fall break and choosing this year’s destination was tough. I’m still acting like a kid in a candy store when it comes to planning holidays even though we’ve been in Finland–and therefore tantalizingly close to some of my all-time favorite places–for close to a year now. I mean, I can fly to Norway for cheaper than I used to be able to fly to Phoenix. Need I say more?

At any rate, after lots of thought and discussion, we chose to return to Provence. But I was really, really tempted to revisit Andalucía. So when I heard that a friend was heading to Spain next week with a rather open itinerary, I had to put together my visual case for visiting Andalucía. It’s been nearly ten years since we were there, but it still stands out in our minds. The food, the amazing melding of European and Muslim architecture, the beauty of the hilly terrain dotted with olive trees…Highly recommended. So here goes… Read the rest of this entry »

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