Busy busy!

Sorry for the lack of updates, we are still WAITING to get a letter about my application, but it should come any time in the next week, so keep your fingers crossed please? I've been checking the mailbox at least twice a day, but apparently that has no effect on how quickly the letter will arrive. The crazy thing is that we found out the church we are having our wedding at has to issue me a CPR number in order to do the ceremony. Which means I technically have a number, but it is not attached to any of the rights that normal CPR numbers have. Its a little confusing but basically I still have to wait for the government to attach my number to my visa application to be able to go to the doctors or schools or libraries or apply for a job or anything really, but hey they gave me a number! ha! :)

Other than that, I've been really busy with the wedding planning mostly, I won't bore you with all the little details, but I am REALLY excited to see everything start coming together in such a good way! :) I also can't wait to see my friends and family again- Michelle and I talked yesterday and Noel informed us that they would be getting on a plane in 18 days!!! Oh my gosh! :) Sooooo can't wait to see them again! I have been a little homesick recently (nothing bad, just wishing my mom and Michelle were here to help me with the wedding stuff mostly) so to know that they will be here so soon makes me really happy. I can't wait to show off Copenhagen a little bit and show them my new life here and of course celebrate Klaus and I's new life together with everyone! :)

I've also started going to spin classes again which has been an interesting experience. I find myself completely exhausted after each class and I really think its the combination of the physical activity and the mental part of trying to understand what the instructor (a David Letterman look-a-like) is screaming at me in danish! ha! Luckily there's a really nice girl in the class who has let me sit next to her for the past few weeks and has been soooo helpful and patient with me. The first week she sat next to me she translated almost the entire class for me (a MASSIVELY impressive feat I must say!) And each time since then I've needed a little less and less translation. Last night it was actually the other way around where I would try to translate in my head and then just look to her and ask if what I thought I heard was right or not. :) The other big difference in these classes than the ones in the states is that we're all hooked up to heart rate monitors that are then synced into a system that displays them on a giant projector screen at the front of the class. Basically your HR monitor has a number on it and as you walk into the class you sign into the computer system and put in what your max heart rate should be and then it calculates percentages based on that. So when David Letterman says "femogfirs procent" I know that my little monitor needs to be at 85%. I also know that if I don't get my little monitor to say that, then David Letterman will point at it and yell "Kom Nu!!" haha!

So that's what's going on here. I know I promised pictures from our trip to Jylland to see Klaus' parents so I'll add a few here, but I've posted most of them on facebook too. :)

 

XOXO,
Joy

The Waiting Game

So today was a HUGE day for me. Klaus and I went to the Udlændingestyrelsen (immigration service center) this morning to turn in my application for my visa to STAY in Denmark!!! Woo-hoo!!!
We filled it out Sunday and he got all of the paperwork and my passport copied and got the form needed from the municipality on Monday. And we checked and rechecked that we had filled out every question and signed everything that we needed to about 30 times and then this morning he took off work and we turned it in!!! Yay! Its a very nerve wracking process mostly because it would be so easy to miss something and then we would have to start all over... But at this point it is out of our hands, and now we wait...

They told us to expect it to take about 2-3 weeks for them to get the application scanned into the system at which point they would send us a letter saything that they have recieved it and it is under review. (We should get the letter in about 3-4 weeks) And on the letter it will say how long they expect the rest of the process to take before I can get my CPR number (basically a social security number, but it is required to do ANYTHING in Denmark) sooooo.... cross your fingers that everything will go smoothly! :)

A friend of ours told us that once we turn in the application we should really just try to forget about it until we get the letter because it takes forever and you can't do anything about it anyway. This sounded like good advice, but I just don't know how to forget about it! ha! I'm just hoping that the next few weeks will go by quickly! :) Or by some miracle my application falls on the top of the right mound of paperwork and gets processed super fast??? haha! Wishful thinking!

In other news, Klaus and I are taking a trip to visit his parents this weekend so I will get to see where he grew up! :) I'm really excited about it and have no idea what to expect, but hopefully I'll get some good pictures and post them next week sometime!

Until then, we shall wait...

XOXO
Joy

Fastelavn (aka Danish Halloween)

One of my favorite parts about living in Denmark is learning about and experiencing their culture and traditions that are so different from what I knew as a child. Which is why I was really excited about this weekend... Its Fastelavn!! :) Back in October I mentioned that danes don't typically celebrate Halloween in the fall- well this weekend is Danish Halloween :) Well, actually the only similarity is that little kids dress up and go from door to door collecting treats.

The two holidays have totally different origins- Halloween started as a harvest festival whereas Fastelavn is linked to the holidays leading up to Easter- specifically the Sunday or Monday before Ash Wednesday and Lent. Also, Fastelavn doesn't have any of the ghosts and golbins and witches and other scary things associated with it, but instead they tried to ward off evil spirits by putting a black cat in a barrel and hitting it repeatedly with a stick (think pinata style) These days the live cat is replaced by a picture of a cat on the outside of the barrel and candy or fruit instead :) The first person to break the barrel and let the treats out is crowned "Queen of Cats" and the person who gets the last piece of the barrel to fall is crowned "King of Cats"

This morning, Klaus took me to a farm where they have this all set up for kids to come play so that I could see it first hand! :) It was really funny to watch- especially since all of the kids had on full snowsuits under their costumes!

That's a lot of little danes swinging around sticks!

The little knight!

Pippi Longstockings & A giant banana

Lunch was Veggie Soup
and Pølser (hot dog/sausages)

Another very important part of Fastelavn is the pastries! :) Klaus baked some of the traditional fastelavnboller for us last night (gluten free of course!) and they were amazing!!! Flaky pastry filled with a vanilla custard and topped with icing- what's not to like???

Before

After

 

So that's pretty much Fastelavn in a nutshell- kids with sticks beating up barrels WITHOUT cats in them (anymore)... and yummy pastries! :) Woo-hoo! There's also something with twigs decorated with streamers and candy, but the only thing I could find out about where that comes from is that ultra-pious people used to flog their children on Good Friday with twigs to remind them of the suffering of Jesus on the cross, but now apparently its the children who flog their parents to wake them up on Fastelavn Sunday... weird danes... Not really sure about that part of the tradition. There's more about it on this wikipedia page.

 

I'm going to leave yall with a few pictures of the pretty snow (mostly because I know in a few weeks I might need to look back and remember that I really did think snow was beautiful at some point! haha!)

 

 

 

 

XOXO,

Joy



Getting back in the danish swing of things

I've been back in Copenhagen for a little more than a week and I finally feel like I'm settling back into the swing of things. The first few days I had some pretty bad jet lag to get over (the first time coming this way on a flight) but that was probably due to the fact that I wasn't able to sleep on the flights for more than about 20 minutes... I REALLY don't like turbulance- it makes me really nervous which means I can't settle down and sleep. :( But on the plus side- I got a LOT of knitting done! :)

Its been really nice to catch up with most of my friends so far, and figuring out time to get together with others means I have something to be really excited about! :) I've also gotten back into my gym routine. The one thing I haven't brought myself to do yet is the running club... its just TOO COLD and dark and the past couple times its been wet/icy... Yes I'm making excuses, but I've worked out a solution in the meantime (like until the weather decides to play nice)- Klaus has to drive to the starting point for the running club, so I've had him drop me off at the gym on his way and I work out/ run on the treadmill while he freezes runs with the club and then he comes to get me when he's done. Win-Win! :) They're saying that Saturday might be warmer and if that's the case I might try it... :-/??

The weather hasn't been too much of an issue for me- I'm just trying to figure out this whole "lots of layers" thing. Its not really something I've had to do growing up in Texas or even in Ohio because I never really had to walk to wherever I was going so it was more just bundle up to get to the car until the heater kicks in and then run into the heated building. :) Luckily I got some really great winter weather gear for christmas/ birthday this year! (Mom- those gloves have been a life saver!!!!)

All bundled up!

The other thing I've never gotten to do in Texas was to build a "real" snowman- as in rolling the snowball on the ground in order to make it bigger! Klaus was pretty amused that I've never actually done that, but he was a good teacher and we made a pretty cute snowman if I do say so myself!

See??? Roll the snowball on the ground and it grows!
Who knew?!?!

Ta Da! :)

So see! The cold isn't really so bad! :) Yes I know- its only been a week, check back with me in a couple months and we'll see what I say then! ha!
Hope everyone is doing well back home!
XOXO
Joy

Recap of my time in Texas

As many if not all of you know I spent my holidays stateside this year because of the immigration laws in Denmark. I had soooo much fun seeing everyone in Texas and getting to spend time with my family! :) Its been a busy few months and since most of the people reading this blog are the ones I was spending time with I didn't feel I needed to update while I was there, but I'll do a quick recap just for fun! :)

I arrived in Texas in early November and was able to go with my mom up to St. Louis, MO to visit my grandparents for a few days. Thanksgiving was spent at CJ and Jess' house with 7 adults, 4 dogs and a tortoise! :) (Klaus got "skyped in" for part of Thanksgiving so he could say hi to everyone too.)
At the end of November Mom and I got to go with Project Linus to deliver blankets to the kids at Snowball Express (they are the children of the fallen soldiers). This was my 4th year to get to go and its always one of my favorite experiences of the year! The kids are always really sweet and so happy to be there, so for me helping them find the "perfect" blanket is really neat. And when they pick a blanket you made its that much more special.

This little girl picked up a quilt that mom and I had made together! :)

December was a really busy month too, mom and I spent the first couple weeks working on getting things organized for the wedding as well as the Texas reception! I also picked up a temp job at Kim's company for a couple weeks which was really great since it meant getting a paycheck right before Christmas! woo-hoo! :) It also meant I got to spend a lot more time with Kim during those two weeks which was really cool- we also got to run another 5k together, but this time we had to dress up like Santa for the run which was really silly and fun to see over 1000 santas running through Plano! haha!

Waiting at the start line! :)

 

Klaus got to Texas on the 20th and we spent the weekend in Grapevine since he had never seen the Christmas Capitol of Texas! :) If you haven't been you really should check it out, they go all out with the lights and decorations. And of course the Gaylord is beautiful! :)

Dinner at the Gaylord

For Christmas mom had gotten tickets to the Chinese lantern festival at the fairgrounds so all 8 of us (mom and dad, CJ and Jess, Jess' parents and Klaus and I) went on Christmas Eve! I think we were all thoroughly impressed! :) Christmas day Klaus and I opened presents at my parents house before going to CJ and Jess' for lunch and more presents and SNOW!!! On Christmas!!! In TEXAS!!!

The Girls at the Lantern Festival

For New Years Eve, Klaus and I joined Kim, Bart and Juan on a trip to Austin to celebrate the new year on 6th street! We had a great time being with friends and laughing a LOT! :)

Bart, Kim, Me, Klaus and Juan! :)

Klaus had to go back on January 6th and things definitely did not slow down for a second between then and now! :) There was my bachelorette party, 3 bridal showers and my birthday to be celebrated! As well as just trying to squeeze in as much time with people as possible! I'm going to miss everyone so much, but some of you will be here for the wedding in just a couple months (AH!) and the rest I will get to see when Klaus and I are there in the summer! :)

Spa day for my bachelorette party!

The rodeo clown at Billy Bob's!

Project Linus bridal shower

Community Quilters bridal shower

Shepler Girls

Hunters' Glen bridal shower

Birthday Celebration with Kim and Nichole!

I had a wonderful time in Texas, but I'm so happy to be back in Denmark with Klaus!! :) Right now I'm sitting in our living room with him watching the snow fall outside :) And to think 2 days ago I was driving around in a tank top with the windows rolled down! haha!

XOXO,

Joy





Me and The Dress making our way to Denmark! :)

I survived the heat!

This past weekend was a very active weekend in the Shepler household! On Saturday morning my parents and I (and the dog) got up and out of the house at 6am to drive to Bonham, TX because my parents were part of a bike ride and I was going to cheer them on (and take care of the dog)! I was really excited for them and very happy to support them... until about 5 minutes after they crossed the starting line and I realized it would be 3 HOURS before I saw them (their moto when it comes to "racing" is "we'll get there when we get there!") Luckily I had brought some yarn and a crochet hook so I was able to stay occupied :) Duncan and I tried to walk around a little bit, but he got tired pretty quick so we'd come back to the chairs and he would sleep. My parents said the route was really challenging and they were just happy to finish! But I was really proud of them and I think they did great! :)

Sunday morning I had signed up for a 5k that was connected to the Plano Balloon festival that is literally in my parents back yard! So we got up early again and got to the field in time to see the balloons blowing up and launching before the race.  There was also a half marathon that left an hour before the 5k which at the start line I was thinking "I totally could have done that... " But once the sun came up fully I was REALLY happy I decided to stick with the 5k! lol! Considering that my training over the last few weeks had been at the park in Lyngby where there is PLENTY of shade and the high was only in the upper 60's the change in environment was pretty severe and I was completely unprepared!

The course was actually really nice and flat and if it weren't for the sun beating down and the HEAT I would have probably had really good time. But I had forgotten that half of the course was out in the open and there was ZERO shade to be found for the last mile or so, but thankfully I had brought a small bottle of water with me which was good and I only slowed down to take a sip a couple times so overall I was really happy with the race :) I finished in about 36 minutes so not setting any speed records, but it was a nice fun run! :) And I have another race bib for my collection! :)

 After the race they had a breakfast area set up for the runners and I had grabbed a little bottle of water, 2 bananas, a couple slices of bacon, orange juice and coffee and was heading back to find my parents when I saw one of the half marathon runners pretty much collapse in front of me!! He didn't pass out, but he knelt to the ground and was not looking so good so I went over and asked if I could bring him anything and he asked for juice first so I handed him my orange juice and then I gave him my extra banana because he said his calf was cramping up, by this time one of the actual medical people had spotted him and was bringing some ice compacts and towels so I asked if he needed anything else and he said no so I got out of the way for the medics to help but it was really crazy! I felt so bad for him! (But part of me wanted to ask "well WHY did you run so fast??? lol! Slow Down!!!" But I didn't think that's what he wanted to hear at that time lol!)

Other than that, I'm really enjoying my time in Dallas and I have LOVED seeing my friends and family, its been soooo nice to spend time with everyone again! :)

XOXO

Joy

Favorite things and not-so-favorite things

Since I will be heading back to the states in just about a week, I thought I would do a little round-up of things I'm REALLY looking forward to in the states and things about Denmark that I will miss while I'm there (keep in mind, this trip is SHORT so I will probably be too busy seeing everyone that I miss so much to really notice anything else, but my Nov-Jan trip will take some adjusting!)
Things I miss from the States (Aside from the people which I have mentioned countless times by now!)

1) MEXICAN FOOD!!!! I went to a cafe for a friend's birthday (who's also american) and we decided to split the "nachos"... I'm pretty certain all the guy in the kitchen did was take a GIANT plate/bowl thing and pour an entire bag of tortilla chips in it and sprinkle a little bit of cheddar cheese on top.... THIS DOES NOT MAKE IT NACHOS!!!! It also came with a cute little side plate with a tiny scoop of sour cream, salsa, "guacamole style dip", and a couple other dips that shouldn't really be associated with "nachos". To say the least I cannot wait to go to Fuzzy's and Chipolte and El Fenix. Not to mention being able to buy corn tortillas (those have apparently not made their way across the ocean yet... as a gluten free girl that's kind of a bummer)

2)Massive amount of choices in grocery stores! On that note, there are soooooo many things I took for granted that you can find at just about any grocery store in the states that is impossible or absolutely ridiculously priced. A can of frosting (Like the ones you can get in the states for like $1.50 in pretty much ANY flavor imaginable) costs roughly $7.00!!!!

3)SHOPPING! Not even fancy shopping- I've never been a designer label girl, but going to the craft stores and not having to spend a small fortune to get supplies for a couple projects is going to be cool. (Yes wedding related projects mostly, but some other stuff too) Mostly just not going into shock every time I see a price tag on almost anything over here! A friend of mine gave me the tip that I shouldn't try to convert things back to $$ but just go with it in DKK and sometimes I'm ok doing that but when I'm looking for toothpaste over here and realizing that every tube is like $15 its a little hard to bite the bullet and buy it! So I can say with certainty that there will be at least a couple trips to my favorite Clothes Mentor to stock up on new sweaters and cold weather stuff!

4)CUSTOMER SERVICE! I know we complain about rude waiters in the States, but honestly they are no where NEAR as bad as some of the waiters I've had over here (although I have had a couple very lovely waiters, but its definitely NOT the norm) I am convinced the difference comes from tips- in the states its standard to tip for good service so you have a little bit of leverage and your waiter is usually "working for their tips", but in Denmark it is not common at ALL to tip so the staff doesn't really care if you're happy or not. Last night I went to dinner with Klaus' sister and we had probably the WORST service I have ever had in my life and really the only thing we can do is just not go back to that restaurant.... :( The waitress still got paid the same and couldn't have cared less that we waited for 30 mins for our food AND drinks and then they were still wrong... :(

Things about Denmark that I will miss: (Again aside from the friends who I will miss dearly!)
1) KLAUS but that's pretty much a given! I've gotten so used to having him close that going back to Skype dates and emails is going to be pretty tough, add to that the fact that we will be trying to plan a wedding from separate continents... :( Yeah definitely not looking forward to leaving him here in Denmark...

2)Hyggeligt or "Cozy-ness" of Denmark- There's actually not a good translation of this word, but cozy is probably as close to one as possible. It refers to the atmosphere and mindset mostly. Danes will refer to dinner with friends as Meget Hyggeligt or "very cozy" This comes into play a lot when you consider that going out with friends is much less common and typically people will spend time at home with friends instead. Its very relaxing and a big change from what I was used to of going OUT to meet my friends for dinner or whatever. And I've been told Denmark gets even MORE hyggeligt when the weather gets colder! :)

3)Nature- I mean seriously I only have to walk a couple of minutes and I can be in the middle of the most gorgeous wooded area or near a beautiful lake or the park with all the deer! Its stunning here and I still have to pinch myself to make sure its all real!

4)Transportation without a car! I haven't driven a car since I left Texas- yes we have one, but Klaus uses it mostly to get to and from work, otherwise we typically take public transportation (buses, trains, metro) or we walk or I ride my bike! :) And I LOVE IT! :) Danes like to complain about their s-tog (one of the trains) system but I have had very little trouble with it and actually really enjoy using it to get to and from the city, its only about a 15 minute ride and it gives me time to read or play on my phone or whatever instead of being stressed out by traffic and other crazy drivers on the road! And riding my bike is AWESOME! I use it almost everyday to get to and from the gym or the grocery store or any of my other errands that I need to get done! The thing about bikes in Denmark is that the roads are actually set up for them, literally almost every road has a lane between the cars and the sidewalk called the "cykelsti" (like pigsty but bike-sty) and drivers are used to seeing bikers around and know to look out for them when making a turn. As well as other bikers and walkers too. So I feel very safe riding my bike along a busy road because I'm in my lane and I know that when I signal that I will turn the cars know what that means! :)

 

5) THE WEATHER!!! I have been trying not to brag about the weather here because I know how hot it is in Texas, but I gotta say I'm totally going to miss the 60-65 degrees when I'm sweating to death in triple digits!!! :( I've signed up for a 5k while I'm in Texas so we'll see if I pass out from heat stroke before I cross the finish line or after... I really like running here when its nice and cool and there's a soft breeze... And I love the fact that I've actually had to break out my nice comfy sweater jacket to wear around the apartment in the evenings :)

 

I'm sure that there's a lot of little things from both sides of the ocean that I will begin to realize are missing, but for now I am loving my life and I am also super excited to go back to Texas for a few weeks! :)

XOXO,

Joy