The Trip to Texas

So after finding out that I only had 19 days left in Denmark we had some serious thinking to do. A week later we decided to travel to Texas and stay there while my visa re-starts. We were afraid the flight costs were going to be too much but luckily we found some that weren't so expensive.

We left Aalborg on Norwegian Airlines on April 14th (my last day I was allowed to stay in Denmark...we were cutting it close). We had seats directly over the wing...guh. Oh well it wasn't going to be too long of a flight. That first flight went by fast enough. After we landed in Gatwick we had to follow the signs to get to Heathrow Airport. We bought some cheap airport food and found the National Express bus. The bus ride was 40-60 min. It wasn't too bad and the seats were comfortable. After getting to Heathrow we looked around a bit and found that there was no really good place to sleep. There were a few good chairs but they were in the handicapped area. Luckily, the guy working in the handicapped area said that we could sleep there. Sweet! There were 4 seats in a row without armrests and I had two in a row. Overall we got like 5 hours each (I think). After getting up we went to check in with Air Canada. We waited by the gate and then loaded.

Of course we got a seat right above the window again. Luckily the flight was wide-open with seats of 3 in a row all over the place. We had the option to move but never took it because there were individual tv's in each seat and the window shades would probably be down anyway so we could see better. They had a some good movies on too! I only watched half of a movie and fell asleep. Later I woke up and it was Simon's turn to sleep. We only had 2 hours left at that point.

Something not right... how do seatbelts work again?
(Simon found two of the same side of the seatbelt)

These were the sandwiches we ate while waiting. They were ok and we were hungry so they worked.

It was great being with my hubby while we traveled.

We arrived in Canada and found out it was time to go through customs... sweating time. Customs has the power to deny Simon entry into the U.S. at the drop of a hat. Our only hope was in Simon's return ticket (hopefully proving that he doesn't want to stay for long-term). They didn't even ask about the return ticket! We told him we were staying for 3 months (he of course corrected us and said 90 days) and after that we were cleared! Phew... we were glad that was over with. We dropped off our bags for our last flight and waited at the gate. While waiting I went and bought us a bag of skittles (they don't have them in Denmark). We almost got sick from all the skittles we ate. Finally, we were boarding.

The last leg of the flight wasn't too long. They had individual tv's here too! I read my book most of the time though. We arrived in DFW and waited for our bags. Mom came in and greeted us and promptly left to make sure she didn't get a ticket for leaving her car unattended. Mom had forgotten how tall Simon really was when he got in the backseat and almost hit his head to the roof. :) We got home and were glad to see our nieces and nephews and sisters and brother-in-laws waiting for us! It was great to see everyone again.

We are glad that everything went so well without any problems. We truly were blessed to see this all work out like it did. It is wonderful to be in Texas and see everyone again. We do miss Denmark. While we are here we are going to be having loads of fun. Love to all,
The Bendtsens

Babysitting w/ Pia's kids

I babysat Pia's kids one day and I took pictures of the day. Here they are:

Oliver(left) and Mathias (right)
We were watching Bolt on my computer and Mathias was doing the dishes!

Emilie and Mads played this online Scooby-Doo game.

The boys played their ps2 games.

While they played their games Emilie and I read a Danish book. It was fun to read with her. Matthias had to help with some of the bigger words that neither of us knew. :D


They are soo cute!!

I had a lot of fun playing with them!! Hopefully we will get to do this again!

-Rachel Bendtsen

Life's Venture

(For me it's bold if I have done it and underlined if I think I have done but not sure)

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland!
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a Praying Mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched an amazing lightning storm
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch (oven pad making…it didn’t say it had to be hard :P )
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables (does that include our plants in mom’s garden we picked out, planted and grew??)
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France (no idea)
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill (from school)
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Ran a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person (don’t think so but maybe)
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (yes and no)
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (when I was in high school (and working) and I went shopping and was happy… until I spent it all)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt (Idk if it was Old Faithful… but I’ve seen a geyser)
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance (I’ve ridden in plenty of ambulances)
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie (music video… does that count?) (and I was in a satire video…)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business (babysitting)
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching (even though I didn’t see any)
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood
65. Gone sky diving (though I really really want to)
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy (I think so, I’m a packrate)
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London (I remember flirting with them…)
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life (I tried… the guy’s pacemaker was firing and he had an unknown downtime so we were doing everything for him… I participated in the CPR… but he didn’t wake up)
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous (maybe not world famous but Branson Famous)
92. Joined a book club (I think so)
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby (no, but soon)
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit (idk, kind of… they wanted me to testify in court)
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Visited Italy

47 things I have done…

14 maybes…

And a bunch or want to’s

Kicked Out

Well the government contacted us yesterday about my residency papers. They called Simon and said that my application had been denied. :( They told me I had to leave within 19 days (now 18) and if not I could be punishable by law. We have a lot of options to take from here...and we haven't decided what to do.
Options include:
going to the states (by myself) (for a time)
moving to Swedem (w/ Simon)
moving to some other EU country (with Simon)
Moving to Sweden or another EU country will trigger a law that might allow us to stay in Denmark.

The government said I could come back in 6 months and reapply for residency at that time. Otherwise, I'm not allowed back inside Denmark for another 6 months.
I'm sure everything is going to work out eventually.

I'll keep yall posted on whatever we decide to do.
-Rachel Bendtsen

Crazy Hat Party Sleepover

I heard great reports from the last Crazy Hat Party so I decided to have one of my own! I invited all the Single adult women to come. All could come and most could stay the night too! So I cleaned up the apartment (even though later I knew we would all trash it again ... lol).
Here's a picture of my crazy hat!!

Here's the back...

and the side.

Grethe and Kamilla both forgot their hats so Grethe borrowed my bow and Kamilla used whatever I had and part of your jacket's hood to become the Queen of Iceland. (She is marrying Arnar from Iceland)

Grethe

Kamilla (above) and later dressing up (below)

I don't have a picture of Line's hat but this is Margit's.

We had a lot of fun waiting for Simon and his friend Dennis to leave. (Simon had just gotten home from work so he had to change before he went over to Dennis' house to spend the night.
The girls started a movie ('The Perfect Man') and Line and I played dress-up. (More like Line played dress-up in my dress...lol)



She had fun being in the dress.
After that we sat around and watched 'Next'.


The junk food we had was really good! :P

Grethe had to leave at this point. We then made some home-made pizza. We had fun making it. :D




We played cards while the pizza was baking.


The pizza was good and filling (and a little overcooked...oops lol)


After a lot of fun and talking and playing around we headed off to bed.

There were 4 of us with one bed, a couch, and a bean bag.
Line and her sister Margit shared the bed,

Kamilla slept on the bean bag,

and I had the couch.

The sleepover and party lasted until about 1:00 pm the next day.
It was a success!

3 Month Anniversary

It was our three month day and Simon woke me up to breakfast in bed. Mmh. I sure love a good breakfast in bed. After that Simon got ready for school and left. I had a Danish lesson to go to at this point so I myself got ready and left. After the lesson I got a ride home and headed up to the apartment. I walked it but something was different. It was cleaner and there were candles lit. Something was definitely different. This is what I saw!



There were 2 presents on the couch when I walked in too!



Simon was nowhere to be seen. I looked around the rest of the apartment...



and found him!



He was reading 'The Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith' just waiting for me to get home from Ole's lesson. After welcoming me home he let me open up my presents! The first one was easy to see. He got me a three-in-one movie. Here's a close-up...



And when I opened the other present it was 'The Innocent Mage' by Karen Miller. I was still waiting for the third book of the Magicians' Guild to come in the mail so he bought me this book to help keep me busy until then. It's a good book. Here's a close-up...



It was a really good day. Oh, and for Simon (and I) a few days earlier we got a cheap used TV. It is a 32". It was like 250kr ($50). It is a pretty good TV. Before he only had a 22" so for us it's an upgrade :D Here's a picture of it...



Later that day we went and saw 'Bedtime Stories' in the city. It was nice to get dressed up and go out to a movie. We even had snickers and licorice and this other sour licorice stuff. The walk home after the movie was great! I love late night walks through the city with Simon.

Simon made this day very special and I thank him for that. I love him with all my heart.
Our 3 month anniversary was great!

Trilingual

I just found out that I am married to a trilingual man.

A while ago Simon and I were watching an episode of friends on my laptop and the language setting was set to German (we have to change it to English every time). So before I change it he starts to translate what was going on. I was like wow! We talked about how he had German in school and had to learn it well enough to get a good grade. I didn't think much about it until today. The same thing happened and I was like cool! Then I thought about it and asked him to speak some German to me and he did!

My husband is trilingual! I think that it so amazing!!
Hopefully soon enough I will be bilingual... not that I'm competitive or anything. lol. :P

I love him so much!
<3 <3 <3