around here.

A lot has happened during our second week in Oslo.  Josh started his classes at SUM (Center for Development and the Environment), which means he has class everyday for a couple hours and usually has some reading to do each night.  Perhaps in a while he will blog here about what he thinks of his program and all the academic stuff. While Josh is off at school I have been baking bread and cookies, volunteering at Abels Hage (a community garden), applying to jobs at private schools in Oslo and making crafts to sell at an artisan market in a couple weeks.  I'm pretty excited about this last thing-- most of you probably know that I enjoy making handmade cards and little notebooks and I even have an online shop, which I hope to start up again soon.  But, at Abels Hage the other day, a friend and founder of the garden said they are having an artisan market at the garden and I'm welcome to sell anything if I make things.  "Well, I do happen to make things," I told her and then I told her about the cards and she said that sounds great.  It's fun to have a goal to work towards, especially one that I've been slowly working towards for a while now- that is, selling things I make.  I'm also feeling more hopefully about getting a teaching job or a substituting job.  A classmate of Josh's has a friend who thinks I could be a substitute teacher at his school in the near future.  I guess that's how stuff works here-- you know someone who knows someone who can help you out.  We're slowly making connections and getting to know people better here, which feels good.

 We've been cooking lots of delicious meals together, including gallo pinto and homemade tortillas.  Josh's favorite food right now seems to be the brown cheese that is special to Norway.  It's kind of a sweet cheese that tastes like a mix of peanut butter, butterscotch, carmel and cheese.  He loves it, but I only kind of like it.  We've been frequenting the soccer fields behind our apartment to watch some local high school aged games in the evenings.  Maybe it's weird that we show up to these games, but we enjoy watching.  The teams here seem to play quicker and move hastily than they do in the U.S.  Yesterday we had a nice picnic downtown in Radhusetplass overlooking the water and all the boats.  It had been a while since we went downtown just to hang out and enjoy the area, so I felt like I was seeing Oslo with fresh eyes again. We were realizing that Oslo is a really nice city with beautiful green spaces and lots of fun things to do. We really appreciate how friendly Oslo is towards pedestrians and bikers.  So it's good to be here in Oslo, but we do miss you dear ones back in the U.S. of A.  Hope all is well!

sognsvann lake

Discovering Sognsvann Lake was a sweet, sweet surprise.  We knew this lake was nearby, but did not know where and when setting off for a run one day we happen to follow the trail that led us here.  Since that first delightful run we have had a few more adventures at Sognsvann.  We have gone on a few more runs, we have hiked around the lake, we've picked the ripe raspberries on the surrounding bushes, we have sat silently to write in our journals and we've jumped into the cool, clear waters.   I've found this lake to be a place of refugee and renewal, a place to find peace and to clear my mind, and a source of joy.  It's not always easy to be here in a new country without close friends and family nearby, but in the difficult or lonely times we are reminding ourselves that this isn't just a tough year we have to survive or make the best of, rather it's a great opportunity in which we should rejoice and enjoy!  Coming to this lake makes it a pleasure to live in Oslo.  My great grandfather, Howard Zahniser, believed that being in nature can restore one's soul and bring peace and happiness.  My time spent at this lake has done exactly that.  

We've been blessed with some sunny days since our arrival nearly two weeks ago.  We were surprised to have days so warm that we could actually swim in the lake!  But we know this warmth won't last.  We've heard that in the cold weather people ski around the lake.  So now we're on the hunt for some inexpensive skis!

our apartment

 Our parents have been asking what our apartment is like and we thought maybe others would be interested too, so here's a close look at it.

living/dining room:

kitchen:

bedroom:

front door:

We've really enjoyed making art for our apartment and putting up maps to make this place feel more like a home.  Reusing and scavenging have also contributed to making our apartment a better place.  In the area behind our apartment and in the student village we've found a couple soccer balls (unfortunately, they're flat), a bucket that we're using to collect shower water, rubber bands, a mushroom carton that now holds our extra toiletries, a clothes pin and lots of newspaper that now props up our bed.  We save every piece of paper and cardboard that we get and a lot of the ziploc bags we packed in are now being used for food.  It's been a bit like a game for us.  We like to see what random scrap item can be turned into something useful.  We did have to buy some things for our apartment including the comforter and the curtains, but we're mostly using what we brought with us and what we can find for free.  So, that's our apartment!  I didn't share any photos of the bathroom because it's quite small, hard to photograph and not too interesting.  Feel free to ask questions about our home and our lives here!

hei hei from oslo, norway.

We made it!  Today is our fourth day in Oslo and we're already starting to get into the swing of things.  Despite missing you, dear friends and family, we are mostly enjoying life here so far. It's hard not to feel overwhelmed by how little we know about this country, these people and the language, but we are reminding ourselves that it's okay and that we will learn.

We arrived on Tuesday and spent the evening unpacking and settling into our little space in Kringsja student village.  Our apartment has a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living/dining room area.  It's quite spacious for the two of us!  On Wednesday we had to do some business in downtown Oslo, as well as shopping for food and apartment necessities.  We also did some exploring around our apartment building and took a nice run to the lake nearby.  To our delight there were a multitude of people running around the lake, dipping their feet in the lake and even swimming!  We felt swept up in the spirit of Norway, which made us run a bit faster, I believe.  We think in the future we can hike on the trails that start near the lake Sognsvann.  It was both rejuvenating and encouraging to run and to be amoungst other runners and nature lovers. Our building backs up to several soccer fields which we hope to play on.  Thursday was the first day of Fulbright orientation for Josh and I spent the day meandering around downtown Oslo.  That night, we both attended a reception that honored the Fulbright scholars at the Nobel Institute where they hand out the Nobel Peace Prize every year or so. Later, we got to try some delicious Norwegian food (for free!), including brown cheese and good chocolate.  We're getting used to the metro system, which we will use daily and is quite convenient. So that's just a quick overview and here are some pictures of our apartment.  We are still working on making it homey and nice.

from top to bottom: first sight of our apartment living room// view from our living room window// first purchases// Josh's shelf// first dinner in Oslo// our letter wall above our kitchen table

This last photo is something quite special to us.  We have put up many of the letters and notes we have already received from friends and family.  We are so thankful for these letters and for our relationships with each person who has written to us.  If you haven't written to us, you can and your letter will go up on our wall!  Pictures would also be a treat!

Write to us at:

Joshua Cranston and/or Rachel Zahniser

Olav M. Troviks vei nr. 34

H0311

N-0864 Oslo, Norway

project life: the beginning

I've seen lots of people on the internet using project life to save memories from the year and I thought this would be a great way to record our first year of married life.  Joshua and I will be moving to Oslo, Norway shortly after our wedding.  Not only we will be married, but we will be living a crazy adventure in a foreign country so it will be a year worthy of recording.  Josh will be studying, but as of now I don't have anything to do in Oslo.  Enter: project life- the perfect week by week memory keeping project and something fun for me to do on a consistent basis!  I just couldn't wait until after our wedding to start this project, so I started this summer. However, since it's the summer and the main purpose of this project is to record our married life, I've done a lot of lumping weeks together onto one page.  Two of my closest friends are getting married this summer, so each wedding will have it's own page. Basically, before the wedding each page will be different-a jumble of weeks or an entire wedding.  But after the wedding and once we get settled in   I love that this project is flexible because, of course, since I'm making it I can do whatever I want with it. The binder, page inserts and cardstock kit were a graduation gift from my soon to be in-laws!

Cover Page:

I used some of our engagement photos for this page, a bicycle greeting card Josh sent me last summer and some patterned paper from the PL Cobalt Paper Pack.  The heart button is from ormolu.

 

Graduation and the first few weeks of summer:

I included lots of journaling on the graduation page about the events of the weekend and my feelings about graduation.

The first few weeks of summer were pretty busy for me and I didn't have much much time to spend on this project, so it made sense to just lump them together into one page.  In the top two 4x6 slots I described what Josh and I will each be doing for the first part of the summer.  My photo is of my work desk with lesson planning stuff sprawled about, while Josh's photo features him working in the garden.  He has a few different part time jobs this summer, which allows him to be flexible and work when he wants.  Also, the garden has grown so much since that photo was taken.  It's like a jungle out there now. My friends and I went to see Othello in St. Louis at Shakespeare in the Park.  A different work of Shakespeare is performed every summer in Forest Park.  I love it.

 

  

I'm planning to do the date card the same way each week during the summer. Mostly likely I will have a different "theme" for my date cards during the different seasons.  I printed off the dates of each week using bebas font and will attach it to some sort of chevron patterned paper.  The "summer 2012" button came with my order from ormolu! 

 

So far I am loving this project.  The main obstacle I'm encountering is not having a good way to print off photos.  I have a good printer at home, but don't want to pay for the ink since I will only be here for 3 more weeks.  It is pretty cheap for me to print off photos at the local drugstore or CVS, but I can't seem to figure out how to print 3x4 photos.  Any suggestions?

 Supplies: Black Signature Binder, Project Life Cardstock- Cobalt Collection, Photo Pocket Pages Designs A and B (I have this variety pack),  buttons and paper tabs from Ormolu, colorful Sharpies, American Crafts Slick Writers. Since I'm pretty thrifty, I plan on mostly using supplies I already have.  However, I have discovered the wonderful world of free project life printable journaling cards.  I suggest searching for project life on pinterest to find lots of freebies. 

summer beats/beets

This post is mostly about beets-that awesome purple vegetable that stains everything the perfect purple color- but the pun was so good that I thought I also ought to post something about beats, you know as in music beats.  So here is a really cool song:

 

And now, for the beets.  I LOVE beets. I love their earthy taste and their purpely color. Plus, they are super healthy.  When I studied abroad in Costa Rica I learned about organic farming and more than ever before I began to care about the food I ate.  At that point in my life I was already a vegetarian, but after visiting farms and plantations, I began to care about eating food in season and eating locally grown food.  As a college student sharing food with four other girls, eating local, seasonal food is tough and sometimes expensive.  But as a college graduate living at home for the summer with a vegetable garden in the backyard, this is not as much of a problem.  A couple weeks ago I visited the local farmer's market and picked up many goodies including beets.  I like to boil them and eat them kind of lukewarm on a salad or just by themselves.  Here's my simple, step by step recipe:

Step 1: obtain fresh beets:

  
Step 2: cut beets into chunks:

Step 3: boil beets (covered) for 20-30 minutes until tender or the beets reach the consistency you desire:

 

Step 4: strain beets and run cool water over them several times:

Step 5: after beets have cooled a bit, peel off the skin with your fingers (it's easy!):

 Step 6: cut beets into smaller chunks if you want and enjoy!

Do you like beets?

What is your favorite summer veggie?