iChat with my family

iChat with my family
Originally uploaded by manueb.

The quality of iChat sometimes amazes me.. Can be bad, but when it works well, it's much much better than Skype!

Good things continue to happen

We got our new sofa delivered yesterday, fits perfectly in our living room, it's so cozy now! We're still going to go to IKEA for a couple of less expensive stuff :)

Meanwhile, the foundation is almost done, as is the installation of central AC and heat.. The painting of the house starts tomorrow... Almost there!

Here's what happens when you're not careful! :)

Just kidding...
We were at the obgyn today for the third month's ultrasound and everything is fine! The baby was jumping around everywhere, and pedaling in fluid, very cute.
We're extremely happy!

Makeover of the downstairs bathroom

Makeover of the downstairs bathroom
Originally uploaded by manueb.

That's it, we've finally done some work in our main bathroom, had the leaks fixed and moved the bathtub and toilet around. It is AWESOME! feels much bigger already. Next steps will be to paint, probably white, so the room feels larger, plus tile the floor and get rid of that awful linoleum :)
We're getting there.
So nice to take a bath in this huge bathtub :)

The house (leveling) breaks...

The actual leveling on our house started yesterday, and will end today. 2 days of me watching the house being jacked, and cracked. It really feels like it's going to fall apart although of course, it won't. Or will it?
Anyway, what had to happen happened, a window broke in Shad's office and the walls of the dinning room are popping out... One of the front doors doesn't shut anymore and the backdoor is stuck! More fixing to do! I hope today will bring less surprises than yesterday (we also had the main water pipe break!).
The blue bedroom also has a wall that popped out... booh..

Let's see today, they're done with the outer walls, so it looks like the worst is behind us. Hopefully..



When I think of all the time we've spent fixing up this room...

Portuguese Man O'War

That's what these blue jellyfishes are.
Quite poisonous apparently... although beautiful!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_Man_o'_War

South Padre Island, TX

South Padre Island, TX, originally uploaded by manueb.

We were away this last weekend to relax a bit from all our housework and also to celebrate our 6 months' wedding anniversary!
Unfortunately, the weather was not as nice and warm as planned but rather rainy and windy, but we still managed to make the most of it. Nice walks on the beach, walks in the sand dunes, funny tours in the local souvenir shops, and a good seafood restaurant on saturday where we had lobster! YUMMY :)
We've seen a lot of birds, and of these blue sticky things on the beach. We assumed they were jellyfish, altough they lloked really odd and seemed to feed from the sand with only one "tentacule" reaching in. very very strange. Nothing we've seen before!
It was nice to get away while our house is being leveled... pictures coming soon (when the leveling is done!)

Franklin County, at the farm, VA

Franklin County, VA, originally uploaded by manueb.

We are finally home in Virginia, visiting all the family, for the first time for me!
On our first day we got to see the family farm, and Hub (one of Shad's great uncles) let us borrow his 4 wheels in the forest and all around. The weather was (still is) beautiful, and it was an awesome day, meeting lots of good people :)

Hello Kitty is travelling

Hello Kitty is travelling, originally uploaded by manueb.

Here we are in Austin, and Laure and Ian's Hello Kitty's decided to come with us. Sorry this strip is in french...
It's a joke we play on Laure and Ian: we take things from their home, put them in other people's places, and wait and see how long it takes them to realize that their stuff is gone.. can seem a bit mean, but really is fun! hehehe

It's not my fault, Hello Kitty begged me to take her with me! :)

Last weekend at my brother's for a while

At my brother's, originally uploaded by manueb.

I spent a few days with Hugo, Lucas, Tom and Bea to say goodbye temporarly before moving to Austin. These little guys are -with Shad :)- the loves of my life!

Crazy Norway

I'll never ever stop being surprised by this country:
http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1458080.ece

Here's an article from Aftenposten (Norway's most "serious" newspaper) about animal bordellos and Norway and Danemark having no laws against those... "animals with years of experience", etc...

And it's not even a hoax!

Boy, oh boy!! I am almost gone! phwewwww

Doesn't Lucas make you go to sleep?

Nantes-sept06, originally uploaded by manueb.

He looks so peaceful!

Meeting my family with Shad

Nantes-sept06, originally uploaded by manueb.

Last week we were in Vigneux (near Nantes in France) at my brother's. It was the first time that Shad got to meet with Tom and Bea, and my BEAUTIFUL nephews Hugo and Lucas.
As I "suspected", Shad and Tom hit it off pretty quickly, realizing how much they had in common :) internet, games, computers, me, hehehe... And Hugo seemed happy to have a new uncle!
As for Lucas... I totally fell in love with this handsome, delicate little guy.

Photo Booth Madness

Photo Booth Madness, originally uploaded by manueb.

Who are these people??
Apple's got this great software called Photobooth which allows taking distorted pitures..
My plan is to take as many as possible before leaving Oslo, and Paris. To have a good photobook of all our friends :)

Answer: Shad, Kev and Sul... scary

Visa immigration interview at the american embassy in Oslo

That was pretty easy! $1000 later, lots of paperwork and travels (going to Madrid to get in person a police certificate...!), we showed up yesterday morning and were interviewed by the nicest consular agent ever!
I don't think it would have been that easy in any other country. Somehow in Norway, when all the paperwork is ready, it's just a very simple formality!
We were basically asked how and where we met. And that was it!

It is now official that I am Mrs. Reynolds, as it is the name I put in my application form and am also having my passport renewed :) NICE!

On line for Shad's birthday

On line for Shad's birthday, originally uploaded by manueb.

My family called us for Shad's birthday with iChat... when it works, it works really well, and I got all these screen shots of my family.

Greetings from Belle Isle

From Belle Ile, originally uploaded by manueb.

We received this awesome greeting card from my best friend's family. They all spend the summer vacation in Belle Ile in France, and often I am there with them, but didn't get to go this year "because" of the wedding :)
I missed all of them a lot, but got a great long phone call from everybody on our wedding day.
Introducing on the pictures: Lise, Josephine, Victor, Emile, Gaspard, and the youngest: Celeste and Rose.
I am sure you guys had a blast doing this. Thank you so much for your warm thoughts!

Our wedding

Our wedding ceremony, originally uploaded by manueb.

We made it, we've now been Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds for over 48 hours :)
It was a beautiful day (no rain), the ceremony at Tinghuset was really moving, and we had an amazing laid back time at the hytte near Råde.
WE'RE VERY VERY HAPPY!!!
All the people who couldn't make it were in our hearts.

Bachelorette party

Bachelor party, originally uploaded by manueb.

Oh boy...
I am still recovering (it's monday, 4pm, didn't make it to work)
So Saturday morning, I got up a little before 9, started running erands when the door rang...
I hear, "Hello, is this Emmanuelle Bourgue? There's a leak in your flat and we must come to check it".
I open the door and see all my friends "Surprise!" I really wasn't expecting that! And Sul and Torstein woke Shad up playing some tune on the ukulele (quite pathetic).
I had to dress up as this cowgirl, frankly, quite vulgar, as "Shad's bitch" but fun!!!
We had a nice breakfast with champagne (hmm hmm) in Vigelandspark, took a few pics with tourists, then took off. I was blindfolded, in the bus, in the train, or is it the other way around?
We ended up after some time in Tusenfryd, a water theme park not far from Oslo, and had a great day on the roller costers and stuff.
In the mean time, I was supposed to write a song, one verse every 30 min, to perform on stage later on in the evening, in some bar...
So I worked on that as well.
We left the park around 6:30 to go to the bar, I was blindfolded again..
Finally, we ended up in... Stephane's place, where I had to perform my song to Shad in front of everybody. After all I had done during the day, it was almost easy :) hehehe.
The party was awesome and we got to know what the guys did during the day, painful paintball (huh Kev?), and some swimming in the harbour for Shad. We ate so much good food and drank so much: OUCH!
But what an unforgettable day! Thanks a lot :)

Trying on my wedding dress

Trying on my wedding dress, originally uploaded by manueb.

Hehehehehehe
So you'd honestly think I'd give anything away?
Introducing Isa on the left, and Sophie on the right.

I know, I am E-V-I-L :)

J-8!!!!