Escaping the winter, Arizona

Hi,

So as it rains and it is cold in Seattle I went to Arizona with my host family to escape the winter.
It was super nice to get some D vitamins and a tan.

My birthday was celebrated here as well and I keep up the tradition. I had my 17th birthday in Scotland, my 19th birthday in England and my 21th birthday in Sweden (I meant to go to Ireland but my economy was low :O)

Now I had my birthday in the USA and not even the city I have spent so much time in.
The place we stayed at was a resort called Paradise Valley in the middle of Scottsdale and Phoenix. It was a cactus landscape in the middle of nowhere and it was nice.
I enjoyed the heat a lot.
We went on a guided tour at the architect campus in the mountains. It was made by Frank Lloyd Wright and it was a super cool place. The guide just told us to stay on the patch as there could be scorpions hiding behind the rocks, good to know ;)
I am actually sad I didn't find a rattle snake, that would had been cool.
But my stupid Scandinavian skin is not meant for that place, I was burning though I used an SPF 45.
And I was so surprised to hear a couple of guys speaking Danish at the airport. That is like the last place you expect to meet Danes.

My time glass is running out now and this journey can now end at any time. Yes, life is full of great surprises so always just smile.

Here are a few pictures, enjoy.

They know how to make cocktails!

Sun Valley, Idaho

Hi,

I have been super busy lately and I have not really had the time to blog.
I have been on vacation twice within the past month and now I have the time to share my experiences.

So I went to Sun Valley in Idaho. My host family went skiing while I took care of the baby. I went to this small tourist town called Ketchum, I bought some souvenirs for my family at home.
I took the baby to see horses at the Sun Valley stables and I was so lucky to see elks! They are not really in Europe and I love finding wild animals.

The place seems like a nice place to go skiing and we went there after the winter break had passed so there were almost no people.
The landscapes were really beautiful and it was super strange as there were no snow as we landed but as we drove up to the mountains more and more snow appeared. Actually, it was one of the most snowing winters they had experienced and I have to say, it was a lot of snow!
My new skiing clothes passed their exam as it kept me warm in this very cold weather.

I like Idaho as it looks like a real Cowboy landscape and it is famous for its potatoes. So famous it is on their license plates!!

I think if you are traveling in the USA and you want to go skiing I think this might be a cool place. Ketchum is also a nice little village to go shopping.

Here are some pictures, enjoy :)

Long time no see

Hi,

It has been some time since the last time I used this blog, but I have been a busy and very tired person lately. I feel like time is flying and this winter just passed in a blink of an eye. As I came home from Hawaii I sure had the stomach bug that everyone had suffered from through out Christmas. I only had one day off though and it took me about 3 weeks to recover, I just couldn't eat and my work out was sloppy too. I just tried to keep it up and I'm doing pretty well now with my exercises and I have an ok appetite now.
In the mean time I have signed up for ebay which was a mistake, how am I suppose to get all of this stuff back to Denmark? It will cost me a fortune... A fortune that I don't have.
Now my worries lies on the changing education system in Denmark and that I am not sure I can get to study what I want to study. Well, I still have time to figure it out.

It's already halfway through February and I cannot believe I only have a few months left in the USA. I also miss my Hawaii tan..
But I still have a lot to do here. This weekend we had an au pair meeting called potluck were we had to introduce some food from our home country. I brought a strawberry cake (thank you, Safeway) and it was kind of embarrassing as one of the other families said: our former au pair was Danish and she loved making strawberry cake.
It was just awkward as I cannot bake or cook... or anything else.

So I go to music class on Fridays now with the baby and I'm sleep training her (that's why I'm so exhausted every day) I have to keep her awake for longer when it's nap time and she's just super fuzzy. We spend time on the play ground when it is not raining and go for long walks. But I love that little thing so much, it will be so hard to say goodbye to her.

Today I gave her a bath and she just loved it. How can she be such an easy baby? I understand why she is fuzzy when I keep her awake for longer, but she could be a lot worse.

I am so lucky with her and the family I stay with.
Well, we are skiing in few weeks in Idaho, and even though I'm Scandinavian skiing is not really my thing. I hope to go sleigh riding with the baby, that will be fun :)

I ordered some new snow clothings so I can stay warm.

I will try to keep the writing up more often so I don't fall this much behind again.
Anyways, I hope you all stay positive even in this cold weather and you look forward to the summer :)

Have a great day!

Emma.