Would you still love me if I was what God wanted me to be?

So this is where I sleep. My jail cell. When the day is done and I come to my bedroom it is as peaceful as the warm sun on a Iowa night (the kind without humidity and bugs in your ears). I got the bed spread on sale for 12 dollars, the map was from my room at home and I have all you alls picture tacked up on it for my people here to see how blessed I am to have you! The tree......isn't it cool. It was there when I came. A daily reminder to be a tree planted by water of Life! I often sit in my room using my pilates ball, journaling about the day, or just listening.

The first weekend of DTS, September 20-22 I joined the students on their actually sort of grueling wilderness trip . We packed up our bags for three days and two nights in the wilderness. We hiked for more that 5 hours everyday and made camp with tarp and rope on trees. I used my outdoor mattress and my sleeping bag and warm woolen clothes I thankfully bought the day before (on a whim...'oh I might need these'...boy did I ever!!!!) Freezing at night on the cold ground. We chopped chicken heads, plucked them and made soup, and got all nasty and unshowered as a nice way to get to know the new students.


We really did do some serious hiking. I am not kidding you. Norwegian terrain is challenging at times. The students didn't know how long we would be out, we kept info from them. That's what good staff does!

So does this photo look funny? Is Ragnhild really dressed for tundra? Is Andreas really dressed for a quick dip in the pond? Yes. Ragnhild was not exaggerating, and Andreas was put up to the challenge to swim across the frigid pond. In this relay...my team won. Oh wait, my team always won this weekend! Awesome..we were!

Einar? Norwegian leprechaun spotted in the distance!


This is the winning team! Team 1, actually it is a fitting name. Shall I introduce you them?
DTS Leader Markus in the blue jumper, my little brother Eirik looking adorable, bending awkwardly is Tina (Itsy Bitsy) , championing the three fingered smile in bright neon green is Jonothan, the beautiful Ingebjørg in whom I visited a month ago in Voss stands before us in black, then Ragnhild (DTS staff and was friends with Danny Klaver in Los Angeles) , me...president of the weirdo club, and behind me--Natasha our Russian mystery!

Erika Amerika and Redheaded Rags

I am not alone in my endeavours to be myself. I have found fellowship with the Wallace and Grommit folk. 'Grommit, we forgot the cheese!' Jonothan does a great Wallace!

Redheaded Rags in the tree picking apples for the road. Seljord has great apples...delicious!

Therese (who reigns over the kitchen at the base) sees an rotten apple as a possibility, not trash.

Guess who is playing the violin more than ever these days? So many hours of practice makes some crazy callouses on the fingers. Here I am in this photo...in the middle of a jam out session with a man named Steinar. It's a funny name because in Norwegian it means 'stones'. From the moment I met him I called him Stones. I think he liked the name too much I have to wonder.

Einar and Brad fashioning the Bocca balls. We have a club like I have told you before. Yeah well the present champion up to date is still me! We played on Saturday this last weekend with 6 people...double teams and my team STILL won. Sorry Einar you can't stop me!

Perhaps I have introduced you to my mentoress.....the beautiful Hild Mari. She is so great to talk to on Thursdays. We chat about everything and anything. God has big plans for her and I get to see Him develop her heart as she is trying to mentor me. It's a funny two way street you know. I love it. She and her husband Sigfred are my small group leaders. We meet on Mondays once a month. Hild Mari is a great hostess and killed us this last Monday with a delicious carrot cake with lemon frosting! Wow!

The Pederson's, these folks are receiving me into thier home tomorrow. I will travel to the West Coast starting tonight at midnight on the bus. They will pick me up from Stavanger at 7 am and we will start a wonderful weekend of hiking, swimming, eating smoked salmon, and being refreshed. The little one....Hanna, the not so little one...Benedikte (who always says 'Don't do it!' in Norwegian), Espen, and Anne Marit. I look forward to our weekend on the beautiful coast city of Kopervik.

And of course my friend Danny Klaver who has nothing really to do with Norway except that I received a great and suprising phone call from him the other day. He found out my number and just called. I think this is a great thing. You can also call me when you want. Let Danny be a role model for you. Just email me and I will get you the number. We might have to work out a time that suits, but we can try.

That's it for now. But check back often...especially this weekend for more pictures from the west coast. Love you all!