Learning to Love Running

I dislike running with a passion!

seriously the whole time I am running I am trying to convince my brain to keep my feet moving, I hate the way it makes my nose run, and my lungs hurt. I hate that my boobs are practically hitting me in the face every other step.

With that being said, it would be safe for you to assume that I wouldn't have any desire to run, but you would be wrong. I long to love it, to be one of the many many Norwegians out at all hours of the day pounding the pavement. I want to be one of those annoying people who says "running is so relaxing" "running makes me feel free".

 So I decided the best way to force myself to become a runner would be to enter myself into a race!

I have entered myself into the iFormLøp 2013 in Bergen. and I am excited as well as scared.

It is 2 weekends away eek!

I started off thinking I could train on the treadmill and that would be enough, I completed my first test 5k in 44.58 minutes and was pretty pleased.

But then I started to get a niggling worry at the back of my head, Would I really be able to do this outside? 

Then I got a lucky break and Norway decided, enough with this winter sh*t! and skipped right over spring into glorious summer weather!

I took full advantage and yesterday got myself all ready for a jog around the lake near my apartment. I was going pretty well... until half way round the lake I suddenly felt like I was either going to throw up, pass out, or even worse BOTH!

The run ended there and I spent the rest of the time resting by the water and trying to find the strength to walk home!

Now, In the past that would have been that! okay I failed, end of that experiment. But this morning as the sun shone through the curtains, I was determined to try again. 

Success!!!

 I finally did it! I still don't enjoy running yet but at least at this pace I think I will be able to manage the 5k!!

no snazzy nike+ flag for my fastest 5k because the annoying gps crapped out and didn't log my run properly! thank God for Endemondo.

The 5K I am doing is still open for entrants, so if any of you Bergensers want to come join me please do!!!

enter here

Still truckin'

Despite a strong start at the beginning of the year, my weightloss came to a bit of a stall in April and I found myself losing and gaining the damn 5lbs over and over again.

 It was hard and my motivation has not been forthcoming but i have finally pushed through and seem to be back on track.

January (200lbs) to May (173.6lbs)

 I posted this progress picture on my facebook the other day and I can't believe how much my body has changed in a matter of months.

May in Norway is a crazy time with public holidays left, right and centre which is great as it means lots of breaks from working and lots of time to chill out but it also means lots of sitting inside watching TV (seeing as its still raining rivers in Bergen) or lots of drinking/party time.

so my main goal for this month is to enjoy the parties and celebrations on the long weekend, which includes the Norwegian national day, my dear friend Katharines birthday, my 25th birthday, and then the party for my birthday. and then get back down to business seeing as my holiday is now only 38 days away!!!!

2013, Goals, Promises and New Starts

So it is that time of year again when the world and their mother is writing down resolutions and breaking them a few days later.

This year i have decided to try and set myself small monthly resolutions that are easy to stick to...i hope.

so here are my January Goals

1. cut out junk food and anything that is overly processed

2. home cook as many meals as possible and try and blog new recipes

3. CARDIO 5 times a week in some form or another

4. my weightloss goal from now untill my 2 year anniversary with my lovely boyfriend on Feb 12th is to lose 10lbs

5. be consistent with my skincare routine seeing as my mum bought me a lovely clinque kit for christmas.

and last but not least

6. complete the 30 day shred eek!

Obviously my goals are very health/weight orientated as our summer holiday to California is going to come up real fast and i have dreams of being able to wear whatever i want on the beach!

I am using the Kardashian sisters as a little bit of inspiration ;)

WIW Autumn layers

I am unusually excited for autumn this year, 

even with all the rain that's about to hit the rainiest place in Europe I am still feeling really enthusiastic about the change of the seasons.

This last week definitely started to feel like fall as the temperatures dropped so was the perfect excuse to start layering up with sweaters.

sweater - Cubus
dress- H&M
Leggings - Cubus
Boots -Ecco

I wore this dress a ton over summer and am not ready to send it to the back of the wardrobe just yet so i pared it with a light jumper (because it's not THAT cold just yet) and it felt like the perfect fall outfit.

now im off to finish up a cute little crafty DIY post and get some sleeps before Sunday morning Yoga yay!

a drive to Fanahammeren

Yesterday the boyfriend and I decided to take a quick drive

 to enjoy the beautiful clear blue skies.

Our goal was to drive into to Fana to see the area my boyfriend's family farm used to be

we decided seeing as the views were so beautiful to keep driving and visit the farm school he went to and in doing so we came across the most beautiful little place called

Fanahammeren

I am pretty sure we have decided if we ever get super rich we will be buying a koselig little house out here!

wishful thinking!

here are some photos to show you why.

Also me and my boyfriend attempted pictures in front of the beautiful skies but they failed lol

Happy Monday :)

one last thing it is my friend Alyssa's birthday today 

so i think you should all go and visit her blog :)

Tuesday Loseday

Now that the Holiday season here and there is a lovely layer of snow covering the ground i really find myself falling off the diet wagon more often then i should.

Afterall,

 this is the season to bake sweet treats, eat with friends and generally be Merry!

and my motivation to go for a walk outside has been lacking.

who want's to go and walk in the snow for an hour when their boyfriends mum can show them how to make donuts fried in Lard! (they are actually delicious!)

BUT

(and it is a big but to go with my big butt!)

New Years eve is fast approaching which means New Years resolutions are right behind, 

and i have decided to get a head start on mine and try and reign in my sweet tooth for the holiday (sort of)

Using inspiration from a bunch of different blogs and websites i have decided to try a new method
6 days on 1 day off


This way i stick to healthy eating 6 days a week and then allow myself one day a week to do some Christmas baking and indulging
not that i intend to spend the whole day gorging
 i just want to allow myself a little freedom to do what i love
Bake and Eat!

I also started the Walk to Run program on Nike+
which gives me a motivation to go out in the snow everyday and also sets me reasonable goals each day.

If any of you ladies are looking for a similar program and want to join up
 i would love a blog running buddy!!

sorry for the wordy post, i promise further Tuesday Loseday's
 (oh yes i plan to make this a regular thing)
will be more interesting.
and lastly because i love this pin and should have it printed out and hung on my wall

Source: fromflabbytofit.tumblr.com via Selina on Pinterest

Fun With Our Phones Monday Link Up

I really like this Monday link up, it gives me a jump start on the weeks blogging and also encourages me to use the camera on my phone a bit more.

So here i am linking up with Savanah Smiles for



I did my first babysitting job in Bergen for a lovely family and i kind of fell in love with the idea of a corner fridge!

a must for my ideal kitchen, if only that would't take up all the space in the new kitchen :(

I bought  a super cute new nail polish (for waaay too much money)

OPI  - My Private Jet

I got all dressed up and tried to take some cute phone photos!

It didn't happen...

apparently i cannot keep my eyes open for photos :/


It was the first sunday of Advent so i got to light one of my cute purple candles

It's weird but in Norway advent apparently HAS to be purple!

do you like my cute advent candle holder! it was a steal for 20kr

damn the photo is bad :/

Feeling in the christmas spirit i started christmassyfiying (thats a word right!?) our apartment

and then i spent my Sunday super hungover watching Twilight...

judge me as you will ;)

So what did you guys get up to last week??

Fun with our Phones Monday

It's Monday so i am Linking up with SavanahSmiles again for

A beautiful sunrise on Monday morning!

Only to have a super frosty day on Tuesday

And i watched a gorgeous sunset at work on Wednesday and then i realised with dismare that the sun was setting at 3:30 :(

I didn't take many other pictures this week so i thought i would show you what i made this week and what is now available in my ETSY shop just click the photos for the link

Belle Hair Bow

Tweety Hair Bow

Constance Hair Bow

Megan Hair Bow

This is just the first of many i have made this week and will be putting up slowly during the week.

They are only $7 each!! what do you guys think of them?? i wish my photographs were better but trust me they are soooo cute!!!

Fun with our phones Monday

I have had a little trouble getting ideas finalised for posts at the moment so i thought i would try a new link up to see if  it helps spark some ideas.

So i chose  the Fun with our phones Monday link up from Savanah at Savanah Smiles.

Lots of Foggy mornings these days!

Winter is definitely coming!

Tall Candles in Mason Jars light up our front doorstep perfectly with the dark settling in early.

We took the kids to Bergen Aquarium and i made friends with the cutest little penguin, who kept snapping at the kids boots!

A sneek peak at some of the things i am working on for my ETSY store

and another you lucky lucky things ;)

It was a FUN week! how was yours?

What the Eff Wednesday!

Okay so many of you have been getting excited for fall as have i, but one thing i don't love about fall in Norway (or autumn as it is so rightly called! i am not sure why i am americanising myself here) is the rain! in bergen it rains all the mother effing time...here is my wtf weds pic to prove it!

This was taken at the kindergaten i work at!! i didn't take the photo i stole it from a colleague who i don't think reads this blog but if she does ooops and sorry!

WTF Wednesday..oh i mean Thursday!

So i meant to start this yesterday but i got distracted. happens when i'm sick, and often when i'm not. anyways basically i have been doing Eurotrash posts but i never have enough photos so i thought i would turn it into a one especially WTF photo a week...hence WTF Wednesdays (from now on.... i hope)

This weeks WTF photo might need a little translating..

barnas = children's

pølser = sausages

i can tell you are already thinking....dubya tee effs!?

well i shall keep you in suspense no longer... presenting to you....

Let's get a closer look at this....

yep that's right "all you need is sausages"

I hope this left you as open jawed as it left me, right before all the LOLs came!

Gotta love the Norwegians and their innapropriate names for food.

and the winner is......

That's right folks, the time has come to announce the winner of my giveaway..

and the winner is...

Sarah @make life more pink

Congrats Nina, you won the vintage style rose ring amongst other goodies so all you need to do now is contact me via my email :)

I also decided last night that i would like to giveaway both rings so i generated a second winner who will receive the butterfly ring and the winner is ......

Talitha @TTimeChatter!!!

So congrats to both of you, all you need to do now is send me an email to Wolfandthefox@gmail.com and let me know your address!

and for those of you who didn't win but like my stuff anyways can always go visit my ETSY store and use the Cupon code DENNORSKELISTEN for 10% off

Rihanna

Today i am going to see Rihanna, play a concert here in Bergen

Source

I am very excited, because although Rihanna is not my usual music taste, almost every one of her songs makes me want to get up and dance...seriously if Rude Boy comes on and i am on the dance floor you need to clear some space because things are about to get crazy up in here! (ha okay maybe that's a tad exaggerated but seriously her songs make me wanna dance my ass off)

I am predicting at least 10lbs lost from dance sweat! I will take my camera so i can show you evidence of the sweaty mess i will become (i know right!? i bet you are all well excited for that post!)

Anyhoo, don't forget my GIVEAWAY! ends on Saturday so you need to get your asses moving if you want to be in with a chance of winning!

I GOT THE JOB!!!

After a torturous week of waiting i finally got the call this morning, i am now officially a full time kindergarden assistant and i am lucky enough to be working with a fellow blogger Alyssa@from freeways to fjords. We met for the first time this weekend, when we went out to Ujvent and Hulen.

Astrid, Alyssa and Me!

I expect life is about to get veerry busy, but fear not readers i shall not forget you and am about to queue up a couple of blog posts and i am also guest posting over at Jello's Kitchen next week so look out for that!

also don't forget about my GIVEAWAY!!!! i am adding a couple more items to it this week and will be posting them on Thursday or Friday... if you haven't entered do so! also don't forget you can tweet or blog about the giveaway to get more chances of winning!!

What i have been working on

I thought i would show you some of the new things i have put up in my ETSY shop

CLICK FOR LISTING!

CLICK FOR LISTING!

CLICK FOR LISTING!

let me know what you guys think, i'm working on a few more things which i hope i can get up soon!

also just wanted to remind everyone about my GIVEAWAY!!!!!