USA here I come!

I did do some baking this week but I don't have pictures just now - I baked a 2-layer chocolate banana heart shaped cake for Valentine's Day.

Tomorrow I am off to New York for a week to see my dear friends, Brandi and Chris, and to meet their son Austin. Next week is Winter Break at school so I have some time off- unfortunately Jason doesn't so he will be dog sitting. Brandi and Chris live in Albany so I will take the train up from NYC and arrive late Saturday night. The week plans include some toddler music classes, Target shopping trips, a haircut and lots of girl time. Brandi and I are taking the train back to NYC on Friday to have a great girls night with some good dinner, a Broadway show and shopping the next day. Then I head back to the Arctic on Saturday evening.

Ever wonder what it is that we miss and can't get in Norway and stock up on in the US? Well here is my current shopping list: over the counter medicine (sudafed, nyquil etc), sunscreen, floss, mechanical pencils, chocolate chips, chili seasoning, vitamins, stamps, mac and cheese, contact lens solution and splenda packets. Some of these things are unavailable here such as mac and cheese, chocolate chips etc. Other things are really expensive here like sunscreen, vitamins and contact lens solution ($20/bottle). So that is what my extra suitcase will be full of (plus some new clothes for our Egypt trip!) when I return.

Side note- Jason and I have been really excited each day to check the Olympic medal count and watch the US kick Norway's butt in medals! They are super proud of their skill in the Winter Olympics so we love seeing the US dominate in the count! Kinda mean but a great feeling :)

Strawberry Swiss Roll and Some Venting

Today I was ill prepared to cook so I had to go with something I could make with what was in my pantry. I decided on a swiss roll - I have never tried one and always was too nervous that it would be hard - so today was the day. The cake itself is really interesting- you beat 3 eggs and some sugar for what feels like forever - until they form a "mousse" and then add just fold in a little sifted flour- nothing else! Funny enough when it bakes it smells like eggs. It is very thin cake- you flip it out onto a sugar coated piece of wax paper do some edge trimming, add your jam/filling and roll it up. Much easier then I made it out to be in my head and it tasted good too! Here is a similar recipe but mine was slightly different but mostly the same.

Now on to the venting- so as you learned from the relocation drama post we are staying longer in Norway. We were excited by this for only one reason- we could travel a little more. But now we have a visa conflict that is super annoying! Our visas expire May 5 - my last renewal took 5 months to process and they say the wait now is 6 months. So we went last week to the immigration office (we arrived at 6:30am after being turned away the week before at 7:55am) to submit our paperwork to renew - we were told we are too early and they won't process it until 4 weeks prior to our expiration date. But here is the reason for the vent - you can't leave the country on an expired visa - so we are trapped in Norway for up to FIVE months! We are trying to get the company to assist us with this since Jason may need to travel for work in this time period. Our company contact in Oslo tells us that if we lived there we could go to a special "international worker" office and get the renewal processed in one week and travel while it is being processed. Glad we live in the backwards section of the country.

I was trying to make myself feel better by rationalizing that all immigration offices suck everywhere. I thought I would compare it to the US- bad idea! Even though the US has a horrible reputation for immigration it is way better then here. You can apply online- check the status online - check wait times for every type of permit/visa etc. And you can travel on an expired visa as long as you can show that the INS has received your renewal. Needless to say these are for "foreign workers" like Jason and not someone trying to become a resident etc. But even the fact the US recognizes there is a big difference between an expat and someone seeking residence/immigration is a big step up from Norway. Grr! We have booked travel to Egypt but we also know we may need to cancel it if it comes down to it. Nothing like feeling trapped to annoy you.

Into our 30's

Jason turned 31 on Friday! We celebrated by having dinner at our favorite restaurant in the city- which sells $35 hamburgers and then going to see Sherlock Holmes which was pretty good. On Saturday we had a lazy day and then I cooked Jason's favorite meal - Gorgonzola Pasta and Boston Cream Pie cupcakes. I found a super fun "ice cannon" which is basically a big sparkler for the top of the cupcake so we had a good time with that! It was weird not having a present for Jason on his birthday....he wanted a new lens for the camera so we ordered it and it is awaiting pick up in New York at Post Office Taylor!

Here is the recipe for the cupcakes if you are interested. They are so good but slightly time consuming. Though it would be easier in the States since you don't have to make yellow cake from scratch.