It's been a while...

Well its been over a week since my last post and a lot has happened since then. FSU is 2-1. There last home game was last Thursday and they killed the team that they played...
Last Friday night we went Reykjavik and stayed with Sy's parents for the weekend. Sy's uncle, Halli, had a 40th birthday party Saturday night and the entire family was there. It was good to see everyone and a lot of his extended family found out that we were expecting a baby that night. Everyone was excited about the news. We came home sunday afternoon because Sy had practice that night. The team had a video meeting from 4:30pm-5:30pm and then they practiced from 5:30pm-9:00pm!! I was wondering why no one could tell me what time practice would be over. Iceland does not have the athletic rules/laws that we have in the states. In the states, collegiate athletes practice 2 hours at most.
Monday I spent the day with Aya, Bjarni's mom! She lives about 7 minutes from us. Aya made me curtains for my living room and kitchen and they are beautiful...I love them! She is amazing! She can sew anything! She is so sweet and I really enjoyed spending the day with her. Later on that afternoon she taught me how to make lamb soup. Lamb soup, also called meat soup, is very popular in Iceland especially around Christmas time. Lamb soup is the first real Icelandic dish that I have learned how to make. Speaking of Icelandic food- I ate horse a few weeks ago!!!!!!!!!! I didn't know what it was...We sat down to eat lunch at Sy's parents house and there were two kinds of meat on the table- one was chicken and the other looked like beef, or so I thought. Sy put a peice of the meat on his plate and I tried a bite of his...I thought to myself, this beef taste funny...and so I proceeded to eat my chicken. Later on in the meal, Sy asked me if i liked it. I said "no" and he kindof laughed. I asked what it was and he was like "horse"! After I found out that it was horse and that it wasn't supposed to taste like beef I had another bite and it actually tasted better.
We finally made our first doctor's appointment this week. My first appt will be November 12!!!! I have been feeling fine expect the usually morning sickness or should I say "all day sickness". We also found out this week that the medical insurance that we bought to cover us until we got into the Icelandic socialist medical system does not cover our pregnancy. That basically means we will have to pay out of pocket for all of our pregnancy medical care for the next 6 months (it takes six months for us to get into the system). We went to check on the costs of everything yesterday and thankfully, its not too bad. It will costs us about $150-$200 per visit. An ultrasound, which I will get at 18 weeks, will cost about $150, as well. We will get into the medical system around the first of May so the birth of the baby will be covered- Thank you Jesus!!!!
We also checked on getting me into school so that I can start learning Icelandic. Unfortunately all the classes are full until January ) : So i will have to wait until then to get into a class.
We have had a carpenter at our house for the past 4 days fixing the wall that was damaged during the earthquake. His name is Brynjar and he is a very sweet man. When I first met him I didn't think that he knew how to speak english; however, one morning he was at the apartment working and I was at home by myself (Sy had already left for work)...All of a sudden he says ´Good Morning!´...and that was the beginning of a beautiful friendship, as they say. I sat at my kitchen table and talked to him for about 2 hours that morning...I was so thrilled that he knew english...Not only did he know english, but he also knew norweigen (I know that i didn´t spell that right, anyway the language that people from Norway speak)...The reason that I bring that up is because the new washer/dryer that me and Sy bought was not in english...I assumed that it was icelandic, however when Sy started to assemble them he realized that he didn´t know what language it was in either...of course i´m thinking ´GREAT´...Sy explained that the operator manual that comes with appliances, etc usually comes in icelandic, english, etc...but for some reason our washer/dryer didn´t...I explained the situation to Brynjar that morning and he offered to take a look at it...As it turns out Brynjar, his wife, and his three children lived in Norway for five years and he was fluent in Norweigen!!!!...so he translated my washer and dryer for me that day!!!! Talk about a divine appointment!!!
Brynjar finished fixing our apt wall yesterday!!!! So i finally got to uncover my new sofa and red leather chairs and basically put my living room together! I think it looks pretty good so far...I still need a picture to go over my sofa, a coffee table, a rug, and a few decorative items...The curtains that Aya made for me look great....
Today is Thursday and I am at Elsa and Siggi´s house...Sy has a game tonight...They play some team that´s about 5 hours away so the team had to fly to the game tonight...it was about a 40 minute flight...I hope that they play well...FSU is getting a new player tomorrow...I can´t remember his name but he is actually from the Huntsville area...He is a 6´9 guard...The team is really excited about him coming...He was playing for a team in Italy and now is coming to FSU!
Saturday one of Sy´s uncles is getting married so we will travel back to Reykjavik for the wedding. It should be fun-more time with the fam!
Sunday night I am having my first dinner party!!! I invited three of Sy´s teammates over for dinner...I am not quite sure what I am going to cook yet but i know it will be good because i can get down in the kitchen!!!!!! I also want to try to check out this church that Bjarni told me and Sy about in Selfoss on Sunday...I haven´t been to church since I left Huntsville so I am ready for a little fellowship...FSU will be having 2 a day practices starting saturday to try to bring their new player up to speed, so I don´t know if Sy will be able to come...I may just go by myself...I am learning my way around selfoss pretty good now...
FSU plays again on Monday night so ya´ll keep the team in your prayers...Also, so many people have been asking us about our faith...Brynjar the painter, Sy´s teammates, etc...I really want to start a bible study and Sy does too, but Sy has a lot on his plate already with work and b-ball...those are both important things BUT we have got to also be about Kingdom Business if you know what I mean, SO you guys please pray about us making time to share about the Lord...Also pray about what the Lord would have us to share with these people.
Well, that´s about it for now...Later!
PS...I am 12 weeks today!!! The first trimester is OVER (let´s pray that the morning sickness is too!)...

Shopping in Iceland...

The past few days have been exhausting...Now those of you who know me know that I love shopping!!! This is coming from a girl, who back in my college days, once spent 6 consecutive hours in a mall- and some of my dear friends at the time might argue that it was actually 8 hours!! However, right about now 6-8 MINUTES in any store leaves me feeling tired, hungry, plagued with lower back pain, and ready to just find the nearest chair or toilet, whichevers closer. In the past few days I have been to many, many, stores with names I can´t pronounce and sales people I can´t understand and have had to choose between couches, chairs, beds, washers and dryers, curtains, pots, dishes, bedding, and anything else you might possibly have to buy when you´re starting your life over. Don´t get me wrong, under normal circumstance I would have been in hog heaven, but with the pregnancy and all, my mind is on alot more than just couches. Now, when I walk into a furniture store my first thought is 'How long has it been since my last meal?' and ' How long do I have before I am starving again?'.
Elsa and Siggi, Sy´s mom and dad, have been real troopers. They have been so supportive. They have taken us all over Reykjavik trying to find us the best deals and helping us transport our items to Selfoss, where we will be living. Selfoss is about 30 minutes from Reykjavik.
I really like our apartment. The only bad thing about it is that it doesn´t have a dish washer- So you know what that means- SAEVAR is going to become a great dish washer!!!!!!!! I think that its the perfect size for the two of us- soon to be three! It´s two bedrooms and one bath. Hopefully, we will move in it today. We have been waiting for some repairs to be completed. So of you may remember the earthquake that Iceland had a while back. Well our apartment got damaged during that earhtquake, some of the walls were cracked. Our landlord just settled with the insurance company to repair the walls and the contractor is supposed to come today to fix it.
Sy is REALLY anxious to get moved. He is having to drive to practice everyday (30 minutes one way), which is not too bad, but it would make his life so much easier if we were moved. Our apartment is a 30 second drive to the gym where FSU practices.
So, we bought a black leather sofa and 2 red leather chairs for the living room! I am so excited about those chairs! I love a little splash of RED! Anyways, we got the chairs at this store called The Peir here in Reykjavik, which is their version of Peir One!!!! I was so excited when I walked in- it felt like home! I really wanted to go contemporary with this apartment and I must say that it has been challenging- I knew that it would be...I am so used to warm tone (reds, yellows, browns, greens), so I am totally OUT of my comfort zone- but I kinda like it. Our living room colors will be black, white/off-white/cream, gray, and red. The real challenge was finding window treatments. I wanted already made curtains, but I just couldn´t find any that worked. Eventually, I can across the bomb fabric!!!! It´s great and Aya, Bjarni's mom who is a great seamstress, is going to help me make curtains!!!!! I'm really excited about the curtains and about spending time with her...
Oh, the last thing that I wanted to share is about the bed that we bought...It´s king size!!!! I am so ecstatic about it...Me and Sy have never had a king size bed and for two people as big as we are, I feel that it is almost a neccessity!! So we are in the store and we didn´t think that we would be able to afford it...the kings were substantially more than the queens and you know sy is all about the 'benjamins' sometimes...So I asked the sales guy if there were any king beds that were maybey a little damaged that he could give us a deal on...low and behold there was!!!!!!! He called the warehouse to check and be sure...He came back and gave us the price on one of the most expensive king size beds that they had (its called 'Angel Dream'!) and it the price was going to be less than that same bed in a queen size!!!! We were so happy! And the only thing that was wrong with it was that the box spring had a small cosmetic defect that could be covered with a bed skirt!!!! The Lord is good and ALL good and perfect gifts come from Him!!!!

Sy's First Game...

FSU (Sy's team) had their first game last night, Thursday, October 16 at 7:15pm Iceland time. It was awesome and FSU kicked butt- they won 103-78!!!!! They played a team called Njardvik, which from what I was told has a strong tradition of basketball in Iceland. This team is one of the winningest teams in the Super Division of basketball in Iceland.
The atmosphere in the gym was so intense the entire game...The Selfoss club handball team and the FSU basketball team support each others games, so the handball team was in the house last night. They dressed up and brought drums and other noise making instruments, and they had tons of cheers!!!! Every time someone from the Njardvik team had to shoot a free throw, the handball team would line up on the sideline and chant "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE PRESSURE!!!!"- in Icelandic of course (someone translated it for me). It was great!
Sy had a AWESOME game!!!!! It was so awesome to see him compete!! He is such a great competitor. He ended the game with 29 points and 8 rebounds!!! He was the leading scorer for FSU and there was a sweet write up about him in the Icelandic newspaper this morning- The Morganbladid. We are all so proud of him!
Sy eventually wants to try out for the Icelandic National Team. The guy that he guarded last night is the center on the Icelandic National Team and Sy dominated, so hopefully he will have a good chance of making the team next year!

I'm Here!!!

Well I finally made it to Iceland at about 6:00am this morning Iceland time (about 1:00am Alabama time). My flight was about 5 hours and although I thought that I would sleep the entire way, I actually watched 3 movies on the plane (Happy Feet, Rumor Has It, and 21). I got through the immigration checkpoint alright, however somehow I knew that the customs guys were going to want to check my bags...sure enough they stopped me...I guess I did look a little suspicious with 3 huge duffles bags and a small carry on suitcase...you are only allowed 2 peices of luggage on Icelandair so I had to pay extra to bring that third duffle bag...It was well worth every penny because my 3rd bag held all the cute clothes and shoes that I bought while I was in NY!...Shopping in NY is the BEST!!!! I was really careful to buy clothes that would serve pregnancy or non-pregnancy purposes...
The customs guys asked me where I was from and how long I would be staying in Iceland...When I told him that I was actually moving to Iceland his look of bewilderment followed by "REALLY!" made me laugh.
I was so happy to see Saevar waiting for me as I wheeled my bags through the gate!!! It had been a long 7 days without him...
I love coming to Iceland because the flights always arrive in the morning so the first thing that you do when you arrive is EAT BREAKFAST!!!
I was, of course, starving when I got off the plane as I knew that I would be and I had forgotten to ask Saevar to bring me a snack of some sort...However, when I got to the car he had a carton of Icelandic yogurt waiting for me (my favorite!!!!!!). I was so happy and the baby was happy too! We were starving!
Saevar drove us to his parents house in our new car...I really like it-it's a volkswagon passat wagon!!! It rides nice and it's clean and roomy...It will be perfect for the new baby!!!!

The Big Apple...

I'm here in Brooklyn, NY this Sunday morning at my mom's apartment. Several things have happened since me and Sy left Huntsville last week. I have been in Brooklyn with my mom since Weds night. Anna flew in from Toronto the same night and stayed with us until Friday night. We had a great time....On Thursday we went to Manhattan and showed Anna around the Big Apple...That night we went to see Mary Poppins on Broadway...It was great! We really enjoyed it...Friday we went to Central Park and the Metropolitain Muesem...The park was beautiful...There were so many people working it to help keep it beautiful...I was really surprised by all the people biking and running and exercising in the park.
I will be honest, since I have been pregnant (I am 9 weeks!) I have done absolutely no physical activity...I am really ashamed to say that, but its true...HOWEVER in the last three days I have walked the streets of NY so much I feel like my LEGS are going to fall off...ridiculous!!!!...I plan to get on a strict exercise regimen when I get to Iceland...
Yesterday me and momma went to Long Island to visit my grandma, my aunts, and my cousins...It was great to see everyone...
Saevar has been in lceland since Tuesday of last week...He has been practicing and spending time with his family. He also found us a cute little 2 bedroom apartment. He sent me pics but I can't wait to see it...He also found us a car...A little VW passat wagon...Sy says its pretty roomy and it should meet our needs nicely with the new baby on the way and all...
The baby is doing well as far as I can tell...I am still have nausea all the time but other than that I am doing great!!!!