Welcome to Sjursnes (pronounced “shoos-ness”)!

I’m not going to lie that I low key had the soundtrack of Frozen and Frozen II in my head for a lot of this trip to Norway.  Digging into the Sami culture (more on that later), it’s no surprise why.

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Hello from Tromsø, Norway!

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Hello, Sunday. Hello, January. Hello, 2025!

That’s a lot of new starts there. 

Let’s start with 2025. If you’ve been following me through the years, you’ll know that every year my friends and I pick a word of the year to guide us and our actions. Subconsciously maybe, but after reflecting on years’ past time and again- there is some magic to this madness.

For example, this year I randomly put a Nordic-looking building on my board (see above, upper righthand side), having recently become intrigued and excited to bump the Nordic countries up on my to-go list. A day later, V messaged me and asked if I was up for a trip to see the Northern Lights and…to Norway we go in a few weeks.

All that being said, this year’s word is JOY. I had a hard time coming up with this one. Not that there aren’t always areas in my life that can stand improvement, but many of the big checklist items from the past 8 or so years have been well, checked. House. New Job. Awesome trips.  (The romance part keeps getting passed over by the universe, but we aren’t dwelling on that and honestly, I’m not even bothered by it.)

I realized that not every year has to be one where the Earth shakes and planets trouble. Some years are about the quiet moments and that’s where I am now.  Hell, the world is enough of a shit show in general, and I don’t need to add that sort of chaos and grand upheaval to my own life.  

In some, I’m taking the Marie Kondo approach to life, looking for joy in even the smallest and most unlikely places.

As for January itself? Let’s see where my head is as I’m kicking off the month:

wishing: christmas had been just a little bit longer…and work didn’t loom on monday.

hoping: the fecal transplant that crawley and I have been suffering through the last three weeks ends upworking.

thinking: of how very lucky I am.

praying: 2025 treats us all well.

planning: the last few parts of our norway trip.

dreaming: of a gentle snow to get us through gentle january.

wearing: these pants, nonstop.

watching: shrinking.

reading: the nordic theory of everything.

eating: these orange rolls, nonstop

drinking: mom’s chai.

sending: you all good vibes for the new year!