STRESS-FREE

The best feeling in the world is when you wake up in the morning and realize you have absolutely nothing to do….NO work, NO school, NO stress.  I could definitely get used to this!  Started off my day with a rainy ride through town to pick up a few things.  My mom arrives next week so I thought it was about time I bought a mop to clean the floor and a few sponges to scrub the bathroom!

Spent the afternoon with some Danish friends at the gym.  Nicolai is on the left with a 200-pound ball on his shoulder, I was doing tire flips with a 5-foot tall tire (had to make sure it was at an angle when the picture was taken so you could see my face!) and Kenneth was doing a shoulder workout with a “strongman” bar and two tires.  Love working out at Butcher’s Garage because it reminds me of an adult playground filled with so much fun equipment to work with!

Before riding home, I had one more quick stop to make…..the Carlsberg Brewery in Copenhagen. 

Now I am busy packing to go on another "family" vacation.  For the past twenty-five years, my Danish family has taken a summer canoe & camping trip in Sweden and I am so excited to join them this year!     

Victory

This is what the fittest athletes in Europe look like....

After a long weekend of competition, both a team and an individual male athlete from my gym qualified for the World Championships in California.  It was so much fun watching the athletes this weekend in Copenhagen and I can not wait to see them in the States this July.  Road trip to LA!  I'll definitely be waving the Danish flag and supporting these Copenhagen competitors!

I started off this week with a day at the beach, my last chance for some sun before it rains tomorrow. 

Hope the weather clears up again before my mama arrives!   

European Crossfit Games

The European Crossfit Games are taking place in Copenhagen this weekend.  I’ve mentioned it before, but the goal of the European Games is to find the top three male, top three female and top three teams in Europe to send to the World Championships held in California next month.  Today was the first day of competition and it was so inspirational to see such strong athletes in the arena.  I currently train at Crossfit Butcher’s Lab & Crossfit Butcher’s Garage.  Out of all teams in Europe, Butchers Lab entered the competition this weekend in sixth place and Butcher’s Garage entered in seventh place.  I am crossing my fingers that the events go well and one of the Butcher’s team takes top three and qualifies for World’s in California.  It would be so exciting to get to go visit Danish friends in the States just a few weeks after I arrive back home!  

The group I was sitting with today kept asking me if I was really from the States because I knew almost everyone that walked by us.  I have done so much traveling this year and have visited eleven crossfit locations throughout Europe.  Getting to see all the athletes I have met during my travels at this weekend’s event is so exciting.  Every time I turned around, someone is screaming my name! 

 Setting up equipment the day before competition begins  

 Athlete warm up area

 Men's individual event #1

 Men's individual event #1

Team event 

On a different note, I will be flying into SFO exactly one month from today.  My flight is out of Hamburg so I just booked my train ticket to Germany the day before my flight.  Back to reality....ahhh!     

My Day in Pictures

 The day started with my last final for the semester.  

An oral exam on the Rights of a Child in International Law.  PASSED! 

 Then a calming walk in the park to recover from a stressful week of studying.

 Palaeo breakfast: A HEALTHY alternative to yogurt.

Coconut milk mixture with nuts & fresh berries.

 Decided I would learn something about Denmark before my time is up so I 

visited the Danish National Museum with Guilia. 

 Celebratory drink at an outdoor cafe in the city center.  

School is officially over! 

Then headed back to the park to work on my tan, along with everyone else that lives in Copenhagen.  People here truly appreciate when the sun is shining!  

Copenhagen Marathon

Today was the Copenhagen Marathon, and although I did not run it, I did spend the day outside cheering on a few friends in the race.  I am used to 6 or 7am start times since most races in California start before the sun comes up.  But.....since they don't have to worry about it getting too warm here in Copenhagen, the gun didn't go off until 9:30!  How wonderful for the runners that got to sleep in before their busy day! Loved seeing what everyone was wearing for the run.  I saw one girl with USA on her shirt and red/white/blue ribbons in her hair, there were a few superman costumes and I even spotted Elvis! 

 Oh and who knew you could get burned to a crisp in 62*F????  

Yes, I look like a tomato but at least I finally have some color on my skin!    

Rainy May

It is the middle of May and my skin has not seen the sun!  It boggles my mind that it can still be rain boot and scarf weather.  Just got home from the gym and am sitting on top of my radiator in an attempt to dry off and get warm.  The candles are lit and my cup of tea is boiling.....I will definitely spend the rest of the day, and probably the rest of this wet weekend, indoors.   

Daily Alarm Clock

I still remember the first time I walked into my room here in Copenhagen.  Before unpacking a thing, I quickly plugged in my Macbook, called my mom and desperately tried to fight back tears.  At first glance, I thought I was going to be living in the slums for six months!  I now look past the graffiti and actually look forward to seeing what new "artwork" will appear outside my window.  The city has been busy building a park in the empty lot next to my building so future students will have a much nicer first impression when moving in to Keops Kollegium.  It's great to see the transformation but the daily wake up call is starting to kill me.  Workers start their day at 7:00am which means I am up bright an early each morning.  It hasn't been too much of a problem this week since I need to get up and study but once school is over I am not going to be a fan of the construction.  When I video chat with my mom, she always tells me how scary the view looks so hopefully she will be excited to see the change!

PASS!

Just passed my first final!  As much as I was dreading an oral exam, it actually turned out great.  I loved walking in, talking for ten minutes, getting my grade and being done with the course.  On the other hand, with a written final, its four hours of typing away at the computer and then a few months wait to find out how you did.

To celebrate I had a "MEATZZA" for lunch at the paleo restaurant in Copenhagen.
So delicious....   

Rough Week

Ready for this week to end....

1.  Found out registration for Fall classes takes place the exact day and time I am on a flight back to the States.  Yes, perfect timing!
2.  My MacBook broke, the fan no longer works.  Good news is my computer is still under warranty so it will be fixed and returned to me in 10 working days.  Bad news is I will now be studying for finals without my computer & notes.....
3.  I can honestly hurt myself doing anything.... Not the best picture but I am black and blue from my ankle to my knee, along with a big red bruise in the middle.  Beautiful.

4.  Absolutely starving and have been waiting for my eggs to boil for about 20 minutes now.  Finally realized that they aren't boiling because I never turned on the stove.  Ughh!

Final Exams

I don't think I have moved once during the past week.  I've been sitting at my desk with my computer, a few books and lots of notes!  The only time I left the house was when I went to the grocery store on Friday, only to find out it was National Prayer Day and the store was closed.  Survived the weekend eating bags of almonds and a bit of of dried fruit that I had lying around.  My first final is Friday morning and I can't wait to see what a law school oral exam is all about!

Just found out that I was selected as a volunteer at the 2012 European Crossfit Games!  More than 500 people applied for the 75 volunteer positions so I am fortunate I was accepted and will not have to pay the pricy spectator fee to watch!  The Crossfit Games are the ultimate test of fitness.  The competition brings together the toughest athlete's in Europe in order to find the "Fittest on Earth."  The events begin the day after my last exam so I am excited to have something FUN to look forward to after finals!