-
Relationship Anarchy
In the wake of my most recent post on how love is not static I would like to add some thoughts on what has been called relationship anarchy, a term coined by Dr Andy in 2004. Dr. Andy writes: “Relationship anarchy questions the idea that love is a limited resource that can only be real […]
-
Oh my, what a week!
Today is fathers day and I am promptly staying in bed, drinking tea and slowly looking at the world and my life with awe and wonder. Earlier in the week I had a lunch with a friend who told me that to boost her ego she would look at the girls from school who used […]
-
Coming out …
Yesterday was a bit of a coming out process for me. The minute after I hit the publish key on my blog post was filled with a sense of immense release and freedom followed by “Oh my god, what have I done?”. For a moment I thought maybe not so many people would read it […]
-
Differentiating the mature and immature masculine
Continuing the conversation about the mature and immature feminine and masculine. I will start looking at the masculine. In todays society we have a lot of the immature masculine going around. In fact there is a public caricature of what the masculine is that is solely based on the immature masculine and so for boys […]
-
So long and thanks for all the fish
Every Journey must come to an end and this is the end of our journey in the Salvation Army. It has been a great journey of trials and growth personally and professionally. So what does one say at the end of a journey? Stepping into the blue We are taking a step out into the […]
-
Marriage is meaningless …
After years of deconstructing both my worldview, my faith, my theology, my sexuality and every other aspect of my faith I have come to this conclusion (among many others to be sure), marriage is meaningless. Marriage has meant many different things in many different times and many different cultures. Most of the time marriage has […]
-
Warrior princess
Jesus is not good at just doing his job. At the wedding in Canaan he doesn’t just make a few bottles of wine, he miraculously produces 600 litres. When feeding the five thousand with a boys lunchbox he also goes the extra mile and there are 12 baskets of left overs afterwards. So I am […]
-
Jesus came to save that which was lost
The question is, do you know what you have lost? Have you like me settled for what is? Yesterday in the stress of coming home, getting ready, and (for me) getting ready for a trans-continental trip. Tempers flared as the kids acted up testing our patience and our love. After a long silence I found […]
-
Shrek forever after, A fairy tale that echoes into real life
On Friday I took the girls to see Shrek – Forever after. The girls where excited about going to the movies and even more so how the glasses they where wearing would make Fiona come right into the movie theatre (3D is a marvellous thing) The movie starts with this beautiful family day and Fiona […]
-
Happy New Year
It’s raining in London. I wish I had some snow to go with my Christmas tree. The girls are going nuts in the apartment with all their new toys, Angelina stealing Anja’s Christmas presents and vice versa. Still trying to realize that it was just a few months ago we moved in at William Booth […]
-
Another week in the UK
So here we are a week has passed, we still have no Internet but at least we can check our email on our blacberries now (Thanx Warren!!) We have nearly unpacked and we are starting to get to know the people in our building. The place is great for the girls and they have found […]
-
I am an alien!
It is so frustrating to be in a foreign country. We are trying to sort out some internet connection and mobile phones which is proving to be extremely difficult unless you are a citizen. You cannot get a phone without a credit rating, you cannot get a credit rating until you have had a bank […]
-
First week in England
So here we are at William Booth college. It is a strange feeling to stand in our new flat filled with boxes and every surface covered with knick-knacks and do-dawds. I don’t even know how to put words to all the conflicting emotions and thoughts I have at this point. Two weeks ago I was […]
-
Last words…
Today is my last day in Latvia, I’ve had my last lunch in the small hall, my last sit down with Edvins and Edgars, my last salary and made the last call on my cell phone before handing it in. The last boxes has been loaded on the truck and we will have our last […]
-
Countdown
After an Outrageously furious week of doctors appointments, packing and last minute arrangements it seems we have entered the final stretch. Tomorrow morning the moving company arrives to pack whatever we couldn’t (or wouldn’t as the case may be) and on friday they take the load on a truck to London. We leave Saturday morning […]
-
A hysterical week…
After two trips to sweden within the space of one week I now have to really dig in to get everything in order for the two summer camps and the move to London. As it turns out we will not be able to move until the 28th of August which is a bit disappointing as […]
-
A little break….
We found a good price for tickets to go to Oslo which is only two and a half hours drive from where my grandparents (now my mothers) summer place. So we took a time out and escaped to the swedish archipelago. It started out with a two hour flight to Oslo then a three hour […]
-
Why is this blog not updated?
I am in the middle of preparing three summer camps and finishing of a complete martial arts manual. It is four huge tasks and therefore I have little or no time for anything else. I will continue posting the Knight school material and maybe a sporadic post here and there. The blog will spring to […]
-
Homeless again….
So it is kind of fitting, we started our mission trip in Latvia 18 months ago living in the backroom of a church and now I am again living in one of the church offices (again thank God that the girls are not here for it, but are enjoying a sunny beach in Croatia). I […]
-
Oh noes, not again!
So yesterday they changed all the windows in my apartment, which is a good thing. The draft through the windows that we cannot open properly is horrible. But once again I am foiled by Latvian work ethic. The workers promised me as they started out that they would close the doors to the rooms as […]
-
Taking a day off
I have been working non stop with the network and had no family time in weeks ….. It is time for a day of with the family!
-
New photos
New photos up in the gallery, only for those who won’t get nauseated by cute children.
-
Visits
We got our good friend Bea visiting from Sweden. At our assessment conference in Sweden we made friends with many of the cadets Bea being on of them. Now she is here visiting and we are thrilled!
-
Adventures in Kingston town.
Hanna and I went to Kingston with Frank and Elsebeth Jakshoj to relax after a very demanding weekend. We visited the Disney store to Angelinas delight. After that we had a delicious mocha at Starbucks and then we went to get some takeout at a nearby japanese restaurant. As I am placing our order I […]
-
Assessment conference, London
I managed to sneak of to a computer with internet connection. The whole family are right now at Sunbury Court in London being assessed for officership. Not a minute is wasted as we are ushered from interview to interview and having to write several papers on theological subjects. It feels rather like an exam week […]
-
Eight years and counting…
Olterman family win the Bronze! Today is our eigth wedding anniversary. It is a miracle that we have made it this far. It also fills me with awe and wonder. If we can handle all the slings and arrows of outrageous fortunes and a sea of troubles, then there is nothing we cannot take on. […]
-
In memoriam
For my grandmother who passed away last week, some of my fond memories,. If it doesn’t make sense to you, I guess you just weren’t there. God give her soul rest! Vävstol, växtpress, renfana, raggsockar kaffe termos, packlista, gummistövlar skidåkning, filtar, tio kaffe, te, sherry promenader, vandringsstav, mossa, köttbullar, julbord fjällvandring, njupeskär, folkdräkt, munspel Prästkrage, […]
-
First snow
As I wake up this morning and look out over the rooftops of Riga, they are all covered with snow. Winter is truly here. No matter how much we deny it we are now entering into the dark part of the year and we must do our best to light it up and make it […]
-
Home sweet home.
We have now had our fill of vacationing and are happy to be back in Latvia. It was very nice to bed down in our own beds and wake up with a freshly made Latte made in our own kitchen. Back on the job now I am getting ready to launch the fall program for […]
-
An idle vacation post…
I happened by a friend who needed help with some computer stuff, so here I am in front of a computer first time on my vacation.So far it has been good 27-40 degrees in the shade and a constant 26-27 in the water. Angelina Has started bathing a little bit carefully daring to walk into […]
-
Potties, vacation and visits
So we are enduring the unnerving heat of Latvia knowing that we are close to vacation time. Angelina is out of her diaper, heat was killing her and now after a week she is almost potty trained read more about that at Hannas blog. We are slowly getting ready to leave for Croatia (leaving on […]
-
Car again.
So the car is half fixed and in the end it will cost us 450 Lats, putting a serious dent in our non existing funds. Living in the center of Riga with two kids the car is an absolute must, we have to be able to get out of the city, since there are very […]
-
We need help
So our car has been unusable since the last breakin and now we really have to get to fixing it! So today we towed it of to the mechanics shop to get it repaired. The first assesment is that getting the car up to par (so that it will pass swedish inspection and therefore so […]
-
Oh no it’s the cold.
After a few days of no sleep, we are all a bit worn, and all the girls have a cold. Which obviously is worse for Anja who is having considerable trouble breastfeeding since she can’t breathe from her nose. Hanna is bedded down and I just pray I won’t be next.
-
Anja Trinity Olterman, born 3rd of June, 22:35
We arrived at Ģimenes centers at 19:05 where Hanna was examined and told that she was dilated five centimeters, the contractions where strong and everything was moving along just as it had with Angelina. Hanna was devastated and convinced that she had another 20 hours of labor to go. I was secretly hopefull because I […]
-
Still contracting after a nice day at Lidos.
So we went for a checkup this morning and Hanna was disapointed to hear that she was only in the beginning of the opening faze. After checkups we went to Lido and Angelina enjoyed herself greatly at the different attractions around the Lido Grounds. Hannas mom who is here enjoyed Lido and gave many ooh’s […]
-
1+1+1=4
At four o’clock last night the contractions started. And kept going steady all through the night at 9 o’clock they where 9 minutes apart. I was musing as was writing my post about the trinity on warcry, 1+1+1=1 That in this house 1+1+1=4 at least today It is quite surreal that we are going to […]
-
A salute to motherhood!
It is mothersday, In church Angelina made a butterfly for Hanna and got flowers to give to her mother (Unfortunately the flowers was to much fun to smell and enjoy so Angie kept them for herself.) Hanna is in the last stage of pregnancy and we have mere days till the new miracle comes. So […]
-
Residence permitted
Now we are all legal aliens in Latvia, after several frustrating hours and some misunderstandings due to language confusion (why did they have to attempt that stupid tower of babel). Hanna and Angelina finally got their papers. So the whole of the Olterman clan are now here legally, well theres still a little alien in […]
-
Hannas Birthday and preparations.
So, that time of the year again, I have been busy this week preparing for Hannas birthday, with a rather cramped economy it has not been easy tho and we had to agree on what I was allowed to buy her. So on monday I set out in Riga together with my trusty helper Angelina. […]
-
A day at the zoo
Today the oltermans went to the zoo. A whole day of gawking at wild animals at the Riga zoo. Normaly a trip to the zoo would hold no thrills for any of us since swedish zoos are very tame in comparison. But we where in for a surprise as the latvian zoo held an assortment […]
-
Residence permit awaiting decision
So finally all the papers are in, mine two weeks ago and the girls last week, Thanks to Öbergs fixing us an Apostill on the papers … When I was in and handed in my papers, they where fantastic, so nice and accomodating I was shocked, not at all like when we where getting Hannas […]
-
Funny hats, visa applications and warrior spirit
It’s been a long time since I’ve written anything, and it has been a crazy month here in Latvia. So much have happened and we are now literally standing on the edge, ready to take the plunge.The month started with Angelinas Birthday party, we had a hous full of kids and parents, served hotdogs wrapped […]
-
There’s no place like home
Finally after 2 months of clicking our ruby slippers together we finally have a home… So here I sit on top of a box in our new apartment, a faint smell of paint still in the air and our bed (that was supposed to be delivered today) nowhere to be seen. But still, there is […]
-
Bring it on
Ok, so we are settling into some semblance of routine, but no matter how we try our life keeps getting interrupted by all these attacks. First the car and loosing all our favorite worship albums (our complete Delirious? collection) Then we all get sick, starts out as a cold but pretty soon it is obvious […]
-
Car trouble
Despite Salvation Army assurance that they never had a break in in their parking lot the second weekend here our car got broken into. This is our second break in since Christmas. This time they drilled up the door so the driver seat lock is completely busted. They stole the car stereo and all our […]
-
Siberia
Just as we thought we where getting used to the latvian climate the REAL winter kicked in. Hanna and Angelina are both home sick and I am at the office holding on to my health as best I can. The temperatures outside is between -15 and -20 and if you count windchill factors we are […]
-
The kingdom belongs to the children
Second night in Latvia we arrive to our little hideout only to find that a Russian congregation have invaded the church hall and holding a charismatic meeting outside our bedroom door. Angelina decides after a short spell of shyness to join in the meeting. As the meeting is nearing its end people are falling to […]
-
Here we go
Four years after our first trip to Latvia we are finally back and ready to get to work. The trip was uneventful, with the ferry between Kappelskär and Paldiski being the lowpoint with cabins that reeked of smoke and previous parties. Now at least we are here The place we are staying is falling apart […]
About
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consec tetur adipiscing elit. Maecenas odio lacus, dignissim sollicitudin finibus commodo, rhoncus et ante
