Our Engagement Story

We have both known for a while that things were going in the right direction and that an engagement would soon happen. There were just a few questions; where, when and how. Julianna had it in her mind that Tarjei would probably choose a moment at the top of a mountain overlooking a beautiful landscape. Little did she know that he had something much more original and special in mind.

He actually planned a couple of amazing days that led up to a very memorable moment. To begin, we took a scenic train ride from Oslo to Bergen, a quaint little harbor town on the west coast of Norway. We got to see Norway above the tree line, and experience the fjords first hand. It was beautiful!

The coastal city of Bergen, Norway

Once at Bergen, we met Tarjei's cousin, Ralph who took us to a family home on an island in the middle of the Hardanger Fjord. Probably the highlight here was a fishing excursion that took place at 11:30 at night. Yes, I said, 11:30 at night, and it was light!!!! That's Norway for you! The fun part was that he reeled in two Mackerel on his first two attempts. Yum!

Island home built in 1920 on the Hardanger Fjord

The next day we headed back to the mainland to hit a spot that I had always wanted to visit ever since I was in high school....the home of Edvard Grieg. What an enchanting place it was! We walked up a wooded path that looked like trolls or gnomes might hop out at us any moment. No wonder the place is called Trollhaugen ("Troll Mound")!


Once there, we enjoyed a wonderful concert of Grieg's music set in a concert hall that overlooked the fjord. There's nothing like enjoying a composer's music while seeing the source of inspiration.

Grieg's home

After the concert and a guided tour, we found ourselves behind a little hut where Grieg would compose in solitude. It was there, on a rock looking out over the fjord, that Tarjei knelt on his knee and proposed to me. I knew in my heart that I wanted to marry him, and answered with a definite, "yes."

We spent the rest of the afternoon completely absorbed in the moment. Our time was spent sitting by the fjord, and enjoying a walk around Bergen with a beautiful seaside sunset. Couldn't have been more memorable, beautiful, and perfect! Thank you Tarjei!

Dating Across Satellite Signals

I am constantly amazed at how much you can really get to know someone on Skype! The first time Tarjei and I ever skyped each other, it surprised me how much I had the sense that I was actually talking to someone sitting in the same room with me.


Needless to say, we've gotten to be very creative in our dating on Skype. We've found you can read, play games, learn languages, share pictures, tell stories, and even cook together on skype BUT today I got such a chuckle from our latest skype fascination. During our conversation, Tarjei recommended that I learn a little something about ventriloquism. Before long, we were reading all about the secrets to ventriloquism and trying out the techniques. There's nothing quite more hilarious that trying to talk to someone without moving your lips...especially on Skype!

If you want to try it out sometime....here's an interesting website.

Where do you think we should live?

Everybody keeps asking us where we are going to live or if we have made a decision yet. The answer? No, we have not decided where to live. How come? Well, there are many aspects, both practical and emotional, but you can be sure it has been a topic of discussion for quite some time already. Funny part is that Julianna is thinking about coming to Norway and Tarjei is thinking about coming to the US. Not that we don't like our own countries or anything. In fact, we love them, so you can say the whole thing is a bit ironic :-)

What do YOU think? USA or Norway? Share your opinion in our blog poll. No promises, though! Our decision will be made separately from the results of the poll, but it would be fun to know what you think.