A little about us…

I don’t know about you but, I don’t think I’ve ever visited a blog site without checking out the “About” page at one point or another. It’s always fun to get to know a little bit about the person behind the posts and maybe even discover that we have a few things in common. I hope you have some fun getting a glimpse of my life (and quirks!) and learning a little bit about our story.

Hello and welcome!  Or as we might say in Norway, “Hei og velkommen!”. I am so glad you found this little blog of mine. Why don’t you stay awhile and let’s get to know each other! My name is Elizabeth, but family and friends have always called me Beth. Interestingly enough, when we moved to Norway, every time I would introduce myself I would have to repeat my name a few times for people to understand what I was saying. I quickly realized that “Beth” is not a name used here in Norway, even though “Elisabeth” (pronounced “Ay-LEES-a-bet” ☺️) is a common Norwegian name! It ended up being much easier (and less awkward) just to introduce myself as Elizabeth. So, for the last year I have had to get used to being called by my full name and I actually kind of love it! 

So, I’m pretty sure I’ve always been terrible at writing self bios. You know those ones they would make you write in first grade where you had to decide on your favorite food and color and animal? I mean, how in the world is a six year old girl supposed to decide between ponies and puppies or chocolate and pasta?! And now, here I am, almost thirty years later (give or take 😉) trying to think of some ways to describe myself and having the same writer’s block! Ha! So what does an indecisive person like myself do to solve their problems? Ask the children, of course! 😂 So, according to my two older daughters (both asked on separate occasions so as to not be influenced by the others’ responses, and yet, somehow still gave identical responses…that’s sisters for you!), if “Mommy” had some free time, you might find her: knitting, reading the Bible, baking, making coffee/tea or working on her blog. I have to say, they know their mama well! They did fail to mention, however, that you also might find me sneaking “mom treats”, usually in the form of dark chocolate, in the corner of the kitchen when they aren’t looking…or listening. I mean, let’s face it, we all know kids have this crazy ability to never hear you ask them to pick up their socks or set the table even when you’re standing right next to them, but somehow, they manage to hear a package crinkle from the next town over. That’s skill right there, friends. They also missed the part about my plant chats. You know, just some casual convos that might take place every couple of weeks; usually with the one I’ve killed and somehow brought back to life three, four…ok, maybe six times. (sorry, little basil!) Typically, it’s me promising to water 🙈, because contrary to my neglectful plant mothering, I do, in fact, love plants. Why my mother, who has the greenest of green thumbs on planet earth, did not pass down her “plant lady” status to me will always remain a mystery, but, guyssss, I try! I really do! Also. Succulents are my new favorite child. Water every 1-2 weeks?! OK, I love you. And you’re cute. The end.

Sooo, I guess at this point, if you’re still with me and don’t think I’m a total crazy (or maybe you do and just can’t look away 🙊) I would say that’s a sign we are meant to be friends…or maybe that’s the reason we are already friends! If you have a few more minutes, I’d love if you kept reading. But if not, I hope you’ll stop by again or you can hop over to instagram and we can hang out over there, too!
(Follow me @ https://www.instagram.com/wherewild_bloomsgrow/)

Now that we’ve established that I’m indecisive, a little too wordy, a plant killer and totally err on the side of weird 😬; let’s get to the slightly more important stuff, shall we? I am a born and raised New England girl. I am a wife; happily married to “that cute, sweet boy” I met at church while living in Boston for graduate school.  I am an optometrist turned full time homemaker (yep, still a thing!) and homeschooling mama to four. And because of God’s love and mercy, I am a sinner saved by grace. I can’t imagine where I would be without Jesus’ redemptive work in my life. I praise Him for my salvation and freedom from the weight of sin through His death on the cross.

From a young age, I always thought I would like to be a doctor or have a career in healthcare of some sort (and sure enough I did end up with that doctorate degree), but, my real, deep down little girl dream was to get married and have a bunch of babies. As a teenager, I regularly babysat for three different families, none of which had any girls(!), so I think that influenced me into imagining myself as a boy mom. I got used to everything Thomas the Train and Tonka trucks and just thought I would end up with a pack of boys. But instead, the Lord had a very different plan for us and chose to give my husband and me a gang of girls! That has meant a lot of hair bows, nail painting, baby dolls, french braiding and glitter…lots and lots of glitter. (And, actually, we’ve had our fair share of trains, too! My oldest was completely obsessed with Thomas the Train as a toddler! Funny how that worked out!) I fully believe that God’s ways are higher than our ways and I am so grateful for the gift of our four daughters.  I love being a girl mom and wouldn’t change it for anything. Although, I wouldn’t mind a little less glitter sometimes 😂. 

So, about a year and a half ago, after ten years in practice as an optometrist, my fourth baby was born and I made the decision to hang up my white coat for a while to stay at home full time with my girls. My degree, quite literally, took years and years of blood, sweat and tears; not to mention a whole lot of loans to achieve. I’m sure many would call me crazy for walking away for a while, but this was not a decision made lightly (perhaps a story for another post?). I’m sure I will return to practicing one day, but for the time being, I couldn’t ignore that nagging in my heart any longer. It was time. Even with working just part-time, I was struggling to juggle everything and “do it all”. With the addition of another child, I knew I needed to make a change to be fully present at home; physically, mentally and emotionally, especially for the precious little years. At that point, I had decided that I would not be returning to a regular work schedule after maternity leave. Looking back, I can see that the Lord was slowly preparing a way for something new that we weren’t aware of yet. Just a few months after that, my husband was given a career opportunity he had been dreaming of for years. Because I had already “pressed pause” on my own career I was able to support him in the pursuit of his dreams without the added concern of where that would suddenly leave me. I know, without a doubt, that the Lord used this decision to start preparing my heart and continue showing us His direction in our lives. He was already doing a work and answering prayers. And it started with allowing me to be where I wanted and needed to be. With my little ones. Home. 

That humble, little word “home” was about to take on a whole new meaning for our family in the coming year. We were at the point where my husband needed to decide whether he would take that “dream job”, which would mean huge changes for our family. The weight of this decision was heavy, but we brought that burden to the Lord in prayer daily and asked Him for clear guidance. Through numerous answers to very specific prayers, direction from His word, and the Holy Spirit guiding us, we were fully persuaded in our hearts that God was leading my husband to accept the job; and, in turn, make an international move. In a few weeks time, we packed up the house we had just moved into and unpacked 6 months prior, put our life into 6 suitcases and moved our little family to Norway. This was both exciting and terrifying! But, I have to say, even now (a year and a half later), even on the hardest and loneliest of days, we have never once doubted this decision. To this day, we are confident that the Lord clearly guided us down this path and we are so grateful for His leading. 

Since then, we’ve had adventures of a lifetime mingled with long stretches of mundane, ordinary days. We’ve learned to appreciate each other’s company in a new way and our little family has grown immensely closer because of it. The girls have gained a deeper understanding that sisters really are forever friends. Life has slowed down such that, at first, I honestly didn’t know how we would survive without absolutely losing our minds out of boredom!  But, to quote Louisa May Alcott: “The power of finding beauty in the humblest of things makes home happy and life lovely.”  The truth of this has rung especially true this past year. Even with all the excitement of a new place and the discovery of new things, we have learned that humble “home” days can truly be happy and lovely.  This is a continued learning process, but I think we are at a much more contented place than we were even just one year ago.

So, that brings us to the present, where our current situation gave me the nudge to finally start the blog I had been thinking about for years. In this space, I hope to share bits about our present life in Norway, and also reflect on past experiences and adventures and a little of everything in between (motherhood, homeschooling, recipes…you know, all that “mom blog” stuff!) Ultimately, I hope that this blog will fill you with the sweet fragrance of God’s love for you and that as you spend some time clicking around you will leave feeling encouraged and blessed…and wanting to come back again soon! Please don’t hesitate to contact me: elizabeth@wherewildbloomsgrow.com if you ever have any questions or feedback or just want to say “hey!”. Thanks for taking the time to read this through and I hope to get to know you a little bit as we walk this journey together. See you next time, friends!

“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26