a weekend out and about.

its monday again. i have a short break between school and evening college and even though i only get to be home for like 40 min its still worth it.

2h on public transport today. its hard not to embrace the apathy that spreads through the bus/train when the doors close.

neither Facebook or instagram is working on my phone now. (freddys old phone). and you realize firstly that you don't really need it and secondly how much time you all of a sudden have on your hand. okay maybe not that much, but definitely a few minutes here and there. Add it up and i have now gained 40min of extra time today. what to do with it?

this weekend was great. early sat morning me and freddy got on the train to gothenburg. almost 4h later we got off and were completely bombarded by the rain and the wind. in the short walk from central station to the shopping centre i was soaked for the rest of the day.

i quickly came to the conclusion that people walk a lot slower here than in stockholm. they also keep their head up more and are not always walking alone.

we hung around in the city from 11.30 til 19.00. stores, food, stores, walking, coffee, stores, coffee, walking, coffee....you know. a day off with your husband.

we found da Matteo, the place that roasts and supplies the coffee beans to our favorite cafés in stockholm. it was a really cool place and then we went to all the vintage stores around it. i scored some amazing brown leather shoes.

eventually the time came around and we headed to sticky fingers, the place where Kadawatha was playing that night. i was the lighting operator so i checked out the gear. since it wasn't that much to work with i just helped out for a bit and then went for some more coffee.

i met elin milton, the wife to one of the guitarists in the band. one of the most amazing women I've known. we've been exchanging letters since summer and it was great to finally see each other again!

the gig went great. ill post a video they uploaded recently with footage from a festival-gig this summer.

sunday was mine and freddy's 1 yr anniversary. its crazy its already been one year. and its weird that there's still no snow when there was so much last year.

frida's (brothers fiancé) had her bachelorette party this sunday and i was so glad i was able to be there. we had a nice time in a jacuzzi with food and snacks. unfortunately i had to cut out early to catch the train back to stockholm.

gotta go to evening college now. haven't been in a while now! Had the surgery three weeks ago, then i was resting from that two weeks ago and last week me and the sound guy were setting up and were wondering why no one came. haha, turned out it was cancelled.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJ_bxoh3-EQ

the smell is all it takes

friday night. fredagsmys.me and freddy just finished watching the movie social network (about Facebook). haha, the blog just autocorrected me to spell
Facebook with capital F. thats how widespread it is.

freddy has now proceeded to cook us dinner. and it's the best

smell in the whole world. he is making greek beefs with potatoes and greek yoghurt. amazing.

i would take his homemade food over any restaurant.

a pretty good day today. its the middle of november and there is still no snow. i really like this icing kind of weather without the trouble that snow brings. but once it lands it'll still put a smile on my face.

tomorrow is our day off. i love

saturdays. i found some great secondhand stores on södermalm with sara yesterday and i can't wait to take freddy there. they had such cool furniture.

our house feels so much more like home since we got the new furniture.

today (during the most boring class about swedish folk music) i was browsing through what felt like a hundred websites trying to find the perfect vinyl player. i think I've found it. at first i was looking at crosley's selection, which is definitely alright. but they felt a bit too "i have a vintage vinyl player" and when i saw that they actually sell it (for a ridiculous amount of $) it confirmed my thought. so now I've looked into steepltone, who have a bit more of a new vintage feel to it. ill put both the crossly and the steeple tone up for you to decide:

i can hear the pan sizzling now and I'm a bit too excited about the food to stay put here.

the hospital, part 1

I'm sitting at huddinge hospital in the cafeteria. have just been doing some blood tests, EKG and talked to a doctor about my surgery. they were all very great in every way! i got a little drawing of my heart and some arrows pointing to what's wrong. i have an extra electrical signal that causes my heart to beat faster so they are going to go in and burn it.

its too bad that no talented chefs feel a calling to go into the hospital food business. as well as baristas. maybe one day.... they would seriously make the hospital stays 50% better. id forgotten that coffee could taste this bad.

my next thing is not until another 3 hours, so I'm gonna sit here in the cafeteria and play Theme Hospital. my favorite game from when i was a kid. its seriously so much fun. i bet its even more fun if you're sitting in a hospital while playing it. we'll see...

here's a link if you wanna download it to your mac: (its a PC game, so you'll need to download Boxer first to play it)

http://www.doobybrain.com/2009/11/22/theme-hospital-for-the-mac-using-boxer/

tågresa med i-landsproblem

sitter på tåget hem till lidköping.

det ska bli så skönt att vara hemma i några dagar. stockholm kan nog aldrig riktigt kännas hemma. det är så många andras hem på något sätt.

sen jag flyttade har jag upptäckt en ny (eller snarare uppdaterad och förstärkt) form av ilska. det är ilskan man känner när tunnelbanedörrarna går igen precis framför en. eller när man ser bussen åka förbi. som jag sa, visst har man känt den känslan förut. men av någon anledning så har den gått till nya dimensioner nu. plus att den också framkallas nästan varje dag.

man tror att man har bråttom på något sätt. men egentligen har man ju väldigt sällan så bråttom så att det bli världens grej. nästa tunnelbana kommer ju oftast inom 4 min.

ändå blir man lika arg varje gång. och nästan varje gång så blir jag lika förvånad över mig själv. sluta bli så arg.

idag konfronterades jag av två andra löjliga i-lands problem.

* den första är att man alltid måste torka av iPhone displayen när man har pratat för att det kommer smink på den. (inte har jag väl ens så mkt smink?)

* den andra var när jag klev på tåget och insåg, till min förtret, att det inte fanns något eluttag. hur var det tänkt att jag skulle kunna kolla på film på datorn då? som om det var deras problem att lösa... men återigen blev jag frustrerad. sen kollade jag batteriet på datorn. nåja, 50%. då kan jag se ett avsnitt av greys anatomy....

* åh nej! jag hade glömt dvd skivorna. ok. då får jag väl streama det då...

* varför är mitt mobila bredband långsamt? jag måste VÄNTA 1 min innan jag kan börja kolla.

kanske är det bara jag som är psycho och lever i en knäpp värld?

meeen...... kan ni inte känna igen er iaf lite?

det är sjukt att dessa knäpp problem får påverka vår vardag.

vad GJORDE man förr i tiden när man åkte häst och vagn i dagar i streck?

sunday

goals : bored

there are so many things you want in life.

big things like a happy family. small things like a nice dinner.

we put up goals for ourselves. and look forward to the day when this goal will be fulfilled or that goal will expand into a bigger goal.

sooner or later we either achieve the goal or realize that we'll never achieve it (which will hopefully be due to the fact that it wasn't a great goal to begin with).

and while you're in the process of reaching for your goal you never really stop to think what you'll do once you get there. hopefully the goal will have gotten you a step closer to the biggest goal in life or at least made the way there more fun or more comfortable.

and then you start all over again. because we don't like living without goals. cause whats the point if we don't have a goal? the point is the goal, right?

2 yr ago:

one goal was to finish college. me and freddy had been dating for about two months. so another goal was to pursue our relationship and figure out the next step. i was pumped about church and was setting up goals in how i could build ministry (wherever that ministry would be).

1 yr ago:

my goals from the previous year were reached. I had graduated college, gotten engaged and was heavily involved in building the youth ministry in my church back home.

my goals were 1. to get married 2. to get into music school 3. to find somewhere to live in sthlm 4. for freddy to learn swedish and find a job

today:

all the goals from the previous year are reached.

we are married. we live in sthlm. I'm in music school. freddy knows swedish and has a full-time job.

so what now?

i realize that this much stuff don't normally happen within such a short time. So maybe the goal process could slow down a bit? or stretch out and become more longterm goals?

but to be honest i feel kind of bored. immensely thankful and grateful. but a bit bored.

coffe hijacked

life is interesting. that's what keeps it interesting.

for some reason i always wake up at 4 am when i have nightmares. 4.00am, every time.

so as i was being chased by the leader of a gang high up on some electrical wires in central stockholm it came as no surprise when i startled awake and looked at my phone. 4 am on the dot.

when staring at the feeling for a few minutes i tried to shrug off the scary feelings awaken by my dream. i tried to imagine how stupid all of this would feel in a few hours in broad daylight. but it never works. you still feel scared to fall back asleep. since you always wake up just as something was gonna happen (in my case just as the leader was closing in on me) your scared of the dream jumping right back in as soon as you fall asleep.

distraction usually works, so i put on some gilmore girls. the flickering from the tv woke up my not-so-eager-for-it-to-be-morning husband.

after two episodes i fell back asleep for an hour before the nice tone of fleet foxes let me know it was time for freddy to get up for work.

I've been off today, doing laundry and other chores including making lunch and bringing it to freddy. after eating gnocchi's by the water we decided to make a short stop at our favorite café Kura. we met a securitas car as we were pulling up and freddy asked me if they issue parking tickets. i said NO.

after ordering coffee the car comes around again. turns out they do. freddy got out in time and moved the car, i ran out with a take-away cup and off he went to finish his route.

and here i am, still at the café with a picture of michael jackson's dead body in front of me (in the newspaper).

so what to make out of the rest of this day?

music school.

monday was my first day at the royal music college of stockholm. the upper secondary school teaching program.
dont really know why they call it royal. i guess you can call things royal if they are in the capital? and it sounds fancier...
registration was at 9am. papers, mugshot, id card etc.
when i was done i went to sit down in the cafeteria. i just picked a random table. then it turns out i ended up in the brass section of the classical music program. i guess the odd looking instrument cases should have tipped me off.. they were kind of different. kept talking about their gigs and accomplishments. another guy sat down (also brass) and asked me what i played, a girl next to me leaned over and said: "aw, she's in the teachingprogram".
i was to polite to leave, i sat there and messed with my phone.
we were divided into three big groups (across all the institutions: jazz, classical, folkmusic, teaching, composition, church musician) and had three workshops mon-tues: singing, moving/rhythm, playing. Our first one was after lunch: playing. we were like a big ensemble with lots of instruments playing grooves and stuff.

tuesday we had the other two workshops. i show up in a dress and pantyhose. i had blindly forgotten that we had moving/rhythm, and even if i had remembered, i dont think i would have brought a change of clothes anyway. 3hrs of african dancing with live drums. the guy was quite a weirdo, talked about balls of energy.
he did say something quite interesting. he said that you can never play music wrong, ever. its an expression. if you hurt your hand you will scream as an expression of pain. no one can tell you that you screamed wrong, or that you screamed right since it was an expression of your pain. he meant that it was the same with music.
the next workshop was singing. this was the best one. it wasnt just about singing but also about stage presence. we did lots of great exercises and learned som cool songarrangements.

today we had lots of information about stuff. i got to put a fire out during the fire hazard training. tonight there was a concert put together with everything we learned during the workshops. to be quite honest i bailed. i just didnt really wanna stay.
me and freddy made food and are now watching the movie The Prestige. a great movie we've both seen before.

i just ordered some stuff from amazon uk. cs lewis books, some coldplay and mumford vinyls, gilmore girls dvds. all for only around 1000:-.

i cant wait for school to actually start, this is just kind of an intro week so its hard to tell what its gonna be like.

*

freddy's birthday.

good evening everyone.
the morning started with hot chocolate for the birthday boy/man.
i actually already gave him his gift at 12.01 last night, but it turned out he didnt remember anything i said in the morning. so he was kind of waiting for me to announce his gift and i already thought he knew. anyway: Brad Paisley tickets!

the wonderful birthday barbecue just finished. lots of amazing people came and brought life and love to our home. we have a big barbecue area in the courtyard and it was soon filled with laughter and the smell of barbecue. so many of our awesome new hillsong stockholm friends came. they are honestly such amazing people, all of them.
(the not so amazing part was the weird neighbors with weird opinions about everything)
after we brought the cake out, and sung the birthday song, we played a round of apples to apples.
now freddy is talking to his family, wearing his new socks that bossan gave him.

tomorrow im working at the toystore again, third shift this week. it's a lot of fun!

today i finished all of our thank you cards from the wedding. ive sowed the word tack (thank you) on each of them with a needle and a thread. that combined with doing laundry and watching gilmore girls took up most of my day. who says you cant to three things at the same time?

*

a day in the city.

i woke up this morning to the sound of freddy's coughing. it's been a very efficient alarmaclock the past week. around 7 o'clock the first cough begins and then it keeps going 'til he leaves for work around 8.45. after that i get a nice 30 min soundless sleep and then im ready to go.

i was meeting sara at our favourite café in the city. i left early though since i needed to switch my phone plan. (i got stuck with one of those stupid phone salesmen who sold me a phoneplan i didnt want). afterwards i continued my journey towards my most beloved café.
sara had taken upon herself to ride the bike from her house to the city (about 30 min away), so naturally she was late. i do admire her briskness.
we had the best coffee and talked about life and all that and then proceeded to "do the city".
i started by trying to exchange a perfume i got for graduation 5 yrs ago. i was unsuccessful: what a surprise. apparently it had been discontinued.. a few yrs ago.

we went around in some stores and i finally found a bikini. ive been looking for one for ages (a few months). bikinis are always so hard to find. you need to like the fabric, the model, it needs to really fit you, be of great quality since it gets wet so much, and it needs to stay up. and then there's the usual, they need to have your colour, your size and it cant be too pricey.
anyway: i ended up with this one from weekdays.
towards the end of our stroll we went to this old map store. the owner was fairly to his years and very chatty. he showed me a newspaper from 1930 and proudly pointed out his father on the front page. his father was a journalist.
i asked to see his maps of america and he went to get a big folder.
in there i found a map of manhattan from 1614! i dont think his print was that old (prob like 1800's he said) but it was really cool. im definitely saving up to get it, it was 400 crowns.
i found a good map of united states that i liked and since he didnt have a cardmachine i had to walk to an ATM. when i came back the owner was going through some letters. he told me that the letters were from Picasso (yes, THE Picasso) to his dad. all originals. the letters were about a woman Picasso had met. anyway, i got the map and headed homeward.

yesterday i was at a concert at gröna lund (an amusement park in the city). sven-bertil taube and guests were playing. he is a very famous swedish songwriter and performer and the son of a perhaps even more famous swedish songwriter and performer: evert taube.
i bought the "green card" for 189 crowns, which means free entrance all summer long to the amusement park and all concerts. a bargain.
we played the m&m lottery, ruben and ida won the big prize.

what is stockholm like?

i know you are all dying to know, right?

haha.

im currently at a mcdonalds snagging some internet to do some errands. we still havent gotten internet, hence the absence.
i feel like there has been nothing but blessings since we got here.
this weekend mom came up and helped to get the apartment to look it's best. we clothed the kitchen shelves in paper and put stickers on the kitchen tiles. she got us some flowers (my first live plants) and added to the wardrobe some nice vintage clothing.
it was great having her here. we went to Kulturhuset (the house of culture) and saw this wicked exhibition of this swedish author/artist/designer called Stig Claesson. I will treat you to something cool in a picture. we had lunch and coffee and just walked around.
we spent a long time browsing through vintage clothes in this big store called Beyond Retro. this is also the store where i got my wedding dress!



freddy has got a job at DHL now. so he is the hot packagedelivery boy that requires your signature. i am working a trial shift at BR Leksaker tomo. it's a big toystore in the middle of stockholm and im really excited.

we've been doing church since we got here. freddy on electric guitar and me training people on lights. last sunday night i did the lights myself and it was a lot of fun. forgotten how much i miss it. a part of me wished i was back in sydney with the rigg, stage and people there. dont get me wrong, stockholm is amazing. but sydney was the first place where the magic happened. where i started loving lights.

ok, the battery on my computer is about to run out.
but we are doing great here. life is moving to a new season and we are embracing it in all ways.

last day.

our bags are packed. leaving for atlanta at 4am.
had a great last day. packed in the morning and then spent the day in dothan.
bank errands, antique shopping, cheeburger cheeburger for lunch.
freddy got a haircut at the barbershop where brantley works. its short! looks so different. it just needs to get settled in.
then we had dinner with the family at la parilla (mexican restaurant).
it was sad to say goodbye to everyone, especially when ella started crying. if it only wasnt so long between the times we get to see everyone! eli is gonna be a lot bigger next time we see him. and probably not crying at the sight of a hog head (unless he has gotten scarred for life).

it feels great to go home though. back to business so to say.
but also sad to leave my new family. i must not forget to say goodbye to little linnea before we leave in the morning. she keeps laying down in poop, so her color is not so bright anymore.

im treating you to some footage from the barber this afternoon.

easter.

today is easter sunday. and to recite andy stanley from this mornings message: easter is not about religion, it's about an event. an event that actually has taken place in history and that changed the course of humanity. andy stanley is one of my absolute favorite preachers.
have been thinking about hillsong sthlm and their easter events and im so excited to move up there! also been thinking about church back home in lidköping where this weekend was going to be a weekend of unity with the musicians and the different teams, choirs, soloists etc.

after church we went to walmart to get some groceries. ended up getting the game apples to apples as well. a great game!
You have 7 red cards on hand. the red ones are nouns, people, situations, events etc. Each turn you flip over a new green card, the green ones are descriptive words. you now choose from your hand to pick the red card that matches the green on the best. you take turns judging who wins and you get a chance to argue for your case. the one who wins the most green cards wins the game.

yesterday we had a real american date. dinner and a movie. dinner at olive garden and the movie water for elephants. really good movie, best ive seen in a while actually. great actors, well produced, interesting story. im definitely gonna buy the book and put it on my nook :)

today we have had easter dinner here in echo. lots of people and lots of food.
we held eli up facing the hog head hanging on the wall and he got so scared he started screaming and crying.



tomorrow is the last day and then we are driving to atlanta to fly homewards.

the nook.

yesterday me and freddy went to hang out with some of his friends in enterprise.
we ate and played some fun games.
towards the end of the night i got a nook from a guy named chris! he said he wasn't using it.
whats a nook?
its a reading device from barnes & noble (big bookstore chain). you load it with pdf files, e-books.
what's cool about it is that it's ink! so your eyes dont get tired/annoyed from reading from it like it would if you were reading from a screen.
have had some issues to get it to work properly so we are gonna ride by barnes & noble in dothan this arvo.
we are just about to go actually. gonna watch the new movie water for elephants, with reese witherspoon and rob pattinson (twilight). then we are gonna eat at freddy's favourite restaurant Olive Garden.

the beach and raw material.

today we are going to the beach. not sure exactly where. somewhere around panama city i think.
will be back on sunday. im excited!

It's not in what you've lost; it's in what you have left.

good quote from the book im reading.
im the nostalgic kind. i often think back and dwell on things that used to be.
i also idealize things. i remember only the good things and its easy for me to compare the good things that used to be to the bad things that are. i dont know why. i dont want to think like that, but that kind of thinking seems to be my default.
therefore this quote captured my attention briefly as i was lying in the hot alabama sun by the pool.
i underlined it and kept reading. and now as i was looking in the book i saw it.
life has seasons and will always have seasons. they come and go as naturally as the actual seasons (summer, fall, winter, spring).
through all seasons we are the same raw material. we are actually the same raw material since the day we were born. and then from that moment we are shaped, raised, influenced, inspired etc. so the raw material turns into the person we are. but the raw material is still there. always there. and i believe that the raw material is the one thing that is consistent through every season. it is in a way our safety net, our one thing to fall back on. and i guess my raw material has a tenancy to be nostalgic. but its not all about the raw material, its what we choose do make of it. what sides we choose to live out. when we fell like someone has changed, i think they're living out different sides of themselves. and maybe that's why we usually can get offended when people we know tells us that we have changed. we dont understand because we've been living with the raw material our whole lives. we've just displayed other sides.
i think the way to greatness is to know your raw material and use and develop it into the best possible. bring out the different strengths in different seasons. my nostalgia is going to be a strong side in one season and a weak side in another season. i just need to get smart enough as to know which one is which.

clogged eggs

maybe not the most attractive headline.
but i just got back up form the chicken house where there was a big clog.
that means lots of broken and dirty eggs, like hundreds of them.
holly and ella are here today. :)
ive been doing some school, job hunting and grey's anatomy watching.
the weather is cloudy but warm.
yesterday i laid out by the pool for a while (im getting dark) and finished the book uncensored. already started a new book: believe that you can by jentezen franklin (or however you spell it).
he was speaking at hillsong conference in 2009 and was good so i figured i'd read one of his book.
i normally dont like the kind of self helping christian books.. maybe im just bored.
last night we went to chili's in dothan for dinner. never been there before (only seen it from the office).
we went with kelly, david, david's sister and husband and david's mom's sister.
it was good. kind of like applebees. (not the one in ozark cause that one's baaaaad)
afterwards me and freddy went to holly's house to hang out. i did some dancing with the wii with ella. after she went to bed me, freddy, holly and brantley hung out for a while and then we drove back to echo. i have som more pictures coming up. i just need to stop being lazy and put them on the computer.

ANTM

yeah. that's what happens when you're bored. you start watching the americas next top model marathon on oxygn.
that, and you lay by the pool all day.
i know. my life is horrible right. :)
sarcasm aside, i've had a pretty good day anyway.
been hanging out with ella. been reading this new book i got called uncensored about dating, friendship and sex. for being another american christian book on sex it actually wasn't that bad.
she actually writes about most things that no one else writes about. the taboo stuff.
i dont agree with all of it, but some stuff is really good.
some quotes:

it is only when we no longer compulsively need someone that we can have a real relationship with them. (A. Storr)

unforgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting someone else to die from it.

show me your friends and ill show you your future.

we make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give. (W.Churchill)

anything you compromise to gain you will eventually loose.

now me and freddy are off to meet some of freddy's friends for dinner. but we are going in to dothan early to get some coffee, ice-cream or milkshake and hang out. quality time.

saturday in echo.

good morning.
i awoke to the sound of a rooster yelling. the cellphone tune. mommy.
talked for a bit and then i got ready.
watching ella make easter cards right now. shes being very innovative i must say.
last night holly and brantley were over and we made sloppy joe's. hamburgers, kind of.
the other night i played at rj saxons (restaurant with live music). made $79 :).
ive been preparing a bit for the audition to music school.
today dad had the grand opening of his "new" apple reseller store! im excited to see what it looks like since we left before they set it up.
today im helping mother-in-law kelly to plant flowers.
ella has now made her way over to the keyboard instead. haha, she's playing along with the prerecorded tunes. and playing the harmonica. i love her.

the only place free from the dangers of love is hell itself.

brave words written by C.S Lewis.
to love is the most vulnerable thing in the world.
it's when you love that you have something to loose.
like in batman (and many other movies). when they want to get to the hero they take someone that he loves. the hero can hurt and sacrifice himself all he wants, but he is forced to act when it's someone he loves instead of himself that is at risk.
with love comes pain, or at least the possibility of pain.
you no longer only hurt when things apply to yourself, you also hurt when your loved ones have things happening to them.
is it possible to go through life and love without experiencing pain caused by it?

presents.

it's only noon here but i am really excited.
i just bought the most exciting birthday present for my husband.
im so excited that i wanna tell him. but the excitement would disappear as soon as i tell him and his birthday is not til 7th July.

without getting all mushy and cheesy... ive been reading the five love languages.
*words of affirmation
*qulity time
*gifts
*acts of service
*physical touch

it's interesting how we actually do love in different ways. the book is full of comparisons and actual marriage scenarios where this is lifted.
he (gary chapman) talks about how everyone has an emotional lovetank. sounds dorky i know.
but in order for us to feel loved and cared for and feel good our lovetank needs to be full.
if your love language is acts of service then your partner can say they love you all they want but your love tank will not begin to fill until they do something for you. and if your partners love language is words of affirmation you can hug and kiss them and do all the dishes but their lovetank will still be empty.
the author encourages you to find out your own love language and to find out the love language of your spouse.

it's interesting. you need to love your spouse in a way that they feel loved, not in a way that makes you feel like you're showing them love. cause you can be showing them love all you want but nothing happens until they can receive it and understand that that's what you are doing.
and if your spouse has a love language that you dont speak naturally you need to become bilingual. you need to learn their love language and speak it.

and i thought freddy just needed to learn swedish and me english..

storms and eggs

today is mallorie's birthday!
and yesterday was my little brother tobias'. i cant believe he's twenty. he's an adult, a young adult. it feels like he has grown up in my absence. i left for australia when he was sixteen. he has grown up to such a beautiful and talented young man. it's sad to grow up cause it your leaving your family to start your own family. we'll probably never live under the same roof again.

the night between mon-tues there was a storm here. i woke up late cause the sky seemed to be falling down. lightning was lighting up the room like it was daytime. there were tornados spinning around, luckily they passed us by. ive never been in a storm that intense.
ive been working in the chicken houses a bit. it's very challenging. it's easy to get grossed out, pissed off and frustrated. when after cleaning some hard poop off of eggs one egg burst all over my pants and i had had enough. that was alabama meltdown #2.
#1 was when i was hungry and grouchy and everything smelled like fertilizer.
dont get me wrong though, i love this place.

tonight we are going to go out for dinner and celebrate mallories birthday.
and to make up for the poop ill tell you that there are so many amazing restaurants here.
outback steakhouse (american-australian steak house)
their steaks are the best especially with baked potato with sourcream and butter
la parilla (authentic mexican food)
the fajita quasadilla
mikata (japaneese steak house)
they cook in front of you!
cheeburger cheeburger (american diner food)
(as previously mentioned) you design your own burger
river nile (organic/healthy american food)
grapes, homemade potato chips or sweet-potato fried for a side
and there's free drink refills everywhere, always.

Eli (mallories son) is the cutest baby. he constantly smiles!
since we've been here he has learned how to crawl, clap and hold his own bottle.
it's sad that next time we see him he's gonna have grown so much.
freddy is downstairs now making him loudly laugh with delight.

what else is going on?
im job and apartment hunting in sthlm. and applying for classes for next semester.
i just found out that the lighting desk at hillsong's new venue is a glorious GrandMa light.
oh, how ive missed grandma. she's a dear friend.

yesterday i fell asleep with milk, cookies and the movie a knight's tale. it's an old movie with heath ledger. worth checking out.

an eventful sunday.

birds chirping as the morning sun is warming up the wonderful grounds of echo, alabama.
after lying in the immensely comfortable bed for a while, just cause i could, i got up and got ready for church. oranges for breakfast is the best thing. it's perfect.

me, freddy and josh drove to wiregrass church in dothan and attended the 9am service with kelly and david. wiregrass church is one of the broadcast churches under andy stanley's leadership and vision. he is an amazing teacher. truly. i got two of his books last sunday and im excited to read them. he is very bible-based, practical and relevant.

after church we went for lunch at cheeburger cheeburger. it's a popular restaurant designed like a typical american diner. i got the "semi-serious" burger which was the normal sized burger. but being in america they obviously had the serious burger and even more so the delirious burger. the delirious burger is one pound big and if you can finish it you get your photo taken and go up on the wall of fame.

on our way home to echo we saw a thick dark cloud of smoke rising from the trees. as we got closer to echo we also got closer to the origin of this mysterious cloud. we barely had to search for it til we found what it was. someones trailer (mobile home) was on fire! we watched as the big flames ate away the house of a poor mexican man that was devastated. the firetrucks came after a while and began to put the fire out. it was scary to watch. we don't know what caused the fire or if someone was in the trailer.

when we got back to echo i helped kelly wash her car. i washed the four wheeler too while i was at it. the boys were getting their fishing gear ready. when brantley and tyler came we got ready to go fishing at this pond about ten minutes away. it was a pretty small pond that had trees growing in it. we got into two boats and just floated around trying to catch some fish in the afternoon sun. i caught three! two basses and one blue grill. the boys also caught some.

when the sun was starting to set we drove back to the house and david fixed up the fish so that we can cook it this week. freddy's friend eric and david chucked some oysters (alive ones from yesterday) open. they eat them with crackers and cocktail sauce. i don't care for it that much though.
holly and brantley cooked dinner, fullgrain angelhair spaghetti, bbq chicken and homemade tomato sauce. i made some swedish mudcake for dessert, but it doesn't taste the same at all here.
now im uploading some pictures for you to see.

love becks

wedding and surgery

its been hard to be able to write anything the last few days.
thurs we left to drive downto florida. after 7h we got to lakeland where freddy's sister brianne and other family lives. we hung out with josh (freddy's cousin) and biranne, blaire and mercy.
pizza and a really fun card game filled the night with laughter.

in the morning freddy and josh drove me to mel, on the way we stopped at millenia, a giant shopping mall outside orlando. i was wandering around in urban outfiters for a long time, they had so much awesome stuff.
then we went to longwood where mel grew up (just past orlando).
it was so good to see her! it's been over a year since i saw her last (when we left aus). christina, my old roommate was already there. she knows al the words to every country song. it was great seeing her too. and of course andrew, the groom.
we went to kobi's (japaneese steakhouse) for dinner on fri night. they cook for you at your table.
and that was friday.

saturday we got up and drove to port orange, the eastcoast beach.
we had rehearsal followed by rehearsal dinner. nathan and katie hood came and i got to meet them for the first time in almost two years. (friends from aus)
then we hung out at the beach and at 7 we went for pizza at mel's parents condo. we were up in the penthouse overlooking the beach. it was... awesome!
sat-sun we stayed at one of the hotels by the beach. it was yellow and had a balkony.
we were up talking til 3am.

sunday morning came around and we went to the wedding site. it was so beautiful. we got ready in this big house and the wedding was outside on the lawn facing the beach.
i was one of four bridesmaids.
freddy showed up dressed in black and looked like johnny cash.
the wedding was beautiful! after the ceremony we had pictures taken and then dinner and cake.
the wedding went from 14-18, so not very long compared to a swedish one.
me and freddy were driving back to bama that same night.
freddy got tired and so i drove us across the georgia/alabama stateline and all the way home to echo.

monday morning we got up and went straight to the hospital. david was gonna have his open heart surgery that morning. the surgery got pushed because of some emergencies so he didn't have the surgury 'til tues morning.
so i hung out with holly in the afternoon. we went to see red riding hood at the movies. same director as twilight and the girl from mamma mia. the movie was so bad. i wont even bother to elaborate on that.
then we went to barnes&noble. i got some books: C S Lewis Chronicles of Narnia, all in one book for $20. then i got the five love languages. and i got a photoalbum to make into a wedding album.
around 5 we went to pick up ella from school. she is the best.
we went back to the hospital and from there i went home to echo.
GG (freddy's grandma) made tacos for everyone. i was taking pictures of eli.

tuesday morning we went to the hospital.
after lunch me, holly and jesse (freddy's cousin) went to downtown dothan and looked around and then we went to the museum where holly works.
at night we had, hm, what were they called? proksandwiches and sandwiches with köttfärssås.
we played a boardgame and made up songs. everyone got a topic and a musicstyle.
i got american food and country. i hope i didnt offend anyone.

pics are to come when ive gotten hold of a cardreader.

Day 2

yeah i know, i didn't write a day 1. i was too tired.

so we arrived monday night and by the time we got to the house we'd been traveling for over 24h.
flight was alright, as far as flights go.

yesterday we got up around 9.
freddy went down to the chicken houses and i was studying.
we went for lunch at la bamba, a mexican restaurant in dothan.
there we met holly,ella, mallorie and eli! so great to see them.
eli was born a week after freddy left america in august so neither of us had seen him yet. he is such a cool kid. smiles all the time.
we went back to the house and i hung out with ella all afternoon.
we played school and made lots of art to have an artshow later on.
everyone got here around 5 and we started dinner. freddys choice: hamburgers and hot dogs.
it was great! me and ella showed our stuff and then we played games.

this morning i got up around 9 and studied for a while and freddy went to the chicken houses.
around lunchtime we went to walmart to shop for some groceries.
i had a culture shock, again!
no offense but everyone is on the heavy side and i dont blame them after looking around on the shelves. there's only unhealthy food to get! (at walmart that is)
and when we got to the cashier she packed the bags for us, putting one item in each bag. we ended up with over twenty bags.
i watched a documentary a week ago (from the planet earth series) and it said that if everyone would live and spend like americans we would need three more planets to provide for it. ooops.
when we got back i hung out with the horses all afternoon.
sisco and saby. sisco is having a baby. so it will be sisco, saby and sisco's baby in a while.
i brushed them and took them out for a walk. it was really nice. the sun was hot and i was just wearing shorts and a singlet.
when they were back in their paddock i went to have some icetea on the porch while the sun was getting lower and lower. it was so nice.
now we are about to have some dinner.
tomorrow we are leaving for florida.

life is happening in the meantime

Life is what happens to you when you're trying to figure out what to do with your life

It's kind of scary. All the opportunities we have.
It feels like it takes a lifetime marked by wrong turns to figure out what you actually want to do.
Once you've figured it out, you change your mind. And once you've changed your mind, other opportunities arise. And when those opportunities have passed you realize that you've forgotten what it was in the first place that brought you here.

An amazing maze.
-You can't plan it.

A rational race.
-You need to be on top of your game.

A wild wave.
-You can't control it.

A furious fight.
-To do what is right.

A serious struggle.
-Circumstances grasp you tightly.

A jealous journey.
-You need to keep track on everyone else.

A systematical search.
-Why are we even here in the first place?

A wonderful walk.
-Everyone has different speeds.

A glorious gift.
-Because it's by grace that we were even created.


Over the next few weeks I want to explore these different views and how they affect the way we live.

the new year

what do write on the very first day of the new year?
what to write when i haven't written in so long?
ill write this:
married, check
appartment, check
rome, check
christmas in s-vall, check
awesome new years party, check
and that's just december.
an eventful year behind, an exciting year to come.
if i could ask one thing of this year it is to feel peace.
the kind of peace that surpasses all understanding. that calms you in any circumstance. that gives you assurance when the roads are many and the time is little.
the peace that gives you strenght. the peace that is attractive and appealing.
yes, that kind.
thats all i ask.

ps. wedding pics are under the creative eye of retouch.