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