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.