swedenusa

One of the benefits of living in an urban setting is convenience. This cafe is only a few steps out of our front door. They make the best “semlor” in Jönköping, and the owners recognize us and ask about my family in the USA. I think it is really a charming place. It has been in the same building for 90 years!   

One of the inconveniences of living in an urban area is the graffiti. Recently I noticed someone “tagged” our beloved cafe!

I am not too sure who “pdh” is…but I am on the lokout for him-her.

I do have my suspicionss about this one however….

Shie, is there anything you would care to admit?

We are getting closer and closer to “the day.” I snapped these pictures during a “fika” today.  I think Mir looks great especially considering it is getting harder to sleep at night. I am so proud of her!

Yesterday we talked with our Dr. and confirmed that our baby is quite stubborn. It is sitting quite comfortably on it’s behind and dosn’t really want to turn downward. We all think it is best to do a C section in this case. So, on Sept.10th we are going to have a new addition to our family! We appreciated your prayers and thoughts, and we are both very comfortable and happy with this decision.

As for the name…So far we like 2 boy names and 3 girl names. It is so much fun to dream about which one we will finally settle on. I wrote all 5 names down and scrambled the letters. Here they are…

AAAEEIIIOOYWHHHLLLLLMMNPSST

Maybe someone can make something of this…maybe not. In any case we can’t confirm anything until Sept 10th… 

Sweden have been very busy covering the big “scandal” in wrestling. In short, a Swedish wrestler was judge against on unfair grounds making him loose and out of the finals. Last minute he shows up for the bronze competition and wins. He gets the medal and then throws it on the floor and walks out. He looses the medal and is no longer allowed to wrestle for life.

We have finally moved on. And now as I type we are watching the highjump finals. In my opionon the only chance for gold. But competition is fierce.

Sometimes you run out of words. How do you share grief? A big hole that can´t be filled up. Tears falling down and that awful selfpity that goes with it.

A good friend of mine just passed away. My boss just called me at home to share the news. I suppose the best way to explain how I feel is to share what she meant to me.

She let me into her life. She shared her upbeat smile everytime I met her. She was one of those who with her intense caring eyes made you feel like there were nothing else more important than to hear you. She was very opinionated but had no problems changing her mind if she saw that another way was better. She was direct and cleared up misunderstandnings if needed. She was loving and stubborn. We had our disagreements but never lost respect for each other.

She was my manager when I first came back to Sweden. She was my aloe vera after all that had happened at my old job sites. She helped me out during my first time as a manager, guiding me while my boss was on parental leave.

She passed away far too young leaving children behind, the youngest about 13 years old.

Monica I miss you deeply, and wish I would have spent more time with you!

I love the olympics. It is a great time for watching those stranger sports I don´t normally follow or pay attention to. I never watch gymnastics or fencing. Swimming is not one of my favorite sports neither is canoe or kayak. But now I watch almost all of it. The theme music, the best of the best all wanting to do their all. Trying to set new records. Everyone gathered at the same place at the same time. It´s fun!

Today Sam and I watched the US, China basketball game. It was so funny hearing the Swedish commentators. They seemed so starstruck by the players. As soon as LeBraun was on camera one of the commentators just got so excited. “He is just a wall of muscles, did you see that dunk, he shot that from way downtown.”

Sweden doesn´t have many chances for medals but today we got the first one, Silver in biking. The footage from the event has been replayed over and over again. An unknown athlete has become a celebrity in Sweden.

Then there is the amazing ahtletes like Michael Phelps. He won his first gold today and he is trying to get 8 of them. He just might do it too.

I left work early on friday and was able to watch the opening ceremonies live on TV. I have vacation this week which means I will be able to get to see all those uncommon sports. Best of all… over here it is all on public television so NO commercial breaks. Just sports!

I thought it might be time to clean out my camera phone, and find something to blog about….so here we go!

This is a picture of a friend’s wedding. It was actually my first wedding in Sweden. It was very simple, but beautiful. They had it in their backyard and just invited friends and family over. Here is a picture of the priest, I really thought it was cool that she wore a traditional Swedish dress.    

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This is my favorite tree. It is only a few blocks from our apartment, and I love walking by it in the evenings. 

This is our new apartment! Mir and I are really excited to move in! It might be a little trickey doing this with a newborn, but we are determined to make it work. Which reminds me…If anyone wants to come visit us between Oct 1 and 14th…you are more than welcome!