the final countdown

that's right....T-7 days. this is my final week in Europe...my final Friday, my final weekend, everything. and while i know i will miss my family here like crazy, i can't help but be THRILLED to be going home!

the plan, as of now, is to get in next Thursday into Minneapolis at 10:45pm, where i'll be picked up by Bobbie, my MPLS bff, and be whisked away to Applebees for a Perfect Margarita! yes, seriously, that is the first thing i want upon touching down in the United States. a margarita from Applebees. low class, perhaps. do i care? not at all. besides, my first choice would be a Chipotle burrito, but they close at 10pm. unfortunately. oh, and let's not forget the American-sized appetizer nachos from Applebees. those were a staple in college, and i love them to this day.

Friday i'm hoping to get something done with this mop of mine that barely passes as 'hair' right now...on the wishlist, a good cut and color from the Elizabeth Arden Red Door Salon. expensive and definitely more $$ than i would want to spend, but it's worth it. they do a great job. i just may not be eating for the next month. that night, my wonderful, amazing, sweet, handsome, manly boyfriend is taking me to dinner at Maggiano's, a fabulous Italian restaurant, and then taking me back to Hayward, Wisconsin, his hometown, which is soon to be my new residence!

alright, klara's taken over my lap and demanded we have a picnic outside...next to the French cows. cute, right? the bells were nice the first day, now they're just borderline annoying.

hope everyone has a great weekend!

min familj

'my family'...in Swedish.

i spent the day with the family at Grona Lund, an amusement park here in Stockholm. it's actually in a very beautiful location - right on the Baltic Sea. all of the rides have these amazing views of the sea, and the Old Town, Sodermalm, and Djurgarden...all the prettiest parts of Stockholm. anyway, it was pretty fun, we took the kids this afternoon and rode all of the kiddy rides, and me and Joakim and Annelie took turns going on the 'big' rides, like the Free Fall ride, and the Broomstick roller coaster. i love amusement parks, but Annelie and Joakim kept telling me, 'this isn't much compared to America's amusement parks!' and they were right...the US has some ridiculous roller coasters. but it was still a ton of fun.

after being at Grona Lund (i think it means Green Forest), we went to dinner at Pontus by the Sea, which is one of the nicest restaurants in Stockholm. it's situated right on the sea side, and today was a gorgeous day, so we spent the meal watching the boats come in and out of the harbor, and it was fabulous. the family - from the kids, of course - got me a necklace that's called 'Kisses' and it has 2 little silver 'X's that dangle off a big 'X', and it's supposed to signify a kiss from each kid. it's beautiful and delicate, and i love it.

let me just say, i will miss these days of having champagne BEFORE the meal, having a starter, a huge meal, followed by dessert and a latte. in 9 days it will be back to the world of 2 for 1 appetizers at Applebees...

i have to get packing for my trip to France tomorrow (the taxi is coming at 6AM - ugh), but here's a couple pictures from the night -

help me, Jesus! help me, Tom Cruise!

'help me, Oprah!'

those are one of my favorite lines in the Southern Classic movie, Talladega Nights. Will Ferrell, he's a funny man.

anyway, i'm at my new home, Wayne's Coffee, in Stockholm, and i'm tying to work on my resume. for some reason, i have absolutely no motivation to do so (even though this girl is very unemployed once i get home, and am going to need a job, STAT)...i decided that, after a year of working with 3 children - and those said children having a low level of English comprehension, thus making my communication with them extremely simple and basic - i have forgotten how to write professionally and intelligently. seriously. i have been working on my resume for TWO WEEKS and i'm still struggling.

for the countdown - NINE DAYS til i'm home! i only have three full days left in Stockholm...tomorrow, and then the two days after we get home from France before i fly back. it's so crazy to think about...my weekends in Sweden are all up. speaking of which, a few people have asked me what's going to happen to the blog here once i get home - i've been thinking it over...do i keep it up, shut it down...and i'm leaning towards keeping it up. i've really gotten into this whole thing! but the 'angle' will be a surprise, how about that? it'll be fun one, probably similar to this particular 'american girl in a new country' theme.

anyway. i need to work on the resume/CV...but i'll leave you with a few pictures i took at the summer house.

i could do this

this morning we went to the golf course to hit some balls at the driving range and then have lunch (cause we all hate cooking). this was our second time this week going, and maybe my....i don't know, 5th or 6th time going to the driving range? and while i never really seem to improve, i am finally managing to hit the ball every time, which puts me right on par with klara's abilities. but anyway.

so here we are, at the golf course, and i'm whacking balls about 50 feet away with the driver (that's bad, right?), and everyone around me is wearing khaki shorts, or pants, tennis shoes, sensible polos and nylon jackets. ew. not like what i'm wearing is much better: white shorts, navy-and-white striped shirt, flip flops (i'm not even sure these are allowed), and my standard big dangly earrings and big sunglasses. it was cute, if not completely impractical.

i'm really getting into the whole golfing thing, minus the over-60 'golf uniform', when we go to eat lunch at the clubhouse and i see her. the young golfer girl who has redeemed the fashion of the golf world.... she's wearing long, skinny black shorts, a bright pink tank top, a gray and bright pink argyle sweater, and black and pink Puma golf shoes. And, in a nod to N.M.B (i thought of you today!), giant pearl earrings. she topped the whole outfit off with a skinny pink headband.

i was sold, and decided then and there that, when i get home, i'm picking up golf. AND a cute argyle sweater.

the summer house

here's a few pictures from the last few days here at the sommarhuset (summer house). i love taking pictures of klara because, to me, she is everything that a little girl just IS. and the other two pictures are of the lake behind the house, and some of the brightly colored boats that dot the shoreline. i wish we had one of those belonged to us...across the lake is an old castle that, while you can't see it, the landscape of it looks absolutely beautiful...pastures, big trees, and old servant houses are visible from our side of the lake.

it actually looks a lot like the state of Wisconsin out here...which is where i'll be moving home to in just two weeks. more about that adventure later :)

the middle of nowhere

that's where i am right now - in the middle of Nowhere, Sweden. we spent 2 days at the big Zoo here, Kolmorden, and then have spent the remaining week at Farmor's (Joakim's mom's) summer house out in the boonies. it's been interesting, being in this farm country-rolling meadows-lakes-and-more-lakes area. it's actually very beautiful, and probably everything i imagine when i think of rural Sweden. only drawback is, there's very limited entertainment. my days consist of playing with the kids, laying out at the lake and reading, eating, and running in the evenings. it's been slightly bittersweet, cause every sweet word or goofy thing that the kids do that would normally go un-noticed has been that much sweeter and sillier cause i know that i'm leaving them in just two weeks.

we're here for two more days, and then back to Stockholm for one week, and next Thursday we'll take off for France for five days. that should be really cool, i hear that the ski slopes next to their French chalet turn into cow pastures in the summer with authentic French cows donning cowbells grazing in the Alps. Is that a photo op, or what??

beautiful bali

here's some pictures from my recent trip to Bali, Indonesia. they were taken in various locations, but these should give you a good idea of the culture. they're very into hinduism (check out the picture of the palm-leaf offerings, complete with a Ritz cracker), art (see the scary statue that was posted outside of our villa, and the two men playing those pipe things), and nature (i love the rice paddy and the volcano photos, but my favorite is of the mama monkey and her baby...i'm not an animal person so much, but you gotta admit, it's a sweet picture).