Christmas Tour Hemma Hos Oss

This week has been a pleasant mix between calming and insane. I've had a lot of tests and a lot of school in between relaxing days at home.
I've complained a lot this week. We've been trying for what feels like months now to move and every time we get close to having a deal it suddenly falls apart. I think this is like the fourth time an almost-sure deal hasn't worked out. It's disappointing and frustrating. But persevere we do and persevere we will. And in somewhat good news, we have two maybe-sure deals on apartments and that equals one really sure deal, right? I'll keep you updated.

And in even better news, we finally put up our Christmas tree and the whole apartment feels very cozy. There are two little presents under the tree wrapped in plain, brown paper. We have full bellies, warm radiators, and each other. A lot to be grateful for.
Above is a photo of my Christmas/winter decor for our bedroom. I used a big glass IKEA bowl and filled it with Christmas lights. It has a really nice glow and I'll probably leave it until March. It makes the bedroom feel magical (and bedrooms should feel that way, right?!!)
I'll now take you on a tour of our Christmas decorations. I bet you're excited about that.

Here is our tree. He's cute and a bit scrawny. Thankfully my mom is awesome at decorating trees and I learned a lot from her. Like, put bigger ornaments toward to back to cover up the empty spaces. Thanks, Mom. Last year G and I got in a huge fight about the Christmas lights on tree. When I asked him to buy Christmas lights I assumed he'd buy the normal ones, the ones I'm used to. He bought candle lights, the ones he's used to. It was a silly fight. It's interesting to think about how different (and still so much the same) Christmas is for the both of us. I really like the candle lights now.

Oh, please pretend to not notice our "tree skirt." It's an old sheet. I just hate the bare legged look- not that the sheet is much better.

This is what you see when you walk into our apartment. A little silver tree! And my collection of old science beakers, a candle, and a necklace.

It wouldn't be Christmas in Sweden without one of these "jul ljusstakar" (Christmas window lights) in our window. Or our glögg cups. I hope you like our view, it's of a parking garage.

Advent candles. It my first time to celebrate Advent. I'm very focused on making sure the candles burn correctly. And our nativity scene! It fits inside a little matchbox, very cute.

Our living room window has a better view (of our garden) than the kitchen but here the blinds are closed. Last year I dipped a bunch of branches in white paint to use for decorating presents. I had some left over so I stuck them in these IKEA vases.

And finally here is an up close of one of my favorite ornaments. A beaded pine cone. Just for a bit of sparkle and pizazz.

Merry Christmas you guys. Remember to be grateful for the small things like warm shoes, chocolatey brownies, and big hugs from those you love. It makes everything else a bit less chaotic and crazy and your creepy apartment feel like a penthouse.

apartments and photos

Yesterday we cleaned our apartment really, really well. We were supposed to have someone over to look at it because we're thinking of trading our firsthand contact for another's. Through a website called Lägenhetes Byte you can do a direct trade or a triangle trade for apartments all over Sweden.
One of the most coveted things you can have in Sweden is a firsthand contract for an apartment, especially in the bigger cities: Stockholm, Göteberg, and Malmö. It's not easy to come by, I'd imagine it's similar to getting an apartment in New York. You can read about how hard it is to get a first hand contract here - the post discusses apartments in Stockholm but it's pretty similar here in Malmö and from what I can tell, it's getting worse.
Anyways, we were supposed to have someone over who was interested in a trade but at the last the minute she cancelled on us. Since our apartment was really clean we decided to take a few pictures to add to our ad on Lägenhetes Byte. I thought I'd share a few them with you guys. I like our place. A lot. But I'm ready to move. I have a lot of new ideas for our next apartment and I can't wait to have an opportunity to use them.

We took these photos around 3:00 in the afternoon. As you can see, it was already pretty dark outside (for 3:00 in the afternoon!) All of our nice looking furniture is either second hand or given to us. Everything else is IKEA.

in between

Every once in awhile I get really, really, really homesick. When I first moved here I decided I wouldn't be homesick because it is counter productive to me if want to make a life here. Which I do. But sometimes I feel homesickness with such intensity that I become depressed for days.  Right now is one of those times (the last one was in June).

I've been missing Texas a lot lately. Everything about it.  As of December it'll be a year since I've been back to Texas. I'm excited about visiting the States in one week (!!!) but New York is not the same. Still good, but not Texas.
I miss the friendliness of Texas, grocery stores with so much choice, country music, Texas music, warm weather evenings, amazing sunsets, the easiness of English, outrageous Texan pride, the easiness of the life I'd always had until recently, English speaking church,  my family, my friends, Tex Mex food, frozen margaritas, feeling like I actually know what's going on, driving my car, and so much more.

I'm getting tired of Sweden right now. The grey skies are back, the cold is back, the rain is back. I am tired of not knowing how the systems here work, of public transportation and being crammed like sardines on a bus, missing my family, of constantly feeling on the "fringe", of the lack of choice and originality. I am tired, so tired, of Swedish- reading Swedish, writing Swedish, listening to Swedish, and struggling to speak Swedish. And feeling bad when people speak English for my benefit.

Lately I've had a few downs here and I'm thinking more and more about what if we were to move back to the States sooner than we've already planned. But as familiar as the States is to me, I will still feel like an outsider when I go back. It's inevitable after spending almost two years in another country.

So I guess all around I feel a bit lost.  Between two countries: one is my home but becoming stranger and stranger to me and the other is so strange but could maybe be home.

I keep trying to shake myself out of this funk but I can't right now. Maybe New York will help.
Any suggestions?

surprise! surprise!

I mentioned yesterday that I spent part of my afternoon planning a surprise.  The surprise was for my husband when he got home from work.

I blew up a few balloons that I purchased earlier today and tied them together with thread (and later dental floss when I ran out of thread!).  The first balloon was sitting outside our front door when G came home.

And then he had to follow the rest of the balloons down the hallway and into the kitchen.

Where I had dinner set up (notice the make-shift linen table cloth). Dinner that night was sweet corn risotto. And there was another surprise for G in the fridge...

Swedish ölkorv (or beer sausage) which G loves.

Yay for surprise!

this week is a good week

It is rainy and cool here today. A big sigh of relief, finally. Maybe I should kick myself for that one, but seriously- it's been super hot here lately. With no AC. Many of the busses here do not have AC. A lot of the stores do not have AC. Our apartment does not have AC. And it's been so hot. It's been great, but also a bit exhausting- constantly sweating.
Yesterday was our first day back in town. G had to go to work and I played the part of yuppy housewife. I ran a bajillion errands and met my friend Jenny for coffee and the best gelato in town.
The heat continued well into the night and G woke up in the morning and opened our back patio door to let some cool air in. Our bedroom window only opens a bit (out of safety) but right now I feel like safety can take a backseat- I want cool air!
Thankfully it has been raining. So the air feels a bit more breathable.

My BFF leaves for Sweden tomorrow. She leaves pretty early in the morning and then arrives here (on Thursday) even earlier in the morning! I can't wait. She is here for two weeks and a lot of the trip is already planned to the very last second- I feel like we need more time to do everything!
I am absolutely thrilled- it will be so so so good to see not only my friend but someone from my home.

But now I have a list a mile long of things I want to do before she arrives and sine the rain has let up- it's time to wash those windows!

there is no ship like friendship

It's funny. I started writing a long, long post about how homesick I've felt lately. It's been hot here lately. Hot and sunny. We've had incredibly long days with nothing but pure sunshine and it's been great. But it's brought back a lot of Texas nostalgia for me. So much so that I spent this whole morning reading online excerpts from D Magazine.

I've missed enchiladas from Mia's with my parent, walking their dog around Oak Lawn in the evening, smelling the street, the wavering heat steaming from the pavement, and ice cold, frozen margaritas with my best friend Leslie. I've missed warm evenings, short shorts, and the unmanageable, utterly exhausting heat.

It's funny and true, but you never really think you will miss your home town or that it's anything special until after you move away. 

So, here I was sitting in an arm chair, writing, and drinking coffee when there was a knock at the door.

And the post-lady was there with a package for ME! 

It was from Leslie (who will be visiting us in like two weeks!!!). I started shaking I was so excited! 

In the package was a ton of jolly rancher candies, sour gummi worms, really cute earrings, an awesome necklace, a long letter, and the best summer mix cd ever.

I have the greatest friend. She also managed the use the Dallas Morning News Puzzle Section as some padding for the package- I'm not sure if she is aware of my affinity for crossword puzzles but I am one happy person to have Texas news with me!

I met Leslie Spring 2007. We had the same class. This is also the same class that I met my husband in!  We sat next to each other but we didn't talk much. In Spring 2008 we had another class together and that was about the time that I started realizing that I was in love with my husband (who at the time was living in Sweden). Leslie and I sat next to each other again and I needed someone to talk to about my crazy love situation so we started talking about it. We had a group project together which meant we got to hang out a lot.

And a friendship was formed. I am so, so, so grateful for my friendship with Leslie. 

I don't have many friends (that sounds sad, but it's true). I am getting a lot more now, and I am so blessed and happy with these friendships.

I am so happy to have Leslie in my life and even though we are countries apart, we have kept in touch.

I am happy that she is coming to visit me. We are going to have a blast.

Friendships are a really good thing. 

PS. You should check out Leslie's blog. She is an amazing writer and has great taste in music.

rainy, lazy morning

Right now, we are both laying in our new bed, drinking coffee, and waiting for time to pass. I have a dentist appointment in 40 minutes- my bus leaves in 20. It's been raining outside, I don't want to leave to apartment today. It is much too cozy.

Recently, we purchased a new, king-sized bed of blocket.se. This is a story for another post, but I just want to say how differently we both sleep now. We sleep so much better.

I also started my intensive Swedish courses on Monday. Already, I am doing better in Swedish and speaking more in Swedish. But yesterday, I was Swedish-ed out after waking up and reading my new Swedish mystery novel (although it's a remedial version....), going to class, and then reading some more after class. That was a total of about eight hours of Swedish.

But now, I have a bus to catch!

This is a picture from another rainy day. We seem to have a lot of those now.

tuesday evening

Tonight we had a pre Cinco de Mayo party. Everyone was busy tomorrow, so it had to be today.
We made margaritas and four different Mexican themed dips to go with our oily, Swedish corn chips. We invited some friends over and spoke in French accents. It was a good evening.

We bought a bunch of cacti about a month ago. Surprisingly, they are still doing well. The sombrero decoration is from my most recent birthday.

Four dips: guacamole, black bean with roasted garlic and roasted corn, sour cream with roasted red pepper, and fresh salsa.

Oh margaritas! I thought I only liked frozen margaritas- I was wrong. We're still working on perfecting the recipe, I don't like them to be too sweet. But yes, this is what dreams are made of.