return to California

Sven and I are starting to plan on return to California. We have had a wonderful time while living here in Sweden but have decided that it is time to try and move back to the US, and more specifcally to San Francisco. Sven and I are both very excited about this (especially looking forward to better weather and more bike rides), but also really sad to be leaving our family and friends here. I guess all people that have moved around and have family in two different countries face these conflicting issues.

I am also very excited about moving back to California. It has been 11 years since I left, crazy!! It will be wonderful to be able to hang out with my brother, Kim, parents, friends ... everyone!

So the process begins for the big move. The first goal is for me to find a job .. oh no! Such a hard process really. I just hope something great turns up. Then we have to figure out selling our apartment and car and then the whole container thing again. Oj! We hope to try and make the move sometime this summer, it is going to be here before we know it!

British in Norway

Always much laughter and entertainment with the British. It was the same crowd as last year with Matt & Zoe, Sarah & Darren. This was the first time that group has been up there in March and all were surprised to see there was actually a road under the snow as well as rooftops made of dirt. The funny thing was that it was actually colder this week then it was when we were up there in Feb, but it was sunny most of the time which made it wonderful.


I tried my hand at snowboarding this trip. A bit frustrating when it takes so darn long to get down a slope that normally you don't think twice about. I was also very very soar! I only boarded about 2 days but that was enough for me to at least get the hang of and get down a slope pretty good. I think my record was 28 turns in a row without falling.


The highlights of this trip were a new game called snatch which is kinda like scrabble but a bit more fun. I was horrible at it, but it was very funny watching everyone else. Oh the major highlight was that Matt & Sven broke a t-bar!! Unfortunately I was ahead of them with Darren so we missed seeing it but apparently it jut broke and they were standing there with it in their hands. I really, really wish we could have seen it!! There were many jokes about that the rest of trip as you could imagine.

The week was wonderful. I think everyone really enjoyed the break from work and being silly together. One more trip this year up to Trysil for Easter in a couple of weeks ...

long cold, snowy winter

This winter has been much more cold and snowy then last. I can't say that it has really been that horrible. I think the darkness effects me more than the cold because usually I'm not out there for all that long. It is pretty nice to have the snow on the ground as well, it is more beautiful to look at then the cold brown frozen ground. The best part of this time of year is that the sun is starting to come back into our apartment. It's also light when I get up which is so nice. In another month it will probably be light when I go to bed as well. Here's a picture I took last night, from our window, of the street we live on. Looks cold doesn't it. This morning it was -14c (7f) when Sven was biking to work. COLD!

updating

So on the top of my list before our next trip to Trysil is to go back and update my blog, website, photos, etc. So over the next couple of weeks I'm starting at the present and working backwards towards Sept 2005. So you might have to look down the page to see the latest updates ...

Also, in case you didn't notice, you can click on the pictures to see them bigger.

I'm a real Swede now

I did it yesterday, I rode my bike in the snow!! It was a bit warmer yesterday, about 2c (35f) and sunny out so I decided to ride my bike to school instead of taking the tram. I didn't really think about the fact that it had snowed the day before. So the paths were a bit cleanered but not totally and in some places not really at all. So for the first time in my life I had the joy of slipping and sliding on a bike. It was actually really hard work! I think all the Swedes must have really good balance to be able to do that. The worst part is all the slush. When you get into that, your back wheel is going one way, and your front the other. It's also a bit hard to get up hills at some points. I know understand why Ingvor has studs on her tires, she would never be able to get up that big hill to their house without them.

So the best part of it all, is as I was sitting in my Swedish class I looked outside and saw to my horror that the sun was gone and it was snowing again! Oh no! Good thing I had my ski jacket and new warm fleece. So I conqured the snowing road and the falling snow on the way home. But don't think I was alone .... I was out there with all the rest of the crazy Swedes!!!!


Here's a picture a took a month ago or so, of Sven coming home from work on his bike. He still rides everyday when he is here in Göteborg. This morning it was -6c (21f) and that isn't even the worst of the cold.