Christmas!

I've been busy with many things so there hasn't been any time to write lately. School is taking a lot of my time and the time that is left I'm too tired to bother. Anyway... It's Christmas! We celebrated yesterday together with my parents, my grandmother and my sisters. It was nice as always with lots of tasty food and many pretty presents! Toine got new underwear and useful things for his car, and I got cousy things like pink slippers, a pink fuzzy blanket and new towels! Together we also got a lot of things for the little baby. From Toine I got a camcorder so we can make movies of the baby after it's born! I gave Toine a lamp that he had been looking at from IKEA.

The Christmas tree at my parents place after everyone had put their presents down under it :)

The Christmas food we all enjoyed. The Vegan things for Elin is up front on the small table :)

The baby things we got as presents. The blanket to the right is handmade by my mother. The hat and gloves on top (handmade by my mothers friend), together with the sheets, the socks, the bunny, and the bed things were from my parents. The 2 pretty bodies and the black Barba stuffed animal was from Yvonne and her boyfriend Ville. The really cute sleeping-body with the sheep on it was from Elin and her boyfriend Simon!

Ultrasound!

We had our first ultrasound! It was so much fun! The baby wouldn't stop moving at all hehe. Everything looked fine! The new date is calculated to be around April 26 instead of 19.

Week 18

The weeks are going fast! I went to the health care central today to get a vaccination for the seasonal flu. Pregnant women get the vaccine for free. And next week I start my internship so it will be good to be protected then as well.

We have lots of snow already. I hope the snow stays for a while longer so Toine's parents can see it when they come haha. Toine and I have been cleaning a lot the past few days so it will be nice and clean when his parents arrive. And also so we don't have to clean as much for Christmas since I will be busy with internship and most likely be very tired when I come home.

It's getting so dark I'm really longing to put up some Christmas decorations!

All Hallows Eve

All hallows eve in Sweden is not the same as Halloween in the U.S. Today everyone goes to visit the resting places of their loved ones to decorate it and light candles to honor those that have passed.

Week 17

Already, feels like time is going so fast! Saw the midwife yesterday again. Blood pressure was 130/75 so it's good. I haven't gained any weight either which is good for me. I feel the baby move every now and then. Not every day sadly but that's normal when it's this early still. In a few weeks Toine's parents will come on a visit hopefully. If everything stays well with them.

Toine has been working so hard lately that his boss told him to go out for dinner with me and go to the theater or something else that is fun. And that we could just send the bill to the company. It was very nice so now I'm looking around for some fun performances to watch.

Week 16

Today it's 15+0, 15 weeks have passed and week 16 has begun. Yesterday I felt the first movement. It was fun. Felt like something was poking from the inside a little. The baby is about 11cm long by now and weighs about 80g.

Care package from the Netherlands

Toine's parents sent a care package friday last week and it arrived here on wednesday. Sadly I was not at home so we had to wait until yesterday to pick it up at the postal office. The package was full of dutch candy and cookies. Dutch peanutbutter for Toine. Some butterfly decorations and 2 nice winter/christmas candles. And last but not least, lots of baby things!

Oh and we got the first snow of the year yesterday. Toine woke up in the morning and looked out the window. He groans "noooooo" and I wake up from pretty sleep. I ask him "whats the matter?". Toine answers "have you looked outside?"... I'm like "ehm...no...you just woke me up..." and I go back to sleep. Hehe.

The baby stuff that was in the package!

Winter view from our livingroom.

Snow on our car!

Dinner and a movie

Went out for dinner and a movie yesterday. We saw The last airbender and it was quite good actually. Afterwards we went searching for a restaurant to eat at. We stumbled across the "Lucky Garden". An empty chinese/vietnamese restaurant. We figured what the hell, lets try it. It was a disappointment. I ordered something with duck, but the duck was way too dry. And Toine got nearly cold food. The ladiesroom smelled like rotten vegetables and the soap was a 40cm large Hello Kitty filled with diluted washing up liquid haha. Oh well. Atleast the movie was good!

Dietitian and physiotherapist

2 people I'm going to meet to help me with the pregnancy! The physiotherapist I'll see next week already but it's been hell to try and reach the dietitian. The only time to call and book an appointment is between 1pm and 2pm. The only problem is, I never get through! The line is always busy! Today I finally got through however, only to find out that the first free time they had was at the end of November! Oh well, all I could do was say thanks and accept the time I got.

Toine has been working late every day this week, but yesterday when he came home he had pretty flowers for me! I decided to book tickets to the cinema this weekend, and we are going to se "The last airbender". It looks like a good movie!

Little gifts

Toine's mother and father are making a frame with baby clothes in it. The clothes have apparently been treated with something so that when they dry they become hard. Toine's mother is then going to paint on it and bring it with when they come to visit in November!

It becomes like a painting and I think I will hang it up in the bedroom at first.

Little mini socks!

Week 13

First trimester is over. Second trimester has started! I don't eat much anymore. For some reason it feels like my stomach gets full after just half a portion. Oh well I guess it's a good thing! The pain from my pelvis persists and I'm going to see a physiotherapist about it next week.

We were at a dinner party last Sunday with all my relatives. My parents grilled the salmon that my uncle Pekka caught in Norway this summer. They also made creamed potatoes with feta cheese in it. Grandmother had some cheeses with her. Uncle Tommi and his wife brought a yummy salad with olives and feta cheese as well, and wine. Uncle Jussi and his wife had apple pie with for dessert. Toine and I made 3 different sauces to eat with the fish. The lemon sauce was a disaster however. It was the first time I ever tried that recipe and I'm sure as hell now gonna use it again!. And last but not least uncle Tappi brought alcohol free cider that was yummy.

Toine's mother has made a care package for us that she is gonna send. It's apparently full of baby things and I'm a little curious!

Week 11

Approaching the "magic border". It is said that after the end of week 12 the risk of miscarriage is super small. All the organs are finished by now, so the only risk left is the placenta not functioning properly. Anyway, the little one should be around 5cm now and growing like crazy.

I had my sign-up at the maternity care center last week. Had some blood tests done and blood pressure and so on. The midwife asked a lot of questions about hereditary illnesses and our social situation and many many things. Blood pressure was fine (115/70), a little bit low for being me but it's just good, and my hemoglobin level was definitely fine (143 g/L). I used to be a blood donor so I know my levels are always over 140 hehe.

Now for something else. I went mushroom picking with my mom earlier this week and we found a very good amount of black trumpet mushrooms yay! Yummy Yummy!

Last Thursday I bought some Christmas presents for my sisters and for Toine's parents in the Netherlands! I also bought new plates for ourselves!

Tomorrow Toine and I, plus my mother and perhaps my little sister Elin, are going to a big market and I hope to find many fun things to buy, look at, and possibly eat haha.

Week 10

All the organs have basically finished forming now and the little one only needs to focus on growing! It should be around 3,5-4cm by now.

The morning sickness (which I had 24/7) is almost gone already. So I don't need to take the pills for the nausea anymore yay! I'm really tired though because I'm doing an internship at the emergency ward at Karolinska Hospital. It's very interesting and I get to see many new things but it it also makes me tired. I think I go to bed around 8 or 9 in the evening already.

Week 9

The embryo is now around 3cm and starts to look more and more like a baby. The jaws are fully formed and the neck is developing. Ears and nose are clearly visible and the feet are now 2 milimeters. It can already feel touch and reacts to it. It can have hickups. Finally the gender of the fetus is starting to take shape.

I went to the health central last week and got some pills that helps against the nausea. I can finally feel like a person again and eat like normal yay!

Game on!

Week 8

The embryo is now around 1,8-2cm, you can already see toes and fingers. The heart has developed it's 4 chambers. It has lips, a small nose and eyelids. The chest is growing and stretching and studies show that you can already measure some activity in the brain. The elbows and knees are developing and the arms are getting longer.

My nausea is on top. I eat mostly fruit and soups and lay down on the sofa whenever I can because when I move I get even more nauseous... I'm going to the health care center today to see if I can get some medication to help.

Week 7

We have entered week 7 of the pregnancy. So far so good, but the risk of miscarriage is still big. After week 12 the risk is significantly smaller.

The embryo is now around 1,3 cm and grows quickly.
It can already move a little, but the movements are too small to be noticed. The eyes have started to form, and the hands and feet looks like little paddles. The brain has already started to split into 2 halves. The heart is beating and the right and left chamber of the heart are being created.

As for me I have caught a terrible cold and feel horrible right now. Not only am i nauseous and sore, tired, get frequent headaches, and have to pee all the freaking time from the hormones. I also cough, sneeze, have a slight fever and have to blow my nose a million times a day. yay... not.

oh well...luckily the little one is well protected in there.

Week 6

We have known for a week now and decided it was time to tell everyone. It's still early and anything can happen. But it feels like if I break the news, nothing bad can happen. Hehe, lets hope that's the case.

Lunch!

Dutch Poffertjes!

My "new" aquarium!

Later this week I will redo the small aquarium too!

Cora

Jan

Lesley

Lesley

Eelco

The whole aquarium.

Aquarium

Working on the aquarium. Pictures will come soon when it's all done!

Månkarbo Maran 2010

Saturday was the day of the yearly marathon race at my grandmother's country place. The route always passes on the road outside her large garden so we sit there and cheer for all the contestants! They run past a total of six times before they are finished! A lot of the contestants appreciated our support and waved to us! Some people even came from Järfälla, which is where I live so it was a lot of fun! We even recognized some people from the marathon 2008. Sadly we were all busy last year, 2009 so we couldn't cheer for them then.

I am very impressed with all the people that were running. Old and young, big and small, men and women!

Some men running for Team Skavsåret IF Järfälla.

A Group of people running together.

A lot of people looked and smiled when they saw us cheering.

Some people were waving at us or showing thumbs up!

Old and young people were participating! Some were smiling when they heard us cheering, others were too concentrated at running but I'm sure they appreciated it as well.

Waving back at us, and smiling!

Sweden and the Netherlands

A lot of things has happened the past few weeks. First Toine's parents came over and we went on some fun things. Skansen, a day cruise to Åland and back with Silja Line, went shopping on Stinsen shopping center. Also a trip to Skokloster slott and last but not least, a traditional Kräftfest (crayfish party).

They bought some new fishes for my aquarium as well. Two blue Gurami which I named Eelco and Lesley, after Toines little brother and his girlfriend. And two dwarf Gurami which will be back ups... hehe.

Friday the 30th we went to the Netherlands to visit the rest of the family. I brought with me some gifts from Norway to Eelco and Lesley. Two knives from the arctic circle center, and for Lesley a handmade bracelet from the Sápmi folk (click link to read). The native people of northern Scandinavia. I hope they liked it.

While in the Netherlands we went to see many fun things. A nice park, the Dolphinarium and Burger's Zoo. We also went to my favorite wok restaurant. We decided that next year Toine and I will go by car so we can buy more things and bring it home. We also got a very nice gift from Eelco and Lesley. Some very cool aquarium decorations! Very cool.

We got home last friday and it has been a busy weekend too.

Toine's parents,

Are coming over tomorrow, they are going to be here until Friday. Toine and I have been super busy with cleaning so everything is looking nice and pretty tomorrow! There are only a few things left to do, and that is the bathroom, and the guest room. Then vacuum and wet wipe the floors. Have to go over to my friend's place and feed their cats too, because they are on vacation. But they will come home tomorrow evening.

When I checked earlier this week, they said it would be sunshine almost all week. But today they changed it to rain almost all week. Blegh! Luckily there will be sunshine on Monday, and Tuesday...hopefully. Monday we are going to Skansen, and Tuesday we are going on a day cruise with Silja Line yay!

Fishing

Me and Toine went fishing last Wednesday with my parents and my uncle Tommi, and Pekka... Plus Günter. At first it looked like me and Toine wasn't going to get any fish, but after Toine went with my dad instead things went better for him. I had to act nurse and pull a flyfishing hook out from Günters thumb, and put a nice looking bandaid on it. Me and Toine ended up with a fine looking rainbow trout!

Here is Toine, fighting a fish, together with my dad.

Illuminati!

It's a secret, thats all I'm going to say!

Day 12: Friday

Dad woke us up at like 4am at the break of dawn and outside it was the prettiest light I have ever seen! The sky was fiery orange and pink from the sunlight and there was even a small rainbow! I took pretty pictures! I’m anxious to get home now. I miss my sweetie Toine! I slept the rest of the trip home. Now I’m home! Yay! I’m home! But I won’t see my sweetie until in the evening. I’m still at my parents place because I so need to shower, and help them empty the caravan. It leans towards me having dinner here and that Toine will come too. So this is me signing out for now!

Day 11: Thursday

We woke up super early... haha. The boat to the glacier was going to leave at 10, but we were lucky because a buss filled with biologists and other scholars had booked a private tour one hour early, but there was enough room for me, mom and one more guy. The boat trip took 20 minutes and after that there was a hike up the mountain which would take 1h 30 minutes. The other extra guy went off like greased lightning and I swear to god he was up within 40 minutes. I and mom were not so bad though, we came up second and third after him at a time of 1h 5 minutes! I’m a little bit proud of that I have to say. The view was amazing! The glacier arm stretched down to the water and had some cracks in it and it looked like pieces were going to break off any time, but sadly they didn’t. I took a lot of pictures and mom and I started searching for the first guy. We named him the mountain goat hehe. But we couldn’t see him. On the way down from the mountain we had a lot of extra time so we took some photos of the waterfall right there and climbed around a bit extra. Then all of a sudden we saw him again! The mountain goat! So we talked a bit to him while we were waiting for the boat back. He was a nice young guy. He said he was from Switzerland and climb mountains and caves and stuff back home so no wonder he went off like a mountain goat... He showed us some pictures he had taken because he climbed all the way up to the highest point of the mountain and got a different view than we did. And we discussed cameras and lenses and filters and stuff. He suggested I should get a polarizing filter which I intend to look into as soon as I get home. And I told him about the IR-filter my sister has and he thought it sounded cool. He was very nice to talk to and mom told him about the marble caste which is not too far away and he had never heard of it before. He was very grateful and was going to check it out. I was exhausted when we got back but it felt good to have been able to go up there after all. Despite my foot and lack of stamina which is apparently not as bad as I thought. Now my foot hurts like hell though. After this little trip we started our long journey home and it wasn’t very eventful. We met up with my sister in Åsele so she could give her birthday present to my mom. And then more driving. We stopped at a resting place for the night, but my dad only want to sleep for a few hours because apparently it’s not long left before we come home. So I’m going to sleep once again in a caravan with no heat. But this time the weather outside is nice and warm so it should be no problem. Good night!

Day 10: Wednesday

Woke up today when dad decided that today was the last day, it was time to go home. The rain made the river rise too much so there was absolutely no chance left to catch a fish. I got sad and happy at the same time. Since I like Norway so much but also I miss my cutie Toine a lot now. So we spend the morning packing everything together in the caravan so nothing would move during transport. And then we journeyed over the mountains to a new valley called Mo I Rana. The trip took a while and nothing really interesting happened during the car ride. The river Rana had also flooded from all the rain and was full of fallen trees, and roots and branches. We stopped at a camping place with no cell phone reception and no electricity. It was from there, the boat would leave that would take us to the glacier tomorrow yay! I took some pictures, we had dinner, and then I spent the evening with crosswords since there wasn’t anything else to do. Mom thought about going to the marble castle, but since it had been raining, and it was late and not much light. We decided to save it for next year since it would be too dangerous to go there at this time. Now we are going to sleep in the caravan with no heat. But I got my sheets and a blanket so it should be fine. Good night!

Day 9: Tuesday

Woke up a little earlier today since we were going to the salt current. I have no clue why but I’m just really tired during the days now. I guess I’m not getting enough sleep. I mean after all I’m up to around 2 am every night it seems, and mom wakes me up around 9 every day, 7 hours is kind of cutting it short for me, and I don’t like naps because it takes too long for me to wake up after a nap. They make me feel like a zombie instead. Before we left I saw a guy on the camping place with the exact same clothes that Toine has, and the same hair and body type as well. I miss my cutie now! But I don’t think I will be home before Sunday. I’m counting on Sunday, or Monday... The road to the salt current was a bit long, but not so bad. There were some beautiful places so I took some pictures through the window of the car while we were driving. It’s a cloudy day sadly so they might be a bit dull. The salt current however was amazing to see. It’s the ocean pouring into a small bay at the coast. And the tidal forces are so strong, and the bay is so narrow, that it creates a really strong and fast current. Today they measured the speed of the water to be 23 knots, almost 12 meters/second. The shape of the bay makes the water circulate around and create large maelstroms, apparently the strongest in the world! The water looked like it was boiling! Really cool. On the way back from there we stopped at a marble mine. Also very cool so see the marble in the mountain that they have been cutting through. I took some pictures and brought some stones. I guess I will try to polish them at home or something hehe. Mom and I also walked a bit further to a small lake, ending in a waterfall and a small river, really pretty. I had to climb down the waterfall a bit, even though it was raining and the rocks where a bit slippery. I took some pretty pictures here as well. Too bad about the rain, but the weather is so unpredictable here. I mean, it might rain for the rest of the vacation so I better take the chance when I get it. It took about an hour to walk there and back again. So now my foot is bad again. The rest of the day I spent in the caravan with crosswords and a movie. I also wrote the postcards today and posted them. Now the rain is falling heavily onto the roof of the caravan... making an awful lots of noise and I’m not sure if I can sleep. Mom and dad say they like the sound and that it's soothing, but I think it’s disturbing. Oh well. It's 1am now and I’m going to read a bit to make myself tired. Good night!

Day 8: Monday

Woke up around 3, and 4, and 6.30 and then finally at 9. It was a very windy night but also very warm. Mom thinks it’s because yesterday was such a warm day that the isolation material in the caravan is still heated, because the radiators are off and still it’s around 25 C inside. I had both windows open all night long which means I now have my original amount of mosquito bites x2. Or something like that...I’m getting immune to them now cause they don’t itch nearly as much as they did in the beginning. I think the allergy pills are helping as well, thank god. Not too bad on my feet still. However all this sightseeing and hiking has made my bad foot go worse again. It’s starting to piss me off now and as soon as I get back home I’m going to make an appointment to the doctor. A new doctor, cause I’m sick of this! Anyway, mom and I had breakfast and then my dad came home, no luck fishing again sadly. All the rain has made the river rise and my dad says the fishing is bad when the river is high. Well he usually knows his stuff so I believed him. He took a nap and went back to try again after a while. My mom and I spent the day with desperate housewives and crosswords, and candy. Around 3pm dad came back and we went sightseeing to a place called "segelfjället" the sail mountain. It was beautiful. A mountain almost completely vertical straight down into an emerald green lake. Mom and I are planning on hiking up to that mountain next year when my foot is better (hopefully). On the way back I saw a grotto with a waterfall coming out of it. And on another mountain I thought I saw a hidden hatch or something. Mom said it’s the Illuminati that made it. Well she usually knows her stuff so I believed her. Mom says whenever there is something mysterious going on, it’s the illuminati. The Illuminati seem to be some really busy bees then. Back home again my mom and I passed the time with some more crosswords and desperate housewives and after dad went to bed we looked at the film "Angels and Demons" and I’ll be damned...there they were again those darn Illuminati. Mom is right, they are everywhere! Oh well. It's 1.50 am. If the weather is bad, dad is gonna drive us to the salt-current tomorrow, awesome! Good night!

Day 7: Sunday

I woke up semi early today. 9 in the morning. I had breakfast and helped mom clean the caravan a bit. My dad came home and my uncle got a salmon! Yay! 6.5kg, a real beauty, nice and clean, silvery shiny. Since it's moms birthday today and my dad was in a good mood, he decided to finally take us to the canyon we wanted to see. It was a tricky road and we took the wrong turn a few times, but in the end we managed to get it right and had to walk for about 20 minutes, up an old tractor road, quite steep. I’m embarrassed to say that after those 20 minutes I was completely exhausted... but it was well worth it because once we reached the end of the road we got so high up, the trees were no longer in the way for beautiful close-up photos of the snowy mountains, and there was a little waterfall, little but very wild, at that exact place. Just beautiful. And the sun was shining. I got a little burned but oh well. So worth it. Mom and I climbed down to the edge of the waterfall and took some more pictures. We also found a subterrainian water path and I took a picture of the small cave. Mom said that’s where the underground moss people live. Mom usually knows her stuff so I believed her. They must be really small to fit in there, but perhaps they have larger entrances somewhere and that small place was like a window or something. My dad also drove over to a larger waterfall where I took cool pictures. I sacrificed my shoes for that haha. There was a small plateau in the middle of the waterfall which I, agile like a mountain goat, jumped over too. Mom of course followed and I took some pictures of her in front of the waterfall as well. Mine and moms shoes were soaking wet afterwards but it was soooooo worth it. When we got back he had some birthday "fika" for mom, fika is like coffee, buns, cookies, lemonade, all that stuff together. Like a coffee break but 10 times better! I don’t think there is a suitable English word for it. We joined my dad to a new fishing place and I decided to go exploring on my own. There was a small water draft I wanted to reach. But in order to do that I had to get my shoes wet again. Well, they were still wet so what the hell. Dad was not satisfied with the place though so they left kind of early. We had dinner at the restaurant here at the camping. It was quite good food. I had reindeer steak with creamed potatoes and cloudberry sauce. It was yummy but the meat could have been more rare for my taste. It’s the soccer finals today. Netherlands - Spain. We watch it after the dinner since Toine is Dutch. After the match, Spain won 1-0 in the extension, blegh, we had some caramel pudding for dessert. And then I spent half the night watching desperate housewives again with mom. It’s now 2.15 am and I’m going to bed. Good night!

Day 6: Saturday

I woke up this morning after a cold cold night. There have been electricity problems on the camping yesterday and apparently this night as well, cause the heater had been off half the night and I was freezing like hell. I also noticed I now have more mosquito bites than there are stars in the Milky Way... Luckily I have managed to keep my feet relatively bite free. If there is something I’m sensitive about it's mosquito bites on my feet. The ones under my feet I can never scratch to a satisfying level cause of the thick skin. I usually end up having to scratch with a pointy item, and give myself wounds which are even more annoying because they get torn open every time I have to scratch... Last year I had to put anesthesia gel and cortisone cream on my feel daily and make sure to have them wrapped up in bandages at all times to refrain from scratching. This year I’m trying to avoid that by putting mosquito repellant scream on my feet before bedtime. Mom said something about the poison being absorbed into my body, well she usually knows her stuff so I believed her. But I don’t give a damn. I woke up late this day. My mom had already gone to the store so I didn’t get up until lunchtime. As mom started putting breakfast on the table, dad came home from his fishing trip. No luck this morning either. I spent the beginning of the day editing in Photoshop again. And then mom and I decided to go U.E. to a small waterfall nearby. It became a 2 hour walk and now I have even more mosquito bites because I forgot to bring the mosquito repellant... and my foot hurts. But I got some more pretty pictures. My mom complained that I never took pictures of people and our vacation but I like to take pictures of nature and a person in a pink fleece jacket doesn’t blend in well...simple as that, but I'll try and do better. When on our way down the mountain we ended up on a small forest path. And as we walked under a fallen birch, mom said "we are now entering the land of the mountain king". Well she usually knows her stuff, so I believed her. I wondered if I would see the infamous Bjärv this time around but we only heard the growling noises it makes, never really saw it. It must be camera shy or something. When we got home I was too tired to join my dad to the fishing place so I spend the evening watching desperate housewives with mom, until dad got home. No luck this time either. We all had some sandwiches and now it's bed time. It’s half past midnight and I’m going to read a bit before I doze off. Good night!

Day 5: Friday

My foot hurts a lot this morning. Mom woke me up at 9.30, a bit too early if you ask me considering the time I went to bed. I had a lazy day today. My mom did some laundry and I spent the day editing my photos in Photoshop. I’m about half way done with the photos from the traveling days. It’s a lot and since it was cloudy weather when in the mountains some photos are a little dull and not as vibrant as I would want them. My dad came home from his morning fishing trip after lunch time. Their friend had lost a salmon while they were there this morning. Apparently Günter had assembled his fishing line incorrectly, and it snapped clean off while fighting the fish. Dad took a nap and mom and I watched desperate housewives. When dad woke up we drove to the town to buy some bread and other things. One of those being a map of the area so my mom and I can plan some U.E. urban exploration hehe. There is apparently a beautiful canyon nearby, and 2 waterfalls to look at, some caves, and of course the sea is not far from here either. My foot is going to die... We decide to grill some corn and sausages down by the river and watch the boy’s fish for a while. After the food my mom starts freezing so I suggest we go on a little U.E. around the area. And so we do. We eventually reach a little fence with an opening. My mom says when we enter through there, we enter into the land of the Trolls. Well mom usually knows her things so I believed her. We found an old troll treasure, 2 old mopeds, rusted and torn apart. We think they belonged to the traffic troll. A little further in I saw some large animal droppings and I was sure they were from the infamous Bjärv. A creature much like Bigfoot or the Yeti, more animal however. Large like a bear, but quick, agile and smart like a wolverine... a Beaverine. Everyone knows it exists but nobody has ever seen it. We got scared and decided to leave the land of the trolls. When we got back the boys were done fishing. No luck today but they heard of a guy fishing that caught a fly-fishing line in the water and decided to pull it up. There was a salmon still hooked on the other end of it, but it jumped above the water and shook loose. So now we know what happened to the fish that took off with half of Günter’s fishing equipment at least. Mom and I looked at another desperate housewives episode when we got back and now I’m ready for bed. It's 1am and bright as the morning. Good night!

Day 4: Thursday

I wake up with like a zillion mosquito bites all over my legs. They don’t itch much in the beginning since I take a lot of anti histamines but towards the evening when the effect wears off... they are going to be hell. So anyway, my mom woke me up at 10am and I dragged my crippled foot over the camping site to wash off and brush my teeth. Seriously, in the mornings I walk like a drunken duck, it’s not a pretty sight. I spent the rest of the mornings focusing on editing and selecting pictures from the traveling days, which to keep, which to trash, which to crop, which to enhance. My dad now comes back from his fishing trip in the morning and my mom suggest we take a walk so dad can take a nap and reload his energy. I happily accept and bring my camera. I got some more pretty pictures. We also found a small food market nearby which we spent some time inside since it started pouring down outside. The weather here is very unstable and can change from one hour to the other. The forecast is rarely correct. We eat dinner and I volunteer for the dishes. On my way to the facilities I take a peek in the freezer box. There is another salmon in there now, 7kg. Caught by the same guy. But it looks like a little fart next to the huge one from yesterday. Mom and I join the boys on their evening fishing round and I do crosswords and ask my mother for help with some words. She gave me some tips and she usually knows her stuff, so I believed her. None of "our" boys caught anything today but a Danish guy, caught his first one ever. 5kg, not a bad looking fish. The boys got tired and we go back to the camping. At 11pm my mom and I watch a movie called "human trafficking". It’s now 2.30 am and the sun is starting to rise above the mountains. Coloring the sky in a bright gold and blue color. I’m still debating whether or not I should read my book or try to sleep. Mom will wake me up around 9 or 10. But it's fine, it's vacation and I can take a nap any time I want to. Good night!

Ps. the mosquito bites are driving me mad...

Day 3: Wednesday

Woke up at 6am this time and had a lovely breakfast at some wooden benches by the river. It wasn’t as much lovely cause of the food, as it was because of the view. It was marvelous. High up in the mountains with a crystal clear river and a nice alpine birch forest. What’s so special about the alpine birch is it doesn’t grow straight, it grows in very odd patterns, twisted and curved. We journeyed on into Norway and kept going higher up the mountains. It was cloudy in the morning but the sun started peeking out later in the day. I took some pictures through the windshield that I made sure to clean properly before we left in the morning. So tired since I woke up in the middle of the night freezing like a [insert tropical animal here] on the North Pole, and as usual the pills against motion-sickness added to that feeling. We went up the mountains and down the valleys so much my eardrums thought about taking a permanent vacation but finally we were up on the last mountain. The camping place was in the valley below us. And oh what a sight! What a beautiful sight! To stand there high above the tree limit, 10 C in the air and piles of snow on the ground even though it was not below 0, and these beautiful snow covered mountains surrounding the whole horizon that was visible! I took way many pictures but the pictures will never do the area justice. We arrive at the camping place and it’s beautiful. The large river next to it, which is also the river my dad will fish in, is emerald green from glacial water. We parked the caravan at the perfect spot, and drove around to check out the area... I took many pictures again. I asked mom why the water was green, since some glacier water tends to be intense bright blue. My theory was that it must be high in copper content. Mom said it’s probably the trolls up on the mountains that pour color into it. Well mom usually knows her stuff, so I believed her. I had meatballs in brown sauce for dinner and took a nice shower to finally get all the mosquito legs out of my hair... So now I’m clean at least. On my way out of the showers I noticed a guy at the camping site caught a salmon, 14,8kg to be exact. Wow, it almost didn’t fit in the freezer box. It gave my dad, uncle and Günter great hopes and expectations on this place. When I came back to the caravan I found out I get to sleep in the large bed all by myself. From what I understood earlier, I was going to share the large bed with my mother, but that was not the case, which I am glad for. My mom and I watched an old movie called "the emperor of Portugallia" before we went to bed. It’s about 1am now and the sun has still not set. I’m going to read a bit in my book before I go to sleep. Good night!

Day 2: Tuesday

Our journey goes on. About 7 in the morning *sigh*. We ate breakfast at my sisters place, dropped her off down town cause she was meeting a friend and then we continued north. The landscape up here is really beautiful and I took a few pictures on the way. We saw reindeers and a moose calf that I took pictures of... sadly I had the wrong setting on the camera since I had to shoot from the window of the car in full speed, haha increased ISO sensitivity and faster shutter from now on and the rest of the photos turned out much better. I take a nap in the car cause of the anti motion-sickness pills again. I read a book... and then we reach about the bumpiest road I’ve ever experienced, not so easy to read anymore hehe. Later we reached Arjeplog where we stopped for dinner. It was then 6pm. We went to a pizza place and I had reindeer pizza and figured out at least 10 different ways to improve their recipe, but it was still good. We leave Arjeplog after stocking up on candy and drinks and head North West up to the mountains. We reached the Arctic Circle at about 10.30 in the evening. I took some pictures of the sign and then we continued towards the Norwegian border. Which we reached around midnight. The sun was still shining although it was very cloudy. My dad, my uncle and Günter went to bed but I and my mom went exploring. The border stone was signed by the king of Sweden and the king of Norway according to mom. I believe her and on closer inspection as I took the picture I could also see that was the case. We found a small tractor road and walk along it a bit and eventually reach a large field and a small waterfall. My mom says the field is used to round up the reindeers and catch them in order to tag them. I believe her. We walked to the waterfall and I took some pictures. Then we basically got chased down by a cloud of mosquitoes and none of us thought of using the mosquito cream before we left. I have about 20 on my hands alone and I swear 40 more on my head. After this we went to bed. It never got dark, the sun went behind the mountains and then started rising back up again. Good night!

Day 1: Monday

I'm tired. I fell asleep around 4am and my dad came to pick me up at 7am. The fact that the anti motion-sickness pills makes me tired, doesn’t really help. And the fact that my parents didn’t finish packing yet didn’t help either. So we head straight to my parents house. Mom in the car as well since she just finished her nightshift. I help with making some sandwiches for the road. Tasty ones, 3 different kinds. Seafood, roast beef, and egg. We don’t hit the road until 11am. By then I am so tired I fall asleep in the car and sleep until about 2.30pm. Now I feel rested and fine. We travel alongside the "high coast" a beautiful landscape apparently protected by UNESCO says mom. She knows her stuff so I believe her. It’s really beautiful. We drive over a bridge called the "high coast bridge". Mom says it’s the most famous bridge in Sweden and I believe her. I have to agree it’s a very beautiful bridge. Dad was nice enough to make a stop on the other side of the bridge so I could take some pictures. Around 8pm we arrive at my sister’s place. It’s called Mellansel and has about 800 citizens... at first I couldn’t understand why she would chose to live in such a no-man’s land. But after seeing the city, I decided this is where I will retire when I’m old and/or burned out. She had a pretty little kitten named Njalla and 3 super cute chinchillas named Lemmy, Princess Peach, and Chili-dill. I spent the night on the floor of her one room apartment. My mother slept on the couch, and my father slept outside in the caravan. Oh and I forgot to mention my uncle Pekka joined as well with a friend to the family, his name is Günter. They also slept outside in Pekka's caravan. It's midnight now, good night!

Norway!

Leaving for Norway now! See you all later!

For you Toine ;)

Going away!

Tomorrow I'm taking my things and I'm leaving! for Norway that is hehe. Goin away on caravan vacation with my parents. My dad is going fishing and me and mother...well we are just going to relax, read old lady magazines, do crosswords and watch tv series. And of course I will take plenty of pictures of the beautiful nature!

Midsummer celebrations

Raising the maypole! It's hard work!

Yay it's up!

Traditional dancing in traditional clothes!

The cutest children I have ever seen!

A very beautiful elderly woman in a traditional dress!

The princess wedding

Our crown princess Victoria got married june 19th and I was there in Stockholm ready with my camera together with my mother and my good friend Jenny. The day before the wedding me and my mother walked around so we could see where the best places to stand would be. We ended up at a totally different place but it doesnt matter, we got good pictures. Jenny got better pictures than me though but oh well hehe. It was a once in a lifetime experience. I wish I could have a wedding like this!

Here she is the day before the wedding, attending a concert in her honour.

A small part of the parade before the wedding.

Young boys doing their military service, wearing the cerenomial uniform.

Her royal highness crown princess Victoria and her husband Daniel Westling just minutes after the wedding ceremony.

The happy couple standing at the balcony after the speech to the people. She said "Thank you for giving me my prince".

Unintentionally discovered surprise!

It's once again been a long time... I have experienced both a pricess wedding and this years midsummer celebration (pictures soon to come).

Today Cora (Toine's mother) told me that we would go to a large and beautiful zoo in the Netherlands when we go there to visit. It made me really happy and I immediatly started thinking about all the pretty pictures I would take of the animals. But remembered that if they were far away, the pictures would not be very good at all! So I started searching for a new camera lens, 55-200 or 300 range for a good price and with good reviews. I found the perfect one and decided to send a hint email to Toine about it. I sneak up to him while he's watching soccer on tv and gives him my best smile. He looks at the camera lens and says "how did you know? Did you look at the order history??" and I go like "...wtf...you already ordered one for me???" and he showed me the one he ordered which was an even better one than I wanted!

I have the best boyfriend in the world!

Lilac lemonade

Sadly the lemonade got a slight bitter taste when it was ready and I think it might be because of the lemon peels. So if you want to try the recipe yourself, try without the lemon peels and see if you get a better result than I did. My mother used the same recipe and she also got a bitter taste when ready. It does taste nice tho but still, sad about the bitterness. I'm going to give a bottle of lemonade to grandmother as a thanks for letting me have some of her flowers!

Lilac lemonade

I went to the country place together with Toine last Saturday and I took the opportunity to pick some lilac flowers cause I wanted to make some lemonade. It was my sister Yvonne who first found the recipe and it made me really curious so I just had to try it!

Lilac flower lemonade
40-60 bunches of lilac flower
2 lemons
30g of citric acid
2L water
2L sugar

Rinse the flowers and pick the flowers of their branches. Rinse the lemons thoroughly. Pour the water into a large pot, add the sugar and turn on the heat. Peel the skin of the lemons and make sure to get only the yellow part, not the white under it cause it tastes very bitter. Add the peels to the pot and sqeeze the juice from the lemons, add this as well. Boil the water until the sugar has completely dissolved and turn of the heat. When the water has stopped boiling you put in the flowers and the citric acid. Let the lemonade rest in a cold place for 3-5 days and then pour it through a sif to remove the flowers and the lemon peels. You now have Lilac lemonade! Pour into really really clean bottles and store cold. You can also freeze it if you want to.

Ooops

Damnit I've been lazy with updating!

School is over for now and I have summerholiday yay! I passed my internship with flying colors hehe. I had a blast, it was a lot of fun and I learned a lot.

5 Years together!

Toine took some flex hours this morning and when I woke up I got a pretty little gift. Heart shaped earrings and a matching necklace! I like them alot! I hope he liked my gift as well. I gave him a silver necklace, quite heavy but sadly 5cm too short, so I must take it too the store and have them make it longer! Tonight we are going out for dinner, and then see a movie!

Today is also Valborg. In Sweden we light huge fires as a sign that winter is over and spring is here! Sadly I'm going to miss it, since I will be at the cinema then hehe.

Time flies

On tuesday scool starts again. We will see how that goes hehe. I hope It will be fine.

Me and Toine went out for dinner and a movie yesterday. We went to restaurant Elegant Garden in Jakobsberg, the food was good! Later we went to buy some candy for the movie and since we had an hour of time to pass before the movie we sat in the park for a while and just talked. It was nice. We saw the movie "Date Night" (En galen natt). It was quite funny, I enjoyed it. We used the gift cards that we received from my mother for easter.

I saw the doctor this week as well for my foot. As I mentioned before I got an inflammation in it in november last year. Well it still hasn't healed and now I finally get to do an x-ray to see whats going on. I just hope I will be able to get through the internship period with this freaking foot.

Agnus Dei

It means lamb of god, which is exactly what I made for dinner today. I bought a nice lamb roast for easter but since my parents also had one I decided to wait with mine. Well I made it today and it was godly to say the least. I practice something called low temperature cooking. which means the themperature of the oven needs to be as close as possible to the needed core temperature of the meat. It takes long, but in turn it gives a very tender and succulent meat. It's all about science.

To make a godly lamb roast you need:
oven
lamb steak
garlic
thyme or mix of provencal spices
salt and pepper
meat thermometer

the oven must be set at about 100 C, preferably not higher than 125 C, 90 C would be ideal. spice up the meat! I prefer making small holes with a knife into the meat and put some garlic inside, and some spices outside. Stick the thermometer into the middle of the thickest part of the meat and shove it into the oven. When the core temperature reaches 55 C it's rare (red) when its 60 C it's medium (pink), 65-70 it's well done. I prefer to take it out somewhere inbetween 55 and 60. depending on the size of the meat the cooking time will vary. but count atleast 3-4 hours for a 1kg steak. Take the meat out at preferred temperature, wrap it in tin foil (optional) and let it rest for 15 minutes before cutting it. Enjoy!

Easter!

I had a nice easter with my family. I got a pretty postcard from my little sister up north. Friday we had a perfectly cooked lambroast and prepared some of the food for yesterday. It was good food! Egghalves with all kinds of filling, salmon, herring, mmm yum yum. And so much candy...too much candy haha. I also bought a pretty shirt/dress/tunic thingy from Kappahl but Toine says I look like an old lady when wearing it! I do not! Sadly I didn't find a picture of exactly the one i have on the webpage of the store but here is something that looks like it!

It almost looks like this one. However it's longer but it's in the same type of style!

A hint of spring

It looks as if winter is about to let go and spring is slowly taking over. It's not as cold anymore and the snowmasses are slowly melting. You can feel it in the air somehow that spring is coming. For a while there it almost felt like we were heading for a new iceage! This has really been the longest, and coldest winter in a very long time. So cold even the environmental activists hasn't said a word about global warming the whole winter.

Today I got the information from school that I will start my internship week 16. Im curious to see where I will end up. And I really hope my foot will have healed by then...

Winter

A picture says more than a thousand words. These are some of the winter phothos I've taken recently.

The frozen pond provides a haven for the ducks.

Curious birds come flying.

They probably thought I had some food but I didn't bring any sadly.

The park close to the apartment.

The frozen lake Mälaren, looks more like an arctic landscape now.

When the ice get thick enough, people likes to walk on it...