Two Thousand Ten

Wow, you guys, 2010 was seriously amazing.  Here are just some of the highlights.

In January we got a new car! Even though we could go anywhere anytime we wanted, we stayed in a lot because it was COLD.

In February I spent time with girlfriends from Swedish school.

And The Swede got stuck on a train in the middle of nowhere for 17 hours.

We celebrated Valentine's Day by ice fishing on the Mälaren.

In March The Swede just happened to be in Iceland when the volcano erupted and got stuck there for awhile too.

I was also introduced to the glorious Melodifestivalen and schlager changed my life.

And we celebrated Sarianne's 30th birthday.

In April my friends from school and I enjoyed the warming weather with a birthday picnic.

We took a cruise to Helsinki to celebrate The Swede's birthday.

And took a weekend trip to Falun.

On the last day of April I experienced my first Valborg.

In May I discovered the cherry blossoms in Kungsträdgården with friends from school.

And ate ice cream for breakfast.

Best of all, in May we left for America where we spent time with friends and family I hadn't seen in nearly a year.

In June we set out on a roadtrip across America.

And visited my family out west. 

Then, after we drove back east, we went to Niagara Falls and got engaged!!!

We spent as much time as we could with my Ohio family before heading back to Sweden.

Just after we returned, Crown Princess Victoria got married and all of Stockholm celebrated.

At the end of June I experienced my first midsommar out in the country on a beautiful day.

In July I spent a lot of time with Petra helping her out at work.

We spent the hottest day of the year at Gröna Lund with the Segersten's.

And camped on our living room floor to catch some of the cool night air.

In Auguest we drove to Norway and I kissed a moose.

We enjoyed a fabulous dinner with Mama Swede and Gunilla while Papa Swede was on his fishing trip.

And every day I fell more and more in love with this guy.

In September I became seriously legit and got my Swedish ID.

A bunch of girlfriends got together for a dinner/dance party.

And I went mushroom picking for the first time.

Plus, our friend Linda got married!

In October we went to Leksand with Mama and Papa Swede and some family friends.

And we had a tailgate party at the office.

In November we celebrated my 28th birthday at a spa in Söderköping. 

And Becca visited!  With an American friend here to help me, we had an awesome Thanksgiving.

In December we flew to London for a long weekend with The Swede's cousin Annemor.

And just last week we celebrated Christmas in Söderköping with the whole Swedish family.

I knew 2010 was sweet, but reviewing the year has reminded me just how sweet it really was.  But you know what?  I have a feeling 2011 is going to totally cream 2010.  Lots of love until then!  And HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Hydrating In Style

I've been trying to drink more water.  I've tried this before, always with minimal success because, well, I won't say that water is gross (even though I totally want to), but it is super boring.  Obviously I'm not the only one who feels this way because a dear friend recommended that I get a cute waterbottle to help keep me motivated.  And hello?  How cute is this waterbottle I found for, like, $2?  It worked today anyway; I chugged three gross, but not the least bit boring bottles.

Selah's Sampler

A few weeks ago, Selah and I were chatting on Skype and out of the blue she asked me what "The Swede" is in Swedish.  I thought it was a bit of a bizarro question, but answered to the best of my knowledge.  Fast forward to Christmas and the opening of our package from Selah and all of a sudden the reason for her question became quite clear in her hand-made gift to The Swede. 

Bad Reputation

Back when I blogged about spaghetti sauce my friend Leslie requested a photo of the dusty, musty American food section of our local grocer.  So here it is, American food according to the Swedes:  BBQ sauce, spaghetti sauce, peanut butter, marshmallows, beef jerkey, Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, Baby Ruth, Butterfinger, caramel corn, pancakes, maple syrup, nacho cheese sauce, popcorn flavor powder, Burger King snacks and organic sodas.  Basically all of our favorites, right?



Scouting the Sales

While Santa is delivering gifts to a still-sleeping USA on Christmas morning, Swedes are shopping.  The sales between the 24th and the 31st are huge here.  Shocking, even, according to one electronics retailer.  So even though we all made out like bandits the night before, The Swede, Sarianne, Magnus, Annemor and I headed out early Christmas morning because none of us had received a 3D plasma TV, after all.  Problem was, we didn't get up early enough (none of us having had enough forethought to set an alarm) and the stores were insanity.  Not even close to as bad as Ullared, mind you, so I was relatively comfortable, but nevertheless no one in our party had to have anything so badly that they were willing to wait in line for hours to pay.  Time is money, of course, and the sale wasn't that good.

Söderköping Jul 2010

We returned from Christmas at the Segersten's several lazy hours ago and are using all of our energy to blog, of course, and to fight off the fever that everyone else had over the holiday that The Swede and I somehow managed to escape so far.  Despite the high temperatures in the house, we had a lovely julafton with Mama and Papa Swede, Sarianne, Magnus and their girls and cousin Annemor from London. 

 We managed to secure a tree on the afternoon of the 23rd, which stayed upright almost all the way through the festivities on the 24th.

 Julia set about to decorating in happier times, before the tree crushed her the next day. 

The Swede, Annemor and I dragged Julia and Elin into central Söderköping.  Have I mentioned that you never see a stroller in the winter in Sweden?  Everyone pulls their babies around in sleds.  How cute is that?

 Apparently Mother Nature got the memo that we would be coming because she decorated the trees for us.

And while we were in town, we met Santa, who had clearly been visiting every open business serving glögg.  Nothing says Christmas like a drunk Santa, am I right?  Even though we celebrate on the 24th in Sweden, today is the real thing so merry, merry Christmas, everyone!!!