Saturday, November 30, 2013

Thanksgiving



For Thanksgiving this year, Nick and I were lucky enough to have 2 friends visiting us from Minnesota. Everything about our Thanksgiving day was perfect- even the fact that it was held a day late! KHK had a big game (and win!) on Thursday, so we postponed our celebration until Friday. Thanksgiving this year was a mix of old friends and new. With representatives from the US, Sweden, France, Finland, and Denmark- I think made a good showing! We had all of the traditional Thanksgiving foods- turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn, apple pie, the whole nine yards. The only thing missing for me was homemade lefse! Perhaps next year we will add that to the list...

All in all, my first Thanksgiving away from home and without my family was a success. I was able to call and Skype with them, so it almost felt like I was there. Hosting all of our friends over for dinner was great as well. I even managed to get a picture of some of the group later in the evening! To me, Thanksgiving has always been about spending time with family and friends- and I was so thankful to do that this year!

Friday, November 29, 2013

A Few Wedding Pictures!

Nicholas Angell wife

Nicholas Angell wife

Nicholas Angell wife

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Giving Thanks





Well, just a quick post today before I head off to Nick’s game! Today is Thanksgiving back home in the US, and this year the thing I am the most thankful for is my family- both the one I have been blessed to have for the last 23 years, and the one I gained this year! I don’t even have the words to describe how grateful I am for the presence of my family in my life- parents, brothers, and now in-laws— in addition to the extended family: Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, the whole nine yards. 
So today, family, know that I am thinking about you. Although I may be an ocean apart, I know I can always count on you!

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

To-Do Lists



I love to make to-do lists. You can ask just about anyone this about me- my friends (especially those who were around in college and for my wedding planning), my family, Nick. However, lately I have fallen off this boat- and boy does it ever mean things don’t get done! I am crazy enough about to-do lists where during a day, if I do something that isn’t on the list—I simply add it to the list and cross it off, all in one fell swoop.
As things haven’t been getting done lately, I’m going to make a public to-do list for myself over the next few days (hoping that with Nick gone, I can really get going!) 
  • Further research top 3 grad schools
  • Make list of questions to ask admissions counselors
  • Speak with admissions counselors
  • Begin applications for grad schools
  • Research honeymoon activities
  • Get caught up on Rosetta Stone
  • Stay caught up on Rosetta Stone
  • Start Christmas shopping
  • Transfer more blog content to new blog
  • Research a blog designer for new blog
I think I will leave my public to-do list at that! Of course, I will likely make one on paper so I can revise, edit, and actually cross things out— always my favorite part! Anyone else a to-do list lover? Anyone else have recommendations for my grad school search?

Friday, November 15, 2013

Sometimes It Is Hard


Sometimes, moving to a new country is really hard. From the little things, to the big things. The first few weeks that I was here, it was hard for me to adjust to little, seemingly every day things. Back home in the US, I felt like a fully competent adult- I could cook, clean, go to work, and have fun; all on my own. All of a sudden in a new country, these seemingly simple, every day tasks became difficult. I remember the first week here, I wanted to go to the grocery store and get some things to make dinner for Nick and I. Nothing crazy, just a simple chicken parmesan. Well, boy was I ever wrong. It is quite difficult to grocery shop in a country where you don’t speak the language; and therefor can’t even grocery shop on your own because you don’t understand the food labels. 

Eventually, grocery shopping became easier. As did doing the laundry (I still have no idea which cycle I am using on the washer, but it is the same one Nick told me to use 3 months ago so I work off the assumption it is correct!). At first, it was really hard for me to adjust to the fact that these seemingly easy, every day tasks were no longer that- and each one required thought and preparation. I felt like a lost, incompetent child. Eventually, however, that got easier.

Now, I can grocery shop (mostly!) on my own. I can do the laundry on my own. Every day things have become easier. Yet it is the bigger, and much more important things in life, that are difficult. Like making friends. Language is such a barrier, because I do not speak Swedish. Yes, I am learning it. Right now, if you speak slowly, I can maybe talk about lunch, or what we both work as, or the weather (if you use the same 4 things I have learned about in Rosetta Stone). So if I am in a group setting and Swedish is being spoken, I may understand a random word- if I am lucky, a sentence- but I do not understand. When a group of people laughs, I have no idea why. And I have learned what a huge difference there is between being invited, and being included.

Fortunately for me, I came to Sweden with Nick now. In the world of iPhones, where I can iMessage- for free!- with the majority of my friends and family back home. In the world of Skype, and Facebook, so I can remain connected. In the world where soon I will start an online MBA, and be able to occupy myself with that. I am not jealous of Nick for coming here and experiencing all the things I am now, ten years ago before all these things. I am fortunate to have my family and friends here to talk to, and even for this blog as a place to relay my feelings. 

I am also fortunate to be able to look on the bright side of things. I know this experience is making me a better, stronger person- and that it will improve me in the future. I know I am lucky to be living in another country, supporting the man I love. I know I am lucky to be able to look forward to so many great things over the next few months, that I am able to do simply because of being here. Having friends and family visit, traveling all throughout Europe, playing hockey in Europe, supporting my husband, taking a 3 week honeymoon, learning another language, starting an MBA, I could go on for days. Sometimes, living in a new country is wonderful (and I won’t let myself forget that!) However, sometimes it is hard to be here. Tonight, my remedy will be a nice tall glass of wine and some Friends (the TV show!).

Monday, November 11, 2013

Just Living Life



I haven’t been posting on here as much lately, and this is due to several reasons. I can certainly make excuses- I’ve been busy, it was Nick’s birthday, I’m trying to transition the blog to a new site- but the only true reason is that I have been busy just living the normal, everyday life I have gotten used to over here. Along with this, over the past several months (even years, to be honest) I have seen an abundance of posts circling the internet on “10 things you need to do to be happy right now”, “25 things every 20-something should know”, “20 things to make you happy in 5 years”, and the list goes on. I’m sure you’ve all seen posts like this. 

Well, lets be honest- if we all spent our entire lives reading these posts, how are we ever supposed to be happy? Because there will always be somebody out there, telling us we need to do this or stop doing that in order to be happy. 

You know what makes me happy? Having the freedom to do what I please, and not being told constantly I need to change what I’m doing. I will admit, I’ve read a fair amount of these articles circling the internet. The message I receive from all of them is to focus your time on doing what you love, spending time with the people you love, and just plain focusing on being happy.

So lately, I’ve been doing just that. I have spent an extraordinary amount of time curled up on the couch with Nick. I’ve been reading (and re-reading) some of my favorite books, in preparation for their movies to be coming out in the next several weeks. If I haven’t felt like doing something, I simply haven’t. Which may be why I haven’t posted here as much- I do enjoy posting on my blog. But truth be told, not much new or exciting (that I can tell the entire world about!) has happened in the last week. 

With that being said, off I go! I promise I will post, as soon as I have something relevant to say. In the meanwhile, I’m just going to focus on making myself happy by just living life, plain and simple.
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