5 Swedish Meatballs

It’s a phrase we’ve repeated over and over this past year, since our return from living our year in Sweden. “This time last year, we were…sitting by the sea…driving the Danish countryside…making Lucia Buns with Gunnel…playing cards with Mark and Carina…on a ferry to Berlin…eating croissants in Paris…laughing in a sandal shop in Greece…heading to Husaby for a Midsommer party…beginning the long Minnesota good-bye, Swedish version (which ended up looking a lot like MN style!)”. Recalling the year in Sweden is much like childbirth for me. I’m remembering all of the great things, and have mostly phased out the painful and icky. I’ve begun to “spin” the difficult things. For instance, ”we could see the sun rise and set within just a couple of hours!”. It’s a stretch, but one I’m willing to make. As I ... read more

In our eighteen years of marriage, Jeff and I have moved a lot. Emma moved seven times her first seven years. "Good bye" is not a foreign language for us. We are SO excited to go home, but that doesn't make "good bye" any easier. Rather than dwelling on that word, I'm just going to share some of the events surrounding those words. These past few weeks have been unseasonably gorgeous. On more than one occasion, we've been told that June is typically gray and rainy in weden. Not wanting to sound like the spoiled American, I keep the following comment to myself: "Yeah, well, she owes us. After a rainy August arrival and then what seemed like an eternity of gloom and darkness, we deserve a little sunshine". I kept it to myself, but I've ... read more

If the sun shone in Sweden year 'round, I would never have gotten lonely. I don't blame people who don't want to visit during the dark winter days, if given the chance, I would have packed my bags and been out of here during that time. Neal not only survived a winter vacation to Sweden, he really seemed to enjoy himself...but Neal's not your average traveler. In the past six weeks, we've had four "day" guests, eight "longer term" guests and more fun than we thought possible. As if having guests wasn't good enough, six weeks passed in the proverbial 'blink of an eye' and we're going to be home in two short weeks! You've already seen the blogs on Janet & Joan's Norwegian Adventure, as well as a re-cap of the time with my sister ... read more

Most of you know that I hail from a large family. It could go without saying that I've missed them this year, but I've said it already and it's a fact. I'm the 8th of 9, and number 9 is my little sister, Kristen, two years my junior. We had our share of battles when we were young, stupid stuff like "you used my brush" - normal stuff for sisters. We grew out of that, fortunately, and now I'm her biggest fan. She's got 5 kids and has grown up to be an amazing, beautiful woman...my sister and my friend. The road to Sweden hasn't been smooth for Kristen and Rob. It all started with a challenge, "if Jeff will run that Stockholm Marathon with me, we'll come for a visit.". She knew enough not to ... read more