Life happened

photo credit to Jeremy Trimnal – friend and photographer at Asheville Blog

Hey <3

Last time I posted anything here was our latest podcast episode on May 10th! To blog and record podcasts haven’t been my priority when I’ve needed to put all my energy into life in general. But you know what? It wasn’t anything I’d planned. It just happened. However, I’ve been working on trying to figure out how I want to live my life, and in doing that, I have simply lived. To leave the anorexia behind, focus on what was good for Lina, not the eating disorder. I’m not gonna excuse myself, because I’ve grown so much as a human being during these past months, and that’s freaking amazing. Since I haven’t updated anything here for a while, though, I thought we could do a little recap of each month and what I’ve been up to.

MAY

• Liz and I road tripped, together with a new friends of ours, in Germany. Well, we flew to Berlin, rented a car and drove about three hours south from Berlin. Our friends were getting married and it was such a beautiful wedding ceremony in an old little church in the middle of the village where our friend grew up. I was also fortunate to be able to sing and play. The wedding reception was also so much fun! Another fun fact, it was also my birthday, so I got to celebrate the beginning of my 34th year out in the country, at a beautiful wedding, in Thüringen, Germany.
• Back in Sweden, my wife surprised me with dinner out together with my brother, his wife, and a close friend of ours (who’s birthday is just about after mine).
• I was working on myself a lot this month.
• We celebrated our version of Memorial Weekend by having a picnic in the big park together with family and friends.
• The lilacs were blooming, spreading their sweet scent all over town, and summer was on it’s way, along with my excitement.

JUNE

• Celebrated June 6th (Sweden’s National Day), by drinking beer in some beautiful summer weather.
• We decided to redo a little interior in our living room by selling our couch, and buying a new one. We are in love with the new look, and how much more spacious it all feels. Score us! (More photos to come!)
• Was really sad and upset about a “friend” of mine. I tried. Was denied. Got tired, and broke up with the person. Still dealing with this in my heart and soul, because I feel like I never got the chance to really work it out with the person.
• My cousin graduated from high school in Norrköping and we took the train down to be part of the celebrations.
• Celebrated Midsummer out in the archipelago together with my wife. I’m still working on a little video, and one day it will be done. Just gotta finish another project first.

JULY

• Ate endless amounts of strawberries because that’s my absolute favorite thing to eat. At. All. Times.
• Counted down the beginning of my vacation by celebrating others’ vacations beginning by exploring a new bar in Uppsala with amazing cocktails. Plus an almost 360 degree view of Uppsala. Good stuff.
• Vacation time which meant going to the States time!
• Spent our first days in the States, in New York City, hanging out with my American cousin who was doing an internship there during the summer. Explored Upper East Side for the first time (Liz and I try to explore different areas each time we’re there).
• Flew down to North Carolina and Asheville/Lake Junaluska/Waynesville area. Hung out with family and friends, and drank endless amounts of beer. Because that’s what you do there.

AUGUST

• Flew back to Sweden, WITH MY IN-LAWS! Yes, that was huge since it was their first time in Sweden.
• Started off in Uppsala with a lot of rest due to jetlag.
• I started working again, but my first week I “worked from home”, from Norrköping, where we hung out with my parents and Liz’s parents, and toured around e v e r y w h e r e. So great to finally be able to hang out with both our parents in Sweden! They’ve seen each other several times, but in the States when my parents’ have traveled there. Now my parents’ got to host my parents-in-law. So great!
• Went back to Uppsala and to work in the office. Decided to really work on being there, and not working from home. And as of today, I’ve been there every day three weeks straight. It’s a record. (FYI: I’m on sick leave, only working part time, and haven’t had the energy to work from the office around other people so many days in a row before now). Liz’s parents stayed at my brother’s place, since he and his wife were hiking in Spain, so after work, I hung out with them and toured around Uppsala. My parents came to town, and we all spent a day in Stockholm, toured in Uppsala, and just hung out together. Liz’s parents returned to the States after being in Sweden for three weeks. It’s been empty not having them around..
• Our friend C from London, who also was our House Hunters International producer, came and stayed with us for a few days. We had so much time, visiting old film locations, eating good food, and drinking beer at Ångkvarn of course (we filmed there).
• Ended August by going to an outdoor concert, sat on the first row, and listened to Helen Sjöholm and Tomas Andersson Wij <3.

It’s the beginning of September now, fall is creeping up on us, which I actually feel pretty pleased about. Last fall was awful so I have the feeling this is gonna be an amazing fall, way better then last year, with plenty of cozy nights together with friends and family! I also feel my creativity is increasing, so I’ll hopefully take care of that, and do some fun projects.