Happy New Year! Welcome 2014 💗

2013 has now came and gone. Many of us reflect on the year that passed and looking forward to all the promisses they make for the coming year. 

2013 was a different year. The most stressful year in my life. But it was so much more than only stress....

I love everything that 2013 brought me and my family. And the only promiss that i will make for 2014 is; to love, cherish, adore and admire the people that mean the world to me a little bit more! 

Hope all of you know how blessed you truely are to see another day, another year, and dont forget about the now and here. 

Happy new year!

New work photo......

This is what my FB picture looks like on our company profile. Well its done so i guess i have to luv it!......

The sky is the limit and i just got my wings!

What a roller-coaster ride the last few months have been! I am very proud of how well my wonderful family have handled this bumpy ride. 

Sure i moved home, but at times i feel like this city and country is just as foreign to me as it is to Dave and Em. Things are very different here than what we have been used to. Both big and small things. But we are getting a handle on it all. Its hard to remember sometimes that it is not a race, but a strong and steady pace that will make our quality of life better and the way we like it. 

There have been a few days of pure darkness when the little cloud of doubt and fear has gotten the best of me, the wonder if moving here was really the right decision. Thank goodness for Dave, my family, good friends, and long lost friends who all lend an ear to my venting and words of encouragement. Thank you! 

There have been way more days on the brighter side. All the awesome times we have spent together as a family. I love our little family! ❤ The simple moments that i enjoy the most. I got to wake up with Em and Dave every morning and also tuck Em into bed that same evening. Its been years since i got to do that! To have both breakfast and dinner together every day! Love it! I love being able to see my sisters and parents on any given day. I love to just have that closeness again. 

The fear of us not moving here with a big enough savings have been on my mind almost daily... Thank goodness that my dad's company was in need of some help so me and Dave could do some work. Its crazy how dangerous it is not to work. Your mind needs the occupation as much as your bankaccount needs the refil. And it was with alot of excitement that i signed that employment agreement today. I will start my new challenge this monday. The sky is the limit and i just got my wings!

Em is too cute!

Just an ordinary breakfast with my fav peeps! 

When asked why Em has to cover the one ear while whispering in the other,she simply said; so mom can't hear it! Love her! 

Fun fall day with the family!

Now when football is not an option to wake up to on a beautiful fall sunday, we have to create our own sunday funday. Love me some family time!

A little bit of Bronco football!

Yes! We did set the alarm for 2:30am to watch some Broncos football!! I am so excited football season is once again upon us. After much research, i found that ESPN is no longer available in Sweden..... Sux! 

But some of the games will be on tv and i guess we will have to get used to follow most of the games online..... Now as for Auburn football, that will not be happening, so Timmy, make sure you keep us updated!! 

Other than that we are still doing good. Em is doing good in school. We will have our first PT meeting next week. Dave justgot registered for his swedish language classes and starts in eight days and i am still in my job hunt. 

Now, its time to just relax after a wonderful day/evening out in the countryside at my parents. Love to be able to just head on over for some dinner and company. Just what my soul needed!

Hot air balloon capital of the world!

Yes i knew that but as we were leaving our house for our nightly walk. This is what we stumbled upon!

Emma thought it was pretty cool. She said; mom, now i have seen a hot air balloon fly, crash-landed, and now take off! Awesome!

First week of school

I think this week has been the most emotional week so far. We were so nervous all three! Em was starting second grade in a new school, but that wasn't it. She had to do so in another country and language. 

So far we love her school. Everyone has been fantastic! Her teachers are great! They are very caring and understanding. They are gentle and very patient with her, and us too. They make sure we are on board and knows whats going on at all times. I definitely feel as we made the right choice in school. And there is Oscar. Oscar is a boy in her class that moved to Sweden when he was four. His dad is Swedish and Oscar speaks both swedish and english fluently! So he has been appointed Emma's translator. Makes sense, the boy speaks well and so much, he speaks for two! 

Emma has made some new friends as well. Right now she is looking forward to see Vera everyday. Vera seems to be Emma's opposite. She is very calm and shy, but maybe thats only when we are around.... Today they got to walk to school together and they were totally in a world of their own. 

We also got to meet Vera's dad, and he, as well as all the other parents we have met so far are all so very nice. What a great relief! 

Today will be another big day as Em is staying at fritids (VIK) after school for the first time. We are taking it slow, so only one hour today. We'll find see how that goes.....

Feeling like we have settled in

I must say; i finally feel like we have gotten settled in to our new lives. Sure, there is still plenty of wants left to check off our/my list but the must do's are almost gone. Yay! 

Dave is now a proud owner of a green card! Funny to think i was the one carrying around that magical card for so long, and now the tables are turned. Just hope he will not get as hassled as i did, the few times i left home without it. Somehow authorities can almost smell that you left it behind..... Now we are just waiting to get Em's and Dave's person numbers (social security numbers) but that process is our of my hands and all we can do is to wait for the swedish tax agency to finish it up. 

Emma got accepted into the school we choose for her. She is super stoked. I felt kind of lost in the whole school process  we narrowed it down to three candidates and from there we mostly went on gut feeling and which school had the most kid-friendly walking path. We had a winner in mind and went down to enroll her. Nope. You have to apply. Ok, we did that. The wait to find out if the had "space" for her was nerve wrecking. Emma had her mind made up and her heart set for this one school. I don't want to be the one to break that little heart. We tried to explain the situation to her. Try to make her understand, so in case she was not accepted the let down wouldn't be as big. It was great seeing her big smile when telling her that she got in to the school she wanted. School starts on the 20th.

Only thing left on our list is jobs. I started applying for jobs this week and its a process and situation that makes me very uncomfortable. I hate selling myself, i much rather just show and prove what i can do. I know it will take time but wish i could just snap my fingers and Poof! 

Well, i guess we will just keep trucking through and see what tomorrow might bring!

❤

A few pictures from the last few weeks.

We have been here in Stockholm now for almost three weeks. We have done all the must do's and a few wants but it has sure been wonderful spending so much time together as a family. We have explored, lots of "fika" with our friends, dinners, biking, playing, movie nights, and more. We really enjoy it here! 

A few pictures of the last weeks;

Emma's room

The view from Fjällgatan

Em on her new bike that mormor and morfar got her. 

A day at the park. 

Evening walk. 

Our first few days in our new home

It feels surreal. We are finally here. Sweden. I havent really called this home in a long time. 

We arrived thursday a little tired and very hungry. I think we would have arrived feeling better if we would have gotten fed on the flight or if the parents sitting in the row behind us could control their two little ones. After about four hours of constant kicking on the back of my seat, i asked the dad if he could please make his son stop. He just looked at me as if i had just asked him for something terrible. With his eyes empty, he just asked me:"don't you have children?" Wtf?! So i asked the little boy, maybe three years old, if he could please stop. "Ok" was his response and guess what. He did. Why "dad" was that so hard?....

It was so good to see my parents! I haven't seen them in four years and it felt good to hug them again. We made a quick pit stop for food and then on to the apartment. We had no expectations of what it was going to look like and we figured it would be empty with the exceptions of our famous boxes that we sent over ahead of us. We thought that we would spend the night at my parents house out in the country and go shopping the next day. Boy where we wrong! The apartment was pretty much all set up. There was even a coffeemaker complete with its goodies and breakfast in the fridge. Even cellphones and internet. We got spoiled. Emma's room was painted pink just like she asked mormor (grandma) and one wall of Hello Kitty wallpaper. Its so cute! And as the frosting on the cake, the apartment came with this cute pink bike in Emma's size.... Thanks dad! Thanks mom! 

Since my parents are back to work we took friday "off" and spent it exploring our new neighborhood. It was a nice day, but way colder then what we have grown custom to. A sweater was sure needed! 

Saturday was spend shopping. This might come as a chock, but we spent so much time in stores that i think i have gotten my shopping fill for a while. And yes, i think we spent three!! hours at Ikea..... Well, when we were all done we got all the last things we needed and wanted. That evening we had to hurry to get most of it set up so we could watch the Hammarby soccer game on the new tv! Mickan flew back from her vacation in Spain and came straight over, which made Emma's night!

Sunday was spent putting together some furniture and mostly unpacking our boxes. Mickan came over and took Em to the park right next door and stayed for dinner. Again, Em was in heaven! 

Well, i guess that we cant only do fun stuff, so today we took care of the most important stuff on our to-do list. Dave's "green card" and getting Em to officially become a Swedish citizen. We expected long lines and lots of waiting but we were in luck and we were in and out in no time! Thank goodness! 

Is it time to relax yet?.... Not sure. Lets see what tomorrow brings......

Last night.....

Its our last night in the US and emotions are running high. What has been a seventeen year ride will finally some to a stop and its time to get off this one and on to another. Its been over eight months of planning and preparation and its finally game time. 

Emma was having an emotional battle as we tucked her in to bed. She is excited,scared and nervous. She is both happy and sad. The laughter and close to tears all at once. Afraid for the unknown. She miss her friends, her school and her family, but at the same time excited to see family and start a new adventure. After talking for a bit she finally said; i trust you guys. Our little princess is so very brave!

I am so excited to go home but scared and nervous at the same time so i can completely understand her emotional stress and inner battle. I know that it will all be ok but i also know that it will much better once we find us some jobs. And hopefully that will happen rather sooner than later. I hope to start working here soon, before our life savings run out.....

But i have faith, and i have my rock and our princess right next to me during this next step, so i know it will be fine. Heck, it will be better then fine. 

I am ready for this. Tomorrow we fly out, leaving our "normal" life behind, to find our new normal. Its with a big leap of faith, surrounded of great love and trust, i will step on our next ride. Lets see what the future will hold!

Dave and Emma: i love you guys more than words can express and there is no one else i would rather take this ride of life with. To the moon and back, twice!

We made it to Denver

We finally made it to Denver. It was a pretty relaxed drive over and traffic was good, but the best thing was the talks that we got to have and the silence too. We decided to stop at the outlets shops for a little bit and also made a pit stop at Cherry Creek mall. Man that brought back lots of memories. Funny how both me and Dave at the same time, pointed out that the mall still smells the same! We are weird i know, but thats why we fit together so good! 

We made it to Jo and John's house by dinner and as always John's cooking is the B.O.M.B!

Just enjoying the noises that only a city can bring, and Emma and Jo decided to go for a walk. 

Love a nice evening with the family!

Like a kid at christmas,

Oh, who am i kidding. Like me at christmas! You all know that feeling. The excitement. My whole body, mind, and soul is like the crowd at a concert when finally the main act takes the stage. I am so excited to go home, to start a new adventure with my little family. To have my family and friends close by. We have been here in Colorado for 12 days and it has been wonderful. Nice to see Dave's parents and his extended family. We had a get together down at our old bar in the company of great old friends. I really enjoyed that night. 

Emma have been busy too,  playing with her friend from kindergarten. The two of them seems to not have missed a beat, even thou its been a year since they last saw each other and just over two years since we moved from Junction. But we all know thats how it is with great friends. No matter how much time have passed, you still fit right back. She has also spend lots of time with her cousins. 

Dave keep asking me if i am ready to be the head of this family?.....since when was i not in charge?.....

I know there will be a lot of new things ahead, and even more so for Dave, but i am ready for the challenge. I will do my very best of guiding us all in the right direction. 

Time goes by fast, they say, but right now i feel as if it is almost standing still!

Colorful Colorado

We arrived to Grand Junction, CO saturday evening. It was so awesome to finally be able to hug, hold and just be with Em. I have missed her so much!❤

After being both jobless and homeless, not one day have passed that i have not had to set the alarm in the morning. We have been so busy this last week. Its kind of crazy that it's only six days since our last day at work but yet we have sold two cars, cleaned out and left our rental house, stayed two nights with great friends in Phoenix and left Arizona just in time. It was 54 degrease Celsius the day we left, and that is too hot for me! Getting to Colorado with all its beauty has been great. Totally spaced the whole altitude thing but my lungs were reminded of that burning feeling today....

I wanted to see the majestic beauty that the mountains hold one more time. So i got Dave and Em to go with me. We decided to hike up to Hanging Lake. If you have never been, its a hike up the side of the mountain until you get to this plateau near the top, shielded by mountain tops and the canyon. There is only one way up to this beauty and you better be ready. Altitude, less oxygen, lack of water, and fatigue are just some of the reasons a few people did not make it to the top. It was a perfect day to just soak in mother nature's beauty. hanging lake was as pretty as i had remembered. Em did awesome. She loved the "reward" of her first hike. 

From great to horrible in 24 hours

The last 24 hours have truly been an emotional roller-coaster. Last night me and Dave went and had a great dinner with my former GM of the last two years and his wife. Great food and great company. Afterwards we met up with whom ever wanted to join us for a beer. We are running out of time visiting with people individual, sucks i know, but we still wanted to see some of the amazing people we have gotten to know in these two and a half years here in the dessert. We went to a local watering hole and had a great time until closing. I will for sure miss some of them a bunch. Thanks to each and one of you because whether or not you might realize it, i have learned and grown because of you. It doesn't happen too often but i couldn't miss out on the opportunity to make lasting memories and stand in front of the camera with some amazing women!

Then, 12 hours after this picture was taken my smile turned upside-down as the realization of Casper's departure was happening today. By dinner time my best Buddy left for his new home. Crying for hours, my eyes, heart and face are still hurting from all the sobbing and great memories we shared. And the ache of the emptiness that he leaves behind. He was truly a great dog and i know that he is with great people, but it still doesn't make it any easier. I am just grateful that i will get updates and pictures of his future journey and can see that he is doing great. It will take time to adjust to not being bombarded as you walk in the door, or pestered while slicing cucumbers until i give in and give him his share, or being stepped on because he cant get close enough while getting loved....... 

The last 24 hours have truly been an emotional roller-coaster!....

Getting closer

The light is getting closer and closer. I have started my countdown and with that comes my very annoying new friend; mr Stress. 

I am down to seven shifts left to work. Seven shifts! Its so close i can almost touch it.

 Dave came with me today to pick up my passport and with that all our paperwork for our move home is complete. Yay! Its so nice to have it all done and not having to worry about it anymore. If he wasn't working tonight i am pretty sure we would have celebrated! 

The next two weeks will be hectic but i know that it will be all worth it in the end. So now on to; sorting through our last belongings, getting rid of all that is not going, selling two cars, renting a car for Colorado, cleaning through the house, getting the walk-through done, shipping the last things, having a get together with friends we will miss, and saying good bye to Casper. And this in only two weeks. Wish my luck!

Passport and shopping

Was hoping that today's trip up the the Swedish consulate in Scottsdale was going to be my last, but no. I did file my application for an emergency, or provisional, passport. Because mine expired and i am not feeling like making a trip to Washington DC, i am taking a shortcut and getting this kind of passport. It will serve the same purpose as a regular passport but will only be valid for six months. Oh well, thats long enough for me to get back and make a new passport in sweden this summer. Since the consulate is only blocks away from my favorite mall here in AZ, i figured i might as well go shopping. I am going to miss this mall and the fact that every store is not packed with people. I hate shopping when its busy but i guess i will have to get use to that again.....

Hopefully i will be able to pick up my passport in the middle of next week and with that in hand all our paperwork and endless applications and dealings with government agencies are over! So looking forward to that!

Its time to make lemonade.....

....because i have a shit ton of lemons! 

I think this country just want to milk every dollar out of me that they can get. Its like it knows we are leaving and it needs to capitalize on it. I re-chipped a tooth the other day at work, that i chipped a while back and today i had enough courage to go to the dentist. I hate that place. If i never have to step a foot in a dentist office ever again, i would die one happy camper! Well, thats not going to happen since i have already made my next appointment. But i guess on the flip side i will be on Valium for the first time ever so hopefully Dave doesn't have to drag me to the office. I chipped my darn tooth deep enough that i need a root canal done. Well, its going to be two first that day cause i have never had one of them either.... The lady was nice enough to warn me that i will need someone to drive me and pick me up because i should not be driving while hooped up on valium, so my wonderful hubby of mine took the day off of work so that he can care for me. Yay!.... 

Well hopefully tomorrow will be a better day!

Arrival

With the residence permit in the bag it was time to buy our tickets. Took us about five min to complete the transaction. We have had our eyes on the world of tickets for the last eight months and knew exactly the date, departure and route that we wanted. July 18th is the day we will once again walk on Swedish grounds. Kind of weird to only buy oneway tickets.... But its done! I am glad we did because Dave went online to just double check bag limits and weight limits etc and the same tickets an half hour later already went up over $70 per person....

Be ready, on the 18th us and our luggage of nearly 300lbs will touch down in Stockholm!

Finally!!!

It didnt come easy, thats for sure. But today, after a sleepless night due to nightmares and too many thoughts in a too small space, we finally got the decision from the migration board. Dave is now officially welcome to the land of the North for the next ten years!! This is such a relief! It has taken "only" three months. Not as long as other cases and people, but way to long for day-to-day living in the uncertainty. The last of these month were extra hectic. I felt like we were fighting a battle against (for lack of better words...) non-caring, ignorant and lazy people. A big thank you to my dad, who lived through hell by our side with daily text messages, phone calls and weekly car rides down to the migration board in the near by town. I know i asked him to light a fire and anyone who knows my dad knows that it is not the person you want to fight against but someone you want on your side in battle. Thank you dad for being so awesome. This would not have happened this fast without you on our side. 

Phuuu, i big weight has been lifted off our shoulders and now tickets and my emergency passport is next and i hope that is the last of it for a long while....

Such a great news day, but also lined with a heavy heart. Emma left Arizona this morning to go to Colorado to spend some quality time with Dave's parents. I am so happy for her and them that they are able to get this time together, but i hate the emptiness and the weird silence that now fill our home. Before she left we taught her how to text message from her ipad and how to call us using her Skype account. I hope she will use these tools because i miss her already but i hope she will have some sense of time and let her mom get her much needed sleep during the night. Only time will tell.....

This was her first text message she sent to Dave this morning <3

Soccer season is over

Emma's last game of the season was played last saturday. They finished the season 1-7. Her team only scored two goals the entire time while getting scored on probably about 30 times! They were definitely not the powerhouse team or the team to beat, more like the bye-week-team, but she had fun and learned very little. I learned that she has my same stubborn, grumpy temper on the field as her mama! 

Can't wait for her to play at home and actually get taught about the game of soccer!

Today was the day....

So, today was supposed to be the Day. The deadline for the decision from the migration board was supposed to be given no later then today. Well, i guess most government agencies are the same, and have not much sense of timeframes or deadlines! Since we filed to have our case rushed, they managed to create yet another bump in the road on our journey. See long story short; Emma's and Dave's application, which started out as one turned into two separate ones and only Dave's was sent to Sweden while Emma's was left in D.C. After a few phone calls, waiting in a phone line, and having someone trying to convince me of making Emma a swedish citizen BEFORE we fly home in less then two months, Emma's paperwork was finally forwarded to Sweden last friday and now we are told that the decision will come through this week. Well, i am to the point now that i will believe it when i see it!

All while this is going on we are trying to finish up more things off our must do list. Its going but if it was happening any slower we would be in park..... However, the two boxes we sent two weeks ago finally made it to our apartment and for some weird reason, my parents did not have to pay the post office a ransom this time to pick them up. Pretty funny knowing what they were told last time.... Again, government agencies at its best!

No decision yet.

I know, i know. It has only been a week since we filled to have our case rushed but they said up to two weeks so that translates into me and Dave checking our emails including the spam box every time there is a notification of a new message. 

Its been a busy week, yet i feel like nothing has gotten done. However we did ship some more things over to the motherland and are waiting for that confirmation that they have arrived safe and sound. This time its two boxes filled with toys for Emma. It seems like my whole existence right now is a waiting game. There are so many balls in the air right now and i can just hope and pray that i do not drop one of them!

Representing...

Emma is representing at practice tonight. Love it! ❤

What a week!

So another roller-coaster week just passed! To start from the beginning; i am getting tired of waiting to hear back from the Swedish migration office for the decision in regards of Em and Dave's visas. But this decision is crucial for us not only for the obvious reason, because i am banking on them getting the green light, but also because we can not buy our airline tickets without the visas and i can not get my emergency passport without the travel dates from our tickets so pretty much everything is on hold until they get their darn green light.
Well, tired of waiting i made Dave call the Swedish embassy in Washington, which btw is only open for one hour per day four days a week! This is where our trouble started. They never got the information from the Swedish consulate of Arizona that we did in fact conduct the mandatory interview. What?! We did that back in early March! Ok. Who do i call next? My dad of course! For those who knows this amazing man also knows that he got resources and knows more people than anyone else. So dad who do you know at the migration office in Sweden??? Nobody! What?! Ok dad you better make new friends fast because we need to light a fire on someones behind so we can get it all done and get home! So dad does what he does best and tomorrow our plea letter and proof that we no longer will be employed nor have a place to live will be notarized at the migration office in Norrkoping and hopefully they will grant our plea for expedited service will go through and we can get our green light by the end of this month and our journey can get back on track! Now all we can do is wait and pray that our prayers are heard.

Now back to enjoying my absolute amazing mothers day with the best little girl ever!
Happy mom's day to all you mothers out there!

Casper in heaven

Took Casper with us to Emma's soccer practice tonight and i am not sure who was happier; the four toddlers that was climbing on him for an hour, the kids parents that now did not have to look after their kids and could chit-chat, or Casper who absolutely LOVES kids and attention. I think Casper got a taste of Heaven! Its moments like this that it really sucks to be reminded that Casper is not going to join us on our new journey! I already miss you Buddy!

He is happy to be home and one tired puppy!

Pictures helped make it real

Like living in a half empty house, or all the must do's and the craziness is not "real" enough. Yesterday my parents and sister went to our new place of living. As my sister put it;"mom was measuring, dad was inspecting, and i was taking pictures!" It was awesome getting to see the new apartment. My mom had sent over the blueprints so that we could see the layout and the measurements of each room but seeing the pictures just made this whole journey that much more real. Me and Dave looked over all the pictures and then we invited Em to see them as well. She was so excited to see what will be her room. Her room is painted dark purple as of the pictures and she wanted to make sure Morfar remembers that he needs to change that to pink. She is set on a pink room!
After the fun of the pictures we went on to scout the area. Where is the school, subway, stores etc etc.
Needless to say; its all going to be perfect and we are so excited to start a new chapter of our story in this new place we soon will call home!

Emma scored her first ever soccer goal.

In the middle of our sale this weekend, Emma had a soccer game. She wasn't very happy about leaving the garage to go play but I finally got her to the field and shoes on right before the ref started the game. I'm sorry but her team is not very good. It's ten kids that are all pretty much first timers and some, I think, had never seen a soccer ball before....
They started off the season with a 5-0 loss but was just happy to play. Second game they lost 5-3 and this one was rough because they lost again even though they scored a few goals. But this weekend they got their first W and Em somehow scored the only goal of the game. It was a nice goal that if you just started watching the game minutes before she shot the ball you might be fooled to believe that she could shot and play, but for the rest of us that saw her in the third quarter, yes! They have quarters here, when she played goalie and after a couple of not so successful attempts of kicking goal kicks and hearing the coach tell me; "It's ok, she is learning. And I will spend some extra time with her kicking the ball." They rest of us were just so happy to finally get to see our kids win a game!
Wish Dave could have seen her score her first goal but hopefully she will score many more!

Busy weekend!

I think that saying that we had a busy weekend is really an understatement. It was insane. Most time went to getting ready for our yard sale that we hosted on Saturday morning. The sale itself only lasted six hours. Not many of you can imagine what we went through to prepare for this, but most of you have seen or been to a yard sale. Well, first we had to rule out our belongings that were too big or too heavy to fit in a box. No matter how much we wanted to take some items, it was not an option to do so unless we are willing to pay the hefty price. And I am not. Secondly, just because the item passed the first sort doesn't mean it is automatically going overseas with us. Anything breakable is not such a smart idea. And how much stuff do one person really need anyway?
We have already shipped two boxes and our goal is to only ship another 8. Sounds a lot maybe but when you go through a 205 square meter house with a backyard/patio and two vehicles then you might see my dilemma.....
Anyway, the yard sale was a success! Emma was having a hard day seeing most of her toys being sold and every once in a while she would see a toy that she loved so much that she could not part with, of course we let her remove it from the sale and put it in the want pile. We don't have very many items worthy of selling left. Now it's more of sorting for a third time and see which item passes. The want pile in the spare bedroom is getting larger...
Trying to explain how empty our house now is to my dad today was easy. All I had to say was that we now eat off of plastic plates and every meal is a "pick nick" on the floor. Can't wait for this journey to be over and we can walk on Swedish ground. Soon, very soon!
Before and after pictures. People were crazy, kind of like vultures fighting over fresh meat! Glad we don't have to do another sale for a very long time if even ever!

Paper plates is next...

Even though our yard sale is not until this Saturday, we have started to sell our belongings. There has been people coming over to our house almost anytime that we are not working. It's great because we are selling a bunch but it is also very strange to have people going through your stuff and picking out what they want. Of course I am happy that things are leaving my house so that one; I am not stuck with it and two; so that there is less things for me to move out to the garage on Friday. And then the simple fact that I am getting some money....
I told Dave to get ready to eat off of paper plates and sitting on the floor because if we keep this up our house will be empty in no time. The couch left this afternoon and our dinner table is leaving this friday night, so we brought down the spare bed from our guest bedroom to make a couch for now. Em was so excited about this that she talked me into sleeping on our "new" couch this evening! Love that little girl!

Black day

So before I even got a chance to pick Em up from school today, I got the email message that I have feared. Emma's teacher was informing us that Em got the color black today. For those of you that don't know, they do a color every day and we all got a chart that explains the color so that we know how our kids do in school for that day...
Well, needless to say, black is the bottom of the chart! It requires parent/teacher contact to talk over the behavior in school... Yay me!
So after dealing with Em's teacher, I faced the little girls that I love with all of my heart.the only girl that can melt my anger right off. How do I make a seven year old truly understand that black is not acceptable nor tolerated in our house?
Well, here we go..... Lets hope I can get through to her and make her really understand the importance in life of good behavior and listening to the person in charge at the time. Heck, half of the adult population still don't get this simple fact!
Wish me luck!

Feel like an hourglass

I feel like an hourglass where the sand is almost completely gone from the top bubble..... Time is going by so fast!
We have started selling our belongings, and are trying to get ready for the yard sale that will take place in just nine days. I really don't like dealing with any sales. It usually mean chaos and lots of people. Two things I don't like. I can't even do Vicky's semi sales without panicking! But there is no way out of this event so I am trying to put my big girls pants on and get this done and hopefully over with.
I am praying for a lot of patience and calmness, and that time will keep flying so this darn yard sale can be over and my life can go back to normal with hopefully a lot less belongings!

Many firsts...

This was a week of many new firsts. Em had her meeting with her soccer team, she also had her first soccer practice yesterday and absolutely loved it! I used a sick day for the first time. We sold our first items. And tomorrow is Emma's first ever soccer game. She is too cute. She told me this morning that she is very nervous about the game and about making mistakes. She is such a perfectionist!.... I am very excited that our work schedules do not interfere with her game tomorrow and that me and Dave both will be able to go cheer on her and the team. Go purple panthers!

Meeting Coach and the team.

Tonight is the night that Em has waited and asked about for over one month. Finally it was here. The meet and greet with her coach and teammates was happening. Em is so excited! It cute to watch because she is kind of all over the place but shy all at the same time. To say that this meeting was organized would be one of the biggest lies ever! Her coach, Ashley, is also coaching two other teams this season and we all met at the same time. It was crazy! So many kids in different colored jerseys all running around chanting their team's name. I knew that soccer is different here but never really thought that it was going to be. I remember calling Gert to tell him that I wanted to play ball with HSK and to practicing with so many girls. Well Em is only one of three girls on her team, the rest are boys. No offense, but I had hoped for an all girls team. I know she will be fine but I was hoping for more of a social bond along with sports. I still consider a few girls from my first practice with HSK great friends and I have had some awesome times with them. Well I guess this kind of don't matter too much since she will be leaving at the end of the season and most likely never see any of them again.....
Em is so proud of her jersey and chose number 7.
Good luck my princess, I will be your biggest cheerleader!

Happy Easter!

Since both me and Dave worked yesterday, and we both wanted to watch Em go on her Easter egg hunt, it took place bright and early. I don't even think the clock had struck 6am and Em was so eggcited!
Hope everyone had a great Easter!

Just like mommy and daddy!

Today is the day!
We are going to buy Emma's first pair of soccer cleats. We didn't want to "push" her into any sport and she has gotten to choose herself what sport she wanted to try. I am so excited that this time it's soccer! Last year she tried that whole gymnastics thing but it didn't last more than a few weeks before she said she was done with it. She also did swimming and LOVED it, but more for fun.
So now we are onto her first soccer team adventure. Sure we have played in the backyard since she was little but now it's for real. We have the team meeting on Monday where she will get to meet her coach and her teammates. Her team's color are black and purple. Lets see how this goes, but first she needs the essentials. Off to the sporting goods store we go!
They had to be pink!

Cleaning my head

This move is so stressful! For everyday that passes there is something else that is needed to be done. In my opinion; the interview with the Swedish Honorary consulate was a joke and a waste of time. Ok I know that they had to meet Dave in person but the three questions that they asked were stupid and such a waste of everyone's time!
Having to have gone through the crazy process of becoming a green card holder, which took years to complete and was really hard on my mind, you would think this would make me happy. But seriously, what a waste of time!

So in an attempt to not having to think about anything irritating nor stressful today I decided to do some yard work. After raking leaves, pulling weeds, and cleaning up after Casper for almost two hours and in 27 degrees, I am now pooped and feeling like there is something else I should be doing. We are only twelve weeks away from leaving this state, trust me it might sound like a long time but I am afraid that if I blink, it would be here tomorrow!

Our stuff

Yes! Our two first "test" shipment boxes did arrive safe and sound! Or at least it seems that way. They did have a notice of damage on it and a notice of being opened and inspected in Denmark, however nothing seems to be missing nor damaged. Yay! What a huge relief that was. Well it was for us but maybe not so much for my parents who had to go to the post office and pay(!) to get them released. They were given a cart to roll them out of the post office, as my mom put it; "everyone was staring at us and the two huge cement blocks of boxes! Come on mom, the can't be that heavy. I carried one and Dave the other and we even had to wait in line holding them.....
Well, that makes me so happy that they made it, too bad the third "box" we shipped didn't make it on-time. Mickan's birthday present may be a few days late but when it comes from that special Pink store it should be worth the wait.... At least we got to Skype and Em got to sing for her. Priceless!
Well we got a big, no huge, week ahead of us. Think positive and all should be great!

Doesn't look that heavy?!

My buddy

I think I am done crying, for now. We are in the middle of our adventure of mowing home and most feelings are happy, excited, fear, and some panic. However I know that I might be done crying over him for now but I know that when the day comes, I will cry like a little baby - again.
My little Casper buddy. Ok fine. He was Emma's birthday present but I see him as mamma's boy and we got the deepest bond in our house. Casper is our my dog. He is an all white Boxer and will turn six in October. He is the best. I know that we I will never ever have a better dog. But unfortunately he will not come with us on our next chapter. Due to too many deaths of "snubbed-nosed" dogs in flight there is way to many regulations and rules of him flying and we have came to the realization that he will have to stay behind. Shit! I am crying just writing this. Em seems ok with it for now and our process of trying to find him a loving home that will love him more then we do is now in the works.

Look at him! How can you not love this guy!

Moments like this

It's moments like this that warms my heart, that makes me smile from the inside out. No doubt that both I and Em missed Dave tonight, we always do when one of our perfect threesome is gone.  But I love my evenings with Em. I love it when we just sit on the couch and just cuddle. I love to listen to her stories about her day. Or just the "guess what Mom". She sure tell good stories and I love hearing them. Tonight we decided to get into our Jammie's and just cuddle on the couch, eating Dove chocolates and reading the quotes to each other. I knew she was exhausted but was to selfish to make her go to bed. I love it so much when she falls asleep in my lap. My beautiful little princess! Well not so little anymore, carrying those 65Lbs up the stairs reminds me how fast she is growing up and I just love it even more that I let her fall asleep in my lap.....

Hard to imagine

I know that it is hard for you to understand, but the fact that we are moving is my whole world right now. It consumes my whole brain, every hour, every minute. Everything I touch I ask myself: "am I going to take it? Is it worth to pay to ship it?" Sometimes I wish I could just turn it off. Today is a beautiful day and its my day off but I have so many things on my mind and so many things I have to do.
Today I wish I could just turn it off and be lazy...... It's my constant struggle!

My shopping soul is a frugal one!

So I know that I rather buy 10 pair of shoes instead of one expensive pair. I rather have ten purses then one and so on. Brands mean nothing to me. I rather have comfy and cute then expensive. Still don't get it why people spend hundreds of dollars on a purse? So when we are in this whirlwind of packing, trying to figure out all the things to pack, what to bring and what is available in Sweden, I turned to Google. Trust me, I know that Sweden has almost everything that we want and more then enough of what we need but I still have my fav brands of different stuff and I just had to know if it is available and what it will cost me. Well, lets just say reality just smacked my frugal shopping soul in the face! I don't think I should google any more items.... My fav conditioner is $20 in Sweden while I only pay $2.50 for it here! Other hair products are more then double and don't get me started on getting your nails done.  I told Dave that I might just have to stock up and bring it with us and then go on vacation to the States every other year or so, because this frugal soul needs some true shopping that doesn't use all my savings! Shopping is one of my favorite things to do but I think I will turn to a lot more window shopping in the near future. Skyping with my sis today and quizzing her on different prices and items available and how far behind is Sweden on my fav tv shows etc etc. when the laughter dwindled down and i was able to process all this "new" information, well.... lets just say that I will try my hardest to just go with the flow but inside I know that my frugal soul might have a heart attack one day in the shopping streets of Stockholm!

Waiting game

It seems like we are on track with most things. Two boxes of items where mailed to my parents house on Monday. They better make it there in one piece or I will be devastated! I am trying to keep this momentum going by going through all of my clothes. What to take, what to donate, and which items will go out with the trash.....
We are waiting for our interview to be scheduled with the Swedish consulate here in Phoenix. I think a huge weight will be lifted once that is done and we get the confirmation that Em's and Dave's visas are approved. I know that with that approval comes something else that must be done so it will be ever ending for a while but yet so exciting!
I know, I know it's not a rush for the finish line, it's a marathon.... But again it's so close I can see it! Hopefully just over four months until we can walk on Swedish grounds.

A little bit of panic....

A little bit of panic and anxiety hit me today. My dad called us yesterday with the great news that he has found us an apartment. Yay! It's not as close to downtown as I would have liked but its within the area that we had said we wanted to live, and I know once we fill it with us it will be absolute perfect! But no the panic strikes. What do we bring? I have said the whole time that only the must have items will be shipped and then it's only two suitcases per person. All my shoes don't fit into two suitcases!!!
The first box is getting started. This one was easy to start. Pictures. If you know me I love taking pictures and I have a lot, but now what else do I pack? It's a little overwhelming....

It's true

It's true what they say: once you put it on Facebook it must be the truth. Well in this case it is.
We told all the right people and hit the final one today. Passports are made. Application for green cards to Sweden has been sent in and we got notice this morning that its time to schedule our interview with the Swedish consulate here in Phoenix. Next, after getting accepted of course, is to book our flights and then hopefully smooth sailing all the way home!....

Coming clean

After starting this journey in a very hush, hush manner. It feels great to let it out. To let everyone know. To be able to share my excitement, it's like standing on a mountain top and screaming: We are moving home!
I know this is not going to be a dance on roses and there will be a few bumps in the road, but I am very excited about what the future holds for me and my family.