What's The Opposite of a Raw Deal?

my life right now!

this is not to brag, this is simply stating how my life is and feels right now.  I'm feeling lucky and time is definitely on my side. What I'm experiencing in my "new life in Sweden".

Living in a Foreign Country-Experiencing a new and different perspective on life. 

Learning a new Language - Challenging, but now, finally exciting.

Time to Read.  This week I've been simultaneously been reading "Commited" and "Marketing 2.0", along with studying my Swedish language books

Time to Read Emails- when I was working my 40 plus work weeks, I have to admit, I didn't have time, or perhaps I just didn't make the time to read my emails (fully). Now, I can relax, sip on some hot green tea and carefully peruse my incoming emails. Heck, I even have time to read thru newsletters I've signed up for in the past.

Time to Skype- catching up on Skype is one of my favorite pasttimes these days- granted the connection is good.

Time to Blog- A wonderful creative outlet, I highly recommend it!

Time to Design and Create Jewelry- Again, another wonderful creative outlet. I especially love creating name jewelry and message jewelry.  Sometimes I get people emailing me their stories about how they, or someone in their life needs hope, as they order one of my "Got Hope" necklaces.  Etsy is a wonderful outlet for handcrafters of all things from jewelry, to clothes, to the oddest of oddities. http://www.brandiu.etsy.com/

Time to Travel- So far in the last few months I've made my way to several beautiful islands in Sweden,

visited Stockholm, London and Paris, and now I'm heading back to my hometown St. Louis for Thanksgiving.  I hope there is more traveling in my future! (blogs on my travels coming soon).

Time to Reflect- On life in general.

Time with my Children- I have to admit, I'm not the "stay-at-home" type. It just isn't me. However, after only taking 9 weeks maternity leave with my 2 girls (mostly because of guilt- an American guilt I'm told), I feel very lucky to have had so much time together with my girls over the last 4 plus months.  Admittedly, often I feel overwhelmed with the chaos of having 2 young girls running the house, however, I'm lucky to have that chaos.

Time with my Swedish Family- My awesome inlaws, nephew, cousins and great grandma's on my husband's side.  Such wonderful people.

Opportunity to Hang out With People From Different Countries/Cultures:  Through my Swedish Language Course, I have the opportunity to befriend people from countries including: Iraq (and that's a tough one being American), Philippines, Mexico, Thailand, Kosovo, Lithuania, Ethiopia, China, Vietnam, Canada and more.  I seriously doubt had I not been put in this situation, had any of us really become friendly.  Our conversations are comical at times (or should I say our attempts for conversation are comical).  Sometimes even the simplest questions can turn into a huge ordeal due to our language differences. 

The Opportunity to Miss Home- The old saying is sooo true: "distance makes the heart grow fonder"

Having Dinner On The Table- As soon as I walk in from my day at school, there is always food on the table. I mean this literally!  Table is usually set, some fresh chicken or salmon and some potatoes and vegetables have been lovingly prepared for me by my mother-in-law.  My husband and I are both so spoiled...how will we manage when we move out?

TIME.TIME.TIME.

" Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." - Ferris Bueller

Thanks for reading,

Peace!

Brandi

With all the negativity we are surrounded with, I'd love to hear what's good, no not good, but what is great in your life right now? Please leave your comments below.

The Swede Life

I pick up my virtual pen now that I have been living in Sweden for nearly 4 months. Born and raised in St. Louis, MO, I'm far from home. I mean this both physically (I'm seriously far away from St. Louis), around 5000 miles, and culturally- ( Ummm, I wave to the cows and laugh as I walk to the city of Kärna). I use the term "city" loosely, very loosely, as there is only a small grocery store, a hairdresser, a florist and goodies/movie rental/post office and an elementary school in this "city" of Kärna.

I stepped off the plane, and arrived in Göteborg on June 2nd, 2010. The first month just felt like a long vacation. Sleeping in, enjoying fresh potatoes and salmon cooked by the world's most domestic woman (my mother in law), and relaxing were just common practice in the beginning.

By far I have found that the most enjoyable thing to do in Sweden is to take advantage of the incredible weather and visit islands by boat. Marstand, Dyrön are just a couple of my favorite places to visit. Breathing in the fresh ocean air, letting the wind blow thru my hair, I took in the amazing views of the archipelago and crystal blue sky.

However, life isn't all butterflies and salt licorice. Leaving family and friends behind wasn't easy, although I have to admit that Facebook and Skype have probably made this trip possible. I don't know that I could have moved without the ability to check up on my adorable little niece in St. Louis, or seeing what my friends were up to.

Quick list of things I love in Sweden
-Summer weather
-The fact that I've already seen 3 FULL rainbows since I've been here
-Archipelago
-Clean Air
-Proximity to other amazing places in Europe
-Sense of Community
-Walking everywhere and riding my bike
-Free education (my swedish language course is free)
-Free child daycare
-Contributions from the government for having children *thank you very much Sweden!
-Free healthcare
-An overall healthy lifestyle (organic foods cheaper and more readily available than back at home), people walk, bike everywhere
-Public transportation that doesn't suck! In fact, the busses are clean and the people watching is fantastic.

Things I dislike in Sweden:
-The fact that I don't speak the language (my own fault for not learning sooner, but I'm on it now)
-Skinny Jeans (WTF?) Why won't this trend go away?
-Everything more expensive(high quality, less quantity)
-Systembolaget! The Swedish government controls the liquor distribution. So basically, you pay about 40 percent more for liquor compared to in the states and you can't really get it when you want it.
-Hours of operation: retailers only open short while on Saturdays and not really on Sundays.

Things I miss from home (STL/United States)
-friends and family (a given!!)
-A close second...is.....TARGET! Nothing even comes close here.
-Having a car (and driving everywhere).
-Tostito's (don't you laugh!) .
-Pei Wei.
-Oishi, Kobe Steakhouse, Hibachi.
-Ability to go out to eat whenever I want.
-Good customer service (waiters don't get tips, so don't expect your water to be refilled).
-My TV shows.
-Being busy (it's a love/hate thing).

It's been an interesting 4 months. I have realized, however, life is pretty much the same no matter where you live. The day to day doesn't change SOOO much, it's really the people that make a place a home.
There's my rant..I promise future blogs to be much shorter!
Peace!
Brandi