Bye, bye 2009

We started the new year with a familly visit to Atlanta, Georgia where Chris sister lives. Then we visit a frind in South Carolina. We ended the month with a ski trip to Coloroda with some friends.

My Parents visit us in Texas and we take a trip to New Orleans. I celebrate my 23rd birthday.

Travelling in Panama, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico
with my brother Philip

Back in Sweden and the spring is starting to come. We're climbing alot during this month. We're visiting friends in Gothenburg and buy a car in Skåne.

May was my baking month; buns, cookies, cakes...you name it. We took a trip visiting friends in Stockholm, Uppsala, Västerås and Örebro.

We payed a visit to Smögen before Chris left for working in Norrland.
I started working around midsummer.

I worked alot in July. Jojo visited me and then Chris and his parents visited us for 10 days during the end of the month.

My 2 last weeks of work before moving to a new flet in Norrköping where i started study. I visited Chris in Norrland on his birthday.

School starts for real as autumn is coming to Norrköping.

More projects and exam in school but also birthday celebrations and a visit from my dad.

The rainy month. Chris moves back from the north to live with
me in my tiny flat. We study and eat cookies.

First an exam then christmas celebration and school breaks. Back to Strömstad and the coldest winter for along time.

Sannie!

Sanna in Uddevalla

I just spend a couple of days in Uddevalla visiting my friend Sanna and her familly. We also did some shopping as all the stores have big sales now after christmas and i got some boots and a computerbag for half the price!
Oh and the movie Avatar was really good, absolutely worth seeing!

Activities

Avatar - all 3D

After just eating and sitting down for too long the whole familly decided to workout at the gym at my mum's work yesterday. There is also a big nice and worm pool to go swimming in after and a traditional swedish sauna. Me, Magnus and Marc went outside in our swimsuits rolling around in the snow before getting back jumping in the pool - lovely! Chris did not join us, think he thought be were abit nuts!

Today's been a beautiful day with sun and tons of snow. We went cross country skiing on the golf course and it was really nice. Couldn't take any photos as my camera run out of battery...
Going to see the new 3D movie Avatar now. Hope it's a good one.

Meeting familly

We just got home from a short trip to Smögen meeting up with my dad's side of the familly. It was good seeing my cousins again and eat some more, and more, christmas food. It was abit rough for me in the beginning as i we went out the day before meeting friends and partying. I can honestly say that i'm starting to feel abit old for big crowds of drunk 19 year olds. It was great seeing some old friends but apart from that pretty wasteful and expensive night!

God Jul!

Lots of vegetables and fish at the Åhlin christmas table

Opening presents

On our traditional christmas walk

Spending my first christmas at home for 4 years! Just me, Chris, my parents and brother Marc.
Riceporridge with syrrup and cinnamon for breakfast, a long walk, christmas lunch with my parents amazing food, traditional TV-program, presents and loads of chocolate and other goodies. How can you not like this day??!

Truffles and ice skating

Truffles...

Ice skating on the ström(stream) which runs through
Strömstad (there of the name)

Chris in action

Yesterday i was making fudge and truffles, went to watch Marc perform at his school (really good), watched some more desperate housewifes episodes (man, you can get stuck watching anything really) and made food for the familly. Today i cut my hair (no one noticed), bought the last christmas presents and went ice skating on the stream which goes through the city all the way out in the ocean. I'm a bit restless though, think i'm bad at just relaxing. When this break is over after 5 weeks i will be so ready to start school again!

A cold Strömstad

Fishingboat

fishing cottages

house roofs with a tiny bit of snow on top

The harbour

Isa

crazy birds...must be ice cold in the ocean right now

It's freeking ice cold here right now! As Strömstad is situated on the Westcoast the humidity and the wind makes the weather feels like so much colder then what the termometer says. And not only is it cold outside but my parents keep the house temperature very low, strangely i'm the only one noticing. I swear i wasn't made for this climate!

Pepperkakebak!

stars, pigs, bears and a windmill - classical christmas motiv

Baking gingersnaps for the first time in 4 years!

Before...

After...

After working with fonts the last couple if weeks i couldn't help myself...
(notice my skijumper)

Got home to Strömstad last night after 6h driving in snowstorm...Just to find that Strömstad, and the westcoast in general, had the least amont of snow in the whole country. Even down in the south of Sweden it's about 20 cm snow and that's about 18 cm more then here...
Anyway me and my dad baked pepparkakor (ginger snaps) the whole evening which is something i haven'r done in along time...

snow!

Snö!!!

Fanny at café Bagarstugan one last time...

Christmas trees!

Lighten it up

cold statue

The last exam is written and done and a 5 weeks long christmas break is waiting! It's almost sad leaving Norrköping now. It's so beautiful with all the snow and lights everywhere. Fanny toled me today was the shortest day of the year so from now on it's just gonna get more and more bright hours a day.

Lucia!

Don't know if u can notice but it's acctually snow on the ground

One of Norrköpings many churches

Some ladies were singing christmas and disney(!) songs

Lucia

This is the first time ever i've seen 2 lucias at the same time

Today is the 13-th of December, lucia and the 3rd of advent. Lucia has been an old tradition in Sweden for ages. I think it's based on a true story about an Italian girl, Lucia, who everyone thought was a witch and decided to burn on a big bonfire. I've acctually seen the real Lucia's hands and feet on a museum in Venice, Italy. Anyway we're "celebrating" this by having a Lucia chorus which sings and bring "light in th dark" which we most certainly need right now.
This was the weirdest Lucia celebration ever though. We went to church to watch it and not only did they have to Lucias they also had a guy making backflips and breakdancing...
Every sunday in December we lit a candle so the first sunday there's only one, the next two and so on. It's the third today and we've (I've) lit the third and last one in Norrköping. Tomorrow is the final exam and on Wednesday we're driving home to Strömstad.

The 2nd of Advent and one week left

Tons of Christmas goodies

Lotta, Sara and Fanny
On the 2nd of Advent we lit 2 candles

Madde, Susanne and Emmy

Thanks to global warming

the only snow we've seen so far...

View from my apartement

The only time it's been snowing so far was for more then a month ago and only for a day. Since then it's only been raining nd raining . The last two days were bellow freezing and then today rain again. I swear i remember it was lots of more snow when i was a kid during these two months. Chris mum just toled me it's been snowing in Texas, in Texas and not here!
I think it's scary to think how much the global warming really is effecting the planet.

It's getting close now...

Saffron bun at café Kuriosa

There's only one exam left before christmas break! We had the presentation about the poster this morning and it went very well. We got divided into 4 different groups (we're totally 73 students) were we each had to talk for our own thing. I got really good feedback from the teacher and my poster got chosen to one of the best (it's okey to brag sometimes ;p).
Me and Susanne took a long fika after that at a beautiful little café with the most delicious saffron buns!
No more school for me but an exam on the 14th of december. Just a week of studying then a month of vacation!

Poster & Pamphlet

The poster

7,8,1,2

(don't know why the jpeg resolution is so bad here,
it's not pixly in reality)

3,4,5,6

(These two are on the same paper but on different sides. You have to foled it open to view all the 4 type designers. This style is called "a gateway" because page 2 and 7 ar gates to 3- 6. Tricky? yepp it was tricky for make too!)

I know i've been writing alot about schoolwork here lately but to be honest there isn't too much else going on in my life right know. Our latest project is to create a poster and a pamphlet for a fictional exhibition at the working museum in Norrköping. The exhibition is called "det tryckta ordet" - the printed word - and is about the history of typography. We can do how ever we want but the pamphlet has to include 3-4 type designers and have some visible connection with the poster.
I've really liked this projekt! I can already notice a big difference in the way i'm thinking now from when i started this education.