Would google lie??

Do you think... Is it possible, really?? I mean I know they stalk, but lie.
Noooo, that would be too much?
Maybe??

I say yes.
It's the only explanation.
Googleanalytics.com say I have had no visitors to my site for 4days, even though people have left me comments.
Oh wait. Do my friends have super trooper ESP internet posting powers?

Maybe? Yes! that has to be it!
Google would never lie.
Phew.
Go back to work people.
x

So it goes a little something like this....

Big thanks to Lib, Ben, Fo and Nat who seem to be the only people who care for my sanity :D

Over the next 3weeks, my projects include:

A photo/word of the day for 2 weeks.

A combination of Fo and Nat's suggestions. I only have 7 polaroids left, so the photos will be both digital and polariod. Day one was friday (4th), so I will post the first week next friday/saturday....

A trip to the Ale Stones. Apparently I have ALMOST been to them... The story goes that we didnt go the extra 500m because I couldnt be bothered.

(Sidebar people: when there is room for communication error, the non local ALWAYS gets blamed for not wanting to do things, its so easy to say, "Well we told you but you didnt really feel like it". Didnt really feel like what???? I had no any idea they even existed!!!!!)

A trip to Dalby, Sverige, with photos and exploration and everything... and I will compare it to Dalby, Qld, 'Stralia!

An indepth review of why Swede's are obsessed with Salmiak aka Ammonium Chloride - Just for Benji!

So there you go... keep thinking of ideas for me... i'm enjoying it. Will start with the Dalby trip tomorrow if there is even a glimmer of sunshine.

VOTE FOR MADDIE!!!

Can everyone reading this head over to
http://vfestbeta.com/author/mads
and read/comment on mads blog??? She is blogging for VFestival and is in the running for a trip to all the V Festivals next year....
SO DO IT FOR ME!!! (cause then she will take me to the UK ones.....)

Challenge mania.... Insane in the membrania!

Yeah I read that title, get over it, I got bigger fish!

Last week I was asked to be an interviewee for a friend who is writing about the social phenomenon that is blogging. Many of the questions were in regards to, why do I blog?

..... Well obviously because i'm hilarious and everyone wants to read what i have to say!

No??? Ok well how about... I dont really know why. (Not the answer I gave by the way!) I think my original thought process was because I am crap at keeping a travel diary, so I decided to keep a public one? Makes sense huh? I also wanted somewhere to keep copies of my lonely planet blogs, so it seemed natural I start my own blog.

But.... and there is always a but.. now i'm thinking I should put a little more effort to it. I want to use this blog to talk about the new and amazing things I should be out there experiencing. not to complain about the cold. I mean, come on, I live in Sweden, what did I think the temperature would be like????

Unfortunately, 12months of living in Sweden has left me pretty uninspired to be honest. But, do you know what? I am my own worst enemy. I often hide from my life in Sweden, mostly because I am embarrassed that I am not fluent in Swedish, or even close to it. Especially now as we are the point where people are starting to ask why I don't speak Swedish. Thats when I get all, howabouts we stay at home, and then no one will ask me, and i'll offend no one! Can we huh???? huh huh???

I'm pretty ashamed that I this is who I have become. I really and truely need hand holding in this country. Somehow I have gone from being a hand holder (of anyone who would come along for the ride) to needing some constant gentle persuasion READ: someone to bloody push me - but, obviously in a way I will respond to well i.e. don't TELL me to do it you moron, suggest it in a round about way and let me think I thought of the idea!!!

Ahhhh man. Look i've gone and done it again. What i really wanted to say was. I think it is time I used this blog more effectively. I look at all the photographic groups Fo belongs to and I really wish I had something like that. They are constantly being set challenges which not only get their creative juices flowing, but it pushes them to keep their craft evolving, experience new things, and to look at everyday aspects with a new perspective! So that's what I want to do.....

So, I want EVERYONES help!!!!
And, I know who you are, googleanalytics.com tells me.

I want you all to think about one, (or two or five if you like) things, ideas, perspectives, whatever, that I can write about.
It is best if it is Sweden relevant (wikipedia is the name of the game for you) and off i will go adventuring and exploring new things.
Honestly I dont care if it is a spring flower that you want to know about, OR you could set me a WHOLE challenge!!! Like I want you to go out for the day pretending.... and then tell us about it!!
Please please please help me stop myself from going insane!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So just do it, leave a comment at the end of this please please please! I dont think anything is too crazy??? Although I am a little worried about what O'Brien might suggest?????

(and just to clarify, I was NOT earlier comparing my blogging with Fo's talent!!)

Snow snow go away.... come again at Christmas!

See it didnt take me long did it.
I will admit it. I am sick of the snow and the cold.
My defense = it's almost April and it has been cold in Sweden since the very begining of October. So count it out with me people.
That's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 MONTHS!!

So while I still heart snow, I hate the damp, I hate living in an apartment that feels damp all the time, and I hate having a boyfriend who is getting more depressed by the day as he hasnt seen any decent sunshine, and hasnt felt the warmth of the sun since September.

Ok, whining out of the way.

Easter was fun!!
I am struggling to recover. Lib came over.
We had Champagne, and champagne and well some more champagne.
I can still only talk in small sentences.
Ok i'll stop it now.

I love Lib's visits, we usually cook lots and lots of very good food, we discuss lots of food, mention how Jesse William should be here to entertain us after we have eaten and drunk far too much to be sociable. The weather is usually disgustingly bad, even by Sweden's standards. And this visit was no different! We did it all by the book!

I love when Lib first arrives and we both chatter at 100miles and hour and the Swede just nods and laughs in appropriate gaps. While his English is amazingly good, he struggles for the first hour or so until we pause for breath!! Hard to believe I know??







I have lots of things I need to blog about at the moment, so watch out to see if I can keep to my word and be a good blogger :D

Trevlig helg! (happy weekend!)

And a white easter we shall have....

After that wonderful snow melting in just a few hours on tuesday, I feared we were in for a very grey dull weekend weather wise. To my suprise, as I have no idea when it started snowing, but everything is wonderfully white again today. The sun is up and it is still -2degrees so I imagine that the snow should stick around today!!
Oh and the best part... It is predicted to snow for the next two days.
I can feel a snowman comming on!!!!

I wish everyone a very happy easter, travel safely, and enjoy the break!

Glad Påsk!

See, I really do live in Sweden.

And here's the proof.
After everyones hopes for a white winter were long gone and we started anticipating a nice long summer (yeah right!) winter decided to arrive in Spring, much the same way summer arrived in Autumn in Australia (ok, not in Qld!).

Snow is beaútiful!

Just in case you didnt believe me look at the difference a few hours can make...



This is the view from our balcony. The first photo was taken at 2pm on monday when the snow started, the second was taken when I woke up on tuesday morning. I'm sure you will agree with me what a difference a few inches of snow can make. Everything looks beautiful and makes me feel happy. When there is snow, I see the world differently. A tree or a little house covered in snow, whatever, they all make me smile. Oh and especially the children playing with their little toboggans and making snowballs. I could honestly get through the 7 months of Winter with no complaints if at least 3 months of it was white!! (not the 7!) If say December to March was white, I'd be a happy happy person. Oh well maybe we should move to Stockholm?????





This is just outside our apartment.. I intend on taking this same picture at various times of the year so you can really appreciate the change of season we experience in Sweden.

I'm dreaming of a white... Easter??

Well, maybe?? Perhaps that's an overstretch. Maybe not dreaming, but hoping.

The snow is dumping down outside, and seeing as Lib and I have had little girls fantasies about going to Pildemsparken in Malmö in the snow so it can feel like we are in Narnia (I swear to god it's a Narnia Park!) and it just so happens that Lib is comming on Thursday for Glad Påsk...

So please, let it snow let it snow let it snow......

Or at least let it stick, let it stick let it stick (I think that it will be melted by tomorrow.... but consider my thumbs held!)

See I'm kinda a great girlfriend!

Ok so I might have spent more of this year away from my boyfriend than anywhere near him, but I definately feel confident that I am a great girlfriend at the moment. What am I judging myself against? To be honest I am not setting the bar that high, but I think you will all agree that I beat the chinese bride who was married for a grand total of 31days when she set the marital bed alight because her groom drunkedly (and obviously stupidly) got into bed with out cleaning his feet!! That's right kids... he didnt clean his feet - didnt even brush the dirt off them before getting into bed. When the husband woke to find himself alight, he started arguing with his bride (nope didnt think to put the fire out - either of them) she escaped into the living room and he was burnt to death in the bedroom!

So now tell me who thinks I'm a cow when I expect my boyfriend to take the rubbish out and do the dishes the two nights a week he is home (and when i'm home - so really that's been 4 times this year!)

Ok well now while i'm feeling very secure in my role of "great girlfriend" i'll leave you with some photos of the french alps... It was fantastic... we had a view of the highest mountain in europe (Mt Blonc) out the living room window. Approx 4inches of snow fell while I was there, it was perfect. Except of course for me taking my boss' 5year old daughter out when I came off my first ski lift!! Yep, kinda set a precident of me just falling on my face for the rest of the day. (one fall even saw the smashing of Håkans favourite vintage sunglasses whilst still on my face - even whilst wearing a helmet).

I later found a slope that had my name written all over it, I had a few runs (all my very unfit legs could handle) and I felt almost like I could call my self a snowboarder (Vs. I fall whilst riding a snowboard alot!). I almost stayed for another week, and to be honest I wish I had (see once again great girlfriend - I came home!) although I probably would have gotten a little too cocky and ended up breaking my arm again! So all things considered it was probably a good thing.

Today it was the swede's (aka silver's) turn to go away. I embarressingly dont know where he's gone other than to somewhere north of where we live in Sweden, and well all I know is that it has something to do with lighting - And I guess that he can lay safely in bed knowing that he fear not of me lighting him on fire tonight.... and not simply because I dont know where he is! (ok so not such a great girlfriend!)

anywhoo... the photos... unfortunately not to the standard of Fo's!

Packing again?????

That's right. Strange as it may seem. Well maybe not actually. Since Christmas I have either been living out of a suitcase or wishing I would unpack my suitcase or even repack my suitcase or SOMETHING. I'm off to Argentiere which is located in The Chamonix Valley in south eastern France later today (oh yes people life is tough!).

I am looking forward to this trip, while at the same time I am filled with dread and fear of the shere cost of spending time in France; the thought of breaking my arm snowboarding AGAIN; meeting with some of the most intelligent, successful and possibly intimidating (only caused by my own fear) women I may possibly ever meet!! This is a work trip, Heidi is presenting a workshop at The International Committee for The Red Cross in Geneva on Friday, and while I am very much looking forward to it, with an RSVP List including various heads of gender diversity and human resources etc of organizations I hope to be gainfully employed by one day in the future, the prospect is a little daunting!!! Because quite frankly we all know how loud and stupid I get while nervous.... so watch this space I will possibly have some hilarious post workshop stories for you!

Just a few more of my favourite pictures whilst at home!! Thanks once again to Fona...