A few years ago, I started going on a Photo Walk in the Spring. It was my way of supporting the “Walk to Cure” Diabetes Walk that my family participates in, since I can’t be there in person. I usually walk on the day that they walk, but this year I just couldn’t help but go early. On May 26th, it was such a beautiful day that I grabbed my camera and my little helper (who joined me for the first time this year, since she was too young last year!) and we hit the streets of Sollentuna. Here are a couple of shots that were taken during the walk. If you would like to see more, just click on one of the photos!

There aren’t many certainties in life, but I do know one thing: I am a lifelong learner who will always be looking for new and interesting things to discover. I love being a student, especially when the content is fascinating and the teachers are so much fun! Finally, some of the courses that I’ve been waiting for are about to start.

Everyone Can Write a Little with Cathy Zielske: Cathy is all about design and being able to share “your story” in a simple and visually-pleasing way. She is freaking hilarious and I loved taking her ‘Design Your Life’ class last fall. This class fits in with my lack of time to write long journaling about everything in my life. We will be taking little snippets of information (that have already been written in places like facebook and twitter) and using them in our pages. I really like the idea that all the information that I post about will not in vain. It can actually be used in an album about Adrienne’s milestones, or my first year as a mother, etc. things that I haven’t had a chance to officially document on paper.

Layer Love with Julie Prichard: I haven’t taken a course with Julie before but I love her work. I suspect that this class will be the polar opposite to the above class, as it is about making grungy layered backgrounds and getting your hands messy. The combination of all the upcoming courses are a perfect match for my split personality of creativity. I’m also excited that Julie will be making use of video as a main part of the course. I love watching an instructor at work instead of just reading about the steps that they’re taking. I actually learn best when I watch the video, try it myself, then watch it again to see if I can pick up anything that I might have missed or can do better. I’ve ordered everything I need for the course, and am raring to go!

Art Journaling 201 with Dina Wakley: I have been waiting SO long for Dina to start this one. I took her Art Journaling 101 and 102 classes and she blew me away with every PDF and video. Seriously! She makes everything look so easy and effortless. She can make a journal page or a scrapbook layout in front of your eyes, and you won’t know what hit you. She’s very detailed in her videos and can answer any and all questions posed to her on the forums. It will be a sad day for me when she decides to take the previous class videos down from the website. I’m that addicted to them! This course doesn’t start until the end of June, but I’ll be ready! I’ll be in Canada for most of it, which means I might not be able to do all the assignments until I can get back to all of my tools and paints. Luckily, I will be able to easily pick up an missing products before I head back to Sweden.

A lot of people might think I’m insane to take on so many classes while trying to juggle an almost one-year-old. They must wonder if I don’t have time to do long strings of journaling, how can I find time to tweet or write facebook updates. But believe me, there is a BIG difference. I can check my online accounts very quickly with the help of my iPhone on busses, in the dark during naptime, and odd moments here and there throughout the day. I really can’t say that about keeping my mind on the same thought for longer three minutes. Even writing this post, I’ve had to put Adrienne back to sleep two times!

Plus, I live in Sweden where we have, at least, a full year off for maternity leave. If I wasn’t able to focus on something other than my beautiful and wonderful daughter, I think I would have gone insane by now! I’m trying to fit everything in before going back to work in the fall. When that happens, I know I won’t have time for more online courses. That thought makes me very sad.

“Learn something new. Try something different. Convince yourself that you have no limits.” -Brian Tracey

I took the opportunity today to do something that I would never have accomplished if Adrienne and Erik were around. I taped and edited a video about my craft room. I have dreams of someday owning my own craft/art supply store where I would get to create all day long. I always envision a large front area and a group classroom type area, but I have never thought about having my very own art studio in the backroom. One of the entries in the Cloth, Paper, Scissors special issue on Art Studios talks about her special art space in her shop, and it completely blew my mind! What an amazing idea.

She says that she also uses the space to relax and entertain close friends who drop by the store. Wow! Never before have I wanted my own store so badly! That sounds like the perfect work environment and future project for me. Of course, whenever I daydream about it, I always see it in Canada instead of Sweden. Not really sure when that would happen, so it scares me to think that it may never. For now, it is something that I will think about and plan, hoping it will become my reality someday.

Currently, my craft room is nothing compared to what I see for myself in the future, but it is a peaceful place and it is mine. It is where I go to relax and recharge myself, even if only for five minutes.

My original idea was to be in front of the camera, but after not having a decent night’s sleep in over six months, I decided against it. I also have decided that I’m purchasing iLife 09. The iMovie program that I have is good, but when I see all the tutorials about what 09 can do, it just doesn’t compare. I would like to do more movies in the future and I know iLife 09 will help me make them look more professional with a lot less effort.

Without further ado, I present to you - my sanctuary:

p.s. I can’t believe how much I sound like my sister in some parts of the video. Crazy!

The weather has definitely been a topic of conversation lately. Not only in Sweden, but in Canada and the States too. The snow was almost all melted here but it all started back again earlier this week. Well, after a day of sunshine and warm(er) temperature yesterday, we’re once again back in the middle of a storm.

I started thinking about what it was like around this time in previous years. It just doesn’t seem possible that it was this cold all around the world. I went back through my pictures and found that two years ago, we were able to sit outside and enjoy the warmth. Not only that, but it was nice enough for us to want ice cream drinks. I hope that nice weather like that is not too far off. Here is what it looked like on March 30th, 2007:

I also looked at what was happening at this time last year. It doesn’t seem like it’s possible, but I was 26 weeks pregnant. That just doesn’t seem right. Hasn’t Adrienne been around for a few years? It’s also interesting to think that my cousins are almost in the same position this year as I was last year. It won’t be long until they have their babes in their arms, even if it feels like a lifetime of waiting to go.

Maybe it’s the fact that Spring is on the way, or that the end of my maternity leave is rapidly approaching, but for some reason I’m starting to feel super motivated. So much so that I’ve just signed up for some of courses.

First, I will be spending the next 10 weeks, with some other English-speaking mommies, brushing up on my Swedish skills. It will only be once a week, but it will help me feel more confident while speaking. This will be a great opportunity to practice without feeling as self-conscious as I do when I’m with native speakers. Plus, Adrienne can come along and maybe pick up a few words!

The other course that I just signed up for is learning about creating art journals. I can’t wait! Years ago, I made altered books but seemed to have switched more into scrapbooking. Hopefully, this will help me merge back into the messier side of creativity. I feel so inspired by the instructor and also by the other students. The overall message of the course is to go with the flow, make mistakes work and have fun! I’ve been collecting the required supplies for the past few days and only have a couple left to get. They are things that I can’t seem to find in Sweden, so I’ll have to get them sent from Canada or the States. More about that course later!

I’m also finishing up the “Design Your Life” course with Cathy Zielske. It officially ended on Christmas day but my trip to Canada made me fall behind on the assignments. I still have all the videos and handouts to work with, so it should be no problem finishing it. I have learned so much about design from that course, so far, I feel like going back and redoing all of my scrapbook pages.

It’s so fun being the student for a change!

• I take care the baby during the nights on weeknights, while Erik gets more uninterrupted sleep in the guest room. I’m getting better at feeding her without waking up completely unless she has belly pain. So, I get just as excited for Fridays (when Erik takes over) as someone who is working. TGIF!!
• Speaking of TGIF, I can’t wait to go for lunch tomorrow to celebrate with a certain special birthday girl!
• Just watched the movie “Stepbrothers”. It was hilarious, classic Will Ferrell kind of comedy. “Your voice is a mix between Fergie and Jesus”. haha! (Goulet!)
• It looks like I might be going to the Keane concert alone. I don’t mind at all, I’ll just stand away from the crowd so I can see. I really don’t like going to see concerts at the “Annex”! It’s definitely not short person-friendly! I haven’t made up my mind completely, but I really want to see them live! I think Erik would come with me but getting a sitter two weeks in a row doesn’t seem like a possibility.
• Has anyone else heard that they’re thinking of building a WalMart in Sundsvall (a city far (far) north of Stockholm)? I wouldn’t mind seeing this happen if they do it correctly. I’m hoping Starbucks will shortly follow, but I’m not holding my breath.
• The other thing that I’ve heard rumours about lately is that Ben & Jerry’s is thinking about starting a line of ice cream made from breast milk. Don’t get me wrong, breast milk is a very natural product, but I think I would like to know whose bodily fluids I will be eating. I don’t think I would even eat it if I knew the contributor personally.

Sorry, I can’t help myself…

I need to whip this blog into shape! There’s so much that I can update about, but I always think that I need to make a big production, then I drop it. I need a way to post the smaller bits of informatoin and keep myself on some sort of schedule. I was thinking of having days like “YouTube Tuesday” (posting interesting or favourite videos or even our own home movies) and “Thursday Thoughts” (a rundown of things that happened during the week that don’t really need a whole post of their own). That way I can keep things going around here.

I finally took the plunge and bought a MacBook. My old Dell got me through the last 4 years but its screen died on me about a month and a half ago. I held out long enough to see the new lines of the MacBook and the MacBook Pros be released. I’m glad I waited because they are gorgeous and just what I was waiting for. I heard that they will be introducing the 17″ in a few months but I just can’t wait that long, so I bought the 15.4″ one. Not too shabby.

Even though it’s not Tuesday, here is a video of a commercial that is regularly (read:obsessively) quoted around here. It’s funny that a good friend of mine is now working for the company, I totally forgot that it was a Berlitz commercial.

We almost missed the Coldplay concert last week because of Adrienne’s sore tummy. It has been getting better over the last few weeks, but decided to make its comeback on the night of the concert. Erik’s dad was there, but we couldn’t leave him alone with her since her screaming reached her “end of the world” cry.

Erik drove me to the concert and headed straight back home to check on her, thankfully she had calmed down enough for him to come back and catch some of the concert. Since he took me straight there, I only missed the first song. Not bad, although it was “Violet Hill”. He got there just in time to see the band a few feet away from him when they ran up and played to the back of the stadium. We didn’t have seats together, I was a section closer to the stage. Normally, this would have been a good thing. I knew Coldplay would do something special, I just didn’t know what. There were so many people taping that performance I was sure I would find it on YouTube. Look how close this person was!:

Here’s another person’s view (a little further away). They even recorded Chris talking to the audience before they started playing. He was jokingly telling people not to take pictures of them from such a bad angle!

One of my other favourite parts of the concert was when they all gathered on one of the stage “arms” that jetted out into the audience:

I have to say that the audience was pretty lively that night too. Swedish audiences aren’t always the most enthusiastic bunch, but they were that night (and during their last concert too, if I remember correctly). Go Stockholm!

Oh, and Chris Martin shaved his hair! His longer hair was just starting to grow on me (no pun intended!) and now it’s gone! How come everyone cuts their hair before coming to Europe? (Dave Grohl, John Frusciante to name a few!) Of course, he still looked good and was as friendly and inviting as ever!

I’ll definitely be attending more concerts of theirs in the future!

This is what I’ve been doing during nap time lately. I wish I would have ordered the next books in the series a little earlier. They should arrive sometime early next week, but it just doesn’t seem fast enough. Can’t wait to see the movie in November! I can almost taste the popcorn and PB M&Ms now…

With all these doctor visits and all the other wonderful things that this stressful September will bring, there are a few positive things that will give me something to look forward to. One of which is happening mid-way through the month…

I can’t believe it’s been 3 years since I saw them last. They put on such a show that you wish that it could last forever. Last time, Chris Martin ran a lap around the whole stadium. I can’t wait to see what he does this time. I just wish I could go to their concert on the following night too, but it’s been sold out for a while.

Another something that I’m excited about that’s happening at the end of the month is the start of an online scrapbooking course that’s focused on design. Anyone who knows me, knows that I love to take classes and learn by doing. Since it’s a little more difficult for me to go to evening classes right now, this online course is absolutely perfect for me. And, since it’s based out of the states the price is excellent too (even though most would think it’s too expensive!). This twelve week course, is equivalent to three evening classes that I would take at one of the local craft stores here. The instructor is none other than “Simple Scrapbook”’s design guru, Cathy Zielske. I love her style and her sense of humour - it should be fun!