love is in the air.

it’s the second sunday of advent. the sunday of love. the first week of advent has flown by & i have been pretty faithful to finding some quiet time by myself every day. go me. it makes my day so much more meaningful. it balances me out. it helps me to appreciate the little things in life. for the first time in quite a few years, i feel as if i am soaking up this advent season. actually, i don’t know if i’ve ever felt so present in the moment as i do this advent. and for that, i am so thankful. i suppose i am in an amazing place in my life.

i’ve been thinking about my marriage the past week. and today. as one of the things that i love so much. obviously, it is a bi-national marriage that lina & i have, and one of the things that i love about being in a bi-national marriage is the fact that we have two cultures with two sets of traditions. some of them are the same, but some of them are quite different. advent/christmas is one of those times that is quite different. we do out best to blend our traditions together, so we get a combo of a swedish & american christmas, and that has been so amazing in the past years. i mean, how much more fun could that be?! two ways to celebrate christmas at once!

still, we find ourselves in one country or the other during each season/holiday, and while we do the best we can to fill in the gaps of the other country’s traditions, it’s just not the same. there is always a little something missing. however, this year is different…

this year, we are getting to experience much of the traditions of both countries in their respective countries. we are soaking in all of the cozy, amazing advent traditions in sweden. and then, we finish off the season with the craziness of the states. it is totally wonderful to be able to spend part of the season in both countries!

so, we’ve got one more week of swedish amazingness during advent, and we’re gonna do it up right this coming week. then, it’s off to the states.

today, since my theme is love, i thought i’d share a few more things from the past week that i have loved to see, do, taste, hear, feel, or be. part of the swedish way of life in december.

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” ― Martin Luther King Jr., A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches

peace & light to you all on this sunday evening.