people

happy thanksgiving, all you americans out there! turkey day is here, and i would give any, any, anything to be in the states with my family watching the mace’s thanksgiving day parade, helping my…

when you think of sweden, i’ll bet you don’t really think of cruises. i didn’t, until i lived here. i did understand that swedes are sea people, forest people, nature-loving people. most people live in…

for valentine’s day, my love and i took the 30 minute train ride from uppsala to stockholm. how amazing is it that we live so close to stockholm! it blows my mind, and i…

dedicated to the one with whom i share my life’s adventures. my love, my partner, my wife. my everything. i love you. always. ♥  …

i shared so many beautiful moments with so many beautiful people in 2014. i couldn’t just let the turning of the new year slip by without recognizing the fact that it is the people…

endings + beginnings. that’s what i’m thinking about this morning, one of my last mornings sitting up all alone in the quiet, early morning hours in my apartment in asheville. it hurts my heart,…

when you have two countries represented in your marriage, then you have the joy of living with two cultures. lina + i absolutely love having the opportunity to celebrate holidays by combining our two…

you probably already know that my in-laws from sweden are in town to celebrate christmas with lina + me, which i think is super cool. and you may or may not know that my…

while most of you celebrate boxing day or annandag jul (sweden’s second day of christmas) or simply rest up from all of the holiday festivities, my love + i are celebrating our marriage today.…

last january i met a blogging friend that i’d been keeping in touch with for a few years only through our blogs. she  was 20-something and lived in missouri. i was pushing 40 and…

the best thing about thanksgiving (besides the food – nothing can care to the food!) is gathering together. it’s such a simple concept. just get together and enjoy. but, i love the word, gather. it…

wishing you + yours a beautiful day! light + love xx…

remember how i said on monday that i was focusing on the value + emphasis that native americans put on families? well, i truly have been thinking about family a lot this week –…

happy tuesday! if you follow me on instagram, then by now you know that my love + i snuck off this past weekend for a little getaway in atlanta, georgia. it’s only three hours…

well guys, the weekend of weddings is over. it was wild and amazing. and each of the three weddings were completely different – unique and beautiful, all in their own ways. for two of…

i’m gonna try to write words, but i know that my words will not do the experience justice. today, i had the pure joy, honor, + privilege to perform my first wedding ceremony. and…

before you enter hot springs from the east/north, you gotta cross the ancient french broad river – winding and cutting through the mountains all the way from rosman, nc to tennessee. it flows directly beside the town,…

yesterday (sunday) was my dad’s 70th birthday, so my brother, lina + i decided that to celebrate his big day we’d head out to the woods to do a little family camping. of course,…

so, autumn is in full swing here in asheville, north carolina and it just could not be more cozy and beautiful. october is absolutely a stunning month up here in the mountains. but, i’m…

there is a thing that i discovered when i lived in sweden that is quite common – and fun. and it seemed like the perfect time to include it in my/our american life. you…

Whoa, life has been busy lately. So crazy… and I have been no where near living any semblance of a regular life. I mean, nothing’s been really bad. A tiny bit of stress, but just so…

hi blogging friends! well, it’s happening. summer is winding down in the northern hemisphere, and autumn is not far behind. and yesterday marked the beginning of regular, everyday life again for me (and many…

wow. this summer has truly kept me busy. i have literally not been able to squeeze in blogging like i normally do. i mean, i suppose i could have blogged in the middle of…

well, my friends, my month long visit to sweden has now come to an end. it’s so hard to believe. it seems as if time has flown by, and yet, it seems like forever…

now it’s time for some fun photos captured on my iPhone – a little bit silly and crazy, but also a little “behind the scenes” look at wedding preparations and the wedding day. in…

lina’s sister is getting married today! we’ve been up to our eyeballs in wedding preparations all week long, with, of course, a few breaks for drinks with friends and such. hehe. anyway, the day…

i thought a lot about who i am, where i come from, and what makes me, well, me, while i was at the beach with my family last week. i didn’t overthink it, i…

last month, my love celebrated her one year life anniversary – it was one year since she was put in the hospital for the second time to help her beat the anorexia nervosa which…

i remember exactly what happened one year ago. in fact i wrote down every single moment in my journal. it was the day that my love decided to take her life back by admitting herself…

i read an inspiring book this week for the first book club meeting i organized (which was a great, fun success, by the way!). the book was the invention of wings by sue monk kidd,…

i’ve heard this phrase before. i’ve even seen lots of bumper stickers on cars in front of me at the stoplight to remind me to not postpone joy. at one point in my life,…

it’s sunday, and we’re back in the mountains of north carolina after a week in not-so-sunny, but not-so bad-weather-either, florida. disney world was magical, amazing, and spectacular – all the things you expect and…

i had so much fun on new year’s eve that i just can’t stop looking at all of the photos we took (me, lina, charlie, & lanie). it was a crazy, fun celebration –…

It’s January 1st! A brand new year! I rang in the new year in style and filled with lots of fun celebrations – so. much. freaking. fun. This year was definitely not a quiet…

there has been some serious sensory overload during the past week. from a 9 hour road trip in pouring rain to family to super amounts of yummy food to holiday fun to christmas tree…

hi! it’s tuesday, so i’m a day late. but, oh well. i’ve been pretty busy on account of it’s not your ordinary week here in the states… it’s thanksgiving week!! and that means that…

a few weeks ago, i was asked by the newspaper to go and visit a bakery that specializes in gluten free products, and then write an article about it. ok. very, very cool. my…

today i hosted a fika at a cafe for local coffee lovers who have stumbled onto my 40 days fika blog, followed my fika project, and/or been on my asheville coffee page on facebook.…

the theme for this year’s north carolina state fair was “a north carolina homecoming!”… totally appropriate for me, since it has actually been my “homecoming” back to north carolina this year. my first autumn,…

have you heard of that netflix series yet? that’s the name of it: orange is the new black. and  it is abso-freakin-lutely awesome. my love and i got seriously stuck and watched the first…

my weekend was everything i hoped it would be. it started off with dinner on the balcony as the sun set and the moon rose. i soaked ernest hemingway’s words into my soul, and…

i’ve seen the following cartoon a few times today in different places, so i took it as a sign. a sign that this was something i was supposed to focus on. a reminder for…

have i got a bunch of photos to share with you?  or have i got a bunch of photos to share with you! whew. i’ve got a bunch of pictures to share with you!…

today, after spending some time in the gym, my love and i wandered by our post box to check and see if we had any mail, hoping that when i put the key in…

what could be better than having a very lazy summer saturday morning in your new home, enjoying a yummy breakfast, blogging away, seeing the love of your life sitting beside you, having a cute…

“this is no momentary hyperventilation and liberal screaming match, this is a movement.” – rev. william barber in pack square, asheville. 5 august 2013. if you haven’t heard of moral mondays yet, you’re about…

happy saturday, friends! hope you’re having a beautiful, peaceful, & fun weekend wherever you are. for me, all’s well. still hanging out at the beach (we drive back to asheville tomorrow!) & soaking up…

did you know that dolly parton has a theme park?! and did you also know that it is only about 1.5/2 hours from where we live?! well, she does! and it is! dollywood (what…