hello, friends! i sure hope your weekend has been/is great. good news here. today we hit the halfway mark. we have been in uppsala in our little temporary apartment for exactly three weeks now. and, we have exactly there weeks until we move into our new one! needless to say, we cannot freaking wait (for reasons i mentioned in a previous post which you can read –> here). so, i thought i’d reflect on the past three weeks – the days and nights that i’ve spent getting to know uppsala as i have begun to call it my new home. and, i thought i’d share with you a bunch of photos and a few lessons or new bits of info that i’ve learned along the way. so, here we go!
1. i love snow! and uppsala is to die for in the snow.
2. speaking of snow… people actually ride bikes in snow. not this girl, though. but, the mailman does. what?!
3. cathedrals + castles. everywhere i look. magic!
4. there are places i can walk to to get myself out in the woods and among trees. which means, i can survive here in uppsala (not that finding trees is a problem anywhere in sweden – it’s all breathtaking). cuz, you know i am a nature worshipper.
5. being home alone in the silence ain’t all that bad (but i still can’t wait to move and have reliable internet, tv, the comforts of regular first-world life. i own my materialism).
5. uppsala’s sunrises + sunsets. breathtaking.
6. fika fika fika fika. all day. every day. in coffeehouses that also serve chinese food (for real) + in fancy places with little teacups + little dives that remind me of asheville + everything in between.
7. my new fave hangout? the independent, all-english bookshop where i can find a whole section dedicated to the beat generation. have i mentioned i am joining one of their bookclubs?! and that the owner and i are gonna see if we can come up with something that i can do as work there. squeeeeee!
8. the library is my other new best friend.
9. exploring new restaurants + hangout places. some with even a taste of asheville. i’ve just made it a legitimate new hobby.
10. weekends in are like a little slice of heaven. just me + my girl.
now, don’t get me wrong. everything has been a cozy + wonderful + nice… and not at all at the same time. this limbo life is for the birds. my love and i are dyyyying to settle in. we may be settling into uppsala + the swedish way of life again. but, we do not at all feel settled. so, it’s a crazy balance of dreaming about the future (the three weeks from now future) and living in the present moment. i feel like a yo-yo. meditating and being all spiritually calm and such, and just wanting to get the hell out of here and move into a place that we can really call home.
still, i know what i know. and that is…. people say that change is the only certain thing. so, the question is, how are we going to deal with it? cause change can’t always be on our terms or in a way that we like it. our present situation may be bliss one minute and chaos the next. that’s how my life feels right now. bliss + chaos all mixed up into one pot.
but, it’s up to me what i do with that pot of craziness. and i choose to find the good in everything. oh, i accept and feel the crap and the worry and the frustration. hell, i’ve cried i don’t now how many times since moving. and that’s ok. that’s good, even. to feel and acknowledge our feelings is very, very good. but, to get stuck in them and to let them drag me down, that is not good. instead, i believe in living in gratitude. so, i balance my human, slightly selfish tendencies with the knowledge that i am the luckiest person i know. and, i choose to live in that. i choose to live in total, abandoned gratitude for all of the unbelievable opportunities that i have had. i even choose to turn the challenges into more opportunities.
so, with all of that, i can say that, though i am so freaking ready to get out of this apartment and settle down in another one, my days + nights have still been filled with more joy than i can describe, more beauty than i can possible show you. and for that, i am so very grateful.
onwards + upwards! xoxo
* hang on, friends. daily posts will be returning soon! until then… sending you lots of love + light, and thanking you for following.
reminiscent of when we moved to Lund in2008. Art moved in Sept with two suitcases, into a furnished apt in Malmö. In October the box island departed the kitchen in MN. In December I flew in with a suitcase. At Christmas we had packed up the Malmö apartment but not moved to the new digs in Lund. In the new year we moved into the Lund apartment and received the shipped boxes from MN. Glad that (and the return move where our shipment had water damage and items missing) are behind me now!
I remember hearing your story. Our stuff is safely here. We just miss it. But, the transition time will be over soon! Thanks for commenting!
Beautiful photos!
So happy to read of your adventures… Sweden looks so lovely and amazing.
Very soon you’ll be settling into your new home… and then you can really relax into it.
Missing you both a lot- can’t wait to visit!
xoxoxo
p.s. I want that blanket! You know, the one with the pink stripes!
We cannot WAIT for you guys to visit!! We miss both of your smiles and amazing energy. Love y’all!! xoxo
Seriously? You are back in Sweden and I missed it. Oh dear. I truly am behind the times. Must now go back and read up on your adventurers.
I love how you find the beauty in everything. Lovely to see you Liz.
Haha! Yes, things have been happening. It’s bad at all, just figuring out our place here – plus it was a fairly quick decision to move. Still, I can’t complain!! Thanks for popping in, Louise!
Hi Liz, Your photos look fantastic. I especially like the one with the yellow bike and orange bricks. It looks like such a pretty place but can understand how the settling process can take time. Looking at your book photos I was wondering if you have read ‘Wild’ yet by Cheryl Strayed – its getting alot of attention here at the moment because Reese Witherspoon has turned it into a movie which is doing the rounds. Perhaps you read it ages ago but if you haven’t I think its one you’d like. I’m half way through and really enjoying it. Anyway just thought I’d mention it. Have a great rest of the week. Regards Rachel aka journeytribe 🙂
Hi Rachel! Thanks for commenting here – wow, so fun! I have, in fact, read the book ‘Wild’ and it even made the cut to follow me to Sweden instead of giving it away. I’ve also seen the movie, which was good, but there’s so much more in the book. It was totally a me kind of book. Thanks so much for mentioning it, though. You were right on. Hope you keep enjoying it! xx
Uppsala looks really beautiful! And you both are doing a fab job at playing limbo!
Roll on three weeks 😉
Down to two!It is beautiful here, when are you two coming for a visit? 😉
Hi Liz, I can relate to how you are feeling. I felt the same when we moved from our home town and knew no one and lived in a tiny apartment for 4 months with all out belongings in storage. At the time my kids were 5 and nearly 2. It was suppose to be a great new experience living in tropical North queensland surrounded by gorgeous beaches and beautiful rainforests, but it was so lonely! I think the saddest thing was that while we had all our belongings in storage my youngest changed from being a baby to being a little girl, so by the time we unpacked there were all these baby items that we no longer needed 🙁 I have to say that once we settled into our new home and surrounded ourselves with the things that made us happy it helped to feel more settled. Sending you strength and happy vibes to get through the last few weeks. Love Dayna xxx
Thank you so much for sharing your experiences, Dayna. It definitely helps to know that there are many who have been through the same kinds of feelings. The time is getting closer, and our patience is wearing thin, but the excitement is growing even more! Thanks for your vibes and strength. I am soaking them all up. Hope you are well, as you enter your autumn season. xoxo