Johanna - Flying without wings

Funny!

2012-02-07T15:57:00.000+01:00

What's going on...

2012-01-31T19:38:00.002+01:00

I haven’t written very much lately, but I just think pictures and videos are more fun! Also I’m not much of a writer so when I see something I want to share I just put it up here without even trying to write something to match what I thought or felt when I saw it…

Anywaaaays. Life is rolling along as usual right now. Working a lot still but I’m actually starting to really like my job because I’m getting more and more “real” tasks and more responsibilities, after almost a year, so it’s fun. Also Friday I went to an amazing concert at Berwalldhallen here in Stockholm. It was with the biggest and most famous symphony orchestra in Sweden and Truls Mörk was the solo cellist and I sat there and enjoyed every second of it, I love concerts like that! And tomorrow I’m going to go see Gavin DeGraw!!!! I am beyond excited for that, he is seriously the most perfect musician, his songs are exactly my taste and he is just a really cool guy, I like him a lot. Also winter is finally here in Stockholm and I am loving it! I love snow, it really is amazing. So today I went sledding for a little bit it was really fun :) Also I had my second Italian class today!! I am so extremely happy to be studying Italian again, it’s been way too long.

He's perfect!

2012-01-29T21:50:00.001+01:00

Winter in Norway

2012-01-25T22:36:00.001+01:00

How to entertain a 2-year-old on a cold wintersday in Norway:

8 more days

2012-01-24T19:04:00.003+01:00

Until I get to see this amazing man live here in Stockholm. It will be the 4th time I see him live but I'm still as excited as I was the first time I hade the privilege to see him in concert. Mr Gavin DeGraw, I can't think of anyone better.

The first time I ever heard one of his songs was when me and my sister happened to turn on One Tree Hill many, many years ago and heard the into-song. After that week we watched every episode just to hear the song and we turned the volume up as loud as we could and sang along at the top of our lungs. He has been one of my all-time favorite artists ever since and he is still up there at the top of the list fighting for or sharing first place.
I will never be over you Gavin!

True Love

2012-01-23T23:27:00.001+01:00

Where are the fat people?

2012-01-20T12:06:00.002+01:00

A funny observation of Swedish food and people:

http://www.dn.se/pa-stan/gulddraken/a-a-gill-the-stuff-was-vile-thoughtless-spiced-and-seasoned-by-a-careless-troll

And on that note: I’m leaving the country! I’m going to Oslo, Norway for the weekend to hug my little nephew. I’m driving over there with 4 other people who are going to a YSA convention but we’ll see how much time I spend at it since I will have the option to hang out with the coolest, cutest, greatest and funniest little person in the world!
It’s kind of funny how in the past week 3 people have told me or asked me if I’m going to Norway again soon since they thought it had been such a long time since I was last there. I was there 6 weeks ago…. That should tell you a little of how much I love that city, my nephew and my sister!

21!

2012-01-16T23:52:00.001+01:00

Im still 21, Im still 21, Im still 21! Only 6 more minutes of being able to ever say that I, in fact, AM 21 years years old...

Finding Neverland

2012-01-15T01:50:00.000+01:00

I wish I could just go away to Neverland...

Royal music and concert halls

2012-01-14T21:10:00.003+01:00

Since October of last year I’ve had January 14th marked in big red letters so that I would remember an event that I absolutely did NOT want to miss!! Stockholm Concert Hall had its open house today where you got to go in and talk to everyone in the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, play music quizzes, go in for free in to their music library and see all the sheet music they use, try all the instruments played in the orchestra, hear short concerts by different groups of the orchestra and so on. But I got home really late last night, had friends who stayed the night and so on so we slept in late and then just took out time making breakfast in the morning. Then all of a sudden I realized that it was in fact Saturday, January 14th and my heart just dropped…. I had already missed most of the things I wanted to see by that time and I was still in my PJs so I knew it would take me a while to get ready and get myself in to town in time for the end of it.

But after a while I decided that I at least had to try and see some of it!! So I showered, did my hair and make up and was out of the door in just 40 minutes (and on top of this I have a pretty nasty cold) and made the train in time and Im so glad I went! I got to hear parts of a brass instrument-concert and then I got to hear the half hour, final concert with the whole orchestra and I was in heaven!

Trumpet, French horn, trombone and tuba. It really was amazing!

Dreaming

2012-01-11T22:04:00.005+01:00

Im just sitting here, dreaming... But the most amazing thing is that these dreams are soon coming true or they already have... Im pretty darn lucky...

Florence, Italy

Firenze, Italia

Encinitas, California

Norrland, Sweden

Prague, Czech Republic

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

2012-01-10T16:23:00.004+01:00

As many, or most of you, know I am a member of a church that means more to me than almost everything else. I have a very strong love for this worlds Savior and I know God still helps us, cares for us and has a plan for all of us. Something that has helped me in knowing these things and feeling what I do for this church are the testimonies of the people I love and are closest to me. Seeing what they will go through and sacrifice to go out in the world and teach others about the true gospel of Jesus Christ is how I know it’s true.

I’m very lucky to have friends out on missions because that way, once a week, I get to read their testimonies and hear about their experiences out on the field. This week my “cousin” TJ, who I care about very much, wrote an email about what he is going through. He, like his mother and younger brother, is suffering from something called Lyme disease and right now it is pretty bad and he is in a lot of pain which is keeping him from being able to be out preaching the word of God which he was sent out to do. But instead of complaining about it, he has managed to turn it around and have it strengthen his testimony and I just had to share a little of what he wrote so that you can understand the example he is to me:

The mission is totally different than what I thought it would be. I thought I would be an impervious machine of baptism, and that God would take away my limitations so that I could do what I wanted to do in the way I wanted to do it, to experience what it's like to feel completely normal and work hard without the trials of a physical ailment. But that was a very selfish desire that is simply not God's plan for me... I am not a machine, I am a Son of God, a servant of Him set apart for the salvation of souls. That’s a whole heck of a lot better than a machine. I am a fallen man striving to experience the gospel and atonement of Jesus Christ in my own life, I am relatable. I can mourn with those who mourn, comfort those who stand in need of comfort, rescue the lost, bring light to the dark. I Chose a mortal existence with the rest of my brothers and sisters, I raised my hand for every flaw and fallacy that I am. And to wish to be above that is to reject my calling. I am not impervious, I am Man. I am the atonement at work, both the cleansing and enabling power of the atonement, every single day. And that is what the Lord needs, not some Robot that has no flaw. He wants me, a living, breathing product of the Atonement of our Savior. If there is anything I have learned it is this…A refiner’s fire is better than the complacency of machined perfection! Truly, that was Satan's plan, God wants a refined tool crafted by the Masters hand, not a cookie cutter, machine processed tool, stamped out and sent to work only to dull at the first sign of a hard day’s work. He wants the BLACKSMITH'S hammer to fall, afflictions purifying flame, and temptations billows. A work proven, tested and tried! That's what I want to be, and if this is the necessary process, then lock and load and saddle up cause this ain’t no 440 stainless you’re dealin’ with, my goals are much higher than that!! So add some weight to that cowards hammer, get that snake a bigger billow, and put some fuel on that wussy's fire! I don’t really know what else to write about this week, or even if this is just a young man’s rant.

Me and TJ at Winter Formal in 2007

Me and TJ on my sumer vacation in 2010.

Playmobile!

2012-01-09T22:22:00.003+01:00

My dad’s wife has an illness called ME (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_fatigue_syndrome) that, in short, makes her really tired and since we live in the great country of Sweden the government gave her a permobile. It’s really sad that she needs one, but it is so darn cool!! And it goes really fast too! So when me and my brothers were there yesterday we just had to try it and it was so fun! Im just thankful I don’t actually need one but am happy for her that she has gotten it to help her.

Also I think it’s kind of funny that in my previous post I wrote about my fear of getting older and in this post I’m talking about how cool permobiles are… Ironic? Contradicting?

21?

2012-01-09T12:19:00.003+01:00

Only one more week until I have to change the info about myself here on the blog, only one more week of being able to say that I'm 21... But it's ok, I'm still alot closer to being 20 than 25 which makes me feel more ok about turning 22 (because when you're 25 you are closer to being 30 than 20 so that's why I'm dreading turning 25). But I'm still not loving, or even liking, this whole thing about getting older, it would be ok if it stopped now...

Täby Shore

2012-01-06T15:28:00.002+01:00

I went on a 7 km run/power walk today and it felt soooo great! I haven’t worked out or done any exercising in months so today I decided would be the day. It was really icy and cold ( -4 C ) but the sun was shining and I had so much left over energy so I didn’t really mind the cold. However, around halfway I had to slow down a little and decided to take a picture of the beautiful surroundings, the track goes around this beautiful lake that is right next to my house.

...

2012-01-05T19:23:00.003+01:00

Family isn't always blood. It's the people in your life who want you in theirs; the ones who accept you for who you are. The ones who would do anything to see you smile and who love you no matter what. ~ Unknown

The memorable people in your life will be the people who loved you when you were not loving yourself. ~ Birgitte Nicole

Perfection

2012-01-03T21:21:00.003+01:00

I just found perfection. It’s in a song that I have loved for a long time (it brought me to tears just 2 weeks ago at the Anders Ekborg concert) and here it is performed by one of my all-time favorite pianist, Jon Schmidt, together with the most beautiful sound and instrument there is: the cello.

I also came across this amazing version of one of mine, and the rest of us cellolovers, favorite songs written by Bach for just one solo cellist. Make sure you listen to the original too after having heard this cool arrangement.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-02T11:41:00.005+01:00

2012! Let’s make it a good year, let’s make it a great year! New chances, new goals and new plans. I got to spend New Year ’s Eve with some of my very best friends and everyone knows that there is nothing greater than a night spent with loved ones, celebrating and laughing, it was just what I needed and wanted!

Mr Ekborg

2012-01-02T11:32:00.005+01:00

This concert was better than I’d ever could have hoped for! The church and acoustics were amazing and Anders sang every song flawlessly. And I was more than happy when he sang O Holy Night and one of my all-time favorite musical songs: Bring him home, from Les Misérables.

Merry Christmas!

2012-01-02T11:21:00.001+01:00

Dear John

2011-12-28T23:15:00.001+01:00

My tired heart is beating so slow. Our hearts sing less than we wanted...

Slooooow, and really tired

2011-12-23T10:30:00.000+01:00

Time is going by WAY to slow today! I’m at work right now and there it almost no one here since it’s the day before Christmas so that in itself would be boring, but knowing that my perfect little boy Neo is at home (at my mom’s) right now is killing me cuz I want to be there too!! My sister just called me saying I need to come cuz he keeps asking for me and knock on the door to my old room calling my name. Only a few more hours until I get to play with, kiss and hug my nephew!!

Happy day before Christmas!

Girls nights!

2011-12-22T11:34:00.000+01:00

Our friend Rima from the states is staying with us or a few days (or a week) and we are having so much fun! Lina left to hang out with her family for Christmas before she leaves for the Philippines so Rima took her room for the time being since she is having some difficulties with getting home. Yesterday was even her birthday so me and Noomi made a little cake for her the night before and then woke her up on her b-day with beautiful song (haha yeah right, at 7am no one can sing beautifully), and then we spend the night gossiping, watching Step Up 2 and eating Ben and Jerry’s. What more can you ask for?

Only 2 days left until Christmas and my Neo and sister are coming to Sweden tonight!! I am beyond excited!

Another concert

2011-12-22T07:19:00.002+01:00

I'm so excited to be going to Anders Ekborgs christmas concert tonight! This man can sing like no other and I can't wait to hear him sing O Holy Night with the amazing acoustics in the church!

When I met him this summer...

It's almost Christmas!

2011-12-20T16:42:00.003+01:00

I had the opportunity to sing in a really amazing Christmas concert this year and it was so much fun and really got me in the Christmas spirit! There were 2 choirs and 2 people singing solo (Anna-Lotta Larsson & Göran Fristorp). I’m so excited for Christmas to come now and I am so thankful for all the amazing music there is this time of year that’s all about our savior. Don’t forget the true meaning of Christmas this year!

In Gustav Adolf's church here in Stockholm.

Me and my two amazing roommates after the concert, we were all in the choir.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-20T16:23:00.001+01:00

American at heart and in speach

2011-12-13T17:49:00.001+01:00

What really makes my day is when one of the chairmen of a multimillion dollar company, comes out from his meeting that is just about to start and askes me: “Have you lived in the states? In California or something? We were just debating it in there and you must have because your accent is really great and the way you said ‘no problem’ was just way too American for you not to have lived there.”

Haha I thought that was just too funny. Especially since he was the only (other) American there, the other 6 people were all British so he was happy to have found another fellow American!

Glad Lucia!

2011-12-13T13:51:00.000+01:00

The classic Swedish Luciatåget!
http://svtplay.se/v/2640264/luciafirande_i_svt/lucia

Wishlist

2011-12-10T13:22:00.000+01:00

What I really wish for this Christmas, and right now, if for this little guy to live closer to me… He’s coming here on the 22nd and I can’t wait to see him! He is the most perfect thing in the world. My Neo!

......

2011-12-10T13:04:00.000+01:00

My future

2011-12-09T00:24:00.003+01:00

Just got the admission letter for spring semester and I’ll be taking 2 classes that Ive been looking forward to for a very long time now: Italian and Tourism. Taking 2 classes means I’ll be studying 150% instead of the usual 100% but hopefully it will be fine. And hopefully I’ll be studying for these classes at the library, in a park, at a café or at my apartment in Florence, Italy.

Turismvetenskap GR (A), Upplevelse och destination, 30 hp.

Kursen innehåller fyra moment om vardera 7,5 hp; Kulturturism, Turism och upplevelser, Destinationsutvecklingens grunder samt Verksamhetsbaserat projekt II.
Behörighet

Italienska för nybörjare I, 15 hp.

They are just soooooo gooood!

2011-12-05T19:10:00.000+01:00

Is having a Westlife party here all by myself! I am thoroughly enjoying myself actually… Songs like: You Can’t Lose What You Never Had, Tonight and More Than Words are blasting out of my headphones.
The sad thing is though that Lina and Noomi are home and are trying to kill my WL-spirit!! But that will NEVER happen!! Words like lågstadiedisco have been said several times to describe the songs that I just HAD to have them hear because it’s just sooooo good! Also the answer No has been repeated to my questions that began: Can you imagen…. Isn’t it just sooooo…. Etc…
What I feel for these 4 (5) guys is just indescribable to someone who doesn’t appreciate them like I do…
Westlife forever! Fjortis forever! Being a little girl forever!

Oslo, July 22

2011-12-02T18:53:00.001+01:00

During my weekend in Oslo last week, on Saturday we took a walk down town and went past the government building and then later that day/night we drove past Utöya and Sundvollen. It was such a strange feeling seeing and being right next to the island where one man was able to commit one of the worst terror attacks of all time. The government block is still of limits to civilians and several windows are still shattered and some of the houses are still standing only thanks to cement blocks that are supporting them.
But going to Utöya was just awful and so hard. Just driving down the road that leads down to the island thinking that this is exactly where he was driving, sitting in his car with his police uniform on knowing exactly what he was about to do made me sick… We drove past it first when it was daytime and just saw the island and the hotel where all the survivors and family gathered after, but stopped there on our way back.
How one person can be so evil and so cold to go to a youth camp and choose who to kill, look them in the eyes, judging their age, talking to them, trying to trick them in to trusting him and then walk around for hours looking for the children who are hiding so he can murder them…. That is something I will never, ever be able to understand.
People still come out there to lay out flowers for the people who lost their lives that day and the national archives collects all the flowers and save them which I thought was really nice. It has been amazing to see how all the people of Norway have handled this awful event.

Christmas time

2011-12-01T09:39:00.000+01:00

Happy December 1st! Chistmas time is coming soon and I just love this time of year. Right now I’m having risgrynsgröt and knäckebröd for breakfast, according to tradition and I’m going to get a few more Christmas presents today too. And of course my Christmas playlist is playing nonstop on my iPod and computer (Josh Grobans Noel is playing right now). Life is good!
Merry Christmas!

Culture day

2011-11-30T20:20:00.004+01:00

My saturday 2 weeks ago was spent at the Royal Palace, Old Town and the Christmas market. It was such a great and fun day and I absolutely LOVE Sweden with all its culture, history, beautiful buildings and perfect Christmas traditions.

The Palace where the Royal Family lives

Being Chinese at the Chinese pavilion.

Play time

2011-11-29T17:25:00.002+01:00

This is pretty much what we did every morning haha...

Neo + Johanna

2011-11-29T17:15:00.001+01:00

My little boy turned 2! So me, my mom and brother went over there (to Norway) to celebrate a little. My gosh, how I love that little boy!!
It was a really fun weekend and I got to spend it all with Neo and my sister so I was happy. We even got to go to her parents-in-laws house to have Thanksgiving dinner! But what I liked the best was when we went to Bärums Verket and to their Christmas market! It was so cute, cozy and just fun. And we had lunch there at a pancake house and it was amazing!

Westlife!

2011-11-17T15:22:00.001+01:00

Seriously… This is sadder that I thought it was going to be! Knowing I will get a Westlife CD for Christmas for the last time? I’ve been in love with these guys for 14 years… 14 years!! I don’t want it to end…

Tablettaskar och Lampor

2011-11-11T12:02:00.004+01:00

Tablettaskar är grymt underskattade! Precis lagom mängd godis, finns bra smaker, billiga och smidiga att ha i väskan när man blir lite sötsugen...

Lampor är överskattade! Eller kanske inte, dom är en extrem nödvändighet men jag önskar att de var överskattade och att man inte behövde så himla många. Höll på i ca 4 timmar igår med att sätta upp 2 taklampor. I dom 4 timmarna ingick inhandling av ca 7 extra grejer man tydligen måste ha för att lampan ska fungera som inte kommer med när man köper den! Lite halvt frustrerande... Sitta att skala kablar och borra i betong är inget jag tänker ge mig på igen inom den närmsta framtiden.
Tack och lov för underbara människor som är villiga att hjälpa mig, trotts mitt dåliga humör och korta tålamod!

V for H&M

2011-11-09T12:10:00.001+01:00

Seriously? Seriously?! Who in their right mind would buy anything from the new collection from H&M? Versace obviously did not do their research on what Scandinavians wear… Pink suits, zebra printed pantsuits, metallic dresses and fringes? Come on, we like clean, simple, pail colours and discrete!

http://www.hm.com/se/versace#home

My future

2011-11-08T11:49:00.005+01:00

Det här är precis det jag ska vara med att påverka i framtiden!! Fy vad jag längtar efter att få komma in på den här marknaden och sätta Sverige på kartan och locka turister till den underbara stad som Stockholm är!

http://www.dn.se/sthlm/fler-ska-lockas-hit-under-vinterhalvaret

Confused and tired

2011-11-03T10:09:00.000+01:00

Hungry, can’t sleep and it’s 1 am? Yupp I think my jet-lag has finally kicked in… Great, just what I needed. This week is insane! I have so much to do and even more I should do and I just cannot keep up since the energy level in my body is very close to zero right now. But come Monday and it will have calmed down a lot, for now at least… So please Monday, come faster! But also, please Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, would you mind giving me some extra hours so I can time to do everything I need to do? Thanx…

Bon voyage!

2011-10-30T16:02:00.003+01:00

Well, that’s that. I’m just about to leave for the airport in a little bit. My vacation here in the land of the free has been awesome but it’s going to be nice to get back home to normal life again. See you America next year, and see you Sweden in 22 hours!

Jacqueline, me and Julia were dressed up as pilots / airline stewardesses for Halloween and since we are all Swedish we, of course, worked for Scandinavian Airlines!

Last day

2011-10-29T23:09:00.000+02:00

Well, my trip is coming to an end. I leave in less than 24 hours and will be home on Monday. Right now, me and Hannah are in the library here at BYU studying… On a Saturday… On my vacation!! I’m not sure what’s wrong with me but that’s what we are doing anyways. But we have lots of candy to reward us for our hard work.

Last night was sooo much fun! Me and a bunch of friends went to a Halloween party at this old school rollerblading rink and it was hilarious. People had gotten dressed out in the most hilarious outfits and everyone was super social and we just had a great time! Me, Jackie and Julia (the 3 Swedes) got matching stewardesses outfits and hats and of course we worked for Scandinavian Airlines that night and we got a lot of attention for that haha. I’m gonna get the pictures from Jackie later today and upload them later.

Träningsvärk

2011-10-28T16:20:00.002+02:00

Well… My trip is amost coming to an end, only a few days left until I go back to reality. But it’s ok, I have a lot of exciting things to look forward too when I get back!

Tonight my body decided to rebel and revenge on me because I have actually slept pretty good for 5 days now so it payed me back by not falling asleep at all last night. So I’m about to go up to campus with red and puffy eyes, great! Also I’m kind of sore but it feels kind of great! Me and Hannah went to this little gym yesterday and did some running, sit-ups etc, I can’t wait to start going to the gym again when I get home and work off all of these extra pounds that have been gained during my vacation.

Anyways, all in all, its been a good few days and I’ll fill you in more later. Ciao!

Fun day

2011-10-26T06:13:00.001+02:00

Started of with me sleeping in, going for a VERY short run/walk, met up with Emma for lunch, went b-day shopping with her as well. (Then did some homework which isn’t really included in the title of this post). Then, me, Hannah and Stephanie decided to try and see if Stephanie could fit in my new suitcase, and the answer was yes!! Haha, man we had fun with that. After that I Skyped with 2 of my favorite people from Sweden, then ran some errands with the girls, and then me, Hannah and Emma went to yoga! It was so fun and it felt soooo good to move and use my body a little after having done nothing but eat sweets for the past 2 weeks.

Just a little update on my life here in Provo, Utah. Stay safe! Party on!

Temple Square

2011-10-23T01:52:00.002+02:00

This place is so amazing and I can't even describe how happy I was to see Mathilda!!

Runthrough

2011-10-23T01:24:00.004+02:00

Ok here is a quick runthrough of what I've been up to so far:

Saw the star of India

Found a Scandinavian store!

Hung out in beautiful down town

Went to the Mormon Battalion

Went to Mission Beach

Went to a BYU football game and had a hot dawg! So fun, BYU won by like 50 points!

Me and Livy made cookies

Played Minigolf in the suuuuun

Hung out at the beach at night with Ash and Joel

London Baby!!

2011-10-17T15:58:00.005+02:00

On my extremely long day of traveling here to San Diego I had a little adventure… I had to change airports in London and I have a friend who lives there so I called her and asked her if she wanted to hang out a little bit in London with me!! I just thought I would take the chance to have an extra little mini-vacation instead of never going above ground and only taking the trains and subways to the airport. It was really fun, we had some great food, had a chance to catch up a little and just a fun little walk in this cool city.

Me and Sabine!

How English can you get with the taxies and busses?

My tourguide!

One of the best musicals of all time!

Not Big Ben, but let's pretend that it is. And Billy Elliot, man I want to see that one!!

Point Loma

2011-10-17T15:56:00.003+02:00

My first whole day here in San Diego me, Livy, Jessica, Hunter and Hudson went to Fashion Valley to do a little shopping! And then after that Hunter kidnaped us and took us on his private tour of Point Loma which is pretty much the other side of the San Diego bay that isn’t counted as down town. Most things up there are naval stuff and they had this huuuuuge memorial cemetery on both sides of the road overlooking the ocean on one side and Cornado island and Down town on the other, it was amazing!!

Sweet Home Encinitas!

2011-10-16T19:47:00.002+02:00

I'm here!! Gosh I love this place, I really do... Everything has been so great since day 1. I've gotten to hangout with my 2 best friends already, with my family, had some great food and just enjoyed everything. I still haven't really adjusted to the time difference though so sleeping is not going very well (I woke up at 5 am this morning) but its all good, Ill catch up soon.
Last night was such a perfect night, we were like 8 people who all went out to dinner, it was this great burgerplace in Del Mar, and then we all went home to my house and made s'mores and starburst and then everyone was heading of do different things so me and Joel went to the beach to watch the red tide, it was soooo beautiful! The ocean glows! And we just sat and watched it for hours and talked and talked forever. Im so glad to have my best friend back!! It's like neither of us ever left.
Sweet Home Encinitas!

Let's do this!

2011-10-14T03:49:00.001+02:00

Today is the day!! California here I come! I can't wait to see you, Adios Sweden!!

2011-10-12T21:19:00.000+02:00

Twins

2011-10-12T12:20:00.002+02:00

If you’ve ever met me you’ve probably met my friend Noomi as well, or you’ve at least heard of her. She is my twin and my best friend. And the reason for why I’m using the term Twin is because she really could be my twin… We look a lot alike, we have the same type of humor, we both love the US and have lived there, we love the same type of music… The list could go on forever, we’ve always been a lot alike. But lately the issue of fashion and style has come up a lot because we have a habit of dressing very similar to each other on the same day when we are hanging out with the same people… But this came to its extreme the other day when we latterly wore almost the exact same thing!! Even down to the socks, tank tops, cardigans, earrings, purses and scarves. The funny thing about this is that we never go shopping together.
Love ya forever Noomi haha!

Dagens I-landsproblem

2011-10-12T12:06:00.000+02:00

How on earth do you pack for 80 degrees F and sunny and 40 degrees F and snow in just ONE suitcase??!
I talked to Jessica, Ashley, Joel, Hannah and a few other friends in both San Diego and Provo yesterday and that’s the weather report they gave me… Oh well, I guess I’ll make it work. Only 2 days left! YAY!

Here at home I’m just keeping busy (real busy) with work, school and friends as usual. And I’m having some serious Neo-withdrawls!! I need to plan a trip to Norway as soon as I get back. Also I’m applying for next semesters classes this week which means my Italy-plans are finally happening!! I’m very fortunate to have so many great things to look forward to right now! (I’m trying my hardest to focus on that right now and not everything hard that’s happening right now).

World traveler!

2011-10-11T09:19:00.001+02:00

This is the first sentence of an email that I just got from my travel agency:
Hej Johanna!
Nu börjar din resa till San Diego, Dallas, London, London, Salt Lake City, Phoenix närma sig.

I am going to be in 7 different airports in 2,5 weeks haha! Crazy, but I am just so so so excited to go! This week is pretty crazy, I have a lot to do but it will all be worth it when I land in San Diego on Friday!

Finding Neverland

2011-10-08T18:09:00.001+02:00

I say the movie Finding Neverland for the first time ever this week, and I absolutely loved it! It was such a cute story, great actors and really moving (yes, I cried). The thing that caught me right away was the amazing soundtrack. I added it to my spotify account before the movie was even over because I couldn’t wait to hear all the beautiful songs again.

Here is one of my favorite:

T-6 days!

2011-10-08T17:57:00.001+02:00

Neo

2011-10-05T10:57:00.001+02:00

The coolest kid in town!

Yupp..

2011-09-30T12:13:00.003+02:00

So I should probably write something here since I haven’t written very much in the past week. But I don’t have anything to write about, and the only reason why I’m writing about this is so that I have a post to publish. Pretty clever, huh? Writing a post about not having anything to write about? I know, it's one of my better ideas.

Oh btw, just so you don't forget: I’m going to beautiful, sunny, warm, perfect San Diego in just 2 weeks, just so you know… Be jealous, be very jealous!

Countdown!

2011-09-30T09:16:00.001+02:00

2 weeks baby, 2WEEKS!

Encinitas, with love

2011-09-24T17:17:00.001+02:00

In less than 3 weeks I’ll be sitting out by the pool in my favorite chair by the house I love in the city that I call home! I finally bought my ticket to go to San Diego!!! I am so so so so so excited, I seriously haven’t stopped dreaming, smiling and thinking about it since it was certain I would be able to go. Let’s start the countdown!!! Only 20 days left :)

Knowing I’ll be seeing Hannah, Emma, Ashley, Joel, Erin, Lauren, Livy, Drew, Tucker, Stacy and everyone else so soon is just making me truly happy! And of course Mathilda too, she is on her mission in Salt Lake City so I’ll be seeing her too and that is also one thing that makes me soooo excited about this trip.

Encinitas here I come! I can't wait to see you!

From my trip last year

Cute and funny

2011-09-20T16:33:00.004+02:00

Cute:
We need to teach our daughters to distinguish between a man who flatters her - and a man who compliments her. A man who spends money on her - and a man who invests in her. A man who views her as property - and a man who views her properly. A man who lusts after her - and a man who loves her. A man who believes he is God's gift to women - and a man who remembers a woman was God's gift to man...And then teach our boys to be that kind of a man.

Funny:
(About Mitt Romney, a mormon presidential candidate. Probably only funny if you're mormon or know a lot about mormon culture)

Mitt is so Mormon he’ll start the State of the Union with the words: “I wasn’t going to get up, but the Spirit just carried me up here.”

Mitt is so Mormon, he asks donors to stack chairs after fundraising dinners.

Mitt is so Mormon he isn’t as concerned about getting American youth jobs as he is about getting them married.

Mitt is so Mormon that he refers to Congress as “The Great and Spacious Building.”

Mitt is so Mormon he’ll assign a friend to every new member of Congress.

Mitt is so Mormon that he’s installing two basketball hoops at the inaugural ball so there’s a place to hang decorations.

Mitt is so Mormon that the Marine Band will play “Praise to the Man” when he enters a room.

Mitt is so Mormon, he will add the phrases “every fiber of my being” and “beyond a shadow of a doubt” to the presidential oath of office.

The day has come!

2011-09-20T12:29:00.001+02:00

I’m just sitter here at work waiting for time to pass so I can run down to the record store and get Gavin’s new album!! I haven’t bought an actual CD in forever but this one I want in my collection! He hasn’t released a new album in 2 years and I have to be honest and say that I didn’t even like that one at all except for a few songs and they were old songs that he had done before so I was pretty disappointed. But I’ve already heard 3 songs from this new album and they are great!

But I’m also sad today because my Neo and Karolina are going home today. It’s been a great week and I am more in love with that little boy than ever, he is growing so fast and learning new things by the second. It’s gonna be so sad coming home and not having a little angel running up to you yelling: Hanna! With a big smile on his face giving me a kiss and then start talking without making any sense hehe.

Gavin DeGraw

2011-09-18T22:10:00.001+02:00

This man knows exactly how to move me! His voice, lyrics and melodies really moves my soul. His new album comes out on Tuesday and I’m so so so excited for it! I’m sure it’s gonna be just as amazing as his previous ones. Don’t ever stop writing Gavin!

Summer in Stockholm

2011-09-13T17:58:00.003+02:00

A writer?

2011-09-13T12:42:00.001+02:00

A few weeks ago I was talking to this guy at work about how much I work and what I’m studying at school etc. And when he found out that my major is Translation and Linguistics his reaction was (like many others has been): Woow really? That’s unusual. And then it was followed by the usual questions of how many languages I know and what the program is like and so on. But then he started asking me more about why I’m doing this, if I’m a writer, if I have a great imagination and if I have a blog so that I can write my own stories and not just rewrite other people stories. And that just really made me think because my answer was: No I am defiantly not a writer, never have been and I have no aspirations of ever become one either, but I do like to read and contemplate. And the process of transferring meaning from one language to another is fascinating to me. But I do however (obviously) have a blog, but looking through my archive of posts just confirmed the fact that I am not a writer! I hardly ever write longer posts that have any substance other than a report of a trip or weekend. So I am going to try and become a little better at that because I do have a lot of thoughts on a lot of things and maybe it’s time to start sharing them? I don’t know, we’ll see what happens. It just takes a lot of time and effort to transfer an abstract thought and actually turning it in to a meaningful idea and write it down.

I'm still here... Kind of...

2011-09-13T11:52:00.000+02:00

Life is like a huge ocean right now and I’m stuck in the waves, just being pulled under, over and everywhere by it. Sometimes it’s great, amazing, exciting and fun but at other times it drowns me, blinds me and scares me. And the thing that is constant is that it’s never still or calm!

I have a lot of obligations right now in church, school (the hardest semester of my life is in front of me right now), work and besides that I’m trying to keep in touch with friends in 3 different countries, planning a million things that are happening soon (like my trip to the US, Italy, school for next semester and trying to find somewhere to live), institute, dating etc. And like I said, sometimes it’s great but often I only have the energy to do things half heartedly because I try so hard at everything instead of prioritizing the things I really, really have to do. Lack of sleep is often the result of my hectic lifestyle. The difference between have to and want to doesn’t really exist in my mind.

And like before, I’m not complaining because this way of life is very much my own choice, I’m just venting a little and trying to just organize my thoughts a little.

Anyways, one thing I am really looking forward to is the fact that my sister and nephew are coming here tomorrow!! How I love that little boy, he is the joy of my life and I can’t wait to wake up to his smiling face, ready to play!

Fragile (Free)

2011-09-01T17:30:00.001+02:00

"I've been walking around all day, thinking. I think I have a problem, I think I think too much."

The very best from Sweden

2011-08-29T21:13:00.004+02:00

Here is a video from the Peter Jöback concert I went to last week.

And here is a video from my other favorite Swedish singer, Anders Ekborg, singing Anthem.

Vem kan segla förutan vind...

2011-08-29T21:09:00.002+02:00

I went sailing this weekend! It was so so so much fun and the weather and company couldn’t have been better so it was just all good. I absolutely love Sweden in the summer!

First and last

2011-08-29T08:15:00.002+02:00

OK, here we go! My first day of my last year at the university! It's such a strange feeling, but I can't wait for this semester to be over, for my final paper to be in and to see the light in the tunnel... Let's go!

Peter Jöback och de Kungliga Filharmonikerna

2011-08-28T16:39:00.002+02:00

My favorite swedish singer, Peter Jöback, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, classical songs from some of the greatest musicals ever written and sing-a-long. That my friends is perfection in one sentence and I was fortunate enough to be there and sing my heart out together with Peter in some of my favorite songs!

Peter and a cello; that's all you need to make me forget everything else in the world.

Pix from Norway

2011-08-25T09:13:00.002+02:00

I only took a few pix all weekend and that was when we were at Benedictes house on Saturday night, but it was justa fun weekend with great friends and family.

2011-08-24T17:28:00.002+02:00

I'm back to my old self again! Right now I'm sitting at the busstop and I'm 7 min early for the bus haha. I'm still not there completely in the mornings but I'm getting there, usually I'm 2-3 min early.
Anyways, I'm on my way to Majkis house to go have dinner with her, I haven't seen her in a few weeks so I'm excited to catch up a little with her. She and her boyfriend just celebrated 5 years together! How crazy is that when your our age? But I'm super happy for them and they are kind of my favorite couple ever so I'm happy they are happy :)
Pix from the wedding and my Norway trip are coming soon too, sorry about that.
Have a great Wednesday everyone!

Roadtrip to Norway

2011-08-19T12:07:00.002+02:00

Me, Noomi, Philip and Partic are going to Norway today!! Woohoo Im really excited. 3 countries in 1 week, thats pretty good! I'll be back on Sunday...
Neo here I come! <3

Roadtrip to Denmark

2011-08-19T11:45:00.002+02:00

Last week my brother got married in Copenhagen, Denmark so me and the fam took a roadtrip down there. It took FOREVER!! But we stoped a lot to make it more fun. I'll put op some pix of the wedding later.

My grandfathers grave in Gränna

Smultronstället in Söderköping. The biggest ice cream I've ever had! Sooooo good!

Just had to share

2011-08-10T11:05:00.002+02:00

(Stolen from Anjas blog, who probably stole it from someone elses haha)

Christian Walz

2011-08-09T09:34:00.003+02:00

Veronica Maggio kom och gästade!

Oh no...

2011-08-08T10:36:00.000+02:00

Crap! I’ve become one of those people…One of those who always has to run to the bus in the morning because they are late and think they have more time than they actually do… And I’ve always been a proud time pessimist who is 5 min early to everything, especially in the mornings. But things will probably go back to normal when I don’t have to leave at 7:30 am anymore, only one more week of full time work then my normal schedule starts again and then school starts up soon!

Bröllopsyra

2011-08-05T15:11:00.003+02:00

Looking forward to spending a girls-night-out with Mikaela tonight! We are going out to dinner and then we are gonna go see the movie Bridesmaids so I'm excited. And I'm excited about my brothers wedding which is only 1 week away now!!!

Gavin DeGraw

2011-08-04T13:38:00.001+02:00

I will never be over you Gavin!

Just a thought...

2011-08-04T13:00:00.001+02:00

I have 3 bags of gum, all in different flavours, in my purs right now, I would have had 4 but I remembered to take one out this morning before I left… I’m pretty sure I don’t need 3 bags, but I mean you never know right?
Chewing gum = one of mans greatest inventions!

Sweden + Norway

2011-08-04T12:59:00.000+02:00

Zzzzzz

2011-08-03T09:44:00.001+02:00

One of these days I’m actually going to start making sleep a priority… I’m not quite there yet, but I’m starting to realize that you actually need to sleep, and you need to sleep for more than 4 h/night… for the past 10 days I haven’t slept for more than 5 h/night except for one night where I slept for about 9 hours but I had gotten 0 h of sleep the night before, I never even went to bed that night haha.

It’s just that its summer and people are social and there are so many fun things to do so why stay home and sleep?? But considering I have a job and I have to wake up at 6am every morning I should at least try and be home before midnight… We’ll see how that goes…

Fest i Nord 2011

2011-08-03T09:37:00.001+02:00

So I’ve been a little out of the loop here lately and one of the reasons for this is because I was away for a week at Fest i Nord! It’s a conference for people between 18-30 and basically we just hangout, have fun, party, do sports and laugh for a whole week, it’s great!

My Norway

2011-07-23T01:15:00.001+02:00

I just can't belive whats happening in Norway right now! My thoughts and prayers goes out to the people who this is happening to... I'm just glad that my friends and family are all safe!

Request

2011-07-22T10:35:00.003+02:00

A little over a week ago I wrote that I was looking at great handbags and I got a complaint that I hadn’t posted any pictures of which bags I was looking at and a request to immediately show them to you! Haha so here are a few of the favorites:

The all time favorite by Mulberry

Love the coulour and simplicity. By Miu Miu

Love the two straps, the coulour (again) and the shape! By Gucci

Classy, great for all occations. By Dolce and Gabbana

As you can see I’m not all that extravagant in my style, I love the classic shapes with a subtle twist and cute little decorations.

Mother Nature

2011-07-22T10:23:00.000+02:00

I woke up this morning with (by) a bang! At 5:50 my whole house was shaking and there was such a loud bang, pretty scary but also cool. I had checked the weather the day before so I knew there would be a thunderstorm today but it was just still a weird feeling being woken up by something so powerful as lightning.

Only a few more hours before the weekend!! It’s been a long week since I’ve been working full time but it’s still been fun hanging out with the coworkers, working on some fun little projects and making some money. I have a lot of maybe-plans for the weekend so we’ll see which ones happen and which don’t.

Close to perfection

2011-07-19T23:07:00.004+02:00

Noomi and I have always been huge fans of musicals. The best singers in the world are musical artists and we are a little obsessed with a few of them, like Peter Jöback and Helene Sjöholm for example. But yesterday we went and saw one of my all time favorites: Anders Ekborg. He has the most amazing voice and he is just sooo sure of every note, it is truly incredible. He is very close to being a perfect singer!

Here is a video of a song from an amazing musical he was in a really long time ago, but just love this song and this preformace! Enjoy!

Neo loves Hanna!

2011-07-17T19:47:00.002+02:00

I got the best phonecall of my life today! My sister, Karolina, called and said that Neo had something to say to me and right then he came to the phone and yelled: Hanna!!! And then ran away laughing! And then he said (with a little help from his mother): Neo loves Hanna! It brought a tear to my eye to say the least. How I love that little boy!!

Excited!

2011-07-14T12:11:00.000+02:00

A lot happens in a year...

2011-07-13T19:15:00.002+02:00

Bellerina Kladdkaka

2011-07-13T13:05:00.002+02:00

Yesterday was a really fun, pretty perfect summer day. Only had to work for 2 hours and after that I went home to Noomi’s place, she got back from her 2 week vacation in Spain yesterday and of course she was waaaay tan… Dang it! But it was of course great to hang out with her again. After that we went and watched a soccer game where we knew pretty much all the players so that was way fun! And we ended the day by going to get the best ice cream ever!! McFlurry with Ballerina kladdkaka… Heaven!

Today I'm at work all day, then going straight to a meeting but then a bunch of us are watching Harry Potter 7 part 1 tonight to get ready for part 2 that we are watching tomorrow!!!

Warning: boring!

2011-07-11T13:49:00.000+02:00

Well it’s time for one of those ”I’m bored at work so I’m writing a blog post just to have something to do”-posts. My job which usually isn’t all that exciting is now during the summer and vacationtimes even MORE slow… We have not had a single visitor all day, only a few phone calls and no one fun to have lunch with. I guess it isn’t all that bad to get paid to be on FB, check your email and dreaming about great handbags.

Då är det faktiskt illa!

2011-07-04T16:14:00.001+02:00

Från www.tjuvlyssnat.se:

Två tjejer ~18 sitter och pratar om den enas syster.
Tjej 1: Jag tror min syster mår dåligt efter att det tog slut med hennes pojkvän…
Tjej 2: Åh nej, vad tråkigt! Men man blir ju lite ledsen när det tar slut så där.
Tjej 1: Ja, men alltså nu är det inte bara glass-framför-Bridget-Jones-må-dåligt. Utan nu är det så allvarligt att hon har slutat följa Desperate Housewives och Grey's Anatomy!

Vacation

2011-07-02T22:24:00.001+02:00

Tomorrow is my last day here in Norway and I’m a little sad but it’s also going to kind of nice to be able to sleep in a real bed, have all my clothes and not having to hide all my things from Neo so he doesn’t break them. But it’s really been a fun, relaxing and enjoyable vacation so I’m glad I came. Apparently I come a little top often though haha, people in the ward all know who I am and someone even came up to Karolina last week and was like: your sister is really good at visiting you. And people still apparently think I still live here in Norway so maybe I should spend some more time home in Sweden. I just love to go on little mini-vacations!

So a little update on what ive been up to since we got back from Bergen… Thursday we were all just soooo tired so we just relaxed at home all day but Friday was spent by first meeting up with an old friend from high school who lives here, Alexandra/Sandra/Börje (she has a lot of nicknames hehe). Then after that Alexandra and Oscar (Karolinas friend and son) came over for a play date. And then I went to Asker to hang out with my friend Ida so that was a really great day. Today me and Karolina went on a 2 hour bikeride through Oslo, then we went to the store and bought a ton of fruit and made smoothies  Then we went to the museum of Technology and that would have been super fun if I hadn’t hurt my back really, really bad on the first thing I tried so now I’m stuck laying on the couch without being able to get up… But hopefully I’ll feel better tomorrow. I better cuz I have an 8 hour train ride to look forward to tomorrow!

Bergen, Norway

2011-07-02T21:54:00.006+02:00

Well we are now back from Bergen and the trip was actually waaaay better than I could ever had imagened! The drive was so beautiful and it was great to spend some time with my sister and nephew. We spent the first day driving for about 12 hours, it was supposed to take about 7 but we took a little different rout up in the mountains that was absolutely amazing and also we stopped every few minutes to take pictures or jus admire the amazing landscape. Day 2 we spent in Bergen and went to the Aquarium, rode the Fløibanan, went to Bryggen and so on. It was really rainy, fogy and Neo was NOT in a good mood that day but it was still fun. Day 3 we hoped back in the car and started driving back towards Oslo but we took a different road and again we stopped at waterfalls and beautiful views so it took a little longer than expected. But then we spend the night at a hotel and then day 4 we just drove back to Oslo.
The landscape that we got to see on this trip was without a doubt the most beautiful I’ve ever seen in my entire life! Anyone who gets the chance should absolutely drive through Norway!

First days in Norway

2011-06-26T22:09:00.004+02:00

Neo locked himself out on the balcony

Neo and his Momma

Me and Karolina spent a night on the town! Got all dressed up and ordered drinks and dessert.

My sister Karolina

Tomorrow we are heading off on our super exciting vacation! We are all packed now and all the plans are made, it's going to be really really fun!

Midsummer!

2011-06-26T21:57:00.003+02:00

I absolutely LOVE the Swedish holidays! And one of my absolute favorites is Midsummer. It’s just a great day that you spend with friends and family, eat good food, listen to the old Swedish classics, laugh and enjoy the sunshine!
Here are some pictures from how I spent my midsummer: