Today was my last day in Sweden. This morning Taylor and I took a final trip to Stockholm. We did a lot of shopping for relatives and friends. When we got back from shopping I had my last dinner with the family. We grilled chicken and mushrooms to go along with salad and french fries. Ingrid made the really good sauce that she and I love! It was delicious last meal. After dinner the family surprised me with some going away presents. Vidar and Freja both drew me a picture saying goodbye. Vidar said he learned how to draw the hearts from the internet. They were adorable! They had bought me a really cute kitten made out of metal; his head was bouncy! Also, there was a teddy bear reflector to use when jogging or walking at night, a t-shirt, visor, cap, and bucket hat that all said "Sverige" on them. Lastly, they gave me heart shaped earrings and a matching necklace. They said they got me that to wear so I know that I will always be in their heart! I almost cried, it was so sweet.
After presents I went to get Taylor. I invited her over to play UNO with the family. We played for about 3 hours until Ingrid won.When the game was over it was time to say goodbye. I had to say goodbye to Taylor. She and I have become such close friends and I am so fortunate to have met her. We have shared such a wonderful experience together and it is something that I will never forget. I will miss her and everyone I have met here in Sweden, and I will take home with me a wonderful pile of memories of new friends and fun adventures.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Going Away Party
Today I woke up and helped Freja with her costume that she was going to wear to a birthday party. It was a celebrity party so all of the guests had to dress as a celebrity. Freja went as Hannah Montana. She had a Hannah Montana hair wrapping kit, so I helped her do that. I also made some small braids with beads inside the braids. She looked so cute!
After that I did a 30 minute freestyle plyo workout. Then I went over to Karin's house to help Taylor with the food preparation for our going away party. Taylor baked a tort and made some banana pudding. I made a huge thing of cole slaw. I found the recipe off of a country cooking website and then I added some pineapple, because that's what my grandma puts in cole slaw to make it extra delicious! Everyone really liked it. At the party we played some fun games. We were separated into 3 teams. One of the games included a pen that was attached to a string which you had to attach behind you on your belt loop. You had to run to a glass soda bottle and fit the pen inside the bottle without using your hands. It was pretty hilarious!
After dinner Taylor and I presented the projects we have been working on the past couple of days. We collected a notebook full of practice drills to give to Ingrid and the team. We typed them up and had them in sheet protectors. We also put together a slideshow of all the photos we had from the season. We put music to it and added a note at the end thanking them for everything they have done for us. Please take a look:
At the end of the night they gave Taylor and me a dala horse with our names on it, and they all signed a softball with Swedish messages for us. It was so hard to say goodbye to the girls! They are all so sweet and so wonderful. It has been such a pleasure to play with each of them and see their progression throughout the summer. I will never forget the time I spent with them and can't wait until they all come to the states in two years. Oh yeah, my dad invited the team to play softball in Maine. They have decided to make the trip in 2 years! Ingrid told them at the party and they were all really excited! I told them all that we can only say "goodbye for now", because I will be seeing them in 2 years time!
After that I did a 30 minute freestyle plyo workout. Then I went over to Karin's house to help Taylor with the food preparation for our going away party. Taylor baked a tort and made some banana pudding. I made a huge thing of cole slaw. I found the recipe off of a country cooking website and then I added some pineapple, because that's what my grandma puts in cole slaw to make it extra delicious! Everyone really liked it. At the party we played some fun games. We were separated into 3 teams. One of the games included a pen that was attached to a string which you had to attach behind you on your belt loop. You had to run to a glass soda bottle and fit the pen inside the bottle without using your hands. It was pretty hilarious!
After dinner Taylor and I presented the projects we have been working on the past couple of days. We collected a notebook full of practice drills to give to Ingrid and the team. We typed them up and had them in sheet protectors. We also put together a slideshow of all the photos we had from the season. We put music to it and added a note at the end thanking them for everything they have done for us. Please take a look:
At the end of the night they gave Taylor and me a dala horse with our names on it, and they all signed a softball with Swedish messages for us. It was so hard to say goodbye to the girls! They are all so sweet and so wonderful. It has been such a pleasure to play with each of them and see their progression throughout the summer. I will never forget the time I spent with them and can't wait until they all come to the states in two years. Oh yeah, my dad invited the team to play softball in Maine. They have decided to make the trip in 2 years! Ingrid told them at the party and they were all really excited! I told them all that we can only say "goodbye for now", because I will be seeing them in 2 years time!
Monday, September 19, 2011
Science Fun!
This past weekend I went to the Tom Tit Experiment, which is a science museum in Stockholm. It's a mix between the Portland Children's Museum and the Boston Museum of Science. There were tons of interactive displays and activities. I went with Ingrid, Freja, and Thea. We all had a lot of fun; we spent about 4 hours running to different displays. One of my favorites was a room full of Dance Dance Revolution mats on the floor and a big screen display. We all did a dance and I won! haha They also had a huge water display outside with tons of different activities for kids and adults! I wasn't able to take too many photos because my battery died after about an hour of being there. I'll post them as soon as I can, but right now I'm going over to Taylor's to make some lunch we found on the pinterest website!
Monday, September 12, 2011
We lost :(
We ended up losing our semi-final three game series. We won the first game 2-1; I pitched. Then we lost the second game 19-14 and the third game 9-7. It was a battle to the end, but we came up short. The girls fought really hard and they gave it their all. There was a photographer at the game who took some really good video as well as photos. Here is the link and the video is below. http://www.lokalsport.nu/baseboll/2911-al
Now I am fifteen days away from coming home. Till then I will be doing some school work and getting things organized for when I'm back home. Taylor and I will also be doing some individual lessons before we go. We are going to have a fun team practice tomorrow and then the next time we are all together again is when we are saying our goodbyes :(
Now I am fifteen days away from coming home. Till then I will be doing some school work and getting things organized for when I'm back home. Taylor and I will also be doing some individual lessons before we go. We are going to have a fun team practice tomorrow and then the next time we are all together again is when we are saying our goodbyes :(
Friday, September 9, 2011
Sponge to the Rescue
It has been raining here for the past couple of days. It has been on and off, in mist and in down pours. When we arrived to practice on Wednesday we found giant puddles throughout the entire field. We figured that it would dry up before our games tomorrow, but unfortunately it did not. Taylor, Ingrid, Emilie and I had to go down to the field to soak up all of the puddles. The maintenance crew was able to fix the infield but there were huge puddles in the outfield that they did not have time to take care of. With buckets and shovels in hand, along with the giant sponge the crew left for us to use, we spent about 3 hours soaking up as much water as we possibly could. It was hard work, but well worth it if we are able to play our semi-final games tomorrow. We play at 12 and 2 against Leksand. The games are best out of three and there is no mercy rule. The girls are really excited, as are the team moms! They put up signs around the town and they are planning to cook hotdogs and play music during the games. It should be a lot of fun! I'll let you all know how everything goes, but for now I must get some shut eye so I can be ready for tomorrow! Good night!
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Filling my Time
The past couple of days have been a little dull. I have been spending most of my time online. Taylor sent me this awesome new site called Pinterest.com! My gosh, I'm on it non-stop! I have been finding awesome new recipes to try when I get home, some creative classroom layouts and activities, beautiful decorating ideas for my bedroom (but mostly for my future home), and some weekend craft ideas! I'm addicted!
Anyways, something new is that I started my online class today. I know what you are all thinking..."I thought you graduated". Well, I had a little bit of a misunderstanding with admissions and I have to take what SNHU calls a "global marker". I have plenty of credits to graduate, too many if you ask me, but I failed to take a "global marker" class. Somehow we scooted by it in my advisement meetings and I have yet to receive my diploma. I will be taking an 8 week online history course while I'm here. I guess I can't complain...I have something to keep my mind occupied for the remainder of my stay. This class plus going onto Pinterest will certainly fill my day! Hey that rhymed, sort of!
Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to keep track of how many days are left, but I can't help it today because the math is too easy. Only 20 more days till I'm home! Although I might be lying, Ingrid kind of told me yesterday that I could be flying out on the 27th...I guess when she had to cancel my flight going through Iceland she had to change my entire package. She's going to double check and get back to me, so stay tuned!
Anyways, something new is that I started my online class today. I know what you are all thinking..."I thought you graduated". Well, I had a little bit of a misunderstanding with admissions and I have to take what SNHU calls a "global marker". I have plenty of credits to graduate, too many if you ask me, but I failed to take a "global marker" class. Somehow we scooted by it in my advisement meetings and I have yet to receive my diploma. I will be taking an 8 week online history course while I'm here. I guess I can't complain...I have something to keep my mind occupied for the remainder of my stay. This class plus going onto Pinterest will certainly fill my day! Hey that rhymed, sort of!
Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to keep track of how many days are left, but I can't help it today because the math is too easy. Only 20 more days till I'm home! Although I might be lying, Ingrid kind of told me yesterday that I could be flying out on the 27th...I guess when she had to cancel my flight going through Iceland she had to change my entire package. She's going to double check and get back to me, so stay tuned!
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday Fun Day!
Sorry that I haven't been blogging as often as I should be, but I hope this post makes up for my blogspot neglect! These past couple of days I have been hanging with Jen and Taylor. We went to IKEA and out to lunch a couple of times. I have also been preoccupied with softball practice. This week we chose to do team practice instead of individuals.
On Tuesday Jen was able to come to practice, so she worked with My, Amanda W, and Wilma on their pitching while Taylor and I did defensive drills and front toss. On Wednesday we welcomed a new player to the team! Her name is Julianne and she is from Northern France. She moved to Västerås to study at the University. She has been playing for 7 years on the French Junior National Team as a first baseman. She is a great player and I think she will be a great addition to the team! Right before practice there was a big thunder storm so we had to wait out the rain for a good 30 minutes. We ended up practicing in the rain for most of the practice.
Thursday was a pretty relaxing day Taylor and I went to lunch and then we biked down to the supermarket to pick up some food for Karin's house. With 6 children living under one roof they have to go grocery shopping constantly! Later that day we went down to the field to practice with Rebecca. She had initially wanted me to help her try pitching for the second time in her life but Ingrid had mentioned that she wanted to train another catcher - someone that was in My's class. Taylor and I suggested to Rebecca that she start thinking about catching instead of pitching. Typical Rebecca, she was just as eager to learn something about catching! We worked with her for about an hour and then I went back home to have dinner with the family, Jen, Emil and his kids. We ate crawfish since it was Jen's last night in Sweden. When she was here before, she never got to try them. Ingrid had asked me to make a pasta salad to go with the dinner since not everyone likes to eat crawfish. It was really good, if I do say so myself! In the salad were cucumber, fresh tomato, sundried tomato, and feta cheese. I seasoned it with some of the oil that was in the sundried tomato jar and some dried salad spices. Everyone really enjoyed it!
Yesterday Taylor and I did a lot of work in the kitchen! We decided, since it was just Taylor and My at the house last night, that I would come over and we would have Mexican food and watch movies. We prepared for dinner by making a layer dip, guacamole, and cheese dip. For dinner we also made chicken and beef tacos! It was so delicious! We ate until we were stuffed! We watched I Am Number Four and Just Go With It. We ended up staying up until 2am...great night! We were also busy in the kitchen making waffle cookies for the girls. They were super easy to make; it probably took us 15 minutes to mix and bake them all. Here is the recipe for anyone who is interested: http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/oatmeal-chocolate-chip-waffle.aspx We had promised them a treat if they did good in the games this past weekend. We planned a really fun practice with games and relays and ended it with some cookies! It was a pretty great day!
On Tuesday Jen was able to come to practice, so she worked with My, Amanda W, and Wilma on their pitching while Taylor and I did defensive drills and front toss. On Wednesday we welcomed a new player to the team! Her name is Julianne and she is from Northern France. She moved to Västerås to study at the University. She has been playing for 7 years on the French Junior National Team as a first baseman. She is a great player and I think she will be a great addition to the team! Right before practice there was a big thunder storm so we had to wait out the rain for a good 30 minutes. We ended up practicing in the rain for most of the practice.
Thursday was a pretty relaxing day Taylor and I went to lunch and then we biked down to the supermarket to pick up some food for Karin's house. With 6 children living under one roof they have to go grocery shopping constantly! Later that day we went down to the field to practice with Rebecca. She had initially wanted me to help her try pitching for the second time in her life but Ingrid had mentioned that she wanted to train another catcher - someone that was in My's class. Taylor and I suggested to Rebecca that she start thinking about catching instead of pitching. Typical Rebecca, she was just as eager to learn something about catching! We worked with her for about an hour and then I went back home to have dinner with the family, Jen, Emil and his kids. We ate crawfish since it was Jen's last night in Sweden. When she was here before, she never got to try them. Ingrid had asked me to make a pasta salad to go with the dinner since not everyone likes to eat crawfish. It was really good, if I do say so myself! In the salad were cucumber, fresh tomato, sundried tomato, and feta cheese. I seasoned it with some of the oil that was in the sundried tomato jar and some dried salad spices. Everyone really enjoyed it!
Yesterday Taylor and I did a lot of work in the kitchen! We decided, since it was just Taylor and My at the house last night, that I would come over and we would have Mexican food and watch movies. We prepared for dinner by making a layer dip, guacamole, and cheese dip. For dinner we also made chicken and beef tacos! It was so delicious! We ate until we were stuffed! We watched I Am Number Four and Just Go With It. We ended up staying up until 2am...great night! We were also busy in the kitchen making waffle cookies for the girls. They were super easy to make; it probably took us 15 minutes to mix and bake them all. Here is the recipe for anyone who is interested: http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/oatmeal-chocolate-chip-waffle.aspx We had promised them a treat if they did good in the games this past weekend. We planned a really fun practice with games and relays and ended it with some cookies! It was a pretty great day!
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