four makings of good summer days

the makings of good summer days (at home):

1. taking a 2.5 hour boat ride to lunch at svartsö krog, walk among the trees and under the sun with colleagues and then head right back home.

2. reuniting with friends that moved away, drinking champagne on tak's rooftop bar and riding a roller coaster at gröna lund.

3. going for fika with kai, sitting outside and enjoying being together.

4. cuddles with loki.

simple things that feel like a gift... stockholm, forever friends, and my boys (including the chubby furry one).

 

   

hope you are having a lovely summer, just a few more weeks to go.

we're moving!

 

i can't believe i'm writing this post, it still seems a little crazy to me but at the very same time, pretty fantastic.  we, my boys and i, are moving to stockholm, sweden!  crazy and fantastic, right?  why you may ask?  stefan's work is taking us there.  he works for a video game company that has studios in stockholm where a great opportunity came up and he went for it.  and, we (well, mostly me) have a sense of wanderlust, we love travelling.  so, off we go for two years! 

 

the moving date is the first week of november.  so excited!  fingers crossed the paperwork, which is being sorted through stefan's employer, will go smoothly and timely.

 

i've never been to stockholm, but stefan, whose been a few times for work, assures me i will love it.  most people who've been say the same thing.  stockholm is surrounded by lakes, shopping is fantastic, the city gorgeous, eco-friendly lifestyle, café culture, cobble stoned streets in the old town, forests and parks, and apparently i'll develop a love for herring and crayfish too!

 

of course, i have some anxiety about the move.  it's going to be a busy few weeks sorting the house out.  thankfully, we found a school for kai - he starts november 10th - that was my biggest worry.  once there, we'll be housed for the first few months until we find a place of our own.  we love the community feel of our place here and we're hoping we can establish that in stockholm.  we'll be off to a good start since our friends, ximena, petter, and their sweet girlies live there. 

 

thanks for reading.  if you know stockholm, i'd appreciate any recommendations of things to do, good restaurants, etc.  we're looking forward to exploring.  and while i am already nostalgic about leaving vancouver, i am excited for the adventure with my boys.

weekend pics

this weekend...

we sent best wishes to my father-in-law who turned 70 on the weekend!  harm, we will see you soon (sooner than we thought!) and give you hugs and prezzies!

 

we attended beta 5's sweet birthday party; they turned 3!  and, one of my photos was a runner-up in their social media contest... my boys will enjoy a 12 piece box of beta 5's seasonal chocolate collection!  my boys are drooling.



the runner-up... "give me back my cream puff, dad!"



i attended a work party... celebrating the retirement of one of our loveliest staff members.  she requested the attire to be "hippie" and many of us happily obliged.  it was such a fun evening.  i am so. very. lucky. to not only enjoy the work i do but to do it alongside a great team of women.  thank you!

 













 

we spent a lovely, fun, relaxing day with these two girlies and their parents... i am so smitten with this family and love them dearly.  we laughed, we played (who knew i was an olympian badminton player!), we ate and we ate some more.  thank you my friends, i know we probably overstayed our welcome but it was so hard to leave you guys.  lots of love!



 

 

so much gratefulness this weekend.  hope you had a wonderful one too.

my work

i love my job, providing counselling to women in crisis. i am often asked, 'how can you do this work?'  i think to myself, 'how can i not?' 

 

image from here

a crisis can shine a bright light on a women's life.  it challenges her to explore everything - her hopes, her relationships, her career, her plans, her family, her beliefs.  it can be a transformational experience.  she gets to choose the path she walks - for the better.  standing by women in this process is a privilege.  it's amazing.

sometimes someone comes along and her story touches me in a way i do not expect.  i am overwhelmed by her pain and sadness.  i want to 'fix' what's wrong but i know i can't.  sometimes life happens to her that prevents her from choosing her own path.  it's difficult.

needless to say, it's been an emotional couple of days at work.  i want to give a shout out to the awesome women i work with.  i am grateful to be doing work i love and to be doing it with you.