Update!!

Hi my whole 3 blog readers. Well its been almost a year since i last updated and since then a lot has happened I guess now is a good time to update!

I have lost around 40 pounds...give or take! I feel great and even had to buy new everything! Im still using my old stuff until I just cant use them anymore! 20 more pounds to go :=)

Im almost done with my swedish studies and will be out in the word trying to find a job come June 2011!

We traveled around sweden this past summer which was great! I got to see more of this gorgeous country and see some great history!

Here are some picture I took over the year!

Im fat!!! Thats the truth!

At 36 I find myself at the heaviest Ive ever been! 230 lb. (104 kilos). I got into a weight loss program run by the city of Malmo!
We are using a book called the The Complete Beck Diet! I have to exercise one hour a day, pre plan all our meals and work my ass off for this! I will lose 50 pounds....Its might take me 6 months it might take more....either way our lifestyle must change! Paulus will be doing weight watchers because it worked for him in the past! He needs to work on losing his pot belly and get healthy too. Jake will be pleased because this means long walks everyday!

I will post my progress as I achieve my goals.....

I will not buy any new clothing until all the clothing I have in boxes under the bed fit me again.....I was a 14-16 when I moved here in March 2005 and this past summer I bought a size 20 capri pants...I hope to never put those on again unless I pregnant!

I look so forward to wearing all my cute Ralph Lauren and Eddie Bauer stuff again :) Ive missed wearing skirts and shorts!


Tomorrow my journey begins :)

Its been awhile!

My 2 whole readers. I know its been a while since I last posted in April.

Stay tuned for new blog enteris Coming Sooon!

Its been a while! But Ive been tagged!

8 THINGS

I was tagged to do this '8 Things' list by my little sister..Nancy... THANKS :)

8 Things I am Looking Forward To:

1. Seeing my sister and her family in June! I cant wait to hug them all!

2. School ending for the term on June 9th!

3. The summer like weather we are going to have this weekend!

4. Going to the doctor to see why we aren't pregnant after 2 years of trying!

5. Trying to find a summer job!

6. Being in a place where they speak English!

7. Knowing that I get to shop for good quality clothing for CHEAP prices in the states!

8. Playing with my niece and nephew!!! Swimming, shopping, and American History! What more can one ask for!!


8 Things I Did Yesterday:

1. Applied for 2 jobs.

2. Ate pizza for dinner.

3. Watched a bird build her nest in a tree near my bus stop!

4. Took a nap!

5. Took Jake for a walk in the park.

6. Chatted with my friend Nicole.

7. Read a kids book about blue whales in Swedish.

8. Went to bed early.


8 Things I Wish I Could Do:

1. Find a cure for Lupus.

2. Get pregnant.

3. Speak better Swedish

4. Have tons of energy to exercise each day!

5. Fly home 4 times a year so I can watch my niece and nephew grow up! in person instead by looking at pictures.

6. Convince my sister that I love Sweden:) and that I will come and visit her when I can.

7. Get a college degree!

8. To travel more!


8 Shows I Watch:

1. Law and Order SVU
2. Bones
3. Hells Kitchen
4. Top Chef
5. Oprah
6. NCIS
7. Grand Designs (BBC)
8. CNN International


8 People who are tagged:

Im not tagging anyone....If you have time...:)

Fruit Loop!

The more I read about this story the more angrier I get. What kind of doctor would let this be done? When I first heard the story I was happy for her and thought what a miracle:) How wonderful to bring so many children into the world. 8 is alot but when you get IVF that is sometimes the risk you take. Then I heard that she had 6 more kids at home, that she was unemployed and lived with her folks! I was SHOCKED! What type of fertility clinic would allow this and how did she pay for this? Why didn't anyone send her to a shrink or just flat out say NO!!

OK I'm not a mommy and so I don't really have the right to have a opinion but what about these poor kids...Yes I'm sure they will be loved but what about school, clothing and just plain everyday things. She admitted in this video that she was struggling to support for 6 other kids....I don't know what the world is coming to?

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

In Loving Memory!

Lois Marie Avriett-Murphy
Nov 1941 to Dec 24, 2008
My mom passed away with my sister at her side!
She will be missed by many!

Jack Frost!!!!

Hi! Well winter finally make its way to Skåne! It wasn't a lot of snow but enough to make many of us happy for a change from the rain and darkness! We usually don't get snow this early so it was a treat!

Jake and I got up early and went for a long walk to take pictures! It was nice at first then the wind picked up and we made or way home!

We are expected to get more snow this week and then it will all melt away again until Feb. But like many of my expats friends we are all hoping for a White Christmas:) Which hasn't happened in these parts in 10 years or so?

Have a great weekend!

Maggie

More Leaves!!!

Paulus and I went to Lund this afternoon after we had separate outings in Malmo for breakfast....Paulus played his Hero Clicks and I met up with a bunch of other Expats for a yummy American brunch here in Malmo!

www.southernkitchencafe.se

It was nice to see everyone and meet some new people....We were a big group of 22 and we all stayed a few hours...Lots of fun and very noisy. Looks like this might be a monthly thing..Lots of us don't see each other very much because of school,jobs and life. But it sure was fun:)

When we left at 1:30 the place was filling up with people....I heard a lady say in Swedish....Where did all these American come from? :)


Here are some pictures I took of the leaves in the city park in Lund...Hope you enjoy:)

My Favorite Season!!

I love Autumn...The leaves,the crisp cold air and the colors.I remember as a child in California waiting for the leaves to change and wondering why it happened so quick. Because we really never had a fall like you see in New England.

Well here in Malmo Fall has come slowly and now all the leaves are turning red,orange,pink and all the colors of fall....In some parts it looks like someone just painted the landscape. Its very nice. Plus its getting cold and crisp. Soon the leaves will be replaced with ice and snow...Until then I'm going to enjoy it while its last....The wind will do away with the leaves shortly...So Ive taken a few pictures for my 3 blog reader to enjoy!

School Daze!

Hello my 5 blog readers! I know Ive been away for a bit but Ive been busy trying to get on a schedule with school and stuff!

Well I like my school. Its a different atmosphere then the adult school I was going to in Malmo. Its a more like a JC collage and there are more serious students. I will say that we are not challenged as much and its a very laid back type of feel Which is great but I must improve my Swedish....especially with my speaking!

The program I'm in is for adults with ADHD and dyslexia...There are only 3 of us that are leaning Swedish as a second language! ME, a women from Iraq who was just diagnosed with Dyslexia over the summer and a man from Jamaica. We work in a group and since the other 2 have lived here for many years they speak very good and inspire me to do better.


I'm going to school all day from 8:20-2:10 M,Tues and Friday and from 10:10-3:50 on wed and thurs!

I'm taking Swedish
Math...which I HATE WITH A PASSION!!!!
Swedish government
A writing class
and High School English which is quite fun and well I got a good laugh when I didn't know what a adverb was!!!


Paulus and I are now speaking a bit of Swedish at home and trying to do it more and more! My goal is to be speaking Swedish together all the time by next year!

For those of you that understand svenska here is the link to my school

www.malmofolkhogskola.se

Have a great Sunday!

ME

Our Summer in pictures:)

Well summer is over for us..Its getting cold and soon the leaves will change. But we had a good summer.

We spent time with friends, spent time together and even got a new family member added to our clan. We went to Denmark for the day and spent many nights watching movies and staying up way past our bedtime:)


There was some sad news. I lost my Aunt Rita to brain cancer and my MIL lost her mother this summer also....My FIL spent a few days in the hospital with Pneumonia and our little niece was born with a heart condition which she had surgery for last week and is doing good.

But for the most part it was fun. We even have planned our summer vacation for next summer. USA here we come:)

Here are some pictures Ive taken over the summer. Hope you enjoy them:)

Its one hot summer!

My whole 5 readers.

Its HOT....This morning it was almost 80 at 9am. Ive found that home if the best place to be with the sea breeze and the windows open. We took a short drive inland to Lund this afternoon and It was so warm we came home. Paulus dad is sick and is in the hospital. He has been doing to much at home and just wore his self out but he will be fine and home on friday. But I found it strange that the hospital room had no AC and that you have to eat in a dining room with the other patience's. You only get a tray of food sent to your room if your unable to walk or such.

Paulus is on vacation after having to work most of the 1st week of it and yesterday. We have a few day trips planned but nothing big. With it being so hot and the sun being my new enemy. We are not going to Denmark as planned and well the zoo is out because the skåne animals don't like the heat either.

Tonight we BBQ steak for the first time and it was perfect and yummy. My swede is a great BBQ chef even though he is a novice:)

We also went out and bought a Nentiodno Wii.....Its our new toy and well worth it. Its given us many hours of supermario kart and Im sure we have wasted many brain cells in the process.

Have a great day

Maggie

Odd News Monday!!!

OK......I don't need to say more....Not in 100,000,000 years would I use this....I recycle and separate my trash but when it come to my period I would never be able to do this....I know its a gross thing to talk about but we are all adults here:=)



http://www.thelocal.se/13036/20080714/

Have a great monday!!

Odd News Wednesday!

My 3 readers....I think I'm going to blog about odd news I find in my inbox quite a lot....Something to make you smile,laugh or just gross you out! I know I'm such a kid!

Here is a story that was the headline in some of the major Swedish papers this morning.....Gotta love the swedes....


http://www.thelocal.se/12928/20080709/

Maggie:)

Been Busy!

My nice sister pointed out that I haven't written a entry in a while....I will update soon...

So stay tuned and please come back and visit:)

Maggie

Give me a break!

This made me laugh...I mean if she lost a eye then I could understand!

Random Shots!

Need I say more!

I let Paulus do something that I said I would never allow in a flat....I think he must have slipped something into my morning coffee! I don't need to say much the pictures will say it all for me....Thank God most of it is USED and the new stuff he got a good deal on....I will post the finished product when done!

Summer in Malmö and More!

Hello all my 3 readers....No..Just kidding....This past weekend Sweden was the hottest country in Europe....It was I think 85 degrees in Falun up north...But because the sun comes up at 4am its very warm by 9am...Yesterday and Sat it was HOT in Malmö...Plus is very dry and we need rain.....But not like last summer where it rained for 4 weeks straight. It looks like relief is on the way...Today is a perfect Swedish summer day. I was in town this morning and met up with Misfit Duck for Fika. We both got new camera's so we had to try them out. Here is a collections of pictures I've taken over the last few weeks.....

Hope you enjoy! More to come later!

I promise I will update!

Ive been busy and I thinking on something to blog about....I have a few ideas but just need to sit down and write them down.....Its been a cray week and I need a 3 day NAP and then I will be ready for anything......

Maggie