Hello there!
It's the 2nd Advent and due to the very warm weather we are currently experiencing I would've never guessed that Christmas is soon here. The temperature has been above 75 degrees (25 Celsius) this weekend and the forecast for the up coming week will be about the same. And I'm definitely not complaining, it just feels really strange to be walking outside in a t-shirt in December and to almost be sweating inside even though we opened all the windows in the apartment.
Even though I didn't have any special plans, I took a couple of days off work this week, so I enjoyed a four day weekend. Now I have one more day of PTO (paid time off) to use before the end of this year. During my long weekend, I went to a Swedish julbord with SWEA, did some Christmas shopping, made an inventory count observation for work, went to a Christmas party.
Well, that is it for this time... I'm going to rest a little now and get to bed early and hopefully my bad cough will be better in the morning.
Take care!
Kram!
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Sunday, December 2, 2007
My parents visiting!
Hey there!
I hope you all are doing well and that you are enjoying the just begun Christmas season. Today was the last day my parents were here visiting. I am a little sad because of the fact that they left back home to Sweden today, but we had a very nice time while they where here. I am so happy that they were able to come to visit us, especially because I won't be able to spend Christmas with them this year. They arrived on Tuesday the 20th of November, just in time to celebrate Thanksgiving.
Before Thanksgiving we checked out Christmas decoration at Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta.
This was actually the first time we celebrated Thanksgiving since we lived in Kansas in 1989. We prepared all the food ourselves, except for the pies, while having some fun.
From a cozy day at home cooking and eating, to a freezing evening at Lenox Square Mall to watch the annual Macy's Christmas Tree Lighting.
Walk up Stone Mountain on a wonderful day, the sun was so nice and warm.
After my parents spent some days in Kansas, we finished off their last weekend with some Cosmic Bowling...
.... eating great American food, doing some last shopping and taking some nice walks in the neighborhood.
So it's Sunday night and I have to inform you that it is still 22 degrees Celsius outside (at 10 pm). Charles and I just had dinner and we still have our bedroom window and balcony door open to let the fresh warm air flow through our apartment. Charles is studying for his upcoming exams and due papers, before he leaves to France for the holidays on the 16th. While, I'm missing the presence of my parents. If they would've still be here I suppose we would've finished the wine we started on last night, played some cards, chatted and argued and laughed a lot. Can't wait until I can visit home this summer!
I hope your last couple of weeks have been as good as mine and I hope you enjoy the beginning of the holidays! Lots of love to everyone!
Kram!
I hope you all are doing well and that you are enjoying the just begun Christmas season. Today was the last day my parents were here visiting. I am a little sad because of the fact that they left back home to Sweden today, but we had a very nice time while they where here. I am so happy that they were able to come to visit us, especially because I won't be able to spend Christmas with them this year. They arrived on Tuesday the 20th of November, just in time to celebrate Thanksgiving.
Before Thanksgiving we checked out Christmas decoration at Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta.
This was actually the first time we celebrated Thanksgiving since we lived in Kansas in 1989. We prepared all the food ourselves, except for the pies, while having some fun.
From a cozy day at home cooking and eating, to a freezing evening at Lenox Square Mall to watch the annual Macy's Christmas Tree Lighting.
Walk up Stone Mountain on a wonderful day, the sun was so nice and warm.
After my parents spent some days in Kansas, we finished off their last weekend with some Cosmic Bowling...
.... eating great American food, doing some last shopping and taking some nice walks in the neighborhood.
So it's Sunday night and I have to inform you that it is still 22 degrees Celsius outside (at 10 pm). Charles and I just had dinner and we still have our bedroom window and balcony door open to let the fresh warm air flow through our apartment. Charles is studying for his upcoming exams and due papers, before he leaves to France for the holidays on the 16th. While, I'm missing the presence of my parents. If they would've still be here I suppose we would've finished the wine we started on last night, played some cards, chatted and argued and laughed a lot. Can't wait until I can visit home this summer!
I hope your last couple of weeks have been as good as mine and I hope you enjoy the beginning of the holidays! Lots of love to everyone!
Kram!
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Halloween
Halloween is just around the corner, on this coming Wednesday. Unfortunately I am 28 years old and am therefore too old to go Trick or Treating... so to celebrate this huge American holiday Charles and I went to Party City to get ourselves costumes to go to a Halloween Party yesterday. We fought with the rest of the last minute costume shoppers who filled the shop and managed to settle with "Tacky Tourist" costumes. We welcomed our dinner guests with our tacky costumes and even though the actual Halloween Party was fun, Charles and I did feel rather misplaced with our comic costumes... among all of the scary or handsomely dressed men and sexy dressed women.
Here you see Charles and I as tacky tourists and a friend from work, Janine and her boyfriend at our place before going to the Halloween Party.
Some of you might remember that we went to a haunted house called Netherworld some weeks ago. What I did not tell you then was that a TV crew from the Travel Channel asked to film us during our visit... so on Friday evening we became "celebrities" on the show Halloween's Most Extreme. Charles managed to film a bit of the show with his camera when the re-run was on... check it out for yourselves. Our friends Katrin and Ryan are the ones actually walking through the haunted house and you'll see Charles and I with some other friends towards the end. (Beware of scary scenes!)
So Wednesday is the big Trick or Treating day... I have planned to go to a friend's house to be able to experience the thrill from the excited dressed up children and hand out candy. It will be a lot of fun, I can't wait! :)
Take care!
Kram!
Here you see Charles and I as tacky tourists and a friend from work, Janine and her boyfriend at our place before going to the Halloween Party.
Some of you might remember that we went to a haunted house called Netherworld some weeks ago. What I did not tell you then was that a TV crew from the Travel Channel asked to film us during our visit... so on Friday evening we became "celebrities" on the show Halloween's Most Extreme. Charles managed to film a bit of the show with his camera when the re-run was on... check it out for yourselves. Our friends Katrin and Ryan are the ones actually walking through the haunted house and you'll see Charles and I with some other friends towards the end. (Beware of scary scenes!)
So Wednesday is the big Trick or Treating day... I have planned to go to a friend's house to be able to experience the thrill from the excited dressed up children and hand out candy. It will be a lot of fun, I can't wait! :)
Take care!
Kram!
Thursday, October 4, 2007
October 7th
Hello everyone!
Today is Sunday the 7th of October and boy what a wonderful October it has been so far... with temperatures around 80 degrees (about 26 Celsius) during the day and down to around 65 at night (about 18 Celsius). We can finally enjoy sitting out on our balcony and open up the windows in the morning to air out the apartment. So you're probably wondering what I've been up to during the last couple of weeks. To be honest, I barely remember myself but I'll try to give you an update...
As for work, I finally received my degree evaluation and luckily my degree is recognized here in the US and I can therefore sit for the CPA exams. My plan is to start after busy season in April. I also experienced my first performance evaluation at work and I'm proud to say that I only received positive and encouraging comments from my manager. I think that a total of seven new people have started with Rödl & Partner in the past 2 weeks, so it's definitely going well for us.
As for fun, I went to a house-warming party last weekend at a Swedish friend's place and during the same weekend went to a Swedish mingle party organized by SWEA, while Charles was enjoying a weekend in Kansas City
at a NASCAR race. The weekend before then we join
ed a colle
ge of mine and her boyfriend to go to a haunted house that had just opened for the Halloween season. All I can say is that it was very scary and I was totally sweaty after walking through. We also went with some other friends to a preseason Thrasher's game (NHL). Both Charles and I were very proud of the fact that there are three Swedes in the team... Charles even wore his Swedish National Hockey Team jersey. :) On Tuesday I threw a little surprise birthday party for Charles. I was super stressed about the whole thing, but it turned out great! Last night we joined a bunch of my German colleges at an Oktoberfest organized by the German Goethe Institut.
Today we've been enjoying our Sunday, with freshly baked croissants for breakfast, a tour to the Farmer's Market to get the freshest fruit and best French cheese in town. In a little bit we're going to prepare tacos for dinner and watch a movie, Zodiac, while eating from our big bowl of Swedish candy that my parent's sent for Charles' birthday... yummie! Speaking
about my parents, they are coming to visit us in November!!! I'm so happy and especially that we get to celebrate Thanksgiving together! They are coming for about two weeks, but are planning on flying to Wichita to visit for part of the time.
Hope you all have a nice Sunday evening! Take care!
Kram!
Today is Sunday the 7th of October and boy what a wonderful October it has been so far... with temperatures around 80 degrees (about 26 Celsius) during the day and down to around 65 at night (about 18 Celsius). We can finally enjoy sitting out on our balcony and open up the windows in the morning to air out the apartment. So you're probably wondering what I've been up to during the last couple of weeks. To be honest, I barely remember myself but I'll try to give you an update...
As for work, I finally received my degree evaluation and luckily my degree is recognized here in the US and I can therefore sit for the CPA exams. My plan is to start after busy season in April. I also experienced my first performance evaluation at work and I'm proud to say that I only received positive and encouraging comments from my manager. I think that a total of seven new people have started with Rödl & Partner in the past 2 weeks, so it's definitely going well for us.
As for fun, I went to a house-warming party last weekend at a Swedish friend's place and during the same weekend went to a Swedish mingle party organized by SWEA, while Charles was enjoying a weekend in Kansas City
at a NASCAR race. The weekend before then we join
ed a colle
ge of mine and her boyfriend to go to a haunted house that had just opened for the Halloween season. All I can say is that it was very scary and I was totally sweaty after walking through. We also went with some other friends to a preseason Thrasher's game (NHL). Both Charles and I were very proud of the fact that there are three Swedes in the team... Charles even wore his Swedish National Hockey Team jersey. :) On Tuesday I threw a little surprise birthday party for Charles. I was super stressed about the whole thing, but it turned out great! Last night we joined a bunch of my German colleges at an Oktoberfest organized by the German Goethe Institut.Today we've been enjoying our Sunday, with freshly baked croissants for breakfast, a tour to the Farmer's Market to get the freshest fruit and best French cheese in town. In a little bit we're going to prepare tacos for dinner and watch a movie, Zodiac, while eating from our big bowl of Swedish candy that my parent's sent for Charles' birthday... yummie! Speaking
about my parents, they are coming to visit us in November!!! I'm so happy and especially that we get to celebrate Thanksgiving together! They are coming for about two weeks, but are planning on flying to Wichita to visit for part of the time.Hope you all have a nice Sunday evening! Take care!
Kram!
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Weekend happenings
Rented DVDs at Blockbuster on Friday evening, watched the tense thriller "Disturbia" (on a scale of 1-10, I'll give it a 7) while eating leftovers.
Saturday morning aerobics with Mike (my second favorite aerobics instructor at the Ansley Mall La Fitness, which has the most diverse crowd you could ever imagine). Nearly fainted about a half hour into the hour (because I went before having breakfast... thought I could burn a couple extra calories)... luckily I had brought an emergency banana which saved me. :)
Spent Saturday afternoon at the Atlanta History Center with the SWEA women (Swedish women's club). I was very happy to meet Sara, a Swedish girl my age, for the first time... and can you believe that it turns out that we live at the same apartment complex! I know, it's unbelievable... but so great!
Drank the best smoothie ever at Lenox Mall, while changing a pair of pants and shoes I had bought the weekend before. Also went to the recently opened Zara store (I'm still eagerly waiting for H&M to open in spring)... actually I was mainly trying to kill some time, because I knew that Charles was at home watching Notre Dame play their third game this season.
Went to see Jodie Foster's new thriller "The Brave One" at the movie theater. I managed to finish my popcorn before the actual movie started. I'm not sure if that means that I was pigging out or I just didn't get the right size of popcorn. When leaving the movie theater shortly after midnight, we experienced our first cool night here in Atlanta. We actually turned the heater on low in the car.
Sunday morning walk in the nearby neighborhood. Experienced our first fresh morning, according to the news it was 65 degrees, which means about 18 Celsius... it was wonderful! After getting back home we opened all the windows to air out our apartment for the first time in 4½ months.
Held on to Charles, while riding the scooter to Piedmont Park to have a picnic lunch, throw some football and take a look at the Arts Festival going on. Hurried back home after a couple of hours, so that I could make it back to Ansley Mall to go to my favorite instructor Scott's step class and so that Charles could meet up with his friends at the local sports bar to... yes, watch football.
Right now I'm watching the Emmy Awards on tv, which I have to admit isn't all that exciting. (It was more exciting watching poor Britney Spears try to perform on live tv last weekend at the VMAs.)
Overall a great weekend, with very enjoyable weather! Although, I wish I could've been at my good friend Linda's bachelorlette party on Saturday. Jag hoppas att ni alla hade kul!!! Anyway, have a good Monday!
Kram!
Saturday morning aerobics with Mike (my second favorite aerobics instructor at the Ansley Mall La Fitness, which has the most diverse crowd you could ever imagine). Nearly fainted about a half hour into the hour (because I went before having breakfast... thought I could burn a couple extra calories)... luckily I had brought an emergency banana which saved me. :)
Spent Saturday afternoon at the Atlanta History Center with the SWEA women (Swedish women's club). I was very happy to meet Sara, a Swedish girl my age, for the first time... and can you believe that it turns out that we live at the same apartment complex! I know, it's unbelievable... but so great!
Drank the best smoothie ever at Lenox Mall, while changing a pair of pants and shoes I had bought the weekend before. Also went to the recently opened Zara store (I'm still eagerly waiting for H&M to open in spring)... actually I was mainly trying to kill some time, because I knew that Charles was at home watching Notre Dame play their third game this season.
Went to see Jodie Foster's new thriller "The Brave One" at the movie theater. I managed to finish my popcorn before the actual movie started. I'm not sure if that means that I was pigging out or I just didn't get the right size of popcorn. When leaving the movie theater shortly after midnight, we experienced our first cool night here in Atlanta. We actually turned the heater on low in the car.
Sunday morning walk in the nearby neighborhood. Experienced our first fresh morning, according to the news it was 65 degrees, which means about 18 Celsius... it was wonderful! After getting back home we opened all the windows to air out our apartment for the first time in 4½ months.
Held on to Charles, while riding the scooter to Piedmont Park to have a picnic lunch, throw some football and take a look at the Arts Festival going on. Hurried back home after a couple of hours, so that I could make it back to Ansley Mall to go to my favorite instructor Scott's step class and so that Charles could meet up with his friends at the local sports bar to... yes, watch football.
Right now I'm watching the Emmy Awards on tv, which I have to admit isn't all that exciting. (It was more exciting watching poor Britney Spears try to perform on live tv last weekend at the VMAs.)
Overall a great weekend, with very enjoyable weather! Although, I wish I could've been at my good friend Linda's bachelorlette party on Saturday. Jag hoppas att ni alla hade kul!!! Anyway, have a good Monday!
Kram!
Monday, September 3, 2007
"Take me out to the ball game..."
On Friday we went to our first Braves game at Turner Field and therefore also experienced our first Major League Baseball game. I really didn't know what to expect from the game, even though several people warned me that I was going to be bored. Luckily I was happily surprised... we had a great time, even though the Atlanta Braves lost against the New York Mets.
Chloe, Charles and Ryan (Charles' friend from Emory) before the game.
Chloe and I having some refreshments to prepare for the game.
First thing we did after entering the field, was getting ourselves some jumbo hot dogs with everything on them. After those dogs, I probably won't have hot dogs in a while. :)
Not a bad view we thought, before moving down to the 8th row after the 5th inning.
A fully packed Turner Field, what an atmosphere!
After the 5th inning we moved down to the 8th row, where Ryan had seats.
Talk about a close up.
So today is Labor Day and we have had an extra day off... so wonderful! After 2 ½ great weeks, Chloe left back to France yesterday. And tomorrow reality starts for Charles, who's 2nd semester starts and for me I continue working intensively to beat the September 15th deadline for Corporate Income Tax Returns. Work is much more fun and challenging now that I have more to do and have deadlines to meet, it's great! Well, that'll be it for this time. Take care!
Kram!
Chloe, Charles and Ryan (Charles' friend from Emory) before the game.
Chloe and I having some refreshments to prepare for the game.
First thing we did after entering the field, was getting ourselves some jumbo hot dogs with everything on them. After those dogs, I probably won't have hot dogs in a while. :)
Not a bad view we thought, before moving down to the 8th row after the 5th inning.
A fully packed Turner Field, what an atmosphere!
After the 5th inning we moved down to the 8th row, where Ryan had seats.
Talk about a close up.
So today is Labor Day and we have had an extra day off... so wonderful! After 2 ½ great weeks, Chloe left back to France yesterday. And tomorrow reality starts for Charles, who's 2nd semester starts and for me I continue working intensively to beat the September 15th deadline for Corporate Income Tax Returns. Work is much more fun and challenging now that I have more to do and have deadlines to meet, it's great! Well, that'll be it for this time. Take care!
Kram!
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Sightseeing
Time has just flown by since Chloe arrived the Friday before last. It's great having her here and it works quite well using our living room as a bedroom with an air mattress at night. :) On the weekends and after work we've been keeping busy, seeing the sights of Atlanta.
Stone Mountain, just east of Atlanta.
Yes, of course we walked up instead of taking the the cable car up the mountain.
Botanical Garden of Atlanta, checking out the art scattered around the gardens.
Coke tasting at The World of Coca-Cola, for those who didn't know, Atlanta is the home of Coca-Cola.
White water rafting with my job Rödl & Partner, we had a firm outing last Friday. It was so much fun! Charles and I are in the front of the boat, Chloe is sitting behind Charles and there are three of my colleagues and two guides in the back.
Strolling around one of Savannah's 24 beautiful squares on Saturday afternoon.
Breakfast on the beach on Tybee Island on Sunday morning, before burning our skin in the hot hot sun.
Charles and Chloe are now spending four days in New York City, while Casey and I are at home... someone has to stay at home and earn the money. :) Actually, it's quite nice having a couple of calm days for myself. I'll be getting back to you soon again. Take care!
Kram!
Stone Mountain, just east of Atlanta.
Yes, of course we walked up instead of taking the the cable car up the mountain.
Botanical Garden of Atlanta, checking out the art scattered around the gardens.
Coke tasting at The World of Coca-Cola, for those who didn't know, Atlanta is the home of Coca-Cola.
White water rafting with my job Rödl & Partner, we had a firm outing last Friday. It was so much fun! Charles and I are in the front of the boat, Chloe is sitting behind Charles and there are three of my colleagues and two guides in the back.
Strolling around one of Savannah's 24 beautiful squares on Saturday afternoon.
Breakfast on the beach on Tybee Island on Sunday morning, before burning our skin in the hot hot sun.
Charles and Chloe are now spending four days in New York City, while Casey and I are at home... someone has to stay at home and earn the money. :) Actually, it's quite nice having a couple of calm days for myself. I'll be getting back to you soon again. Take care!
Kram!
Friday, August 17, 2007
Friday!
Hey everybody!
It's Friday and in only a couple hours it will be weekend! I thought I'd write a little something on my lunch break, I was eating my lunch at my desk anyway today. I'll be leaving work a little earlier today to pick Chloe up from the airport. Charles, who is off school for three weeks, had planned to pick her up, but this week he started interning at a sports agency here in Atlanta. He had an interview at the sports agency on Monday and started working on Tuesday... he's starting with one full week now and then working 2 days a week during the fall combined with his studies. What a great opportunity!
On Monday I went to my first SWEA (an international organization for Swedish women living abroad) get-together. It was great, but at the same time kind of strange. I met many swedes in different ages and everybody speaks Swedish and talks about normal Swedish things and had Swedish "fika". I have to say that it made me feel very warm and at home... I'm definitely going to continue going to the SWEA get-togethers.
Some more Swedish news from Atlanta: http://www.ajc.com/search/content/business/stories/2007/08/06/hm_0807.html
Yes, H&M is coming to Atlanta!!! I'm so excited and also a one of my German colleagues here at work... we've already decided to try to go to the grand opening in April. :)
Well, my lunch break is now over and I should try to finish some things before I leave. After picking up Chloe, we'll start the weekend with a nice easy going dinner at some place outside (if it's not too hot, even though we can always cool ourselves off with some beers) and plan our weekend of sightseeing. I'm so exicted to finally do some sightseeing in Atlanta! :)
Have a great weekend y'all!
Kram!
(Extra manga kramar till Malin!)
It's Friday and in only a couple hours it will be weekend! I thought I'd write a little something on my lunch break, I was eating my lunch at my desk anyway today. I'll be leaving work a little earlier today to pick Chloe up from the airport. Charles, who is off school for three weeks, had planned to pick her up, but this week he started interning at a sports agency here in Atlanta. He had an interview at the sports agency on Monday and started working on Tuesday... he's starting with one full week now and then working 2 days a week during the fall combined with his studies. What a great opportunity!
On Monday I went to my first SWEA (an international organization for Swedish women living abroad) get-together. It was great, but at the same time kind of strange. I met many swedes in different ages and everybody speaks Swedish and talks about normal Swedish things and had Swedish "fika". I have to say that it made me feel very warm and at home... I'm definitely going to continue going to the SWEA get-togethers.
Some more Swedish news from Atlanta: http://www.ajc.com/search/content/business/stories/2007/08/06/hm_0807.html
Yes, H&M is coming to Atlanta!!! I'm so excited and also a one of my German colleagues here at work... we've already decided to try to go to the grand opening in April. :)
Well, my lunch break is now over and I should try to finish some things before I leave. After picking up Chloe, we'll start the weekend with a nice easy going dinner at some place outside (if it's not too hot, even though we can always cool ourselves off with some beers) and plan our weekend of sightseeing. I'm so exicted to finally do some sightseeing in Atlanta! :)
Have a great weekend y'all!
Kram!
(Extra manga kramar till Malin!)
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Diet Mountain Dew
You've got to check out this commercial I posted! It might sound a bit pathetic, but this is currently my favorite commercial on TV right now. Hihi... I couldn't stop laughing the first time I saw it. I definitely have to give the Americans credit for their brilliance in making commercials that catch your attention. Even though in this particular Diet Mountain Dew commercial they broadcast on TV does not show the sawing off the leg part.
It's been a very calm weekend. Even though Charles is feeling a little better today, he has been sick with a bad cold and fever since his first day of vacation. I've done my best to make sure he has plenty enough supplies for feeling better and trying to keep myself at a distance to not get sick myself. Both Saturday and Sunday we've (more Charles, I haven't had much of a choice :) ) been watching the PGA Golf Tour... he's hoping to be able to convince me to start playing golf with him this fall... we will have to see about that. Next week we are receiving our first visitor! Chloe, Charles' friend from France, will be arriving on Friday and staying for 2½ weeks. We are really looking forward to having her here and also to finally go see Atlanta's attractions.
Well, to all of you who are starting their first day at work after vacation, I wish you good luck and to the rest have a happy Monday!
Kram!
It's been a very calm weekend. Even though Charles is feeling a little better today, he has been sick with a bad cold and fever since his first day of vacation. I've done my best to make sure he has plenty enough supplies for feeling better and trying to keep myself at a distance to not get sick myself. Both Saturday and Sunday we've (more Charles, I haven't had much of a choice :) ) been watching the PGA Golf Tour... he's hoping to be able to convince me to start playing golf with him this fall... we will have to see about that. Next week we are receiving our first visitor! Chloe, Charles' friend from France, will be arriving on Friday and staying for 2½ weeks. We are really looking forward to having her here and also to finally go see Atlanta's attractions.
Well, to all of you who are starting their first day at work after vacation, I wish you good luck and to the rest have a happy Monday!
Kram!
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Tuesday
It's Tuesday evening and I'm enjoying a relaxing evening at home. I just made myself a nice cup of black currant tea, one of my favorite tea flavors which I was happy to stumble across while shopping for ingredients to make my own müsli at the Farmers' Market on Sunday. The Farmers' Market is the place to go if you are looking for foreign foods and they have any type of fresh vegetables and fruit, meat and cheese you could ever dream of... I even found Swedish "hushållsost" (one of Swedens most common cheeses) there!
After quite a calm week at work, I'm am happy to have a lot of work this week. Corporate tax returns are all due to the IRS in a month, so the pressure has risen a bit. I left work around 18.15 after a satisfying day and was hit by a extreme heat while exiting the building. It has been hot and humid the whole time we've been in Atlanta, but the past couple of days have been extreme... touching 100 degrees (ca 37 C). Even though it was hot Charles and I took a long walk in the neighborhoods nearby when I got home. It doesn't take long to break a sweat here with the hilly and curvy roads... the fact that the humidity is over 90% kind of helps as well.
The past weekend was a nice and calm one; we rented movies on Friday after our after-work-drinks and spent two evenings in a row with home cooked food and good movies (even though "Dream Girls" was a little tooooo long). I layed in the sun at the pool for a couple hours on Saturday and spent the afternoon at IKEA (so unusual!) and Atlantic Station (outdoor mall). Charles studied most of the weekend, because he has his final exams on Thursday. After Thursday, he'll be able to enjoy 3 weeks of vacation!
Well it's getting late and I want to have some time to read my book "Anybody out there?"... which is a great book! Good night and sweet dreams!
Kram!
P.S. If you haven't visited Charles' blog yet, you should. He went skydiving last week and has posted some cool pictures!
After quite a calm week at work, I'm am happy to have a lot of work this week. Corporate tax returns are all due to the IRS in a month, so the pressure has risen a bit. I left work around 18.15 after a satisfying day and was hit by a extreme heat while exiting the building. It has been hot and humid the whole time we've been in Atlanta, but the past couple of days have been extreme... touching 100 degrees (ca 37 C). Even though it was hot Charles and I took a long walk in the neighborhoods nearby when I got home. It doesn't take long to break a sweat here with the hilly and curvy roads... the fact that the humidity is over 90% kind of helps as well.
The past weekend was a nice and calm one; we rented movies on Friday after our after-work-drinks and spent two evenings in a row with home cooked food and good movies (even though "Dream Girls" was a little tooooo long). I layed in the sun at the pool for a couple hours on Saturday and spent the afternoon at IKEA (so unusual!) and Atlantic Station (outdoor mall). Charles studied most of the weekend, because he has his final exams on Thursday. After Thursday, he'll be able to enjoy 3 weeks of vacation!
Well it's getting late and I want to have some time to read my book "Anybody out there?"... which is a great book! Good night and sweet dreams!
Kram!
P.S. If you haven't visited Charles' blog yet, you should. He went skydiving last week and has posted some cool pictures!
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Sunday
Once again, it is Sunday afternoon. It's been a nice and relaxing weekend... enjoyed the "art" of American beer-drinking (I hardly know what wine tastes like anymore), late dinner at the Osteria in the Highlands (ordering my favorite Italian dish melanzane alla parmigiana), an afternoon at the book store (finally I had finished the book I bought at the airport in Göteborg when moving here in May, it took me forever!), dinner with friends at a Thai place just nearby, made my personal best in bowling, listened to Charles while he rehearsed his elevator pitch and resume for an interview he'll be having this week, breathed the hot and extremely humid (but at least it's air) air while taking a nice long walk in Emory Village (it was also the first time in my life that I actually took the car to get to a place to take a nice walk), read a couple of the free magazines that you can get all around Atlanta (Charles has a problem with my habit of getting out of the way to get these magazines, but at least I know what's going on in Atlanta and some articles are actually very interesting), started reading the book I bought yesterday - "Anybody Out There?", Marian Keyes, took a little extra care of Casey (who we found out on Thursday has an ulcer on her eye and is currently being treated with antibiotics). Finally it has started to thunder... the air has been so heavy and humid all day.
Yesterday I had my first little throw of home sickness. I think I have actually managed quite well these past three months, but I think my decision of not going home to Sweden for Christmas, kind of triggered it. Even though I believe that I'm doing the right thing to stay here over the holidays... just the thought of not seeing my family and friends, makes me sad. The most difficult is not being able to see my beautiful little niece Ayda, who is growing and developing every day (she's turning 1 in a month). After her spending the past month with her dad in Turkey, I finally got to see her again via web camera on my dad's birthday last week. What a sweety! Good news is that there is no doubt that I will be going home for my brother's wedding in July next year and hopefully Charles and I will have some visitors before then. :) We are actually waiting for our first visitor, Chloe, one of Charles best friends, to arrive in only three weeks!
Well, I think I'll continue my Sunday afternoon reading on the couch, while listening to the thunder, with Casey laying on my chest. I hope you all had a great weekend! Take care!
Kram!
Yesterday I had my first little throw of home sickness. I think I have actually managed quite well these past three months, but I think my decision of not going home to Sweden for Christmas, kind of triggered it. Even though I believe that I'm doing the right thing to stay here over the holidays... just the thought of not seeing my family and friends, makes me sad. The most difficult is not being able to see my beautiful little niece Ayda, who is growing and developing every day (she's turning 1 in a month). After her spending the past month with her dad in Turkey, I finally got to see her again via web camera on my dad's birthday last week. What a sweety! Good news is that there is no doubt that I will be going home for my brother's wedding in July next year and hopefully Charles and I will have some visitors before then. :) We are actually waiting for our first visitor, Chloe, one of Charles best friends, to arrive in only three weeks!
Well, I think I'll continue my Sunday afternoon reading on the couch, while listening to the thunder, with Casey laying on my chest. I hope you all had a great weekend! Take care!
Kram!
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Casey in action
While getting ready for bed, Charles managed to catch Casey in action drinking from the tub...
Bathtub water drinking cat
It is Sunday evening again and I am really looking forward to Monday morning! Don't you just love it when the alarm clock buzzes and... just kidding... even though I really enjoy my job and I am morning person, I definitely do not look forward to Monday mornings. Luckily Mondays usually pass by quickly and we can all look forward to that it'll be Friday in four days again. :)
I don't know about you guys, but I had a pretty darn good weekend. Cocktails among dinosaurs, underground hip hop club, couple of hours on the phone with my best friend Anna (hearing about her adventures in Barcelona), workout, shopping at Atlantic Station and Lenox Square, Indian cuisine with friends, enjoying sleeping long (even though Casey was acting up this morning), tidying up the apartment, filing my feet, relaxing, enjoyed the classic "Trading Spaces" with Eddy Murphy... just to sum it up.
I just had to show
you this picture of Casey that I took earlier today. She has the habit of drinking water from the faucet that drips in the bathtub (she will not drink out of her own water bowl) and today she just kind hung out on the side of the bathtub. When she comes to us with a wet head, we know that she's been drinking water. During the past couple of weeks I have caught her drinking water from the toilette! Pretty disgusting... but to get that problem out of the way I'll have to train Charles to put down the lid after using the toilette... that will be a challenge! ;)
I hope you all manage to make it through Monday tomorrow! For some of you I know that it will be extra difficult, my dad going back to work after three weeks of vacation and for some it will be a pleasure, Ingegerd who will just be starting her four week vacation.
Oh and one last thing... Happy Birthday to my best Swiss friend Sophie and to my professional soccer playing cousin Emma!
I don't know about you guys, but I had a pretty darn good weekend. Cocktails among dinosaurs, underground hip hop club, couple of hours on the phone with my best friend Anna (hearing about her adventures in Barcelona), workout, shopping at Atlantic Station and Lenox Square, Indian cuisine with friends, enjoying sleeping long (even though Casey was acting up this morning), tidying up the apartment, filing my feet, relaxing, enjoyed the classic "Trading Spaces" with Eddy Murphy... just to sum it up.
I just had to show
you this picture of Casey that I took earlier today. She has the habit of drinking water from the faucet that drips in the bathtub (she will not drink out of her own water bowl) and today she just kind hung out on the side of the bathtub. When she comes to us with a wet head, we know that she's been drinking water. During the past couple of weeks I have caught her drinking water from the toilette! Pretty disgusting... but to get that problem out of the way I'll have to train Charles to put down the lid after using the toilette... that will be a challenge! ;)I hope you all manage to make it through Monday tomorrow! For some of you I know that it will be extra difficult, my dad going back to work after three weeks of vacation and for some it will be a pleasure, Ingegerd who will just be starting her four week vacation.
Oh and one last thing... Happy Birthday to my best Swiss friend Sophie and to my professional soccer playing cousin Emma!
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Sunday
Hello,
It's Sunday afternoon and I just finished having a small snack (crackers with peanut butter) after chatting with my parents through msn. It has definitely been a very easy going Sunday so far, even though we actually had plans for the day. We were supposed to go with some of Charles' classmates to Lake Arrowhead, a lake one hour south of Atlanta, to go swimming and sunbathing for the day... but I realized very early this morning that it wasn't going to happen. I woke up shortly after 6 this morning, primarily because Casey was trying to get our attention, but also because I heard the hard rain hitting our window. So yes, it was raining and when it rains here (which isn't very often) it certainly rains a lot. Even though the rain ruined our Sunday plans, plans that I had really been looking forward to, I was also kind of excited about the fact that it was raining. You probably think I'm a bit strange, but I even got up out of bed around 7:15 this morning, because I was excited to go and sit on the balcony to listen, feel and breath the rain. I believe that this excitement lies in my childhood memories of the heavy rain fall in Wichita.
This past Wednesday we celebrated 4th of July at Centennial Park in downtown Atlanta. The park was totally packed with people when we got there. There were musicians performing, people barbecuing, families picnicking, people standing in line to buy drinks and food and tons of kids standing in the spraying fountain waiting to get totally wet (as you can see on the picture). We found a little spot to spread out our blanket, where we had a little picn
ic ourselves, but we took the fast way and had picked up burgers at McDonald's. :) It was a long wait from after we had finished eating, until it was time for the fireworks... but when they started it was all worth the wait. Of course I didn't expect anything less than a spectacular show and it definitely was. Less fun, was the walk back to the car, walking in a crowd of thousands of people and then trying to get out to the highway, but we managed. You can check out Charles' blog to see a couple of firework pictures.
Even though I did go to IKEA quickly this morning, to buy a second wooden chair to hang clothes on (so now Charles and I have one each and I don't have to complain each time he messes up my folded clothes on the chair :) ), it feels like I have been at home all day. But luckily, we will be leaving to have a cookout at one of Charles' classmate's house soon. Because of the cancelation of the "lake day", everybody is going over to the eat food that was planned for lunch... which sounds good to me. We won't be staying too long, so that Charles can study for his finals that he has next week.
Have a great evening! Talk to you soon again!
Kram! Bisous!
It's Sunday afternoon and I just finished having a small snack (crackers with peanut butter) after chatting with my parents through msn. It has definitely been a very easy going Sunday so far, even though we actually had plans for the day. We were supposed to go with some of Charles' classmates to Lake Arrowhead, a lake one hour south of Atlanta, to go swimming and sunbathing for the day... but I realized very early this morning that it wasn't going to happen. I woke up shortly after 6 this morning, primarily because Casey was trying to get our attention, but also because I heard the hard rain hitting our window. So yes, it was raining and when it rains here (which isn't very often) it certainly rains a lot. Even though the rain ruined our Sunday plans, plans that I had really been looking forward to, I was also kind of excited about the fact that it was raining. You probably think I'm a bit strange, but I even got up out of bed around 7:15 this morning, because I was excited to go and sit on the balcony to listen, feel and breath the rain. I believe that this excitement lies in my childhood memories of the heavy rain fall in Wichita.
This past Wednesday we celebrated 4th of July at Centennial Park in downtown Atlanta. The park was totally packed with people when we got there. There were musicians performing, people barbecuing, families picnicking, people standing in line to buy drinks and food and tons of kids standing in the spraying fountain waiting to get totally wet (as you can see on the picture). We found a little spot to spread out our blanket, where we had a little picn
ic ourselves, but we took the fast way and had picked up burgers at McDonald's. :) It was a long wait from after we had finished eating, until it was time for the fireworks... but when they started it was all worth the wait. Of course I didn't expect anything less than a spectacular show and it definitely was. Less fun, was the walk back to the car, walking in a crowd of thousands of people and then trying to get out to the highway, but we managed. You can check out Charles' blog to see a couple of firework pictures.Even though I did go to IKEA quickly this morning, to buy a second wooden chair to hang clothes on (so now Charles and I have one each and I don't have to complain each time he messes up my folded clothes on the chair :) ), it feels like I have been at home all day. But luckily, we will be leaving to have a cookout at one of Charles' classmate's house soon. Because of the cancelation of the "lake day", everybody is going over to the eat food that was planned for lunch... which sounds good to me. We won't be staying too long, so that Charles can study for his finals that he has next week.
Have a great evening! Talk to you soon again!
Kram! Bisous!
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
4th of July!
Today is the 4th of July, independence day! The best thing about it is that I'm off work today! :) Some of us collegues at work celebrated the fact that we would be off today by going to the usual after work bar yesterday. I spent a calm evening at home, while Charles was playing softball with some friends from class. We went to bed quite early and had a wonderful 9 ½ hours of sleep, without Casey disturbing us too much in the early morning. (We have learned that Casey, our cat, gets quite bored early in the morning and trys to wake us up by "talking" to us, scratching the wall and biting on the night stand lamp cord. Usually, she calms down after giving her some food... but it doesn't always work. So now we have also gotten her a cat tree and some toys to keep her activated. So far, it seems to work... hopefully it'll last.) Anyway back to waking up this morning... Charles and I decided to start the day with taking a nice walk. As it was 8.30, the temperature at that time is relatively cool, probably in the mid 70's (mid 20's celsius). After work it is usually too hot and humid to actually enjoy a walk... it does get nicer once the sun starts to set, but then you'll be attacted by mosquitoes.
So after getting out of bed, feeling so happy and joyful that I had a good night's sleep, thinking that I'm off today and we were going to take a nice walk before I go to the gym to workout (which I haven't done in a week), I start to gather some of the clothes that I had laying on the floor. I pick the clothes up and (oh my god I can hardly thing about it) I feel how an enormous something with more than 4 legs crawls down my bare legs (aaaahhhhh!).... and oh yes did I scream and jump and fly back on to the bed were Charles was only half awake! And I see a huge and I mean huge cockroach crawling away on the floor and they move fast, probably knowing that his life was in danger. Luckily Charles was able to crush it with a shoe before it had time to hide.
Now this is ultimately the worse thing about living in a hot climate... all the horrible bugs and critters! Now you all probably think that I am exaggerating and are thinking "big deal, it's just a bug"... but actually even though this is the first time I actually had one on me (eeehh that gives me cold shivers just thinking about it), this is the forth time I've been suprised by cockroaches in my home! After the second one, which crawled under the door to the bathroom, while I was sitting on the toalett... I put out little traps, but it really doesn't seem to work... I guess I just have to learn to live with it.
Puh, enough about roaches (if you want to learn more about them you can go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_cockroach to read more about them ;) ). Anyway, after this traumatic experience... I managed to calm down and we took a nice walk and then I made it in time to a morning aerobic class. I'm still wondering about how I'll spend the rest of the day, pool or shopping I guess, Charles will be studying all day. This evening we are going downtown to celebrate the 4th of July with thousands of other Atlantans and Georgians in the 95 degree heat. We'll try to blend in like real americans and enjoy the entertainment, activities and a hotdog or two before the highlight of the festivities beginn - the fireworks! I remember celebrating the 4th of July in a similar way as a child, so I'm quite exicted about experiencing this once again.
To all you americans - Happy 4th of July! - and to everyone, take care!
So after getting out of bed, feeling so happy and joyful that I had a good night's sleep, thinking that I'm off today and we were going to take a nice walk before I go to the gym to workout (which I haven't done in a week), I start to gather some of the clothes that I had laying on the floor. I pick the clothes up and (oh my god I can hardly thing about it) I feel how an enormous something with more than 4 legs crawls down my bare legs (aaaahhhhh!).... and oh yes did I scream and jump and fly back on to the bed were Charles was only half awake! And I see a huge and I mean huge cockroach crawling away on the floor and they move fast, probably knowing that his life was in danger. Luckily Charles was able to crush it with a shoe before it had time to hide.
Now this is ultimately the worse thing about living in a hot climate... all the horrible bugs and critters! Now you all probably think that I am exaggerating and are thinking "big deal, it's just a bug"... but actually even though this is the first time I actually had one on me (eeehh that gives me cold shivers just thinking about it), this is the forth time I've been suprised by cockroaches in my home! After the second one, which crawled under the door to the bathroom, while I was sitting on the toalett... I put out little traps, but it really doesn't seem to work... I guess I just have to learn to live with it.
Puh, enough about roaches (if you want to learn more about them you can go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_cockroach to read more about them ;) ). Anyway, after this traumatic experience... I managed to calm down and we took a nice walk and then I made it in time to a morning aerobic class. I'm still wondering about how I'll spend the rest of the day, pool or shopping I guess, Charles will be studying all day. This evening we are going downtown to celebrate the 4th of July with thousands of other Atlantans and Georgians in the 95 degree heat. We'll try to blend in like real americans and enjoy the entertainment, activities and a hotdog or two before the highlight of the festivities beginn - the fireworks! I remember celebrating the 4th of July in a similar way as a child, so I'm quite exicted about experiencing this once again.
To all you americans - Happy 4th of July! - and to everyone, take care!
Monday, June 25, 2007
Happy (late) Midsommar!
Hey y'all!
Glad midsommar to you all that celebrated midsommar this past weekend! I heard that the weather was typical Swedish (rainy), but I hope the celebrations were good anyway! To be honest, I had actually totally forgotten about that it was Midsommar until the same day.... Charles and I "celebrated" by going to a Stephen King based horror movie "1408". :)
More than three weeks have passed since I last updated my blog. I can't believe how time flies! On Friday I will have worked for a whole month and this weekend Charles and I will have officially been living in Atlanta for two months!
Let me tell you a little bit more about my job. The last time I wrote, I had only worked for a day. I can now, after 3 weeks, confirm that I am really enjoying my new job working in an audit firm. What I like most about it is the exposure to different companies and different types of companies, companies that are going well and some that go less well. Fortunately I have a lot of use of my prior accounting experience (from the "other side" as they say). It's the calm season at the firm, so I have time to learn and really get to know the different aspects of the job. During the low season everyone works with Tax Returns, tax returns mainly for Foreig
n Corporations, US Corporations, Parterships and Individuals (mainly for non US residents). I can proudly announce that I completed my first foreign corporation tax return on my own today! Of course, it will be reviewed by one of the CPA's of my team and I definitely will have many corrections to make... but still! :) So that's basically what I'm doing... analyzing the financial statements of a companies and preparing the tax specific statements before doing the actual tax return, sounds great, huh? Hihi... I love it and then fact that I get to speak German everyday makes me love it even more!
Well, y'all it's getting late and do I need my eight hours of sleep. I'll get back to you soon! Take care!
Kram!
Glad midsommar to you all that celebrated midsommar this past weekend! I heard that the weather was typical Swedish (rainy), but I hope the celebrations were good anyway! To be honest, I had actually totally forgotten about that it was Midsommar until the same day.... Charles and I "celebrated" by going to a Stephen King based horror movie "1408". :)
More than three weeks have passed since I last updated my blog. I can't believe how time flies! On Friday I will have worked for a whole month and this weekend Charles and I will have officially been living in Atlanta for two months!
Let me tell you a little bit more about my job. The last time I wrote, I had only worked for a day. I can now, after 3 weeks, confirm that I am really enjoying my new job working in an audit firm. What I like most about it is the exposure to different companies and different types of companies, companies that are going well and some that go less well. Fortunately I have a lot of use of my prior accounting experience (from the "other side" as they say). It's the calm season at the firm, so I have time to learn and really get to know the different aspects of the job. During the low season everyone works with Tax Returns, tax returns mainly for Foreig
n Corporations, US Corporations, Parterships and Individuals (mainly for non US residents). I can proudly announce that I completed my first foreign corporation tax return on my own today! Of course, it will be reviewed by one of the CPA's of my team and I definitely will have many corrections to make... but still! :) So that's basically what I'm doing... analyzing the financial statements of a companies and preparing the tax specific statements before doing the actual tax return, sounds great, huh? Hihi... I love it and then fact that I get to speak German everyday makes me love it even more!Well, y'all it's getting late and do I need my eight hours of sleep. I'll get back to you soon! Take care!
Kram!
Monday, June 4, 2007
One month in Atlanta
Hey!
I have officially been living in Atlanta for a month now. And I can happily say that both Charles and I are starting to feel at home now.
Last week I spent my last week in "freedom" before starting my new job at Rödl & Partner. Honestly, I didn't do much, except for shopping, laying at the pool and being cozy with Casey (our cat). So, Friday was my first day at work. Suprisingly I wasn't as nervous as I thought I was going to be. I was mainly nervous about not getting there on time... which ended up at me being there ½ hour early. :) My first day wasn't very exicting though, I mainly met with all my collegues, had orientation about the company and about the benefits and was invited to a nice lunch with another woman (she's about my age) who also started on Friday and some collegues. So after Friday, I wouldn't have been able to tell you much about the job its self. But what I can tell you is that I really believe that I have found a wonderful company to work for. The firm has about 40 professionals, about half of the people are around my age (around 30 and under) and about half of the people are German (there's also one Romanian and one Italian), I believe that we are also half women and half men. The atmosphere is very easy going and family like, everybody makes sure that you feel welcome and part of the team. So even though I didn't have much of a feeling about the actual job after work on Friday, I definitely felt that this is a company where I will fit in well. After work, Charles and I "celebrated" my first day and his second week with ordering pizza, drinking Buds and falling asleep at 10.00 pm. :)
The weekend was pretty easy going. On Saturday, I took the opportunity to shop for furniture for the balcony and went to explore a huge french antique store, while Charles was at the university working with his study group. In the evening we experienced our first night out in Atlanta. We met up with some of Charles classmates at a great latin club called Loca Luna in downtown. Wow, talk about a place with great music, lots of latinos and just a wonderful atmosphere... everybody happy, dancing and drinking in the pre-summer heat. On Sunday, while Charles was busy studying (poor him, he really studies constantly), I kept myself busy being the woman and the man of the house and enjoyed the afternoon laying in the sun at pool.
Today was my second day at work and I left from home 15 minutes later than last time and managed to be there just on time. Until we have a better solution, I am driving Charles to the university in the morning and continuing to work and picking him up afterwards, unless he gets a ride. It takes me about 40 minutes to get to work, even though the distance is only 13 kilometers (8 miles). Audit season (a.k.a. "busy season") at the firm is primarily January to the middle of April, so from the middle of April until preparations start at the end of the year, everyone basically works with tax returns; individual, corporate and partnerships. So that's what I'll be learning and doing for the next 6 month period. Today I had tutoring for the tax system that we use, which I was very happy for because now I can actually start doing something. (Anybody who knows me and my working habits, knows that I hate having to little to do.) I've basically gone through the tax return process with a tutorer today and also studied a finished tax return on my own, to get to know the system and how things work. I tell you one thing... I have a lot to learn! If any country would be awarded for having the most complicated tax system in the world, I do honestly believe that USA would win first prize. But, who knows... if you ask me again in two months I might just say that it's a piece of cake. :) So overall I feel quite satisfied about my second day at work and I'm actually looking forward to going back tomorrow again!
I'm sorry that I don't have any pictures to post this time... but I'll try to take some snap shots during the week. Lots of hugs and kisses to you all!
I have officially been living in Atlanta for a month now. And I can happily say that both Charles and I are starting to feel at home now.
Last week I spent my last week in "freedom" before starting my new job at Rödl & Partner. Honestly, I didn't do much, except for shopping, laying at the pool and being cozy with Casey (our cat). So, Friday was my first day at work. Suprisingly I wasn't as nervous as I thought I was going to be. I was mainly nervous about not getting there on time... which ended up at me being there ½ hour early. :) My first day wasn't very exicting though, I mainly met with all my collegues, had orientation about the company and about the benefits and was invited to a nice lunch with another woman (she's about my age) who also started on Friday and some collegues. So after Friday, I wouldn't have been able to tell you much about the job its self. But what I can tell you is that I really believe that I have found a wonderful company to work for. The firm has about 40 professionals, about half of the people are around my age (around 30 and under) and about half of the people are German (there's also one Romanian and one Italian), I believe that we are also half women and half men. The atmosphere is very easy going and family like, everybody makes sure that you feel welcome and part of the team. So even though I didn't have much of a feeling about the actual job after work on Friday, I definitely felt that this is a company where I will fit in well. After work, Charles and I "celebrated" my first day and his second week with ordering pizza, drinking Buds and falling asleep at 10.00 pm. :)
The weekend was pretty easy going. On Saturday, I took the opportunity to shop for furniture for the balcony and went to explore a huge french antique store, while Charles was at the university working with his study group. In the evening we experienced our first night out in Atlanta. We met up with some of Charles classmates at a great latin club called Loca Luna in downtown. Wow, talk about a place with great music, lots of latinos and just a wonderful atmosphere... everybody happy, dancing and drinking in the pre-summer heat. On Sunday, while Charles was busy studying (poor him, he really studies constantly), I kept myself busy being the woman and the man of the house and enjoyed the afternoon laying in the sun at pool.
Today was my second day at work and I left from home 15 minutes later than last time and managed to be there just on time. Until we have a better solution, I am driving Charles to the university in the morning and continuing to work and picking him up afterwards, unless he gets a ride. It takes me about 40 minutes to get to work, even though the distance is only 13 kilometers (8 miles). Audit season (a.k.a. "busy season") at the firm is primarily January to the middle of April, so from the middle of April until preparations start at the end of the year, everyone basically works with tax returns; individual, corporate and partnerships. So that's what I'll be learning and doing for the next 6 month period. Today I had tutoring for the tax system that we use, which I was very happy for because now I can actually start doing something. (Anybody who knows me and my working habits, knows that I hate having to little to do.) I've basically gone through the tax return process with a tutorer today and also studied a finished tax return on my own, to get to know the system and how things work. I tell you one thing... I have a lot to learn! If any country would be awarded for having the most complicated tax system in the world, I do honestly believe that USA would win first prize. But, who knows... if you ask me again in two months I might just say that it's a piece of cake. :) So overall I feel quite satisfied about my second day at work and I'm actually looking forward to going back tomorrow again!
I'm sorry that I don't have any pictures to post this time... but I'll try to take some snap shots during the week. Lots of hugs and kisses to you all!
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Getting a job and getting a cat
Hello there!
It's me again! I know that it took a while for me to enter my second entry... but my past week wasn't as easy going as I thought it was going to be, as I thought last weekend. So instead of telling you about all the wonderful sightseeing I thought I would've done, I'll go ahead and tell you about my past week. :)
The first half of the week I spent preparing job interviews, going to job interviews and writing thank you letter for previous interviews. I went through 6 interviews this week, that makes a total of 10 interviews in a week. In the beginning I was quite nervous, because I really haven't interviewed since I first started working for Luna in 2001. But thanks to some preperation help from a recruiter I was able to catch the employers' attention. By Wednesday this week I recieved 2 great offers and on Thursday I accepted the Staff Accountant position at the international proffessional services firm Rödl & Partner (mainly a CPA firm = revisionsbyrå). What made this opportunity so interesting for me is the fact that the firms origins are German and therefore many of the clients and my collegues will be German. For me it's simply a dream job to have the possiblity to combine both accounting and German. Anyway I'll be starting my new job in downtown Atlanta on June 1st, that's this coming Friday. For the first 2 weeks I will go through a planned introduction and I have a mentor assigned to me. I must say that I very excited about starting this new job, in a new company and with lots of new international people!
So except for driving Charles to school and picking him up every day (we still haven't organized how he will be taking himself to school, because I will be the master of the car :) ) my time has been focused on the job situation. On Friday I actually treated myself to some shopping at Lenox Square. I didn't buy very much, I think I was a little overwhelmed by all the great shops and all the sales. To anyone who is looking for some great shopping - you'd better get over h
ere! Friday evening I joined Charles with some of his classmates at a nice bar, where I enjoyed some great iced tea (I was driving) out on the terasse in the 80 degree warm air. That is something that I just love here... and that's the heat. During the days it's about 85 degrees (30 C) with clear skyes and a beaming sun and in the evenings it stays around 75 degrees (25 C). I know that summer has hardly started here and it's going to get very very hot, but luckily we do have an air conditioner. :) That's me with our Ford Focus.
After Friday, Charles and I decided to go to a couple of animal shelters to look for a cat who needed a new home. We both really wanted a cat, we would actually love to have a dog as well but that will definitely have to wait.
There are so many animal shelters in Atlanta, you can't even imagine. We finally visited 3 shelters and went home with a pretty good idea of which one we wanted to take home. We agreed that we would adopt Casey the next day, a shy little 1 year old grey-brown tabby, who was hiding at the top of a shelf at the Atlanta Pet Rescue Center. So after speaking to one of the volunteers this morning we agreed to come and pick Casey up. Casey (who by the way has had several different names since we got her, but I think we've finally decided for Casey) seems to just love it here with us. The only thing that gets me a little stressed out is the fact that cats usually live until they're about 15 years old.... and if Casey is about a year old that means that she will theoretically live until I'm 43 years old!!!! It's that crazy?!? I know I'm a little paranoid... :) Well, the main thing is that Casey will be a great pet companion and so far it's promissing. Here a couple of pictures from our drive to the animal shelters and back at home with Casey.
Well I hope you all had a great weekend and had the opportunity to enjoy some spring weather. I sure need to get out in the sun a little more this week! Talk to you soon and take care!
It's me again! I know that it took a while for me to enter my second entry... but my past week wasn't as easy going as I thought it was going to be, as I thought last weekend. So instead of telling you about all the wonderful sightseeing I thought I would've done, I'll go ahead and tell you about my past week. :)
The first half of the week I spent preparing job interviews, going to job interviews and writing thank you letter for previous interviews. I went through 6 interviews this week, that makes a total of 10 interviews in a week. In the beginning I was quite nervous, because I really haven't interviewed since I first started working for Luna in 2001. But thanks to some preperation help from a recruiter I was able to catch the employers' attention. By Wednesday this week I recieved 2 great offers and on Thursday I accepted the Staff Accountant position at the international proffessional services firm Rödl & Partner (mainly a CPA firm = revisionsbyrå). What made this opportunity so interesting for me is the fact that the firms origins are German and therefore many of the clients and my collegues will be German. For me it's simply a dream job to have the possiblity to combine both accounting and German. Anyway I'll be starting my new job in downtown Atlanta on June 1st, that's this coming Friday. For the first 2 weeks I will go through a planned introduction and I have a mentor assigned to me. I must say that I very excited about starting this new job, in a new company and with lots of new international people!
So except for driving Charles to school and picking him up every day (we still haven't organized how he will be taking himself to school, because I will be the master of the car :) ) my time has been focused on the job situation. On Friday I actually treated myself to some shopping at Lenox Square. I didn't buy very much, I think I was a little overwhelmed by all the great shops and all the sales. To anyone who is looking for some great shopping - you'd better get over h
ere! Friday evening I joined Charles with some of his classmates at a nice bar, where I enjoyed some great iced tea (I was driving) out on the terasse in the 80 degree warm air. That is something that I just love here... and that's the heat. During the days it's about 85 degrees (30 C) with clear skyes and a beaming sun and in the evenings it stays around 75 degrees (25 C). I know that summer has hardly started here and it's going to get very very hot, but luckily we do have an air conditioner. :) That's me with our Ford Focus.After Friday, Charles and I decided to go to a couple of animal shelters to look for a cat who needed a new home. We both really wanted a cat, we would actually love to have a dog as well but that will definitely have to wait.
There are so many animal shelters in Atlanta, you can't even imagine. We finally visited 3 shelters and went home with a pretty good idea of which one we wanted to take home. We agreed that we would adopt Casey the next day, a shy little 1 year old grey-brown tabby, who was hiding at the top of a shelf at the Atlanta Pet Rescue Center. So after speaking to one of the volunteers this morning we agreed to come and pick Casey up. Casey (who by the way has had several different names since we got her, but I think we've finally decided for Casey) seems to just love it here with us. The only thing that gets me a little stressed out is the fact that cats usually live until they're about 15 years old.... and if Casey is about a year old that means that she will theoretically live until I'm 43 years old!!!! It's that crazy?!? I know I'm a little paranoid... :) Well, the main thing is that Casey will be a great pet companion and so far it's promissing. Here a couple of pictures from our drive to the animal shelters and back at home with Casey.
Well I hope you all had a great weekend and had the opportunity to enjoy some spring weather. I sure need to get out in the sun a little more this week! Talk to you soon and take care!
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Atlanta here I come!
Hello everyone!
Finally, I have gotten around to creating my new blogg. As most of you already know, Charles and I moved to Atlanta, Georgia on May 2nd. Two and a half weeks have past since then, but oooh what crazy weeks they have been. This is acutally the first day that we have been able to relax a bit and actually catch up with our jetlag (we slept 11 hours last night). :)
(For those of you who don't know why we moved to Atlanta... Charles was accepted to an MBA program at Emory University in Atlanta in the middle of March. Once he had been accepted we started discussing what we should do, go to Atlanta together to start a whole new life or stay in Sweden and hope that Charles would learn Swedish and find a job there. As you already know, we decided for the first alternative... even though it was a very tough decision to leave my wonderful family and friends and a great job.)
So I'm sure you all are wondering why I haven't written you or called you yet... surely she has had the time... it has gone more than 2 weeks!!! Well, after finding an apartment, getting bank accounts, getting customer accounts with the gas company and the power company, extending the hotel because our apartment was not ready, searching for the best cell phone deal, buying cell phones, moving into the apartment with only our 4 suitcases, shopping for the most necessary things for the apartment (air matress, plates and glasses), running back and forth with our rental car to the nearst Panera Bread Co. to have internet access, ordering a set up for telephone, internet and cable TV, looking for furniture (went to IKEA, of course), Charles is starting his introduction at Emory, buying some used furniture from a girl who just finished the same program as Charles (but we have to wait a week to pick up the furniture), I recieve phone calls from recruiters wondering if I'm still looking for a job and setting up meetings, going to welcome dinner with the international students in Charles class, looking for a used car to buy, finally internet has been hooked up, buy a TV, found a used car we like but the money wire hasn't arrived yet, looking for more used cars (still no money), renting Uhaul to pick up furniture, exploring Target almost everyday, finally recieved money wire, went directly to Carmax and bought a Ford Focus barely before closing hour, I started going to interviews with recruiters and directly with companies... about then is when Charles and I fell asleep (still on our air matress) at 10:00 p.m. last night and woke up 11 hours later, happy that we finally could relax a little. So even though I know that there are no excuses for not emailing or calling you all, but I have been quite busy. :)
So, anyway to give you a little more details, we now live a The Park at Briarcliff (not far from Emory University on the east side of Atlanta). It is a closed community, meaning that we need a card to get through the gate, and has a very nice peaceful atmosphere, lots of trees and space between the buildings.
There's a nice pool with a beach volleyball court, tennis courts, a small gym and a nice little lake.
I think I'll wrap things up for this time. Next time, I'll try to give you an idea about how life is in Atlanta, now that we feel pretty settled down.
Kram, Gloria
Finally, I have gotten around to creating my new blogg. As most of you already know, Charles and I moved to Atlanta, Georgia on May 2nd. Two and a half weeks have past since then, but oooh what crazy weeks they have been. This is acutally the first day that we have been able to relax a bit and actually catch up with our jetlag (we slept 11 hours last night). :)
(For those of you who don't know why we moved to Atlanta... Charles was accepted to an MBA program at Emory University in Atlanta in the middle of March. Once he had been accepted we started discussing what we should do, go to Atlanta together to start a whole new life or stay in Sweden and hope that Charles would learn Swedish and find a job there. As you already know, we decided for the first alternative... even though it was a very tough decision to leave my wonderful family and friends and a great job.)So I'm sure you all are wondering why I haven't written you or called you yet... surely she has had the time... it has gone more than 2 weeks!!! Well, after finding an apartment, getting bank accounts, getting customer accounts with the gas company and the power company, extending the hotel because our apartment was not ready, searching for the best cell phone deal, buying cell phones, moving into the apartment with only our 4 suitcases, shopping for the most necessary things for the apartment (air matress, plates and glasses), running back and forth with our rental car to the nearst Panera Bread Co. to have internet access, ordering a set up for telephone, internet and cable TV, looking for furniture (went to IKEA, of course), Charles is starting his introduction at Emory, buying some used furniture from a girl who just finished the same program as Charles (but we have to wait a week to pick up the furniture), I recieve phone calls from recruiters wondering if I'm still looking for a job and setting up meetings, going to welcome dinner with the international students in Charles class, looking for a used car to buy, finally internet has been hooked up, buy a TV, found a used car we like but the money wire hasn't arrived yet, looking for more used cars (still no money), renting Uhaul to pick up furniture, exploring Target almost everyday, finally recieved money wire, went directly to Carmax and bought a Ford Focus barely before closing hour, I started going to interviews with recruiters and directly with companies... about then is when Charles and I fell asleep (still on our air matress) at 10:00 p.m. last night and woke up 11 hours later, happy that we finally could relax a little. So even though I know that there are no excuses for not emailing or calling you all, but I have been quite busy. :)
So, anyway to give you a little more details, we now live a The Park at Briarcliff (not far from Emory University on the east side of Atlanta). It is a closed community, meaning that we need a card to get through the gate, and has a very nice peaceful atmosphere, lots of trees and space between the buildings.
There's a nice pool with a beach volleyball court, tennis courts, a small gym and a nice little lake.
I think I'll wrap things up for this time. Next time, I'll try to give you an idea about how life is in Atlanta, now that we feel pretty settled down.
Kram, Gloria
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