Love is in the air....nope that would just be all the trash the winds been blowing around!

I made these heart-shaped berry scones the Tuesday before Valentines, in honor of well Valentines .

That night I also made Chicken Pot Pie for dinner. Which is my 2nd night of making dinner :)  Of course I used an "American" recipe which said it made enough for 4 individual pot pies. Well I didn't have 4 individual little pans so I used a big pan instead. And lordy was there pot pie, I kid you not there was enough pie for at least 8 hungry people. When the recipe says it will make enough for 4 people, I will assume next time that the people it serves are only "American" because it was way to much for 4 "Swedes".

Uhhhm, something new. Mikeala has started a new dance class every Sunday. So, what does this have to do with me, well when she gets home from the class she just so happens to teach me what she has learned. It's like having a personal instructor! So at the moment I'm in the process of learning a dance, perhaps when she learns the whole dance we shall put up a video or something.

Also, last Friday Mikeala wanted to bake something so we decided on mini cupcakes. Which I have come to realize are not very commonly baked here in Sweden. I mean cupcakes in general, which I believe are an "American-Classic/Favorite" at least for me they are. They were vanila cupcakes, whipped cream "frosting" with a tint of lime and raspberries. Quite yummy.

As the whole world pretty much knows, yesterday was Valentines Day. That one special day to really spread the love either with a special someone or just loved ones like family and friends. I've never really felt like Valentines Day was worth celebrating, personally it's just any other day except more chocolate and more flowers, etc. But, this year I sort of realized that not matter if you do or don't have a special someone for the day you will ALWAYS have your family and friends. Especially my friends this year. It would have been nice to be surrounded by my loving family but I can't complain much because instead I was surrounded by a great group of girls whom I have become good friends with. These girls I am talking about are the volleyball girls, whom I first met in October and am happy to say are still a part of my exchange. The night was spent training for volleyball and a lot of good laughs.

But it makes me think a bit, what about the homeless people. I've seen some of the same few people at least once if not more each week playing an instrument, standing with a cup in hopes of a donation or just sitting in the cold on the benches. I know that I can't really do much to help them but I wish that they could realized how much I appreciate their strength to keep their heads up when they aren't as fortunate as others. Theres this one guy in particular who looks just like someone from the fire department back home and I just want to go up and give him a hug but it's not him obviously and then it just makes me sad. And then there is this other guy who I see quite often playing music, quite good I might add and he reminds me of someone's sweet grandpa. I hope that these people had somewhere warm to be yesterday because it was especially windy and cold.

So that brings me to another thought, I am thinking of sending an email to my rotary counselor here to ask if there are any places I could go volunteer. Preferably with little kids, that way my level of Swedish will be just a little bit lower than theres :) With little kids it would be perfect to try to up my Swedish or at least get the hang of some words/phrases. But I also wouldn't mind helping anywhere else. I have come to the conclusion that volunteering isn't so "big" here in Sweden. It's not required in school, and well organizations don't seem to need that much help.

Not much else has happened. Went to a guys volleyball game on Saturday, then helped out at one on Sunday. Yesterday was the usual Rotary lunch/meeting. And well today I have a Spanish test.

I Love Semla

Semla; also known as deliscious in a bun shape. Semla is a cardamom spiced bun that has had the top cut off and the inside scooped out. It's then filled with a mixture of the scooped out crumbs, milk and almond paste. Then topped with a sufficient amount of whipped cream! The top is placed back on as a lid and then dusted with powdered sugar. The best place to get a semla here would be Fahlmans! But you can usually only get them during the months of January and February.

Sticka, sticka, fika!

Sticka is swedish for knitting. Fika is swedish for coffee and goodies break. Sunday the 30th Asa had some people over for a Sticka & Fika thing. Good turn out with plenty of yummies. I made a swedish classic : chocos cocos, I think that's what they are called. And I also made mexican wedding cookies, one of the guests also brought a delicious muffin like scone with raspberries, loved them. Want the recipe! So one of my projects I had started with my first host family was a knitted elephant...but I didn't have any stuffing to stuff it with so have yet to finish it. Didn't get it done at this get together either but guess what today, February 4, I finished it...minus the eyes. Still have not decided if I want to add eyes or not. Didn't stuff it with stuffing but instead cut up an old sweater thing. which worked perfect...it's just you know a little heavier than the average stuffed animal :)

So, lately....
School has been productive I guess I can say. I mean I do work in every class...by work I mean translating any assignments the class has been given to english. Which is extremely time consuming and tiring but nonetheless I am doing something. It's actually good to be in class because it fills up the days.
I went to the sauna again...and into the freezing water. I love it, great way to relax after a long week, this time Dakota and Keisha came with.

This is where the saunas are at, as you can see the water is frozen here. Which means the saunas were closed because you aren't able to get in the water...unless you drill a hole in the ice!

Monday and Wednesday nights I am at wrestling practice which has been tough yet rewarding. The coaches and girls on the team are all great. And these girls, I tell you , they're tough. Freestyle wrestling is on a whole other level compared to high school wrestling.  It's harder but you can get away with pretty much anything! And, on Thursday nights I am at volleyball practice. Volleyball has been a good subsitute for my lack of going to the gym....but it's not a sport I will want to continue with when I get back home. It's more of a sport I like to do for fun, like at the swimming hole.

I have also been out in the woods a bit, just taking Isa [dog] out on walks. It's been decent weather so that's been good. Snow/ice is basically all gone now, few spots were its still stuck but mainly gone.

What else. This past Tuesday the 1st I made dinner for my family. A traditional mexican dinner of fajitas, rice, beans and, HOMEMADE tortillas. Not at all as good as my mom's but it wasn't bad either. Fajitas were good, rice probably had too much tomato sauce, beans needed salt and well tortillas were actually pretty good. It seemed like everyone liked the food which means I didn't fail!  

Here my host mom is helping with the tortillas! Hers was actually really round compared to mine.

And the results....!

Well, honestly that's about it. It's Friday thank God, time for a much anticipated weekend! Two weeks left till "sports week" here...like mid winter break back home!