I have an Advance Parole!

Yesterday we had some great news. I will get the travel permit within a week or so! This means that we were able to expedite the case, something that we had more or less given up hope of.

So friends and family in Sweden, we will see you soon!

Today we are moving back up to Lompoc, after about three weeks in Pasadena. So anyone that wants to call, you know the number.

I hope the summer is treating all of you well!

Short update

The first week here in Pasadena has been pretty low key since we both managed to catch a not so nice stomach bug, buy we are now up and about again. It's very sunny and warm down here. I'm thinking of taking a drive to Malibu over the day.

Still no definite news on the travel permit but we are going to the immigration office on Tuesday. Hopefully we are able to expedite the case.

Next Friday it's Midsommarafton (Midsummer's Eve), and we will celebrate that here with the traditional pickled herring, and hopefully new potatoes. We will also have a traditional American bbq with hamburgers and all so people don't have to go home hungry, since neither Autumn nor I think that the pickled herring will be a grand slam.

"Ask a Swede what the most important holiday of the year is and Midsummer will come up as often as Christmas. Get older Swedes talking and their eyes will well up as they reminisce about community spirit, songs, barn dancing and the mystical atmosphere surrounding the Midsummer gatherings of their youth. Sure, there was a lot of drinking, fistfights and frolicking, but everyone shook hands in the end."

The Wedding Photos are Up

I finally took the time and uploaded some pictures from the wedding. Our photographer, Kevin Rolly, shot almost 900 pictures so I had quite a few to chose from. He did a great job and we are very happy to have all those photos!

The pictures are compressed into smaller files since the originals were pretty large, I hope the quality hasn't suffered too much. For some reason it is only possible to see the first 50 pictures if you chose "slide show". So instead of viewing the pictures as a slide show, click on the first picture and then browse through them manually with the "next" button.


I hope you will enjoy the photos!

Wedding

Our wedding day was beyond our expectations. A big Thank You to all of you making it into an incredible day for us! It was great to see our families and friends and to spend all that time together. Pictures from the wedding will be up soon.

Warm and Sunny Day in Pasadena

Today is a very warm and sunny day. It's the kind of day when I wish the ocean was closer or that we had a porch or a balcony. But at least I had a fresh lemonade at Il Fornaio, which is not that bad either. On my way back home I went in to this martial arts gym that I walked past. The first class is free, so maybe I'll go there this afternoon or tomorrow and do a test run. But training in a new place is always a bit...well new, and it usually takes a while to know what level people are and how hard they are training etc. I guess I feel that having a black eye a week from now is something to avoid, if possible.

I hope the shopping went well in Linköping today. Here the wedding is getting closer with seven mile strides. Still some things to plan and do before the day but we are getting there. I wish you all a swift and safe journey next week!

Now it's time for an ice coffee.

The picture is taken from the hill by the Mission and shows the Lompoc area.

Sunday evening

It is now less than two weeks to the wedding and the preparations seem to be going in the right direction. Next Sunday Autumn and I will be going up to Lompoc. Soon after that family and friends will arrive from Sweden. It will be good to have you all here and I am looking forward to seeing you!

So let me tell you a few short stories.

Last weekend when Autumn was away for her hen party I managed to lock myself out of our apartment. When I closed the door I realized that one of the key wasn't on my Puma key chain. What are the odds?! Looking through the living room window I could actually see it, maybe a meter inside the door. For a while I was contemplating the idea of giving the door one of those tackles that you see people doing in movies, in order to force it open. But my better judgement kept me from going ahead with a plan, that indeed didn't seem to have any down sides to it. Instead I got helped by one of the neighbors to get in contact with the owners of the building. That neighbor even printer out maps for me so I could drive and get another set of keys from the owner. So neighbors can actually be good for something else than not making too much noise.

I realized today that I haven't tried "Fish Tacos", and don't particularly feel like trying it either. But on the grounds of that I can't really say anything about any kind of food before I have actually tried it, I guess that there will come a day, even for Fish Tacos.

We went to a Cafe yesterday here that reminded me a bit of Åbacka in Linköping. Nice place.

I hope the weekend find you all rested and prepared for a new week.

How Happy are the Elephant Seals?

This is how happy the Elephant Seals became when they heard that a certain Schultz family has recorded some songs! Now they can't wait to hear them. Brrrrruuuurrrp!

The lone cypress

And here is another photo. This time of a 250 year old cypress tree. This photo is taken where we parked our car. We then walked down closer to the tree but the area closest to the tree and that cliff is closed off to the public.

Today it is raining! It's been raining through part of the night and it still is. A rainy day here is a rare thing, and when it does, at least I feel like it is a welcome change.

Today it is about 2 weeks to our wedding. I am really looking forward to having family and friends from back home here during that time.

Another photo from highway 1

On our trip down highway 1, on one stretch of the coast there were these big blobs, literally covering the beaches. They were Elephant Seals and they just laid there not having a care in the world. Mostly busy with making loud "brrrrrrrrurp" noises. Here I am with the seals in the background.