Waking up to Sunshine

Our days are definitely getting longer and we are now starting to be bothered by the fact that it starts to get light before 6 a.m.  We are going to have to get some blinds soon!  This morning, though, it was actually sunny with blue skies by about 8 a.m.  It was so exciting to see the sunshine that it motivated us all to get up and get outside before the clouds took over again!

Our view from our bedroom window

Josh and I grabbed our skates and decided to go ice skating.  It was the first time that Josh had been out on the ice in years but he never fell and we both had a good time.  We had to share half of the rink with a men's team playing bandy.

There were lots of little kids practicing their hockey skills on the other part of the rink AND a woman was skating while pushing her baby in a stroller!  I love how the Swedes embrace their winter sports and weather!  The blue skies went away shortly after we got outside and it even start to rain a little but it didn't last long and with temperatures above 40F, we still felt lucky.

After skating, Josh deserved a little treat so he took the rare occasion to enjoy one of my favorite past times... FIKA!  So nice to have him with me for once!

When we got home, a very tired Max was just arriving back home from his sleep over party and Tabitha was just leaving to go rock climbing with some friends.  Josh and I dropped off our skates and headed back out to attend a local art fair.  This was an international exhibit put on at our culture center by the artist themselves, representatives from 30 different countries.  Some crazy, interesting, beautiful and unique stuff.  We wandered for hours, just checking it all out.

The culture center is located just next to our biggest public square (Sergels torg) and just off of central station.  I was able to take a picture out the window of the big glass and steel monument, Crystal, in the center of the square.

The Kulturhuset also houses a model of the city of Stockholm, showing the expected growth over the next 10 years.  It was fun to look at and find our familiar landmarks.

Our apartment is located just two blocks up from the semicircular building in the lower left of the picture with the tall blue tower in it.  We are two blocks up the main street, our building is on the right.  The blue structure that you can see further up in the picture is where Sergel torg is located.  Kind of fun to see the city in this perspective.

We have been negotiating a bid on our house in Batesville for the past week.  Today, we have decided to turn down their final offer.  It is too low and we are not in any real hurry to sell.  This has been a stressful and time consuming task so, we are feeling kind of relieved to put it past us for now.

And, one quick shout out for Quincy's sake!  SLU men's basketball is having their best season in history!  Very exciting and fun for Quincy and for all of the SLU alumni that are near and dear to me!

Jasen Vinlove/USA TODAY Sports