It's our anniversary

That is right. The world and I, we are celebrating. One month ago we decided to get together and we are still going strong. Call it young love if you want but we are pretty much in it for the long haul. Everything is still romantic, the future is always looking brighter and brighter, the friends we meet like our company and how we are together......we are basically a match made in heaven. Sometimes we ask ourselves "how lucky are we"?

Pretty damn lucky.

I am celebrating in Sweden this week and so far it has been incredible. Neil and I flew up a few nights ago (and can I just say that it only cost me £12 to do so!) and were picked up by an old friend of Neil's, Pelle. Two things that came as a surprise: We landed at 11:30 at night and the sun was just going down. We went to bed at about 2 in the morning and the sun was already coming up. The Swedish know how to rock it in the summer mainly because they have been trapped in darkness for over half of the year. When the sun comes out, they come out with it. It is like an extreme version of Washington I have decided. Everyone is dreary with the weather and then all of a sudden the sun comes out and you see people you have never seen out of their homes before running through the pastures like daffodils, winded by cantering cows. Needless to say, the sun is here and so my time in Sweden so far has been well spent.

I woke up to the most incredible view. Pelle's home sits overlooking the sea from the island of Dalarö which you get to by crossing the smallest of bridges. His wife Anna and daughter Felicia (2yrs old) are both breathtakingly beautiful and like everyone else I have encountered, incredibly kind and welcoming. Aside from his wonderful family, Pelle devotes the rest of his life to the water and paddling across it. The first day we set off to help him organize a canoing trip on the lake surrounding Stockholm. It was the best days work I have ever had. Neil and I babysat backpacks while we waved the group of paddlers off into the distance. We then strenuously soaked up all the sun we possibly could and waved them back in again. Into our second day we were organizing our own boating adventures. The whole reason I was able to come was because Pelle had invited Neil to join him and his paddling club on their weekend trip up to Rättvik, which is about 3 hours north of Sweden. Myself, Pelle, Neil, and Gustaf barely made the drive. Between all of the random pastimes, photo albums, joke telling, and ripping into Gustaf's ipod I didnt know if I was going to make it alive. At one point I actually thought that Pelle was going to crash the car from laughing so hard. By the end of the trip I was crying, about to pee my pants, and barely able to feel my cheeks after smiling for three hours straight.

We capped the night with the rest of the crew, some beer, and warm beds in a hotel that overlooks the water. Today we have already been out in our 12 man catamaran canoe once and head out again in an hour or so. The food is delicious, I here the sauna is going to be fantastic, and Neil is leading a yoga class to ease our swollen arms at the end of the day. I am not quite sure when we leave but I do know that it isn't far enough away. I may be staying in Sweden longer then I had first intended, which is fine because I only bought a one way ticket anyway. Neil leaves on the 28th but Eric, one of the paddlers, has a print studio and apparently could use an extra hand for a while. I am excited to have some work for a bit, assuming it all pans out, and it will be nice to smell ink again.

I don't think about home as much as I thought I would and in all honesty most fades away as the day go on. Forgetfulness is a characteristic that I am getting used to. Was it really that bad? Probably. Should I try to fix things? Maybe not. My mom says let it all go, move one, live your life, and enjoy the world while you can. I said that all of that was sometimes unbearable. In these days it isn't so hard to forget, rub out, delete, etc. Besides, the world is a big place, and so far, we haven't had enough of each other.