I want to ride my BICYCLE!

At long last I got my hands on a bike today!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know that 14 exclamation points may seem a tad gratuitous, but if you feel that way then you clearly don't grasp my excitement about this big step in my life! This bike and I are going to be able to cover so much more ground than my feet and I ever could. Not to mention I'm going to be able to explore all the places the bus can't go! Ahhh I'm so happy. He doesn't have a name yet (and I'm not even positive he's actually a he...), but he's mainly silver with a beautiful splash of blue on his chain protector, and he's very very rusty and squeaky. So my immediate instincts are to call him either Rusty, Squeaks, or Bullet, but the jury's still out. I really have to get to know him first. He's just so ugly and I love him with all my heart. :)

For you non-facebookers, I have added some pictures to my Östersund photo album in which I've attempted to capture the outstanding colors I'm surrounded by right now. As always, the pictures don't come close to what I'm seeing here. But I hope you enjoy them nonetheless. It may not be evident to you all either, but I definitely feel like I'm becoming a much better photographer. A combination of always taking pictures and picking up tidbits of advice from friends here and there has given me a new attitude on photography. It's really exciting for me to find just the right setting to give each sight the most justice; maybe a hobby is in the making? We'll see. 

Well besides the excitement of getting my new bike today I can't say there has been all that much going on here since Saturday. A group of us has been consistently getting together on Sundays for brunch, which always lasts hours, so that was a big chunk of my day yesterday. I really really enjoy those brunches; we have such a nice time just unwinding and enjoying each others' company. It's so great. And then every day here I have been doing my best to try to cook something new. It's still up in the air, but I may be so bold to say that I've gone from being a  "Not Allowed Anywhere Near the Kitchen" Cook to a "Crappy" Cook. Moving on up in the world. 

Well I hope everyone's doing well! Keep me posted!

Katie