SNOW SNOW SNOW!!!!!!

We have SOOO much snow here right now!! On Saturday, the day 15 of us went snowboarding, the snow started to fall. It literally did not let up until Sunday night! And even though Östersund was breathtakingly vibrant in the Autumn, it most certainly is a Winter town. Think: tiny streets lined with snow-covered cottages, frosted pine trees, people whipping by on sleds with runners (which, by the way, looks like an awesome way to get around town!), snowman after snowman after snowman, gingerbread cookies in every aisle of the grocery store, and a big honkin' Christmas tree right smack dab in the middle of the town center. This town was made for the Winter, no doubt about that. I wouldn't be surprised if Santa himself decided to relocate here. It's a wonderland.

Saturday snowboarding was beautiful...you just can't get views like that when you snowboard in the midwest! But unfortunately my snotty wall post that morning came back and bit me in the you-know-what...I ended up messing up my wrist a little toward the end of the day. And of course I did...I mean I was only the hands-down most experienced snowboarder, boasting eight years of experience amongst at least seven friends who had never snowboarded in their LIVES, so of course I would be the only one to leave the slopes with an injury. Haha oh life, you make me laugh. It's still painful as I write this now at 8:30pm on Monday night, so I'll be having a nursing friend take a look at it tomorrow and then, who knows. I might end up coming back home with more than just a Swedish flag to remember my experiences here. Hrrumph. I'll keep you posted.

Then Sunday was brunch, followed by an entire afternoon/evening of cookie baking!! We played Christmas music and cut cookies into all sorts of holiday shapes...it was awesome and filling. :) 

And now I'll be turning my attention to my paper. AGH the paper. Just gotta get it done. 

Well that's all! Happy late thanksgiving!

And oh yeah that reminds me...as a side note, it appears that the Thanksgiving Cheer took a little longer to get to me than usual this year, what with the ocean separating us and all, but it was interesting to feel it all really hit me today. I find myself feeling incredibly warm and just overflowing with love and appreciation for all the good things we have in this world. I feel like I've learned a lot about corruption and negativity since I've been here, but it's comforting to know that peace and goodness still exists in places you'd lest expect it to. So if I forgot to remind you recently, I'm thankful for you. :)

Okay now that's really all, because my good cheer is going to dissolve if I don't get this paper out of my head fast!

kt