Adventures in Coffee Shopping

I am obsessed with my morning cup of coffee! Pretty much the only thing that gets me out of bed in the morning is knowing that I get to enjoy a delicious hot cup of coffee. I am addicted!

The first day we moved into our apartment I could not wait to be reunited with my beloved Keurig machine. However, we had some converter issues and ended up buying a Nespresso machine. Our impulse purchase of the Nespresso is another story in itself, but I am going to leave those details out as it is not entirely appropriate to be posted on the internet. Let's just say we were exhausted after setting up our apartment and getting an espresso machine was the LAST thing my husband wanted to do. Ask me the rest in person sometime because it's a good one ;). Anyway, I am obsessed with my Nespresso as it allows me to make my very own delicious latte from the comfort of my own home.

I have the Nespresso Citiz & Milk machine

Living in the middle of a city got a whole lot better when I learned there is a Nespresso boutique right down the street from our apartment. When it came time to purchase new espresso pods I was very excited to have the store so close and could not wait to venture over to pick out new flavors.

Let's pause for a second and get a little background information about Sweden. One of the things I have learned living here is that Sweden is very much a do-it-yourself country. There is typically a figure it out yourself mentality. In fact, store employees usually do not help you nor offer to do so. If you need to ask a question or need assistance they will help you, but generally you help yourself to everything.  Even in the grocery store you bag your own groceries and the cashier does not even hand you the receipt, you have to rip it out of the machine yourself if you want it. 


I first walked into Nespresso boutique and noticed all the espresso machines on one side and a huge wall of pods on the opposite side. Knowing you usually do things yourself I walked over to the wall and started browsing all the different coffee types. I grabbed a few different boxes when an employee said something to me in Swedish. I bashfully said "sorry I don't speak Swedish" and she repeated in English that I was not allowed over there as it was for employees only. I needed to get a number from the kiosk at the front of the store and wait to be called and they would gather the coffee for me. I was mortified!! I quickly apologized and started to put back the items I grabbed while the customer the employee was assisting laughed. I was so ready for the floor to open up and swallow me.

At this pointed I wasn't sure if I wanted to laugh at my stupidity or run crying out of the store. Instead, I got my number, waited to be called, and eventually left with coffee in hand. I waited for Chris to get home where I recounted the entire story to have him laughing at me.  He felt bad that I was embarrassed, but couldn't help laughing at my experience. Lesson learned for me that sometimes bad situations help you figure things out and this will happen many more times during my journey in Sweden.

I am happy to report that I have successfully purchased coffee there numerous times since without any embarrassment!

My favorite coffee drinking companion

Change Can Be Good

If you've read Champs & Pearls before then it was probably obvious that there's been a name change here! I had pretty much given up blogging until I moved to Sweden. I had numerous people asking about our life in Sweden and wanting to know more details and hear stories. I would tell my family the crazy and funny situations I was in and they constantly told me to write about these experiences. This lead me back to Champs & Pearls. However, I felt that the Champs & Pearls chapter of my life closed. This title was silly and frivolous and just didn't fit with my new adventure. Chris asked me about creating a new blog, but that wasn't something I was ready to delve into just yet. After some consideration, I decided a change and reinvention was necessary.

The title "Notes From The Matchbox" came about organically. I was having one of my "I hate everything about this situation and I am so unbelievably over it" fits moments and jokingly called our apartment a matchbox in reference to it's small size to Chris. He thought this was funny and continued to use this term in conversations since then. My clever, English major sister came up with "notes from the matchbox" title and it just fit! I thought this would be perfect for re-branding and giving this little blog a purpose. Don't worry, I still love champagne and pearls ;)!

For those of you loving, loyal readers who bookmarked my previous blog page you will need to re save this one as the website link has changed.

Moving forward I will continue to share updates on my getting back to Sweden status as well as some of the experiences I had previously. I hope you come back frequently to join in with me!

That Time I was Kicked Out of Sweden

Before we moved to Sweden I applied for a residency permit as I was told was necessary to live in the country with Chris. After applying I was notified it could take 12-16 months until my application was approved. We knew this was a long process, but were assured that it didn't matter and I could still live in Sweden with Chris while the process took place.

Around mid-November, Chris and I went to the migration office in Sweden to get an extension on my visit while my residency application is still in process. We found out at this appointment that I was unable to apply for an extension and actually needed to get out of the country asap if I wanted my residency application approved. Uhhhh What?! You can only begin to imagine what we felt at this point.

Chris reached out to his network of people who looked into the situation for us. They confirmed that I did need to leave the country and possibly sooner than we expected. The whole situation of back and forth with a variety of different people carried on for a few weeks. The more information we heard the worst the situation got for us. I won't bore you with the details, but basically I was told to leave Sweden ASAP and stay out of the country until my residency permit is approved. Apparently, my being in Sweden could negatively affect the outcome, so I needed to leave and not come back until accepted.

Before all of this occurred we booked a trip to the US for Christmas with my family. Luckily, I was approved to still fly out on this previously scheduled flight, but since it was past the 90 days I was allowed to be in Sweden I had to be escorted through the airport. This was sad and embarrassing, but you do what you have to do. My sweet (and pissed off) husband changed his ticket to fly with me during all of this and I couldn't be more thankful! Harvie also had to fly with us since Chris works long hours and cannot care for her the way she needs, so I needed her with me. Plus, lets be honest, I wanted my furchild with me!

Fast forward to today...Chris is back to work in Sweden and living in our apartment. Harvie and I are in the United States staying with my parents (who, by the way, moved to Texas, which is a whole other situation).  I flew down to Houston on Monday to meet with the Consulate of Sweden. This was another step in my residency permit process where they interviewed me and looked at my supporting documents in person. They then send everything back to Sweden and it stays in a file until someone gets around to my application. At this point I/We have done everything we can do.

Chris is continuously waiting to hear from his network of people. We have been extremely disappointed with Chris' new job moving us to Sweden and dropping the ball on the Ashley portion of this equation. Usually when a company moves a person abroad they apply for a work permit for said person and attach their dependents. Since Chris is already a Swedish citizen and able to work in Sweden they did not have to do this step. However, they completely forgot about me being in the country and what that entails. Plus they gave us incorrect information from the beginning about the whole process. We were under the impression that I was able to move there, apply for an extension as needed and continue on with life in Sweden. This is absolutely not correct and those involved should have known better. We NEVER would have moved to Sweden in the first place had we known that I was not able to stay there with Chris. We would have waited until we could both legally be in the country.

The entire situation is completely overwhelming and frustrating. We have so many mixed emotions and the past few months have been rough. Just being honest! We really have no idea what to do at this point aside from waiting for my residency permit to come through (assuming it even does get approved). It's entirely possible that we may move back to the United States in a few months or my residency permit may come in sooner and we can be reunited in Sweden. We have no idea right now. Stay tuned.

Regardless, Chris and I are SO grateful for one another. We never imagined this would be the journey that moving to Sweden would take us on, But, we are incredibly happy to have each other and are making the best of the situation. This mess has shown us how much we love each other and love our life together. Being unwillingly separated is hard and not something we ever wanted to go through. We are taking life day by day and look forward to the time when we can look back on this and laugh together.

Cheers to messy situations! 

Intuition

Something different about me is that I am a very intuitive person. I can feel and sense things that usually end up being true. Mostly, this applies to people, but sometimes to situations too. It is hard to explain or believe, but I have always been this way and my intuitions are usually spot on.

Chris and I celebrated last Christmas in Sweden with his family. My heart began softening toward Sweden during this trip. For some reason while we were there I just knew this would be a permanent place for us at some point soon. I can't explain it exactly, but there was just something different that I felt during this trip specifically...cue my intuition. I've visited Sweden previously, but never felt the same way as I did this time.  I wasn't sure of any of the details, but there was definitely the feeling.

This trip for Christmas was actually one of my hardest trips to Sweden. I felt very homesick and was dealing with some major anxiety. I don't discuss my anxiety much, but I even had my worst panic attack yet on our last night of this trip. I fully believe I was being prepared in my heart and life for what was to come even though I had no idea at the time. This feeling I had during our Christmas trip was no exception. I fully believe what I went through during our trip is what has made my transition here easier. There have still been a few WHAT ARE WE DOING moments during the whole process. However, I have been able to be the strong support that my husband needed. Chris tells me that I have become very wise the past few months and I am so glad that I have been mentally prepared to venture into this opportunity.

Cheers to good intuition! 

Swedish Adventures

My husband, Chris, is Swedish and was born and raised in Sweden. Since we began dating he's always talked about moving back to Sweden one day. I was part of the reason for him staying in the United States, but he had a longing in his heart to return to Sweden at some point. One aspect of marrying him was accepting this and knowing one day, somehow, we would live in Sweden.

In April, Chris was contacted out of the blue by someone who works intricately with IKEA. This man is a colleague of Chris' father (my father-in-love has worked for IKEA for 30 years) and knew Chris ran a hotel. IKEA has a hotel located in their world headquarters in Sweden and was looking for a new Managing Director. Both Chris and I were surprised by this opportunity and intrigued. We had not considered Sweden at this point in our lives for a variety of reasons, but mostly given the insane past few months we had been through. However, I encouraged Chris to explore the opportunity and the next thing you know we packed up our life, sold our town home, and moved to Sweden.

This all transpired over the next few months after the initial contact in April.We spent lots of time discussing our future, the job position, what it would mean to be in Sweden, etc. IKEA sent us to Sweden for a "look and see" trip the first week of July. Chris was able to meet colleagues, hear more about the job, and we were able to explore areas where we would potentially live. I spent a lot of time with my mother-in-love asking her over and over if she thought I would survive in Sweden. She graciously answered all of my questions and provided a ton of support having lived all over the world as an expat wife herself. Together, Chris (and I) accepted the Managing Director position and quickly started planning our move across the world.

We arrived to Sweden the first of September and our adventure began.

Cheers to Adventures in Sweden! 

Begin Again

Hello!
I am brushing off the dust on this old thing and not even sure where to begin. Life has a funny way of throwing the unexpected at you. I first created this blog to document married life as a newlywed. Our first year was certainly a big one followed by 2015 and then now we are here heading toward the end of 2016. My mind is completely blown away at what life has handed us since first saying "I do." This year has been the most shocking of my life with the events that have transpired before our eyes. Chris and I find ourselves staring in disbelief at everything that has occurred and can't believe this is our life. Both with the good and the bad.

I am a firm believer in ignorance is bliss and I am sure glad that we don't know what our futures hold.  If someone had told me what the past two years of my life would be like I wouldn't have believed them nor would I have wanted to face what was ahead. But here I am living life and enjoying every second because life is messy and precious all at the same time. One of my favorite inspirational women, Glennon Doyle Melton, refers to life using the term "brutiful" to combine brutal and beautiful and I wholeheartedly agree.

While there have been quite a few devastatingly heartbreaking moments these past two years there have also been some incredible opportunities including the huge journey we are on now living life in Sweden. This brings me to shaking off the cobwebs and seeing how this goes again.

Cheers to unknown futures! 

A year later...

I first began my blog over a year ago to document my life especially being a newlywed. Half way through I stopped blogging mostly due to time and not making blogging a priority. 

Well a year later we have definitely had quite the first year as a married couple. Don't get me wrong it has been a great year, but there have been some major life happenings. 

This past year I started a new job which has come with its own ups and downs. It's been an adjustment since it's a new environment and I'm now working full time. Job changes are hard especially for someone who does not like change. It took me a long time to adjust and in many ways I still am. 

My dad has had a variety of issues with his foot, which ended in amputation as was detailed in my last post. This has been huge for me personally and my family. It's caused Chris and I to be more flexible toward my family both physically and emotionally. In a new marriage it's common to figure out family dynamics, but a serious issue like this takes it to a whole new level. I'm fairly independent of my family, but I also have wanted to be available to them and as helpful as much as I can be. More on this topic later. 

My brother-in-law and sister-in-law had a baby last April. Of course, this is a happy and exciting change to our family. But nonetheless it's still a change. It's been an easy adjustment because he's so darn adorable and we all love to spend time with him, but it's still a new element to add a baby to the family. Our get togethers have changed a bit, but we love him so much and love watching him grow! 

Regardless, Chris and my's relationship has been stronger than ever. He's been a huge source of comfort and support to me. We've been together for a long time, so adding changes wasn't a big deal for us but it did make for an interesting year. Our first year of marriage was great relationship wise and us being a strong unit made everything happening around us bearable. I couldn't ask for a better life partner to take on new challenges! 

Cheers to the first year!