It's been a while!

It has been a while!
I love what I do, but sometimes wonder if I choose the right profession. I work wayyyy too much and haven't had time to work out or just relax in a long time.
I'm sorry to all of you for not being good at keeping contact. I'm still trying to find a balance to not let work control my life. So far I have not been successful, but I'm working on it!
Friday was a great day with the kids/students. The kids were so cute and fun. They acted like role models and I'm so proud of them. We also had our Math PowerPoint presentations and the students that presented did an amazing job! The parents attending were impressed.
Last week was "Character Counts"/ "Spirit Week" which meant we had a theme every day.
Monday: Purple & Orange + Tie Day (kids & teachers wore ties)
Tuesday: Green + Opposite Day (kids & teachers wore clothes inside out, backwards etc)
Wednesday: Blue + Crazy Sock Day (kids & teachers wore some weird socks)
Thursday: Yellow + Career Day (kids dressed up as what they want to be when they grow up)
Friday: Red + Crazy Hair Day (this was fun.. see the pictures on the link below)
http://mrsrichmond.myphotoalbum.com
Last weekend I was at a Kali seminar all weekend. THAT was great and I felt like a new person afterwards.
My little-brother Richard's gym is up and running. Send him good thoughts.
My sister Manja will be coming to visit us sometime in the near future. Possibly during spring break. I can't wait to just hang out with her and just "be."
My older brother Morgan has bought a house in Tomelilla and is working on getting it all ready to live in.
Love & Peace!
/Elin & a newly washed Spike (oh, he's handsome!)

It's Almost Time for School Again!

I start going back into school next week. I will be moving classrooms so I have a lot of extra work ahead of me, but it will also be nice to now have a window! I still don't know if I am teaching 4th or 5th grade and it is staring to get to me. I am trying to prepare but there are so many things I can't do until I know what I will be teaching. I should find out around July28th. I will be taking a class on Thinking Maps next week and I should be able to sign up for my required 45 hour English Immersion Class (SEI) soon. I still think it is ironic that I will need to take a class on how foreigners (me!) learn English! :) We start our professional development on August 6th and the kids and parents come in to Meet the Teacher and see the classroom on August 8th.
I have really enjoyed the summer and the feeling of knowing that I have 1 job (not 3)... and that 1 job is "for sure!" I am not getting laid off and I don't have to fight for it or even interview for it. The only bad thing was that I couldn't afford to go home this year. It was/is really difficult and a huge reason I do not feel as renewed as I usually do by this time of year. Going home is like recharging my batteries. It was especially difficult when the whole family met in Skovde to laugh and just live for a week. Richard felt my pain since he had to stay in Tomelilla to set up the gym. I miss my family so very much and I sometimes wonder if some people even understand how incredibly difficult it is not to see anyone in your family, or any of your dear friends, for a year at a time... this time possibly 2 years! 2 years without hugging your mom and dad! 2 years without playing with your niece and nephews! 2 years without hanging out with your brothers and sister! 2 years without seeing your dearest friends smiling eyes!
Sooooo.... anyway... on a happier note: I am updating my classroom website. The home website is in a horrible format we have to use and we can't place pictures where we want or even resize them. A bit restricting, but I am learning to use it the best I can and am pretty happy with what I have so far. Love you all!!!

New Album Added from Mamma's Visit 2004!

I added a new Photo Album from when my mom, Bibbi was here in 2004.
The album includes pictures from Halloween pumpkin Carving, Birthdays, Surgery, Deck building, The Detroit Zoo, Dale & Ellen's wedding, Christmas & New Years Eve!
It is a BIG album, so make sure you have time before you dive in!

The Traveling Trio explores California & Superstition Mountains

Mama Joyce was here visiting for almost 2 weeks and we took a couple of quick and exciting trips! It has been great to have her here!!
Sunday/Yesterday we got up early and headed to California! Today/Monday we drove out to Superstition Mountains!
We have had a lot of fun and really enjoyed the views. However we did not take many pictures since there is no way to capture the beauty and do it justice on film. We did take some pictures though and I added those and some more pictures of our house in our Photo Album.
Next weekend we will get to see Nathan's brother Tom, his wife Laurie and their daughter Shanna!
It is great to have visitors and we hope to see more of you soon!

I added some pictures of our new place in Arizona!

Our place is still messy and there are plenty of boxes that need to be unpacked. I don't really want to put anything in the garage it's easy to forget about them... and what good do they do then?! No,... instead I am determined to unpack them all and get rid of what we don't actually use and need. It feels great!

We have a guest bedroom and bathroom that is ready and waiting for all of you!!! We can't wait to have more guests... We hope to see some Swedes out here too!!!!

Much love from us to you!

It's Our Wedding Anniversary!!

Our Swedish Wedding Anniversary is June 22.
We were married on Midsommar Afton, 2001.

Added Motorcycle Picture Album

I've created a new album with motorcycle pictures that I will continue to add to later on.
So far it only has the beginning of our experiences on the track in it, but it's still fun to see because you can see the drastic changes in riding positions from the first/olderst pictures to those that are newer/later in the album.
P.S: Hope you like the music added above. You have to click play to hear it though. There are 6 songs and you can choose to loop the songs.

Added Videos & Classroom Pictures

I added 3 little videos of Spike in my photo album and several pictures of Montezuma Castle to the album "Arizona Nature Pictures" in my photo album.
I also added some pictures of my classroom to "Mrs. Richmond's Classroom" site. I will take those pictures down later in the summer when I get ready to link and update my school website, but I'll leave them for now so you can peak at them. I will actually be changing rooms this fall and will now have a room with a window! :)
/Elin

Added Photo Album

I have added a photo album to "Elin's Photo Album."

It is all the pictures from Richard, Manja & my trip around Sweden in August of 2005.

I know they are not new, but I wanted to add some pictures that our Swedish friends might like to see. It takes a lot of time to add all the pictures since I have to add them one by one, so it might take some time to get everything up there.

I am considering becoming a "Club Member" on the photo site, which means all of you can download my pictures if I am understanding it correctly. Right now you can only order photos from them, although it's pretty cheap and you can order from any country. If you figure out a way around that restriction and CAN download pictures right now, let me know!

Otherwise let me know if you are interested in more pictures than just a couple since that might make it worth it for me to become a club member. The cost to be a club member is $20/year for me. If I pay that, you can download pictures for free and an added bonus for me is that I get unlimited video storage space online.

ALSO: Let me know if you have any requests for which pictures you would like me to upload next. B-M requested pictures of our new place/house and my classroom. I will add those once I take them. Right now our place is so messy and full of boxes....

Love ya'll!!

/Elin

Mina Svenska Vanner!

Hejsan Richard, Bobby, Evelin, Inger & Rolf, & Britt-Marie & Kid!
Tack for att ni tittat in och halsat pa varan lilla Blog!
Thanks Kristina for visiting our Blog! Spike misses you too!

Kara Spike vantar pa att jag skall sluta jobba

Vi har haft var Boxer Spike ett par ar nu och han ar bara en av varldens goaste hundar. Han ar sa himla snall och vet alltid nar man behover ta en "break" fran jobb och varma ner genom att mysa med honom en stund.

Jag hoppas att ni alla far mota honom nagon dag.

Just nu har han gett upp och har gatt och lagt sig.

Spike borjar sa smaningom vanja sig vid Arizona hettan, men har annu inte lart sig hur het marken kan bli.

Detta ar mitt firsta forsok med att lagga till ett foto, sa vi far se hur det gar!

Välkommna till min/våran blogg!

Hejsan och välkommna till min/våran blogg. Det är some ens egen lilla personliga webpage där jag kan skriva små inlägg i typ journal form. Jag kan även lägga in foton ibland. Jag vet inte hur bra det kommer att funka för mina/ våra behov, men jag tycker det är värt ett försök. I framtiden kommer jag inte att använda de svenska bokstäverna, pga att det tar alldeles för lång tid, men jag tänkte att det kunnde vara värt det denna första gång för att underlätta för våra besökare.
Puss & Kram så länge!
Kom tillbaka och besök oss igen!