Post #2 - Dear Friends, WE ARE MOVING TO SWEDEN. I would like to share with you our humble story!

Post #2 - Dear Friends, WE ARE MOVING TO SWEDEN...and here's our humble story!

Hey ya'll ...We are moving to Sweden!  Now we are getting ready to embark on an epic one month journey with my dad and brother Keith to Repair and Remodel the Swedish Country School House we purchased last summer!

Many of our friends know we spent the summer in Stockholm last year but our biggest news from that journey was never announced.  With a reserved excitement we decided to share our story with our family and friends on a more personal level.  Now that our plans are more concrete I would like to share this, the story of how we decided to the northern reaches of Europe in the land of Vikings, Fika and Blood Pudding!

 

It's been nearly a years since we sold our house in Sacramento and began a grand adventure that would lead us to stay with my brother and his family in Stockholm, Sweden. 

 

 It was an exciting four months with our young family.  Dylan was 1 year old and Trinity 4 years at the time and traveling internationally was exciting and nerve wracking.   The transition was made easier by our amazing family Todd and Kris and their kids that welcomed us with open arms to their sweet Swedish home on the island of Lidingo only ten minutes from the Swedish capitol.  

 

With the help of my sister-in-law Kris and 19 year old daughter ShamalaTu, Michelle and the kids truly made the most of the summer.  We lived like swedes, grocery shopping, taking the recycle to the recycle stations, stayed up for the midsummer festivities and slept under the midnight sun.

 

Of course we all enjoyed our time at the beach, the kids frolicked like fairy children in the woods and took the occasional excursions into the medieval city.  This was to be one of the warmest summers in recent memory and we took advantage soaking up the Swedish summer with our new found friends and family.

My goal for the summer was to create a series of wood sculptures and share my artwork through public demonstrations.  I hoped that by summers end I would have an opening in Stockholm to show case the work I had created.  With the steadfast support of my amazing wife Michelle I was able to dedicate myself to this task and with in weeks of arrival I had secured a location for creating my chainsaw sculpture and the logs to work with.  I set to carving for six straight weeks and produced a series of wood carvings inspired by our Swedish experience.  

The world had open to us and the future was on our collective mind and I was curious about the Swedish real estate.  I didn't imagine we could actually buy a house.

Still, I began to research and was amazed to realize the affordability of homes in the countryside.  Like in the US, country homes were much more affordable and a spark of possibility waz born in our hearts and minds.  

That possibility would become a reality after the discovery of a gem of Swedish history.  A 1930s country school house and residence came on the market.  Long story short I asked Michelle if she would consider trip to the country.  We planned a trip to view the school house in person three hours north of Stockholm.  So we rented a car and made arrangements for a viewing. 

 

 WE had done this before and we were looking forward to doing it again when we returned to Sacramento in the fall. 

 

 When we arrived at the School House in the Swedish country side it was the quintessential "love at first sight"!  The future that was unknown suddenly passed before our very eyes.  We could SEE the Children being raised, lives being lived, friends being made, artwork being created, dreams being realized,  out of body experiences....ok, so it was pretty cool!  It happened so fast, and it felt right.  We made an offer that day and I set to pursuit the purchase of a foreign home. 

 

I shifted course and for two strait months we perused the a dream and two weeks before our scheduled departure we closed on a HOUSE AND a SCHOOL in Sweden...this is a long story, and a dream made reality.

 

Of course the swede's will be the first to tell you that summer is a far cry from a cold dark winters in this Scandinavian country.   We are sure to face challenges of language and distances from family and friends in a town we now call home.  

 

Now we are taking a leap one that will have its challenges but will surly have it's rewards as well.  We have been studying the language, the history and it's exciting to know that our kids will start school and learn a new culture while opening their eyes and hearts to a new life in a progressive European country. 

 

This is not good bye...  My hope and wish is to create a a home away from home.  As my good friend Sam, who is Swedish said,  this tale is one worth telling it is a story of a reverse immigration.  So many swede's call the United states home and now we will take this opportunity to call Sweden home. 

I'm happy to share this experience.  As we progress and I will post photos of our new home when we arrive in Sweden. 

 

This story has become more than just an amazing vacation.   It has become a life experience that has and will change out lives dramatically as now we are making plans to move to the Swedish country side north of Stockholm in Spring of 2016!

 

Tack So Macket..ADAM!