My Home

There is no place like home. No matter what happens or what you are feeling, coming home is one of the best feelings in the world. At times you can get tired of your home and you just want to get out but after a while you just want to get back home. That is at least how I feel. Sometimes I've been home for a long time so I want to leave and maybe travel or something. However after just a couple of days, no matter how fun the trip is, I can't wait to get home, to my own bed, to my room, etc. My home can be really annoying at times because I get sick of just staying at home doing nothing or being around my family 24/7. But then if I'm gone for a couple of nights, I always miss my home and everything it includes, such as my family. The worst thing about moving around a lot is changing homes and that uncertainty of maybe not liking your new house. But every time I've moved, I have liked my new houses and eventually made it my new home. I think that I can create a new home so easily because as long as I am around my family, it doesn't really matter where I live. I love my home and no matter what I always like coming home to my own things.

Picture taken from here

Presents

One of the many great things in life is presents. It doesn't really matter whether you are giving or receiving because although they are very different, it's very fun. Let's first talk about receiving presents. It can be on your birthday, christmas or just those random ones any time of the year. It's so exciting to get presents because most of the times you have no idea what they are and opening them is always an adventure. For example, one christmas I got this huge package from my parents. I was small and since the package was soft, I thought it was clothes or something so I immediately thought it would be boring. However when I opened the present it was a big teddy bear. I loved it, not only because it was cute and very nice but because I was happily surprised thinking it would be a "bad" present and it turned out to be the best one that year. Now giving presents is also very amusing. The process of getting a present and just finding the perfect one for the perfect person is a great feeling. I love shopping and as long as it is for someone important, it's great. Especially when you see the person opening the present that you had put a lot of thought behind and they get so happy. It doesn't matter whether I am giving or receiving presents, it is absolutely one of the things that make life better.

Picture taken from here

Favorite Post: Traveling

Personal/Reflective/Inspirational

There are so many destinations in the world to travel to depending on what you want to experience, or see. Do you want to see animals up close without being in a zoo? Do you want to relax in the sun with the crystal blue water only some meters from your hotel? Do you want to experience real city life? Do you want to go skiing in high, beautiful mountains? Today there are so many places that can satisfy whatever you want to do. Traveling is a great way to see life through a new perspective, learn new things, acknowledge different ideas, meet diverse cultures, etc. I really enjoy traveling because it's a way to learn new things through fun activities, and just get away from my daily routines. I think everybody sometimes have to get away from their usual lives to experience something fresh, and enjoy themselves. I've always appreciated traveling even if at first I'm might be a little reluctant to go to a certain place, such as Pantanal, which is only forest and animals. One of the essential things to have when traveling is an open mind, you have to be open to the new things so that you can really appreciate the whole trip. For example, trying new foods that you could never have imagined eating, or snorkeling in a sea full of sharks. I find it hard to sometimes do these kinds of things but when I do it, I feel so much better afterwards because it has usually been fun and exciting. Traveling is one of the best things in life, and I love it!

Christmas

I had no idea what to write about today although there are so many things in life that makes it better. But while I was thinking, I remembered christmas. I realize it's a little bit off topic since there are still more than 7 months until christmas but whatever. I love christmas because it's like a birthday but better, not only do you get presents but you give. It's always fun to get presents, some things that you were longing for because you knew already what you were getting and others that you had no idea you were going to get. My favorite christmas present of all times (that I can think of now) is when I got this huge Teddy Bear from my parents. I was kind of disappointed before opening because I was young and since the present was soft I thought it would be clothes or something else boring. But when I opened it, it was a big white Teddy Bear with a ribbon on his neck and I LOVED IT. It was the best present ever because it was something that really made me happy and took me by surprise. I really like to give presents as well. It's really exciting to go shopping for presents and finding this perfect thing that you know the receiver will love, those presents that you just can't wait to give. Another thing that I love about christmas is the food. There are so many options and it's so hard not to eat everything. My favorites are meatballs, prinskorvar (kind of like small hot dogs), and janssons frestelse (I don't really know how to explain it but it's like potatoes and fish made in the oven). The absolute best thing about christmas though is getting together with your family. I get to meet my grandmothers, grandfathers, cousins, aunts and uncles and just enjoy some time together. Every christmas is the same thing, at 2 we watch Donald Duck which is this show that is on every christmas with all these different parts of disney movies. After that we eat and then there are presents. I love christmas.

(The photo: me and my sister are about to decorate the tree, I'm the one behind the tree)

Chocolate

The feeling when really excellent chocolate melts in your mouth is truly amazing. If there is something I really love, it's chocolate but not any chocolate, only the really good ones like Marabou (Swedish chocolate) and Lindt. There are so many varieties of chocolate flavors and sometimes I have a really hard time to choose one that I want because usually they all taste great. For example, take Marabou. They have about 10 different flavors (if not more) and even though I prefer the original milk chocolate, I sometimes want to try another one but then I don't know which one to choose. My favorite flavors when it comes to Marabou and actually any other chocolate is the original milk chocolate because it's simple and just tastes wonderful. The reason that I love chocolate so much is because you can never get tired of it. No matter which flavor you choose, you'll not be disappointed because just the chocolate component makes it awesome. Another reason I really love chocolate is because it can make me happy any day. When I feel stressed, sad, or I am having a really bad day, chocolate is always able to cheer me up. Sometimes just the thought of having chocolate when I come home makes everything a little bit better. It may sound stupid, but chocolate really is one of the things that make life better.

Picture taken from here

Hotmail

Hotmail is one of the things I can't really live without. It's my way of communicating with others and sending important files and messages. I actually use Hotmail a lot and I consider it a lot better than G-mail or other e-mailing sites. I've used Hotmail since I was little especially because I have moved around a lot and with this site I can continue to keep contact with my friends even if I don't live close to them. Although Facebook has somewhat taken over for Hotmail, I still believe Hotmail makes my life better because I can send files and talk to my teachers, which is really important. Since I've used the site for quite some time, I have seen it evolve and these days it is so modern and easy to use. Hotmail has very good features and it is easy to use. It is easily connected to MSN and all your users from Hotmail are automatically your friends on MSN. It's very easy to organize your mails into different folders and you can search for old mails and find them without much difficulty. One of the best things is that you can put certain mails that come from sites that you don't want as junk mail so that you won't have to keep seeing them and it's faster to delete. Hotmail is a very good e-mailing site and I'm sure I'll continue using it for a long time.

Easter

Easter is one of the best times of the year. You get to meet and spend time with your relatives, and eat lots of excellent food and candy. Since every Easter I can remember my family and I have gone to my grandmother and grandfather's house to have dinner. They always make tons of food and even though we are around 15-20 people, it never gets close to finishing. I get to see my relatives on my mother's side, which include my aunt, her husband, my other aunt and uncle, and of course my six cousins. It's a lot of fun since we don't see each other very often, at least not me and my family because we always lived in different cities. We always have a lot to talk about and catch up, but in the end everybody gets so tired because of all the food consumed. The best part about Easter, though, is getting the easter eggs. In Sweden, we have paper eggs filled with different types of candy and it's so good! All the children get one and even though some of my cousins are over twenty years old, they get just as excited as they used too when they were younger. However these last couple of years, I've lived in Brazil and we haven't gone home for Easter so we have missed some of these dinners and it really sucks. But this Easter my sister and I actually went home, and we ate sooooo much and just had a lot of fun!

(Picture taken from here)

Beach

Many people might think that I hate the sun and the warm weather because I always complain about it however I actually love it, as long as I am at the beach. No one likes to go around sweating in school but as long as you are at the beach with the ocean to swim in, the warm weather is very nice. There are many pretty beaches in Brazil and they are really worth visiting because they all have something different to offer. My favorite beaches are Juquehy and Riviera. I really like Juquehy because it is very beautiful, it has good restaurants, fun shopping, and the beach offers a variety of things to do like play sports, etc. The main reason I really like Riviera is that I have many excellent memories from being there with Jéssica but it is also very pretty and it has an awesome shopping. If you live in Brazil, you have to visit the beaches because they are one of the prettiest things Brazil has to offer. I love going to the beach because I get to relax, have fun, swim, spend time with my family, and for many other reasons. The bottom line is that the beach is wonderful and as long as the weather is good, you'll always have something to do instead of just watching TV all day.

(The photo I took in Angra dos Reis during Carnaval)

Facebook

Facebook is one of the most popular social networking websites right now, and it has over 400 million users. It's a great site for staying in contact with friends, share photos, and see what people are up to, basically a great way to follow others lives. I started using Facebook since about 1 or 2 years ago and in the beginning I barely used it because there were not a lot of people using it. However, now I don't let one day pass without visiting Facebook because there are so many people using it so there are always new status updates and other things. I also use Facebook a lot because I can stay in contact with my friends from Sweden in a very simple and easy way since I can both use Facebook Chat if he or she is online or just send a wallpost for the person to see later if he or she is not. Another reason I really like this site is because it has groups for the user to join and there are some really funny groups that you can join such as "Dear Pringles, I cannot fit my hand into your tube of deliciousness" . I think Facebook is a very modern site and because of it's huge popularity, Facebook will probably continue being used for many years to come.

(Statistics taken from Wikipedia and photo taken from here)

Happiness

To feel happy is one of the best feelings in the world and it can be caused by many factors. These include getting a new friend, getting a new boyfriend/girlfriend, getting a new family member, seeing your idol, acquiring what you have been longing for, listening to good music, just feeling good, finding out something truly exciting, doing well in school or work, feeling confident, traveling, the list could go on forever. I know that happiness is something everybody wants and some people spend their whole life searching for it, some people find it and some don't. There are many reasons to be happy and I think we all have some, even those people who are pretty miserable can usually feel happy for at least one reason. It is just about being optimistic and trying to see the best that could come out from whatever happens, we can usually see something that is motivation enough to feel happy. Today, for example, I became happy when I realized it was thursday although I thought it was only wednesday. It is a very small thing but just seeing that the week was a little closer to the weekend made my day and made me feel happy. One of the feelings necessary in life is happiness.

House

House is a very famous TV Show, which sixth season is now sending on TV. It's about a doctor, Gregory House, who is the head of the medicine diagnostics at Princeton-Plainsboro (a hospital). He is very smart and seems to know all the answers to every bizarre case of undiagnosed diseases he receives. However, he is very mean, sarcastic, and doesn't display feelings or affection towards anyone. Many people believe this is because House is in constant pain because of the lack of muscles in his thigh, which makes him a cripple since he can't walk without a cane. Together with his three employees, House solves cases that no other doctor is able to find the answer to. I love this show because House is so funny and he always seems to be able to turn horrible things into jokes, simply because he really doesn't care about them. I think that although he seems really harsh, you can see at times he regrets what he just said or did and all he really wants is to be understood. He treats his best friend Wilson really badly but you can still see that he really cares for him even though he pretends not to. I can watch House for hours without getting bored and I recommend it to everyone.

Blackberry

The best phone right now is definitely a blackberry, it has all the basic things every phone needs but also some extras that make it stand out next to the others. A blackberry is easy to use because there are no real complicated features that can't be understood. Most people think of the blackberry as a big, work phone but there are phone versions from blackberry that aren't bigger than any other phone. I love the blackberry because it has the real keyboard, it is not complicated, and it has awesome applications. It's also very easy to surf the internet or talk to other people by using a normal SMS, MSN or even facebook. My favorite thing about the blackberry is BBM (Blackberry Messenger), which allows you to talk to other people who have a blackberry for free. It's perfect because it is so simple to use and easy to connect with others, you can send photos, documents and links among many other things. It's like MSN but only for those who own a blackberry. BBM is continuously upgraded, and better and newer version come out all the time, and these downloads are for free, which makes it even better. There are many different types of blackberry but my favorite (the one I own) is the Blackberry curve 8520! It is relatively small without making the keyboard complicated to use, a good camera, and has a trackpad (a small version of the ones on laptops). If you are thinking about buying a new phone, you should definitely buy a blackberry!

(The photo is of the curve 8520 and was taken from here)

Carnival

I think it is perfect to write about carnival right now since it is soon here (next week to be more exact!!!) I love carnival, not only because it is a whole week off school, but because it gives us a whole week to relax after starting the stressful life of going to school and we can just travel and be with friends and family to have fun. This carnival I'm going Rio de Janeiro and I'm really excited about, it is the second time I go there during carnival and I can't wait to go back there. Like last time, I'm going to see the Carnival train, which is so exciting and fun, and since this is my last carnival in Brazil it will be good to end it in the sunny city of Rio. I'm planning on getting really tanned and enjoy the week off school. Carnival is a great week to relax and forget about school for a while, and give all the students a chance to enjoy themselves. No matter if you're staying in São Paulo or traveling to another city or country, I'm sure that everyone will have a great time and agree with me when I say that Carnival is one of the best parts of the second semester of school :)

(The photo is part of Carnival train that I saw two years ago and if I don't remember wrong, it was the first one that came during the train.)

Sleep

One of the worst things with school is that we can't wake up whenever we want, we never really get to sleep as long as our bodies should. When I wake up for school, I'm almost always tired because I didn't wake up by myself but by the stupid alarm. However when I do get to sleep as long as I want, I tend to wake up feeling nice and alert because my body got the hours of sleep it needed. Not only is sleeping extremely comfortable and relaxing, it is very important and to be healthy we need to sleep. Many teenagers tend not to get enough sleep because they go to bed too late, which is usually caused by them not wanting to sleep, or they are very stressed with school and other factors that they simply can't. Although most of us know that sleep is extremely necessary to be healthy, many people still don't sleep enough and don't seem to try and do something about it. I know that I love to sleep but sometimes I don't sleep enough because I don't have time or I want to read my book, stay on the computer, or watch some TV program, so I stay up late although I have to wake up early. Nothing is better than waking up feeling completely rested and just knowing that you just had a really good night sleep.

Losing Track of Time

When you are doing something so fun that you simply lose track of time, all of sudden hours passed and you didn't even realize. I love when that happens because that really shows you enjoyed yourself and didn't care enough to keep checking what time it is. I know that when I'm bored or I am doing something really dull, I keep looking at the clock because I just want time to pass. But then when I do something extremely exciting and I don't want the moment to ever end, it passes by in what feels like a second. Isn't that just so ironic? When you want time to pass, it doesn't but when you don't want it to, it goes by way to fast! Losing track of time is a great way to show that you actually relaxed and just let lose for a little bit. You didn't let yourself be defined by what time it was because it just didn't matter. It's like when I go out with my friends and I have a time that I have to leave but I just don't look at the clock all the time because I'm simply enjoying myself so much I don't see the purpose to why I would want to know what time it is.

image taken from here