Linnéa Nordlund & Quick Quest

This years World Cup in show jumping has been absolutely amazing for the Swedish riders.
Last week Malin Baryard Johnsson took a second place in London.
And yesterday Henrik Von Eckermann WON and Jens Fredricson came in third making his total score 37 which equals a 5th place in the total standings and guarantees him a place in the final…! Malin is on 11th place with 32 points
Henrik is on 25th with 20 points
Rolf-Göran is on 28th with 19 points Wow there are amazing!!
Now we’ll have to wait until the 20th of January for the next competition.

Me and Mathias started of our last day of 2012 with a luxury seafood brunch at Urban Deli. It was absolutely impeccable!
Shrimps, mussels, lobster, crab and oysters. Yum yum yum!
We then created a three course meal for dinner; toast with crab and seafood spread, sirloin with roasted potatoes, and chocolate soufflé.
We have bought a few fireworks which will be sent to the sky at the stroke of midnight.

Album of the year: Living things by Linkin Park Tv-show of 2012: Parenthood Game of 2012: My Horse (iPhone) Performance of 2012: Sleeping Beauty, Royal Opera, Stockholm Horse of 2012: Lutnia e:Fario u:Lancier Travel of 2012: Calgary, Canada Food of 2012. Sushi Best investment of 2012: Hufvudsta Ridskola Hardest thing of 2012: ITIL certification Clothes of 2012: Leggins and high heels Biggest insight of 2012: I am worth something, I am good at stuff, I deserve to be loved. Coldest of 2012: Kwintet office Sweetest gesture of 2012: Tomas trying to unscrew the thresholds in the office in order to be able to drive me around the office in my chair when I was suffering from lumbago. Best colleague 2012: Thomas Soeholm. Best product 2012: Scratch nails ridge filler Photograph of 2012:

Pastry of 2012: My birthday cake made by Mathias

And so the year of 2012 is coming to an end. And what a year it has been; so full of changes, development, improvements… But it has also been a year filled with hard work, as none of these things has come for free. I am both proud and happy with this year.
The year started of with my final term of my bachelor degree in systems sciences. 6 months filled with extreme work, doing both my bachelor thesis and producing a game from idea to delivery on a disk. The hard work paid of as the thesis was published and presented at a scientific fair, Mindtrek 2012.
After finishing school I stood before an abyss. My routines from 3 years were gone and I were to create a new dayily life for myself in the form of a job. Obviously I’ve had 4 fulltime jobs before, but this was different. The others were always just temporary, until I had figured out stuff and gotten my diploma. This time it was for real. I had to find a job that would make me happy, reasonably welthy, and provide a secure and stable fut…

When I looked into horse clinics near Södertörn I realized that there was an ATG-clinic located IN Södertörn. That’s just a bit too convenient 
It’s beginning to look so easy buying a horse at this stable. Which means that I’ll have to be extra careful to keep my head on straight and be critical and logical about the horses there.

My mom is determined to ruin both my drivers license and my buying a horse.
It’s not enough arguing with me twice about why I should not buy a horse, in Austria she talked to Mathias about how she would try and talk me out of it. He told her to stop.

Every fucking day she tells me that I shouldn’t need this many driving lessons and that I’m being fooled and so forth. This makes me feel absolutely worhtles and useless and breakes down my confidence so bad that I’ll need 100 more lessons just because of it.

The trip is finally booked!!
We leave on friday the 15th of March at 11:45 and land at 14.00. On Saturday we visit the spanish riding school and see their performance. On Sunday we go back home at 12:35, landing 14:50.
Wow, I’m soooo looking forward to this!!

This new years celebration will be different from the others; Me and Mathias did not have time to plan anything special or to fix a party or anything, and nobody has invited us this year as 9 out of 10 are going abroad. So we will celebrate alone, just the two of us. We will start of with a seafood brunch at a restaurant and then create a maximum luxury 3 or 4 course dinner, and then go out and fire some rockets.
It actuallt feels kind of perfect, celebration with the most important person in my life, starting a new year together.

Straw Positives: Cheap Cozy Offers something to do for the horse Quick to decompose Negatives: Takes up a lot of space when storing it Leaves a lot of manure Not very good for the bronchus Doesn’t absorb well
Peat Positives: Easy and efficient to store Great absorption Doesn’t smell Negatives: Dark Creates a lot of dust Not friendly for the environment Freezes in the winter
Chips Positives: Better for the bronchus than straw Creates small amounts of manure Bright Easy + efficient to store Good absorption Negatives: Doesn’t offer anything to do when the horse is bored More expensive than straw It gets stuck everywhere Takes long time to decompose Doesn’t bind-together to create nice bedding
Straw pellets Positives: Bright Makes okay bedding Easy to clean Cheap Negatives: Not cozy Some versions creates a lot of dust Some versions smell bad Gets stuck on the horse

The owner of Södertörn Ryttarcenter just emailed me back and invited me over to take a look at all his horses. He said he was sure that he could help me find what I was looking for.
Oh the joy!!

Just sent an email to Södertörns Ryttarcenter asking them to contact me regarding their horses for sale.
Fingers crossed!

Since Mathias and Marre gave me the same jewellry box for christmas one of the had to be returned. So I walked in with a jewellry box and came out with 2 paris of earrings, 1 necklace and 1 piercing. sooo cute!
Btw this is the first time in my life I’ve returned a gift.

I have been suffering from anguish these last few days; feeling like I’m so poor and broke and that I can’t live of my salary.
Then I realized that I had put 15.000 towards a horse, 1000 towards my other savings and bought food and paid rent and all the other stuff. Haha. That’s kind of a lot. ^^

I’m on my way to my first 80 minutes driving lesson. I hope that we will be able to train on parking and rearing today since the snow has finally melted a bit. We’ll be driving in Spånga today. It’s also time to buy a more lessons, expensive! That god my mom gave me the license as a birthday present! I have made a study schedule for the theoretical part but it fell short the very first day due to my food poisoning in Austria. So I’m a week behind. But that’s not a problem, I will read today and tomorrow.

OMG.
I don’t know what to say actually. I’m so proud beyond words of myself.

Today was my last group lesson at Hufvudsta. I was a bit disappointed when I saw that I were to ride Tori; a very aggressive horse who is seen as impossible to ride. But I decided to do my absolute best, remembering how much I’ve learn and my skills grown.
And did I exceed every expectation? Oh yes. I rode Tori extremely well, I can’t even believe it. Neither could my trainer, or the people watching. I got so much praise! The girl who were to ride him after me said that she was so impressed, that I should be very, very proud of myself and that she had never seen anyone ride him so well. My trainer had no words but to say that I looked very good and that my riding has improved immensely during this term.

I am so proud of myself. Damn I’m good, I can ride very well.
Also, this feels like a “fuck you very much” to all those who have been riding for a year or two at a riding school and thinks that they can ride at m…

… For me from Mathias, from me to me, from me to Mathias.<3

Today was the day to do two things: shop and go home.
We went shopping for 5 hours, I bough a skirt, shoes and a new friend (tradition, I buy one every time I travel.) and Mathias bought a shirt. pics will come.
The way home felt very long and torturous. I still weren’t completely normal again from the illness and quite week, specially after so many hours spent browsing in stores.
Home sweet home. From 10 degrees plus and not a snowflake in sight to the normal cold and wet Stockholm.
It’s good to be home.

A day to spend at our own wish. Since I had missed all the tours and stuff on Christmas Eve, mom and Mathias took me to see the sites in Salzburg which I had missed. It was a lovely day, but since it was a Holliday all shops were closed. But it did not matter; we went into Mozarts house, explored the old town, ate Sacher Torte at the Sacher Hotel, had lunch at the oldest restaurant in Europe…
In the afternoon it was time to meet the group again; we were to go to the very old castle at the top of Salzburg and enjoy dinner and a concert with classical music.<3

Still very ill, but able to stand without the whole room spinning, I decide that I want to come along on today’s trip. We are supposed to visit three villages up in the mountains. It was very pretty, but I was way too weak to enjoy it. I had to pause and sit down every other minute and I could not participate in any meals. But I am glad I came along, it was beautiful.
In the first village mom and I entered a hotel and asked for two pieces of dry toast, just to give my stomach something safe to work with since it had been 36 hours since I had last eaten.

01:00 I wake up. Start throwing up and having diarrhea.
08:00 still throwing up and having diarrhea, now with a bad fever accompanying it.
09:30 everyone leave for the day trip. I lie in bed, high fever, no water or food whatsoever anywhere in my system. I think I’m going to die.
13:00 mom and Mathias comes back early, worried about me. I am so sick I can hardly talk to them.
19:00 time for Christmas dinner. I have no memories from the day. Of course I was unable to attend dinner.
21:00 falling asleep again. During the whole day I only left the hotel bed three times, to visit the bathroom.

The first day is traditionally a day of travel; this was the case this time as well. But thanks to an early start we managed to get half a day in Salzburg.
04:30 the alarm rings
05:00 we are out the door
06:00 we arrive at arlanda
07:55 the plane leaves for Munchen
10:05 we land
15:00 we arrive in Salzburg, drop the bags at the hotel and leaves on a guided tour of the old town. Amazingly beautiful and cozy, a lovely city!
18:30 welcome cocktail
19:00 welcome dinner
21:00 sleep!!

Just got a text, my package from Hööks is waiting for me  Merry Christmas myself!!

The stuff I ordered from Hööks is already sorted in Stockholm. I think I’ll get it today, Yey!
They said that if I ordered before the 20th I would have it before Christmas, and I think they’ll make it!

Today is the last day befor the holidays  after today I will be free until the 2nd of January. (Except for the 28th when I’m on call in case of emergency)
I feel like I really need some time off, it’s been really tough starting a new job where I was just thrown in to a crisis and an overwhelming workload. But I have really enjoyed myself, but it sure is exhausting.
Now that I’m beginning to get the hang of everything it will be great with a rest and then come back full of energy!

I can’t wait for tomorrow!!! I want to open my presents NOW!!!
Sat by the tree this morning, touching the presents…. Shaking them… My god I want them.
Lucky for me Christmas is coming early tomorrow instead of the 24th as we will leave for Austria on Sunday.

Yeeeey I’ve got money again!
Horse money:
12.000 is on the buy-horse account
2500 will pay the equipment I bought from Hööks.
500 will pay for the stuff on my list which weren’t from Hööks and that I’ll pick up in other stores today.
Living expenses:
Are all paid. Rent, Internet, phone, etc…
The food account is full again.
General saving:
Put some away here too 
Fun-money:
I still have about 5000 SEK to spend on whatever, just fun and unnecessary stuff if I want to. Or to save some more, or to, well, whatever.

Panic struck me like lightning.
I was looking at horses and sales stables and reading up about them as I went, and everyone was crooked, false, not to trust, mangled horses…
I panicked. How will I ever find a horse in this environment? Tears began to burn in my eyes, anguish shook me.
Talked to Mathias and Marre on the phone which helped. And then I talked to Petra at Hufvudsta and she said that I should talk to the owner, Davina, who handles all the horse buying and has lots of good trustworthy contacts. I will email her first thing today.
And then I also remembered, that is doesn’t matter what or who in the world you are looking up, there will always be people trashing it. And I’ll just have to make me own judgement.

In two weeks I will no longer be a student at Hufvudsta Riding school. I gave up my spot on my way home from work.

http://www.svd.se/sport/sverige-kan-fa-ny-tv-sand-hoppliga_7770804.svd

When I get home from work today I’ll have to go down to the stables and give up my space…. It feels terrifying, everything is becoming so real. I’ve got a place at a stable, I’ve bought a lot of the stuff, I’m saying goodbye to the lessons at Hufvudsta… Dear god I’m buying a horse, for real!
I will truly miss riding some of the horses, and I can’t even stand the thought of not riding Lutnia any more. I know I can always (and will) go down there any time, but will I have the time? And will I be able to ride Lutnia for Mimmie even thought I’m no longer a student there? Will I render it necessary?

I can’t believe it, at this time in three days I’ll be on the plane towards Austria. I’ll have to start writing a packing list! (And for some reason, writing these lists is as good fun as the trip itself for me)

I truly am a morning person. 7 am driving lessons are the absolute best for me, I’m awake, alert and make the best progress. Both the theoretical and practical test have been booked. I won’t say when because I don’t want the pressure and nervousness which comes with any anyone knowing. When I get home tonight I will make a detailed study plan for the theoretical stuff.

Mom got her wish. When I met her she at 5.30 she had already been looking at jackets and shoes for 4 hours… And she had written a note with suggestions. So I just tagged along as she took me on a tour by all the jackets and shoes she wanted me to try.
It was lucky that she did this, because the stores close at 7, giving us only 1,5 hours. And here I am with great (and warm) new stuff; - fjällräven parka, 5500 SEK from Ahlewalds.
- Rieker boots, 1900 SEK from Nilsson
They look great, feel great and I’m happy. Thanks mom!

For some reason my mother has decided that I promptly need a new and warmer winter jacket. So we’ll meet up in the city center in a few minutes and go shopping.
And suddenly she also mentioned that I need new shoes, which Mathias wa very quick to second… Just because I like nice shoes and don’t want to walk in hiking boots. ^^

… was supposed to take place yesterday.
Instead I found myself standing outside in the snowstorm and blistering cold for 50 minuter waiting for the bus. Then there was a lot of traffic… So I came home so late that there really wasn’t  time for Elin to come over.
Thank you, SL. I love the fact that I’m paying 800 SEK a month for your amazing services.

Still to go are the things that requires me to know the size of my horse before ordering;
- Indoor/outdooe blanket
- Bridle
- Saddle
- Boots
- Pad

I just got my salary specification, and my hopes have come thru; I’ll get paid on Friday along with the rest of Sweden, even though I’m working for Bravura for a few more months. Yey!!
I’ll have loooots of money for a few hours, then I will put away 65% of it towards the horse <3

Today mom and I had lunch, so I took the chance to give her all her Christmas presents, since I cannot carry that stuff to Salzburg. She was so very happy.
I love giving presents! It’s just as good at getting them yourself.

Wow, I can really feel it drawing closer… A new horse…
Since I’m not allowed to use straw in the stables I’ll have to decide what to use instead. Karolina stood on chips which was okay, the horses at Hufvudsta stands on peat which is also okay but it is sooo dark an gloomy and the stable is already extremely dark and boarded up so I don’t really want to use it.
I’m starting to look into a new kind of bedding called straw pellets which is supposed to be a revolution. It’s light, bright, long lasting and on top of it all it’s cheap. The more I read about it the more people I find who loves it. I’ll just double check with Yvonne to see if it’s okay, and of course do some more research before I make my mind up.
I will of course post my knowledge about the different kinds of bedding.

Finally, I got to do some Christmas baking today.Yum yum yum!

It’s ten to eight on a Sunday morning. I’m just about to arrive at Spånga where I’m going to have a driving lesson.

I live at the station with Sweden longest escalator. Wow, imagine walking these steps twice a day…

I was suffering so badly from anxiety about having to tell my mother about me having a place in a stable and planning to buy a horse soon that I was almost crying when I found out that I also have to buy 20 more driving lessons (which she is actually paying for as she gave me my driers license for my birthday). So when she called me to talk about something which I don’t even remember anymore, I just decided that I had to do it, straight away, I had to tell her now!!
So I did.
And I wasn’t as bad as I had thought, but I sure wasn’t funny. She has made me so terrified that I am still trembling. What if she is right? What if I don’t make it? What if I can’t afford it? What if I don’t know enough?
I must remember and keep telling myself what I told her: I will not go through life and not following my dreams because I’m afraid.

Today I had my last jumping lesson at Hufvudsta. It went very well, I rode Ravell and he was very eager to act like a Ferrari but I manage him good. I’m pleased with myself. :)  Mathias came with me, poor thing was so tired and he brought a thermos of coffee. He filmed some jumps, which is fun to have.

Me, Mathias, mom and a friend of hers went to the maxim theatre to see the classical A Christmas Carol. It was absolutely amazing!! Both me and Mathias had tears on our eyes. The actors (who were all English) were phenomenal, the dialogue touching, the set beautifully designed…A true success!

Thank you thank you thank you my AMAZING wonderful Marre. Your Christmas card is the most amazing thing ever! Both me and Mathias LOVE it!!!!! You are the best my darling!

If I want any chance of getting access of my horse money before Christmas it’s time to get moving.
For some very weird reason my mom has all the account details, which means that I’ll have to tell my mom that I’ve gotten a place in a stable and that I’m planning to start “riding to buy”.. Or I can go behind her back directly to the bank and get the money that way, since it is my money… And when she demands to know how I’ll afford a horse I’ll tell her, and she’ll be extremely upset… Did I mention that I’m 25 and moved out when I was 17…? Omg mothers…..
In any case I’ll bring Mathias as a shield.

In 7 days my christmas vacation starts. In 7 days I’ll get paid. In 8 days I’ll get my Christmas presents. In 9 days I’m going to Austria, Salzburg. In 15 days I’ll take my last group riding lesson at Hufvudsta. In 19 days my Christmas vacation is over. In 33 days I’m going to osnabruk, Germany.

And the world hasn’t been destroyed yet.
It might when we write our ITIL-exams later today.But probably not. I wonder how the prophets will explain this.

Arrived in Malmö, two hours late due to weather, broken down computer system, wrong counted amount of bags forcing everyone to get of the plane and identify their bag, snow on the wings, snow on the runway, too little fuel in case we would be unable to land in Malmö, making a extra order of fuel necessary, more snow on the runway….
But now I’m on the bus towards the hotel. (Which had lost our booking….!) God I’ll sleep good tonight. And fwi, the lumbago is worse again.

The two flights before ours to Malmö are cancelled due to really bad weather in Malmö. All I can do is wait and hope for the best, and be thankful that I live so very close to the airport.

Standing at Bromma airport, waiting for Alice and Tomas. 8.10 PM we’ll land in Malmö, and tomorrow our ITIL certification will begin at 9 sharp.

Reservation fee payed – the place is mine!! Will write a contract soon also.