Trunk or Treat

Hey guys, It’s the Swede here!  

Well it depends who you ask really…  My secretary used to disagree because I’m really less than 50% Swedish.   So there you have it.  The secret is out.  However, it is the largest percentage…   Heinz 57 just doesn’t have a nice ring to it!  Hey and if I have to be stuck with my grandfathers Swedish nose I might as well get something cool out of the deal!

Okay.  A dream of mine for quite a while has been to have a “toy” car.   I always used to try and talk my dad into buying me a VW bug.   So that combined with my love for convertibles, inspired my husband to buy me this…

Meet Lilla Grodan, my ‘Lil Frog’.

A 1971 Volkswagen Bug Convertible.   A small piece of heaven here on earth, well that may be an overstatement.  Any of you who have owned a classic car know what I’m talking about.  She can be a bit temperamental.   She needs a little pampering now and then but that is the fun of it.   She is much happier now with someone to love her just check the before and after photos.

Before:
    

During:

By the way, Thanks Dad for all your hard work and knowledge to help get her back in tip top shape!  Oh yes and thanks for missing opening weekend of deer season.  That is an example of an awesome dad right there!

After:

New tires, paint buffed and glazed, some electrical work...  Cell phone pics… Gotta love’ em…   Oh yeah!!! And brakes!!!  How could I forget those?   Not sure which is more important… going or stopping?  Kinda like which came first the chicken or the egg?

TRUNK OR TREAT

So when it was time for our church’s annual trunk or treat I knew just which car to bring, Lilla.   And she was definitely a head turner and she came in third!  

It was hard to compete with the life sized Angry Birds and The Wizard of Oz…

We thought the Fruits of the Spirit Theme was the perfect blend of her 70’s hippie style and a slightly more Christian theme.    While we all know the hippie movement was known for their propensity for love and peace… however there are few fruits of the spirit that they might have employed more often?   A little self control maybe?  Brownies anyone?   Speaking of self-control… Trust me I do need to practice some of that self-control with brownies.  Wow, and no I am not talking about THOSE “BROWNIES”.  I am so glad that I don’t need any of THOSE brownies to have a good time!  We did give out a few brownies along with some Little Debbies, and candy. 

 But just to make sure and keep it real we did include ALL of the Fruits of the Spirit… even forbearance.   Check it out…

Yeah only a Volkswagen nerd would get the inspiration for the forbearance flag.  Any ideas?   Ok fine I’ll tell you.   Certain models of older Volkswagen bugs used to have as part of their turn signal system pop out flags officially called semaphores.   Where else would you have put a word like forbearance?  It had to be on there somewhere.  Speaking of forbearance what does it mean?  Hmmm…

Also  a shout out goes to my lil sis who not only painted most of these awesome posters but also took home a prize for her costume.  

I can’t forget my other lil sis with her 3^rd place prize for her pumpkin.   I will warn you it does involve a little nerd humor.

I once heard a wise lady say that it is always good to enjoy things 3 times.  Once before it happens, anticipating and enjoying the anticipation.  Once during, which is in my opinion the most obvious.  Also enjoy it after, talking, reminiscing, remembering.  

Well I can tell you that I have enjoyed this event in all three.   I hope you have enjoyed reading about it!

Welcome to The Swedish Brew

Welcome! ¡Bienvenido! Välkommen! to The Swedish Brew! This is a blog about the life, adventures, interests and passions of Steve (aka Brew) and his lovely wife Abby (aka Swedish) and family.


Our Goal
Our goal in this blog (if we really even have one) is two fold: one, to chronicle our adventures, past and present, and to have a written record of the ups and downs of life and two, to share our interests and hobbies with others who might have similar stories or simply enjoy reading about them. One of our (Swedish and Brew) main passions is to enjoy life. We love life and all it has to offer, even when it is not being very kind or when it is unfair, life is a gift and it should be enjoyed.


Our Name
Abby and I came up with the name "The Swedish Brew" as a combination of two of our interests. For me (Brew) coffee, and the brewing thereof, is one of my favorite pastimes. People often say, and they are justified in saying it, that I am a bit of a coffee geek. I started drinking coffee sometime around my second or third year of college. My dad has always enjoyed coffee, but I didn't acquire a taste for it until later. Over time I have grown to enjoy coffee and the atmosphere that surrounds it more and more. I have also gotten to know the coffee culture first-hand by traveling in Latin America and working in a coffee shop for several years. More details to come in future blogs...
For Abby (Swedish) her part of the name is all about heritage. Her family, a few generations back, immigrated to the USA from Sweden. Abby remembers her grandpa speaking and singing to her in Swedish and many of the recipes from the "old country" as well as random words and traditions still pop up in her family today. It is a dream of ours to travel to Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia one of these days and experience the culture and language first hand. Neither one of us speak the Swedish language, but we both enjoy learning a phrase or two of it when we get the chance!

Our Life
As I said before, we love life! We have lots of interests and hobbies and a sense of adventure that we hope will never fade. So, if you want, stop by and read about our adventures in this blog. We would love to have you along for the ride!


Carpe Diem,


"Brew"