2023 had Anders traveling pretty much constantly. He went to Iceland and up to Umeå in January for work, and then down to Canazei for a week of skiing, getting to see Karin while there, and then on to Kumla, as well as multiple trips to Tingsryd, Landskrona, Kivik, Tomelilla, and even the UK and Denmark later in the summer. He’s really enjoying his role as a Field Service Engineer, still at Tetra Pak.
Liz did some traveling on her own, heading to the USA for 4 weeks in mid-March. She started with a week of vacation, then worked from her mom’s house for 2 weeks, then roadtripped together with Sarah and her mom up to Boston, where she worked in the US office for a week. It was a great trip, with lots of antique shopping and time spent with Sarah’s family as well as finally getting to see her mom’s new place, and Sarah’s! She celebrated her 19-year anniversary at Axis in October.
While she was gone, Anders renovated the kitchen, which turned out beautifully, and we are all very pleased with it. At the same time, Martin moved out! He found an 11-month apartment in Malmö and decided to go for it. His crate of stuff from the US arrived at the beginning of the year, so he had everything he needed to furnish his own (small) place. Martin is now apartment-hunting again as he has to be out in February 2024.
Karin came home from her ski season in mid-April, and almost immediately started a job at…Axis! She worked for the Corporate Events team, on the same floor as Liz, which was really nice. She decided to continue living at home in order to try and save money, but spent most of her time out with friends and her girlfriend Olivia, so she was never at home much, anyway. 😀 Karin turned 24 in July, which is crazy to contemplate for her parents.
The summer was also the scene of Liz and Anders’ epic Tesla trip where they drove from the very southern tip of Sweden up to the very top, all the way to Treriksroset which is where the borders of Finland, Sweden, and Norway meet. They spent nearly 3 weeks driving, first north through Sweden, stopping at lots of great attractions and staying at both the TreeHotel and the Ice Hotel along the way. They drove back down through Finland and spent a few days on the island of Åland before taking the ferry back over to Stockholm and continuing home to Flyinge.
In August, Liz was able to pop over to London to spend a short weekend visit with her best and longest friend Becky who was there with her husband’s family. A perfect pre-birthday present! The weekend of her actual birthday, she and Martin spent the day in Odense, visiting Hans Christian Andersen’s birthplace and museum, and managing to get picked up by Anders, who was on his way home from working in Denmark!
Liz is still on the board of the AIC and enjoys lots of events and activities with them. Anders decided it was time to change gears and he is selling his motorcycle, as he added a new member to the family in late September: a little red MGB convertible! The only thing wrong with it is that Liz can’t drive it (it’s a stickshift).
Martin has been working at TUGG restaurant all this year, but has recently given his notice, and is now seriously job-hunting. His last day won’t be until the end of January 2024 so he has a grace period to find something new. We’ve also enjoyed getting to know his new boyfriend Theo over the course of the year. By the time you read this, Martin will have turned 26.
Karin decided to do another season with LionAlpin, but this time she’s taken a step up and will be a ski guide manager, responsible for a group of 6 guides. She left at the end of November and will be spending the ski season in St. Anton, Austria. Another Christmas away, BUT we now have plans to travel down to spend Christmas in Germany with Liz’s brother John and family and we will at least be able to see her for Christmas day. And the icing on the cake is that Liz’s mom and her niece Danely (Sarah’s daughter) will be arriving mid-December to spend the holidays with us both here in Sweden and in Germany! Yay! A great end to a pretty darn good year.
Keep up with all the Ek Family happenings, apart from this online journal:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/lizardek
Instagram: www.instagram.com/lizardek
Mood: festive
Music: Modern English—I Melt With You